Phase 3: Chapel + Student Center

Phase 3 Progress

Thanks to our generous benefactors, we have $7,773,776 committed towards our $12 million goal!

Click here to set up a capital campaign gift today!

We have gone from having just one priest and an office manager in the spring of 2014 to Fr. John Del Priore, four Campus Ministers, four FOCUS missionaries, and four development staff today.
 
We need a larger and more modern Newman Center that can serve our students and resident parishioners even better. It will be a boost for downtown economic development in the City of Platteville and of great benefit to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

The current student center is in need of repairs, and simi­lar to 1973, growing increasingly inadequate to properly serve the needs of the students and staff who use the building. The intention is to use a model successfully launched on at least a dozen other college campuses across the country. By creating a more modern and appealing Newman Center combined with a more traditionally designed church, the goal of developing and continuing to expand the Newman Community can be realized. This new LLC will make evangelization and outreach to students more ap­pealing and the beauty in architec­ture of a new chapel will help raise their hearts and minds heavenward.

Additionally, in recent years there has been a growing call from students and parents to provide a student residential facility that offers a virtues-based environment. It has been proven that students involved in a faith-based organization have a higher retention rate in college as well as a higher grade point average than those who are not involved in a campus ministry program. Through the ministry at St. Augustine University Parish, tomorrow’s church and community leaders are being well formed in the Catholic faith.

Catholic Newman Centers are the only lifeline for so many Catholic college students seeking to hold on to their Catholic faith in public universities today. We have gone from having just the Priest, Fr. John Del Priore, and two staff people in 2013 to Fr. John, four Campus Ministers, four FOCUS missionaries, and four staff people today. The result is that the numbers of students participating in our programs like Bible studies, men’s and women’s groups, retreats, weekly Newman Dinners (and so much more) is skyrocketing! Our building has only four offices and a conference room to house all those people plus a 125-person chapel, a lounge and a small cafeteria to provide ministry to hundreds of students in a building needing many repairs.