Welcome Newman Parents!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Do you know that my Catholic student is at Virginia Tech?

Not necessarily. Va. Tech is a public institution. They never ask any sort of religious question in the process of applying or registering. So Newman Community has no way of knowing which of Tech’s 27, 000 students are Catholics. YOU COULD HELP US BY DROPPING ME AN E-MAIL WITH YOUR NAME, & YOUR STUDENT’S NAME. Otherwise, we collect student names the way most parishes do. We have a general registration at Masses on the first few Sundays of the school year.

What is the religious atmosphere at Virginia Tech

In a word, wide-open, anything goes. There are over 450 Registered Student Organizations (RSO’s) at Tech and more than 40 of them are organizations of a religious nature. Mainline Protestant denominations, a wide variety of Evangelical Protestant groups, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists, even Free Thinkers and Atheists, all have organizations here. The University makes no effort to police these groups, except to require that they register each year and have full-time students as leadership. Nor does the University extend any special or particular benefits to religious groups over other sorts of groups. If a religious group (such as Newman) wants to meet regularly at the University Chapel, for instance, or in the Student Union, they must request space just like the Chess Club does, and wait in line. Advertising space in the Collegiate Times, to give another example, costs the same for religious groups as for any other. (And it ain’t cheap.) Newman Community lives and works within these limits, like all the other RSOs here. So your student is likely to meet a wide variety of different sorts of religious expressions here, many of them Christian, some of them not, some of them down-right anti-religious. I was taught that the best thing a Catholic can bring to an inter-denominational or inter-faith conversation is 1.) an attitude of respectful listening and 2.) a deep knowledge of one’s own tradition. Newman strives to foster both.

Is it ture that some groups can be pretty agressive in their proselytizing?

Yes, a few groups can be aggressive, but only a few. I frequently instruct students, individually and in groups, how to handle this sort of pressure.

Isn't it true that secularism and anti-religious attitude pervades the university faculty?

I think that, if this ever was the case at Virginia Tech, it is largely a thing of the past. Most of the faculty, staff and administrators whom I meet at Tech are actively involved in worshiping communities. (Alone among the developed nations of the world, in America, the more education you have, the more likely you are to be actively religious!) As a school which focuses on the sciences, computers, architecture, engineering, education, communications and the like, most teachers will have little reason to bring their religious beliefs into the classroom. Of course, there are always a few. But it has been my experience that students quickly learn how to ‘filter out’ religious negativity.

Do you recommend that my student take the religion courses offered at Tech?

Without reservation! Virginia Tech’s Religious Studies Program is among the finest. I encourage our Newman Community members, whatever their majors, to use their free electives on these classes.

I'm affraid that my student will drop away (or has dropped away) from regular mass attendance.

Your student is on a journey of faith. If we, who are their parents and elders, think back a bit we can remember our own faith journeys when we were in college. (I certainly remember mine, and it didn’t always include Mass on Sundays!) Many Catholic students will take a little “leave-of-absence” at one time or another during their college experience. As they work out their received faith, transforming it into a faith of their own, they may actually need a little time away. I never judge. I frequently challenge. But I always welcome those who have taken ‘time-off’ when they return. And I can assure you, most do return. I realize that it is never simple, but I recommend that parents do the same. The best thing you can do for your student away at school is to see to your own on-going faith development!

Should I be concerned that my student is participating in another group's Bible study?

Most likely, no. With a few exceptions, the hundreds of little ‘bible study’ groups which proliferate in the residence halls and apartment complexes are moments when Christian students of various sorts gather together around the Scriptures to share their day-to-day challenges. I suspect that about 95% of these groups—which form and reform constantly—use the Bible in a “devotional” manner. Its stories, sayings and teachings are simply the starting point for reflection, sharing and prayer. There are a few religious organizations whose bible study groups have a very specific agenda, are tightly controlled and insist on a truly “fundamentalist” and “literalist” interpretation. Catholic students, for the most part, quickly learn to recognize these and avoid them.

I sometimes worry that my student may be susceptible to being in an abusive relationship.

As frightening as this can be, it is an honest possibility. Parents should learn to recognize the sign that their child might be in an emotionally or even physically abusive relationship. I recommend the following website as a starting point: www.peaceathome.com.