Hofstra Magazine: Year in Review 2016-2017

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2016-2017 INSIDE: A Global Performance | Writing Her Own Ticket | Head in the Clouds

Front cover image: Hofstra’s Globe stage, Toni and Martin Sosnoff Theater, John Cranford Adams Playhouse

Features

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President Stuart Rabinowitz

Vice President for University Relations and Publisher Melissa Kane Connolly ’89, ‘17 Assistant Vice President for University Relations and Executive Editor Karla Schuster Assistant Vice President for Creative Services Francis A. Rizzo III ’99, ‘16 Creative Director Kelvin Fonville Editorial Director Linda Merklin

Home Field Advantage

University Photographer Jonathan Heisler

A Global Performance

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Graphic Artist Denise Sarian Contributors Amanda Ghysel Marilou Giammona ‘01 Stephen A. Gorchov Ginny Greenberg ‘90 Neena Samuel Carley P. Weinstein Contributing Photographers Wasim Ahmad Brian Ballweg Ezra Brathwaite Trent Campbell ‘19 Steve DiMaio Grace Finlayson ‘17 Arthur Fredericks Salim Haruka Gerald ‘20 Philip Hinds ‘17 Zack Lane Tony Lopez Rachel Philipson Declan Quinlan ‘19 Karla Schuster

Judge A. Gail Prudenti:

The Picture of Health featuring Darren Brownlee ’09, ‘12

facebook.com/Hofstra twitter.com/HofstraU linkedin.com/edu/hofstra instagram.com/hofstrau flickr/HofstraUniversity youtube.com/HofstraUniversity snapchat/HofstraU

From the Courtroom to the Classroom Raising the Bar

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Head in the Clouds

University Archivist Geri Solomon Facebook “f ” Logo

Soccer Players Score Big as Budding Entrepreneurs

CMYK / .eps

Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .eps

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Writing Her Own Ticket featuring Hebah Uddin ’17

Hofstra Magazine is published once each year by Hofstra University. Our goal is to provide the Hofstra community with exciting and informative news about Hofstra University and its alumni, students, faculty and staff.

Hofstra University is committed to extending equal opportunity to all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national or ethnic origin, physical or mental disability, marital or veteran status in employment and in the conduct and operation of Hofstra University’s educational programs and activities, including admissions, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs. For more information, visit hofstra.edu/eoe.

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Features Groundbreaking Business

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Debate 2016

Creating Conversation

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Making a Name

Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice Taking the Helm

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From Advocate to Survivor featuring Annik Spencer ‘14

40 42 36 Fall Fest Facing the Music

Young Guns

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Sound of Silence

For the latest news about Hofstra, go to news.hofstra.edu

| President’s Letter Hofstra

See page 4.

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A Letter From

President Stuart Rabinowitz

Dear Friends, This has been quite a year for Hofstra University. Almost exactly 12 months ago, the international spotlight was trained on our campus as we hosted the first presidential debate of the 2016 election cycle.

The debate experience had an enduring impact on our campus community, serving as a powerful reminder that democracy is fueled by civic engagement and civil discourse. Our students set an example for the entire nation on Debate Day, which the Hofstra Magazine celebrates in its pages.

And that historic day was only the beginning.

This year saw Hofstra break new ground on several important projects, from a new building for the Frank G. Zarb School of Business to a new Deportation Defense Clinic at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law to represent Long Island immigrants facing deportation.

This issue of the magazine also highlights the contributions of our faculty, students and alumni – with stories of ingenuity, determination and spirit that will make you proud to be a member of the Pride.

You will read about three homesick soccer players who turned their yearning for foods from their native countries into a winning business idea at this year’s Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge.

You’ll meet our three new deans – Benjamin Rifkin at Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Holly Seirup at the School of Health Professions and Human Services, and Judge A. Gail Prudenti at the Deane School of Law. Our cover story recounts the rich history of Hofstra’s Shakespeare Festival and takes you inside the meticulous research of Drama Professor David Henderson, who led the project to renovate Hofstra’s replica of the Bard’s Globe Theatre stage, which debuted this spring with a performance of Hamlet.

This magazine also chronicles how Annik Spencer ’14 chose to share her battle with cancer as part of her commitment to Hofstra’s Relay For Life campaign, and the sense of purpose that drives Johns Hopkins Medicine administrator Darren Brownlee ’09, ’12, one of this year’s Young Alumni Award honorees.

And you will read with wonder about Hebah Uddin ’17, who published her first novel – a young adult fantasy with a Muslim American heroine – before she even graduated.

This magazine is full of stories that reflect who we are: a community that embraces diversity, celebrates creativity, and shares the fundamental values of service and scholarship, pride and purpose. Hofstra will always be your home, and we encourage you to visit and reconnect with your university family.

Sincerely,

Stuart Rabinowitz President, Hofstra University

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Hofstra University Spring 2017 Commencement

UPCOMING ALUMNI EVENTS • For information, call 516-463-6636 or email alumni@hofstra.edu.

Annual Alumni Awards Dinner Thursday, September 28, 2017 The Garden City Hotel, Garden City, NY Register online at: hofstra.edu/alumniawardsdinner

Alumni Day/Fall Festival Saturday, October 7, 2017 North Campus Register online at: hofstra.edu/alumniday

NYC Alumni Holiday Party Monday, December 11, 2017, 6-8 p.m.

Club 101, New York, NY

Annual Hempstead for Hofstra/ Hofstra for Hempstead Scholarship Dinner Thursday, April 12, 2018 Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center North Campus

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2016 Financial Report c Components of Revenue 2015-2016

Net Tuition & Fees 68.1%

Sales & Services of Educ. Depts. 0.7% Shared Services 1.5% Other Sources 2.0% Contributions 6.7% Government Grants & Contracts 2.6% Return – Operations 1.0%

Auxiliary Enterprises 10.8% Return – Endowment Available Return – for Spending 4.3% Endowment Other 2.3%

Components of Expenditures 2015-2016 v

Instruction 49.0%

Research 0.8% Public Service 3.3%

Auxiliary Enterprises 11.7%

Academic Support 6.4%

Hofstra University relies on the generosity and philanthropic support of alumni and friends. This investment in the University is critical to Hofstra’s long-term success.

Here’s why: v Alumni support is measured by U.S. News & World Report and has a direct impact on the University’s ranking.

Participation is critical. Our goal is to increase alumni participation each year. v Hofstra remains a university largely reliant on tuition. Your support and the growth of our endowment allow Hofstra to undertake new initiatives to maintain its excellent reputation. v Your gift provides for student scholarships, faculty support and program initiatives, and overall operations at Hofstra. v Your investment in Hofstra will allow the University to reach its annual and long-term goals.

