Seton Hall Magazine, Spring 2023

Seton Hall magazine is published by the Division of University Relations.

President

Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D.

Vice President for University Relations

Matthew Borowick ’89/M.B.A. ’94

Assistant Vice President, Strategic Communications and Brand

Pegeen Hopkins, M.S.J.

Art Director

Ann Antoshak

Copy Editors

Kim de Bourbon

Franklin J. Shobe

News & Notes Editors

Richonda Fegins

Sophia Fredriksson

Franklin J. Shobe

Send your comments and suggestions by mail to: Seton Hall magazine, Division of University Relations, 519 South Orange Avenue, South Orange, NJ 07079; by email to shuwriter@shu. edu; or by phone at 973-378-9834.

Cover: The University Center. Photo by Earl Richardson

Facing page: The University Center.

Photo by Bob Handelman

16 At the Heart of Campus

The newly imagined University Center provides a communal gathering space, transforms the look of the Green and elevates the student experience.

24

The Origin Story of Seton Hall

As Dermot Quinn explains in a newly published history, the University owes its foundation to three central figures.

departments

2 Presidents Hall

4 HALLmarks

8 Possibilities

Doctoral student Julius Moore, a former Army drill sergeant and squad leader, shows veterans a path to post-military success through education.

10 Profile

Rich Liebler ’67/M.A. ’19/Ed.S. ’20 helps youths and incarcerated veterans discover a new path. 12

Roaming the Hall

Jane McManus, executive director of the Center for Sports Media, is helping prepare sports journalists to thrive in an evolving media landscape. 14 Profile

Professor Michael Ambrosio makes a case for giving back to Seton Hall.

16

8

Extraordinary Student Support

As a psychologist and University president, I have witnessed how difficult it is for students to thrive without robust support. The more students feel cared for — not only academically, but socially and spiritually — the more likely they are to graduate. At Seton Hall, nurturing students in every aspect of their educations is an intentional thread that runs through our 167-year history.

Today, prospective students are looking for institutions that offer a widening array of experiences and support services. Expectations for what a higher education can provide are increasing, fueled by growing costs and robust competition between institutions over applicants.

In that light, Seton Hall decided to elevate our already strong methods of supporting students. We deployed multiple actions rooted in two pillars of the Seton Hall experience: our historic identity as a caring Catholic community and the strength of our strategic plan, Harvest Our Treasures. As a result, student support at Seton Hall has never been more proactive, integrated and comprehensive.

Key to our efforts is an Affordability Agenda that lessens the financial burden on students to the greatest extent possible. Last year, we allocated a record $158 million in scholarships for students throughout the University, and particularly for Pell-eligible students, who have seen awards increase by more than 25 percent in recent years. We are advancing our Resilience, Integrity, Scholarship and Excellence (RISE) Program and participation in the state Educational Opportunity Fund, both of which provide outstanding support for students

of limited means. By emphasizing affordability, we are ensuring our students graduate focused on the future, rather than how to pay for their past.

To deepen our academic and social engagement with students on their journey to Commencement, we also transformed our advising model. From the day they arrive on campus to the day they graduate, students benefit from a personalized Student Success Team composed of personnel from across the University. These integrated teams can include a faculty adviser, student success adviser, Career Center adviser, peer adviser.

In addition to engaging with the student, team members communicate with each other and the student’s professors to assess the student’s progress, identify any issues and address small concerns before they become large problems. By design, the Student Success Team remains relatively stable through all four years. This is a departure from other higher education advising models, by which advisers change depending on a student’s grade and academic program.

Other examples of Seton Hall’s increasingly proactive approach to student support and engagement can be found in the Career Center, which is advancing student engagement by leaps and bounds. Rather than rely on students to visit, the Center meets students where they are — sending personnel into each school and college to assess their unique career needs and goals, and then developing successful strategies to meet them.

To better address students’ increasing mental-health concerns, Seton Hall’s Counseling and Psychological Services unit welcomed three new counselors this

semester. Creative ways to reach students when and where they need help include expanded telehealth hours and an emergency after-hours line where there is always a counselor on call.

In the post-COVID world, a focused effort was undertaken to reacclimate students to the fullness of University life, with our transformed University Center as a key component. Opened in November, it has quickly become the indispensable heart of our South Orange campus. Unlike campus centers at many institutions, which are not highly used apart from key mealtimes, our students are benefiting from this impressive facility at rates that exceed our highest expectations. They are eager to meet, socialize and study every day and well into the night.

Across our campuses, learning takes place outside the classroom thanks to a steady stream of eminent

guests. This year, students were treated to conversations with Ambassador Csaba Ko¯rösi, president of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. Connecting students with such luminaries is part of what differentiates us from peers and burnishes the University’s reputation as an academic leader.

Seton Hall has advanced as a leading Catholic university partly because it successfully responds to the shifting needs and goals of students, providing them with extraordinary support. Today is no different. Times and circumstances change, but the University knows how to anticipate challenges and develop robust solutions. All the while it remains rooted in a caring Catholic intellectual and spiritual community. That was true in 1856 and it will remain true for this and future generations. n

Photo by Erin Patrice O’Brien

In Brief

l WSOU 89.5 FM was nominated for 12 awards by the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, following award wins in October and past recognition.

l A Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey grant allowed the College of Nursing to purchase a patient interaction simulation system for nurse practitioner students.

l The School of Diplomacy gained United Nations Economic and Social Council consultative status. This facilitates students’ and faculties’ provision of expert analysis at U.N. forums, monitoring of international agreements, as well as access to U.N. meetings.

l The Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies has partnered with the UPCEA, a leader in professional, continuing and online (PCO) education. UPCEA serves members and promotes leadership in PCO education through conferences and other events.

l The Global Learning Center and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures launched the Peer-Assisted Language Support program (PALS) which pairs students seeking conversation practice in the language they study with other student volunteers who are native or advanced speakers of that language.

l Gregory Wiedman, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and chemical biology, received a five-year National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant to alleviate drug resistance in fungi, particularly the highly drug resistant Cryptococcus neoformans, in collaboration with recipients from Rutgers.

l Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology offered its fifth year of Lenten reflections, this year titled “Reflections from the Holy Land,” from Ash Wednesday through Good Friday. Meditations authored by the seminary community explored locations from the Holy Land and invited participants to reflect of the saving mysteries and prepare for the Paschal Feast.

l On October 1, the Center for Diaconal Formation, welcomed more than 200 members of the diaconate, religious and clerical communities as well as men looking to become deacons for a presentation, “Aflame with the Eucharist: ‘We Cannot but Speak …,’” by author and speaker Deacon James Keating, Ph.D.

l Father Brian K. Muzás, assistant professor in the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, represented the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the U.N. as a peace and security expert during the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Recent Rankings

A roundup of recent rankings for Seton Hall programs and schools:

n Morning Consult recognized Seton Hall as one of the nation’s “Most Trusted Universities,” ranking it No. 36 among all universities and No. 6 among Catholic universities in the United States.

n For the 16th consecutive year, Seton Hall’s Stillman School of Business was named an outstanding business school by Princeton Review

n Seton Hall’s School of Law ranked No. 31 nationally for first-time bar passage rate, according to statistics released by the American Bar Association. This exceeded the average New Jersey passage rate by more than 14 points.

n The Princeton Review included Seton Hall Law in its list of “Best Law Schools” in the country.

It ranked the school No. 1 in the Best for State and Local Clerkships category.

n U.S. News’ online graduate program rankings, released in January, recognized programs in the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Nursing:

• The Education Leadership, Management and Policy online program was ranked No. 58 out of 338, putting it in the top 17 percent in the nation, second among Catholic Colleges and No. 2 in New Jersey.

• The online graduate nursing programs were ranked in the top 16 percent nationally, fourth among all Catholic colleges and the top in New Jersey.

SHU IN THE NEWS

“The two leaders, who have met more than three dozen times in the past decade, have ‘a very good personal relationship [and] call each other old friends.’”

Zheng Wang, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, NBC News, discussing the strengthening ties between China and Russia as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its second year.

“These [results] show that the government’s [underlying] theory of the case was questionable. The primary duty of a prosecutor is to obtain justice, not a conviction.”

Margaret Lewis, School of Law, whose research focuses on law in China and Taiwan, discussing why federal fraud charges in China Initiative cases against scientists were rejected.

“This is, in a nutshell, Pope Benedict XVI’s legacy: interreligious dialogue where truth seeking, listening and understanding take absolute priority.”

Ines Angeli Murzaku, Catholic Studies Program, Catholic World Report, discussing the legacy of truth-seeking and interreligious dialogue of Pope Benedict XVI.

“These NFL franchise values have been increasing so much, it has essentially priced minority buyers out of the ballpark. It’s a supply-and-demand business, and so far, the NFL can demand” owners with vast individual wealth.

“And then we begin to have hopelessness that there’s economic injustice, there’s environmental injustice, there’s food injustice that exists … whether it’s within my community or within America.”

Professor Juan Rios, a licensed psychotherapist in the College of Arts and Sciences who explored suicide as a critical health crisis for young people on PBS MetroFocus

“There are often good people in the community that want to do great things and impact. But they don’t have the skillset and the knowledge and a lot of them don’t feel like they can go to college — or really know what’s possible.”

Jamila T. Davis, Center for Community Research and Engagement, PBS State of Affairs with Steve Adubato, on defying the odds in higher education and serving as a bridge between the University and the community.

“After the pandemic, when employers themselves used Zoom, Teams and other remote services, they became more receptive to reimbursing for remote courses.”

Joyce Strawser, Stillman School of Business, NJBIZ, on the evolving choices for in-person, online and hybrid learning

“To me, there are two questions about that consensus, which is two permanent seats and two elected seats for Africa. Can Africa live with less? And then what does the rest of the SC [Security Council] look like?”

Martin S. Edwards, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Inter Press Service, discussing finding a common negotiating position for reform of the U.N. Security Council.

Charles Grantham, Center for Sport Management, The Washington Post, on loosening ownership requirements that are undercutting the diversification of team owners.

BY THE NUMBERS

Athletics Stats

2021-22

3.506

Cumulative Student-Athlete GPA (Highest Ever)

80%

Student-Athletes Named to BIG EAST All-Academic Team (3.0 GPA and up)

87

Men’s Golf Team National Ranking (Highest Ever)

5

Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Appearances in Last 6 Years

7

Consecutive Top-Half Finishes in the BIG EAST for Men’s Basketball

6

Women’s Basketball Postseason Appearances in Last 8 Years

7

Student-Athletes Won an Individual BIG EAST Championship

Doctoral student Julius Moore, a former Army drill sergeant and squad leader, shows veterans a path to post-military success through education.

