A Milestone at Come To Believe: Welcome Asya and Carlos

Last week, Jews and Christians celebrated the feasts of Passover and Easter, feasts of new life, of victory over oppression and injustice. I’m thrilled to share that during this special time we welcome two Arrupe College graduates to CTB. We celebrate the life and energy they bring to our movement to address and change the oppression and injustice of educational opportunity gaps so many young people experience.

 As you know, the mission of CTB is the replication of the successful two-year Arrupe College model launched at Loyola University Chicago on other campuses at other universities around the country. Nothing validates our efforts more than the successes of our graduates. Arrupe “prepares its graduates to continue on to a bachelor’s program or move into meaningful employment” — a quote from the Arrupe mission statement.

I’d like to introduce Arrupe alumna Asya Meadows ‘17 and her fellow alumnus Carlos Martinez ‘19, our communications managers. Asya completed her degree in communications at Loyola University Chicago in 2019, and Carlos will graduate with his degree in marketing and public relations in May. At CTB, Asya and Carlos will create content for our website and social media presence, they will produce newsletters and other communications, they will research areas in higher education that CTB seeks to address, and they will be available to interact with higher ed leaders interested in learning more about our two-year college model. Although Asya and Carlos will work primarily in Chicago, I look forward to their presence in our New York offices as more and more of us are vaccinated and as the pandemic, please God, becomes more and more controlled.

 Asya Meadows was a member of Arrupe’s first class, pioneering much of what has become core characteristics for the CTB model. She served as the college’s student government president and was the student speaker at Arrupe’s first graduation. Attending Loyola on a full scholarship, she was a student diversity multicultural affairs officer on campus, and she currently works as a development and communications associate at a Chicago non-profit that helps elementary and secondary students with writing skills.

Carlos Martinez served as Arrupe’s vice-president, and forged a closer relationship between Arrupe and Loyola University which resulted in the college attaining membership at the larger university’s student government. Carlos participated in Arrupe’s study abroad in northern Spain, visiting sites associated with the life of St. Ignatius Loyola and the first Jesuits. As a Loyola scholarship recipient, Carlos has served as the university’s diversity committee chair. Outside of Loyola, he co-founded “Serving People with a Mission,” a leadership training program for Chicago youth.

 Please join me in welcoming Asya and Carlos and celebrating this milestone for CTB. Soon after Asya and her classmates enrolled in Arrupe’s first class, I said our role was to accompany students during their first postsecondary educational experiences. Now, Arrupe graduates are accompanying us at CTB as we attempt to scale our model nationally. Asya and Carlos will not only drive and deliver effective communications and help realize an inclusive culture, but they will also embody the true spirit of our mission and our work.

Happy Passover, Happy Easter, and be on the lookout for Asya and Carlos’s contributions to CTB! - Steve Katsouros, SJ

Our founder, Steve Katsouros, SJ, in the Spring 2021 issue of Conversations On Jesuit Higher Education..

From the article “Students Hopes Feed Those Who Accompany Them As Well”, published by Steve Katsouros, SJ in the Spring 2021 issue of Conversations in Jesuit Higher Education

“I’d rather be called ‘poor.’” That was the reaction of Louisa, a student at Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago and a member of the first cohort of students who enrolled at Arrupe in 2015.

In the summer of 2017, Louisa defied the statistics. Nationally, urban junior colleges report a two-year graduation rate of 7%. Louisa and her classmates were completing their associate’s degrees at nine times higher than the national average; 89% of the graduates enrolled in four-year institutions, and 75% of the graduates completed their bachelor’s in five years or less, compared to the national average of two-year institutions at 14% of bachelor’s attainment in six years.

“Yes, Father K, I’d rather be called ‘poor,’” Louisa repeated. She was reacting to the title of an article about Arrupe’s first graduation in Chicago’s newspaper of record, The Tribune. The title of the article: “Loyola program opens door for vulnerable students.”

“I’m not vulnerable,” said Yessica, Louisa’s classmate, who was transferring to University of Wisconsin, Madison, after graduating from Arrupe.

