“‘Tail’ of a Johnnie Rat”
With great weather for a football game, students watch the Johnnies' offense.
A Johnnie Rat arrives in Collegeville,
and first he’s welcomed home—
not as scurrying pest or dirty thief,
a treasured guest, never alone.
Soon you’ll find him in the Refectory,
holding warm crumbs of campus bread,
but his hunger is not satisfied—
he seeks a feast for the mind instead.
He burrows into books instead of walls;
a scholar, he becomes.
Gnawing at deliciously difficult questions—
he laughs, “Why did I spend time with crumbs?”
With prayer and work he finds his fill,
in the values fed by monks.
An ancient tradition gifted him,
teaching truth through semester months.
Soon enough, it’s graduation day,
but he knows it’s not goodbye—
each year we see him on an autumn field,
donning red and blue with alumni pride.
The “Rat Pack” cheers the name:
JOHNNIES!
chanted together as ONE.
Old and young stand side by side,
kindred spirits, never undone.
He is never a pest— a brother;
never a thief— a friend.
A Johnnie is like no other,
a found community ‘til the end.
Note: this poem was created with the help of Mark Thiel, SJU ‘77, who “had a lot of things to share about the early days of the Johnnie Rat.”
