Group fosters community to promote vocation to marriage
In the fall of 2024, two students founded the Married and Parenting Students Club (MPSC). The group is “dedicated to supporting students who are balancing the demands of academics with marriage and/or parenting responsibilities,” according to club founder and president Carlos Macias, a senior studying neuroscience and behavior.
According to Macias, the club aims “to empower our members to succeed both in their academic pursuits and family roles, promoting personal growth, resilience, and a healthy work-life balance.” MPSC focuses on parenting resources as well, helping students to be “role models to inspire their children to prioritize higher education and to create bright futures for families.”
In an interview with the Rover, Macias explained his motivation for starting the club, describing how he and his wife, Allison, came to Notre Dame “excited to make some friends.” Initially, as married students, they struggled: “It was really hard to find a community of undergraduates and live that expected undergraduate Notre Dame experience,” Macias remarked.
From the beginning, Macias had been advised to go to the Family Resource Center (FRC), where he and his wife met a variety of other couples who expressed similar aspirations and frustrations to his own, saying, “We have the same experiences. We feel like we’re hiding away in this little corner, where nobody knows who we are or where we are, and we just want to make some friends and have a community.”
After a conversation with the FRC director, Peggy Hnatusko, Macias felt compelled to start the MPSC, saying, “The challenge to that was that the FRC was limited due to funding to only serving married and parenting and pregnant students and no single or engaged or dating individual could join any of the events. … We came up with the Married and Parenting Students Club as an opportunity to allow all individuals to participate and foster a family-friendly community that is geared towards the vocation of marriage and is supporting beautiful, healthy families in our communities here.”
MPSC hosted their first event, a club dinner, on February 21. Over 40 people were in attendance, exceeding the club’s expectations. Macias said, “It was such a beautiful time to see how many people are in need of this community that fosters a gear towards love and healthy relationships.”
Jackie Nguyen, Right to Life president, stressed the importance of the event to the Rover, saying, “Right to Life fully supports the Married and Parenting Students Club. MPSC provides a space where those who have chosen to pursue the vocation of parenthood and marriage can grow in community with one another and be supported by mutual experiences, while sharing their vocation with those who are discerning the vocation.”
Nguyen continued, “MPSC’s witness provides a beacon of hope to not only those who are discerning marriage themselves, but also to students who may find themselves in a time of unintended pregnancy and parenthood. Their witness promotes the culture of life we hope to build at Notre Dame and it’s been a great joy to get to know these beautiful families.”
As it continues to grow, MPSC hopes to expand its programming. One of the club’s goals is to host an annual dance for its members. Although dances are a fairly frequent experience for Notre Dame students, Macias noted, “Because I’ve never belonged to a dorm, I’ve never been to a dance. I’ve never been invited to one. And oftentimes when the university has dances you can only buy a ticket for yourself. And I often go, ‘Can I bring my wife? I don’t feel as comfortable going to the dance without my wife.’ And it’s always ‘No, sorry, you can’t.’” Macias hopes an annual dance will help to make married and parenting students feel included in the typical undergraduate experience at Notre Dame.
Additionally, MPSC expects to host talks. “Going forward we’re going to be working with Campus Ministry here in this next month, partnering with Suzy Younger for her program called ‘Dating under the Dome,’” Macias said.
In light of the club’s development, Macias is optimistic about the future of MPSC: “I really just hope that families can continue to flourish here at Notre Dame and we start to expand our idea of what it is to be the Notre Dame family.”
Students interested in joining MPSC can email the club at mpsc@nd.edu.
Bridgette Rodgers is a junior studying political science and theology. You can contact her at brodger4@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: Facebook
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