He Leads by Example

When you’re a member of the military, there’s someone telling you where to be, what to do, and when to do it, pretty much around the clock.

When you’re a university student, the opposite holds true. The choices available to you — good and bad — are almost limitless. Professors give you assignments and deadlines, but the choice to show up to class and turn your work in on time is up to you.

No one understands this contrast and challenge better than Julius Moore II, retired Army sergeant first class, assistant director of the MLK Scholarship Association at Seton Hall. Moore, 45, brought a full military career with him when he began his university teaching experience in 2015.

Tasked with providing guidance to the University’s ROTC students, Moore initially worried about his new job.

“I had just finished my associate degree when I arrived at Seton Hall,” he explains. “I was nervous because I had never taught students before.”

What Moore had done during four deployments, however, was lead. He had also served as a drill sergeant, laying a foundation from which to now lead students.

Still, there were differences. “In the military, there’s a power dynamic in place that dictates everything you do,” he says. “In education, you’ve got college students with aspirations to become an officer, and I felt like an imposter teaching them.”

Yet Moore had a knack for teaching his new charges. “The students encouraged me to continue my education and become Dr. Moore,” he says. “I listened.”

Soon after beginning at Seton Hall, Moore began a quest to obtain first his bachelor’s degree, followed by a second associate degree, and then his master’s. He did all that while teaching, and helping his wife raise their blended family of six children. “There were moments I thought I wouldn’t graduate, but I learned that a student can’t be afraid to ask for help,” he says.

Today, Moore is in pursuit of his Ph.D., with plans to

defend his dissertation and graduate in the spring of 2024. Hillary Morgan, program director for higher education in the Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy, is serving on his dissertation committee. “I first met Julius in the fall of 2020,” she says. “He was so engaged, and he cared deeply about the students he was working with.”

Morgan says that in Moore’s case, at times it was the student teaching the professor. “I learned from him because I don’t have a military background and he wove that experience into every class,” she explains.

As Moore adjusted to his life as both a student and teacher, a new mission became clear to him: helping student veterans connect to higher education. “Many veterans aren’t aware of the path they can take in education, and Julius wants to help them bridge that gap,” says Morgan. “He is a passionate advocate for this group, and he stands out for his dedication.”

The Rev. Forrest M. Pritchett, senior adviser to the provost for diversity, equity and inclusion at Seton Hall, and a mentor to Moore, has witnessed this advocacy in action, and is impressed. “I’ve watched a mature man climbing up the ladder of life,” says Pritchett. “It has required more persistence and determination for him to complete what he has than the typical student entering college.”

To that end, Moore’s dissertation is focused on studentveteran persistence, a perfect topic for him to tackle. “The challenge for veterans is entering a completely different environment,” he says. “The military tells you what to do, and once you leave, everything is strange and different. I want to help veterans persist through college.”

Both Morgan and Pritchett will tell you Moore is already accomplishing that goal. Says Pritchett: “He’s made a quantum leap in academia, and now he’s sharing that experience and making a difference with young veteran scholars.” n

Photo by D.A. Peterson

Amanda Loudin is a Maryland-based freelance writer.

THE COUNSELOR

Rich Liebler ’67/M.A. ’19/Ed.S. ’20 helps young people and incarcerated veterans discover a new path.

Some people have a gift for drawing motivation from hardship, and they often have a great capacity for sharing that gift with others.

Rich Liebler ’67/M.A. ’19/Ed.S. ’20 is the unassuming sort, and he might not strike you as one of those people. Talk to someone whose life has been touched by this former member of the Board of Regents, however, and you’ll get the picture.

Esperanza Maldonado met Liebler in a life-skills class he was teaching at a Ford training center while she was residing in a halfway house, and she calls it a “life-changing” moment. “He is a rare find. There’s not that many people out there who would take their time, their energy and put it into people,” she says. “He put his time and his energy into me, and the only thing he was looking for in return was for me to become successful.” And she did, becoming a top Nissan salesperson for Sansone Auto Group, where Liebler is a vice president.

In recent years, Liebler has focused on counseling incarcerated veterans, who account for approximately 8 percent of inmates in U.S. state prisons, according to the Preliminary Assessment of Veterans in the Criminal Justice System

Liebler’s penchant for helping others may be all the more inspiring considering the challenges he has faced. Take his military experience as a Marine jet pilot in

Vietnam. Having already been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism during a hazardous mission along the Ho Chi Minh trail, Liebler cracked his spine, shattered both wrists and sustained a traumatic brain injury in a rocket attack as he was doing a preflight inspection of his aircraft.

For weeks he was given intravenous Demerol to manage his pain, but on the day he was released he knew he had become dependent. “I started shaking and getting these horrendous headaches, all kinds of weird things happening to my body,” he recalls. A course of methadone helped, but what really motivated him to get clean was the desire to fly again.

The experience provided empathy and credibility later in life when it came to counseling addicts. “That’s one of the things I teach when dealing with substance abuse: you have to have a goal, a vision,” he explains.

And then in 1989 he experienced the death of his 17-year-old son in a car accident. Liebler started an auto technician training program for at-risk youth and adults in his son’s honor. The boy’s photo still hangs there. “It focuses me — this is one of the reasons I do this,” he notes. “Working to help at-risk populations change their lives became my mission in life.”

Liebler’s Seton Hall background has figured prominently at every turn. His introduction to the

military came as an ROTC student and member of the Pershing Rifles while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in sociology. And when he wanted to follow his passion for counseling, it made sense to return to the University, calling the professional counseling program “one of the best in the country.” He earned master’s degrees in professional counseling and school counseling.

Seton Hall is also playing a role in helping veterans and others re-enter society after prison.

Through the support of Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., the Seton Hall University School of Law secured a $632,000 grant to develop a community-based re-entry

and support services program. According to Lori Outzs Borgen, associate clinical professor and director of the Center for Social Justice where the program is based, services like those provided by Liebler are essential in helping the incarcerated transition back into the free world — and helping them stay there.

“If people get good supportive services, it really can have a big impact on recidivism,” she explains. “To have somebody like Rich to help you with that counseling is just crucial.” n

Photo by Michael Paras

Harris Fleming is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.

JOURNALISTS’ GUIDE TO SPORTS MEDIA

Jane McManus, executive director of the Center for Sports Media, is preparing sports journalists to thrive in an evolving media landscape.

Jane McManus has watched sports — and sports journalism — change. From her first job at the New York Daily News to now teaching the next generation of professionals (while writing a sports column at Deadspin), she knows that students are graduating into a different media landscape and could use guidance preparing for it.

Which is what brought her to Seton Hall — that and Bob Ley ‘76, legendary sportscaster and now executive founder of the Seton Hall Center for Sports Media.

“When Bob Ley calls and says ‘we’re starting a new center for sports media, do you want to throw in your hat?’ — you throw in your hat,” she said.

McManus met Ley when she was a student at Columbia University School of Journalism — he came to her class to talk about investigative and enterprise sports reporting. After working at the New York Daily News and Newsday, she eventually joined Ley at ESPN, where she covered the National Football League and was a columnist for espnW, with regular appearances on SportsCenter, the Sports Reporters and Outside the Lines.

She got that call from Ley while at Marist College, where she was director for sports communication, and started at Seton Hall in May 2022. In addition to Ley, the University’s long history of developing sports media talent — including Ed Lucas, Megan Olivi, Bob Picozzi, Bill Raftery, Dick Vitale and Bardia Shah-Rais — was a draw. As was the student population, and how many Seton Hall students are the first in their families to go to college.

“It’s really important to me to help young people coming into the business who haven’t traditionally had a pathway into sports journalism,” she said.

She’s now working to develop a multi-year strategic plan for the Center for Sports Media to cement its place in journalism programs as a hub of interdisciplinary academic training and theory with practical and experiential learning.

This is especially needed right now, McManus said, because of how journalism is changing. Gone are the days when students could graduate into an entry position at

one publication and stay there for the rest of their career. Most are going to change jobs, write for multiple outlets at once, and won’t necessarily have the same kind of mentoring and guiding hand to steer them, she said.

“You are responsible for making sure that you’re getting stuff right and that you’re doing things in an ethical way, and that you’re dealing with people fairly and responsibly,” she said. “Students need a bigger toolbox because they are going to be more responsible for their own careers out of the gate.”

In addition to giving students those tools, she is bringing in professionals from different backgrounds and making these opportunities open to all Seton Hall students. In February, McManus moderated an event with tennis legend and pioneer Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, King’s partner and CEO of Billie Jean King Enterprises. They spoke about gender equity in sports and economic opportunities for athletes.

McManus continues to introduce students to how sports intersect with the world, and she’s working with Seton Hall’s Institute for Communication and Religion to organize a sports and inclusion panel, an idea drawn from attending the international summit on sport at the Vatican last fall.

“We’re figuring out how to have conversations that touch on a number of different issues that are interesting and appealing to students,” she said.

That also means bringing athletes and journalists from all levels and experiences into the classroom. That might mean a Yankees beat writer or an MLB.com hiring coordinator one week, and a former volleyball player turned Harvard Medical School graduate the next. She wants to make sure students understand that there are stories everywhere and “it’s not just about the highest level of professional sports,” she said.

“I’m looking for ways to connect our students with opportunities inside and outside the classroom, but also making sure they’re aware of and have access to these opportunities and they understand the way that sports and these topics intersect.” n

Photo by Michael Paras

Jen A. Miller is the author of Running: A Love Story.

‘IF WE DON’T DO IT, WHO WILL?’

Professor Michael Ambrosio makes a case for giving back to Seton Hall.

For more than 50 years, Michael P. Ambrosio, the longest-serving professor in the history of the Seton Hall University School of Law, has touched the lives of tens of thousands of students who have gone on to careers in the service of justice. His deep passion is for “natural law” — the theory that objective moral principles exist which should guide and constrain legal and political decisions. Questions about the relationship between law and morality and law and religion have ignited robust classroom discussions and made a lasting impression on Seton Hall graduates working in the legal profession today.

His courses on Professional Responsibility and Law and Morality have inspired students to volunteer at the law school’s Center for Social Justice in Newark — a legal-services clinic that Ambrosio started in 1970 — and to dedicate their practice to the service of the poor and underprivileged.

