A Mass of the Holy Spirit, to be celebrated on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 11:30 a.m., in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall at Buffalo State College, will mark the opening of the 2003-2004 academic year and honor Phillip SantaMaria, associate vice president and dean of students, and Monsignor Jack Weimer, pastor emeritus of the Newman Center and retired campus minister.

SantaMaria will receive the first annual John Henry Cardinal Newman award from the Catholic Campus Ministry at Buffalo State College to honor his work to establish a religious presence at the campus from a variety of denominations. SantaMaria has been involved with many of the activities sponsored by the Catholic Campus Ministry, including regular Liturgies on campus and has been a strong advocate for the Newman Center, its staff and the college’s Catholic students.

Fr. Weimer is being honored for his 35 years as a campus minister and pastor of the Newman Center. During his tenure, he established a credit-bearing religious studies program, a monthly faculty ethics forum and enabled the Catholic Campus Ministry to be recognized by the college’s administration. He also provided a “home-cooked” spaghetti dinner for students on a regular basis – often in conjunction with Sunday Liturgies. Although retired, he will continue to teach at Buffalo State.