Catholic students reporting to campus for the fall semester at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and Pulaski Technical College saw a lot that was new, not the least of which has to do with their faith life. A new campus minister, a new chaplain and new programming are on tap this year.
T.J. Hargett, 42, Catholic campus minister, said the most significant addition this year is weekly Mass at UALR at 12:15 p.m. Tuesdays in room 201A of the Donaghey Student Center.
“This is an age group that needs to hear the message of Christ,” Hargett said. “Now they can do that by attending weekly Mass on campus for the first time in I don’t know how long. I look at it as a tremendous opportunity.”
Mass is celebrated by the ministry’s new chaplain, Father Warren Harvey, pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Little Rock. Father Harvey has also opened up meeting space at the parish for the group’s weekly Bible study and dinner on Sunday evenings, beginning at 6 p.m.
“The goal is to have Good Counsel, as a parish, embrace the campus ministry,” Father Harvey said. “We’ve taken steps to introduce the kids to the parish and emphasize that they have a place here as well as helping the parishioners see the college kids as ‘their’ kids.”
Hargett and Father Harvey have collaborated on a slate of activities for the semester, all designed to reinforce the sense of Catholic community and give opportunities for social interaction. After Sunday Mass Aug. 18, students from UALR and Pulaski Technical College traveled to Subiaco Abbey to experience the monastery and attend vespers.
Before the fall semester got underway, the group manned a table on campus to inform freshmen about the organization and the weekly Mass, which is also followed by free food. So far, Hargett is encouraged by what he sees.
Hargett grew up in Little Rock’s Christ the King Parish, graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel School in 1985 and Catholic High School in 1989. He attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where he met his wife, Malea. The couple has two sons, who attend Christ the King School in Little Rock. He is the author of “The Most Powerful Way to Live: Bring God into Every Hour,” a book on prayer.
At ASU he was also active in the campus ministry group and said while some things have changed among college students, much remains the same.
“Students have a lot more ways to communicate now, but that’s a good thing because the biggest challenge to getting a group like this going is getting the message out that we are here,” he said. “What hasn’t changed is that this is still a time of life when a lot of people fall away from the Church. I feel like we are called to help lead them out of their own personal darkness sometimes. They are exposed to a lot of different things when they get to campus.”
Father Harvey agreed, saying some students are torn between the morals in which they were brought up and the lure of after-hours college activities and its resultant peer pressure.
“Some of these young people are living away from home for the first time and they’re getting these stories about what a good time they can have at college and then they see us and it’s like home followed them here,” Father Harvey said.
It’s not all issues about partying, either. Several of the students who have approached the group profess to have been raised Catholic but are now agnostic or atheist. Hargett said such rhetoric is often a smokescreen by a student struggling with self-identity. A door cracked open on some of these kids by Pope Francis’ positive messages and now campus ministry has a golden opportunity to help them sort out their beliefs. From there, it’s all about peer-to-peer support.
“One thing we want to stress is there is room for everybody,” he said. “There are kids who are really, really into this and they know more than I do about theology and Church history and that’s great. But we also have to be welcoming to those who don’t have that level of conviction yet, but are just trying to figure things out.”
