Father Christopher T. Vaccaro founded the Associates of St. John Bosco in 2011 because he was concerned that the college environment leads too many college students to stop the practice of their Catholic faith.
“It’s not just one area, it’s the culture of campuses,” said Father Vaccaro, parochial vicar of St. Theresa Church in Ashburn. “There’s a level of expectation that you have bought into ideologies that are contrary to the Church — ideologies that teach and train students in things that actually change the way they think and affect the way they understand the goodness of God and the ability to understand the truth.”
During his time as college chaplain at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Father Vaccaro noticed that Catholic students just “disappeared.” Inspired by the evangelical work of St. John Bosco in the 19th century, he established the associates, or ASJB, to stem the tide of Catholic attrition.
“It was important to network Catholics to other Catholics who already knew people and that’s where the work began and it has steadily grown,” said Father Vaccaro. “This summer we’re on track for 180 incoming freshmen to come to one of our college nights.” St. Theresa hosted one of five college nights July 11, attracting 33 college bound freshmen and 25 volunteers who are current college students or graduates. College nights are fun-filled, pizza party networking events with a serious mission.
“I went to a college night after my senior year and one of the volunteers connected me with a missionary who reached out to me before I even went to campus,” said Alissa Brusey, a rising senior at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. “It was a culture shock my freshman year, but I’m now so involved with my campus ministry. When all your friends are practicing Catholics, it makes it a lot easier.”
“The dorm life, the party culture, there are so many threats to the faith,” said Danielle Zuccaro, who was recently hired as the ASJB’s first executive director after volunteering for eight years. “They can easily get washed away. It’s like a tidal wave. The secret is good formation and a team that really cares about them. Every single person on our team cares about the souls of these young people.”
Student speakers spoke with candor about the challenges facing freshmen. “It’s hard to be Catholic in college, but it’s harder to not be Catholic in college,” said Paul Clement, a rising senior at Georgetown University. “The Catholic faith provides a compass for your life. You will have many things vying for your attention, vying for your love, and Catholicism is saying, ‘There’s more.’ You’re going out in the wilderness, but your Catholicism is your compass.”
Nobody was more excited about starting college than Colby Thompson, who will be attending William & Mary in Williamsburg. “I need all the help I can get,” said Thompson. “I believe Catholicism to be the one true faith and I’m coming here to learn all the skills to keep that mindset.”
Claire Jackson, director of youth ministry at St. Ambrose Church in Annandale, tries to bring all of her high school graduates to one of the ASJB college nights. “After they leave my doors, their Sunday night ‘God Squad’ as we call it, they’re gone,” she said. “This program ensures that the students are meeting other solid Catholics and are going to know people when they set foot on campus.”
Katharine Reyes, a rising sophomore at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., said it’s not enough to just keep the faith in college. “It’s something that you have to constantly be pursuing and deepening,” she said. “Not only do I want to come out of college as a Catholic, I want to come out of college a better Catholic than when I started.”
Register for free at ASJB.org for upcoming college nights:
- July 16 at Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville
- July 23 at The Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria
- July 30 at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Fredericksburg
