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Gilson Seminar Lays Foundation for St. Mike’s Grad Sarah Frank

Oct 24, 2025 by jessica

News St. Mike's Students

An experiential learning opportunity gave St. Mike’s student Sarah Frank the tools to explore her passions more deeply to learn about the world around her. She will be celebrating this milestone on Monday, October 27 when she graduates at the University of Toronto’s Convocation ceremony.

“Coming to U of T and being at St. Mike’s gave me the best four years and I’m sad to be officially concluding that chapter in my life, but I’m also excited to celebrate how awesome those four years were,” she says.

After missing out on an in-person high school graduation in 2020, Sarah Frank fully embraced her new surroundings when she moved into Sorbara Hall in her first year.

“I always felt like St. Mike’s was a place of warmth and community. The St. Mike’s community is so diverse that I felt like I was learning new things from everyone I met and having the presence of the Catholic tradition on the campus gave me a sense of calm,” she says. “The whole campus has this calming effect. The St. Mike’s quad is so beautiful and having St. Basil’s there is like a comfort built into the St. Mike’s campus.”

In residence, she enjoyed having someone to talk to and connected with her Don, with whom she shared a lot of interests, valuing her insights on course selection.

In her first year, she enrolled in St. Mike’s Gilson Seminar, which became foundational to her undergraduate experience. The Seminar is a two-part course that explores how the Christian faith intersects with some of today’s most important questions. It also includes a trip to Rome.

“It was a true hands-on learning experience—we were learning about traditions in the exact places they took root,” she says. “Studying in Rome was magical and, when I returned, I appreciated St. Mike’s even more,” she continues.

Through this experience, she formed a close-knit community and it piqued her curiosity on different fields of study, which she explored through her Book & Media Studies major and minors in history and human geography.

Students from the Gilson Seminar continued to stay in touch through Dodgeball and Meatballs evenings, where past Gilson Seminar students of all years could come together for a fun evening of intramural sports and a pasta dinner. She also attended a book club on Dante, organized by the Gilson Seminar’s teaching assistant.

In her first year, she also had the privilege of taking Introduction to Book & Media Studies with Prof. Paolo Granata. “It provided a good preview of what the program continued to be throughout the rest of my degree,” she says, adding that she appreciated how Book & Media Studies touched upon so many of her interests.

“It felt like a program curated just for me because it combined a lot of my passions, including media, marketing, journalism, and art in an interesting way,” she says.

“By studying a range of topics, I received a well-rounded education that gave me a better grasp of the world around me and the issues we currently face. I feel this understanding has benefited me in my everyday life and will certainly help me as I enter the teaching profession,” she says.

Sarah is currently pursuing a teaching degree from the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and is open to pursuing any number of paths the profession may take her.

“I feel like everything I have learned has been so applicable to life in general and I will definitely be using this knowledge,” she says.

No matter her life’s journey, she will take with her the lessons she learned at St. Mike’s — both inside and outside of the classroom.

As Diana Radenko closes the chapter of her undergraduate studies to graduate as part of the Class of 2025, she’s excited to see how far her St. Michael’s experience will take her. She’ll cherish the memories created through her Book & Media Studies courses and documented in her leadership roles for various St. Mike’s publications.

“At St. Mike’s, I could choose what I wanted to do and what I wanted to put my energy towards. I found whatever I did, whether it was student initiatives, coursework, or going to college events, I came away with a sense of joy,” she says.

In her first year she was impressed by the expansive course offerings of the Book & Media Studies program because they offered her the flexibility to pursue her interests. In her senior years she enjoyed the higher-level seminar classes with their smaller class sizes where she connected with fellow students and professors over the course material.

“What I liked about Book & Media Studies was that there were only a handful of foundational courses. After I was done with those, I could pick and choose what I wanted to focus on. I wouldn’t have had the same freedom in another program.”

Her courses took her many places, including Massey College, the Kelly Library’s Special Collections, and to Ireland with Professors Mark McGowan and Alison Moore as part of the Boyle Seminar in Scripts and Stories where they toured museums and libraries.

“Something that stood out to me on that trip was seeing how connected we are to institutions abroad. When we went to the famine museum in Ireland, Professor McGowan stopped us in one of the rooms and explained that all the research on display had been done by U of T students. Seeing how far other students have gone really inspired me,” she says.

