If you ask Viterbo students or alumni why they chose to study at the university, chances are they’ll mention how the campus felt like home from the first visit and they felt like part of a family. For students whose parents attended Viterbo, that sense of home and family is often even greater. Four sets of students and their alumni parents shared their Viterbo connection stories with Strides magazine.

Growing up, Rose (Steinmetz) Bingham dreamed of becoming a teacher or a nurse. The empty corncrib on her grandparents’ farm often became a pretend hospital setting, with her dolls and unenthusiastic cats as patients.

The morning has flown by and as he brings the class to a close, Viterbo University Distinguished Professor of Servant Leadership Tom Thibodeau is going around the room asking his students to offer a word that sums up their experience that day. He turns his piercing blue eyes to each class member as their turn to speak comes, a gaze so intense it feels like he knows what you’re about to say but still can’t wait to hear you say it.