Sister Mary Justitia Lawniczak

Sister Mary Justitia Lawniczak led the transformation of Felician College from a junior college to a four-year accredited liberal arts college. Her efforts laid the groundwork for a modern-era institute of higher learning.

While she served as the dean of Immaculate Conception Junior College, Sister Justitia envisioned a broader footprint for the school and worked to make her vision a reality. In 1967, the newly named Felician College became a four-year, accredited degree-granting college. 
 
Sister Justitia directed an extensive building program, helping to create what is now the Felician University campus — with new classrooms, labs, and a new college library. She and Mother Mary Virginette Chleblowska engaged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to divert the Saddle River to maximize land for the new college. 
 
Her faith and determination saw her through the college’s early struggles, including the flood of 1971 caused by Tropical Storm Doria. The Saddle River arose disastrously, crashing through the college’s cafeteria windows and causing major damage to the structure and grounds. Making the situation more dire, a water main broke. Waist high in water, Sister Justitia and the sisters worked with the National Guard to salvage as much as was possible. Within a week, a second rainstorm caused the already-swollen river to flood the campus again, resulting in million dollar damages.
 
Undaunted, Sister Justitia went on to serve as president of the college for 15 years, building a liberal arts college of distinction, rooted in the Catholic Felician-Franciscan tradition.