Manhattan College Alumni Magazine Spring 2013

M A N H AT TA N CO L L EG E S PR I N G 2 0 1 3

Our Changing Landscape

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MBA and Model UN students enrich

editor Kristen Cuppek staff writers Julie Achilles Patrice Athanasidy Liz Connolly Bauman Amanda Ferrarotto Molly Pekarik Contributors Annie Chambliss Joe Clifford Dorothy Conigliaro Christian Heimall Sarah Schwartz Amy Surak

on campus their studies abroad, a new L.O.V.E. trip explores the issue of immigration, a psychology major goes on a medical mission to Grenada, Lasallian Look, news, lectures and more.

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sports The MAAC makes lacrosse a core sport, plus news and recaps of the fall and winter seasons.

22 The CHANGING LANDSCAPE With construction of the new student commons underway, the College’s landscape is undergoing a significant

Interns Nicole Bullard Kevin Shiraldi Photographers Ben Asen Joshua Cuppek James Ewing (cover) Darcy Rogers Chris Taggart Mitch Tobias Design Charles Hess, chess design Mallory Guillemette Published by the office of Marketing and Communication Manhattan College Riverdale, NY 10471

transformation. Take a look back at some previous campus conversions.

29 The future LANDSCAPE Manhattan breaks ground on the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, and former board chair Thomas O’Malley ’63 discusses the decision to honor the police commissioner.

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development CBS star Julie Chen receives the De La Salle medal, and student scholarships.

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alumni Hall of Fame, alumnotes, Jasper profiles and a recurring column exploring longlost traditions.

Lydia Gray Executive Director, Marketing and Communication on the cover A side view of the O’Malley Library (from Hayden) shows off the open and airy nature of the building, as well as its graceful transformation.

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obits In memoriam, Brother Gabriel Healy, Lawrence Huggins, Brother Austin Bernabei, Siddhartha Bagchi, Brother Patrick Ellis, Michael Bette

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parting shot

on c Ampus

Partnerships in Paris

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Business students taking the International Marketing Field Project course see the sights while getting down to business in Paris.

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hen visiting pAris, it’s essential to see the Eiffel Tower, enjoy a crepe — and develop a business plan for a French startup wishing to break into the American market.

That was indeed the task of eight graduate students in the International Marketing Field Project course at Manhattan College who spent 10 days of winter break in France.

Accompanying the MBA students were nine undergrads enrolled in the School of Business’ International Field Studies Seminar along with Carolyn Predmore, Ph.D., professor of management and marketing.

“Looking at the multicultural world through a business perspective is important,” Predmore says.

In addition to visiting cultural wonders, such as Versailles and Mont Saint-Michel, the undergraduate students attended financial seminars on investment and policy, competed in a case study at J. Walter Thompson and toured a number of sites, including the L’Oréal factory headquarters. Meanwhile, the MBA students consulted with tonic wine start-up company, So Bacco.

They quickly learned that So Bacco faces a number of business hurdles, including a limited staff, an audience that isn’t familiar with their product category, a language barrier and a law that restricts advertisements showing the enjoyment of alcoholic beverages.

Hoping to export to the United States, So Bacco eagerly partnered with the MBA cohort through a LinkedIn connection, tasking them with creating a business plan to include cost figures, supply chain management and marketing initiatives.

“Traveling to Paris to work for a start-up company taught me more than an in-class course ever could have abroad,” says Maureen O’Connor ’12, ’13, an MBA student and contributor to the class blog. “We learned how to work past our cultural differences to create a successful business plan, while also enjoying the wonderful sights and scenery of Parisian life.”

The success of the trip has prompted Predmore and the School of Business to look into more destinations in the European Union next year, including Poland and Germany.

“I have a vision to create a Manhattan College manual for consulting, so that essentially we can be drop-shipped anywhere,” Predmore says. “I’m very proud of all of them.”

Preserving Paradise in the Galapagos Islands

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N MID-JANUARY, five Manhattan College students warded off the winter blues with the clear blues of the Pacific during a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Located 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador along the equator, the Galapagos Islands are a wildlife paradise preserved as a United Nations World Heritage Site, and a fitting place for this year’s Latin American National Model UN Conference, which focused on environmental protection.

Nearly 150 students, faculty and advisers from around the world attended the three-day conference, hosted by the Galapagos Academic Institute for the Arts and Sciences in partnership with Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador.

Led by Pamela Chasek, Ph.D., professor of government and director of Manhattan College’s international studies program, the Manhattan students served as delegates of the United States on commissions ranging from population development and world security to the status of women in an environmental context.

“Most people can agree that something needs to be done on environmental issues,” says Jared Hayes ’13, an international studies major who served on the UN commission for sustainable development. “There are many problems and interests of people in other countries. They have different needs.”

While competing in the Latin American National Model UN Conference in January, a group of Jasper explorers also learn about preservation in the Galapagos Islands.

As part of their visit to the Galapagos Islands, the students lent a hand in preserving parts of San Cristobal Island by cutting off invasive wildlife on ecotourism sites and along hiking trails.

On their days off, they embraced the lack of Wi-Fi and cell service by snorkeling and swimming with an array of sharks, sea lions and turtles.

“We actually experienced the environment,” says Arielle Simmons ’14, a communication major who served on the UN commission of science and technology development. “And that’s the purpose of why we were there as countries, as delegates and as students. We were there for the environment.

And to see and experience and have fun with the things that we’re trying to protect, was just an incredible thing.”

Traveling home to chilly New York the night before classes started, the Manhattan delegation returned with fresh tans, new friendships and their proudest achievement — an honorable mention award from the conference.

“I am so proud of how the students performed,” Chasek says. “And even more excited that they all developed a greater appreciation for climate change and other environmental issues through the conference and the experience on the Galapagos Islands.”

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on campus

Renowned author Josh Weil discusses the creative writing process with the College community in February.

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Acclaimed author Josh Weil drew an impressive crowd for the first Major Author Reading Series (M.A.R.S.) event of the spring semester. In February, students and faculty filled Hayden 100 to listen to Weil’s engaging reading and honest discussion of his craft.

Manhattan College’s highly successful M.A.R.S. program connects students to prominent modern authors. This not only gives the community a taste of the best of new literature but also of the writing process and the industry. Since autumn of 2010, 16 authors have visited campus, including Pulitzer Prize winners Junot Díaz, Jennifer Egan and Claudia Emerson; National Book Award finalist Joshua Ferris; essayist Phillip Lopate; and Poet Laureate of New York Marie Howe.

Weil boasts an impressive list of accreditations, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters Sue Kaufman Prize, the 5-Under-35 honor by the National Book Foundation, and an Editors’ Choice by The New York Times Sunday Book Review. A writer-in-residence at two universities, he has been called “among the best of a new generation of writers” by the National Book Foundation.

Despite the multitude of praises he has received, when Weil took the stage, his warm, down-to-earth and enthusiastic personality allowed him to sincerely connect to the audience.

And he shared another connection with those in attendance. In 2005-06, Weil taught Freshman Composition at Manhattan College, his first teaching job.

“It is especially meaningful to return to Manhattan College campus,” Weil noted.

After a brief introduction of himself and his career path, Weil began to read a passage from his collection of novellas, titled The New Valley, which delves into the lives of three separate, solitary characters. He warned the audience that he was slightly nervous about this particular reading, as the content and characters were slightly controversial. But his fear was unfounded. Proving the depth of his understanding of character and place, he effortlessly transported the audience into the mind of Jeffrey, a mentally challenged man living in Appalachia.

After the reading, Weil entertained a long discussion with the audience and answered questions. He talked about his own creative process, the pros and cons of graduate degrees, finding a writing-based career, and taking the fear out of taboo subjects in writing.

Two additional M.A.R.S. events took place later in the semester. Poet Iain Haley Pollock, winner of the 2010 Cave Canem Poetry Prize, dedicated to the discovery of exceptional manuscripts by African-American poets, for his first collection of poems, Spit Back a Boy; and poet, playwright and nonfiction writer Honor Moore, whose memoir The Bishop’s Daughter was selected as a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and who was named an Editor’s Choice by The New York Times, both participated in the lecture series.

Pollock also serves as the Cyrus H. Nathan ’30 Distinguished Faculty Chair for English at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. Moore received awards in poetry and playwriting from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts and the Connecticut Commission for the Arts and, in 2004, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction.

PHOTO BY james o’connor ’15

M.A.R.S. is in Alignment

Business Students Contribute to Record-Setting Year for Bronx Tax Program

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his spring, a small, nondescript room inside Fordham Bedford’s Refuge House became a classroom.

There were no chalkboards or teachers or tests, but inside, students were learning the fundamentals of tax preparation by meeting with real clients, sifting through W-2s and looking for deductions.

This working classroom is a product of the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, and its beneficiaries extend well beyond the students. As of March 19, nearly 1,300 low-income residents and families who use the program’s free tax preparation services through the Bronx’s University Neighborhood Housing Program (UNHP) received $1.9 million in returns — an all-time high in the program’s six years of operation.

Manhattan College, in partnership with UNHP, Fordham Bedford Community Services and Ariva Inc., returned for the fourth consecutive year, and 31 Jaspers, including many freshmen in the Arches learning-living

program, actively contributed to this year’s success, logging 330 volunteer hours — more than a third of UNHP’s total hours.

“The program is something that Manhattan College really believes in,” says Jumelia Abrahamson ’09, UNHP program and outreach coordinator. “Not only are students putting the hours in, but they’re impacting the community. It fits in with the school’s mission of Lasallian service.”

For accounting major Diana Polanco ’14, the choice to help out was simple.

“First, I like to volunteer. Secondly, I would be able to help lower-income individuals, like my family members, save money by doing their taxes,” says the Washington Heights native. “Thirdly, I wanted to learn how to file an income tax return.”

In the spring, Manhattan College certifies its volunteers through a training program run by Gregory Bucci, CPA, visiting instructor of accounting. The course reviews basic tax forms and the standard code of conduct

before students attend a TaxWise software training session to learn how to fill out commonly used electronic tax forms.

Then the real training begins.

“In class we learn theories, but while participating in the program, we actually fill out returns and are working hands-on,” Polanco says, recalling a challenging return for an out-of-state worker. “If we make a mistake, it affects the client, and there may be a chance that the IRS audits their return. I realized that I make a big difference in people’s lives.”

Aside from gaining the technical knowledge, many returning volunteers say the experience has improved their overall patience, communication and attention to detail.

“They are able to use those skills and simultaneously provide our local residents with a much-needed service,” Bucci says. “The tax preparation and client contact helps our Manhattan College students greatly as their careers begin to take shape.”

Irish Educators Are A’ Smiling Fresh off his appearance at New York City’s Society of Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Anniversary Dinner last year, President Brennan O’Donnell was the featured speaker at the 59th annual dinner of the Westchester chapter of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick this year on March 14.

Joined on the dais by two Manhattan College alumni — James Landy ’76, chairman of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Westchester (left), and Matthew McCrosson ’72, chapter president (right) — O’Donnell’s talk focused on Manhattan College as a gateway of opportunity for immigrants, starting with the Irish and continuing with other first- and second-generation students today.

Joe Vericker/PhotoBureau

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on campus

The Jasper Network everyone needs a helping hand sometimes. Manhattan College’s network of outstanding alumni does just that by lending assistance and guidance to current Jaspers through the Center for Career Development’s Mentor Program.

In February, students and professionals gathered together for the annual Mentor Dinner, the keystone event for the Center’s Mentor Program, which aims to give students insight into their intended career paths by pairing them up with professionals in their fields.

During the year, paired-up students and professionals meet and talk, and the spring Mentor Dinner serves as a celebration of the participants’ professional growth throughout the year.

“The Mentor Dinner was the perfect way to end the program,” says Tricia Speers ’15, a marketing major and mentee. “The speakers were great, and it was a pleasure to see my mentor and be able to catch up after just beginning the spring semester.”

Approximately 160 students and professionals attended this year’s event, which provided an excellent networking opportunity for students enrolled in every school at the College. As the night progressed, Jaspers talked about their future career plans and connected through their academic achievements.

This year also marked a particularly special occasion for the program.

Brother Charles Barbush, FSC, who has served as the Mentor Program coordinator since its inception in 1988, will be stepping down in June. His efforts throughout the years were honored during the ceremony.

“He was truly an asset to the Mentor Program,” says Alison Landy, assis-

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Celebrating Jasper networking, Nick Benedetto ’08, who introduced the Mentor Dinner’s guest speaker, Jack Matteis ’87, connects with the JP Morgan Chase & Co. director at the Center for Career Development’s annual event.

tant mentor program coordinator. “Br. Charles was essential to the success of the program.”

The night’s official program began with opening remarks from Peter McGroddy ’71, who serves as chair of the Mentor Program advisory board and is the senior vice president for HDR Engineering. After the dinner, Nick Benedetto ’08, commercial portfolio officer and account manager for TD Bank, introduced the night’s guest speaker, Jack Matteis ’87.

Matteis is the executive director of the Hedge Fund Credit Group at JP Morgan Chase & Co. His talk brought both humor and guidance to the audience, as he talked about career building and recalled how he switched his major

from engineering to finance and didn’t tell his parents until the day of his graduation.

“I enjoyed meeting many of the successful Manhattan College alumni and learning some of the aspects of what an engineering job entails,” says Vincent Terrone III ’15, who is majoring in civil engineering with a minor in business.

“The benefits of this program are unparalleled regarding the experience it gives you as a student. I have gained valuable advice that will help guide me through my academic and professional choices in the future.”

On the Fence:

L.O.V.E. Arizona Sheds Light on Both Sides of Immigration Debate

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anhattan College has long been as much of a melting pot as its home city of New York, embracing the Lasallian ideals of diversity, open-mindedness and accessible education for firstgeneration students.

This pursuit of the American dream has fueled a controversial debate in recent years with the increase of illegal immigrants entering the country.

Eager to join the conversation, 10 Jaspers traded traditional spring break vacations for the College’s first Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience (L.O.V.E.) in Arizona.

The group stayed and worked at San Miguel High School, a majority Hispanic Lasallian school in Tucson, Ariz., and participated in its El Otro Lado (The Other Side) program. Manhattan College students spent a few days at the school and tutored teens in a variety of subjects. For many, this provided a glimpse into life near the border.

“They have this really strong work ethic that you don’t typically see in high school kids,” says Nia Stevens ’14, a communication major, noting that some San Miguel students lack support from family members who may be tied up in immigration battles.

“I worked with a few kids who wanted to know so much about New York or wanted to know so much about college.”

In their first trip off-site, the Manhattan College group traveled 70 miles south to the U.S.-Mexican border to observe immigration issues on both

“learn the law.” sides — literally. They met with “Several of [our students] border patrol agents in Nogales, said they feel this is like the civil Ariz., to learn about the chalrights issue of our generation,” lenges they face in the shadows says Richard Satterlee, Ph.D., vice of the ominous 25-foot wall president, student life and modseparating the town from its erator of the L.O.V.E. trip. “And I twin — Nogales, Mexico.

“We had this longing to go over think for that reason, whether you’re there in Arizona or not, it’s there and just see. So we can’t important to know what’s going even imagine how people in on. It was a moving experience to Mexico who want to come over on our side and try to build a new see it through their eyes.”

While the students said they life must feel,” says Joe Murtagh believe it’s important to curb ’14, a communication major and illegal immigration and streamstudent leader of the L.O.V.E. trip. line the path to U.S. citizenship, “I think that the border comthey expressed frustration with pletely destroys the idea that we the system’s misuse of resources. share a common humanity with other people beyond our country Many border town residents who are closest to the action are and beyond our nation.” concerned about the humanity Back in Tucson, the group witof the issue, as well. nessed the shocking effects of Manhattan students met federal policy as a courtroom of with two groups that provide 56 handcuffed illegal immigrants healing aid for migrants crossing accepted a mass plea bargain resulting in jail time and deporta- the unforgiving Arizona deserts — The Green Valley Samaritans tion. Many students expressed (Los Samaritanos) and No More their concern over the mere 27 Deaths (No Más Muertes). minutes each defendant had “I think the government down with a lawyer and interpreter to

there has instilled a fear of being kind,” Murtagh says, explaining that No More Deaths has been cited 18 times in 20-some years for aiding the process of illegal immigration. Nevertheless, they’ve won each case. “Because it’s not illegal to help another person in need,” he explains.

During a hike along one of the migrant trails, the Manhattan group got a candid taste of reality, as they were stopped by border patrol agents who routinely check the area.

Before their trip home, the students visited a shrine dedicated to the hundreds of migrants who die in the desert each year and offered their solidarity by leaving water along the trails.

Since returning to New York, many students have discussed presenting about the issues on campus, organizing public demonstrations and volunteering at tutoring centers for children of undocumented immigrants.

“We need to raise awareness here, first, at Manhattan College,” Stevens says. “Because at the end of the day, that’s what it takes for there to be a change.”

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on campus

LASALLIANLOOK

Fair Trade Festivities

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here was much to celebrate this past February as Manhattan College commemorated the one-year anniversary of becoming the first Fair Trade College in New York City. The Fair Trade Steering Committee, led by Lois Harr, director of Campus Ministry and Social Action, and Gwendolyn Tedeschi, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics and finance, has worked hard to integrate fair trade practices into the different areas of the College.

The highlight of Manhattan’s celebration was a visit in February by Rep. Eliot Engel, co-sponsor of the 2001 Harkin-Engel Protocol. Engel discussed how his political career developed, from his beginnings as a local Bronx resident to becoming a U.S. Congressman. He learned about the use of slavery in the cocoa industry through a documentary and began his work on the Harkin-Engel Protocol, which ultimately created the current voluntary compliance system.

“I stand ready to continue standing up and fighting for the children of Africa, for this Rep. Eliot Engel joins Grishma Shah, cannot happen again, and I professor of management, Lois Harr, will not stand for it,” Engel director of Campus Ministry and said.

“Should our efforts be Social Action, Gwendolyn Tedeschi, successful, I think our frameassistant professor of economics work of action stands ready and finance, and President Brennan O’Donnell at the Fair Trade celebrato serve as a model that can tion on campus in February.

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be duplicated in any sector to continue our good work.”

This year, the movement’s mission was to increase awareness on campus, so fair trade would be a cause that would resonate with the College community and slowly seep into everyday life.

“Fair trade has started to permeate things,” Harr explains.

“The more you see it, the more you start thinking about it as an option.”

Student Activities was the first department to exemplify the success of this strategy, when it changed the location of its annual Leadership Weekend from Hershey Park to a resort in Rhode Island, due to the chocolate company’s international labor rights standards. In addition, they also purchased fair trade intramural sports equipment this year.

Even L.O.V.E. trips now include site visits to fair trade companies abroad, such as Kazuri Beans in Kenya and Cards for Africa, a Rwandan-based organization that promotes social justice for genocide orphans.

And there are at least two types of fair trade products in each of the four cafeterias, including the newest addition of Runa tea in Dante’s Den on campus. The bookstore also has begun selling fair trade products to show its support, and has a new clothing line that became available this year.

