About the Institute

Providing an Integral Catholic Witness

The Saint Benedict Institute was founded by Catholic scholars at Hope College to engage the academy from an explicitly Catholic perspective and offer spiritual and intellectual formation to Catholic students. Through a variety of initiatives and with the cooperation of Hope College’s Campus Ministries, the Hope Catholics student group, and the Diocese of Grand Rapids, the Saint Benedict Institute provides an integral Catholic witness and seeks to strengthen Catholic identity amongst the Catholic students as well as encourage all Christians in their faith on the Hope College campus.

Rooted in the Reformed tradition, Hope College is committed to a robust ecumenism. This ecumenism begins with a deep love for Jesus Christ and seeks to articulate differences in the context of a friendship ordered toward truth. For this reason, it is important that the growing Catholic student population at Hope be formed in the Catholic tradition and therefore able to contribute a distinctively Catholic Christian witness to Hope’s diverse Christian community. By cultivating spiritually and intellectually well-formed Catholic students, the Saint Benedict Institute for Catholic Thought, Culture, and Evangelization seeks to foster a deeper understanding of Christian truth and an increased affection amongst all Christians at Hope College. Moreover, by strengthening Catholic identity among the Catholic students, the Institute assists Hope College in advancing its unique mission of being a vibrant Christian school, defined both by its Reformed heritage and its ecumenical commitment.

The Saint Benedict Institute is a ministry of St. Francis de Sales Parish. Hope College and St. Francis have what Hope's Campus Ministries calls a “covenant partnership.” This means that the College has given the local Church special access to campus resources in order to facilitate serving Catholic students in a distinctively Catholic way. The Saint Benedict Institute provides academic and spiritual programs to the Hope College community as an extension of the Church's mission.

Mission Statement

The Saint Benedict Institute seeks to promote and nurture intellectual work done from the heart of the Catholic Church, to foster an ecumenical community of Catholic Christians and friends committed to the renewal of culture, and to aid in the formation of intellectually and spiritually mature Christians by making available the riches of the Catholic tradition to Hope College and the wider community.

Why Saint Benedict?

We chose Saint Benedict as our patron because we see in him God’s wisdom. Benedict lived in a time of great cultural upheaval, a time when the Roman empire was crumbling, and the prevailing culture had lost its way. He responded to this crisis by forming oases of sanity, communities with an eternal vision, focused on the highest things. These God-centered communities created what we call “spiritual gravity,” a kind of divine attraction which drew people to them. The monks often started in the wilderness, but soon people came to them and farms cropped up, eventually leading to villages, towns, and cities with the monastery at the center. In this way, Benedict was able to draw people to God, but also preserve what was best in the culture. Monasteries were places of learning, wisdom, innovation, and, of course, holiness. It is this kind of fellowship that we hope the Saint Benedict Institute will cultivate among our students and community.

Institute Staff

Jared Ortiz, PhD

  • Jared Ortiz hails from Hopewell Junction, New York where he was a wayward and impious youth. He entered the University of Chicago in 1996 as a confused agnostic and through the reading of Great Books and under mentorship of wise professors he slowly returned to his childhood faith. After college, he spent two years living in a faith-based community in voluntary poverty while teaching in an inner-city Chicago Catholic school. He received a Masters degree in Liberal Arts from the St. John's College Graduate Institute and a PhD in Early Christian Studies at the Catholic University of America. He is author of You Made Us for Yourself: Creation in St. Augustine's Confessions and editor of Deification in the Latin Patristic Tradition. Currently, he is a full professor in the Religion Department at Hope College. He is happily married to Rhonda, a writer and graphic designer. They have six mischievous children: Benedict, Miriam, Joseph, Leo, Magdalene, and Matthias. Dr. Ortiz can be reached at jared.ortiz@saintbenedictinstitute.org.

