Why Newman?

Everyday during the school year, the Newman Center staff and FOCUS missionaries begin the day with a Eucharistic Holy Hour. As students encounter Christ, they've started to join and have even made it a daily habit. Patrick and Anthony are two such students who make the sacrifice to wake up early to make time for prayer. "Discipleship formation with the missionaries has changed my perspective on prayer and how necessary it is to make time for it," says Patrick, a sophomore who leaves his house at 7am to make it to Holy Hour. "Going consistently now, I can't imagine my mornings [...]

A UIC junior entering into her second semester of nursing school, Lauren discovered Newman when she needed somewhere to go to Mass during her freshman year. "Everyone was so welcoming and supportive, and I found myself attending Bible studies and events." It didn't take long after that for Lauren to feel called to step up into leadership. "Since Newman made such a big impact on my relationship with Jesus, I wanted to get involved to help others experience that too." As a sophomore, Lauren not only attended a Bible study but also served as secretary of the Cor Team and Head [...]

How Newman Became a Home-Away-From-Home for a Set of Twins from California Last year, Abi and Ame traded sun and sand for snow and wind when they left southern California to begin their college experience at UIC. After playing volleyball together since age four, they found that UIC offered the best opportunities both on and off the court, and, most importantly, they could continue playing volleyball together at the elite level. What they didn't realize, however, was just how much the Newman Center would become their "home away from home." "I started coming to Newman because I liked the community," says [...]

Written by Lupe Bollas, Class of 2021 As I wrapped up my senior year of college, I found myself desiring good Catholic community, so I decided to sign up for the SEEK2021 conference. In one of the small group sessions during the conference, I bonded with one of the FOCUS missionaries over food and cooking, and after the conference, she continued to invest in me, as a witness of the Lord’s love for me. She continued to invite me to be a part of the Newman community, and through her investment, I came to see that God didn’t just want a [...]

Written by Monica Mackie, Development Coordinator After serving as a FOCUS Missionary at UIC for two years, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to serve Newman as the new Development Coordinator, especially during this exciting time of new beginnings. Specifically, we have been hard at work, renovating our chapel to create a beautiful place to pray, and we are gearing up to launch Cor Coffee as school starts this fall. While these might seem like two independent projects, they are very much interrelated. Statistics are often thrown around again and again of how many people are leaving the [...]

Written by Becca Siar, Director of Campus Ministry   Why do you think college ministry is important, and why do you think it's a good fit for you? FR. TIM: I was blessed to work with high school students for the past three years, and every year, my seniors from the parish had to transition into “college life,” where they were bombarded by different ideologies, prompting curiosity and questions. College ministry gives students the ability to have their questions answered, especially in an environment where they know that they loved and where they truly belong. I think its a good fit [...]

We are so excited to introduce you to the students who have been selected to serve on our student leadership team, the Cor Team, for the 2021-2022 school year and to have them share what they're most excited about for this upcoming year! Ella Ramos, President - UIC Senior Ella is a fourth year student on the pre-med track, majoring in Biology and double minoring in Spanish for the Health Professions and Disability and Human Development. After undergrad, she hopes to go to medical school and train to be a physician to help those in need. Whenever she has free time, [...]

Since we've had some significant staff turnover this summer, we thought it would be a good opportunity to (re)introduce our Newman Center Ministry Team for the 2021-2022 school year! Fr. Connor Danstrom, Director/Chaplain Fr. Connor has been a priest for seven years now and says that it has been “an amazing adventure so far.” He loves playing sports and writing music in my spare time, and aside from saying Mass and hearing confessions, you’ll also often find him around Newman either playing ping pong, making coffee, gardening, or skateboarding. A fun fact about Fr. Connor is that he’s not allergic to [...]

Written by Annie Streeter, UIC Senior During my freshman year orientation, I had the chance to visit the Newman Center at UIC. After being home schooled since kindergarten, it was comforting to know that there was a familiar place where I could go to meet other Catholic students. The Newman Center became the place where I went in between classes to go to Mass, attend events, study, relax, and eat meals. Over the years, the students and staff have changed, but the welcoming environment and overall mission have stayed the same. I feel extremely blessed to be at a secular school [...]

Written by Israel Lopez, Rising UIC Senior We all know that God is present in a chapel, but what about in a coffee shop?  Working as a barista, you wouldn’t think, “Oh, this is the perfect opportunity to evangelize,” yet this is exactly what the Newman Center staff had in mind when building our coffee shop. Although the unique location of this establishment, within a university’s Catholic Newman Center, brings in several customers who are indeed Catholic, our extensive marketing and personal invitation have graced us with the opportunity to meet and serve people who are all along the “faith spectrum.” [...]