We need your help — every gift makes a difference!

Student Services 13.7%

Other Institutional Support 0.6%

Technology & Executive Office 0.8% Telecommunications 3.7% Legal & Human Resources 0.7% Public Safety 2.3% Insurance 1.4% Public Relations 2.4% Development 1.3% Finance & Audit 1.9%

Total Institutional Support 15.1%

Scholarships 57.3%

c Endowment Market Value August 31, 2016 Awards 0.6% Other – True Endowment 2.6%

Facilities 17.7%

Other – Quasi Endowment 4.0% Medical School Support* 1.7% Centers & Lectures 3.6% Endowed Professorships 3.5% Law School Support* 4.0% Endowed Chairs 5.0% *Excludes endowments specifically designated for scholarships, chairs and professorships.

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2016 Financial Report Hofstra’s financial strength reflects increased fundraising activities, strong endowment growth, strengthened operating margins, and enhanced control over expenses, particularly relating to health care and post-retirement benefits. Financial resources have increased by 159 percent during the last 10 years, and Hofstra continues to enjoy debt ratings in the A category from both Moody’s and Standard & Poors.

Growth of Endowment in Support of Scholarships

Tuition Scholarships and Fellowships

ofstra University endowment investments grew H to $445 million by 2016, increasing by 348 percent since 2000. The University’s fundraising goals are aimed at providing enhanced scholarship funding to better compete with institutions with significantly larger endowments.

The University continues to make the growth of tuition scholarships a top priority. During the past 10 years, the University has increased scholarship funding by 186 percent to approximately $126 million. The increase in scholarships is reflected in the changing makeup of the student body:

Millions of Dollars 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150

Fall 2016

Average SAT score* (first-year students)

1061

1166

Average high school GPA (first-time, first-year)

2.80

3.61

Top 10% high school class (first-time, first-year)

12%

27%

Selectivity (acceptance rate as percentage of all applicants)

80%

62%

First-year students from outside NYS

32%

49%

*Critical Reading and Math

100 50 0

Fall 2000

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS 1935

1974

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I’m very grateful for the scholarships I received while attending Hofstra because they reduced the financial burden as I pursued my passion — journalism. The scholarships also provided me with reassurance and opportunity. Reassurance because I could continue my education at Hofstra with the help of the scholarship and opportunity to learn and grow, so I can now accomplish my dreams.

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2000 2004

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The scholarships I received allowed me to pursue my dreams in an environment that has so many opportunities. Being a project manager for our student-run record label matched with studying markets — understanding supply and demand — and gave me the tools I needed to navigate the entertainment industry.

— Briana Smith ’17

— Ekow Nana-Kweson ‘17 Hofstra

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“The stage is our textbook, or one of our many textbooks. We couldn’t continue to train our students on something that doesn’t connect to what we now know existed.”

– Professor David Henderson

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f students had opening night jitters before the 2017 Shakespeare Festival, it didn’t show. The atmosphere was festive and lively inside the John Cranford Adams Playhouse. The house lights were up and the actors, in full Elizabethan costume, moved through the aisles, bantering with the audience, showing off their wardrobe, grandstanding on stage. Then on silent cue they launched into a boisterous foot-stomping song and dance that left the crowd cheering.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and a very warm welcome indeed to the 68th annual Hofstra Shakespeare Festival and the inaugural production of her brand-new Globe stage. ... We invite you to sit forward and engage as we share with you the tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark.”

And with that, for the first time in nearly a decade, Hofstra’s Shakespeare Festival was performed the way its founder, John Cranford Adams,

intended: on a replica of the fabled Globe stage.

Originally built in 1951 based on Adams’ design, Hofstra’s new Globe stage is considered the most historically accurate reproduction in the United States.

“The Globe is important to Hofstra for a lot of reasons,” said Drama Professor David Henderson, who researched and led the reconstruction. “It’s part of our history, to start with. We have the second-longest running Shakespeare Festival in the country, so to represent that and to have something as accurate as this just makes sense.”

John Cranford Adams, Hofstra’s third president, was a renowned Shakespearean scholar whose meticulously researched model of the Globe was built by longtime drama professor and former chair Donald (Doc) Swinney. Completed in time for Hofstra’s second Shakespeare Festival, the stage was erected each year in the

campus gymnasium, and later in Calkins Hall. It was given a permanent home in 1958 in the Hofstra Playhouse (later named for Adams).

For decades, the Shakespeare Festival was presented on Adams’ Globe and served as a training ground for many student actors who went on to professional success in the performing arts, including the late Madeline Kahn, Susan Sullivan, Susan H. Schulman, Phil Rosenthal, Tom McGowan, Peter Friedman, and Margaret Colin.

Emmy Award winner and Hofstra alum Joe Morton, now starring in the ABC series Scandal, returned to campus during the Shakespeare Festival to talk shop with drama students and deliver a public lecture about his life and career.

“My formative years as an actor were right here,” Morton said, recounting his performing experiences at Hofstra, including in the Shakespeare Festival on the original Globe stage.

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But time took its toll on Adams’ Globe. It fell into disrepair from the wear and tear of building and dismantling it over and over.

“Most of us worked on the old Globe stage at least once, so we feel very nostalgic about it. This project brings the past to the present and the present to the future, because we know this stage will be used for a really long time.”

– Adjunct Professor Stephanie Stover Ferraioli ‘06

“The original Globe was built of wood; it was three stories high, and you got up to the third level, and it rocked like a sailing ship,” said Drama Professor James Kolb.

“Wood and papier mâché doesn’t last that successfully for more than 50 years.”

At the same time, new discoveries across the Atlantic made it clear that what had been a state-of-the-art replica in the ’50s was no longer an accurate reflection of the stage in London where the Bard’s plays were first performed.

In 1989 archaeologists in London unearthed the almost-intact foundation of the 16th century Rose Theatre and a partial foundation of the Globe. These discoveries, along with modern imaging techniques and computer analysis of original documents, created a much sharper picture of how the Globe was built, what it may have looked like, and how it functioned.

“We realized that although John Cranford Adams had been on the cutting edge of the research in the ’40s and ’50s, the research had moved on,” Henderson said. “The stage is our textbook, or one of our many textbooks. We couldn’t continue to train our students on something that

doesn’t connect to what we now know existed.”

So in 2008 Hofstra’s original Globe stage took its final bow.

Not long after, drama alumni began to ask if there were plans to build a new one.

Performing on the Globe stage, they said, had been an important part of their education that new generations of students should get a chance to experience.