  • jared.ortiz@saintbenedictinstitute.org

Executive Director and Co-Founder

Jack Mulder, PhD

Assistant Director and Co-Founder

  • Jack Mulder is a native of Grand Rapids and a Hope College alumnus.  He studied Philosophy and Religion at Hope College before pursuing an MA and PhD in Philosophy at Purdue University where he wrote his dissertation on Kierkegaard. Dr. Mulder was received into the Catholic Church while at graduate school.  He is author of several books, including Kierkegaard and the Catholic Tradition,What Does it Mean to Be Catholic? (Eerdmans, 2015) and Civil Dialogue on Abortion (Routledge, 2018).  Currently, he is chair and associate professor in the Philosophy Department at Hope College.  He is happily married to Melissa, an instructor in Spanish at Hope, and father to Luke and Maria. Dr. Mulder can be reached at mulderj@hope.edu.

  • mulderj@hope.edu.

Fr. Nicholas Monco, O.P

Chaplain

  • Fr. Nick Monco was born and raised in Chicago.  He went to Claremont McKenna College in California where he majored in Philosophy and Business.  He then pursued the priesthood with the Dominican Order of the Midwest Province.  He received a Master of Theology and Master of Divinity degree from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO, where he also earned a Certificate in Thomistic Studies.  He was ordained in 2013 and has taught Theology at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, IL, for the past four years. Fr. Monco can be reached at nicholas.monco@saintbenedictinstitute.org.

  • nicholas.monco@saintbenedictinstitute.org

Dcn. Brian Piecuch

  • After graduating from college, Deacon Brian Piecuch served for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica working with “campesinos” practicing subsistence farming. This experience reoriented the path of his life to one of serving the needy both here and abroad. His overseas projects included a five-year stint in the Central African Republic with Christian Blind Mission International and a decade in Peru with Medical Ministry International (MMI). Brian and his wife, Carmen, are the proud parents of five adult children. In January 2022, Brian was ordained a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Grand Rapids and assigned to his home parish, St. Francis de Sales in Holland. Dcn. Brian can be reached at 616-582-8981 or at brian.piecuch@saintbenedictinstitute.org.

  • brian.piecuch@saintbenedictinstitute.org.

Development Director and Program Coordinator

Michelle Pohlman

  • Michelle Pohlman earned a B.A. in Spanish and Theology from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids in 2011. During her time at Aquinas, she spent a semester abroad in Salamanca, Spain, and was an active member of the Insignis honors program. Beginning as a summer intern in 2010, Michelle worked with the Programs and Education department at the Acton Institute for 8 years. During her time at Acton, her primary responsibilities included administration for their annual summer conference, Acton University. Outside of her professional career, Michelle has volunteered with the liturgical environment team at the Cathedral of St. Andrew, has served as both retreat director and chapter director for Veritas, and has been a member of her church choir. Michelle lives in Holland with her husband, Ben, and their children, Steven and Claire. The Pohlmans are members of St. Francis de Sales Parish. Michelle can be reached at michelle.pohlman@saintbenedictinstitute.org.

  • michelle.pohlman@saintbenedictinstitute.org

Assistant Program Coordinator

Rhonda Ortiz

  • Rhonda Ortiz is an award-winning novelist, nonfiction writer, editor, publicist, and graphic designer with experience in both print and web design. In addition to her work for the Saint Benedict Institute, she is a founding editor of Chrism Press and the editor in chief of Dappled Things, where she has also served as art director and webmaster. Rhonda is a fully professed lay member of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). A native Oregonian, she attended St. John’s College in historic Annapolis, Maryland before she and her husband Jared (see above) followed the academic trail to Hope College. The Ortizes have six children who do their best to keep them on their toes. Rhonda can be reached at rhonda.ortiz@saintbenedictinstitute.org.

  • rhonda.ortiz@saintbenedictinstitute.org

Communications Manager

Theresa Asselin

  • Theresa Asselin was born in Pennsylvania and lived in Texas for ten years before finally settling down in West Michigan. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1992 with a Bachelor of Business Administration and started her career in public accounting to earn her CPA license. After three years as an auditor, Theresa moved into the corporate world of financial reporting, where she spent the next four years. She began working from home after her kids came along and has spent over two decades helping small business owners with their finances. She has also been very involved in all aspects of the Catholic community in Holland, from working at Corpus Christi Catholic School for four years and volunteering there for nineteen years while her kids attended, to serving on the Corpus Christi Foundation board as treasurer, to chairing the Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church finance council. Theresa has been a part of the Saint Benedict Institute for many years as a donor and volunteer and is now on staff as the accountant. She has been married to her high school sweetheart, Eric, for over 30 years. They have four amazing, mostly adult kids (Sydney is a Hope alum), a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law, and two dogs! Theresa can be reached at theresa.asselin@saintbenedictinstitute.org.

