CSJ History
In 1967 Sr. Raymunde McKay, RSHM, President of Marymount College, located then in Palos Verdes, extended an invitation to Sr. Mary Felix Montgomery, CSJ, General Superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, to join in their affiliation with Loyola University of Los Angeles. In 1968 the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange partnered in the governing and staffing of Marymount College as it affiliated with Loyola University and moved to Westchester.
Simultaneously St. Joseph College of Orange, a four year liberal arts college for women religious sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, began an affiliation with Marymount College. It became one of two branch campuses of Marymount College. In 1970 St. Joseph College of Orange was renamed Marymount College of Orange. It remained operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange and ceased to offer undergraduate degrees. College courses were offered to men and women during the summers.
With the merger of Loyola University and Marymount College in 1973, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange joined the Society of Jesus and the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary as one of the sponsoring religious communities of Loyola Marymount University. Marymount College of Orange was renamed the Orange Campus of Loyola Marymount University. The Orange Campus offered continuing education and summer courses to men and women through the 1980s.
Currently, the CSJ Center for Reconciliation and Justice at Loyola Marymount University offers a forum for dialogue, a place of education and a resource for reflective action, to promote unity among all persons and with God. The Center gives tangible witness to the presence and tradition of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange at LMU and in a wounded world in need of compassion and healing.
‘CSJ’ refers to ‘Congregation of St. Joseph’ ‘and is the set of initials used by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange for identification.