Dear Editor,

When I arrived on the Syracuse University campus in 2016, I was tasked by Chancellor Syverud with strengthening a Catholic community—a welcoming community that opens its door and feels safe for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and people of all faiths or no faiths.

The Chancellor shared his thoughts, his wisdom and his heart with me, and I was moved by his commitment to the well-being of the students in his charge. He understood and reaffirmed the importance of an inclusive faith community—indeed of any community where people congregate to seek understanding and solidarity.

Thanks to his support and many others, we now see evidence of this community each and every Thursday evening at the Catholic Center on 110 Walnut Place. This past week, more than 70 students joined us after our 7 p.m. Mass for our community dinner. As I walked around introducing myself to first-time attendees, I was told they were friends of Sarah, or a roommate of Matt’s, some of our faithful parishioners who felt quite comfortable inviting their non-Catholic friends to share in our community dinner. My thought, simply, was “the more the merrier.”

On the last Thursday of the month, after dinner, we invite our students to “pay-it-forward” by making sandwiches for the poor. More than 90 students of diverse faiths, colors, and creeds unite in a community effort, working side by side, to address the Herculean task of feeding the homeless. I like to think that the Catholic Center is a safe haven for any student seeking communal or quiet time for prayer, meditation, introspection, service opportunities or study time.

I remain an advocate for our students and a supporter of all that the Chancellor and the University are doing to ensure our students’ safety and well-being. I believe it is our shared responsibility to create the kind of inclusive campus community that we collectively aspire to be.

I leave you with this: “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, as God has forgiven you in Christ.” (Ephesians 4:32)

Sincerely,

Father Gerry Waterman, OFM Conv.
Catholic Chaplain

Syracuse University and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Published on December 11, 2019 at 4:13 pm