It goes by the name Newman Catholic Center, but the immense building nestled in a valley behind Andrews and Lawson halls is anything but an exclusive club of Catholics. This academic year, the center’s director Roy Lanham and chaplain Father Chris Brey became campus fixtures for students of all faiths. The Daily Eastern News named Brey and Lanham its People of the Year because they took the initiative to provide essential services to the community during a trying year.

In July of 2001, an Eastern student was murdered in her apartment. Last February, the campus-and much of the state-relived the horror of Shannon McNamara’s violent death when Anthony Mertz was tried for and convicted of murdering her.

Brey and Lanham, reporters and Ms. McNamara’s friends, family and Alpha Phi sorority sisters sat in a courtroom for nearly five weeks, enduring graphic photos of the murder scene and autopsy, hearing tales of other women Mertz allegedly sexually assaulted or killed and learning the terrifying details of how Mertz broke into her apartment.

All of those people and many more had the opportunity to seek solace in a prayer vigil at the Newman Center held early in the trial.

“Our goal was first to provide comfort and consolation for (Ms. McNamara’s) family, and second to try and be an instrument of healing for everyone close to her, especially the Alpha Phis,” Brey said.

The McNamaras are Catholic, Lanham said, but the Newman Center would have worked with them on a service for Shannon even if they hadn’t been.

“If Shannon had been Lutheran we would have sent a note to the family,” he said.

Brey said he tried to remain with the McNamaras at the trial as much as possible.

“I remember being with them on the day of the verdict,” Brey said. “I stayed as long as I could to be there at that moment, and there was a spontaneous moment of prayer among the folks waiting around.”

Despite their support for the McNamara’s, who wanted Mertz sentenced to death, Lanham and Brey stuck to their convictions and publicly protested the use of the death penalty.

“There was some anger,” Lanham said. “People asked ‘How could you do this?'”

But their faith dictated that human life was not something to be taken in revenge.

“It has to do with justice and concern for the sacredness of life,” Lanham said.

Still, having to hear of all Mertz’s evil deeds, and neither Brey nor Lanham hesitates to call him evil, made standing by those ideals difficult at times.

“It made me question my faith. I don’t know if it was a test of faith,” Brey said. “As I walked alongside the family and the community in the courtroom…and as I saw the evil present, I did question my own personal beliefs regarding the death penalty. But I knew and I know that no matter how evil a person is, that person is still created in the image and likeness of God.

“Personally, the difficulty was to be present to the McNamaras and pray with them desiring the same verdict, yet a different sentence.”

Lanham and Brey again became a support system for the community when America attacked Iraq. At times, the Newman Center protested the war, pushing for a nonviolent resolution. Other times, they just offered a time and place for those who needed support in a time of fear and loss.

Lanham, who has been at the Newman Center 17 years, organized vigils, rallies and marches early this academic year when the threat of war with Iraq first began to loom over the nation. While the Newman Center is decidedly anti-war, Brey and Lanham welcomed those with different opinions into their circles of prayer.

As with their action to support the McNamaras and fight the death penalty, the Newman Center’s devotion to opposing the war stemmed from beliefs of nonviolence.

“We must lend our voice to justice,” Lanham said. “Whenever we see injustice, we must speak out against it.”

Lanham has done that with more bravery than many would guess. The soft-spoken man was arrested during a protest in Georgia at the former School of the Americas several years ago when he and a pair of students crossed into the base. He still says it was worth it.

“My faith demands of me a response.”

While Brey and Lanham claim strong convictions in a number of areas, they still keep their chapel open around the clock for anyone of any background to pray or meditate. And they come. Lanham said an entire fraternity visited the chapel on the eve of their tugs competition during the last Greek Week.

Brey said he feels as though the Newman Center has a strong connection to university life.

“I take our position literally: We are at the base of this campus,” he said alluding to the center’s location at the south most end of campus.

It is where interfaith movements like Haiti Connection, Habitat for Humanity, the Fair Trade Coalition and Alternative Spring have found their home base.

“One of the reasons for so many social justice activities here is that it is written on the fiber of Roy’s heart,” Brey said.