Fair trade ambassadors have made it one of their goals to bring some of the major issues to the classroom, where students can gain an understanding of what the movement represents and how the issue is related to their areas of study, from sociology to economics.

Moving forward, fair trade is gaining momentum, including a partnership with Gourmet Dining, which is unveiling new initiatives in Locke’s Loft, incorporating Fair Trade Fridays and a fair trade kitchen, with products such as olive oil, sugar and spices that students can use to prepare their own meals.

With all that has been accomplished after only one year, the upcoming year is looking stronger than ever for the movement on campus; affirming that the fair trade status guarantees constant improvement for the better of the entire College community in the future.

COURSE Spotlight

1938: It was a Cardinal Year

Introduction to Meteorology (SCI 221) Small talk about the weather will never be the same for students who have the chance to take an introductory course in meteorology. In SCI 221, they learn the tools and skills needed to understand the ever-changing, complex conditions of the atmosphere.

The 1930s were a time of growth and change for the College, but one of the biggest boons to academic life was the completion and dedication of the Cardinal Hayes Library 75 years ago.

On April 26, 1938, Cardinal Patrick Hayes, class of 1888, blessed the new $350,000 library named in his honor at a special dedication ceremony. This year also happened to mark his 50th anniversary of graduating from Manhattan College. Flanking and assisting Cardinal Hayes, from left to right, are Monsignor Joseph Farrell, class of 1895, and Monsignor Daniel McCarthy, class of 1890.

The day commemorated three main events: the diamond jubilee of the College’s charter (1863-1938), Hayes’ golden jubilee, and the dedication of the library itself. Nearly 4,000 guests flooded the campus for the all-day celebration, which included a pontifical high Mass, luncheon, concert, academic procession and convocation.

Course Description: Introduction to Meteorology enables students to learn how they can observe and analyze the weather and climate changes that New Yorkers are exposed to every day. During the semester, many lessons take place outside of the classroom, which gives students the opportunity to work with modern weather instruments to identify cloud types and gain an understanding of meteorological forecasting. Hands-on lessons continue in lab sessions, where one day they can be watching a seltzer can collapse to demonstrate air pressure and then making clouds in their own beakers a week later. Recently, the class has been able to integrate severe storms such as Sandy, Irene and Nemo into their lessons, tracking the movement of weather fronts in the tri-state area. Students also learn how to listen to a variety of communication channels and interpret the inconsistencies and different styles of generating weather reports. Other topics within the course include: earth-sun geometry, hydrologic cycle, methods of heat transfer, cloud classification, and diurnal wind and temperature patterns in a coastal environment.

Text: The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology, 12th ed.,

by Fred Lutgens & Ed Tarbuck, 2013 Lectures: Tuesday and Thursdays, 1:25-3:25 p.m.

Professor: Jeffrey Rappaport, adjunct professor of physics About the Professor: Teaching at Manhattan since 2008, Rappaport has taught a variety of courses at the College, including Introduction to Astronomy, Introduction to Geology, Introduction to Oceanography, and Fundamentals of Physical Science.

He received his B.A. in geology from Earlham College and his M.A. in earth and environmental science from Columbia University. Passionate about meteorology, Rappaport proposed this course a few years ago because he believes that New York City is the perfect place to analyze the weather, with its four distinct seasons and varying daily weather conditions.

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Psych Student Has Service in His Sights

A Super New Program Manhattan College’s School of Education and Health has reached even higher in its mission of preparing not only caring teachers but also great school leaders — this time taking it to the top levels of school administration.

The school was recently approved by New York State to offer graduate students the op-

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portunity to take courses toward superintendent certification through a master’s degree or professional diploma. The Master of Science and Professional Diploma in Advanced Leadership Studies (ALS) are part of the School of Education and Health’s graduate program that focuses on leadership development for training educational professionals

to become leaders in their fields.

In addition, both the master’s and professional diploma curricula incorporate key skills and knowledge for school building leaders, school district leaders and school district business leaders in New York State.

PHOTOs BY joshua yetman, st George’s university

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erry D’Aversa ’14, a psychology major and chemistry minor at Manhattan College, didn’t have much time to see Grenada’s sparkling blue waters or sandy white beaches during winter break. But he made sure others would be able to.

For a week in January, he and his father, Gerard D’Aversa, M.D., an ophthalmologist with Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island (OCLI), performed cataract surgeries and corneal transplants on visually impaired locals, many of whom had gone blind over time without access to adequate healthcare.

The D’Aversas’ medical mission trip was sponsored by a grant from the Department of Ophthalmology at St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada.

“I jumped on the opportunity to go,” says D’Aversa, who started working as a file clerk and technician at OCLI as a teenager. “It’s hard for my father to drop everything and leave in his profession, but it’s safe to say that we made a lasting impression on the community there.”

D’Aversa, his father and an accompanying technician from Island Eye Surgicenter on Long Island, took an 8 a.m. bus each day from their living quarters in St. George’s to the public hospital in Grenada.

Toting six suitcases of medical supplies and nine pairs of fragile corneal transplants donated by the Long Island Eye Bank, the three worked tedious 10-hour days, restoring sight to 30 patients in total.

“Jerry impressed me to no end. He did what was required in an environment where we didn’t know what to expect,” says Gerard D’Aversa. “He wore many hats and had to make rapid-fire decisions. He’s a very quick learner.”

Working in the operating room for the first time, D’Aversa helped prep patients, check prescriptions and hand off surgical instruments to his father. The incredible hands-on experience has helped solidify his decision to become an eye doctor, he says, and he hopes to take the Optometry Admission Test this fall and start at SUNY College of Optometry the following year.

“Your sight is such an important sense and is essential to living a happy life,” D’Aversa says. “The most amazing part of the trip was the patients

A Celebrated Collection

who’d come back post-op and were so happy and so grateful.”

Helping others to be happy has always been a way of life for this Jasper.

After Hurricane Katrina, D’Aversa traveled to Mississippi to rebuild houses, and when tragedy hit home on Long Island after Hurricane Sandy, he was on call again, helping the victims whose communities were destroyed.

For years, D’Aversa and his sister Jackie have also helped run Kids Care, a group that provides backpacks, school supplies and Christmas gifts to foster children.

At Manhattan College, the ambitious junior is balancing his volunteer work with classes and a research project moderated by Jay Friedenberg, Ph.D., chair of the psychology department.

The pair, along with D’Aversa’s roommate and friend Chris Rypl ’13, are manipulating different shapes and analyzing how the changes affect visual perceptions and attraction — an intersection that combines D’Aversa’s passions for psychology and science.

“Jerry is very disciplined, courteous and serious about what he does,” Friedenberg says.

“He’s a good student, and I can really see him going places.”

Now, the people of Grenada can see it, too.

(Top) Jerry D’Aversa ’14 observes his father, ophthalmologist Gerard D’Aversa, M.D., as he performs phacoemulsification cataract surgery. (Bottom) D’Aversa then uses a mobile auto refractor on a patient as his father holds the patient steady, allowing them to calculate the power of the intraocular lens that will be surgically placed into the patient’s eye. (Opposite page) D’Aversa, behind his father, is prepped for surgery.

Manhattan College’s Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education (HGI) Center, in partnership with the Mary Alice and Tom O’Malley Library, was recently selected by the National Endowment for the Humanities to receive the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf collection. The College is among 842 libraries and state humanities councils in the United States, and one of only eight in New York City to receive the award.

The collection of 25 books, three films and other resources was created to help familiarize the American public with the history and culture of Muslims. The diverse subject materials include Islamic art, history, literature, poetry, cartoons, women’s rights, American Muslims, fundamentalism and secularism.

In congratulating the College for receiving such a prestigious honor, New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz says, “Receiving this collection provides the school with an opportunity to promote community discussion and build bridges among diverse cultures and faiths.”

The HGI Center, along with the library, is applying for the second stage of the award, a grant that would bring authors from the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf collection to campus.

“It’s an honor and demonstrates the commitment that the College and Center have made toward excellence in teaching, diversity and scholarship,” says Mehnaz Afridi, Ph.D., director of the HGI Center and assistant professor of religious studies at Manhattan College.

The collection, which is housed in the HGI Center, is available for all to use.

Emmy Award-Winning Actor Captivates College In celebration of Black History Month, renowned actor and singer Keith David starred in a medley of historical readings and songs on Feb. 19 in Smith Auditorium.

David, who boasts more than 150 film, stage and television credits, including roles in the blockbuster hits Crash, There’s Something About Mary and Platoon, recited two notable Frederick Douglass readings, in-

cluding the seminal 1852 speech What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? In addition, he performed classical songs popularized by civil rights icon Paul Robeson. Jazz/pop recording artist Frank Owens — a Broadway composer/ conductor who served as the original musical director for The Late Show With David Letterman — accompanied David on piano.

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lecture circuit

Finding CURES for Our Carbon Footprints

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David Orr, professor of environmental studies and politics at Oberlin College, discusses how the college campus is a great place to start working toward a common goal of sustainability at the CURES inaugural event in February.

A frequent lecturer at colleges and universities around the world, Orr is also the author of seven books, including Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (2009), and coeditor of three others. He has written nearly 200 articles, reviews, book chapters and professional publications, and is a founding editor of the journal Solutions. In addition to seven honorary degrees and a dozen other awards, he was recently awarded a Visionary Leadership Award from Second Nature.

Orr’s work at Oberlin College serves as a model that Manhattan strives to achieve through the work of CURES in making the campus more sustainable and decreasing the carbon footprint of its students, faculty and administration and promoting environmental justice.

In an effort to uphold its commitment to support research, education and community outreach in the areas of urban resilience, sustainability and environmental justice for Manhattan College, the Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (CURES) sponsored a series of events on campus throughout the spring semester, which included: March 7: A Biohouse Technologies Presentation given by eight mechanical engineers about their senior project, a professional engineering proposal to renovate the Leo Greenhouse.

April 17: A screening of the film The Island President, which is about the president of Maldives and his fight to save his island from rising sea levels.

April 22: A tour of the rooftop garden on the Broadway Parking Garage to celebrate Earth Day. The project’s purpose was to explore the feasibility and benefits of urban agriculture.

April 23: A panel discussion titled Superstorm Sandy: Six Months After. The panel examined the recovery status of areas affected by Hurricane Sandy, particularly New York City and Long Island, as well as future plans to strengthen coastline resilience.

PHOTO BY james o’connor ’15

T

his past February, the Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (CURES) held its inaugural event with a lecture by sustainability visionary and author David W. Orr, Ph.D. In his lecture, Resilience in a Black Swan World, the professor of environmental studies and politics at Oberlin College discussed the need for people in every field to promote full spectrum sustainability and how a college campus is the best place to begin working toward attaining that common goal.

“When you distill the essence of sustainability, it’s how we relate to each other and to the rest of the fabric of life on the Earth,” he explained.

Orr became an instrumental leader promoting sustainability when he facilitated the plans to design, fund and build the Adam Joseph Lewis Environmental Studies Center at Oberlin College, starting with construction in 1998. According to the Department of Energy, the building meets all LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards and also was named “the most important green building of the past 30 years” by a panel from the American Institute of Architects in 2010.

Because of all that he has accomplished at Oberlin College, Orr is also the executive director of The Oberlin Project, an initiative launched in 2009 in an effort to create a green arts district within a 13-acre block stretch in the town of Oberlin, Ohio. By incorporating green features from the Adam Joseph Lewis Environmental Studies Center, Oberlin College joined forces with the city to provide the leadership and support to rebuild the area.

“This is a world worth fighting for,” he said.

“The Oberlin Project is our version of a grassroots movement that is powered by science, sunshine and real patriotism.”

lecture circuit

Celebrating Pacem in Terris

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n April 11, 1963, Pope John XXIII published an encyclical titled Pacem in Terris, or Peace on Earth, during the escalation of the Cold War. The nowlandmark text, released two months before the pope’s death, was directed not only to Catholics but also to “all men of good will.” With it, he urged government leaders to address political differences through negotiation, not arms, and placed heavy emphasis on international human rights.

The encyclical inspired countless Catholics and non-Catholics alike. But in a way that perhaps even Pope John never envisioned, it also inspired a feverish academic movement, with Manhattan College at the heart of it. This spring, the College marked the 50th anniversary of the encyclical — and the 46th anniversary of the Pacem in Terris Institute of Manhattan College, which later developed into what’s now the Peace Studies program — with a series of lectures and events, capped off by an archival exhibit.

The speaking presentations included the Cost of War lecture, delivered by alumnus James Vreeland ’94, Ph.D., associate professor of government at Georgetown University, who discussed the ways in which governments trade money for political favors on the stage of the United Nations Security Council; the Aquinas Lecture, given by Joseph Fahey, Ph.D., professor of religious studies, who discussed the impact that Pacem in Terris had on the Peace Studies program and the vision of a governed world; and an additional lecture by Thomas Ferguson, Ph.D., associate professor of religious studies and director of the peace studies program, who discussed the intersection of the encyclical and the Lasallian mission.

The story of the College’s Pacem in Terris Institute dates back to the mid-1960s, not long after the encyclical caught the attention of two professors from two very different academic disciplines. Thomas Stonier was a computer-loving biologist who would earn the sobriquet “professor of futurology.” Robert Christen was a historian who would later go on to serve as director of the New York State School Boards Association. After attending a forum about the encyclical in 1965, the professors began meeting regularly to discuss a way to put Pope John’s words into action. The goal was simple: to educate people in an interdisciplinary way to advance peace.

And so in 1967, with the Vietnam War raging in the background, the Pacem in Terris Institute was born. By then, Christen was already teaching a history course titled Anatomy of

Peace, with similar philosophy and education courses being planned. That April, the organizers sponsored a kick-off convocation to stimulate in educators on all campuses an awareness of the need for serious and continuing academic study of the many facets of war and peace.

They invited 300 educators and social justice leaders to campus to head 26 workshops, and Pope John VI even sent a personal greeting to attendees.

Today, the spirit of the institute lives on as the Manhattan College Peace Studies program, which was formally approved by the School of Arts and Sciences in 1971. It offers major and minor courses covering 14 disciplines, from sociology to business to political science.

“Pacem in Terris is the blueprint of our Peace Studies program,” Ferguson says. “The quest for peace is never-ending, and we hope this semester’s events are reminding students, faculty, staff and members of the community of the importance of working together for a better world.”

The decision for an anniversary commemoration blossomed through ongoing discussions between Ferguson, Lois Harr, director of Campus Ministry and Social Action, and Margaret Groarke, associate professor of government and former director of the peace studies program, echoing the conversations that Christen and Stonier had 50 years ago.

On April 10, the College unveiled a Pacem in Terris archival exhibit in the O’Malley Library, which ran through the end of the semester. Consisting of photos, brochures, programs, news clippings, medals and certificates, the exhibit was the culmination of a semester’s work by one dedicated undergraduate, Kathleen White, a junior double-majoring in peace studies and history. For White, who calls the exhibit “a visual research paper,” the exhibit represents a natural marriage of history and the Peace Studies program.

“The study of the past is about understanding why things are the way they are, and the peace studies curriculum asks what we can do to change those things,” she explains. “So they really go hand-in-hand.”

MANHATTAN.EDU N 13

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Lacrosse Gets an Assist from the MAAC

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A few Jasper lacrosse stars throughout the program’s history: Chrissy Gutenberger ’12 (above), and Steve Sternberg ’10 (below). On the opposite page: James Amandola ’02 (left) and Lori Graham ’00 (right).

14 N spring 2013

hile the sport of lacrosse is not a new addition to Manhattan College, there will be a fresh aspect to the game coming in the 2014-15 season. The rapid growth of both the men’s and women’s games across the country has given the opportunity for expansion at the mid-major level. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), of which Manhattan is a charter member, has announced that lacrosse will become a core sport throughout the league in two years.

By making this distinction, the MAAC and its institutions have made the commitment to back the sports of men’s and women’s lacrosse in a manner that helps on both a financial and promotional level. The league has seven core sports for both men and women, and each member institution must sponsor at least six.

For the men, those sports are basketball, soccer, cross country, baseball, golf, swimming and tennis. The women’s sports include basketball, soccer, cross country, swimming and tennis, along with softball and volleyball. Beginning in 2014-15, lacrosse will replace tennis as one of the core sports affiliated with the MAAC, but tennis will remain a varsity sport.

The decision came as part of the conference’s five-year strategic plan, announced in December 2011 and implemented in fall of 2012. A statement released by the MAAC says it will include a “multi-year plan to increase funding for lacrosse, which will include an increase in full-time coaching positions and scholarships.”

The ultimate goal is that by the 2018-19 school year, each of the MAAC’s member institutions will have a full-time head coach, two full-time assistants and the equivalent of 12 NCAA scholarships for both the men’s and women’s lacrosse programs.

Started as a championship sport in 1996, men’s lacrosse has taken on many different looks within the MAAC. It began with only five member schools participating: Manhattan, Siena, Niagara, Canisius and Fairfield. They were joined by then associate members Marist, Providence and Mount St. Mary’s. When Marist became a full-conference member in 1997, the league also added St. Joseph’s to what was then known as the MAAC Men’s Lacrosse League.

In the following years, the league members fluctuated as schools such as Fairfield, Mount St. Mary’s, Providence and Saint Joseph’s left for other conferences. Meanwhile, associate schools such as Wagner, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac were added, and Niagara dropped the sport completely. The current seven-team league, with original members Manhattan, Canisius, Siena and Marist, was formed in 2010-11 when Jacksonville and Detroit joined Virginia Military Institute (VMI), which arrived in 2003, as associate members.

That year was also the same time in which the MAAC’s Council of Presidents decided to discontinue the MAAC Men’s Lacrosse League, thereby, reducing it to an associate sport. The membership has remained unchanged in the last three seasons but will see another transformation for the 2013-14 year.

Both VMI and Jacksonville will be leaving for the newly formed Atlantic Sun Lacrosse League, while incoming MAAC members Quinnipiac and Monmouth will bring their programs into the conference.

“This is great for the future of our conference,” says current men’s head

coach Steve Manitta. “The MAAC could be a two-bid league, and there isn’t a coach in the MAAC that couldn’t build this up in a hurry because of the changes. There is a lot of low-hanging fruit in this area: the strong New Jersey programs, the [Long] Island schools and the programs in Westchester. Combined with the academics of Manhattan College, this is why my coaching staff and I are here.”

In the 18 seasons of its existence, the men’s team has enjoyed much success as a member of the MAAC. After two different head coaches, Joe Mongarella and John Brubaker, struggled to a combined 2-19 record, Tim McIntee took over in 1998 and built a program that has seen more than its fair share of success. When men’s lacrosse first began its conference tournament in 2000, the Jaspers appeared in the first ever title game and fell to St. Joseph’s. Since then, they have returned to the championship game three times, winning it all in 2002. Led by goalkeeper and tournament Most Valuable Player James Amandola ’02, that team went a perfect 7-0 in league play during the regular season before defeating Mount St. Mary’s, 9-8, for its only MAAC Championship.

