www.theleaven.com | Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas | Vol. 32, No. 13 october 29, 2010 The Catholic Campus Center at Washburn University in Topeka entered a float in the university’s homecoming parade on Oct. 23. On the float are: (standing) David Brandon White, Father Andrew Strobl, and Renea Langer; (seated, back to front) Steve and Teresa Schiffelbein; Sarah Ganser; Paul Wagner, the faculty advisor to the Catholic Campus Center; and Chris Sachs, husband of former director, Janelle Sachs.
Visiting during the center’s open house held on Oct. 24 as part of the activities to mark its 40th anniversary are: Msgr. Vince Krische, the first director of the Catholic Campus Center at Washburn University; Kathleen Rosetta, the center’s bookkeeper; and Toni Lippincott.
a capital idea
Leaven photos by Marc Anderson
Father George Seuferling (left), Msgr. Vince Krische, Father Matthew Schiffelbein, and Father Andrew Strobl celebrate the 40th anniversary Mass of the Catholic Campus Center at Washburn University on Oct. 24. Begun in August 1970, the center opened in October that same year with Msgr. Krische as its first director. Fathers Strobl and Schiffelbein are both former members of the center and were ordained as archdiocesan priests in May 2009. Father Strobl served as student president of the center from 2003-04. Retired from active ministry, Father Seuferling often celebrates Mass at the center.
Washburn Catholic Campus Center recalls unusual beginings at 40th anniversary Mass Story by Marc and Julie Anderson
T
OPEKA — The knock on the door of Dorothy Palmquist’s home on a Sunday afternoon in July 1970 was a surprise. The bigger surprise was who knocked. The three men weren’t salesmen, but two Catholic priests and an archbishop. They weren’t selling. They were buying. This unorthodox beginning to the Washburn Catholic Campus Center was related by Msgr. Vince Krische in his homily at a Mass at the center Oct. 24 celebrating its 40th anniversary. Archbishop Ignatius J. Strecker was the visionary who saw the need for a Catholic stu-
dent center at Washburn University and he personally got it going. One July afternoon in 1970, Archbishop Strecker invited then-Father Vince Krische and Father Jack Quinlan, pastor of Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish in Topeka, on a little road trip. “He was such a great real estate man,” said Msgr. Krische. “He knew location, location, location.” The archbishop took them to a house at 17th and Jewell, directly opposite the Washburn campus. They got out and knocked on the door, and a puzzled Palmquist answered. The archbishop asked Palmquist if she would be interested in selling her house to the Turn to “CAMPUS CENTER” on page 3