By ABBY BRAVO
Editor-In-Chief
The final Dear Neighbor podcast listening party on April 3 was bittersweet for faculty and staff as they look back on their years at Saint Rose. The podcast of 10 episodes spread over three years is hosted by Dr. Liz Richards and Dr. Emily Pinkerton, who both teach at the College.
This concluding episode titled, “A Beautiful Sadness,” consisted of discussion between employees who all have social work or counseling backgrounds and how they are processing the grief of the loss of Saint Rose.
Pinkerton, who was the moderator for this episode, was joined by Director of Spiritual Life Joan Horgan, Professor of Social Work and MSSW program director Janet Acker, Professor of Counseling & Co-Chair of the department Claudia Lingertat, and Associate Professor of Counseling and Co-Chair Tom Murphy.
The group discussed emotional subjects and the difficulties of figuring out their next steps while also being there for students. They also talked about the process of how this chapter is ending. “It’s time to say goodbye to the neighborhood and it’s extremely weird,” said Pinkerton in the episode introduction.
The four referenced their collective experience in social work throughout the episode and the similarities between preparing for the death of a loved one and the death of the school. Uncertainty, confusion, sadness, and an overall feeling of loss are all topics that can be related to both and bring their raw emotions to the forefront.
“It’s hard to put yourself in a place where you aren’t ready to say goodbye yet… I think people are still processing what’s happening and for me that’s a little hard because what’s done is done,” said Richards.
“It feels so big and shocking that it should really stop all other bad things from happening but it isn’t,” said Horgan, relating how children often respond to grief and how these feelings relate to the feeling across campus.
This episode was twice as long as the previous nine so, only snippets were played at the listening party. These few minutes were enough to provoke discussion among the employees that attended.
The topics ranged from the grief everyone is feeling and the anger felt about the lack of strong and honest leadership from administration. “I’m foolish when I’m expecting the leadership to be the leaders that they haven’t been for the last however many years,” said Acker.
“I don’t want it to be May and suddenly think, wait a minute, I wasn’t done. I don’t want to forget to feel quietly joyful as things are slipping past us, I want to remember this,” said Horgan.
One story told by Horgan, pulled on the heartstrings of the audience as well as the hosts. She discussed the legacy of Mother St. John Fontbonne, and the many trials she had to go through before she was able to find her true calling.
Fontbonne, was sentenced to death during the French Revolution after not renouncing her loyalty to the church. Yet, after the fall of Robespierre in France she was released and able to start a new journey with the Sisters of Saint Joseph and sent six sisters from France to open a mission at Carondelet in St. Louis, Missouri in 1836. This led to the foundation of Fontbonne University and the several other Sisters of Saint Joseph colleges, including Saint Rose.
“It was so helpful and healing for me to hear that when you think things couldn’t get worse… it can be a new beginning,” said Richards reflecting on Fontbonne’s story.
The podcast chronicles the life of Saint Rose and those who made the community the place that it is. The four guests praised the community and its closeness throughout the episode. “There’s a collective feeling that it isn’t just our own accomplishments…we go through the days together… just getting to walk around and say ‘isn’t Saint Rose wonderful?,’” said Joan when processing the idea that this community is going to cease to exist.
“I hope that [the episodes] can be preserved as an archive of what we were… nothing is perfect but there was so much that was good that came from this place that is reflected in all of those episodes,” said Richards.
The full last episode, along with the other nine, can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music along with other streaming platforms.
