Kennesaw Catholic Center Welcomes Back Students

KATHRYN MORAN, Special Contributor

Published: September 2, 2004

KENNESAW—In 1996 Kennesaw State University sensed a huge growth in student population was on the horizon. With the strong leadership of Betty L. Siegel, Ph.D., longest serving woman college president in the United States, the university has grown from 11,000 to nearly 18,000 students.

At the same time, since Catholics were on the way to becoming the second largest religious denomination in Cobb County, the Archdiocese of Atlanta prioritized the need to minister to students of this growing academic community in a more tangible way.

There was no one more eager or ready than Father Linus DeSantis, OFM Conv., to help achieve the reality of establishing a Catholic Center at KSU and be its campus minister. Father DeSantis has worked in education as a secondary school and college teacher, as a dean of admissions and as a campus minister. His passion for helping minister to youth is evident.

“Young people have not made all their life decisions. I like to be part of the mix, to help them sift and sort, journey with them . . . and encourage them,” said Father DeSantis.

A native of Baltimore, Father DeSantis entered the St Anthony of Padua Province of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in 1961 and was ordained in 1971. In addition to a master’s degree in theology, he holds a master of arts in English and has taught English at the secondary and college level.

Before coming to the archdiocese, he served as campus minister and English instructor at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury for three years. He was then called by his order to minister to men completing theological studies for the priesthood or formation for the religious brotherhood. Following that, from 1991-94 he was dean of admissions and registrar at Washington Theological Union in Takoma Park, Md.

While religious identification is not something universities can track unless students provide the information themselves, KSU last year had 1,400 students who identified themselves as Catholic. However, Father DeSantis estimates the full Catholic presence on campus is probably about 3,000 to 4,000 students.

A project of the “Building the Church of Tomorrow” capital campaign, the KSU Catholic Center has helped foster spiritual growth for students through fellowship, study and ministry since 1997. Father DeSantis credits the “availability of the center” as its major strength. This is evident in the number of social ministries, Masses, nightly functions, seasonal events and campus activities that the center promotes and brings to the community.

The core membership of the center is 35 to 40 people, but the center is “welcoming and hospitable to all,” according to Father DeSantis. A Catholic Student Union, with offices at the Catholic Center and in a campus building, elects officers each year and helps plan activities and programs.

The inviting and peaceful environment is evident as visitors drive along a back road of the university and come upon the entrance to the Catholic Center. Set on a wooded lot with a creek in front, the center looks like a home. In fact, it once was a residence and was purchased from a private citizen by the archdiocese to house the center. A family style room is at the heart of the center and two offices are down the hall for Father DeSantis and the administrative assistant. The center also contains a chapel and a well-equipped library with books on theology, spirituality, other religions and much more. A kitchen provides a means for even more community fellowship with lunches served four days a week after Mass. A deck completes the spaces for gathering and looks out over the serene backyard woods.

The KSU Catholic Center follows the guidelines for Catholic campus ministry by focusing on four pillars—spirituality, education, community and service.

Mass is celebrated Monday through Thursday at 12:30 p.m. when, because of the school calendar, students are less likely to have classes, and Mass is followed by a fellowship lunch open to all. Sunday Mass is at 4:30 p.m. Father DeSantis is also available for spiritual or vocational counseling and for the sacrament of reconciliation.

Ryan Anderson, a sophomore English education major from Savannah, is the newly elected president of the Catholic Student Union. He is particularly interested in building up the ways students can serve those in need.

“Last year we did a lot,” he said. “This year we are going to try to do more and get it organized.”

Interested in developing ideas with his fellow officers Dave Shields, Maryann D’Amico and Kim Hicks, Anderson said two of his priorities are to volunteer at the Kennesaw St. Vincent de Paul Society thrift store more frequently and to raise the funds so students can participate in Catholic Heart Work Camp next summer, an outreach to the poor he has done twice.

“The prayer and everything else adds to it, but being of service is my biggest thing. That’s why I want to be a teacher,” said Anderson, who served on the Savannah diocesan youth council when he was a high school senior and was active in his parish youth group.

He said daily Mass at the Catholic Center attracts a core group of students and is important to him and to others.

“We have a good number of people coming that are active. We have Mass every day. We probably have 15 or 20 come every day,” Anderson said. “For the most part I try to go every day.”

Freshmen learn about the Catholic Center during orientation bashes. “You can show them who you are and let them know you are a group on campus,” said Anderson, who went to four of 16 bashes held this year to represent the center.

He met Father DeSantis at the orientation he went to as a freshman and the priest now serves as his spiritual director.

“He is definitely a positive role model and a positive impact on our lives,” Anderson said.

Spirituality and education go hand in hand with many of the weeknight activities at the Catholic Center.

On Mondays, “Spirit & Truth” meets at 7:30 p.m. This group is an outgrowth of the TEC (To Encounter Christ) retreat program that focuses on keeping Christians’ prayer life alive. Students seek to deepen their relationship with Christ with an evening that consists of an icebreaker, a teaching, eucharistic adoration and a sharing session. “Spirit & Truth” groups have formed at other Catholic campus centers including Emory University and the University of Georgia and all groups come together for WOW (Wide Open Worship) on the third Monday night of the month at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta.

On Tuesdays at

8 p.m. a Christian Life group meets and seeks to follow the discipline of the Gospels.

On Wednesdays Scripture study is held at 8 p.m. Father DeSantis leads the evening by presenting themes. Topics are designed in short, three- to four-week sessions to work with the scheduling challenges faced by students, many of whom also work. This fall Father DeSantis hopes to introduce a study of film and Scripture where the theme of the weekly readings is examined alongside a similarly themed film.

Thursdays emphasize community with dinners, games and evenings of fellowship. To restart the fall semester, a welcome cookout will be held at the KSU Catholic Center on Thursday, Sept. 9, starting about 6:30 p.m.

The KSU Catholic Center has two primary service ministries that give students hands-on volunteer experience. Working with the St. Catherine of Siena Parish chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which has a thrift store in Kennesaw, students see firsthand the needs of those less fortunate in their immediate community. Students can also volunteer with Seamless Garment ministries, a house founded on Catholic Worker principles that seeks to promote life by housing pregnant women, helping with their needs and providing them a better way of life. Students can help with yard work, babysitting, cleaning and sorting donations.

Students of the KSU Catholic Center have also been a part of mission trips to the island of Jamaica to help abandoned and disabled children and adults in Mustard Seed communities.

Having KSU Catholic Center students be a part of campus-wide activities like food drives and donations is highly encouraged by Father DeSantis. He also tries to integrate the Catholic Center into campus life by holding Ash Wednesday and Thanksgiving Mass on campus and holding question and answer sessions for the public pegged “all you wanted to know about Catholicism but were too afraid to ask.”

For those interested in becoming a part of the KSU Catholic Center, visit www.ministryoncampus.org or call the center at (770) 423-9909. Those interested in deepening their relationship with Christ are also invited to join KSU Catholic Center students and other archdiocesan young adults between the ages of 19-40 on a TEC (To Encounter Christ) retreat Oct. 8-10 to be held at an area retreat center. The weekend is based on solid Catholic theological principles and seeks to provide a powerful experience in Christian living. Call Father Linus DeSantis, OFM Conv., at (770) 423-9909.