The 2002 Jaspers also had one of the more prolific scorers in not only program history but also in league history. Eugene Tanner ’05 set Manhattan single-season records for goals scored (51) and points (74) in his rookie season.

His 51 goals still rank second in the MAAC for a single year, while his 3.19 goals per game average is the top mark in conference history. Tanner’s 74 points is seventh all-time in MAAC single season history.

McIntee would head the Jaspers for 15 seasons and lead the team to a total of seven conference tournaments, including three in a row from 2008-10. Following the 2012 season, Manitta was named the fourth head coach in Manhattan history and brought with him a resurgence of energy and dedication to restoring the program to its former heights.

Women’s MAAC lacrosse has not seen the constant fluctuation of its male counterpart. Of the current seven members in the league — Canisius, Fairfield, Marist, Iona, Siena, Niagara and Manhattan — five were part of the inaugural season in 1997, joining Mount St. Mary’s, Wagner and Duquesne. The latter three schools would all leave prior to the 1999 season, opening the door for Canisius to add women’s lacrosse and LeMoyne to join the conference. Iona would finally add the sport in 2005, three years ahead of LeMoyne’s departure.

And next season, when Monmouth and Quinnipiac enter the MAAC, the league will expand to nine teams.

The Jasper women’s team has been one of the premier programs in the MAAC since its inception. Began as a club team in 1996, it became a Division I sport in 1997 and went 6-7 that season. After two years as head coach, Danielle Caro would be replaced by Missi Holland, who helped bring the program to new heights. However, it would not be without the help of one of Caro’s star recruits, Hall of Famer Lori Graham ’00.

Playing in the first four seasons of the program’s history, Graham set marks that still have yet to be broken. Her 261 career points, including 196 goals, are tops in Jasper history. She also owns program marks in single game goals (9) and single season goals (56), while being the all-time leader in both single sea1952 Olympics son and career ground balls.

Her 4.31 goals per game average in 1997 is still the best in MAAC history, as is her 4.40 draw controls per game and 6.08 ground balls per game mark. Teammate Jessica Alzate ’01 owns the league record for caused turnovers per game (4.67), which she set in 1998.

Graham’s efforts brought more than personal accolades to Riverdale. In her final season as a player, she led Manhattan to the 2000 MAAC Tournament Championship, the first in league history.

Manhattan would go on to win two more tournament crowns in 2004, the only year of Jill Donovan’s tenure as head coach, and 2005, the first season under Jim Drivas. Since then, the Jaspers have made three more conference tournaments with their last appearance in 2009, when they tied a school record with 11 wins. Manhattan was led by then freshman Chrissy Gutenberger ’12 who set rookie records with 54 goals and 68 points.

Drivas would remain with the program for one more season before Victoria Latino guided Manhattan for the 2011 campaign. In 2012, current head coach Diane Haddeland took over and brought with her another piece of Jasper history when current sophomore Christina Fiorinelli became the first player in program history to lead the nation in a statistical category, averaging 3.79 ground balls per game as a freshman.

“Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the United States.

There are fantastic opportunities presented to both Manhattan College and the MAAC to grow and become true competitors within the NCAA,” Haddeland says. “We are very excited to take advantage of this opportunity. More scholarships will allow for better recruits to be brought in and the addition of a full-time staff brings all MAAC teams to the same level playing field.”

As the sport of lacrosse continues to grow across the country, the MAAC’s commitment to expansion will help to further its reach.

MANHATTAN.EDU N 15

sports

sportsshorts Jaspers Honored at Hall of Fame Former Manhattan College President Brother Thomas Scanlan, FSC, as well as former basketball stars Keith Bullock ’93 and Gina Somma ’96, were inducted into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Honor Roll during a dinner at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on March 8. They are members of the second MAAC Honor Roll class, joining 2012 inductees Jack Powers ’58 and Sheila Tighe ’84.

Br. Scanlan was selected for his contributions to the conference during his tenure as president from 1987-2009. He served as chair of the MAAC marketing and television committee, and played a key role in expanding the MAAC’s television and multimedia efforts. Br. Scanlan also endorsed the MAAC’s partnership with Disney that continues to this day and was a proponent of the joint MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at one venue. He served as a member of the NCAA Division I AA/AAA Presidential Advisory Group. The Jaspers won 72 MAAC postseason championships and 18 MAAC regular season titles during his presidency. The men’s basketball squad also became the first team in conference history to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 1995. In addition, Manhattan won the MAAC Commissioner’s Cup for overall excellence in 2002-03 and 2003-04.

Bullock led a renaissance of men’s basketball and helped the Jaspers make their first postseason appearance in 15 years with a berth in the 1992 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). In 1992-93, he was named MAAC Player of the Year and MAAC Tournament MVP, as Manhattan won its first MAAC championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1958. A three-time First Team AllMAAC selection and the 1990 MAAC Rookie of the Year, Bullock is second on Manhattan’s all-time lists for both scoring (1,992 points) and rebounding (1,012).

Somma was named MAAC Player of the Year, Metropolitan Player of the Year and Third Team All-American after leading Manhattan to its third MAAC title and NCAA Tournament appearance in 1995-96. She scored 768 points that season (the most in a single-season in Manhattan history, men or women) and finished third in the nation in scoring average (25.6 points per game). Somma is third on Manhattan’s alltime scoring list (1,838 points) and fifth all-time in rebounding (819).

National Champion Former Manhattan College star Jake Freeman ’04 earned his second career national title when he won the weight throw at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., in March. Freeman sat in second place after three attempts but moved ahead of three-time Olympian A.G. Kruger with an effort of 23.51 meters (77 feet, 1¾ inches) in the fourth round. It’s Freeman’s first indoor national championship. He previously won the hammer throw at the 2010 USA Outdoor Championships.

MAAC Expansion The MAAC announced in December that Monmouth and Quinnipiac 16 N spring 2013

will join the conference on July 1. With the addition of the two schools, the MAAC’s first new members since 1997, and the departure of Loyola, which will become a member of the Patriot League, the MAAC will feature 11 teams during the 2013-14 season. As a result of the expansion, the conference schedule in men’s and women’s basketball has increased from 18 to 20 games.

UNITE Comes to Campus The Manhattan-Iona men’s basketball game at Draddy Gymnasium on Feb. 15 was televised by ESPNU as a part of Rivalry Week. Danny Kanell, Reese Waters and Marianela Pereyra, the hosts of ESPNU’s popular UNITE show, served as commentators for the game, and the Jaspers were featured on UNITE leading up to the contest. UNITE, ESPN’s first late-night entertainment show, airs weeknights at midnight (ET) and features a mix of sports, humor and pop culture.

Brown Bagged It Junior forward/center Rhamel Brown of the men’s basketball team was recognized by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association with a selection to the All-Met Second Team. Brown led the Jaspers in both scoring and rebounding, and averaged 11.4 points and 7.2 rebounds. He was also named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season after ranking 10th in the nation with 3.0 blocks per game. He broke his own single-season program record with 95 blocks in 2012-13, while also setting a new Manhattan career record for blocked shots (247).

Staff News After three seasons as an assistant, Jorden Scott has been promoted to head coach of the men’s soccer team. He becomes the eighth head coach in the program’s 46-year history. Scott helped lead a rebuilding effort that has resulted in eight victories and two ties during the past two seasons. In 2011, the Jaspers went undefeated in their final four games of the regular season, then notched thrilling victories over Loyola and Iona to reach the MAAC Championship game for just the second time in school history and the first time since 1994.

Pat Slevin has been named head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country programs. He will also serve as an assistant coach working with the distance runners during the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. Slevin comes to Manhattan after eight years as an English teacher and track coach at Chaminade High School on Long Island. During his time at Chaminade, the Flyers won three indoor league championships, as well as the 2011 Catholic High School State Championship. He also mentored two individual national champions, four state champions and 35 high school All-Americans.

Catherine Conway has been added to the women’s lacrosse staff as an assistant coach. A 2012 graduate of Boston College, she will serve as the Jaspers’ defensive coordinator, while also contributing to the team’s scouting and recruiting efforts.

Jasper Scores Second Straight Selection For the second consecutive season, senior guard Maggie Blair of the women’s basketball team was selected to the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team. Blair was one of 20 basketball student-athletes (10 men and 10 women) to receive this honor. A dual major in finance and accounting, the Jasper star boasts a cumulative GPA of 3.94.

Blair played in 19 games, including 14 starts, during the 2012-13 season and averaged 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per contest. She grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in the Jaspers’ 58-49 victory over Ohio on Dec. 19.

A two-time team captain and three-time MAAC All-Academic Team selection, Blair has been named to the Dean’s List every semester and is a member of the Pen and Sword Honor Society, as well as Beta Gamma Sigma and Epsilon Sigma Pi. In August, she will begin a full-time position as a financial analyst at BlackRock, Inc. In addition, she served as the secretary of Manhattan’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and represented the MAAC at the NCAA’s annual SAAC convention last summer. Blair is also featured in the video presentation “A Day in the Life,” which is the centerpiece of the MAAC exhibit at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association includes the 101 Division I institutions that don’t sponsor football. In order to be selected to the Scholar-Athlete Team, student-athletes must be a starter or a significant reserve of junior academic standing or higher who appeared in at least 50 percent of their team’s games while maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20.

Maggie Blair ’13

FUNFACTS

40

95

blocks by junior Rhamel Brown this season, breaking his own single-season basketball record of 84, set in 2011–12

anniversary of the College’s 1973 NCAA Championship in men’s indoor track and field

1999

11

the only other time a Manhattan volleyball player (Amy O’Dorisio ’03) was named MAAC Rookie of the Year before this season

full-time members of the MAAC starting in July 2013, when Monmouth and Quinnipiac join the league, replacing Loyola

598 2004

digs by senior Kelsey Huntoon this season, setting a new volleyball record

20

year of the men’s basketball team’s last appearance in the MAAC Championship Game prior to this season

4

members of the women’s basketball 1,000-point club, which junior Monica Roeder joined in the Jaspers’ win over Loyola at the MAAC Tournament

Manhattan’s team finish at the 2013 IC4A Indoor Championships, the Jaspers’ best showing at the track and field meet since also taking fourth in 2009

1,005 3.79

all-time number of dual meets for the Manhattan swimming program since its inception

NCAA-leading ground balls per game for women’s lacrosse goalkeeper sophomore Christina Fiorinelli in 2012 MANHATTAN.EDU N 17

Rhamel Brown ’14

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Men’s Basketball Following one of the most impressive single-season turnarounds in the nation, Steve Masiello and the men’s basketball team were primed to make a run at a conference title in 2012-13. Manhattan entered the season ranked No. 2 in the MAAC by the league’s coaches and had a top Player of the Year candidate in senior George Beamon. An injury to Beamon two days before the season opener put one of the top scorers in the MAAC on the sidelines.

Both newcomers and veterans alike helped to pick up the slack and led Manhattan to its first championship appearance since 2004 and seventh all-time. It also saw three players earn league honors, including individual awards for junior Rhamel Brown and freshman Shane Richards.

Brown was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season and led the league in blocks while breaking the College’s career record for rejections.

Richards took home Co-Rookie of the Year honors and finished second on the team with 9.2 points per game, shooting 40.9 percent from three-point land against league opponents. First-year player RaShawn Stores was

also named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team and led the team in assists 10 different times.

A difficult nonconference slate saw the Jaspers crawl to a 3-9 start. Manhattan did, however, earn a second-straight win over rival Fordham in the 105th Battle of the Bronx.

Junior Michael Alvarado received the Mike Cohen Most Valuable Player award in the 6558 road victory, scoring 12 of his game-high 19 points in the second half.

Probably the most exciting win of the year came at Draddy in front of a packed crowd as the Jaspers hosted arch-rival Iona on ESPNU on Feb. 15. Manhattan’s defense kept one of the top offenses in the country in check, holding the Gaels to just 58 points in regulation as the game went into double before sophomore Emmy Andujar hit the game-winning layup with three seconds remaining for a dramatic 74-73 double-overtime win.

The Jaspers entered the conference tournament as the six seed and faced No. 3 Loyola, which had just defeated the Jaspers six days earlier in Baltimore, in the quarterfinals. A strong, late defensive stand helped Manhattan hold off the defending league champion Greyhounds with a 55-52 victory. In the semi-

finals, the Jaspers again played strong defense and overcame an early deficit against Fairfield to earn a 60-42 win over the Stags and a berth in the title game.

In the MAAC Championship, they faced Iona for the third time in the season and first ever in the title game. A back-and-forth affair saw them take a 26-24 lead into halftime, but the Gaels offense came out strong in the second and eventually took a 37-35 advantage with 13:18 remaining. That lead would balloon to as many as 10 with the Jaspers continuing to fight but ultimately falling 60-57.

Swimming Following a record-setting campaign in 2011-12, the men’s and women’s swim teams continued to take the program to new pinnacles this season. Consistently breaking Manhattan records, the Jaspers also reached the 1,000-meet plateau under head coach Walter Olsewski.

The men finished the year with a 9-5 record in dual meets, including a five-meet win streak from Oct. 27 to Nov. 27. Meanwhile, the women went 5-8 on the season with a four-

meet win streak from the middle of November into December. The additions of freshmen Lance Neuendorf and Dallan Treanor on the men’s side, along with freshman Paige Raccioppi and senior transfer Brianne Grant for the women, provided much of the spark for Manhattan in the pool.

One of the biggest triumphs for the women came on Nov. 27 with a 103-98 win over Mount St. Vincent’s. Freshman Michaela Schatz was an anchor for the women and earned two event victories, as her team won the first seven events to earn a victory.

For the men, arguably their top meet win came against MAAC rival Iona. In the final meet of the regular season, the Jaspers used their depth to defeat the Gaels 155-125 in New Rochelle. Neuendorf was part of four victories and three individual — earning him the first MAAC Swimmer of the Week honor since the program was revived.

On Jan. 13, Manhattan reached a mileCullen Balcanoff ’13

stone in the program’s history and competed in its 1,000th all-time meet. The Jaspers traveled to San Diego and took on Colorado Mesa State. Including this year, Manhattan has competed in 1,005 meets in its history.

Veteran leadership also provided a huge role in both teams’ successes this year. Senior Nadine Maher along with juniors Vanessa L’Heureux and Melanie Tam were among the top performers for the women.

Seniors Robert Varieur and Cullen Balcanoff capped off their time in Riverdale by leading the team to a 10th place finish at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) meet in Boston. Varieur will leave Manhattan with his name on eight different records, including three individual marks.

The men’s team was also impressive in the classroom during the 2012-13 campaign and was named a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar AllAmerican Team.

Indoor Track and Field For the men’s indoor track and field team, it was another year, another MAAC Championship in 2013. The Jaspers secured their 17th consecutive conference title with a convincing victory over Rider. The women’s team, meanwhile, placed third at the MAAC Championships.

At the MAAC Championships, the Jaspers were led by senior Tom Bechert, who scored points in five different events and was named Most Outstanding Performer for Field Events. Bechert finished second behind senior Brian McGovern’s meet record in the pole vault, as Manhattan swept the first five places in the event. Other highlights of the MAAC Championships included sophomore Anastas Papazov and junior Killian Barry going 1-2 in the weight throw, and sophomore Abdias Myrtil taking first in the 60-meter and 200-meter.

On the women’s side, senior Ashley Bowman shared Most Outstanding Performer for Track Events honors after setting championship records in both the 60-meter and the 200-meter. Fellow senior Cara Rostant defended her conference title in the 400-meter, while senior Melissa Yap was the MAAC champion in the pole vault. Senior Andrea Nyback placed second in both the long jump and high jump, while also adding to the Jaspers’ team score with a fifth-place showing in the 60-meter hurdles.

The MAAC Championships also proved historic for coach Dan Mecca. It was the 60th conference championship of his career, and he was recognized as MAAC Men’s Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year.

Two weeks after the MAAC Championships, the Jaspers headed to Boston for the ECAC/IC4A Championships. On the women’s side, Ny-

back captured the ECAC title in the pentathlon. The men’s team was led by a pair of IC4A champions — senior Felix Siljeback-Larsen won the heptathlon, and junior Mikael Rojeras captured first place in the 1,000-meter. Overall, Manhattan finished fourth in the team standings, its best showing at the IC4A Championships since 2009.

The Jasper men also won their first Metropolitan Championship since 2008. Rojeras captured Metropolitan Championships in the 800-meter, mile and 4x800-meter relay (all within a span of little more than two hours) to earn one of his three MAAC Performer of the Week selections of the season.

Manhattan enjoyed success in the classroom, too. Fourteen women and 11 men were named to the MAAC AllAcademic Team.

In addition, the program celebrated its historic 100th anniversary throughout the season. The Jaspers welcomed back more than 50 alumni for their season-opening meet on Dec. 1, where Myrtil established a new school record in the men’s 60-meter. The College’s record also fell in the heptathlon, as Bechert shattered the old mark by more than 300 points.

Ashley Bowman ’13

Women’s Basketball With the women’s basketball season hanging in the balance, junior Monica Roeder sank an eight-foot jumper as the final horn sounded to give the Jaspers a thrilling 50-49 victory over Loyola in the first round of the MAAC Tournament in Springfield, Mass. However, Manhattan saw its season end with a loss to eventual MAAC champion Marist the next day.

Roeder, who led the Jaspers in scoring with an average of 12.1 points per game, became the 20th member of Manhattan’s 1,000-point club in the win over Loyola. She was named to the All-MAAC Third Team.

Freshman Shayna Ericksen earned MAAC Rookie of the Week honors twice and was selected to the MAAC All-Rookie Team. She finished second on the team in rebounding, averaging six points per contest.

Senior Toni-Ann Lawrence also enjoyed a fine season. She led the Jaspers in rebounding (6.2 rebounds per game), placed second on the squad in scoring (9.9 points per game), while appearing in every game.

Lawrence never missed a contest during her Manhattan career and is the Jaspers’ all-time leader in games played (129). In addition, junior Allison Skrec paced the MAAC in assists, handing out 5.0 per contest.

Manhattan picked up impressive wins over VCU and Oakland during nonconference play. The triumph over VCU came in John Olenowski’s 100th game as head coach, and he has had more wins in 100 games than any other coach in program history.

The Jaspers then began their MAAC slate with a victory at Saint Peter’s. They sank 12 three-pointers, one shy of the single-game program record, in the 73-66 triumph, and Skrec distributed a career-high 10 assists. Ericksen tallied 14 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the game, just missing the second triple-double in program history. She led the Jaspers with four double-doubles on the season.

The team also defeated Loyola in its annual Kid’s Day Out game at Draddy Gymnasium and posted a home win over Canisius. Manhattan capped the regular season with a 61-52 victory over Niagara and marked the fifth consecutive year in which the Jaspers won on Senior Day. In addition, Roeder and Skrec were recognized for their successes in the classroom with selections to the MAAC All-Academic Team, and were joined by senior Maggie Blair and junior Jazmine Jarvis.

