Dr. Lin's Instructional Web - Barry University

... to afford the opportunity to examine the fundamental questions of human experience and the
response to these questions proposed, in the liberal arts tradition, by theology,
philosophy, the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences.
...to provide programs in the liberal arts and professional studies, at the undergraduate and
graduate levels, giving students a basis for continued personal and professional growth.
...to recognize the importance of experiential learning and on-and off-campus education of
adult students.
…to contribute to international understanding, world peace, and community self-awareness by
providing an international dimension to its student body and educational curricula.
…to demonstrate concern for the individual in an atmosphere in which students, conscious of
their own dignity as persons, become aware of their attendant responsibility toward other
persons and toward the environment.
…to encourage its students to assume community leadership in religious, social, economic, and
political affairs as a means of effecting needed social change.
HISTORY
The university bears the name of three of its Founders: Bishop Patrick Barry,
Monsignor William Barry, and Mother Mary Gerald Barry. A fourth Founder, John Graves
Thompson, for whom Thompson Hall has been named, also had a substantial role in organizing
the College. Each Founder, in addition to promoting the standards and a strong liberal arts
program for Barry College, made other outstanding contributions to the Church and education
in general.
FOUNDERS...
BISHOP PATRICK BARRY
Patrick Barry was born in West Clare, Ireland, in 1860, one of a family of eighteen
children. The future Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida was ordained in 1895.
After serving approximately twenty-five years as a missionary to the state of Florida, he was
consecrated Bishop on February 22, 1922.
It was the desire of Bishop Barry that Florida have a Catholic college for women, a
dream which was realized through his efforts and those of his co-founders. Bishop Barry
officiated at the laying and the blessing of the cornerstone of Cor Jesu Chapel on June 20, 1940
but died August 13, 1940 just prior to the opening of the college.
MOTHER MARY GERALD BARRY, O.P.
Mother Mary Gerald, a younger sister of Bishop Barry, was born in 1881 and came
to America in 1900. After entering the Adrian Dominican community in 1912, she continued
her education at Detroit Teachers College. She was elected Mother General in 1933 and
served in this capacity for twenty-eight years. Among the institutions built under her direction
were two colleges, three hospitals, a home for the aged, and a residence for business women.
In 1950 Mother Gerald was awarded the Lateran Cross by Pope Pius XII for distinguished
service to the Church. Co-founder and first president of Barry College she died November 20,
1961.
MONSIGNOR WILLIAM BARRY
William Barry, a brother of Bishop Barry and Mother Mary Gerald, was born in
West Clare, Ireland, in 1886. He studied for the priesthood in Baltimore, and was ordained
there for the Diocese of St. Augustine in 1910. After years of active missionary work in the
growing state of Florida, Monsignor Barry was appointed founder-pastor of St. Patrick’s
Church on Miami Beach. In compliance with the 1938 proposal of his brother, Patrick, and his
sister, Mother Mary Gerald, Monsignor chose the location for Barry. He remained one of
Barry’s greatest benefactors until his death on November 17, 1967.
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