By Dannicka McGrath, Photo Editor
Have you ever wondered about the history behind the places you frequent, learn, work, or even live? Heritage Month is a time to learn more about Newman University's history.
Heritage Month, which is happening now, always offers a long list of activities. It started on Feb. 1 and will run through March 4.
Heritage Month is meant as a celebration of Newman’s founders – Saint Maria DeMattias, founder of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, and the school’s namesake, St. John Henry Newman – and of its Catholic traditions.
“So, we actually bookend, so to speak, Heritage Month with celebrating Maria’s birthday and the foundation of The Adorers and about in the middle put Newman’s birthday celebration, and we couple that with High Tea,” said Sister Therese Wetta, Newman’s director of mission integration and the head of Heritage Month activities.
Heritage Month kicked off on Feb. 1 with the opening of the St. Newman exhibit in the Dugan Library. The exhibit will remain on display through Feb. 28.
Another Heritage Month activity was the campus-wide Medallion Hunt, which was set to run Feb. 3 through 7 and invited students to hunt for a hidden medallion using hints published in the Jet Broadcast.
This year, though, the hunt lasted only two days. Senior Jasmine Guerrero found the medallion after just two hints were published. It was in front of the Dugan Library, hidden underneath a rock. Guerrero gets a $100 prize.
Remaining Heritage Month activities include the annual High Tea, which will be from 2 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Dugan Gorges Conference Center. The event, intended to mirror the type of celebrations that happened in St. Newman’s time, features a spread of food and tea, and it’s free to attend.
High Tea, started in the 1980s by faculty who wanted to honor St. Newman, also offers volunteer hours for students who need them.
“It’s not an event to just come work and volunteer,” Wetta said. “It’s an event to come in and enjoy the tea and the special foods and sit and relax and just chat.”
Students and faculty are invited to dress up in “tea attire.”
“You will see some faculty come with a more special dress, and they’ll have hats and they’ll have gloves…,” Wetta said. “The important thing is to come in, enjoy it, and sample some foods.”
Following is a list of other Heritage Month activities that are scheduled:
Feb. 21: Mass celebrating the feast of St. Newman at noon in the St. John’s Chapel
Feb. 23-24: Presentations by Wyatt Olivas, a student at the University of Wyoming and a participating member of the U.S. delegation to the Synod on Synodality. Olivas will share his experiences and explain his hopes for youth involvement in the Catholic church. He’ll speak at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23 and Feb. 24 in DeMattias Performance Hall. He’ll also present at a mission luncheon at noon on Feb. 24 in the Tarcisia Roths Alumni Center.
Feb. 26: Newman’s sixth annual Giving Day, a big fundraising event for Newman that will include games, prizes, community events and celebrations.
Feb. 28: The Board of Trustees will have its monthly meeting, during which Heritage Month student contest winners will present their entries.
March 1: Student spiritual day of quiet reflection.
March 4: Heritage month closes with a mass scheduled for noon in St. John’s Chapel that will be followed by a social celebrating the founding of the ASC.
PHOTO: Courtesy, Newman Today
