nicole Beeson ’04 remembers the precise moment what it affords,” she said. “Without those spring break experi- that led her to campus ministry at Bellarmine. The daughter of a ences I’m not sure how I would have felt about that kind of service. lapsed Lutheran and a lapsed Catholic, she had had no religion in That office has fostered so many people and helped them grow.” her life after her paternal grandparents, who were Catholic, died when she was a child. Hungry for that kind of connection, she came to Bellarmine from Chicago in 1999 and started a tentative ‘A more visible presence’ exploration, attending Mass on campus and getting a job as an The Office of Campus Ministry itself has grown, in size and in aide at the nearby Nazareth Home, a personal-care center where scope, over the past dozen years. When Dr. Sullivan started she met several nuns. working at Bellarmine, 26 students were involved in ministry; “As I was cleaning rooms, I would listen to them pray the that number has grown to more than 300. And where there was rosary,” she said. Noticing her interest, one of the nuns called Ms. one official faith-based student organization, the ecumenical Beeson into her room one day and handed her a rosary, saying it campus ministry Council, there are now 10 groups represent- was hers to keep. “It freaked me out,” she says, laughing at the ing a range of traditions – Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim, memory. “That rosary was what initially started my conversa- Hindu, pagan. The Campus Ministry Council now serves as an tions with Melanie. ‘What do I do with this? Can I even pray with umbrella governing body, helping to ensure that the many events this? What is this thing?’” scheduled by the groups don’t conflict. Melanie, of course, is Melanie-Préjean Sullivan, who has been Once housed in the back of a room used as a chapel, the Office director of campus ministry since 2001. Ms. Beeson’s conversations of Campus Ministry, which is a part of Student Affairs, now has with Dr. Sullivan led her to become involved with the Catholic Students Association and to participate in several Alternative Spring Break trips. “I absolutely loved it. The more I was in touch with that office, hanging out in that space, the more I came to appreciate how very ecumenical it was. There was no judgment. There were conversations that helped to build an appreciation and acceptance of different ways of believing. I wanted to learn more about Catholicism, so I took Melanie’s course in the summer. At the end of that summer, I knew that I wanted to become Catholic.” Ms. Beeson went through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (the process by which adults are introduced to the Catholic faith), finishing just in time to serve as lay communion min- ister and lector at her Baccalaureate Mass, “which was amazing,” she said. “Through campus ministry, I learned that I really wanted to devote my life to service and do that in its own space at the heart of campus, in Horrigan Hall just off the connection, in partnership, with a faith group,” she said. After Quad. And since May 2001, campus worship has had a dedicated working with the elderly, mental-health patients and adults with space in the beautiful Our Lady of the Woods Chapel. developmental issues and serving for a time as a victims’ advocate Attendance at the Sunday night Mass led by Fr. Ron Knott, direc- in the Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, she tor of Catholic worship, has increased from two dozen students recently moved to California, where she is helping victims of sexual to an average of 150. And two years ago, three weekday Masses assault as a specialist with the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton. were added, “which has really contributed to the prayer life on She has also been “hanging with the friars” at a Franciscan campus,” Dr. Sullivan said. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Fr. Leo parish as she contemplates a commitment to the Sisters of St. Joseph. Payyappilly and Fr. John Pozhathuparambil, Franciscan friars The rosary hangs from her rear-view mirror. who are serving as part-time assistants in the campus ministry “All of that – I’m not sure it would have happened if I hadn’t office, say Mass. Their contribution comes through a partnership been involved in campus ministry, through Melanie’s patience with the Franciscan friary in Kerala, India, fostered by Fr. Adam and guidance and the nature of the campus ministry office and Bunnell, who says Wednesday morning Mass. 30 BELLArMinE MAgAZinE
Bellarmine Magazine_Spring2013
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