Manhattan Magazine | Spring 2022

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THE HIGGINS CENTER OFFICIALLY OPENS

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EDITOR Kristen Cuppek

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ON CAMPUS American Express CEO provides a $10 million donation, President Brennan

ASSISTANT EDITOR Cecilia Donohoe DESIGNER Kat Lepak CONTRIBUTORS Patrice Athanasidy Elizabeth Connolly Bauman Pete Janny Pete McHugh Barry Moskowitz Pat Olsen Amy Surak

O’Donnell steps down, Phi Beta Kappa celebrates 50 years, and so much more.

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Courtney Warley ’21, ’22 (MBA) makes women’s basketball history, plus news and fun facts from the academic year.

28 THE HIGGINS CENTER OPENS The Higgins Engineering and Science Center is officially dedicated.

34 WHATEVER IT TAKES

INTERNS Taylor Carroll Audrey Johnstone PHOTOGRAPHERS Brian Asare Ben Asen Josh Cuppek Brian Hatton Sara Milano Alyssa Nealon Rachelle Nuzzaro

SPORTS

With protocols in place, Manhattan approaches the second year of the pandemic with a little more normalcy.

42 BELONGING AT MANHATTAN The College community joins together in efforts to support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) on campus.

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DEVELOPMENT De La Salle Dinner honors Lynn Martin

Published by the office of Marketing and Communication Manhattan College Riverdale, NY 10471 magazine@manhattan.edu Lydia Gray Assistant Vice President, College Advancement and Executive Director, Marketing and Communication ON THE COVER The grand atrium of the Patricia and Cornelius J. Higgins ’62 Engineering and Science Center welcomes students, faculty and guests into a light-filled space that just beckons collaboration and industry.

’98, and meet a scholarship recipient.

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ALUMNI Hall of Fame, alumnotes, profiles, and looking back on a long-lost tradition.

58 OBITUARIES In memoriam, C. Edward Ward Jr., Chester Nisteruk, Francis Lodato, Brother Philip Zeller, Peter Heller, James Wilson, Robert Pulver, Nada Anid, Brother Peter Henderson, Richard FitzPatrick, William Brown, Gabriel Moran, Graham Walker, Harry Welsh

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PARTING SHOT

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Stephen Squeri ’81, ’86 (MBA) Donates $10 Million to Manhattan College

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MERICAN EXPRESS CHAIRMAN AND CEO STEPHEN SQUERI ’81, ’86 (MBA) has made a $10 million donation to his alma mater. Squeri’s gift will be contributed to Manhattan College’s Invest in the Vision capital campaign and has helped the College surpass its goal of raising $165 million five years ahead of the initial target date. The gift will go toward enhancing Manhattan College’s facilities and infrastructure.

In recognition of Squeri’s contribution, the on-campus building that houses both Smith Auditorium and the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers will be named Squeri Hall to honor the Squeri family’s longstanding generosity to Manhattan College. Those ties began with Joseph Squeri ’54, Stephen Squeri’s father, who earned a Bachelor of Science in business management from Manhattan College and served in the United States Marine Corps before pursuing a successful career working at Colgate, CBS and Bloomingdale’s.

“I am very grateful for the education I received at Manhattan College,” Squeri says. “The core principles reinforced throughout my time there are all about leading a purpose-driven life by empowering others to reach their full potential and giving back to our communities.

My hope is that this gift, in honor of my father and my family, will help the students and faculty of Manhattan College continue to develop intellectually and spiritually, live with purpose, and achieve their full potential.”

“With this extraordinary gift, Steve and his wife, Tina, add an exciting new chapter to the long history of the Squeri family’s truly exemplary support for Manhattan College,” says Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., president of Manhattan College. “Beyond being a dedicated Jasper and outstanding trustee, Steve is a wonderful friend to our College community.”

Since becoming the chairman and CEO of American Express in February 2018, Squeri has been fostering a culture focused on backing customers, colleagues and communities to make a difference in people’s lives in ways that matter most to them. Under his leadership, American Express has launched innovative payment, financial management and lifestyle offerings for consumers and businesses, expanded strategic partnerships, enhanced digital capabilities, and reshaped its strategy to drive growth in international markets.

Additionally, Squeri spearheaded the development of the company’s environmental, social and governance framework and established the office of Enterprise Inclusion, Diversity and Business Engagement.

Squeri is a member of the Business Roundtable, The Business Council, and the American Society of Corporate Executives, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Partnership for New York City. He also sits on the board of trustees of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Valerie Fund.

A native of Queens, New York, Squeri is deeply committed to giving

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back to the community and advancing opportunities for education and economic development. He serves on the board of trustees at both of his alma maters: Manhattan College and Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School.

“Steve’s gift, the second largest in the history of the College, will have a lasting impact on Manhattan College,” says Thomas Mauriello, vice president for College Advancement. “It will allow us to move forward in our work of continuous improvement to the College. We will always be grateful for his remarkable generosity.”

A story about the upcoming dedication ceremony will follow in the next issue.

O’Donnell Concludes His Presidency

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N COLLABORATION WITH MANHATTAN COLLEGE’S BOARD OF TRUSTEES, President Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., announced that he will transition to the role of president emeritus and professor of English at the College, after a long-planned sabbatical in July 2022.

Brother Daniel Gardner, FSC — who currently serves as assistant director in the Center for Graduate School and Fellowship Advisement — will serve as interim president during the search for O’Donnell’s successor.

The College’s 19th president, O’Donnell joined Manhattan in 2009 and guided it through a critical period of transition and growth, as well as the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am proud of my years here and all that our community has accomplished during my 13-year tenure,” O’Donnell says. “I have loved my time leading this great institution, but I am also excited to return to the work of teaching, scholarship and service that first attracted me to higher education.”

William Dooley ’75, chair of the board of trustees, says that O’Donnell initially approached board representatives a year ago to explore his options to complete his current term in June 2022, prior to a sabbatical before transitioning to the faculty. The board chair and the president agreed to postpone the decision while addressing anticipated challenges of the approaching school year.

“We appreciate Dr. O’Donnell accommodating our request that he delay his decision and continue to serve fully invested as president as we navigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, completed the College’s once-a-decade Middle States self-report process, and identified an ideal standout candidate to serve as interim president,” Dooley says.

“This was not an easy decision, but after much reflection and prayer, I knew that the time was right,” O’Donnell says. “The future is bright for Manhattan College, and I am confident that the College will be in good hands with Brother Daniel guiding the ship while the search for a new president moves forward.”

“We celebrate Brennan’s many achievements during his 13-year tenure,” Dooley says. “In that time, Manhattan has consistently ranked high in academic-quality surveys such as U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review, while distinguishing itself especially as a top college for return on investment and for supporting military veterans.

He has spearheaded the building and opening of both the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons in 2014 and the Patricia and Cornelius J. Higgins ’62 Engineering and Science Center in 2021.”

“On his watch, the College developed many new academic and student-support programs, including the reestablishment of the MBA program in the O’Malley School of Business, the Arches first-year learning and living community, and the Career Pathways program, which integrates academic support, advising and career development programs,” Dooley continues. “He provided leadership for the Invest in

the Vision capital campaign, which has surpassed its $165-million goal years ahead of schedule. During his time as president, the College’s endowment grew from $40.4 million in 2009 to $148.2 million in 2021.”

In announcing the appointment of Brother Daniel as interim president, ahead of launching a national search for a permanent successor, Dooley pointed to his commitment to the Christian Brothers’ tradition of carrying out Saint John Baptist de La Salle’s mission of uplifting lives through education and his dedication to living out the Lasallian core principles and values.

“We are deeply grateful that we have two leaders as committed to the Manhattan College community as Dr. O’Donnell and Brother Dan Gardner. Their dedication to the College, its staff, students and faculty cannot be overstated,” Dooley says.

Full coverage about O’Donnell’s accomplishments as president will appear in the next issue.

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The HGI Center Celebrates 25 Years

Frederick Schweitzer, Ph.D., professor emeritus of history and founder of the Holocaust Resource Center, speaks at the center’s 25th anniversary celebration.

“THE HOLOCAUST IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF EDUCATION, most especially for our students, so they will know its lessons and be committed by their knowledge and moral perception to opposing bigotry and prejudice, genocidal ideologies, and Holocaust denial, wherever and whenever such threats arise,” wrote Frederick M. Schweitzer, Ph.D., professor emeritus of history, in a message to Brother Thomas Scanlan, FSC, in 1995. Brother Thomas, who was president of Manhattan College at the time, approved Schweitzer’s request to start a Holocaust Resource Center.

The year 1995 also marked the 50th anniversary of the liberation of victims of the Holocaust and the end of World War II, as well as the 30th anniversary of Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate, the declaration

by Pope Paul VI on the relation of the Catholic Church with nonChristian religions of the Second Vatican Council. This was the first document in Catholic history to focus on the spiritual relationship between Catholic and Jewish people.

“The Center got off to a flying start with a renowned historian of the Shoah each semester, teachers’ workshops (meeting an acute need at the time), exhibits of art and photographs instructive of the Holocaust, model seders at Passover, and trips for students to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.,” Schweitzer says.

As founder of the Holocaust Resource Center, Schweitzer spent half a century at Manhattan College researching and writing on Jewish history and Catholic-Jewish relations to implement Nostra Aetate. The College established a yearly lecture series in his name.

Now, more than 25 years later, the center is called the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith (HGI) Education Center, and focuses on promoting Jewish-Catholic-Muslim discussion and collaboration through educational programming. The HGI Center primarily serves the College community, the local Riverdale area, and educators, but it also seeks to expand its reach worldwide.

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“I think that what it says about Manhattan College is that being a Catholic College, it really is reaffirming our Lasallian principles and the sense of God here,” says Mehnaz Afridi, Ph.D., director of the HGI Center. “Thinking about taking responsibility as Catholics, as Christians, about the Holocaust, dealing with how we have to be responsible for the past and care about other faiths.”

Afridi is a professor of religious studies at the College and teaches courses about Islam and the Holocaust. She is a board member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and published Shoah Through Muslim Eyes (Academic Studies Press, 2017), which follows her own journey with Judaism as a Muslim.

During the past 10 years of Afridi’s tenure, she has played an integral role in expanding the HGI Center’s reach to encompass genocides in Cambodia, Armenia, Syria and now Ukraine. Afridi has also implemented several other programs, including interfaith events, Holocaust Remembrance Day, community projects on interfaith and Holocaust awareness, events on Jewish and Muslim relations, community activism against hate, and art exhibits on reconciliation and the Holocaust.

Holocaust survivor Martin Spett is another important figure in the HGI Center’s history. He served on the Center’s board and contributed his own story of survival through paintings and a memoir. He passed away in 2019. Martha Frazer, retired assistant director of the HGI Center, introduced Spett to the College community. She conducted interviews with second-generation Holocaust survivors, which are preserved on the center’s website.

Last October, Manhattan College celebrated the HGI Center’s 25th anniversary in the Kelly Commons. Guest speakers included Elena Procario-Foley, Ph.D., chair of the HGI Center’s board; Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., president; Jeff Horn, Ph.D., past HGI Center director; Schweitzer; and Afridi.

Guest speaker Elisha Wiesel spoke on behalf of his father, Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate, writer and activist who documented the horrors he witnessed in concentration camps as a teenage boy.

“Elisha was amazing, and we were honored to have him speak because of the legacy of Elie Wiesel,” Afridi says. “He spoke about memory and how important it is to have generations know about the tumultuous events of the Holocaust.”

Attendees also had the opportunity to take a tour of the Herman and Lea Ziering Archive Collection, which is housed on the fifth floor of the O’Malley Library. Produced by first-year students, the collection opened in 2019.

Schweitzer concluded the event with optimistic words for the center’s future. “Here I must stop, but not without hailing Dr. Afridi and her students who are qualifying to be docents — the next generation,” he said. “You’re taking upon yourselves this supremely important, difficult and unending effort.”

Management and Marketing Professor Gains $5 Million Grant

Poonam Arora, Ph.D.

POONAM ARORA, PH.D., professor and department chair of management and marketing, along with researchers from six other institutions, has been awarded a five-year, $5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. The grant seeks to understand the socio-environmental and economic drivers affecting resilience to

coastal hazards in North Carolina.

Grant funding will support work to strengthen coastal resilience in communities along the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary system of coastal North Carolina. The project, led by East Carolina University, will also include the creation of the Coastal Environmental Justice Institute, which serves as the central coordinating hub to create connections within the community, coordinate service opportunities, and communicate with community stakeholders.

At Manhattan College, the focus will be on how STEM and non-STEM fields can be integrated to better prepare and inform the next generation of decision-makers in the community.

“This is a great opportunity for our students to experience sustainability as a value driver for businesses, an important theme for the O’Malley School of Business in a real-world setting,” Arora says.

The research, funded as part of the Coastlines and People initiative, integrates behavioral decision-making, hydrological science, and systems modeling to help vulnerable coastal communities.

The team of academic researchers is working across many fields, with experts in environmental and marine science, business and management, to enhance resilience for marginalized populations that are often disproportionately affected by poor water quality, hurricanes, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

A Jasper Leads the NYSE LYNN MARTIN ’98, who graduated from Manhattan College with a major in computer science and a minor in finance, took the helm as the next president of NYSE Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE), this past January. NYSE Group includes the New York Stock Exchange, the world’s largest stock market and premier venue for capital raising, as well as four fully electronic equity markets and two options exchanges.

“Taking my place among those who have led the NYSE is both an honor and a responsibility,” Martin wrote in an op-ed for Fortune in January.

“More important, though, it is a journey, one that I will take with our NYSE staff, ICE colleagues, listed companies, market participants, regulators, lawmakers, and others. Data and technology allow each of us to do much more, much faster, but at the core of any successful enterprise is people collaborating toward common goals. It is important that we keep this in mind as we move into a future that will demand the best combination of humanity and processing power that we can muster.”

The 68th president of NYSE, Martin is also chair of Fixed Income & Data Services at ICE, which includes ICE Bonds execution venues, securities pricing and analytics, reference data, indices, desktop solutions, consolidated feeds and connectivity services that cover all major asset classes.

As she moves forward, Martin will be guided by three core beliefs, which she believes will only become more relevant as time presses on: every company is a technology company; ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) will grow in importance; and the U.S. capital markets are without equal.

Most recently, Martin was president of Fixed Income & Data Services and earlier served as president of ICE Data Services, COO of ICE Clear U.S., and in a number of leadership roles, including CEO of NYSE Liffe U.S. and CEO of New York Portfolio Clearing. She began her career at IBM in its Global Services organization, where she served in a variety of functions, predominantly as a project manager within the financial services practice.

In October, she was the recipient of Manhattan College’s De La Salle Medal, which is conferred annually by the College’s board of trustees to honor executives who exemplify the principles of excellence and corporate leadership (see story on page 44).

Martin has an M.A. in statistics from Columbia University. She serves on the Manhattan College Board of Trustees, as well as the Advisory Board of the School of Science, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society.

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Entrepreneurs@MC Fosters a Unique Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

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ANHATTAN’S NEWLY LAUNCHED ENTREPRENEURS@MC program is helping enterprising students from across the College to launch their own businesses in a world transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The end goal of the program is to provide students with the tools they need to turn great ideas into profitable businesses.

Through Entrepreneurs@MC, students connect with peers who have similar entrepreneurial interests. They form teams and participate in workshops in marketing, business models, funding and idea pitches. The program also connects participants with alumni mentors, such as Mike Kelly ’80, managing director at Yellow Thread Ventures, and Julia Sutton ’90, founder and adviser of Exhale Enterprises, and prepares them to compete for startup funding of up to $10,000 through the O’Malley School of Business’s Innovation Challenge.

The idea for Entrepreneurs@MC sprang from the Innovation Challenge, which has been showcasing students’ ideas for exciting and practical products or services for the past nine years.

Winston Peters ’02, adjunct professor of management and marketing, runs the program. The head of his own consulting agency, Peters has worked with brands throughout the metropolitan area.

He aims to expand the program to students in academic programs

beyond business, especially engineering.

“We seek to empower our students with an entrepreneurial energy as we provide a portfolio of new ideas,” Peters says. “Entrepreneurs@ MC will propel students to make an innovation imprint on the everchanging New York City business landscape and beyond.”

Peters sees Entrepreneurs@MC evolving as a business solution center for great startups. The program is designed to prepare entrepreneurs for professional work and explore the world of innovation. It gives students a glimpse into the process of creating and running a business.

Guadalupe Zamata Ovalle ’23, a chemical engineer with a concentration in biopharmaceutical engineering and minors in chemistry, mathematics and management, has been participating in Entrepreneurs@MC programming. So far, she has connected with mentors and is in the process of launching her own venture in the personal care industry. She uses formulation technologies to incorporate sustainable ingredients to develop high-quality and environmentally friendly products.

“I am looking forward to seeing this idea come to life and, most importantly, have fun with this venture,” she says. “The knowledge that I am gaining from this program is very valuable and is completely shaping the pathway of my career by opening new opportunities.”

Student Veterans Organization Receives Local Community Service Award MANHATTAN COLLEGE’S STUDENT VETERANS ORGANIZATION has earned the Irving Ladimer Community Service award, presented by Bronx Community Board 8 (CB8).

The CB8 Parks & Recreation Committee and Special Committee on Veterans Services nominated Manhattan College’s Student Veterans Organization for beautifying and cleaning Van Cortlandt Park’s Memorial Grove and other green spaces, participating in the American Red Cross Blood Drive, organizing an annual Toys for Tots collection drive, and for organizing events that help those in need.

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ROTC Detachment 560 to support many of these efforts.

The College’s Veterans Success Programs facilitate the successful transition from military to civilian and academic life, and from academic life to post-collegiate life. The program achieves this through connecting veterans with stress reduction techniques, student veteran peer bonding, academic support and career preparation.

The Community Service award is named for Irving Ladimer, a longtime community advocate and supporter of the College’s Holocaust Genocide and Interfaith Education Center. The CB8 Community Service award is

designed to acknowledge the many volunteer efforts of groups and individuals within the neighboring community. The only criteria for the award is that the nominee has acted on a volunteer basis to improve or enhance the quality of life of those living or working within the CB8 area, which includes the neighborhoods of Fieldston, Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights, Marble Hill, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil and Van Cortlandt Village.

40 Years Ago, Manhattan College Rose to the Challenge of Computer Literacy

BY 1980, THE MAGNITUDE AND IMPORTANCE of computers began to influence the Manhattan College curriculum.

Since the mid-1960s, the College had invested in small-scale mainframe, punch-card computer systems, located in the Computer Center of the Leo Engineering Building, and mainly used for data processing, storage and academics.

During the 1970s, Manhattan continued to transition from using punch cards to magnetic storage and established an additional computer center in De La Salle Hall. But it was the proliferation of personal computers in the 1980s that helped to introduce computing as an instructional tool in the science and engineering curricula.

Computer literacy quickly became one of the leading challenges in education, and the College responded by expanding the computer-assisted learning opportunities in all academic programs. In the fall of 1982, IBM provided a $200,000 grant to educate faculty in computer technology.

That same year, a computer science major was established in the mathematics department, and the College acquired a new VAX11/780 computer system and set about upgrading and increasing its computer facilities. In 1981, Manhattan also purchased the Sloan Building at 5845 Broadway (3840 Corlear Avenue), a former furniture showroom and warehouse. The facility eventually developed into the Research and Learning Center (RLC), an academic computer center with computer laboratories, a campus-wide telecommunications network, and learning laboratories for engineering, science and business students.

The College Gets $5 Million Grant for Leo Hall Renovations

MANHATTAN COLLEGE WAS ONE OF 35 PRIVATE COLLEGES that was awarded a Higher Education Capital (HECap) Matching Grant last year, receiving $5 million for Leo Hall renovations.

“We are grateful to our representatives in Albany for their commitment to the HECap program and their support of higher education,” says Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., president of Manhattan College. “The funds will help enormously in our efforts to educate the innovators, researchers, problem-solvers, and builders of the next generation.”

The renovations in Leo Hall are part of an overhaul of the College’s South Campus, which includes the newly opened Patricia and Cornelius J. Higgins ’62 Engineering and Science Center.

Led by the governor, State Senate and State Assembly, the Higher Education Capital Matching Grant Program has enabled campuses across the state to make critical investments in their infrastructure and equipment while creating construction jobs. Campuses that receive grants are required to invest at least $3 of their own funds for every $1 of state funds they receive.

Since the program’s inception, HECap grants have created more than $1 billion in infrastructure spending across New York and more than 14,000 jobs, including 7,000 construction jobs.

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Marking 50 Years of Phi Beta Kappa

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HE EXPRESSION, “LOVE OF WISDOM IS THE GUIDE OF LIFE,” recognizes scholarly inclination, celebrates intellectual distinction and represents the cause of liberal education.

Indeed, it is the dictum of Phi Beta Kappa ( ), one of the oldest and most prestigious academic honor societies in the United States. It distinguishes liberal arts students who have demonstrated the highest ideals of scholastic excellence. Earning membership into its ranks remains an important hallmark of academic achievement. , the first American society bearing a Greek-letter name, was founded in 1776 by students at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, as a philosophic society of gentlemen appointed through an oath of secrecy and even a special handshake.

Its prestige and influence grew significantly over time, as did its exclusiveness. Only a small percentage of graduates in liberal arts qualify for membership, and an even smaller percentage of universities and colleges are awarded chapters. In 1883, 25 chapters existed in the United States, and by 1928, the total had risen to 115.

This was especially true for Catholic schools, where applications and acceptances trailed significantly behind nonparochial institutions. In 1958, out of the 250 Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S., only two had charters. By the time Manhattan College earned its charter in 1970, only 200 colleges and universities, out of 2,500 schools in America that offered liberal arts programs, had been accepted into .

Although initial queries concerning the establishment of a chapter began as far back as 1936, the College’s first serious pursuit of a chapter began in 1959, with an inquiry and a preliminary application following in 1961. Chapter recognition was the culmination of more than a decade of intensive work, continuous preparation and rigorous examination. Manhattan College earned the coveted gold key when its Phi Beta Kappa charter was approved in the fall of 1970. The College was the first Christian Brothers institution and only the sixth Catholic school to achieve this impressive honor.

Several factors helped the College achieve charter approval. During the late 1960s, consideration of contemporary societal problems led 8 N spring 2022

to the development of a diversity of programs at the College in general and the School of Arts and Science in particular.

Fields of study that dealt with racism, peace, poverty, urban planning and art forms helped enhance the liberal arts program at Manhattan. The addition of impressive new faculty members who held doctoral degrees and Phi Beta Kappa membership, as well as the high number of successful alumni who pursued advanced degrees and made significant contributions in academia, also strengthened the academic program and helped the College pursue society affiliation.

There were several Christian Brothers, lay faculty and administrators who worked strenuously to bring chapter recognition to Manhattan College. However, the true leader of the project was Brother Abdon Lewis Garavaglia, FSC, dean of the School of Arts and Science and chairman of the Phi Beta Kappa faculty members.

Brother Abdon Lewis spearheaded the negotiations, prepared the reports, heeded the advice of fellow academics by sustaining careful scrutiny and eventually achieved the goal during his long tenure at the College. When the Upsilon chapter was officially installed just over 50 years ago on February 12, 1971, at a dignified ceremony in Thomas Hall, membership was granted to 23 faculty who were members of Phi Beta Kappa. Bentley Glass, Ph.D., renowned geneticist and immediate past president of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, presided at the ceremonies, where he tendered honorary membership to the president of Manhattan College, Brother Gregory Nugent, FSC. Membership in the national organization of Phi Beta Kappa remains available to future graduating classes. To be considered for admission, undergraduates must have completed a minimum of 90 credits within the liberal arts from the School of Liberal Arts and School of Science; demonstrated a high level of achievement in their coursework and a serious commitment to liberal studies; earned a GPA of 3.75 for the previous five semesters; and possess demonstrated fluency in a second language to at least an intermediate level.

Induction into Phi Beta Kappa opens up to Manhattan College students the social and scholarly resources of the society in general, as well as bestowing upon them the important qualification of academic excellence, which is understood and respected in every college and university in America.

Lawrence Udeigwe Awarded MIT Visiting Professorship and Grants

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AWRENCE UDEIGWE, PH.D., ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS at Manhattan College, has been awarded a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Visiting Associate Professorship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The appointment lasts for one year, during which Udeigwe will: continue research on modeling neural plasticity, especially as it pertains to the primate visual system, and its application to computer vision and autonomous driving; develop and teach a graduate seminar course that explores practical and philosophical questions regarding the use of simulations to affirm experimental results and eventually build theories in neuroscience; and assist the MIT Brain and Cognitive Science Department in developing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) initiatives and policies that promote and foster the success of young and rising underrepresented minority scientists and applied mathematicians.

“The impact of my work during this appointment will definitely not stop at MIT,” Udeigwe says. “It will be felt at Manhattan College when I return home. I believe my research work with students will get deeper and more interdisciplinary. I will also be in a better position to develop and get funded for DEIJ initiatives among student researchers, especially students from underrepresented communities and military veterans.”

In 2020, Udeigwe was awarded a National Science Foundation Research Grant, and in 2021, he was awarded a Department of Defense research grant of $371,000 from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory to support his work on Hebbian Learning. In this work, Udeigwe uses analytical and numerical methods to explore and model the dynamical interactions between synaptic plasticity and a set of accompanying biologically stabilizing mechanisms known as homeostatic plasticity.

Lawrence Udeigwe, Ph.D.

At Manhattan College, Udeigwe introduced and created new courses in computational neuroscience and applied dynamical systems that he has taught to both graduate and undergraduate students since the fall of 2018.