Toni-Ann Lawrence ’13

MANHATTAN.EDU N 19

sports

Women’s Soccer The third season for head coach Brendan Lawler was one of both struggle and promise as the women’s soccer team got a glimpse of what the future could hold in Riverdale. With multiple injuries, the Jaspers rallied around senior captain goalkeeper Kara Davis and saw a multitude of young and veteran players contribute to the season.

Through the first six games, the Jaspers had a record of 3-3 and found a flare for the dramatic. After dropping their season opener to rival Fordham, Manhattan rebounded for a 2-0 win over Delaware State on Aug. 26. Freshmen Emily Ude and Tiffanie McIntosh provided the goals, as four of the teams’ 12 scores on the season came from first-year players.

Manhattan would again even up its record with a 2-1 victory over Lafayette in the home opener. All three goals came in the second half as the Jaspers held a one-goal advantage in the final five minutes before the Leopards tied things up. Junior Janie Schlauder tallied one of her team-high four goals of the year when a corner kick ricocheted off her body and into the net with just two minutes left.

Manhattan notched another dramatic home win five days later, as junior Martine Diamond headed in a cross from junior Aislinn McIlvenny in overtime to defeat Wagner, 1-0, on Sept. 12. However, the Jaspers were unable to maintain the momentum as they dropped seven of their next eight games, including five in a row through conference play.

Their only victory in that stretch came in the MAAC opener against Saint Peter’s.

Schlauder scored twice for the Jaspers in the match with Diamond scoring the other goal.

The Jaspers ended their five-game skid with a victory on senior day as Davis posted a shutout against Siena College and made three saves. Diamond provided her fourth goal of the year for the 1-0 victory, tying Schlauder for the team high. Manhattan would drop the final two games of the year and finish with a record 5-12, 2-7 in MAAC play.

Four different players were honored by the league and earned postseason recognition. Both Davis and McIlvenny were named MAAC All-Second Team players, while Ude and freshman Taylor Salkowsky were se-

Kara Davis ’13

lected to the MAAC All-Rookie Team. Seven student-athletes were also named to the MAAC All-Academic Team: Davis along with sophomore Shannon Garrity, juniors Keara Hunt and Maria Sanzari, seniors Nicole Landes, Jordan Luithle and Allison Pfeiffer. Manhattan also was honored with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award for the second straight year.

Men’s Soccer After a surprising run to the MAAC Championship game in 2011, head coach Ashley Hammond and the men’s soccer team looked to prove it was not a fluke. Despite solid experience returning to the pitch, the Jaspers struggled to a 3-12-1 overall record, 2-5 in conference play.

The season began with a fivematch losing streak, including a trip to Spokane, Wash., to compete in the Gonzaga Nike Classic against the Bulldogs, as well as Oregon State. That tournament began a stretch of nine straight games away from Gaelic Park for the Jaspers who played just four home matches all year.

Manhattan’s skid would come to an end on Sept. 21, when it battled to a 1-1 draw at St. Francis (N.Y.). Sophomore Eugene 20 N spring 2013

Heerschap scored the lone goal for the Jaspers, tying things up in the second half, while senior George Ellis made seven saves in net. Their next two contests would be nail-biting losses, as they couldn’t overcome a 2-0 road deficit to Bryant, before falling 1-0 in overtime at Fordham in the Battle of the Bronx.

The Jaspers did rebound after the losses, opening MAAC play with a 1-0 road win over Marist.

Sophomore Reese Akers contributed the goal for Manhattan and looked to take some momentum into the rest of the conference slate. Unfortunately, it would not be so, as the Jaspers dropped their next four games.

Yet again, the team found a way to get back on the right track. A return to their home

pitch saw Manhattan earn a key nonconference victory, defeating Army 1-0 on Oct. 23. Junior Daniel Festa scored on a penalty kick in the 61st minute, while junior Christopher Lands posted seven saves in the shutout.

That confidence boost led to a second consecutive win three days later when the team traveled to MAAC opponent Rider.

Freshman Alex Shackley had three points on the day, scoring a goal and assisting on another, while Ellis got his second shutout of the year in a 2-0 victory. They looked for a third-straight win but were denied by regularseason champion Loyola.

Hurricane Sandy brought an abrupt end to the season, canceling the final two games of the year and ending the careers of George Ellis ’13

both Ellis and fellow senior C.J. Dragovich. Throughout the year, Manhattan’s offense showed promise for the future as 10 of the 12 goals were scored by underclassmen. Sophomore Tommy Amos led all players with 10 points, including four goals.

In the classroom, seven Jaspers were awarded for their academic success. Akers, Festa, Heerschap, Ellis, juniors Sam Howard and Stefano Carlacci, and sophomore Jake Scavetta were all named to the MAAC AllAcademic Team with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20.

Cross Country The 2012 cross country season featured several standout individual performances and was highlighted by the MAAC Championships at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla. Manhattan began the season in impressive fashion at the Stony Brook Invitational. Led by junior Tom Voorheis, who finished seventh overall, the Jasper men captured fourth place as a team, while the women secured fifth place. Two weeks later at the Iona Meet of Champions, the women’s team grabbed ninth place against a highly competitive field. Sophomore Alexandra Cappello was the Jaspers’ top finisher, with junior Elizabeth Rosenberger and sophomore Alyssa Windle also posting solid performances.

After competing at Lehigh University’s Paul Short run, the Jaspers began their championship season with the annual Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortlandt Park. Running in unseasonably warm conditions, junior Mikael Rojeras paced the men’s team to an eighth-place showing. The women also grabbed eighth place in the team standings; setting both teams up for successful MAAC Championships.

The Jaspers have traditionally found success when the MAAC Championships are held in Florida every four years, and 2012 was no exception. Led by a 20th-place showing by Rojeras, Manhattan finished eighth as a team on the men’s side. The women’s team, meanwhile, had its top five finishers separated by a mere 10 seconds en route to a

ninth-place showing.

At the NCAA Northeast Regional, Manhattan placed 33rd (men) and 35th (women) in the team standings.

The Jaspers then concluded their season at the ECAC/IC4A Championships.

Sophomore Stephen Chantry led the men’s team to a 13th-place finish in the IC4A University Division, while Windle was the top women’s finisher, as Manhattan grabbed 14th place in the ECAC University Division.

Following the season, a total of five men and four women were Mikael Rojeras ’14 named to the MAAC All-Academic Team: Rojeras, Voorheis, senior Will Wilkens, and sophomores Kevin O’Brien and Greg Perrier were recognized on the men’s side; while Cappello, Windle, senior Emmy Koskinen and junior Katie O’Connell were honored on the women’s team. In addition, both the men’s and women’s squads earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team selections.

Volleyball

Mariana Furquim ’14

Led by freshman Sydney Volovski, the MAAC Rookie of the Year, and junior Mariana Furquim, a Second Team All-MAAC selection, the volleyball team enjoyed a successful campaign in 2012. The Jaspers posted an overall record of 15-15, marked their third straight .500 season, and went 10-8 in conference play to finish fifth in the MAAC. They dropped their first two MAAC matches before knocking off nonconference foe Lafayette in the home opener on Sept. 19. That victory started a season-long five-match winning streak, which also included a comeback win over Siena, Manhattan’s fourth after trailing 2-0 in the past two seasons, and the Jaspers’ first triumph over Niagara since 2008. All five of those victories came at Draddy Gymnasium, as Manhattan posted an impressive 8-2 home record.

The winning streak came to an end with a loss to Canisius on Sept. 30, and Manhattan also lost its next match at Rider. Following that defeat, the team won four straight games, capped by a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Iona on Oct. 20, to move within one game of first place at 8-4 in the MAAC. However, a loss to Fairfield the next day started a five-match skid that knocked the Jaspers out of playoff contention.

After snapping their losing streak with a thrilling five-set win at Niagara on Nov. 4, a match in which Furquim had 24 kills and 26 digs, the Jaspers ended the season by dominating Saint Peter’s 3-0 at Draddy. Senior Kelsey Huntoon tallied 15 digs against the Peacocks to become Manhattan’s all-time single-season leader in that category. She finished the season with 598 digs and broke the old mark set by Ashley Watson ’08. Huntoon, who was named MAAC Libero of the Week on Oct. 1, finished with a team-best 5.07 digs per set. Volovski earned MAAC Rookie of the Week honors three consecutive times (Sept. 24-Oct. 8) and ranked second among MAAC freshmen in kills per set (2.49) and hitting percentage (.235). Furquim, meanwhile, paced the Jaspers with 3.34 kills per set while also recording a team-high 27 service aces.

The Jaspers also landed six players on the MAAC All-Academic Team: seniors Julie Bies, Jamie Collareta, Maddie Heck, Alexa Lampasona and Huntoon, and sophomore Sarah Haselhorst.

MANHATTAN.EDU N 21

The Changing Landscape of Manhattan College

By Kristen Cuppek • Photos by James Ewing Research by Amy Surak

F

rom its early history on 131st Street and Broadway in Manhattan in the mid-1800s to its move to Riverdale in the 1920s, Manhattan College’s landscape has been one of change and growth. Ever since the cornerstone of the College was laid in this northwest neighborhood of the Bronx, Manhattan College has been expanding and enhancing its campus significantly, whether building on empty land, acquiring existing buildings or even enlarging College-built structures, as in the case of the O’Malley Library. This steady progression continues today and is evident in the opening of a new residence hall, East Hill, a few years ago, which essentially completed a conversion from a majority-commuter to a majority-residential college.

With construction started on what will be a significant transformation of the campus — the new Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons — we take a look back at the past incarnations of some of the spaces and places around the College.

ment needed to house engineering and physics. Two of Leo Engineering Building’s more distinguished features included a plant morphogenesis lab and a critical reactor, which the College acquired and placed into operation in the spring of 1964 — the first in New York City. Designed and constructed by AMF Atomics, the reactor was licensed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and used by faculty and students in the Nuclear Science program. It was dismantled in 1997 and later removed.

While it’s still home to the School of Engineering, Leo Hall, which underwent another name change in 2008, now also houses the Communication department, with its state-of-the-art broadcasting studio, as well as the Biology department and Air Force ROTC.

∆

Then: Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, Inc. Factory Now: Leo Hall One of the more well-known additions to the Manhattan College landscape was the Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, Inc. factory, which was purchased on March 14, 1962, for $1.4 million. Consisting of 143,000 square feet of space, the colonial brick and stone structure was built in 1948 and was initially dedicated as the Engineering Building in the spring of 1964. The College re-dedicated the building in 1981 in honor of Brother Amandus Leo Call, FSC, former dean of the School of Engineering.

Nearly $200,000 was spent remodeling the space and renovating it with laboratories, offices, classrooms, a cafeteria, lecture halls, a machine shop and all the equip-

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

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CHANGING LANDSCAPE

∆ projects on his plate and did not get a chance to develop the property. Shrady house, built in 1900, was used as a research lab and even a residence before accommodating the College’s print shop. Also known as Solomon House at some point in the 1980s, it was torn down in 1989.

Br. Philip’s prophetic idea was realized in the fall of 1990, when East Hill opened on the site. The residence hall, which was re-dedicated in June 2000 for benefactor John Horan ’40, is the largest residence hall on campus and houses about 700 students in suite-style rooms.

Then: Paulian Laboratories Now: Broadway Parking Garage Between 1957 and 1966, the College acquired the property on Broadway at 242nd Street, which included a 10,000 square-foot, one-story building, and a plot of land for parking that fronted Broadway and extended back to Manhattan College Parkway.

The building opened in the fall of 1958 as Paulian Laboratories, named for Brother Cesarius Paulian, FSC, who organized Manhattan’s engineering studies at the De La Salle Institute in 1889, and housed the newly created chemical engineering and mechanical engineering labs and classrooms.

Its earlier incarnations included a Pontiac car showroom and a roller-skating rink. The College also used some of the space in Paulian Labs as a vehicle and garage storage facility and a print shop, as well as rented a portion of the building out to the company Particulate Solid Research Inc. (PSRI). In the 1990s, the building was converted for use by Physical Plant staff.

One trivia-worthy tidbit to note is that the purchase of this property marked Manhattan’s return to Broadway for the first time since its move from 131st Street in 1923.

The Broadway Parking Garage, which opened in 2008, now resides on this site.

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Then: Shrady House Now: Horan Hall With a clear vision for its potential, then President Brother Philip Nelan, FSC, purchased the Shrady property, a 1.42 acre piece of land with a house on it, in the fall of 1954.

With the federal government making low-interest rate loans readily available to colleges and universities at that time, Br. Philip wanted to take full advantage of acquiring this area. Even back then, he had identified the site as a great place to build a dormitory, but he had a few other

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

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CH A NGING L A N DSCA PE : DETAILED V IEW Veterans Hall

Azarias Michael Hall

The barracks

whole area consisted of Veterans Hall (three sections of housing, classrooms and offices); Azarias Michael Hall, a two-story frame structure for classrooms and offices; and five barracks, four of which served as living quarters (Holohan Hall, Wall Hall, Turtora Hall and Daly Hall) and one that housed the print shop (Muller Hall). The four dorms were named for alumni who fought gallantly and perished in World War II. Draddy Gymnasium, as well as the parking lot behind it, have made use of the hilltop space since 1978.

â&#x2C6;&#x2020;

Then: Veterans Hall, Azarias Michael Hall and Barracks Now: Draddy Gymnasium The land behind the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers has seen its fair share of change throughout the years, but one of its most practical uses occurred in the late 1940s and 1950s. Veterans Hall, a maze of wooden Quonset huts in use since the end of World War II, stood for more than 16 years on the former athletic fields behind the Chapel of De La Salle. This space mostly served as classrooms and offices for the engineering school. The

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

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CHANGING LANDSCAPE

∆ Then: Lavelle and Sears Halls Now: Green Space As Manhattan College Parkway winds its way south, down the hill past the Fieldston neighborhood, but before the College’s main entrance, there used to sit two Tudor-style houses behind Jasper and Alumni halls.

Home to the Alumni Relations and College Relations staff, Lavelle Hall, at 296 W. 244th St., was purchased in November 1949. Sears Hall, the bigger, corner plot, was acquired in 1965 and housed the Planning and Development office. Both two-story homes had been private residences before the College acquired them for additional office

space. Sears Hall was named for Edward Sears, a lay member of the original board of trustees of the College and professor of Latin and English. Lavelle Hall paid homage to Monsignor Michael Lavelle, an affiliated member of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral for 52 years, vicar general of the Archdiocese of New York, and loyal friend of the Brothers.

After the two houses were razed in 2003, mainly due to escalating maintenance and efficiency issues, the area was converted into green space and now provides some shady spots with picnic tables and a gazebo for gathering or barbecuing.

THE FUTURE LANDSCAPE

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â&#x2C6;&#x2020; Then: Waldo Parking Lot Soon: Raymond W. Kelly â&#x20AC;&#x2122;63 Student Commons A familiar site to Jaspers who drive, the Waldo Parking Lot is a small plateau of land comprised of about 16 small lots and one house, which were bought between 1950-1959.

Bounded by Waldo Avenue and Gaelic Park, and incorporating a small part of Irwin Avenue, the lots ranged in size from .0443 to .3554 of an acre and averaged about $1,000 per lot. While currently known as Quigley House, the little white house on the southwest corner of the property was

also called Waldo and Neumann throughout the years.

Initially, the College considered using the land for the science building before the site for Hayden was selected.

Then, Manhattan decided to construct a brand new and much-needed engineering building there, but just as serious planning began, the Fanny Farmer building became available and was chosen as a better option. However, at that same time, parking had become a serious concern for the College, so the small vacant plot was converted into a parking lot.

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The Future Landscape College Breaks Ground on State-of-the-Art Student Commons Building

By Liz Connolly Bauman

J

ust as the fall 2012 semester was concluding, students, faculty, administrators, board of trustees and community members gathered in the space formerly known as the Waldo Parking Lot to break ground on the new Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons. An approximately $48 million project, the student commons will be the College’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building.

As the new home for all Student Activities events and offices, the 70,000-square-foot building will house the Center for Social Action and Service Learning and the Multicultural Student Center, as well as provide a central location for students to join more than 60 campus organizations, from the International Student Association and Student Government to Lasallian Collegians. The student commons also will give Manhattan College increased space for fitness and wellness programming and dining services.

“When it opens in the fall of 2014, the Kelly Commons will be our front door to the community, as well as to visitors and prospective students; it will be our laboratory for innovative programming that extends learning beyond the walls of the classroom; and it will be our community gathering space,” said Brennan O’Donnell, president of Manhattan College, on the day of the groundbreaking.

As O’Donnell addressed the audience, he welcomed Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ’63, his family and members of the NYPD; politicians, including David Dinkins, former mayor

of New York City, Robert Morgenthau, former district attorney for New York County, and Jose Serrano, New York state senator; co-chairs of the campaign, Eugene McGrath ’63, Frederic Salerno ’65 and Kenneth Rathgeber ’70, also chairman of the board of trustees; and chairman of the board of trustees development committee Michael Regan ’63.

“The building, of course, will proudly bear the name of a man who is an exemplary graduate of this proud tradition,” O’Donnell added. “And what a testament it is to the hard work and dedication of so many members of the Manhattan community and its friends that we are here today, ready to break ground on a project that represents the next chapter in the exciting story of the strengthening, growth and transformation of the College.”

Thomas O’Malley ’63, former chairman of the College’s board of trustees, executive chairman of PBF Energy Company LLC and honorary co-chair of the campaign, also spoke at the groundbreaking.

O’Malley and his wife, Mary Alice, contributed $10 million — the largest donation in the College’s history — toward the building of the student commons. In honor of the O’Malleys’ long and continuous dedication to Manhattan College, the College formally renamed the renovated library the Mary Alice and Tom O’Malley Library in 2002, and also awarded him a Doctor of Humane Letters at the 2012 Spring Commencement.

O’Malley, a classmate of Kelly’s, spoke highly of the police commissioner during the groundbreaking ceremony. In particular, he highlighted his public service within New York City.

The above renderings offer views of what the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons will look like (from north campus and along Waldo Avenue) when it’s completed in 2014.

(Left) Manhattan breaks ground on the student commons at a ceremony in December.

“If we want an example of service to the community, well, he’s the greatest example we could possibly think of,” he said.

“So when the idea came up to the board of trustees that this building should be named in honor of Ray, it was the first and only thing I believe in my tenure as chairman of the board of trustees that got instantaneous universal approval.”

Since 2002, Kelly has served as commissioner of the New York City Police Department and also held the position from 1992 to 1994. He has spent more than 40 years in the NYPD, serving in 25 different commands. In fact, he is the only person to date to hold every rank in the NYPD. Honored by the tribute, the commissioner, in return, warmly credited alma mater with helping to guide him throughout his successful career.

“I’m a Jasper first and always. The education that I received here at Manhattan, with its underpinnings of respect for individual dignity and a thirst for social justice, helped me throughout my career,” Kelly said. “Manhattan has not only been a big part of my life, it’s also been part of the lifeblood of this city for more than 150 years. The contributions of Manhattan graduates have been felt in classrooms and boardrooms and laboratories and churches all across this city and this country.”