The trip and her studies were supported by various St. Michael’s scholarships including the Boyle Entrance Scholarship and the John and Angela Maraz Memorial Scholarship.

“The support I’ve received from St. Mike’s honestly has changed my life because I felt free to pursue the things I wanted. Knowing that there was some sort of financial backing from the college helped me perform in my studies,” she says. She was a Dean’s List Scholar in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Diana’s impact on St. Michael’s goes beyond the classroom. She has served as a Copy Editor and Design Manager at The Mike, the student newspaper, and the past two years she was the Senior Editor of Windrose, the SMC yearbook.

“It was meaningful to be able to make something that I know other students are going to take home with them and cherish. As the Senior Editor, I felt responsible for shaping the story of the whole academic year. That responsibility connected me with St. Mike’s community,” she says.

Among her many St. Michael’s memories was celebrating the launch of the yearbook in the Dodig Family COOP. “Seeing everyone engaged with the memories that they had made over the course of the year was really heartwarming,” she says.

When she crosses the dais on October 27th, she leaves knowing she’s leaving her mark on the college that gave her so much.

The Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology (RSM) has reached an important new milestone with the reception of two significant grants totalling $2.8-million CDN from the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative.

The University of St. Michael’s College will use a grant of $1.4-million CDN to help establish the Canadian Centre for Catholic Pastoral Leadership (CCCPL), designed after national consultation with bishops, priests and lay pastoral leaders, to offer continuing education across the country. The CCCPL will be directed and developed by RSM and administered by St. Michael’s Continuing Education division. A wide variety of topics will be covered in course offerings, workshops and communities of practice, from learning how to offer spiritual direction through to managing capital projects.

Regis College has been awarded a grant of $1.4-million CDN to support the establishment of Walking in Service, an initiative to develop educational resources and programs to support the community-based formation of congregational leadership in Catholic Indigenous communities in Canada. Offerings will range from professional development workshops to newly developed courses. Adjunct faculty and community-recognized Elders with competencies in Indigenous pedagogies, ways of knowing, cultures and history will be hired to teach, mentor students, and support curricular development.

“When Regis College and St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology federated in 2022 this was precisely the kind of programming we envisioned offering by building on our respective talents and expertise,” says University President David Sylvester. “We have a mandate to serve the Church and the community, and these innovative new initiatives will provide vital training and support to two of our most important communities.”

The Walking in Service initiative was developed after significant consultation with Roman Catholic Indigenous communities in Ontario and Quebec, notes Fr. Gordon Rixon, S.J, President of Regis College, and was inspired by Pope Francis’s 2022 Penitential Pilgrimage across Canada.

“This is a significant moment in Canadian theological education, as Walking in Service will be based in trauma-informed theological education, respecting Indigenous self-determination, while incorporating land-based and cultural relevant pedagogies,” Rixon says.

In preparation for launching the two initiatives, RSM will invest in upgrading technology to ensure smooth delivery of those classes delivered online, and faculty will receive training on effective online pedagogy. The grants will also allow for professors to travel, connecting, learning, and teaching with communities outside of RSM’s Toronto base.

CCCPL programming will begin to roll out in the spring of 2026, while Walking in Service will launch in January 2026.

“While Regis College and St. Michael’s each have storied histories, these grants signify a watershed moment for RSM. We are excited not only for the coming year but for the years ahead,” says RSM Dean Jaroslav Skira.

The Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative is intended to help theological schools across the United States and Canada strengthen their educational and financial capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future. One of Lilly Endowment’s stated goals in funding projects is “to improve public understanding of religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe.”

To learn more about the Canadian Catholic Centre for Pastoral Leadership or Walking in Service, please contact Emil Iruthayathas, Director, Office of the Dean of Theology at RSM, at rsm.dean@utoronto.ca or Greg Rupik, St. Michael’s Chief of Staff, at greg.rupik@utoronto.ca.

More Coverage

Read ‘New program will develop pastoral leadership‘, published in the Catholic Register.

The Big Maps: The Sisters of Service as Canadian Trailblazers, an exciting new exhibition coming to the John M. Kelly Library, will document the history of an unconventional and uniquely Canadian women’s religious institute whose members engaged in groundbreaking work across the country.