Jaspers Raise Money for Local Schools AS THE 2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR APPROACHED, students in the Manhattan College Lambda Pi chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor organization for financial information students, had more than just their classes on their minds. They came together to raise money for teachers and students in two Bronx elementary schools.

The students “adopted” a second-grade special education class at P.S. 157, taught by Rosemary Burti ’15. As part of the supply drive, the group raised more than $2,000 in supplies and cash for P.S. 157, thanks to the generosity of faculty, alumni, students, friends and family. The group was also able to donate an additional $500 to I.S. 254X, another Title 1 school in the Fordham section of the Bronx.

“Beta Alpha Psi believes in stewardship and that we have the opportunity to make the world a better place by starting small in our community,” Samantha Russo ’22 says. “We felt that it was important to make sure every child was prepared for this new adventure of an academic year, as most of them would be going to school for the very first time.”

As a result of the students’ efforts, I.S. 254X also received an additional $1,000 gift card, sponsored by KPMG, to First Book at the 2021 Beta Alpha Psi Annual Conference.

Samantha Russo ’22 (left) and her fellow Beta Alpha Psi members held a supply drive to make sure that secondgrade students at P.S. 157, taught by Rosemary Burti ’15 (right), were properly prepared for the new school year.

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Trustees Appointments and Additions WILLIAM DOOLEY ’75, former executive vice president of investments and financial services at AIG (American International Group), was appointed the next chair of the Manhattan College Board of Trustees last year.

Brother Frank Byrne, FSC, former president of Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey, and Moira Kilcoyne ’83, retired managing director and CIO of Morgan Stanley, both members of the board of trustees, were also appointed as vice chairs.

Dooley succeeds Kenneth Rathgeber ’70, who served as chair since 2012. A member of Manhattan College’s board of trustees from 2007-2020, Dooley served AIG for 37 years before his retirement in 2015.

He served in various senior roles in AIG’s domestic and international areas. As executive vice president of investments and financial services, Dooley had overall responsibility for AIG asset management. He joined AIG in 1978 William Dooley ’75, former executive vice president of investments and financial services at AIG, was and was elected AIG vice president in 1996, appointed chair of the Manhattan College Board of Trustees this past year. Brother Ernest Miller, FSC, senior vice president in 1998, and executive vice D.Min., vice president of mission, diversity and inclusion at La Salle University, also joins the board. president of investments and financial services in 2010.

Prior to joining AIG, Dooley was employed by European American long arc of the Lasallian story and vision.

Bank in New York. He received a Bachelor of Science in business A native of New Orleans, Brother Ernest joined the Brothers in administration from Manhattan College and a Master of Business 1993, in Philadelphia, to begin his initial formation. In 1998, he made Administration in finance from Pace University. his first profession of vows, and in 2003, he made his final profession His charitable interests include the Archdiocese of New York, of vows. with particular interest in the Inner City Scholarship Fund.

He served three years (2009-2012) as the associate director for Throughout many years of service to his community, Dooley has mission and ministry in the District of Eastern North America (DENA), served as a member of the Diocesan Finance Council, Diocese of the geographic area for all the Brothers’ communities and Lasallian Trenton, as well as the Christian Brothers International Board of ministries in seven states, Washington, D.C., Ontario, Canada, and Counselors. He is also involved with various clubs and organizations, Puerto Rico. Before the creation of DENA in 2009, he served two years including his local parishes, and the Christian Brothers Academy.

(2007-2009) as director of education and Lasallian mission formation in the former District of Baltimore, which encompassed the Lasallian Brother Ernest Miller, FSC, D. Min., has been appointed to educational ministries in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Manhattan College’s Board of Trustees. Brother Ernest serves as vice Brother Ernest earned a Doctor of Ministry at the Catholic president of mission, diversity and inclusion at La Salle University, Theological Union in Chicago; an M.A. in international affairs from and previously served as vice president of mission, since joining La The Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington Salle in August 2015. During the 2020-21 academic year, he co-chaired University; an M.A. in education from La Salle University; a master’s the La Salle Joint Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. in liberal studies from Georgetown University; and a B.A. in political Brother Ernest has worked to revise or implement new missionscience from Loyola University New Orleans. focused initiatives for faculty, staff and administrators. He also works with students inside and outside of the classroom to grasp the

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The Players Earn Nominations from the Kennedy Center FOUR MANHATTAN COLLEGE STUDENTS — Matthew Blackwood ’22, Isabelle Campbell ’22, Maren Kain ’22, and Sami Rini ’22 — were nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 1 (New England and New York) Festival in January.

The Irene Ryan award highlights exceptional student performers who want to further their education. Kain, Rini and Blackwood (who advanced to the semifinal round) received the nomination based on their performances in the fall 2021 Manhattan College production of Significant Other. Campbell was nominated after her performance in Oedipus Rex in spring 2021.

“This is a huge achievement for our students. I’m so proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish in the past year,” says J.R. Caldwell, an adjunct faculty member in the music and theater department and director of the Manhattan College Players.

Significant Other was also in the running to be shown as an example of outstanding

theater at Region 1. In addition to Oedipus Rex, Significant Other is the second production from Manhattan College that was up for consideration.

In 2021, the Manhattan College Players also received the Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Award for their production of The Laramie Project. The Players’ production was chosen as one of the top 10 college and university productions in Region 1 from the fall 2020 semester, and also garnered three other national awards.

The Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Awards recognize programs in higher education using theatrical productions to promote long-term societal impact through an artistic lens, to encourage empathetic exploration of the complex cultural and physical world, and to advocate for justice on campus and throughout the world.

“This was so exciting for the students and the school,” Caldwell says. “It is a huge honor for our students and school to be recognized for the second time this school year.”

A few stills from the Manhattan College Players in action during their production of The Laramie Project, which won several awards, including the Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Award. Four of the Players also were nominated for the prestigious Irene Ryan Acting Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 1 this past January.

Rooftop Garden Sprouts College Readiness Initiative THIS PAST SUMMER, MANHATTAN COLLEGE’S ROOFTOP COMMUNITY garden served as an urban laboratory for some local teenagers.

The garden is a key part of a new college readiness initiative that Manhattan College is offering to high school students in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Dart Westphal, adjunct professor of environmental studies, is teaching a college-level course, Sustainable Cities, with a focus on the communities around Van Cortlandt Park.

Students who participate in the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance’s Urban Ecology Teen Internship are enrolled in the course at no cost. Current Manhattan College students have also served as mentors in the community garden.

After completing the course in August, the group of 16 teenagers earned three college credits. In the course, students examined environmental topics such as methods of stormwater capture, issues, storage and distribution. Students also looked at how Van Cortlandt Park and the surrounding area exemplifies sustainability.

“Van Cortlandt Park is becoming a ‘field school’ for Manhattan College students in the liberal arts, sciences and engineering,” Westphal says. “This is a great opportunity for us to continue to strengthen that relationship with the park and our greater community.”

The New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund also has supported the initiative with a $5,000 grant.

Established in 2012, the rooftop community garden was designed and built by Manhattan College students to provide food for the community and hands-on learning for their peers. It has become a key component of Manhattan College’s work toward making its campus more sustainable and decreasing its carbon footprint.

The garden produces about 200 pounds of food annually, including watermelon, corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, spinach, squash, broccoli, lettuce, pumpkins and beans. The food is distributed to Bronx residents at the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance Teen Market.

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LASALLIANLOOK

Manhattan Celebrates 10 Years as a Fair Trade College

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N A WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON IN FEBRUARY, the second-floor lounge of the Kelly Commons was, as usual, bustling with students taking breaks between classes and meeting up with friends. On this day, however, they were also enjoying the added bonus of free chocolate, coffee, iced tea, and ice cream — all certified fair trade. The event was a celebration of Manhattan’s 10th anniversary of its designation as a Fair Trade College, conceived by the grassroots organization Fair Trade Campaigns as a way to engage college students in combating global poverty.

Fair trade promotes just wages and safe working conditions for farmers and artisans in developing nations. This practice empowers communities around the world and gives them the tools to grow and thrive.

“Fair trade is working toward creating a better world in a sustainable way in systems that already exist,” explains Jacquie Martin, coordinator of social action and campus ministry. “Through everyday purchases and actions, you’re contributing positively toward social justice.”

Back in 2012, Manhattan was the first college in New York City — and the fifth in the country — to earn the Fair Trade label.

Lois Harr, who recently retired as director of Campus Ministry and Social Action (CMSA), notes that official Fair Trade recognition was no simple matter, taking several years to achieve. The criteria for becoming a Fair Trade College include having at least two fair trade products available in college-owned or operated outlets; using fair trade products at internal college meetings and college-hosted events; developing a fair trade resolution and procurement policy; and committing to fair trade education and awareness-raising.

“It’s totally in line with the College’s Lasallian values and mission statement to be in service to fellow human beings, promote Catholic social justice and concern for the

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poor,” Harr says. “This is a no-brainer as an example of Catholic social teaching.”

The idea was planted in 2005, when Catholic Relief Services sponsored a presentation on fair trade coffee being produced by co-ops in Central America. Then, during a L.O.V.E. trip to Ecuador in 2007, participants learned about the poor working conditions of flower workers in Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

“They told us, ‘If you’re going to the store in January, the flowers are not being grown around the corner,’” Harr recalls. “‘Look for the Fair Trade seal and buy those flowers.’”

Inspired, students and staff worked under the auspices of CMSA and JustPeace to raise awareness about fair trade practices and how to be educated consumers. To increase the availability of products, they approached the campus food service provider and convinced them to stock fair trade coffee.

From there, the campus bookstore began to stock fair trade T-shirts, chocolate, nail polish and other items.

“We did education and engagement and worked with procurement people to tell vendors to carry fair trade products,” Harr says. “We had a genuine collection of people who cared. It was great fun and a way to do something very concrete.”

In the 10 years since attaining Fair Trade College status, fair trade products and events have become a common sight around campus. Students in the O’Malley School of Business hold Fair Trade Fuel events around holidays, with pop-up sales of gifts

at Christmastime and flowers for Valentine’s Day. CMSA has led social justice excursions to retailers like Patagonia, which sells fair trade clothing, and hosted presentations by representatives of Greyston Bakery, which practices open hiring, and Madewell, a purveyor of fair trade denim.

“We try to focus on educating and helping our students be more ethical consumers,” Martin says. “So in a few years, when they have a job, an apartment and income flow, they will keep these considerations in mind.”

At the 10th anniversary celebration in the Kelly Commons, Mary Derhaag ’24 was handing out samples of Sarilla, a canned tea made with fair trade tea leaves from Rwanda.

“I think everyone should support fair trade,” she says. “It’s something like 40 cents extra a kilo to get fair trade tea picked. It’s such a simple thing to pay that small bit extra and makes such a big difference for communities that do so much for us.”

COURSE SPOTLIGHT

Rock and Pop Album Composition (MUSC 303) Course Description: Contemporary music constantly evolves, so it is beneficial for students to learn where current artists gained their inspiration. Rock and Pop Album Composition explores classic albums that heavily influenced current music, provides an in-depth analysis of these works, and gives students the hands-on experience of recreating the songs and performing them live.

The course begins with a thorough formal structural analysis of the individual songs appearing on a selected album. The class explores the entire album’s larger formal structure through an in-depth examination of its core keys, harmony, modalities and tonal modulations.

Under the instructor’s guidance, students also transcribe sections of the album related to their individual performance using specialized software.

The weekly, three-hour class is divided between a onehour lecture and a two-hour live performance. Students learn the history of classic albums and then perform the music for a live audience at the end of the semester. The lectures and performances give students the technical abilities to create music using online software, and a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the album.

Texts: • L eon Stein, Anthology of Musical Forms – Structure & Style: The Study and Analysis of Musical Forms (Alfred Music, 1995) • T homas MacFarlane, The Beatles Abbey Road Medley – Extended Forms in Popular Music (Scarecrow Press Inc., 2008) •K endall Durelle Briggs, The Language and Materials of Music (Highland Heritage Press, 2011) Lectures: Thursdays, 3-6 p.m.

Professor: Andrew Bauer About the Professor: Andrew Bauer is the director of performing arts for Student Engagement and an adjunct professor for the Music and Theater department at Manhattan College.

He holds a Bachelor of Music (flute minor), from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Arts in music and English from Bard College. While in college, he perfected composition and orchestration, which led him to pursue a master’s degree in classical composition and electronic music at the Manhattan School of Music. Before Bauer joined the College, he worked and performed with the Blackfriars Repertory Theatre, Music Theater International, Cherry Lane Music Company, and Rodgers & Hammerstein Theater Company, among others.

Cristina Pérez Jiménez Receives U.S. Latino Digital Humanities Grant CRISTINA PÉREZ JIMÉNEZ, PH.D., assistant professor of English, was awarded a research stipend in the competitive U.S. Latino Digital Humanities Grants-in-Aid program, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by the University of Houston. Her project was one of only nine national grant recipients.

The grant will support Pérez Cristina Pérez Jiménez, Ph.D. Jiménez’s development of a digital humanities project entitled “The Latino Catskills,” which digitizes, documents and preserves the longstanding though effaced presence of Latinos in New York’s Catskills region from the late 19th century through the 1970s.

“The Latino Catskills” is a digital project that resituates the rural Catskills region, located 100 miles northwest of New York City, as a generative space of Latino culture and identities. As this project documents, from the late 19th century through the 1970s, the Catskill Mountains were a popular summer destination for countless Spaniards, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and others of Latin American descent.

These Latino travelers took day trips (known as giras) or stayed at private dwellings and the many resorts owned by fellow Spanish speakers, such as the historic Villas Hispanas in Plattekill, New York. “The Latino Catskills” reconstructs this important archive of Latino culture, recentering recreation and leisure as important aspects of the Latino experience, and complementing dominant narratives of New York Latinidad, which have traditionally focused on the racialized experiences of urban poverty and toil.

In 2019, Pérez Jiménez was one of 24 scholars nationwide to receive a Ford postdoctoral fellowship, a national fellowship administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on behalf of the Ford Foundation.

A member of the English department since 2016, Pérez Jiménez received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and teaches courses on Latinx and U.S. multiethnic literatures, as well as Caribbean and postcolonial studies.

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Ahmid Mohammed Murtada ’22 Awarded Gilman Scholarship

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HMID MOHAMMED MURTADA ’22, a student in the O’Malley School of Business, received a $4,000 Gilman Scholarship, which enabled him to study abroad in Venice, Italy, during the spring semester.

Prior to coming to Manhattan College, Murtada served in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he was an automated logistical specialist and a human resources specialist.

After an honorable discharge, Murtada came to Riverdale, where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems. Fluent in Arabic, Hausa and English, he is a member of Manhattan College’s Investment Club and its Student Veterans Organization.

Murtada is the fourth Manhattan student to receive a Gilman Scholarship, joining students who have studied abroad in Madrid and Malaga, Spain, and Panama throughout the past decade.

The Gilman Scholarship has enabled more than 25,000 outstanding Americans of diverse backgrounds to engage in meaningful educational experiences abroad. The program has successfully broadened U.S. participation in study abroad, while emphasizing countries and regions where fewer Americans traditionally study.

The Gilman Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education.

Model UN Team Collects Accolades After Returning to the Conference IT WAS THE FIRST IN-PERSON National Model UN conference for the Manhattan College team in a couple of years, but this past fall, the students in the College’s delegation overcame any nerves about attending a 700-person conference. In fact, they even returned from Washington, D.C., with an honorable mention award and two awards for outstanding position papers.

“The students did an amazing job,” says Pamela Chasek, Ph.D., professor of political science and adviser to the Model UN team.

“This was especially sweet since we haven’t participated in an inperson conference in two years, and only one person on the delegation had ever been to an in-person Model UN conference.”

Sixteen students formed the Manhattan College delegation that represented the People’s Republic of China. Hailey Peña ’22 and Mia Brito-Karcher ’22 each won a position paper award in UN-Women, and Carolyn Allen ’23 and Shaelyn Poulin ’25 earned a position paper award in the UN Environment Assembly.

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College Dedicates New Space for Women Engineers

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NEW SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS (SWE) room was recently opened as part of the remodeled Leo Hall. Located on the first floor and adjacent to the Helene & Kenneth Orce ’65 Student Center Commons study area, the SWE room features couches, chairs, tables and whiteboards for study sessions or meetings.

“The new Society of Women Engineers space is an example of the College’s and School of Engineering’s commitment to encourage increased enrollment of and success for outstanding women engineering students,” says Tim Ward, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering.

“When Leo Hall was renovated over the last three years, the SWE room found a new location in a brandnew space,” Ward adds.

In October, the College held a formal dedication ceremony for the space and invited some of the School of Engineering’s illustrious alumnae.

“The ribbon-cutting event was super special to Guest speaker Noreen Krall ’87, J.D., former vice president and chief litigation counsel for Apple Inc. dedicate our space and get to celebrate as a club, as and a member of the College’s board of trustees, helped to officially dedicate the newly opened Society of Women Engineers (SWE) room in Leo Hall. The revamped space is a great spot for doing well as to invite back alumni who helped get our club homework, group collaboration or just catching up with fellow engineers. to where it is today,” says Ashley Hickey ’22, former president of SWE and a civil engineering major, who spoke at the event.

Noreen Krall ’87, J.D., was the guest speaker at the dedication. An “The SWE room has been a great resource for engineering electrical engineer-turned-lawyer who serves on the College’s board students, as it provides a guaranteed space for students if they want of trustees, Krall is former vice president and chief litigation counsel a place to get homework done, collaborate on group projects or for Apple Inc. She also funded the Noreen Krall Endowed Scholarship club meetings, or even just relax with friends in between classes,” to Advance Women in Engineering, which will be given out for the Bernhardt says. first time this fall.

A nonprofit organization founded in 1950 to provide women with “I was delighted to be part of the dedication,” Krall says. “The an environment to achieve success in engineering, SWE currently suite provides a comfortable place where the women engineering counts 50 active members at Manhattan College, and the number students can meet, study together and grow their networks. It is keeps growing. encouraging to see how Manhattan College is providing support for Jessica Wilson, Ph.D., faculty adviser and associate professor of women in engineering now and in the future.” civil and environmental engineering and graduate director of the Connie Pisani Zambianchi ’06, president of Amaracon Testing & Environmental Engineering program, explains that SWE is working to Inspections LLC, also spoke at the event. She was part of the original set up a Women in Engineering alumni group. cohort of engineering students to first have access to a space for SWE “The goal is to make sure SWE has the resources they need and to meetings and events. She remains committed to the next generation serve as mentors for students,” she says. of women engineers and computer science majors at the College.

As a result, SWE hosted a social networking event on April 4 at “Today, I am still very close with the women from my engineering the AECOM office, an infrastructure consulting firm, for alumni and program who shared this space with me; we’re not only there to students. support each other in our careers but also in our personal lives,” “We are so proud to offer the SWE room as an inclusive space for Zambianchi says. “We learned these values in our time and in our all people on campus to use as they please,” Hickey says. own space at Manhattan College, and this is what SWE is all about.”

Francesca Bernhardt ’23, a mechanical engineering major and the newly elected president of SWE, is excited about the space.

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Civil Engineers Assist the Department of Defense

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ANHATTAN COLLEGE CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS have been helping the United States Department of Defense be environmentally sound and more cost-efficient, thanks to a $560,000 grant from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) with the Department of Defense.

In 2019, Mehdi Omidvar, Ph.D., associate professor of civil engineering, in collaboration with colleagues at New York University and the Southwest Research Institute, received $1.8 million in federal funding to predict the location of buried weapons at formerly used defense sites, in an effort that could save the federal government millions of dollars and turn old military testing grounds into residential and commercial recreation sites.

A handful of Manhattan College recent graduates have worked on the project during the past three years, including Dylan Grace ’20, ’21 (M.S.), Brian Kenneally ’21 (M.S.), Rachel White ’20, ’21 (M.S.), and Rachel Foertch ’21.

The U.S. military has identified more than 10,000 former defense sites across the country that were used for weapons practice. SERDP is working with the Manhattan College group, and others, to create a method to predict where there are any unexploded ordnances, or already used munitions, in the ground.

“In application, this is a problem that has both geotechnical and environmental aspects,” says Kenneally, who earned his bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Richmond before pursuing a master’s degree in environmental engineering at Manhattan. “[The work] is going to be used for environmental remediation projects at these sites,” he explains. “When there are these different unexploded ordnances in the ground, they pose a serious risk of explosion. There are also chemicals that can find their way into drinking water. In addition to the need to save taxpayer dollars and get the land to be usable for private use, there’s a serious environmental application to this.”

The group is working on a multifaceted approach to predict the burial depth of these unexploded ordnances in the ground. They have put together state-of-the-art ballistic testing facilities at the College and use laser light to track projectile motion in a variety of soil targets.

These experiments are then used to develop mathematical models to predict the burial depth of different munitions. The group is also developing advanced numerical simulations that further their understanding of the problem.

“This project involves a lot of applied physics,” Omidvar says.

“We are in a unique position to run experiments and gain an indepth understanding of this complex problem. We then take these observations and translate them into mathematical relationships. Our students are able to apply what they have learned in class to a very

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Mehdi Omidvar, Ph.D., associate professor of civil engineering, collaborates with engineering students Dylan Grace ’20, ’21 (M.S.) and Rachel White ’20, ’21 (M.S.), and Anirban De, Ph.D., chair and professor of civil and environmental engineering, on a project for the Department of Defense, made possible through federal funding.

challenging problem that has important real-world applications.”

“It brings out the aspects of the engineering education that are the focus of our programs,” he continues. “Working on this project has empowered our students to elevate their capabilities. At the same time, the interdisciplinary nature of this work allows them to apply their engineering knowledge to problems beyond the classroom.”

Grace has been heavily involved in the experimental campaign, where he uses a projectile launcher and a photon Doppler velocimeter to measure projectile velocities in soil targets.

“We’re able to approach this problem from the ground up and build something and operate it, and make it work,” Grace says. “It’s rewarding to see all of the complex components of the project come together after months of planning and design. We are analyzing the data from our experiments, and are gaining a deeper understanding of the problem. We then have to explain what we’re doing and describe the results to our collaborators.”

An important part of the group’s work is creating a set of computer simulations. The Manhattan team is producing its own data and training its systems to simulate different scenarios. That is where White comes in.

“I never expected myself to know this much about computers or simulating in general,” White says. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities to challenge myself and find out what I’ve been capable of.”

She has created computer advanced simulations that accurately predict the experiments that Grace is carrying out. White also collaborates with NYU researchers who provide the soil properties needed for the mathematical models in her simulations.

“I have gained valuable skills working on this project, such as collaborating with other researchers, and presenting our results in technical documents and publications. I have also had the opportunity to mentor other undergraduate students on the project,” White says.

By the end of 2022, the group will submit their mathematical models to the Department of Defense for predicting results of fullscale live-fire tests. The tools developed by the team then will be used in remediation of formerly used defense sites across the country.

Micaela Beatty Wins Distinguished Service Award from Phi Epsilon Kappa

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ICAELA BEATTY ’21, who graduated last May with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, was one of three students nationwide to win the R.R. Schreiber Distinguished Service Award and the Scholastic Achievement Certificate from the Phi Epsilon Kappa (PEK) honor society.

The award recognizes a student who clearly exhibits leadership and performs outstanding chapter, community and/or professional service on behalf of the chapter and the fraternity.

A two-year member of PEK, Beatty was the sergeant-at-arms and media coordinator of the Manhattan College chapter.

Beatty was active in a variety of community service events, including preparing lesson plans for students with disabilities at Kingsbridge Heights Community Center. She also volunteered at the Fordham Bedford Community Center, and helped students with Englishspeaking skills and assisted them with their citizenship tests.

During her time at Manhattan College, Beatty was the Kinesiology department student ambassador, and a member of the Dean’s list, Epsilon Sigma Pi, Alpha Epsilon Delta and a merit-based scholarship recipient.

Additions to the Curriculum MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTING Students will have the opportunity to earn a master’s degree in accounting starting in the fall of 2022 in the O’Malley School of Business.

The Master of Science in Accounting program provides students who have previously earned undergraduate business degrees with the knowledge, skills and professional competencies necessary to begin a successful career in accounting.

Students from the College’s undergraduate programs, or any other undergraduate institution, are eligible to apply.

The 30-credit, full- or part-time, one-year program provides a CPA licensure qualifying curriculum structured to meet the education requirements of the State of New York accountancy regulations.

It builds upon the excellence of the AACSB-accredited O’Malley School of Business faculty and the strengths of its undergraduate accounting and professional accounting MBA programs to meet the needs of graduate students who wish to enter this profession.

The program is online for maximum flexibility, with both asynchronous and weekly live virtual sessions to interact in real time with faculty and other students.

ADVANCED CERTIFICATE IN GREEN POWER AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY Students can earn an advanced certificate in green power and sustainable energy, thanks to a partnership among the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, School of Engineering and O’Malley School of Business.

The advanced certificate program begins in the summer of 2022 and is designed to be completed within one academic year. The program is a 15-credit hour, postbaccalaureate level, interdisciplinary program that provides highly relevant training in areas essential to the field of green power and sustainable energy. These areas include, but are not limited to, engineering, business analytics, economics, finance, sustainability, and organizational leadership.

It is designed to appeal to a wide range of individuals who are interested in renewable energy and sustainability. The courses in the advanced certificate program also can be applied toward master’s degree programs.

DIGITAL MEDIA ART MAJOR As of this spring, the College now offers a digital media art major. The digital media art minor includes four courses: Digital Drawing, Digital Photography, Digital Video and Graphic Design. To fulfill the major, four additional subject areas have been added: Web Design, Game Design, Animation and Immersive Media (VR/AR/MxR).

