Daniel Mitchell and Juan Osegura, members of St. John Church in Hot Springs, felt like something was missing their freshman year at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
They decided to help incoming freshmen this fall by coming up with the Connect Retreat, connecting Catholic freshmen to other Catholic students and Catholic Campus Ministry during a retreat Aug. 22-23. It was also held the same weekend at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Classes at UA began Aug. 24 while UCA classes began Aug. 20.
The seed was planted last year, according to Mitchell.
“It was from personal experience. After my first year of college I realized there needed to be a segue from high school CYM (Catholic Youth Ministry) into college and campus ministries,” Mitchell said. “When you come to college, there are a lot of temptations and I felt that maybe if kids coming from CYM were exposed to just how to get involved at the campus ministry before the school year started, that it would help keep kids on track.”
Connect Retreat was a one-night retreat where participants heard witness talks from upperclassmen who had already experienced the things the freshmen are about to encounter, he said. The freshmen also had time to get to know each other and develop friendships to help them get through their first year.
Work on the retreat started last school year when Mitchell and Osegura attended the CYM convention in Little Rock in May to let high school seniors know about the retreat.
The two set up a booth at freshman orientation at their school and recruited students from out of state.
Mitchell said they worked with Kerry Evans in Conway, sharing ideas and creating the format for the retreat. The retreat teams also met in Little Rock before the retreat.
Eighteen freshmen attended the retreat at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Fayetteville, while 13 freshmen from the University of Central Arkansas and Hendrix College attended the retreat at the CCM house near UCA.
“We felt like there was something missing as freshmen, we wanted to create something we would have liked as freshmen coming in, before school started,” Osegura said. “The basic idea was to show who we are, what we do, get them involved before school starts.”
Everyone who participated has attended church events at St. Thomas Aquinas, he added.
“We can already see a strong foundation,” Osegura added. “It was packed at times like around Easter. This time we had to squeeze in very tight the first two Sundays, not like last year. I can already tell more people are attending.”
Evans, a member of Our Lady of the Holy Souls in Little Rock, said Mitchell is a friend and over the summer they talked about what they could do to get incoming freshmen involved in campus ministry and Mitchell told her about his idea and they worked together.
“I think we saw a good number of freshmen, hopefully they feel welcome and hopefully they want to get more involved and take ownership of this ministry themselves,” Evans said. “I think it is important for college students to continue to deepen their faith and take ownership of their faith as they move out on their own and have more freedom in college.”
The Catholic Campus Ministry in Conway has been an important part of her life, she said.
“I met a lot of friends,” Evans said. “It is a place I can go and be with other people I know and share faith with and be part of a faith community in that way.”
Evans said she wished something similar had been available when she was a freshman.
“It is a good way to start the year off on the right foot,” she said.
The diocese’s Catholic Campus Ministry director Liz Tingquist said she long held that in order to get college campus ministry off to the right start, the diocese needed to be offering freshman retreats.
“College brings with it many distractions that can often serve to get a young person off the path of holiness — concerned with the worldly on campus instead of the divine,” she said.
“Introducing college freshmen to campus ministry immediately before the semester kicks into high gear gives them a spiritual perspective and an introductory experience with campus ministry,” Tingquist added. “The prayer is that this retreat will cause these students to make campus ministry one of their experiential priorities during their college career.”
Hearing the witness from college sophomores who have come before them helps the freshmen cope with their new life on campus, she said.
Campus ministers at Fayetteville and Conway said they have seen the fruits of the retreat already.
Mitchell had the idea that freshmen can be confused with all the activities going on that they can walk away from their Catholic faith, said Laurie Schuler, a campus minister at St. Thomas Aquinas Church.
“I thought (the retreat) was a great idea,” she added. “We met, I was amazed at how quickly it all came together, Connect, so people have a sense of being connected to Christ and to other Catholic students and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Deacon Richard Papini, CCM director in Conway, also had high praise for the retreat.
“I believe it will be a success,” he said. “The 13 students who came all basically felt like they found a place they can call home and they have been coming back regularly starting with Sunday night Mass, and they have been part of at least one or two of the things we have done. I think they feel like they have made some relationships that will help them.”