Summer Adventures & the New Academic Year

Campus Life Update

At the end of last week, members of the CatholicTech community were taking one more opportunity for adventure before greeting the class of 2029 arriving on campus and the start of the new academic year. One was traversing the countryside of Switzerland, and two were in Poland, enjoying churches and pierogis. One member went to Assisi on Saturday, seeing sights such as St. Francis’ Portiuncula and St. Francis’ Basilica, visiting soon-to-be St. Carlo Acutis, and dining with a splendid view of the Italian countryside.

On Wednesday, one member of the CatholicTech community made the trek to the Vatican to attend another Papal Audience, attempting once again the traditional Zucchetto swap with Pope Leo. He was ultimately unsuccessful, but grateful to see and hear the teaching of the successor of Peter once again. While at the audience, he was able to meet other pilgrims who are in Rome for the upcoming canonization of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, a historic canonization which the CatholicTech community is excited to attend with the incoming freshmen and friends of the college.

In an exciting new venture, CatholicTech is opening up classroom and lounge spaces in Castel Gandolfo to build stronger ties with the town. Several team members cleared a basement and started painting walls in a local restaurant called “La Scarpetta” to create a lounge space for the Italian Club. Students have also been dining at the restaurant during the workday, and the local Italians, impressed by the American work ethic of the Newman Fellows and staff, suggested that the school start a cleaning service called “Cleaning and Carbonara!”

In addition to expanding CatholicTech’s classroom space with a new area in town, the student life team is working hard to make the campus as welcoming as possible to the new freshmen and visitors, putting up new signs all around the palace, adding mailboxes for the students, pressure washing everywhere outside, and constantly improving the general atmosphere of our spacious campus. We hope the hard work of the Newman Fellows and staff continues to energize the campus as the new academic year begins!