Support The Daily Orange this holiday season! The money raised between now and the end of the year will go directly toward aiding our students. Donate today.

Student leaders at Hendricks Chapel were having their monthly staff meeting when Dean Rev. Brian Konkol popped in wearing one of his signature bow ties.

It’s one of many unique features Anna Dyjach, a technology lead at Hendricks and a Syracuse University sophomore, noticed about the Lutheran minister as she listened to one of his famous stories full of metaphors and personal anecdotes.

“He has this great ability to capture his audience. He makes eye contact with everyone in the room, regardless if it’s a huge lecture hall or just a small group of 10 people,” Dyjach said. “He makes sure that everyone is heard and that everyone feels welcome.”

For the past eight years, Hendricks staff and faculty recount the dean as someone who fostered a space for interfaith practice, engaging discourse and kindness. Now, Konkol is set to leave the university to begin his new role as president of Valparaiso University, a private Lutheran college in Indiana.

In 2017, Amir Durić, SU’s new Muslim Chaplain, heard his laptop let off a familiar ding. He checked his inbox to see a welcome message from Hendricks Chapel Dean Brian Konkol, who had started his role only two weeks prior. As Durić prepared to embark on his first role in higher education as Hendricks’ Muslim chaplain, he said Konkol became a source of “invaluable” guidance for him.

“I felt empowered. I felt welcomed even before I met him,” Durić said. “Getting that lovely email that communicates you’re welcome here and I’m here to support you is really something that helped me be more certain about my decision.”

Durić said now, he sees Konkol not only as a colleague, but also as a mentor and “good friend,” and hopes to attend his installment at Valparaiso University.

Starting his role in August 2017, Konkol has used his tenure to make Hendricks an interfaith space open to all people of different religious and spiritual backgrounds, Durić said.

Konkol focused on promoting interfaith worship, supervising 16 chaplains and more than 25 religious groups and all Hendricks programming, Durić said.

“I enjoyed the large-scale programs and services, and I also loved the small group conversations and connections, as it all included remarkable people seeking to build a home for all faiths and a place for all people,” Konkol said in a statement to The Daily Orange.

During his leadership, Konkol made a priority of increasing student involvement in spiritual life and interfaith worship. He has overseen a 150% increase in student engagement at Hendricks over the past eight years, according to SU’s website.

He’s created traditions such as Interfaith Peace Week, with nightly faith-led vigils, and Interfaith Exploration Week, which features panels on negotiating conflicts between people of different beliefs.

Konkol also led numerous other vigils, including an interfaith vigil to promote religious solidarity during the Israel-Hamas war.

Devon Bartholomew, a nondenominational Christian chaplain at Hendricks, said that projects Konkol oversaw – including Interfaith Exploration Week – have allowed the chapel to create broader university events that meet people in their faith.

“Brian has given a lot of great vision for what our long-standing mission statement has been about being the spiritual heart of campus, and talking about how we can extend ourselves across campus and not just be siloed in our one building,” Bartholomew said.

Part of Konkol’s vision for Hendricks was the “roots, reach, results” framework, which focuses on first turning inward to find one’s values, growing those values and then making real-world impact, Durić said.

He added the SU community expressed more interest in Hendricks programming because Konkol had the ability to connect with people through captivating storytelling in new spaces.

“Part of his vision was ‘How can we expand what we do at the chapel in other areas of campus life and then also community?’” Durić said. “We collaborated with other partners and colleagues across campus and beyond, which made what we do more known and also contributed to that success over time.”

Ashley Stevenson, an SU senior and student communications lead at Hendricks, describes Konkol as a “thought leader” who has shaped her experience working at Hendricks for the past three years.

Stevenson worked closely with Konkol to plan the chapel’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, the largest university-sponsored event in the nation to honor King’s legacy, according to the Hendricks website.

“He’s been super collaborative and inspiring,” Stevenson said. “He also leads with respect and leaves space for creativity and growth in my student leadership.”