Construction Continues When students returned to campus in January, the future site of the student commons was more apparent with the beginning of construction. Digging commenced on the eastern part of the construction site, and the main piles (large steel I-beams that are driven vertically into the ground with a large truck-mounted hammer) were also installed in February.

In addition, preliminary foundation work started on the Waldo Avenue part of the site with the construction of a soldier pile wall.

Throughout the spring, the construction continued on the underground utilities, foundation work and concrete slab on the first floor, and concrete superstructure work on the third floor of the building. For the duration of construction until the student commons opens in 2014, a pedestrian path will remain open for students and faculty traveling between the north and south campuses (except for brief periods when closures are necessary).

The Commons Denominator “The Kelly Commons is a very tangible symbol of the school’s future as it transforms fully into a residential campus,” Kelly said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “I know that the students who congregate here will do so in the tradition of faith, service and community.”

As Kelly pointed out during the ceremony, Manhattan’s residential population is thriving, as 80 percent of freshmen now live on campus. In addition, the College welcomed its largest freshman class this year and plans to continue growing its class sizes, which is why the opening of the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons is essential to accommodate the increasing population.

“The opening of the student commons will dramatically improve our ability to achieve our goals in the strategic plan that place the student experience at the center of all that we do,” says Richard Satterlee, Ph.D., vice president for student life at Manhattan College. “Spaces devoted to multicultural programs and services, social action, as well as Student Activities and the Student Government Association, will help us provide for the 2,000 or so students living on campus, and the location of the building should make it an attractive place for our commuter students, as well.”

While construction has begun on the much-needed student space, the College is still working hard to raise the remaining MANHATTAN.EDU N 31

amount of funds to build the state-of-the-art student commons.

Currently at nearly $32 million, thanks to the generous dedication of Manhattan’s alumni and community, the College is moving forward in raising the additional funds to meet the $48 million price tag.

“This project is so important to the College and to the momentum that we are building that we decided we needed to push forward with an aggressive timetable,” O’Donnell says. “We are counting on our faithful supporters to continue that momentum, so we can, indeed, cut the ribbon on the building in fall 2014.

There’s obviously a great deal of excitement around the project, and I have great confidence that our alumni will get us there.”

Mark Codd ’71, McGrath, O’Malley, Rathgeber, Regan and Salerno, all members of the Student Commons Capital Campaign Committee, also understand the importance of the building and are dedicated to raising funds alongside the College and campaign staff.

Once fundraising and construction are completed, the building also will include a 6,800-square-foot, cutting-edge fitness center on the third floor, which will have a free weight area, cardiovascular and variable resistance strength training equipment, and separate areas for fitness assessment and locker rooms.

The student commons also will feature: o Five floors o Wireless lounge o Manhattan College bookstore (open to the community) o Café and new dining/catering areas o Student activities space for Student Government, clubs and organizations o Student Life staff offices and multipurpose meeting rooms o Convertible 6,500-plus-square-feet of multipurpose meeting space with the flexibility to accommodate gatherings of various sizes The groundbreaking on Dec. 13 was the first step in the student commons becoming a reality. With construction progressing every day, the building is one step closer to becoming the bridge that unites Manhattan College’s north and south campuses; thereby, strengthening the College’s community.

Watch the latest updates on the project via the live construction webcam and follow the construction process blog at manhattan.edu/ StudentCommons.

SILVER LININGS The College is planning to open its first

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building in 2014 with the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings, and Manhattan will apply for LEED Silver Certification. In order to achieve Silver Certification, the College must incorporate a variety of required green elements into the building, as well as sustainable strategies to receive additional points.

“The building will also utilize low-emitting paints, adhesives, sealants, flooring and wood, and other materials used during construction will be purchased regionally whenever possible, and we will be utilizing recycled content when possible,” says Andrew Ryan, P.E., vice president for facilities.

“Approximately 75 percent of the waste generated during construction will be diverted from landfills.”

The student commons will have the following eco-friendly features: o Green roof o Regional materials and recycled content o Enhanced commissioning o High-efficiency lighting design o Occupancy-based lighting and HVAC o Demand-based ventilation o Variable speed refrigerant system o High-efficiency condensing boilers o Low-flow bathroom fixtures Once the building is complete, housekeeping services will utilize approved green cleaning products and techniques. Faculty from the School of Engineering are also in the process of discussing ways in which the student commons can be utilized as a learning tool when it opens. One idea includes monitoring the automation of the building, which will be transmitted through a computer and report on various features, such as heating, ventilating and cooling. Another proposed idea is to install monitoring devices and track the structural performance of the building under various operating conditions.

Classmates Raymond Kelly ’63 and Thomas O’Malley ’63 discuss the importance of the student commons, to be named after Kelly, at the College’s groundbreaking ceremony in December.

So, Why Ray Kelly?

A Conversation with Thomas O’Malley ’63, Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees

T

his past winter, Thomas O’Malley ’63, former chairman of the College’s board of trustees, sat down with M magazine to discuss how Raymond Kelly ’63 was selected as the namesake of the student commons and what motivated him to nominate the New York City police commissioner.

O’Malley describes how the student commons name selection process started with the review of a variety of Manhattan alumni, including Kelly. One of the biggest questions in the selection process was, who at Manhattan College has made the most lasting impact?

“Ray has the ethics we build at the College: honesty, integrity, service,” O’Malley says, when highlighting Kelly’s impact. “He represents everything that Manhattan College tries to teach, and is by far the most successful graduate if you measure everything.”

As classmates together in the 1960s, Kelly and O’Malley attended Manhattan during a time when the students shared common characteristics: they were mostly born to Italian and Irish immigrants and went to Catholic schools. In this postDepression generation, he explains, the pursuit of higher education was mainly undertaken to provide a brighter future.

“All of us, without exception, were going to college to make a better living,” O’Malley remarks about the time period.

Both men were first-generation graduates from the allmen’s College in 1963, along with the countless others from this pre-baby boomer cohort.

O’Malley points out that it’s what Kelly achieved in his lifetime that makes him special.

Facing the early stages of the Vietnam War shortly after graduation, Kelly joined the war efforts and served as a combat veteran.

In particular, O’Malley underscores how Kelly returned from the war and then dedicated his life to public service, working with the NYPD for decades before being named police commissioner.

“He could have done anything,” O’Malley adds. “Kelly had enormous discipline, intellect, work ethic and loyalty, and he chose public service. He probably has done more for New York City than anybody in the last 100 years.”

Throughout his career in public service, Kelly has demonstrated leadership and personal integrity in his profession, O’Malley says with admiration. His commitment to public service and embodiment of core values integral to a Lasallian education led the board of trustees to unanimously choose Kelly as the student commons namesake in 2010.

As O’Malley further emphasizes, Kelly’s dedication and career will stand as a great example to past, present and future generations of Jaspers symbolized in the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons.

“I hope we graduate a few more Ray Kellys,” O’Malley says, at the end of the interview. “His incredible professional behavior forms the model for future generations.”

MANHATTAN.EDU N 33

development

Ready for their close-up, President Brennan O’Donnell presents Julie Chen, host of CBS’ The Talk and Big Brother, with the De La Salle medal at the College’s annual dinner in January. The talk-show star also takes the time to meet with the College’s own rising stars, who served as the dinner’s student ambassadors.

College’s Top Fundraising Event Honors CBS Host

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elevision personality Julie Chen, host of CBS’ The Talk and Big Brother, was honored with the 2013 De La Salle medal at Manhattan College’s annual fundraising dinner on Jan. 23 at the Waldorf Astoria.

The De La Salle Medal Dinner honors people and corporations that embody the principles of excellence, leadership and service to society.

As the College’s top fundraising event, the dinner will apply the more than $800,000 raised in proceeds this year to a variety of needs on campus, including student scholarships and financial aid.

“Tonight we honor a woman, Julie Chen, whose accomplishments are many and varied: her work as beat reporter, foreign correspondent, producer and news anchor has shaped and continues to inform her current roles as the celebrated host of two extraordinarily successful television shows,” said Brennan O’Donnell, president of Manhattan College, when presenting Chen with the award.

“I would not be up here tonight without the help of my extraordinary parents,” Chen said during her speech. “They moved here 50 years ago from China and Burma, giving this first-generation ChineseAmerican an opportunity to grow up in the greatest city in the world.”

As co-host and moderator of The Talk, network television’s fastest growing daytime talk show, Chen works alongside Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Aisha Tyler. Before working

34 N spring 2013

on her most recent assignments, she served as special contributing anchor (2010-2011) and co-anchor (2002-2010) of The Early Show, CBS News’ weekday morning broadcast. She also was news anchor of The Early Show and anchor of CBS Morning News.

“It was here in New York that I learned three really important things: anything is possible, hard work pays off, and never ever forget where you’re from,” Chen said. “Thank you again for this kind award.”

This year’s event was made possible in large part by 2013 dinner chair and master of ceremonies Alfred E. Smith IV, CEO of AE Smith Associates, along with vice chairs Thomas E. Constance, Thom Gencarelli, Ph.D., James A. Kosch ’77, Rosanne Thomas Matzat ’82, Kenneth Rathgeber ’70, Jim Ryan ’60, Frederic V. Salerno ’65, Stephen J. Squeri ’81, Curt C. Zegler ’93, and journal chair Thomas J. Ryan ’69.

“By being here tonight to lend your name and support to Manhattan College, you have helped us to continue our goal of making a value-based education available to our students,” said Salerno, chairman of GGCP and retired vice chairman and CFO of Verizon, who then thanked Chen. “You are a wonderful role model for our students — study hard, work hard, hold fast to your values, and success is always within your grasp.”

Alumni Fund Scholarships

S

pring is the time of year when parents and high school seniors wait for those special envelopes. Acceptances are exciting, but for many, the envelope that matters more is

the one bearing the news that the student received a scholarship.

Many Manhattan College students depend on scholarships to become Jaspers. Below are just a few of their stories.

Andres Rodriguez

Emily Entwistle The Brother Luke Salm, FSC, Scholarship Emily Entwistle, a freshman in the School of Arts, is the recipient of a four-year scholarship named for Brother Luke Salm, FSC, which was founded by William Zucker ’79.

“My first semester was a great learning experience,” she says. “I found something that I am really interested in — art history. Next semester, I will be a declared art history major.”

A native of Scituate, R.I., Entwistle works in the library on campus.

She is looking forward to a career as a curator in a museum and considers Manhattan a key step toward a bright future.

“I felt Manhattan College was the place where I would be given so many opportunities, and I was so excited to start the next chapter of my life at Manhattan College,” she says.

The James E. Hanlon ’58 Scholarship Andres Rodriguez, a freshman in the School of Business, is the first member of his family to attend college. That combination of first generation and business student enabled him to qualify for The James E. Hanlon ’58 Scholarship.

“As a son of parents who did not attend college, having the financial capability to complete a four-year degree program at a competitive private school is a struggle,” he says. “Without the financial help of government aid and compassionate donors such as Mr. Hanlon, I wouldn’t have been able to attend this great college.”

A resident of New Rochelle, N.Y., Rodriguez is a commuter.

When not in class, he plays soccer, pool and works out on campus. He is also a member of the marketing club.

“I joined the marketing club to enhance my learning experience and meet with students with similar interests as me,” he says.

Rodriguez plans to pursue a career in marketing and hopes to focus on social causes, such as cancer awareness.

Lawrence Favata The Abco Peerless Scholarship Lawrence Favata, a senior in the School of Arts, is a religious studies major. The Abco Peerless Scholarship is for students with a concentration in Catholic studies and was founded by William G. Bowe ’51.

Favata, who commutes from Bronxville, N.Y., is studying bioethics and theology.

“I feel they are of paramount significance in respecting the dignity of every human being,” he says. Favata considers these two studies essential to revealing the importance of human worth to a society, as society seems to see the human as a “product” or a “commodity” rather than something with inviolable worth, he explains.

“This scholarship meant a lot for continuing my academic studies,” he says. “Particularly in these tough economic times, the financial assistance was extremely important.”

Favata plans to enroll in graduate school after Commencement to study one of his two fields and wants to follow a career path where he can make an impact on society.

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Hall of Fame Inducts New Sports Stars

(From left to right) President Brennan O’Donnell, Fran Fraschilla, George Fisher ’74, Sandra Gordon ’88, Travis Lyons ’98, Bo Kucyna ’81, Richard Alexander ’81, James Amandola ’02, Tiffanie Poole Gentles ’00 and Peter Sweeney ’64, chair of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee, at the Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

M

anhattan College held its 34th annual Athletic Hall of Fame induction in November, sponsored by the Manhattan College Alumni Society. The honored inductees were: Richard Alexander ’81, track and field; James Amandola ’02, men’s lacrosse; George Fisher ’74, golf; Fran Fraschilla, men’s basketball coach; Sandra Gordon ’88, women’s basketball; Bo Kucyna ’81, men’s soccer; Travis Lyons ’98, men’s basketball; and Tiffanie Poole Gentles ’00, track and field.

Richard Alexander ’81 set or tied at least 10 indoor and outdoor high jump records. His indoor record climbed from 6-10 to 6-11 ½, while his outdoor record of 7-1 ¾ still stands 32 years later. Alexander set an indoor pentathlon record at the Princeton Relays and qualified for the IC4As and then broke the high jump records twice at the 1980 IC4A Championships. He scored in eight New York Metropolitan Collegiate Championships, many as the champion, and six IC4As. He also 36 N spring 2013

competed and qualified in many of the grandscale track events, including the Olympic trials in 1980. At the age of 40, Alexander was ranked No. 1 in the world in the Masters High Jumper category with a leap of 6-6.

James Amandola ’02, a lacrosse goalie, had 286 saves in his first season, which gave him a rank of fifth overall in Division I. Averaging nearly 20 saves per game, he received MAAC Rookie of the Week honors three times.

As a senior, the team took the Tournament Championship, undefeated in the MAAC. With multiple Defensive Player of the Week titles and a spot on the MAAC All-Tournament First Team, Amandola is the only three-time Outstanding Performer in Manhattan lacrosse history. He received the MAAC Conference Defensive Player of the Year award and was the USILA North/South All Star Team at Johns Hopkins University, a top honor. His actual saves of 1.43 for a career is second in Division I history.

George Fisher ’74 set a school record in golf with a round of 68, unbroken until 2009.

As a freshman, Fisher showed his leadership by playing in a snowy match and finished with a round of 81. It gave the Jaspers their first win over West Point at West Point and Fisher a regular tee time. In 1972-73, he earned a medal vs. Seton Hall, shooting an 81, and shot a 78 against Columbia, Cornell and West Point. As a senior, Fisher shot the lowest Jasper score of 80 at the ECAC Tournament and the lowest score among Jaspers at the Metropolitan Golf Association Tournament.

He was named Most Outstanding College Performer and an Outstanding College Athlete in America for three years each.

Fran Fraschilla has the highest winning percentage (71.6) of any Manhattan men’s basketball coaches. He brought each of his Jasper teams to the postseason, including the first in 35 years to go the NCAA Tournament.

In 1995, Manhattan was the first MAAC team to receive an at-large bid for the NCAA. His team knocked off Oklahoma in the first round and became the “Toast of the Town.” A MAAC Coach of the Year, he brought glory to Draddy with a home-winning streak that lasted longer than the season. Fraschilla coached at St. John’s University and the University of New Mexico, ending his college coaching career with a record of 175-100, then ranked 34th winningest active coach in men’s basketball.

Sandra Gordon ’88 is the all-time women’s basketball career assists leader with 592 and the all-time season assist leader with 220. Ranking second in assists for the MAAC, Gordon ranked among the top 10 nationally for assist leaders. The point guard also scored 916 points. The team’s steal leader for three seasons, she was named MVP in the Loyola Invitational Tournament in 1986. She was key to the Lady Jaspers’ first ever MAAC Tournament victory in 1987. As a senior, she held nearly all the leading positions, including scoring, assists, steals and foul-shooting percentage, while shooting 50 percent from the field. She was a member of the MAAC First Team, MAAC All-Tournament Team and All-MAAC Second

from the College's Archives

Whatever happened to … the Tea Dance?

Team, as well as Player of the Week during the course of her career.

A midfielder and a sweeper, Bo Kucyna ’81 holds several Jasper soccer records in the assist category with most assists in a single year (1977 and 1979), 10; most career assists, 34; and most assists in a single game, 5, which came against New York University in 1979. In 1980, he set a record for most consecutive shutouts as a defensive sweeper, 5. In 1977, the team set a school record for longest unbeaten streak with a record of 8-0-3. Kucyna was First Team All-Conference all four years and named Conference MVP as a senior. He received All-New York State Honorable Mentions for two years. Kucyna was named Most Outstanding Player at the College’s Block M Awards.

Travis Lyons ’98 was a key reserve during the NCAA Tournament upset over Oklahoma, shooting more than 50 percent from the field. As a sophomore, he played a crucial role against Niagara in the MAAC Tournament. By junior year, Lyons continued to shoot more than 50 percent from the field. In his senior year, he shot 62.1 percent from the field — the second highest in Manhattan basketball history. The forward averaged 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

As a senior, he was a true leader with the top numbers in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage — making the Most Outstanding Jasper list for the first 100 seasons. Named to the MAAC All-First Team, Lyons was in the top 10 in scoring and assists and second in rebounding and shooting percentage.

More than a decade after graduating, Tiffanie Poole Gentles ’00 has three track and field records that still stand. Indoors, she ran the 200-meter in 24.22 seconds at the New York Sports Museum Invitational as a senior, and two weeks later, added a 3:41.01 in the 4x400-meter in the Jasper Relays at the Armory. Outdoors, Poole Gentles and her teammates ran 3:39.64 in the 4x400 in 1997 at the highly competitive Penn Relays. She earned All-East Honors four times, both as an individual and a relay runner. She took a Met Conference title at Rutgers University as a member of the 4x400 and qualified individually for the U.S. Junior Nationals.

An active social life is an integral part of the Manhattan College experience, and the Jasper social calendar fills up quickly each semester. However, for almost 50 years, the social season has been missing one of the trendiest and most enjoyable features of an earlier time — the tea dance.

Tea dances were late afternoon dances that emerged from the tea rooms of the large, well-appointed hotels of New York and London during the 19th century. A spot of tea in an elegant setting expanded to include tasty treats and a twirl or two on the dance floor. During the 1940s, inspired by the popularity of dance and the upbeat genres of big band music, tea dances became popular social gatherings that caught on around the nation’s colleges and universities.

From the 1940s-1960s, tea dances became fashionable opportunities for Manhattan men to improve their social skills by engaging with young women from nearby colleges and nursing schools. The dance cards of Mounties, the young women from the nearby College of Mount Saint Vincent, and coeds from Hunter, Marymount and the College of New Rochelle, were filled by the men of the Kelly green. Tea dances proved to be a popular means

of bringing Catholic college boys and girls together in a wholesome and wellsupervised environment.

