Catholic Campus Ministry

About Catholic Campus Ministry at Wright State

Catholic Campus Ministry — popularly known as Raider Catholic — is the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Catholic outreach to students of Wright State University, a public commuter campus in Fairborn, Ohio (Dayton metro). Housed in St. John Bosco Chapel at 3650 Colonel Glenn Highway, the ministry welcomes Catholic students, students of other faiths, and the curious into a community centered on the Eucharist, the sacraments, Scripture, fellowship, and service. Its mission is to invite every member of the Wright State community to encounter, follow, and share Jesus Christ and His Church.

History

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has staffed Catholic campus ministry at Wright State since 1968, four years after the university opened. The first on-campus chapel was a small, A-frame structure built by students from a vacation home kit in 1971 and meant only as a temporary worship space. As Wright State grew to roughly 18,000 students, the A-frame could seat only about 60 for Mass and was not wheelchair-accessible. In July 2006 the Rev. Edward Burns was appointed director and charged with replacing it. The Archdiocese sold four of its five on-campus acres to the university, and roughly $1 million was raised from the Archdiocese, the land sale, private donors, and AM Management. Architect The Collaborative Inc. of Toledo designed the new chapel; ground was broken in March 2012 and Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr dedicated the building on October 28, 2012. In 2013 it won an AIA Ohio Design Award.

• 1968 — Archdiocese of Cincinnati begins Catholic campus ministry at WSU
• 1971 — Original A-frame chapel built by students from a vacation home kit (temporary from the start)
• July 2006 — Rev. Edward Burns appointed director by the Archdiocese
• March 2012 — Groundbreaking for the new St. John Bosco Chapel & Center
• October 28, 2012 — Dedication Mass celebrated by Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr
• 2013 — AIA Ohio Design Award
• c. 2018 — Father Burns reassigned as pastor of St. Michael Parish, Sharonville
• 2020 — Father Tim Fahey begins as Director of Catholic Campus Ministry
• 2022 — St. Barbara Byzantine Catholic Chapel begins worshipping in St. John Bosco Chapel
• May 17, 2025 — Rev. Jarred Kohn ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
• Effective July 1, 2025 — Rev. Jarred Kohn appointed Chaplain/Director at Wright State

St. John Bosco Chapel and Center

St. John Bosco Chapel is a 5,000-square-foot, contemporary worship and ministry complex designed by The Collaborative Inc. of Toledo and dedicated in October 2012. It sits at the edge of a wooded campus lot, with a beacon-like entry tower, metal-panel and redwood exterior, and 16-foot windows that frame the surrounding mature trees. Inside, a sloped roof provides acoustic balance over a concrete floor, and a movable baptismal font allows flexibility for the college-aged congregation. The chapel seats roughly 150, and the adjoining center adds a fully equipped kitchen, a multipurpose room, a gathering space, staff offices, and meeting/lounge space. The building is fully wheelchair-accessible — a deliberate choice given Wright State's reputation for disability access — and won a 2013 AIA Ohio Design Award.

• Architect: The Collaborative Inc., Toledo, Ohio
• Square footage: ~5,000 sq ft
• Seating: ~150 in the worship space
• Exterior: metal panels and redwood cladding
• Notable features: entry tower, 16-foot full-height windows, sloped acoustic roof, movable font, concrete floor
• Award: 2013 AIA Ohio Design Award
• Patron: St. John Bosco (named for the Jamaican boys' home served on mission trips since 1998)

Bosco Night and Weekly Fellowship

Bosco Night is the signature weekly event of Raider Catholic, held every Wednesday during the academic year and beginning around 7:15 pm, immediately after the 6:30 pm Mass. Each Bosco Night bundles Adoration, Confession, Mass, a free dinner, and a social or catechetical element — ranging from cornhole tournaments, bonfires, scavenger hunts, Oktoberfest, karaoke, bouquet-making, and Halloween and Christmas parties, to serious catechetical discussions on dating, virtues, scrupulosity, and Catholicism in the movies. The Thursday-night Alpha series offers a low-pressure venue for non-Catholics and seekers to ask the big questions of life.

• Bosco Night: Wednesdays, 7:15 pm, after the 6:30 pm Mass
• Alpha discussion series: Thursdays, 7:30 pm at the Chapel
• Free dinner included at Bosco Night
• Halloween Party, Christmas Party, and other seasonal socials

Bible Studies and Small Groups

Raider Catholic runs separate men's and women's Bible studies throughout the academic year, all coordinated through the raidercatholics.org website. The FOCUS missionary team also disciples students one-on-one and in small groups. Alpha on Thursday evenings and the catechetical portion of Bosco Night supplement these Bible studies, and many students meet their closest friends in this network of small groups.

• Men's Bible Study (sign-ups on the website)
• Women's Bible Study (sign-ups on the website)
• One-on-one discipleship with FOCUS missionaries
• Alpha (Thursdays, 7:30 pm) — seeker-friendly discussion series

OCIA — Becoming Catholic

Adults and college-age students who want to become Catholic go through the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA, formerly RCIA), organized at the chapel by Campus Minister John Davis — himself a convert whose faith began at this very ministry. The chapel welcomed nine new Catholics the year before the 2024 Catholic Telegraph profile, and 24 more students signed up for OCIA that academic year. Inquirers can contact John Davis at [email protected].

• OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) — led by Campus Minister John Davis
• Baptism, Confirmation, and First Eucharist received at the Easter Vigil
• Contact: [email protected]

Service and Mission Trips

Service is integral to Raider Catholic's identity. Since 1998 the ministry has organized an annual mission trip to the St. John Bosco Home for Boys in Mandeville, Jamaica — the inspiration for the chapel's name. Local service projects, retreats, and the student Ministry Team extend this missionary impulse into the Dayton-Fairborn community year-round.

• Annual mission trip to St. John Bosco Home for Boys, Mandeville, Jamaica (since 1998)
• Student Ministry Team (organizes Bosco Nights, seasonal parties, service projects)
• Local service projects in the WSU and Dayton community

Staff

The current team includes a chaplain-priest, a lay campus minister, an administrative assistant, a director of communications, and four full-time FOCUS missionaries — recent college graduates sent by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students to disciple students on campus.

• Rev. Jarred Kohn — Chaplain
• John Davis — Campus Minister (WSU alumnus and convert)
• Joan LaPore — Administrative Assistant
• Kevin Heider — Director of Communications
• Serena Hilton — FOCUS Missionary
• Maggie Wischmann — FOCUS Missionary
• Elias Reyes — FOCUS Missionary
• Moses Morgan — FOCUS Missionary