Historically, Newman ministry began in the United States with the founding of the Melvin Club at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1883. One of the founding students Timothy Harrington, later began medical studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 1892. It was here, after reading one of Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman’s works that Timothy and other students began a club they named after Newman. Cardinal Newman, a university teacher and perhaps the most noted convert to Catholicism in the 19th century, insisted that a higher education without God was an incomplete education. He worked for the establishment of houses or centers for Catholic students on university campuses in England. In 1915 the National Newman Federation was formed and it adopted the both the name and aims of Cardinal Newman - to enrich the spiritual, the educational, and the social aspects of the Catholic students in a secular institution.
Our Beginning
The history of the Newman Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato officially began in 1921 when Miss Margaret Biewett became an instructor of Physical Education at what was then known as the "Mankato State Teachers College". She began to organize a Newman Club similar to the one at Columbia University where she had been an active member. With a membership of 32 women, the Club began to grow and expand its programs. The first meetings were held at the home of Dr. Jane Sullivan and other Newman Club sponsors and associates with local priests participating. In 1929 the Mankato Newman Club became affiliated with The Federation of Catholic Clubs and in 1932 Father John Bergman, S.J. was appointed the Newman Club’s first Chaplain. The facilities of Loyola Hall were open to students and until 1961 the organization met there. In 1956, under the direction of Father Raymond J. Ireland S.J. the first permanent structure was acquired as a Newman Center located at 518 S. 5th St. At that time there were approximately 700 Catholic students attending what was then known as "Mankato State Teachers College".
In 1961, under the leadership of Father Paul Halloran and with the support of the Diocese of Winona, a new Newman Center was constructed on the same location at a cost of $300,000. Named the St. Thomas More Newman Center, it was a two-story structure with a library containing over 3,000 books, an auditorium that accommodated up to 400 students, a chapel, classrooms, boardroom, a cafeteria/rec room, and complete housing facilities for the chaplain, visiting priests, and club president.
Second Location
As "Mankato State Teachers College" became "Mankato State University", it became necessary to move some and eventually all of its facilities to Highland Campus. This left the Newman Center with a very painful decision - to sell a beautiful facility and move "up the hill" with the college or to attempt to draw the students off campus. In 1978 the Diocese of Winona alongside Chaplain Father Gerald Conway, decided to purchase a two-story house at 1331 Warren Street, a cross the street from the campus. This center was roomy enough for a large meeting room and kitchen in the basement, living room, reception area and two offices on the main floor, and a chapel for daily liturgy and private prayer upstairs. Weekend liturgies were celebrated on campus in the Student Union.
Our Current Building
In the Spring of 2014, The Catholic Mavs broke ground on a new 16,000 square foot building after an extensive building campagin and years of prayer. The NEW St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center has been open to the public since Spring 2015 and welcomes hundreds of Catholic students on a weekly basis. In the years since opening the NEW facility, our student involvement has grown at an incredible rate. Today the ministry continues to make sure the motto of Cardinal Newman rings true...cor ad cor...heart to heart. We look for the heart of Christ in one another and pray they may find it in us.