With our campus abounding in faith, Eastern is great for students who want to explore or strengthen their faith. With many faith-based clubs and weekly chapel, Eastern can be a very spiritually formative environment. The space for Catholicism on campus is growing through the presence of the Newman club. The Newman club is a Catholic-centered club that offers prayer and devotional twice a week during the middle of the day. I spoke with the president of the club, Ethan Muldoon, about what exactly this practice entailed.
“We meet on Mondays and Fridays at 11 a.m. in the Walton Chapel to engage in prayer,” Muldoon said. The group prays the rosary, which is great to help students indulge in fellowship and engage in grounding devotional practices. Their main objective is to offer prayer for students, both Catholic or non-Catholic, to allow them to build a healthy habit as well as take a moment to slow down during their busy schedule. Muldoon went on to say that everyone is welcome, and that they even have events coming up in order to welcome others curious about Catholicism, or fellow Catholics who were unaware of this club.
Muldoon mentioned that the club has had two dinners with the Catholic faculty member Jonathan Reimer. He hopes to have more, but that’s not all the Newman club has in store this semester. “We hope to have a discussion-panel with all of the Catholic faculty at Eastern to speak about Catholicism and answer any questions about the faith or the club,” Muldoon said. If you are curious about what any of this will look like, consider sitting in on one of their meetings on Mondays in Walton Chapel. Make sure to sign up for emails to hear more about upcoming events and ways to get involved by emailing ethan.muldoon@eastern.edu.
