Carol Maddock:
more than just a Catholic minister
By
Kyle Kluth
One day 11
years ago, Carol Maddock, an accomplished Roman Catholic religious
advisor, arrived at the University of Rhode Island and officially
started her career as campus minister in the most Catholic state
in the country.
Being a campus
minister involves offering religious services and also monitoring
the Newman Club, an organization for URI students with a strong
Catholic faith. Maddock is also responsible for the demanding task
of offering grief and loss support to students and faculty at the
University.
Accoding to
Maddock, being a grief counseler involves expierence and and also
good listening skills. "I listen and validate a persons grief and
help the person find ways of making meaning in their life again,"
Maddock explains. "I also have taken five courses on death and loss
support here at URI."
Before working
with college students, Maddock was a religious education teacher
at Christ the King Parish in Kingston and also a campus minister
at Bay View, a Catholic high school in East Providence.
"I enjoy working
with college students," Maddock says. "I worked with high school
students for a number of years and realized that they were only
there because they had to be. Most of the students that I interact
with at URI come to me, or to the center, because they need our
guidance."
Maddock also
attempts to tackle the religious issue that seems like an epidemic
throughout the country. College students who were once very faithful
to their religions seem to simply abandon them all together as soon
as they arrive at college.
"I think that
some students take a break from an organized religion once they
get to college. Many students stop attending formalized religious
services because they are free to do so,² Maddock explains. "They
no longer have a parent telling them to attend and they are also
at the natural age in which you choose what you want to believe
in."
Maddock spends
most of her time at URI's Catholic
Center, on the eastern edge of the campus in Kingston. The Catholic
Center staff and students rely on Maddock for her supportive ways,
and also are quick to point out how valuable she is as a professional.
"Carol also
helps us with a lot of the logistical stuff," says Newman Club member
Michaela Maynard. "She takes care of most of the bills and paper
work at the center."
The most frustrating
issue for the center continues to be the issue of funding. According
to Maddock, the center is subsidized by the Catholic Charity Drive,
which continues to donate money that is never enough for the center's
budget.
"The Catholic
Center director and I are a team of two with a building to care
for. We have no secretary and no custodian because we can't afford
to pay them," Maddock says. "We have to do all of their work and
all the fund-raising just to keep the center in operation."
Maddock is
56 and currently lives in North Kingstown with her husband. They
have four adult children living in Hawaii; the youngest graduated
from URI two years ago. Outside of work, Maddock enjoys reading
and going to the beach.
Without Carol
Maddock, URI would no longer have a Catholic Center or a qualified
supporter for students in times of need. "She is truly a disciple
of Jesus,² Maynard says.²
