Our Leaders
The leaders of the Rensselaer Christian Association are a very important team. They form RCA's Excecutive Board, commonly called Exec. This team is appointed by members of RCA once every year. Below, you can learn who currently is part of Exec. The mini-bios have some interesting facts about who they are, and the important roles they play in our group.
Erin Turk - President
E-mail: turke@rpi.edu
Major: Biology
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Birthday: August 4, 1988
Random Fact: My parents live in Canada...do not be fooled by the crazies telling you I'm Canadian.
Hobbies/Interests: Research, Skiing, Reading, Wandering around with my favorite people
Favorite Band(s): Always hate this question...Switchfoot, Hoobastank, Chicago, any of the old musicals (I know, eclectic)
Favorite Book of the Bible: Ecclesiastes & Romans
Leadership Duties: My job is to, along with the Vice President, seek out God's will for our chapter and then develop a plan to implement it (Vision). Mainly this comes in the form of supporting the activities of our exec team and making sure that everything we do fits in to the vision. Also, I ensure that our relationship with the campus groups remains vibrant so we can serve and transform the RPI community at large. As an extra bonus, I take care of everything that doesn't otherwise get done!
Robert Piazza - Vice President
E-mail: piazzr@rpi.edu
Major: Nuclear/ Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: York, ME but I left my loyalty with San Diego after 13 years.
Birthday: February 11, 1988
Random Fact: I love knots in all capacities. Climbing, ornamental, practical, anything.
Hobbies/Interests: When I have the time? Book reading, free running, general gymnastics, exhibition drill (rifle spinning shtuff), having conversations with my friends.
Favorite Band(s): DC Talk, Newsboys, Steven Chapman, David Crowder, Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Fernando Ortega, Celtic/Irish traditional and rock.
Favorite Book of the Bible: The Timothys, Ephesians, and James.
Leadership Duties: I support the rest of the team in whatever capacity they may need help in but mostly with the President in planning bigger things for the future. Mostly though, I'm trying to seek God with what He wants with our chapter and how to better reach out to our campus. I'm also responsible for writing the checks and taking care of our finances so I do all the reimbursements. Oh, and also technically responsible for making sure this website and the board in the Union are kept current along with some other misc things. Thanks Tim Kretschmer and Johanna Todd for letting me delegate those to ya!
Michael Stark - Large Group Coordinator
E-mail: starkm3@rpi.edu
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Bel Air, MD
Birthday: May 11, 1989
Random Fact: I cannot smell. Anything. Ever. I can breathe through my nose, and I can still taste, but I cannot smell.
Hobbies/Interests: Computer gaming, video gaming, board gaming (see a trend?), reading for leisure, hiking, camping, fishing, archery, snowboarding
Favorite Band(s): The Showdown, Boston, Guns 'N' Roses, Pillar
Favorite Book of the Bible: D) All of the above? Proverbs has a lot of solid stuff.
Leadership Duties: Anything and everything that has to do with Large Group is my responsibility.
Ben Lick - Outreach Coordinator
E-mail: lickb@rpi.edu
Major: Aeronautical Engineering
Hometown: Riverside, CA
Birthday: August 31, 1989
Hobbies/Interests: Playing, having fun, enjoying myself, being happy
Favorite Band(s): Anything country, generic rock, really anytype of music.
Leadership Duties: To set fire to the members of RCA a desire to invite their friends to RCA and to their home church around RPI, also to create avenues in which others on campus can get to know members of RCA and to learn more about the gospel.
Brooke O'Donnell - Worship Coordinator
E-mail: odonnb@rpi.edu
Major: Civil Engineering
Hometown: Mount Union, Pennsylvania
Birthday: October 19, 1986
Random Fact: My left knee cap is broken in half
Hobbies/Interests: Singing, piano, guitar, basketball, running, cooking, baking, drawing,
my pets, doing random crazy things with my favorite people.
Favorite Band(s): Chris Tomlin, Tobymac, Lifehouse, Brandon Heath, DC Talk, Iron and Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, Jason Mraz, anything that makes for good road trip music.
Favorite Book of the Bible: Romans and Ephesians
Leadership Duties: To coordinate the worship team such that we are ready to lead worship on Friday nights. This includes picking out music, heading up practices and small group and serving in any way that I can.
Niki Campbell - IVCF Staff
E-mail: campbn@gmail.com
Major: I graduated in 2004 with a degree in Architecture. In my "spare" time I am the volunteer staff for RPI's InterVarsity
Hometown: Athens, PA
Birthday: February 2, 1981
Random Fact: I have a cat named Dave Matthews
Hobbies/Interests: drawing, painting, fixing up my 120 year old house, golfing and cross country skiing with my husband, Matt.
Favorite Foods: Chocolate!!!!!
Favorite Band(s): The Dave Matthews Band, Lifehouse, Switchfoot, John Mayer, Michael Buble, Billy Joel, Bare Naked Ladies, Newsboys, etc.
Favorite Book of the Bible: Romans and Hebrews
Leadership Duties: As the volunteer staff worker it is my job to disciple students in the chapter and help guide and encourage them to fulfill the vision of the chapter; Students and Faculty Transformed, Campuses Renewed, and World Changers Developed. I pray for the chapter daily and am always finding new people to be involved in the ministry at RPI either through monetary donations, prayer commitments, or speakers. I love talking to perspective students or parents about the amazing way RCA helped to form my college life. If you have any questions about RCA please contact me.
Heather Ardrey - IVCF Staff
E-mail: ardreh@rpi.edu
Major: I work full time as an IV staff for RPI
Hometown: Rock Hill, NY
Birthday: September 24, 1979
Random Fact: I have a plant named Edgar.
Hobbies/Interests: Reading, writing, cooking/baking, hanging out with my husband, Dave, and our friends.
Favorite Foods: Pizza, pineapples, chocolate.
Favorite Band(s): Switchfoot, Ben Folds, others too numerous to mention.
Favorite Book of the Bible: 2 Corinthians
Leadership Duties: My job is the help the students in the Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF) as well as RCA to fulfill the vision of InterVarsity (see Niki's bio). I believe this lives out through students individually and corporately pursuing God in every avenue of their lives, through friendships, church, and their studies. In addition, I pray for the students and faculty of RPI and actively invite others to be investing in this ministry through a variety of avenues.