A cleanup team of students works during Marquette University’s Spring Service Day that is organized through campus ministry, now under the direction of Steve Blaha, who attended MU as well as St. Sebastian School and Pius XI High School. (Submitted photo.)
The responsibility of caring for the faith lives of approximately 14,000 students and staff at Marquette University is not a one-person job, but a team effort.
That brings an emboldening comfort to Steve Blaha. The Milwaukee native is five months into directing Campus Ministry, guiding the Marquette community to “find God in all things,” as St. Ignatius of Loyola — the founder of the Society of Jesus — calls all people to do in daily life.
“Marquette has so many good things going on, and so many wonderful, gifted people here to work with,” Blaha said. “The opportunity to collaborate as a department with colleagues around the campus to really highlight our Catholic, Jesuit mission has been fantastic.”
Blaha, a 1996 Marquette alumnus, has worked in numerous roles at MU since 2007, and was named interim director of Campus Ministry in November 2023 before receiving the permanent role in January.
Spending more than 20 years on campus has opened Blaha to the plethora of ways the Jesuit charism works through his ministry staff as well as other colleagues to touch the lives of nearly 12,000 students of many faiths.
“Pope Francis expressed a lot about the gift of freedom, a big part of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, the freedom to follow the call of Christ, the freedom to follow Jesus. The freedom to be me in this new role, to encourage and support our staff to be themselves, to share their gifts, and to have their gifts really ‘gift’ the campus has been a big piece,” said Blaha.
“We really want to encourage folks to live a life that is discerning, that builds in reflection centered in hearing the call of Jesus in their lives — (asking) ‘What’s the takeaway?’ — and to talk with Jesus about that. Then moving forward, ‘How do I move forward with greater freedom in following Jesus?’ The spiritual exercises are a massive spiritual treasury for the whole Church, but that’s something we really foster big time in Campus Ministry.”
Blaha, who attends St. Sebastian, Milwaukee, with his wife and four children, has helped infuse the spiritual lives of students by offering dozens of Mass opportunities on campus as well as sacramental formation, Reconciliation opportunities, adoration and praise, small group faith sharing, the Ignite spiritual speaker series, powerful retreats and ecumenical faith opportunities.
At Marquette, service and social responsibility often stand out as the activation of the university’s Jesuit charism. The Princeton Review ranks Marquette as the top university in America in community service engagement, and Campus Ministry plays a major role.
“We have students that will go, serve and walk alongside folks who are experiencing housing or food insecurities, and really build up that presence of seeing Jesus amongst the poor. They do that collectively in groups, partnered with a number of different ministries in the area,” said Blaha.
“We are continuing to look at how we keep growing that. How do we keep expanding that? How do we deepen students’ experiences of reflection in that? ‘Who and how am I encountering the risen Lord in our weekly service opportunities? How am I being moved to be of greater love to my neighbor at this moment? What does our world need?’”
Blaha’s time in leading Campus Ministry has involved the collective grief of a university after the loss of President Michael Lovell in 2024, but also year of celebration. His team organized a pair of arena-sized Masses over 10 days in May — the first being with Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob as part of the installation of new university President Dr. Kimo Ah Yun and the second being the 2025 baccalaureate Mass.
As the academic year has wound down, Blaha has reflected on how God is moving his own journey.
“I feel like God’s doing a lot of teaching and a lot of gentle guidance in my life where I’m doing a lot of learning, not just about a new position but what goes into encouraging folks towards a common shared goal and mission,” he said.
“It’s a whole different thing when it’s the spiritual care of students and how you invite folks in. It’s a strong sense of listening to the power of the Spirit that’s been really rich.”
That guidance leads Blaha to discern, listen and act on how to grow Campus Ministry’s reach, and further infuse Christ’s love into one of the 10 largest Catholic universities in America.
“How do we pastorally support more students? We’re looking at our staffing and our presence on campus to see how we place ourselves so that we are truly accompanying more of this very large, diverse campus and accompanying our students in looking at how their lives contribute to the world. ‘What support and help do I need to grow, to develop, to love more deeply, to be more generous?’” he said.
“Always looking to go bigger and better, to better serve students and serve the Kingdom.”