Ambrosio’s conscientious approach as teacher, legal scholar and professional advocate extends to his personal philanthropy. He and his wife, Janice Gordon, have donated more than $4 million to the University and the Law School, with a pattern of giving that reflects their sense of justice and compassion, as well as a devotion to the Catholic identity of Seton Hall.

The couple established the Michael P. Ambrosio and Janice Gordon Endowed Scholarship for Seton Hall Law Students, enabling those in need to pursue a

law degree. They have also supported the Immaculate Conception Seminary, the Center for Catholic Studies, and several other funds and initiatives that align with their personal values.

In addition, they have contributed significantly to the Toth-Lonergan Endowed Professorship in Interdisciplinary Studies, which ensures there is always a visiting scholar on campus to amplify the University’s Catholic mission and help the community explore the intersection of faith with academic and professional disciplines.

“The Catholic identity at Seton Hall is very important and necessary,” said Ambrosio. “The kind of education we offer emphasizes the moral foundation of our society. So, there is a need for making our curriculum and our faculty capable of providing education at that deeper level — both intellectual and spiritual — and instilling in our students the sense that there’s a greater purpose in the world than simply getting a job. You really need good faculty who not only teach but publish, perform public service and help their students find meaning in all they do.”

Ambrosio was a good friend of the late Deacon William J. Toth, Ph.D., who served as an associate professor of Christian ethics at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. The chair is named after Toth, as well as Father Bernard Lonergan, S.J., (1904-1984) a renowned scholar who explored the link between faith and the contemporary sciences and professions.

“Bill Toth was the quintessential example of what a Catholic university faculty member should be,” said Ambrosio. “He had the finest character and a superior intellect.”

As he worked to promote the Toth-Lonergan chair, Ambrosio also came to admire the work of Monsignor Richard “Dick” Liddy, professor of Catholic thought and culture and founder of the Center for Catholic Studies.

“Dick has been instrumental in helping the University make the kind of progress we can all feel proud about,” said Ambrosio. “And Greg Floyd is doing a wonderful job as the director of the Center for Catholic Studies. But there’s always the need for continuing support of these initiatives — financial

and otherwise — that are at the core of the University.”

Ambrosio feels a unique momentum at work now, and he wants to see it surge.

“Our alumni are the people who know Seton Hall and who benefit from Seton Hall,” he said. “It’s important to be grateful and to give back, if you have the means to do so. There’s a great sense of satisfaction in seeing the University progress and knowing you had a small part in helping that effort.

“The most important point is: if we don’t do it, who will?” n

Ruth Zamoyta is director of advancement and campaign communications.

Janice Gordon and Michael Ambrosio

At the HEART

“We shape our buildings,” Winston Churchill once remarked. “Thereafter, they shape us.”

SIR WINSTON’S OBSERVATION comes to mind with the reopening last November of the University Center, the brick-and-mortar heart of the Seton Hall campus, following a two-year, top-to-bottom renovation. The revamping of the 60-year-old building, undertaken by the Trenton architectural firm Clarke Caton Hintz, was designed to align with the University’s strategic plan, Harvest Our Treasures, which seeks to provide students with “a premier, mission-centered engagement experience.” The project’s chief planners purposely sought to create spaces within the thoroughly modernized building that would invite engagements large and small, planned and unplanned, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We’re literally tearing down walls and opening doors to invite more collaboration, engagement and cross pollination of ideas, in and outside the classroom,” Seton

Hall President Joseph E. Nyre announced in a recent communication about the project. “Just like our students are at the heart of our mission, the newly renovated University Center will advance the heart of our campus.”

From an early-morning cup of joe at the new, openall-day Starbucks to midday lectures and luncheons in the 500-seat Event Room, to late-night study sessions in the Pirate Cove, members of the Seton Hall community now have round-the-clock access to the University Center. Students took advantage of the building’s expanded hours almost immediately. With fall semester finals fast approaching, nightfall found more students spending more study time in the University Center, some staying into the early morning.

It was just the sort of appeal that University planners, including Victoria Pivovarnick, had in mind. As the associate vice president for facilities engineering and business affairs, Pivovarnick, now in her seventh year at Seton Hall, oversees capital projects on campus. The wholesale remodeling of the University Center ranks as

The newly imagined University Center provides a communal gathering space,

of CAMPUS

the most ambitious such project to date. The team sought input from faculty, staff, students, campus priests, security, grounds, and facilities officials, campus personnel in communications and the arts, and leaders at the technology learning center, among others.

One of the people consulted was Ghana Hylton, the University Center’s building manager and the University’s director of business affairs and scheduling and operations. Hylton served on an advisory committee that offered ideas for the renovation.

by Bob Handelman

Photography

The renovation added 6,310 square feet of space to the University Center, which now measures 110,255 square feet. The building’s footprint, however, was increased only by 1,434 square feet — the result, Pivovarnick says, of building on top of existing flat roofs and patios and by designing more efficient staircases and entry points. “We were trying to maximize the building to the nth degree,” she says. “Everywhere we could put a chair, we put a chair.”

And lots more. Besides new electrical and plumbing systems, technological upgrades abound, from audio-visual

systems to keyless door locks. Beyond the extensive interior remodeling, the building’s exterior was coated in cast stone and bronze glazing to reflect the architectural features of landmark buildings elsewhere on campus. Pivovarnick says the reimagined University Center was designed to create a seamless synergy of function with the adjoining University Green. That relationship was furthered by the addition of an amphitheater and a firepit out front, and by the floor-to-ceiling windows installed even in the main stairwell. The new walls of windows bathe the front of the building in natural light. “It’s just gorgeous,” Hylton says.

Some of those windows can be opened in warm weather, a prospect that tickles Hylton. “I cannot wait until spring,” she says, “when you can open it and it will be like indoor/ outdoor and we can have the fresh air coming in. Oh, my goodness! I guess you can tell I’m excited about the space.”

She’s not alone. Students, staff, faculty, alumni and visitors have been drawn to new and improved spaces throughout the building. Here’s a sampling of what they’re finding at the new University Center.

transforms the look of the Green and elevates the student experience.

The Event Room

The ground-level Event Room, the largest in the center, can accommodate up to 500 people for a lecture. It’s already in heavy rotation. In January the School of Diplomacy and International Relations convened here for its World Leaders Forum series, featuring Csaba Körösi, the president of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Three weeks later, at a Center for Sports Media event focused on “Equity, Influence and the Next Generation,” Jane McManus, the center’s executive director, interviewed tennis greats Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss in the Event Room.

The Event Lounge

Formerly an outdoor patio, the lounge adjacent to the Event Room is one of the most enticing new spaces. With tables and chairs lining a wall of windows looking out on the University Green, the lounge has new electrical, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, lighting and audio-visual systems, a television on one wall and comfortable lounge furniture. Hylton says the lounge may be used as a pre-function space for the Event Room, most recently as a VIP lounge for the Billie Jean King event in February.

Disability Access

The University Center previously had just two entries that could be used by people with disabilities. “Now,” Pivovarnick says, “every public door is accessible to everyone.” A ramp has been built outside the main entrance, sidewalks near the Prayer Garden have been connected, and a lift has been installed at the theater, providing access from the dressing rooms to the stage. The accessibility upgrades include two new service elevators.

Event Room

The Buzz

“Thanks to my smartphone and my laptop, the whole University Center can be my ‘office.’ It’s pretty much the crossroads of campus — a great place to see and to be seen, to meet and to be met. See you there!”

FATHER COLIN KAY

“I’ve been really enjoying the space, and I’ve seen the majority of the student body really enjoying the space. It’s definitely been upgraded a lot.”

ZOE GREENE ’23

“The thing that struck me the most was, honestly, the fact that Starbucks was open 24 hours. Before that, there was nowhere to get food. This was our first 24-hour dining option.”

MOJISOLA ADESANYA ’22

“I definitely wanted it to be a great hangout space for the students. I wanted it to be warm and inviting for them and, oh my, is it ever.”

GHANA HYLTON

The Prayer Room

This nondenominational space has bench seating for 15 and windows with a stained-glass tint. The room is designed to provide the University community with additional space for prayer and meditation.

Second-Floor Lounge

Formerly a hallway that had been something of an architectural afterthought, the Lounge is a welcoming nook in which to study, meet with friends or just enjoy the view of the University Green. Comfortable sofas and lounge chairs create an inviting setting, and students have taken note. “That area is packed every time I go up there,”

Hylton says. “Not one seat is not taken. It has an incredible view over the Green. In December you could see the Christmas tree. I mean, it’s just beautiful.”

The Meeting Room

Formerly known as the Faculty Lounge, the Meeting Room, with seating for 49 people, has undergone a complete makeover, with new lighting, flooring, ceiling, furniture and digital audio system. The room already has been used for new employee orientation sessions, provost’s office meetings, and for Office of Student Engagement and Career Center workshops aimed at helping seniors prepare for their post-graduation careers.

The O’Brien Gallery

This new space, formerly part of the Theatre-in-the-Round, now functions as an art gallery, student lounge, theater lobby and reception area. It has new electrical, lighting and acoustical systems and a new entrance facing the adjacent Arts and Sciences Hall.

The Pirate’s Cove and Pirate’s Lounge

These are two of the most popular spaces on campus. The Pirate’s Cove, with new lighting and flooring and a new ceiling design, also contains the new round-the-clock Starbucks, two large-screen televisions and glass partitions that fold open to the outdoor patio. Hylton says the TVs got

“Every time I walk past, it’s packed. I feel like they utilized that investment correctly. It’s going to pay off for years to come.”

ALVIN “DONNIE” OLIVER ’23

Campus Ministry has a dedicated space and a visible presence in the new University Center.

plenty of use during last fall’s World Cup, which drew students together to watch the international soccer matches at all hours. The Pirate’s Lounge, formerly the commuter lounge, now has food options such as Jersey Mike’s, Pirate Bowls and Pirate Express, as well as two pool tables, foosball and air-hockey tables, and two three-screen gaming stations. “Both the Pirate’s Lounge and Cove are always bustling and busy,” Hylton says.

The Chancellor’s Suite

This ground-level room, able to accommodate 150 people for a lecture and 120 for a banquet, has been updated with new floors and fresh paint. Since the building’s reopening, the suite has been packed.

