In the fall of 2021, inspiration struck junior Isabel Cumbelich when she suddenly felt overwhelmed with gratitude to be attending Christendom. From the classrooms to the dorms, her ordinary conversations and everyday experiences were packed with the richness of the faith and powered by the passion of her fellow students, faculty, and staff. She could not imagine keeping those gifts to herself and wanted to share the blessings. Thus, the idea for a new publication was born.
Over the past years, students have circulated numerous publications around the Christendom community. Some have taken a more comical tone, sharing entertaining anecdotes and light-hearted news stories submitted by students, while others have focused on serious moral issues and seek to answer the reader’s burning questions. Cumbelich felt a calling to start something new, and in the fall semester before her senior year, she and fellow classmates paved the way for a beautiful new magazine on campus, Metanoia.
This story comes from the latest issue of Instaurare Magazine, the official magazine of Christendom College. Read more from Instaurare here!
“There is an abundant creative and intellectual environment at Christendom that ventures beyond the classroom,” says Cumbelich. “For such a small school, it is bursting with, in my opinion, above-average, fascinating, and talented people. To listen as my friends articulated ideas brilliantly, or worked through philosophical proofs with thoughtful precision, was captivating and beautiful. It felt wrong not to find a way to bottle up the talent and curiosity within Christendom and share it. I truly believe that other young people our age would benefit from getting a window into the conversations and debates we got to have late into the night around the dinner table together. I thought those conversations put on paper would be a credit to our Faith, its great intellectual tradition, and my alma mater that I cherish so much.”
Isabel Cumbelich ’23 and Zoe Grimm ’23, co-founders of Metanoia.
Cumbelich ’23 and Zoe Grimm ’23 discussed the plan at length, bouncing ideas off each other and mulling over a title for the new publication. They finally settled on Metanoia.
“The name was Zoe’s idea!” says Cumbelich. “I think we obsessed over it for at least a week, throwing out well over 100 ideas. I liked it because every one of us is called to continual conversion of heart, mind, and soul (μετάνοια, metanoia in Greek). We hoped to publish articles where students apply their rich education to ponder the issues of our daily lives: in ourselves, our immediate surroundings, and society at large.”
The main goal of the magazine, according to Grimm, was “to give the campus a publication of such a caliber that students would be proud to showcase their work within it. We wanted to inspire our fellow students to craft pieces they were proud of. We wanted to spark a little ambition and we hoped that through Metanoia, that would spread.”
Grimm noted the additional driving factors for this new initiative.
“Some of the reasons for founding Metanoia were very practical,” she explains. “It gave us real-world experience while still on campus; it could improve ours and others’ resumes; it was a fantastic excuse to work on something fun with our friends, etc. However, the driving principle behind Isabel’s and my endeavor was this: Excellence is worthy of pursuit. Refining our skills and creating something good is its own reward. How wonderful it is to glorify God through exercising the gifts that He Himself gave to us.”
Like any new initiative, this endeavor was not without its challenges. Cumbelich and Grimm encountered some setbacks but were assisted by a dedicated team of student designers, faculty, and staff members to iron out the kinks.
Maghee Fleischer trains a new designer on the job.
Cumbelich maintained an incredibly positive attitude during the process and regards the challenges as joys, rather than inconveniences.
“Zoe and I learned everything as we went,” she recalls. “It was an incredibly enjoyable challenge. I hope that future Metanoia staff will enjoy the thrill of the creative challenges like I did. We wanted to make this a publication by and for the whole community, so we recruited students from various friend groups to write, gleaned advice from professors to maintain a high-caliber product, and were aided by staff members in countless ways. When Zoe and I made the pitch to the student government to make Metanoia an official club, we enjoyed a unanimous vote in favor, which is a very joyful memory.”
She is especially grateful for the assistance from Vice President for Communications & Marketing Niall O’Donnell, who shared much of his time and tools to help make their dream a reality.
“Niall O’Donnell’s complete encouragement and help continue to be essential to the success of Metanoia,” Cumbelich says. “He provided the space, equipment, instruction, and support to create a training ground for Christendom students to build their portfolios and influence the culture through beauty.”
“The transition from dream to reality is always difficult,” adds Grimm, “simply because there is so much uncertainty. At the end of the day, it was just following up our words with actions that put Metanoia into print.”