Shakespeare Festival veterans Lydia Leeds and Peter Garino, both Class of 1977, produced a 50-minute Romeo and Juliet at Hofstra in 2015 to jump-start fundraising for the new Globe. The project got a boost from Phil ’81 and Monica (Horan) ’84 Rosenthal and Toni Sosnoff ’63 and her husband, Martin, whose generosity helped bring the new Globe to life.

To redesign Hofstra’s Globe, Henderson traveled abroad to consult with the archivists and design staff of Shakespeare’s Globe in London; he is the only American college professor to study the original plans.

“I spent two weeks in the archives of the Globe and backstage getting to know the space,” he said, “and then I traveled around and explored some of the old homes and examples of Elizabethan architecture that still exist.”

It became clear that the most dramatic changes in the new Hofstra Globe would be its shape and more ornate decoration. “Dr. Adams described the interior of the continued on page 12

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The 68th annual Shakespeare Festival also included This Bud of Love – a one-hour, all-female adaptation of Romeo and Juliet – and a concert by the Hofstra Collegium Musicum.

Hamlet’s Homecoming Hofstra and Hamlet have history.

The tale of the young prince summoned home to Denmark after the death of his father was the first and last play ever performed on Hofstra’s original replica of London’s Globe stage.

Nearly 70 years after that first performance, a new generation of student actors christened a new replica of the Globe with a production of the Bard’s most famous tragedy.

It marked the first time that Hofstra’s annual Shakespeare Festival had been performed on a Globe stage since 2008, when the original replica was retired.

“I have been coming to Hofstra for the Shakespeare Festival since I was in high school, and now to be performing on the new Globe ... these opportunities you don’t get anywhere else,” said Samantha Kamelhar ’18, who played Horatio. “To be performing for all the people, all the alumni who have come back to work on the stage, and knowing it’s the most accurate representation in the United States – it’s incredibly exciting.”

It also presented a new set of challenges and opportunities for the cast, crew and director of the show, said Hofstra Drama Professor Christopher Dippel, who directed the festival’s main show for the first time.

“The Hofstra Globe stage helps us to understand how the stories were told and look at some of the challenges Shakespeare’s company was wrestling with,” he said. “For example, Shakespeare’s company performed outside in daylight, so when we presented Hamlet, we kept the house lights on and interacted directly with the audience.”

And acting on the Globe stage revealed secrets of Shakespeare’s scripts that the cast never would have known had it been performed in another space.

We discovered how long it takes to go from the upper gallery down to the stage,” Dippel said. “Certain scenes have an extended ending – because one character has to exit and then enter immediately afterward. There are so many discoveries you make working on a stage like this.”

Will Ketter ’18 played the prince of Denmark, embracing the role with a sense of duty and gratitude.

“Playing Hamlet on the Hofstra Globe stage ... it’s a big deal and a great honor,” Ketter said. “At the same time, that pressure, that responsibility – it comes with all this help and a world of experience from all these wonderful people who came before us – especially William Shakespeare.”

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from page 10

“To be performing for all the people, all the alumni who have come back to work on the stage, and knowing it’s the most accurate representation in the United States – it’s incredibly exciting.”

Globe as ‘a short row of London houses,’ ” Henderson said. “But the people at the London Globe thought, ‘why would the inside look like an exterior?’ ” Far more likely, he said, is that the stage would have had “brilliant jewel colors,” rather than looking like the outside of a Tudor home.

Construction on major set pieces took place off campus at Cigar Box Studios – an upstate New York scenery shop that has worked with Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden and ESPN. Assembly and painting took place on campus, and here, too, drama alums answered the call, rallied by Stephanie

– Samantha Kamelhar ’18 (Horatio)

“We’re not used to seeing a set of this scale or anything as elaborate as this on campus,” Ferraioli said. “Down to all the dimensional molding that matches seamlessly with painted molding, wood painted to look like marble, and metal painted to look like wood.”

She and Henderson launched a Facebook page so graduates could

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The alumni outpouring was no surprise to Ferraioli.

“Most of us worked on the old Globe stage at least once, so we feel very nostalgic about it,” she said. “This project brings the past to the present and the present to the future, because we know this stage will be used for a really long time.”

The team also included her husband, Richard Ferraioli ’05, and a legion of students.

Stover Ferraioli ‘06, an adjunct instructor of drama who oversaw the work.

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follow the construction. “We had alumni from several decades stop by to see how they could help,” she said. “A grad from 1978 was the furthest back. Another alumna from 1981 was in town and heard about the project ... When her flight home was delayed she decided to come out to campus and pick up a paintbrush to pass the time.”

“Working on this with the help of students and alumni made this experience even more incredible,” she said. “These were people not trained to paint, but they love theater and they love Hofstra. They showed up on their own time, and we put a paintbrush in their hands. I’m in awe of what we’ve accomplished.”

Said Henderson: “This is all about giving our students an accurate representation so they can understand the space Shakespeare wrote for. Although we’ll never know for sure what his Globe looked like, this is a really good guess.”

“If (the new Globe) lasts as long as John Cranford Adams’ did ... I’ve never really thought of a legacy before, but that’s really kind of amazing.”

a lure so she can spy on Hamlet. At the same time, he sends a spy to follow his son Laertes in Paris. Something is rotten in Denmark, and he really isn’t helping.

Hamlet, Revisited

Peter Friedman played Hamlet at Hofstra in 1970 on the University’s original Globe stage. This summer, the Tony-nominated actor (best known for the Broadway musical Ragtime, The Heidi Chronicles, the television drama Brooklyn Bridge and the current Hulu series The Path) revisited Hamlet.

But this time he’s taking on the role of Polonius, the king’s ill-fated, longwinded, conniving counselor, in The Public Theater’s highly anticipated production, directed by Sam Gold (Broadway’s Fun Home) and starring Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens).

Hofstra Magazine: How would you describe Sam Gold’s adaptation of Hamlet?

Peter Friedman: I think audiences can expect

not to have seen something like this before.

This is not your traditional production. It moves really well. If you’ve never seen the play, it’s probably not your best one to start with. It’s more of a meditation, more playful in its approach to the text.

HM: What has it been like returning to Shakespeare?

PF: Scary. I thought after all these years of

acting, I’ve got this in my back pocket. I had performed a fair amount of Shakespeare during college, and I feel pretty confident about my abilities. However, it’s tougher coming back after working in modern plays – which I adore – where you have some leeway with the way you speak the lines. You do have creative input here, but you don’t want to chop up the lines in a contemporary way. You’ve got to make them fit in your mouth and meet Shakespeare more than halfway. He’s written in a rhythm, and it helps not to pervert that.

