Judy Ewing Lewis, Interview with Miranda Ridener, 2020

Judy Ewing Lewis, Mundelein class of 1966, was interviewed by Loyola graduate student, Miranda Ridener. Lewis reflects on the math and psychology courses she took at Mundelein and how those, coupled with the computer coding classes she took at Argonne National Laboratory, prepared her for a career in computer software design and programming. She also reflects on residential life, her roles in student government and interactions with students from the University of Notre Dame and Loyola University Chicago. This interview also includes Lewis’ reflections on the influence of the BVMs’ activist efforts and Catholic action upon her continued involvement in activism.

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October 26, 2020

Judy Lewis (née Ewing) grew up in the South Side of Chicago. After receiving an Illinois State scholarship, she met with Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, who taught at the BVM novitiate across the street from Mundelein College. Sister Jean convinced her that Mundelein was the place for her. She entered Mundelein College in 1962 and was a five-day resident in Coffey Hall. She graduated in 1966 with a Math and Psychology Major. Her junior year she was Treasurer of the Student Government, and her senior year she was President. She also participated in Young Christian Students (YCS). Through this she was able to travel to conferences of like-minded students and got to know her husband, Minchin Lewis. Mundelein provided her an opportunity that ultimately shaped her career. She was in a group of students that went to Argonne National Laboratory and took a coding class there. After graduation she took a job working to develop mainframe computer software for a bank. She worked in computer programming and coding for the rest of her career developing software for non-profits and subsidized housing. Judy and her husband have lived in Syracuse, New York since they were married soon after graduating, and Judy maintains activist efforts that she learned at Mundelein, using the YCS formula to Observe, Judge, and Act. This motto is quoted by Pope Francis in his new book Let Us Dream.

Miranda Ridener is a graduate student in the Public History program at Loyola University Chicago and a graduate assistant at the WLA. She did her undergraduate work at Anderson University (Indiana) in history and dance. Her interests lie in museum studies, collections operations, and dance history.

Judy Lewis Ewing
Interview with Miranda Ridener, October 26, 2020
Via Zoom
Time Log

0-5 minutes
Lewis’s family, education, decision to enroll at Mundelein - influenced by Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM (Sister Jean), major and minor at Mundelein.
5-10 minutes
Lewis’s Mundelein class at the National Argonne Laboratory, work in computer programming, favorite place on campus
10-15 minutes
Lewis’s experience living in Coffey Hall, friendships
15-20 minutes
Lewis’s memory of Mundelein’s dress code and Skyscraper central staircase tradition, memory of studying in the Skyscraper, recalling Speakeasies, roles in student government and influence by Ann Ida Gannon, BVM.
20-25 minutes
Lewis’s experience with professors, activities with Young Christian Students
25-30 minutes
Lewis’s work with Young Christian Students, experiences with mixers at Loyola and Notre Dame University, meeting her husband at Notre Dame University, watching the BVMs (member of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) board the bus to go to Selma
30-35 minutes
Lewis’s experience and participation in activist efforts at Mundelein, religious experience at Mundelein
35-40 minutes
Lewis’s activist efforts after Mundelein
40-45 minutes
Closing remarks.

Judy Ewing Lewis 2020 Index 
 
KEY 
JEL = Judy Ewing Lewis Interview 
 
INDEX 
Adrian Dominican Sisters, JEL 0-5, JEL 40-45 
Argonne National Laboratory, JEL 0-5 
Bailey, Adrienne, JEL 25-30  
Black Lives Matter, JEL 30-35, JEL 35-40 
BVMs, JEL 0-5, JEL 15-20, JEL 20-25, JEL 25-30, JEL 30-35 
Campbell (woman religious), JEL 40-45 
Catholicism, JEL 20-25, JEL 30-35, JEL 35-40, JEL 40-45 
Chicago Inner-School Catholic Action (CISCA), JEL 20-25 
Christian Family Movement (CFM), JEL 20-25 
Crowley, Joan Frances, JEL 0-5 
Connect Connection, JEL 40-45 
Dale, Stan, JEL 15-20  
Democratic National Convention, JEL 40-45 
English, JEL 20-25 
Gannon, Ann Ida, BVM JEL 15-20 
German, JEL 20-25  
Gleason, Mary, JEL 0-5, JEL 10-15 
Gordon, Liz, JEL 10-15 
Hippies, JEL 35-40 
Hofbauer, Marge, JEL 0-5 
IBM [International Business Machines Corporation], JEL 5-10 
Jesuits, JEL 30-35 
King, Martin Luther, Jr., JEL 30-35 
Lake Michigan, JEL 5-10, JEL 15-20 
Loyola University Chicago, JEL 25-30  
Loyola University Chicago Damen Student Center, JEL 0-5 
Loyola University Chicago Madonna della Strada Chapel, JEL 35-40 
Mathematics, JEL 0-5, JEL 5-10, 
Marquette University, JEL 0-5 
Mundelein College, JEL 0-5, JEL 5-10, JEL 10-15, JEL 15-20, JEL 30-35, JEL 35-40 
Mundelein College Coffey Hall, JEL 5-10, JEL 10-15, JEL 25-30 
Mundelein College Northland Hall, JEL 25-30  
Mundelein College Reunion, JEL 0-5 
Mundelein College Skyscraper Building, JEL 15-20  
Mundelein College Skyscraper Building Tea Room, JEL 10-15 
Nuns on the Bus, JEL 30-35, JEL 35-40 
O’Connor, Joan, JEL 10-15 
Psychology, JEL 0-5, JEL 5-10, JEL 10-15, JEL 20-25 
Selma, Alabama, JEL 25-30  
Schmidt, Jean Dolores, BVM (Sister Jean), JEL 0-5 
Sheridan Road, JEL 20-25 
Skateboarders, JEL 35-40  
Snyder, Sue, JEL 10-15, JEL 25-30 
Speakeasy, JEL 15-20 
Sociology, JEL 10-15 
Stachyra, Carols, JEL 10-15 
Syracuse, New York, JEL 0-5, JEL 5-10, JEL 35-40   
University of Notre Dame, JEL 20-25, JEL 25-30 
University of Notre Dame Stepan Center, JEL 25-30  
Vietnam War, JEL 35-40 
Washington, D.C., JEL 40-45 
Wiaduck, Nancy, JEL 10-15 
Wisconsin, JEL 0-5 
Young Christian Students (YCS), JEL 20-25, JEL 25-30 

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