Student’s Path Guides Him to Campus Leadership Role

Adam Mullin ’20 is someone who is always on the move.

Mullin’s journey to Saint Joseph’s was a long one. He grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and attended Creighton Preparatory School. The Jesuit approach to education suited him, and he visited and applied to nine Jesuit colleges and universities across the country. But it was a pair of trips to Saint Joseph’s that made it stand out for him.

“On my first visit, the campus' suburban beauty was impressive, and being close to a major city was important,” he says. “Then I returned to Philadelphia in fall 2015 with seven high school peers and two teachers for Pope Francis’ visit. We stayed at St. Joseph’s Prep and got to explore the city. By the end of that trip, SJU had risen to one of my top three choices.”

One of the qualities that Mullin most appreciated about Saint Joseph’s, he says, was that he saw “a welcoming community that would embrace me and my interests.” Once he arrived on campus, he started immersing himself in the community, picking up experiences that matched his passions. He serves as head sacristan in the Chapel of St. Joseph, participates in service trips and mentors first-year students as a resident assistant.

“Serving as an RA has been one of the most rewarding things I have done here on Hawk Hill,” Mullin says. “I have had difficult conversations with residents about heavy topics, accompanied them on the journey of adjusting to college and gotten to know them on a more personal level.”

Mullin’s passion for helping his fellow students has led him to his newest venture, serving as the newly elected student body president. As with his varied extracurricular activities, momentum is a key feature of Mullin’s platform.

“Last year, we saw significant student desire to foster a more welcoming community,” he says. “We must not lose sight of our past work as we move forward. I want to emphasize student engagement and consider how we can best reach the student body in meaningful ways. A separate but related endeavor is to communicate with the student body, faculty and staff about what we are working on, and to link campus leaders and organizations who care about similar topics so they can work together.”

Mullin entered college as an undeclared social science major but has since declared a major in history. He is not sure what the future holds for his career — he wants to spend at least a year working in a service organization after graduating — but he knows that his studies will prepare him for any path.

“I appreciate the way that history challenges me to think critically, to consider multiple points of view and dive beneath the surface,” he says. “History professors pushed me to be more articulate and take on leadership both within and beyond the classroom. My history major has prepared me well for the future.”