St. Pier Giorgio Frassati Newman House

Who are we?

St. Pier Giorgio Frassati Newman House inspires faith in Catholic and non-Catholic students at Chadron State College. While our Newman House has been serving the CSC community for over 50 years, we have become ever increasingly aware of how little is known about our ministry through the state of Nebraska. Please consider supporting us so that we can continue to inspire Catholic missionary disciples on campus, proclaim the goodness God is doing in the lives of our students beyond Chadron, and provide opportunities for CSC students to encounter God through mission, retreat, and pilgrimage.

How will your donations be used?

All donations received from the Nebraska Catholic Day of Giving will go directly to the students. This coming year we hope to provide the opportunity for many students to encounter Jesus in a variety of powerful experiences. All of the donations we receive will be put towards scholarships for these experiences:

- SEEK Conference - January 1-5 in San Antonio, TX. Because of the distance, all of the students attending SEEK will need to fly. We are estimating it will be about $1,300 for each student to attend the conference. This past year we were able to take 14 students and hope to take even more students next year with your help. 

- Spring Retreat - February 26-28 in Rapid City, SD. This has become a yearly highlight for the students at Newman. In the past this retreat has been $70 per student and we would love the opportunity to provide need based scholarships for this retreat as well.

- WYD 2027 - August 1-10 in Seoul, South Korea. While this is not a Newman specific trip, we would like to provide support to any students who want to join the Grand Island diocese for this once in a lifetime World Youth Day experience. The pilgrimage is around $4,000 per student. 

Why St. Pier Giorgio Frassati?

During my first month at Newman, one of the students asked me, “Why do we not have a special patron like other Newman centers, and can we have one?” This began an informal discussion that continued into last year. When we heard that St. Pier Giorgio Frassati was going to be canonized in September 2025, the conversations increased and he was the one saint that continued to come into conversation. After the canonization, Bishop Hanefeldt officially named our house, the St. Pier Giorgio Frassati Newman House.

One of the most famous phrases from Frassati is "Verso l'Alto" meaning "to the heights!" This phrase correlates beautifully to Chadron’s mascot, the Eagle, as well as the beauty of nature in this region of Nebraska with C Hill and the state park. In addition to this, we find Frassati to be an inspiring example of simple, heroic living. He shows us that simply through living our daily lives intentionally, generously, and authentically as the individual God called us to be, that we can become holy. He brought his friends to Jesus and Mary through nature and the sacraments, much as we desire to do at Newman. He once said, "The higher we go the better we shall hear the voice of Christ." This reflects the spiritual mindset we desire to instill within the CSC students we encounter, to lift our hearts and minds to the Triune God.

One of my favorite quotes from Frassati is from the final days of his life. He said, "You ask me if I am cheerful; and how could I not be? As long as faith gives me strength, I will always be cheerful." This is the spirit we desire to have at Newman, a joy that perseveres through all difficulties of life and that is rooted in faith. We pray that St. Pier Giorgio Frassati can be as much of an inspiration to you, as he is to us!