A few years ago, Gary Pierre was living in a mud shack in Haiti without running water or electricity and eating no more than two meals a day. Today, he is a sophomore at Franciscan University majoring in international business and playing on the school’s tennis team.

Despite having lost both his parents and growing up in an impoverished country, Pierre has been able to set out on a path that he hopes will lead back to Haiti and helping the people there.

The 20-year-old’s life began to change when, at 14, he was recommended to HERO (Housing, Education, and Rehabilitation of Orphans), a group begun after the 2010 earthquake that devastated the island nation. Since its founding five years ago, HERO has helped provide academic and athletic opportunities for more than 500 Haitian children.

With the group’s help, Pierre learned English, graduated from a Georgia high school through its online program, and, with no previous exposure to either, mastered both chess and tennis well enough to play competitively. He was led to Franciscan in part through a connection to the Baron tennis team that was forged when he met the coach and players on their spring trip to Florida.

Among the benefits he has received from Franciscan is a reawakening of the Catholic faith into which he was baptized. He participated in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program and was confirmed at Easter. He also is in formation for the Disciples of the Word Household.

In addition to his classes, Pierre works on campus as an athletic administrative finance and budget assistant, enabling him to send some money back home to help his siblings, the youngest of whom is a junior in high school.

His challenges as an international student have included homesickness—especially in the winter—and adjusting to the food, the people, and the spirituality on campus. Even so, he says, he has been treated well and has made many friends.

Besides his tennis skills, Pierre believes he has been able to offer his fellow students his experience of living in a poor country.

“Just by telling them my stories, I hope they can learn to be thankful because sometimes people take things for granted.”

For a long time, I didn’t believe God loved me. That goes back to my own dad. He left my mom when I was five and then struggled to be the father he was called to be. I saw God as a reflection of him and was angry at God for letting my dad fail me.

When I was 10, that started to change. I attended a retreat and had this overwhelming experience of God’s fatherly love. Four years later, at my first Steubenville Conference, I had a similar experience. By my junior year, I knew I wanted to go to Franciscan. I felt like God wanted to do something great in my heart there. But I didn’t know how that would be possible. My mom worked three jobs to put my siblings and me through Catholic high school. I was on my own for college and couldn’t afford even a semester at Franciscan.

But I still applied, and I got accepted. That’s when I started praying. Every night, I would get down on my knees and beg, “Lord, if there’s a way, get me to Franciscan University.”

I kept that up all winter, until one day, my admissions counselor called. Without telling me, she had submitted my application for the Spirit of St. Francis Award, a four-year, full-tuition scholarship. I got it. I was going to Franciscan.

Looking back, I see God proving himself to me through that scholarship, proving his fidelity, his love, his fatherhood.

Now as a student, I’m growing closer to him, and hoping to use everything I’m learning to lead others to him. That’s what I want to do after graduation: work with inner-city teens in my hometown and help them see that their heavenly Father loves them, cares for them and will provide for them, like he did for me.

I knew I had a calling to the military on September 11, 2001. I was homeschooled at the time, and my father called my mother and told her to turn on the TV. I saw the second plane crash into the South Tower. After that, I stepped out of the living room. That’s when it hit me like a lightning bolt: You need to go into the military.

That conviction has been with me ever since.

At Franciscan University, I was a member of the first Army Reserve Officer Training Course (ROTC). As a senior, I ended up writing my thesis about how soldiers are called to be like Christ—ready to sacrifice our lives for others. That’s ultimately why I joined the military—to protect and defend America and our freedoms.

My faith has sustained me through all my years of service. It’s helped me take my oath to serve seriously, to be willing to live and die for something greater than myself. It’s helped me understand suffering, teaching me how to find meaning and not give up when things are hard. It’s kept me calm, even when there’s a storm around me. It has shown me the importance of respecting others, through my actions and words. And it has helped me be a leader, with a commitment to virtue, both on the job and off.

I credit that faith to my parents and to my time at Franciscan University. Those relationships and experiences set my moral compass and taught me what leadership is. Now, it’s my job to build leaders in the military, men and women who will go on to lead in their families, communities, workplaces, and government. I’m handing on what I’ve received. Not just with words, but with who I am. I pray that’s a work that will bear fruit for centuries to come.

I met my husband, Andrew, as a freshman at Franciscan, but we didn’t start dating until a few years after graduation. When we finally married, I was 29, and we were both really excited to start a family. In my mind, it was just a given that we would have lots of kids.

As it turns out, it wasn’t a given. Month after month, then year after year went by, but no kids came. That was a profound struggle. After lots of prayer, however, we still felt convinced God was calling us to be parents, and so we began looking into adoption.

It wasn’t easy. Adoption can be an invasive, awkward, extremely expensive process. In some ways, it felt like a transaction. But, when we got the call that an expectant mother had chosen us, and then later, when I first held our son in my arms, it was all worth it.

