Cardinal Newman Society

The Cardinal Newman Society is an American 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization founded in 1993 that is dedicated to promoting and defending faithful Catholic education. The organization is guided by Cardinal John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University and Pope John Paul II's 1990 Apostolic Constitution, Ex Corde Ecclesiae. The organization claims a membership of more than 20,000.

It should not be confused with the Oxford University Newman Society, the Society for the Study of Cardinal Newman, or Newman Centers, the name often used to designate Catholic campus ministry centers at state and other non-Catholic universities.

The society was founded in 1993 by Fordham University alumnus Patrick Reilly. After decisions by Fordham to recognize pro-choice and gay student clubs and create a counseling helpline which referred pregnant students to an abortion provider, Reilly used his position as editor of the school paper to express his opinions in defense of Catholic teaching on sexuality and abortion. Reilly launched the society with the help of other recent Catholic university graduates.

The society's leadership included prominent conservative commentator L. Brent Bozell III. It was Bozell, founder and president of the conservative media-watchdog group Media Research Center, who suggested use of direct mail marketing to invigorate the organization at a time when it existed "primarily as letterhead." According to Reilly, “It took a while, but there was such a need, more and more, to engage students and working with alumni and working with faculty and as we went on, it became clear that they were all looking for some kind of national voice to express the concerns that very many faithful Catholics had about the state of Catholic education.”

In 1996 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops invited the Newman Society to advise on guidelines to implement Ex corde Ecclesiae. The bishops approved final guidelines in 1999, consistent with the recommendations of the Newman Society.

Through the Higher Education program the Society works directly with college presidents and administrators of various levels to promote best practices and strengthen Catholic identity and education. The Society has published research into the effects of implementing a faithful Catholic mission as well as various aspects of Student Life on campus including dorm visitation policies and human sexuality policies.

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