The Student Government Association has resumed its weekly meetings here every Monday night, and in February teams working to enact Seton Hall’s strategic plan used the space to deliver progress reports to the University community.

Campus Inclusion and Community Space

This new second-floor room, formally opened in February, is intended to help achieve one of Seton Hall’s strategic plan goals, which calls for the University to advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice efforts on and off the campus. Hylton, the new director of the Campus Inclusion and Community Space, says the room will used for

lectures, book signings, game nights and other events promoting diversity and inclusion. “This room is just one of the ways in which that important stewardship shows up,” she says, “and I’m honored that I was entrusted with a small part of the larger plan.”

New Offices for the Student Government Association, Know More, Dare to Care, Student Activities Board, Greek Life and The Setonian

The offices provide space for leaders of these vital student organizations to conduct their business in comfortable settings. Each office has a table, seating for 10 and storage space. “The students,” Hylton says, “are thrilled to have a space to call their own.”

Pirate’s Cove

Prayer Room

Campus Inclusion Space

Pirate’s Lounge

Architectural Gems

Everywhere you turn in the redesigned University Center, you encounter a new color scheme, a new shape, a new building-wide aesthetic. The makeover of the 60-year-old center is so complete, in fact, that it’s difficult to pinpoint this upgrade or that addition. Here are seven architectural highlights that help define the new University Center.

Painted Tile Display in the Prayer Garden

For the Prayer Garden, between the new entrance to the University Center and the Arts and Sciences building, the priest community at Seton Hall requested something other than a statue. The tile is being hand-painted in shades of blue and white with gold accents, in a style of ceramic tilework known as azulejos, which dates to 14th-century Spain and Portugal.

Three images are depicted on the tile: Our Lady of Guadalupe as the centerpiece, with Juan Diego on the right and Seton Hall’s chapel on the left, its doors opened to a path that extends to Mary. The tile, inside a bronze frame, will be set within a red stone wall that matches the new front of the University Center.

St. Francis of Assisi Statue in the Prayer Garden

The statue, which stood inside the community garden for a decade before the renovation, is now featured more prominently in the Prayer Garden, surrounded by benches and set off by a new sidewalk.

The Crucifix

A crucifix was installed between the first and second floor in the University Center’s main stair tower (the building’s ground-level floor, below the first floor, is considered the lower level). The Italian-made crucifix was hand-carved from linden wood. The Jesus figure is life-size, and the cross, slightly more than 13 feet high and nearly 6 feet across, is visible from the Campus Green.

Nods to History

While there is much of the new to be seen throughout the University Center, the makeover includes some nods to its architectural history.

A large bust of Bishop John Joseph Dougherty, a former Seton Hall president and the University Center’s namesake, has been afforded a more prominent location. Formerly in a stair tower, the bust can now be viewed outside the new vestibule entrance by the theatre.

Two crucifixes that hung in the University Center before its

Painted Tile (rendering)

St. Francis of Assisi Statue

Bishop Dougherty Bust

renovation were sanded and cleaned by University carpenters. Today, one hangs outside the chancellor’s office on the lower level and the other hangs outside the new elevators and staircase on the second floor.

The modernized lighting and railing in the main stair tower, including an impressive chandelier, were inspired by what was in the older building. “We took a look at some existing retro-fixtures,” Pivovarnick says, “and selected a fixture that had similar design but was LED-energy efficient.”

The Firepit

In addition to a fireplace built within the Bishop Dougherty Dining Room,

the lower patio outside the front of the University Center now features a gas-fired firepit surrounded by an inviting circle of Adirondack chairs. The firepit is part of the new landscaping design in front of the building, which helps to meld the University Center with the University Green. Best of all: Anyone on campus can ask the welcome-desk receptionist to turn on the firepit.

The Amphitheater

Pivovarnick says the new amphitheater, built in a space previously occupied by a retaining wall, takes advantage of the slope in front of the University Center.

“To match the lower and upper level,” she says, “and give more function to a significant piece of property on campus that wasn’t really usable.” The amphitheater has audio capability and Wi-Fi, and University officials expect it will get plenty of use in warm-weather months for concerts, plays, comedy nights, poetry readings, lectures and anything, really, that students, staff or faculty can think of.

A New Broadcast Studio

A new, state-of-the-art media studio, visible from inside the main entrance, will provide students and faculty a broadcasting facility with myriad potential uses. While the studio is expected to be used regularly by Pirate TV, WSOU and Seton Hall Athletics, the space will also be used for student podcasts, faculty lectures, interviews with guest speakers and speeches by Seton Hall President Joseph E. Nyre. Pivovarnick says the studio was purposely placed in a public-facing space. “We wanted to get some of that curriculum and [activities] that students do in a more visible area,” she says. n

Crucifix Near Elevators Amphitheater

Broadcast Studio

Firepit

THE ORIGIN STORY OF

SETON HALL

BY DERMOT QUINN

Quinn, professor of history at Seton Hall, worked on the account for more than 15 years, having been urged to write it by president emeritus Monsignor Robert Sheeran.

Of Seton Hall’s inception, Quinn writes “In 1856 James Roosevelt Bayley, Roman Catholic Bishop of Newark, founded a school in Madison, New Jersey, calling it Seton Hall College in honor of his aunt, Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton. The name was a gesture of piety and a statement of intent. By honoring the greatest promoter of Catholic schools in early nineteenth century America, Bayley wished to continue her work of building American Catholicism through education, charity, and moral instruction.

“The new school was thus, in various senses, an act of faith. In the first place, it kept faith with a remarkable woman. In the second place, it promoted a particular faith, Roman Catholicism, and a particular people, the Catholics of New Jersey. Seton Hall was to cater for a new flock spiritually and socially, giving it a place in the world and, perhaps, in the world to come.

“‘The school-house has become second in importance to the House of God itself,’ he wrote shortly before he became bishop in 1853.”

Bishop Bayley was aided immeasurably in this endeavor by Father McQuaid, a man of “indomitable energy and zeal” who deserves credit for driving the fledgling educational enterprise forward despite divisions that arose at times between the two men. McQuaid served as Seton Hall’s president from its inception — raising money, furnishing the school, welcoming and guiding students — until 1868 (except for 1857 and 1858, when Father Daniel Fisher presided).

The excerpt on the following pages chronicles Seton Hall’s earliest days, documenting the move from Madison to South Orange and providing a slice of life as to what the first students encountered at the school. The

AAs Dermot Quinn explains in the newly published Seton Hall University: A History, 1856-2006 , the University owes its foundation to three central figures: Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton and Father Bernard McQuaid.

Courtesy of Seton Hall Archives

A New Home

Success depended on leadership and here the story took a turn for the better. Fisher relinquished the presidency in 1859, forcing Bayley to turn again to McQuaid. “Have been obliged to re-appoint the Rev. Father McQuaid to the Presidency of the College,” he wrote in his diary on July 16, 1859. “He is still retaining the pastorship of the Cathedral. It is more difficult to find a good College Pres. Than to find a good anything else in this world. All that the College needs to ensure its permanent prosperity is a President. Everything else is there.”41

If there is a hint of reluctance here, a sense of anticipated difficulty with a deputy now assured of his indispensability, McQuaid’s return nonetheless brought nothing but benefit to Seton Hall. Bayley deserves credit for it.

Coinciding with this second act and perhaps prompting it was a recognition that Seton Hall had outgrown its original premises. As early as 1857, Bayley was complaining of “the smallness of the College for Ecc[lesiastical] Students.”42 In 1859 he declined admission to Samuel Seaman from Philadelphia: “cannot receive him, have 30 Ecc. Students at present: would give him a situation at the College but have no place for him.”43 Students wishing to study for the priesthood needed to be closer to Newark to take part in diocesan liturgies, and proximity to New York would also encourage wealthier parents to send their boys to the college.

“The object I have in view,” he told priests in May 1860, “is to enlarge the present institution — to unite to it as soon as possible a Theological School similar to that connected with Mount S. Mary’s near Emmitsburg — and by bringing it nearer to the Episcopal City to increase its usefulness and to render it more readily accessible to the Clergy of the diocese for retreats, Conferences, and other Ecclesiastical purposes.”44

With numbers stuck at about sixty, Bayley and McQuaid had to find another place at a reasonable price, bearing in mind that other institutions (such as the recently established North American College in Rome)

were also seeking support.45 Nonetheless, a site was secured, almost by accident:

One bright day in the early spring of 1860, Bishop Bayley and Father McQuaid were returning from a long drive over the Orange Hills from what had proved a fruitless search for a location for the new college; rather discouraged, they were driving slowly homeward over the South Orange and Newark turnpike, when Bishop Bayley’s attention was attracted to a large white marble villa surrounded by superb grounds and stately trees. He turned to Father McQuaid and said “do you think that property can be purchased.” “I don’t know, but we’ll try,” answered the young priest with assurance and ready promptness. For Father McQuaid to will, was to accomplish, when he once set to work with a purpose, and despite several obstacles it was not long before the property was bought and the deed transferred to Bishop Bayley … on April 2, 1860.46

Bayley recorded the transaction laconically: “New College. Purchased the House and Farm known as the Marble House near South Orange for $35,000: the house was built by a person named Elphinstone, who spent some $40,000 on it and failed before it was completed. Intend to give the property at Madison to the Sisters of Charity & remove the College to this new place.”47

The Elphinstone house and over sixty acres of land in South Orange were a bargain. Moreover, conveying the Madison property to the Sisters of Charity was not a gift. They paid $25,000 for it, which included the fortyeight acres purchased in 1854 and an additional thirteen acres bought in 1859. (The building and land formed the nucleus of a convent and, later, the College of Saint Elizabeth.) Bayley asked a real estate agent, Michael MacEntee of Vailsburg in Newark, to handle the sale, knowing that there would be local opposition had the purchaser been known as a Roman Catholic bishop.

Bayley’s reference to the Elphinstone failure is obscure. It may have been financial, personal, or domestic, the inability of two brothers of that name to live under the same roof. (The brothers, it should be added, were not the vendors; the property belonged to a Mr. Charles Osborne of Exchange Place, New York.) At any rate, the farm alone was

worth more than the price Bayley and McQuaid paid for house and land together.

McQuaid noted in 1886 that “the value of the land has greatly appreciated since I bought it in 1860 … the buying price was about $500 per acre, with the Marble Building thrown in [for nothing]. The land today, about sixty-eight acres, should be worth from two to three thousand dollars per acre.”48 The village of South Orange added to the appeal, an hour by train from New York. With the Orange Mountains adding a touch of grandeur to the estate, the Elphinstone property overlooked “a beautiful country,” the College Catalogue of 1862 boasted, “noted for healthfulness” with “villas and mansions on every available site for miles around.”49 It was perfectly chosen.

