Chaplains

• Fr. Peter R. Cebulka, C.O., Director
• Fr. Kevin Kelly, C.O.
• Br. Ken Apuzzo 
• Br. Adam Neri
• Annette Scollante (formerly Miller)
  
• Sr. Ellen Kraft, SJH
• Paula Rozofsky, Intern
  

Office Administrator

• Colleen Donahue

Fr. Peter Cebulka, C.O., Director

         I am a native New Jerseyan, having grown up in rural Chesterfield Township in Burlington County. After graduating college with a degree in religion, I entered the Fransican Order as a brother, during which time I completed a Master of Liturgical Music degree at Catholic University. After leaving the Franciscans, I worked in nearby St. Joesph Church in Bound Brook as director of music and as a faculty member at the parish school where I also served for several years as vice-principal. In addition to the M.L.M. degree, I hold an M.A. in Elementary Education from Seton Hall University and have done graduate studies in liturgy and church history. Teaching is one of my deepest passions and it was no easy decision to give up the classroom when I began to discern the Lord calling me to priestly service.
     I entered the seminary in September of 1990, persuing theological studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Seton Hall. Ordination was in May of 1993 at which point I was assigned to St. Bartholomew Church in East Brunswick where I served as associate pastor and, for three years, as principal of the parish school.
 In September of 1998, Fr. Tom & I became two of the founding members of the Metuchen Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri and since that time I have served the community as Provost (superior).
     St. Philip Neri, the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, had a great love for young people and enjoyed being in their company. Ministry with college students is a work that is truly in keeping with the spirit of St. Philip and the tradition of the Oratory. My entire adult life has been spent in working with young people in one way or another and I have been greatly enriched by the experience. I am grateful to the Lord for giving me the grace to work in campus ministry and to be of service to the student community here at Rutgers.

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Fr. Kevin Kelly, C.O.

     I was born in Silver Springs, Maryland in 1964 but have lived most of my life in New Jersey. After graduating from high school, I attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in painting. I have made my living as an artist since that time. Aside from painting, I played guitar in a band for about 6 years. We recorded several records and toured both the United States and Europe. At the same time, I spent 5 years working (on and off) with the Bread and Puppet Theatre of Vermont. It was there that I learned about the power of art and its ability to convey the deeper meaning of the human struggle/experience.
  In April of 2005,  I was ordained to the priesthood, serving in  the Congregation of the Oratory, along with Fr. Peter and Fr. Tom. It is here that I continue to grow in our common life of prayer, charity, humility, and joy. It is both a challenge and a blessing...filled with great hope and unending possibility.
Included in my responsibilities is the coordination of Community Service here at the Catholic Center, and  am excited to be working with the students at Rutgers. I believe that we are called to assist one another in our journey of faith and to realize that everyone has something positive to offer. The students that I have met so far have been a source of tremendous enthusiasm and joy. I pray that the coming years will be filled with God’s grace.

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Br. Ken Apuzzo

  My name is Br. Ken Apuzzo and I was born in the Bronx, New York City. I have two brothers and two sisters. My family moved to Northern New Jersey (a small town called New Milford) when I was in 3rd grade but it took awhile for “the city kid” to wear off. I changed from a Public N.Y. school to a Catholic school. The nuns were not impressed by my “street smarts” and I failed every class that year. One Sister had mercy on me and actually gave me an F+.

    Barely surviving Catholic grammar school, I attended public high school and became really involved in sports. I played football, basketball and ran track. In the long run, (get the pun) , I excelled at long distance running and was ranked in the State.

    After high school I arrived here “On the Banks”. If you ever need someone to counsel you in how to survive the RU screw,  I am your guy. I was tripled on Livingston even though all my classes were at College Ave. I had no meal card or I.D. card for the first few days of the semester. I took 21 credits (yes-be amazed) my 1st semester even though I had never read a book before in my life. I also racked up quite a few parking tickets in my day. I could swear that RU parking had secret agents that swooped in on you with “stealth technology”. You never saw them the tickets just magically appeared!

    I joined a frat called “Squamish” had my share of suds and parties and got bored of it all.  That’s when I finally decided to figure out what my Catholic faith was about. I went on a student retreat and got blown away by God’s love. It was amazing but by my senior year most of my closest friends had all re-discovered their Catholic faith and God’s love. The impact of God’s love in my life and on my friends was so awesome that I wanted to give something back to God and the Church in gratitude. I got to know the Brotherhood of Hope, a Catholic order of religious brothers,  whose mission was to help college students get closer to God.

    Well, here I am a Brother and one of your Catholic Chaplains at RU.(The Sisters I had in grammar school now believe in God more than ever).  I have been a chaplain at Florida State University, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts. My favorite thing to do as a chaplain is to meet with students on a one to one basis. If you ever want to talk just give me a call or drop me an e-mail.     

