At Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, mercy is more than a founding value, it is a living legacy put into action every day.
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October 21, 2026
Rooted in Catherine McAuley’s work in 19th-century Dublin and carried forward by the Sisters of Mercy, our mission lives on through our students, faculty, staff, and alumni who serve with purpose, lead with heart, and care for those most in need.
This October, we are proud to continue honoring that legacy in two powerful ways:
- #MakeMercyReal Community Spotlights: Highlighting the remarkable members of our SJC community who embody our core values through learning, collaboration, hospitality, and justice.
- The #MakeMercyReal TikTok Challenge (Up to $1M in Scholarships): Following the overwhelming impact of our inaugural campaign, we are excited to continue our TikTok Challenge—with up to $1 million in full-ride scholarships up for grabs!
We care about who you are when no one is keeping score. Prospective first-year students are asked to show us how they turn compassion into action by creating a 15-to-30-second TikTok showing a real moment where students recognized a need and stepped up to help. Recipients will be selected based on creativity, community impact, and authentic storytelling.
Entry Windows:
- Fall Round: August 1 – September 30, 2026 (First winner announced October 15, 2026!)
- Winter/Spring Round: October 1 – December 31, 2026
The second submission round is happening now until Dec 31st. Prospective students still have time to enter and win! Additional winners will be announced in Spring 2027.
Visit www.sjcme.edu to learn more about the TikTok Challenge and our community spotlights!
Faculty Spotlight
Kathryn Patenaude | Faculty Member, Medical Microbiology
I have been a faculty member at St. Joe’s for three years now, and I am so proud of how friendly, motivated, and welcoming our campus community is! I teach Medical Microbiology here on campus, and I have had the opportunity to #MakeMercyReal by teaching future health professionals about the importance of being thoughtful, attentive, and empathetic when treating patients with infections. There can be stigma and vulnerability for patients to overcome when seeking treatment for infectious diseases, so training medical professionals to be approachable and accessible leads to better patient outcomes, and overall leads to healthier communities!
This summer, I had the opportunity to attend the annual Collegium Colloquy held at the University of Portland, where I was able to meet faculty members from other Catholic institutions who came from a wide variety of different religious and ideological backgrounds. I truly feel that I have become a better instructor for my students following this meeting. I was able to gain a better understanding and appreciation for Catholic Institutional Tradition (CIT) and its focus on science, faith, and community within its teaching practices. A highlight of the meeting for me was learning about the work of Saint Clare of Assisi, who gave up nobility to found the Order of Poor Ladies (now renamed to the Order of Saint Clare), a women-led Catholic religious order whose members took an oath of poverty and service. Not only were these women brave enough to pioneer their own religious order, but they also created a functional group where everyone had a role and worked together to better their communities.
During our time learning about Clare, we were challenged to write a “Rule for teaching” where we focused on the principles we would like to incorporate into our teaching to guide our students, as well as help us lead in a compassion-first manner. These are lessons that I aim to use and share with my own students so they can spread the message of mercy to those around them!
Student Spotlight
Haley Pottle 28’ | Peer Mentor & New Student Orientation Coordinator
As a Peer Mentor and New Student Orientation Coordinator, I’ve had the opportunity to make mercy real by helping students feel welcomed, supported, and connected to St. Joe’s and its community! I enjoy being someone new students can come to with questions or when they’re trying to find their place on campus.
To me, making mercy real means showing compassion even in the small things, like making sure everyone feels included, being willing and able to listen, and most importantly to me, making others feel like they belong here!
Through Orientation and being a Peer Mentor, I connected with students and, hopefully, helped make their transition into college a little less scary! I’ve witnessed firsthand how a warm welcome and ongoing support can ease the anxieties that come with starting a new chapter. Watching new students gain confidence and start to thrive has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my experience at St. Joe’s. I love hearing from students later in the semester who tell me that the encouragement and guidance they received made a real difference in their adjustment to college life.
These roles have truly shown me how important it is to lead with kindness, patience, and understanding. I am so grateful to be a part of a community where I can support others and create the same welcoming environment that has made St. Joe’s so meaningful to me! Looking ahead, I hope to continue growing as a leader and to inspire others to embrace the spirit of mercy in their own lives. My experiences have shaped not only how I approach my responsibilities now, but also how I envision making a positive impact wherever I go in the future.
Alumni Spotlight
Sydney Menard 10’ | Co-Founder & Executive Director, The Kita Center
At SJC, a moment in one of my business classes became a turning point for me. We had to ask our friends to complete surveys about us, and the results made me realize how guarded I had become, all in an effort to “be okay.” It was one of the first times I began to think about what it might look like to let my experience of suicide loss become part of my story rather than something I avoided. The values of mercy lived throughout SJC helped create a community of supportive people I eventually felt safe sharing hard things with.
Fifteen years later, many of those same SJC people attended The Kita Center’s ribbon cutting for our 28-acre suicide-prevention campus in Southern Maine, 13 years in the making. And certainly, the business classes have come in handy getting to that milestone, too.
To me, Kita is what making mercy real looks like: creating the conditions for people to heal, grow, and live full, connected lives, even after experiencing something that has changed them forever. The Kita Center supports kids, adults, and families after a suicide loss through Camp Kita, a free summer camp for children who have lost someone to suicide and year-round programming.
Living Our Mission
As we look at the incredible impact of what our faculty, students, and alumni are accomplishing every day, we are deeply proud of how our community grows. At Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, our commitment remains steadfast: transforming learners into compassionate community leaders who serve with purpose and lead with heart.
