STM celebrates one-hundred years of Catholic chaplaincy at Yale University beginning this fall.  This celebration includes a series of archival exhibits in Riggs Study throughout the year, focusing on STM's one-hundred years of Catholic ministry throughout the decades. Exhibits will be paired with a blog each month. Be sure to read along and come visit Riggs Study throughout the school year!

If you walk up the steps behind the Golden Center’s reception desk and past the chaplaincy wing, you will find yourself in the Riggs Study. The space is pleasingly square, except for a bay window that looks down into a small garden. Built in 1938 alongside STM’s Chapel, the Riggs Study was initially a library of Catholic literature for Yale students. In the May 1939 issue of the Catholic Graduates Bulletin, Father T. Lawrason Riggs ꞌ10—STM’s first Chaplain—writes: “I have been especially glad to offer the resources of [STM]…during the past year and I hope members will continue to regard it as the regular place for general meetings and will also utilize its library for the preparation of their papers.” Fr. Riggs, whose portrait now hangs above the room’s fireplace, wanted Yale Catholic students to feel at home not only in their faith, but in their academic studies and in their friendships.

The Riggs Study was the original Catholic Center at Yale, and even in 2022, it is still a place where Yale Catholic students come to meet, study and read. Though it retains much of its original function, it is a place where STM’s history surrounds you and gives you markers of our chaplaincy’s expansion. From the room’s large bay window, you can see STM’s past and present—the Chapel to your right and the Golden Center, which was built in 2006, to your left. Below you, under two weeping cherry trees, are the graves of two of our Chaplains, Fr. Riggs and Fr. Beloin. When you look back into the room, you will see the faces of all of the Yale Catholic Chaplains who have served the STM community for the past one-hundred years. STM’s history surrounds you here.

Come visit Riggs Study throughout the month of September and learn how our Catholic chaplaincy has used Riggs Study throughout the decades or view the exhibit online.