One of the main goals of the new major is for students to develop a critical awareness of the history, theory and practice of digital media art as an agent of social change, which aligns it with Manhattan’s mission of person-centered learning and civic engagement.

The College’s New York City location offers students unrivaled access to some of the industry’s most sought-after internship and career opportunities, including an exclusive internship collaboration with Ogilvy, the global New York City-based advertising agency. In addition, recent digital media art minors have gone on to positions as graphic designers at leading institutions, including the Guggenheim Museum and Chobani Yogurt.

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Rankings and Recognitions

PAYSCALE Manhattan College is one of the top places in the United States to earn a bachelor’s degree, according to Payscale’s 2021-22 College Salary Report.

The report, which is based on data updated in September 2021, ranks Manhattan College as No. 47 among more than 1,500 colleges and universities included in the survey.

Among the 464 Manhattan College alumni that provided survey responses, the average early career salary is $68,000 and average midcareer salary is $136,100.

Payscale also placed Manhattan College in the top 100 in its College Return on Investment (ROI) Report. Manhattan was ranked No. 85 of 1,978 schools listed in the survey. Payscale notes the 20-year net ROI of a Manhattan College graduate as $614,000, which is calculated as the difference between the 20-year median pay for a bachelor’s degree recipient and the 24-year median pay for a high school graduate minus the total four-year cost.

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT For the sixth consecutive year, the College is ranked among the top 15 Best Regional Universities in the North by U.S. News & World Report.

Manhattan took the 13th spot among 175 colleges and universities.

Manhattan College was also recognized among the top colleges in the region for student veterans, undergraduate teaching, and its School of Engineering.

Among student veterans, Manhattan ranked fifth, moving up one spot from last year. For the second year in a row, the College placed seventh in the region for the undergraduate teaching category.

Manhattan College was also recognized among the top schools in the region for undergraduate engineering, coming in at No. 39.

U.S. News provides rankings of more than 1,800 best colleges and universities, as well as hundreds of best graduate school programs.

The company chooses the colleges based on data it annually collects from administrators at hundreds of colleges about their institutions’ academic offerings.

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT MBA RANKINGS For the first time, the O’Malley School of Business was listed in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 best part-time MBA rankings, indicating the value and quality of the program amid strong competition.

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was designed to be flexible, innovative and interdisciplinary. The program primarily draws working professionals from the New York metropolitan area and also welcomes recent graduates eager to add a recognized career-enhancing degree to their portfolio.

U.S. News & World Report ranks MBA programs in categories of full time, part-time, online and executive programs. The College’s MBA primarily draws students who work full time while completing their degree. The publication bases the ranking of schools on several factors, including a peer assessment by U.S. business school deans, average GMAT and GRE scores, average undergraduate GPA, and the number of years of work experience of part-time MBA students.

The O’Malley School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) — among the top 5% of business schools worldwide holding this distinction.

THE PRINCETON REVIEW Manhattan College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduates, and one of the best colleges in the Northeast, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company profiles and recommends Manhattan College in the 2022 edition of its annual college guide, The Best 387 Colleges.

In the College’s section, students say Manhattan College’s location — the last stop on New York City’s No. 1 subway train — can’t be beat for ease into the more bustling parts of the city, but if you stay on campus, “the size of the school is large enough that there are plenty of people to meet and activities to participate in.”

Students also boast of the campus’s true diversity and tight-knit community: “Coming back to school at Manhattan after a break is like going to a family reunion,” a student says. “You meet people from New York to Alaska” and “all over the world.”

Only about 14% of America’s 2,700 four-year colleges are profiled in the book, which is one of The Princeton Review’s most popular publications.

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S CENTER ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE Manhattan College has been recognized as a college that provides a high return on investment (ROI) to low-income students. A study

by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce ranked Manhattan College 95th out of 3,380 universities on ROI during a 40-year period. That places Manhattan among the top 3% of all colleges and universities in the country.

The Georgetown study gives additional weight to such factors as the percentage of low-income students who are enrolled, their graduation rates, and their long-term ROI, all factors that proved beneficial to Manhattan College’s placement in the rankings.

A second study by Third Way, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., also rated higher education institutions by economic mobility. Manhattan College placed among the top 25% of all institutions surveyed, 323rd out of 1,321 institutions.

WASHINGTON MONTHLY Manhattan College has been recognized for the work that members of the community are doing to kick-start voter engagement on campus.

Washington Monthly has included Manhattan College on its annual list of colleges that do the most to turn students into active citizens.

Student voting on the Manhattan College campus increased significantly in the last election, rising to 59.6% in 2020 from a rate of 41.3% in 2016. This earned the College its first silver designation from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a competition in which more than 1,400 colleges and universities strive to reach full voter participation.

Kiambra Griffin, director of women’s basketball operations at the College, was also selected as one of two recipients of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge’s 2021 Standout Athletic Coach Award.

Griffin connected with Margaret Groarke, Ph.D., professor of political science, to engage participants in the Black Lives Matter Vigil to make sure students, faculty and staff were registered to vote before the 2020 election. Because of Griffin’s efforts, the women’s basketball team was the first team on campus to achieve 100% voter registration, and other teams in the athletics department quickly followed suit.

Due to the efforts of the College’s voter engagement committee, 76.4% of eligible Manhattan College students were registered to vote in 2020, and 78.1% of registered students voted in the 2020 elections. The rate of registered students increased by nine percentage points from the 2018 elections.

MILITARY FRIENDLY Manhattan received Military Friendly School’s highest designation, a Top 10 ranking at No. 8, among all private institutions that do not award a doctoral degree.

Last year, Manhattan College received a gold-level designation from Military Friendly Schools. It was the first time that the College had received the gold-level designation, and this marks the first year that Manhattan College has been included among Military Friendly School’s Top 10 institutions.

This also is the eighth consecutive year that Manhattan College has been recognized as a Military Friendly School.

Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2022-23 survey, with 665 earning the designation.

Methodology, criteria and weightings were determined by Viqtory with input from the Military Friendly Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community.

MILITARY TIMES Manhattan College is one of 297 higher education institutions included in Military Times’ Best for Vets: Colleges 2021 list.

Each year, Military Times sends its survey to colleges and universities across the nation asking about their programs for veterans. The survey results are then analyzed, along with public data about colleges and universities obtained from the Department of Education and Department of Veterans Affairs, and turned into an official ranking.

Manhattan College ranked 11th among 42 institutions in the Northeast.

Engineering Students Secure Scholarships from American Society of Highway Engineers SEVEN STUDENTS AND RECENT GRADUATES IN THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING received scholarships from the New York Metropolitan Chapter of the American Society of Highway Engineers last summer: Angel Castro ’23, Odette Dominguez ’21, Alyssa Hirani ’21, Mohamed Karim ’21,

Ahmed Murshed ’21, Stephen Murphy ’22 and Christopher Perdios ’23.

Murshed received a $2,500 Arora and Associates scholarship, while Castro, Dominguez, Hirani, Karim, Murphy and Perdios received $1,000 scholarships.

A total of $25,000 in scholarship awards

were presented to students attending CUNY City College, Manhattan College, New York University and Columbia University.

The scholarships were supported by firm sponsors, including GPI, AECOM, Arora and Associates and Jacobs Engineering.

MANHATTAN.EDU N 19

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Alixandria James ’23 Named Newman Civic Fellow

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AMPUS COMPACT, A NATIONAL COALITION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES working to advance the public purposes of higher education, has named 173 student civic leaders who make up the organization’s 2022-2023 cohort of Newman Civic Fellows. Alixandria James ’23, a public health major in the School of Education and Health, joins students from 38 states, Washington, D.C., and Mexico to form this cohort.

“As a public health major, I aim to better understand the intricacies of our healthcare delivery system, with the intention of expanding healthcare access, improving quality, and lowering costs,” James says.

“Both the healthcare and education systems are responsible for providing services that are fundamental human rights, however, certain populations continuously fall through the cracks.”

James is an Outreach Program intern with New York-Presbyterian’s Division of Community and Population Health. As part of the Outreach Program, she helps provide

basic, preventive healthcare services to Black and Brown communities throughout New York City.

The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes students for their exemplary commitment to creating positive change in communities locally and around the world. The fellowship is named for the late Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders, who was a tireless advocate for civic engagement in higher education. In the spirit of Newman’s leadership, fellows are nominated by Campus Compact member presidents and chancellors, who are invited to select one outstanding student from their campus each year.

Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides these students with a year of learning and networking opportunities that emphasize personal, professional and civic growth. Each year, fellows participate in numerous virtual training and networking events to help give them the skills and connections they need to create large-scale positive change.

Ally Mejia ’22 Lands Fellowship at Television Academy Foundation A COMMUNICATION MAJOR AT MANHATTAN COLLEGE earned a nod from the Television Academy. Ally Mejia ’22 served as a public relations/ publicity fellow this past summer through the Television Academy Foundation’s program.

Originally from Yorba Linda, California, Mejia attended Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California.

“It is an honor to know that I was chosen for this prestigious fellowship by Television Academy members,” Mejia says. “It feels incredibly validating to know that the same people who vote on the Primetime Emmy Awards recognized my dedication and hard work.”

Typically, the Television Academy Foundation’s annual internship program provides 50 internships at top Hollywood studios and production companies to college students nationwide each summer.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Television Academy Foundation had to re-imagine its internship program last year and offered 50 students, selected from across the country, the chance to either

20 N spring 2022

intern remotely or enroll as a summer fellow.

The Summer Fellows Program includes virtual one-on-one visits with professionals in a student’s field of study, online panels with leaders in the television industry, and customized seminars covering personal brand building and navigating the job market ahead.

Fellows also become lifelong members of the foundation’s alumni family, giving them access to events and networking opportunities as they build their careers in the industry.

LECTURE CIRCUIT

Tiny Talk Highlights Puerto Rican Artists

COURTESY OF NICOLE CECILIA DELGADO/LA IMPRESORA

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RISTINA PÉREZ JIMÉNEZ, PH.D., ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, presented a Tiny Talk about the contemporary Puerto Rican art scene last fall. Her presentation, Debt, Being and Puerto Rican Art, highlighted four artists: poet Nicole Cecilia Delgado; contemporary visual artists Frances Negrón-Muntaner and Sarabel Santos Negrón; and photographer Adál Maldonado, all of whom have created works that respond to the ongoing financial crisis in Puerto Rico.

Pérez Jiménez noted that Delgado’s work reflects the grit and determination of Puerto Ricans while living under the difficult conditions of the present-day Puerto Rican economy. The artist’s goal, she explained, is to inspire others to not only survive but also to live with dignity, achieve real quality of life, create community, and find joy while doing so.

“What really strikes me about Nicole’s poems is that, amidst this accumulation of crisis and disaster, she remains defiant,” she said.

“She manages to convey humor and playfulness, often by word play.”

Pérez Jiménez then described Valor y Cambio (value and change), an “artivism” project in which visual artists Negrón-Muntaner and Santos Negrón constructed an ATM-like machine. Participants are asked to record a video explaining what they value and in turn, receive one of six specially made community currency bills featuring impactful Puerto Rican historical figures. The bills can be used in participating local businesses for treats like a cup of tea or theater tickets.

Poesia, a poster by poet Nicole Cecilia Delgado, who was featured in a Tiny Talk on the contemporary Puerto Rican art scene, delivered

by English professor Cristina Pérez Jiménez, Ph.D., last fall.

“Money can give us stress and anxiety, and plenty of worry,” Pérez Jiménez said. “The idea that this project can reconceptualize the modes of exchange of money, in a way that can bring so much joy, is incredibly powerful for me.”

Pérez Jiménez then presented work by the photographer Maldonado. His project, Puerto Ricans Underwater, is a series of self portraits taken underwater in Maldonado’s bathtub. The models hold props or items that help tell their stories, thus capturing the feeling of drowning in debt that many people experience in Puerto Rico.

“These projects raise very interesting questions, not just in terms of Puerto Rico, and not just in terms of debt in Puerto Rico, but to all of you,” Pérez Jiménez concluded.

“What really strikes me about Nicole’s poems is that, amidst this accumulation of crisis and disaster, she remains defiant.”

—CRISTINA PÉREZ JIMÉNEZ

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LECTURE CIRCUIT

Alumna Discusses Therapy for Anxiety at Noberini Psychology Colloquium

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CCORDING TO THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS, approximately 40 million people in the United States live with an anxiety disorder, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. The symptoms of an anxiety disorder can make daily life challenging, sometimes making it impossible to complete everyday tasks, such as driving or going to the local supermarket.

Bridget Gerstel ’11, a graduate student at William James College, returned to Manhattan last fall to discuss her research on exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP) at the Noberini Psychology Colloquium. ERP is a less well-known therapeutic technique that encourages clients with anxiety to expose themselves to the thoughts, images, objects and situations that make them feel anxious or panicked.

Gerstel, who majored in psychology at Manhattan, explained that ERP is used over a length of time, sometimes even years. Studies have shown that it can help clients confront and overcome their

fears. In an ERP session, the therapist and client work together to either imagine an anxiety-provoking scenario or complete a stressful task. An example of this would be someone who fears acting inappropriately in a crowded shopping center. In ERP, clients would walk through a busy shopping area with their therapist while letting those anxious thoughts run through their minds.

The goal of the therapy is to expose patients to their fears in a safe and controlled environment.

“ERP has very strong clinical support for being used as treatment for a panic disorder,” Gerstel said. “Yet what I found was that not a lot of providers are using it. Even when they are using it, with good intentions, they do not realize they are not using it correctly, because it is a confusing treatment.”

Noting that ERP might be perceived as an extreme or even counterproductive type of treatment, Gerstel explained that the research has proven otherwise.

“Experiencing the distress is actually helpful, and it’s also, again, guided by the patient,” she said. “We do not want the

patient to be put in a situation where they feel uncomfortable.”

Gerstel created an educational video about ERP with the help of one of her William James professors. In the video, Gerstel portrays someone experiencing a panic attack at a busy shopping mall. Her professor, portraying the therapist, walks beside her and guides her through the exposure. Gerstel follows her professor’s advice to tune into her heart rate. They make their way to the second level of the mall, farther away from the exits and, therefore, more challenging. “He kept encouraging me to tune into my feelings, explain what I was feeling, and where I was feeling it,” Gerstel explained.

The goal of the video is to provide correct information on ERP therapy, who should be receiving the treatment, and how it can be applied.

“We found that individuals who watched the orientation video did have improved knowledge of ERP,” Gerstel noted. “However ... they remained neutral on decisions to seek it out or recommend it to others.”

During the Q&A period, an attendee shared that they had used ERP to address OCD in their own life.

“Even though it was uncomfortable at the beginning,” they said, “I can honestly say [ERP] changed my life for the better.”

Bridget Gerstel ’11, a graduate student at William James College, returned to her alma mater to discuss her research on exposure and response prevention therapy, a technique that encourages clients with anxiety to expose themselves to the thoughts, images, objects and situations that make them feel anxious or panicked, at the Noberini Psychology Colloquium on campus.

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LECTURE CIRCUIT

Military Service Meets Catholicism at Mission Month Lecture

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HIL KLAY, A FORMER U.S. MARINE VETERAN of the Iraq War and winner of the National Book Award, livestreamed a lecture to the Manhattan College community in April to discuss his collection of short stories and reflect on the experiences of others on the front lines. Titled Catholic Imagination in a Suffering World, the lecture was part of the Human Journey Colloquia sponsored by the Center for Catholic Studies at Sacred Heart University, as well as Manhattan College’s Mission Month celebration. The series showcases Catholic thinkers whose works unite the Catholic intellectual tradition with contemporary culture.

Klay began by relating his experiences with war and service, and shared stories of writing poetry and novels during training camps. He also recounted the stories of fellow soldiers and how they related to his Catholic upbringing. Klay then described his spiritual journey throughout his time in the Marines, and how it influenced his short story collection, Redeployment (Penguin Books, 2014). The stories detail the realities of life on the front lines in Iraq, including the perspectives of mis-

sionaries and their perceptions of violence.

He intertwines the themes of helplessness and survival and shows the struggles of the characters to make meaning out of chaos.

Klay discussed his initial ideas for Redeployment and how he aimed to start conversations about the American military presence in Iraq.

“I think we don’t quite know what to make of our wars, in part because we’re still involved,” he said. “It seems that after every war, we start to think about what the contract between citizen and soldier is exactly, what to make of those who serve, and what to make of our responsibility for the wars fought in our name. There’s plenty that frustrates me, but there are also a lot of great voices in the conversation now.”

Klay drew inspiration for the stories in Redeployment, including the profoundly Catholic “Prayer in the Furnace,” from his Jesuit education at Regis High School in New York, where he was introduced to the study of theology and writers such as Flannery O’Connor.

He expressed gratitude for his phenomenal teachers, who heavily influenced his explora-

tion of faith in his writing. He discussed the ways Catholic literature quickly gets to deep, dark places, an idea that applies to “Prayer in the Furnace.”

“Catholic literature takes the idea of sin seriously,” he says. “It pays serious attention to suffering, to human fallibility, and the importance of ritual and community in human life. With war fiction, it’s not enough to assume that the presence of life-and-death decisions provide you with the basic materials for moral storytelling.”

Born in Westchester County, New York, and a graduate of Dartmouth College, Klay served as a public affairs officer in Iraq’s Anbar Province from 2007 to 2008. After being discharged, he received an MFA from Hunter College. Among many distinctions, Redeployment received the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s James Webb Award for fiction dealing with U.S. Marines or Marine Corps life, the National Book Critics’ Circle John Leonard Award for best debut work in any genre, the American Library Association’s W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor Prize. His most recent release, Missionaries (Penguin Press, 2020), received praise from the Los Angeles Times and was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2020. Klay currently teaches fiction at Fairfield University.

Former U.S. Marine and National Book Award-winning author Phil Klay talks about his short stories and military service in the context of his faith during a Human Journey Colloquia, which was part of a lineup of activities in celebration of Manhattan College’s Mission Month in April.

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SPORTS

Basketball Star Reflects on Reaching 1,000 Points and 1,000 Rebounds

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OR COURTNEY WARLEY ’21, ’22 (MBA), THE PATH TO STARDOM AT MANHATTAN COLLEGE was never in doubt. The move to the Bronx from her home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, and her belief in the Jaspers’ basketball program were major components of her plan for success when she first arrived at the College. Warley’s choice to return for a fifth year was a gift that kept on giving for Manhattan fans. Having reached 1,000 points during a November game against Stetson, Warley’s next triumph was reaching the 1,000th rebound mark against Marist on Jan. 8 at home in Draddy Gymnasium.

Entering the game eight boards shy of the magic number, Warley accomplished the feat with 3:24 left in the Jaspers’ convincing 7245 win over the Red Foxes. After Warley pulled down the clinching board, Head Coach Heather Vulin (affectionately known as Coach V) called a timeout to let the fifth-year center and her teammates soak in all the emotions of the unforgettable moment. The entire team gathered around Warley to celebrate her becoming the second player in program history to attain membership in both the 1,000 point and 1,000 rebound clubs.

“We’ve had 22 people in our program history get 1,000 points, but only two people get 1,000 rebounds,” Vulin says about the rare achievement. “I just wanted to make sure she could have that moment to celebrate with her teammates.”

Warley has reflected on the magnitude of that moment, as well.

She notes that rewriting the record books with the support of her family, teammates and coaches makes her success all the more rewarding.

“I take it as a blessing to get the extra year, and my family, as well, just to see me play basketball for another year is a treat for them,” she says. “To hug my teammates and Coach V means the world to me.

They’re the reason why I play so hard, and why I try to do as much as I can.”

Warley’s basketball story is rooted in her family’s tradition of playing the sport. The Warley family name is well-established in the Philadelphia hoops scene. Her father, Carlin, and uncle, Jason, were members of the St. Joseph University men’s basketball teams of the early ’90s. From 1991 to 1995, Carlin Warley amassed 1,480 points and 1,138 rebounds in 114 games played for the Hawks. The two brothers followed in the footsteps of their father, Ben Warley, who starred at Tennessee State in the late ’50s and was a teammate of Wilt Chamberlain’s on the Philadelphia 76ers.

Her mother, Cherie, also enjoyed a successful basketball career, playing at the Division III level for Philadelphia University, now known as Jefferson University. Fittingly, she too reached the 1,000-rebound milestone, foreshadowing the type of player Warley would one day become.

24 N spring 2022

BY PETE JANNY ’22

With just minutes left in the home game against Marist in January, fifth-year center Courtney Warley ’21, ’22 (MBA) reaches 1,000 rebounds, after having reached 1,000 points in November. The entire team gathers around Warley (in the middle) in celebration during a called timeout, as she becomes just the second player in program history to join both illustrious point and rebound clubs. The Jaspers also defeated the Red Foxes, 72-45.

“My dad was a great scorer, and my mom was a little more of an IQ player,” she says. “I think I’m a mix of both of them out on the court.”

Warley is not alone in her quest to perpetuate the family legacy.

Her sister, Morgan, plays at Division II West Chester University in Pennsylvania, close to where the family lives. Meanwhile, Jalen Warley, son of Jason, is a freshman on the Florida State men’s basketball team.

“Sports are a way to connect with people, so that’s something that our family takes to heart,” Warley says.

Carlin Warley was in Draddy to see his daughter make history.

Before the game, he told himself not to get too emotional. But, he says, how things unfolded was almost too good to be true, and he was overwhelmed by the support of her coaches and teammates.

“How Coach V and those coaches and those kids cheered for her was the most emotional part for me,” he recalls.

According to Warley’s father, there was no doubt about where she would play her final season. After completing four seasons at

PHOTOS BY VINCENT DUSOVIC

(From left to right) Earlier in the season, Warley gets ready to make her move against Army at Draddy Gymnasium in November. She blocks a shot at the MAAC semifinal game against Quinnipiac in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on March 11. Warley helped to lead the Jaspers to the MAAC Championship Game for the first time since 2003.

Manhattan, she was convinced that no other opportunity would replicate what the College offered.

“One good thing from COVID was that she could stay at Manhattan and get her master’s and play another year under Coach V,” he says. Warley received her bachelor’s degree in management and finance last year and will finish her MBA in May. While Warley has an abiding love for Philadelphia and has many fond memories of the city, New York has become a second home to her and comes with its own flair for playing the game.

“I think playing in this system for five years, I’ve gotten pretty used to it,” Warley says about adjusting to the New York playing style. “Because my family is from Philly,” she says, “it’s been kind of nice to go somewhere else and start something for myself with my new family in New York.”

Chris “Smooth” Williams ’93 has been friends with the Warley brothers dating back to their younger days together in Philadelphia.

As a basketball commentator, Williams has had a front-row seat to Warley’s blossoming into the player she is today. He compares Warley to the famed NBA Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, saying she’s a “consummate pro” and gets better every season.

“I think the one thing that strikes me the most is that she’s become more vocal and aggressive,” Williams says. “She’s one of those players who doesn’t need to score to dictate the game.”

Williams can’t overstate Warley’s will to win.

“When you think of Philly ballplayers, you think of an all-around player, a player who does a little bit of everything, doesn’t have to be flashy, wants to win, plays to win, not afraid and not intimidated,” he continues. “All those things you see in Courtney, she comes out and gives you a great effort and does what she needs to do to help this Jasper team win.”

Warley has compiled quite the résumé on the court, earning spots on each of the three All-MAAC Teams, highlighted by her appearance on the All-MAAC First Team for the 2019-2020 season. In doing so, Warley became the eighth player in program history to be named to the conference’s first team. Even before that, Warley cemented her legacy during her sophomore season in 2018-19, when she took home MAAC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and became the second player in program history to do so.

Warley helped the Jaspers finish this season with a 21-11 record, including a 14-6 mark in conference play. She averaged 11.2 points and 10.5 rebounds — the latter of which ranks her 25th nationally.

She helped to lead the Jaspers to the MAAC Championship Game for the first time since 2003. Manhattan fell to top-seeded Fairfield 7368 in the title game after beating Canisius in the quarterfinals and Quinnipiac in the semifinals.

“I think that in the end we came together, and fought just as hard,” Warley says. “I tried to play for the girls that graduated last year because they helped build this program with me and the coaches to what it is today. I have complete respect for Coach V, assistant coaches, all the players, administration, all of Manhattan College.

They are amazing. They have invested a lot in me and a lot into this program. I thank them very much.”

Warley finished her playing career at Manhattan 11 rebounds behind Rosalee Mason ’04 (1,217) for the all-time lead in program history. Beyond that, she boasts top-10 marks in blocks and steals for her career with 162 and 243, respectively. Her 1,295 career points rank 10th in the program annals.

Warley took every moment in stride while enjoying the journey, and took family, friends and legions of Jasper fans along for a thrilling ride.

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SPORTS

SPORTSSHORTS

Dee Dee Davis ’23 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL MAKES MAAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2003 The Jaspers beat 11th-seeded Canisius and second-seeded Quinnipiac to reach the MAAC Championship for the first time since 2003. Manhattan topped Canisius 61-49 in the quarterfinals behind a balanced attack that featured four players scoring in double figures.

The Jaspers were led by 22 points by Brazil Harvey-Carr ’23 in the 7259 win over Quinnipiac in the semifinals. In the championship game, Manhattan went ahead 31-26 at halftime before falling to top-seeded Fairfield 73-68. Dee Dee Davis ’23 scored 35 points (a new career high) in the final and averaged 24.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists per game in Atlantic City. Davis and Courtney Warley ’21, ’22 (MBA) were named to the All-Championship Team. The run to the championship game earned Manhattan 21 wins on the season, the program’s most since 2010-11.

