Three times a semester, Rev. Kevin Grove, C.S.C., reserves the west wing of South Dining Hall to make a vat of hummus.

Raised on a grain farm in central Montana, Grove gets regular shipments of chickpeas from his brother, which he then soaks, combines with garlic, olive oil, tahini, salt, cumin, and lemon, then pulsates until smooth.

“Fr. Grove’s impact on his students, including myself, is nothing short of transformative. He not only teaches theology, but also helps us navigate the complexities of life with faith and grace. His dedication to nurturing our spiritual growth makes him an invaluable asset to the Notre Dame community.”

— Evelyn Hemler, senior

As he finishes the soup-pot quantity of blended chickpeas, about a hundred of Fr. Grove’s students attend the “hummus office hours” to discuss classwork, eat the snack with pita bread, and engage with the University of Notre Dame associate professor of theology.

“It allows me to connect my home to my work,” Fr. Grove said. “And, fundamentally, what I love about this is making connections for students not only to religious material, and to text and scripture and theological questions, but to culture as well.”

That passion for connecting with students has generated campus cultural phenomena — from standing-room-only crowds in lecture halls for discussions of St. Augustine’s Confessions to discussion groups competitively recreating iconic cultural works — that reveal how eager students are to engage meaningfully with theology.

Fostering that engagement is among the reasons Fr. Grove has won the 2024 Sheedy Award for Excellence in Teaching, the College of Arts & Letters’ highest teaching honor.

Created in 1970, the award is named for Rev. Charles E. Sheedy, C.S.C., who served as dean of the College from 1952 to 1968. It is given to a faculty member who demonstrates sustained excellence in research and instruction, motivates and enriches students with innovative and creative teaching methods, and has influenced teaching and learning.

Fr. Grove will be recognized at a ceremony and reception at McKenna Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 3, beginning at 3:30 p.m.

More than 125 of Fr. Grove’s former students wrote in support of his nomination for the award, noting his influence through challenging them intellectually and bonding with them personally.

“Fr. Grove’s impact on his students, including myself, is nothing short of transformative,” wrote senior Evelyn Hemler in her nomination letter. “He not only teaches theology, but also helps us navigate the complexities of life with faith and grace. His dedication to nurturing our spiritual growth makes him an invaluable asset to the Notre Dame community.”

‘A treasured experience’

Teaching, in fact, was what drove Fr. Grove to join the Congregation of Holy Cross in the first place.

“Holy Cross’ mission of education work as being a way of changing society for the better was very attractive to me,” he said.

He received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, theology, and English literature from Seattle University and was ordained as a Holy Cross priest in 2010. Before joining the Notre Dame faculty, he received his doctorate in theology from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge and was a postdoctoral researcher at L’Institut Catholique in Paris and a fellow at the then-named Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study.

Fr. Grove received his Master of Divinity degree from Notre Dame, a program that he now oversees as its director. The program trains people to become lay ministers and Holy Cross priests and brothers in the Catholic Church, including work in ministry-focused roles in colleges, high schools, or nonprofit organizations.

“It’s a joy to walk along with ministers who are preparing to meet the Church in this day and age and be fully aware of all the joys and challenges that it brings,” he said.

“It’s a joy to walk along with ministers who are preparing to meet the Church in this day and age and be fully aware of all the joys and challenges that it brings."

— Rev. Kevin Grove, C.S.C.

In his Sacramental Theology course — regarded by many M.Div. students as one of the more challenging and rewarding courses in the program — Fr. Grove aims to shift their mindset on the sacraments. He challenges students to stop thinking of the seven sacraments as boxes to check in Catholic life, and instead view them as distinct vantage points that collectively create one coherent view of God's grace.

“And consider,” he said, “how it is that those being equipped for ministry might be of assistance to those looking to see the world with more clarity from these vantage points.”

Fr. Grove also teaches a doctoral seminar, Memory and Desire, that examines how the mind knows God in ancient and new settings, which aligns with his own research interests in systematic theology, including the meaning of memory in the Catholic context and the influences of St. Augustine.

The 5th-century theologian wrote extensively on topics like original sin, grace, free will, and the nature of the Church and profoundly shaped Christian theology. His work Confessions is an autobiographical account of his conversion, and a piece that Fr. Grove has studied extensively.

“Augustine speaks about ‘beauty ever ancient, ever new,’ and I've encountered that in teaching our students in general, but in particular with our first-years,” Fr. Grove said. “But I've also encountered it, especially, through a class on St. Augustine which was a treasured experience.”

Conversation through Confessions

The journey to that class began last spring, when a student living in Dunne Hall, where Fr. Grove is priest-in-residence, approached him and asked if they could read Confessions together.

Initially ecstatic about the idea, Fr. Grove agreed. But he quickly became concerned the student would stop coming to chat once the pressures of the semester became overwhelming.

