On campus, Catholic students find faithful support

Catholic Campus Ministries and Newman Centers at Archdiocese of Newark public, state, and Catholic college and university campuses play an important (and perhaps imperative) role in the spiritual, mental, and emotional health of both first-year and returning students.

Kennedy Dierks, born and raised in Los Angeles, Cali., recalls what Catholicism had been like for her prior to her freshman year at Seton Hall University.

“I went to church every week, but I just didn’t really feel connected,” Dierks said. “It felt like almost an obligation. I struggled with a lot of ‘Catholic guilt’ coming in, and I went to church for years. I felt like I had to go [to Mass].”

She resumed that church attendance with her Seton Hall classmates until COVID-19 and a health scare forced her to head back to the West Coast. “I got sick, and my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and that really just drove me away from the church,” she said.

Dierks had a decision to make upon returning to school for her sophomore year. Move forward in faith under her own volition or continue to back away from it?

She chose to embrace and learn more about her faith and got involved in Seton Hall’s Catholic Campus Ministry.

“It totally changed my perspective,” Dierks said.

Lucia Pasternak, third year as Kean University Campus Minister, had a “good” problem the first week of the 2023-24 semester as she helped resume rebuilding the institution’s Kean Catholics ministry following COVID-19.

“One of the first events that I did was Bible study. I had so many students, I ran out of Bibles. We had 11 students which doesn’t sound large, but to Kean’s ministry that is a large revival. We got to the point where, thankfully, I had personal Bibles with me,” Pasternak said. “I had, of course, some returning students, but then also a lot of new students coming in the doors. Every time someone came in the door, I thought they would be the last and we’d get started. Then, all of a sudden, a new student would walk in. It was so exciting. It was such a remarkable meeting.”

Montclair State University’s Ricardo Casimiro, in his second year as Campus Minister, reflected on the importance of the school’s ministry work, especially with freshman students.

“Being a Catholic center here and on the secular campus, I think it gives especially first-year students some hope, so they don’t feel so alone walking in their first steps of college,” Casimiro said. “I really believe that the campus minister has an important role for the future of our Catholic family. At the Newman Center, we teach them how to serve at Mass, so if one day you go back to your parents or one day you get married, you can continue helping in your parish and will be equipped to continue with the mission.”

Pasternak has a regular 15 to 20 students who attend campus ministry events, and Kean University – which hosted its first Mass in two years on Sept. 13 – has a new chaplain this semester, Father Peter Volz.

Casimiro’s numbers at Montclair State are almost triple that size, and the members take part in activities such as Newman Nights discussions, daily Mass and recitation of the Rosary, and more.

“Our numbers have grown, and every day we are surprised by our students encountering Jesus, not only during liturgical celebrations but also during different faith formation activities we offer,” Casimiro said. “I believe our mission aids in discerning the light of Faith with Christ in the center, the call of Baptism that leads us to holiness.”

Father Jim Chern, Montclair State University chaplain, has been the Archdiocese of Newark Director of Campus Ministry since 2018, overseeing the campus ministry programs at state schools like Kean (and Union County College) and Montclair State, but also Ramapo College; Stevens Institute of Technology; Rutgers-Newark; New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Essex County Community College; and New Jersey City University.

“For me, it’s always about them having a relationship with Christ,” Father Chern said. “First and foremost, that’s the whole point. The reason I’m here is that I want them to be connected to Christ and to his Church.”

One of Father Chern’s main concerns for the students is mental health. He said that 2018 was the first year they started offering therapy at the Newman Center through CatholicPsych Institute.

“The schools offer psychological services through their health departments, but working with CatholicPsych was really a tremendous blessing,” Father Chern said. “We started working with them, and especially as the pandemic first started, the students were very much looking for extra help and resources, and they were really utilizing them even more so. We continue to offer that through all the campuses in the Archdiocese, and the good thing for us is, it’s solid therapy. They’re trained psychologists, but they’re also very rooted in the Catholic faith as well.”

Father Nicholas Sertich, Seton Hall University Director of Campus Ministry since June of 2022, also has an eye on his flock’s mental health working closely with the other counseling and psychological services on campus, provided through the Division of Student Services.

“We often partner with them on different mental health opportunities. We provide pastoral counseling to the students, and we have a lot of first-year students who come in and they’re a little worried or nervous about the coming year or their life changes coming to college,” he said.

The university holds various events to address issues. “There’s an annual Dare to Care [Mental Health and Resource] Fair, which raises awareness about mental health. We have a Mass for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. We have opportunities like that, as well as memorial services for students going through losing loved ones.”

Dierks, a pre-med student, in 2021 resumed attending Mass and volunteered as a lector. She was hired as a sacristan for her senior year, and following graduation became the Catholic Campus Ministry Graduate Assistant.

“I was planning on going to medical school, but once I got this opportunity I decided to stick around,” she said. “I’m working with my peers and paying it forward. But then I’m also in a graduate program, studying Healthcare Administration, learning to apply my Catholic beliefs about human dignity to a field that is really struggling with equitable access.”

Reuben P., who is 21 years old and from Long Island, New York, said he got involved with Catholic Campus Ministry at Kean University early on in his first year of doctoral studies because he wanted to continue growing in his faith with like-minded individuals. Pasternak was overjoyed to receive him and help him pursue that goal, and he is now a Bible study leader and Vice-President of the campus Newman Club.

“My experience with Campus Ministry has solidified my desire to serve as a Catholic psychologist in the near future, integrating theology and psychology into my practice,” Reuben said, “I am eager to guide people in encountering the beautiful truth that authentic psychological well-being is rooted in a deep and abiding relationship with the One Who loves us.”

Pasternak’s Kean Catholics approach her often in gratitude for what she does and the ministry itself.

“Faith is such a vulnerable thing, and so we have students who come in who say, ‘Thank you for so much for all you do. Especially on a public school campus, it’s really supportive to have this kind of community or to have these things available to me,’” Pasternak said. “It means the world, and it makes it totally worth any struggle or difficult day.”

For more information about the Catholic Campus Ministries of the Archdiocese of Newark, visit rcan.org/campus-ministry.