Fifty years working with students in Cambridge

By Dwight Duncan in the Pilot

Fifty years is a long time. Fifty years ago, I was about to enter third grade in Rockville, Maryland. (I’m 58 now.) Newly-elected Pope John XXIII suddenly announced in late January 1959 that he was convoking an ecumenical council, Vatican II, to begin in the early Sixties. Senator John Kennedy of Massachusetts was gearing up for his successful run for president the following year. And on Follen Street in Cambridge, a block north of Cambridge Common and a couple of blocks away from Harvard Law School, the first Mass was celebrated at Elmbrook Student Center on Sept. 15, 1959.

Elmbrook is a corporate apostolate of Opus Dei, the Catholic prelature dedicated to fostering the search for holiness through daily work and the Christian’s ordinary duties. When I was an undergrad decades ago, the Harvard Crimson published an article about Elmbrook entitled “Holiness North of the Common.” While the title may have been intended ironically, at least the quest for holiness in ordinary secular life at Elmbrook is completely sincere. Since its founding, countless Boston-area college and graduate students have frequented Elmbrook for study, prayer and friendship. I should know, as I lived there from 1970 until 1973, and again from 1987 to the present--a quarter of a century (and half of Elmbrook’s existence)--so I’m hardly a disinterested observer.

Much has happened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Catholic Church, and the United States since those last days of the Fifties: the turbulent Sixties, the assassination of President Kennedy, Vatican II, Harvard student strikes, M.I.T. hacks, 9/11, and several wars and economic downturns. Throughout all that time, in a quiet but effective way, Elmbrook Student Center has been offering students an atmosphere conducive to cultivating both professionalism and the faith. We continue to have a weekly meditation for college men (a spiritual conference preached by our chaplain), circles or practical classes in Christian life, and student get-togethers with professors and area professionals.

College and grad school can be a challenging and difficult time in the lives of students, perhaps more so at places like Harvard and M.I.T., and other Boston-area colleges and universities. An oasis like Elmbrook for refreshing heart and soul has been a boon for many. I know it has been for me.