Finn Dolezal arrived at Saint John’s University in the fall of 2022 with a pair of goals already in mind.
“The first was I wanted to meet lifelong friends – the men who would be in my wedding,” the senior economics major said. “The other was to develop holistically as a person.
“With now under 20 days left, I can honestly say I’ve accomplished both those things.”
Indeed, it would be hard to find a student who’s more fully embraced the entire spectrum of academic, athletic and social opportunities available to Johnnies during their time on campus.
· Dolezal played tennis, serving as team captain this past season.
· He got involved with Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Policy and Civic Engagement, where he was a student coordinator as a sophomore.
· He worked on documentaries produced by Extending the Link as a freshman and sophomore.
· He took part in the Washington, D.C., summer study program, completing an internship at the International Trade Administration in the summer of 2024.
· He studied abroad at the Université de Montpellier Paul-Valéry in France during the fall of 2024, coaching tennis at the Tennis Club Pierre Rouge.
· His term paper was awarded second place in a competitive contest sponsored by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve that same year.
· He just completed work on his distinguished thesis entitled “International Trade Determinants,” a study of disaggregated French imports that he presented as part of Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day on April 30.
· He was a finalist for this year’s Lafayette Fellowship.
· And he’s maintained a 3.95 GPA while earning spots on both the Dean’s List and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic team.
“From the moment I got here, I saw the unique opportunities Saint John’s presents students with,” he said. “It’s not that difficult to get involved in a lot of different things. I resolved that I’d engage in as much as possible and make the most of my Johnnie experience.”
Beyond his many on-campus activities, Dolezal found the time to bartend at The LaPlayette Bar, a popular social hangout for Bennies and Johnnies, and to serve as a tutor with ENGin, a global nonprofit that “helps Ukrainians of all ages improve their lives through authentic English-language conversation with volunteers worldwide.”
“I did that for about a year (in 2024),” he recalled. “It was pretty difficult. My student was about my age and lived in the state of Chernihiv Oblast, which is located just north of Kiev. It was occupied briefly by Russia at the beginning of the war (in 2022). We had a lot of talks about the terrible things that were happening there. He had close friends who perished on the front lines.
“We’d be talking and air raid sirens would go off. It brought the conflict home to me in a very real way.”
Being engaged is a family trait for the Dolezals. Finn’s older sister Regan, a 2022 CSB graduate, served on the CSB Student Senate, worked for Extending the Link and as an admissions tour guide and hosted a podcast for the McCarthy Center during her time on campus.
She was awarded a Fulbright as a senior and is about to complete work on her master’s degree at American University in Washington, D.C., before pursuing a career in cybersecurity.
“I saw her go from being a regular student with normal involvement in high school to compiling this super-impressive resume of achievement in college,” Finn said. “I watched her earn the Fulbright and go on to do everything she’s done since.
“It really demonstrated the capacity Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s have to transform people. That was a big draw for me.”
Finn’s father Craig is a former Marine who now works for U.S. Bank. His mother Tonya (McNamara) is a 1993 CSB graduate who works in consulting. And his older brother Cormac, 27, graduated from Loyola Marymount (California) and is now a television writer in Los Angeles.
They each set pretty high standards. But Dolezal has managed to chart his own path in Collegeville, impressing those who have come in contact with him.
“It’s always special to have a student who asks questions without knowing the answers in advance,” economics professor Louis Johnston said. “Finn is one of those rare students. He asks questions about how economics, politics, policy and culture intersect, then searches for the answers without a preconceived notion of what he’ll find. Instead, Finn has spent his time at CSB and SJU learning how to use tools from language study and social science theory to figure out answers to the questions he asks.”
“I can’t say enough about Finn,” SJU head tennis coach Jack Bowe added. “His impact on the team went far beyond the court. As a senior captain, he set the tone every day with his consistency, work ethic and leadership. He may not have always been a top point leader. But his value to the program was undeniable.
“He was dependable in every role he was asked to perform – always putting team first and embracing the responsibility of leadership. Finn was a great mentor for our younger players and he will be sorely missed.”
Dolezal will miss time on campus too. But he’s grateful for all he’s had the chance to accomplish the past four years.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have the chance to get involved in so many different things and with so many different groups,” he said. “Whether it was bartending, athletics or public policy, I found so many different communities and great mentors on this campus. They all helped me develop as both a Johnnie and a leader.
“It’s hard to put into words exactly how much this place has meant to me. It really has changed my life in many ways.”
