Meg Connolly (A&S ‘90, GRAD ‘92) is a two-time Saint Louis University graduate who has been a member of the alumni and development teams for over 30 years. Her favorite Billiken memories include SLU’s 200th celebration under the Gateway Arch, men’s basketball and women’s soccer NCAA tournament pregames, and getting married in the St. Francis Xavier College Church. Connolly is fortunate to have engaged with so many wonderful graduates and friends of the University from across the country — alumni who literally change the world in ways only Billikens can. She is thrilled to share more SLU conversations and stories through the 1818 podcast.

Tony Minor (A&S ‘03) is a longtime leader in alumni and donor engagement at Saint Louis University, where he currently serves as an assistant vice president. During his 20-plus years in higher ed advancement, he’s led teams across alumni engagement, annual giving, stewardship, marketing and events — all with the goal of building stronger connections between SLU and its community of graduates and supporters. Minor got his start in the Office of the President and has grown his career entirely at SLU. He’s a proud Billiken, holding degrees in English and communications, and is passionate about ensuring SLU’s alumni feel connected.

Over the last two decades, Brooks Goedeker has a proven track record of working alongside St. Louis’ institutions, its business community, and its residents to turn innovative community and economic development concepts into reality. In that time, he has helped to guide over $4 Billion in construction activity in the City of St. Louis and has worked with thousands of residents to identify their community’s needs and build programs and initiatives to address them. Brooks has a Psychology and Sociology degree from Knox College, a master’s degree in Social Work from Saint Louis University and a master’s degree in Non-Profit Management from Washington University. Brooks has taught courses in leadership, community development and nonprofit management as an adjunct professor at Saint Louis University. As Saint Louis University’s Executive Director of Community and Economic Development, Brooks works to attract investment around the university’s campuses, ensures that the area is safe and attractive for students and visitors, and supports the existing residential and business communities. In the last decade, Brooks has assisted in the growth of Midtown St. Louis, which includes the $350 million City Foundry development, the new Armory district, a mixed-use Target store, the Element by Westin Hotel, a new Topgolf, over 1,000 new apartment units, dozens of new homes and condos, and the new St. Louis University Hospital and Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Prior to arriving at Saint Louis University, Brooks served as the Executive Director of Park Central Development, a nonprofit organization that promotes economic growth in the city’s central corridor, including the Grove and Central West End neighborhoods. In that role, he guided over 50 percent of all construction activity in the City of St. Louis between the years 2013-2017. Brooks has also served as the Community Development Manager for Washington University Medical Center where he directed community initiatives related to social and human services, economic development, safety and security, and was the project manager of the entry-marker Grove signs. Beyond St. Louis, Goedeker has worked in communities across the country, including Philadelphia, Cleveland, Memphis and Minneapolis. Brooks and his wife Erin raise 3 children in the Holly Hills neighborhood in south St. Louis. In 2022, Brooks Goedeker created the Holly Hills Special Taxing District, which he continues to chair today.

Fr. David Suwalsky, SJ is the Vice President for Mission and Identity at Saint Louis University and serves as the Chief Mission Officer of Saint Louis University. He provides executive-level leadership for fostering and promoting SLU's Catholic, Jesuit Identity. He works to ensure that the mission and core values – as well as the principles and traditions of Catholic, Jesuit higher education – are fully integrated into the university. Fr. Suwalsky holds graduate degrees in history, divinity and theology from Saint Louis University, Boston College and Harvard University. He also earned a doctorate in American Studies from Saint Louis University. His research interests include the American religious experience; antebellum U.S. history; slaveholding and racial segregation in the United States.

David P. Miros, Ph.D., serves as the Director of the Jesuit Archives & Research Center (JARC) in St. Louis, Missouri (USA). JARC houses the collective memory of seventeen current and past administrative provinces of the Society of Jesus in the United States. It also houses the records of the governing body of the Society of Jesus in the United States. David has been in this role since 2006. David Miros received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Classical Humanities from Saint Louis University in 1997 and a doctorate in Historical Theology from Saint Louis University in 2005. His area of concentration is the nineteenth-century historical and theological enterprise of the Society of Jesus in the United States. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in United States Catholic History, Ignatian Spirituality, and Jesuit History.

Dr. Janet Oberle has climbed through the administrative ranks in the Saint Louis University department of athletics since arriving on campus as a member of the Billikens' inaugural women's soccer team in 1996. As deputy director of athletics and senior woman administrator, Oberle's responsibilities include departmental operational oversight when the director of athletics is away from the office on University business. Additionally, she oversees areas related to student-athlete welfare – academics, compliance, sports medicine and sports performance – and is the sport supervisor for men's and women's soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, men's and women's cross country, and men's and women's track and field. In addition, Oberle serves as the department's liaison to multiple campus areas and as a Title IX deputy. In 2019, Oberle was one of 22 senior athletics administrators invited to participate in the prestigious NCAA Pathway Program. The yearlong program’s goal is to prepare these individuals to excel as directors of athletics or conference commissioners. In addition to her SLU responsibilities, Oberle served a successful stint as chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Committee during the 2014-15 season. That appointment followed a multi-year stretch as a member of the committee. Oberle joined the SLU staff in 1997 as the women's soccer graduate assistant and became the program's first full-time assistant coach in 1998. She helped the Billikens capture the 1999 Conference USA regular-season title. In 2003, Oberle joined Saint Louis' administrative staff as director of compliance and was named assistant director of athletics for compliance and student services in 2006. In 2011, she was named associate director of athletics for sports programs and compliance. She was elevated to her current role in the summer of 2014. A St. Louis native, Oberle earned a Ph.D from Saint Louis University in 2019, a master's degree from SLU in 1999 and a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in 1996. Oberle serves as president of the Special Needs Soccer Association (SPENSA), a St. Louis-based not-for-profit soccer program for young people with disabilities.

