Donations from St. Louis Businesses, Individuals Enhance Education for Hundreds of Students
 

ST. LOUIS – “Education is the key that unlocks everything.”

Fr. Thomas Sserwadda, a doctoral student studying higher education administration in the School of Education at Saint Louis University, believes in the power of education to transform lives. That belief comes from personal experience, first as a student at the Bukalasa Minor Seminary in Masaka Diocese, Uganda, and then as a graduate student at SLU.

Fr. Sserwadda wants to share his love of learning with students currently attending Bukalasa, located in the Masaka Diocese in central-south Uganda. To improve music education in the school, Fr. Sserwadda, along with assistance from Jackson Pianos, shipped 20 pianos to Uganda in February. The pianos arrived in Uganda in June.

As a teenager, Sserwadda was supported by his family while he attended the seminary. Bukalasa is the oldest seminary in Africa, as well as the oldest school of education. He said it was there that he began to see the ways in which music and vocation would weave together in his life.

“My vocation comes from music,” he said. “Music called me to the charm of the liturgy and to the seminary. I felt closer to God through song and melody.”

Fr. Sserwadda said he thinks every expression of true beauty through the arts can be an encounter with God.

“Music and the performing arts move minds and hearts,” he said. “They are expressions of truth, goodness and beauty through music and the ways in which we encounter God. You can create a visionary life through the arts.”

Sharing a Love of Music

Fr. Sserwadda reached out to Joe Jackson, the owner of Jackson Pianos, in 2024 after learning about Jackson Pianos’ community involvement helping people of St. Louis experience the profound power of the piano, and how it can be used as a portal to help elevate communities. Fr. Sserwadda was thrilled with this idea and dreamed of shipping pianos back home. Jackson jumped in, helping to donate all the pianos and fixing them up.

“Shipping a 40-foot container is a huge undertaking,” Fr. Sserwadda said.

Fr. Sserwadda, Jackson and generous donors raised $25,000 for the shipping costs. The Missouri Alliance for Arts Education, Kansas City UNESCO City of Music, Hungry for Music, Sacred Heart Parish in Florissant and SLU’s School of Education chipped in.

“The Archdiocese of St. Louis has been wonderful. The people of Sacred Heart parish really mobilized to help make sure we had well-being items to go with these pianos,” he said. “We added clothing, medical equipment, sporting equipment, shoes, educational supplies and books of music.”

Fr. Sserwadda lives at Sacred Heart Church in Florissant and serves as priest in residence. Nineteen members of the parish went to Uganda with Sserwadda in June to help ‘unbox’ the container when it arrived.

Fr. Sserwadda said the students at Bukalasa Seminary will cherish the instruments for many years to come. He sees them as a vital part of his ambitions for the more than 500 students between the ages of 11 and 18.

“We are working to form the whole person,” he said.

The students at Bukalasa will be priests, teachers, social workers and spiritual leaders.

“I want to build up the educational center on the campus, so there is theatre, music classrooms, and technology online,” Sserwadda said. “I want them to flourish in this place, build faith in themselves and go out to share that with the world.”

Bukalasa Seminary is currently constructing a new center for the arts and a 950-seat auditorium to will provide lasting spaces for education, performance, and community engagement.

“There is joy and excitement in the gift of music.”

Arts Education

Fr. Sserwadda’s doctoral research interest is on leveraging the transformational power of performing arts in education. Under the guidance of Jonathan Turk, Ph.D., an assistant professor of higher education, Sserwadda's research examines the therapeutic and developmental dimensions of music in the melody of well-being.

“With Dr. Takako Nomi’s mentorship, I developed a research proposal grounded in Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural learning framework, examining how musical engagement can strengthen identity, resilience, and intrinsic motivation in first-year students.”

He touts the leadership of Molly Schaller, Ph.D., associate dean and professor in the School of Education, for her help guiding his thesis and Grant Kaplan, Ph.D., and Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, Ph.D., in theological studies, for their guidance while he completed his master’s degree.

“SLU has all of these ways of supporting students on campus,” he said. “Having opportunities for engagement with social justice advocacy and self-discovery has been integral to the formation of my educational success.”

One of the emotional outlets Fr. Sserwadda has appreciated during his time at SLU is access to the fine arts. The SLU Department of Music, led by Aaron Johnson, Ph.D., and directed by David Kowalcyzk, gives Sserwadda an opportunity to improve his musicianship through collaboration with the University Master Singers.

“I was able to share African rhythms and stylistic traditions with the ensemble—an intercultural exchange that not only expanded their repertoire but also demonstrated music’s ability to bridge cultures and promote global solidarity.”

Finding outlets for joy and artistic expression is just one of the things Fr. Sserwadda hopes to impart to students at Bukalasa.

“Music can connect people and enrich their spiritual life,” he said. “I hope that with the gift of these instruments our students see that people are thinking about them and their vocations as they pursue their education.”

At Bukalasa, the academic insights Fr. Sserwadda studies became practice. Music is not an extracurricular pastime—it is a tool for cognitive expansion, emotional healing, and leadership formation. 

About Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic research institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 15,300 students a rigorous, transformative education that challenges and prepares them to make the world a better place. As a nationally recognized leader in research and innovation, SLU is an R1 research university, advancing groundbreaking, life-changing discoveries that promote the greater good.