The Big Maps opens October 23 at 6 p.m. with a talk by Mark McGowan, Professor Emeritus of History and Celtic Studies at the University of Toronto and Principal Emeritus of St. Michael’s College, on the pioneering vision of Sister Catherine Donnelly, who founded the order, and the role of the Sisters of Service (SOS) in welcoming, housing, and teaching new Canadians from diverse cultural backgrounds.

^{photo credit: Sisters of Service Fonds, Special Collections, John M. Kelly Library, University of St. Michael’s College}

The exhibit, located on the first floor of the Kelly Library and curated by Kelly archivist Francesca Rousselle, links the Institute of the SOS with an informal defining motto: “Look at the big maps. Take the long view. Don’t tie yourselves down with too many written rules and customs. Always remain flexible”, which was framed on the office wall of co-founder Rev. George Daly, CSsR.

In time, as Donnelly’s vision of teaching Sisters in Western Canada was expanded to encompass all Catholic immigrants, her spirit and determination was embedded into the SOS charism. The Kelly’s new exhibit unveils Donnelly’s personality with an iconic image of her, axe in full swing, chopping a tree to clear a rugged road in British Columbia. It also includes artifacts and photos from the 60 SOS Canadian missions.

Also displayed will be a habit introduced in 1963, years before other women’s religious communities changed to a modified habit, a detail that demonstrates the Sisters’ adjustment to the societal and Vatican II changes of the 1960s.

“There are several things that set the Sisters of Service apart,” Rousselle says of the order, founded in Toronto in 1922. “Many members had already had careers. They had the kind of experience and maturity needed to take on practical tasks, right down to hauling water.”

James Roussain, the William D. Sharpe Chief Librarian and Director of Special Collections at the Kelly Library, says the exhibit documents the role the Sisters played in the history of Canada. “In telling their stories, we are highlighting the role the SOS played in the founding and growth of immigrant communities across Canada,” says Roussain. “These women were strong builders of community and looked after themselves.”

Sister Anna McNally, who held a series of educational positions in North Saskatchewan upon the closing of residential schools, remarks that the SOS sought people in the greatest need. “Our commitment was to come to help the people until they could take over, which they did,” she says.

The exhibit also pays tribute to the early support of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, who assigned senior Sisters as Superior and Novice Mistress for the first six years, as well as the Congregation of the Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists).

The Big Maps exhibition was mounted to celebrate the donation of the SOS archives to the Kelly Library’s Special Collections: Archives and Rare Books, where they are available for public consultation.

The Big Maps exhibition will be on display on the ground floor of the Kelly Library until summer 2026. To attend the opening night, please RSVP.

Contact: Greg Rupik (greg.rupik@utoronto.ca)
October 14, 2025

The University of Toronto has received a grant of $991,000 USD from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish the Canadian Centre for Catholic Pastoral Leadership (CCCPL) at the University of St. Michael’s College (USMC). The CCCPL’s programming will be directed and developed by the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology (RSM), the collaborative creation of USMC and Regis College, members of the Toronto School of Theology.

The CCCPL is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which is intended to help theological schools across the United States and Canada strengthen their educational and financial capacities to prepare and support pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future.

When launched in 2026, the CCCPL will be an innovative hub providing continuing education for pastoral leaders in ongoing formation, leadership, synodality and community-building using delivery methods that are accessible to a wide constituency of leaders, lay, religious, or ordained. Administered by USMC’s Division of Continuing Education, the Centre will offer a catalogue of topical and evergreen non-degree seminars, workshops, and courses designed to support ministers engaged with parish work in Canada’s diverse cultural contexts, while also supporting communities of practice.

“We are extremely excited to see the Canadian Centre for Catholic Pastoral Leadership take root and grow,” said St. Michael’s President David Sylvester. “The Centre is backed by world-class faculty and built upon the unique vision of RSM’s founding religious communities. A National Advisory Committee will help deepen and formalize our relationships with dioceses across the country, and RSM will learn and grow from those enhanced connections. We are pleased to serve the Church and the broader community with new lifelong learning and formation opportunities.”

