University Counseling Center director to receive award for service to Congregation of Holy Cross

Author: Michael O. Garvey

Susan Steibe-Pasalich

Susan Steibe-Pasalich, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Counseling Center, will receive a 2010 Spirit of Holy Cross Award during the Mass for the feast of Blessed Basil Moreau at 5:15 p.m. Jan. 20 (Wednesday) in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

According to Rev. Edwin H. Obermiller, C.S.C., assistant provincial of Indiana Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the award was established “to acknowledge the critical importance lay collaborators of Holy Cross and others play in living out the vision of Holy Cross founder Blessed Basil Anthony Moreau, C.S.C., to make God known, loved and served in education, parish and mission settings.”

Steibe-Pasalich has assisted the Holy Cross Office of Vocations in screening applicants to Holy Cross seminary programs. Father Obermiller said that she “has brought a high level of professionalism to this task and has contributed immeasurably to ensuring that the next generation of Holy Cross religious are well-rounded and well-equipped for their lives of service.”

In addition to her nearly 30 years of service as director of the University Counseling Center, Steibe-Pasalich is a licensed clinical psychologist and a concurrent assistant professor of psychology at Notre Dame, where she also serves on several committees including the Student-Athlete Drug Testing Committee, the Committee for Academic and Student Life and the University Wellness Committee.

Steibe also serves on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) National Review Board, which was established in 2002 to assist the USCCB in preventing sexual abuse of minors by persons in the service of the Church in the United States.