College of Saint Benedict Top Questions

What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?

Emily

At the College of Saint Benedict, the stereotype is that the women here are strong, beautiful, intelligent, kind individuals. "Bennies" as we are called can often be found with a smile on their face, willing to help anyone out. The women of Saint Benedict are well informed, well rounded individuals.

Emily

At the College of Saint Benedict, the stereotype is that the women here are strong, beautiful, intelligent, kind individuals. "Bennies" as we are called can often be found with a smile on their face, willing to help anyone out. The women of Saint Benedict are well informed, well rounded individuals.

Emily

At the College of Saint Benedict, the stereotype is that the women here are strong, beautiful, intelligent, kind individuals. "Bennies" as we are called can often be found with a smile on their face, willing to help anyone out. The women of Saint Benedict are well informed, well rounded individuals.

Amanda

It is commonly joked that Bennies can always be found surrounding the ice cream machine or near the dessert line at Gorecki Dining Center.

Lauren

Upon first coming to St. Ben's and St. John's, I heard about how friendly everybody was here. This stereotype is true; people at this school are very nice and outgoing. These schools truly have a community feel.

Amber

The stereotypical bennie is someone who is slightly preppy, strives for good grades, eats a lot, then works out. The stereotypical johnnie is a gentleman who holds doors open, and spends free time working out to get their beloved six pack.

Kori

There stereotype of the students at the College of St. Benedict is that we are all snotty rich girls, but this is very wrong. I do not come from a rich family and I have to pay for my college education on my own.

Kendal

Everyone is rich white girls who have Uggs and North Face jackets.

Anders

I think that when people think of St. John's University and the type of young men that attend school there, they have a specific idea of what their character is like. St. John's is known for raising students to be genuine, insightful, well-rounded, and a fully functioning community member. I think that students do not limit themselves to simply athletics or academics, typically students reach out to on-campus clubs and activities to broaden their horizon and to discover new interests.

Emily

The stereotype of Bennies is that we are unattractive and do not care to look nice. Bennies are also overweight and kind of snobby. they all have North Face jackets, Ugg boots, and iPhones. I can't think of any stereotypes about Bennies that are positive. The only stereotypes I have ever heard about Bennies are negative and cruel and the Johnnies are the ones that bring them up.

Bridget

their are several different distinct groups here. There are a lot of granola,envoronmenally concious, camper, outdoor adventure people. There are also a lot of academically focused students (specifially in the sciences). There are a lot of bible thumping religious types. There are a fair number of smokers, but mostly recreational drinkers- and plenty of people who don't party at all. There are some prep-sters, but they are far outnumbered by hippies. Basically you can find anyone and everyone here, and everyone seems to have their place.

Lizabeth

Here at the college of St. Benedict, we are known from our rival schools to have never ending stomachs, especially in the desert line. This may be true, because we have an appreciation for life and are able to enjoy the "sweet things" that life has to offer. Our campus offers so many healthy options otherwise, such as two great workout facilities, a D3 school so participating in varsity sports is easy, and arobic, zumba and yoga classes that keep us in balance. While we "Bennies" may not hold back to the delicious food that our dining centers offer us, we are able to moderate it with a great dose of exersize of both the body and the brain

Kellie

The steriotype here at CSB is that the girls dress comfy and are lazy in a way. I don't find this true at all. I have met many amazing young women who work hard in their everyday life, classes, and friendship. CSBSJU gives students the ability to succeed and gives them the tools to help students think.

Nicole

The stereotypical Bennie is a Minnesotan girl looking to major in elementary education or nursing and looking to marry a Johnnie. However, I am not a stereotype! I am from Wisconsin, a theology and sociology major, and though it may happen in the future, am currently not dating a Johnnie. As one of my friends said, "Bennies are inherently beautiful." This is our stereotype. We are ambitious, intelligent, and beautiful women, both inside and out.

Melissa

Smart students, preppy

Samantha

There are preppy girls at every school, but I don't think St. Ben's has any more than any other college. There are a lot of students who come here on scholarships and who wouldn't be able to afford tuition with out them.

Garrett

At Saint John's University, there the athletes whom play on different sports teams and such, but for the most part I feel as if our community does not incorporate stereotypes as do other colleges.