St. Michael’s is one of 163 theological schools that have developed projects since 2021 funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways initiative. Together, the schools serve a broad spectrum of Christian traditions in the U.S. and Canada. They are affiliated with evangelical, mainline Protestant, nondenominational, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic, Black church, Latino, Asian American, Indigenous and historic peace church traditions.

“Theological schools have long played a central role for most denominations and church networks in preparing and supporting pastoral leaders who guide congregations,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “These schools are paying close attention to the challenges churches are facing today and will face in the foreseeable future. The grants will help these schools engage in wide-ranging, innovative efforts to adapt their educational programs and build their financial capacities so they can better prepare pastors and lay ministers to effectively lead the congregations they will serve in the future.”

About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe.

St. Michael’s marked the opening of our 173rd academic year with our traditional Michaelmas festivities to celebrate the college’s patron saint. Faculty and staff from St. Michael’s and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (PIMS) joined an academic procession into the 12:10 Mass at St. Basil’s Church.

In his homily, Father Morgan Rice, CSB, pastor at St. Basil’s, encouraged members of the community to embody the spirit of the archangel St. Michael and accompany each other, guiding and inspiring one another on their academic journeys.

In his welcoming remarks, St. Michael’s President David Sylvester called St. Basil’s the “spiritual heart and soul of campus” making it a fitting setting to officially begin the academic year.

The celebrations continued on Elmsley Place where President Sylvester and St. Michael’s College Student Union (SMCSU) VP of Spiritual Life Ernesto Perez Viyella ceremoniously cut the Michaelmas cake with a sword.

The Michaelmas celebrations took advantage of the beautiful fall weather as attendees were treated to a BBQ lunch and a frozen treat.

Games in the quad and a balloon artist added to the fun.

The festivities also included a presentation of the newest inductees to St. Michael’s legacy wall, Prof. Mark McGowan and alumna St. Evanne Hunter, IBVM. Their portraits and citations will be added to the Legacy Wall, located in Brennan Hall, where their achievements will inspire students to explore beyond their limits.

*^{Highlights from the Legacy Wall Induction Ceremony on September 29, 2025}*

This fall, the University of St. Michael’s College will add two remarkable individuals to its Legacy Wall whose talents have enriched both the University and the world. St. Mike’s alumna Sister Evanne Hunter, IBVM, is recognized for the ways in which her vocation as a Loretto Sister animated her devotion to the power of education and advocacy for social justice at home and abroad. Professor Mark McGowan, a distinguished scholar and long-serving administrator, is recognized for his visionary leadership and scholarly excellence, which have brought national and international distinction to the University.

Both inductees will attend a private ceremony and luncheon held in their honour as part of the University’s Michaelmas festivities on September 29. The ceremony will include a tour of the Legacy Wall, followed by an unveiling of the wall’s newest additions by St. Michael’s President David Sylvester. The photos, displayed with a brief citation, will eventually be added to the wall. At the ceremony, Prof. McGowan’s citation will be read by President Sylvester and Sister Evanne’s citation will be read by St. Mike’s Bursar Effie Slapnicar.

Sister Evanne’s citation pays tribute to her contributions to education and social justice, reading, “For over half a century she has woven the values of St. Michael’s and Mary Ward into a vocation at the service of education, justice, and the Gospel in Canada and across the planet.”

After joining the Loretto Sisters in 1958 and graduating from St. Michael’s in 1963, Sister Evanne began her career in teaching at Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School and then moved into administrative roles. She also served in leadership positions for the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary including Provincial Superior for the Canadian Province from 2007-2013. In this role, she acted as a liaison between the IBVM General Council and a twinned community of Salvadoran refugees. This experience ignited her advocacy for global peace and justice work at the international level. She established the IBVM NGO at the United Nations giving the IBVM network a presence at the UN.

Prof. McGowan began teaching history at St. Michael’s and was cross-appointed to the University of Toronto’s Department of History. He served twice as Principal and Vice-President of St. Michael’s College: first from 2002-2011, and again in an interim capacity from 2020-2022. His gift for research has been summed up by his Legacy Wall citation, which reads, “Dr. McGowan has published widely on the history of Toronto, Canadian Catholicism, the Great Irish Famine, and the Irish in Canada. His scholarly work has never been divorced from his love of teaching, winning numerous teaching awards and inviting undergraduate students into the riches of historical research with primary texts.”