Sponsored by the numerous student organizations, tea dances were usually held in the Alumni Room of the Cardinal Hayes Library, under the watchful eye of faculty and administration, typically the Christian Brothers, from 3-7 p.m. on almost every Sunday, except, of course, during Advent and the Lenten season when regulations forbid dancing. Once Thomas Hall opened in 1960, tea dances were by and large relocated there. A nominal fee was charged to the Jasper stalwarts, while the ladies were invited free of charge. The money raised was used to fund special projects and activities of the sponsoring student organization. There was often live music and light refreshments. Despite the name, tea was rarely served.

But jackets and ties were a must.

By the late 1960s, the campus culture had changed in the wake of societal and ecclesial developments, and tea dances went out of style. Nevertheless, generations of Jaspers remember fondly the halcyon days when they traded dance partners and tripped the light fantastic at these Sunday socials.

—Amy Surak MANHATTAN.EDU N 37

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ALUMNOTES 1943

Francis Mascola notes that he is a very busy retiree. He is a self-proclaimed snowbird and enjoys living in Florida in the wintertime. He also notes that he has nine grandchildren, eight boys and one girl, and the youngest keep him young.

1949

William Parrott, president of the interfaith Try God program, recently published the book God Seeks Us. This book, along with the program, seeks to reach people who have stopped attending their religious institutions, and tries to reintroduce them to God and encourage them to become active in their religion again. He has also published the book You Can Afford to Retire.

Robert Rohrman celebrated his 63rd wedding anniversary with his wife, Ruth, last September.

Rohrman finally gave up serious skiing at age 89, but he is still playing golf.

Second World War, especially to those who are still “on eternal patrol.”

1960

Joseph Zagursky recently ran as a candidate for a seat on the Bonita Springs, Fla., Fire Commission.

1961

Arthur Gualitieri, M.D., J.D., was named president of Kiwanis Astoria/LIC, which is a member of Kiwanis International, a global charitable organization of volunteers. He has previously served as vice president and medical director at Mount Sinai Queens, and deputy commissioner at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

1963

John Vogt notes that his granddaughter is continuing his Jasper tradition. Alexandra is now a student in the School of Engineering.

Thomas Dames has served as an adjunct professor of history at Mount St. Mary’s College in Newburgh, N.Y., for the past 10 years.

John Yamamoto was named to Hawaii Business’ 2012 Black Book list. He is chair and chief executive officer of PEMCO, Ltd.

1954

1964

1951

Don Costello gave the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Distinguished Lectures on Cryptography to the Manhattan College Computer Science department in September. He delivered a similar lecture at Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, this past October.

Eugene Kirk reflected on how wonderful the year 2012 was for him and his loved ones. He celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary with his wife, Joan, and his 25th year of retirement.

1955

Paul Denzler retired from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard after 34 years service, has now been appointed WWII history project coordinator for the Submarine Museum in St. Mary’s, Ga. The project strives to convert all of the 1,500 submarine war patrol reports into digital format, making them more readily available to survivors and the print media. It is also a tribute to those who served on submarines during the 38 N spring 2013

Thomas Murphy has been named to the 2012 Irish Echo Labor Top 50. Murphy is chair of the 60,000-member United Federation of Teachers (UFT) retired teachers’ chapter and the Irish American Heritage Committee, Department of Education.

Douglas Nicholas’ book Something Red has been getting a lot of attention. Nicholas was interviewed by Warren Lawrence on WKNY, participated in a book signing at the Kingston, N.Y., Barnes and Noble, and held a reading/book signing event at the Inquiring Minds Bookstore in Saugerties, N.Y. The novel recently became available for purchase on Amazon.com. He is currently hard at work on his manuscript for the novel’s sequel, and the paperback version of Something Red is being released.

Robert Farrauto retired from BASF-The Chemical Company after 37 years as vice president of research and development. He is now professor of practice in the earth and environmental

engineering department of Columbia University and teaches both grad and undergrad courses in heterogeneous catalysis and environmental engineering. He also supervises research in environmental and alternative energy technologies.

1965

Gerry Loehr ran for the Democratic seat for the N.Y. State Supreme Court.

Gerald McCarthy, executive director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment, was honored in a resolution passed especially for him by the Virginia State Legislature.

Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, spoke during a Feb. 5 television broadcast event titled “Principled Leadership: In the Face of Change and Crisis.” He shared leadership principles from his book, Leadership, and discussed the importance of inspiring excellence from the team around oneself, developing and communicating one’s beliefs, and standing up to bullies.

James Taverna has been elected chairman of the board of Quarles Petroleum of Fredericksburg, Va. Taverna also serves on the board of Master Chemical Corps of Perrysburg, Ohio, and works as a mentor/coach to graduate students at the College of William & Mary MBA program.

1966

Retired teacher and administrator Anthony Minardo has been elected for a three-year term to the board of directors of United Activities Unlimited (UAU). UAU is a community-based organization providing educational, recreational and social programs for children at 30 public schools on Staten Island.

Bill Boerum was re-elected last November to a second four-year term on the board of directors of the Sonoma Valley Health Care District, which oversees Sonoma Valley Hospital. Boerum also serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Northern California Health Care Authority, a “joint powers” organization of five health care districts.

1967

Stephen Laruccia, Ph.D., was recently elected to the board of directors of the Santa Rosa Sym-

phony, the $145 million Green Music Center in Sonoma County, Calif.

Richard Courage’s recent book, The Muse in Bronzeville: African American Creative Expression in Chicago, 1932-1950, received the 2013 Jean Block award from the Hyde Park Historical Society. The book explores the creative awakening in Chicago’s South Side from the early 1930s to the Cold War. Robert Carillo retired from the South Orangetown Central School District in Rockland County, N.Y., in 1999 after teaching mathematics for 31 years. In 2012, he retired from the New York State United Teachers as its special project coordinator, and now serves as the executive director of the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans.

1968

Charles Durr has joined Wood Group Mustang as vice president – liquified natural gas (LNG). In this capacity, he will lead the company’s LNG business and strategy for providing technology-neutral development options and solutions.

1969

John Loase’s eighth book, The Sigfluence Generation, was a finalist in the 2012 Benjamin Franklin book awards. He is currently on sabbatical completing statistical modeling for his 11th and 12th books.

Joseph Tucci, chairman and CEO of EMC Corp., earned the CEO of the Year honor from Barron’s in 2011, after embracing a new strategy that emphasized cloud computing and data storage and retrieval as a strategic business tool.

1970

John Roth was elected to a post on the Mahwah, N.J., City Council.

John Skvarla, the chief executive officer of Restoration Systems, a Raleigh, N.C.-based company that does environmental mitigation work has been named the secretary of environmental and natural resources for the governor’s office of North Carolina.

Jasper Bookshelf Andrew Kranichfeld ’08 has published a children’s book, Karen’s Garden, inspired by his late mother and her love of gardening. After graduation, Kranichfeld, who lost his vision to a brain tumor, took care of his mother before her passing and his illness. He now lives in the Bronx, writing for his personal blog Site Beyond Sight (www.sitebeyondsight.blogspot.com) and helping to advise companies on their social media pages and advertising plans. He is doing readings of his books at several schools and hopes to translate Karen’s Garden into Spanish, create a Braille version, and continue writing.

Ottomar Rudolf ’52, Ph.D., recently published his memoir, I Remember: A Boy’s Years in Nazi Germany, documenting his journey from Hitler youth and German army member to American Citizen, scholar and soldier. He gives readers an inside look at how living inside a terror-driven regime changes people, and how they learn to move on afterward. A Korean War veteran, Rudolf is professor emeritus at Reed College in Oregon. He taught German and the humanities until his retirement in 1998.

Regrettably, Rudolf passed away in March.

George Kingston ’70, Ph.D., has written a historical biography, James Madison Hood: Lincoln’s Consul to the Court of Siam. It tells the story of an enigmatic ambassador and the tumultuous political landscape of the mid-19th century. Hood was the American consul in the court of Siam that inspired the famous play The King and I. Before this role, which Kingston explores in depth, however, he was a merchant ship captain, a builder of clipper ships, a legislator, an industrialist and a land speculator. Kingston delves into this character and his influence on Southeast Asian politics during the Colonial era. The Jasper author is a retired engineering research manager, professional genealogist and historian.

Joseph Levesque has been named to Business First magazine’s 2012 Who’s Who in Education list.

1971

Bill Owens was elected U.S. representative (D-Plattsburgh) for New York's 21st congressional district. He was also appointed to the subcommittees on defense and homeland security as part of his work as a member of the house appropriations committee.

Richard Cummings, M.D., works as a plastic surgeon in North Carolina.

Joseph Bisordi has been named to the board of directors of the American Medical Group Association. Bisordi is currently executive vice president and chief medical officer for the Ochsner Health System.

General Arthur Lichte has been appointed to Air Transport Service Group, Inc.’s board of directors. Lichte was commander of the Air

Mobility Command (AMC) at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois before his retirement as a four-star general.

Patricia Crowley, OSB, was guest speaker at a Theology South discussion at St. Xavier University. Her lecture, We All Need a Home … A Perspective on Homelessness in Our Times, addressed her work as former executive director of Deborah’s Place, a nonprofit organization that provides shelter, supportive housing and services to women who are homeless in Chicago. A recent issue of Chicago Magazine also featured Crowley in an article on the Vatican’s rebuke of U.S. nuns.

1972

Matthew McCrosson has been named to Irish America magazine’s Business 100 list. He is partner of O’Connor Davies, LLP Accounting and Consultants, and has more than 20 years of experience in public accounting.

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Russell Holcomb is retiring from his position of deputy chief engineer at the New York City Department of Transportation after 40 years of service.

1973

John O’Brien has been named to Irish Voice newspaper’s Irish Legal 100 list. O’Brien, dean of New England Law in Boston, has had the longest continuous service at a single institution of any law school dean in the country.

Peter Pappas ran as a Democratic candidate for the Manasquan, N.J., City Council.

Michael Carlo recently retired from the New York City Board of Education. He is now spending half his time in New York and the other half on Cape Cod. He says he is “enjoying the good life.”

Anthony Tutoni, senior vice president at Marsh USA, has been selected as one of the featured speakers at the 2013 annual Conference of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance. Tutoni will be speaking about Premises Liability – the Big Three: Premises Liability Problems (and how to fix them!).

1974

Thomas Moran was named to Irish America magazine’s 2012 Business 100 list.

His achievements as president and CEO of Mutual of America and position as chairman of the board demonstrate his skills in growing a successful company.

Edward Nolan is with Slalom Consulting in New York City, where he is leading the business development initiative for Slalom’s national CFO advisory services practice.

1975

Patrick Boyle and his bagpipe group, the Cuchillian Pipe Band, performed with The Chieftains on March 5 at the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown, N.J., and on March 6, at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J. It was the first time that they performed at a concert venue.

Jim McNally, Ph.D., was recognized as a Fellow of the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers for his achievements in entrepreneurship that led to innovations in spectroscopy-based medical diagnostics.

1976

Anthony Maddalo, M.D., was featured in

40 N spring 2013

Westchester Magazine’s Healthcare Profiles 2012. He manages Hudson Valley Bone and Joint Surgeons with partner Gregg Cavaliere, M.D., and specializes in sports-related injuries. Every Tuesday, Maddalo or Cavaliere presents a free clinic for student-athletes at Manhattan College and the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

1977

Philip Grealy, vice president of John Collins Engineers, celebrated his 25th anniversary with the company. He and partner John Collins ’65 have two other Jaspers working for the firm: A. Peter Russillo ’80 and Ronald Rieman ’87.

Blaise Piazza reports that after more than 33 years as a special agent for the U.S. Customs Service/Department of Homeland Security, he retired in 2012.

1978

Steve Hanson was appointed by Commissioner Arlene Gonzalez-Sanchez to the position of associate commissioner for treatment and practice innovation at the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) in September.

Louis Judice gave a talk on railroading in Hunterdon at the Hunterdon County Historical Society meeting in March. He has held a lifelong interest in railroading and model railroads, and his talk discussed the development of railroads in Hunterdon County, N.J.

1979

Richard Rubino has been named the chief financial officer of Aerie Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel treatments for glaucoma.

Charles Gargano has been appointed to the board of directors of International Safety Group, an occupational risk management services company.

1980

John McAvoy has been named president and chief executive officer of Orange and Rockville Utilities, Inc. He has previously served as senior vice president of Central Operations at Consolidated Edison of New York.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie nominated Robert Hanna president of the board of

public utilities for the N.J. Supreme Court.

1981

Jim Naughton was a Republican candidate for a senate seat in Georgia.

Diane Trunfio has been honored as DyKnow’s Educator of the Month for October.

DyKnow creates classroom management and interactive learning software for educators, and Trunfio uses its products in each of her five biology classes.

Paul Marotta earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Tennessee on Dec. 15. The degree required four years of effort while working full-time as operations manager at AquAeTer, Inc., an environmental engineering consulting firm in Nashville, Tenn. Marotta has subsequently been promoted to technical director at AquAeTer, and also has formed nuExergy, LLC, in order to continue developing nuclear reactor research completed as part of his dissertation.

1982

Daniel Murphy, managing director of Scotiabank, has been named to Irish America’s annual Wall Street 50 list, honoring the best and brightest Irish-American leaders in finance.

1983

Robert Terlato, M.D., has joined Athol Memorial Hospital, Mass., as one of three new cardiologists augmenting the physician group. He previously served at Heywood Hospital as co-chief of medicine.

Marilyn Mercado-Belvin has been elected to the board of directors of the Hudson Valley chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Mercado-Belvin is a Wish Mom; her son J.P. received his wish to go to London in 2007.

1984

Christine Milton has been named AmPark Neighborhood School in the Bronx’s interim acting principal. She aims to turn her office into a library of sorts, a haven where children can check out books overnight for good behavior.

Paul Kirchgraber was recently promoted to vice president, global testing services, medical and testing affairs for Covance Central Laboratories. He is responsible for

laboratory operations in the U.S., Europe, Singapore, China and Japan, and the medical affairs department in the U.S. and Europe.

Elizabeth Schaub, a consultor for the College’s School of Engineering, very much enjoys the time she spends recruiting students from Manhattan to join her at Air Products.

Maureen Regan, managing partner of McCann Regan Campbell Ward, was profiled in MedAdNews. The article “The View times 10” highlighted successful women in healthcare advertising and discussed their careers, motivation, work/life balance and more.

Charles Corogenes was appointed to the position of vice president of sales and marketing at ChartWise Medical Systems Inc., a Computer-Assisted Clinical Documentation Improvement (CACDI) software company. He will be responsible for implementing and coordinating the organization’s overall sales strategy, as well as leading the sales team.

1985

Anthony Lopez has been named to the board of directors of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA). He is the president and general manager of Ansell Medical Solutions, as well as senior executive leader for the Latin American region for Ansell Industrial, Specialty Markets and Medical Solutions.

Geri Gregor was named to Long Island Business News’ Who’s Who of Women in Professional Services. Gregor is partner-in-charge of Grassi & Co.’s business advisory practice and participates in the company’s mentoring program, which connects senior women professionals with their younger counterparts to advise, train and mentor them.

1987

Nicola Peill-Moelter serves as director of environmental sustainability at Akamai Technologies. In this capacity, she oversees the strategy and execution of environmental initiatives across the company, including carbon management and reporting, energy efficiency and waste reduction, and employee engagement and stakeholder awareness.

1989

Mary-Ann McCarra-Fitzpatrick placed third in the 41st annual Greenburgh Poetry Competition. She also read her poem Book of Hours during four performances of Words

That Paint: The Hudson Valley School in Poetry at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, N.Y. Suzanne Donaghy is one of seven new members to the board of directors at Good Samaritan Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.

1990

Gene Kirley has been elected board president of the Association for Children with Down syndrome (ACDS). Kirley, whose

daughter has Down syndrome, says “ACDS is a tremendous organization that I am honored to be a part of … [they] have given me an opportunity to give back to an organization that has done so much for my family and for others.”

Thomas Fitzmaurice has been named regional business manager/corporate secretary to a new pilot regional office for the Archdiocese of New York. He will serve the Rockland region and provide day-to-day oversight of all business operations.

Something Great Is Brewing In the Bronx Three brothers, one shared interest: creating a beer that family and friends could enjoy. After years of taste-testing on holiday occasions, this family tradition now can be shared beyond the dinner table and found at a bar or restaurant near you.

Paul Sciara ’92 and his two brothers, John and Jeff Sciara, decided that it was time to put their beer-making skills to the test and commercialize the recipe that they created in their basement as a hobby. The brand, City Island Beer, based on where the brothers currently live, made its debut this past March during New York City Beer Week. It’s now being sold in restaurants and bars throughout the tri-state area, including the College’s neighboring Bronx Ale House.

“We’re a small company, but we are excited to be in the industry,” Sciara says.

“More importantly, people are excited about us, too!”

The brothers are currently brewing their beer with a partnering brewery in Paper City, Mass., but are looking to build their own microbrewery on City Island, once they are an established brand. They are working with a scaled-down half-barrel system they created, which Sciara insists makes their beer taste just right. Their flagship beer is the City Island Pale Ale, but they hope to expand their craft as they develop new recipes.

“The Pale Ale launch was definitely a success,” Sciara says. “We’re getting our feet wet in the market and getting

involved in events, allowing us to meet people who love what we’re doing, which has made this a great experience for everyone so far.”

Sciara also brought City Island Beer to another part of the Bronx he is familiar with, the Manhattan College campus. He presented his business venture to Frederick Greene, Ph.D., associate professor of management and marketing, who worked with one of his classes to create a business plan for the Sciara brothers.

City Island Pale Ale also will be a featured beer this year at the College’s Alumni Reunion Weekend. Sciara plans to continue this relationship with alma mater by partnering with Manhattan’s food provider Gourmet Dining and growing hops in one of the gardens located on campus.

“I’ve made lifelong friends at Manhattan,” Sciara says. “I received a top-notch education when I was there, and now it’s great to be working with the College again on this new business opportunity.”

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1991

Brian Mullen has been named to Irish Echo’s 2012 Irish Law and Order 50. He is currently the commanding officer of the 47th precinct in New York City.

Michael Porco has been listed in Long Island Business’ Who’s Who in Intellectual Property and Labor Law. Porco is a partner at Hespos & Porco, LLP. Prior to joining the firm, he worked for more than 10 years as an electrical engineer.

1992

Vincent Leon has joined 3D Asset Management, Inc. as vice president and national sales manager, overseeing all sales, marketing and distribution for its intermediary and retirement channels. He previously served as the head of retail sales and distribution at Mirae Asset Global Investments (USA).

Steven Murphy gave the keynote address to the junior and senior classes at Mount St. Michael Academy for their 2012 Career Day. The theme of his speech was service, as he reflected on his own career in education.

