Members of the St. Joe’s community gathered at the Chapel of St. Joseph for the Mass of the Holy Spirit Sept. 26. The mass came near the end of an emotional week, after a St. Joe’s student was struck by a car Sept. 23. After another parent set up a GoFundMe to raise money for medical bills and other expenses for the Hollister family, the student’s mother thanked the St. Joe’s community for their prayers, generosity and support. This outpouring of support is precisely what the Mass of the Holy Spirit celebrates, bringing together members of the St. Joe’s community, paying homage to the university’s history and celebrating its evolution into a more diverse and advanced center of learning.

Last year’s mass doubled as the beginning of the inauguration of the university’s first woman president, Cheryl McConnell, Ph.D. This year, the Mass of the Holy Spirit marked the opening of Post Crossing, the underpass connecting both sides of the Hawk Hill campus, two years after construction began in July 2022.

For seniors, the grand opening ushers in an even more scenic campus than the one they entered years ago. For juniors and sophomores, it concludes a massive undertaking that has been present their entire time at St. Joe’s. For first-year students, it brings St. Joe’s one step closer to the campus they were promised as they made their college decision this past year. Now, every member of the St. Joe’s community can admire the architectural beauty of the new campus fixture and take advantage of the practical benefits it confers.

But for the entire St. Joe’s community, the opening of Post Crossing means something more. It marks the culmination of years of sacrifice from everyone — from the university’s financial investment to the construction crew’s tireless efforts to the students’ forfeiture of Villiger Lawn. This underpass is a reminder of what is possible through the collective will of the entire community. On a day of annual celebration, during a week that offered a sobering reminder of why this project was a necessary investment, the opening of Post Crossing was a poignant example of a community coming together. And that, more than any benefit that comes from the existence of the underpass, makes the investment well worth it.