Sister Susan Reflects on her Decade at Pace
Sister Susan talks about how she came to Pace, and why she likes her job so much. Photo by Stefano Ausenda
February 17, 2018
Sister Susan Becker, a Sister of Divine Compassion and licensed therapist, has been a friendly and recognizable face on campus for 10 years.
In 2007, Becker was working as a psychotherapist and operated a Spirituality Center in White Plains, New York, when John Agnelli, the then director of Pace’s SDCA, asked her to come to Pace for five hours a week to act as the newly-created position of Coordinator of Spiritual Development.
She accepted the offer, and started in the fall. However, once she began, Egnally had already left the university.
“No one, including myself, really knew what my role was supposed to be,” Becker said. “And ever since that day, my role has been evolving with this campus.”
Five years into working at Pace, her Spirituality Center shut down, giving her more time to focus on being available for the students, and also for continuing to grow her psychotherapy practice.
“I think that through the years, I’ve become more engaged and more available to students,” Becker said. “I want to be—and think I am—seen as someone who doesn’t judge. The students can talk to me whenever they like and about whatever they like.”
Despite her religious background, she assures students that she doesn’t have a religious agenda, or any agenda for that matter. One of her main goals is to help students discover and nurture their spirituality.
“Even though we are physical beings, it’s our spirituality which gives us our energy,” she said. “We’re not machines. You can’t be a human being and not have a spirit that makes you fully human. It needs to be nourished and channeled in the right direction.”
“Pace’s main focus is feeding the mind, which is great,” she continued. “But we also need to focus on who we are, what makes us tick, and what we want to contribute to this planet before we leave.”
Regardless of the fact her role on campus was never really clear-cut, she says that working at Pace has been very rewarding.
“I love it here,” she declared. “I get the chance to interact with people aged 17-23, and I don’t know where else I could feel this young at heart. The students’ energy and enthusiasm are what gives me motivation every day. I learn from the students much more than they could ever learn from me, and it’s so cool.”
John Agnelli • Dec 28, 2020 at 6:34 pm
The spelling of my last name is Agnelli but the point of my comment was the critical evolution I was feeling personally. It occurred to me that had I had a grounded footing and foundation in spirituality the demons would never have entered. Prior to Susan Becker I hired Diane Sordini and when she became ill and past I knew there was a demand and Sister Susan Becker was the one to lead the charge. She embraced social justice and understood young people and her energy, well you spoke with her she can run circles around most 18years old. Life is about the legacy we leave behind and I am humbled to know that Sister Susan is still serving with out a deliberate focus and job description as that sounded to much like religion and for me the center was fluid and spirituality is just that journey.