Saint Joseph's College (Indiana), a Catholic college founded and sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, pledges itself to a tradition of excellence and to a liberal education that is a united endeavor of intelligence and faith.
December Donations to the College
Thus far in December the College has received over $322,000 in donations. The College is grateful for the support from its alumni and friends. These funds will be used to support educational programs on campus.
As the College’s webpage states:
The “founding” of an institution is not a one-time event. It is a continuous founding by successive generations of “founders” guided and inspired by the institutions’ mission. Saint Joseph’s College has been on an exciting and groundbreaking journey since its founding in 1889. This journey has been met with twists and turns in the road with the College stopping “to recreate” itself at times.—all of which the College has navigated successfully…The goal is to restore Saint Joseph’s College as a viable and model Catholic liberal arts institution for the 21st century offering academic programs at the Rensselaer campus.
Alumni and friends interested in contributing to the College’s continuing growth, please contribute by sending your donation to:
Saint Joseph’s College
PO Box 300
Rensselaer, IN 47978
Interested individuals can also donate online at pumas.saintjoe.edu. Contact the Business Office for gifts of stock, etc. More information on how to give can be found at www.saintjoe.edu/give.
Health Sciences Program Update
Certified Clinical Medical Assistant Programs
The College is currently running two Certified Clinical Medical Assistant programs. Classes are at midday with 8 students and in the evening with 7 students. Students are driving from all over to attend the accelerated CCMA program. Students driving from Lafayette to Culver, which really shows their dedication.
Students in the earlier CCMA class will take their state test in mid-January and students in the latter CCMA class will take their state test in early February at Saint Joseph’s.
The classes are over halfway completed, and class time is very busy. The students will be starting EKGs and other cardiovascular testing this week, which is a huge portion of their state exam, so the students have their game faces on.
Hali Chapman, the instructor, says “I love reaching this part of the program because you can start to see the students putting the material we have been studying to use. The students begin to show confidence when they can associate the material we have been studying with the professional lab equipment in class and actually perform the tests themselves. It is very rewarding to be able to see them all blossom into Certified Clinical Medical Assistants in front of my very eyes!”
The College has conducted 2 CCMA instructor interviews and is looking at interviewing a few more candidates this week. Additional instructors are needed so the College can post the official 2021 program start dates.
Certified Nursing Assistant Program
The College is pleased to welcome Shelby Wolber as a new CNA instructor; she has been working as a Registered Nurse with Franciscan Physician Network and has previous experience as a CNA herself. Ms. Wolber is able to work “full time” enabling the College to offer a variety of classes throughout the week.
Certified Phlebotomy Technician Program
The College has a Certified Phlebotomy Technician program with a planned start date of February 2nd. All of the Health Sciences Certification Program start dates will be posted by the end of this year. Whoever we hire for the CCMA instructor position will also be teaching the CPT program. Ms. Chapman will also be available to teach the CCMA, CPT, and CET/EKG programs.
Certified Electrocardiogram Technician Program
Enrollment for this program is significantly slower. The College is posting a CET/EKG program start date of Spring 2021. If enrollment picks up, classes may begin earlier.
CPR BLS/AED Training
For 2021, pending COVID, the CNA, CCMA, and CPT students will have to attend clinical externships to complete their programs. In order for students to go to clinical sites for their externships, they must be CPR certified.
A Christmas Wish
Christmas is a very special time of year. It is filled with a spirit like none other. Germane to this spirit is a special silence. It is a quiet that permeates our very being. Listen, and you will hear nothing. Listen and be filled with the Spirit. The Board of Trustees and the College’s staff wish you and yours a blessed Christmas and may 2021 be all you wish it to be.
Contact Us
Saint Joseph’s College
PO Box 300
Rensselaer, IN 47978
Beth Graf, Director of Communications and Development
Email: bgraf@saintjoe.edu
Phone: 219-866-6000 ext. 2014
saintjoe.edu
Fr. Philip Gilbert Beloved Mathematics Professor
Fr. Philip Gilbert, C.PP.S., 90, died at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 15, 2020 in the infirmary at St. Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio. He had been in failing health.
Fr. Gilbert was born on February 17, 1930, in Chicago, to Philip and Elizabeth (Buffa) Gilbert. He entered the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in 1949 and was ordained on May 28, 1960.
In 1961, Fr. Gilbert was appointed to education ministry at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., which is sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. There he spent nearly five decades in ministry as a math professor at the college. During his career there, he served as chairman of the math department and was also on the college’s faculty athletic committee. He retired from teaching in 2016 and moved to St. Charles in 2017.
Preceded in death by his brother and sister-in-law, Hilary and Carol Gilbert, Fr. Gilbert was the last surviving member of his immediate family.
Fr. Gilbert loved his life as a priest, and he also loved Saint Joseph’s College. In fact, it was love at first sight, he once said. His older brother attended the college as well as some of his friends. When he went to visit, “as soon as I saw it, I fell in love.”
His parents, Italian immigrants who changed the family name from Gilberti to Gilbert, wanted both their sons to get a college education. They were in favor when Fr. Gilbert enrolled at the college that was to become his home for most of his adult life.
While there, he served with compassion and commitment. “I wasn’t brilliant at mathematics, but I was good at it,” said the priest, always self-deprecating. His students describe him as a man devoted to both of his vocations, the priesthood and education.
He was a favorite among the faculty and staff as well, presiding at a daily midday mass in a chapel on campus for as long as he was able—even when he had to proclaim the Gospel through a large magnifying glass.
Fr. Gilbert also helped out at parishes in the Gary Diocese and, for his Community, served several terms as district chair and the local C.PP.S. director at the college. For many years, he was the chaplain of Knights of Columbus Council 1881 in Rensselaer.
He also loved baseball, rooting for the White Sox as a boy; later in life he committed the apostasy of switching his allegiance at least in part to the Cubs. He played baseball in high school and was an excellent point guard on the school’s basketball team. “I was a hustler,” he said. “I had a knack of seeing who was open and feeding them the ball.” A teacher could be said to be a point guard too: seeing who is open and feeding them what they need. A priest, too.
Certified Clinical Medical Assistant Program Starts Two New Classes
The next two cohorts of CCMA classes began on Tuesday October 20th and Tuesday November 10th. That class is filling up quickly! Saint Joe was blessed with a great start to our certified medical programs. This class is 11-weeks and meets twice a week, four hours a day. There are eight students in the October class and seven in the November class.
The CCMA program qualifies for a Next Level Jobs grant from the state of Indiana. The Next Level Jobs program provides an opportunity for eligible Indiana residents to receive tuition-free training for careers in high-demand, high-paying jobs in areas that are in high demand. Next Level Jobs will cover the cost of tuition and required fees associated with earning the industry-recognized credentials/certificate. Many of our students have qualified for this grant.
For more information about the program, please visit www.saintjoe.edu.
Thanksgiving Blessings
Giving Thanks
For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
--- Author Unknown
We are thankful for all of you! Happy Thanksgiving from the Saint Joseph’s College Staff and Board of Trustees.
Contact Us
Saint Joseph’s College
PO Box 300
Rensselaer, IN 47978
saintjoe.edu
Email: bgraf@saintjoe.edu
Phone: 219-866-6000 ext. 2014