Campus Ministry office unveils new look

The Campus Ministry office just got a makeover and expansion, and it’s making a difference to students.

Director of Campus Ministry Father Ed Herzog and Assistant Director Nika Chadwell led the redesign, which was recently unveiled. Located on the first and second floors of Sacred Heart Hall, Campus Ministry now features a cleaner aesthetic, a revamped “saint wall” and student-dedicated spaces both upstairs and down.

“Father and I both agreed we wanted to refresh the office this summer,” Chadwell said.

They brought in one of Herzog’s friends, Father Mike Baldwin, to help with potential ideas.

“He has a good eye when it comes to design,” Chadwell said. “He got inspired and suggested a lot of the changes that we made.”

In the upstairs space, they wanted a more cohesive and professional look. The “saint wall” — once a large collage of framed saint photos — is now a deep brown statement wall featuring three of the most prominent figures in Newman’s history: Father Emil Kapaun, St. Maria De Mattias and St. John Henry Newman.

Three large framed photos on a deep brown wall, picturing St. Maria De Mattias, St. John Henry Newman, and Father Emil Kapaun — (From left to right) Images of St. Maria De Mattias, founder of the ASC sisters who founded Newman, St. John Henry Newman, Newman’s namesake and Father Emil Kapaun, who was ordained a priest in Newman’s St. John Chapel and is under consideration for sainthood.

“It used to have tons of saints on it, and was a bit of an eclectic look, but it was a little busy and a little overwhelming,” Chadwell said.

Photo of the original Campus Ministry office, showing it's previous saint wall of around 30 smaller, framed saint photos. — Before

The new Campus Ministry saint wall, a deep brown statement wall in the otherwise white walls, showing only three large framed saint photos. — Before

The new Living Room

Campus Ministry has expanded downstairs with a newly refurbished “Living Room.”

Hand painted lettering on the wall outside the downstairs living room, and spells "The Living Room." — Lettering outside the downstairs Living Room

“We saw the potential, and we wanted to separate the two spaces since we had the room to,” Chadwell said.

Now, it’s a functional living area with couches for lounging, a table for students to work at and a TV.

“I absolutely love the new setup,” Melissa Arguijo said, a junior and student minister for Campus Ministry.

She said the previous office space intimidated her as a freshman and kept her from getting involved sooner.

“I was mainly nervous because it was always full, and I could never find a seat,” she said. “I was able to get comfortable my sophomore year, but I could never study there since people would get together there.”

The changes allow students to have a place to hang out socially downstairs, Arguijo said, and a quiet place to study upstairs.

Photo of the downstairs living room, showing the couches and seating and TV. — The downstairs Living Room

Sophomore Payton Meyer, who interns with Herzog and Chadwell to help improve Campus Ministry, said the goal of the downstairs space was to create a welcoming environment for all Newman students.

“I’m really excited about the new setup,” she said. “We hope to attract more students and make Campus Ministry available to everyone by bringing some life down to the basement of Sacred Heart.”

Coming up for Campus Ministry

Since the start of the fall semester, the Living Room has been used for different Campus Ministry events, like movie and game nights, which are hosted every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Campus Ministry also plans at least one larger monthly. The next event is a bonfire for St. Newman’s Feast Day on Oct. 8, a yearly tradition that all students are encouraged to attend.