Ten years ago, Hope College had an immense need for a uniquely Catholic perspective in the campus conversation. Hope’s sizeable Catholic population needed spiritual and intellectual guidance, and the college lacked a forum for sharing the riches of the Catholic tradition.
Thus the Saint Benedict Institute was born. In the past decade, we have ministered to Catholic students, engaged in ecumenical dialogue and friendship with other Christians, and enriched the intellectual life of our community. We’ve grown and changed a lot over the years, and we’re thankful for all the ways the Lord has blessed our academic, spiritual, and cultural endeavors.
To celebrate our big anniversary, we put together a retrospective on the Saint Benedict Institute’s first decade. We invite you to read it and then pray for another ten years of fruitful ministry at Hope College.
A Brief History of SBI
2014
Jared Ortiz and Jack Mulder found the Saint Benedict Forum
First speaker: Fr. Damian Ference, followed by Eduardo Echeverria and Joseph Pearce
Student activities: blessing of the dorms, student retreat, immersion trip
First board meeting held September 29
Vocation Discernment Program launched
2015
Deacon Brian Piecuch joined the staff as development director and program coordinator
Bishop David J. Walkowiak became the first Catholic bishop to speak at Hope
Speaker series: Sr. Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, OP; Dawn Eden, Anthony Esolen, Duncan Stroik, and Eduardo Echeverria
We held our first day of study, discussing the subject of deification
The President of Hope College and the Bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids signed a covenant agreement between St. Francis de Sales parish and Hope College, designed to enhance the intellectual and spiritual formation of Hope College students
Total expenses for the calendar year: $59,000.
2016
Speaker series: Jack Mulder, Deacon Omar Gutierrez, Sr. Miriam Heidland, SOLT; James Matthew Wilson, and Jared Ortiz
“Gay and Christian Symposium” with Josh Gonnerman, Eve Tushnet, and Ron Belgau
Our second day of study was on the subject of homosexuality and anthropology
2017
The Saint Benedict Forum became the Saint Benedict Institute
Speaker series: Rusty Reno, Sr. Sara Butler, MSBT; Daniel Mitsui, Fr. Vincent Lampert, and Catherine Pakaluk
We held our first Restorative Justice Conference, with over three hundred in attendance
Fr. Nicholas Monco, OP joins the Institute as its first chaplain
2018
Our first civil dialogue event discussed abortion
Exodus 90 program, Bible studies, and Rosary prayer groups launched on campus
The spring Saint Benedict Seminar was on heaven, hell, and purgatory; the fall seminar was Harry Potter themed
Carly Baldwin joined the staff as a campus missionary
2019
We hosted a day of study on the topic of disability and human nature
Speaker series: Helen Alvare, John Suarez and Miguel Abrahantes, David O’Connor, and Stephen Barr
We penned our first strategic plan
We led our first seminar on courtship, marriage, and sex
First spring break immersion trip to Saint Meinrad Archabbey
2020
Speaker series: David Deavel, Jared Ortiz, Theresa Farnan and John Bursch
Due to COVID, we moved Masses outdoors and the rest of our events online
2021
We resumed daily Masses in the wake of COVID
We hosted virtual Lenten meditations
Speaker series: Abigail Favale, Eleanor Nicholson and Rhonda Ortiz
We held a civil dialogue event on racism
2022
Speaker series: Fr. Robert Sirico, Louis Brown, and Chris Baglow
We opened the Saint Anne Oratory at the Carol C. Schaap Chapel in Graves Hall
2023
A recent graduate was ordained to the priesthood, a first for SBI
Speaker series: Rich Ray, Jared Ortiz, Stephen Barr, Bishop Joseph Perry, and Sr. Damien Marie Savino, FSE
We held a Men of Hope event to help male students live and date as Christians
FOCUS missionaries arrived on campus for the first time
2024
Speaker series: Jack Mulder, John Bursch and Megan DeFranza
Students organized a Catholic art exhibition on campus
We held our first Eucharistic procession on campus
Total expenses for fiscal year: $358,533 (seven full-time staff, including four FOCUS missionaries, plus three part-time staff and two interns)
Next Steps
We want to continue to grow and better serve our students and our friends of West Michigan. To do this, we believe the next step for the Saint Benedict Institute is to hire a full-time director. For the last ten years, Jack Mulder and Jared Ortiz have led the institute on a volunteer basis. But our growth and the needs of our students and community call for a director who can fully devote the time necessary to support our work. The Saint Benedict Institute has become the leading center of Catholic intellectual life in West Michigan. Please help us grow our mission and sustain it into the future.
SBI by the Numbers