HARWOOD NAMED WOMEN’S SOCCER SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST Sydney Harwood ’21, ’22 (M.S.) was selected as one of 10 NCAA women’s soccer finalists for the prestigious 2021 Senior CLASS Award.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Harwood was an integral member of the Jaspers defense and a leader on the field, having been named a three-time captain. During her career, she amassed six goals, two assists and played in 64 games, starting in 62. Her talents extend beyond the field, as well. She graduated summa cum laude with a mechanical engineering degree and a 3.90 GPA. Harwood is a member of Epsilon Sigma Pi, Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma, Pi Mu Epsilon, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Mechanical Engineering Women’s Group. She is pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace at Manhattan and will graduate this spring.

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD WINS METROPOLITAN CHAMPIONSHIPS The men’s track and field team won the 2022 Metropolitan Championships with 111 points to clip Fordham by six. Manhattan recorded three wins and six other top-three finishes to help secure the team title. Marc Carrera ’22 won the mile, David Lozipone ’22 took first in the 3,000 meters, and R.J. Decker ’22 took top honors in the weight throw. Carrera clocked a time of 4:16.67 to win by 1.1 seconds.

The senior also led three Jaspers inside the top five of the 800 meters to score 15 points. Lozipone’s time of 8:25.78 to win the 3,000 meters was fast enough to hit the IC4A standard. The Massapequa Park, New York, native was one of two Jaspers on the podium to add 16 points to the Manhattan score. Decker also hit an IC4A mark on Friday. The sophomore recorded an 18.52 meter effort to win the weight throw by exactly one meter.

Sydney Harwood ’21, ’22 (M.S.)

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FUNFACTS SOFTBALL WINS 2021 MAAC TITLE, MAKES 2021 NCAA TOURNAMENT The 2021 softball team, which was seeded sixth, beat the No. 2 seed Canisius, 6-3, to win the program’s first MAAC Title since 1999. Manhattan won a best-of-three series against No. 3 seed Iona in the quarterfinals before beating Fairfield 2-0, Marist 2-1 in nine innings, and Canisius 6-3 in Buffalo, New York, to claim the title. Nicole Williams ’21 threw three complete games in Buffalo to earn Most Outstanding Player honors.

Victoria Alonso ’21, Marika Deemer ’23, Emma Kindblom ’21 and Annie Moore ’22 also earned All-Championship Team honors. The Jaspers earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, where they were placed in the Fayetteville Regional at Arkansas and played No. 6 Arkansas and Stanford.

STUDENT-ATHLETES GRADUATED AT A 98% SUCCESS RATE Manhattan College’s department of Intercollegiate Athletics posted a 98% Graduation Success Rate (GSR), according to the NCAA, which was tops among all Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) schools. The 98% graduation rate, charted in the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate Report, is seven percent higher than the NCAA Division I national average for the four-class aggregate of entering classes from 2011 through 2014. The MAAC’s 95% score is equivalent to last year’s data, and is tied for third among all 32 Division I conferences. Eleven different Manhattan College teams achieved a 100% graduation success rate: baseball, women’s basketball, women’s cross-country and track and field, men’s golf, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming and diving, women’s swimming and diving and volleyball. The NCAA GSR report gives graduation information for student-athletes who entered college in 2014, the most recent class for which the required six years of information is available. It also breaks down the GSR by sport, using a four-year class average (2011-2014) called a cohort rate to provide a big enough sample.

JASPERS MAKE THE MAAC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL A conference-record 2,963 student-athletes were named to the 2020-21 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Academic Honor Roll, on which 223 Manhattan studentathletes earned spots to help drive the record-breaking total upward. Since the 2006-07 season, the total number of student-athletes named to the MAAC Academic Honor Roll has increased every year. To be eligible for the MAAC Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher on a 4.0 scale. All 23 conference-sponsored sports are represented.

1,000

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Warren Williams ’22 and Dee Dee Davis ’23, of men’s and women’s basketball, respectively, passed 1,000 career points at the MAAC Championships in March.

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Women’s basketball players Courtney Warley ’21,’22 (MBA) and Dee Dee Davis ’23 became the first Jaspers to earn First Team All-MAAC honors in the same season.

Across men’s and women’s basketball, indoor track and field, and swimming, 58 Jaspers made their respective sport’s MAAC All-Academic Team.

Alexandra Preckajlo ’22 was a four-time MAAC Field Athlete of the Week during the 2021-22 indoor track and field season.

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3.30

R.J. Decker ’24 won the weight throw six times during the 202122 indoor track and field season.

Men’s and women’s cross-country teams earned Team All-Academic Awards from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Both teams posted GPAs higher than 3.30.

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9.36

98

Goals scored by women’s lacrosse player Grace Lipponer ’22 last season, as she earned Second Team All-MAAC and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.

Seconds remaining when men’s basketball senior Jose Perez ’22 hit a floater to beat Iona, 74-72, in the regularseason finale inside a packed Draddy Gymnasium.

The save percentage posted by men’s lacrosse goalie Brendan Krebs ’21, ’22 (MBA) on his way to earning MAAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors for 2021.

The number of saves recorded this season by women’s soccer goalie Kim Mains ’22, which led the MAAC. Mains was also tied for third in the MAAC in shutouts, with four.

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T H E H I G G I N S C E N T E R O F F I C I A L LY O P E N S

BY K R I STE N CU PPE K

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ITH ITS GL A SS FAC ADE GLIMMERING IN THE BRIGHT SUNLIGHT OF A

PERFEC TLY WARM OC TOBER DAY, THE PATRICIA AND CORNELIUS J. HIGGINS ' 62 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE CENTER WELCOMED ITS GENEROUS BENEFAC TOR S AND AN INTIM ATE G ATHERING OF GUES TS TO ITS DEDIC ATION CEREMONY. THE MUCH -ANTICIPATED BUILDING WA S OFFICIALLY OPEN AND ALRE ADY AN A SSE T TO THE M ANHAT TAN COLLEGE COMMUNIT Y.

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A B OU T T HE HIGGINS CEN T ER Fully opened as of this past fall, the Patricia and Cornelius J. Higgins ’62 Engineering and Science Center is a 30,000-square-foot academic facility on Manhattan College’s South Campus, adjacent to Leo Hall. Named after Patricia G. Higgins, Ph.D., and Cornelius (Neil) J. Higgins ’62, Ph.D., who gave a $5 million leadership gift, the Higgins Center provides the necessary resources for a 21stcentury education in engineering and the sciences.

A grand and light-filled atrium welcomes students and faculty to the three-story structure.

Fourteen ultramodern laboratories support and expand teaching and research in each of the College’s engineering and science disciplines. There is also space for collaborative learning and interdisciplinary partnerships between students and faculty.

OPEN FOR L E A RNING Patricia and Neil Higgins make the ceremonial cut in the ribbon stretched across the courtyard entrance, as President Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., and Vice President for College Advancement Thomas Mauriello celebrate the official opening of the center.

After a quick snip, guests could take guided tours or explore the building on their own.

CONS T RUC T ION PH A SE The College broke ground on the Higgins Center in April 2018. Some of the notable construction elements include: • 1 9 alumni designed and oversaw the construction of the building • 8 0 piles pushed, with an average depth of 100 feet • 15,000 bricks used • 16,800 acoustical tiles placed • 675 cubic yards of concrete poured (not including sidewalks) • T he center received a Gold rating in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the United States Green Building Council

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HIGGINS CREDI T S T HE COL L EGE “When I reflect on my life, it is clear to me that Manhattan College is an essential element in whatever success I have had,” Neil Higgins said at the dedication ceremony on Oct. 21. “Patricia and I want Manhattan to continue to provide the invaluable opportunity that I had to future generations.” The couple simply wanted to give back.

T H A NK S TO T HE M A N Y D ONOR S A designated wall inside the grand atrium is adorned with plaques that recognize the many generous donors who contributed to Invest in the Vision: the Campaign for Manhattan.

More than 16,000 donors helped to raise $193.6 million toward the campaign. In addition to surpassing the original goal of $165 million, there were 37 gifts of $1 million and more.

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MEE T NEIL A ND PAT RICI A HIGGINS Neil Higgins is a founder and chairman emeritus of Applied Research Associates Inc., an engineering and science firm headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a principal and chief executive officer from 1979 until his retirement in 2010. A registered professional engineer and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Higgins received a B.S. in civil engineering from the College in 1962. He was elected to the Manhattan College Board of Trustees in October 2003 and served until 2018, when he was named trustee emeritus.

Patricia Higgins served on the faculty of the College of Nursing at the University of New Mexico from 1980 until her retirement in 2000, rising from visiting instructor to full professor, with a specialization in maternal-child nursing. Prior to that, Higgins taught health occupations at Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque, as well as nursing refresher courses at Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute. A registered nurse and a member of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nursing, she received a diploma in nursing from the Bellevue and Mills School of Nursing in 1963.

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E XCEEDING E X PEC TAT IONS

E X PLORE A ND E X PERIMEN T Emily Oldag ’21,’22 (M.S.), a graduate student studying chemical engineering, shows Patrick, the Higgins’ grandson, the pipe rack experiment in the Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Lab in Leo Hall, one of a handful of labs recently renovated, after the ceremony. The experiment measures frictional energy loss experienced by fluids as they flow through pipes.

Strategically located across from the Research and Learning Center, the Higgins Center is connected to Leo Hall, which also underwent renovations in several of its lab and common spaces. Together, the structures feature 140,000 square feet of academic space for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) on the South Campus.

“Manhattan has from its founding had a well-deserved reputation for excellence in what are now known as the STEM disciplines — or, more accurately, in the combination of excellence in those disciplines and in the traditional liberal arts,” O’Donnell said at the dedication ceremony.

With the opening of this center, the College is now poised to continue — and even build upon — its well-regarded reputation.

“The Higgins Engineering and Science Center is living up to its intended functions — teaching and lab spaces for science and engineering programs, a beautiful atrium where students can study and interact, and a green space courtyard that can be enjoyed by all,” says Tim Ward, Ph.D., P.E., dean of the School of Engineering. “The Higgins Center is a long overdue and very welcome addition to the South Campus of the College.”

Janet McShane, Ph.D., interim dean of the School of Science, echoes those points and notes how it is advancing research.

“It’s been a fantastic new building with state-of-the-art facilities for doing science research, and it has improved the introductory labs for biology, chemistry and physics, as well as enhanced the research labs for the faculty,” she says. “It’s a showcase building, a great space for students to work and collaborate, and we’re just excited to have this brand new space.”

ULT R A MODERN L A BS The Higgins Center boasts eight teaching labs, four project labs, and six research labs. Higgins 3.08 is where the labs for Anatomy and Physiology, Evolution, Comparative Anatomy, Introduction to Biology, General Biology, and Neurobiology courses take place. Various models of the human anatomy, as well as those for animals and plants, are interspersed throughout the bright and spacious lab.

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W H AT E V E R I T TA K E S: In a Landscape Transformed

by COVID-19, Manhattan Shines Through

In the spring of 2021, as the world entered the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that public health-related restrictions and limitations would be in place for an indefinite time. Yet, there were also reasons for hope. Chief among them, the widening availability of several vaccines, which opened up greater possibilities for much-missed in-person interactions.

At Manhattan College, that meant fuller classrooms, busier and more numerous events, and new opportunities to connect with prospective students. Inperson classes fully resumed for the fall 2021 semester. For Jaspers, it was a welcome return to the Manhattan that so many know and love.

BY CECILIA DONOHOE

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(This page) The campus was feeling a bit more “normal” during the start of the fall semester this past August. (Opposite page) The Admissions team was able to offer in-person campus tours starting in summer 2020. According to Nick Marter, associate director of undergraduate admissions, many larger universities weren’t able to do so. “It took a lot of reimagining and really careful, thoughtful planning,” he says. In-person Accepted Students Days returned this spring. Ben Boivin ’09, ’15 (M.S.), director of undergraduate admissions, notes: “A student I met commented how unscripted and authentic everyone was. People just care about each other on this campus.”

EN ROL L M EN T M A NAGEM EN T: M E ET I NG PE OPL E W H E R E T H E Y A R E While the numbers of vaccinated students, faculty and staff steadily increased during the spring and summer of 2021, state and city restrictions, as well as public health concerns, meant that large events typically held on campus were still prohibited. College divisions reimagined offerings as scaled-down, hybrid and remote events. The Admissions office, in particular, deployed inventive strategies as they reconfigured new student recruitment.

“We’ve been able to reach out to more people through technologies like Zoom and Google Meet,” says Ben Boivin ’09, ’15 (M.S.), director of undergraduate admissions. “Now we have the opportunity to talk to people around the world like we’ve never had before. A lot of preliminary meetings take place on an iPad. So it’s keeping our staff safe, and it’s keeping families safe.”

The Admissions team hosted three virtual Accepted Students Days in April 2021, featuring academic breakout sessions, student life panels and remote campus tours. More than 500 high school students and their families participated. Giving prospective students a warm Jasper welcome in the virtual space required the participation of colleagues from across the College, from professors and deans to Marketing and Communication and Information Technology Services.

Admissions counselors, often the first personal point of contact during the college search process, also had to rethink ways to connect with prospective students.

“In the pre-COVID world, I normally do about 200 in-person events,” says Nick Marter, associate director of undergraduate admissions, whose territory encompasses Long Island, New York. “Last year, I was at two. Everything else was virtual.” With recruitment at high schools no longer an option, he got creative, setting up an “office” at a Panera Bread and offering appointments to families within a 10-mile radius.

“Over three sessions, I had 40 students and families take advantage,” he says. “They were anxious to meet in person and wanted that human experience. Other counselors did something similar in their territories.”

Despite the success of virtual events and off-campus meetings, the Admissions team was determined to bring prospective students to Riverdale.

“Our campus is a distinguishing factor that separates us from so many schools that students are considering,” Marter says. “We have a green, physical college campus, and we also have New York City. Plenty of schools sell one or the other. Very, very few have both. We just tried to get as many people on campus as possible, within our constraints.”

To make sure everyone who wanted to visit campus could do so, the Admissions office went all out. Campus tour groups were capped in size and increased in frequency, with proof of vaccination required for all visitors. Information sessions were presented in large rooms to allow for social distancing, and even outdoors on the O’Malley Library terrace. Those who couldn’t make it to campus for a tour received Manhattan-branded gear in the mail. An interactive, 360-degree virtual tour is available on the College’s website, “So students can see what they want, when they want,” Boivin says.

Recognizing the myriad constraints placed upon high school students during the pandemic, the College continued its suspension of the application requirement to submit standardized test scores like the SAT or ACT.

“It does provide more equity among everyone going through the application process,” Marter explains, “whether it be financial concerns with sending scores or just a lack of test prep available to certain communities. It definitely allowed for more people to consider Manhattan College, giving us an even more diverse applicant pool than in the past.”

By last fall, with a vaccination requirement in effect for all faculty, staff, students and guests, in-person classes had fully resumed. The time was deemed right to once again host an in-person, on-campus fall Open House. Admissions staff worked with the One Manhattan office to ensure that all health and safety protocols were followed for the more than 1,000 guests who came to campus. Welcome sessions were staggered to allow for socially distanced seating in Smith Auditorium and the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers; presentations on academics and clubs were held in the expansive space of Draddy Gymnasium; and refreshments were provided outdoors, as were entertainment and campus tours.

The day’s success exemplified the kind of collective effort that sets Manhattan apart, and holds such appeal for prospective students and their families.

“Guests commented on the talented singers and jazz musicians, the knowledgeable faculty and current students, the friendly support of our essential staff and registration team, the well-organized food and refreshments, and the overall messaging of our commitment to students,” Boivin noted in a thank-you message to the College. “I have never seen such an engaged group of prospective students and families. The beautiful weather didn’t hurt our efforts, but it was the community that made all the difference.”

This spring held even more promise for the future, as the College rolled out the carpet for the future class of 2026 at three Accepted Students Days. Hosted on campus for the first time in two years, the events offered 1,900 students and their families the complete Manhattan experience: They toured the Riverdale campus, met with Athletics representatives, attended an interdisciplinary panel discussion, learned about clubs and activities from Student Life staff and, of course, discussed academic programs with faculty members and deans. Visitors appreciated the warm Jasper welcome they received.

“One of my favorite comments came from a mother who said they went to another accepted student event and didn’t get to speak with a faculty member,” Boivin says. “At Manhattan College, they met with the dean of the school.”

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ST U DEN T L I F E R E B OU N D S

With the return of fully in-person classes and activities in fall 2021, students took advantage of the chance to socialize, share their talents and give back. (From top to bottom) Movies on the Quad, sponsored by Student Engagement, offered something for a range of cinematic tastes, from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery to Godzilla vs. Kong. The Manhattan College Singers performed two a cappella numbers, I’ll Be Home for Christmas and We Believe, as a prelude to the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in November. Members of the kinesiology honor society Phi Epsilon Kappa wrapped presents collected through their Christmas toy drive. (Opposite page, from left to right): Students enjoy Manhattan Madness in October. The Draddy Gymnasium bleachers were full, with 2,330 attendees showing their Jasper spirit. The campus community continued to follow One Manhattan health and safety protocols, including filling out a daily symptom tracker to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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Some of the fondest memories that are made at Manhattan happen outside the classroom. Whether cheering for the Jaspers at Gaelic Park, playing intramural volleyball, taking a Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience (L.O.V.E.) social justice immersion service trip, or holding down an internship, students enjoy myriad opportunities to enrich their college experience and foster personal growth. The loosening of restrictions on in-person interactions last fall resulted in a surge of participation in student activities back to pre-pandemic levels, reports John Bennett ’03, assistant vice president for student life.

“We brought back Movies on the Quad to start the semester, with food and music to add to the social aspect,” he says. “Students performed in our performing arts ensembles and spirit squads, and were active members of our clubs and student government.”

With limitations on the size of gatherings still in effect in New York City, it sometimes proved challenging to find events suitable for large groups. Nevertheless, the office of Student Engagement was able to bring hundreds of students to ticketed events, from Wicked on Broadway to Jets, Knicks, Rangers and Yankees games. The Singers even performed on stage at Radio City Music Hall. Popular on-campus events like LatinX Fest and Manhattan Madness required extra layers of planning and precautions.

“The students did a great job with following procedures,” Bennett says. “From wearing masks to checking green passes and vaccinations, their attitude was great. There was never any pushback; everybody understood. There was a camaraderie about it.”

Although most campus events are now back fully in person, Student Engagement staff plans to continue offering a virtual option for viewing guest lectures and concerts, which proved popular with students and allowed the College to bring in big-name guests who ordinarily might not be able to visit campus. Participation in remote Q&A sessions with speakers like Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr. and women’s soccer standout Abby Wambach was a high.

“I’ve never seen a chat box like it,” Bennett says of the conversation with Odom Jr. “It was blowing up with hundreds of messages … it was amazing to see so many students interacting and how fast it was happening.”

For underclassmen still acclimating to college life, intramural sports leagues, clubs and activities helped students form new friendships. Roommates Domenick Campisi ’24 and Liam Rayder ’24 joined in the fun, taking part in a neighborhood scavenger hunt and a pumpkin painting event, attending a Yankees game, and joining Green Club nature walks.

“I was surprised at how many student engagement events were going on,” Rayder says. “You get to meet people who are into the same kind of thing. Even going to one or two events helped me meet a lot of people.”

Jaspers also seized opportunities to help make a difference, relishing the chance to perform hands-on service once again. As president of the kinesiology honor society Phi Epsilon Kappa, Peter Calicchia ’22 helped organize a toy drive in partnership with St. Simon Stock – St. Joseph Catholic Church in the Bronx.

“We gathered 150 activity-based toys, such as a basketball, skateboard, bicycle helmet — anything that promotes movement — and brought them to the church for distribution to the local community,” he says.

Economics major Alana Pons ’22 returned to her work-study job in the office of Campus Ministry and Social Action, where she’s helping restart the L.O.V.E. program after a two-year hiatus.

“The students did a great job with following procedures ... From wearing masks to checking green passes and vaccinations, their attitude was great. There was never any pushback; everybody understood. There was a camaraderie about it.”

John Bennett ’03, assistant vice president for student life

“A lot of underclassmen don’t know about the program, so we’re spreading the word on how they can get involved,” she says. “That’s one of the top priorities for the social action team right now. I’m really eager to make sure that after I graduate, the program [which is heading to Flint, Michigan, this summer] will stay as well-organized as it is today.”

For staff at the Center for Career Development, flexibility has been key to helping students connect with potential employers. They adapted to the various ways that companies are recruiting, such as recorded video and remote interviews. For example, quiet office spaces were set aside for students who needed to interview; thus avoiding untimely interruptions by roommates.

“There are some fields that are in-person, but we have to recognize that employers are still doing business in a very specific way,” explains Rachel Cirelli, director of career development. “The challenge has been to honor the in-person experience we want for the students but serve the employers, too. We’re finding a balance.”

Through the center’s W.I.S.E. (Women Inspiring Successful Enterprise) program, Pons pursued a remote internship with Christian Brothers Investment Services last summer.

“They are a company based in Chicago that’s working at the intersection of faith and finance,” she explains. “I wouldn’t have had that opportunity to work there had it been in person. I was able to connect with people in Chicago and other places around the U.S.” Cirelli shares that it was especially rewarding to host a hybrid Spring Career Fair this past February, after almost two years of virtual career fairs. Forty-eight employers participated in person and 20 joined virtually, with more than 360 students participating across both formats.

“This one felt quite different because people were so happy to be in person,” she says. “The students have been asking for this.

The employers appreciated it, and many sent alumni to campus.

By facilitating good in-person events, it’s going to give our students an advantage because employers have met them.”

For students like Pons, the behind-the-scenes effort by Career Development staff is paying off.

“My internship was very crucial in my next career steps after college,” she says. “Now that I’m applying to jobs, I feel more confident. I’m very grateful because I do feel as though Manhattan College made a great effort for students to not feel set back in any way.”

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ACA DEM IC S : A DA P T I NG A N D T H R I V I NG When classes resumed fully in-person for the fall 2021 semester, “it was such a joy,” recalls Michael Grabowski, Ph.D., chair and associate professor of communication. “Everyone was just elated. It felt like a reunion of sorts. I met some students for the first time in person who I’ve been working with for the past year, and saw students reunited with each other. It was just such a pleasure to get back together in the same space.”

That said, getting back to a fully in-person environment required some adjustments.

“There was a lot of review, testing and startup that took extra time,” he says. “Our facilities were basically sitting quiet for a year.

We had to make sure equipment was working and replace equipment that fell out of date while we were remote. Students were relearning tasks on new gear.”

Kelly Daggett-Nemesh ’04, director of chemistry labs, had a similar experience. As an instructor for mostly freshman-level courses, “It was different for everyone to get back into the groove of, ‘We’re not sitting in front of a computer anymore,’” she says. “They seemed a little further behind in their skills than they would normally be. It’s been a learning curve of getting everyone caught up.”

Remote teaching gave Daggett-Nemesh tools that she now uses for in-person instruction. For instance, she uses videos that she recorded for conducting remote labs as a demonstration tool.

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“I think being remote made us rethink how we were approaching things and redesign some aspects of the course that we can utilize,” she says. “There were some benefits that came out of what we had to do.”

That takeaway applies to students, as well. After taking the spring semester off, communication major Samantha Gaddy ’22 returned to a busy fall, producing a short film, Seen, as an assignment for Grabowski’s field and post-production class.

“It was interesting because, with COVID, how do you film something?” she says. “How do you have production when you can’t film indoors? You want everyone to be safe, but you also don’t want masks in the film if they don’t pertain to the story.” Despite the restrictions, the budding filmmaker received encouraging feedback: Seen won the audience choice award at a film festival, the Lift-Off First-Time Filmmaker Session.

Students also welcomed the chance to be in the same classrooms with their peers. Campisi, an engineering major, says he is happy with the change from his freshman year, which consisted of a mix of inperson and remote classes.

“While online, it’s easier to get distracted,” he says. “I’m more of a hands-on person, so if I’m not physically in class taking notes, it’s a little bit hard for me to completely understand the material. Now it definitely feels more connected. We’re able to do group work. It’s a lot better.”

Jeffrey Cherubini, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology, prefers that approach, too. “From the beginning, as a department, we taught the majority of our classes hybrid,” he says. “For the learning and

(Opposite page) Kelly Daggett-Nemesh ’04, director of chemistry labs, supervises Ananda Burgos ’25 and Cynthia Dreps ’25 as they analyze synthesized salt for oxalate content during a lesson in oxidation-reduction reactions in lab 4.09 in the Higgins Engineering and Science Center. (This page, clockwise from top left) Masking was required in all classrooms during the fall 2021 semester and continued through most of the spring semester. A production still from Seen, a short film shot by sports media production major Samantha Gaddy ’22. She held an internship at CBS Sports and has been offered a studio coordinator position with the network. Winston Peters ’02 leads the kickoff to the O’Malley School of Business Innovation Challenge, an annual competition that encourages students to generate ideas for products or services. Matthew Toscanini ’24 uses volumetric glassware for Daggett-Nemesh’s General Chemistry II class.

MANHATTAN.EDU N 39

“One of the things you gain is adaptability ... You can’t change the situation. You still have to go to school and make it work ... If something else gets thrown at me in the future, I know I can adapt to it and thrive.”

Peter Calicchia ’22

the atmosphere, it was very important to me to have the in-person element. We set up all the classrooms and made the mini gym [in Alumni Hall] into an additional classroom to provide more space.”

