Sisters of St. Joseph
Host International Experience
For Youth in Brooklyn

By Marie Elena Giossi

Hand-beaded silk pillows, fragrant incense and the twang of sitars created the atmosphere of a traditional Indian home in a classroom at St. Joseph College, Clinton Hill. It was one of 13 that were transformed into exotic sleeping quarters for the inaugural CSSJ High School Conference.

“Love of God and Neighbor Without Distinction” was the theme of this national youth conference, July 11-15, presented by the U.S. Federation of Congregations of Sisters of St. Joseph’s United Nations-Non-

Governmental Organization (UN-NGO) Ministry.

Marie Elena Giossi Photos  

Sister Susan Wilcox, C.S.J., center, campus minister at St. Joseph’s College and a representative for the CSSJ UN-NGO ministry, organized the inaugural CSSJ H.S. Conference with her reliable team, from left, Anthony Catalanotti, Wynee Ganthier, Christian Branch and Shaniqua Smith.

St. Joseph College’s Brooklyn Campus hosted 147 high school students and chaperones from Sisters of St. Joseph founded or sponsored secondary schools in California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.

This purpose of this assembly was to situate the gift of the CSSJ charism in the context of the local and global communities and to provide in an experiential way an opportunity for students to meet each other, work together and return to their schools prepared to share the Josephite charism.

Over five days, young women and men grew in awareness of various Josephite ministries, particularly in the context of how they relate to the U.N.’s eight millennium development goals, which member nations have agreed to achieve by 2015. Students visited the U.N. Headquarters, learned about awareness/outreach initiatives and participated in group projects.

Students were also invited to talk about successful awareness/outreach projects in their schools. Girls from Brooklyn’s St. Joseph’s H.S. spoke about humanitarian projects they’ve accomplished over the past two years to clue the school community into the millennium development goals.

Students’ cultural education extended to their leisure time which was spent exploring Manhattan and Brooklyn, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, attending a Broadway show, visiting St. Patrick’s Cathedral and going to Mass at Queen of All Saints Church, Fort Greene.

Shaniqua Smith shows off one of the pillows and the wall tapestry she used to decorate the “India” room in which

conference attendees slept.

Attendees were treated to a variety of ethnic dishes. On the last evening, all shared a langar, a vegetarian meal customarily served in a Sikh place of worship and eaten by everyone sitting as equals in rows on the floor.
To keep expenses low, participants were charged an $80 registration fee, which covered meals and sleeping-bag style lodging in classrooms named for areas of the world where Sisters of St. Joseph are present.

One hundred twenty attendees opted for on-campus housing in Tuohy Hall; the other 27 attendees resided in nearby hotels.

Plans for this assembly have been officially underway since last July, when the CSSJ Federation approved this inaugural youth conference during its national conference.

Preparations at St. Joseph College got into full swing in late May with Anthony Catalanotti, ’09, and Shaniqua Smith, ’10, working full-time as conference director and producer, respectively. Christian Branch, ’10, served as assistant director and Wynee Ganthier, ’10, was production manager. They oversaw 25 unpaid student volunteers from St. Joseph’s College.

Catalanotti, a speech communications major, and a parishioner of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Williamsburg, managed conference events and activities, including a relational race as a way to build teamwork, a cross of suffering which was burnt and replaced with a cross of light and hope, and a change for change collection which raised $711 for the charity YouthAIDS, a youth-targeted HIV/AIDS education and prevention initiative.

Smith, a business major from Delaware, handled registration, contracts and finances. Her negotiating skills netted surplus cash, which was used to “make the rooms (where students slept) as comfortable as possible,” Smith said.

Decorations were ordered over the Internet four weeks before the meeting and the final touches were added just hours before students arrived.

Catalanotti said, “We made sleeping on the floors . . . ,” and as he searched for the right word, Ganthier said, “classy.”

College students rearranged classrooms, either moving desks to the side or removing them altogether, and checked that air conditioning units and outlets were operational.

Rising Sophomores Najimah McKenzie, Ingrid Inglesas and Sheina McClendon were three young women who attended the CSSJ Conference from St. Joseph’s H.S., Downtown Brooklyn.

Smith decorated the India, Egypt and Brazil rooms. Like her colleagues, she highlighted aspects of each nation’s history, landmarks, music, art and cuisine.

While females slept in the 12 culturally themed rooms, two young men lodging on campus stayed with Catalanotti and Branch in a U.N. Headquarters room, a conference space festooned with various flags, an official U.N. flag and an inflated globe.

In keeping with the UN’s goal of environmental sustainability, attendees used mugs they brought from home to reduce plastic cup usage, dined on paper plates and composted leftovers. Students traveled on foot or by public transportation and used air conditioners only at night.

“I wanted them to think about what they can do, like recycling more, volunteering at soup kitchens, to have an impact on the world,” said Smith.

Conference director, Catalanotti, a graduate of Cathedral Prep Seminary, Elmhurst, said he previously “had no idea the Josephites were so global. Since they’ve done so much to help the world, this is my way of helping.

“We’re showing kids that one person can change the world. One person can have a great impact…. And it’s empowering us to have them here. We see that we can change the world as well,” he said.

“Every part went beyond my expectations,” said conference organizer, Sister Susan Wilcox, C.S.J., campus minister at St. Joseph’s and one of four Sister-representatives for the Josephites’ non-governmental organization (NGO) ministry. “We hoped to plan a meaningful experience that was fun for the students” and empowered them to “influence their peers at home. We did not expect it to be the greatest experience of their lives as many reported to us.”

Sister Susan is also grateful to the college, which allowed conference-goers to use four of the campus’ eight buildings — displacing some scheduled classes for the week.

She noted that everyone at the college, from the administrators to the food service staff, committed themselves “to make sure everything went well.”

Next month, students and chaperones will be asked via e-mail to provide feedback for future conferences. According to organizers, this could “very possibly” become a biennial event, with the next gathering tentatively planned for the fall of 2009.

“The biggest surprise for me was watching our college students grow in the process,” Sister Susan added. “They have grown developmentally about five years in knowledge, organizational skills, experience, team work and in their faith.”

The Congregations of the Sisters of St. Joseph have been present at the United Nations since 1979 as an NGO to address issues in support of the public good. The NGO is comprised of Josephite Sisters and Associates serving in over 50 countries in the areas of education, healthcare and human rights, eliminating poverty, and environmental conservation and sustainable development.

Since the CSSJ NGO received general consultative status with the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council in 1999, Sisters and Associates have been using their collective voice to advise the U.N. on issues they face at the grassroots level around the globe.

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