October 30, 2025 // Bishop
Assisi Scholars Gather to Pray, Chat, Dine with Bishop Rhoades
Students in the Assisi Program for Discipleship and Leadership at the University of Saint Francis gathered for prayer, food, and fellowship on campus on Thursday, October 23. The event began with evening prayer in the Oratory of St. Francis, led by Father Patrick Hake, chaplain for the university. Also in attendance were many members of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration (the congregation that sponsors the university), Bishop Rhoades, and Saint Francis President Lance Richey.
The Assisi program is a four-year formation opportunity open to students of all ages that officially launched in the fall of 2023. It is designed to help Catholic students who are intentional about their faith navigate college life by uniting their vocational training and their relationship with Jesus. It teaches them to incorporate that into impactful and meaningful leadership on campus and in whatever career they may choose.
Students in the Assisi Program for Discipleship and Leadership at the University of Saint Francis prepare for evening prayer at the Oratory of St. Francis on campus with some of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, university president Lance Richey, Bishop Rhoades, and others on Thursday, October 23.
“We are a group of students on campus who exemplify the Catholic faith,” Gretchen Eusterbrock, an Assisi scholar, told Today’s Catholic. “We are representatives of the Church who work on our personal formation and community formation.”
Following prayer, the group walked over to the Trinity Hall Event Center for dinner and conversation.
“This is a dinner that we hold every year for the students in the Assisi program, which is really our flagship program for building an intentional community of Catholic students on campus,” Richey said. “They really are the leaven that helps make the reality of the Church present among our student body,” he concluded.
Bishop Rhoades speaks with Assisi scholar Grace Morris, a senior majoring in education, during dinner in the Trinity Hall Event Center at the University of Saint Francis as part of his annual visit with the students in the Assisi Program for Discipleship and Leadership on campus.
The dinner and discussion give students the opportunity to meet and speak with Bishop Rhoades in a more casual setting. He said the students in the Assisi program are really outstanding.
“I had met with them last year, and I had such a good time praying together and having a meal together, informally, and really it’s just very edifying for me,” Bishop Rhoades said.
Bishop Rhoades also talked about how great it is for the future to see these young people openly expressing the faith.
“They are really great witnesses on campus, and it really bodes well for the future when I see young adults like these who are intelligent, true leaders, and filled with commitment to the faith,” Bishop Rhoades said.
For more information about the Assisi Program for Discipleship and Leadership and how to apply, visit the university website at sf.edu/assisi.
Nicole Hahn is the secretary of communications for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
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