The removal of Seton Hall from Madison to South Orange was a diocesan event and Bayley made the most of it. Clergy and laity contributed $8,100 to an appeal launched in May 1860, enabling work to begin immediately on modifying the villa but insufficient to offset the purchase price. Almost as soon as the ink was dry, the Marble House was customized to serve the needs of seminarians with the addition of

dormitories and a study hall. On May 15, 1860 Bayley laid and blessed a cornerstone — a “large number of people present — made an address”50 — for a new building to house the college proper as opposed to the seminary (whose independent life may be said to begin with the move to South Orange). On September 10, 1860, Bayley recorded that “the new college building at South Orange is finished and has opened,”51 which does scant justice to its extraordinarily rapid construction. This “College Building” — the first of several — housed fifty students taught by seventeen faculty members. A three-story building in brick with dormer rooms, two chimney stacks, and a pointed tower, it was to the left of the Marble Villa. The household was again under the Sisters of Charity.

The Marble Villa and College Building were set in pleasant surroundings of parkland, some well-tended lawns, and a couple of playing fields. The rest of the property consisted of a farm providing vegetables and milk for the college kitchen. In October 1864 a further purchase of farmland was made, adding to the supplies of fresh produce for the seminary. Long after Bayley and McQuaid were dead, this farm and its modest set of outbuildings would form the basis of a

legal case that ended before the United States Supreme Court. But that is a story for a later chapter. In 1864, it produced fodder, not lawyers’ fees.

Academic Life

In South Orange as in Madison, Seton Hall’s curriculum was classical, linguistic, and mathematical with an emphasis on commercially useful subjects such as book-keeping. The purpose was to cover subjects from rudimentary to advanced level (some of the students were hardly even teenagers) with a view to future employment. There were four courses: Classical, English, French, and Mathematical. Students could not take logic, metaphysics, and ethics without first mastering the sixth and seventh years of the classical course. French was compulsory, Spanish and German optional. Pupils could do music, drawing, and painting, for which an extra fee was charged. Sport did not feature but games played a large if informal part in college life.

The classical course was textual. The first year was spent doing basic Latin grammar, the second year proceeded to Caesar’s Gallic Wars, elementary Greek, and Aesop’s Fables. By the third year students did Latin prose composition and were translating Sallust, Ovid, and Virgil’s Ecologues. In Greek, they studied the Anabasis of Xenophon. In the fourth year, the curriculum consisted of Virgil, Cicero, Xenophon, and Homer; in the fifth, Livy, Horace, Cicero, Demosthenes, and Aeschylus; in the sixth, Tacitus, Horace, Cicero, Euripides, and Longinus; in the seventh, Juvenal, Perseus, Herodotus, and Thucydides.

The mathematical course was a combination of theoretical and practical work taking in some hard science. After the gentle slopes of mental arithmetic and algebra, students climbed through plane, solid, and spherical geometry; trigonometry; surveying and navigation; analytical geometry; differential and integral calculus; mechanics and civil engineering; natural philosophy (that is to say, physics); chemistry; and astronomy. Anyone who mastered it could hope for a career in engineering, building,

the maritime industries, accounting, or commerce. The hard sciences proper consisted of physics, chemistry, and astronomy but not biology.

English covered a range of materials. Rudiments came first — reading, spelling, prose composition, the taking of dictation. Harder material followed — elocution, precepts of rhetoric and poetry, criticism of ancient authors, finally “English Classical Reading.”

English covered more than the word suggested, taking in historical material (Hale’s History of the United States, Lingard’s History of England, Fredet’s Ancient and Modern Histories) and also (oddly) Geography.

French was the foreign language nonpareil. A number of students knew Spanish already and German was the first language of others. The course was linguistic rather than literary. Grammar, conversation, dictation, and composition came first, poetry and prose second. The catalogue announced that students would undertake “the Study of French Literature” but without specifying what: probably whatever took the professor’s fancy on a given day.

Every class assumed the truth of the Catholic worldview. Astronomy, for example, was taught as a subset of natural theology, English history as branch of counter-reformation apologetics, and so on. Catholic teaching itself also had to be imparted. Students were expected to master “in regular succession” the Small Catechism, Butler’s Catechism, Collot’s Doctrinal and Scriptural Catechism, and Lectures on the Doctrines and Evidences of the Catholic Church. These exercises were reinforced in the sixth and seventh years by logic, metaphysics, and ethics.

Not every student undertook every course. The early curriculum was high school standard, the later stages more advanced. One option was to attend Seton Hall for

a few years, then leave to find work. Getting a degree was not necessarily a goal. Those intent on ordination stayed longer. To receive a diploma, a student had to persevere for seven years. “Candidates for the degree of A.B.,” said the catalogue of 1861–62, “must undergo a public examination in the full course of studies pursued in the College.” Their scrolls were hard won. Life outside the classroom was equally tough. Discipline and moral wariness were the watchwords:

No student ever leaves the College grounds without a teacher. Leaving the College grounds after night-fall subjects the student to expulsion.

The use of tobacco is forbidden …

No books of any kind can be held by the Students, unless by permission of the President.

Students are not allowed to receive newspapers, except for their Reading Room, which is under the direction of the President.

No correspondence is permitted, except under cover, to and from parents and guardians; and the President will exercise his right to examine all letters, as, in his judgment, it may be necessary.

No student of low and vicious habits will be retained in this College …

The number of letters scrutinized cannot be known; few enough, in all likelihood. The interdiction of “books of any kind” was designed to perfect reading, not prevent it. Cheap novels were disdained and anything worse, the surreptitious currency of dormitories, was ground for expulsion. Every school banned tobacco, less for reasons of health than safety. The rules were no better or worse than those of comparable institutions. Indeed, they were directed as much at parents as at pupils: “Parents have the right to withdraw their children at any time; they have not the right to interfere with the established discipline of the College; they have not the right to keep us and our punctual students waiting for laggards who want one more day of idleness.”52 McQuaid sought and achieved mastery over adults as well as children. He could be a torture at times.

The academic year lasted two terms of five months each, beginning on the last Wednesday in August and

ending on the last Wednesday in June. Except for a ten-day vacation at Christmas and a brief exeat in May, students remained in college throughout the academic session. (Exceptionally, a student might also stay during summer.) Board and tuition, $225 per annum payable half-yearly the beginning of each term, included linen, laundry, the mending of clothes, but not the doctor’s fee ($5) or the cost of medicine. Other extras included music lessons ($50), drawing ($40), and tuition in German, Italian, and Spanish ($25 each). Students were allowed pocket money, lodged with the college treasurer, who disbursed or withheld it as he saw fit. Rich or poor, the typical student had an equipage fit for a prince: “On entering [he] must be supplied with four Summer suits, if he enters in the Spring; or three Winter suits if he enters in the Fall. He must also have at least twelve shirts, twelve pair of stockings, twelve pocket handkerchiefs, six towels, six napkins, three pairs of shoes or boots, and a napkin ring marked with his name.”53

Thus dressed, he faced an unknown but rule-bound world.

41. Bayley, Diocesan Diary, July 16, 1859.

42. Bayley Letter Book, October 29, 1857. ADN, 1.31.

43. Bayley Letter Book, March 5, 1859. ADN, 1.31.

44. Bayley circular, May 16, 1860. ADN 2.1, Bayley Papers 1836–1872, Box 1, Folder 23.

45. Bayley to Robert Seton, January 15, 1865, quoted in Yeager, Life, 203n163.

46. William F. Marshall, Seton Hall College Catalogue, 1895, 2, quoted in Robert J. Wister, Stewards of the Mysteries of God: Immaculate Conception Seminary, 1860–2010 (South Orange, NJ: Immaculate Conception Seminary, 2010), 24.

47. Bayley, Diocesan Diary, April 2, 1860

48. McQuaid to Archbishop Williams, April 13, 1886. Letter Book, Diocese of Rochester, 188.

49. Catalogue of the officers and students of Seton Hall College, 18611862, 5

50. Bayley, Diocesan Diary, May 15, 1860

51. Bayley, Diocesan Diary, September 10, 1860

52. Seton Hall College Catalogue, 1865–1866, 22.

53. Catalogue of the officers and students of Seton Hall College, 18611862, 7.

Excerpted from Seton Hall University: A History, 1856-2006 by Dermot Quinn, published February 10, 2023, by Rutgers University Press. Copyright 2023 by Dermot Quinn. All rights reserved.

Overlooked No More

After just about any Seton Hall women’s basketball game, when both teams are in the locker room and the court has been cleared, you might still see one player on the sidelines, mugging for pictures and signing autographs, mostly with young girls.

That’s Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall’s point guard, who has become a BIG EAST star. Her best advice to young fans? “Don’t allow people to tell you what you can and cannot do,” she said.

Park-Lane grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and played high-school basketball at the Sanford School. She led the team to a state title in her senior year and was also a four-time all-state selection and 2019 Delaware Player of the Year.

But she kept being overlooked by college basketball coaches. She’s 5’3” tall, and all her teammates (and most opponents) were over 6 feet.

“It was very frustrating,” she said, as her friends’ kept getting offers from NCAA Division 1 schools. Her parents helped her stay on an even keel. “They kept pushing me and telling me that it’ll come.”

But no matter what other schools thought, Seton Hall saw her potential. Associate head coach Lauren DeFalco, a former guard herself, saw Park-Lane play in a summer league, and immediately called head coach Tony Bozzella. “After five or six calls with Lauren, we really felt comfortable with her to come in and be a contributor to our program,” he said. “We didn’t know how big a contributor she would be.”

Park-Lane, now a co-captain of the team, is a playmaker. She’s broken all of Seton Hall’s assist records, including single-game assists (18), single-season assists (260) and career assists with nearly 700. For the

2021-22 season, she was the national leader in total assists. She’s also strong from the free-throw line and has a high 3-point shot percentage. She has scored over 1,900 points and finished last season only 20 points behind Seton Hall’s all-time scoring record. In a February game against DePaul, she racked up 39 points, breaking a school record.

In addition to leading Seton Hall to the National Final of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament in 2021-22, she’s collected armfuls of accolades including: the 2023 John R. Wooden Award Watch List and three straight First Team All-BIG EAST selections. She was also a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award in 2023, one of just five players nationwide to receive such an honor.