Ashley

The "Bennie Swag" is what most people are calling it around campus and at the SJU campus as well. This sterotype is that all girls or Bennies wear four main things on a daily basis. The Ugg boot, with baggy sweatpants, your Northface jacket and a pony tail on the top of your head. There has always been this sterotype/fact. Yes, indeed there are students that will wear this attire on a regular basis. But not all girls do it. If you don't like it don't participate, I mean it is Minnesota though..so wearing a jacket and boots might come in handy during the winters.

Tish

Here at CSB we are Bennies and we have a lot of stereotypes. The typical 'Bennie' walks around wearing yoga pants, northfaces, and uggs with a coffee mug in one hand and an ice cream cone from Gorecki in the other. I would say this is fairly accurate for a majority of the Bennies at CSB, but I dont think this is a negative in any way. We focus more on school and less on what we look like everyday. Bennies like to be comfortable and warm, is that so wrong? What do you expect when living in the icebox we call Minnesota?

Elizabeth

I think that the stereotype of this school is that it is upper class white kids. While this is certainly true, there are a lot of students who are international and from diverse backgrounds who help create a unique student body on campus. The other stereotype is that we are all very friendly and involved, which we are. I don't think you will find a student on campus who is involved in more or two groups or organizations on campus, or who participates in a sport or music group on campus. And because of the small size of our campus, you become friends with everyone and you get to know them really well and you get to where you can't walk around campus without seeing someone you know from a class or a club.

Amanda

A common stereotype is that we are all rich catholic kids. Not true!

Colleen

The stereo type that students are all very nice and passionate about CSBSJU is somewhat accurate, however not every student is outgoing and expresses pride in the school. The stereo type that most students come to CSBSJU because a family member did is also somewhat true because it is known for being a legacy school, however, most of my friends did not know any CSBSJU alumnie before coming to school here.

Autumn

Bennies (the women at Saint Benedict) are known to "do it all". Double major, pre-med, honor's students, study abroad, and while we're at it, let's finish a semester early. They are driven women who truly want to get the most out of their experience at college. Johnnies (the men at Saint John's) are known to be extremely polite; always giving up seats on the bus or holding doors open for their Bennie student counterparts. They are also known to be very friendly, a little "jocky", but also very cultural and accepting of everyone.

Ali

A stereotypical Bennie is a white, Catholic girl who comes from a wealthier family. This is somewhat true but there is actually a significant amount of diversity at St. Bens. Bennies are portrayed as walking around in sweatpants tucked into their uggs with their northface jackets on, not caring at all about what they look like.

Amy

Actually--I'm a student whose family is middle-income. Not everyone here has a lot of money. This school has a lot of diversity!

Stephanie

I think one of the biggest stereotypes of CSB/SJU is that we are all goody two shoes country kids. St. Joe is a small, close knit, country town. St John's is even more secluded with farms and the massive arboretum surrounding it, though it's just off I-94. Not to worry though, St. Cloud is about 15 minutes away from CSB and 20-25 from SJU depending on the lights. Our schools may be in the middle of nowhere, but we still know how to have fun.

Kaycee

Dedicated college students. White middle class students. For the most part, this stereotype is accurate.

Katherine

I think we do have a stereotype from other students who don't attend either CSB or SJU that we're a mostly caucasian upper-middle class school. From people who are here at school I think we have a stereotype, especially for Bennies, about always wearing yoga pants, UGGs, and not really caring about what we look like when we go to class. Sure, we might be college kids who dread going to class but I think the overall message is that we're okay with being who we are. Everyone is so comfortable being with people here, even if we don't know them. Also, I think we do have a lot more diversity then people give us credit for. We are primarily Caucasian but we do have a significant number of people who are from other states outside of the midwest and from other countries. If you come here and still think we're very stereotypical, you need to stop and talk to people around campus! You'll find we're more than what we look like!

Lindsey

The stereotype is that CSB students eat alot. This is completely false. Bennies are healthy, in shape and very athletic.

Brianna

There are definite stereotypes within both campus'. I am happy to say most of the stereotypes I can think of off hand hold positive connotations. Johnnie and Bennie nice, or the stereotype of the "typical" Johnnie who is chivalrous, who will hold the door open for you and offer you their seat on the bus. Almost amongst the St. Ben's student there is a definite unspoken stereotype of bennie code, or bennies amongst bennies and how they treat and respect one another.