Oscar Isaac and Keegan-Michael Key (foreground), and Peter Friedman and Gayle Rankin in Hamlet, directed by Sam Gold, running at The Public Theater through September 3.

Photo credit: Carol Rosegg.

HM: What is it about Hamlet that has transcended the centuries?

PF: I think youth against corruption; youth

against older society – those themes are good ones. Hamlet knows something is wrong, terribly wrong, and he’s trying to right it and trying to figure it out. He feels that he has to straighten it out all by himself. It’s a very rebellious stance.

From the actors’ point of view and the producer’s point of view, it’s so popular because for every creative choice you’ve got multiple options. Every single question can be answered a whole bunch of ways. There are no single right answers for a lot of moments in the play. Books have been written about how it should be done, and supposedly it changes for every generation and culture.

HM: What do you remember about performing at Hofstra and being in Hamlet?

PF: James Van Wart was my mentor while I was

at Hofstra. He was in my corner and helped me a great deal. I so appreciated the opportunity.

I just loved it. It was a totally positive experience the whole way through.

HM: How did performing on the original Hofstra Globe stage affect you?

PF: It was a wonderful thing. Training on any

kind of stage other than proscenium is its own challenge and its own terrain. It gives the actor a unique perspective and a unique set of problems to work through. It was always a thrill to be on the Globe set and to work with that fabulous backdrop.

HM: For the reader and the theatergoer, it is hard to have sympathy for Polonius. He gets on Hamlet’s last nerve. What was your approach to the character?

PF: (Laughs) Well, he’s an old guy trying to hold

onto his relevance in this new regime. He could be fired, but somehow, he’s still there. He wants to be able to say to his boss, Claudius, “I can be of real service.” So, he puts his daughter out as

HM: Returning to Hamlet so many years later, do you find you have more sympathy now for Polonius?

PF: Absolutely. He has to keep his head in the

game if he’d like to hold onto his job. He’s under the gun to deliver. He’s upset with his kids as the play starts, but I think once he experiences Ophelia’s upset in the nunnery scene [When Hamlet admonishes her: “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?”], he knows what’s happened to Ophelia would kill Mrs. Polonius if she were still alive.

HM: You currently have a recurring role on the Hulu series The Path that portrays members of a fictional cult-like movement. What drew you to the show?

PF: The character I play is a married guy. He and

his wife met the creator of the movement when they were in college. He’s sort of this old hippie.

He doesn’t have a great deal of motivation at this point to go any higher in the organization.

He’s going to stay there and smoke his dope and have a good life.

HM: You are very fortunate in that your career

has spanned all the genres – theater, television and film. Is there one that you prefer? It seems that you most enjoy theater.

PF: Yes, that’s where I’m most comfortable. But

when I’m on a series as a regular, I enjoy that.

Where I don’t do well is coming in for a day to do a scene on a movie or television show. I have to feel like part of the team. It relaxes me and allows me to enjoy the work I’m doing as opposed to being the new kid – where they give you a set of clothes and you feel like you can’t screw up your lines and you don’t want to embarrass yourself. That’s a terrible, frightening way to work. I’d rather be among people who know each other.

HM: Reflecting on your career, do you have any favorite projects?

PF: The roles – there have been so many that

mean so much to me, but there is a current crop of 30-something playwrights and directors who are so good at what they do. For some reason, they include the older generation in their writing, with good parts, and good, complicated questions and situations. I’ve just been crazy busy and happy because of them.

It’s great stuff, and I’m having a wonderful time.

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“The commitment of the students, and the quality of their ideas and presentations were really extraordinary.” — Mark Lesko

Home Field

Advantage

Soccer Players Score Big as Budding Entrepreneurs For soccer players Henry Crayton, Rory Murphy and Lerthon Theuma, it’s all about the pitch.

The trio, members of the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Soccer Championship team, is $30,000 richer after taking top honors in the 2017 Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge and the regionals of the New York State Business Plan Competition for their startup idea, called CountryBox. The budding entrepreneurs won first place and $20,000 in seed money in the Hofstra-Digital Remedy contest, and $10,000 for placing in the top three of the regional competition.

Crayton, Murphy and Theuma are all international students who developed the idea for CountryBox based on their own experiences as expats longing for an affordable way to get their favorite snacks and foods from home. They conceived their plan for the CountryBox e-commerce website on a men’s soccer road trip in fall 2016.

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“We were on an away trip, and we were discussing foods that we were missing from our home country, and we were like, ‘Let’s look them up,’” said Theuma, who is from Malta. “We used Amazon and couldn’t find them really, so we thought, ‘Why not start our own business?’”

Later in the school year, Murphy, who is British, notified the group that a business competition was coming up. After tossing around other ideas, Crayton, originally from New Zealand, circled back to CountryBox. Deciding on a whim to go forward with the competition, the group gave its first presentation with just a few days’ preparation.

“We were kind of just doing it for a bit of fun because we thought we might have an off chance of winning some money, and then when it got such good reception, we thought, ‘Why don’t we really put a lot of time and effort into this and try to make it something big?’” said Murphy.

The Venture Challenge is run by the Center for Entrepreneurship and sponsored by Hofstra trustee and alumnus Mike Seiman, founder and CEO of Digital Remedy, formerly known as CPXi. “This was our strongest competition yet,” said Mark Lesko, Hofstra vice president for economic development and executive dean of the Center for Entrepreneurship.

“The commitment of the students, and the quality of their ideas and presentations were really extraordinary.”

To prepare, the CountryBox group built the website, consulted with fellow international students, and talked with vendors. Then, they pitched their idea to a tough panel of judges at the finals of the Venture Challenge – a nerve-racking task even for seasoned Division I athletes.

“Right before a pitch, it’s a different rush,” said Theuma. “It’s not like you’re going on the field and once you’re on the ball, you’re calm. It’s something brandnew to us that we never really did before.”

But as athletes, their competitive nature helped fuel their desire for success in the business world. “We all want to win, so we all probably put in the extra effort that we needed to, just based on being athletes and kind of being used to that,” said Crayton. “[In soccer], you learn the value of hard work. You work hard, you get your reward. There’s no shortcut to it.”

That’s the philosophy of Hofstra Men’s Soccer Coach Richard Nuttall, who emphasizes the importance of success off the field to his student-athletes.

Lerthon Theuma

“I’ve always said as a head coach, I measure myself just as much on what they do when they graduate from here and how they are as people on campus as I do in wins and losses,” Nuttall said.