  • theresa.asselin@saintbenedictinstitute.org

Accountant

Nicholas Fornarotto

  • Nicholas Fornarotto grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. He graduated from Hope College in 2022 with a degree in mechanical engineering. During his time at Hope, Nicholas encountered Christ in the Eucharist through a friend. He went on to join the Catholic Church his senior year. After experiencing the love of God in the Church, he had a desire to share this love with others. With some prompting from friends, Nicholas looked into FOCUS and went on to become a missionary. He served his first year at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and is now in his second year at Hope College. He can be reached at nicholas.fornarotto@focus.org.

  • nicholas.fornarotto@focus.org.

FOCUS Team Director

Katy Genna

  • Katy Genna grew up in Boise, Idaho. She graduated from Benedictine College in the spring of 2023 with a degree in Theology and Evangelization. While in college, she had a powerful encounter with Jesus on a mission trip her junior year which made her fall in love with Jesus and mission. After that mission trip, she then pursued FOCUS and became a missionary. She served her first two years with FOCUS at Dickinson State University in North Dakota and is now in her first year at Hope College. She can be reached at katelyn.genna@focus.org.

  • katelyn.genna@focus.org.

FOCUS Missionary

Patrick McCoy

  • Patrick McCoy grew up in Gonzales, Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 2025 with a degree in computer science and a minor in secondary education. Patrick grew up in a Catholic household, but did not take the faith seriously until his sophomore year at Louisiana Tech, when his best friend invited him to a Thursday night Bible Study. During his junior year he got involved in a FOCUS Bible Study and discipleship, which taught him the importance of prayer and the sacraments. After really understanding the love of God in the church, he had a desire to share this love with others. After a few mission trips, retreats, and having FOCUS on campus, he looked into FOCUS and became a missionary to share the love that Christ has in him to the students at Hope College.

  • patrick.mccoy@focus.org.

FOCUS Missionary

Katie Pattee

  • Katie Pattee is from Lakeville, MN and graduated from South Dakota State University, where she earned a degree in mechanical engineering and competed on the swim team. During her time at SDSU, she came to recognize the love God has for His children and the need to share that with others. After graduating, she made the decision to become a missionary and is in her first year at Hope College. Katie can be reached at kathleen.pattee@focus.org.

  • kathleen.pattee@focus.org.

FOCUS Missionary

Program Advisory Board

Bishop David J. Walkowiak, Episcopal Moderator

Bishop Walkowiak was appointed the 12th bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids by Pope Francis on April 18, 2013. Born in East Cleveland, Ohio, Bishop Walkowiak attended the University of Notre Dame, where in 1975, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and international studies. He studied at Saint Mary Seminary in Cleveland and received a Master of Divinity degree in 1979.  He was ordained to the priesthood June 9, 1979 by the late James Cardinal Hickey at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist in Cleveland.  Bishop Walkowiak later studied canon law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received the Licentiate degree in 1984 and the Doctorate degree in 1987.

Benjamin Currie, MD, Chair of the Board

Benjamin Currie is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist. He received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Notre Dame, and his M.D. from Northwestern University, where he was president of the Catholic Medical Students Association. He completed his residency at Washington University in St. Louis. He has participated in several service trips abroad, most recently providing ophthalmic surgical care to patients in Honduras. He and his wife Stephanie are parents of seven children and members of St. Francis de Sales in Holland, MI.