Bozzella notes that she uses her stature to her advantage. Point guards should be quick like Park-Lane, and her height makes her harder to defend since her opponents are constantly looking down and bending over. “Our system of play really opens up the floor and allows a guard to use her quickness and her speed, which Lauren does,” he said. “Everyone wants height. We want skills.”

Park-Lane has one more year of eligibility, and eventually she wants to go pro. “I just love basketball and want to make improvements to my game and see how good I can get because I know I can always get better,” she said. “I just want to be great.”

Bozzella hopes that she’ll end up coaching with him one day. “Yes, she’s going to be able to teach them basketball and teach them how to shoot. But I don’t have a lot of people I can hire who would have an impact on human beings that Lauren’s going to have on people.” n

Photo courtesy of Seton Hall Athletics

Jen A. Miller is the author of Running: A Love Story

A 10-Year Plan

Seton Hall Athletics facilities have been transformed over the last 10 years to give student-athletes what they need for intercollegiate competition at the highest level while they enjoy an enhanced experience that prepares them for life after graduation.

From weight training and rehabilitation to academic support and mental wellness to sport-specific instruction, students have a wealth of resources helping them succeed today and preparing them to become great leaders on and off the field.

Developing the “complete student-athlete” is a priority. A successful athletics department helps raise Seton Hall’s national profile, attract bright students, and build school spirit and comradery among the University community and alumni.

Investment in athletics facilities to date has paid significant dividends. Seton Hall student-athletes have captured 10 team and 73 individual BIG EAST Championships and boast a department record-high 3.506 cumulative GPA, which is up from 3.251 in 2013.

CENTER FOR SPORTS MEDICINE | Opened August 2013

The Center for Sports Medicine provides on-campus medical care to student-athletes by a dedicated athletic training staff. The Hydrotherapy Room features three 14-foot in-ground Hydro Worx tubs for rehabilitation and recovery. One is a “Polar Plunge” for cold therapy, and one is a “Thermal Plunge” for heat therapy. The third tub includes an underwater treadmill with variable water depths and a video system to monitor progress both above and beneath the water.

CHARLES W. DOEHLER ACADEMIC CENTER | Opened November 2013

Named for Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Famer Charles Doehler ’56, the renovated area includes two meeting rooms, two tutoring areas, study lounges, and offices for academic support staff and the director of student-athlete development. Plaques honoring Seton Hall athletic and academic award winners are hung along the center’s corridors.

FITNESS CENTER | Opened January 2014

The 12,000-square-foot fitness center is in a new space following expansion of the Athletic Center. The two-tier facility boasts men’s and women’s locker rooms, dual dedicated cardio stations as well as an array of circuit and free-weight training options. The space is encased by a sleek glass façade that provides a campus view and natural lighting that serves the modern look, feel and functionality of the space. More than a simple relocation or redesign, the fitness center has been lined with a fleet of cutting-edge fitness equipment that helps meet the demands of the University community and offers a better workout experience. Each cardio apparatus has a high-definition screen to watch live television or interactive fitness programs, or to connect to a mobile device. Two dance studios host an expanded program of organized fitness courses.

CENTER FOR SPORTS MEDICINE

CHARLES W. DOEHLER ACADEMIC CENTER

FITNESS CENTER

CAMPUS TENNIS COURTS | Renovated Summer 2015

The Campus Courts at Ivy Hill Park now serve as the home for Pirates women’s tennis. The four courts were rebuilt with a new playing surface and coating, fences, nets and trash receptacles, and also feature new lights.

GOLF LAB | Opened Fall 2015

An indoor practice facility for the men’s and women’s golf teams is located on the top floor of the Richie Regan Recreation and Athletic Center. The 2,760-square-foot golf lab features hitting stalls with portable simulator and projection screens. The lab includes multiple fringe and chipping areas with different rough lengths, an uphill chipping area, a putting lab and a simulated sand trap.

VARSITY LOCKER ROOMS | Opened January 2015

Seton Hall Athletics varsity locker rooms now provide a personal locker for each student-athlete in 5,061 square feet of space. Each locker room features a high-definition smart television, a hard-wired, surround-sound Bluetooth audio system, and wireless Internet access.

VARSITY WEIGHT ROOM | Opened March 2015

The renovated varsity weight room, located in the basement of the Athletics Center, has tripled in size, with 7,525 square feet spread out over four rooms. The facility features free weights, platforms, benches and cardio equipment, and is large enough to accommodate multiple teams at once without interrupting instruction. The room also houses the strength and conditioning staff offices.

VARSITY FILM ROOM

|

Opened March 2015

The amphitheater-style varsity film room is equipped with new projection and surroundsound technology and 36 custom leather seats. Teams gather here to learn from watching game films of themselves and their opponents, and also have team meetings and listen to guest speakers here.

REGAN CENTER and HALL OF FAME RENOVATION | Opened March 2015

The Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame features an interactive presentation of its more than 220 members, as well as an exhibit dedicated to the teams that have won BIG EAST championships. Display panels honor All-Americans, legendary coaches and high-profile moments in the department’s history, as well as recent trophies. The renovation included new administrative offices and a new recreation center check-in desk.

BATTING CAGE | Renovated Summer 2017

The Seton Hall Athletics Batting Cage provides an indoor space for the baseball and softball teams to conduct hitting drills, and is located near the team offices.

REFUELING STATION | Opened August 2018

The Pirates Refueling Station opened with a new focus on student-athlete nutrition. Located within the Richie Regan Recreation and Athletic Center, it offers snacks and beverages after practices and workouts, and is serviced by Gourmet Dining Services. The space also hosts teams for pregame meals.

MIKE SHEPPARD SR. STADIUM at OWEN T. CARROLL FIELD | Opened March 2020

Owen T. Carroll Field saw a major renovation when the baseball side was named Mike Sheppard Sr. Stadium. The fan areas on both the baseball and soccer sides were revamped with new chair-back seating, and permanent handicap-accessible restrooms were built in both sections. An enclosed press box enabled improved stadium technology and TV/radio broadcasts. The playing surface turf was replaced and baseball dugouts were set below grade, similar to those in a professional stadium. The facility now has a much greater “stadium” feel. A stone façade encloses all seating areas, and Seton Hall’s logos and branding are highly visible.

WALSH GYM RENOVATION | Opened Fall 2021

Historic Walsh Gym’s renovation included replacing the old wooden seats with high-end blue plastic ones and replacing the court-level bleachers with chairbacks. A new hardwood court was enhanced with a center-hung scoreboard, videoboard panels and a new sound system. Portable baskets were replaced with permanent ones hung from the ceiling.

RECOVERY ROOM | Opened August 2022

The Athlete Recovery Room is outfitted with six zero gravity massage chairs used with intermittent leg compression units, as well as two full-body massage chairs that promote muscle regeneration and post-recovery training. Student-athletes are given a one-year subscription to the Headspace app to promote meditation, sleep, mindfulness and stress management — made possible through a partnership with Seton Hall University’s Great Minds Dare to Care initiative, which supports student mental health.

BATTING CAGE

REFUELING STATION

MIKE SHEPPARD SR. STADIUM

WALSH GYM RECOVERY ROOM

The final phase of Seton Hall Athletics’ facility improvements is the construction of a basketball practice facility on the southeast corner of the Richie Regan Recreation and Athletic Center and the enhancements of women’s basketball’s spaces within Walsh Gymnasium. The state-of-the-art basketball practice facility will enable both men’s and women’s basketball to continue recruiting the world’s best student-athletes, keep them on par with their BIG EAST peers, optimize competitiveness through modern training resources and help elevate the University’s national and international profile while strengthening overall Pirate Pride and alumni affinity.

Over the last 10 years, the men’s and women’s basketball programs have combined for three BIG EAST championships and seven NCAA Tournament appearances with numerous individual player accolades that solidified the programs’ reputations as basketball powerhouses. The new basketball practice facility will include a full court, two half courts and a dedicated free throw basket. It will include a strength and conditioning area and sports medicine room that will let student-athletes grow stronger and recover faster. It will also include a modern locker room, player lounge, coaches offices and a film room. The new setup will facilitate providing instruction and care in the same place.

The construction of the basketball practice facility will free up space within the Richie Regan Recreation and Athletic Center for a transformation of women’s basketball areas, including new offices, locker room, film room and player lounge (the program also benefited from the 2021 renovation of Walsh Gymnasium).

NEW BASKETBALL PRACTICE FACILITY | Now in Development

70s

Joseph V. Ferreri Jr. ’70 and his wife, Caroline, were featured in Staten Island News, SILive.com, for their love story: they met in kindergarten and never lost touch, and now they celebrate 50 years together.

Michael A. D’Anton Sr. ’71/M.A.E. ’75, a forensic psychologist and attorney, published Paid Friendship: An Unorthodox Guide to Achieving Mental Health in 2021 and PSYCH 101 for Attorneys: A Manual for Litigating Psychiatric Injury Claims in December 2022. ... Robert Montgomery ’74 and his wife were honored by Hope Hall School in Gates, N.Y., for their involvement in the school and their philanthropic support for 10 years. ... Carol C. DiVitto ’79/M.A.E. ’02 was promoted to associate director of business finance at Teva Pharmaceuticals, after retiring from Nokia (Alcatel-Lucent).

80s

Maria Santo ’83 was elected as judge of the Hardin County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Divisions and began serving her term in January. ... Kathleen (Robertson) Cunningham ’86 is a board member of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which raises money for U.S. military and fallen first responders. She is a top fundraiser for the group with her team, Shamrock, in honor of her brother Don Robertson Jr. who was killed on 9/11.

90s

Jeffrey E. Kovatch ’91 and Salvatore R. Branchizio ’91 opened Prestige Auto Spa & Oil Change in Toms River, N.J. ... Peter A. Curatolo ’91/M.A.E. ’92 was re-elected mayor of Lacey Township, N.J., last November after six years, and is also serving as a committeeman. ... Barbara M. Maisto ’92 was elected as partner of the law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King.

