Campus minister
Undergraduate board
Co-President
Leigh is a sophomore studying Earth and Environmental Engineering. She is from North Carolina, is a middle child (shout out to her two sisters), and has three dogs and a senile cat. She is also a member of the Undergraduate Recruitment Committee and The American Association of Environmental Engineers. If she is not doing school work or hanging out with CCM, you can find Leigh taking a nap or playing with dogs!
Connect with Leigh: lar2214@columbia.edu
Co-President
John Russell is a Columbia College Sophomore majoring in History and concentrating in Linguistics. He hails from St. Louis, Missouri, and is originally from Long Island. He is one of the Co-Presidents of CCM, and is also involved in the Veritas Forum, the Student Governing Board, Christian Union @ Columbia, and Right to Life. In his free time, he enjoys writing music, conlanging, reading about Vietnam and Malta, and playing ultimate frisbee.
Connect with John: jqr2101@columbia.edu
Treasurer
Eleazar Charlie Flores IV is a senior majoring in Religion. He hails from the great state of Texas. Charlie is a member of the Columbia Lions football team. When he finds free time between being a student athlete and a member of CCM, he enjoys playing FIFA soccer, NBA 2K, cheering on his beloved Dallas Cowboys and hanging out with friends.
Connect with Charlie: ecf2146@columbia.edu
Retreat Coordinator
Sam is a sophomore at Columbia College studying Classics and East Asian Studies. He is a proud New Orleanian but always feels at home in the German-speaking Alps. His favorite activities include taking long walks, learning foreign languages, and planning bogus trips to Europe. If he hasn't told you why Exodus is the best book in the bible, how the Enneagram will change your life, or started a conversation with you in a language you studied for two years in high school, avoid him at all costs.
Connect with Sam: sjz2118@columbia.edu
Interfaith Chair
Nathan is a sophomore at Columbia College studying Latin American Studies and History. A baroque music aficionado, he will defend the relevancy of Jean-Philippe Rameau and his outrageous libretto plots to the end of the world and back. His literary giants include Umberto Eco, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and - of course - Dante, of whom he will one day read in the original if other members of the board help him with his Italian. Given his eclectic involvement in clubs on campus ranging from Mexican folk ballet to philosophy discussions à la Veritas, he is inspired to one day become either a farmer, conductor, or President of Brazil. Maybe all three, who knows.
Connect with Nathan: ns3153@columbia.edu
Service Chair
Nicole-Ann is a junior in Columbia College double-majoring in Art History and Political Science. Her research focuses on intersections of religion and alterity in the modern and contemporary arts of India and Latin America. A San Diegan native, Nicole-Ann's favorite things include used bookstores, podcasts, Berlin techno, poststructuralism, and St. Augustine. She gives tours at the Met, teaches the bartending class on campus (#RushCBA), is an RA in McBain, and works with refugees weekly through Catholic Charities. Nicole-Ann also loves photographing New York's many diverse neighborhoods - her favorites are Jackson Heights and Alphabet City - and is known to make the best cup of chai around. Tune in to her radio show, Chai Beat Latte, streaming Tuesday mornings on WBAR!
Connect with Nicole-Ann: nicole-ann.lobo@columbia.edu
Liturgy Chair
Lauren is a first-year at Barnard studying environmental science, architecture, and English. Her favorite things include her mom and her babiest siblings Justin and Lily, #PureMichigan & #lifeatthelake, walking anywhere and everywhere, and listening to music. If you have a small fraction of forever to listen to Lauren ramble excessively, then ask her what she's reading the next time you see her! (Pro-tip: you'll likely find her around noon at St. Paul's or Notre Dame for mass and adoration.) She's also on the boards of VSA and EWB-Uganda. Lauren's actual greatest skill is in strategic napping; she takes a consistent, perfect 18 minute nap without alarm almost everyday.
Social Chair
Drey is a Columbia College first-year majoring in Film and Media Studies. He's from Fredericksburg Virginia, most famous for it's Civil War battle about 150 years ago. He is also involved with Columbia Right to Life and DKA, the film society. Every spare moment of his free time is spent taking the subway to either downtown or Brooklyn to watch obscure movies. Occasionally he watches similar movies on his laptop or reads instead.
