Sister Augustine Scheele

(1896 - 1982)

Alverno College President 1948 -1968

Sister Augustine was Alverno College President for twenty years (1948-1968): Sr Augustine-President.pdf

President John F. Kennedy invited her to the White House for a 1963 meeting of educators focusing on 

civil rights and education.

In September 1965, Sister Augustine received a letter from Dr. Martin Luther King thanking her for the participation of two Alverno students, Margaret Rozga '67 and Sharon Quintenz '65, in the SCOPE program (Summer Community Organization and Political Education) of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference down in Bullock County, Alabama. Here is a link to the letter and more information about it: MLK Letter to Sr Augustine.pdf .

Here is additional information on Sister Augustine's leadership of Alverno College during the Civil Rights era of the 1960's excerpted from an Alverno College Archives exhibit:  Sr Augustine-Civil Rights.pdf 

The full exhibit, "...alone doesn't matter if you are standing up for others"--Social Injustice, Activism and Alverno College

can be found on the alverno Archives web site. 

An article in the May 1968 issue of Alverno Campus News announced Sister Augustine's intention to retire:

sr augustine retirement alvcampus news may-7-1968.pdf

Sister Augustine Scheele died in 1982. Her obituary was in the Spring 1982 issue of Alverno Today.

Sister Augustine was featured as a "Significant Woman of the Week:"  Significant Woman of the Week--Sr.Augustine Scheele.pdf