A Letter From the Class of 1976 to 2026 Graduates

Dear Class of 2026,

First, thank you to the graduates, their families and everyone at St. Bede for inviting the Class of 1976 to your Senior Farewell Mass. I was honored to be asked to speak for our class, and to think about what graduating from St. Bede has meant to me.

We were lucky and brave. The almost-40 freshman girls who walked onto the St. Bede campus in the fall of 1972 didn’t know what to expect. Starting high school is daunting enough without being among the first girls in the Academy’s 80-year history. We were lucky because our families supported our dreams, financially and emotionally. We were lucky to be the right age when St. Bede opened its doors to girls. And we were beyond lucky to immediately begin building strong friendships with girls from all over the Illinois Valley. (I must say that the bravest were the girls who transferred into St. Bede as sophomores, juniors and seniors.)

My family had a lot of history at St. Bede, and I really wanted to attend. So, as a fourth grader, I wrote a letter to Abbot David Duncan asking him to please reconsider the all-boys policy. He replied, thanking me and promising he would think about it. It was probably just a coincidence, but St. Bede went co-ed just in time for my freshman year.

It’s said that attending St. Bede changes you, and that’s true. The small class sizes fostered a closeness and camaraderie that, for the men and women in our class, has endured for five decades. Beloved traditions like Spirit Day and Homecoming bonded the whole student body. Our religious training emphasized that faith required us to care for and protect those in our high school, our communities, and beyond. But another truth is that each class of students changes St. Bede.

As we relatively few girls in the early 1970s got to know our classmates, teachers and administrators — and they saw how hard we were willing to work and how much we could contribute to the culture of St. Bede — I believe we made the Academy a kinder, more inclusive place. That isn’t to say we were angels. We caused more than our share of mischief, and the priests and brothers, especially, were incredibly patient with us.

Our most public prank was staging a fake contest for Homecoming Queen at the Variety Show in the fall of 1974. The MC, Jay Miklavcic, announced the contest to groans from the crowd, then called several girls from our class to the stage. Then — a surprise! — he announced that St. Bede’s first-ever Homecoming Queen was Roberta Flamingo, a character created by our classmate Margaret Martin. She ran to the stage in a long, shiny gown sporting a beehive hairdo, long white gloves and sparkly cat glasses. Once everyone was in on the joke, they forgave us and cheered raucously. Class of 2026, you, too, have changed St. Bede for the better. My classmates and I were honored to meet several of you at a reception earlier. Your achievements in academics, athletics, arts and community service make us proud.

Welcome to the Alumni family!

Mary Brolley