Hands-on instruction was a consideration. “That was challenging, but we adapted and came up with different plans in order to accomplish the same goals,” Cherubini says. “We made short videos when needed for labs. Students filmed themselves doing different types of movements, as well as taping or rehabilitation.”

Calicchia, a kinesiology major, took all of his classes remotely in spring 2021. He missed seeing his classmates in person, but says they still managed to hold each other accountable, “even if it meant staying on Google Meet after class just to talk and say, ‘What’s up?’

Those five minutes mean a lot. Once we were back in person, that was just a rejuvenation of all the friendships we had.”

Grabowski acknowledges that the trials of the past two years have affected everyone to varying degrees.

“I have to recognize the burden that all of the faculty in my department have been under,” he says. “I want to find ways of making sure that either students or faculty don’t burn out, that they can get through this. It already has gotten so much better than last year. We are not 100% there, but we’re on the way.”

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Reflecting on his experiences as a college student during the pandemic, Calicchia is philosophical.

“One of the things you gain is adaptability,” he says. “You can’t change the situation. You still have to go to school and make it work.

I always have a mindset oriented to the long-term. If something else gets thrown at me in the future, I know I can adapt to it and thrive.”

Years from now, Gaddy thinks she’ll look back at her time at Manhattan with no regrets.

“I feel very secure in the fact that I chose to go to this school in particular,” she says. “Despite COVID, despite all the fear that it brought, I think I went to a school that handled it very well and kept me safe. So I can only say that I’m grateful.”

(Left) The mini gym in Alumni Hall was reconfigured as a classroom to accommodate social distancing. Here, kinesiology students build towers out of marshmallows and sticks as a leadership awareness activity. Each group is composed of in-person and virtual students (via laptop). While teaching hybrid classes, Jeffrey Cherubini, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology recalls, “I was always making eye contact with the remote students while also paying attention to the students in the classroom.” (Right) With health and safety protocols in place on campus, there were greater opportunities for in-person socializing. The Kelly Commons lounge is again one of the most popular spots to meet up and hang out on campus.

Alumni and Donor Relations: A “Pay-It-Forward Model” “EDUCATION IS NOT PREPARATION FOR LIFE; EDUCATION IS LIFE ITSELF.” American philosopher and educator John Dewey wrote those words more than a century ago. Today, despite the hardships and uncertainties wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jaspers are proving the truth of Dewey’s words.

By showing up for alma mater in countless ways, alumni and friends underscore the power and promise of a Manhattan College education.

“If you look at the last 169 years of Manhattan’s existence, there have definitely been tough times in society,” says Kevin Courtney, director of the capital campaign. “But because the College learned how to be successful in lean times, we’ve also learned how to be successful when times are not lean.”

During the first year of the pandemic, the College’s Advancement division remained in touch with alumni and friends through virtual meetings and events.

“We were conducting a lot of outreach just to see how everyone was doing,” Courtney says. “I think it did essentially reflect our values, our culture.”

Virtual offerings hosted by the office of Alumni Relations included an alumni author speaker series, themed receptions from engineering to bourbon tasting, and presentations on timely topics like Navigating the Post-COVID Job Market. A virtual presidential tour gave President Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., the opportunity to connect with alumni from different time zones across the country, as well as Europe. Outdoor events like the Jasper Open golf outing, the Jaspers Sporting Clays Classic and the Construction Industry Golf Tournament were able to continue, and plans for an on-campus, in-person 2022 Reunion Weekend were well underway.

“I am grateful to the Alumni Relations team and my colleagues for their dedication and commitment to ensuring that our alumni stayed connected with the College during a very challenging time,” says Louis Calvelli, director of alumni relations. “While virtual offerings are not a substitute for inperson events, we learned that they provide opportunities to bring together individuals who may not be able to travel to Riverdale. We look forward to hosting a full schedule of events that continue to engage and inform our alumni.”

In recent months, the return of in-person gatherings meant that Jaspers could join in beloved, long-standing events that had been postponed or canceled the previous year.

Celebrations held in the fall of 2021 included the President’s Dinner at the Rainbow Room in New York City; the Benefactor Appreciation Reception at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York; and the De La Salle Medal Dinner honoring Lynn Martin ’98, then-president of fixed income and data services at Intercontinental Exchange Inc., at the Pierre Hotel in New York

City. (Read more about the 2021 dinner on page 44.) The 2022 De La Salle Medal Dinner in honor of John Desmarais ’85, J.D., founding partner of Desmarais LLP, was held on April 20.

“To have two successful De La Salle Medal Dinners within a six-month period was pretty incredible,” says Stephen White, assistant vice president for college advancement. “This was an extremely difficult time, and yet we have prospered as far as fundraising dollars.”

To drive this point home, one need only look at the numbers for the current capital campaign, Invest in the Vision: the Campaign for Manhattan. In March 2020, $131 million had been raised. By May 2022, that figure had grown to $193 million — and counting. Support for scholarships has been especially strong.

“Our alumni are really incredible because they haven’t forgotten,” Courtney says. “They believe in the importance of investing in excellence with young men and women who have great potential but without the financial means. It’s really a ‘pay-it-forward model’ with people who, although the years have gone by, have never forgotten what Manhattan means to them.”

White notes that, as families experienced financial fallout from the pandemic, the number of smaller donations to the College was impacted. However, those numbers are now rebounding.

“Our alumni, parents and friends — really all our supporters — have been consistent in their support,” White says. “Some weren’t able to donate at the start, but then returned. Overall, something that I’ve seen over my 15 years here, is that our alumni always stick with us. When they evaluate their giving profile, Manhattan is still a priority.”

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Belonging at Manhattan:

Diversity Council Champions DEI on All Fronts IN KEEPING WITH MANHATTAN’S COMMITMENT TO ITS LASALLIAN CORE PRINCIPLES, the College’s faculty, staff, administrators and students are joining in concerted efforts to amplify and support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) on campus. A Diversity Council established in 2020 has taken significant steps to continue building a climate and culture in which all members of the Manhattan community feel a sense of belonging.

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THE FOUNDATIONS

Recent initiatives are a continuation of work that has been ongoing for many years, says Emmanuel Ago, Ed.D., assistant vice president for student life, noting that a diversity committee devoted to creating opportunities for faculty and staff to explore different aspects of diversity and identity was launched two decades ago. The committee organized lectures, performances and guest speakers in honor of Black History, Hispanic Heritage, Women’s History and Irish Heritage Months “to provide a sense of representation on campus,” Ago notes.

Another committee focused on student retention also had an impact, highlighting areas of student need and researching ways to address them. “One of the core pieces that we continually look at is our data from student success, whether it be retention, career outcomes, or graduation rate,” says Rani Roy, Ph.D., associate provost. “The retention committee, in looking at disaggregated data for retention, realized that there were ways to support our underserved, underrepresented minority students that maybe we weren’t doing.”

“Serendipitously,” Ago adds, “we were starting to think about what the student commons would look like, and redefine what Student Life would look like in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

That train of thought eventually led to the development of the Multicultural Center in the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Commons, which opened in 2014. Hayden Greene, who joined the College in 2016 as director of multicultural affairs, collaborates with student life directors to run emerging student leadership training and retreats, along with diversity and wellness events that complement the College’s clubs and programs. He also coordinates the center’s programming, which includes opportunities for students, faculty and staff to share their experiences, projects and stories through 15-minute Tiny Talks (modeled on TED Talks) and the annual Story to Tell! event. (During the COVID-19 pandemic, many offerings continued to be available virtually.)

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By Cecilia Donohoe

COUNCIL

In September 2018, the office of Diversity and Equity was established with a mandate to combat discrimination and champion inclusion and belonging at the College. Sheetal Kale, J.D., who has a background in civil rights law, joined Manhattan as director of equity, diversity and chief Title IX coordinator. In addition to dealing with sexual misconduct complaints, Kale’s job was envisioned to handle complaints of discrimination and to foster diversity and equity throughout the College.

“Justice and equity, along with other protected classes, specifically race, has always been a huge part of my career, if not a driving force behind it,” she says.

When a pair of surveys conducted in spring 2019 highlighted areas of dissatisfaction on the part of students and faculty members of color, Kale and Roy helped organize a series of focus groups to learn more and discover how best to respond. The focus groups revealed more specific concerns.

“What we ended up finding out was that there were many similar themes running through the communities of color on campus,” Roy says. “That was a feeling of a lack of a sense of belonging, feelings that there were not people of color at every level of the institution and in decision-making positions. And for students, really seeing role models in our faculty who are in those positions.”

To address these issues, a Diversity Council — comprised of a steering committee and advisory committee with representation from students, faculty and administrators — was formed in the spring of 2020. Its mission took on new clarity and urgency in light of the COVID-19 pandemic’s disproportionate effects on people of color, and the nationwide conversation around race that was sparked after the murder of George Floyd in May of that year.

The Diversity Council was officially introduced to the College community in a June 2020 email to all students and employees by Diversity Council leaders and President Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D. “Black Lives Matter,” their announcement stated. “It is important to begin there.”

Calling for “hard work, deep reflection, and involvement” from the College community, the message continued, “We must gain insight from people of color, particularly members of African American and Black communities, who are the most frequent targets of discrimination and racism in our society, but not expect them to shoulder this burden on their own.”

The council’s goals centered on the recruitment and retention of students and employees of color; meaningful change to the campus climate; inclusion of race and ethnicity as a collegewide core competency; and fostering community engagement and partnerships.

A series of concrete action steps provided a roadmap for implementing each goal.

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During the year and a half since the Diversity Council’s founding, the Manhattan community has continued pursuing the work, reflection and involvement necessary to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive campus environment.

One of the first actions taken by the council was to convene a number of virtual panel discussions, starting with Repairing the Breach: Summit on Race at Manhattan College, which gave faculty and staff of color the opportunity to explore both the need for and the process for achieving systemic change.

“Most of us are familiar with what [How to be an Antiracist author Ibram X.] Kendi calls the ‘segregationist model,’ characterized by racial hostility and racial violence and animus towards Black and Brown people,” said Jawanza Clark, Ph.D., associate professor of religious studies. Extremists like the Klu Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi skinheads, and white supremacist groups typify this model.

“The problem is that we don’t also recognize another mode of racism that’s much more benevolent, more accommodating, and often wellintentioned,” he continued. “That’s the assimilationist mode of being racist … which says Black and Brown people are not biologically inferior, but they are culturally inferior … Western liberal education is often rooted in the assimilationist educational model.”

Subsequent events included A Conversation on Race and Class, presented by Cory Blad, Ph.D., interim dean of the School of Liberal Arts, and Gregory Cowart, project manager, physical plant administration.

At a panel discussion entitled Go Back to Your Country: Reflections on Racism Against Asian Americans, speakers shared painful experiences of racism they had experienced firsthand.

“The reason why we invited personal stories … is that people don’t often think that Asians and Asian Americans are the targets of racism,” said Roy, who moderated. Pointing out the panel’s “provocative title,” she explained, “This is a comment a lot of us have heard as Asians and Asian Americans — and we want to call out some of the racism that individuals are faced with, and have been faced with for a long time.”

Opportunities for dialogue around DEI appeared in other forms, as well. A professional development workshop for senior administrators provided training on how to be a better ally toward colleagues of color.

“People stated that those conversations had an impact because they were able to break out in small groups and discuss amongst themselves different experiences they’d had with racism throughout their lives and on campus,” Kale says. “I think people really were happy about the fact that we were discussing race openly and not shying away from controversial topics.”

“Ongoing messaging is important in order to reinforce that these things are truly part of our value system here,” Ago agrees. “For example, providing a historical perspective as to why Juneteenth [now an official College holiday] is important to recognize really sets the tone and defines the culture of our DEI ecosystem.”

N N N CAMPUS

CLIMATE SURVEY

In late 2020, the College community was asked to participate in a Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey. In the interest of transparency, survey results were presented at a DEI and Mission Campus Climate Town Hall the following October.

Brother Jack Curran, FSC, Ph.D., vice president for mission, opened the presentation by placing the survey and its results in the context of the recently published Declaration on the Lasallian Educational Mission.

“One of the belief statements is, ‘We believe that another world is possible than the world in which we live, and that education is a fundamental force for building it,’” he said. “That’s what our educational process is all about.”

Roy and public health major Alixandria James ’23 then shared an analysis of the data that was collected. Although 71% of respondents reported being satisfied with the College, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals and commuter students reported a higher incidence of inequity and exclusion. Other groups, including people with disabilities and women, also reported lower levels of satisfaction. Specific issues that were highlighted included campus imagery that does not reflect individuals’ lived experiences, microaggressions, and a lack of space dedicated to commuter students.

“We found that commuters, who are largely students of color, have a harder time finding consistent places to stay on campus,” James says.

Survey responses also illuminated areas where the College is successfully connecting with underrepresented groups. Community engaged learning courses, for example, positively affected respondents’ experiences. “So, while there are things we have to improve,” James says, “it is also important to acknowledge the things that we’re doing very well and use those same tactics to fix the issues.”

N N N THE

ROAD AHEAD

Informed by insights gleaned from the survey, the Diversity Council is focusing on several areas of concern. A new task force will envision ways to better support the LGBTQ+ community, and a Bias Education and Response Team will create an avenue for reporting instances of microaggressions and bias. These can then be addressed from an educational stance, rather than a punitive one.

“What I often hear on the Title IX side and on the discrimination side is, ‘I don’t want this person to be necessarily expelled or fired, I just want them to know,’” says Kale, who recently left the College. “And I think it’s a really hard job as an educational institution to change the culture and to educate people around what they’re saying and why it’s hurtful. This is a first step hopefully in addressing a large part of the problem, which is that people who are marginalized here feel heard.”

Another aim is to apply to the U.S. Department of Education for designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). This would make the College eligible for grant funding that supports Hispanic students through graduation.

“We have begun conversations around becoming an HSI, and we think that it is important to take this step intentionally — thinking about how we support Hispanic student success and students of color holistically,” Roy says.

DEI efforts at Manhattan are an ever-evolving but ultimately rewarding undertaking, Kale notes. “I think that the work is never finished, but it’s something we’re constantly trying to better,” she says.

“It’s important to be open around our issues to really address them.”

One thing is certain: The College’s Lasallian identity is intertwined with — and reflective of — diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Manhattan College is a place where our commitment to firstgeneration students and our commitment to underrepresented students of color were there way before establishing these offices, departments and institutional policies and practices,” Ago says. “It’s part of our Lasallian values. We’re just moving true to the promise we made in 1853, and now we’re delivering on that, big time.”

MANHATTAN.EDU N 43

DEVELOPMENT

De La Salle Dinner Recognizes Eminent Alumna and Raises $1.2 Million A campus visit convinced Martin to choose Manhattan. Her father, who has a master’s degree in engineering, encouraged her to pursue her interest in math and science. In 1998, Martin earned a degree in computer science and a Phi Beta Kappa key, followed by a master’s in statistics at Columbia University. Launching her career at IBM Global Services, she went on to positions as CEO at NYSE Liffe U.S. and New York Portfolio Clearing LLC. Prior to the NYSE, she served as president of Fixed Income and Data Services at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), following roles as president of ICE Data Services and COO of ICE Clear U.S. Reflecting on her education, Martin highlighted three main lessons she learned at the College. First, she said, the world comThe College awards Lynn Martin ’98, president of the New York Stock Exchange, the 2021 De La Salle Medal. Mary Beth prises “a mosaic of people,” and Manhattan McDade ’93, President Brennan O’Donnell and Board Chair William Dooley ’75 join in honoring Martin at the dinner. celebrates that diversity. The second: “hard EXPRESSING GRATITUDE FOR THE LIFE LESSONS that “Manhattan work wins the day. That’s why no one is better qualified to join the uniquely teaches its students,” Lynn Martin ’98, president of the New workforce than a Manhattan grad.” The third lesson, Martin said, was York Stock Exchange (NYSE), accepted the College’s 2021 De La Salle “don’t be afraid to intellectually fight your corner.”

Medal as friends and alumni gathered to raise more than $1.2 million At Manhattan, she learned to be confident and think analytically. for student aid.

“It’s something I like to refer to as the beauty of higher mathematics,” Addressing the energized attendees, Martin said that at 17, choosMartin explained. “There’s a point when you stop talking in numbers ing to attend Manhattan was “my first major decision, which turned and begin speaking in terms of reason.” This habit of thought, she out to be the right one.” Almost 25 years later, she continued, “I’ve noted, was prevalent in all disciplines at the College. come to realize how much I really learned.”

Reinforced by the Lasallian tradition of excellence, Martin said, The dinner took place at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City in these helpful approaches to life and learning “epitomize what makes October. Established in 1951 and held annually since 1977, the College’s the College so special. I can’t thank Manhattan enough for all of the premier fundraising event generates resources for scholarships and direction that has stayed with me throughout the years.” other forms of aid “to support the wonderful young men and women” Mary Beth McDade ’93, an Emmy award-winning news anchor at who study on its campus, said President Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D. KTLA 5 in Los Angeles, served as emcee for the second consecutive The enduring worth of life and learning at Manhattan is evident in year. Frederic Salerno ’65 — director of Intercontinental Exchange, the achievements of exemplary graduates like Martin, O’Donnell said. past De La Salle Medal recipient and former trustee — led the effort as “You are a Jasper through and through,” he continued. “You have the dinner committee chair. William Dooley ’75, chair of the board and made the most of every opportunity, constantly finding ways to be the retired executive vice president of investments and financial services best you can be, and, very importantly, bringing out the best in others.” at AIG Inc., hailed Martin for always emulating “the Lasallian Catholic Taking her place on the podium, Martin shared the influences that values of her alma mater.” led her to Manhattan. She decided against a different university after Those values, O’Donnell noted in his remarks, have made the Colattending its accepted students day events. “Fortunately, my mom, a lege “a gateway to success, educating generation after generation not former guidance counselor, pushed me to apply to other schools — only in how to make a living but on how to live a full and purposeful Manhattan included.” Martin’s uncle, Ernest Maler, graduated in 1965. life.” He thanked attendees for supporting that mission — “even in the “Based on the way he talked,” she said, “I was pretty sure it was the midst of these challenging times in higher education.” happiest time of his life.”

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Scholarship Helps Accounting Major Stay at the College She Calls “Home” ASHLEY REDDINGTON ’22, ’23 (MBA) HAS BEEN A JASPER AT HEART ever since childhood, when she visited campus every October for Safe Halloween, the annual children’s trick-or-treating event hosted by the education honor society Kappa Delta Pi. “I have clear memories; I knew the entire campus,” the Inwood, New York, native recalls. “I absolutely loved it as a kid, and I just knew, ‘When I get older, I’m going to be a Manhattan College student.’”

In due course, upon graduating from Saint Vincent Ferrer High School, Reddington enrolled at Manhattan, choosing to major in political science with a minor in accounting. A commuter student, she enjoyed the quick and convenient access to campus via the No. 7 bus. After completing her classes for the day, she was a short walk away from her daily tutoring job with a Riverdale family — one she has held since high school.

However, as it did to so many students, the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of her sophomore year brought complications to Reddington’s college experience.

“The environment was tough for learning because I live in an apartment and have two sisters and two dogs,” she recalls. “The dogs would be barking, and I could hear my sisters while I was participating in my remote classes. We managed to get different desks and figured it out.”

“It was hard not seeing people in person, but all of the professors were extremely helpful during that time,” she continues. “They would always be consistent with their emails, reaching out, making sure students were doing well.” Virtual breakout sessions, she says, helped foster communication with her classmates.

It was during this time that Reddington began to reevaluate her career options, and decided to switch accounting from her minor to her major, with political science as a minor. “I realized I was interested in finances and how money works,” she says. “I wanted to open as many doors as I could, and I knew accounting offers a lot of opportunities.”

Aileen Farrelly, assistant dean of the O’Malley School of Business, proved especially helpful, Reddington notes, as was Amanda Sanseverino, Ph.D., assistant professor of accounting, CIS and law.

“Professor Farrelly is just always there for me, and Dr. Sanseverino talked to me about the MBA program,” she says. “I had to catch up on my math and accounting classes, and each and every professor definitely helped me.”

The pandemic proved challenging in other ways, too. Reddington’s family was contending with unexpected medical bills, and the household income was impacted when her father, a retired New York City police officer, had his hours as a court officer temporarily reduced.

Unbeknownst to her family, Reddington reached out to the Financial Aid office to apprise them of her circumstances.

“I take my academics very seriously, and I didn’t want anything to change,” she says. “I wanted to continue my classes and my whole college experience.”

Happily, Reddington was awarded the Linda M. and Peter M. Musumeci Jr. Foundation Inc. Scholarship, which was founded in 2007 to assist students enrolled in the O’Malley School of Business during their junior and senior years.

“My family was really shocked; it was a great surprise for them,” Reddington recalls. “They were very grateful and happy to hear about it. I’m very grateful, too, because it kept me on track to finish my degree.”

Now a senior, she has decided to continue at Manhattan for her MBA after graduation. She’s taking a heavy courseload of six classes, including a graduate-level accounting class, and is focused on the future. As a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the honor organization for financial information students and professionals, she attends information sessions with representatives from corporate and accounting firms to learn as much as she can about career opportunities and potential internships, for which she is currently interviewing.

A fitness enthusiast, when not studying at the library, she can often be found in the campus fitness center in Kelly Commons. “I love the people I’ve met; I feel like this is home,” she says. “I convinced my younger sister to come here next year!”

Looking back, the scholarship Reddington received has further cemented the affection she has felt for Manhattan ever since her trick-or-treating days. As she wrote in her thank you letter to the Musumecis: “I’ll forever remember this gift I was blessed to receive.”

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ALUMNI

Eight Inducted into Athletic Hall of Fame

E

IGHT ALUMNI WERE INDUCTED into the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2020, and one team was selected for special recognition this past November. The annual ceremony and dinner was postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The honorees included John Bruckner ’74 (football), Mary DudekSerre ’05 (women’s lacrosse), Carey Edwards ’93 (men’s basketball), Milan Jotanovic ’09 (men’s track & field), Walter Olsewski ’68 (men’s and women’s swimming & diving/golf), Mike Parisi ’13 (baseball), Joe Ryan ’81 (men’s and women’s track & field) and Michael Ward ’91 (men’s and women’s rowing). In addition, the 1977 men’s soccer team was honored for its outstanding achievement.

John Bruckner ’74 was a four-year starter for the football team, and the defensive leader of the 1972 team that matched the program record with six victories. A two-way player, he suited up at linebacker on defense and guard on offense, and was a three-year defensive captain.

Bruckner was named Manhattan’s Best Offensive Lineman as a sophomore in 1971, and the Best Defensive Player one year later. He would go on to serve as team captain as a senior. A longtime member of the FDNY, Bruckner retired as a battalion chief in 2002 and was named as the 2011 FDNY Holy Name Society Man of the Year.

Mary Dudek-Serre ’05 is one of the most accomplished players in the history of the women’s lacrosse program. She helped Manhattan to back-to-back MAAC Championships in 2004 and 2005, and is the only three-time MAAC All-Tournament team selection in school history. A First Team All-MAAC selection as a sophomore in 2003, she earned Second Team honors in 2004 thanks to a career-high 33 goals in leading Manhattan to a school-record 11 wins. At the time of her graduation, she was second in program history in both goals (114) and points (148).

Carey Edwards ’93 was one of the cornerstones of Manhattan’s outstanding basketball teams during the Steve Lappas and Fran Fraschilla eras. He scored 1,139 career points while helping the program to 79 wins during his four years, highlighted by three straight trips to the postseason. As a redshirt sophomore in 1991-92, Edwards and the Jaspers earned a then school-record 25 victories and a berth in

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the NIT, while setting the table for a historic season in 1992-93. He had a breakout year as a redshirt junior, earning All-MAAC Second Team honors, averaging 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, as Manhattan secured its first-ever MAAC Championship along with a date in the NCAA Tournament.

Milan Jotanovic ’09 is one of the top throwers in the history of the men’s track and field program. A five-time All-American in the shot put, he finished third at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. A standout for the program for five years, he redshirted the 2008 outdoor season and qualified for the Serbian Olympic team. A seven-time NCAA Championship participant, seven-time Met Champion and six-time IC4A Champion, he won the Penn Relays and NCAA Preliminary titles.

Walter Olsewski ’68 served as the head of the swimming and diving program for 20 seasons and was instrumental in resurrecting the men’s team at Manhattan. During his 20 years, he guided the women’s team to a 155-124 record (.556) and led both squads to a combined 200 victories. Olsewski also served 11 seasons from 2000-11 as the Jaspers’ golf coach.

Mike Parisi ’13 was an outstanding pitcher for the baseball program, winning 14 games with 272 strikeouts and a 4.03 ERA over 243.2 innings.

Following his junior year, he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 MLB Draft. Parisi would join the major leagues in 2008, playing a total of 12 games for the Cardinals. He burst on to the Manhattan scene as a rookie in 2002, going 7-4 with 81 strikeouts and a 2.83 ERA in 86 innings while helping the Jaspers to a then school-record 32 victories. Parisi earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors, and would cap his three-year Jasper career with a then school-record of 104 strikeouts in just 81 innings in 2004.

Joe Ryan ’81 has had a tremendous impact on the illustrious history of the track and field program. Ryan, who was named the 2003 AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year, coached several college recordholders and numerous All-East performers in both the IC4A and ECAC Championships. A total of 62 MAAC Championships, 39 Metropolitan Championships, and one IC4A Team Championship were won during his time. In 2000, Ryan helped guide Aliann Pompey ’99, Manhattan’s first female All-American, to both the NCAA indoor 400-meter title and a national collegiate record in the 500 meters. He also served as the head track and field coach for Guyana at the 2008 Beijing and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

Michael Ward ’91 was one of the elite oarsmen in the long history of the rowing program before also making an impact as a coach. He joined the team as a junior in 1988-89 and was a member of the lightweight eight and four. During his tenure, Manhattan medaled at many local races, including the New York State and Metropolitan Championships. Ward coached at Manhattan from 1991-97 and again from 200313, before returning in 2017.

