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Cardinal Stritch University and its closure is a family affair for one local parent and child

Monica Kling-Garcia (left) and their mother Kelley Kling in 2014 after Monica graduated from Cardinal Stritch University.
Photo courtesy of Kelley Kling
Monica Kling-Garcia (left) and their mother Kelley Kling in 2014 after Monica graduated from Cardinal Stritch University.

Cardinal Stritch University served as a home for many, and for one family it has held special significance in their lives.

Monica Kling-Garcia graduated from Stritch in 2014 where they majored in Religious Studies and minored in Communication Arts. After getting a masters degree abroad they returned to the school to work in the admissions department. Around the same time about 10 years ago, their mother Kelley Kling started working as an adjunct in the communications department.

Both enjoyed a time period as colleagues on campus, and Kelley just wrapped up her final semester of being a faculty member at Stritch. Monica now works as the lead staff chaplain at UnityPoint Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wis. Both say the closure of the school is impacting their family in many ways, and it's also reminding them of their unique experience of working together.

For Monica, it was very special to see their mother build a her own space and community at the university. Prior to going to Europe for their master's degree, Monica would typically hear remarks about how much they reminded other people in the Stritch community of Kelley, or that their laugh was so similar people would get confused as to who they heard down the hallway. Once Monica returned from England and began working at the school, "very quickly I was known for being 'Kelley's kid' more than my mom was being known as 'Monica's mom,'" they recall.

"It was nice because Stritch was such an important place to me as a student, and to be able to not only get to share that experience of working there with my mom, but to really get to see it become my mom's almost more instead of mine was really awesome," Monica adds.

For Kelley, working with her child "was kind of a magical time," especially because it provided a unique opportunity to see the adult that Monica had grown to become. "It was really neat to be able to get that experience to see Monica do adult work and be in a career, and that's not something that most parents get to actually witness firsthand," she says.

Working together developed another layer to their relationship. With Monica working in admissions and Kelly working in communications neither were in the same department, which created a healthy space. Still, they were able to spend time together and regularly met for lunch at the Doctor Dog across the street or share a bagged lunch in one another's offices.

"We had this shared place that was important to us that was different than even from other people in our family. We both kind of could speak the same language about Stritch," says Monica.

When the announcement came that Cardinal Stritch would be closing, Kelley says there was an extreme sense of sadness.

"You could just tell like every day you were there, every class, every event you went to — there's just this like, just really sad energy for what's not going to be there anymore," she says.

Monica adds, "It largely feels like they're closing a hometown in a way... I feel like I wouldn't be able to be where I am in my life being a hospital chaplain, being an ordained minister if I had stayed working at Stritch ... but I also wouldn't be here where I am if I had never been to Stritch in the first place."

"So generally I feel sad, it was also hard knowing my mom wasn't going to be able to work there anymore," Monica says.

Kelley agrees with Monica that it feels like losing a hometown. "It's not like I just lost my job ... I can't go back and visit. That also is it, too. I don't get to do the things even at all anymore in that space... That's a very strange thing when it comes to a university, you don't ever put that into your thought process."

While Monica continues in their current position as a hospital chaplain, Kelley is starting to take time to ponder what path to venture down next. "I need a little grace right now, don't know. I have students who just had the rug pulled out from under them. And so actually, this week is probably the first week where I'm actually starting to think about [next steps]," she says. "For me I had to put all my energy towards [my students]."

Creating a caring community was certainly at the core of the school's identity that resonated the most with the Kling family. This environment helped thousands of students feel at home and create the family-like atmosphere that Cardinal Stritch became known for. For Monica and Kelley, it was an experience they're incredibly grateful for.

Monica says, "We kind of had a unique position of, you know, being family together but also building a family there together — me and my mom."

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Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.
Emily is WUWM's education reporter and a news editor.
Rob is All Things Considered Host and Digital Producer.
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