A Brief History

In 1949, Sister John Sullivan received a letter from a fellow sister in Guam. In the letter, she was told that they had just finished building a school, but had no teachers to run it. Sister John Sullivan brought this question to her students, and asked what could be done? They answered, and sent a substitute. It was with this that the Regis College Lay Apostolate program was started. That year, Marie McCormick journeyed to Guam, to teach for one year, and she eventually stayed for two years.

During its 23 years of its existence, around 225 Regis women graduates journeyed to different areas around the world to teach and immerse in different cultures. Their journeys to areas such as Jamaica and New Mexico, at both international and national locations, these women showed the world what women can do. Their service to these areas had lasting effects on the areas, and themselves. 

The service these women performed, it inspired others to do the same. Programs such as this started to spring up in colleges and universities all over the country. All of them taking the initiative of the Regis Lay Apostolate women, and going out and helping their dear neighbor.