A new face greeted students arriving in the Office of Campus Ministry this semester. Lacie Ann Michaelson joined the staff at the end of the summer to work closely with Director, Sister Joannie Cassidy.
Michaelson recently graduated from Villanova University with a master’s degree in Theology and a certificate in Pastoral Ministry. As Assistant Director, Michaelson will help plan all retreats, service opportunities and community prayer experiences, among other duties.
A native of Mashpee, Mass., Michaelson graduated from Stonehill College, about an hour and a half away from her hometown, in Easton, Mass. She says she loved the small, Catholic, liberal arts college and believes that affinity is partly what drew her to Chestnut Hill College.
“There were plenty of opportunities to be involved,” says Michaelson, who was active in the Campus Ministry program there. “I wanted something similar and was drawn to CHC’s Mission. I got the sense — as soon as I walked through CHC’s doors — that the idea of living with the Mission’s distinctions is taken seriously here.”
Michaelson already has participated in her first retreat. She joined eight students in Cape May during the first week of September for the annual Women’s Retreat, a mission-driven event where participants have the chance to grow in their spirituality and deepen their own identity while building community.
“I love that I’m working in a place where we can do something in a spiritually fulfilling way, while allowing each participant to experience it through the lens of their own lives,” she says. “This inclusion is so important. Meet people where they are and walk with them.”
Michaelson spent the year after college as an Augustinian Volunteer in Chulucanas, Peru, mainly teaching computers and English. She is fluent in Spanish, loves knitting and running and is passionate about interfaith ministries.
“It is evident that Lacie embodies the heart of our mission. She possesses numerous gifts and has enriched Campus Ministry since she arrived. Lacie is a gift to minister with and I am looking forward to the year unfolding together,” says Joannie Cassidy, SSJ, director of campus ministry.
—Brenda Lange
