Micah FAQ

Yes. Each year the Micah program accepts students into our first-year community who are also in SLU's Honors program.

Micah students can be any major. More than 30 majors are represented in the Micah program.

Many Micah sophomores and juniors spend a semester, or even a year, studying abroad. 

Micah first-year students take at least three Micah sections of core courses together. When appropriate, the courses focus on social justice issues, drawing connections between what students are studying and what they are experiencing in their community service.

Though core requirements can vary by school, Micah classes can usually be counted toward students' graduation requirements. In most cases, the Micah program does not add more academic requirements.

Yes. The Micah community is interfaith and includes students from a variety of religious backgrounds and denominations.

 All first-year Micah students are required to attend weekly community hour meetings that often include interfaith prayer in an effort to build a community of shared concern and support. You will also find some faith-related activities and prayer while attending the Micah retreats.  Students from all faiths and all areas of study are invited to apply for the program.

 

We work at  service sites in urban communities near campus. This service focuses on building relationships with the people who work at the organizations, those who are being served, and other Micah students.

Most service-related requirements on campus can be fulfilled through the Micah program.

You will be provided with a schedule of service opportunities and choose your top three preferences based on your interest and your availability. Micah program staff will try their best to give you your top choice.

The Micah program provides vans for weekly service and for other Micah events. Students in the program who are verified by the University drive the vans. There are no additional costs to Micah students for this transportation. As long as you complete the driver's verification process and follow all guidelines, you will be covered by SLU's insurance.

Our highest priority is to ensure that everyone stays safe. Although no American city is without potential dangers, the neighborhoods where we serve are stable and our sites are well-run. We do, however, focus on having an older and experienced student in each service group, ask first-year students to never go to service sites alone, and require them to always take the vans directly to service sites and back.

In addition to weekly service, many first-year students volunteer for special monthly events with older Micah students, faculty and staff. These events often involve engaging with children at special events, renovating houses, beautifying city neighborhoods, or fixing up facilities at underfunded schools.

First-year Micah students and their Micah sophomore mentors live on the fifth through eighth floors of Marguerite Hall in the Micah learning community.

Once you have been accepted into the Micah program, our program coordinator will inform the Department of Housing and Residence Life and have your housing assignment moved to one of the floors in the Micah learning community.  It is recommended that you also contact the Department of Housing and Residence Life by email and ask to be switched.

In the mid-1990s, Michael Garanzini, S.J., SLU’s academic vice president at the time, proposed  strengthening students' connections between residence halls, classrooms, the University and the surrounding urban neighborhoods. The program celebrated its 20th anniversary during the 2017-18 school year.

In 1997, the Micah program accepted its first class of students under the direction of its first director, Donald Stump, Ph.D.  Stump served as director for over 20 years. In 2018, Olga Arbeláez, Ph.D., became the current director of the program.