The 1977 men’s soccer team finished the 1977 season with a 10-3-3 record. At the time, the 10 wins set a program record, which has only been surpassed once, when the team won 12 matches in 2018.

FROM THE COLLEGE’S ARCHIVES

Whatever Happened to … the Annual Retreat?

“IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO WORK EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR MINISTRY EXCEPT

BY SOLITUDE AND PRAYER,” proclaimed Saint Augustine. Retreat and reflection, he wrote, are the two means by which we separate ourselves from the world entirely and from the tendency to sin, and consecrate ourselves entirely to God. St. Augustine’s message seems more relevant today than ever.

Despite the compulsory respite caused by a global pandemic, stress, sadness and dread, coupled with relentless political and cultural polarization, have made mindfulness and spiritual reflection a necessity. St. Augustine reminds us that it’s important to take time to reflect on what we are doing; to contemplate our behavior and encourage practices that exemplify a lived faith. This opportunity was once a fundamental ritual and holy obligation for the students of Manhattan College.

The annual retreat, established to promote Catholic principles and encourage spiritual formation, was an integral experience and required event in the Manhattan College academic schedule for decades. Officially mandated in 1897, it represented a significant phase of the spiritual life of Manhattan men. During the time of retreat, students were given the opportunity to renew their spiritual lives through intensive programs of prayer, conferences, meditations, readings and the reception of the sacraments. The annual retreat was one of many devotional practices that affirmed the College’s Catholic values and sustained the faith of its students.

It wasn’t until the 1960s when students, faculty and administrators began to examine the overall program of campus religious activities to ensure its preservation and revitalization. The campus culture was changing in the wake of societal and ecclesial developments. A significant step was made away from compulsion, making many of the devotional observances voluntary. One of the last mandated religious activities of the College was the annual retreat. Students began to question the validity and effectiveness of the required event. In 1965, The Quadrangle newspaper surveyed the students prevailing attitudes, and the results revealed that 82% were against the mandatory retreat. More remarkable, perhaps, was that 56% of those polled said they would make a retreat anyway if it was not required.

The teachings of the Second Vatican Council and its emphasis on religious tolerance and flexibility helped convince administrators that all religious activities and devotional practices had to be voluntary. The requirement of the annual student retreat was eliminated in 1966 and was replaced by a series of forums and discussions to help foster and encourage introspection, theology, sacramental and liturgical life. Optional retreats continued with new modifications, including the introduction of relevant social topics on racism, pornography, religious activities on campus, psychology and marriage. Private, off-campus retreats like the co-ed Novacor retreat were also encouraged.

Today’s co-ed, pluralistic campus is different in many ways from the College of 60 years ago. Nevertheless, the opportunity provided by retreats to experience prayer, encourage faith and celebrate spiritual care persists. Campus Ministry and Social Action sponsors several faith-based retreats incorporating service, wellness activities and discussions on relevant social issues. Some retreats introduce students to the Lasallian charism and welcome them into our Lasallian community. In today’s chaotic world, we can all benefit from gathering together in one place, from listening, hearing, feeling, sharing and emerging refreshed and renewed and, as St. Augustine advised, capable and successful in our vocation.

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ALUMNOTES 1930

Michael Mazurki was inducted into the Capital Region of New York State Football Hall of Fame and was posthumously awarded the New York State Award by the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.

He played both football and basketball and continued on to be a professional heavyweight wrestler. Mazurki passed away on Dec. 1, 1990.

1959

Francis Carey retired after 63 years of working for IBM and the New York State Department of Labor, and moved to Connecticut.

1961

Rich Curtin, Nick Catalano, Tom Philbin, Richard Caputo and Danny Panzer had an Omega Lambda Phi fraternity reunion in Moab, Utah, after 60 years. The members reminisced about their college years and explored the beautiful landscapes of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

1962

Albert Cevasco retired from Pfizer as a principal research chemist. He started with the company in 2001.

He plans on traveling and visiting his grandchildren in South Carolina and Maryland.

1963

Joseph Palma has two grandchildren attending Manhattan College.

1965

Frank Cuomo retired after 40 years of running Frank Cuomo & Associates Inc. Thomas Mullady was awarded the Licking Memorial Health System’s 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award was created in 1989 to recognize individuals for contributions that reflect the LMHS mission to improve the health of the community. Mullady became the safety, medical and industrial hygiene leader and retired from the Ohio-based company in 2002.

PATRICIA REGAN BARRY ’84 WAS CHOSEN as one of Westchester Magazine’s Amazing Teachers of 2022. The article highlights Barry’s dedication and creativity as a third-grade teacher in Westchester County’s Edgemont School District in Scarsdale, New York.

The magazine notes: “We’ve taken this opportunity to showcase some of our county’s many outstanding pedagogues, ranging from elementary school all the way through high school, who have made it their missions in life to mold young and impressionable minds into healthy, well-prepared, and productive members of society.”

Barry did not begin her career as a teacher. She graduated from Manhattan College with a finance degree and worked as a financial analyst. She says she began substitute teaching when her children were young and decided to go back to college to get her certification in order to pursue teaching full time. Barry earned her master’s degree in education from Fordham University. She has been an elementary school teacher in the Edgemont School District for the past 15 years and currently teaches third grade at Greenville Elementary School.

“I really wasn’t enamored with business,” Barry says. “I wanted a job where I could be home with my children. I loved subbing. I fell into the perfect environment for me. I am an example of someone who recreated themselves.”

Barry, whose parents were both originally from Ireland, says her family always placed a great value on education.

“Education was as sacred as going to church,” she says. She adds that her Catholic school upbringing also has influenced her teaching style, making her lessons very project-based.

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For example, her class works on a children’s version of Hamlet.

“Students create a six-foot [Elsinore Castle] castle complete with drawbridge and moat,” Barry describes. “They Patricia Regan Barry ’84 is one of Westchester County’s create each amazing teachers, according to a recent issue of Westchester major character Magazine. Noted for her creativity, she teaches third grade at and write Greenville Elementary School in Scarsdale, New York. about how the characters have transformed throughout the play. Students create a playbill describing the antagonist and protagonist and supporting characters.”

“For our unit on landforms,” she continues, “we create homemade clay (flour and water), and each student creates a volcano, which we ‘set’ off at the end of this science unit.”

Calling teaching a gift every day, Barry concludes that it is not a job.

“I become part of families’ lives,” she says. “It is a responsibility to be a positive role model.”

Photo courtesy of Kenneth Gabrielsen Photography

A Westchester County Educator is an Amazing Teacher

1967

Patrick Morrissey was interviewed for an article in the New York Real Estate Journal in which he discussed his career as a materials consultant for construction repair and restoration.

1968

Kenneth Lanfear had an award named after him by the American Water Resources Association for the best paper on a technology subject published in its journal each year. He served as the president of the American Water Resources Association and retired as a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in 2006.

James Connolly has been retired from Jackson Electric Authority for seven years, married for 53 years, and currently has eight grandchildren.

1969

Vincent Maligno had dinner with his Alpha Phi Delta brother Gerard McManus and spent two days in Boston with his former classmate William White.

1970

Charles Ruff sold his orthodontic practice in 2020 and is continuing to teach part time in the Harvard Orthodontic Program. He and his wife, Rebecca, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Raymond Valenti retired as a mathematics tutor and is currently caring for his wife.

1972

Charles Barrett, director of catering sales for the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel and a member of Marriott’s Chairman Circle for the top 1% of the salesforce, retired after 34 years. He recently published a book titled, Playing to Win or Afraid to Lose, which covers sales in the hospitality industry.

Thomas Behr has eight grandchildren and is happily living in New Jersey.

Gerald Byrne welcomed three more grandchildren in September and October 2021.

Brian Rohan welcomed his grandson, Tristan, in Dubai on 9/9/2021.

1973

Carlos Rodriguez retired from the New York State Attorney General’s office in 2009. He recently volunteered at a Latino youth agency dedicated to helping young people attend college.

1974

Steven Fangmann was profiled in the Long Island Business News magazine under the environmental consulting and engineering and construction sections. Fangmann is currently the president and CEO of D&B Engineers and Architects P.C. in Woodbury, New York, and has been recognized for his achievements in engineering during the course of 40 years.

Joseph Maguire, a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy, joined the Orchestra Macrosystems Advisory Board. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Manhattan, Maguire served as commanding officer, SEAL Team TWO from 1992-1994, and deputy commander for the Naval Special Warfare Command from 19992001. He also was the acting director of National Intelligence.

1975

Robert Mittelstadt retired after 35 years of teaching social studies and coaching varsity football at North Salem High School in New York.

1976

Russell Josephs retired after working at the University of South Carolina and York Prep School in the physical education department and is now living in New Smyrna, Florida.

1977

Richard Ludwig retired from Schindler Elevator Corporation after 43 years. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Ludwig worked in many fields, including engineering, manufacturing, management and field operations.

1979

Kevin Reilly retired after 40 years in education and athletics.

Judith Courtney was featured in the Garden City News for her candidacy in the Eastern Property Owners Association of Garden City, New York.

1982

James Diver started work at Chemical Bank (now Chase) in 1982. He was with the company for 23 years. After a merger eliminated his position, Diver went back to school and received his master’s degree in education.

He has been a special education teacher at Half Hollow Hills West High School in Dix Hills, New York, for 14 years.

Susan Wittner celebrated 10 years as an adjunct professor in the O’Malley School of Business. She has more than 25 years of experience in marketing, including brand strategy, corporate identity, advertising, events, public relations, thought leadership and social media.

1983

Sam Borrelli was promoted from deputy commissioner of the Yonkers Department of Public Works to the role of interim commissioner. Borelli has 45 years of experience working for his family’s business, Virgil Borrelli Contracting Company Inc., as a project manager working alongside professional engineers.

Jim Malone retired after 26 years with the New York City Board of Education. He plans to work in the field of nonprofit fundraising and organizations.

Frank Rechner was named the technical director for the Air Force Petroleum Office (Det 1 SCOW). He formerly was Defense Logistics Agency Energy deputy director, supplier operations, and retired from the USAF in 2011 as a colonel.

1985

Willie and Mary ’83 McLaughlin are proud of their daughter, Sydney McLaughlin, a twotime track and field Olympic gold medalist, who is competing to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The couple met at Manhattan College and were both members of the track team.

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ALUMNI

1989

Kieran Lynch was named the 2022 grand marshal of Bergen County’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. Lynch is the son of the association’s founding member Edward Lynch, from County Kerry, Ireland. Working in conjunction with Holy Name Medical Center’s Foundation, Lynch helped supply personal protective equipment to all four hospitals in Bergen County early in the pandemic.

1990

Edward Bier was promoted to associate at Dewberry in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Bier is a member of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association and was recently named Engineer of the Year by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) North Jersey branch.

Ken Bouyer was honored by AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) as one of 27 influential leaders whose work serves as an inspiration to the next generation of business leaders. Bouyer is Ernst & Young’s America’s director of inclusiveness recruiting and a member of the board of trustees at Manhattan College.

1991

Maggie Nerz Irbarne has published multiple short stories and essays in a variety of small online and print publications. She began her writing career as a student at Manhattan College and is looking forward to publishing more stories this year.

1993

Matthew Skaarup was announced as the new chief executive officer at the Greenwich, Connecticut, YMCA. He began his YMCA career at the Capital District YMCA in Albany.

1994

Ofrona Reid is the new chief medical officer at the Syracuse Community Health Center. Reid was the senior vice president at Oneida Health Hospital and president of Oneida Medical Services.

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JASPER BOOKSHELF John Paluszek ’55 released Global Public Relations in the Roiling Twenty-Twenties: Confronting Disinformation, Serving a Sustainable Society (2021), a free summary of major issues within this decade and the public relations practices to address them. The book discusses the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, climate change, social media and contextual global issues. Paluszek is a former journalist, author and senior counsel at Ketchum in New York and Washington, D.C., specializing in reputation management and corporate responsibility.

Martin Keefe ’60 recently published a book of short stories, Tales from a Cardboard Box (Martin L. Keefe, 2020). The short stories touch on dreams, love, fear and hope that one often experiences and keeps concealed throughout life. Keefe is currently a retired marketing professional who spent much of his career at IBM. In addition to Tales from a Cardboard Box, Keefe has written Taking the Measure.

Richard Curtin ’61 published the ninth book in the Manny Rivera Mystery Series, Final Arrangements (Monticello Press, 2020). It follows the story of Iggy Webb, a Moab rockhound who is found murdered in his motor home. As Deputy Sheriff Manny Rivera peels back the layers of the case, he discovers a shocking conspiracy unlike anything he’s ever encountered. His investigation uncovers tentacles leading to the most unlikely places and motives driven by the darkest of man’s imperfections. Curtin is a retired research executive who served as vice president at Southwest Research Institute.

Richard Ranellone ’64 wrote his first historical fiction novel The Aüslander (Newman Springs Publishing Inc., 2021), which tells the story of a World War II German soldier who is captured by the United States Army in North Africa. After spending his captivity at a prisoner-of-war camp in Texas, he returns to war-ravaged Germany but is disillusioned by the dismal state of the country and the lack of opportunities available to him. Ranellone previously worked as a technology manager for Westinghouse and holds a master’s degree in science in nuclear engineering from the University of Virginia.

James Patterson ’69 recently released a novel with Dolly Parton titled Run, Rose, Run. The thriller follows a young singer-songwriter on the rise and on the run, and determined to do whatever it takes to survive. The talented woman travels to Nashville, to pursue her music-making dreams while coping with her dark past. Patterson and Parton are also partnering with Reese Witherspoon’s media company, Hello Sunshine, for the feature film adaptation of Run, Rose, Run, in which Parton is set to star. Patterson was awarded the 2019 National Humanities Medal, the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, and nine Emmy Awards.

Peter Quinn ’69, author of four novels and a book of essays, had all five republished last year by Fordham University Press, starting with Banished Children of Eve: A Novel of Civil War New York. The title was originally released in 1994 and won a 1995 American Book Award. His acclaimed Fintan Dunne Trilogy, comprising the Hour of the Cat, The Man Who Never Returned and Dry Bones, was reissued this past fall. Quinn’s book of essays, Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America, was released this spring, and Cross Bronx: A Writing Life is due out in fall 2022. As a foremost chronicler of New York City, Quinn has participated as a guest commentator in several PBS documentaries.

Thomas Reilly ’73 published his first novel entitled, Chasing Time (World Castle Publishing, 2021). A medical suspense and fantasy story, it begins in Rome around A.D. 40-50 with the fictional character, Lucius Fabius Antonius. The plot then jumps to the story of the Roman merchant’s mirror image, Anthony Lucas, in 1960s Brooklyn. The story follows Anthony’s journey to seek a cure for his wife’s terminal illness. Reilly is a retired biotechnology scientist and has published numerous essays on science and technology.

1998 Kevin McNeill ’74 wrote a novel with his son, David McNeill, titled The Orchid and the Emerald (Blackstone Publishing, 2022). The story follows William Gunn after he returns home from the Napoleonic Wars, and his daughter falls prey to a mysterious sickness.

Gunn ventures into the Amazon rainforest to search for the only cure, the black orchid.

Across the Atlantic, American frontiersman Nathanial Yankee left his country to join a new revolution to free South America from the Spanish. In a race against time, the two must survive the battlefields and work together against their enemies. McNeill served on a blue water research vessel and worked for Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia.

Annette Berkovits ’77 released Erythra Thalassa: Brain Disrupted (Tenth Planet Press, 2020), which details Berkovits’ personal journey of faith, hope and guilt through poetry after her son suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and became a quadriplegic. Erythra Thalassa: Brain Disrupted is her first poetry chapbook. Berkovits has written two memoirs, a novel, and assorted poetry and short stories. She previously served as the senior vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York for 30 years.

Julienne Pechulis Ryan ’81 published The Learned-it-in-Queens Communications Playbook – Winning Against Digital Distraction (J. Ryan Partners, 2020), in which she shares ways to communicate effectively in our new digital age from a humorous perspective and how her understanding of communication was informed by her Queens upbringing. Ryan currently works as a public speaker, trainer and coach and is a partner in her publishing company, J. Ryan Partners.

Frances Martinez ’10 published her first children’s book, The Tale of El Chiquitín (Scarlen Martinez, 2021). The story follows the fictional character Sissy Dominguez, who has a very close relationship with her mother and father. Everything changes when her parents return from a trip and seem to have changed forever. Her grandmother blames the mysterious El Chiquitín, so Sissy sets out to uncover what happened. The children’s tale is written in English but includes Spanish phrases for those interested in learning either language. Martinez has worked in urban education for almost 10 years.

Susan M. Fiorentino ’12 self-published We Will Never Forget: The Stories of Children of 9/11 First Responders (2021), which features stories from more than 40 children of 9/11 first responders, including two Manhattan College alumni. All proceeds from sales of the book go to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation. The daughter of a detective and first responder, Fiorentino is an assistant at Staten Island Academy.

Danica Mendez-Liakos ’12 penned her first book, The Phantom’s Tea (Danica MendezLiakos, 2020), part of her trilogy All are Welcome at the Silent Circus … But How Do I Get Out of Here? A children’s horror novel, it teaches children the importance of spreading kindness to combat fear and anxiety. Mendez-Liakos was inspired by R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books, which she loved as a child, and the book features illustrations by the same artist who designs Stine’s covers, Tim Jacobus. Mendez-Liakos teaches sixthgrade math and science at Evergreen Charter Middle School in Hempstead, New York.

Jamila Thompson ’19 wrote a children’s picture book, Girls Can Be Engineers (JH Lindo LLC, 2021), in which a young girl, Hannah, searches for a career at her school’s upcoming Career Day. Each time she chooses a career, she becomes discouraged because her chosen career seems to be only for boys. With the help of her mother, a structural engineer, she learns that she can do anything, regardless of her gender. Thompson earned her civil engineering degree from Manhattan and is a recent construction management graduate from Columbia University.

Angela Johnson was selected as the 2021-2022 Newport, Rhode Island, Public Schools Teacher of the Year. At Manhattan, she majored in secondary education with a minor in social studies and sociology. In 2014, Johnson was hired at Rogers High School, where she currently works as a social studies teacher.

Michelle-Marie (Komorowski) and Gregory Shaw Jr. ’99 are proud that their son, Gregory Shaw III, signed his National Letter of Intent to play on the Manhattan College baseball team. Gregory III will be a third-generation Jasper. His mother, Michelle-Marie, was a four-year starter on the Manhattan softball and swim teams.

2001

Peter Mangubat is currently a pediatric hospitalist at New York-Presbyterian in Queens.

2003

Mellisa Cain was featured in an article on the Vermont-centric website Seven Days detailing her initiative to provide masks to everyone in Burlington, Vermont. In the first year of the pandemic, Cain was able to distribute about 40,000 masks. In addition to her mask initiative, Cain also ran clothing drives, launched a GoFundMe campaign for Mawuhi African Market, and founded a pop-up mutual aid program to help those struggling to make ends meet in her community.

Lester Marks was recently admitted to the New York State Bar.

2005

Janett Santiago has been working as an engineer for the city of New Rochelle since 2015. She previously worked on the Yankee Stadium project as an engineer for Turner Construction.

2009

Kathleen Bulson and Daniel Maher got married in October 2021 at St. Anthony’s Church in Nanuet, New York. The couple met during their junior year at the College.

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ALUMNI

Jasper Honored at the Pentagon MAJOR JOHN H. MARK JR. ’00 WAS HONORED POSTHUMOUSLY for his service to the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps in June 2021 at the Pentagon. Lieutenant General Charles Pede, T-JAG, dedicated a plaque in the Pentagon’s JAG office to recognize Mark’s dedication and service to the United States and to the U.S. Army.

“This is a rare and distinct honor,” say his parents, John H. Mark Sr. ’71 and Angela P. Mark ’87. “JH’s was a life of service. The quote from Mother Teresa, ‘I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples,’ is inscribed on the plaque honoring his military service, and it is appropriate to his life of service.”

Mark made an impression on the Manhattan College campus, as well. The Gunn Medal recipient at his graduation, he was also a member of the Pen and Sword Society and Phi Beta Kappa. As a student, he studied abroad at Oxford University and was involved in the Manhattan College Players. Mark had starring roles in Rumors and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. After graduation, he also served as director of student life.

A graduate of St. John’s Law School, Mark taught at a Catholic elementary school in Queens and served as an adjunct professor at Monroe College’s Bronx campus while waiting to join the JAG Corps, to which he was accepted in December 2007. He served as trial defense counsel at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. During his service, he volunteered as a cavalry soldier with Troop B and also earned the German Armed Forces Proficiency Medal.

Lieutenant General Charles Pede, Angela ’87 and John Mark Sr. ’71 stand alongside the plaque in the Pentagon’s JAG office dedicated to their son, Major John Mark Jr. ’00.

Mark graduated from Fort Benning, Georgia, Airborne School in 2009 and was deployed as senior defense counsel in Kuwait in 2012, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He was assigned to the Pentagon the following year as a criminal law attorney with the JAG office. Mark served from 2007 until his death in 2015.

“Our son would be so proud and pleased to know that his legacy is being carried on through the Manhattan College Major John H. Mark Jr. Study Abroad Scholarship we established shortly after his passing,” Mark Sr. concludes. Contributions may be made online at manhattan.edu.

Alexandra Velella was highlighted in the Colonie Spotlight for winning a seat on the town board in the Albany County Board of Elections. Velella received her bachelor’s degree in communication from Manhattan College, a master’s degree from Pace University, and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.

Gabrielle Puglia-Pesce became a speechlanguage pathologist for Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, for the 2021-2022 school year.

2010

2012

Perry Geyer Jr. was promoted to senior project manager in the New York tri-state office of LeChase Construction Services LLC in Armonk. In his 15 years with LeChase, Geyer has overseen more than $100 million in construction for biomedical facilities.

Victoria Scala, a civil engineer and president at Lowy & Donnath Inc., was featured in the Engineering NewsRecord’s Top 20 Under 40 group.

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2011

Nathaniel Burke started as an assistant professor in the economics department at West Virginia University.

Jonathan Luke is working as a senior project manager at the New York City Economic Development Corporation Capital Program. He manages the design and construction of a range of New York City public projects, including civil infrastructure and ground-up building construction.

2013

Matt Wellington became a fixture in the public health policy landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic through his work as the director and face of the nonprofit advocacy group, U.S. PIRG, a federation of independent, state-based, citizenfunded public interest research groups.

He appeared on NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, and numerous local TV stations.

Wellington, who has worked for U.S. PIRG or its state groups since graduation, also runs PIRG’s campaigns to keep children from getting hooked on tobacco.

Adrian Hot, an innovation manager at Blue Point Brewing Company, spoke on behalf of the company in an interview with Beverage Dynamics. He discussed the company’s latest innovations, such as the rise of craft beer terpenes and what’s next for the industry.

2015

MARRIAGES

2009

John Atwell received a nomination for City & State New York’s Real Estate/ Construction 40 Under 40 Award. Atwell is an assistant superintendent at Skanska and has worked on multiple large-scale projects like the Bayonne Bridge Project, Kosciuszko Bridge, and LaGuardia Airport renovation. He is currently working on the Hunts Point Interstate Access Improvement Project with the New York State Department of Transportation to create access for commercial vehicles traveling to and from the Hunts Point Peninsula.

Kathleen Bulson and Daniel Maher, 10/29/21

2010

Gabrielle Puglia-Pesce and Frank Pesce, 10/9/2021

2012

Caitlin Sweetapple and Michael Salogub ’13, 10/21

2017

Sean Sonnemann and Michelle DePinho ’18, 10/02/21

2016

2018

Rachel Love started a new job at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as a project development coordinator for personnel.

Gregory Zajac began a new position at Celonis, a start-up company in New York City.

Daniel Murphy and Victoria Thomas, 6/23/21

BIRTHS

2006

Mark Sheeran and Pamela Sheeran Daughter, Mae, 11/7/21

2017

John Evans was featured in New York’s The Rivertowns Enterprise for his inspiring poetry. At the age of five, Evans lost his sight and in 2015, he learned that its cause was a brain tumor. The article discusses his journey through two surgeries and his outlets like podcasting and writing.

Francis Merklin earned his Professional Engineer license from D&B Engineers and Architects. Merklin has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in environmental engineering that he earned from Manhattan College in 2019.

2018

Daniel Tenney received the Con Edison’s Living Our Values Award for his dedication to keeping service safe and reliable, helping customers, and his commitment to his community. He is currently a senior designer in gas engineering maps and records at Con Edison, and has actively been working to help large buildings in the area switch from oil to natural gas. In his free time, Tenney also volunteers at the West Sayville Fire Department with his brother and father.

2011

Steven Montoni and Cara (Vullo) Montoni Son, Luca, 8/23/21

2012

Marielle McMahon Son, Christopher, 8/16/21

2019

Andres Rojas was featured in a Construction News article highlighting the next generation’s leaders. Rojas is a computer technical assistant at Columbia Law School in New York City.

2020

Maryann Moriarty, a reporter for The Educators Room, published an article, “Filling Your Cup with Science,” where she reflected on her achievements as an elementary science teacher. After 13 years of teaching first and second grades, Moriarty decided to transfer to elementary science, where she taught K-4. She held weekly science programs for roughly 287 students and emphasized the importance of teaching science in elementary schools.

