Donnelly College Scholarship Honors Sister Mary Teresa Morris 

Sister Mary Teresa Morris, who died on June 5, 2024, was devoted to providing nursing care to the poor, homebound, high-risk infants, and children with special needs. A Donnelly College graduate, Sister Mary Teresa served in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home health settings and taught in the nursing program at Donnelly College for many years. She was inducted into the college’s Alumni Hall of Fame in 2023. 

After Sister Mary Teresa’s death, her cousins, Janette and Kevin Rhoades, established an endowed scholarship at Donnelly College to honor her legacy. The Sister Mary Teresa Morris, OSB, Nursing Scholarship is described as follows: 

“In honoring the life and ministry of Sr. Mary Teresa Morris as a servant of God and of God’s children, this endowment to Donnelly College seeks to impact the future well-being of first-generation students pursuing a career in nursing. With the same humble spirit of compassion, generosity, and sacrifice that Sr. Mary Teresa embodied, just as Christ did, this endowment seeks to empower ‘those who otherwise might not be served’ to become bearers of her good will and hospitality as exceptional health care workers and nurses throughout the world.” 

The first disbursements to students will take place in the fall of 2027. To ensure that scholarship recipients are aware of Sister Mary Teresa’s life of service, they will be required to read her autobiography, view a video about her life, and read the description of the scholarship. Donnelly College offers a certification program in practical nursing, a Registered Nurse – Associate of Applied Science in Nursing degree, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. 

Anyone who would like to honor Sister Mary Teresa by contributing to the endowment can contact David Stanley, Advancement Officer at Donnelly College, at dstanley@donnelly.edu.