On April 18, 2021 nearly 100 students gathered in near-freezing temperatures at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota for a prayerful vigil following the killing of Daunte Wright by police officers in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. The vigil was part of a series of programs sponsored by the campus ministry department concerning racial justice. Student leaders, who in other years would have been busy organizing retreats and service immersion trips, directed their energy and attention to overcoming the sin of racism. While public health restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic made many campus ministry programs difficult to organize, students desired to be together and have their voices heard. So they found a way to make that happen.

Unfortunately, many students don’t have the chance to participate in such experiences during college. While large Catholic universities, Ivy League schools, and some other colleges have well-funded campus ministry programs with dedicated staff, many campuses—especially community colleges and those serving first-generation students—have little to no ministry programming. Moreover, even on a campus where the church is present, it sometimes reflects only one style of Catholicism. For example, not all students identify with the evangelical model of American Catholicism used in many well-known campus ministry programs. Some students report feeling unwelcome due to their racial, political, or sexual identities.