Brandon Thomas Found a Love for Higher Ed at Arrupe

Brandon Thomas, a graduate from Arrupe College’s inaugural class, is now a higher ed professional working at the University of San Francisco.

Brandon Thomas was the very last person admitted to the inaugural class of Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago. He was hesitant to apply at first; the college was brand new, and he didn’t know what to expect. However, this quickly changed when he saw that Arrupe was unlike any other program he had seen before. 

“Before I even got to Arrupe, the admissions team reached out to me and told me that they thought I would be a great fit,” he says. “No other school did that for me. It made all the difference, because I badly wanted to attend college, but I didn’t know where I would belong.” 

The Come to Believe (CTB) model is based on Arrupe College. CTB recognizes that college is more than an academic journey. By helping students feel like they belong in higher education, Arrupe and the Dougherty Family College at the University of Saint Thomas, currently the other member of the CTB network, empower students to graduate with a degree. 

Every Arrupe student's college journey begins at orientation. This is a time for students to meet their classmates, deans, faculty, and advisors and get acquainted with the campus environment. Brandon remembers how nervous he was before getting out of his grandfather’s car on the first day of orientation. But the nerves quickly dissipated as he found his community at Arrupe. He met some of his closest friends and his best friend to this day.  

“Creating community is such a big part of Arrupe, and having this support network around helps shape you into the person you want to be,” says Thomas. 

 After graduating from Arrupe in 2017, he earned his bachelor's in history from Loyola with a concentration in U.S. and African American history. Falling in love with the university experience, he received his masters from Loyola in higher education with a focus on student affairs and programming. 

Thomas is still connected to the Arrupe community in many ways, though he’s since moved to California. He works as an off-campus community manager at University of San Francisco, helping connect current students to housing. Still, he often turns to his Arrupe network of advisors, faculty and fellow alums for advice.  

University of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx and Butler University in Indianapolis are preparing to open new colleges based on CTB’s model. This expansion means more students like Brandon will get the benefits of supportive resources and a welcoming community as they begin their college education journey. 

“At Arrupe, we had our friends to encourage us, our community to support us, and countless resources at our disposal to help us succeed,” says Thomas. “All we needed to do after that—was just do it.”