Chapel provides unifying space for Kinney and St. Joe’s community members

The usual 11:00 a.m. community mass at the Chapel of Saint Joseph drew a broader crowd to St. Joe’s campus on April 15, welcoming members of the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support and their families.

The autism friendly mass, which was part of the Kinney Center’s Autism Week, provided a more welcoming church experience sensitive to the needs of individuals on the autism spectrum.

It also provided an opportunity to bring together the Kinney community and the at-large St. Joe’s community, according to Abigayle Jayroe M.B.A ’14, director of operations at the Kinney Center, who helped organize the programing for Kinney’s Autism Week.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for St. Joe’s students,” Jayroe said. “Our campus is so inclusive so I think across the board it’s really nice to have people on campus offer that experience for our [Kinney] families.”

Jayroe added that she thinks the mass encompasses Kinney’s two-fold mission: “to educate and train the autism professionals of tomorrow, while supporting and serving the individuals and families affected by autism today.”

Thomas Brennan, S.J. presided at the mass and welcomed the Kinney community.

“We are celebrating here the week of autism awareness at Saint Joseph’s,” Brennan said as he began his homily. “We want to recognize what is already in fact true, how complete and integral Kinney center and all people connected to it are to our community here at Saint Joseph’s. I am honored to have some excellent students from the Kinney Center in my class.”

One of those students is David Hummel ’20, who was in attendance at the mass. Hummel is currently a Kinney SCHOLAR, helping to provide one-on-one support to individuals with autism.

Hummel said the opportunity to attend mass is important for Kinney families who oftentimes don’t get the opportunity to attend church because it can be overwhelming for their children.

“Being able to interact with the SJU community at large as well as the families that Kinney supports in that environment is something that the families can rarely do,” Hummel said. “To be in a setting like it was at the mass it was calming for everyone involved. And to me that’s just the beauty of this campus; we are able to unite people and are able to include them in everything.”

For Hummel, faith has become an important part of his experience at St. Joe’s. It’s also allowed him to explore his experience with autism more deeply.

“It was through the chapel and through the services of campus ministry that helped me become open about my religion and how my autism effects it and to me it just helps me be more vulnerable and be more open to susceptibility and to different changes,” Hummel said.

The Chapel of Saint Joseph and the Kinney Center have become two integral parts of Hummel’s college life.

“It was through Kinney that I learned to understand more about myself and it allowed me to open up and be a part of something I thought I would never be a part of and that’s chapel choir here,” Hummel said. “Just being a part of that community allows me to be more open.”