Jody Sowell, Ph.D. has served as the seventh president of the Missouri Historical Society since July 2022, the first to hold the role in the institution’s 160-year history after two decades of service within the organization. During his 20 years at the Missouri Historical Society, Dr. Sowell has held several leadership positions, most recently as Managing Director of Public History, where he led the education, programming, publications, communications, evaluation, public history, and exhibitions teams. He also writes and hosts the STL History Minute series, launched in 2021. These weekly 60-second segments air on KMOV’s CBS Sunday Morning and bring St. Louis history beyond the walls of the Missouri History Museum, helping connect the public with the city’s past. The series receives more than three million views each year on KMOV, with additional audiences reached through the Missouri Historical Society’s social media channels. Dr. Sowell has also played a key role in shaping some of the museum’s most successful exhibitions, spearheading eight of the ten most visited exhibits in the organization’s history, including 250 in 250, #1 in Civil Rights, and A Walk in 1875 St. Louis. Although he wasn’t born in St. Louis, Dr. Sowell often says he “got there as fast as he could.” He moved to the city in 2003 with his family to pursue a doctorate in American Studies at Saint Louis University. The family initially expected to leave after he completed his degree, but instead fell in love with the city and made it their home. Dr. Sowell holds a doctorate from Saint Louis University, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri–Columbia, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Methodist University. He continues to teach occasional classes at Saint Louis University.

Jordair Jett is the founder of Players First, an organization in Saint Paul, Minn., that hosts basketball training opportunities and camps. A former basketball guard for the Saint Louis University men’s basketball team, he played in 134 games and scored 1,239 points over his four-year career with the Billikens. Jett was named Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball Player of the Year in 2014, the same year he graduated from SLU’s College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in communication. He is ranked 18th all-time in scoring at SLU and was voted to the A-10 All-Defensive team, first-team All-Conference and NABC first-team All-District selection. During his senior year, the Billikens were A-10 regular season champions and reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament. He was among 16 players named to the Saint Louis Billikens' All-Century Team in 2015. After SLU, Jett played professional basketball in Australia and New Zealand from 2015 to 2019. Since then, Jett has committed himself to coaching, mentorship and education.

Laura Geiser (A&S ’90, Grad A&S ’92) is the assistant vice president for brand management at Saint Louis University. A member of the Division of Marketing and Communications staff since 1993, she oversees SLU’s web, digital content and graphic design teams. She is also the editor of Universitas, SLU's alumni magazine. Geiser has received several awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and, in 2012, was named a Saint Louis University Woman of the Year. She served on the Jesuit Advancement Administrators executive committee for several years and chaired the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Marcom Summit in 2024. A native St. Louisan, she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Saint Louis University.

Megan Favignano-Mansouri is the digital content specialist for Saint Louis University's development communications team. Her passion is storytelling and uplifting the voices of the community. Megan is an award-winning storyteller with a decade of experience working in journalism, public relations, and marketing. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with certificates in Environmental Journalism and Leadership from Webster University. In her free time, Megan enjoys watercolor, family game nights, walks with her two dogs and exploring St. Louis with her husband.

Peg Weathers is a community-focused leader who has spent her career strengthening organizations and building partnerships across St. Louis. She currently serves as President & CEO of Grand Center, Inc., where she’s led the organization to its most successful year in more than a decade and is helping guide the next chapter of the Grand Center Arts District. Peg has previously led the Kirkwood–Des Peres Chamber, expanded community initiatives at Saint Louis University, and held senior appointments in the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Energy. Known for her collaborative style and ability to bring people together, she’s dedicated to creating connections that move communities forward.

Roc O’Connor, SJ has served at the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House in Barrington, Illinois, leading and staffing weekend retreats for women and men since fall, 2021. Besides composing liturgical music as a founding member of the St. Louis Jesuits (since 1974), he has served in parishes across the country following ordination 46 years ago and taught sacramental and liturgical theology at Creighton University for 13 years. Roc has written two books, In the Midst of Our Storms (2015) and I Want to See (2017) and is currently working on a liturgical spirituality tentatively titled, Mass Divisions: Inner Landscapes of Wounded Worshipers. Fun fact: Roc conducts the children’s choir at St. Mary Catholic Community, Buffalo Grove, for the weekly grade school Mass.