Director of Catholic Campus Ministry
Mike Roesch

Mike is new on the block, having joined us as Newman Center director in February 2009. He is a native of Mount Vernon, Illinois, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. In his spare time, he agonizes over selecting furniture for his apartment and cheers on the St. Louis Cardinals and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. A certified Band Geek and Catholic Nerd, he plays alto saxophone and loves reading G.K. Chesterton.

 

Administrative Assistant
Carla Wildeman

Carla joined the Newman Center staff in 2007 after working in the office at Mater Dei Catholic High School for several years. In addition to managing the office, she spruces up the Newman Center for us, serves as the unofficial nurse, keeps the kitchen well-stocked, and always offers a smile. When away from the office, she and her husband, Tom, also cheer on the Cardinals and enjoy playing with their dachshunds, Rusty and Snuffy.

 

Directors of Music Ministry
Fatima Chan and Melanie Bacaling

Fatima is a UE junior majoring in Music Therapy. She plays violin and piano, and has been singing in various church and Catholic choirs since she was in junior high school in Hong Kong. Melanie is a sophomore vocal performance major with a minor in psychology. She has participated in multiple choirs at her hometown church, St. Dismas in Waukegan, IL. In addition to singing, Melanie plays the piano and bass guitar.

 

Seminarian Interns
Christopher Droste and Shayne Duvall

 

Other Faces You Might See Around

Steve Dabrowski

Steve is the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry (OYAYA) for the Catholic Diocese of Evansville. He likes to stop by the Newman Center because “Newman Centers have free food,” but also to hang out with college students and talk about God.

 

Jerry Seng

Jerry is a professor emeritus of biology at UE. He has enjoyed sharing his profound faith with students at the Newman Center for many years, and is usually present and often featured as a speaker (and a crowd favorite!) at our Monday night dinners.

 

Tom Wildeman

Carla’s husband, Tom, is retired from Bristol-Myers, but stays busy as a handyman, including fixing up things around the Newman Center. He often serves as the grillmaster at Newman Club cookouts.

 

Priests and Religious

The Newman Center is very blessed to have a number of excellent priests, both diocesan priests from Evansville and Benedictines of St. Meinrad Archabbey, ministering to us regularly, both by offering the Sacraments as well as joining us in our other activities. Several of them maintain weblogs at the diocese’s vocations website, Pray Him Forward.

We also maintain very close relationships with several women’s religious orders in Evansville, including the Little Sisters of the Poor, Daughters of Charity, and Sisters of St. Benedict.