Year in Review: 2025-26

Reflection from Our President

The list of triumphs this year is staggering – but we seldom feel triumphant.

We have the highest average standardized test score out of all Newman Guide colleges and universities. We are two years old; the second youngest university is ten-times our senior. This year, we will be the largest single-location apprenticeship program in the United States. The runners up are billion dollar companies. We are a start up spending every dollar we have.

Why don't we feel more triumphant?

There is an immensity in everything we do. No matter how big an accomplishment we celebrate, there is yet a larger mountain in front of us that we must summit.

Think about this for a moment: we are designing new courses in electrical, plumbing, HVAC, carpentry, traditional building, theology, philosophy, literature, mathematics. We are identifying, inspecting, and purchasing – not just buildings – but entire blocks of a dilapidated downtown. We are designing, planning, and building labs. We are renovating decaying buildings so that students can live in them (and parents can trust us!). We are reconfiguring the streets and hardscapes of downtown. We are founding a construction company. We are developing a neighborhood. We are launching a plumbing service company. We are working on academic papers and writing groundbreaking books. We are working on new building techniques and researching new methods. We have to hire people to do all of this.

The team at the College of St Joseph the Worker has – collectively – relocated from twenty states. They have – collectively – taken pay cuts of nearly $2mm. They have worked tirelessly to create something that has never been done before. And, despite the colossal workload, it is happening.

These accomplishments are not small. We are growing fast and the start-up chaos has defined much of the speed.

It gives me great confidence in our mission, knowing that while we work long days, and our students make sacrifice, often making due with what we have, knowing we all build a better future for the coming classes of students - that all of this toil is more about shaping us as people—students included—than it is about ensuring the success of the college. Our Lord will see this college succeed, if indeed it is His will.

When I think about the Workshop in Nazareth of our Patron, St. Joseph, I don’t think about speed and I don't think about toil. The workshop was never the point. Those who were in it – that’s the point. St. Joseph worked in adoration everyday. In our own labor, we have a genuine experience of our world’s Creator and Redeemer.

Amidst the growth, the hard and grueling labor, the decision fatigue and the start–up exhaustion, I am dazzled by the fact that my team has not lost sight of this. The relentless struggle to see the face of Christ clearly: this has remained the desire of those at the College of St Joseph the Worker. They are convinced that a better way is possible; that we can offer the truths that make life most human to the next generation – and that they have the skills to manifest those truths to the world. They are, at heart, evangelists.

We cannot pass on to the next generation what we ourselves do not have. So please, pray for us. Pray that God’s grace would overflow from us into the students. Pray that our families would be prioritized first and foremost, and that our vocation as parents would inform our instruction and shaping of students. Pray that our students would remain the center and focus of everything we do.

Pray that somehow, this ridiculous mission of changing the world, would be made manifest in the young men who graduate and go out into the world.

Pax et bonum,
Dr. Imam

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Highlights

College

• Employees doubled

• Students doubled

• Highest Average Standardized Test Score for any Newman Guide School

Student Events

• Student Ball

• March Madness

• Theology On Tap

• Drop in soccer and baseball

• Music at Leos

• Coffee House: St Patrick’s Day

• Coffee House: Christmas

• Sophomore Retreat to St. Thomas More

• Austria Trip

College Events

• Charrette

• Donor Dinner

• Gala

Summer Events

• Masterclass

• Timber Framing Course

Campus/Downtown

• New Dorms

• Quad/Greenspace

• Masonic Temple

• Seraphic Hall

Orientation Talks

• Jason Craig - Maturity / Virtuous Living

• Matt Breuninger - Living in Community

• Jacob Imam - College Mission

• Marc Barnes - This is Steubenville

• Father Jonas Shell - Healthy Spiritual Habits

Commercial Construction Company

• People’s Bank Renovation Completed

• Joes Better Plumbing Launched

Speakers

• John Miller - Testimony

• Vince Oliver - Freshmen Address

• Dr. Bergsma - suffering, loss, and the life of Francis.

• Charette - Thomas Dougherty

• Kai Yep - Iconographer

• Guy from Daikin - Reframing the situation when talking with customers

• Baron Alexander von Tschugguel - Austrian Builder / owner of castle

• Michael Baisden - OCILB / Contractor licensing in the state of OH

Community Events

• New Polity Conference

• First Friday Festival

• Greek festival

• Jane Austen Ball at Leos

• Valleys Got Talent (Barberventure, student singing group, performed)

External Recognition

• Newman Guide

• Heritage Foundation

July 2026 Monthly Update

Austria Trip

We sent students from our Traditional Building Track to Austria to work alongside a world-renowned master mason. Wondering how we pulled this off, how an Austrian Baron got involved, or what the experience was like for our students? Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don't miss the video later this month!

Timber Framing Course

Our second Timber Framing course was a huge success! We welcomed a great group of prospective high school-aged students who loved the experience and are now even more excited about the chance to one day matriculate to the college.

We were also joined by a special guest this session: Dr. Paul Blaschko, a former University of Notre Dame professor who left academia to study education models genuinely working to fix what's broken in higher ed. He's been cataloguing his findings along the way, and we're proud to be the first institution he's chosen to study.

Joe's Better Plumbing

This month we launched our second commercial company: Joe's Better Plumbing, a major milestone for the trade programs within the college. As we continue to grow, we'll expand our service offerings into other trades. These companies, though not run for profit, remain owned by the college and are critical to giving students both their on-the-job-training hours and opportunities to earn money that keeps them debt-free.

If you're local and need some plumbing work done, visit their site to schedule an appointment today!

While Joe's ramps up toward profitability, it's your donations that keep our mission going in the meantime. Consider giving to the college.

Provide A Legacy of Faith

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Use the code COLLEGEOFSTJOSEPH to complete your Will in as little as 20 minutes, no obligation to the college required.