Not long after giving birth to triplets in 2000, Mary Jo McNulty returned to her human resources job at Lehigh University and brought her infants with her to the child care center on campus.
Now, more than 20 years later, the McNulty triplets — Kevin, Katie and Shaun — will graduate Monday as the first set of triplets to do so in Lehigh University history.
“They’ve done such incredible things,” said their mother, who recently celebrated 40 years working at the Bethlehem university. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.”
Kevin, Katie and Shaun McNulty grew up in Bethlehem, attending the city’s schools. While they were rarely in the same classes, they always shared birthday parties and graduation ceremonies. They attended Freedom High School.
“I think naturally it just makes you a little bit closer because you’re able to have those shared experiences,” said Kevin McNulty, 21, who will graduate with a political science degree.
Being a triplet also had its difficulties though, said Katie McNulty, 21, who will earn a journalism degree.
“We’re three different people, and I don’t think people really realized that,” she said. “They just assumed, ‘Oh, you’re triplets. It’s three of you. You’re all going to be the same, you’re going to achieve the same milestones, you’re all going to be the same academically,’ and that’s not how it is.”
While the siblings have different interests and passions, sports have always bonded them together.
Growing up, they would listen to the band at Liberty High School football games and watch as their dad — who earned two master’s degrees from Lehigh — helped coach the team. On the weekends, they would watch the New York Giants play.
The siblings were also involved with Lehigh sports, collecting balls that went astray at basketball games, and running the shot clock for soccer and lacrosse games.
When it was time to apply to college, the three applied to Lehigh University early decision, and all three got in. They were able to attend Lehigh for free because of their mother’s job, and only had to pay for room and board.
“This was a culmination of all our efforts for 18 years, and the minute we got in, it was jumping and screaming, laughing and crying,” said Shaun McNulty, 21, who will graduate with a degree in international relations and theater. “There was just so much support in the air, and we were all so excited for one another.”
While on campus, the three joined different activities. Kevin McNulty got involved in Greek life and eventually became the president of Psi Upsilon; Katie McNulty interned with Lehigh Sports and became an editor at the college newspaper, The Brown and White; and Shaun McNulty performed in plays, such as the campus production of “Godspell.”
“Even though they tell me they don’t like theater, they will support me in every show,” Shaun McNulty said of his brother and sister. “They’ll come out and watch and stay for the whole thing, so it’s always been nice, because it shows that even though this isn’t something that they want to do, they want to support me.”
Still, the triplets found time to spend together during college.
Their first year, they lived in the same dorm, but in different rooms, and they took a seminar class together. They would get dinner together at The Promenades at Saucon Valley or meet for meals at The Goose, a deli in south Bethlehem.
The triplets would also attend the annual rivalry football game between Lehigh and Lafayette College.
“It’s such a big rivalry game, and it’s so important,” Kevin McNulty said. “And to have it at your school, it’s a really cool thing, especially your senior year.”
The siblings have also been there for each other during rough patches. Sophomore year when Katie McNulty was cut from the track team, she relied more on her brothers for support.
“I was really depressed. I left the track team [and] lost my identity, because sports was my whole identity,” she said. “It was so nice having them … and just knowing that, ‘You may be down, but your family is literally right here to help you.'”
The McNulty triplets will be celebrating one more graduation together Monday before pursuing different paths.
Kevin McNulty will stay at Lehigh to get a master’s degree in public policy before applying to law school; Shaun McNulty has accepted a full-time remote position with the company for which he interns, EMC Research, a polling and data firm; and Katie McNulty will continue her passion for sports as an athletic communications assistant at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
Katie McNulty said it will be an adjustment for the three after graduation. This will be the first time the triplets aren’t all in school together, but they plan to remain close.
“Those are just my best friends, my ride or dies,” Katie McNulty said. “I would do anything for them, and I know they would do anything for me. I know I’ll always have them to count on.”
Morning Call reporter Jenny Roberts can be reached at 484-903-1732 and jroberts@mcall.com.
