Decades After ‘Fairyland Experience,’ Dozens of Rosary in Fribourg Alumnae Reconnected to Share Memories of Semesters Abroad

When Patricia Tabet ’52 was a young student living in Rosary College’s Villa des Fougéres in Fribourg, Switzerland, lights out really meant lights out.

“At 10:30 p.m., the main switch was pulled. In order to study, many of us lit candles and studied by candlelight,” Tabet recalled, chuckling at the memory. “But that’s how we did it!”

Even 74 years later, Tabet’s memories of what she calls a “fairyland experience” are clear, from the villa itself to the names of her travel companions and the details of an extracurricular adventure or two.

“It’s something that is with me for all my life,” Tabet said. This is a sentiment echoed by many alumnae of “Rosary in Fribourg,” the college’s very first study abroad program.

Last November, nearly 50 alumnae from the 1950s through the end of the 1970s attended a reunion at Dominican University organized by the Office of Alumnae/i Relations.

“We decided to organize a Fribourg Reunion because the program is one of the most cherished memories of our alumnae and because the relationships between groups who attended Fribourg have remained strong for many decades,” said Dr. Mark Carbonara, assistant vice president of advancement at Dominican.

The afternoon included a luncheon in the Noonan Reading Room, reflections from alumnae and words from Dominican University President Dr. Glena G. Temple on the importance of studying abroad today. Photos and artifacts from Fribourg history were also shared.

“The look on attendees’ faces when they saw the actual sign from the villa in Fribourg or pictures of their teachers was truly heartwarming,” Carbonara said. “It showed the impact the program had on these women in their most formative years.”

Sarah Keane Davy ’70, a Fribourg alumna who spoke at the reunion, said she enjoyed connecting with alumnae from earlier decades and hearing their stories.

“They had the same joy in their voices when they talked about their experiences and their independence,” she said. “You could see there was a bond that went from year to year to year.”

Sisters Chosen to Lead

For 55 years, between 1924 and 1979, Rosary College students had the option of spending their junior year at the Institut des Hautes Études of Fribourg.

The institute’s property, which included a towering villa where the students resided, was owned by the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, who also ran the program.

According to an account from Sr. Mary Eva McCarty, OP, published in the book The Sinsinawa Dominicans: Outlines of 20th Century Development, 1901-1949, the Sisters acquired the property at the recommendation of the Rev. John T. McNicholas, OP. The priest was acting at the direction of the Dominican Master General and the Rev. Joachim Berthier, OP, the founder of the Institut des Hautes Études of Fribourg, who wished to see a Dominican order from the United States take over the school and the property, which was about to be sold by its current owners.

“Father McNicholas had been asked what Sisters would be best suited for the work,” Sr. Mary Eva’s account said. “He had, ‘without a moment’s hesitation,’ recommended the Dominicans of Sinsinawa.” World War I was raging, and while Switzerland was a neutral country, traveling to Europe during such a volatile time carried dangers. At the request of Mother Samuel Coughlin, OP, Sr. George Adamson, OP, and Sr. Mary Grace James, OP, set off on the precarious journey. After a safe arrival and much prayer and pondering, they agreed to purchase the institute in August 1917, according to Dominican University archives.

When Rosary College students started arriving in 1924, they studied English, literature, art, history, French and German. They also attended classes at the nearby University of Fribourg.

The outbreak of World War II in 1939 interrupted the program, but Rosary students returned in the fall of 1947, according to archived correspondence. Just three years later, Patricia Tabet arrived to study there.

“I enjoyed that year in Fribourg very much,” she said. “We did a lot of travel. I saw most of Europe while I was there, including Vienna, which was under the four powers at the time—England, France, Russia and the U.S. We always had to have a chaperone. We weren’t allowed to travel alone.”

An art student, Tabet studied under a porcelain painter and relied on the French she’d previously learned to complete her courses.

Tabet’s stories of her year in Fribourg and her travels around postwar Europe rubbed off on her eldest child, Veronica Tabet ’80, who studied there during the spring semester of 1979.

“Fribourg seemed like a magical place because of how fondly my mom talked about it,” Veronica said. It did live up to her expectations, though her experience was very different, she said. The villa, that grand building with its distinctive tower, had closed and students were housed in apartments.

“About once a month we visited the apartment of the Sisters in charge for a community dinner and that was always very, very nice,” Veronica said. “Sister Candida (Lund, OP), the very powerful president of Rosary, visited us, and that was a wonderful experience, having dinner with her in the Sisters’ apartment.” She recalled spending time in the “picturesque” town of Fribourg with its cobblestone streets; attending a traditional costume party that dated back to Medieval times and featured music and dancing in the streets; and frequent trips to other European countries with a Eurail pass.

Veronica described November’s reunion as “heartwarming.” “Everyone was reminiscing and smiling,” she said. “I think everyone’s hearts were filled with those beautiful experiences from long ago—our glory days.”

Veronica Tabet was among the last of the Rosary College students to attend Fribourg. The program ended in 1979 and the property was sold in the early 1980s.

Correspondence from the 1970s, kept in Dominican’s archives, notes a steady decline in enrollment due to the availability of other European study programs for American students and financial challenges caused by the inflation of the Swiss franc.

'It's Life-Changing'

Diane Miller Daly ’70 also studied in Fribourg and, with Davy, shared reflections during November’s reunion.

Daly was drawn to Fribourg thanks to an older cousin who had studied there. She began studying French in high school, hoping she, too, would spend her junior year abroad.

“We’ve had many Fribourg reunions over the years and we’re still in close touch with not only our Rosary friends, but our friends who went to Providence, LaSalle and other colleges,” she said. “I think we all shared something in our experience and I think that brought us close.”

Family connections brought Davy to Fribourg in 1968. Sr. George, who traveled to Fribourg in 1917, is a cousin, while a great-aunt was a teacher in the program.

“She stayed at the villa with the nuns a couple of times and loved being there,” Davy recalled of her great-aunt.

It was the relationships she formed with her classmates that stand out in her mind, Davy said.

“We became each other’s family and those relationships were very, very strong,” she said. “They have lasted until this day.”

Both Daly and Davy traveled across Europe during their time in Fribourg. One trip for Davy involved going behind the Iron Curtain into Eastern Europe, where she and her classmates stayed with a family near the border with the Soviet Union.

“It was wonderful seeing the warmth and graciousness of people who lived so differently than we did,” she recalled.

Studying abroad allows students to have experiences of which they never dreamed, Davy said.

“It brings independence to a new level,” she said. “It’s like jumping into deep water and knowing you can swim. It’s life-changing.”

The Dominican community remembers Patricia Tabet, who passed away on April 13, 2024.