From the
Winter 2026
issue of the Catholic University magazine.
Left to right: Brigid T. Kilner (B.A. 2021); Mary Eileen Kilner (B.A. 2020); Kathryn Kilner Morris, BSN, 2015); Very Rev. Robert F. Kilner (B.A. 2010); Michael E. Kilner (B.A. 2013); Maria Kilner Sousa (B.A. 2003); Jose C. Sousa (B.A. 2001); Patrick R. Kilner (B.A. 2001); Gabriela M. Sousa (BSN, Class of 2029); Antoinette Aronne Kilner (B.A. 1978); Donald Patrick Kilner (B.A. 1976; M.S.W. 1977). (Not pictured: Antoinette Kilner Greengard [B.S. 2007]) Photo: Rui Barros
Kilner Family Boasts Four Generations of Grads
by Lili Wysocki
Maria (Kilner) Sousa lives and breathes Catholic University — and you could say she also bleeds Cardinal red.
That’s the running joke at The Catholic University of America’s Office of Undergraduate Admission, where Maria has now assumed a leadership role as dean. Talking with her about anything Catholic University-related for just five minutes, however, even a perfect stranger would begin to believe it’s true. And after learning about her family’s history with the University, they would be certain.
Maria is part of the third of four generations of people in her family who have attended Catholic University. The number of alumni her family boasts is in the double digits — and counting.
Her maternal grandfather was an alumnus, her parents are alumni, and last August, her oldest daughter, Gaby, began as a first-year student.
The Catholic University-Kilner family relationship doesn’t stop there. Seven of Maria’s eight siblings went here, her husband went here, one of her aunts went here, her cousin went here, and one of her nephews briefly attended. Family weddings have occurred on campus, and several of her family members have worked at the University, including her mother, who worked in the Office of the President for four years. What is the secret? What draws this family to campus, generation after generation?
Where It All Began
Eugene Louis Aronne, B.C.E. 1951, second from left — on campus with some friends.
The family’s love story with the University started with Maria’s maternal grandfather Eugene Louis Aronne, B.C.E. 1951. Originally from New York, he studied engineering at Catholic University and stayed in Washington, D.C., when he went on to work for the Department of the Navy.
His daughter, Antoinette “Toni” Kilner, later studied speech pathology and audiology at the University in the 1970s. She met Maria’s father, Pat, a social work major, just outside of Father O’Connell Hall during an event for commuter students.
Growing up hearing her parents’ stories about the University, Maria always found Catholic University an appealing and familiar place. She decided that its Catholic identity, proximity to home, and affordability — all of the Kilners have paid their own way through college — made it the best place for her to go.
Attending Catholic meant she could continue to live at home while commuting to her classes. As the oldest daughter of nine children, Maria also wanted to stay near her younger siblings as they grew up. Her mother was expecting Maria’s youngest sister Brigid, also a Catholic University graduate, at the time Maria was starting college — making it all the more important to her to stay home and help. Catholic University allowed her to do all of this and pursue a great education, so she enrolled in the fall of 1999.
What followed was a student experience lived to its fullest.
During her time on campus, Maria was involved with Program Board, Service opportunities such as D.C. Reads and Homeless Food Runs, undergraduate student government, music ministry, and Campus Ministry’s The House, where she lived her senior year. Catholic University became not just her parents’ beloved alma mater but a place where she also flourished.
“Catholic University is the reason that I am where I am today and who I am today,” Maria said.
Many family members have studied and worked at Catholic University, including Maria’s sister, Kathryn Kilner Morris (BSN 2015), who married Captain Anthony Morris, son of Catholic University Chief of Staff Larry Morris; their wedding reception — joyfully celebrated with friends and family — was held in Heritage Hall in 2018.
Paying it Forward
Maria’s love of the University is so ardent that she has turned it into a career. As dean of undergraduate admission, she professionally gets to share her passion for the University and share stories about her student experience. Every day, she talks to prospective students and parents about the University, adding in personal anecdotes and facts she knows by heart — because she lived them.
“It’s the best job ever. I get to talk about Catholic all day long, and I’ve done that my whole life. Now I get to do it for a living, it’s kind of a dream come true,” she said. “I never thought this is where I would be but now that I’m here, it’s pretty amazing.”
