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Chaplain's Office Staff

In embracing Colgate’s motto, “For God and Truth,” we work collaboratively with Colgate’s faculty and staff to provide students with intellectually robust ways to integrate their religious and ethical commitments with their academic pursuits.
Chaplains Office staff outside Colgate Memorial Chapel
The college years are often when people shape and refine fundamental life commitments. We serve the Colgate community by providing a dynamic, friendly, and supportive place in which students can seek answers to life’s biggest questions. We encourage them to become the best versions of themselves, growing as people of integrity and commitment. To do this, we seek to cultivate strong, active faith communities.

It is our hope that, through participation in our religious communities, students will be brought to greater understanding of and fidelity toward their own traditions. Our interfaith dynamic recognizes substantive differences while promoting respect and friendship across religious lines. Since college provides a great opportunity to explore the ways in which others make sense of the world, we have programming promoting interfaith understanding and cooperation.

Office Contact

To contact the Office of the Chaplains, e-mail us at chaplainsoffice@colgate.edu.

Deacon Mark Shiner

University chaplain and
Catholic campus minister
mshiner@colgate.edu
About Mark
Mark has worked in the Office of the Chaplains since 2003 and has been University Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister since 2005. He holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN and has done extensive course work at St. Paul Seminary. He was ordained a Deacon of the Diocese of Syracuse in May, 2012. Mark’s wife, Rebecca, is a professor in the Psychology Department, and together they have two children. In his spare time, Mark enjoys playing drums and guitar.

Reverend James (Putter)
Cox III

Protestant campus minister
jcox@colgate.edu
About Putter
Putter has been the the Protestant Chaplain since 2009, overseeing the ministries of University Church and Colgate Christian Fellowship. The nickname “Putter” (yes, it has to do with golf) was acquired at birth and has stuck. He earned a BA in architecture from Princeton University and a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also the founding Pastor of Hamilton Bible Fellowship in town, and has ministered there since 1985. He is married to Linda and has two grown sons and a granddaughter.

Rabbi Dena Bodian

Associate university chaplain and
director of Jewish life
dbodian@colgate.edu
About Dena
Dena has been the Associate University Chaplain and the Director of Jewish Life since 2011. Ordained by the Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf in 2010, Rabbi Bodian worked for a large congregation in Chicago before coming to Colgate, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to go rural. Dena advises the Colgate Jewish Union, the Muslim Student Association, and the Hindu Student Association, and also works with the Hamilton Interfaith Service Group. Dena is married to Liz Bodian; they live in Hamilton with their infant son Isaac, and two cats. When not on campus, Dena enjoys gardening and a good murder mystery.

Dianne Adams McDowell

Chapel music director
dianneadamsmcdowell@gmail.com
About Dianne
About Dianne
Dianne is the music director for Colgate's Office of the Chaplains, which includes choosing music, playing piano & organ for their many services, and working with the Newman Choir, the Worship Band and Sojourners Gospel Choir. She attended Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, and is Colgate's Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Artist-in-Residence for Spring 2013. NYC credits include Radio City Music Hall, The Wind in the Willows, Bookends (composer, with James McDowell), and Broadway's Starmites (assoc. conductor/vocal arranger). A Helen Hayes Nominee, she was the recipient of the Barrymore Award and the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Award. Dianne lives with husband, Jim, and sons, Taylor & Mason on 5 country acres, where she enjoys cooking and gardening.

Fr. Richard B. Dunn

Pastor, St. Mary's Church

Chelsea Lehmann

Office manager
clehmann@colgate.edu
315-228-7682
About Chelsea
Chelsea is the Office Manager in the Office of the Chaplain’s. She provides administrative and programmatic support to the the University Chaplain and the student groups that fall within religious life. A 2005 graduate of Hamilton Central School, she completed her bachelor’s degree at Nazareth College of Rochester and finished her masters in College Student Personnel Administration at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. Chelsea enjoys ZUMBA and watching sports with her husband, Jay.

Jeremy Baker

Custodian
jtbaker@colgate.edu
About Jeremy
Jeremy is the custodian for both the Chapel and Chapel House. He is a 2003 graduate of Morrisville Eaton High School and moved to Hamilton in 2004. He and his wife Sondra have three children: Drew, Kaitlyn, and Brent. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, camping, and traveling!

Weddings

Alumni, faculty, and staff may host a wedding on campus during the summer months. Visit Colgate's wedding page for more details.

Contact Maureen McKinnon
mmckinnon@colgate.edu
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