A Catholic Studies credit course may be introduced by Iowa State’s Religious Studies department after a permanent chair is endowed through the Capital Campaign organized and run by the St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ames. The church is also expanding its student center.

According to Pastor Everett Hemann, who is in charge of the fund-raising program, the church’s goal is to raise $5.6 million in order to build an addition to the church’s Student Center, as well as to endow a Catholic studies chair at Iowa State, the first full-time teaching position in this discipline.

No fund raising efforts were done in conjunction with ISU, but the ISU Foundation, which specializes in fund raising programs, has given them some guidance in terms of how to meet the goal.

“ISU Foundation receives the money which is for endowing the chair, or I should say, they actually endow the chair,” Hemann said.

Hemann said that another facet of ISU’s involvement is that a tentative agreement for the endowment was reached between the church and Elizabeth Hoffman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, as well as Mary Sawyer, director and associate professor in the religious studies department.

“I see it as a positive value for many people. A fair percentage of students in our classes (non-credit Catholic studies courses offered by the church) are not Catholics, and it is a positive thing for them. It is an opportunity for everyone to learn about our religion,” he said.

The chair will be named after the founder of the church, James Supple. Hemann said more alumni and other people will be willing to donate because they know Supple well. “He loves college students, and college students love him,” said Hemann. The endowment will commence during the church’s 50th anniversary, in 1997.

Hemann said that about $3 million has been raised so far. About half of the funds were from permanent parishioners. Another $100,000 was donated by other Catholic parishes throughout Iowa.

The third largest source of funds was ISU alums – Catholic students who went to school at ISU and were former church members.

“We do all of the fund raising ourselves, so we can’t do all of the things at one time,” said Hemann.

The church’s fund raising efforts will target a number of groups of people, as well as grant money. The project has already won two grants.

“We have offices, a library, a lounge and a few classrooms in our Student Center, which was built 45 years ago,” said Hemann. “There are about 5,500 Catholic students at Iowa State now, so we are 4 times as big. But we are still in this building,” Hemann said. The new phase will include more offices, classrooms, as well as places for peer ministers to live.