subscribe to feed

Kathy Tardif

Catholic Campus Minister

Kathy Tardif comes to campus ministry from the world of business. After 17 years as a technical writer, primarily at small software companies, and a number of years volunteering in many positions in a parish youth ministry program, she decided to put God at the center of her personal and professional lives. So she returned to school for another degree and embarked on a career in college campus ministry. Kathy had actually been to Plymouth State years ago, when it was a college and she was an English graduate student, to give a talk on “The Franklin’s Tale” by Chaucer at a medieval studies conference here. She is delighted to be back for a longer period of time.

Kathy’s goals as a campus minister are to build community among students, to provide support in dealing with large and small concerns, and to help people develop deeper, more mature faith lives. College is a stressful experience at times, and it is important that students have a safe and welcoming place to meet others, learn about or deepen their understanding of Catholic religion and spirituality, and discern their own unique paths, regardless of their faith background (or lack thereof).

Since the clergy sexual abuse scandal broke in January 2002, these are also stressful times in the American Catholic Church. As a woman, as a man, what is your relationship to the Church? What is your understanding of Church? What should be the Church’s future direction? What do you need from the Church? Like the rest of the campus ministers here, Kathy loves a good conversation, so feel free to come by the Reflection and Spiritual Care Center and chat about these and other things. We’ve got a comfortable space and snacks and drinks … food for the mind, heart, soul, and body!

Kathy subscribes to the view that spirituality is lived out and that, as St. Teresa of Avila puts it, we are God’s hands. Prayer, theological reflection, and Bible study are important. So is action. She herself began an avocation of service as a Big Sister in college and has been an English as a Second Language tutor and teacher for years with immigrants in the Boston area. She has volunteered on the Samaritans suicide hotline and worked with grief support groups, and has traveled to Peru and Honduras on service and cultural immersion trips with campus ministry students at PSU and elsewhere. She works on many community service projects with PSU and the local community. With Preston Fuller, she was awarded the 2006 Presidents' Community Partner Award, given by Campus Contact for New Hampshire for service rendered in partnership with PSU.

Kathy also believes in the importance of interfaith dialogue. Working side-by-side for years with people of various faiths, she maintains lasting friendships with many of her former colleagues. She is a member of the Jewish-Christian Interfaith Partnership of New Hampshire. Not only is she a Catholic, but she is also a member of a Jewish family through her husband. And though she is a lifelong citizen of Red Sox Nation, some of her oldest friends happen to be Yankees fans.

In her spare time, Kathy enjoys reading, hiking, travel, and attending sporting events, concerts, and musicals featuring PSU students.

Education

• Post-Master's Certificate in the Practice of Spirituality, Boston College
• M.A., Pastoral Ministry, Boston College
• M.A., English, University of Connecticut
• B.A., English/Secondary Education, Phi Beta Kappa, University of Connecticut

Publications

• “Ministering to Suicide Survivors: From Basic Care to Supporting the Integration of Traumatic Grief.” Human Development Magazine (Spring 2005).