IND Alumnae Association establishes scholarship endowments at Mercy, Mount de Sales

The Institute of Notre Dame Alumnae Association has established endowed scholarship funds at Mercy High School in Baltimore and Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville, providing a combined $50,000 investment to support incoming students with family ties to the former Institute of Notre Dame.

The association announced that each school will receive a $25,000 endowed scholarship fund designed to help students connected to IND continue a tradition of all-girls Catholic education after the Baltimore school’s closure in 2020.

The scholarships will be available to students who have a familial relationship with an IND alumna. Admissions teams at Mercy and Mount de Sales will begin working with eligible students starting in the 2026-27 school year, with scholarship funds expected to be distributed beginning in 2027-28

The initiative is intended to preserve the legacy of the Institute of Notre Dame, which served Baltimore students for 173 years before closing in June 2020.

“Although IND closed its doors, the spirit and legacy of IND live on through its alumnae, IND’s Alumnae Association as a nonprofit and through the many women whose lives were shaped by a rigorous, Catholic, college preparatory education,” said Debbie Henry, president of the INDAA and a member of IND’s Class of 1993. “These endowed funds are a meaningful way for us to provide immediate impact to students in our communities while also investing in the future, which is something very important to us. We are deeply grateful to Mercy High School and Mount de Sales Academy for helping us extend IND’s legacy to future generations.”

The Institute of Notre Dame was one of Baltimore’s longest-serving all-girls Catholic schools. The alumnae association, now a nonprofit organization with approximately 8,000 members, has focused on preserving the school’s legacy through educational and community initiatives since the school’s closure.

Leaders at both recipient schools said the scholarships will strengthen ties among Catholic educational institutions while providing financial assistance to students and families.

“We are deeply grateful for the Institute of Notre Dame Alumnae Association’s generous gift and for its commitment to keeping the IND legacy alive,” said Mercy High School President Mary Beth Lennon, a member of Mercy’s Class of 1985. “This scholarship will provide meaningful support to students and families while honoring the longstanding relationship between Mercy and IND. We may have been rivals on the basketball court for 54 years, but we will always be partners in Catholic education.”

At Mount de Sales Academy, Dominican Sister Ann Dominic Mahowald described the endowment as an investment in future generations of young women.

“The alumnae of the Institute of Notre Dame are advancing the cause of Catholic education for young women and leaving a lasting legacy through the generosity of this endowment,” she said. “This gift brings hope and is a testament to the strong sisterhood emblematic of the IND Alumnae. What a blessing to see them put faith in future female leaders.”

Under the program, the endowed funds will provide scholarship support in perpetuity, subject to each school’s scholarship policies and selection criteria.

Officials from the alumnae association and both schools said they view the scholarships as more than financial aid, describing them as a lasting tribute to generations of women who have benefited from Catholic, college-preparatory education in Baltimore and to the bonds formed within that community.

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