By Ben Dickison, Sports Editor

Since Nov. 2023, former Director of Retreats and Campus Ministry Colleen Ryan Mayrand has served as the new Director of the Dorothy Day Center for Faith and Justice (CFJ). 

The CFJ invites all students to deepen their spiritual life and form themselves into advocates for social justice through worship services, spiritual counseling, retreats and community building.

“I think the CFJ has a high impact on students. I think we’re at the heart of the mission of Xavier,” Mayrand said, reflecting on her previous four years in the office.

A native of Poughquag (pronounced Po-kway-g), N.Y., Mayrand grew up with access to a plethora of sites that proved significant to American history. These sites include the birthplace of legendary poet Mark Twain and the eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren.

“There were a lot of historical sites near where I grew up, so American Studies with a minor in public history seemed like a really good fit,” Mayrand said. 

Mayrand worked at historical sites during each summer between academic years, hoping to get into the space of education after she graduated in 2009.

In fact, Mayrand took her first career step, after trotting through four years of undergrad as a Red Fox at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., south of the Mason-Dixon line. She found herself called to serve with Glenmary Home Missioners. 

The organization’s mission revolves around bringing the Gospel to rural Americans. Mayrand found herself managing a tree farm among the peaks of Appalachia in Lewis County, Ky. for her first gig out of college and developed a passion for nurturing God’s creation.

“I think we have a lot of ways to grow our attention to ecology and sustainability on campus,” Mayrand said. “I’m currently planning some ecological and spiritual activities to help create prayer and reflection experiences that help people remain more committed to nature.”

Following Mayrand’s year-long stint at Glenmary Farm, she crossed the Ohio River once again to obtain a graduate degree in Pastoral Ministry from the University of Dayton. 

While completing her studies, Mayrand also served as Graduate Student Campus Minister for the student neighborhood, mostly providing spiritual direction and facilitating community building opportunities for junior and senior students.

“At Dayton, I learned how the Marianists (order of priests) organized retreats, reflection, spirituality programs, liturgy and immersion experience. One thing I particularly appreciate about the Marianists is their intentionality in making sure everyone has a seat at the table and everyone’s voice is heard,” she said.

Additionally, during her time at Wheeling Jesuit University in northern W.Va., Mayrand served as Director of the university’s Social Mission Center and Mentor at the Mother Jones House.

“Mother Jones was a center of intentional community off-campus, similar to the Summer Service Internship here at Xavier,” Mayrand said. 

“We also had a program called Appalachian Immersion where students from outside schools could come experience the injustices of Appalachian West Virginia, which was kind of unique to that particular school and place,” Mayrand added.

In her nearly five years in roles in the CFJ, Mayrand has leaned into lessons to be learned from Catholic social justice pioneers such as Oscar Romero and Dorothy Day, both of whom are memorialized in various areas of Xavier’s campus and mission.

She also quoted former Jesuit Superior General Peter Hans Kolvenbach, who said, “As Jesuit Institutions, we are who our students become.”

As a lay affiliate of the congregation of St. Joseph with a background in Jesuit and Marianist community building, Mayrand will seek to continue to cultivate the CFJ into a place where all students are loved as dear neighbors without distinction, and that the love granted to each student will provide care for the whole person.