The Blessed John Henry Newman Dinner is an evening hosted by the University of Prince Edward Island’s Catholic Studies program and the Canadian Catholic Students’ Association.  Its aim is to honour the Catholic heritage of UPEI’s founding institution, Saint Dunstan’s University, as well as how the Catholic intellectual and ministerial traditions continue to serve today’s students on the UPEI campus. Each year, the Newman Dinner recognized its annual Newman Fellow, an academic or ecclesial leader whose distinguished career flows from the spirit of Cardinal Newman’s ministry, commitment, and contribution to Catholic higher education. The Newman Dinner has three aims: 1) an evening of fellowship and a celebration of community; 2) sharing the good work of the Catholic Studies program and the Canadian Catholic Students’ association; 3) to fundraise in support of global and/or experiential learning opportunities.  Proceeds from the 2017 dinner will support a group of eight students and two faculty/staff on a service-learning experience in Honduras planned for February 2018. Participants will work with the Congregation of Notre Dame on manual work projects and learn more about the spiritual and cultural heritage of this region of Latin America. Fellows of the Newman Dinner: 2015, Dr. Peter Erb (Founding Saint Dunstan’s Visiting Scholar of Catholic Studies); 2016, Fr. Thomas Rosica CSB (CEO of Salt and Light Media & English-Language Media Attaché to the Vatican; 2017, Dr. Don McDougall (Chancellor, UPEI).   Dr. McDougall’s talk is titled, “What the Blue Jays Should Learn from Cardinal Newman.” A tradition of the Newman Dinner is to follow the keynote speaker with two student reflectors. This year’s reflectors are Lorelei Kenny and Bethany Dunn. Lorelei and Bethany will be speaking on their experience in the May 2017 course, “Rome: Christianity and Culture,” taught over a three week period in Rome, Italy.  The experience was funded by the Saint Dunstan’s Institute of Christianity and Culture (itself formed out of a major bequest to the Inspire Campaign by the SDU Board of Governors) and brought ten students and two faculty members for an experiential-learning opportunity in Rome. “Saint Dunstan’s University, which operated for more than a 100 years and whose historic campus UPEI now sits,” said Dr. Robert Dennis, Religious Studies, “had incredible student traditions. The Newman Dinner is built on this foundation. Through the generosity of benefactors, many students are able to attend the evening. Newman has become a tradition for the twenty-first century.”