Connect with Drey: arc2224@columbia.edu
Outreach Chair
Uwa is a freshman in Columbia college who plans to study Economics and Philosophy. Although originally from Nigeria she calls North Carolina home. She’s a member of Notes and Keys (Columbia’s oldest and finest acapella group), The Veritas Forum, and the Undergraduate Recruitment committee. Uwa loves seeing babies and dogs on campus, spending inordinate amounts of time recording song covers, and ranting about the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Church. You can catch her at adoration, reading books for LitHum, or giving music recommendations to people who never asked.
Connect with Uwa: ua2157@columbia.edu
Communications Chair
Nicholas is a freshman studying history and political science. He was born in Connecticut before moving to Indiana for most of his life and spending his summers in Italy. He's involved with Columbia Right to Life, the Veritas Forum, and the Hamilton Society. In his free time, he enjoys playing piano, reading Russian literature, and pressuring his friends into coming to mass with him.
Connect with Nicholas: nms2183@columbia.edu
Graduates BOARD
Columbia Catholic Graduates President
Trevor is a third year doctoral student in Kinesiology. His research focuses on the neurological underpinnings of fine motor control and sensory integration in motor planning. It was through his thirst for understanding the secrets of nature that God first spoke to him. He considers St Thomas Aquinas and St Francis of Assisi among the many saints he gains inspiration from. As a disciple of Christ, he asks that God use him as a servant of the graduate and young adult ministry and prays that the ministry is able to cater to the needs of the community.
Connect with Trevor: trevorleemiller@gmail.com
focus missionaries
Sarah is from Philadelphia, where she attended Temple University and graduated with a degree and certification in Secondary English Education. At Temple University Sarah worked with FOCUS as a student-missionary, and is now excited to begin her first year as a full-time FOCUS missionary at Columbia University!
Connect with Sarah: sarah.judge@focus.org
FOCUS Missionary
Gelton Morada comes from southern California where he considers 60 degrees to be cold, sweater weather. After graduating from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor's degree in accounting, he worked for an accounting firm for two years in Los Angeles. Before joining FOCUS, Gelton spent some time working different ministries at various churches and discerned religious life. You’ll typically find Gelton learning to swing and salsa dance, playing spikeball, leading bible studies, praying with students, or exploring the city catching Pokémon (go team mystic!). He’s excited to start his first year as a FOCUS missionary in New York and experience the New York winters.
Connect with Gelton: gelton.morada@focus.org
Natasha just graduated from Temple University this past spring with a dual major in Political Science and Spanish. Originally from Pennsylvania, Natasha is an avid traveler and has visited 16 countries over the past four years. Some of the things that she's looking forward to doing while in NYC are grabbing dinner in China Town and going ice skating in Bryant Park.
Connect with Natasha: natasha.tax@focus.org
FOCUS Missionary
Michael Jopling is from San Antonio, Texas, but has spent his last five years studying in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a major in percussion performance and a minor in chemistry. In his free time you will probably find Michael studying anything from the late Roman Empire and the writings of St. Augustine to Baroque artwork and Renaissance sacred music. He is incredibly excited to start his first year being a FOCUS missionary at Columbia University!
Connect with Mike: michael.jopling@focus.org
Fr. Dan O'Reilly has been the director of Columbia Catholic Ministry since 2011 and the administrator of Corpus Christi Church since 2013. Born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx, he attended Regis High School in New York City and majored in philosophy at Princeton University before entering the seminary for the Archdiocese of New York. After earning Master’s degrees in theology and divinity from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, he was ordained a priest in 2003. He has served as parochial vicar at Resurrection Church in Rye, Director of Campus Ministry for the Archdiocese of New York, Spiritual Director for the St. John Neumann Seminary College in Yonkers, and Catholic Campus Minister at SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx.
Connect with Fr. Dan: daniel.o'reilly@archny.org