Sister Rodee’s journey at USD

Alumna nun shares her memories of USD from the earliest years of the college

Mayella Vasquez / Asst. Feature Editor / The USD Vista

It was the 1950s. The United States had the strongest military in the world, families were growing, and the economy was booming. Women were encouraged to stay within the confines of the home. Popular magazine articles like “Don’t Be Afraid to Marry Young,” “Cooking To Me Is Poetry,” and “Femininity Begins At Home” urged women to leave the workplace and focus on bearing children. During the same era, however, the recently-opened San Diego College for Women, which would later become the University of San Diego, offered women different opportunities.  

Sister Virginia Rodee is an alumna from the class of 1957 and works today on special projects for the campus such as giving tours of Founders Hall. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music, and later received a Master of English and a Master of Theology. Rodee attended a much different USD than the one in operation today, one that was still growing and finding its identity.

“At first we had trouble filling Founders, and very few people had cars,” Rodee said. “There were no parking fees in those days. Young Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart were our RAs, and we had one night watchman who would make their rounds. I have no doubt that I received a great education and we also had a lot of fun.”

Attending such a new college presented some challenges, as the institution itself was still in development. Rodee continued by describing the struggles of the young college.

“It was just Camino and Founders, and every cent went toward paying the buildings off,” Rodee said. “You would see your professor, only religious women at the time, watering their allotted portion of the patio after class or cleaning the classrooms.” 

Despite these challenges, the college’s founder, Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill, insisted on bringing the best women to teach.  

Alumni from Stanford University, UC Berkeley, The Catholic University of America, and the University of Notre Dame were brought to the college as instructors. This was unusual since, according to a government census, in the 1950s less than 5% of women in the U.S. pursued higher education, much less a doctorate degree. 

Rodee remembers being taught by these exceptional women. 

“Mother Agnes Murphy was one of the wisest professors at the college,” Rodee said. “She had a Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago and, when the school needed a philosophy professor, she went back to school and got another Ph.D.”  

Rodee regarded Hill in the same light.  

“She was an intelligent woman, quiet and ambitious,” Rodee said. “She loved architecture and engineering. As a child, instead of playing with other toys, she made designs out of small paper squares.”

After graduating from the San Diego College for Women, Rodee followed in the path of the female role models in her life, becoming a sister in the Society of the Sacred Heart. Soon after, Rodee decided to take her mission of service far beyond her local community. 

“In 1968, after joining the Society of the Sacred Heart, I asked to be sent to Korea,” Rodee said. “I stayed for 23 years teaching English at our regular school and university.” 

Rodee recalled that the communities she served in Korea were deeply scarred from war, left impoverished and struggling to survive.

“The U.S. military had given us some tents, and we taught in these ‘tent’ schools, and on our campuses,” Rodee said. “At the time there were no heaters, so we would use coal to stay warm. People lived out of their shops, and children were hungry.”

During her time in Korea, Rodee spent nine semesters learning Korean and eventually became fluent. Later, she became the director of the Catholic University of Korea’s Foreign Language Education Institute. Today, the university is consistently ranked as one of the leading collegiate institutions in South Korea and is internationally recognized for its excellence.

Before returning to USD in 1997, she traveled around the world, from Taiwan to Spain to Canada. When  she returned, she went on to be honored as a “Coronado Legend” in 2007. In 2009, she received the Woman of Conscience Award from the Associated Alumnae of the Sacred Heart and, in 2016, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace (OLP) named her the Alumna of the Year. In 2018, Rodee received the Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill Service Award. 

These days, Rodee can be found in Founders Chapel. She is in charge of special projects, such as giving campus tours. She greets everyone with a smile, and is a positive presence on campus. 

USD started with two buildings, less than a hundred students, and professors committed to making the institution the best it could be. Today, USD’s 180-acre campus is a nationally ranked Catholic institution with more than 800 faculty members, 7,800 students, and eight academic divisions. Despite all of the changes and growth that have occurred throughout its lifetime, the college’s roots of changemaking and leadership remain steadfast and unmoved.