A Journey of Faith: Andrea (Sassman ’96) Loop, TAC Alumni Council President

Andrea (Sassman ’96) Loop’s journey from a questioning evangelical to a faithful Catholic began at Thomas Aquinas College, where she found not only the truth of the Church but also a unique, loving community. Today, she chairs the President’s Advisory Council of TAC Alumni, seeking to grow and strengthen the community that has been so supportive of her and her family.

The road to Andrea’s conversion to the Catholic faith began in an Idaho public high school, when she and her then-boyfriend, Ben (’96), took a Great Books political philosophy class during their senior year. The two studied Aristotle and Plato for the first time and knew they wanted to pursue more of this kind of education. “I was raised in a Christian environment and had a lot of reservations about my Christianity, since I didn’t want it to be a stumbling block to reason,” Andrea says. “I began to think that reason and faith were incompatible, but this class allowed me to explore those ideas through some of the greatest minds in history.”

After high school, Andrea and Ben attended a Catholic liberal arts college on the East Coast for a year. Though neither was Catholic, both hoped to dive deeper into the philosophical topics and questions they had tasted in their high school class. Unfortunately, they found the college lacking in its treatment of the Quadrivium — the study of geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music — and pursuit of truth, much to their disappointment. “The president even admitted that they weren’t teaching true liberal arts, but rather a kind of Christian humanism. They weren’t offering the kind of formation we were looking for.”

They saw a renewed chance at higher education when Ben’s younger sister, Rebecca (Loop ’96) Mohun, discovered Thomas Aquinas College and visited the California campus. Excited, she called her brother to let him know the very education and formation that he had sought actually existed. Intrigued by her emphatic recommendation, the couple drove to Santa Paula over summer vacation.

“While we were visiting, our guide brought Marcus Berquist, one of TAC’s founders, over to talk to us,” Andrea recalls. “It was the most Socratic conversation I had ever been in, and the most painful. He surgically addressed the mistakes we made within the questions we asked and pointed out all the assumptions we made. The conversation only lasted about 10 minutes, but we both knew that Mr. Berquist was someone we could learn from, and we saw that this was the path to truth.”

“We were receiving this incredible witness of so many people living a Christian life in a way that I hadn’t seen before. So many of my misconceptions were pulled away.”

However, convincing Andrea’s parents to let her attend Thomas Aquinas College was not easy. They were loath to let their daughter go to another Catholic school, especially one so devout in practice. “My mother told me, ‘I’ve let you go to a Catholic school one year. I’m not going to let you go again!’”

While in California, Andrea and Ben visited some friends, who took them to their local Protestant church. Andrea there met the church’s minister, Dr. Jerry Root of the C.S. Lewis Institute, and had a conversation with him about her desire to pursue the College’s program of Catholic liberal education. “I asked him, ‘Is there a Protestant version of this that exists?’ He said, ‘No, but go to TAC and, afterwards, help start one.’”

With Dr. Root’s vote of confidence, Andrea was more determined than ever to attend TAC. Following their conversation, Dr. Root called Mrs. Sassman and convinced her to let her daughter enroll in 1992, alongside Ben and Rebecca. “It was a life-changing phone call,” Andrea says. “I’m not sure what he said to convince her, but it was so wonderful that he was willing to advocate for me.”

Finding Truth in Christ

Even though they knew the College was wholly Catholic, Andrea and Ben entered Freshman Year certain that the Church had nothing to offer them. “In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis gives the image of Christianity being a room with many doors, and Catholicism is one of those doors, just one way Christianity can be expressed,” explains Andrea. “We were really holding onto that idea.” 

But, surrounded by peers and mentors living in accordance with the Faith and attending classes that pointed to the truths found in Catholic theology, the couple began to rethink much of what they had believed. “We were receiving this incredible witness of so many people living a Christian life in a way that I hadn’t seen before,” says Andrea. “So many of my misconceptions were pulled away.”

While Rebecca entered the Church in her junior year, Andrea and Ben were still searching for a denomination to call their own, not yet convinced that Catholicism offered the one, true Church. After graduating and marrying in 1996, the couple moved to Kansas for Ben’s job and considered joining a Presbyterian congregation. Meanwhile, Rebecca and some of their mutual friends from the College began a novena to St. Francis de Sales for the couple’s conversion and sent them a copy of the saint’s book, The Catholic Controversy.

“Our shared formation in this intellectual and moral tradition allows for a strength of unity that is unrivaled by any other college.”

“Just a little way into the book, the switch flipped for me,” Andrea says. “I knew I didn’t agree with Luther or Calvin and couldn’t follow them. I also didn’t like feeling as though I followed a certain man’s teaching, as many evangelical churches are tied to the minister, and I saw the discord and division throughout the Protestant community. At the same time, I saw the unity and truth of the Catholic Church, and I began to understand that unity as a sign of God’s presence.”

Through the graces of the novena and the intellectual and spiritual foundation they received at the College, the Loops both came to the conclusion that the Catholic Church was the only one that met all the criteria necessary for their belief. They entered in February 1998 with special permission, surrounded by fellow TAC alumni and friends. 

Ben went on to earn an MBA from the University of Chicago and has spent his entire career in medical technology.  He is currently group vice president for customer service and support operations at a multinational, publicly traded medical technology company. Andrea has volunteered on the pastoral council for her home parish — St. Thomas Aquinas in Madison, Wisconsin — helping shape its faith formation program according to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. In 2016, the couple entered the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, offering prayers and alms in support of the preservation of the Church in the Holy Land. They are the parents of six children, ages 26 to 8.

President of the Alumni Advisory Council

In 2021, then-president Dr. Michael McLean launched the President’s Advisory Council of TAC Alumni and, with the help of pioneer chair Peter Colarelli (’92), appointed the Council’s 11 other members, including Andrea. Chosen for their devotion and service to the College and its alumni, Andrea and her fellow alumni planned the Council’s mission, organizational structure, and operations. 

“Liberal education begins in wonder and ends in wisdom, and our TAC education is just a foundation for that beginning,” Andrea says. “Our shared formation in this intellectual and moral tradition allows for a strength of unity that is unrivaled by any other college. Our education is a gift meant to be shared and bear fruit, and our goal is to have a thriving alumni community that grows out of our shared foundation.”

With that goal in mind, Andrea and the Alumni Advisory Council have been working hard to foster connections between alumni and strengthen the greater TAC community. One of the Council’s main goals is to establish local chapters and regional events. 

“Our education is a gift meant to be shared and bear fruit, and our goal is to have a thriving alumni community that grows out of our shared foundation.”

“Local, in-person events offer an occasion for alumni from both campuses to come together and get to know each other, as well as provide an opportunity to welcome incoming students to the TAC community,” Andrea shares. “We want to make the path of engagement between alumni easier and keep those conversations going.” (She encourages interested alumni to send an email to MaryGrace (Brittain CA’23) Rea, director of alumni and parent relations.)

Currently, members of the Council have already started hosting St. Thomas Day celebrations and local student sendoff parties, where incoming freshmen and their families can get to know each other and meet other TAC families and alumni in the area. The Council is also working with the New England Admissions Office to coordinate alumni meetups and seminars with admissions visits to give prospective students a taste of the Discussion Method and an opportunity to ask questions of alumni. Eventually, the Council hopes to support and enhance career guidance for students and alumni by setting up an alumni mentorship network and hosting job fairs.

Ultimately, Andrea encourages alumni to engage their fellow TACers. “Once you find other alumni in your area, connect with them: Celebrate St. Thomas Day, go out for coffee, advise a prospective student,” she says. “That is the best way to engage and grow the greater TAC community.”