Virginia Deutsch was born in Chicago to parents who came from a farm region of Austria but married in the United States. The middle sister of three girls, she was nurtured into the deep faith of her parents.
Virginia grew up in the time of national churches, and her family belonged to a Polish parish. Hearing her class pray in Polish at the Forty Hours Devotion, her father became concerned that she would not know who she was praying to. The family changed to an Irish parish, where English was the language for prayer.
Virginia’s earliest sense that God might be calling her occurred on her twelfth birthday. The house was warm and guests were arriving. She took the winter coats of the guests to the cool bedroom. As she placed the coats on the bed, she reflected that gifts get old and people die. What lasts forever? Only God.
Virginia followed her older sister Ann when she entered Alvernia High School and there she met the School Sisters of St. Francis. She had Sister Helena Steffensmeier as her teacher in elective courses. It was Sister Helena who brought her to the convent, and they maintained a close relationship throughout Helena’s life.
Another important Alvernia influence was Sister Rebecca Brenner, who helped her to gain a clear social awareness. She also remembers the rich resources of the city that her teachers introduced her to, like going to the Art Institute of Chicago to check out slides of paintings for presentations in Sister Helena’s art history classes.
After graduation from Alvernia, Virginia came to Milwaukee to join the School Sisters of St. Francis. At reception, she was given the name Sister Bernardin. She recalls her formation years as joyful. She liked the structure of the routines, which appealed to the European sense of order, and she loved the atmosphere of prayer and closeness to God.
During her formation years, she was also a student at Alverno College, with a major in English and minor in history, as well as preparation to become a teacher. She “stayed in” until graduation and was sent to Pius XI High School to teach English and religion from 1953-1958.
She was then sent to the Catholic University of America to pursue a doctorate in Education. Alverno College was developing its programs and Sister Augustine Scheele thought it would be good for another sister in the department to have a doctorate in the education field when the accreditation agency came to review the programs. Later, when Sister Austin Doherty developed the Psychology program, Sister Bernardin moved to that department and taught courses in developmental psychology, educational psychology, and the psychology of learning.
In the early 1970s, Sister Bernardin, as an active member of the faculty, helped to develop what came to be known as the Alverno learning process, an integration of the fields of study at the college and a set of abilities for learning and applying learning across the lifespan. Sister Bernardin chaired the faculty group that developed the social interaction ability, so necessary in teaching, nursing, and across the professional roles taken by graduates.
Sister Bernardin’s leadership was always collaborative and supportive of other faculty. Her gift of openness to others’ ideas enriched the development of materials to support all faculty. In addition, she and her team worked with the Alverno Assessment Center to train hundreds of external assessors, who met with students and gave them feedback on their performance in a social interaction simulation. Those professionals from the community, by their giving of their time, taught students the importance of being able to interact effectively.
Sister Bernardin also contributed significantly to the development of meaningful assessment within her discipline of psychology. For example, in the final exam in her developmental psychology course she asked the students to review the concepts and theories of the course and then “Take a Four-Year-Old to Lunch.” They were asked to connect the concepts and theories to the child’s behavior. Students in her classes found that, whether they were 19-year-old sophomores or women who had raised families before returning to school, each could demonstrate her learning and integrate her experience in this kind of hands-on assessment.
Sister Bernardin is respected and seen as a mentor to faculty in psychology and across the college. The Psychology Department named the Deutsch Award in her honor, an award given at graduation to those students who show the most significant growth over their college years. The college also awarded her the “Spirit of St. Francis Award” for her embodiment of Franciscan values. She recently was part of a panel of “pioneers” addressing Alverno faculty about the development of the Alverno abilities.
Always an advocate for students, Sister Bernardin has spent her active semi-retirement in giving service to students through the Student Development and Success Department. For many years she managed a rotating fund that students could access if they needed money for books or transportation or food. Once they were able, they would pay the money back and it could then go to another student in need.
Today, she is available as a listening ear for students, holding some hours at Alverno each week for this purpose. She makes it her business to meet new employees and she attends all-faculty and all-college meetings. She remains a vibrant presence on campus.
Sister Bernardin believes religious life helps her to remain focused on mission. She nurtures that life through prayer, sacraments, and reading. Her current book is The Gift of Peace by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago.