Faces of Xavier: Patrick Sullivan '13

Service and solidarity have become a way of life for Patrick Sullivan ’13, and it all started at Xavier.

A native of Rockaway, Queens, the Loyola University Chicago sophomore was originally drawn to 16th Street by the CFX program. During his time at Xavier, he became deeply involved with Campus Ministry as a member of the Arrupe Society and the Peer Ministry Board.

“Pretty much everyone I met at Xavier influenced me in some way,” Sullivan said, “but [Director of Ignatian Service Programs Mr. Paul Wendel] is my role model. I used to just sit in his office and talk to him whenever I had a free period. He influenced me a lot.”

Sullivan said his senior service experience at St. Francis Hospital on Long Island inspired him to do more for others and contributed to his choice of Loyola for college.

Shortly after arriving at Loyola, Sullivan met a senior who told him about Labre, a student-led ministry to the homeless. Named for St. Benedict Joseph Labre, who in the 18th century took up the life of a beggar and shared all he had with the poor, the group seeks to build solidarity and relationships with homeless people on and around Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. Students prepare food ahead of time and distribute it to people living on the street on Thursday evenings. Within a year, he became one of the group's leaders.

Sullivan said the relationships he’s built with many individuals on the streets have been incredible. He had been thrilled to witness some people lift themselves out of homelessness and poverty while accepting the fact that he plays a small role in great work.

“You come to terms with the fact that you’re not going to solve homelessness, but just the act of going out there helps,” Sullivan said. “If there’s a message I want to share, it would be to just not walk by. It’s incredible how many people on the streets don’t want food. They just want people to look at them. They sit there all day, and they’re human beings. People just walk by them and totally ignore them. You can’t give money to everyone, but you can acknowledge their existence.”

The richness of Sullivan’s Labre experience has influenced his life—and possibly his college major. While technically still undecided, he is now leaning toward psychology. During previous semesters, he took psychology classes on Thursdays, right before his Labre service, and said he became incredibly aware of the role of mental illness in homelessness.

“I’d go out and I’d see how prominent mental illness is on the streets,” Sullivan said. “Just to see that and make that connection really made me want to do something in psychology.”

To read more about Labre in America magazine, click here.