Kevin Mulligan was named to the position of public works director of Greenville, N.C. He previously served as public works commissioner and assistant city manager of Long Beach, N.Y. Theresa Henry has been named trustee of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church of Hillsdale, N.J. She is an active member of the church and the academy it supports, serving as a Eucharistic minister and president of the school advisory board.

1998

Edward Pfleging was honored by SUNY Maritime at the school’s annual Admiral’s Scholarship Dinner. He serves as vice president of engineering and facilities at Montefiore Medical Center and the Montefiore Medical Center engineering and facilities division.

1999

PJ Goldfeder saved a neighbor’s home on New Year’s Day. The off-duty firefighter kept a cooking fire from spreading in the home of former City Councilman Dennis Robertson with his quick thinking and his own high-pressure fire extinguisher. Goldfeder gave credit for containing the damage to Robertson’s daughter, who thought to ask him for help.

42 N spring 2013

2000

Martin Galvin III has joined Golberg Segalla as an associate in the firm’s general liability practice group. He previously served as principal court attorney to the Honorable Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick in the New York State Court of Appeals. He was also featured in Irish Echo magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 list.

Hazel Nussbaum is a lifelong tennis enthusiast who transformed her love of the game into a high-end jewelry collection. Her line, Love Tennis by hazel, draws inspiration from four of the major tennis Grand Slam tournaments, and features collections from each

city: New York, Paris, Melbourne and London.

2001

José Colon returned to work at Cooperative Extension. He currently serves as the agriculture business educator, and had previously worked as program supervisor for Cooperative Extension’s farm labor housing rehabilitation program.

2002

Laura Krawczyk has been named to the annual The New York Times Super Lawyers list. She is an associate at Frommer Law-

Marketing to Make a Difference Alumna Travels to Tanzania To Provide Kids with Educational Opportunities

It only takes five. Five people to make a difference to a village.

As director of communication and a member of the board of directors for the Uplifting Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making a difference in underprivileged African communities by providing educational resources, Valerie Martin ’06 is one of those five. And it’s not even her day job.

Working with the Uplifting Project is a passion that Martin does on the side, as she works full time as a marketing and communication associate for International Stone Collections, a custom artisan shop in Brooklyn that collects luxury stones from all over the world.

Martin may be one of five members who serve on the board of the Uplifting Project, but she’s just one of a number of those who support it financially. In only its first year of fundraising, the organization raised more than $20,000, which went toward building a

secondary school in Tanzania.

Having seen the lack of educational resources during her first trip to Tanzania the summer after graduation with an organization called Cross Cultural Solutions, she felt the desire to continue her charitable work. It was on that trip that Martin met Rachel Moser, who in 2010 would become the founder of the Uplifting Project.

In the fall of 2011, Martin and Moser, working side by side, traveled to the village of Olasiti to fund and actually build the bathrooms and final classroom in the first secondary school for both the organization and the village.

“It was amazing to see how grateful they were,” she says. “You could do something, and it feels rewarding, and you know it’s going to make an impact, but to actually see the parents saying ‘thank you’ from the bottom of their hearts because their kids have a place to go to school now is really rewarding.”

At some point in the future, Martin hopes to devote her time fully to a charitable organization. But in the immediate future, the Uplifting Project will be assisting the community of Kikatiti, a village in northern Tanzania, by adding new classrooms and desks to the village’s primary school.

rence & Haug LLP, and primarily focuses on intellectual property litigation and patent counseling.

Kamele (Johnson) McLaren married RionMark McLaren on Aug. 19, 2012. The couple is expecting a baby girl in June.

2004

Marcy Flamholtz has been named dean of Scarsdale High School after previously working at Eastchester High School as a guidance counselor. She hopes to bring that experience to her new role as dean.

Rich Levesque joined public relations firm MWW as vice president of its Trenton, N.J., office. He previously served as executive director of the Burlington County Republican Committee and a member of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Task Force for the Prevention of Heroin Abuse and Opiate Addiction.

2006

Bryan Mone has recently joined the New Milford Police Department. He graduated from the Bergen County Police Academy under the Alternate Route program in December 2008, and has previously served the New Jersey Transit Police and worked as a dispatcher for the Closter Police Department.

Dustin Demetriou received a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Syracuse University in May 2012. He currently works in the advanced thermal energy efficiency lab at IBM Poughkeepsie developing next-generation cooling and energy efficient products and data centers.

2007

Elizabeth Ambron graduated from Touro Law Center in May 2012 and passed the New York Bar Exam. She accepted a position as an associate attorney for Walsh, Wicks, and Salisbury.

Malissa Lombardi is now working for Medtronic, a medical technology company, as a clinical specialist in the cardiac rhythm disease management division. She provides technical service for the management of cardiac device patients, as well as educational programs and in-services for the clinicians and their staff.

Andrew Vovou Jr. and Whitney Lee announced their engagement. She is a licensed professional counselor in South Carolina, and

he is a partner at Coastal Security Insurance.

Their wedding was held on April 6, 2013.

Nicole Legrottaglie has joined Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger, LLP, a Californiabased labor, employment and business immigration law firm, as an associate. She represents clients in many types of employment claims, such as discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination.

2008

On July 13, 2012, Tom Salogub proposed in Central Park to Sue Tiffany. They are planning a July 2013 wedding in the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers.

John Faviano and Kelli McNamara have announced their engagement. She is a speech therapist for the Monroe, N.J., Township School District, and he is an operations director at MRM Worldwide. They have planned a May 2013 wedding.

2009

Nichole Polyak and Joseph Howard recently announced their engagement. Years after a short-lived childhood romance, the couple reconnected and are planning a September 2013 wedding.

Ricky Mason, a sports and football artist, had previously exhibited at the University of Maryland’s Baltimore Art Gallery, but some of his pieces were re-released at the gallery due to the Super Bowl. His new limited run has been going well.

2010

Scott Roman, his brothers Stephen and Jonathan, and school friend Zack Price ’12, competed in and won the World's Toughest Mudder competition. The 10-mile-long obstacle course, designed by British Special Forces, is a tough enough race to begin with, but the Roman family team ran it six times in a 24-hour period, winning $20,000.

2012

Kevin Laue spoke at North Bend High School’s pretournament celebration to 15 teams participating in the Oregon Class 3A state championship basketball tournament.

He talked about overcoming obstacles, no matter how big they seem.

BIRTHS

1996

To Lisa Murphy-Church & Patrick Church son, Declan Patrick, 10/1/12

2003

To Irene & Declan Mulcahy sons, Declan James IV & Gavin Jasper, 3/1/12

2004

To Nancy & Walter Mugan son, Jack Michael, 1/2/13

2006

To Kerri Gallagher Blumenstetter & Dave Blumenstetter son, William Anthony, 8/8/12

MARRIAGES

2002

kamele johnson & Rion-Mark McLaren, 8/19/12

2004

Kelly Deming & John Altieri, 7/21/12

2006

Jessica Goncalves & Scott Hayden, 8/3/12

2007

andrew vovou jr. & Whitney Lee, 4/6/13 Suzanne Katz & Marco DeRose ’08, 9/29/12 Kara Agostino & Robert Barrows ’08, 8/18/12

2009

Rachel Pong & Patrick Mecca ’07, 8/7/12 Carolyn Hicks & Douglas Nygard ’10, 9/29/12 Laura Gallagher & Michael Gazzola ’10, 10/12/12

ADVANCED DEGREES

1981

Paul Marotta earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Tennessee in December.

MANHATTAN.EDU N 43

alumni

On the ninth floor of the CBS 60 Minutes building in Manhattan’s Broadcast Row, Katie Kerbstat ’11 is on the forefront of breaking news.

When she’s not researching a story or furiously fact-checking scripts on deadline, the broadcast associate and assistant to the chairman of CBS News and executive producer of 60 Minutes is often spotted dodging traffic on 57th en route to a meeting in the adjacent CBS building.

Always at a sprint, the stakes are high when you’re working for one of the most successful broadcasts in television history.

Renowned for accuracy, 60 Minutes reaches tens of thousands of viewers every week.

“There are no mistakes,” Kerbstat says.

“Many of the stories I get to work on are breaking news and supposed to air that weekend. I’m always going as fast as I can, but accuracy is always paramount to speed.”

March 2013 marked Kerbstat’s first annitaught by adjunct faculty members who are versary with the show. Poised, polished and working in the field,” Kerbstat says. One of professional, it’s hard to believe that just them, Joe Lauria, U.N. correspondent for The seven years ago she arrived at Manhattan Wall Street Journal, still keeps in touch.

College — a volleyball recruit — without a She notes associate professor Thom Genclear direction. carelli, Ph.D., “was very kind and supportive Her future started coming into focus the — especially when it came to internships.” first time she sat down with a Manhattan As a sophomore, hungry for real-world College admissions counselor who, noting experience, Kerbstat interned with Comedy Kerbstat’s experience as an editor of her Central’s The Daily Show. The experience high school newspaper, recommended she was a fun foray into the world of broadcast apply for The Quadrangle Scholarship. journalism.

“At that point I had no idea what I wanted “I loved it, and it motivated me to see out of my college experience,” Kerbstat says what the field of real news is like,” she says. of her decision to apply. The Quadrangle Kerbstat got her shot during the sumScholarship annually awards $5,000 to 20 mer after her junior year, interning at the students to write, edit and manage the assignment desk at WCBS Channel 2. Quickly campus newspaper. “When I was selected, adapting to the fast-paced, high-stress I thought, ‘Wow. I guess I could be good at atmosphere, it wasn’t long before she was this.’” This realization opened doors.

While she honed her writing and editorial given the chance to prove her talent and reliability as a professional. She was often skills during her four years at The Quadout of the office to help with shoots for local rangle, she says she benefitted from strong breaking news stories. mentors in the classroom.

A nod of confidence from her supervisor “One of the strengths of the communicawas a foot in the door at 60 Minutes, where tion program is that many of the classes are 44 N spring 2013

she interned senior year. The place was right; the timing was not. Come graduation, she was offered a spot at CBSCorporate.com.

Although she was happy to have a steady writing gig out of college, she wanted to get back into reporting. So in late 2011, after consulting with her contacts at 60 Minutes, Kerbstat made the bold move of leaving her staff job to do freelance work at CBS Radio News full time.

“I told my contacts at 60 Minutes that I wanted to leave my staff job and picked their brains about it,” Kerbstat says. “Everyone there couldn’t say enough about CBS Radio News and what it had to offer.”

Not only was the experience perfect preparation for the atmosphere of the 60 Minutes newsroom but also her name was fresh in the producers’ minds when her current position opened up. And she already has her sights set on a producing role there.

“I love my job,” Kerbstat says. “I love being a part of the constant chatter of the newsroom. It’s cool just to see how the show is put together every single week.”

PHOTO BY matt richman

From 0 to 60 in One Year

A Second Act for a Spirited Alum

PHOTO BY darcy rogers

S

urrounded by a captive audience, Robert La Blanc ’56 tells the story of a World War II captain who lost the use of the rudder when his ship was torpedoed during a battle at Truk and was stuck dangerously pointing toward Tokyo Harbor. He’s probably told this story hundreds of times at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, but you would never know from listening to him.

La Blanc is a volunteer docent for the legendary aircraft carrier, docked on New York City’s West Side, and gives weekly tours of the fo’c’s’le, chain room, junior officers’ quarters, Marines’ quarters, and some of the gun emplacements.

He’s been volunteering on the Intrepid for about a year and half. He started out greeting visitors at the ship’s entrance but then jumped at the chance to take the 12-week docent course, in which prospective tour guides study all aspects of the ship and its history. After training, La Blanc ended up in a specialty area — also his favorite — the fo’c’s’le (an abbreviation of forecastle, which he also notes is a good Scrabble word).

“I generally give somewhere between four and six tours a day, and spend one or two hours in the admiral’s quarters,” he says of his Tuesday schedule.

La Blanc greets everyone with a warm welcome, often connecting with the many tourists through geography — he’s been everywhere. When he takes visitors into the chain room, where the anchors are connected to the ship, he humorously tells them of doubting sightseers trying to lift the links, which weigh 200 pounds — and they’re welcome to try, too. Up on deck, he encourages them to get behind the 40mm gun — just not to aim at the neighbors.

It can be a long day on his feet, but La Blanc is so enthusiastic about the Intrepid that he shows no signs of fatigue.

“I love seeing how excited our visitors get when they hear some of the things that the ship did,” he says. “I mean this is an absolutely incredible ship!”

It’s a great fit for a history buff whose hobby has been studying the Civil War, in which his grandfather served.

“Not very many people who are alive today have a relative that was in the Civil War, but my grandfather was 14 years old and was a water boy at Gettysburg for the Union,” he says. “And my dad was in World War I, and my two uncles, my brother and my cousin were in World War II, so I’ve had a great interest in both the Civil War and World War II. I’ve read just about every book that was published on the war in the Pacific, and so this was a natural attraction.”

In addition to his forefathers, La Blanc, who grew up in Queens, served in the military, too. He was commissioned

as a second lieutenant after graduating from the College with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering, and spent three years as the communications officer for a base in the Arctic, as well as 10 remote radar sites in what was then called the DEW Line, Distance Early Warning, which looked for Soviet missiles possibly targeting the United States.

He then went on to a successful career in the telecommunications industry. Among other positions, he worked at Salomon Brothers for 10 years, where he was a general partner and founder of its telecommunications team, before joining Continental Telecom, Inc. (now part of Verizon) as vice chairman. La Blanc also managed to find time to earn his MBA from NYU. He founded Robert E. La Blanc Associates, Inc. in 1981, an information technologies consulting and investment firm, from which he retired in January 2010.

And it didn’t take La Blanc very long to realize that full retirement wasn’t for him. “It took about a day. I’m serious,” he says. “The problem is you work all your life, and your brain is as busy as it can be, and you stop working and say to yourself, what do I do?”

His wife, Betty, a docent herself, suggested he become one, too, and at the Intrepid. It was great advice. Between his docent duties and his participation in the choir at the Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola on the Upper East Side, where they now live, La Blanc has found a second act.

A Manhattan College trustee emeritus, as well as an honorary doctorate degree recipient, he has involved himself in many professional and charitable organizations throughout the years. He’s always believed in service, and is most proud of his scholarship fund at Manhattan and the Archdiocese of Newark but especially of its recipients. And his second act seems to befit his philanthropic philosophy perfectly, not to mention his aversion to slowing down.

“I get a great deal of joy out of giving these tours,” La Blanc says. “Really the problem you have as you get older is keeping your mind and yourself active, and you’ve got to do something positive, something good.”

As for how that story about the hapless captain ends, you’ll have to ask La Blanc on his next tour. He tells the story better anyway.

MANHATTAN.EDU N 45

alumni

From Big Apple to Apple Inc.

46 N spring 2013

Twenty-five years ago, she was the one being mentored as she struggled through chemistry class at Manhattan College and eventually found her forte as an electrical engineer, programming on new computer systems in Leo. “As clunky as they were, I was hooked!” Krall laughs. “Manhattan was a really special time in my life.”

For four years after, she worked her way through law school at night while developing for IBM during the day, after a position on its patent review committee prompted her to combine her interests.

“It was an eye-opening moment for me, finding the intersection between technology and law,” Krall remembers. “We were recognizing the good work of engineers beyond the products themselves.”

Climbing through the legal departments of IBM and Sun Microsystems, Krall noticed a dearth of women with strong technical backgrounds, and even less who knew the patents behind the products.

So a few years later, she and two friends in the field founded ChIPs, a professional support network of women looking to grow their careers in the technology and IP industries. With domestic participation through the roof, the ambitious project will soon go global.

As if there aren’t enough projects on her plate, Krall and her family recently moved to a new house in Silicon Valley. While packing, she came across a sheet of paper from her grammar school years asking what she wanted to do with her life. Scribbled on the line was an occupation wise beyond her eighth-grade years — not an engineer, not a lawyer, not even an air traffic controller. “‘To do the best I can,’” she says. “That’s still true today. I’m open to any opportunities that come my way, and I strive to do the best I can.”

PHOTO BY MITCH TOBIAS

T

he media struck literary gold when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs deemed his patent litigation on the Android operating system a “thermonuclear war.” Running with the metaphor, reporters named Noreen (Weber) Krall ’87, vice president and chief litigation counsel for Apple, his major general, overseeing the global battlefield.

When asked, Krall takes a softer approach.

“I equate my role to being an air traffic controller,” she says. “I make sure that all the planes take off and land on time, that there’s good communication between everyone, and I help avoid any collisions.”

If that’s the case, then she’s working for the world’s busiest airport.

The Jasper engineer-turned-lawyer from Piermont, N.Y., has made a big name for herself these past three years in Silicon Valley. Previously the chief intellectual property counsel (IP) for Sun Microsystems, Krall was hired by Apple in 2010, the same month the company entered legal battles with HTC over its touch-screen user interface, which Jobs argued was copied from the iPhone.

Since then, a handful of other IP lawsuits have made their way to Krall’s desk — Kodak, Motorola Mobility, Samsung.

Krall manages an in-house team of 45 and an outside counsel that extends around the globe, and makes sure they learn from past decisions and are prepared for what’s around the corner — which doesn’t leave much time for sleep.

“I’m usually up between 4 and 4:30 checking emails, keeping an eye on hot issues and checking developments from Europe,” the mother of three says.

After a morning workout, Krall drives her youngest daughter to school and heads to the office, where she spends her day reviewing claims and court filings, developing strategies in response and talking to everyone from the Apple engineers who design products to the witnesses preparing for court.

And those are just the days she’s in Cupertino. The other two to three weeks out of the month, she’s traveling.

There have been victories along the way — in August 2012, Krall was recognized for her leadership after a landmark ruling in California declared that Samsung pay Apple more than $1 billion for patent infringement. But there have been obstacles, too — a new trial was ordered in March 2013 on account of juror miscalculations, reducing Samsung’s damages by $450 million.

“When unexpected challenges come up, it’s important to surround yourself with people you can learn from, people who are smarter than you, so you can tap into that network,” Krall says.

“Noreen’s intellect, energy and business acumen set her apart from many in this role,” says Michael Dillon, a former colleague at Sun Microsystems. “As does her commitment to mentoring others, both within Sun (and now Apple), as well as the broader legal community.”

A Rock Star Among Accountants

PHOTO BY patrick macleod

C

ertified public accountant Brian Roberts ’85 never played an instrument. He still can’t carry a tune. But the tonally challenged numbers cruncher from Northern New Jersey has nevertheless found his way into the pantheon of the music industry, occupying a role that the most ardent fans can only dream of.

Roberts, you might say, is a backstage muscle for one of the coolest business acts in the world. He is an executive vice president and CFO for Warner Music Group (WMG), America’s largest music conglomerate, and along with Sony and Universal, one of the “Big Three” giants in the industry. That makes Roberts, who took the back door into the music business through an accounting client, the record-industry equivalent of the guy who goes to the prom alone and ends up getting the last dance with the queen.

“Somebody should pinch me,” he says, with characteristic humility. “There’s no way in my wildest dreams I thought I’d be in the position I am today. When your workday has the potential to involve walking into a room with an artist holding a guitar who is about to play the next big song that he or she wrote, it deepens your appreciation for creativity and talent.”