Bragging about the University comes so naturally to her that the responsibilities of being admission dean hardly feel like work.
“My love of Catholic is what keeps me smiling in the office every day and makes it worth it to travel to recruit,” Maria said.
When Gaby was looking for colleges to study nursing, she knew one thing: she wanted to do something different from what her family had always done. She applied to around 20 schools, and mainly left Catholic University on the short-list at the request of her mother. What she was really looking for was a university outside of the D.C. area — a place where she could create a college experience of her own.
She grew up visiting Catholic University’s campus often for events, shows, and other activities with her family. By the time she started her freshman year, she was so familiar with the campus that other freshmen were asking her for directions on how to find different buildings.
Her family asked her to give Catholic University at least the same level of consideration that she was giving other schools. She attended Cardinal Preview Day as a regular prospective student. She was almost certain she would end up attending another East Coast university but after touring the other university with her father, she realized it didn’t have the warmth that she found at Catholic University. She also realized that through the success of Catholic University’s nursing program, the vibrancy of its student life, and the availability of support, she could really own her student experience and make it different from her family’s.
“I realized that the student experience is unique to every single person, and I’m not going to experience campus in the same way as when I was little, now that I’m a student,” Gaby said.
Gaby announced her decision to attend Catholic University at one of her extended family’s monthly dinners with many of her alumni family members present. Her announcement was met with cheers from the crowd and delight from Maria, whom Gaby had been waiting to tell in front of the whole family.
She takes pride in the fact that she made her college decision independent of her family’s history. For her, it truly was the University’s student support and the nursing program that drew her in.
“Even if my family hadn’t been alumni, I think I would have ended up coming here because I think this is where I’m supposed to be,” Gaby said.
The fact that she can share a common alma mater with her parents, grandparents, and most of her aunts and uncles is just icing on the cake — and a testament to the value of attending this University.
“We are overjoyed that Gabriela chose the alma mater of her parents, grandparents, and great-grandfather,” Maria’s husband, Jose Sousa, said.
The Sousa family pictured in front of the Columbus School of Law. The family grew up visiting campus often for events, and now three of the five members are either alumni or current students. From left to right: Mariana, Jose, Gaby, Maria, Francesca, and Carlos.
Lasting Value
What is it that draws the Kilner family back to the University, generation after generation?
“Catholic University is a place where they can [live their faith] more consciously,” Pat said.
The Catholic identity of the University has been central to each of the family members’ student experiences. Growing up in a Catholic home, they each sought a university that would strengthen their faith through its rich spiritual life.
In Pat and Toni’s eyes, it’s no coincidence that their children attended Catholic University and are still practicing their faith in their adulthood. They see how the University strengthened their kids’ faith and allowed them to live it boldly.
“That has really supported us as parents in our hope that our kids will continue with the faith,” Toni added.
They have also loved any opportunity to be back on campus, reliving their own student experience through their children and now grandchildren. This was something Toni’s father always treasured. He attended each one of his grandchildren’s graduations from Catholic University until he passed away in 2018. Each time he visited, he marveled at the campus and reminisced on his time as a student.
“He really did relive with his grandchildren that way.” Pat said.
“So hopefully, we’ll get to do the same, and as time goes on, we’ll get to relive those same moments,” Toni said.
At the current rate, it looks like they will be able to do that plenty. Two of their 26 (and counting) grandchildren have already made their way to Catholic University, and the family suspects more of them will end up here.
“I want [my other kids] to experience Catholic University because I think they’ll all have a great time here,” Maria said. “I’m sure some of them will land here.”
Can they help it? Their family lives and breathes Cardinal red. A love for the University is passed on by each family member almost as naturally as their Catholic faith. In fact, almost as naturally as their DNA.
In 1941, our alumnus Venerable Fulton J. Sheen published A Declaration of Dependence. With prophetic clarity, Sheen’s Declaration helps us see that the founders’ claims about the “self-evident” fact that we have all been created by God rests upon a tradition that preceded them by 18 centuries. This role is one our Church has continuously played in the American drama.
We got to know the Class of 2026 on the very first day they moved on campus to their dorm. Four years later, we caught up with the same students ahead of graduation to see what changed, what stayed the same, and what’s next!
