Dean of Identity | Mr Charles Brauer

 What’s ‘right’ with this picture?

How many woman can you see in this image? 

Five? Six? Seven? Our Catholic tradition is grounded in the story of women. Although our initial view of our Church may resonate patriarchy, if we look beyond this and to the foundation story of our faith, we arrive at Mary, the mother of Jesus and the first disciple of Jesus. The same can be said of our Edmund Rice tradition, artistically represented in the above Edmund Rice Icon. 
Three women are central to inspiring Edmund Rice to commit his life to the education of the poor and marginalised. His mother modelled ‘walking the talk’ of the Gospel with welcoming strangers into the Rice household. The love for his wife and the pain of her death, drew Edmund into the heart of the marginalised working class of Ireland where humility was the bright light of humanity. The love of his daughter reaffirmed for Edmund his call to commit his life to being an advocate for a just education for young people. Just as Jesus and Edmund, we too are not immune to the power of woman. 

Who have been the significant women in your life who have brought the best out in you?

Proudly pinned to each red and black tie throughout today was a purple ribbon, a symbol of our commitment to acknowledging the role women play in our lives – our personal, social and family lives. This deliberate action by our College community provided us with the opportunity to promote a balanced and ‘right’ perspective of the synergy of women and men. Furthermore, we have been encouraged to consider how, as an individual, our hearts and minds have been nurtured by the significant women in our lives

Just as our Edmund Rice Icon ‘rightly’ represents the powerful impact of woman, if we were to create an image of our Terrace Family we too would have a ‘right’ representation of woman; our mums, our sisters, our teachers, our aunties, our grandmothers, our staff, our volunteers and our friends. 

Happy International Women’s Day to all our Terrace women. May we not rely on this one day to recognise women, rather, may we use the importance of this day as a reminder of the significant women in our lives each and every day.


The Good News of Terrace –The Terrace Gentleman embracing International Women’s Day