Wheaton College's Roman Catholic student population has grown 55% in four years, and a new student club is trying to build community around that shift.

The number of Catholic students at the historically Protestant college rose from 40 in fall 2022 to 62 in fall 2026, according to The Wheaton Record, the college's student newspaper. Catholics now make up 2.17% of total enrollment, up from 1.39% four years ago.

The Aquinas Catholic Fellowship, chartered in May 2026, is in its first full semester. Co-president Julia Humphries, a sophomore psychology major, said she struggled to connect with other Catholic students when she arrived as a freshman in 2025.

"I realized that there were a good amount of Catholics, and we were all scattered," Humphries told The Wheaton Record.

Humphries and co-president Julia Butkus, a junior elementary education major, formed a student cabinet and secured the charter. Butkus, who was raised Catholic and attended Catholic elementary and middle schools, said she initially hesitated to start the club because she didn't want to emphasize divisions between Christian traditions.

John Shank, a junior biochemistry major and the fellowship's vice president, converted to Catholicism after enrolling at Wheaton. Shank said he has seen increased interest in high church services, including Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, among Protestant students on campus.

The fellowship has partnered with the young adult ministry at St. Michael Catholic Church in Wheaton, which all three student leaders attend. The club plans to host events open to students of all faith backgrounds.

William Struthers, a professor of psychology who serves as the club's faculty adviser, said he holds Protestant faith commitments but has devoted time to understanding different branches of Christianity. All Wheaton faculty and staff must sign a statement of faith annually that aligns the college with "the reformers and the evangelical movement of recent years."

That requirement has practical consequences. In 2004, the college chose not to renew the contract of philosophy professor Joshua Hochschild after he expressed his intention to join the Catholic Church, according to a 2006 First Things essay by then-Wheaton English professor Alan Jacobs. Hochschild left in 2005 to teach at Mount Saint Mary's University in Maryland.

Humphries said she was surprised to learn the college does not hire Catholic faculty and staff but still chose to enroll. She said she has felt respected by her professors despite being part of one of the smaller faith communities on campus.

The fellowship's growth mirrors a broader, if modest, trend. The Atlantic reported in March 2026 that Catholic conversions have increased at several college campuses. But Pew Research Center polling published in December 2025 found no clear evidence of a nationwide religious resurgence among young adults. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, Pew found 12% had left Catholicism while 1% had converted in.

Sixty-two Catholic students among more than 2,000 Protestants. The numbers remain small, but the fellowship's leaders say they want the conversation on campus to keep growing.