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