... Marc N. Schrieks ’92 became borough manager for Lodi, N.J., in September 2021, after nine years as department chief of staff to the county executive in

Bergen County. ... Carolyn M. Welsh ’94 was named president and CEO of NJ Sharing Network, a federally designated nonprofit organization responsible for the recovery and placement of donated organs and tissue in the state. ... Dr. Sampson M. Davis, M.D., ’95, delivered the keynote address at Muskegon Community College’s 26th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Breakfast. ... Brian T. Hyland ’96 co-founded Cricket Public Relations LLC, a corporate communications and media relations agency based in Whippany, N.J. ... Joan M. Bosisio ’97 was appointed senior vice president at Verge Scientific Communications. ... Paul A. Petruzzi, M.A. ’97 received two awards from the Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Awards 2022. “Sorrow: The Legacy of Cio-Cio-San” (lyric novella) won a gold award in the Published/Catch All (General Genre) category and “The Shooting Gallery” earned a bronze award in the Unpublished Poetry category.

00s

Theresa A. (Marchitto) Inacker ’00 published in ScotusBlog, “From Constitutional Orphan to Treasured Heirloom: The Second Amendment Is No Longer a Second-Class Right” in the Symposium on NYSRPA v. Bruen. ... Robert E. McMahon ’00 earned a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., and was promoted to the academic rank of assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry & Life Science at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. ... Lillian E. Mondaro ’01 entered a new role at Teva Pharmaceuticals as a proofreading associate in Regulatory Affairs. Mondaro was also bestowed the Alpha Phi Omega Region P Distinguished Service Key in November 2022, for nearly 25 years of servant leadership for the fraternity in that area. ... Brian P. Kelly, M.A. ’02/E.D.S. ’12/E.D.D. ’16 was approved for continuing university tenure and promoted to associate professor in the Center for Criminal Justice Studies at SUNY Farmingdale. ... Robert M. Kane Jr. ’04/M.S. ’04 was promoted to counsel

in the tax practice of the law firm Ropes & Gray LLP. Liwu Hong, J.D. ’06 was elected to the East Brunswick Board of Education for a third term, and was also elected to the board of the New Jersey School Boards Association. ... Jana L. La Sorte, M.P.A. ’08 is administrator of Historic Harlem Parks for NYC Parks and the CEO for the four Harlem Parks that contain Alexander Hamilton’s house and an 1856 fire watchtower.

10s

Christine C. Davis, J.D. ’10 started as assistant prosecutor for Ashtubula County, in Ohio in October 2022. ... Ryan J. Byrnes, J.D. ’12 has been named a partner at Freehill Hogan & Mahar LLP in Manhattan. Ryan is active in the law firm’s maritime litigation practice and defends personal injury and occupational disease cases. ... Katherine S. Misar ’12 graduated with a Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 2022 and accepted a tenure track assistant professor position at SUNY New Paltz. ... Brittany M. Kowalski ’15 earned a doctor of philosophy in sociology degree from West Virginia University with a dissertation titled “A Multi-Method Examination of the Effects of Students’ Unconscious Biases on Student Evaluations of Instructors.” Leonardo DiStasio ’15 joined Gibbons P.C. Commercial & Criminal Litigation Group as an associate. ... Rachel A. Frost ’17/J.D. ’20 is an attorney at Greenbaum Rowe Smith and Davis LLP, practicing criminal defense and regulatory compliance, business and healthcare litigation. ... Garrett A. Pruzinsky ’19 is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s global evacuation during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

20s

Justin G. Tsai ’20 and his company, Tsai Mobile Health LLC, were honored in the 2023 “Emergency Care” feature in the annual edition of Best of Bergen County Healthcare Magazine.

Predicting the Future

Supply-chain problems have been a global issue since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Stephanie Ryskasen ’09/M.B.A. ’11 is one of the people who solves them. “At the end of the day that’s what we’re trying to do — get the product to the shelf,” said Ryskasen of her job in sales forecasting.

The road to her job at Ferrero — makers of Nutella and Tic Tac — has been personal and rewarding. A child of Italian immigrants, she’d hoped to stay close, but not too close, to home for her college education. In coming to Seton Hall, Ryskasen found a place that “felt like it was home.”

After graduation, Ryskasen started a finance position at Ciao Bella, another food company, and took advantage of the flexibility afforded by the Stillman School of Business to pursue her master’s degree. She was able to transition to Ferrero, her “dream job,” which allowed her to work with products she enjoyed as a child. She also switched from finance to sales forecasting, after good experiences with the sales team (a “great time,” she says) at Ciao Bella.

The onset of the pandemic was a shock to every retailer’s sales plans and models. “The ability to forecast the future is always going to depend on the past,” said Ryskasen. COVID’s challenge for Ferrero was weathering the storm while being able to prepare for the future, with the addition of the pandemic’s unwanted variables. Ryskasen emphasized the importance of team collaboration in forecasting sales in both normal and abnormal times, but found that the future is only so predictable. “I think we have tools in place now that would help us manage through [future disruption].”

Ryskasen says she is living her dream with a passion that grew from her personal affinity and heritage into a full-blown career. The most rewarding part of her job, she says, are the people she gets to work with and help grow professionally.

“For me, it’s always my team,” she says. As to her future, Ryskasen says that being open to different opportunities is important. “The reality of life and the reality of your career is really just continuous learning and growth.”

| FRANKLIN J. SHOBE

Photo by Kristine Foley

Baby Pirates

Anthony Bellucci, M.B.A. ’18 and Eva Bellucci welcomed a boy, Luca Anthony, on October 13, 2022. Amanda (Genabith) Kennedy ’12/M.B.A. ’14 and Thomas Kennedy, M.B.A. ’15 welcomed a boy, Luke Thomas Kennedy, on September 15, 2022. Christine (Garibell) Bertollo ’06/M.A.E. ’11 and John Bertollo, M.A.E. ’10 welcomed a boy, Carter David, on August 13, 2022, joining siblings Jackson and Mackinley.

Weddings

Samantha (Voltmer) Borowick ’19 to Alexander Borowick ’19 on May 28, 2022, surrounded by many fellow Pirates. Marina (James) Dolan ’16 to Brian Dolan ’16 on October 3, 2021. Joseph Testa Jr. ’12 to Rowena (Klein) Testa ’14 on November 11, 2022, celebrated with many fellow Pirates. Vincent Spinelli ’12 to Adrianna (Bertoldi) Spinelli ’17 on October 8, 2022, at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Seton Hall University. Paul Mossberg ’80 to Susanne on November 18, 2022. Kathryn Carson ’18 to Shane McCarthy ’18 on November 6, 2022. Keri Furci

’10/M.S.N. ’18 to John Losavio, M.B.A. ’23 on November 19, 2022, in Seton Hall’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.

