By Ella Grady, Staff Writer

Sophomores Ganza Kim and Blake Wyatt and juniors Bella Scalfaro and Katie Weimer will start their 2026 Manresa journey as the newest members of Manresa Core.

They will be assuming roles previously held by seniors Carson Carrico, Criselle Culhi, Aidan Foley and Lily Shepherd. Manresa Core leads the planning and execution of Xavier’s First Year Orientation Program. 

“The Core 2025 team consisted of four seasoned student leaders with immense passion for Manresa. Many changes took place last year, the biggest one being shortening Manresa and Orientation Team Training by a day. With their exemplary leadership and the orientation team’s execution, we solidified a new three-day Manresa program model that we plan to use for the foreseeable future,” Assistant Director for New Student Programs in the Office of Student Involvement Rose Walton said. 

Before selecting the newest Xavier leaders in Student Involvement, Core 2025 made lasting impacts on the Class of 2029.

“Core 2025 worked to show the Class of 2029 that while excellence is achievable at Xavier, the journey is theirs to define. As we began putting the program together, we realized just how different each of our paths at Xavier was and how beautiful those differences were,” senior social work major Shepherd said. “While Core 2025 is a little sad to be done with Manresa, we are so excited to pass the torch to Core 2026. Those four are truly remarkable individuals who care deeply about Manresa, and we wish them nothing but the best as they step into this next chapter.” 

When asked to reflect on the new 2026 Core in one word,  “Enthusiastic: Bella, Blake, Ganza and Katie are vibrant and eager to leave their marks on the Manresa program and Xavier at large. Each of them has served in a different capacity on the Manresa team and come with fresh ideas for enhancing the orientation leader experience. I may be their biggest fan, but I know the 2026 Manresa Team is in good hands,” Walton said.

Walton dove into higher education after completing her undergraduate degree at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Penn. A first-generation college student, Walton felt that first-year orientation allowed her to feel at ease and take control of her college experience. 

She was then an orientation member, team captain and student orientation coordinator. After graduation, she worked for a non-profit in Austin, Texas, helping other first-generation college students have the same accessibility and resources she found during her time at St. Joseph. While completing her Master’s degree at Villanova, an internship with the Xavier Manresa program opened in 2023. 

“As a graduate intern, I was blown away with the quality of student leaders who bought into the All for One mentality in their words and actions during orientation. Manresa filled me with the same sense of hope and purpose I felt as an undergraduate student, and I guess you could say it left me wanting more,” Walton said. “Call it coincidence or divine intervention, but the Assistant Director position became available as I completed my master’s program in Spring 2024, and I knew immediately that Xavier and Cincinnati were the next places I’d call home.” 

Now that Walton has seen her first Core class succeed, the next “Core Four” is ready to serve the first-year student community alongside her. 

“I cannot talk about the Manresa Core Team without acknowledging the other members: Bella, the New Student Programs Coordinator; Blake, the Training Coordinator; and Katie, the Community Development Coordinator. This is truly an outstanding group of individuals to work with because of their creativity, openness to differing opinions, and adaptability, ” sophomore engineering physics major, and the newest Operations Coordinator of 2026 Core Ganza Kim said.

Manresa New Student Orientation for the Class of 2030 is set to start on Aug. 13, 2026, with closing ceremonies on Saturday, Aug. 15.  To be a member of the orientation team, applications are live on the OneApp until Saturday, Jan. 31. 

“To anyone considering getting involved with Manresa, it’s simple: just do it. Once you become involved, you quickly realize that you gain more from the experience than you give. It is a great opportunity not only to help build the Xavier community but also to give back to it. We would love to have you join the 2026 Manresa team,” Kim said.