The students from Murray State University on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022 at the conclusion of SEEK22 in Knoxville, Tenn. COURTESY OF ALEX KAUFMANN
At SEEK22, college students learn through witness of their peers
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
On Saturday night, in the middle of Eucharistic Adoration during SEEK22, the conference organizers announced that priests were available for confession – and Corey Kibbel observed that “about 200 students stood up” to get in line.
Kibbel, the team director for the FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) team at Murray State University in Murray, Ky., said the number was approximate, but even then it was close.
“I saw all that come to fruition at Adoration,” he told The Western Kentucky Catholic in a Feb. 9, 2022 phone call.
The students from Western Kentucky University on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022 at the conclusion of SEEK22 in Knoxville, Tenn. COURTESY OF MARGARET WHITE
SEEK22, an annual conference led by FOCUS, took place this year from Feb. 4-6 in a hybrid format due to COVID-19 pandemic adaptations. Instead of converging at one location, SEEK22 collaborated with campuses to make the opportunity accessible to all. Organizers also streamed the talks so that those watching virtually could still participate.
According to FOCUS’s press release, nearly 12,000 students participated in campus gatherings, including larger regional events in Dallas, Texas, and Knoxville, Tenn.
The FOCUS teams from Murray State and also Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., were able to take groups of students to the University of Tennessee Knoxville location, since it was within drivable distance.
Margaret White, the FOCUS team director at WKU, said 32 of her students were able to attend in-person and eight watched virtually.
She said many of her students said they were happy to be able to attend Mass and Adoration “shoulder-to-shoulder with people my age.”
It was invaluable “for our students to see that through the witness of other college students,” she said.
Originally printed in the March 2022 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
