Our History

Northeast Missouri State University underwent a change from a regional state college to a liberal arts college, with an emphasis on preparing students with high academic achievement, and was renamed Truman State University. They began to intentionally recruit students with strong academic achievement, as well as leadership in extra-curricular activities, from private high schools in St. Louis and Kansas City. These private high schools included mostly Catholic High Schools. The result was a dramatic increase of Catholic students at Truman State University. Our Catholic Campus Ministry has grown, from serving around 20 students in the 1950’s, to 50 students in 1960’s, to 100 students in 1970’s, to 200 students in 1980’s, to 500 students in 1990’s into 2000’s.

Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, for whom our center was named, was Beatified.

The current Newman Center building at 709 S. Davis was rebuilt, opened, and dedicated in November 2008.

By 1999, the Newman Center was too small. One Sunday, Father Bill Kottenstette saw students open the door to Newman and, finding standing room only, they left. The decision was made to add on. We applied for grants and began raising money from parents, alumni, and friends. We contacted an architect and builder. The addition was estimated to cost $300,000. By spring of 2000, we had half the money and began construction in May as soon as school was out. The multipurpose room was doubled and three rooms added on the side: lounge, library, and music library. The old library was turned into an office for the Chaplain. The blessing of the addition took place on November 3, 2000.

Land on the SE corner of Normal and Davis Streets was purchased in August of 1987. As of February 1988, nearly $100,000 had been pledged to the project. The Bishop then pledged a matching $100,000 from the parishes of the Diocese of Jefferson City. Total budget for the project was $350,000. The yellow house on the corner was torn down under the direction of Mary Immaculate parishioner Phil Hebert. Construction was to begin in the summer of 1988, but then the project began to hit some major snags. Because of cost overruns, the architect was asked to redesign the building. Then NMSU came to Fr. Les and offered to buy the corner lot in order to extend the greenway reaching from the dorms along Normal Street to the president’s home, which fronts Halliburton. So, in August of 1988, Newman sold the corner lot and bought two more lots south of the corner. The new building would now have to be designed to front Davis Street. In addition, the white house slated to be used for Cornerstone, the Catholic student house, now stood on the proposed building site and had to be moved to a new foundation two lots to the south, after the two houses standing there had also been demolished. Groundbreaking for the new Center finally took place on NMSU’s Graduation Day in May 1989. After all his work of negotiation and fundraising, Fr. Les left the Newman Center before the actual construction began. In his wake came Fr. Kevin Clohessy, who presided over the excavation and the raising of the walls in late summer of 1989. Fr. Kevin held several well-attended Masses on the site and in the unfinished building. He and several helpers moved in to the facility in January 1990. The first regular Sunday liturgies were…Read More