In Memoriam

Vincent T. Hynes ’48

Father Alfred V. Celiano ’49/M.Div. ’53

Carmen F. Frio ’49

Richard P. Brady ’50

William D. Field ’50

Fred Mole ’50

John A. Sheehan ’50

Edna Fitzsimmons ’51

Dr. Jay M. Sklar ’51

Mervin M. Smith ’51

Joel B. Sugarman II ’51

John J. Denman ’52

Andrew T. Slinchak ’53/M.A. ’65

Donald Kohler ’54

William J. Rafferty ’54

George S. Callas ’55

Edward J. Potosnak ’55

William G. Carriero ’56

Thomas G. Gannon ’56

Charles H. Gascoyne ’56

Richard F. Long ’56

Robert T. Newkirchen ’56

John T. Holleran ’57

Jeannette Kearns, M.A.E. ’57

Jean Kollar ’57

Daniel H. Murray ’57

Bernard J. Villa ’57

Lionel L. Holder ’58

Dr. William F. Ricciani ’58/D.D.S ’62

Hans F. Schmid ’58

Sister Sylvia C. Bielen ’59

Robert L. Boyle ’59

Peter R. Burton ’59

Joseph E. Caroselli ’59

John Fiorello ’59/J.D. ’62

Richard W. Gaines ’59

Perry L. Hamburg ’59

Father Edward A. Kearns ’59/M.Div. ’77

Donald C. Lamothe ’59

John B. McAvenue ’59

Charles A. Nicholas ’59

James D. O’Neill ’59/M.A.E. ’86

Theodore S. Dailey ’60

John Dziobko Jr. ’60

Thomas C. Feehan ’60

Albina K. LaBar ’60

Gerald J. Lawless ’60

Regina E. Moore ’60

Robert A. Pingarron ’60

John F. Swift ’60

William H. Airel, M.B.A. ’61

John E. Buckley ’61

Paul Dorgeval Jr. ’61

Thomas A. Farley ’61

Rose P. DeFino ’61

Winifred Frio ’61/M.S.N. ’84

Father John F. Renard ’61/M.A.P.M. ’77

Mary T. Capriglione ’62

Diane M. Fitzsimmons ’62/M.S. ’78

Richard J. Kempf ’62

James A. Kimbell ’62

Richard M. Piorkowski ’62

Richard H. Trelease ’62

Robert J. Quinn ’62

William F. Garrett ’63

George A. Laudato ’63

William F. Oser ’63/M.A.E. ’72

Herbert Zlotnick, J.D. ’63

Maureen E. Bryce ’64

Dennis J. Crilly ’64

Clare V. Genzlinger ’64

Richard E. Pigott ’64/J.D. ’70

Paul F. Scavuzzo ’64/M.A.E. ’72

Richard G. Malone ’65

Dolores E. McGorty, M.A.E. ’65

Roberta H. Mooney, M.A.E. ’65

Martin J. O’Hara ’65

Mendel W. Rast, J.D. ’65

Henry S. Sebula ’65

Charles L. Tighe ’65

Thomas J. Cammarata ’66/J.D. ’69

James M. Gleason ’66

James F. Rhatican ’66

Thomas K. Rutan, M.B.A. ’66

Walter J. Zuraski, M.B.A. ’66

Mary Duhig Davis ’67

George B. Fagan, M.A.E. ’67

Mary Keane ’67

Richard Ritter ’67

Father Michael A. Russo ’67/M.A.P.M. ’75

Sister Mary E. Brulinski ’68/M.A. ’82

Alfred M. Carroccia Jr. ’68

Sister Antonia Marie Groszkowski ’68

Ralph J. Lombardi ’68

Father Frederick L. Miller ’68

James B. Moran, J.D. ’68

Virginia L. Nicholas, M.A.E. ’68

Thomas A. Beach ’69

Richard L. Bucarion, M.B.A. ’69

Albert J. Heding ’69

Robert S. Krenzel ’69

Donald C. Mann, M.S. ’69

Sister Ann M. Pace ’69

Thaddeus R. Tharney, M.A.E. ’69

Francis R. Zuleski, M.S. ’69/Ph.D. ’71

Sister Mary A. Borys ’70

Sister Patricia G. Burke ’70

Maryann E. Canu ’70

Clydia D. Defreese, M.A.E. ’70

Lawrence M. Driscoll, M.B.A. ’70

Kenneth B. Hart ’70/M.B.A. ’79

Sister Janet T. Lehmann ’70

Carole A. Ricca, M.S. ’70

Sister Mary A. Shina ’70/M.A. ’73

Faith C. Liguori ’71

Fred M. Tuffile, Ph.D. ’71

William R. Boyle, M.A.E. ’72

Edward T. Gaughan ’72

Thomas D. Monte Jr., J.D. ’72

Kathleen W. Yacavino ’72

Desmond R. Abazia ’73

Sister Anne Gallo ’73

Donald R. Rice ’73

John D. Clarke ’74/J.D. ’78

Victoria D. Murphy ’74

Richard J. Rodrick, J.D. ’74

Robert Bizzarro ’75

Ollie H. Hawkins ’75/J.D. ’82

Anthony Sodano Jr., M.B.A. ’75

A. Patricia Johnson, M.A.E. ’76

Mary Boyd, M.A.E. ’78

Dennis Douglass ’78

Richard A. Murphy ’79

Peter R. Yarem, J.D. ’79

Robert H. Yostembski, J.D. ’79

Gerard O. Fournier, J.D. ’80

Sandra H. Levy ’80

Steve Zrebiec ’80

Andrew Chabak ’81/M.B.A. ’83

John L. Freeland ’81

Daniel A. McNulty, J.D. ’82

Ruth G. Gage, M.A.E. ’84/Ed.S. ’88

Anthony A. Guerriero ’84

Thomas M. Hughes ’85

Joseph A. Lambariello, J.D. ’86

Maria A. Rockfol ’86

George G. Campion, J.D. ’88

Brian K. Benbrook ’89

Nora M. Bottino, M.B.A. ’90

Joseph J. Huber, J.D. ’94

John T. Monahan, M.A. ’95

Michael S. Fiorelli ’99

Bernard A. Schwartz ’00

Gail Faltings, M.A.E. ’02

Anthony P. White ’02

Chil W. Wilson ’04

Father Paul D. Importico, M.A. ’15/M.A.P.M. ’15

Erica M. Colbert, M.S.J./M.S. ’16

Marianna N. Triolo ’18

Friends and Staff

Inge Spatuzzi

Louis E. Levy

Molly B. Burack

Dr. Bonita Stanton

Dr. Barbara A. Beeker

Sister Barbara Garland

Kathleen Blaha

Rita Horowitz

Luane M. Cindea

John Train

Joseph Debold

Alex Kaufman

Stephen I. Chazen

Dr. William McCartan

Dr. John M. Driscoll

Juan J. Ryan

The Honorable James Florio

Michael T. Kornett

Norman J. Peer

Louis Orr

Alumni Reminders

Join Us on Linkedin

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Book a Visit from the Pirate

The Pirate loves making appearances and is available to greet the crowd, make a surprise visit or pose for pictures at weddings, graduation parties, birthday parties and other special functions. Surprise your guests with an appearance by the Pirate. For rates and more information please call (800) 992-4723. Take advantage of all alumni benefits by visiting www.shu.edu/alumni and selecting “benefits” from the top navigation bar.

Pirate’s Eye Podcast

Have you listened to the Pirate’s Eye Alumni Podcast? Seton Hall boasts more than 100,000 living alumni. In this podcast, we interview some of those proud Pirates on their latest accomplishments and career paths. Visit pirates-eye-podcast.podbean.com or subscribe through your favorite podcast app.

Join Our Book Club

Have you joined our alumni book club yet? This virtual community is the perfect way to connect with fellow Seton Hall University alumni, faculty and staff as we read and discuss various book genres. As always, there is no cost to participate – all you have to do is find a copy of the book. Visit www.pbc.guru/seton to join today. Happy reading!

Pirate’s Eye ALUMNI PODCAST SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

A Grand Adventure

PROFILE

Bennet Cerven ’10 has lived many lives: diplomacy student, financial professional, musician. All of these have built off one another and led him down the path he has taken. “I wanted to study something that was political in nature that wasn’t a poli sci degree.”

That is what drew Cerven, a Chicago native, to Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations. He hadn’t had New Jersey on his radar until he decided to come to South Orange, and it would be the first of many choices that would not be obvious initially.

Upon graduation, he landed a job in finance with Cerberus Capital Management, working 80-100 hours a week and living in New York. While he did this for several years, something was missing.

“Honestly, it was adventure,” said Cerven. “I hadn’t had that life adventure I had read about in all the books.”

Music was the medium that allowed Cerven to pursue that goal. As a child he had trained as a violinist, playing in orchestras, and he picked it up again after his time at Seton Hall. He recognized music as a means to blow off

steam, and he began playing in groups again and in the subways of New York.

Almost 10 years ago, adventure finally called. Cerven quit his job, packed some clothes and his violin, and bought a one-way ticket to London. He has spent much of the time since then with the group he formed with a friend called “The Trouble Notes,” living in Germany and performing throughout Europe and the United States. The transition to a self-employed life abroad has not always been easy. “I try not to look back,” said Cerven. “… I’ve either got to swim and find the shore or drown.” But he considers his decision worthwhile, being rewarded with the chance to bring people together through music and with the inspiration he draws from those he meets on tour.

He credits his time at Seton Hall with setting him on his path. “I came to this way of being and this mentality because of the School of Diplomacy,” said Cerven of his growth as a person. “It’s really made me who I am.”

| FRANKLIN J. SHOBE

Photo by Stefanie Tendler/Lalalopoberlin Photography

Pirate Pride

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Have you been promoted? Earned an advanced degree? Been honored for professional or personal achievements? Recently married? Added a baby Pirate to the ranks? We want to know! Visit us at www.shu.edu/alumni and share your success. Your news may be published in an upcoming issue of Seton Hall magazine.

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Vincent Spinelli ’12 and Adrianna (Bertoldi) Spinelli ’17 were married on October 8, 2022, at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Seton Hall University.

1. Maritza A. Ahmed, M.P.A. ’03 visited Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily.

2. Tracy E. Regan ’03 visited Hobbitenango in Guatemala.

3. Kevin Kopf ’20 and Lynn Tecza ’21 spent the day hiking Mount van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, New York.

4. Samantha Bernstein ’22 traveled to Israel on a birthright heritage trip in January 2023.

Pirate Babies

1. Anthony Bellucci, M.B.A. ’18 and Eva Bellucci welcomed a boy, Luca Anthony, on October 13, 2022.

2. Christine (Garibell) Bertollo ’06/M.A.E. ’11 and John Bertollo, M.A.E. ’10 welcomed a boy, Carter David, on August 13, 2022, joining siblings Jackson and Mackinley.

3. Amanda (Genabith) Kennedy ’12/M.B.A. ’14 and Thomas Kennedy, M.B.A. ’15 welcomed a boy, Luke Thomas Kennedy, on September 15, 2022.

Tying the knot

1. Samantha (Voltmer) Borowick ’19 to Alexander Borowick ’19 on May 28, 2022, surrounded by many fellow Pirates.

2. Marina (James) Dolan ’16 to Brian Dolan ’16 on October 3, 2021.

3. Keri Furci ’10/M.S.N. ’18 to John Losavio, M.B.A. ’23 on November 19, 2022, in Seton Hall’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.

4. Kathryn Carson ’18 to Shane McCarthy ’18 on November 6, 2022.

5. Joseph Testa Jr. ’12 to Rowena (Klein) Testa ’14 on November 11, 2022, celebrated with many fellow Pirates.

6. Paul Mossberg ’80 to Susanne on November 18, 2022.

Access, Affordability and Quality

There’s a new approach to health care called population health management that explores the health of groups of people by disease status, location, ethnicity, or health risk factors. Access, affordability and quality all rank high on the priority list.

Anne Hewitt, professor of health-care administration, wrote a textbook for graduate students on the subject in 2022, and one for undergraduates will be available this fall. Seton Hall magazine editor Pegeen Hopkins talked to her to learn more.

What is population health management (PHM)?

PHM builds on the idea of population health, which means transitioning from one-patient-at-a-time treatment to improving the health of all Americans. PHM makes health care more clinically effective, cost-effective and safer, and provides the right care, at the right time, by the right provider, at the right place, and with the best outcome.

When did it come into practice?

Since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, health care has expanded how services are delivered. It’s more patient-centric and consumer-friendly. It’s about knowing who a patient needs to see and making sure that person is conveniently accessible. PHM identifies the most vulnerable populations and matches care with need.

Has this changed who’s on a person’s healthcare team?

Population health has expanded care beyond the doctor’s office, the hospital and the nursing home. Now, health promotion and disease prevention are integrated within a patient’s lifestyle, along with options such as remote monitoring via wearables, smartphone messaging and telehealth visits. That’s at the front end of the care continuum. At the back end, we have rehabilitation facilities, palliative care and assisted care homes —

not just nursing homes. We’re beginning to see hospital-at-home programs in addition to hospice care.

What makes population health important?

PHM emphasizes quality, convenience, and accountability by reducing the redundancy of going to one specialist after another and creating care coordination plans. Let’s say you need a hip replacement and visit your primary doctor. You would probably be referred to an orthopedist, which would be followed by surgery and a hospital stay. Post-surgery you would return to the orthopedist, along with receiving physical therapy treatment. With PHM, all these interactions are bundled together; it’s a seamless way to receive your care.

Access is also expanding significantly for uninsured or underinsured Americans. If people are eligible for care, they will see the doctor before it’s necessary to visit the emergency room by ambulance. Seniors receiving Medicare also now have a free annual wellness visit, which has produced wonderful outcomes.

How is population health management being taught?

At Seton Hall, a PHM course is part of the master’s in healthcare administration, and we have a separate graduate certificate in population health that covers accountable care organizations, risk segmentation, and new financial models, as well as health promotion, consumerism and behavior economics. Health professional students will learn which subpopulations are at risk. What are the risk factors? What kinds of health care do they need that others don’t?

What else is important for people to know?

Health care is one of the largest industries in the country, and PHM remains extremely complex. Today’s health professionals are committed to making sure everyone receives quality health care. No one should be overlooked, and there’s no excuse for the disparities that continue, especially for minority populations. n