Newman Center celebrates 75 years of campus ministry

By Rebecca Bostic, The Catholic Sun
April 19, 2007

TEMPE — The All Saints Catholic Newman Center is commemorating 75 years of ministry to Arizona State University students this month.

The campus ministry is hosting events April 22-25, including a community picnic, a concert from a former student, a book reading and Masses.

“The Newman Center at ASU is the oldest, largest and most active ministry group on campus and one of the most prominent in the United States,” said Mary Macuga, development director at the Newman Center.

For the last 75 years the Newman Center has provided a Catholic place for students and others in the university community to meet and grow together in Christ.

A history of service

Twenty-five Catholic students who gathered for prayer, study and social activism in the basement of Old St. Mary’s Church founded the “Newman Club” in 1932.

Also in 1932, Tucson Bishop Thomas J. Gercke announced Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish would meet at Old St. Mary’s. The church, a national historical landmark, was built in 1903 and is still used for Masses and weddings.

Dominican Father Thomas DeMan, the director of the Newman Center for nearly a decade in the 1970s, described that decade as a “a crucial era in the history of the Catholic Church.”

Fr. DeMan recently wrote a memoir called “Into the Deep,” which includes reflections on his ministry at the Tempe Newman Center.

The 1970s were “a time in which the Catholic Church went through many changes,” Fr. DeMan said. He said he was inspired to write his memoir after attending the 100-year anniversary of the Old St. Mary’s.

During his time at the Newman Center, Fr. DeMan would often have students give their testimony and “all in the congregation continually told me how much the stories of young people helped them in their faith,” he said.

Fr. DeMan, who is currently the director of the Dominican Retreat Center in McKenzie Bridge, Ore., had a tremendous effect on students in his time in Tempe. One of those students was Dominican Sister Rebecca Shinas.

The Newman Center “changed my life, put me on a spiritual path and a lot of that is due to the inspiration of Fr. Tom DeMan,” Sr. Rebecca said.

Serving the largest university in the United States comes with some challenges. The Newman Center is currently raising money to build a new chapel and student center to replace the one built in the 1960s.

The structure will seat more than 600 students for Mass and will feature an adoration chapel for daily Mass and a large social hall. The center has raised $6 million so far.

Bringing Christ to ASU

“The Newman Center is a campus ministry that complements the secular education at Arizona State University,” Macuga said.

“We provide a home where students and members of the university community are educated in their faith, develop their gifts and grow into passionate, faithful Catholic leaders,” she said.

Having Fr. DeMan and Sr. Rebecca join in celebrating the Newman Center’s ministry gives the week a rich historical dimension.

Sr. Rebecca, who now works at a parish in California, is an accomplished musician. She recently released two albums — “Radiant Love” and “The Four Promises of Jesus” — and will perform as part of the 75th anniversary celebration.

Sr. Rebecca, who has performed across the nation for more than 20 years, used to lead music at Newman Center Masses before entering the Dominican Sisters of Oakford community.

It was during one of Sr. Rebecca’s first concerts upon returning to the Newman Center that Matt and Sherry McCarville met. A couple years later, at another one of Sr. Rebecca’s concert, Matt proposed.

“The impact of the time and grace that we all experienced at the Newman Center is immeasurable because so many of us found the Lord during those days,” said Sherry McCarville, now a parishioner at St. Mary in Chandler.

“We met wonderful people who have been lifelong friends,” she said.

McCarville contributed her artistic gifts to altar backdrops during her time at the Newman Center in the 1970s and attributes the center’s sense of “true community” at that time to Fr. DeMan’s leadership.

“Fr. Tom was the kind of humble, quiet leader that has the ability to pull peoples’ gifts from them and he certainly did that with many students,” McCarville said.

While visiting, Fr. DeMan will reconnect with students he worked with and “let them know that I keep them in my prayers,” he said.

Fr. Fred Lucci, who graduated from ASU in 1984, was inspired to become a Dominican priest during his years at the Newman Center. He is now the center’s director.

“Fr. Fred loves the Lord,” Sherry McCarville said. “That’s really what was at the core of our experience so many years ago: a director who is a humble servant, who loves God and has a heart for the students.”