A selection of issues printed from the magazine’s founding to the present day.
The student-run magazine Metanoia is giving students the opportunity to refine their skills and create something good, glorifying God in the process.
After their graduation, Cumbelich and Grimm passed on the torch to Maghee Fleischer ’24 and Sam Schirra ’24 to lead the Metanoia team for the 2023–24 academic year. Fleischer and Schirra have spent numerous hours of their free time directing the designers and polishing each edition.
“I have devoted so much time to Metanoia because I absolutely love it and because I believe in its mission,” says Fleischer. “The magazine is a space for Christendom students to develop and showcase their talents for both writing and design, yet it is so much more. Through this magazine, Christendom students can fulfill the mission of the college to “Restore All Things in Christ.” The goal of Metanoia is to impact not only the Christendom community but also the world outside of Christendom. I truly believe that beauty is key in evangelization and that aesthetic, timeless design draws people to the Truth. Through beauty, Metanoia design seeks to communicate the message of each article creatively and effectively, especially in conveying the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.”
Fleischer feels called to evangelize to the world through beauty, making plans to become a florist and graphic designer after she graduates.
“I have acquired not only a passion for graphic design but also the practical tools to pursue a career in the design field,” she notes. “I will be forever grateful for my involvement in the Metanoia design team and hope to take with me everything that I learned from this experience.”
Meanwhile, Schirra, initially recruited as a designer for Metanoia, felt called to fill another need on campus with the new experiences he had been given. Hence, In Corde was born. In Corde, a special edition of Metanoia, was started to give proper focus and recognition to artists on campus, primarily fine artists and poets. Schirra serves as lead editor, while Fleischer leads the design team.
Schirra owes it all to Divine Providence for nudging him in this direction.
“Pure inspiration from the Holy Spirit,” he says. “When I realized that Christendom no longer had a journal that showcased undergraduates’ artwork and smaller pieces of creative writing, I decided to found such a journal. After all, when God gives us gifts—especially artistic talents—they must be shared with others and directed toward His glory.”
Maghee Fleischer ’24 and Sam Schirra ’24, co-editors for Metanoia and In Corde.
Schirra views In Corde as a kind of mission, providing artists around campus with an outlet for their creative projects. He has sacrificed many waking hours to get this initiative off the ground and has great hopes for its future.
“I pray that In Corde will encourage other artists to create or partake in opportunities which showcase their creative endeavors,” notes Schirra. “Moreover, I pray that the contents of In Corde will inspire our readers to draw ever closer to Our Lord, Beauty Itself.”
These lead designers and founders of Metanoia and In Corde have already passed on the torch to the next group of creative and passionate students who will continue the vision.
Schirra, who graduates this spring and plans to pursue a Master of Arts in Catholic Education at the Augustine Institute, offers words of encouragement and hope to his replacement.
“I am pleased to announce that junior Anna Enyeart will be taking over as our club’s editor-in-chief (and design director), while junior Helen Davis will be our new content director,” he says. “I encourage them to continue to keep the magazine’s mission at heart by always praying before working, ‘agamus Te duce, Domine’—May we act with You as guide, O Lord.”
Cumbelich, who has gone on to serve as director of communications and evangelization for the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, also has a dream for the future of Metanoia.
“Part of my vision, which wasn’t achieved while I was at Christendom, is to increase the reach of the magazine beyond the Christendom community,” explains Cumbelich. “I hope someone will feel inspired to conquer that new terrain! Another goal we had was to provide opportunities for greater collaboration and opportunities to learn—skill-building seminars for designers, brainstorming sessions for content, and team events. We wanted the Metanoia team to develop traditions and a real presence on campus, similar to the Chester Belloc Debate Society.”
Looking back at the magazine’s success, Cumbelich believes that it has filled a true need on campus, providing a springboard for rising journalists and designers:
“Metanoia provides the opportunity for writers, artists, and designers to hone their skills on a professional team with a high standard of excellence. Being a part of the team provides students the chance to gain experience in communications, which they can include on their résumés when applying to jobs in those fields. Further, it simply fills the need for non-academic, intellectual, and creative work on campus.”
Written by Julie Wells.
Read more from Instaurare Magazine here.