Newman Center Staff
Rev. Msgr. J. Patrick Keleher
Director and Campus Minister
Fr. Pat is the Director and Campus Minister at the Newman Center and has been here for over 30 years. He grew up locally in Lockport and entered the priesthood right after grammar school. He loves literature, the arts, poetry, and travel when not busy here presiding masses, running events, and driving the Newman Center bus. His homilies are always heartfelt and inspiring, so be sure to stop in for one of his masses!
Josh Merlo
Josh, the previous campus minister at the Newman Center, is now the pastoral associate. In his new role, he’ll still be involved with ministering to you, our students. Josh’s passion is for helping students – especially those marginalized by or excluded by the Church – explore their beliefs and mature through the struggles that come with young adult life.
Josh is a doctoral student in philosophy at UB.. He’s excited for UB basketball to make another tournament run; thinks Dylan Cozens and Peyton Krebs will be excellent NHL’ers and will always go to a Sabres game; doesn’t like Buffalo-style pizza but enjoys Ted’s and Anderson’s; and can be persuaded that Josh Allen might be a top-10 quarterback … maybe.
Leah Merlo
Leah Merlo is the new Campus Minister and Program Coordinator at the Newman Center. She is newly married to Josh Merlo whom many of you know and she is thrilled to be a part of the Newman family. As a campus minister, Leah is dedicated to helping students grow closer to God through taking advantage of all the little moments each day brings and working towards making the world a little brighter through all we do. She is a Florida native and an ocean girl through and through, so she is grateful for all the beautiful water escapes Buffalo has to offer!
Jojo Glorioso
Jojo is our administrative assistant here at the Newman Center. Jojo is such a bundle of positivity, and is an amazing advocate for prayer. When not at the Newman Center, she enjoys spending time with her grand dog Teddy. Her favorite holiday is Christmas and all time favorite movie is, of course, The Sound of Music. Jojo also loves to read and collect purses that she often donates to The Purse Project, a ministry that fills these purses with toiletries to give to those in need at St. Gerard Place and St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy.
Liz Papke
Liz helps with events and kitchen operations here at the Newman Center. When not at the Newman Center, you can find Liz spending time with her family and her two cats, walking, and of course, shopping! She also enjoys reading and planting flowers. Finally, Liz’s favorite movie is Field of Dreams and her favorite TV show is This is Us. We are so lucky to have Liz on the team!
Edna Simon
Edna is a Campus Ministry Intern here at the Newman Center, where she helps organize events for students and community members – including weekly prayer groups, Wednesday Night Dinner, UB Rooted meetings, and student masses. Edna is working to get a master’s degree in public health so that she can help serve underprivileged communities by addressing their healthcare need!
Alex Judge
Alex is a Campus Ministry Intern here at the Newman Center. She helps run our social media, and advertise and organize events. Alex is sophomore majoring in exercise science/pre-physical therapy in the Honors College. She volunteers regularly at St. Gregory the Great Lifeteen events and enjoys reading, running, and anything outdoorsy.