“I’m incredibly proud not only of what they’ve achieved, but how they’ve achieved it. It’s not a shock to me … because I’ve spent a lot of time with them, and they’re focused, goal-driven young men.”

Henry Crayton

The trio graduated from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business in May. Crayton is heading to Florida to pursue a master’s degree in business administration. Theuma is looking for a full-time job in Manhattan, and Murphy accepted a position at Nature’s Bounty in Ronkonkoma, Long Island.

Rory Murphy

In the meantime, they are in talks with potential investors to get CountryBox off the ground. “We’re still in discussion,” Theuma said.

“There are a couple of people who showed interest throughout the competitions, so time will tell.”

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A Darren Brownlee, BA, ’09; MHA, ’12

PICTURE HEALTH

The of

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As a boy growing up in Detroit, Darren Brownlee had two aunts with diabetes, a grandmother with high blood pressure and a grandfather who died from advanced prostate cancer.

As a man, their struggles stay with him.

“My dad is the oldest of 11, so I’ve always had a lot of aunts and uncles in my life, and some of them have gone through some very difficult health issues,” said Brownlee, whose family moved to Germantown, MD, when he was 9. “I have seen everything from heart disease and HIV/AIDS to cholesterol, substance abuse, and mental health issues; you name it. It pushed me to dedicate my life and my career to understanding how I can help others, so they don’t have to go through some of the things my family did.”

The path to that goal brought Brownlee to Hofstra in 2008 as a transfer student from West Virginia University. He completed a BA in psychology and stayed to pursue a Master of Health Administration at the School of Health Professions and Human Services, graduating in 2012. He now works at the Johns Hopkins Medicine health care system in Baltimore, where he is also pursuing a doctorate in public health at Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“ A key message I give students is the power of networking and to grasp onto any learning and mentorship opportunities you can get in your job or career field ...”— Darren Brownlee Despite a busy schedule, Brownlee returns at least twice a year to Hofstra, where he is an active mentor with the campus chapter of the national Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the oldest Greek-letter organization for African-American men in the United States. He also participates in MHA networking events, offering career advice and even inviting Hofstra students to shadow him at work in Baltimore.

“A key message I give students is the power of networking and to grasp onto any learning and mentorship opportunities you can get in your job or career field,” Brownlee said. “Let that outweigh the title and the compensation because it will pay off in the long run.”

Ralph Thomas, a fraternity brother and MHA ’15 graduate, was starting the program as Brownlee was completing it.

“Darren would share his perspective on the program, and he was one of the reasons I attended,” said Thomas, who is a project manager in the Office of Population Health at Stony Brook Medicine. “We still connect to talk about health care industry changes, career advancement, and being able to help our community. He is an amazing spirit who helps foster success.”

In recognition of his professional success and commitment to Hofstra, Brownlee has been named one of this year’s Young Alumni Award honorees.

During his time at Hofstra, Brownlee was able to finance much of his education through five part-time jobs and then a graduate assistantship in the Office of Event Management.

“I started out as a front desk worker in my senior year, and then got involved in Conference Services, doing everything from setting up room accommodations to handing guests their keys,” he said. “By the time I was a graduate assistant, I was taking a lead on organizing event logistics, coordinating teams, and handling data analytics. I really grew up in that position.”

Brownlee says the skills and principles he learned in Event Management serve him well at Johns Hopkins, where he is a top administrator in the Department of Medicine, overseeing areas ranging from finances and hiring to research-sponsored activities. He also chairs several of the hospital’s community projects, including its annual United Way campaign, its Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration, and its civic engagement committee. He first came to the health system when he applied for a national fellowship after his MHA graduation. He didn’t get the fellowship, but he impressed the staff so much that he was instead offered an administrative resident position created especially for him.

“Earning both my BA and MHA at Hofstra prepared me to work with different people and provided a strong foundation in understanding the health care arena, including its barriers and opportunities,” he says. “If I can make a difference now, it would be toward the oversight of training and teaching others about public health, and making sure that health care is not only efficiently administered but also available to all people of all backgrounds.”

Brownlee’s success comes as no surprise to his professors.

“Darren was an exceptional student who displayed incredible passion in the classroom – a passion that I predicted would benefit some hospital, some day,” said Fred Sganga, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Health Professions, who taught Brownlee in his Leadership in Health Care class.

2017 has been a milestone year for Brownlee. Besides receiving Hofstra’s Young Alumnus Award, he turned 30, got married, is a finalist in a national leadership development program, and will be inducted into his high school’s Hall of Fame.

“I wonder sometimes if I’m deserving,” he said. “Hofstra has been great to me, and I am so grateful for all the opportunities it afforded me. This award reminds me of how far I’ve come, but also how far I still want to go.”

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“ I hope to build on the Law School’s reputation for outstanding faculty, innovative programming and community service as we train future lawyers to become exceptional leaders in their profession.”

— Judge A. Gail Prudenti

FROM THE

Courtroom Classroom

TO THE

Judge A. Gail Prudenti Becomes Hofstra Law Dean

“

The Honorable A. Gail Prudenti, interim dean of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law and former chief administrative judge of the courts of New York state, has been appointed dean of the school.

“Judge Prudenti is an exceptional leader, a first-class legal talent and a gifted administrator whose commitment to public service and innovation has already helped expand clinical programs that provide valuable practical experience for our students and essential support for the community,” said President Stuart Rabinowitz.

Prudenti joined the law school in September 2015 as executive director of the Center for Children, Families and the Law — a position she will retain — and senior associate dean of operations. She became interim dean Jan. 1.

“

As chief administrative judge of the courts of New York state from 2011 to 2015, Prudenti supervised the administration and operation of the statewide court system with a budget of over $2.7 billion, 3,600 judges and 15,000 non-judicial employees in more than 350 facilities.

“I am truly honored to serve as Hofstra Law’s next dean, and I thank President Rabinowitz for this tremendous opportunity,” said Prudenti. “I hope to build on the Law School’s reputation for outstanding faculty, innovative programming and community service as we train future lawyers to become exceptional leaders in their profession.”

In February the law school announced the opening this summer of its newest clinical program — a Deportation Defense Clinic that will represent Long Island immigrants facing deportation and spearhead education and advocacy programs for immigrant rights. In addition, applications to the law school for fall 2017 are up by more than 1,000 compared to the previous year.

Over the past year, Prudenti has been recognized by New York Law Journal with a Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as by Long Island Business News, which inducted her into its Hall of Fame and named her one of its Top 50 Women in Business.

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She is currently chair of the New York State Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children.

