Meet the Speaker: Eric Styles

Eric T. Styles, since 2016, has served as the Rector of Carroll Hall, an intentional undergraduate residential community at the University of Notre Dame. A Chicago native, he holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati and Loyola University Chicago. Eric worked as a Parish Liturgy Coordinator at Saint Benedict the African Catholic Church in Chicago and as a House Manager for the Theatre School of DePaul University. He discerned religious life for seven years with the Society of Jesus, during which time he prayed the thirty day retreat designed by St. Ignatius Loyola and received formal training in spiritual direction. He later left the Jesuits and eventually found his way to Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, where he worked as a Campus Minister for Liturgy and Faith Formation. Now at Notre Dame, he continues to assist as a retreat leader and an occasional spiritual director. Eric remains active in the performing arts as a collaborator with Afro House, a Baltimore based music driven performance art ensemble. Eric writes about theology, liturgy, and contemporary culture for publications like America, Church Life Journal, and U.S. Catholic. He is deeply interested in the intersections of ritual, performing arts, communal identity, and the interior life. Eric is the co-host of Meet Father Rivers, a podcast about the extraordinary liturgical and musical contributions of Father Clarence-Rufus Joseph Rivers.