Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

At the beginning of the school year, I attended my first Catholic Mass at Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University’s multifaith chapel. I remember seeing a long line of students waiting to shake the priest’s hand or hug him after Mass. The line started inside the chapel, stretched past the looming, white columns and cascaded down the stairs, ending where Father Gerry Waterman, the Catholic chaplain, stood.

Waterman’s kind nature made me feel personally welcomed at Hendricks. I enjoyed being a lector there, as I had been back home in Pittsford, New York. I initially attended Sunday Mass at Hendricks often, but it’s grown harder to go amid mountains of homework, projects and meetings for student organizations.

I’ve met other Catholic students who also struggle to fit their faith into their daily lives. Despite initially finding comfort in knowing I wasn’t alone, I realized we still need to carve out time in our day for God or risk weakening our faith.

As Catholic students in college, we should continue to deepen our faith by making it a shared experience within our community in addition to a personal relationship with God. Building bonds with other Catholics creates a community where we can learn from one another and grow in our faith together. Most importantly, it provides a sense of accountability on our journeys toward reaching our fullest potential and growing closer to God.

I realized the importance of a Catholic community on campus when Waterman announced he was leaving SU after 10 years.

On April 16, I went to the Catholic Center for the first time to attend the community night dinner after Waterman’s farewell reception. Light and laughter filled the room and spilled out of the windows into the evening’s surrounding darkness. Students crowded around tables, eagerly talking in between bites of shrimp and tater tots.

I spoke with several students about Waterman and the Catholic Center’s impact on their lives, and I was moved by the positive sentiments they shared.

“The Catholic Center was the first place on campus that actually felt like a home away from home,” Gabriella Rendina, a sophomore majoring in biology and psychology, said.

Henry Crotty, a freshman majoring in history, told me that Bible study and Thursday Mass have been staples of his college life.

“Having things to do during the week where you can trust that you’re going to have a conversation with someone, that you’re going to find a break from everything else at the Catholic Center, that is actually huge to me,” Crotty said.

In the hour I was at the Catholic Center, I felt a great sense of community — more than I had at SU before. This inspired me to go back for weekly Bible study and Mass.

During my first Bible study meeting, we read John Chapter 5, which is about religious leaders criticizing Jesus for healing a man who couldn’t walk on the Sabbath. After discussing the chapter, we prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary.

Everyone was kind and welcoming. We asked each other questions, feeling content that we didn’t have all of the answers. I shared my own reflections on the chapter and learned a lot from what others said.

It can be easy to lose sight of your faith due to the freedom and busy nature of college. But I encourage Catholic students to strengthen their faith by regularly being involved in the Catholic community on campus, even if this means working around a packed schedule. It could be as simple as serving at Mass at Hendricks or volunteering at the Catholic Center’s monthly Slice of Hope event.

Even if you’re not religious, it can be beneficial to seek out a community or student organization with shared interests, values and goals to help you feel a sense of belonging and stay grounded.

I will miss Father Gerry’s engaging, insightful homilies at Hendricks, but going to the Catholic Center has reminded me that I can seek wisdom and support from my peers, too. I have found my place in the Catholic community on campus.

OlaRose Ndubuisi is a freshman majoring in biology and journalism. She can be reached at oandubui@syr.edu.

Published on April 27, 2026 at 8:45 pm