Talent, of course, is something Roberts had plenty of since his days at the College, when he was an academically motivated commuter student majoring in accounting.

After trying out, unsuccessfully, for the basketball team, he realized his future was in tax brackets, not tournament brackets, and the winter before graduation he applied for an internship at Arthur Young (now Ernst & Young).

That internship led directly to a job offer.

“The College’s Career Development office really worked to develop us for interviews and résumé-writing,” he recalls. “I was a second-semester senior who already had a job. That felt incredible.”

After four and a half years with Arthur Young, one of his clients, EMI Music Publish-

ing, hired him for an in-house financial gig in 1990. It was a golden era for the record industry back then — a pre-iTunes age where digital content was still being developed.

Roberts would eventually move to Zomba Music Publishing to work for record mogul Clive Calder, and the company flourished, controlling the music publishing rights to artists such as R. Kelly, Britney Spears, ’N Sync and Backstreet Boys.

In 2002, Bertelsmann Music Group acquired Zomba, and Roberts landed a position at BMG Music Publishing as senior vice president, finance and administration, in North and South America. In 2008, he crossed over to the WMG, where he was named senior vice president and CFO of its publishing arm, Warner/Chappell Music. Roberts was promoted to WMG executive vice president and CFO in 2011.

His quick-tempo crescendo to business notoriety couldn’t have been predicted when he chose to enroll at Manhattan College, with a smaller, friendly campus “that just felt more comfortable than the other schools,” he recalls. He has fond memories playing

intramural basketball, hanging out at the since-shuttered Terminal Bar and serving in Student Government for a year as — what else? — treasurer.

The College would later change his life in a more important way, albeit indirectly. Two years after he graduated, during a gathering of accountants who’d rented out a cruise line party ship, Roberts bumped into two former classmates who’d just recently married and who'd brought along a friend, Tara. “She was beautiful,” Roberts recalls. Before long, they were dating, and today, 25 years later, they are happily married with four children.

“So I credit Manhattan College with helping me find my wife,” he says, with a laugh.

“Brian has always shown a determination to get to the career level he wants, but at the same time he’s a devoted friend and family man,” says James O’Rourke ’85, fellow accountant, classmate and parishioner at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Wyckoff, N.J., where Roberts has served as a retreat leader.

Despite the recent downturn in the music industry, WMG remains in good fiscal health under the Manhattan graduate’s stead.

Shortly after becoming CFO, Roberts was part of a team that guided WMG into private company status following a sale to Access Industries. WMG now has annual total revenue of about $2.8 billion, and recent global successes include Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran and fun., who recently took Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Song of the Year.

But beyond all the numbers and financial challenges presented by digitization, piracy and licensing, Roberts often just wants to talk about the music.

“My job can move quickly from talking to banks about restructuring WMG’s finances to talking about extending the rights of an artist whose songs we all love to hum,” he says. “Even as a noncreative person, I can appreciate the way music becomes the fabric of someone’s life.”

MANHATTAN.EDU N 47

obits

INMEMORIAM

Manhattan College records with sorrow the deaths of the following alumni: 1933

1951

Kieran M. Devery Sr., 3/16/13

Ronald G. Calabro, 3/21/13 John P. Clarke, 12/13/12 James J. Corless, 12/11/12 Francis R. O’Brien, M.D., 9/3/12 William B. Robinson, 1/27/13 Harry S. Tarzian, 3/16/13

1934

John T. McPhillips, 1/9/13 Nicholas L. Savino, 1/12/13

1936

Joseph A. Cundari, 3/19/13

1938

Charles J. Tantillo, 1/27/13

1952

James A. Leonard, 2/20/13 Col. Joseph D. Sardonia, USAF, 7/6/12 Frank J. Winters, 1/21/13

1953

1939

1943

Theodore B. Baba, 1/3/13

1944

Frank P. Cocozza, 1/5/13

1947

John F. Sullivan, 10/1/12 Albert J. Zarilli, 1/20/13

1948

B. Preston Gilmore, 12/10/12 Walter R. Ruddy, 12/19/12

1949

John F. Burke, 11/11/12 Peter R. Golia, 10/14/12 Francis E. Oakley, 2/25/13

1950

Br. Austin Bernabei, FSC, 2/2/13 Patrick J. Brown, 3/7/13 Joseph A. Consentino, 3/16/13 Anthony C. Cuomo, 3/6/13 Edward D. Lowry, 1/13/13 Edward J. Maexner, 11/9/12

48 N spring 2013

Ottomar I. Rudolf, 3/10/13

Br. Gabriel Healy, FSC, 11/30/12 John J. Lawrence, 11/30/12 William O. Lenihan, 10/12/12 Andrew J. McGowan Jr., 1/23/13 Vito N. Pasquale, 12/13/12

1954

Charles A. Panetta, 9/23/12 Thomas P. Sullivan, 12/6/12 Barry G. Watkins, 2/6/13

1955

Dominick J. Galage, 2/10/13 Thomas M. Rocks, 10/24/12

1956

John P. Coogan, 1/4/13 Alfred P. Lomaglio, 3/4/13 Edward G. McSherry, 1/11/13 Robert J. Moran, 12/31/12 Cornelius P. Shea, 12/15/12

1957

Henry J. Blaney, 11/19/12 Col. Joseph J. Centofanti, USAF, 11/6/12 Harold J. Collier, 11/22/12 James E. Grady, 11/9/12 John A. Grogan, 11/4/12

1967 Richard F. Landgrebe, 2/25/13 Simon P. O’Mahony, 1/22/13 Charles H. Sie, 2/27/2013

1958

Vincent Costello, 1/7/13 Robert J. Weeks, 12/23/12

1959

Michael F. Bette, 4/11/13 Francis M. Boran, M.D., 2/4/13 Carl C. Borsari, 2/2/13 Donald McGorty, 11/2/12 Joseph G. Williams Jr., 3/29/13

1960

George E. Sliter, M.D., 11/6/12

1961

Cosmo A. Petrone, 3/4/13

1962

Frank R. Cregan, 10/13/2012 Maj. Edward Dunne, USMC, 11/5/12 Charles H. Lochmuller, 2/16/13

1963

John J. Cassidy, 12/5/12 John G. Fuchs, 3/4/13

1968

William S. Feiler, 3/22/13 Martin E. Gallé, 1/5/13 John T. Hug Jr., 2/27/13 Raymond L. Napolitano, Ph.D., 2/17/13

1970

Sr. Mary Gabriel Coughlin, R.C.D., 11/30/12 Sr. Mary W. Meiklejohn, O.S.U., 11/15/12 Sr. Angeline Whidden, R.S.M., 10/15/12

1972

Sr. Geraldine Warthling, O.S.F., 1/2/13

1973

Dorothea H. Morse, 1/9/13 Edward D. O’Keeffe III, 9/10/12

1974

Raymond E. Bigliani, 1/21/13 Jeffrey F. Fox, 12/26/12 Donald E. Polityka, 1/11/13

Thomas F. Baldwin, 11/29/12

John R. Fehling, 12/16/12 Kevin S. Keating Sr., 2/8/13

1982

1964 1966

Gerard H. Feenan, 2/11/13 Philip F. Franzese, 1/25/13 James J. Heneghan, 1/20/13 Col. Frederick C. Stutsman, USAF, 2/19/13

1979

Robert P. Cozzini, 11/4/12 Dianna R. Greenan, 3/24/13

John P. Moroney, 1/7/13

1983

Douglas J. Correa, 3/11/13

1993

Debora (Murtha) Marinaro, 1/6/13

Brother Gabriel Healy

Brother Gabriel Healy (right) with a student

Brother Gabriel Healy ’53, ’70, FSC, who spent much of his career as an educator and served as director of Campus Ministry at Manhattan College from 1981-1990, died on Nov. 30. He was 83.

Br. Gabriel earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1953 and a Master of Arts in theology from Manhattan College in 1970. He taught theology studies at the College in 1968-69, and held several teaching positions before returning to Manhattan as director of Campus Ministry in 1981. He also did retreat work at the College from 2003-2006.

“Br. Gabriel gave his whole life to the mission of Lasallian education ... from being in grade school with the Brothers to teaching grade school, from teaching in high school to working with college students, from working in one institution to doing central administration for all schools,” says Brother Robert Berger, FSC, associate professor of religious studies.

“But most of all Br. Gabe touched hearts in a way that most people could not even come close to in a lifetime. His energetic spirit, his sense of directness and his concern for people, especially those who were hurting for whatever reason, gave him the gift of welcoming many into a new sense of whole-

ness. His prayer allowed God to reach others, and for this grace, many will be forever grateful.”

In his eulogy, Charlie Hayes, a former student of Br. Gabriel’s from Christian Brothers Academy, echoed Br. Robert’s reflection.

“Who knows what kind of path I might have gone down had Brother Gabe not been there back in the early ’90s to guide me back to the right path,” he said. “And I am just one of hundreds of lives that were touched and helped by Gabe.”

A New York City native, Br. Gabriel was born James Edward Healy. He entered the Barrytown Juniorate in 1943 and the Novitiate in 1946. In 1946, he received the Religious Habit and took the name Brother Andrian Gabriel and pronounced his perpetual vows in 1954.

A two-time graduate of Manhattan, Br. Gabriel also earned a Master of Arts in Latin from St. John’s University, and he studied at The Catholic University of America and the Chicago Theological Institute.

He held numerous teaching posts, including several positions at Christian Brothers Academy. Br. Gabriel also served as the La Salle Provincialate’s director of formation and auxiliary visitor.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Dec. 8 at De La Salle Hall in Lincroft, N.J.

Lawrence Huggins Lawrence P. Huggins, Ph.D., who served as professor of management at Manhattan College for 25 years after a successful career with General Electric and other corporations, died on Nov. 11. He was 85.

While at the College, Huggins served as the Hauge Professor of Management from 1986-1994 and the Louis Capalbo Professor of Management from 1994-1996. He was awarded Capalbo Grants for Research and Analysis during several summers in the 1990s and also received the TWM Research Summer Grant in 1995.

Huggins earned his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 and 1972, respectively. He often referred to his Christian Brothers roots, as he studied at Holy Name School, St. Joseph’s Normal Institute in Barrytown, and De La Salle High School in Manhattan.

Thomas Gray ’70, former director of development at the College and

a student of Huggins’ while enrolled in the MBA program, says, “Larry was one of my all-time favorite teachers, and with his passing, this lion of Columbia and Manhattan passes into Manhattan’s rich history.”

A World War II veteran, Huggins had assignments all across the United States while working for General Electric, including serving with the GE corporate executive staff in New York City and Fairfield, Conn. He also spent three years each on GE’s Financial Management Program and its Manufacturing Training Program for industrial engineering. In addition, Huggins served as president of Health Industries and the Agribusiness International Group before joining the College’s faculty.

He received many honors throughout his career, including the General Electric Co. Management Award in 1957, the Orange County (Calif.)

Executive Award AIA in 1977 and the Man of the Year Health Industries Award in 1978. After retiring from Manhattan, Huggins continued to teach as an adjunct professor of business at Georgian Court University.

Huggins, a Bronx native, was predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Mary, and a son, Robert. He is survived by four of his children: Lawrence, Michael, Brendan and Mary; 12 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren; his sister, Dorothy Davis; and many nephews and nieces.

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Brother Austin Bernabei Brother Austin Bernabei ’50, FSC, who taught physics at Manhattan College for 35 years, died on Feb. 2 at De La Salle Hall in Lincroft, N.J. He was 84.

Br. Austin began teaching at the College in 1956 as an instructor. He became an assistant professor in 1964 and an associate professor in 1971, the title he held until 1991, when he began teaching at schools in Africa and the West Indies.

“Br. Austin was a serious and dedicated teacher,” says Brother Henry Chaya, FSC, associate professor, computer information systems, at Bethlehem University in Palestine. “He was interested in both the spiritual life and the academic life of his students. I recall he ran an after-hours prayer group for students. Later he organized a number of physics alumni reunions.”

His assignments, mostly in the field of education, included St. Raphael’s School, Pawtucket, R.I.; Bethlehem University; De La Salle Novitiate and De La Salle Scholasticate, both of Nairobi, Kenya; Rongai Agriculture and Technical School, Rongai, Kenya; Christian Brothers Center, Bronx, N.Y.; St. Martin’s Secondary School, St. Vincent, West Indies; Cathedral High School, El Paso, Texas; and La Salle College, Ansfrere, South Africa.

After graduating from Manhattan College, Br. Austin received a Master of Science from The Catholic University of America in 1953 and a master’s and doctorate in nuclear physics in 1959 and 1964, both from New York University. He completed his medical physics postdoctoral work at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 1981.

A native of New Rochelle, N.Y., Br. Austin received the Holy Habit of the Christian Brothers in 1950.

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Siddhartha Bagchi Siddhartha Bagchi, Ph.D., associate professor of civil and environmental engineering for some 30 years at Manhattan College and respected expert in the water resources field, died on Nov. 27. He was 73.

Bagchi began teaching at the College in 1979. During his tenure, he traveled the world to provide his expertise on water resources, including China’s Three Gorge Dam Project, the largest in the world. He was also published in numerous publications.

“Sid was very devoted to his students and never said no to anyone or anything. He was a great friend and colleague,” says Walter Saukin, Ph.D., associate professor of civil engineering at Manhattan.

A native of India, Bagchi earned his Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts and Master of Engineering from Calcutta University in the 1960s. In 1977, he earned his doctorate from Polytechnic Institute of New York.

“He always tried to have something pleasant to say and was appreciative of any kindness that was extended to him,” says Saukin, who describes Bagchi as always happy. “In civil and environmental engineering, we think of ourselves as a family. Sid was one who truly helped to make that possible.”

Bagchi is survived by his wife, Purabi, and two children.

Brother Patrick Ellis Brother Patrick Ellis, FSC, former president of La Salle University and The Catholic University of America, and past member of the Manhattan College board of trustees, died on Feb. 21. He was 84.

Born Harry James Ellis Jr. in Baltimore, he joined the Institute of the Christian Brothers at 17 and took the name Brother Felician Patrick. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from The Catholic University of America in 1951 and a master’s and doctorate in English from the University of Pennsylvania. Br. Patrick joined the English department of La Salle in 1960, where he remained for more than 30 years. During his 15-year tenure as its president, the longest in university history, La Salle grew in stature and nearly doubled in size.

In 1992, Br. Patrick was named the 13th president of The Catholic University of America, the first De La Salle Christian Brother ever to be named to such a position. During his sixyear tenure, he oversaw the enhancement of the

campus computing infrastructure and the raising of funds for a $33 million law school building. He was a trustee of St. Mary’s College and a former chairman of the board of directors of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. A spokesman for Catholic higher education, Br. Patrick was among a select group who met with Pope John Paul II in 1989 to discuss the Vatican's role within it.

“As a chief administrator, he was like a master chef, stirring in a blend of the practical, the political and the possible in order to produce the preferred decision. La Salle University and The Catholic University of America benefitted from his clear vision, his faithful commitment and his effective leadership,” says Brother Thomas Scanlan, FSC, Manhattan’s president emeritus. “Br. Patrick was above all a loyal son of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, as he was convinced of the wisdom of his charism in that ‘touching the heart’ of each student was the path to maximum learning and to nurturing his/her full human potential.”

In 1993, Br. Patrick received an honorary Doctor of Pedagogy from Manhattan College.

The citation noted his three five-year terms on the board of trustees, his extensive experience and wise counsel.

Michael Bette ’59 Michael F. Bette ’59, benefactor, longtime member of the Manhattan College board of trustees, and business leader in the construction industry, died on April 11 at the College of an apparent heart attack. He was 76.

A Bronx native, Bette earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the College in 1959 after graduating from Chaminade High School on Long Island. He was the head of a number of prestigious construction companies specializing in the construction of large, high-end apartment and condominium complexes throughout his 50-plus-year career. He led firms that included Barry & Bette, Inc. and Barry, Bette & Led Duke, Inc. (BBL), which had divisions in Florida, Texas and Watertown, N.Y. In 1999, Bette formed the Bette Companies (Bette & Cring Construction Group, First Columbia, BBL Florida and BBL Texas) along with his sons and served as chairman. The Engineering News-Record listed the Bette Companies among its Top 400 in 2012, with a ranking of 302, based on $176.3 million in revenue in 2011.

His building projects totaled more than $8 billion throughout the course of his career, including bridges, schools, luxury condos, office buildings and healthcare facilities. He was a part of everything from the New York World’s Fair and Empire State Plaza to the new skyline in Southwest Florida and condominiums along the Gulf Coast.

Known for his philanthropy as much as his building prowess, Bette was dedicated to Manhattan College, as well as a number of organizations in the Albany area. He gave particular attention to organizations that cared for the less fortunate or provided youth services.

At the College, he served on the board of trustees for 15 years, beginning in 1991, and retired as trustee emeritus.

“It’s easy to talk about Mike’s dedication to Manhattan College,” says John Lawler ’55, Ph.D., who served on the board with Bette. “Mike was an ideal board member contributor for 15 years. Board members are asked to contribute time, talent

and treasure. Mike was generous with all three.”

As a member of the facilities committee, Bette was responsible for overseeing the College’s multi-year campus renovation plan. He contributed to the enhancement of the campus with upgrades of every building and facility and also was generous with sharing his business expertise.

“He was a major guiding voice on the many new construction projects planned and begun during his tenure on the board,” Lawler says. “His in-depth experience in construction helped the College avoid many pitfalls while planning and building the parking garage, O’Malley Library and East Hill.”

The College recognized his leadership and service in 2004 with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at its Fall Honors Convocation. Bette was also a trustee emeritus of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and a past board member of Hope House, Twin Rivers Council and Boy Scouts of America.

In 2006, upon stepping down as a trustee, Bette was praised by Manhattan’s board, in a citation, for having “served his alma mater well and faithfully by being a stalwart friend and by his unstinting generosity as a major benefactor, which has provided leadership in its measure as well as its challenge for others to emulate his example.”

“Mike was a quiet guy, so when he offered his opinion on a board item, everyone listened because you knew he had something worth listening to,” Lawler says. “So clearly time and talent were there. When it came to treasure, Mike and Mary Ann were most generous and leaders in this department also, as the record shows. Mike goes to God with an A-plus mark in meeting the love command.”

He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann; along with seven children, Matthew Bette (Lisa), Kevin Bette (Kathleen), Peter Bette (Patricia), Ann Marie Parker (William), Christopher Bette (Anne), Mark Bette (Gina) and Suzanne Bette; and 16 grandchildren.

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pa r ting shot

PHOTOs BY Joshua cuppek

Brother Raymond Meagher, FSC, leads students in his memorable Beauty Prayer on Memorial Courtyard during De La Salle Week in April.

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With its beautiful blooms, the majestic magnolia tree that adorns the walkways to Memorial Hall and up to the Quad adds a touch of lushness to a quiet spring night on campus.