Billiken Bulletin Newsletter
This is the most recent issue of the Billiken Bulletin, a monthly electronic newsletter that provides resources to help you as a Saint Louis University family member navigate campus and provide direction to your students when they are unsure about where or how to find the information on campus.
Greetings Billiken Families. Can you believe it? The Fall Semester is almost over and Billikens are preparing for finals and the winter break. As we embark on the Holiday season and as you prepare to spend time with your loved ones we wanted to introduce our Mission of Identity at SLU. The goal of the department is to ensure that faculty, staff, and students are provided opportunities to understand and live our mission and core values. The department is deliberative in providing spaces programming, and education throughout the year to the SLU community.
Your Billiken will soon be heading home for winter break, providing your family with nearly a month together. To make the most of this time, we've provided some Winter Break Conversation Starters to spark meaningful discussions with your student during the holidays. Additionally, we're introducing programs designed to support their health, wellness, and overall success.
The Office of Parent and Family Engagement is now on Instagram. Please follow us at @slufamily.
The Division of Mission and Identity at Saint Louis University is charged with furthering the understanding of the University’s Catholic, Jesuit identity among SLU faculty, staff, administrators, students, and the larger community. We work to ensure the mission and core values of Saint Louis University are integrated into operations, structures, programs, and practices. Through programs and in collaboration with the university's colleges, schools, and departments, the Division for Mission and Identity seeks to promote and encourage a deeper understanding of SLU’s foundation as a work of the Society of Jesus and a ministry of the Catholic Church. To read more about the Catholic Jesuit identity of SLU, peruse the brochure that we use with all incoming students.
One of the departments that partner with the Mission of Identity to promote and execute its initiatives and education is the Department of Campus Ministry. The Department of Campus Ministry is dedicated to the care of our students. Through spiritual offerings and service opportunities, the campus ministers accompany SLU students in their journey of discovering God in prayer, in practices of social justice, and in discerning their path forward in life.
Through a variety of mission formation programs, the Office of Mission and Identity creates a mission-centered community of faculty and staff dedicated to serving the needs of our student body, our university community, and our neighbors in St. Louis. Many of these programs and events are open to the public, especially our First Friday Mass and Speaker Series and our North Campus Pilgrim’s Path, an audio walking tour of the various mission sites on campus.
Several of the initiatives out of Mission & Identity are open to anyone on campus and provide opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to mingle. Friday morning Java with the Jesuits at the Clocktower, the Magis brown bag lunch series, and Sunday evening Mass at St. Francis Xavier College Church are a few of our favorites!
If you have any questions or would like additional information about our office, our staff, or participating in our events, we can be reached by email at jesuitmission@slu.edu.
Your Billiken will be coming home for winter break and this will be a time for them to decompress, for you all to get reacquainted with each other, and to have some intentional conversations and questions about how they feel about their fall semester. Collegiate Parent, is a dedicated website and resource of information for families. Don't miss this opportunity to spark meaningful conversations during winter break. Click the link below for some engaging and thoughtful conversation starters!
The Blueprint for Success program allows first-year students to enhance their academic skills, engage in vocational discernment, and explore their career and major opportunities at SLU. Participants engage in small sessions guided by SLU professional staff to uncover the recipe for being a successful student. This five-part workshop series covers content that is crucial to student success and includes information on:
- Time management and organization
- Academic success and skill-building
- Wellness and self-care
- Confidence motivation and resilience
- Vocational exploration
Through participation in this series, students will:
- Define what success means to them as a first-year college student and, in that spirit, reflect on the successes of their first year in college, consider how they may have fallen short, and identify potential paths forward.
- Engage in practices of vocational inquiry, structured reflection, and discernment informed by or in dialogue with the Ignatian tradition.
- Draw upon strategies for responding to stress and cultivating resilience gained through discussion and collaboration with Blueprint for Success peers and facilitators.
- Identify appropriate supports, on and off campus, and learn strategies for seeking more support, if needed.
- Cultivate strategies for academic change, including improved academic habits and/or alternative major programs/career goals.
Successful participants of this program will earn Cura Personalis 2 experience credit for the University Undergraduate Core. All freshmen who started at SLU in Fall 2024 are invited to apply. Sessions start in February and end before Spring Break. The application will open during finals week 2024. Please contact Brittany Ludwig if you have any questions.
SLU’s Interprofessional Wellness team, co-founded by SLU professors Anthoney Breitbach and Elena Mellilo, is tackling the well-being and health of SLU’s student-athletes. Run out of the new O’Loughlin Champions Center, this team is made up of current graduate students and medical professionals who are taking a holistic approach to supporting student-athletes and educating undergraduate students along the way.
Rebecca Steins, a sports psychologist for Billiken athletics, led a team of experts at SLU who recently published their findings in a Special Edition, "Sport Psychology Interventions for Athletes' Performance and Well-Being" in Sports.
Research shows an increase in mental health struggles among the college-age population, and student-athletes are no exception. Mental health issues may include gambling, sleep disturbances, substance abuse, disordered eating, mood disorders, and suicide. Breitbach says overcoming barriers to interprofessional collaboration can enhance student-athlete wellness.
Hi Billiken Families. We wanted to share more about our newly created Family Network program. The network was designed and initiated to build deeper connections with our Billiken families whether you are right here in St. Louis or across the nation. We have some fabulous and exciting BPFA members who are excited about helping you engage and make those connections. Please make sure to fill out the Family Network form. As soon as you have filled out the form, your Network leader will reach out to you.
Guess what? The Office of Parent and Family Engagement is officially on Instagram, and to celebrate, we’re giving away a merch basket filled with awesome SLU swag. Think cozy blankets, a cooler, mugs, and more! Want to win? Here’s how to enter:
- Follow us on Instagram: @slufamily
- Like our Give Away post
- Comment your favorite thing about SLU!
Entries close on December 9th, so hurry and enter to win this ultimate merch bundle!
Celebrate the 2024 Holiday Season at SLU’s annual Christmas on the Quad on December 7th.
Join us for:
- A tree lighting and special blessing
- Visit from Santa
- Food trucks, holiday cheer garden, and hot chocolate bar
- Family-friendly activities
- Special appearances by the Billiken
- A holiday movie
The Office of Parent and Family Engagement is delighted to be co-sponsoring this event with the Alumni office. We hope you can join us for this wonderful holiday tradition.
Join the Billiken and Parent Family Association for a trivia night and silent auction on Saturday, March 29.
Housing and Residence Life recently shared their newsletter with our Billikens. Get all the updates and Housing Reminders and facilities updates as we prepare for Housing.
- Dec. 2: FAFSA Tips and Tricks
- Dec. 9: Dining Services
Discover more about the Facebook Live Series to learn more, including access past recordings of the series to catch up on previous sessions.
Sunday, Dec.1: FAFSA is available
Monday, Dec. 2: Freshmen with priority registration: 7 a.m. (central)
Tuesday, Dec. 3-2024: Freshmen Registration: 7 a.m. (central)
Saturday, Dec. 7: Christmas on the Quad, The Recreation Center and the Center for Global Citizenship
Saturday, Dec. 14: Mid-Year Graduation at Chaivetz Arena at 9 a.m. (central)