RDG in the Media: Elevated Worship Reflects a New Vision for Catholic Campus Ministry
As college campuses grow and student centers reach capacity, Catholic communities are faced with both a challenge and an opportunity: how to create spaces that honor sacred traditions while supporting vibrant spiritual practice.
To meet this demand, Newman Centers are turning to traditional ecclesiastical design, drawing inspiration from Gothic and Romanesque styles to create spaces that embody a theology of beauty and support the spiritual lives of students. One prime example of this is St. Paul’s University Catholic Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Originally established as "The Melvin Club,” St. Paul's became the first Catholic chapel at a secular university in the United States and gave birth to what would grow into the worldwide Newman movement. In 2017, RDG Planning & Design partnered with Matthew Alderman Studios to bring the vision of a spiritual sanctuary to life in a renovated catholic center that would become a place where Catholic students can study and worship together.
St. Paul’s University Catholic Center was highlighted in a recent National Catholic Register article exploring how architecture impacts Catholic campus ministry spaces. The chapel exemplifies how design celebrates community through its “bright, bold expression of the sacred.” At the facility's heart is a chapel that follows Catholic traditions paired with a contemporary aesthetic.
RDG’s design blends Romanesque revival elements with design cues from Rome’s historic basilicas, forming a “new traditionalism” that unites ancient symbolism with contemporary intent. Beyond the chapel, the design incorporates spaces to host community gatherings, transforming the center into a ministry hub that meets the needs of a vibrant faith community and stands as a visual and spiritual landmark within the university landscape.