Religion — and Catholicism in particular —has always been a major force at USC. Like most private universities, USC's early history was church-affiliated, In 1880, Troy's inclusive character was clear: its three founders – a Protestant, a Catholic and a Jew – had written into the charter that admission was to be open to all races and all faiths. By 1928 Catholics made up 15 percent of the student population. Today, there are no fewer than 57 active religious groups on campus. Catholic students represent over one-third of the student body accounting for over 10,000 Catholic students at USC. Today USC has one of the largest populations of enrolled Roman Catholic students of any university west of the Mississippi, making it one of the most influential university constituencies in the country. The USC Catholic Center has eighty years of rich history on which to build. In the autumn of 1923, a group of 62 students formed the Newman Club at USC. The El Rodeo yearbook read, “The organization of the Newman Club came as the result of the desire to provide for Catholic students a means of becoming acquainted and to give them an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the literature of their church.”

Forty years earlier, the Catholic student group at the University of Pennsylvania was the first to use the name Newman, after the recently deceased Cardinal John Henry Newman of England who wrote the seminal work, “The Idea of the University.” Today many campus ministry programs now associate their Catholic Centers with the universities they serve, thus our name USC Catholic Center.

In 1944 the Newman Club was reorganized, with help from then undergraduate student, Rod Dedeaux, who went on to become the legendary USC baseball coach. To this day Rod Dedeaux remains active at the Catholic Center by serving as an Honorary Member on the Advisory Board of Directors. By 1944, the Club had its first Chaplain, Fr. Thomas Connelly of the Congregation of the Mission order. The Club took a giant step forward on Sunday, October 5, 1958 when the current facility costing $250,000 was dedicated by Cardinal McIntyre and Fr. Joseph Weyer was installed as the first pastor of Our Savior Parish and Catholic Center located just across the street from the USC Campus. The Center has been a stable presence in campus life since. Many of our current traditions and practices, such as our retreats to Big Bear and our community service programs, stem from this early era.

In 1993 Father William Messenger was installed as pastor by Cardinal Roger Mahony, replacing the Servite Fathers that had shepherded the parish for a number of years. The Center has grown dramatically in student involvement and programming opportunities over the last decade. Perhaps most importantly, the USC Catholic Center serves as a central gathering place where USC students form spiritual, social, cultural, and intellectual connections. Such gathering places are a crucial factor in student retention and graduation — a defining point in the way alumni identify with their alma mater. All students are invited to use the center as a meeting place where, before or after classes, they can catch up on studies or make new friends. By fostering informal social interaction the USC Catholic Center helps students avert potential feelings of isolation, fosters lifelong connections, and provides a physical home away from home for experiences that deepen the lessons learned in classrooms, laboratories, and lecture halls.

And now we are poised for the next chapter in the history of Catholic Trojans. On July 1, 2005 Fr. Lawrence Seyer became the new Pastor for the USC Catholic Community. With the help of a dedicated Advisory Board comprised of USC Catholic alumni and friends we have embarked on an ambitious capital campaign drive to expand our services and facilities, with the goal of fostering an even stronger sense of Catholic community at USC.