Colleges nurture faith, work connection: programs broaden sense of vocation for students, faculty

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 31, 2003 by Renee LaReau

Lucien Roy, director of EVOKE (Eliciting Vocations through Knowledge and Engagement) at Loyola, agreed that vocation initiatives reach beyond students and extend to faculty and staff.

"One of our explicit goals is to influence the culture at a university. When the culture is more focused on vocation, then individuals are more likely to pay attention," Roy said. One of the most successful components of EVOKE, according to Roy, is a 48-hour summer institute during which faculty and staff are asked to focus on their own experience of being called. Having faculty and staff meet together has its benefits, he said. "Everyone is an expert on their own story. They can share it equally regardless of the role they play at the university.

"We use Frederick Buechner's definition of vocation," said Roy, "the definition as `where your deep gladness meets the world's great need.' We've found that everyone can understand that, even outside the context of religion."

Utilizing a broad definition of vocation proves to be important in launching these campus-wide initiatives, especially at places like the University of Dayton, where less than half the faculty is Catholic. "We also have people who aren't Christian on our faculty, so we really have to talk about vocation in an integrated way if we want their vocations to impact how they talk to students," said Skill.

The programs need to "target people who are at different points on the faith and spirituality spectrum," said Julie Massey, coordinator of the Program of Faith, Learning and Vocation at St. Norbert College, where the most successful component has been the establishment of a core group of 14 students who serve as "Lilly leaders," a "crew of students who are asked to work among their peers by creating programs that make connections between faith, spirituality and everyday life." Student-led programs at St. Norbert have included everything from a Monday night faith-sharing group to a workshop on mindfulness and athletics offered by a student who is a nationally placed runner. This variety is important, according to Massey, because "some students would never participate in a campus ministry program. They would immediately think to themselves, `I don't fit in there.' The success in these vocation programs is that they draw students from a variety of places who share in common that they want to grow personally."

The popularity of these vocation initiatives on college campuses has proven that "vocation is a hot topic," said Stephen Camilleri, director of the Notre Dame Vocation Initiative. "We really feel like we've hit the bull's eye.

"Ultimately," said Camilleri, "we want students and faculty to look at how they are called and how they can use their gifts to change the world." Vocation Initiative's presence on the Notre Dame campus can be seen in certain attire. A popular T-shirt features tiny photos of 50 "models of faith" including everyone from Martin Luther King to Galileo to Mother Teresa. "Their gifts changed the world," says the script underneath. A challenge follows: "How will yours?"