By Matthew Gambino • Posted January 21, 2026

You might curiously raise an eyebrow if I told you that a couple hundred Catholic students at a public university come to Sunday Mass on campus.

You might raise two if I told you they also enjoy coming to weekly and daily eucharistic adoration.

You might have to pick yourself off the floor if I told you that students can receive three academic credits for going to Mass, engaging in Bible study, and participating in service projects and community activities.

It’s true: through its new affiliation with West Chester University, the Newman Center offers students (Catholic or not) three credits in an elective course within the Philosophy Department.

Successful completion of the course titled Faith in Action requires students to compile 135 credit hours over a semester in the above ways through the Newman Center — from a public, state-affiliated university.

Over coffee last month with Father Mark Cavara, the Newman Center’s chaplain and five student members of the center’s executive board who are eligible for the course, I caught a glimpse of the level of faith commitment evident among a growing number of young adult Catholics.

They described a menu of service activities including an annual community-wide food drive before Thanksgiving in which donation bags are placed at homes, collected and delivered to St. Agnes Day Center in West Chester.

Emily Schlosser, a WCU senior and community services chair for the Newman Center, led the venture with her strong organizational skills and plenty of experience, as she started a similar club while a junior in high school.

But it’s her Catholic faith, centered in the Eucharist, that motivates her action.

“You can only give if you’ve received,” she said, and it’s Christ’s Body that she receives every day that enables her to give of her time and talent.

“When I made the time to go to daily Mass in my second semester of my sophomore year I saw a transformation of my own faith,” she said. “Moving forward when I graduate, I will still make an effort to go to daily Mass.”

Her peers echoed that transformational effect of putting one’s faith into action — rooted in the Eucharist not only at Mass but also on Wednesday night holy hours and at a daily adoration chapel at the Newman Center.

For Annie Smith, a junior, the opportunity to share insights into the Word of God through Bible study groups “has really grown my personal faith life,” she said.

She and other nursing students enjoy Bible study sessions on particular themes of service like nursing. They also offer a public witness since passersby see participants praying and studying outside on a Newman Center patio.

“Learning more about Scripture” is important to Smith, but she also pointed to “good, virtuous friendships (that) have been built because of Bible study. That was the first thing I started doing when I came to the Newman Center,” she said.

Having fun is another strong draw for students to the Newman Center.

Parties with a holiday flair, Wednesday night dinners prepared by Father Cavara or even a Stogies and Hoagies event build community through good food and company.

The men’s group, for instance, draws “men who are usually insecure with their faith,” and the Newman Center “is the best place to express that and not be insecure,” said group leader Michael Yencha. “With men’s nights, a whole group of men can come together, crack some jokes, talk about life. It’s a nice combination.”

Women’s group leader Casey Close observed that “people come out for a fun thing, then join a small group, then maybe Bible study or a discipleship group, then (go) to Mass once a week,” she said.

Sunday Mass attendance at either 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. can number 150 to 200 people, according to Father Cavara.

Close and others on the executive board notice through conversations and on social media posts that their peers at the university “are realizing that there is something more, and they’re seeking something more.”

That appears to motivate the young adult leaders of the Newman Center in the present, and is steering their course for the future.

The center “has given me such a great foundation,” Smith said. “At my home parish (St. John Chrysostom in Wallingford), I started a young adult group (and) it is because of this place. I know there is a want in young people to follow Jesus; they need community. It makes me not afraid to go home and live out my faith there, and here.”

The student president of the Newman Center’s executive board, Jude D’Agostino, said the center “has given me my life focus. This is my faith and this is the direction that I want my life to go in. Life is like a bus to our final destination in heaven. This place has taught me how important it is to live out your faith here.”

He hopes to direct his career toward Catholic media ministry, spurred by his interest in podcasting and his gift of a strong vocal delivery.

Noting that their university experience soon will give way to careers, family life and ministries, they understand how that experience is forming them for discipleship in a world that needs their ample gifts.

“I want to be able to share my faith and receive God in the Eucharist and experience His love for me,” said Schlosser.

After her anticipated graduation this spring, she is “hoping to go out to my own parish and starting a Bible study there, or joining one, (and) adding more community service to my parish,” she said.

The Newman Center has “transformed how I thought about my future,” Schlosser said. “In high school I was thinking about what job I was going to have but now there is so much more to life than your job. Being able to implement faith into my everyday life is super important.”