USD Magazine Spring 2009

S IXTY YEARS AND COUNT ING

gift of oratory, the ready wit and perpetual smile of Bishop Buddy endears him to all.” Mother Agnes Murphy, RSCJ, who worked for the school from its inception until her retirement in 1977, recognized and noted the generosity and humbleness of the Bishop, “Bishop Buddy was a great friend to us all. (He) was an out- standing man, a man of God, a man of terrific compassion for the poor. I was dealing with a young woman who was very, very poor. Suddenly, I found out he was giv- ing her $20 a month, which back then wasn’t a small sum, just to take care of herself and her kids — she was divorced.” One Great Man Irving Parker, who came to the College for Men in the early 1950s to work as secretary and eminence when he said, “I have known three great men in my lifetime ... Bishop Buddy is cer- tainly one of those three. And he may, in many ways, be the great- est of the three ... His foresight and drive, his personality, he was indeed in the fullest sense of the word a founding bishop ... I sup- pose his personality is marked by administrator for the newly approved G.I. Bill program, acknowledged the Bishop’s

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Jesus to assist him carry his vision of a school to fruition. In her Order, education represented the primary apostolate of the society. In Mother Hill, the Bishop found an agent with energy, drive and fortitude; yet with a gentle demeanor that matched his own.“This was a dream, this uni- versity,”recalled Guest. “[Mother Hill] was a very sweet gentle person with a hand of fire. Her determination always came through but with her sweet manner. She commanded people very well, but not with any ulterior design, except she got a great deal through her sweet man- ner. So she thought of this place for a long time and Bishop Buddy came and asked her if she could spare some nuns to open a college in his diocese ... He was up visiting in San Francisco, she was up on the moun- tain at the college there, at the San Francisco College forWomen ... So it was a number of years before they found this (Linda Vista property). And Bishop Buddy bought the

one of his famous phrases that he reiterated so often: there are two words this diocese doesn’t know: can’t and won’t.’” A Warm, Genial Person Sister Margaret Guest, noting what she believed were his modest and unassuming traits, said“Oh he was a nice man. (He was) very fatherly, very warm, friendly, tremendously interested in everything. Everyone

BISHOP CHARLES FRANCIS BUDDY

History Comes Alive This year marks the 60th anniversary of the San Diego College for Women, now the University of San Diego. The school was envisioned by Bishop Charles Francis Buddy, the first bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, and ReverendMother Rosalie Clifton Hill of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Their dreamwas to bring higher education with a Catholic perspective to San Diego. To capture amore intimate por- trait of these two foundingmembers and the beginnings of the university, we glimpse history through oral interviews. The following stories were collected from individuals who were present during the founding of the University 60 years ago. An Endearing Bishop Bishop Buddy started the ground- work on creating a college shortly after arriving in San Diego in February of 1937. It was to be the type of institution described and promoted by Pope Pius XI: a school of liberal arts with Catholic theolo- gy and philosophy as its founda- tion. The Bishop’s grace and gentle demeanor seems to have assisted him in his success; praise for Bishop Buddy abounds. A reporter for the San Diego Union once wrote,“The

SISTER MARGARET GUEST

would think the Bishop was the one who lays down the law; which of course was never true, ever. He never interfered with anything except as he could assist. But he was a very, very warmgenial per- son. We used to have himover for formals, semi-demi-quasi affairs at Christmas time. In the very begin- ning we had the students pay their respects to the Bishop on certain occasions. We’d have him stay in the theater or one of the large rooms and have the students greet him and address best wishes for peace on his day.” Energy and Drive In Burt J. Boudoin’s Fortress on the Hill , the author notes that“(Bishop) Buddy manifested a deep respect toward nuns and a natural ease in his dealing with women in general.” In his wisdom, Bishop Buddy sought out Reverend Mother Hill of the Society of the Sacred Heart of

REVEREND MOTHER ROSALIE CLIFTON HILL

whole thing, the whole mesa here and asked Mother Hill to select what she wanted.” —Commentary and oral history research byMatthewNye. Special thanks toUSD archivist DianeMaher. Tell us your story ... We welcome stories fromall of those who’ve been involved with the University of San Diego over the past 60 years. Send your own story or photo to: Editor, USDMagazine, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110. E-mail: letters@sandiego.edu.

IRVING PARKER

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