Editor’s Note: This past week, Prep News Editor in Chief, Jack Figge and STUCO Student Body President AJ Thompson teamed up and ventured out into the halls of St. Louis U. High and asked one seemingly simple question: What does it mean to be a Jr. Bill? After combing through the responses, common threads and similar ideas became clear. The following article shares what we heard. 

Doused in blue and sprinting full speed into the football stadium during the home opener. For many St. Louis U. High students, this experience, Running of the Bills, is the first time they feel like a Jr. Bill. But being a Jr. Bill consists of so much more than blue paint and brotherhood. 

Every June, 250-plus incoming freshman descend upon the grounds of SLUH to be immersed in the culture of the school and inundated with messages and themes about what it means to be a Jr. Billiken. Whether it is through freshman class moderator Tim Curdt shouting at them to embrace brotherhood or hearing the traditional first reading (1 Corinthians 12: 12-15—one body, many parts), students begin to develop an understanding of what it means to truly be a Jr. Bill. But the answer is not a simple two or three word short answer question, nor is it the same for everybody. 

“What is a Jr. Bill, is one question with many complex layers,” said Dean of Students Brock Kesterson.

One common comment we heard was that being a SLUH student carries with it a significant amount of pride for the opportunity to carry on and be a part of  the SLUH tradition. 

“Being a Jr. Biliken there is some type of pride that goes along with it,” said sophomore Triston Ivory. “SLUH has a good reputation so it is just living up to that legacy and tradition.”

Direction Days lays a solid foundation for students to begin developing their own definition of what it means to be a Jr. Bill. The One Body Many Parts passage presents a foundational idea: that no matter a student’s background, together each one of us makes up the SLUH community and each has something to contribute to the class. To some faculty members and students, the passage is the clearest example of what it means to be a Jr. Bill. 

“‘One body, many parts’ is what being a Jr. Bill is all about. Knowing, believing that every person you encounter is valuable, has something to offer, is part of the body of St. Louis U. High,” said retired and longtime theology teacher Matt Scuito. “Whether it be your class, the student body, or the  entire community, everybody has something to offer.” 

Developing deep, personal friendships with classmates is a hallmark of SLUH education. Many interviewees shared that the friendships formed are an essential element to being a Jr. Bill. These friendships are built over the course of four years, and often extend beyond class, race, and cultural divides. A true Jr. Bill is a person open to these new friendships that the SLUH community offers. 

“More than anything, it means to be open to friendship, to initiate and create, to respond and to receive,” said English teacher Chuck Hussung. “I think the way that we honored Mrs. Hylla was an example of  the spirit of this place. You do not just walk in here and do your job, you walk in here and connect with the community and it connects back with you.”

Often these relationships bridge age divides, with upperclassmen forming friendships with underclassmen, and teachers forming friendships with their students. 

“Being a Jr. Bill, to me, means being a part of a brotherhood together,” said freshman Madhavan Anbukumar. “If you look at Alex Mittendorf and myself, we are good friends even though I am a freshman and he is a senior. He fully represents what it means to be a Jr. Bill. He is well rounded and he cares for everyone no matter what class they are in.”

When reflecting on the question, some students brought up the Greek word: philia, or brotherly love. Everyday, students love their fellow students as they would their own brother, always there supporting, guiding and encouraging. 

“In Mr. Kickham’s class we learned about philia love, which is brotherly love,” said senior Matt Kluba. “Being a Jr. Bill means that you emanate philia love by going the extra mile when people are not looking. It is doing the work and not counting the cost.”

“As a Jr. Bill, you just have an overwhelming sense of brotherly love,” said senior Ted Williams.

Examples of philia love radiate from the SLUH campus every day. Often it happens in the mundane moments of day to day school, where these examples are frequently overlooked. But sometimes, these displays of philia love happen during  the biggest moments of the school year, like an end of the season playoff football game. 

“Philia love is going to a football game at CBC in 32 degree weather and even after losing, the seniors are going on the field and just celebrating with their brothers who lost,” said Kluba. “It is showing up to Senior Follies when there are AP exams all of this week.”

This brotherly love does not stop after graduation, however. It continues on, well into adulthood as classmates continue to stay connected, to meet regularly and to continue to show that brotherly love. Students commended their own fathers, who are alumni, for continuing to show this brotherly love past graduation. 

“Being a Jr. Billiken is something bigger than myself and it is something bigger than this building where we come to school everyday. It extends past our graduation,” said senior Charlie Vonderheid. “My dad still hangs out with all of his friends from when he went to SLUH, he still has a huge group chat. We are all men of character and that extends well past graduation. It is living it out in our daily lives, 10, 20, 30 years after we graduate.” 

A final central theme that showed up across many interviews involved individual development and formation into being a man for others, as students grow from being selfish to being selfless.

“It is behaving in a way that is representative of the mission and value of our school and doing it in any scenario at any time even if you are not necessarily being judged or being watched,” said Kesterson. “Especially as it relates to taking care of other people. That is the biggest thing is being selfless.” 

Once a Jr. Bill, always a Jr. Bill is a common phrase heard around the halls of SLUH. But it is more than a simple phrase, it is a calling. A calling to take all that one has learned and experienced in four years at SLUH and live it out in their daily lives past graduation. 

“Being a Jr. Bill means that you are a man of character, conscience and compassion,” said president Alan Carruthers. “It is about being the best self that you can be and using your God given talents to the highest levels that one can use them.”