Prior to joining Hofstra Law, Prudenti distinguished herself as a well-respected jurist and hands-on administrator throughout a judicial career that lasted more than two decades. Before becoming chief administrative judge, she served as the presiding justice of the Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department in New York state, the first woman to hold that position, having been appointed thereto, in February 2002, by then-Gov. George E. Pataki.

Before that, she was the first woman from Suffolk County to serve as an associate justice of the Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department. Prior to ascending to the Appellate Division, Prudenti was the administrative judge for the 10th Judicial District (Suffolk County) for almost three years. At the time of her appointment as a district administrative judge in February 1999, Prudenti was also the surrogate of Suffolk County and was the first and only surrogate in New York to hold the position of a district administrative judge. Prudenti’s judicial career began in 1991 when she was elected to the New York State Supreme Court.

She holds a law degree from the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland, which also awarded her an honorary Doctor of Laws in 2004 and an honorary appointment as professor in its School of Law. She graduated from Marymount College of Fordham University with honors.

Hundreds of Judge Prudenti’s decisions have been published, and she has contributed articles to many publications, such as New York Law Journal, Newsday, The Suffolk Lawyer and The Jurist. She has also published handbooks for guardians ad litem and has written extensively on guardianship proceedings.

“ Our law school has a long history of representing immigrants through our nationally recognized clinical programs, and this new clinic deepens our commitment to this community, as well as to the values of civic engagement, diversity and tolerance that are at the heart of Hofstra’s mission.”

Raisingthe Bar – President Stuart Rabinowitz

New Immigration Law Clinic Serves Community, Trains Students

The Maurice A. Deane School of Law has launched a new clinic to represent Long Island immigrants facing deportation and spearhead education and advocacy programs for immigrant rights.

The first law clinic of its kind on Long Island, Hofstra’s Deportation Defense Clinic (DDC) opened its doors this summer to protect immigrants who are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of increased deportation enforcement. The clinic concentrates on two high-risk populations: immigrants with removal orders against them and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients – undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children and have spent most of their lives here.

“Our law school has a long history of representing immigrants through our nationally recognized clinical programs, and this new clinic deepens our commitment to this community, as well as to the values of civic engagement, diversity and tolerance that are at the heart of Hofstra’s mission,” said President Stuart Rabinowitz.

In addition to a full range of no-cost services for individuals and families, the Deportation Defense Clinic collaborates with existing community organizations on projects aimed at tackling systemic immigration policy reforms. Students work on drafting policy briefs and proposed legislation, as well as community education and public awareness campaigns, including “know-your-rights” programs to prepare immigrants in the event they are subject to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action.

Hofstra Law expects to enroll up to 20 law students each semester, working under the supervision of two clinic attorneys. The students participate in all aspects of client representation and community advocacy. In addition, students from Hofstra University’s Center for Civic Engagement coordinate with the DDC to help with community advocacy and public outreach.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our students to gain meaningful legal experience and make a significant impact in our community,” Hofstra Law Dean A. Gail Prudenti said.

“The Deportation Defense Clinic also fills a critical and immediate need on Long Island.”

An estimated 99,000 undocumented immigrants are living in Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

As one of the first law schools in the country to integrate clinical education into the traditional law school curriculum, Hofstra Law currently offers three clinics focused on immigration issues: an Asylum Clinic that represents immigrants fleeing torture or other persecution; a Youth Advocacy Clinic to assist immigrant minors suffering abuse, neglect or abandonment; and an Immigration Clinical Practicum, which works on a variety of immigration law issues, often in partnership with the Central American Refugee Center in Hempstead.

“Since the presidential election we have experienced a significant increase in calls to represent clients on immigrationrelated matters,” said Professor Theo Liebmann, director of clinical programs at Hofstra Law. “We have a unique opportunity, and a moral duty, to stand by our immigrant neighbors not just with words, but with action.”

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W R I T I N G HER OWN

TICKET “ When I was a child , you would not have seen a boo k like The Gauntlet with a Muslim girl on the cover. It is very important to me to st op this cycle of not being in cluded in the literary world.”

Hebah Uddin ’17 20 2 0

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As a child growing up on Long Island, Hebah Uddin ’17 lost herself in books, devouring “r eally strong girl power fantasy storie s.”

But she could never find herself in any of them.

“I didn’t think anyone thought we could be heroic,” she said of the lack of Muslim American female protagonists, “or that we had a story worth sharing.”

Now it’s Uddin to the rescue.

The Simon & Schuster imprint Salaam Reads has published the young alumna’s debut novel, The Gauntlet, which features an adolescent heroine named Farah, who – like Uddin – is Bangladeshi American, Muslim and wears a hijab.

Farah and her friends dive into a board game universe to save Farah’s little brother.

“It’s an inverse Jumanji,” Uddin said.

The mission of Salaam Reads is to introduce readers of all faiths and backgrounds to a variety of Muslim characters, and to allow young Muslim readers to see themselves reflected positively in published works.

“Having Farah on the page – she’s strong, and her family loves her and her friends love her,” Uddin said. “When I was a child, you would not have seen a book like The Gauntlet with a Muslim girl on the cover. It is very important to me to stop this cycle of not being included in the literary world.”

Uddin’s road to publication began while she was working as a social media intern for a grassroots organization #WeNeedDiverseBooks (#WNDB). She came under the wing of CEO and President Ellen Oh, Chief Operating Officer Dhonielle Clayton and Senior Vice President Sona Charaipotra.

“They said they liked my voice,” said Uddin. “They liked my spark.” Clayton and Charaipotra, who also are the founders of the boutique book development company Cake Literary, asked Uddin to submit a writing sample.

With their encouragement, The Gauntlet began to take shape.

Around this time Uddin met Zareen Jaffery, an editor at Simon & Schuster.

When Jaffery was appointed executive editor of Salaam Reads and began recruiting writers for the imprint, she was intrigued to learn that Uddin was writing

“For a student to get a book deal before graduating college – after hearing Hebah’s story, you realize it’s not impossible.”

— Dr. Craig Rustici a book. Zaffery quickly secured The Gauntlet for a spring 2017 publication.

“I first started thinking seriously about writing, and how much I wanted to make a contribution when I was in high school,” Uddin said. “I started learning about the industry and putting effort into writing my own stories. It was around this time that I became a book blogger. It became a way to have more of a connection with the publishing world and a more intimate understanding of what it took to write young adult literature in particular.”

For Uddin, who was homeschooled, attending Hofstra to major in English was her first time connecting with professors and other students.

“Being in that environment of support and encouragement really made a difference in my confidence in accepting the task before me and feeling like I had the tools I needed to complete it,” she said. “I think Hofstra is a huge part of the Gauntlet story, and my story as an author.”

