At 3 a.m. in a quiet Adoration chapel, Daniel Cooper ‘20 asked God for a sign.
The Newman alumnus had heard the same question from friends, acquaintances and even strangers: “Have you ever considered the priesthood?”
“I asked God, ‘If this is what you want me to do, you’ve got to send somebody that I can’t fight against and can’t say no to,’” Cooper said.
Cooper finished his hour of Adoration and walked out. It was then that the woman for the 4 a.m. Adoration hour — whom he described as the “holiest person I’d ever met” — stopped Cooper in the stairwell of the chapel.
“She said, ‘Hey, I don’t know why I’m asking you this, but I felt the need to ask you this for a while: Have you thought about being a priest?’” Cooper said.
“I just thought, ‘Okay, God, I guess we’re doing this,’” he said.
Early faith, challenging beginnings
At just 8 years old, Cooper, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, made a bold decision to convert from his Jewish upbringing to Christianity. His Baptist aunt inspired him when she invited him to attend a Vacation Bible School one summer. That’s where he first encountered the Baptist Church and “the love of the people in it,” he said.
“But when I became a Christian, it really threw a lot of things into a tailspin in my family,” Cooper said. “People didn’t speak to me for six months.”
Fast forward to 2008, when he first entered college thinking he was meant to work in the medical field. He quickly realized it wasn’t the path for him, so he turned to God in prayer. He switched his pre-medicine major to religion and history, but ultimately left college in 2012 without completing his degree. Cooper thought, “Maybe college just isn’t for me.”
At that time, Cooper served as a Baptist associate pastor, but he knew he would eventually need a degree to advance in ministry. To support himself, he started working for the U.S. Bank, where he stayed for nearly a decade. Still, something felt off.
“I loved what I did, but it still wasn’t quite right,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing, but I knew that wasn’t what I was meant to do the rest of my life.”
Throughout those 10 years, Cooper read about the Catholic Church, saints and church history. He spoke with a priest, Monsignor Patrick Garrity, and it wasn’t long before Cooper found himself attending OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) classes. Cooper enthusiastically converted to Catholicism in 2017.
He then decided to return to school — this time through an online program at Newman University.
“It was important to me to find a Catholic education if I was going back,” he said. “Monsignor Garrity recommended Newman because his mother had worked there. He was very familiar with it and suggested I check it out.”
Finding Newman University
Newman Director of Adult and Professional Studies Teresa Wilkerson set up a virtual meeting with Cooper. The immediate support he received thoroughly impressed him.
“It just started as a conversation to see what my options were and what would transfer,” Cooper explained. “But Teresa went over and above anything I would’ve expected from any kind of college admissions team I had experienced. She answered every question or found someone who could. It made the process incredibly seamless to get started.”
Newman’s online interdisciplinary studies program gave Cooper the flexibility he needed while working full time, all with the promise to complete his degree.
“My job at the bank had me on call 24/7,” he said. “I was working between 50- to 80-hour weeks and needed a program with structure, but also enough flexibility that I could work ahead or catch up when life got chaotic.”
The program also allowed him to pick two areas of emphasis: religion and communication.
“It was a godsend,” he said. “I wanted coursework that would prepare me for seminary, which I knew at that point was a possibility. The religion aspect was crucial, but I also wanted to sharpen my communication skills for preaching and being the best communicator I could be.”
Though Cooper has yet to set foot on Newman University’s campus in Wichita, he said his experience as an online student left a lasting impact.
“Everybody that I ever dealt with was focused on not just doing their job, but on making sure that every student they interacted with came away better for it,” he said.
Cooper graduated from Newman in May 2020, then entered the seminary that August. This decision brought him “the most peace I’ve ever felt about anything,” he said. ”I am more confident than I have been about anything in my life.”
One step closer to ordination
Cooper will be one step closer to becoming a priest when he becomes a transitional deacon in November.
“It doesn’t feel real yet,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like I’ve been in seminary long enough to be approaching ordination.”
Today, he sees how each step of his path, including the trials he faced throughout his faithful formation, was a part of something bigger.
“It prepared me for the realities of ministry, for being with people from all walks of life,” Cooper said. “It gave me a frame of reference. I’m a much kinder, more empathetic individual having gone through those things.”
Cooper credits “every single person in the fabric of Newman” for giving him a better understanding of his lifelong calling.
“Newman taught me what it means to work with people of all different walks of life, to listen to differences and bring people together,” he said. “I am so grateful for all of the lessons I learned from Newman and for all the faith and belief people put in me to keep me moving forward.”
Earn an interdisciplinary studies degree
The interdisciplinary studies program allows you to build your very own customized degree from a variety of online and on-ground classes that allow you to create your own path to success.
