VIDEO: Brooklyn College Newman Center Sees Renewal in Historic House
FLATBUSH, N.Y. — Inside a house on the corner of a tree-lined street in Flatbush, something new is taking root. Students sit around a dining room table exploring their faith together. They’re members of the Brooklyn College Newman Club — and the house is the Newman Center.
“It is a place for students to have prayer, to have fellowship, to just gather and find community,” campus minister Kayla DeWitt said.
The house was built in the 1930s and shows its age. DeWitt says there’s a renewed sense of mission to revive both the building and the club — making it a vital part of campus life for Catholics and those who are curious.
“We have a lot of hope for the physical repairs. And I think just being able to come here as campus minister and make the differences that I was really praying for for years, it’s meant a lot to me,” she said.
Right now there are about 20 registered members — with more interested students coming through the door every week. At the center of the house and hopes for the club’s future is the Holy Spirit Chapel.
“This chapel is pretty small, but I hope that we outgrow it,” DeWitt said.
“I’m hoping there will be so many people at the chapel at mass that it’ll be basically like bursting the house,” said Newman Club vice president Agnieszka Wysocka.
Father Jose Diaz, director of campus ministry for the Diocese of Brooklyn, says outreach initiatives on social media and on campus keep the club visible. The goal is simple but powerful — help young Catholics encounter their faith and each other in a place that feels like home.
“Students have been coming to mass. There’s been fellowship after the masses. They’ve started their Bible study. They’re having theology talks now. And I think college students, you’re at a point in your life where you need some answers, right? And so this is a place where you can come and be. And so something as simple as our walls and painting, we want it to feel like a home away from home,” Father Diaz said. “And I think that we’re on the way there.”