Jacqueline Grennan Wexler

Jacqueline Grennan Wexler (born Jean Marie Grennan; August 2, 1926 – January 19, 2012), commonly known as Sister J, was an American Catholic former religious sister who rose to prominence when she, as President of Webster College, strove to convince the Holy See allow the transferral of the college's ownership to a lay board of trustees. Webster College became the first Catholic university to legally split from the Catholic Church. She later left her religious order, the Sisters of Loretto, and was President of Hunter College in New York City from 1970 to 1980. She went on to serve as President of the National Conference of Christians and Jews from 1982 to 1990.

Born in 1926 in Illinois, Wexler grew up on a farm and matriculated at Webster College in 1944. In 1948, she joined the Sisters of Loretto and went on to teach in Texas and Missouri. In 1957, she graduated with a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame, and in 1959, was transferred to work at Webster College, becoming Vice President in 1960. In 1965, Wexler succeeded Sister Francetta Barberis as president of the college. Wexler soon began major reforms, improving curricula, renovating and expanding the campus, and initiating volunteer service programs. In 1967, Grennan completed Webster College's transition to lay ownership, and she herself left her religious order.

In 1969, Wexler became President of Hunter College in Manhattan, part of the City University of New York. There, she dealt with student protests and expanded the college's healthcare curriculum and facilities. She left Hunter College in 1979, and in 1982, she became President of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, remaining until 1990, when she retired. She died in 2012 in Orlando, Florida.

Early life and education Jean Marie Grennan was born on August 2, 1926, in Sterling, Illinois, United States. The youngest child of Edward and Florence (née Dawson) Grennan, she had two sisters, Sue and Rita, and a brother, Jack, who died as a young adult. She grew up on a 250-acre farm where her parents raised cattle and grew corn and soybeans. Rather than applying for a fellowship to attend Radcliffe College as she had considered, she decided to become a nun, later explaining that she wanted "to make [my] life productive for as many people as possible." In 1949, she formally entered the Sisters of Loretto, and in December 1950, made her first vows. She took Jacqueline as her religious name, in memory of her brother Jack, who died of a brain tumor at age 21. Her parents were ambivalent about her becoming a nun, but respected her decision.

After her first vows, Grennan was sent off to teach in Texas and later Missouri. During the summers, she studied English at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. She graduated in 1957 with a Master of Arts in English. In addition, Grennan removed the theology course requirements from the curriculum in 1965.

In addition to changes in curriculum and enrollment, Grennan commenced an ambitious campaign to improve Webster College's physical plant. She reached out to wealthy institutions, like the National Science Foundation and the Ford Foundation, In addition to financial concerns The Holy See finally granted the request in May 1967, and Sister Mary Luke Tobin, the Superior General of the Sisters of Loretto, announced on November 17, 1967 that the transferral of Webster College to independent ownership had been legally concluded. The Kansas City Star, The Boston Globe, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the Dallas Times Herald, and magazines like The New York Times Magazine, Time, Saturday Review, Life, the Ladies' Home Journal, Look, and Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. She also made television appearances, joining David Susskind on his show Open End and going on as a guest on The Dick Cavett Show.

After leaving the Sisters of Loretto in 1967, Grennan remained President of Webster College until June 1969, when she married Paul J. Wexler.

President of Hunter College Soon after her marriage, Grennan Wexler moved to New York City, taking the job of Vice President and Director of International University Studies with the Academy for Educational Development. In December 1969, the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York named Grennan to succeed Fritz Joachim Weyl (acting president) as President of Hunter College in Manhattan. She assumed the presidency on January 15, 1970. She was the first female president of the college.

Wexler's assumption of the presidency coincided with a turbulent atmosphere at Hunter College. Between May and March 1970, campus unrest grew as students protested over the Vietnam War, racial policies, rising tuition and fees, a new open enrollment policy, and general discontent with the college's administration. That spring, protests repeatedly shut down the campus. Student protesters would block entrances to buildings and occupy elevators and specific floors of buildings. At first, she allowed the protests to continue without bringing in law enforcement. When protests became such an issue that they obstructed the college's operation and after being trapped in her office several times, Wexler called the New York City Police Department to help regain control of the campus. After one instance in which students barricated her in her office and accused her of colluding with "pigs," she told The New York Times that her experience being condemned by conservatives when she was at Webster College prepared her for the turmoil at Hunter College. She attested, "Zealotry is the enemy. The far right called you every name, from daughter to Beelzebub on, and you learned to take it." After bringing in the police, Wexler cancelled classes and on several occasions, closed down the entire school to restore order. Through negotiations with students and faculty, she was able to restore the college to its normal routine.

In response to protests in many City University of New York colleges, the Board of Higher Education ordered the implementation of a new Open Enrollment Policy effective September 1970. This policy increased university-wide enrollment, changed the racial diversity of the student body, and altered the undergraduate curriculum to include courses on African-American studies, Puerto Rican studies, and women's studies. Despite facing opposition from members of the student body, Wexler avidly supported the changes and was instrumental in the policy's implementation.

After the rocky beginning to her presidency, Wexler was able to focus on academic improvements, especially focusing on the college's healthcare curriculum. She expanded healthcare training, obtained funding to create a gerontology program in the School of Social Work, and started a women's studies program. In June 1974 she accomplished the incorporation of the Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing into Hunter College's Division of the Schools of Health Professions. In 1978, Wexler became the first woman elected to the board of directors of United Technologies Corporation. St. Louis Chapter of the Association for Women in Communications Newsmaker Award, 1965 Member, Academy of Missouri Squires, 1966 Harper's Bazaar Woman of Accomplishment, 1967 New York University School of Education Annual Award for Creative Leadership in Education, 1968 YWCA Elizabeth Cutter Morrow Award, 1968 University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education National Award of Distinction from the Alumni Association, 1979 Webster University Distinguished Alumna/Alumnus Award, 1985 Abram L. Sachar Silver Medallion, Brandeis University National Women's Committee, 1988 St. Louis Chapter of the American Society for the Technion, Albert Einstein Award, 1989 Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management International Executive of the Year Award, 1990

Honorary degrees Doctor of Humane Letters, Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1966 Doctor of Humane Letters, Colorado College, 1967 Doctor of Laws, Skidmore College, 1967 Doctor of Humanities, University of Michigan, 1967 Doctor of Humane Letters, Brandeis University, 1968 Doctor of Laws, Franklin & Marshall College, 1968 Doctor of Science, Central Michigan University, 1970 Doctor of Laws, Temple University, 1970 Doctor of Humane Letters, Syracuse University, 1971 Doctor of Laws, Smith College, 1975 Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Pennsylvania, 1979 Doctor of Divinity, Lafayette College, 1990 Doctor of Humane Letters, University of South Florida, 1991 Doctor of Laws, Webster University, 2007