Catholic Student Organization gives students place for faith

The Catholic Student Organization, also known as the CSO, is an active student group at A&M-Commerce with about 15 to 20 regularly participating members.

The CSO is led by the Rev. George Monaghan, campus minister Dr. Joe Webber and bible study leader Veronica Juarez. It is a growing organization that is open to all students.

"As an organization we provide a social group in a Catholic church setting that is open to all students, Catholic and non-Catholic," CSO President James Pappas said.

The CSO meets every Wednesday night with a variety of different activities. They meet at St. Joseph Catholic Church to say the rosary at 6 p.m., mass at 6:30 p.m. and end the meeting with dinner and a bible study at 7 p.m..

"This is a fun, interactive time of learning, sharing and growing in our faith," CSO Vice President of Marketing and Recruitment Haley Mull said. "We do other events as well, but they are at the request of the students. We are always open to new ideas."

The organization has participated in Mane Event and is involved in the Commerce Relay for Life and Artists for Abolition.

"Currently we are fundraising for Relay for Life," CSO member Jared Peckham said. "There are two ways to help support our efforts, either with cash donations or pledging a certain amount of money per pound that I lose until April 15."

Pledges and donations for the Relay of Life can be made at a CSO table in the Sam Rayburn Student Center.

The CSO is involved in the campus and community through these various activities and plans to expand as a group.

"We are a growing organization, so we are not as involved as we would like to be or plan to be, but we are still forming and collecting numbers and growing," Mull said. "There is so much potential there."

There are future plans for more activities as the group continues to grow.

"We're currently looking at scheduling more social events in the upcoming semesters, including video game nights and weekend retreats," Pappas said.

Anyone interested in joining the CSO can attend the weekly meetings on Wednesday nights.

"Anyone is welcome; you do not have to be Catholic," Mull said. "All you have to do is bring yourself and have a good time with the rest of us sharing our faith and the love of God to others."