Fifty years is a long time. It’s long enough for fashions to cycle back into vogue, longer than some marriages and more than double the time Dan Rather had anchored CBS Evening News. You can see a lot in five decades. Now celebrating her 50th professional year at Saint Louis University – and her 54th overall here – Mary Bruemmer has seen plenty.

Undergraduate Life

Bruemmer initially came to the University as a student in 1938. The young girl from Madison, IL paved the way for her two younger brothers to attend SLU.

“As far as dad and mother were concerned, there was no question that we would one day go to college,” Bruemmer said. “I think I also was encouraged by the nuns at my grade school. They saw enough potential in me that they just somehow planted in my mind that I would go on to college.”

Bruemmer enrolled in the School of Education and Social Sciences. Women were not admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences until 1949. She was one of about 40 women in the School, and she had originally thought she would go into teaching.

Bruemmer made the most of her time at SLU, taking top positions at the University News and Fleurde-Lis literary magazine. By senior year, Bruemmer had decided that she didn’t enjoy teaching and prayed to find a different path after college. She was noticed by many, and by the time she graduated in 1942, SLU administrators had offered her a job as dean of women. She refused, believing that she was too young and needed a master’s degree to fill the role capably.

A Career of Learning

After rebuffing SLU’s advances, Bruemmer organized youth activities for the Catholic Youth Organization in Springfield, Ill., and then became continuity director of a radio station. She had not worked in radio previously, but her supervisor said that she would learn on the job. She did, becoming so good that many of the station’s male business contacts sent her cigars and ties at Christmas because they assumed she was a man.

“In my entire working life, I have never felt discriminated against because I was a woman,” Bruemmer said. “I guess I chose the types of positions where I could excel. I never felt the ‘glass ceiling.’”

Bruemmer gave her all to each position, and when she felt she had done everything possible, she moved to a new challenge. After the radio station, she did publicity for the Springfield Public Library and established an adult education center at the Springfield junior college, volunteering her free time to do promotion and publicity for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and that city’s Municipal Opera.

The Return to SLU

As Bruemmer looked for a new challenge in 1956, SLU again approached her about returning to the University, this time to open and run its first residence hall for women.

She asked the University for $100 and traveled by bus to Purdue, Marquette and other schools to figure out how she was going to do such a thing. She returned with the information to give SLU women a quality experience, remembering how much she enjoyed her student days and the University’s Jesuit, Catholic mission.

Bruemmer soon realized that accommodations for women were getting tighter as more women sought education. She pushed for more space, and in 1960, the University purchased the Melbourne Hotel which became Rogers Hall (now Jesuit Hall).

In 1967, Bruemmer became dean of women. She also advised Gamma Pi Epsilon, then the women’s counterpart to the Jesuit honor society, Alpha Sigma Nu. Bruemmer was there when the two sections merged nationally, attending national meetings and encouraging the women to support the merger. The merger occurred in 1972, once all Jesuit schools admitted women.

In 1976, Bruemmer’s responsibilities expanded yet again, when she became dean of student affairs. She oversaw housing, student organizations and Busch Memorial Center (now Busch Student Center), all while seeing the University through some tricky budget situations. She kept the title until 1985, when she retired for the first time.

Retirement didn’t take, however, as Barry McGannon, S.J., then vice president for University development, asked her to be his special assistant for stewardship. She held the position until 1990, when she retired a second time and became a full-time volunteer at the University.

As a volunteer, Bruemmer is the guiding force of SLU’s Women’s Commission, which she founded in 1973, and continues working with Alpha Sigma Nu as coordinator for SLU’s chapter.

Award-Winning Style

Bruemmer has been honored with many awards, including the 1990 Fleur-de-Lis Award (now the Sword of Ignatius Loyola, the University’s highest honor).

“What a surprise that was. I have been very blessed and very well thanked,” Bruemmer said. “Of course, the biggest thanks is that they keep letting me come here every day.”

In 1980, SLU’s Student Government Association established the Mary A. Bruemmer Award, given annually to a non-faculty member for outstanding contributions to student life. SLU conferred an honorary doctorate of humanities upon Bruemmer in 2000, a grand gesture coinciding with her 80th birthday. Last year, the national board of Alpha Sigma Nu recognized Bruemmer with the Peg Fennig Award, which honors a member who is “active in leading in the pursuit of scholarship, loyalty and service,” among other traits.

Friend to All

Through it all, Bruemmer’s heart has belonged to the students. She has spent her administrative and volunteer years forming strong bonds with them, offering friendship, advice and plenty of love. Bruemmer has made the fleur-delis – a big part of St. Louis and of Saint Louis University– her symbol, as everyone associated with her knows. She has received countless items featuring the fleur-de-lis from former students and colleagues, and the gifts continue to pour in. Part of her extensive collection is on display in the Saint Louis University Museum of Art.

“I told the students, if they caught me not wearing a fleur-de-lis, I’d buy them lunch,” Bruemmer said.

Bruemmer wouldn’t even be here had it not been for the love and the calling she felt in 50-plus years at SLU. She could be volunteering for the St. Louis Zoo or the Missouri Botanical Garden. But she remains at SLU because she’s needed and because she’s simply not finished here. Perhaps one day, she’ll retire for a third and final time, but not yet.

“I’ve been blessed with good health and good energy, so where else better might I spend my time than SLU?” Bruemmer asked. “When I came here, it was like I planted myself, and SLU just kept pouring in things and making me grow.”

Join Mary and Make a Gift NOW!