ADVANCED DEGREES

1998

Christopher Trivino earned his Master of Arts in Defense and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College.

2005

Michael Laterza received his doctorate in English pedagogy with a concentration in teaching from Murray State University.

2012

Samantha Fox earned her Master of Science in Human Resource Management and Development from New York University.

MANHATTAN.EDU N 55 53

ALUMNI

Alumna Becomes First Woman to Lead New Jersey Town’s Beach Patrol

S

OME GRADS FOLLOW A STRAIGHT LINE TO THEIR CAREER, others aren’t sure what they want to do and try a few jobs until landing one that suits them.

For still others, their ideal job was always there, waiting to be discovered.

The latter example was the case for Meghan Marro ’13, who, in a sense, found two jobs waiting for her. Marro’s full-time job is teaching; her summer job is working for Beach Haven Beach Patrol in Beach Haven, New Jersey, on Long Beach Island (LBI), which she has done since the summer after her freshman year in college.

Throughout the years, she has risen through the ranks, including lieutenant and assistant chief. In January 2021, she was promoted to chief of beach patrol, the first woman to be selected for the position.

The Cherry Hill, New Jersey, resident has received support from all sides.

“If you think about — it’s always been a man’s game, and now all of a sudden, it’s changing,” she says. “I’m in charge of all these women and all these men, and I believe it’s important to show that a woman can do just as great as a man. I think that all of the men that work for me believe that I 54 N spring 2022

deserved it, and the younger women, who are my lifeguards-in-training, look up to me.”

In her new role, she oversees a staff of about 50, coordinating their work schedules and beach assignments, and ensuring that their certifications are current, for example.

She also responds to emergencies in town and on the beach.

Marro has loved the beach since she was a child, and with her teaching background in physical education, it’s as if the position was just waiting for her when her predecessor retired.

The start and end of the season are particularly challenging because teachers can only work on weekends until school is out, and college students leave for school before the season is over. But she still loves it.

“It’s different every day,” she says. “I can wake up to a beautiful, calm ocean and then suddenly, the wind can turn, and it’s roaring.”

When Marro enrolled in Manhattan College, she knew she wanted to teach, possibly special education.

“Then when I went to Orientation, I saw there was a physical education major,” she says, and that’s the field she decided on, with a minor in adaptive physical education.

She credits several Manhattan professors — Lisa Toscano, Ed.D., Shawn Ladda, Ed.D., and Jeffrey Cherubini, Ph.D. — with influencing her desire to teach. She especially remembers “how they spoke about teachers, and how you hold yourself as a teacher.”

In addition, Marro was a four-sport varsity athlete at Manhattan. She was on the swim team and was captain of the cross-country team and both the winter and spring track and field teams. With that experience, who can doubt that teaching physical education was preordained for her?

Playing sports at Manhattan also helped her to be organized. “I had to be in class at this time, and then I had a paper due at that time, so I had to find time to make sure I made every practice, every meet, and did all my schoolwork, too,” she says. That skill has stayed with her, and helps in both jobs.

Another takeaway from college are her memories from May Camp, a spring program for physical education and exercise science students following freshman year that offers physical and mental challenges through outdoor educational activities.

“It’s like a sleep-away camp,” Marro says. “It really changed how everyone in my department viewed each other. We became close and from then on, in every single class, everyone knew each other in a personal, beautiful way.”

For the last four of her nine years teaching physical education, Marro has worked at the J. Mason Tomlin School in Mantua Township, New Jersey. Besides teaching, she also plans and develops curricula for games, and life and team sports, leads Field Day, and organizes and runs township activities, among other responsibilities at the elementary school. In addition, she is using her adaptive physical education minor in her role as leader of the physical challenge club.

She sees parallels between teaching and her beach job.

“I think that it makes me a little warmer dealing with kids all day and then going to the beach and having to explain different things to a child, knowing how to talk to a kid,” she says. “Some of the kids call me Chief Marro, which I think is hysterical.”

A “perk” during her years working at the beach was meeting her future husband, Colin, a medical salesman, when she was a lieutenant, and he was a “regular lifeguard.”

They will be married this June — where else?

— in LBI.

Politics and Tech Make for a Rewarding Career for This Jasper

W

HEN TOM MCNEIL ’04 WAS LOOKING for an internship his senior year, he happened to be in the right place at the right time.

“While taking classes in my major, history, I also took a bunch of government classes and fell in love with politics and policy,” he says. (He minored in government and religious studies.) McNeil also worked part time doing clerical work for the history and government departments and had become friendly with some of the professors.

Margaret Groarke, Ph.D., professor of political science, noticed his passion for politics and policy and asked about his plans after graduation.

“When I said I wasn’t sure, she asked if I would be interested in interning with New York State Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz. I jumped at the chance,” he says.

He started interning that January.

That occurrence was an early lesson for him in the importance of developing strong personal relationships, and it has served him well. “That lesson has carried over in my work in government politics, especially — absolutely,” he says.

Following McNeil’s internship, Dinowitz hired him full time, and McNeil stayed eight years. Besides working on Dinowitz’s re-elec-

tion campaign, he helped on the campaigns of New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., among others.

Then McNeil decided that he wanted to see the other side of government — “how things work from the outside,” and he chose transportation technology; first joining startup car2go, a car-sharing company.

Next, he joined Getaround, which involves customers renting cars from private owners.

Following that, he worked for Revel, a moped and ride-share company. He worked as an adviser for the two founders even before the company had a name, and today is on the advisory board.

“Those three companies were trying to change the transportation landscape,” he says. Just as he fell in love with politics and policy at Manhattan College, he “fell in love with tech companies and technology and saw that tech could bring about change faster. I also saw the opportunity to bridge tech and government,” McNeil says. Startups understand rapid change, but they don’t really understand government, he explains.

He helps translate these things, so each side understands where the other is coming from.

In 2020, the Manhattan resident joined Instacart, a grocery delivery service, as East

Coast public policy manager. It’s still transportation technology and policy, but it’s also focused on improving the quality of life in cities. (For example, Instacart helped keep grocery stores open during the pandemic.)

McNeil describes the job as advocating for public policy outcomes that support the long-term growth of the company. In addition, he builds trust with government policymakers, helping them to understand Instacart’s business and its positive impact on their communities.

He also helps to shape complex public policy debates that will help define the future of work and e-commerce.

“A perfect example is Instacart’s expansion of SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program) after hearing from so many elected officials at the start of the pandemic,” he says. One of their biggest concerns was the ability of their New York constituents to use SNAP benefits online and have groceries delivered. “We were able to raise this issue internally, and within a couple of months, SNAP benefits could be used on our Instacart platform,” he notes.

“That’s where I’ve made my career — translating for people the positive changes that technology can bring to our communities, and being the go-between for government policy and tech,” he says.

His efforts have garnered some enviable attention; in 2021, he was named to City & State New York’s list of New York City 40 under 40 rising stars.

The excitement one hears in McNeil’s voice when he talks about his work is related to another lesson he learned at Manhattan: Surround yourself with great people. He’s done that with friends he made there and afterward with colleagues.

“My friends from Manhattan are still in my life, and I talk to a few almost daily,” he says.

“And when you work with great people, you wake up with a passion for your job, and you want to work with them and achieve great things together.”

MANHATTAN.EDU N 55

ALUMNI

For Thomas Foley ’92, Public Service Means Getting It Done

W

HEN NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS appointed a new commissioner of the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) in January of this year, he chose someone who has been, in Adams’ words, “a steady hand in moments of crisis”: Thomas J. Foley ’92, P.E. Indeed, in his nearly 30-year career in public service (25 of them at DDC), Foley has been front and center in helping the city recover from historic moments of crisis such as 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy. More recently, he has played a pivotal role in the city’s efforts to provide the resources and buildings needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beyond addressing the city’s needs during emergencies, Foley’s work also encompasses New Yorkers’ day-to-day and civic concerns.

He oversees the city’s capital construction projects, from animal shelters and libraries to firehouses and community health centers, while ensuring that they are aligned with the city’s resiliency goals.

The Staten Island, New York, native notes that his education at Manhattan, where he majored in civil engineering, was foundational to his success. Especially vivid is the support he received from Moujalli Hourani, D.Sc., associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

“I’ll never forget some of Dr. Hourani’s classes,” he says. “I sat down with Dr. [Jeanette] Brown, Dr. Hourani, Dr. [John] Horvath at various times because I needed their insight. They instilled a level of confidence in their students to, ‘keep at it, and you will be successful.’”

After Manhattan, Foley joined the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “I had a preference for construction and wanted to be outside,” he recalls. “A good number of our class went to work for the city; we had jobs lined up November of our senior year. I still strive for that now as commissioner at DDC — to start outreach to college students so that when they graduate, they can start as soon as they’re able.”

In 1996, Foley transitioned to the newly formed Department of Design and Construction. Since then, he has worked in every borough of the city in a variety of roles at the agency, including deputy director, director and assistant commissioner in the Division of Infrastructure. After 9/11, he became a project manager for DDC’s World Trade Center Disaster Recovery and Debris Removal Project, reviewing staffing and procedures, analyzing labor and equipment utilization, and identifying and correcting inefficiencies in the $500-million endeavor.

56 N spring 2022

“I remained at the site for about two years,” he says. “During that time, I worked with so many fellow alumni from Manhattan College, more so than from any other school, from an engineering standpoint.” He continues, “It had its physical and mental challenges, but everybody was working together to get it done.”

Foley says that his efforts on the 9/11 recovery project were “very similar to public service after Sandy, and the amazing work that my agency was able to perform, and continues to perform, during the pandemic.”

The DDC’s pandemic-related construction projects include two temporary hospitals, four health labs, three permanent healthcare facilities, and a number of testing and vaccination sites throughout the city.

“Those were all done in record time,” he says. “When the city is in crisis situations, these are some of the things that we always volunteer for.”

During the past decade, Foley has also been responsible for the reconstruction of the Times Square Plaza, as well as the activation of New York City Water Tunnel 3, a 60-mile tunnel that runs from the Hillview Reservoir in Yonkers, New York, to Queens. Designed to reduce the city’s dependency on two older water tunnels, it is the largest capital construction project in New York City history.

In January 2017, he was named deputy commissioner of the Public Buildings Division, where he managed the $8.7 billion Borough-Based Jail Program, which aims to replace the Rikers Island complex with four smaller facilities.

Foley is especially proud of the DDC’s work on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, a critical coastal protection initiative aimed at reducing flood risk due to coastal storms and sea level rise on Manhattan’s East Side. “It’s the largest resiliency project going on in the country,” he says. “I’m not surprised that New York City is leading the way.”

As he leads a staff of 1,150, with plans to add additional numbers, Foley is bullish on bringing Manhattan engineers into the DDC fold.

“I encourage graduates to work in the public sector, to give back,” he says. “Working with the city provides so much latitude and mentorship. They learn a lot in those first couple of years, which are so critical both on the design table and then out in the field.”

Take it from someone who knows.

Isabel Pradas ’96: Advancing College Access for Bronx Students

A

T THE OUTSET OF HER STUDIES at Manhattan College, Isabel Pradas ’96 aimed to advocate for underserved communities as a lawyer.

However, other possibilities became apparent to the political science major when she worked at a summer internship with the Queens District Attorney’s office.

“We would help victims with services they may need, and also attend their court trials to provide support,” she recalls. “I became conflicted hearing many of the defendants’ stories and what their situation was. There were so many young people in the system, and I realized there was something more to this.”

Pradas discussed her experience with Winsome Downie, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science, who told her about the College’s new academic program in urban affairs (now urban studies), which provided the opportunity for students to participate in community engaged learning with Bronx nonprofits and agencies. Pradas decided to double major in political science and urban affairs, and connected with the Highbridge Community Life Center, attending retreats and providing translation services.

“I saw the two worlds that existed in my backyard,” she says. “I thought, ‘I want to do something about this, and I don’t know that I have to be a lawyer to do it.’”

After graduation, she chose a career path working for educational access organizations, starting as a counselor for ASPIRA, a grassroots organization that provides programming to encourage Hispanic students to stay in school and succeed.

“Exposing young people to educational opportunities is a key way of changing the trajectory of a person’s life experience,” she says. “Providing them with the right support services, helping them identify their aspirations.”

Pradas later moved on to other organizations that built her knowledge base and connections: the Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment

at the New School, the Bronx Institute at Lehman College, and a decade as a co-director with the federal program Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). “I worked with 20 or 30 schools throughout my career there, and started thinking about whether I could create something similar on my own terms,” Pradas says.

In her next role, as director of a national AmeriCorps program in youth sports development, she partnered with community organizations and schools across the country.

In 2018, Pradas and a longtime colleague, Kevin Anthony, made the decision to found a nonprofit providing college-access and other postsecondary services for students in the Bronx, and called it the College Bridge Café (CBC). They started with a crowdfunding campaign and brought on former mentees as consultants. Among the programs they established were college application boot camps that provide students with an intensive head start on preparing their applications and financial aid portfolios; college application support workshops for guidance counselors and students that focus on the CUNY and SUNY application process; and FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) completion events for parents and students.

In its first year, CBC gained 501(c)3 nonprofit status and partnered with the New York State GEAR UP office to run a college application boot camp for 100 high school rising seniors at Union College. They also worked with College Goal New York to offer FAFSA completion events at Fordham University, and were granted office space at the South Bronx Business Lab run by the Third Avenue Business Improvement District. On top of that, Pradas says, “We leveraged the contacts we had over the years, became a New York City Department of Education College Access for All (CA4A) vendor and began working in the schools.”

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pradas says, “We wanted to

continue to do the work.” CBC ran its FAFSA completion events virtually, as well as online professional development training with high school educators. They also provided workshops for Bronx high schools like the International School of Liberal Arts, Westchester Square Academy and Fordham Leadership Academy, and Renaissance High School, and for residents of Betances Houses through Catholic Charities.

Looking ahead, Pradas hopes to offer a physical location where community members can meet with counselors and take workshops — and even have a cup of coffee. “I believe that those spaces are special and can really add vibrancy to a community,” she says.

Recently, CBC was awarded a grant of $1.3 million over five years from the U.S. Department of Education Talent Search Program. There are plenty of uses for the funds. “It’s amazing the amount of resources you need to run a fully built-out program,” Pradas says. “Kevin and I are wearing 15 different hats.”

For now, Pradas is happy to be living her dream of helping Bronxites achieve their educational goals and has remained in contact with many past students and mentees.

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OBITUARIES

INMEMORIAM

Manhattan College records with sorrow the deaths of the following alumni: 1942 James E. Barber, 11/15/19 George J. Wood, 6/17/21

1943 James J. Mulligan, 7/3/21

1946 John I. Cardillo, 7/1/21

1949 John D. Boyce, 5/28/21 Francis J. Bradley, 5/29/21 William A. Brady, 1/26/22 James M. Keane, 8/17/21

1950 Joseph W. Orsene, 10/13/21 Thaddeus L. Regulinski, 4/6/21 Vincent J. Romano, 7/15/21

1951 Julius L. Amling, 2/10/22 Peter F. Barry Jr., 12/28/21 Joseph S. D’Agostino, 11/13/21 Edmund A. Gehan, 9/28/21 Charles R. McCaffrey, 5/25/21 Henry J. O’Brien, 3/16/21 Edward A. Reilly, 12/16/21 William F. Stack, 9/14/21 William J. White Jr., 12/18/21 Alfred H. Yoli, 1/23/22

1952 Robert A. Carleo, 9/6/21 Charles W. DeGroat, 1/25/22 Eamon T. McKenna, 6/6/21 John W. Paggioli, 1/24/22 Samuel D. Pucciarelli, 2/23/22 Anthony M. Skiscim, 11/6/20

Cornelius J. Boylan, 12/19/21 Kevin A. Cassidy, 5/6/21 John T. O’Connell, 11/22/21 James V. O’Connor, 6/11/21 Richard A. Retta, 12/25/21 James L. Schanberger, 5/22/21

Richard R. Casciato, 12/19/21 James T. Connors, 2/18/22 John P. Macejka, 10/26/20 Desmond P. Morrissey, 1/27/22 Donald G. Silva, 4/30/21

1954

1958

William Brown, 11/29/20 Robert P. Connolly, 7/4/21 J. Edward Cuddy, 6/22/21 William G. Durkin, 6/25/21 George J. Galasso, 11/5/21 Edward J. Grenier, 4/7/21 William J. Hayduk, 1/3/22 J. David McCarthy, 2/7/22 Roger F. Nicholson, 1/19/22 Charles V. Sanaga Sr., 11/1/21 Thomas F. Spillane, 7/30/21 Anton M. Stark, 1/11/22

Anthony J. De Falco, 6/17/21 Joseph M. Del Balzo, 2/11/22 Philip J. Farrell, 1/28/22 George D. Feddish, 6/19/21 William M. Haid, 5/1/21 Henry W. Heilferty, 1/20/22 Edward J. Kealey, 7/1/21 Robert J. Marek, 7/1/21 Robert F. Martin, 2/4/22 Edwin C. McGovern, 1/20/22

1955 Ralph N. Battista, 11/15/21 Donald H. Bodell, 10/9/21 John F. Finger, 12/16/21 Howard H. Fronk, 8/21/21 George J. Heim, 12/7/21 Albert Larsen Jr., 1/18/21 Donald P. McCauley, 10/12/21 James J. Wilson, 6/10/21

1956 George J. Castello, 11/10/21 Eugene J. Condon, 11/21/21 Robert J. McCann, 4/25/21 Roger J. McNamara, 3/3/20 George F. Morganthaler, 8/9/21 Peter J. Mulreany Jr., 3/7/21

1953

1957

Henry J. Bercuk, 5/28/21

Albert J. Brown Jr., 11/15/21

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1959 Nicholas C. Belmonte, 10/9/20 Richard J. Carr, 5/13/21 Joseph A. Coloccia, 3/5/20 Michael A. Dubritz, 1/2/21 John C. Gallagher, 6/19/21 Michael E. Kopp, 1/12/22

1960 William J. Bradley, 7/5/21 Joseph F. Clarke, 2/11/22 John H. Fallon, 8/7/21 Peter J. Ficalora, 11/5/21 James T. McGuinness, 11/30/21 Werner F. Meyer, 1/10/22 Dennis P. Sullivan, 12/4/21

1961 Samuel F. Belnavis, 7/14/21 John P. Callan Jr., 1/14/22 John D. Damato, 5/9/21 James J. Flanigan, 8/19/21

Richard L. Haas, 1/1/22 Andrew H. Jackson, 7/31/21 Cornelius E. Leary, 6/8/21 Daniel J. Mitchell, 6/7/21 Felix J. Murphy, 8/6/21 Robert J. O’Brien, 11/21/21 George J. Peckham, 10/7/21 Richard A. Tamanini, 6/24/21

1962 John L. Forneris, 11/6/21 George A. Fromme, 11/18/21 James M. O’Connell, 6/29/21 Kenneth W. Tavani, 9/18/21 Andrew J. Viglucci, 10/1/20

1963 Thomas J. Dames, 2/2/22 John M. Delaney, 10/19/21 Arthur J. Doran Jr., 11/12/21 Charles W. Heckman, 8/26/21 Dominic J. Monetta, 10/7/21 Thomas P. O’Connor, 6/21/21

1964 Edward J. Averill, 12/6/21 Albert P. Branchi, 2/21/22 Anthony J. Farina, 1/8/21 Arthur J. Griffin, 7/12/21 Douglas A. Mahoney, 5/1/21 Kevin P. McShane, 12/22/21 Paul M. Premo, 12/24/21 Thomas V. Sachar, 7/17/21

1965 Anthony J. Fiore, 4/5/21 Alfred A. Hansen, 12/5/21 Thomas P. Keery, 12/28/21 Allan A. Lentini, 11/8/21 William J. Lillis, 11/4/21 Andrew J. Natale Jr., 9/22/21 Paul M. O’Connor, 8/4/21

John P. Rossi, 6/19/21 Henry F. Rudolf, 12/16/20 Ernest A. Tulino, 12/5/21

1995

John Zuckerman, 1/3/22

Doris Lyons, 6/30/21

1971

1977 Arthur F. Sessa, 5/26/21

Robert G. Holleron, 2/2/22 Martin J. O’Connell, 1/26/22 Alvin J. Stubenvoll, 6/30/21 James J. Sweeney, 1/8/22

Salvatore A. Campagna, 11/21/21 Lorraine Capuano, 12/2/21 John G. Hengler, 3/16/21 G.D. Howard, 1/30/22 William S. O’Brien, 1/11/22

1967

1972

1980

Joseph F. Britto, 5/16/21 James A. Kaczmarek, 6/17/21 Donald G. Latus, 8/14/21 John J. Mallanda, 8/12/21 James W. Sedlak, 1/10/22 Gerald P. Sellner, 9/18/21 James M. Trier, 10/8/21 C. Edward Ward Jr., 1/12/22

Brother Edward Bacon, O.S.F., 12/7/21 John M. Hanna, 7/11/21 John F. Kimmins, 2/25/20 John F. Kist, 6/13/21 Sister Maureen Masset, O.P., 6/18/21 Lawrence D. Moringiello, 1/1/22 Robert B. Pasqua, 7/11/20 Salvatore J. Risimini, 5/24/21

Richard J. Duggan, 11/24/21 Timothy J. Grealy, 5/24/21 Bertha C. Santiago, 12/16/21

1998

1981

2010

1973

Melanie M. Holliday, 11/13/21 Gerardo Magnotta, 8/14/21 Catherine M. McCarthy, 1/18/22

1966

1968 Donald Goscicki, 1/15/20 Nicholas D. James, 12/4/20 Benedict J. Maguire, 9/12/21 Michael F. Nealis Jr., 7/18/21 Michael Psarakis, 10/3/21

1969 Michael J. Krams, 11/23/21 Stephen J. Murphy Jr., 11/28/21 Robert G. Pulver, 8/26/21

1970 Felix J. Bocchino, 8/13/21 Robert P. Champa, 7/6/21 Richard E. Duttwyler, 9/26/21 Pascal M. Gambardella, 12/5/21 Paul A. Lapadula, 9/20/21 James R. Rooney, 6/21/21 Stephen G. Wolenuk Jr., 8/15/21

John S. Hoffman, 10/1/21 Leo L. McIntee, 2/19/22 John J. Mills, 6/26/21 Brian G. Wedick, 5/15/21

1974 Joseph P. Hengler, 3/16/21 John J. McLean Jr., 5/13/21 Thomas A. Pepe, 4/21/21 Brother Richard E. Pigott, C.F.C., 1/13/22

1978 Joseph R. Luckie, 6/15/21

1979 James V. Altieri, 7/6/21 Lawrence A. Magni, 8/25/20

Elena Interdonato, 11/14/20

1996 Pauline Cardillo, 6/1/21 Eileen Martin, 4/20/21 Thomas J. Nizza, 10/31/21

1997 Patricia F. Cicogna, 6/20/21 Nathalie C. Pacifico, 6/2/21 Adam Steele, 8/22/21 Walter L. Jordan, 11/29/21

Timothy J. Deehan, 1/28/22 Ellen M. Devlin, 5/1/21 Joseph N. Gemmell, 10/4/21 Henry S. Goldfine, 10/27/20

Heather E. O’Shaughnessy, 5/31/21

1982

2013

Joseph G. Carson, 11/4/21

1983

2011 Brian V. Sigh, 2/21/22 Charmein M. GuevarraFrancis, 7/1/21

2016 Andrew J. Blinn, 9/14/21

2018 Lily V. Callan, 11/14/21

1984

Sean P. Carroll, 11/25/21

Thomas P. Keery Jr., 12/28/21 Aline P. McGrail, 12/1/21

Stephen C. Hamilton, 1/9/22

1986 William J. Burke, 4/19/21

1987 John A. Martinez, 2/19/21

1975

1988

Anthony J. Bechner, 1/1/22 Peter L. Micieli, 6/28/21 Mary P. Mullan, 10/1/21 Peter N. Tascio, 1/4/22

David G. Daher, 12/19/21

1992

2020 2021 Maximilian Grey, 9/1/21

2023 Christian Gallante, 3/24/22

2024 Bryan Paredes, 2/7/22

Robert M. Aiello, 12/31/21 Christine Amanna, 6/29/21

1976

1994

Philip R. Hoffman, 3/31/20

Sol Goichman, 6/1/19 MANHATTAN.EDU N 59

OBITUARIES

C. Edward Ward Jr. ’67 C. EDWARD WARD JR. ’67, former trustee of Manhattan College and retired director of funds for Cohen and Steers in New York City, died on Jan. 12, 2022. He was 75.

Ward was a member of the board of trustees from 2004 until 2014, serving on the Strategic Planning and Student Life Committees. He also worked closely with the O’Malley School of Business during its AACSB International accreditation.

“Ed Ward was a key member of the school’s board of advisors when we were going for AACSB accreditation,” says James Suarez, Ph.D., retired dean of the School of Business.

“Ed was a dedicated and loyal Jasper. His advice and guidance were a tremendous help to me personally and to the school during this long and difficult process.”

“Ed was a true Renaissance man,” says Ann Burke ’77, the first woman alumni society president and former member of the board of trustees. “Ed was a gentleman, a brilliant

scholar, a star track athlete at Archbishop Molloy High School, a car fanatic, a gun enthusiast and a motorcyclist. A generous friend to all who knew him, ours began at a chance meeting at an alumni event 20 years ago. His loss is felt by friends and family literally around the globe, including his beloved Hamptons. The universal refrain when folks learned of his passing was ‘he had a big heart’ — and that he did, as reflected in his service to Manhattan College.”

