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Abbey Gaining Name Recognition In Influential Catholic, Intellectual Circles
It was a whirlwind tour in Washington, DC during the recent papal visit (April 15-18) for Abbey President Bill Thierfelder and V.P. of College Relations Ken Davison. But in terms of raising Belmont Abbey College’s name recognition, and getting encouraging feedback on how quickly that recognition has already grown in influential Catholic and intellectual circles, the trip seems to have been an unqualified success.
Dr. Thierfelder was privileged to be among the select few at the White House reception for Pope Benedict XVI on April 15, then at the pope’s address to the presidents of Catholic colleges and universities at the Catholic University of America on April 16. He also attended the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on April 18.
Ken Davison was a co-attendee at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast (dutifully sporting a “got monks?” hat in the reception hall prior to the event) and then participated in a panel discussion on Catholic identity at Catholic colleges at the Heritage Foundation later the same day. Davison’s fellow panel members included Stephen D. Minnis, president of Benedictine College, and Russell Shaw, a leading Catholic journalist and a consultant to the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications. The event was co-sponsored by the Cardinal Newman Society.
According to both Davison and Thierfelder, the “buzz” about the Abbey among Catholic thought leaders was enthusiastic wherever they went.
“At the Prayer Breakfast this year, one of the things I was most excited to see was that, in contrast to the first time I attended three or four years ago, when basically nobody knew who or what Belmont Abbey College was, virtually everyone I talked to had heard of us,” said Dr. Thierfelder.
“It was also inspiring to see ‘Belmont Abbey College’ projected in big letters on a screen that stayed up during the entire event, and could be seen by the approximately 2,000 participants in the room,” Thierfelder continued. “And these are the sorts of people we really want seeing and remembering our name: supreme court justices, senators, heads of foundations, cardinals and bishops, leading intellectuals– real thought leaders, in other words.
“Then in the reception area outside the dining hall, the Belmont Abbey table with all of our ‘got monks?’ merchandise was a big hit. The ‘got monks’ baseball caps were gone within 15 minutes, and Ken had to throw his body across the table to prevent all of the ‘got monks’ umbrellas from disappearing within seconds. Copies of Crossroads and Envoy magazine were getting snapped up left and right…it was all very encouraging.
“And I’d say 90% of the people who came up to me afterwards were talking about the ‘buzz’ about Belmont Abbey College, saying things like, ‘You guys are everywhere!’ One person in Catholic higher education even came up to me and said, ‘What gives at Belmont Abbey College? You folks are getting all the students.’”
“We obviously don’t have the largest marketing budget in the world,” added Ken Davison. “So to see firsthand how quickly our message has gotten out to key ‘influencers’ like these, and how receptive they are to what we’re doing at the College, is just very, very heartening,” says Davison. “The entire College community deserves great credit for making these exciting things possible with their prayer and hard work.”
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