Andrew and I went on to adopt two more children. As we struggled through the process two more times, I knew there had to be a better way, a way that wasn’t so financially prohibitive for families and felt more like a ministry. That’s why, along with two other Franciscan alumni, I started Siena Adoption Agency to give expectant moms and prospective adoptive parents the support they deserve.

Looking back on this whole journey, I don’t know if it would have been possible if not for my time at Franciscan. Infertility can really rattle your faith. But thanks to the foundation in faith Franciscan gave me and the incredible community of friends Andrew and I formed there, we found a way to embrace the cross. And that led us here, to the family we have and the work I’m doing. It’s all been such a gift.

One of the most important experiences of my life was being in a household at Franciscan University. Having those intentional relationships with my brothers and learning how to build intentional relationships has carried me through some of the most difficult parts of my life.

A desire for more relationships like that, but with those who shared my calling to the legal profession, inspired me to found the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Kansas City in 2006 and then, in 2015, the Catholic Bar Association, the first national organization of Catholic legal professionals.

The need wasn’t just for community. It’s become increasingly hard for Catholics to practice both their faith and the law, and it was apparent to me that something needed to be done to give Catholic attorneys a community and a voice. Since its founding, the Catholic Bar Association has become that voice.

That’s how I ended up in Washington in 2019, speaking at a Senate press conference. Justice Amy Coney Barrett had been nominated to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and was facing extreme attacks because of her Catholic faith. A group of senators invited me to join them in speaking out against what was really an attack on all Catholic legal professionals. That day crystallized for me why the Lord had called me to this work.

I wouldn’t have been there, though, without Franciscan University. Not just because of my time in households, but because it was there that I learned to listen to the Holy Spirit. I think that’s why Franciscan is so successful at raising leaders willing to engage the culture. Because we’re empowered by the Holy Spirit and that empowerment gives us strength. It gives us the ability to not just hear God’s call, but to say yes to it—to take a leap of faith and be the radical disciples we’re called to be.

Coming from a public high school, Sarah Lawlor didn’t just want to study theology in her college classes—she wanted to joyfully live 
her faith in every aspect of her life as 
a student.

It didn’t take long for her to discover like minds at Franciscan.

“When I came and visited, it was so evident that people were alive with the faith on a deeper level,” says the junior from Denver, Colorado. “From that point on I only wanted to study theology because I wanted to understand the heart of what we believe and what is truth—so I can truly live it at its core and then give it to the world.”

Through her first two years at Franciscan, Sarah has already taken advantage of Franciscan’s many opportunities to live out and give the truth of the Gospel 
to the world. This past spring, she led Franciscan’s student mission to Los Angeles, 
and she continues to be active in local Missions of Peace and the Servants of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus household.

“In Missions of Peace, in Works of Mercy, in households, you’re always giving of yourself at Franciscan,” she says.

Sarah’s experience isn’t unique. It’s all part of a dynamic faith community that pushes students to both academic and spiritual excellence.

“The beautiful thing about Franciscan is that it unifies both the spiritual and the intellectual so well,” she says. “It takes what we know about the faith—what’s been taught, our tradition—and it marries it with how we serve. There are so many opportunities to put our faith into play and practice what we believe; it’s not like we’re just absorbing, because we’re also giving.”

Fittingly, Sarah’s giving would not have been possible without the generous support of Franciscan’s friends and donors.

“Franciscan wouldn’t have been an option for me if I didn’t get a scholarship to come here, and Franciscan has changed my life dramatically,” she says. “Through the donors being an instrument of God and giving, I’ve been able to grow with Christ and build into my future the desire to give everything to him.”

Runway fashion model, teacher, wife, and mother, Joan Maddy has put her hand to many tasks and good causes over the years. Now a widow and retired, this New York City native enjoys the view of ocean waves from her home in Vero Beach, Florida. But “retirement” hasn’t slowed her action for the good of the Church.

That includes support for Franciscan University’s Serra Scholarship Fund, which supports young men discerning their vocation through Franciscan’s Priestly Discernment Program.

Joan traces her commitment to the Catholic faith to her college years when she was introduced to the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. The Angelic Doctor captured her intellect and imagination as she worked her way through the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles.

That rich intellectual foundation she received as a young woman led her to appreciate the quality Catholic education available today at Franciscan University. Then, after learning about Franciscan’s Priestly Discernment Program, she realized that it addressed a crucial need.

“The Eucharist and the priesthood are why I am a Catholic,” Joan says. “We must do things to strengthen the priesthood: I don’t pray for merely more priests, but for holy priests, and the Priestly Discernment Program answers that need. The Lord still calls young men but they can’t always hear his voice. [This program] enables them to do that.”