A past director of closed-end fund management for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Ward worked at the NYSE from 1979 to 2004. At Cohen & Steers, Ward served as director of various funds. He had more than 30 years of industry experience with closed-end investment companies.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Manhattan College after transferring from MIT and an

MBA from Harvard University.

Ward is survived by his sister, Una Maylani Ward Finocchi; niece, Francesca C. Finocchi; stepmother, Shellia Jenkins-Ward; and his partner, Gail Altomare.

Chester Nisteruk

CHESTER NISTERUK, PH.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering for 70 years, died on Sept. 14, 2021. He was 93.

Nisteruk joined the electrical engineering faculty at Manhattan College in 1951. During the next 70 years, he — and the engineering field — changed with the times, as the Electrical Engineering department became

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the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. Nisteruk educated thousands of students over several generations throughout that period.

At the time of his death, Nisteruk was teaching quantum computing — quite a change from the courses he taught early in his career. He served as moderator of Eta Kappa Nu, the international honor society for electrical engineering, for many years.

“He loved mathematics applied to engineering,” says Tim Ward, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering. “One of his lasting legacies is his mentoring and tutelage of select students who went on to further their education at the Master of Science or doctoral degree levels at topranked universities. Those students carry Professor Nisteruk’s academic DNA with them. Manhattan College and the School of Engineering lost a true legend on his death.”

“My colleague and friend Chester Nisteruk embodied the ideals of the patron saint of teachers,” says Gordon Silverman,

Ph.D., professor emeritus of electrical and chemical engineering. “He devoted his entire professional life to Manhattan College and its focus on quality education for all. He served our department, the School of Engineering, and Manhattan College in ways that are too numerous to recall. He was my mentor when I joined the faculty, was chair of the department for a time, and his dedication to the support of the library is legendary — but you might not know that because he was very unassuming in his character. Chester never gave up on students.”

At the Faculty Convocation in April 2015, the citation honoring Nisteruk for his then 65 years of service also noted his commitment to teaching: “Throughout his career, Chet always exhibited a high degree of altruism and compassion for others, together with a total dedication to the student learning process.”

Nisteruk earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.

He is survived by his sister, Emily Kostyshyn.

Photo Credit: Mark van Manen / Vancouver Sun

Francis Lodato FRANCIS J. LODATO, PH.D., professor emeritus of education and a sports psychologist, died on Oct. 8, 2021.

He was 95.

Lodato began his career at Manhattan College as a sports psychologist in 1956 and worked with the basketball and track teams.

He served as a professor from 1968 to 1990 and also held a number of administrative positions, including director of the evening division and summer school.

“I received so many emails from women’s basketball players and coaches from 1980 through the late 1990s who knew him,” says Lisa Toscano, Ed.D., professor of kinesiology. “He loved helping the women’s basketball team and could be seen on the sideline for many games. Doc Lodato always had something positive to say, and everyone remembered him fondly.”

Lodato also worked with professional athletes as a sports psychologist in a variety of sports. He began by working with members of the Miami Dolphins, who were looking for a mental edge. During the next several decades, he worked with Olympians and athletes in leagues including the NBA, NHL, CFL and NFL. Lodato also worked overseas with teams in Poland, Sweden and Italy. His contributions helped athletics teams, such as the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils, win more than 10 championships.

A prolific writer, Lodato co-authored four books: Creating Your Christian Engagement and Growing Up Loved (both with John Barry Ryan); But We Were 17 and 0, with his son Raymond; and Eboli to Brooklyn, One Way, with his daughter Denise. He also had been working on an upcoming memoir with his daughter Janice. He wrote columns and scholarly articles for numerous publications, including The New York Times, the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis Journal, and the New Haven Register. He also hosted a sports psychology radio show, From the Sports Couch, on Danbury’s WLAD. For nearly 30 years, Lodato was a consulting psychologist for the Diocese of Brooklyn at Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston, Queens. He consulted at Lincoln Hall Boys Haven for 10 years, and was a school psychologist for the Bedford Public Schools in the early 1960s.

He also taught at a number of colleges and universities, including St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, Iona College, the College of Mount Saint Vincent, Marymount College, Biscayne College (now St. Thomas University), Our Lady of the Lake University and Barry University.

A native of Brooklyn, he was a graduate of La Salle Academy. Lodato earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from St. John’s University and also earned a second master’s degree from Fordham University. He served as a Knight Commander of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Patricia (Casey); his children, Denise ’81, Raymond ’84 (Bronwyn), and Janice (Christopher); and four grandchildren.

Brother Philip Zeller, FSC BROTHER PHILIP ZELLER, FSC, who served in recent years as an academic adviser for physics students at Manhattan College and was an educator for nearly 50 years, died on June 2, 2021. He was 74.

Brother Philip came to Manhattan College in 2011 and advised students in the School of Science through 2016. He continued to reside in the Manhattan College Brothers Community after his retirement and could often be found on campus chatting with students.

“Phil was a wonderful teacher,” Brother Robert Ferguson, FSC, said in his eulogy. “Although he taught a challenging subject, he never lost sight of his students. I have to confess that I thought he was very creative in his efforts to reach students. It almost made me want to learn science.”

Brother Philip began as a scholasticate at The Catholic University of America in 1965 and began teaching at Saint Bernard High School in Uncasville, Connecticut, in 1969. He was the director of formation in Narragansett, Rhode Island, from 1974-79, and taught at his alma mater, Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn, a number of times throughout his career.

He also served as director of religious education at Saint Cecilia Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn from 1984-98.

A native of Brooklyn, Brother Philip entered the Christian Brothers Novitiate in Narragansett in 1964 and professed his final vows in 1972 in Uncasville.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from The Catholic University of America and his master’s in education from New York University. He also studied at Trinity College, Kansas State University and Hunter College. A lifelong learner, Brother Philip earned an advanced professional degree in religious education from Fordham University in 1991.

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OBITUARIES

Peter Heller

James Wilson ’55

PETER B. HELLER, PH.D., professor of government and politics for 55 years, died on Jan. 15, 2022. He was 95.

Heller, who retired in 2018, taught international studies, comparative politics and American government while at Manhattan College.

He also worked tirelessly as a volunteer with the Manhattan College Speaker’s Bureau, lecturing on current domestic and international affairs at the New York Ethical Culture Society for many years.

Heller received a certificate of recognition from the New York State Assembly for this work, which supported senior residents, especially those in area nursing homes.

“Dr. Peter Heller was the consummate cosmopolitan,” says Winsome Downie, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science.

“He was born in France to a Hungarian mother and a French father who moved to Cairo, Egypt, where the family owned a bookstore. Peter traveled extensively across Europe, the Middle East and much of the rest of the world, and spoke eight languages. Dr. Heller, always accessible to Manhattan College students, frequently shared his linguistic skills, willingly taught course overloads when necessary, and also devoted a significant amount of time to the Manhattan College Speaker’s Bureau.”

Also an adjunct professor at several other universities, he authored a number of scholarly works and reviews, and published The United Nations under Dag Hammarskjöld, 19531961 (Partners for Peace Book 2) and Technology Transfer and Human Values: Concepts, Applications, Cases.

Early in his career, Heller taught at SUNY Farmingdale and as part of a Peace Corps program at New York University. He also served as associate textbook editor for Pitman Publishing Company and as researcher/translator for the U.S. Publications and Research Service.

Downie recalls Heller as a supportive colleague. “Dr. Heller graciously shared his office with me when I first arrived at Manhattan College,” she says. “Indeed, we were office mates for several years, and he often gave me advice on academic and financial investment matters.”

He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from New York University, concentrating in international relations, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Heller was predeceased by his wife, Prudence (Turner) Heller.

He is survived by several nephews and a niece.

JAMES J. WILSON ’55, a former trustee at Manhattan College and president and chief executive officer of Interstate General Contractors (IGC), died on June 10, 2021. He was 88.

A Bronx native, Wilson graduated from Manhattan College with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He worked at a number of jobs through his college years, including as a night engineer during the construction of the third tube of the Lincoln Tunnel.

Wilson began his career building radar stations around the country at Interstate General of Chicago. He and his wife, Barbara, began IGC in Puerto Rico in 1957 to build low-income homes, and it grew into a company that built office buildings, subsidized apartments and shopping centers. Wilson, who was active in the San Juan community, became president of the Puerto Rico Home Builders Association, served on the board of the Presbyterian Hospital, and helped start a chapter of the Young Presidents Organization.

He also explored new real estate opportunities in the continental United States. In 1968, Wilson purchased land in southern Maryland, which became the new town of St. Charles. In 1973, the Wilson family moved to Middleburg, Virginia, and purchased Dresden Farm. For 20 years, he had a successful thoroughbred breeding operation that produced many winners. A member of the National Steeplechase Association, Wilson was also a member of the New York, Maryland and Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Associations.

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Robert Pulver ’69 “Jim Wilson was a world-class leader, businessman and entrepreneur ... a remarkable Jasper who touched the lives of friends and colleagues around the world.”

—THOMAS MAURIELLO

Wilson was an active board member at the College from 1989 until 1996. He established The James J. Wilson Family Scholarship to support engineering students who have completed two years of study, maintained good academic standing, and are actively making a contribution to the life of the College through participation in athletics, student activities or cocurricular activities. Wilson also served on the board of a number of other organizations, including The Hill School, Middleburg Tennis Club, Middleburg Community Center, the Middleburg Hunt, the Kennedy Center National Symphony Orchestra and Chief Executives Organization.

“Jim Wilson was a world-class leader, businessman and entrepreneur,” says Thomas Mauriello, vice president for college advancement. “As a benefactor and former trustee, he helped guide his alma mater through the challenging years of the ’80s and ’90s. He also was one of the most interesting people I have met and a remarkable Jasper who touched the lives of friends and colleagues around the world. He and his wife, Barbara, have been extraordinary friends to the College, where generations of Wilsons have earned their degrees.”

Wilson is survived by his wife, Barbara; his children, Kevin Wilson, Elizabeth Hernandez, Tom Wilson, Mary Pat Guest, Michael Wilson ’89 and Brian Wilson; 15 grandchildren, including Elena ’20; six greatgrandchildren; and three sisters, Catherine Mistaglio, Pat Wilson and Denise Hagen. He was predeceased by his brother, Robert Wilson ’58.

ROBERT G. PULVER ’69, ’19 (Hon.D.Eng.), a member of the Manhattan College Board of Trustees, honorary degree recipient, and former CEO and president of All-State Industries, died on Aug. 26, 2021. He was 73.

A trustee since 2019, Pulver established a scholarship in memory of his uncle with the Walter C. Camas ’52 Scholarship in 2015.

“Bob was an extraordinary man,” says Thomas Mauriello, vice president for college advancement. “He was an entrepreneur and a Jasper through and through. He epitomized strength, intelligence, focus and grit. That impressive presence was only overshadowed by the size of his heart, kindness and fun nature.

The Jasper community has lost a dear friend and leader.”

The College awarded Pulver an honorary Doctor of Engineering at its Spring Commencement in 2019.

At the ceremony, Pulver told the graduates: “At some point, you have to understand that this life is 100% your responsibility. You have achieved many goals already. There is no reason not to achieve all of the ones that await you. As you enter the workforce, remember this fact: winners compare their achievements with their goals, while losers compare their achievements with other people.”

Pulver earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Manhattan College. He began his career at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. After serving in the U.S. Army as a medic and working in sales at Goodyear, Pulver started his own company, which became All-State Industries, a supplier of urethane, plastic and die-cut rubber parts to Fortune 100 companies that manufacture equipment. He served as the CEO and president for 45 years. He also earned his pilot’s license so that he could travel for his business more easily and still have time for his family.

As a philanthropist, Pulver supported many organizations and community projects, including Blank Children’s Hospital, John Stoddard Cancer Center, Variety of Iowa, Festival of Trees and Lights, Ronald McDonald House, Mid-Iowa Council Boy Scouts, Iowa State College and Manhattan College.

He is survived by his wife, Deb; children, Marlyse Fant (Derek Boyko), Reed (Michelle), and Scott (Keaton); and six grandchildren.

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OBITUARIES

Nada Anid NADA MARIE ANID, PH.D., a former professor and chair of chemical engineering at Manhattan College and most recently vice president for strategic communications and external affairs at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), died on Sept. 28, 2021. She was 63.

Anid joined the Manhattan College faculty in 1994 and served as director of the chemical engineering graduate program. She also served on several committees, including the Health Professions Advisory Committee during her tenure.

“Nada Anid was a terrific academic mentor,” says James Patrick Abulencia, Ph.D., associate professor of chemical engineering.

“She was instrumental early in my career here at Manhattan by helping me navigate the challenges of being a junior faculty.

Whether it would be making me aware of funding opportunities or introducing me to colleagues both on and off campus, I always felt that Nada wanted what was best for me and for the department. Nada truly knew how to connect with many people and because of that, she will be sincerely missed.”

When she left Manhattan in 2009, Anid served as the first female dean of the NYIT School of Engineering and Computing Sciences.

She wrote The Internet of Women: Accelerating Culture Change and published numerous articles. Anid served as a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Environmental Progress and Sustainable Energy, and was an expert reviewer for the federal government and several engineering journals.

The recipient of numerous awards, Anid received a 100 Inspiring Women in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

She was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Business three times by the Long Island Business News in recognition of her achievements in workforce and economic development.

Anid served as chair of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Public Affairs and Information Committee and as a member of the Managing Board of the Institute for Sustainability of AIChE. She worked with a number of local organizations,

including as a board member of the Riverdale Nature Preservancy. She was an active member of the American Society of Engineering Education and its Public Policy, Diversity, Data and K–12 committees; the New York Academy of Sciences; and the New York State STEM Education Collaborative.

Anid earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and her doctorate in environmental engineering from the University of Michigan.

She is survived by her husband, Paul; and daughters, Ingrid and Audrée.

Brother Peter Henderson, FSC BROTHER PETER HENDERSON, FSC, Ph.D., professor emeritus of physics at the College and a teacher at Manhattan College Prep, died on Feb. 27, 2021. He was 88.

Brother Peter began teaching at Manhattan College in 1967 and continued through the 1980s, when he left to teach at Bethlehem University in Palestine for several years. He then returned to campus to teach for much of the 1990s before retiring from college life. During his tenure, he served as chair of the physics department and was also a member of the Manhattan College Singers during the 1980s.

“I respected him a lot, as did the whole department, and I remember his fair treatment of anyone within or outside the department, even if they disagreed with his view,” says Sezar Fesjian, Ph.D., associate professor of physics. “He began every departmental meeting with the statement, ‘Let us remember we are in the holy presence of the Lord.’”

After leaving Manhattan College, he taught at Saint Joseph’s Collegiate Institute in Buffalo, New York, from 1997 until 2020, when 64 N spring 2022

he officially retired. At St. Joseph’s, Brother Peter taught religion and created and taught the Advanced Placement physics class.

“He was known as a Renaissance man at Manhattan, not only teaching physics but also helping to pioneer a cross-disciplinary course in humanities,” Brother Joseph Wilkowski, FSC, a science and math teacher at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, said in the eulogy. “A famous educator once wrote, ‘I think that I am a teacher because I am interested in souls.’ That is Brother Peter Henderson. Brother Peter Henderson taught the world by his example, what is really important — the touching of souls. We are all blessed to have been in his classroom.”

Brother Peter began his teaching career in 1950 at The Catholic University of America. He then taught at La Salle Academy before joining Manhattan College Prep in 1959. He also taught at Lincoln Hall and De La Salle College in Washington, D.C., before joining the Manhattan College faculty.

He entered the novitiate and received the habit in 1950 in Barrytown, New York, and professed his final vows in 1957. Brother Peter earned his bachelor’s degree from The Catholic University of America, master’s degree from New York University, and doctorate from the University of Maryland.

He is survived by several nieces and nephews, and many cousins.

Richard Collins FitzPatrick RICHARD (DICK) COLLINS FITZPATRICK, PH.D., professor emeritus of management and former department chair, died on July 17, 2021. He was 73.

A native of Staten Island, FitzPatrick spent nearly 30 years on the Manhattan College faculty, retiring in 2013.

During his tenure, he served on numerous committees, as well as director of the Center for Professional Ethics.

“What sets Dick apart is his tireless efforts to get students to write grammatically correct sentences and persuasive essays,” said Janet Rovenpor, Ph.D., professor of management, at his retirement. “To encourage students to think critically about social issues in business, he would make sure that they practiced the art of debate.”

When discussing his support for faculty, Rovenpor noted: “Dick has always shown outstanding support for his fellow faculty members …

Dick’s concern for the dignity of each person, his integrity in dealing with others, and his ability to integrate ethical values with human growth and development make him a true Lasallian educator.”

FitzPatrick’s academic publications included a study of the “Celtic Tiger,” a period in the 1990s when the Republic of Ireland experienced rapid economic growth. Prior to joining Manhattan’s faculty, FitzPatrick held teaching positions at the City University of New York and State University of New York. He also served as an official at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development in Richmond, Virginia, and as a Head Start preschool teacher.

An active member of the Association on Employment Practices and Principles for 15 years, FitzPatrick served as treasurer, executive board member and conference chair. In recognition of those years of service, he received a Lifetime Service Award in 2009.

He and his wife, Verna, lived on Roosevelt Island, in New York City, for nearly 40 years. There, he was a community leader: active in the Boy Scouts, a soccer coach, Little League coach, librarian, chess instructor, Sunday school teacher, and a member of the board at Coler Hospital.

He received a bachelor’s degree from LeMoyne College, a master’s degree from Syracuse University, and a doctorate from the State University of New York at Albany.

In addition to his wife, Verna, FitzPatrick is survived by two children, Robert (Louise Levi) and Elena FitzPatrick Sifford, Ph.D. (Justin); five grandchildren; and four siblings, Vincent ’66, Rory ’67, Mary and Chris.

His father, Vincent (deceased), graduated from Manhattan in 1939.

William Brown ’54 WILLIAM BROWN ’54, PH.D., professor emeritus of civil engineering and former chair of the department, died on Nov. 29, 2020. He was 88.

A member of the Manhattan faculty for nearly 60 years, Brown began teaching at the College in 1956 and retired as a full professor in 2013, having taught several generations of civil engineers. He served as chair of the department from 1971 to 1979 and as acting associate dean of the School of Engineering in 1992-1993.

“Dr. Brown lived his life for his students, Manhattan College and his Catholic faith,” says Moujalli Hourani, D.Sc., graduate director and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Brown authored Solid Mechanics 1 (1st edition), Steel Design 1, LRFD (7th edition), and Steel Design LRFC (8th edition). He was a member of a number of scientific and professional societies, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, Chi Epsilon, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi and the Order of the Engineer.

A member of the Civil Engineering Consultor Committee from 2003 to 2008, he served on various committees at the College, including the Summer Grants Committee, the Strategic Planning Group, the Liberal Learning Subcommittee of Arts and Science Curriculum Committee and the Committee on Termination of Services. Early in his college tenure, Brown was awarded a National Science Foundation Science Faculty Fellowship. In 1984, he earned a Manhattan College Summer Grant.

He began his career as an associate engineer for Sperry Gyroscope Co. Brown also worked as an engineer for Praeger, Kavanagh, Waterbury Consulting Engineers for two summers, designing columns and ramp supports for Shea Stadium.

Brown was active in his parish, St. Mary’s Church in Ridgefield, Connecticut, since 1974. He and his wife, Monica, were Eucharistic ministers for more than 30 years, and for more than 20 of those years, they oversaw the Adoration Chapel. He also served as a volunteer at the annual parish fair and as an usher.

A native of Mount Vernon, New York, Brown earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Manhattan College in 1954, his master’s from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1955, and a doctorate in civil engineering from New York University in 1968.

He was licensed in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Monica ’91; and his son, Mark.

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OBITUARIES

Gabriel Moran

Graham Walker

GABRIEL MORAN, PH.D., A.F.S.C., director of Manhattan College’s graduate program in theology and religious education in the 1960s, died on Oct. 15, 2021. He was 86.

Moran, who professed his vows in 1955, taught at the high school level for a short time before continuing his studies. He became director of Manhattan’s Theology and Religious Education Graduate program in 1965. In 1970, he was elected provincial superior of the Long Island and New England District of the Christian Brothers.

Moran sought dispensation from his vows in 1985. He taught religion, philosophy and the history of education at New York University (NYU) during his nearly 30-year tenure there, retiring as professor emeritus of educational philosophy. While at NYU, he also served as chair of the department of Religious Studies.

An internationally acclaimed scholar and prolific author, Moran wrote more than 30 books and 400 essays. His most recent book, What Happened to the Roman Catholic Church?

What Now?, was published in 2021. He also published The Alternative, a religious education newsletter for 45 years.

“Teaching on the graduate level in religious studies, he had the talent to interpret the arcane knowledge of contributors from many different languages and cultures,” says Richard O’Prey ’68, author, teacher and former Brother. “Many of his students recall how he could reduce complex ideas into concepts comprehensible to all … For those whom he taught, Dr. Moran’s death marks the end of an era.”

Moran and his wife, Maria Harris (deceased), were recognized for the role they played in changing the field of religious education. They received the William Rainey Harper Award at the Centennial Celebration of the Religious Education Association. Fordham University’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education awarded the couple the distinction Sapientia et Doctrina (Wisdom and Learning). In 2004, Moran also received the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership Award, and in 2020, the Christian Brothers gave him the honor of “affiliated member.”

Moran was a graduate of The Catholic University of America, where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

He is survived by his sister, Sister Madonna (Mary) Moran, RSM; and nieces and nephews.

GRAHAM WALKER, PH.D., professor of mechanical engineering at Manhattan College for almost 30 years, died on Jan. 17, 2022.

He was 67.

Walker joined the College’s mechanical engineering department in December 1992 as an associate professor. He served as faculty adviser of the Mini Baja Club, an annual intercollegiate design competition run by the Society of Automotive Engineers in which students are tasked with designing and building an off-road vehicle from scratch that will survive rough terrain. The Jasper teams have been very competitive under Walker’s tutelage.

Walker also traveled on two different service trips to Honduras with the office of Campus Ministry and Social Action, and was an early advocate of an environmentally friendly curriculum within the mechanical engineering department.

In 2006, Walker was recognized as the Distinguished Lasallian Educator of the Year. The citation noted: “He always has time for students, helping them with his and other professors’ assignments, counseling them, and providing an environment that is welcoming to students of all abilities; he never turns a student away. Even if he is not teaching them in class, he is always there for all students.”

“In everything he did, Walker’s love of learning and for his students shone through brightly, as he embodied in countless ways, large and small, the core values of our educational

66 N spring 2022

Harry Welsh “Graham was always ready to help anyone with open hands and a warm heart. His being would bring so much joy and happiness to the people around him.”

—PARISA SABOORI

tradition,” said President Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., in his email to the College community.

“Graham was always full of life,” says Parisa Saboori, Ph.D., associate professor of mechanical engineering.

“He was very passionate about learning. Graham was always ready to help anyone with open hands and a warm heart. His being would bring so much joy and happiness to the people around him. He definitely was an asset to everyone who knew him.”

A native of Scotland, Walker earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Strathclyde University in Glasgow and his doctorate in aerospace engineering at Southampton University in England.

Walker worked as a research engineer in the Courant Institute of New York University, and in 1986, began his academic teaching career at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. While at Manhattan College, he also taught mechanical engineering courses in Columbia University’s graduate school since the mid-2000s.

Working with students on the high school level, Walker was involved in the FIRST Robotics competition at both Bronx High School of Science and Samuel Gompers High School, also in the Bronx.

Walker is survived by his wife, Agnes; his sons John, Martin ’05 (Jenny) and Christopher (Colleen); and his granddaughter, Aoife.

HARRY WELSH, retired director of libraries at Manhattan College, died on Oct. 1, 2021.

Welsh began his tenure at Manhattan College in 1983 at the Cardinal Hayes Library. As director and chair of the Library Building Planning Committee, he was instrumental in transitioning the building into the new Mary Alice and Tom O’Malley Library in 2002. With much of the Cardinal Hayes space renovated, the revamped library was transformative, and gained more than 45,000 square feet with a new 21st-century wing.

“Harry was admired by the library staff and the academic faculty and was a strong advocate for the library,” says William Merriman, Ed.D., professor of kinesiology and former dean of the School of Education and Health.

A member of the College Senate, Welsh was a member of many committees, including the Council of Academic Administrators, Academic Computer Policy Group, Committee on Educational Policies, and Library Planning Committee.

Welsh also served on a number of professional committees, including the American Society for Public Administration, American Library Association and the Special Libraries Association. In addition, he was the news editor of the Government Publications Review from 1973-1980 and a consultant for Herner & Company, which provided computer processing and data preparation services, from 1979-1982.

Prior to joining Manhattan College, Welsh served as library director of South Dakota School of Mines, associate librarian at the University of Washington, and assistant librarian at Wayne State University and DePaul University.

A graduate of West Virginia University, he earned his master’s degree in library science from Drexel University in 1968 and a master’s in public administration from Wayne State University in 1973.

MANHATTAN.EDU N 67

PHOTO BY ALYSSA NEALON ’23

PA R TING SHOT

SpringFest was back in person this past April, much to the excitement of students, who packed Draddy Gymnasium for a performance

by DJ/producer duo Two Friends. They also gathered for a barbecue on the Quad and enjoyed a carnival during the day.

68 N spring 2022

A LASALLIAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE SINCE 1853 Published by the office of Marketing & Communication Manhattan College 4513 Manhattan College Parkway Riverdale, NY 10471

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BURL, VT 05401 PERMIT NO. 19

A handful of students took advantage of one of the first warm days of spring to get in some quadding and a quick game of catch in between their classes.