‘Creating a sisterhood:’ A year into Marmion’s coed journey and what it means for the ‘brotherhood’

Last November, all-boys Marmion Academy announced it would go coed in 2026.

The news flabbergasted students and alumni, with many lamenting the loss of tradition and the Catholic Benedictine high school’s “brotherhood.”

One year later, shock has shifted to eager anticipation for many, as well as an acceptance that Abbot Joel Rippinger characterized as: “I trust you know what you’re doing, and we’ll support you.’”

The Aurora institution has continually evolved since opening in 1934 with various incarnations as Marmion Military Academy and a boarding school.

“Any institution has to be open to change if it’s going to be viable,” Rippinger said.

“We gave it very long and serious deliberation, and at the end we saw this was more than just about sustainability; it was for the common good and integrity of the institution now and in the future.”

80 new female students expected

The Marmion Abbey chapter of monks voted to implement a coed model on Nov. 16, 2024.

Student enrollment was steady but the school took a big hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, Rippinger said at the time.

The new direction “gave us a much better sense of being able to increase the enrollment, … and opens up new possibilities for what we know is a product people recognize as one with very high standards educationally.”

So far, 80 girls are expected to enroll in freshmen and sophomore classes starting in fall 2026. Incoming students have shadowed current ones and attended open houses.

Ninth and 10th graders would take single-gender core classes, like math, English and AP, but other activities would be coed, educators said. Juniors and seniors would share core subjects.

‘There’s President Kennedy’

“In this move, we’re not neglecting our traditions of being single-sex,” Marmion Academy President Anthony Tinerella said. “Single-sex freshman and sophomore year, that is good. But bringing them together in junior and senior year to learn how to communicate, be part of a community — that’s the real world.”

During a recent tour, Tinerella pointed to walls covered with enlarged black-and-white photos of men and boys over the course of the school’s nine decades. Women are present, but more often as dates at social events or in fine arts productions.

“There’s President Kennedy receiving a football from a student,” Tinerella said. “The priest up there is actually Father Joseph Battaglia,” a former headmaster.

The future will include girls engaging in all aspects of Marmion, including the engineering program. Inside a lab, seniors Aidan Baer and Henry Medernach worked on hypersonic drone and molecular modeling projects, respectively.

Baer is focusing on refrigerants. “I can run simulations on this … then get data on temperature, energy and all that,” he said.

Student Jozef Follman is analyzing weather forecast models. “I’m trying to figure out which one in general is more accurate,” he explained.

‘A sisterhood’

Students from Aurora’s all-girl Rosary College Prep already engage with Marmion in theater and band programs.

But sophomore Dane Feuerborn and juniors Sergio Flores and Eddie Vera were dubious at first about the change.

“I was assuming my entire (time) at high school I would be with all guys,” Vera said. “Part of the thing I love about this school is the brotherhood. I was upset because I thought we would lose the brotherhood.”

Upon meeting prospective coeds, Vera now thinks, “it’s not going to take away from the brotherhood; it’s going to create a sisterhood also with the girls.”

Likewise for Flores, who said “it opens a new chapter.”

Feuerborn hails from a family of Marmion graduates.

“Initially, I was pretty negative about it,” he said. “It was a big tradition for all of us. It was an all-guys school. It’s a very tight-knit group.”

After letting female students shadow him, “I realized that, honestly, it is very good for us to have the interaction with other genders and it gives us a different community that expands it … and makes it more diverse,” Feuerborn said.

Effect on Rosary?

The impact of Marmion’s decision on Rosary has raised concerns.

Since the decision, “our focus has remained on strengthening the mission and identity of Rosary as an all-girls Catholic college preparatory school,” Head of School Amy McMahon said last week. “Over the past year, we have continued to see strong interest from families who value the unique benefits of an all-girls educational environment — particularly the confidence, leadership, and academic growth it fosters.

“At this time, we have not seen the decision impact our enrollment in a concerning way. In fact, this year’s recruitment cycle has reinforced the continued demand for a Rosary education. We are confident in the strength and future of Rosary College Prep,” McMahon said.

Female students at Marmion “will bring an even better tone and quality to the entire community,” said Rippinger, who cited successful conversions of Catholic schools from all-male to coed, such as Notre Dame University.

“There’s so much that they bring, not just in terms of the intellectual potential but their ideas and the contributions they bring spiritually. I see our spirituality deepening and broadening with the presence of the women,” Rippinger said.