AbbyMcGuire

The Servants of Mary clap for Homeboy Industries during their presentation on Aug. 26. Photo by Kelsey Asselin.

Each Marian girl has a story to tell about the Servants of Mary. From seeing Sr. Margaret Buchta at lunch, to visiting the motherhouse chapel for class Mass, the Servants of Mary play a vital role in Marian’s culture. In the next few years, their physical presence on campus will be coming to an end-but don’t worry. Their place in Marian’s history won’t be forgotten. 

This isn’t an out of the blue decision. The sisters have been planning this for two years and have been aware of its eventuality since the late 1990s. 

Their moving process will be at least a year and a half long, as the sisters hope to be settled in Immanuel Village by December 2026. The sisters chose Immanuel Village because of their continuum of care system and because it is a Catholic organization. 

It’s a big move. There are many other members of the Servants of Mary throughout America that have to be transported to Immanuel Village. Moving the 17 sisters still living in the convent is the first priority. From there, the 5 sisters in Detroit will come, followed by the 12 living in apartments across Omaha. Currently, 14 sisters are already in a care program. 

Now, what will Marian do with the convent space? As of now, they are not sure if they will keep the building and renovate or start fresh. However, they do know that they want the building to be education focused and something that will benefit the entire community, not only Marian students. 

President Michele Ernst urges students to reflect on the Servants of Mary “We want the students to think about how the Servants of Mary have impacted their lives, and give credit to them for being present and making a difference at Marian.” Their legacy will be continued in Marian education by the teachers and administrators. 

When informed of the Sisters’ plans to move out, the Marian administration started taking steps to preserve not only their legacy, but the influence of Catholic teaching. They started this process by researching other schools who have had to make a similar transition. Marian intends to create a relationship of mutual learning between the schools, so they can all help one another adjust. 

Marian wants to continue working on building Catholic identity on campus. They have worked with Dr. Max Engel, a theology professor at Creighton, to create a cohesive plan on how to incorporate our core values and servite charisms throughout the curriculum.  So far, they have had several inservice trainings and working sessions for faculty and staff. This year’s curriculum reflects an emphasis on these topics and they will continue to work on it going forward. Teachers have also added additional prayers in their classrooms, and there is more religious art and symbolism throughout the school.

The anchor of the Sisters’ religious mission is in their name: Servants. So, the class Christian Leadership and Action was created in the second semester of last year in order to help Marian students get involved in social justice. Mrs. Amy McLeay is leading the class this year, and she wants students to take the role of community servers. This class is a good opportunity for the non-Catholic students to interact with the legacy of the Servants of Mary because a student doesn’t need to be Catholic in order to participate in enacting social justice.  

Increased prayer implementation is a campus wide trend, and can be seen throughout several Marian events, like the National Honor Society induction. They have added a blessing for athletes, coaches and spectators to the pre-game announcement for all sporting events hosted at Marian.  Another noticeable effect of these changes are the graphics that have been added to the walls. These graphics symbolize Marian core values and tradition. The administration plans to have artworks cover any big open spaces, and they currently have 70% of all spaces complete.

The administration is determined to not let the legacy of the Servants of Mary be forgotten, and will continue to implement more student interactions with their mission over the next few years.