Brief History of our College

Catherine of Siena Virtual College was founded in 2005 by a group of academics who were concerned about the plight of women in the world.

It took some time to set up the infra-structures required for such an undertaking. In 2006 we established the Catherine of Siena Educational Trust in the UK as a Registered Educational Charity. A parallel Trust followed for the USA in 2007: Housetop Center for Women's Ministries, a non-profit educational corporation in the State of Ohio.

Our College began with a series of test courses in cyberspace from September 2007. On 7 January 2008 the College was formally opened to students.

Roots in the past

The roots of our Virtual College lie in the experiences of our Trustees, Patrons and Staff. We will indicate some typical examples which are purely indicative and in no way exhaustive.

• Dietze Wijngaards - van Hoesel, mother of our Project Director, helped establish one of the first Catholic schools for girls in Surabaia, Indonesia, in 1934. Forty years later John Wijngaards himself co-founded Jeevan Jyothi, the Theological Institute for Religious Women in Hyderabad, India.
• Our President, Ursula King, saw first-hand in India, when studying in Delhi in 1969, how the education of women can transform their prospects in cultures dominated by men. She witnessed the same in universities across the globe. Since then she has become one of the most prominent feminist scholars in the world.
• From 1984 Sister Mary John Mananzan, one of our Patrons, gave birth to women-centered programs in the Philippines among them GABRIELA, the Institute of Women’s Studies, Women Ecology and Wholeness Farm, and the Women Crisis Center.
• Pat Pinsent, our Academic Coordinator, discovered the merit of distance education when she obtained a BA degree by correspondence at the University of London (First Class Honours in English) in 1963. She also gained experience as a Tutor at the Open University in the UK while completing her MA and PhD Degrees (London & Surrey).
• Our Joint-Vice President, Deborah Rose-Milavec, is a dedicated feminist. Her father sent his sons to college and sent his daughters to work saying, “You’re just going to get married and have babies, so what good will a college education be for you?” Undaunted by this foolish advice, Deb went on to raise a family and to get a few degrees on her own as she did so. More recently, Deb was the administrator of a Women’s Shelter for Battered Women.

All our Patrons, Trustees and Staff members recount similar experiences. All have been involved in programmes of educating and liberating women. Our Catherine of Siena Virtual Colleges arises from the life-long commitment of many to enabling and empowering women.