As a child, Helen White lived an enchanted cottage along the Hudson River, filled with music, books, poetry, and beautiful old things. Later, when Helen married and moved to a wooded property outside of Diamond Ohio, she and her husband, Larry, began building an enchanted home of their own. Over the course of many years, they acquired additional acreage, constructed both the main house and several outbuildings, and lovingly shaped the land into a park, with accessible pathways, secluded nooks, and picnic areas.

Larry passed away in 2017. Shortly before that, however, the couple began looking for an organization to whom they could entrust their beloved property. Then, one day, a few months after Larry passed, a friend called and suggested Franciscan University.

“I hung up the phone, and the hair on my arms stood up,” Helen recalls. “I felt like the Holy Spirit had visited me!”

In 2018, Franciscan University accepted the gift of both the land and White’s estate, which will allow Franciscan to maintain the property in perpetuity and use it as a retreat center for students.

Since then, Helen says her relationship with Franciscan University has been “nothing but pure gold,” and although she will continue living on the property for the foreseeable future, she is already opening it up to student organizations for retreats.

“All of this happened so fast, but it’s just a wonderful match,” she says. “I met some of the students on retreat this last fall. I am in awe of their Christ-like love, genuine warmth of spirit, and humbleness of heart. I am so very blessed to have the chance to get to know them and welcome them to their new home!”

Dan Johnson ’07 knows about stories. The creative director of 4PM 
 Media, an innovative videography ministry dedicated to bringing beauty and truth into the world through authentic storytelling, he is the mind behind popular Catholic documentaries such as Speaking to Sparrows, as well as The Wild Goose Ministry’s visually stunning miniseries on the Holy Spirit.

And, he is at the forefront of an evangelization revolution driven by young Catholic creatives who are 
leading with beauty, capturing humanity’s longing for God in authentic stories of people and places.

Johnson’s own story began in Steubenville, although not at Franciscan. A talented high school basketball player with aspirations to play collegiately, he did not even consider Franciscan until a knee injury derailed his basketball plans.

The injury proved providential: Receiving one of Franciscan’s Commuter Grants, which drastically reduces the cost of tuition for local students, he would go on to connect deeper with his faith and meet his wife, Lauren (McAleer ‘07). He also gained insight into developing his story-driven ministry, which he would employ first as the director of the Family Life and Respect Life Office for the Archdiocese of Mobile and later as a founding member of 4PM Media.

“We have such good stories in the Church,” says Johnson, who was a theology major at Franciscan. “You look at the life of Christ, the lives of the saints—anything I learned here in my theology classes, or later gave a talk about in ministry—it’s all telling a story. And those are stories people want and need to hear.”

Most recently, Johnson and 4PM have partnered with Franciscan University president Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, to produce Sign of Contradiction, a breathtaking documentary about the life of St. Francis of Assisi, and a new series on conversion titled Metanoia. In doing so, he has reconnected with his alma mater, 
drawing closer to a dynamically orthodox Catholic community like no other in the country.

“It’s a really exciting time to be a part of the Franciscan community,” says Johnson, who is a father of six. “There’s a freshness and newness around campus, and it’s the right time to be engaged and excited about the University.

“It doesn’t matter who you are,” he continues. “To be here, to be on campus, the Spirit is always present. There’s something about this place that is just special and holy. When you’re supporting Franciscan, 
you’re supporting that.”

When it comes to covering issues of religious freedom, the pro-life movement, and the role of traditional Judeo-Christian values 
in the public discourse, few journalists write about the topics with more clarity, knowledge, and respect for Church teaching than The Daily Signal’s 
Rachel del Guidice ’16.

Del Guidice visited dozens of schools as a teenager, accompanying her father on conferences and lectures for his job as an art professor. That’s how she knew Franciscan was special.

“There was such a sense of joy and community at Franciscan that I never witnessed anywhere else,” says del Guidice. “Going to Franciscan became a goal I set for myself.”

She was able to achieve that goal largely through the help of Franciscan’s generous donors, receiving the St. Clare Scholarship for transfer students after spending a year at the University of Akron.

“Without that extra help, it would have been a lot harder to pay my way through school,” says del Guidice, for whom the scholarship proved to be the deciding factor in transferring to Franciscan. “It’s cliché, but it’s true: Scholarships really do help, no matter how much they are.”

An active member of numerous clubs as a Franciscan University student, she held leadership positions in Students for Life and wrote for The Troubadour student newspaper. Now, as a writer for the Heritage Foundation’s online periodical and a frequent guest and host of podcasts and web-exclusive video segments featuring senators, members of government, and D.C. power players, del Guidice frequently draws on lessons from her journalism classes.

Of particular note, a professor “told us there were times we were going to be tested and our feet would be held to the fire, but we needed to stay strong and not buckle on what we believe,” she says. “Realizing that has been so helpful in seeing my vocation as a calling from God, and one that will have a positive impact, even if I can’t always see it.”