The St. Thomas VISION program is adding three new spring break trips with a distinctly Catholic focus.

VISION, a Campus Ministry program that takes St. Thomas students on spring break and January Term service trips around the United States and world, identifies spirituality as one of its six foundational components.

This semester, students participating in the new, more Catholic-focused trips will travel to a monastery in New Mexico, a Catholic worker farm in Montana and a Catholic intentional community in Missouri.

While the VISION website says the Spirituality aspect of the program comes from the Catholic tradition of social justice and the Gospel call to service, it welcomes students from a “variety of faith perspectives to explore and share issues of faith.”

Senior Joe Zander, VISION student director, said that the core of the program is not changing, and the addition of new trips is standard practice.

“We do try to mix things up every year, just to broaden our horizons,” Zander said.

Even with annual changes to trips, VISION director Jacob Cunningham said that the program has never planned this many Catholic-oriented trips before.

“We try to have a very wide variety (of trips) and haven’t had very many explicitly Catholic sites in the past,” Cunningham said. “The goal is to have different types of experiences for the students at St. Thomas.”

Senior Emily Kindelspire, a VISION student director, said that part of the reason for the addition of new trips is to provide an opportunity to students who seek a Catholic trip.

“Part of it is we’re based out of Campus Ministry, and Campus Ministry … they themselves don’t have any mission trips,” Kindelspire said. “So students have mentioned that they want to go on VISION trips that had more faith structured into them.”

While providing more religious opportunities, the VISION staff said it also wants to address potential concerns that the core of the program is changing from non-denominational service trips to having a strong Catholic focus.

“I think that people who don’t really understand the changes will be put off by them. It’s really unfortunate,” Kindelspire said. “One of VISION’s six components is spirituality, and that’s something that can be found on any trip. There’s an aspect for personal growth, whether or not you’re religious, whether or not you’re spiritual.”

Zander, who is not Catholic, said he understands students’ possible apprehension based on his own experience as a sophomore.

“I was looking on the pamphlet and I thought, ‘I could go on any of these six trips,’” Zander said. “This year, looking at the pamphlet if I was a sophomore again, I would have seen three trips I would have loved to go on and three that would probably make me feel uncomfortable, which is a good thing.”

Zander said that part of what VISION does is put students out of their comfort zone and encourages them to challenge themselves.

“I don’t know if that’s the message that’s been portrayed to everybody, if they’re just looking at these Catholic missions thinking it’s going to be strictly praying and having communion crackers every day,” Zander said. “That’s not really how it is. There is a Catholic focus to it, but you can be whatever you want and still flourish.”

Senior Sam Mosbrucker, who has gone on three VISION trips since her freshman year, said she agrees that students could get a different message.

“I think it could go either way. Those who are at St. Thomas know it’s a Catholic university. Obviously that didn’t deter them from coming here, but at the same time they’re not necessarily Catholic,” Mosbrucker said.

Mosbrucker said she thinks Catholic trips might put off some people.

“It would only look good to people who already are Catholic, versus if you don’t really have a direction and are wanting to explore,” Mosbrucker said.

But the VISION staff does not expect a drop in applicants. Kindelspire said VISION leaders have been especially proactive this year in informing students that the core of the program is not changing.

“I hope that this becomes a way for students to challenge their assumptions about what it means to go stay with a faith based community,” Kindelspire said. “There’s a place for everyone in VISION.”

Cunningham said he encourages anyone who is put off by the word Catholic to open his or her mind a little.

“It doesn’t all of a sudden say, ‘We’re only catering to these students,’” Cunningham said. “We’re trying to bring people together. We’re not liberal, we’re not conservative; we’re really just trying to provide interesting and positive experiences for students.”

Simeon Lancaster can be reached at lanc4637@stthomas.edu.