CONTENDING for the SOULS of OUR YOUTH BECOMING AN AMBASSADOR FOR AMU
a v e m a r i a m a g a z i n e | s u m m e r 2020
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ich Olon has worked for 10 years as the youth minister at St. John Francis Regis in Hollywood, Maryland. It was only his second year on the job when he realized something about the college students who were alumni of his youth group: those who went off to secular colleges had lost their faith by the end of their freshman year. Refusing to accept students falling away from the Church as an inevitable “rite of passage” for young adults, Olon sought a new approach. Olon began using some of the proceeds from St. John’s summer program he runs to fund college visits for his high schoolers. At a small fee for the student, the group visits a handful of authentically Catholic colleges every year. The program started off small. Rich and his brother, John, took a few students on road trips to colleges in the parish vans. “We drove to Ave Maria the first time,” Olon said, recalling a few details of the 16-hour expedition from Hollywood, Maryland to the campus of Ave Maria in southern Florida. “Once we realized how cheap airline tickets were, we did that instead. The program grew from there.” Rich and John now organize and lead at least two groups to campus a year, and have
Rich Olon
“ Y O U C O U L D TA K E T W O KIDS WHO WERE IN IDENTICAL PLACES IN THEIR FAITH ... WITHIN ONE YEAR, ONE HAD BLOSSOMED AND THE O T H E R W I T H E R E D .”
helped hundreds of students with their college choice. The results were astounding: “We really didn’t know how much of a difference it would make until we could see the side by side comparison. It was night and day.” Olon keeps in touch with his youth group students after they graduate from high school, and attests to the impact of the college decision: “You could take two kids who were in identical places in their faith and if one went to a secular school and one went to an authentically Catholic school, even within a year, one had blossomed and the other had withered on the vine.” On the flip-side of the sobering statistic - 85% of Catholic youth lose their faith in college - is a fact further strengthening the case for an authentically Catholic school: nearly 70% of our visitors who spend one night on campus choose Ave Maria. Many of the people who visit have pre-conceived notions about what “authentically Catholic” looks like, but are surprised at what they find. Rather than forcing religion on students, the environment at AMU fosters a joy so apparent in the community it attracts even people who are only visiting a few hours. Olon also shared that the Florida sunshine is a primary motivator of many kids on the trip, but after spending time on campus, they consider AMU as a legitimate
