PS:  Oh, and we’ll have volleyball as well, for the leaping- and spiking-inclined.

PPS: If there are flash floods or something, we’ll have a movie at the Newman Center.

Getchur dancin’ boots, pardner; here we go!  The Newman Center’s annual barn dance is happening this Saturday, October 16 out at our little farm retreat in Ligonier, PA.  We’ll fire up the grill, bob for apples, take hayrides around a beautiful autumn scene, before dancing the night away down in our very own red-roof barn, with line and country dances called by local veteran Steve Staub.

We leave in carpools from the Newman Center starting at 2:00pm. Willing drivers are welcome to volunteer: directions and gas expense will be provided. Any (drivers or riders) who need to leave later can indicate you earliest available time, and we’ll try to accommodate passengers. Please contact Nancy at campusministry@pittsburghoratory.org to sign up, or Fr. Joshua for more details.

Have you ever dated a real jerk, but never noticed it till a week after the heartbreak? Were you ever in a relationship that seemed so right… until it just suddenly fell apart? Are you in a relationship now, and not exactly sure what direction to take it, or how to get there safely? Despite the default cultural presumption that relationships are for young people what flying is for young birds – you either just get it or you don’t – the studies are showing that youth are actually very good learners when it comes to the art of dating: it’s just that the teachers have not been so great.

That’s where Dr. John Van Epp, Ph.D., founder of LoveThinks, LLC, has something to offer.  He’s the author of, “How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk,” published by McGraw-Hill, which blends in-depth research with humorous stories to provide a map for making healthy relationship choices. His twenty-five years of clinical experience and extensive research in premarital, marital and family relations have paved the way for his teach-out-of-the-box courses, PICK (How to Avoid Falling for a Jerk) and Marriage LINKS to be taught in thousands of churches, singles organizations, educational settings and social agencies in all fifty states, ten countries and by more than 2,500 military personnel. Van Epp and his innovative Relationship Attachment Model, book and relationship courses were awarded the Smart Marriage Impact Award (2008) and have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Psychology Today, O Magazine, and Cosmopolitan; and he has appeared on the CBS Early Show, the O’Reilly Factor, Fox News, and Focus on the Family. He has been happily married for over thirty years and is the proud father of two daughters.

He will deliver his popular and effective presentation this coming Thursday, September 16, at 8:00pm, in the Cathedral of Learning, Room G-24 (**please note updated location**), University of Pittsburgh.  All students from any of the local universities are welcome; bring a friend, of any kind!

Bored on a Saturday Night?  Nothing to do but lay around and vegetate.  Well there might be a remedy for that.  On Saturday, Jan 16th at 8pm in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room there will an 80s Dance held by the Newman Club.  All are welcome to attend no matter if you’re from Pitt or Chatham or CMU or some other place.  Absolutely any student is invited so bring a friend; the cost will be $2, and food and drink and other yummy snacks will be provided, so get those old dusty 80s clothes out of the closet, come on down to the union,  and dance the night away.