His research has moved beyond the classroom to have practical achievements for the university, including fostering relationships with the Irish diaspora in Toronto and in Canada and advocating for Truth and Reconciliation. He has received numerous awards including being inducted into the Royal Society of Canada in 2024.

It was Dr. McGowan who introduced the Legacy Wall in 2009 when he was Principal and since then 23 members have been inducted.

“I am deeply honoured by this induction and certainly never expected to see it happen, since the original criteria stipulated that the inductees were to be deceased. Joyfully, I can say I want to be able to share this moment with members of my St. Michael’s family, without whose support I would not be here today,” says Prof. McGowan.

The wall’s purpose is twofold: to honour the efforts and achievements of key community members and to inspire students to greater heights. Those honoured include professors, politicians, and members of the arts community. Today, the wall is located in Brennan Hall, between the Registrar’s Office and the COOP, inspiring students every day.

University of St. Michael’s College President David Sylvester has been elected to the International Federation of Catholic Universities’ (IFCU) Board of Administration. The global organization of Catholic academic institutions has a mandate to work collegially to facilitate research, partnership and exchange programs between Catholic universities and colleges.

President Sylvester was elected by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities in Canada (ACCUC) as Canada’s representative to succeed Dr. Gerry Turcotte, president and principal, St. Mark’s College and Corpus Christi College in Vancouver. He will serve as one of seven regional representatives on IFCU’s Board.

“IFCU is the only global organisation of Catholic universities present on every continent. It brings together more than 240 universities and, according to the World Bank, represents a student body of more than seven million students worldwide,” explains IFCU Secretary General Dr. Francois Mabille. “Present in many international institutions, it collaborates with several bodies of the Holy See, notably the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Dicastery for Integral Human Development and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Representatives of the IFCU are regularly received by the Pope.”

President Sylvester recently attended IFCU’s triennial General Assembly in Guadalajara, Mexico where the federation renewed the membership of its Board and elected its new president, Rev. Francisco Ramirez Yáñez.

“The ACCUC’s proposal to appoint David Sylvester as its representative on the (IFCU’s) Board was welcomed,” says Prof. Mabille, adding that the first Administrative Council meeting will be held in early November in Rome.

^{President Sylvester, on the right. with the presidents of Catholic universities of Lille (Patrick Scauflaire) and Milan (Elena Beccalli) and IFCU head of members (Nicolas Vergier). The four presented on a panel together in Guadalajara.}

The idea for such a federation dates back more than a century, with its creation occurring in 1948 by papal decree. Its headquarters are now at l’Institut Catholic de Paris. IFCU’s mandate is to facilitate research, partnership and exchange programs between Catholic universities, bringing representatives of Catholic higher education together to discuss the mission of universities and to encourage active participation while contributing to the development of a Catholic approach to higher education.

As well as working with the Vatican, IFCU has advisory status with a variety of organizations, including the United Nations in New York, the Human Rights Commission in Geneva and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris. IFCU also has permanent representation in the International Association of Universities.

“I am honoured to serve alongside fellow presidents from around the world dedicated to the universal mission and purpose of Catholic post-secondary education. St. Michael’s has always had a global footprint and reputation through its graduates, and I look forward to offering a Canadian perspective to the board and to bringing home some of the lessons I will learn from my IFCU experience,” he says. President Sylvester, who has previously chaired the ACCUC and served on the board of the Washington-based ACCU, has been appointed to the international body for a three-year term and will travel this November to Rome for the meetings of the IFCU board.

We’re wrapping up our series on summer employment with Ireland Ryan-Bavis’s story of her work in renewable energy.

After spending her summers working at all levels in the oil and gas and mining sectors, St. Mike’s student Ireland Ryan-Bavis landed an internship that enabled her to develop a suite of professional skills and make real-world contributions to the growing field of renewable energy.

“I gained a vast amount of work experience in such a short time frame. I’ve worked in industrial construction, the oil fields, mining, now renewable energy–all from my summer jobs, in between studying at U of T,” she says.

She came to Toronto in 2021 to study Political Science and Criminology at the University of Toronto with the plan of pursuing law school. But her summer employment has given her a glimpse into some unlikely industries where she’s been able to gain experience and consider different career paths.

