There were, however, conditions. Female students were asked to sit at

the back of the class so as not to distract the male students. They dined separately with the sisters at the convent. Between classes, they were given the top floor of the new science building as a study hall. Women were

in, but not fully a part of campus life at Saint Dunstans University. Yet, they mixed in with male students during Thursday afternoon socials at the Holy Name Hall, attended sanctioned sporting events and could meet with their male classmates on the few free nights that residential students were allowed.

By the fall of 1943, four new lay women joined the four returning coeds, but in the fall of 1944, enrolment had dropped to just five women, two lay and three religious, out of a total enrolment of 201 students.

The war had resulted in a new recognition of the role that women could play in society and in the economy. Women entered the labour force in record numbers to replace the men who had gone overseas and to add their help to wartime production. Now, they looked forward to continued participation in the economy, and many looked to post—secondary education as the means of qualifying them for better jobs.

The end of the war, a resurgence in the economy and the provision

of Sedes Sapientia Scholarships for women students generated a new wave of coeds. In the fall of 1945, a total of 18 women entered Saint Dunstans University. It is perhaps no coincidence that five of those — Alice McCloskey, Annette MacDonald, Catherine Smith, Joyce Jay and Kathleen Keefe — were all from the Kinkora school where the Sisters of Saint Martha supported and encouraged them to further their education.

One of the overarching themes of the life of Kathleen Murphy was her, and her family’s commitment, to education. As Prince Edward Island slowly made the transition from the agrarian to the industrial, and then to the knowledge economy, it became abundantly clear that education was the key to greater opportunity. Kathleen’s father John himself attended St. Dunstans for the 1891—92 university year which would have been a rare thing to do at that time, and most of his sons and daughters

78 KATHLEEN MURPHY, MAITRIARC