What's Happening

Adrian, Michigan, May 30, 2025 – Seven students from Siena Heights University in Adrian and eight students from Barry University in Miami, Florida, extended their learning beyond the spring semester, but not in classrooms or lecture halls. They were participating in the 2025 Environmental Leadership Experience (ELE) at the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse Campus. Both universities were founded and are sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

Students in the ELE program learn about environmental sustainability practices and offer a significant service to the Adrian Dominican Sisters and the Congregation’s permaculture area.

During the week, May 12-17, 2025, the students planted 170 trees, cleared areas of the permaculture site of invasive plants, and took samples of pondwater to analyzed. The students also had time to study the vernal pool at nearby Heritage Park, tour the Motherhouse grounds and the nearby ProMedica Gardens, meet and speak with the Sisters formally and informally, experience the new Canopy Walk at Hidden Lake Gardens, and generally come to know one another through meals and other shared time.

The students came to the ELE with multiple levels of knowledge and experience in working the land, and with diverse majors: from environmental sciences and biology to child psychology, art, and nursing.
  
During the week, several students took time to discuss the highlights of their experience, what they had learned, and their hopes for applying what they learned to their future work or everyday lives.

“I’m becoming more environmentally conscious about how everything I do has an impact,” said Kaiden Moss-Moultrie, a Barry University student majoring in clinical laboratory science. “I hope to take this information back home to my friends and family so they can learn how they can affect the environment.” Kaiden also enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some of the Sisters and hopes to start a garden at home, using the techniques she learned at the ELE.

Many students were emotionally affected by their work in planting trees. “My highlight has been planting the trees, knowing that such a small plant can grow to be something bigger and that each of us are contributing to something greater for the Earth,” said Neissa Rousseau, a biology major at Barry University.

Zoe Ornelas, an art and biology major at Siena Heights University, was also struck by the impact of planting trees. “I feel like every time I plant a tree, a piece of me is with it,” she said. She was surprised to learn that tree roots slow down the erosion of the land around them.

As with past ELE participants, this year’s students met during the week with their university group to discuss the sustainability project they would bring back to their campus in the fall. 

The 2025 ELE program was organized and facilitated by Brad Frank, Director of the Office of Sustainability and Mike Walters and Brandon Howard from Permaculture. Sister Corinne Sanders, OP, General Council liaison to the Office of Sustainability, also facilitated the program and participated in every aspect during the week.  

Sister Corinne said the Environmental Leadership Experience began in 2017 when, during a sponsorship meeting, faculty members from Siena Heights University and Barry University brainstormed the idea of bringing students from their universities to the permaculture area of the Motherhouse for service and learning. This is the third year since the pause in the program during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. “It’s both a learning experience and, to be honest, a great service project to us.” 

 

Caption for above feature photo: As part of the 2025 Environmental Leadership Experience, students from Barry University in Miami and Siena Heights University in Adrian clear the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ permaculture site of invasive plants and weeds.

Fanjeaux, France, August 22, 2024 – Six people affiliated with the Adrian Dominican Congregation as Sisters, Associates, and Co-workers deepened their understanding and appreciation of the Dominican Charism during a mid-summer experience at various sites in France where St. Dominic ministered and traveled.

Participating in the Deepening the Dominican Spirit experience were Sisters Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor, and Janice Brown, OP; Associate Diane Burgermeister; Douglas Palmer, President of Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan; and Carmen McCrink and Karen Stalnaker, of Barry University in Miami, Florida. Both universities are sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

They were among 32 Dominicans – Sisters, nuns, Friars, Associates, and Co-workers from the United States and Africa – who participated in the pilgrimage. Together, the group visited the French cities of Carcassonne, where St. Dominic preached; Fanjeaux, the village where St. Dominic lived; Prouilhe, the site of the first monastery of nuns founded by St. Dominic; Montségur, the last stronghold of the Cathars, those who believed that the material world was evil and only the spiritual world was good; Soreze, the site of an international school founded by French Dominican Friar Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire (1802-1861); and Toulouse, the first gathering space of the Dominican Friars.

Participants were moved by the opportunity to learn about the history of the Order of Preachers – from its founding by St. Dominic to more recent years. Diane said she participated in the pilgrimage because she “wanted to share with Associates and Sisters a deeper understanding of the history of the Dominican story and the impact important Dominicans have had on the ongoing evolution of the Charism.” 

A key moment for Diane was the group’s visit to Seignadou, the “sign of God” in Fanjeaux, France. Dominic’s vision of a globe of fire resting over the church was a confirmation of his ministry. “The cross with the background of the cloudy sky and expansive green valley and farmland, along with strong gusts of wind, were moving,” she said.

Sister Janice said she was “drawn to walk in the footsteps of Dominic. In all my years as a Dominican, the chance for me to make this pilgrimage had never come up.” She was especially moved by the experience of staying in Carcassonne, allowing her to “walk in Dominic’s path every day.” 

After learning and even teaching about the Congregation’s roots for almost 30 years, Sister Lorraine said she was eager to visit those places “to actually see them with my own eyes.” She was struck by the simplicity of those areas, fitting for St. Dominic. “Dominic’s simple, humble spirit and life were palpable. He never wanted to draw attention to himself,” she said.

The history of St. Dominic and his approach to the Cathars was especially meaningful to Sister Janice. “The Cathars had an understanding that was harmful,” and many people wanted to approach them violently in response to the heresy, she said, noting an incident in which troops burned 244 Cathars at Montségur when they did not renounce their faith. “Dominic was not of that mindset,” Sister Janice said. “It is through respect, discussion, and charity that we discover Truth, and are then inspired to share that Truth.” 

Particularly poignant for Sister Lorraine was the group’s visit to Prouilhe, the home of nine Cathar women who had converted to Catholicism. She noted the “ebb and flow” of Dominican life as illustrated in this city. The home for the Cathar converts was a monastery for centuries but was razed during the French Revolution. “The nuns did return and the community grew; however, on the day we arrived there were just nine nuns,” matching the number of the original nuns, Sister Lorraine said. 

The history of the Dominican presence in France did not end there. Sister Lorraine recalled the group’s visit to Soreze and the story of Lacordaire. “He brought the Order back to life in France after the revolution, when it had been virtually dormant for over 100 years,” Sister Lorraine said. 

The pilgrimage also deepened Diane’s perspective of the Dominican story, which is “ever-evolving but fragile,” often saved by Dominican leaders in the past who kept the Order of Preachers alive. “The charism consists of individual, communal, and cultural stories woven into the larger Dominican history and changes over time,” she said. “The charism is not static and builds upon past experiences while evolving into new expressions for a new vision.”

The Adrian Dominican Sisters – along with the other congregations of U.S. Dominican Sisters that make up the Dominican Sisters Conference – are working together to create this new vision, as are women religious whose congregations make up the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Associates, Co-workers at the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse and in sponsored and legacy institutions, donors, and other partners are also working together to claim and live out the Dominican Charism.
 

Caption for feature photo at top: Participants in Deepening the Dominican Spirit are, from left, Karen Stalnaker, of Barry University; Associate Diane Burgermeister; Carmen McCrink of Barry University; Sister Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; Douglas Palmer, President of Siena Heights University; and Sister Janice Brown, OP.