This Alumni of Distinction profile was originally published in Universitas 2025-26, Notre Dame of Maryland University’s award-winning magazine.
“I developed the passion to empower women at Notre Dame – the faculty there empowered me.”
NDMU has always felt like home for Patricia “Pat” McLaughlin, SSND ’66. She spent her first three years of high school on NDMU’s campus as a student at Notre Dame Preparatory School. She completed her senior year at Notre Dame Prep’s current location in Towson.
She returned to NDMU to study English, attracted by the department’s renowned faculty, including the iconic author and poet Sister Maura Eichner. “I guess you could say Sister Maura brought me back,” said Sister Pat. “It was just a fabulous faculty all around in the English Department. I just loved everything about Notre Dame.
Little did Sister Pat know that the seeds planted during her time at NDMU would blossom later in life, inspiring her to help other women reach their full potential. Sister Pat joined the staff of NDMU’s Columns newspaper, working under the guidance of the faculty leader, Carol Hurd, who helped her envision her future.
“She had a great influence on me. She just was so encouraging and empowering,” she said. “She had been in the Peace Corps, and that piqued my interest. I eventually decided my calling was with the School Sisters of Notre Dame [SSND].”
Sister Pat became an SSND as a junior at NDMU, pledging to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ and respond to the urgent needs of the community. After graduating from NDMU, she taught high school and then returned to NDMU on the invitation of former President Sister Kathleen Feeley, SSND ’50. She served as the campus minister and later dean of students. Her career took an unexpected turn when she read a report about women experiencing homelessness and the community support they needed to get a fresh start. She searched for opportunities to work with women in need when she found an opening for the director position at My Sister’s Place Women’s Center, started by the Catholic Charities of Baltimore. She applied and got the job.
From there, she served on the SSND Provincial Council before becoming the executive director at Caroline Center, an SSND-founded nonprofit that she led for 22 years. Sister Pat expanded the center’s award-winning education and career preparation program for women to include training for certified nursing assistants and pharmacy technicians.
“My work at My Sister’s Place and Caroline Center was really about empowering women,” she said. “Those dear women needed the affirmation to know that they were loved, no matter what their circumstances were. At Caroline Center, it was also the opportunity to give women a chance for a meaningful career. Those experiences were lifechanging for me. I developed the passion to empower women at Notre Dame – the faculty there empowered me.”
Her work with NDMU continued with two stints on the Board of Trustees – once in the mid-1990s and again in the
2010s – culminating with her serving the Board chair. While Sister Pat’s was chair, NDMU won the 2025 John W. Nason Award for Board Leadership, recognizing innovative and effective college and university governing boards.
“Serving on the Board came from a desire to give back to this institution that had done so much for me,” she said. “To see the growth in Notre Dame over time was just so exciting. It was gratifying for me to facilitate some of that growth.”
As a leader, Sister Pat learned to listen to the people around her and draw from their insights and wisdom. She challenges young learners to make the most of their NDMU experience by taking advantage of the many opportunities afforded to them. In reflecting on her NDMU education, she realizes that the seeds planted in her as a student continued to bear fruit throughout her life
“You have to believe you’re at Notre Dame for a reason, and that reason may be revealed to you while you’re there,” she said. “Though chances are, it’s not going to be revealed until much later in life. But when you look back on your life after Notre Dame, you’ll say, ‘That’s where it came from. That’s what started it.’”
Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best “Regional Universities North” by U.S. News & World Report.