While she received some financial support through St. Michael’s Grants and Bursary program, she relied on finding a summer job to help pay for schooling. When she returned to her home in Alberta for the summer break after her first year, she started working in the oil and gas sector. She began by working as a labourer in Fort McMurray’s Syncrude Base Plant and by her second summer she was operating heavy equipment and taking on a project management role. In her third summer, she gained hands-on legal experience at Graham Construction.

“I grew up on a farm and my work experience has always been hands-on. I worked on various farms growing up and I always enjoyed it. I was raised with the belief that if you work hard there will be a return,” she says.

Last year, she combined her political science studies with her summer work by participating in a research program on mining transitions under Professor Donald Kingsbury that examined what happens to a mine during reclamation, rehabilitation, and remediation.

“Having worked in these sectors I wonder if I’ve found my calling as I’m interested in all of it. Energy makes the world move and it’s very important to our everyday lives. As these industries explore AI capabilities it’s fascinating to be a part of something bigger than I ever expected,” she says.

This past summer she returned to Graham Construction and then planned to work at the Dow Chemical site in Edmonton in a project management capacity, when an unexpected opportunity arose.

Through her network, she landed an interview with Ian MacGregor, owner of North West Capital Partners and a noted entrepreneur in the oil and gas and renewable energy sector. She was hired on the spot for a summer internship.

Reporting directly to MacGregor, she conducted research on renewable energy to support one of his entrepreneurial projects and provided operations support for a project to install water tanks and portable water systems in a conservation suburb he’s building near Banff, while also assisting in legal matters.

These roles put her in meetings that brought together senior leaders from the world’s top energy firms.

“I was fortunate to be in rooms full of extremely intelligent and successful people, each person there would have multiple companies. I was able to learn so much just by having the opportunity to sit and listen,” she says.

“I talked to a lot of the CEOs and VPs, and they would all say the same thing: starting from the bottom is so important to be good in these roles because you understand the company from all the angles,” she says.

She’s already delivered on projects with multimillion-dollar budgets in short time frames. “On one project I did everything from labouring to carpentry, to helping fit pipes, to heavy equipment operating and then going into the office for project coordinating,” she says.

“I kind of got thrown into things, but my managers had faith in me. I would basically just tackle things as they came up. There were a lot of stressful moments and ups and downs and in the moment, I would think this was the worst thing to do, but looking back it was the best way to learn,” she says.

“Sometimes the lesson was that if I were to ever to do this again, I would approach it in a completely different way,” she says.

Now that she’s back in Toronto for her final year of study, she will be working on two research projects while pursuing modelling and acting. One project is again with Professor Kingsbury and will look how the world is transitioning from oil and gas. Inspired by her ability to achieve what she thought would be impossible; she’s considering pivoting to pursue a joint Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration.

Please join us in celebrating our patron saint, St. Michael the Archangel, on September 29, the Feast of Michael and All Angels, or Michaelmas. This year, the celebrations are a joint effort among the President’s Office, the Office of Campus Ministry and St. Michael’s College Student Union.

“I look forward to celebrating Michaelmas with the St. Mike’s community as we honour our patron saint as well as our common values of leadership, justice, inclusivity, and care of others and our common home,” says Interim Director of Mission and Ministry Fr. John Meehan, SJ.

_{photo from 2024 Michaelmas Celebrations}

The day’s events commence with Mass at St. Basil’s Church at 12 p.m. The Mass will also mark the opening of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies’ (PIMS) academic year. St. Michael’s and PIMS faculty members will don their academic regalia for the academic procession that will lead off this special Mass.

Afterwards, the festivities will move outdoors to Elmsley Lane, where President David Sylvester and SMCSU President Sariha Dewan will offer their remarks about the day’s celebrations before a cake cutting. The line-up of activities includes food trucks parked along Elmsley Lane and sports and large games taking place in the Quad.

St. Michael’s Schola Cantorum will present its Michaelmas concert on Friday, October 3, 7:30 p.m. in St. Basil’s Church. The Schola, directed by Dr. Christina Labriola, will perform the dramatic, colourful, and virtuosic Missa Omnium Sanctorum by the Catholic Czech Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka, together with guest soloists and instrumentalists led by Chris Verrette. Admission is free, with donations accepted to benefit Campus Ministry outreach to those in need in our community.