Carlow College's top nun plans a big exit

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Sister Grace Ann Geibel plans to go out in style when she resigns as president of Carlow College in June 2005.
Between now and then, Sister Grace Ann, who's been president of the Catholic women's school for nearly 17 years, plans to launch a $40 million fund drive and help the school achieve university status.
The fund drive would pay for a student union, athletic and health facilities, parking and even some retail space along Fifth Avenue in the city's Oakland section. Sister Grace Ann's announcement shocked the school's board of trustees. "She is the most important person at the college," said Dr. Judith Davenport, chairwoman of the school's board.
"She took the college from a nursing school ... and transformed it through her leadership to a major liberal arts college for women.
Enrollment has grown from about 1,000 students in 1988 to about 2,500.
The school's new president must still be a woman, but the college's bylaws have been changed so the new head won't have to belong to the Sisters of Mercy, the religious order that founded the school in 1929.