Carlow College, Pittsburgh, USA

After several years of planning, Carlow College, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has become Carlow University. Carlow was founded on Mercy Day 75 years ago this year.

During Pittsburgh's economic boom in the 1920s, prominent civic leaders urged the Sisters of Mercy to establish a Catholic college for women. Answering that request, Mount Mercy College opened in the Convent of Mercy motherhouse on September 24, 1929, with 24 students, seven faculty and makeshift classrooms. A few weeks later, the infamous stock market crash marked the beginning of the Great Depression. The college founders, Sister Irenaeus Dougherty and Sister Regis Grace, drew on faith, experience and administrative skill to carry Mount Mercy through the Depression. Their legacy established Mount Mercy as a community for “the true scholar and the true woman with the ability for real service”—an institution shaped by women's rights, responsibilities and leadership duties.

In recognition of the Sisters’ Irish roots, the college changed its name to Carlow in 1969. Today, the university enrolls more than 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students and offers nearly 50 undergraduate majors and 14 graduate programs.

For more information about Carlow University, visit our website.

Micaela Young
Communications Director
Sisters of Mercy, Pittsburgh