Sister Madonna Fink is such an avid fan of all eight University of Saint Mary varsity sports that she’s been dubbed “The Spires’ No. 1 Fan." She devotes much of her free time to Saint Mary collegiate-athletics. In fact, she rarely misses a USM home game in any sport.

Revered by USM athletes and coaches, Sister Madonna, who has worked as the reference librarian at De Paul Library for the past three decades, has become the Spires’ Guardian Angel for these reasons:

• She bakes chocolate-chip cookies for every player for every road game
• She keeps a team roster on her night stand and says a prayer for each player daily
• She clips USM sports articles from local newspapers and gives them to athletes to send home
• She’s available "on-call" for recruiting visits and tours
• She gives the opening prayer for almost every home game
• She became the first-ever member of the USM Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999 for “meritorious
service for outstanding performance"
• In 2005, Ryan Sports Center court was named “Sister Madonna Fink Court" in honor of her
devotion to USM athletes

“I pray for the student athletes. I like to support the students in all of their activities, and sports are part of their activities," said Sister Madonna. “Now we’re not getting them ready for the NFL or the NBA, that’s not our purpose. Our purpose is to help develop these students in every way and achieve their goals when they leave here. And that means the whole person. And that includes the spiritual part. That’s important."

Ben Grubb, a football alum who transferred to Saint Mary, remembers the day he came for a campus visit. “Sister Madonna asked me questions and the amazing thing was she remembered everything I had told her when I came back as student. I was amazed she really cared enough to listen. She remembered by parents’ names and stuff. That was pretty crazy," said Ben.

Teri Siems, who met Sister Madonna as her two boys played soccer at USM said, “You could always look up and she’d be there. She was kind of like a parent.—someone who is coming to watch you play even though your own folks are far away. I think maybe it’s part of her mission, you know, that’s her way of ministering to the kids."

Schedule a visit today and meet Sister Madonna in person. She’ll win your heart and you’ll quickly discover she is just one of the many wonderful things that make Saint Mary unique.