Stevenson said one thing she’ll remember about Konkol’s leadership is that he was able to connect people in impactful ways through Hendricks programming.

Avery Magee| Assistant Photo Editor

Dean Konkol attends Hendricks Chapel’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in January.

“I’m just grateful for the time that we’ve had with Dean Konkol. His leadership has been all that I’ve known and it’s really shaped my Hendricks Chapel experience,” Stevenson said. “But, I know that this role that he’s transitioning to is going to be great. He deserves it.”

In addition to Konkol’s work at Hendricks, he also worked as a professor of practice at SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, building relationships with students and faculty through course topics ranging from religion and conflict to collaboration.

“I will miss the student questions, creativity, humor, and hope, and most of all, I will miss the relationships, as the students here are truly special and will always sit at the center of my heart,” Konkol wrote in his statement.

Sarah Hamersma, an advisor for the Christian Staff and Faculty Association, said she collaborated with Konkol to establish CSFA. While CSFA began as just informal meetings for faculty members to connect over their faith, Konkol helped transform the organization into an official campus affinity group.

Now, CSFA hosts monthly book discussions, weekly prayer meetings and semesterly breakfasts. Hamersma said Konkol regularly attended these events, often leading the group in prayer.

“He was supportive of (CSFA) and had our back,” Hamersma said. “As a religious group on a non-religious campus, it can always be a little bit concerning as to whether we’re sort of going to be judged in some way for practicing our religion, and his leadership at Hendricks has really done amazing things for making the campus friendly towards people of faiths.”

But his tenure hasn’t come without challenges. Konkol responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by hosting religious services, both virtual and some in-person with social distancing, in the fall of 2020.

“Because of his leadership, and also a team of outstanding people here at the chapel, we were able to adapt very quickly,” Durić said. “He was able to work closely with campus partners to learn best practices and also to get all needed support to keep the chapel open while following guidelines.”

Next semester, Hendricks will welcome the inaugural cohort for the Global Interfaith Leadership Project.

Eli Schwartz | Staff Photographer

Dean Konkol adapted Hendricks Chapel program to comply with safety guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Next semester, Hendricks will welcome the inaugural cohort for the Global Interfaith Leadership Project. Durić said he created the project alongside Konkol to bring campus leaders together to engage in community service and interfaith projects.

After Konkol announced his leave, Durić said Hendricks staff began planning for an interim dean and started hosting meetings to get ready for the chapel’s change in leadership. Bartholomew and other Hendricks faculty feel optimistic about the future of Hendricks. A lot of the energy in Hendricks right now is celebratory, Bartholomew said.

“At this moment, we’re especially grateful for the collaborative nature that Brian put forward,” Bartholomew said. “(His departure) is a reminder to our campus community that yes, it is a great loss to lose a friend and a leader like Dean Konkol, but there’s still a lot happening at Hendricks.”

Although saddened by the news of Konkol’s departure, Durić said the announcement didn’t come as a surprise.

“I knew that it was his dream to serve in such a role and in a way we all knew it was coming, but we never knew when and I don’t think nobody anticipated it being this academic year and it being this soon,” Durić said.

As Hendricks looks forward to its next chapter, other staff members echoed Durić’s sentiment, excited to continue Konkol’s interfaith-focused foundation.

Hamersma — for instance — is confident CSFA and Hendricks will continue to grow beyond Konkol’s time.

“His sort of foundational support has allowed us to have some freedom to lead our own organization internally. He isn’t leaving us in the lurch,” Hamersma said. “We’re not without help, because we’ve been able to grow under his leadership.”

Konkol will begin his role as president at Valparaiso University on Jan. 1. An interim dean hasn’t been announced as of Thursday.

“I am honored to have served alongside such a remarkable group of chaplains, faculty, staff, alumni, advisors, and friends throughout the Syracuse University campus community,” Konkol said in his statement. “A large part of my heart will be forever Orange, and I am convinced the future will be bright and beautiful.”

Published on December 11, 2025 at 12:40 am