“Bad choice of words,” said Khalid, who was continuing at Georgetown. “

Agreed,” said Dante, who planned to leverage his Arrupe associate’s degree in the workforce by enrolling in Year Up, a job training program, after our graduation.

When I arrived at Arrupe College to launch this new academic unit at Loyola University Chicago in the fall of 2014, my responsibilities included designing an interview protocol for students wanting to join the program. The protocol would be an important part of our first class. Influenced by the work of psychologist Angela Duckworth, I wanted to assess grit and persistence. Consequently, prospective students were asked, “Describe an obstacle you have faced. What did you do about it? Did anyone help you? What have you learned because of the obstacle? What would you do differently?” Overall, the interviews worked, and we enrolled 159 students in our first cohort, including Louisa and Yessica, Khalid and Dante.

Yet in retrospect, the interview protocol presumed that, of course, First-Generation students who are either Pell eligible or undocumented must have faced obstacles. This was similar to lumping our students into the general category of “vulnerable.”

Education scholar Jackie Gerstein terms this the “deficit narrative” — viewing another through the lens of what is needed, of being vulnerable, of experiencing obstacles. Gerstein encourages us to consider the “asset narrative” — what are the talents, the gifts, the experiences our students bring to Arrupe and to Jesuit higher education?

So we changed the interview protocol. We dropped the question about obstacles. Interviewers now say to prospective students: “Arrupe has a wonderful, supportive community. From reading your application essay, and from what your high school counselor tells us and your recommendations indicate, we believe you can contribute to our community, our community will be better because of you. Can you talk about a talent or strength you think you have?” My colleagues and I consider our students to be fellow pioneers in creating and establishing Arrupe. Professors and staff ask students, “What are your interests? What are your goals with this degree? What are you curious about?” Their responses have shaped our curriculum decisions and informed how we deliver courses and support services. I attribute much of the success we have seen at Arrupe to our students and graduates, their influence and feedback.

As I reflect on the third of the Universal Apostolic Preferences — Accompanying the Young in Hope — I think of how students and faculty, administrators and alumni, board members and the larger Loyola Chicago community accompany each other. Of course, we attract students who benefit from Arrupe’s affordability. As one student said, “I came to Arrupe for the affordability, but I stay at Arrupe for the community and the opportunity.” The opportunity has been a two-way street, as my colleagues, I and Loyola University have all learned from Arrupe students how to offer a high-quality liberal arts program with many support services at a lower cost to students who are too often underrepresented on our campuses. We accompany each other, and I am more hopeful for higher education because of Arrupe students.

I have introduced Fr. Arrupe to new students through the “Nothing is more practical” reflection generally attributed to him:

Nothing is more practical than finding God,

than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way

What you are in love with,

What seizes your imagination, will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,

What you do with your evenings,

How you spend your weekends,

What you read, whom you know,

What breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love, And it will decide everything.

Two years later, at commencement, I remind our new graduates of those words, turning the message on them. “You have seized our imaginations,” I tell them. “You have affected everything…you amaze us with joy and gratitude.” When I look at our graduates — or imagine looking at them this year, as I deliver my remarks via Zoom — I don’t see vulnerable people burdened with obstacles. Rather, I think how much I have learned by accompanying them during their first postsecondary educational experience, and how much Jesuit higher education has to learn from their assets and their achievements.

The Bezos Family Match, CTB, and You: New Year News from Steve Katsouros, S.J.

Dear Friends,

Last month, I announced a challenge issued by the Bezos Family—a challenge during a challenging time. The Bezoses challenged Come to Believe (CTB) to raise $100,000–and if that occurred, they would match that amount, dollar for dollar.

I shared that challenge with you on December 3rd, and by December 28th, we reached $200,000!

When I informed the Bezoses how you generously responded to their generosity, they said, “Congratulations, Father! There is obviously a hunger out there for your idea of community colleges available to all...Let’s get them built. Your business plan is converging with the desire for existing universities to offer affordable options.”