Dr. Craig Rustici, chair of the English Department, read The Gauntlet to his own children.

“I think it’s wonderful that I’m reading a book to my kids that’s full of references to foods they’ve never heard of, about a culture they’re not familiar with, and it’s extremely welcoming, fun and comfortable,” Rustici said. “So while I’m happy for Hebah, I’m also happy for my Catholic boys who get to learn about a culture within our culture, and now it won’t seem so strange to them.”

Rustici said Hebah’s journey, like her book, should inspire young writers.

“For a student to get a book deal before graduating college – after hearing Hebah’s story, you realize it’s not impossible,” he said. “Perhaps the ceilings and walls we thought were there were not, or they are ready to come down with some hard work and persistence.”

“There are publishers looking for new voices, willing to cultivate and work with their authors,” Rustici added. “Perhaps the young adult and middle grade market is the best area to look for these opportunities.”

Uddin, who graduated in May, still works at Cake Literary, as she researches graduate programs and tries to process the whirlwind of the past several months.

“At the point when I really started to become active in the book community, there were several Muslim American authors – I called them my big sisters,” she said. “I felt they spoke more eloquently than me and were more educated. Now I am published, and they refer back to me on some matters. It’s just been an amazing experience.”

“One of the most important pieces of advice I feel like I am qualified to give is don’t discount your voice,” she said.

“Don’t feel like your voice is redundant.

Don’t feel like someone else is already doing it better.”

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We all experience weather, environment and sustainability. We all have an innate understanding and curiosity about it. The weather stations allow us to better understand what we see and feel. We’re living what we measure.

— Jase Bernhardt Assistant Professor of Geology, Environment and Sustainability

NEW WEATHER STATIONS BUILD INTEREST, CURRICULUM IN METEOROLOGY It’s 62 degrees, with wind speeds up to 17 miles per hour, when a band of nine students clamber up seven flights of stairs and emerge on the roof of Gittleson Hall, squinting against the sun.

Their professor hands out instruments that measure humidity (called sling psychrometers) and walks over to the weather station that sits near the edge of the roof.

The experiment begins. A few students take turns spinning the psychrometers like nunchucks. The rest scribble notes, struggling to keep their lab worksheets from blowing away. On the ground, 10 more students gather weather data at street level.

Eventually, they will check their manual readings against those of the weather station.

Follow the Hofstra Weather Stations:

@HofstraWxSTEM @HofstraSoccerWx @HofstraGardenWx

Watching over it all is Jase Bernhardt, the professor behind Hofstra’s first Introduction to Weather and Climate course. At the core of the new class are three campus weather stations installed in the fall of 2016 that gather and archive real-time data, take photos and record time-lapse videos.

“We all experience weather,” said Bernhardt, an assistant professor of geology, environment and sustainability. “We all have an innate understanding and curiosity about it. The weather stations allow us to better understand what we see and feel. We’re living what we measure.”

The three WeatherSTEM stations are spread across campus – one sits above the soccer stadium press box, the second on the roof of Gittleson Hall, and the third in the Student Garden, near Oak Street on North Campus. Hofstra houses the only WeatherSTEM stations on Long Island, and is one of only two locations with the stations in New York state.

“Other institutions have weather stations, but none like ours,” said Dr. J Bret Bennington, chair of the Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability. “When people think about weather on Long Island, we want them to think Hofstra.”

All the weather stations are equipped with education-friendly features that enhance research and learning. A one-minute cloud time lapse, for example, gives Bernhardt 20 minutes of lecture material.

environment and sustainability. “The new weather stations will help Dr. Bernhardt and his students conduct research on the unique climate of Long Island.”

In addition to a physical presence on campus, the weather stations each have their own digital footprint, with Twitter handles and Facebook pages that automatically update to provide the latest weather information.

After Winter Storm Niko hit in February 2017, students were welcomed back to Bernhardt’s class with a presentation on what they just experienced the day before through a 59-second time lapse video.

Sitting in a classroom, they watched the snow accumulate on the weather station’s lens before melting away as the storm came to an end.

“I remember being in elementary school and thinking that weather was the coolest thing, so I thought (the class) would be a revival of those interests. And it was,” said Emma Vaccaro ’18, who is pursuing a BA/MA in early childhood/childhood and STEM education.

As part of the class, she created a lesson plan about weather science that she taught to fifth-graders at Waverly Park Elementary School in East Rockaway, Long Island. “I’m definitely going to come out of here a more well-rounded person,” she said. “And a better teacher.”

“I was that kid who bolted outside with a yardstick in the middle of snowstorm to measure the snowfall,” Bernhardt said. “So 5-year-old Jase was bursting when the stations were installed.”

Once the stations have collected enough data, students and faculty at Hofstra will be able to conduct more in-depth research.

They can look at a year’s worth of time lapse videos, for example, and predict which days will bring different cloud formations.

New weather courses and a minor in This summer, the Department of Geology, meteorology and climatology are slated Environment and Sustainability used to begin in fall 2018. Several courses will weather station data in weeklong workshops be designed to appeal to a variety of with elementary and secondary school majors. One, for example, will be teachers across New York City and Long designed for communication majors Island. The workshops, co-sponsored by the wishing to pursue broadcast Greentree Foundation and Seatuck meteorology. Another will be Environmental Association, were designed tailored to business students who to help teachers become more comfortable have an interest in commodities using outdoor learning activities and trading, which is influenced by multimedia in their lessons. climate.

Bernhardt also will be using the weather stations in a new Hofstra Saturday Classes for Young People course for high school students this fall called “Intro to Meteorology: The Science Behind Your Weather App.” “Long Island has wild weather such as hurricanes and nor’easters,” said Robert Brinkmann, vice provost for scholarship and engagement, associate dean of graduate studies, and professor of geology,

After taking the new class, geography and global studies major Carys Swan ’18, who is an avid hiker, will never take in mountaintop views quite the same again.

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“I’ll be able to look at the clouds,” Swan said, “and not just see shapes in the sky.”

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Groundbreaking

BUSINESS

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ZARB

The Frank G. Zarb School of Business celebrated construction of a state-of-the-art building at a special groundbreaking ceremony this spring.

“This is a very important day in the history of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business, and in the history of Hofstra University,” said President Stuart Rabinowitz. “Today, we begin the process of unifying the business school in one building, in one comprehensive facility where faculty and students can study and work together.”

The 52,000-square-foot building, with a projected completion date of winter 2018, will be equipped with a behavioral science/market research lab; an enhanced startup business incubator; multiple areas for student independent and collaborative study; and administrative, faculty and student club offices.