Jenna

but its not!!! We are so closely related to Saint John's and our campuses are so close together that it functions as one college. However, we have the opportunity to explore the gifts of each gender specifically at each college along with having two of everything-two libraries, two churches, two atheltic facilities... Its the best of both worlds!!!!!

Anna

We have many good and bad stereotypes. To start, we are known as hard-working and caring young women. We unfortunately also have the stereotype of being unattractive and unhealthy. I have not found this to be true. We are all active and beautiful Bennies!

Xai

No, the stereotypes are not true at all. Students at CSB/SJU are intelligent and creative individuals that embrace Benedictine values and traditions. We represent a whole spectrum of diversity from our dempgraphics to our involvement on campus! We are a bunch of fun and passionate individuals who desire to become and influence change in the world! That is what we are at CSB/SJU!

Maggie

There is a stereotype about Bennies in particular regarding activity level and food consumption. Many people believe that all Bennies are fat and ugly, neither of which are true. We value natural beauty here at CSB/SJU and don't feel the need to look perfect all the time or to please anyone. With that said, most women on campus lead healthy lifestyles that include exercise and healthy eating habits. I hate this stereotype, especially because of it's inaccuracy. A stereotype for the Johnnies is that they're all chivalrous to women. This is true--men frequently hold doors for women and treat them right. With that said, Bennies hold doors open just as often. Everyone on campus is extremely respectful of one another and friendly as well.

Stephanie

Yes, as a bennie I've heard it a million times before, our reputation is that we are a bunch on unattractive and inactive girls that would rather sit around and eat ice cream than anything else. Well, I gotta say that I'm a senior and I can definitely say that this is NOT accurate. Well, except for the fact that ice cream is pretty popular here, but in reality, bennies are some of the most active, passionate, genuine, motivated, and NATURALLY beautiful girls out there. Also, the stereotype that we are all white, catholic and rich, not true. Only about 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of are students are catholic, we have over 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} diverse students on campus and nearly EVERYONE is on some kind of scholarship.

Ivette

One stereotype that i know about my school is that all Johnnies are gentlemen and that they hold door for Bennies and that they give up their seats on the bus. I would say it's true, but it's not only Johnnies that do this, Bennies do it too. Everyone here holds door for everyone behind them.

Ivette

A stereotype that comes with bennies is that we are sloppy girls who wear yoga pants all the time, a fleece jacket, ugg boots, and messy bun hairdo. There are even youtube videos on how to dress like a bennie. Bennies are also stereotyped to be fat because we have unlimited meals. The stereotype is not accurate, most of the bennies i know always dress up and there aren't many overweight bennies because even if we do have unlimited meals, we have healthy options in our dinning halls and great work our facilities. The stereotype with johnnies, males, is that they are all gentlemen; i know a lot of guys who are, but there are some that aren't; this does not mean they are jerks, they are just normal non-gentlemen like guys.

Chelsea

The stereotype of students at CSB/SJU are intelligent, curious, kind, and driven.

Madolynn

That all Bennie's can be found in front of the ice cream machines, and all Bennie's only come to CSB/SJU to get their MRS degree.

Kelsey

Bennies and fat. We only come to St. Ben's to marry Johnnies. This stereotype is inaccurate. We are women who work for what we want and are here to get the best education. We are also comfortable with our images and know what we need to do in order to feel good about ourselves.

Riley

I think the word stereotype is a tricky one because it implies a negetive response, but a stereotype does not have to be a bad thing. Many people think a typically Bennie is from the Twin Cities (although dont most colleges/universities in Minnesota have a large population of students from the Twin Cities?), she is wealthy, and she doesn't care about her education as much as she does about finding a husband. I have to say I do not agree with this or personally know one single Bennie who fits this stereotype exactly, or even closely. I think a more accurate generalization of Bennies is that they are empowered, intelligent, ambitious and extremly kind women who work, learn and grow in conjunction with our Johnnie cohorts.

Alexandra

I don't think there is a general bennie or johnnie stereotype. There are people that hang out together that could be classified by stereotypes like jocks and geeks. But I think that they just hang out together because they have so many similarities. I would never and have never heard anyone classify a group of friends as the stoners or the geeks.