Your gifts to CTB allow my colleague Susan Conniff and me to continue to subsidize our support to universities—we are currently working with three—who are considering replicating our model on their campuses. Your gifts to CTB also also allow us to begin to build out our organization so that we can reach our goal—ten two-year colleges for first gen, Pell eligible/undocumented students in five years. As the Bezoses say, let’s get them built!

We are meeting these challenges because of the Bezoses and you. Thank you. 

God’s blessings,

Steve Katsouros, S.J.

President and CEO

Come to Believe Network

New York, New York

A good challenge in terribly challenging times

Dear Friends,

These are terribly challenging times. That said, we at the Come to Believe network, or CTB, are not treading water while we wait for the vaccine. Rather, as we consider a post-pandemic perspective, we remain laser-focused on undergraduate success for first generation, Pell eligible, and undocumented students. We are driven by what gets these students across the finish line as they pursue their two-year associate’s degrees—full-time faculty who serve as academic advisors; breakfast and lunch programs; laptops and technology access for each student; social workers; career counseling; financial aid officers; and a culture of community and belonging. The retention and graduation rates of students at CTB-affiliated colleges are transforming the ways universities are reimagining higher education. The success rates are also transforming the lives of our students. They are crossing the finish line in record numbers. 

The Bezos Family is focused on student success and transformative education. Like many of you, they have supported CTB with a very generous seed gift as we start up our work to guide other universities who wish to replicate our two-year college model. But the Bezos Family wishes to do more. They have issued a challenge: they will match every gift given to CTB up to $100,000. A good challenge in terribly challenging times. Like you, they know we are living in a time of transformation, a time when our families, our communities, our economy, and our country demand that young women and men successfully complete a postsecondary educational degree in order to contribute to and lead the work of transformation. 

Thank you for considering making a gift so that CTB can cross the finish line and meet the Bezos Family challenge match. And, thank you for considering making a gift so that CTB can create more colleges and help more students cross the finish line and complete their degrees successfully. Finally, be assured of my prayers for you for a healthy holiday season. I will remember you during Mass at Christmas. 

God’s blessings,

Steve Katsouros, S.J. 

President and CEO

Come to Believe Network

New York, New York

You can help us meet the Bezos Family challenge match by sending your gift to Come to Believe Network, P.O. Box 786, New York, NY 10150. Or, you can visit CTB’s website at www.ctbnetwork.org and make a donation via PayPal. If you have any questions or want to learn more about CTB, don’t hesitate to contact me at skatsouros@ctbnetwork.org

Thanksgiving 2020

Dear Friends,

 Dr. Jill Biden visited Arrupe College in Chicago in September 2018. As you likely know, Dr. Biden is a professor at a two-year college in Northern Virginia. Dr. Biden’s professional experience and her empathy were apparent when she met with Arrupe students—she listened to their stories, congratulated them on their progress and success, and, especially with some of the more star struck students, she put them at ease. I remember thinking, “She gets it.” She was clearly impacted by the students, by their aspirations and achievements. I was very thankful for her visit, and for my friend, Mark Shriver, for inviting her.

As Thanksgiving approaches, a difficult Thanksgiving for all of us to navigate, I can remain anchored in gratitude when I think of you. Like Dr. Biden, you have listened to my stories of my work at Arrupe College, and you have listened to my plans to replicate the Arrupe model through the Come to Believe (CTB) Network. As my colleague Susan Conniff and I launch CTB in a challenging environment, your support and prayers put us at ease. And, like Dr. Biden, you get it—you get the urgency of opening more colleges like Arrupe and like the Doherty Family College at St. Thomas University, the first replication of the Arrupe model. You have been impacted by the aspirations and achievements of Arrupe and Doherty Family College students, and you see the importance of creating more opportunities for other young women and men like them—first generation, Pell eligible, undocumented, underserved.

Thank you—for listening, for putting me at ease with my new assignment, for getting the importance of CTB. Happy Thanksgiving—and although we will be missing family members and friends at our tables this year, let’s remain together in prayer. I will pray with the Jesuit community here in New York during our Mass on Thanksgiving morning for you and for your health and safety.

God’s blessings,

Steve Katsouros, SJ