The mystery of Men's Kairos
Maria Sylvester
Issue date: 2/24/10 Section: Religion
From March 26-28, male and female students will embark upon the one of the Mount's most well known retreats: Kairos.
Many students at the Mount have become a part of the universal Kairos community during their time in college, while others may have attended the retreat during high school. Although the retreat occurs only once per semester at the Mount, the experience is once in a lifetime.
Beginning this years retreat, men's Kairos experiences a decreasing attendance, while the women's Kairos keeps steady numbers.
"You can't tell them [the men] what it's all about, so they don't know what they're getting into. The guys seem more likely to attend events that they know more about," explains the men's Kairos liaison, Matt Himes, as to why attendance may be low.
Himes describes Kairos as a "deeper" kind of experience, which may be discouraging or daunting for some students. In addition, with other events taking place on campus simultaneously, such as the Loyola Basketball game during the Kairos retreat this past Fall semester, the men on campus seem to choose other activities over Kairos.
"Because many girls go on Kairos, they are able to tell other female students to attend Kairos the following semester," says Himes. As fewer men attend Kairos, the power of word-of-mouth encouragement dwindles. As liaison, Himes is trying to get the word out about Kairos through various creative means.
"We're passing out [informational] cards to male students, sending many emails, promoting Kairos at Campus Ministry events and Mass, and asking students who have already gone to encourage others to go," Himes says. "We're also looking into making a video."
Sophomore Mike Hagan spoke about his opinion of Kairos and his experience with Kairos at the Mount saying, "I feel guys hear the term 'Kairos' and immediately assume they are going to spend their weekend praying, when really Kairos is a perfect chance for people to find themselves. In my own experience I was able to find out a lot about myself and certain things I can carry with me the rest of my life."
Many students at the Mount have become a part of the universal Kairos community during their time in college, while others may have attended the retreat during high school. Although the retreat occurs only once per semester at the Mount, the experience is once in a lifetime.
Beginning this years retreat, men's Kairos experiences a decreasing attendance, while the women's Kairos keeps steady numbers.
"You can't tell them [the men] what it's all about, so they don't know what they're getting into. The guys seem more likely to attend events that they know more about," explains the men's Kairos liaison, Matt Himes, as to why attendance may be low.
Himes describes Kairos as a "deeper" kind of experience, which may be discouraging or daunting for some students. In addition, with other events taking place on campus simultaneously, such as the Loyola Basketball game during the Kairos retreat this past Fall semester, the men on campus seem to choose other activities over Kairos.
"Because many girls go on Kairos, they are able to tell other female students to attend Kairos the following semester," says Himes. As fewer men attend Kairos, the power of word-of-mouth encouragement dwindles. As liaison, Himes is trying to get the word out about Kairos through various creative means.
"We're passing out [informational] cards to male students, sending many emails, promoting Kairos at Campus Ministry events and Mass, and asking students who have already gone to encourage others to go," Himes says. "We're also looking into making a video."
Sophomore Mike Hagan spoke about his opinion of Kairos and his experience with Kairos at the Mount saying, "I feel guys hear the term 'Kairos' and immediately assume they are going to spend their weekend praying, when really Kairos is a perfect chance for people to find themselves. In my own experience I was able to find out a lot about myself and certain things I can carry with me the rest of my life."
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