experiences outside the classroom. She found all that she was looking for and more at Chestnut Hill,” she says.
Finding her calling at CHC Joannie Cassidy, SSJ, director of campus ministry, is an example of a legacy student who is now an employee. Sister Joannie was part of the Class of 1984; her mother, Joan, graduated in 1950; her sister, Maureen, graduated in 1977; and her niece, Cara, graduated in 2009. Sister Joannie’s grandparents encouraged her mother to attend CHC because they were impressed by the rigorous academics taught at the institution and wanted their daughter to become a strong, independent woman while getting her education. Joan was a biology major and later became a medical technician, and exemplified a strong woman for her daughters and her niece. Growing up, Sister Joannie met many friends from her mother’s CHC days. For Sister Joannie, attending CHC felt like being home. “You get a comfortable feeling that allows you to share your gifts and be confident in what you can do to play an important role in the world,” she says. And she played an important role on campus, where she was involved in the Student Government Association, service trips and sports. Although starting out as a science major, Sister Joannie soon switched to education, like her sister and niece. When her father passed away during her senior year, Sister Joannie discovered the true meaning of CHC caring and support as she leaned on her friends and professors in her grief. “I was scooped up and carried through a hard time by my CHC family,” she remembers. This care, in part, is what inspired her to become more involved with the Sisters of Saint Joseph.
Joannie Cassidy '84, SSJ, director of campus ministry, left, enjoys a holiday visit with her sister, Maureen Cassidy Wallin ’77.
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Lakshmi Atchison, Ph.D., works with Eridana Karaj '09, left, and Angel Garcia '09.
After graduating, she taught at Immaculate Heart of Mary while maintaining a relationship with the College community and participating in various service projects. At the age of 25, Sister Joannie joined the order of sisters that had helped educate her family. “CHC is an environment that enables one to reach their potential,” she says. “It’s a small, supportive community that allows one to create their own path.” She feels the same support and care as an employee. Ask anyone why they chose to attend Chestnut Hill College and why they encouraged their loved ones to do the same, and the answers are similar: the beautiful campus; the small class sizes that encourage partnership between professors and students; and the inclusive, nurturing community that promotes a tolerant and nurturing way of life combined with service to others that enriches the lives of all. A sense of family and of community pervades CHC’s campus and is that hard-to-describe quality that means so much and is impossible to quantify, and which compels many to share their experience long after they have left “The Hill.”