Centers and Facilities

Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women

Dr. Shannon O'Neill, Director

The Sister Thea Bowman Center for Women provides leadership and education to members of the Siena College community by promoting awareness about gender issues. It works to create a more informed and active campus community that takes part in its many service and advocacy opportunities. Through programming it promotes the personal, professional and spiritual development of women at Siena. 

Through its programming, the Sister Thea Bowman Center for Women addresses issues of social justice, wellness, service and advocacy. Some of our annual and ongoing events include:

  • Honor an Awesome Woman Brunch
  • A Week Without Violence
  • Fair Trade Sales
  • Breast Cancer Advocacy
  • Cinderella Project
  • Service Trip to the Dominican Republic
  • United Student Against Sweatshops
  • Reading Women Book Club

 

Please feel free to contact the Women's Center at 518-782-6109. 

See our Events Page for upcoming events

 

 

 

Sr. Thea Bowman Women's Center

Who was Sr. Thea?

Sr. Thea Bowman, the granddaughter of slaves, was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi on December 29, 1937.  Thea was reared as a Methodist until at age nine when she asked her parents if she could become a Catholic.  The next year her parents enrolled her at Holy Child Jesus School staffed by the Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration.

The life and work of the sisters so impressed her that, at 15, she joined them by entering Rose Convent, LaCrosse, Wisconsin.  There she was given the name of Thea.

Gifted with a brilliant mind, beautiful voice and dynamic personality, Sr. Thea shared the message of God's love through a teaching career of 16 years after which the bishop of Jackson Mississippi invited her to become the consultant for intercultural awareness.  In her role as consultant, Sr. Thea encouraged people to communicate with one another so that they could understand other cultures and races.

Sr. Thea fought evil, especially prejudice, suspicion, hatred and things that drive people apart.  She fought for God and God's people until her death in 1990 of bone cancer.

* biographical information from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration - FSPA News