International Student Services
December 19, 2017
Brother Fulgence (James) Dougherty, C.S.C., former director of International Student Services at the University of Portland, passed away at age 95 on Sunday, December 17, 2017, after a lengthy illness. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 20 at Holy Cross College Chapel in Notre Dame, Indiana, followed by the funeral at 11:00 a.m.
“I am greatly saddened by the passing of Br. Fulgence, a man whose life and calling exemplified the Holy Cross mission and the transformational experience of education,” said Fr. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., president of the University of Portland. “For over three decades, he was a compassionate advisor and mentor to generations of foreign students who came to the University, many of whom were in the United States for the first time.”
Br. Fulgence spent 32 years at the University of Portland. From August 1978 to May 1992, he served as the director of the International Student Services program. With extensive cross-cultural experience from prior years spent in East Pakistan, Bangladesh, Liberia and Ghana, he was eminently qualified to assist foreign students in the transition to life and education in the United States. He was well-known for his tireless attention to a large number of students, many of them from the Middle East, as well as for his outreach to faculty and staff.
“During the ten years we spent working together on The Bluff, Br. Fulgence was my guide and mentor in intercultural communication and understanding of global educational systems,” said Michael Pelley, the current director of International Student Services. “When I needed information, advice, or opinions regarding geopolitics and cross-cultural communications, I knew I could go to him.
“He was compassionate, empathetic, humorous, and kind,” Pelley added. “He cared deeply for international students and was always interested in how they were transitioning even though it had been some years since he worked directly with them. Over the years I have met with alumni from various countries who have asked about him. When I informed them of what he was up to, I would receive similar replies such as: ‘He made feel at home at UP,’ ‘I owe my successful transition at UP to Br. Fulgence,’ and ‘I felt respected and understood when I met with Br. Fulgence.’”
After he left the International Studies program in May 1992, Br. Fulgence continued to serve at the University until 2009 as an assistant to the academic vice president, where he evaluated foreign transcripts. In 1988, he was awarded the University’s highest award for staff employees, the Rev. Charles Miltner, C.S.C. Administrative Award, presented to employees who have been of exemplary and outstanding service to the University.
Upon his retirement from the University, Br. Fulgence continued to live in Holy Cross Court for another year before moving to Columba Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana, in 2010. Because of increasing health care needs, Br. Fulgence moved to Dujarie House in 2016, where he passed away on December 17.
About Br. Fulgence Dougherty, C.S.C.
Br. Fulgence was born on May 18, 1922 in Devil’s Lake, a tiny church-less village in a wheat farming area in the upper east quadrant of North Dakota. Ten days later, he was baptized in the chapel of the local hospital and named James Lamb Dougherty after his parents, James Dougherty, a postal clerk, and Mae Rose Lamb.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, where he majored in education, in 1945, he was assigned to teach first at Catholic Central High School, Monroe, Michigan and then at Central Catholic High School, South Bend, Indiana. On August 16, 1946, Br. Fulgence professed his perpetual vows as a religious of Holy Cross. On December 8 of the same year, he took the mission vow for life.
Prior to coming to the University of Portland in 1978, Br. Fulgence had a distinguished career of over 30 years as a Holy Cross educator in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), Liberia, and Ghana.
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