SEEK26 is a few days away. The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS)’s annual conference will kick off Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026 at the Columbus Convention Center and run through Monday, Jan. 5.
This year’s theme, “To the Heights,” is inspired by St. Pier Giorgio Frassati. “The higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ,” he said. St. Pier Giorgio is the patron of youth, students, mountaineers and Catholic Action.
SEEK26 attendees will have a variety of opportunities, including participating in concurrent, impact and keynote sessions.
Bishop Earl Fernandes (left) and his brother, Dr. Ashley Fernandes, M.D., Ph.D. (right), will be among SEEK26 speakers.
Bishop Fernandes was installed as the 13th bishop of Columbus in May 2022. The diocese’s shepherd, who holds a doctorate in moral theology from the Alphonsian Academy in Rome, will speak the opening evening of SEEK26.
His brother, Ashley, will also speak at the conference. His talk will explore the philosophy of the person, contrasting a materialist worldview with a transcendent Christian understanding. The Catholic physician will explore a Christian perspective in medicine, daily life and vocations.
Matt Fradd (left) of the “Pints with Aquinas” podcast and Sister Josephine Garrett, CSFN (right), a Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth, will be the opening keynote speakers at SEEK26, speaking from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m., Jan. 1.
Dr. Edward Sri (left), co-founder of FOCUS, and Father Chase Hilgenbrinck (right), vocation director for the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, will serve as keynote speakers the second night of the conference, speaking from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m.
Father Mike Schmitz (left) will head the third evening of SEEK26. The host of Ascension “Bible in a Year” podcast host and Sister Mary Grace, S.V. (right), of the Sisters of Life religious order, will speak from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m.
The fourth evening includes keynotes from Curtis Martin, founder of FOCUS, and Arthur Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life,” speaking from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m.
Two keynotes will be held the final day of the conference. Lisa Cotter (left), author of “Reveal the Gift: Living the Feminine Genius,” and Pete Burak (right), vice president at Renewal Ministries, dedicated to renewal and evangelization in the Church, will speak from 9 to 10:15 a.m.
The SEEK26 keynote speakers have a variety of backgrounds.
Fradd has written several books, including “Does God Exist? A Socratic Dialogue on the Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas.” He holds a degree in philosophy from Holy Apostles College & Seminary, in Cromwell, Connecticut, and was awarded an honorary doctorate.
Sister Josephine graduated from the University of Dallas with a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy. For 10 years, she was vice president of Bank of America’s Home Loans division. A convert, she entered the Church in 2005 and professed final vows as a Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth in 2020.
Sri is the host of a weekly podcast, “All Things Catholic.” He serves as FOCUS’ senior vice president of apostolic outreach and is a speaker and author of several books.
Before serving in diocesan vocations, Father Hilgenbrinck was a campus chaplain at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign’s Newman Center. A former professional soccer player, he spent four years playing in Chile and later in the United States with Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution. He was ordained a priest in 2014.
Father Schmitz serves as director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, and as chaplain at the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Newman Center. He preaches to thousands nationally and has appeared in programs for youth and young adults by Ascension Press and videos for Ascension Presents.
A native of Sydney, Australia, Sister Mary Grace professed final vows in 2023 with the Sisters of Life, a religious community founded in 1991 that follows the Augustinian rule. She has served vulnerable pregnant women and their unborn children, individuals wounded by abortion and as her order’s coordinator of the evangelization mission in the Bronx, New York, and Denver.
Martin founded FOCUS in 1998. He and his wife, Michaelann, were awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope St. John Paul II in 2004 for their service to the Church. In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Martin as a consultor to the director of the New Evangelization.
An author and professor at Harvard University, Brooks also contributes to The Atlantic, is an international speaker and former president of global think tank American Enterprise Institute.
Cotter, her husband and four children have been a FOCUS missionary family for more than 10 years. Her work has been featured by media outlets including Ascension Presents, Eternal Word Television Network and Formed.
Burak, a graduate of Franciscan University and Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, speaks on discipleship and evangelization. He is the author of “A Man on Purpose: 10 Rules of Life from a Faithful Father” and a columnist for Faith Magazine.
