Expanded student center will increase ministry to young adults

Students took part in the ceremonial groundbreaking for the Newman Catholic Student Center expansion. 

Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic

The student walked into the confessional and took a half step back as if he had walked in when he shouldn’t have. He walked back in and began to confess his sins to the priest. His hesitancy was due to the fact that there was no screen and he was sitting face to face with his confessor. The confessional, as it turned out, was an old broom closet and the room does not allow for much privacy. 

Students at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will soon see improvements to the Newman Catholic Student Center as the Diocese of Corpus Christi broke ground on a $2.1 million expansion project on Oct. 26. The expansion, said nursing graduate student Sara Garza from San Antonio, is a “blessing,” since for the last five years the Center has been her “home away from home”

As homes go, the current Center may be likened more to a one-room garage apartment. Center director Amy Barragree said the sanctuary sits 125 students, although, with 50 worshipers for the afternoon Mass on Sunday, Nov. 13, it was hard to see where the other 75 would have fit.  The students occupied removable chairs with kneelers attached behind. 

The altar was set back with a sliding wall that is closed when Mass is not being held, leaving a small space for activities during the week. A small office for Barragree is set off to a side, next to the broom closet/confessional. The office also doubles as a sacristy for the priest to prepare for Mass. 

As Mass wound down, one could smell the strong aroma of coffee. Tables were set up behind the last row of chairs with boxes of pan dulce for students to enjoy while they visited and discussed activities planned for the coming week.  In order to be ready for the social after Mass, the coffee has to be started before Mass.

When Bishop Michael Mulvey came to the diocese six years ago, he inquired whether there was a student center. Having come from the Diocese of Austin with strong student organizations in Austin, College Station, Waco and San Marcos he assumed such was the case in his new diocese. He was informed about the Newman Center and he drove out to see it and found it “closed tighter than a drum.”

Freshman Katelyn Hanks, a mechanical engineering major from Lufkin, noted that students on campus are not aware of the center, referring to it as that building where they can park “when we can’t find parking on campus.”  To Hanks, however, it is a lot more.

“If I didn’t have it (the Newman Center) I would be struggling in school. It is really a stress relief to know you are surrounded by good Christian people,” Hanks said. “I spend most of my days here doing homework and studying in a relaxed environment.”

She participates in the women’s group, the Dead Theologian Society and comes to the one weekly Mass on Wednesday. Barragree, who has been at the center for two years, started these programs and others.

Garza, who has been around five years, remembers when she first began to attend Mass at the Center; five students would show up. Today, thanks to the bishop’s commitment to the student and young adult populations, the Center offers two Sunday Masses and a Wednesday Mass. Altogether, more than 100 students attend these Masses.  Garza remembers that in the early days they had one monthly event, but now they have three to four events weekly and they are all well attended. 

The bishop recently appointed Father David Bayardo as chaplain at the Center, in addition to his duties as parochial vicar at Ss. Cyril & Methodius parish. “Father David covers all the sacramental needs, including the weekly Masses and confessions,” Barragree said. He is also available to lead discussions and reflections and help with the Center’s RCIA program, which has administered first Holy Communion, confirmation, and baptisms and has brought in students into the Church.

Bishop Mulvey continues to be committed to this ministry. He pointed out that within a few years, two seminarians have come from the Newman Center at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and two other students are discerning the priesthood. The new expanded Center in Corpus Christi “should enliven our faith and make us grateful,” the bishop said, adding, “May students find a home between the walls we are about to erect.”

Bishop Mulvey, together with a host of dignitaries and students, broke ground of the new 6,285 sq. ft. addition to the Newman Center. Catholics from throughout the diocese are making the new construction possible as part of the Legacy of Faith - Future of Hope capital and endowment campaign, together with a $500,000 grant from the John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation.  

The expansion will include a new 275-seat chapel, freeing up the current chapel area to be used as a meeting room. It also includes a sacristy, storage areas, bathrooms, and an additional office. The diocese expects that construction—which got underway in November—will be completed in the fall of 2017.

Barragree said the additional space would be a great help in ministering to students. The chapel and center programs are available not only to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi students but, also, to Del Mar College students and young adults that are not enrolled in school but who are looking for a place to worship with people their age.

“I’m excited about the expansion. The new chapel will attract more students,” Hanks said. While many people on campus are unaware of the Center, she hopes the construction will help spread the word and help more students find their way home. 

“We are really excited to expand, not only the building but what we are offering and to be able to reach more people. I am really grateful for everyone that contributes, not only for the building but for our mission, for what we do,” Barragree said.

Oh yes, the new center will include a new confessional.