Our popular Ask the Abbot feature garners lots of questions and occasionally prompts its own answers, too, with rich material that augments the fictional Abbot’s own responses.
In last month’s @St. Norbert, Jerome Moscinski ’63 asked the Abbot why St. Norbert College was never dubbed St. Norbert University. You can read the abbatial response here – but we enjoyed this message from Peter Vandenbergh ’84 almost as much.
Dearest Father Abbot and Jerome ’63,
I have a personal, reply to the Q & A between you two in the August newsletter. I was personally attracted to SNC because of the “C.” I was impressed by the “small” and very personal attention to the student by many things … like “small” class size and “small” caseloads for professors/counselors. At one time, my class, 1984, was told that the school received the name “college” because of the UNDER-2000 enrollment. A few friends of mine went to schools like St. Ambrose in Davenport, Iowa. While they were there, enrollment “blossomed” to almost 2,500. They did not seem to “care” about changing to “University.”
I chose St. Norbert for the “C” in College; the “C” in Catholic; the “C” of Community … now dubbed “C”ommunio; the “C” in Caring; the “C” in Comprehensive preparation for the Real world. I also “C”hose St. Norbert over and above other colleges due to the Commitment of leaders like Tom Kunkel who I have met and admire for all that he has done, like his predecessors, intentionally or not, to maintain the “C’s” of the College.
I have a deep love and respect for the founders, from you Father Abbot Pennings, to the men of the Norbertine community who continue to serve and help the college to “thrive”; “flourish”; and pursue to keep it growing in your spirit Father Abbot. I am proud to be an SNC grad/alum/supporter. I encourage my students in my charge to look into SNC … and I encourage them to dig deep to figure out what the “C” could mean to them. I tell my students, “You have to experience it to understand it.” Thank you for allowing me to express my thoughts, feelings, and emotions about SNC and what it will ALWAYS mean to mean.
P.S. This was the “short” version.
Peace
