Soft, warm candlelight illuminated the tall wooden beams of the University of Maryland’s Catholic Student Center. It flickered across worn leather chairs and shelves filled with colorful “Catholic Terps” cups going back years and years ago. For six decades, Catholic students have made 4141 Guilford Drive in College Park their home away from home, a place where conversation and laughter ring alongside church bells, and where the scent of fresh coffee mixes with incense.
On Oct. 31, students, alumni and community members ditched Halloween trick-or-treating to gather at the Catholic Student Center to celebrate 60 years and new beginnings. After years of planning, fundraising and building, the new Newman Room, named for St. John Henry Newman, stood ready as the latest addition to its campus home.
Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy served as the main celebrant for a Mass at the Catholic Student Center before blessing the renovations. He was joined at the Mass by local priests who had attended or served at the University of Maryland and by seminarian alumni.
In his homily, Cardinal McElroy noted that campus ministry programs like the Catholic Student Center place focus on the order of grace.
“The students in this community, the faculty and the staff [are] always pointing to the fact that God has placed for each one of us in our lives, beautiful miracles that say to us, we do not walk in this world alone, that we are constantly by the side of our God who will never abandon us,” he said.
The dedication of the Newman Room marks the completion of phase 1 of the Centered on Christ Campaign, which started in 2018 under former chaplain Father Rob Walsh – now the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bethesda – and former development coordinator Ann Gradowski. Along with the Newman Room, new air conditioning and heating units were built in the Barney Room, the center’s main gathering area, with a new kitchen and walk-in pantry, a confessional and a sacristy.
Christina May, a first-year graduate student in supply chain management, has witnessed the Catholic Student Center's evolution since she first stepped through its doors as a freshman in 2021.
“Some of my favorite memories from college and with the CSC were in the Barney Room playing spike ball or staying up late cramming for an exam, and I think the space [Newman Room] allows that experience for students to happen and just to really find a home on campus,” May said. “You can tell a lot of work has gone into this, and it's drawn from the students, and there’s really a yearning on campus for students to have a relationship with Jesus, and we’ve seen that blossom in the last couple of years.”
After the Mass, attendees followed Cardinal McElroy to the Newman Room for the dedication and blessing.
“Dearly beloved, after years of fundraising and hard work to renovate this space, we gather together today to bless and dedicate this John Henry Newman Room and the rest of phase 1 of the Centered on Christ Campaign,” the cardinal said. “Here the students of the University of Maryland will gather to meet Christ in this community, to be introduced to his church in OCIA (the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults), and to be formed more intentionally into his missionary disciples.”
This year there are about 40 students in OCIA at the Catholic Student Center, about double the number from last year. In years prior, sacraments classes were held in a smaller conference room, but with the spike in conversions, space became limited. Now, the dozens of students preparing to receive their sacraments at the Easter Vigil do so in the spacious Newman Room.
Junior psychology major Ella Breslin said she plans on using the Newman Room for her daily and spiritual life and as a jump-start for leading her own weekly Bible study.
“I just think it’s so cool that we’re part of a community that has really stood the test of time,” Breslin said. “That says a lot about Catholicism and how we have such a faith that’s steeped in so many timeless traditions, so I think it’s amazing how we’re able to build it into an even greater fixture on campus.”
Father Conrad Murphy, the chaplain at the Catholic Student Center, said the next phase of the Centered on Christ Campaign aims to renovate the center’s restrooms as well as install central heating and air conditioning in the chapel with the goal of making the center more accessible and inviting for those with disabilities.
Right now, the Catholic Student Center is currently raising funds for the campaign before getting the next phase of the renovations underway in the summertime.
(Elizabeth Polo is a journalism student at the University of Maryland and is a contributing writer for the Catholic Standard.)