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Br. Adam Neri

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Colleen Donahue

     I am a native of New Jersey, born and raised in East Brunswick. I attended Corpus Christi Elementary School, East Brunswick High School, and took some courses at Middlesex County College, but then elected to go out into the working world. I worked for several years, met and married my husband, and then moved to Hillsborough and started a family. I stayed home for 12 years, raising our sons.
      God has blessed my husband and I with two wonderful sons. My oldest, Ryan, is a graduate of  Rochester Institute of Technology, with a degree in Information Technology. Helives in Rochester and is employed by the George Eastman House in Rochester as their Webmaster and I.T. Specialist.
     My younger son, Matt, graduated from Fordham University  with a degree in Business Asministration wih a concentration in Economics and Finance. While at Fordham, he played D-back  for the Rams football team., who won the Patriot League Championship in Matt's Junior year! Matt is employed by ICP Capital Partners in Manhattan, and is completing his Masters degree.
       My husband and I were always very active in whatever our son's were involved in, particularly sports. Whenever they were on the field, either for practice or games, we were there! Pat coached, and I was either the Team Mom or, in the case of youth  football, was the team's Trainer. When the boys started high school, were were active members of their sport's booster clubs.
     I am a Eucharistic Minister, love Eucharistic Adoration, and was a catechist for 12 years, getting my Certification as a Master Catechist in the Diocese of Metuchen from Felician College. I also served on my parish's Pastoral Council, was active in Renew, and taught Adult Education.  
     I love football, reading, both fiction and non-fiction,  watching "vintage" TV shows , being by the ocean, and SNOW! 
     I always had a great love of my Catholic faith and was always active in ministry, so when my boys got older and it was time for me to head back to the workforce, a job  at The Catholic Center seemed like a perfect fit for me!  I'm in my 12th year at the Center and love working here. I am continually impressed with the caliber of students who grace us with their presence, their ministry, their affection, and their wonderful faith. Stop in the back office and say hello when you come by!

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Chaplain Annette Miller
     Although I was born in Wisconsin, I spent most of my life growing up in Middletown, NJ.  After graduating from Red Bank Catholic High School, I attended Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana where I majored in History. While at St. Mary's, I became involved in their Campus Ministry program. As a result of that experience, I chose to attend Seton Hall University's School of Theology. During my time at Seton Hall, I earned my Masters Degree in Pastoral Ministry while gaining expereince as a Graduate Assistant in Campus Ministry. While there, I helped facilitate retreats, small faith sharing groups, as well as their annual Stations of the Cross.
     Since graduation, I've been fortunate to minister with high school students in both a parish and school setting. While I worked with  these students, I helped organize a wide variety of community service events and retreats as a way of helping them grow deeper in their fatih.
     Some of my hobbies include reading, sports and traveling. A few years ago, I was able to spend time in Rome and loved the experience!
     I'm very excited to be here at Rutgers and to have the opportunity to minister with the students. Our Catholic faith is something that is so important and I'm happy to share that with others.
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Sr. Ellen Kraft, SJH
I belong to the Sisters of Jesus Our Hope, a closely-knit Community of Religious Sisters whose mission is to bring hope in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and to lead others to know Jesus as their hope. Life has been exciting since I joined the Sisters! I studied at the Franciscan U. of Steubenville, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education, taught pre-school, Kindergarten, and 2nd Grade, and was sent to World Youth Days in Rome and Toronto. Like Jesus, I live a life of obedient love, and I am thrilled that the Good Lord has sent me to serve you here at The Catholic Center.
Some background: My family still lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where I was born and raised. I am the eldest of four, a nicely balanced mix of two boys and two girls. I enjoyed singing in a variety of choirs, taking ballroom dancing lessons, reading, horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, skiing, and traveling. Since my dad had his own business in prosthetics and orthotics, that was the field I entered. My college years at the George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario were my first years really away from home.  I made many friends, and did many things. I did go to Mass every Sunday, but only so that I could truthfully tell my mom that I had. A relationship with God was not high on my list of priorities.
    When I returned to Ottawa, I began working for my father and looking for “the God of my youth”. I realized that while the world that God had created was wonderful, beautiful and so exciting to live in, it really was rather empty without Him. One Friday evening, after attending an evening Mass, I followed the sound of music, and discovered a large group of young people singing religious songs. Many of them were really good-looking young men, and since I was planning on getting married and having 12 children, I joined the group because of the prospect of finding a good, Catholic husband. They called themselves the “Prayer & Share” group, so, besides getting to know some very fine and holy young men (and young women), through them and with them I also came to know and love Jesus in a very real and personal way.
Now I am a (very happy and content!) Sister of Jesus Our Hope, and if you want to know how that happened, come and ask me. I love to tell the story!

Paula Rozofsky, Intern

Hey everybody! My parents are both from the Midwest so I was born in Omaha, NE. Soon after I was born, my family moved to Perry then to Tallahassee, FL. For most of my life I have lived in Tallahassee, so I decided to move away to get my AA degree. I received my AA from Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, FL. When my time in Community College was coming to an end, I prayed long and hard to find out where the Lord wanted me to finish college. UF and FSU both have amazing Colleges of Education, but the Catholic Student Union (CSU) at FSU pulled me back to Tallahassee.

While at FSU I was working, taking classes, doing field work in elementary schools, and participating in the CSU group. Some of the things that I helped with in CSU were: retreats, women’s events, respect life, and being a Eucharistic Minister.  I LOVED seeing my peers at daily mass, CSU events, reconciliation, adoration, and anything else that was going on in the local church and student center. Not only was I blessed by the Brotherhood of Hope, the church staff, and the students, but I was also blessed by the married couples and families at the church. My prayer life and relationship with the Lord are at very good places, and I know that the support of the CSU community helped me get to where I am now.

As graduation was approaching, and many of my friends were finding jobs in elementary schools, I wasn’t excited about hunting for a teaching job (even though I LOVE teaching). My heart was set on coming up here to New Brunswick and interning with CSA at RU. The Lord answered my prayers by saying “yes” to my internship. CSU and “The Bros” have blessed my life in countless ways, and I am so grateful to be able to give back. You will see me around campus, the catholic center, and CSA events and I can’t wait to meet you, so come find me! If you ever need someone to talk to, pray with, walk with, eat with, or you just need a friend, please don’t hesitate to let me know!