What is a University Ministry Center?
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University Ministry Centers also known as Newman or Campus Ministry Centers are dedicated to the faith life of university students, staff and faculty are located near non-Catholic universities throughout the world.
The establishment of this movement was inspired by the writings of Cardinal John Henry Newman who encouraged societies, clubs, to be established for Catholic students attending secular universities. The first Newman club was established in 1888, at Oxford and the first Newman Center and in 1893, the University of Pennsylvania was the first in the Unites States to establish a Newman Center. University students established the Newman Club in 1927, on the UTEP campus. The Newman Club was founded at the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy, the predecessor of University of Texas at El Paso. In January 2005, the Diocese of El Paso remolded a small two-bedroom house with a galley kitchen located at 2230 N. Oregon and converted the car garage into a chapel. It is in this building that University Ministry is housed. Prior to the current location a smaller building known as the Romero Center, on East Robinson Ave, was used by the Newman Club. It is in honoring the history that we now call the current center the San Romero University Ministry Center and the recognized student organization, a grassroots effort, led by university students continues to be known as the Newman Club at UTEP. |