Father Kevin Grove, C.S.C. to be honored with Sheedy Award
The College of Arts and Letters announced that Father Kevin Grove, C.S.C. will receive the Sheedy Award for Excellence in Teaching on December 3, 2024. Fr. Grove is an associate professor of theology and Director of Master of Divinity who primarily works in systematic theology. Fr. Grove is just the fourth Holy Cross priest to be honored with the award since its establishment in 1970.
Fr. Grove frequently teaches “Foundations of Theology,” a class that routinely seats over 100 students. He is also well known for teaching a single credit course on St. Augustine’s Confessions last spring, which over 470 students consistently attended.
According to the College of Arts and Letters, “The Sheedy Award—founded in 1970 in honor of Rev. Charles E. Sheedy, C.S.C., who served as dean of the College from 1952 to 1968—acknowledges a faculty member who has sustained excellence in research and instruction over a wide range of courses. This individual motivates and enriches students using innovative and creative teaching methods, and influences teaching and learning within the department, college, and university.”
When asked by the Rover what drew him to teaching, Fr. Grove said, “Professors, generally, I think, are inspired by big questions and the chance to work with colleagues and students alike in answering them. My own questions concern the mediation of the experience of God to human persons in a broken world, especially the way in which Jewish and Christian traditions use memory as a label for that experience.”
Fr. Grove also credited the Congregation of Holy Cross for his teaching prowess: “I have been inspired by the witness of so many of my confrères in Holy Cross who have selflessly dedicated themselves to the work of education not simply as a job, but as the order’s vocational witness to the world of how Grace is experienced through learning and teaching.”
Notre Dame requires all students take at least two theology classes. Many students begin with “Foundations of Theology,” and, as a result, these sections are constituted by students from a variety of religious backgrounds and theological knowledge.
Fr. Grove shared with the Rover his approach to encountering students from diverse religious backgrounds: “St. Augustine famously described his own experience of the living God as one of ‘pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova,’ or ‘beauty ever ancient and ever new.’ For both students who come with a background in the study of theology and for those who are new to the discipline, in ‘Foundations’ I invite them together to consider the most challenging ideas of ancient wisdom as simultaneously fresh and new.”
Senior student Sabrina Searl told the Rover about her experience in Fr. Grove’s “Foundations of Theology” class, saying, “It’s a rarity to have life-altering experiences. In Fr. Kevin’s class, high academic rigor and excellent theology met to touch and transform the hearts of Father Kevin’s students. I’ve never met a more intentional and truly humble man, let alone been taught by him.”
Fr. Grove told the Rover that the most fulfilling part of his career as a theology professor is his encounter of God and neighbor: “At Notre Dame—after the fashion of St. Anselm—we describe theology as: ‘faith seeking understanding.’ The exercise of faith seeking understanding, is humble, ongoing, and at its best draws us into love of both God and neighbor. I am blessed to live this every day with colleagues and students.”
Fr. Grove serves pastorally as an assistant faculty chaplain, chaplain to the Master of Divinity program, and as a pastoral resident for undergraduates in Dunne Hall, according to the Department of Theology. The Sheedy Award will be presented to Fr. Grove on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. in 215/216 McKenna Hall.
Daniel Martin is a senior from Skippack, Pennsylvania in the Program of Liberal Studies. He can be contacted at dmarti29@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: College of Arts and Letters
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