Holy Cross College Awards Outstanding Alumna
 Ruggaber.jpg "Holy Cross College Awards Outstanding Alumna")
Amelia (Marcum) Ruggaber acted as the College’s assistant campus minister for two years as a volunteer. For this and countless other services she has provided to Holy Cross College and the Catholic Church, she will be presented with the Holy Cross College Outstanding Alumni Award at the President’s Premiere Gala at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, February 10, 2007 at the Century Center in South Bend.
It is difficult for Amelia (Marcum) Ruggaber to call anywhere “home.” Because of her father’s job, her family moved around a lot when she was a child. One job ultimately lead the family to South Bend, Indiana. This was at a crucial time in Ruggaber’s life, a time when she should have been starting college. She had been caring for a dying family member however, and postsecondary education wasn’t really on her mind. Luckily for Holy Cross College, it was on her father’s mind. He convinced Ruggaber to attend.
“I came out here for a vacation and started school,” she says. “It was my first time actually being in a classroom setting, since I was homeschooled from kindergarten to 12th grade, so that was kind of fun, to actually raise my hand in a class.”
After starting Holy Cross College, Ruggaber didn’t waste any time becoming involved. She was active with the Student Government Association and the Social Concerns Committee. She was also forming solid relationships with faculty and staff members, including Robert Kloska, the campus minister. Then after two years, she transferred to the University of Notre Dame.
“I never thought I would be back at Holy Cross College,” she says. “But junior year was transformational for me. I started reevaluating everything because I had been so wild and crazy during my sophomore year. Well, wild and crazy for Amelia!”
Although Ruggaber had a strong Christian faith, it wasn’t until this time in her life that
she decided to take a closer look at the Catholic faith.
She says, “The Catholic faith was so amazing to me, how much they write about everything and how everything has an explanation. B.K. (Bob Kloska) gave me books that went through the logic of the faith. I have always had a deep relationship with Christ, but what I was really desiring was the philosophical reason behind it all. Where was the wizard behind the curtain?”
After graduating from Notre Dame, and after having gone through a “spiritual reawakening,” Ruggaber started thinking about doing a year of service.
“When I was about to graduate, just felt like I should go talk to Robert (Kloska),” she says. “I knew he was working on his own. It just kind of popped into my head. He said that he had been praying for a while that God would send someone to help him.”
One year of service flew by and turned into two.
“The year came and went and I realized I needed to stay here (at Holy Cross College),” Ruggaber says. “I thought, what was the last thing God told you to do?’ The last time I felt personal direction was when I was told to come to Holy Cross, so I decided to just keep doing it!”
During Ruggaber’s educational, spiritual and vocational journey, she also started an emotional journey. She met her husband to be, Tim Ruggaber, during her freshman year. When he received his “dream job” offer in South Bend last fall, the couple decided to call Michiana home. And (Amelia) Ruggaber decided it was time to call Holy Cross College home too. She was given the official paid position as assistant campus minister.
“Holy Cross is growing in leaps and bounds, and I love the fact that I can be on the ground floor of the growing campus ministry department as well as the growing College,” she says. “To educate hearts and minds is a call to engage each student with love and with truth. Very few institutions have such a vision and even fewer endeavor to promote it as Holy Cross College strives to do.”
Certainly Ruggaber has and will continue to live and advance the College’s mission. She is indeed an outstanding alumna!
Published 2/7/2007 by Sara Kassen