Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Project, in June 2016 undergraduate student Sarah Jannarone interviewed Jakub Murko, an undergraduate student at the University of Maribor. In this interview, he discusses living at Jesuit College Magis as a male resident and his involvement in the Catholic student community, as well as the impact of Slovenia's communist history on contemporary society.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

I am from a little village near Ptuj. I am from a family with seven kids—I really love it. I’m the third oldest. It’s pretty nice. We have a farm at home, a little organic farm. There’s a lot of work to be done on the fields. I go back home every weekend and usually help on the field. I like it; it’s not stressful. My family is quite religious. The whole family goes to church on Sunday, and everyone is active in the parish and in Catholic organizations, like Scouts. Everyone in the family is a Catholic Scout, except my youngest sibling.

How did you hear about Magis?

Last year was my first year as a student here at the University of Maribor, and I lived in a public student dorm. I was a member of the Catholic student group called Sinaj. I sung on the choir and was really involved in the group. Last May the rector of Magis, Father Peter [Rožič], came to announce that they were building a dorm. I knew the people that would be living there and knew that they were nice people.

How is Magis different from staying in the state dorm where you were?

Well, last year was my first year, and so it was quite strange for me to live away from home for the first time. I didn’t know anyone in the dorm where I was, and I didn’t make friends there. I was friends with my peers from my classes. I just woke up in the morning, went to school, and came back late just to eat something and go to sleep. I didn’t feel like it was my home.

In the second part of the year I didn’t have as many lectures, so I started to talk more with the others there. The conversation there wasn’t really great. Here we know each other better and can talk about personal things, like how we feel and how our days were; nobody really cared about that at the state dorm. There was also a lot of alcohol there, but that’s average student life. I tried that lifestyle, but I didn’t like it so much. I feel more at home here.

What is the mission of Magis?

To help students to find their potential, find good friends, and to live in a good atmosphere.

How does Magis accomplish that?

Mostly by creating community. Father Peter really tries to make a community, and I think that’s quite good. That’s the most important thing here I think, feeling accepted.

How does Magis create this community?

With the common events that we have. In the beginning of the year we watched a lot of movies and cooked a lot together and also talked a lot. The females in Magis drink a lot of coffee and talk together.

What is the experience of being one of two guys here?

That’s difficult...it’s not easy. I wish there were more guys because it can be hard to live with that amount of girls. They are different. and sometimes I really don't understand the way they behave. The girls are more grouped together here; they are really good friends. I have a theory that if there is a group of girls, they behave completely different together than just one girl alone. That is sometimes hard to live with. I don’t feel excluded, but sometimes I don’t feel good because they have their inside jokes, and they do a lot of things together. I wish I had close friends in Magis, too. I have my roommate Toby, but we are just two. The girls just want to talk with the other girls sometimes.

Why didn’t you choose to live at the Franciscan all-male student dorm?

I think it isn’t good to have just one gender in the community. The situation here isn’t as bad, as I said, but sometimes I don’t feel good about it. It is beneficial to my development; the girls are different, and I’ve learned from them.

How have you personally developed by being at Magis?

I became more accepting of people, I think. I also started cooking. My faith also developed here because of our Masses on Mondays and the long talks we have together as students.

How are organizations like Magis and Sinaj important for students in particular?

I think organizations help students develop certain skills that you can’t develop in school. They also provide a community where you can share your faith, which you can’t do anywhere else. In Slovenia, if you mention that you’re Catholic people make jokes.

Why is that the situation in Slovenia?

I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, but that’s part of our history. The average Slovenian thinks that the Catholic Church is corrupt. If you say that you’re a Christian, people wonder why.

A lot of people don’t know much about faith, though they know about some Church traditions because Slovenia is a very traditional country. You have to try hard to explain why you’re religious. People think it’s just some old-fashioned thing that nobody needs, and they just make jokes about it. At school I am good friends with my peers, but they always make jokes about the Catholic Church. I don’t care because they aren’t mean. It’s funny for them.

How does the communist past affect the present for Catholicism?

Public opinion changed during the time of communism to the thinking that Catholics are bad, and I think it’s the same nowadays. There were also some good effects of communism on the Christians. Since they had to risk their lives for their religion they really valued their faith.

I don’t like what’s happening today. There is a lot of political tension between the former communist party and the former Domobranci [anti-communist home guard], which was the Catholic army during World War II that lost against the communists. After the war there were mass murders of the Domobranci by the communists. Since the communists won, no one knew that about the murders. Even now, one side says nothing happened and that the Catholics were bad and collaborated with the Nazis, and the other side says that thousands of people were killed. They are abusing our history for political achievement.

If you could change one thing about Magis what would you change?

I would change the proportion of male and females.

Why are there more girls than boys?

Maybe girls are more faithful or need community more than boys. I’m not really sure what the answer is. In Sinaj there are also more girls.

What attracts people to Magis?

The good relationships between us. The material things aren’t the main reasons to come. It’s more about our relationships and the religious atmosphere.