A group of Saint John’s University seniors are being honored for an embrace of community and a commitment to service that promotes justice and exemplifies the Benedictine values that form the cornerstone of the experience students receive at the school.
Thomas Libbey, Jonathan Hill and Antonio Thompson have been selected as this year’s winners of the SJU Extraordinary Service Award.
The honor recognizes the work of SJU students who are characterized by their personal commitment to service, and whose efforts promote community, justice, working with others to accomplish a greater good and thoughtful reflection through the lens of Benedictine values and/or Catholic Social Teaching.
Faculty, staff and current undergraduate students can nominate a sophomore, junior or senior at SJU. The award winners will be honored at a banquet on April 29.
Hill, a liturgical music major with a minor in Hispanic studies, has been a student coordinator for SJU Campus Ministry during all four of his years in Collegeville, attending several service and immersion trips – including a trip the organization sponsored to El Paso, Texas, during his junior year.
The graduate of Wahlert High School in Dubuque, Iowa also sings in the SJU Men’s Chorus and was among the CSB and SJU students who traveled to New York for a performance at Carnegie Hall on April 6. He has applied and been accepted into this year’s cohort of the Benedictine Volunteer Corps and will spend the next year volunteering in Guatemala.
“I feel so lucky to have been able to take advantage of multiple opportunities to be of service, not just to the immediate community here, but to the wider world as well,” said Hill, who has also been part of a number of events and activities in the music department.
“Learning how to use my capabilities and the resources available to me to assist those on the margins is a really beneficial gift this place has provided. It’s something I’ll always carry with me.”
Libbey, a history major with a minor in biology, has been involved in SJU Campus Ministry as well as with CSB SJU Magis Ministries, where he served as co-president and co-worship coordinator as a junior and as co-worship coordinator as a senior.
The Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School graduate has been part of the SJU Nordic ski club team and has participated in intramural sports in addition to working as a staff member at daycares in Minnetonka and Rogers over the summer earlier in his college career and for the City of Minnetonka the past two summers.
After graduating this May, he plans to work as a medical scribe at Abbott Northwestern before going on to medical school.
“The importance of community is definitely something I feel like I valued in high school,” said Libbey, who got involved in Magis Ministries by playing piano at the group’s Praise at the Pub Events at Br. Willie’s Pub on the SJU campus.
“I didn’t lose sign of it my first year here, but it became less of a focus as I adjusted to college life. But looking around for ways to get involved, really (helped renew) my sense of purpose.”
Thompson, who is majoring in physics (pre-engineering) with a minor in math, has been a CSB and SJU admissions ambassador and has worked as a support technician for information technology services on campus. He’s also been part of the SJU Senate and is currently the programming manager for the Johnnie Development Institute.
Thompson, who grew up in Nassau, Bahamas, has also been a resident assistant on campus the past three years and has taken part in a number of service and immersion experiences sponsored by SJU Campus Ministry.
His post graduation plans are to attend graduate school here in Minnesota.
“We’re all here for a season,” he said. “I’ve wanted to make sure I’ve made an impact on this community during my time here.”
In addition to the three honorees, the selection committee this year also honored a pair of semifinalists: Senior Canaan Cooper, who last fall was selected to serve as part of the inaugural Bahamas National Youth Assembly, and senior Ernesto Lazaro, who has also been actively involved in SJU Campus Ministry.
“These students (all) have generous hearts,” said Margaret Nuzzolese Conway, SJU Campus Ministry’s executive director.
“They are all very generous people who give of themselves for others. They’ve each figured out how to be servant leaders in the community through being loving and present. There’s no task they wouldn’t take up and that’s powerful to see.”