Jerry DeShaw

Jerry began his career in Holland, MI, with Prince Corporation, a manufacturer of automotive interior products. Later he ran his own business manufacturing custom cases in the music industry; worked at Innotec in Zeeland, MI, a supplier of automated products for automobiles; and ended his career as the Vice President of Sales and Engineering at Ridgeview Industries, a supplier of stampings and metal assemblies for the automotive industry. He retired in October 2021. Jerry has a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Grand Valley State University. Jerry married his high school sweetheart Julie in 1982 and they have three married children and five grandchildren. They are active members of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Holland, MI. Jerry has a heart to serve and has been involved in various roles at Our Lady of the Lake, including being an RCIA sponsor, a parish council member, and the chair of the Haiti outreach committee. He has served on various nonprofit boards and is currently board president for God’s Embrace Ministries. Julie and Jerry have been supporters of SBI for many years.

Conor Dugan

Conor Dugan is a Partner with SouthBank Legal in Grand Rapids, where he heads the firm's Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group and also practices in the White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group. Before joining SouthBank, Conor clerked for then-Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, worked as an appellate litigator in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for nearly seven years, and served as counsel at an appellate and Supreme Court boutique in Washington, D.C. In his career he has successfully represented clients in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Michigan Supreme Court, numerous federal courts of appeals, and the Michigan Court of Appeals. He received an A.B. in Government from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School. In his spare time, Conor enjoys writing for publications such as Catholic World Report and Humanum, running, watching Notre Dame football, and reading. Conor lives with his wife and four children in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is a member of St. Stephen Parish.

Kelli Fickel

Kelli Fickel is a homeschooling mother of eleven children and Hope College parent. Kelli earned a BA in Education from Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, where (more importantly) she also converted from Reformed Protestantism to the Catholic faith and celebrated her Confirmation. Kelli taught fifth grade at a public school for four years before devoting her time more intensively to home education. She has served for over fifteen years on homeschool leadership committees, teaches classes from preschool to high school chemistry, promotes Catholic home education in the greater Lakeshore area, helps create co-op classes and curriculum, and mentors new mothers. A Holland native, Kelli has also served on city neighborhood improvement and planning committees. She is a devoted supporter of parental rights, education, and the pro-life cause. Kelli now lives in Grand Haven with her husband, Ambrose, and children and is an active member of Saint Mary's of the Immaculate Heart in Muskegon.

Richard Ray

Richard Ray is professor and provost emeritus at Hope College, serving there since 1982. He served as the college’s chief academic officer, dean for the social sciences, and chair of the Department of Kinesiology. He is the author of more than 40 peer reviewed journal articles and five books on sports medicine, leadership in higher education, health care management, and pilgrimage memoirs. He founded and served as co-director of the Hope-Western Prison Education Program, a Hope College degree program at Muskegon Correctional Facility. He serves as the chair of the steering committee of the Michigan Consortium for Higher Education in Prison, an organization that advocates for best practice in and expansion of college-in-prison programs in Michigan. He is a member of the Michigan Restorative Justice Council. A member of St. Francis de Sales Parish in Holland, Rich has served in a variety of ministries and leadership capacities. Rich and his wife, Carol, are parents to three adult children and five grandchildren.

Bruce Rooke

Bruce is a dreamer and writer by trade, thanks to the advertising business. He began this career in Detroit, as a Group Creative Director for Doner and Worldwide Creative Director for J. Walter Thompson, then moved into healthcare as a Chief Creative Officer for two large agencies. He finally opened his own shop in 2020 and helps agencies and clients dream bigger. He went to the University of Michigan where he met his wife, Julia (one dream crossed off the list) and won the Hopwood Award for best undergraduate poetry (a dream yet to be finished). Bruce is an Evangelical convert to Catholicism; an avid proponent of Lectio Divina and all things Ignatian, Chestertonian, Franciscan, Kolbian, Barron, Vatican II, and the Underground Church throughout the centuries. He and Julia have been involved in launching Alpha, Unbound Prayer Ministry, small groups, Renewal Ministries missions, and sharing their testimony on Forgiveness in Marriage with different churches.

In Memoriam: Thomas Levergood

Thomas Levergood, one of the Saint Benedict Institute’s founding advisory board members, passed away on August 6, 2021. Thomas was the Executive Director and a co-founder of the Lumen Christi Institute at the University of Chicago. The following links are to his obituary, various tributes, and a special tribute from First Things Magazine.