The Newman Movement grew out of the experience of Catholic students on the campuses of non-Catholic colleges. Catholic students at the University of Wisconsin were invited to the home of John and Frances Melvin on Thanksgiving Day in 1883 for the study of church history and literature. The invitation resulted from the students feeling ostracized from the church because they were attending a secular university and experienced strong anti-catholic sentiments on the part of many of their teachers. Timothy Harrington, one of the original members of "The Melvin Club", went on to attend medical school at the University of Pennsylvania where he started a group for Catholic students. These first clubs developed branches at numerous colleges and gave birth to many organizations which support faith-based inquiry on secular campuses. Today, Newman is a student-focused and lay-administered organization that seeks to bring the insights of theology together with one's professional education in order to form Catholic men and women for leadership in society.