Father Edmund “Ed” Herzog, Newman’s chaplain, may be a new face to some people in the Newman community but he is certainly no stranger to the university.
Herzog attended Newman University from 2007-2011 and was confirmed in St. John’s Chapel on campus in 2009. Now, 17 years later, he returns to lead Campus Ministry and guide students through formation, stewardship and leading Mass. Prior to Herzog’s new assignment, he was the chaplain of Bishop Carroll Catholic High School for six years.
“It feels great to be back at Newman. As an alum of the university, it is really great to see things come back full circle,” Herzog said. “I was just back in my hometown of Ithaca, New York, and I remember when my golf coach, Kent Notestine, called me up for the first time in the spring of 2007 and recruited me to come to Newman.”
Before flying to Wichita for a campus tour, Herzog’s father questioned his wife, “Why the heck are we flying to Kansas? He’s not going to go to school there!”
Just one hour into Herzog’s campus visit, Herzog’s father slipped away from the tour to call his wife.
“Well, I was wrong. I can already tell this is where he’s going to go,” he admittingly said, although excited.
Leading up to attending Newman, Herzog was a self-proclaimed “lapsed Catholic.” But shortly after becoming a Jet, he reencountered the faith due to Father Joe Tatro, the chaplain during Herzog’s first three years.
“Just like I believe that it was God’s grace that brought me here the first time, when Bishop Carl A. Kemme asked me to take on this assignment in May I felt it was God’s grace that called me back,” Herzog said. “In many ways, I owe my faith to this university and to the chaplains that served while I was here.”
Now, Herzog has the opportunity to do exactly that for the students he will serve during his tenure at Newman. And he cannot wait for them to get back on campus.
“The more that I sit with the reality and prospect of this new assignment, the more excited I get,” Herzog enthusiastically said. “I’m most excited to be working with young adults who are in the midst of the biggest transition of their lives, namely going from adolescence to adulthood.”
Herzog mentioned how impressed he is with the legacy Father Adam Grelinger and his Assistant Director of Campus Ministry, Emily Simon, created for Campus Ministry.
“Father Adam Grelinger and Emily Simon have done incredible things,” Herzog said. “When I met with them in May, I was amazed at all the great developments they had made during their tenure. I have heard that the Campus Ministry office is known for being a place of life and joy on campus, even at times getting a bit too lively that they have had to shut the door so as to not disturb those working in Sacred Heart Hall!”
Herzog hopes to not be an obstacle to what has already been started and is excited to “focus on fostering relationships and friendships centered around the person of Jesus Christ.”
“We live in a world that is starved for real, incarnational relationships,” Herzog said. “While technology is great and has connected us on a level that was inconceivable even when I was at Newman a couple decades ago and while we have never been more connected, we have also never been more lonely.
“Our technology-based relationships, which again, have their value and place, are not satisfying the deepest desires that we have as human beings to be known in the real world.”
Herzog’s return to Newman University as chaplain marks a poignant reunion with his alma mater, where his journey of faith first found fertile ground. His story comes full circle, from being a skeptical recruit to a transformed student and priest, now entrusted with guiding a new generation through their own spiritual journeys.
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