“So we devised how we could make it into a one-credit class, so that he would have to come,” Fr. Grove said. “Then the assignment at the end would be to write a Confessions-style spiritual autobiography.”

The proposed discussion-style course was initially intended only for a handful of students — but then 180 signed up. As word spread about the class and a waitlist formed, what was meant to be a casual guided discussion on well-worn dorm couches soon ballooned into 450 students gathering weekly in one of the University’s largest classrooms.

“It was the highest energy, most extraordinary blessing of a lecture hall ever,” he said “And, in a beautiful way, it was an extraordinary example of what a Notre Dame lecture hall may be. I left it thinking ‘Gosh, I must be one of the luckiest professors in the world to have been given something like this.’”

When submitting their spiritual autobiography at the end of the semester, students had the option of including their mailing address, so Fr. Grove could write and send a response to their reflection. He thought only a few would take him up on the offer — but he spent most of the summer hand-writing hundreds of letters in reply.

“It was a life-changing experience, because it gave me a view into the church and young people today,” he said. “They were strikingly honest, and it’s always really edifying to me how our students are willing to think critically and beautifully about the spiritual part of their lives — and how theology can help give them the tools to do that.”

Deep questions, complicated answers

For the past three years, Fr. Grove has also taught Foundations of Theology, a large lecture-style course that fulfills a theology requirement in the Core Curriculum and involves students from a wide range of intellectual, religious, and cultural backgrounds.

"Fr. Grove empowers and inspires his students to inhabit the intellectual life with vigor. And he incorporates all the social and spiritual dimensions of life that make our work as students meaningful to each of us individually and meaningful to the world, which we hope to change for the better."

— Maria Sermersheim, Ph.D. student

As a result, Fr. Grove sees it as his challenge to help all students see how theology can help them ask big questions — such as what it means to be created, what it means to be human, how the things we love shape our lives, and how some things can bring us closer together and drive us farther apart.

“These are deep human questions that divine revelation — which is the study of faith seeking understanding of theology — helps to provide insight into,” Fr. Grove said. “For first-year students, it is not only an introduction into how to ask good questions, but how it is that the wisdom traditions of the Bible provide really interesting and complicated answers that challenge whomever might be engaging.”

As he designed his version of Foundations of Theology, Fr. Grove was inspired by Gary Anderson, the Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Thought, to take students on a journey through the Bible that makes the text fresh and new. One way he accomplishes this is by showcasing art, music, and architecture, then relating it to theology.

And to make the large class feel more personal, Fr. Grove assigns seats so students sit with others who live in their residence hall. Leveraging a distinct aspect of Notre Dame community culture also helps conversations about theology go beyond the classroom, including in weekly discussion sessions led in residence halls by students who have taken the course previously.

As a way of ensuring the discussion groups were actually happening, Fr. Grove requires them to submit a photo of their meetings. One week, inspired by Fr. Grove’s ability to relate theology to art, the women of Pasquerilla East Hall sent a photo of their group recreating Micheangelo's Expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

“I was so surprised and impressed by it, that for 15 seconds at the beginning of the next class, I put it up on the screen — just to say, ‘I appreciate that you’re all doing this, and bravo,’” he said. “And, unexpectedly, I created something of an arms race.”

Now, at the start of nearly every class, he highlights some of the best submissions from students masterfully recreating famous cultural pieces.

“It just sort of meets young people in the digital form of expression that is fun for them,” he said.

As much as he wants his students to connect with one another, Fr. Grove also wants students to feel a connection with him, no matter the size of the course. On the first day of class, he aims to memorize all students’ names — from doctoral and M.Div. students to first-years — to instill confidence and make the Notre Dame experience a personal one.

“Fr. Grove empowers and inspires his students to inhabit the intellectual life with vigor,” said Ph.D. student Maria Sermersheim. “And he incorporates all the social and spiritual dimensions of life that make our work as students meaningful to each of us individually and meaningful to the world, which we hope to change for the better."

Over time, the opportunities for connection Fr. Grove fosters have taught him important lessons, as well — especially the impact that social media has on students with feelings of isolation, anxiety, depression, burnout, and unfulfillment.

The weight of digital culture had a place in many of the students’ Confessions-style autobiographical reflections, but many of them indicated that reading St. Augustine helped them arrive at an understanding of God that helped remedy their overarching, complicated feelings about their place in the world.

“Theology,” he said, “helps provide the words for that.”

Fr. Grove has merely, but profoundly, provided the connection.

“Even outside of his classes, or his beloved hummus office hours, Fr. Grove is always available and willing to engage in learning and questions,” said junior Rowan McDonnell. “The best testament to this aspect of his character: you will never see Fr. Grove walking alone on campus. But if you do, he will not be alone for long as he will join you.”

Originally published by Mary Kinney at al.nd.edu on November 27, 2024.