There are a thousand things a freshman expects on move-in day: cars packed to the roof, nervous parents, boxes that seemed much lighter at home, and the first bewildering attempt to figure out where everything goes.
They probably don’t expect the president of the college to be standing at the entrance waiting for them.
But at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, President Stephen Minnis has made a tradition of greeting arriving students and families as they come onto campus.
It’s a small gesture. And perhaps that’s precisely why it matters.
Before the first class. Before the first football game. Before the first late-night conversation with a roommate. Before Benedictine becomes home rather than simply college—someone is already at the gate saying:
Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.
This week’s ROOK is for the students packing their cars right now, the parents wondering how everything will fit, and everyone preparing for that strange, wonderful moment when a new chapter begins.
Welcome to Benedictine.
ROOK is an original Chesterton Radio comic inspired by life around Benedictine College—the friendships, absurdities, adventures, and little moments that make a place a home.