After months of construction, preparation and anticipation, Saint Mary’s College launched the newly established Prikkel Advising, Career and Experience Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday afternoon. The center, located in the newly renovated wing on the first floor of Le Mans Hall, will serve as the home for Career Services (previously known as the Career Crossings Office), academic advising and a newly minted position, the dean of career integration.
“This space represents something that we have been working toward for many years at Saint Mary’s,” provost and vice president for academic affairs Megan Zwart said. “We have always emphasized the power of individualized attention, a strong community of belonging and an education that prepares students for rewarding careers and meaningful lives, but we know those benefits aren’t always equally accessible to every student, particularly students who come to us not yet knowing which doors to open or which questions to ask. The PACE Center exists to change that.”
Zwart announced the dedication of the PACE Center in December through an email to students. The email recognized Jennifer Prikkel ’95 and her family as the benefactors. Prikkel, a member of the board of trustees and tri-chair of the upcoming capital campaign, Ring Out Ring True, said she feels humbled to help provide Saint Mary’s students with guidance and support.
“We are blessed with remarkable Saint Mary’s students, strong, compassionate, driven women who long to make a difference, and our hearts are full knowing the PACE Center will walk with them, support them and help them step by step, confidently into the future,” Prikkel said.
Prikkel, who served on the board of trustees from 2002 to 2011 and since 2020, and her husband Patrick have made a number of multimillion-dollar donations to Saint Mary’s in the past, including gifting to support the renovation of the Science Hall, the construction of Spes Unica Hall and the development of the Spes Unica Award.
“Letting go of money we could keep invested for many years was not an easy decision, and as we continued to talk and pray through it, we realized we were viewing this decision through only one lens: power and control of that money,” Prikkel said. “What if we change that lens .. .that we were discerning with? What if we saw this gift as an investment with the components of trust and empowerment, trust that Saint Mary’s would steward the investment well and empowerment for Saint Mary’s to dream big?”
During the ceremony, College President Katie Conboy offered her gratitude for the Prikkel family as well as their servitude and generosity to Saint Mary’s.
“As we talked together about what they hoped their philanthropy might accomplish here, they came to share in our belief that intellectual rigor, vocational discernment and experiential learning belong together — that advising, preparation and opportunity should not be fragmented, but be integrated in service of the whole student,” Conboy said. “Their optimism and excitement became the foundation for the PACE Center that so rightly bears their name and that we unveil today.”
The establishment of the PACE Center creates a “visible center” of Saint Mary’s Avenue Experience, according to Zwart, which outlines the four-year journey for each student.
“The Avenue Experience promises that all students will have access to the resources and support they need to pursue career success, whole life flourishing, and to contribute to the common good in their lives beyond Saint Mary’s,” Zwart said. “The PACE Center is instrumental for delivering on The Avenue Experience’s promise because of its role as a hub, connecting students to curricular and co-curricular experiences across campus and ensuring that thoughtful preparation for a successful career and a meaningful life is embedded across the full arc of their education.”
Despite the name change of her office, director of Career Services Stacie Jeffirs says that all resources that were offered at the Career Crossings Office will still be available at Career Services in addition to new offerings, such as a 24/7 accessible LinkedIn professional headshot photobooth, access to the dean of career integration and ample opportunities for experiential learning. Jeffirs says she is excited for her new home inside Le Mans Hall and to work alongside academic advising.
“Because we're in close proximity to academic advising, and we work so closely together, [The PACE Center offers] a little bit more of a seamless interaction with advising on campus,” Jeffirs said. “We’re closer to admissions for prospective students to be able to see what we do, to be able to do workshops and training sessions … it’s much more conducive for what we need in terms of employer relations as well. It helps us be able to do more of what we already have been doing.”
As scores of Saint Mary’s administrative executives, donors, students and alumnae in attendance looked toward the doors of the PACE Center for its grand opening, Conboy offered a promise to the commitment of Belles’ futures and to prepare current and future students “for the lives and leadership the world will ask of them.”
“Moments like this remind us all that Saint Mary’s is not standing still. We are a College in the midst of becoming. We are building with intention, investing with clarity and preparing graduates for a world that needs their expertise, their judgement and their leadership,” Conboy said. “This Center is one powerful expression of our momentum, and it stands as a promise to every student who will walk through these doors that the College is committed to their future.”