PULLING RANK

Hofstra’s Online MBA Program won accolades in 2017: The program is ranked 36th best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and 15th in the nation by The Princeton Review.

Faculty and administrative offices are now located in Weller Hall, across the street from the business school’s classroom and lecture hall building, C.V. Starr Hall.

The new building will be constructed behind C.V. Starr Hall, which is home to the business school’s classrooms and lecture halls, as well as the Martin B. Greenberg Trading Room. The new building will be connected to C.V. Starr Hall via an enclosed second-story pedestrian walkway.

The groundbreaking ceremony included an opportunity for students, faculty, administrators and staff to sign a beam that will be used in the construction of the new building.

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

The inaugural class of graduates of a new dual-degree program between the Zarb School and Dongbei University of Finance and Economics in China celebrated their achievement in May. Additionally this spring, 27 students and two faculty members traveled to South Africa as part of a new class, International Entrepreneurial Consulting.

MAKING a NAME

The DeMatteis School was ranked 55th Best Undergraduate Engineering program in the nation by the 2017 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges.

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“In his lifetime, Fred DeMatteis exemplified the integrity, work ethic and imagination that we seek to instill in students of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.“ — Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz

The School of Engineering and Applied Science has been named for visionary builder Fred DeMatteis, the longtime chairman and CEO of The DeMatteis Organizations, to honor his leadership, his contributions to construction and real estate development in the New York metropolitan area, and his strong commitment to charitable causes through philanthropy and volunteerism.

DeMatteis, who died in 2001, left an enduring mark on the New York region’s skyline, including the residential Museum Tower over the Museum of Modern Art, the 100 United Nations Plaza residential tower, the RuppertYorkville Towers and Knickerbocker Plaza, and the former EAB Plaza (now RXR Plaza).

Under his leadership, The DeMatteis Organizations built hundreds of millions of square feet of residential and commercial real estate and public projects regionally, nationally and internationally.

“The Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science will train the next generation of engineers and computer scientists to emulate his creativity and community service,” said President Stuart Rabinowitz.

Hofstra celebrated the naming at a convocation in fall 2016.

“This reflects the dedication of an exceptionally accomplished visionary,” said Dean Sina Rabbany at the convocation. “Fred DeMatteis was a creative thinker and a diligent worker who achieved extraordinary things and embodied the spirit of engineering design as reflected in the skyline both in the United States and around the world.”

The DeMatteis Organizations are a third-generation family-owned group of companies founded by Fred DeMatteis’ father, Leon. Fred DeMatteis joined the organization after earning a Purple Heart and Presidential Citation for his service as a bombardier in the Army Air Corps during World War II. The companies are now run by his sons.

Even as he built soaring structures, DeMatteis remained grounded, investing time and resources in charities and organizations that support education, health and the arts through The DeMatteis Family Foundation, which he founded in 2001 with his wife, Nancy DeMatteis.

He served as a Hofstra University trustee from 1986 to 1989, and was awarded the University’s Presidential Medal, which recognizes outstanding professional, public service and humanitarian achievements and contributions. Mrs. DeMatteis continues to be a generous benefactor of Hofstra University.

“In his lifetime, Fred DeMatteis exemplified the integrity, work ethic and imagination that we seek to instill in students of the School of Engineering and Applied Science,” President Rabinowitz said. “As successful as he was as a builder, Fred DeMatteis’ legacy is much more than bricks and mortar; it can be seen in the work of the institutions that he supported, and in the lives those institutions touch.

Nancy’s continued commitment to the work of the foundation they created together honors his memory and improves our community every day.”

Beyond his generosity to Hofstra, DeMatteis served on many boards, including The Home Depot Inc., Long Island Savings Bank, and St. Francis Hospital, where he served as its chairman from 1985 to 1987. He is also the recipient of the Long Island Distinguished Leadership Award.

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CREATING

CONVERSATION

Susan Yohn

Professor of History

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Each year, Hofstra welcomes to campus a wide range of speakers, and sponsors varied academic symposia and conferences.

Speakers and performances during the 2016-17 academic year included psychologist Keith Sawyer, the Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations at the University of North Carolina’s School of Education, who discussed his book Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity as part of Hofstra’s second annual Creativity Week; David Harvey, the Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, who was the keynote speaker at the conference Marx’s Critique of Political Economy and the Global Crisis Today; author Jennifer Teege, whose book My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me chronicles her discovery that her grandfather was the brutal Nazi commandant of the Plaszow concentration camp; Hari Sreenivasan, senior correspondent and weekend anchor for PBS NewsHour; digital marketing executive Lori Greene, founder of LPG Enterprises; and Andy Fickman, executive producer and director of the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait starring Kevin James.

The University also served as host for the 17th Berkshire Conference on the History of Women (“The Big Berks”), Difficult Conversations: Thinking and Talking About Women, Genders, and Sexualities Inside and Outside the Academy. The conference, billed as the world’s largest women’s history event, brought together more than 1,500 guests from 35 countries for over 250 panels. Hofstra Professor of History Susan Yohn is president of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians.

Hari Sreenivasan

Senior correspondent/ weekend anchor, PBS NewsHour

Lisa Merrill

Jennifer Teege

Professor of Rhetoric

New York Times best-selling author

Keith Sawyer

Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations, University of North Carolina

From ADVOCATE to A DECADE OF LIFE

2017 was the 10th year Hofstra has participated in the annual Relay For Life fundraiser.

Over the past decade, Hofstra has raised more than $710,000 for the cause.

SURVIVOR

Standing on the makeshift stage in the middle of the intramural fields this past April, Annik Spencer ’14 felt ready. She scanned the audience and caught the steady eye of her boyfriend, Danny, and the wide smiles of a handful of college friends and work colleagues. It was the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay For Life fundraiser, an all-night event that she had helped plan every year as an undergrad. But this year was different.

She was no longer just a volunteer.

She was a survivor.

“When I helped with Relay during my college days, I seem to remember that many of the survivors were older – usually parents or family members of Hofstra students,” said Spencer, who was invited to be the key speaker at this year’s event.

Every year, Hofstra’s Relay For Life draws hundreds of members of the campus and local communities to walk the field’s track to raise money for cancer research and honor those affected by the disease. “This time, I was actually surprised to meet other

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young survivors. It was surreal to come back having gone through the experience of cancer myself.”

Two years earlier, in the spring of 2015, Spencer had been out of college less than a year, and was thriving as an account coordinator with CooperKatz & Company, a New York City public relations firm, where she worked on campaigns in areas such as real estate, financial services, education, health care, and consumer products.

“I had an adorable apartment and had just started dating an amazing guy. I had an income, freedom and happiness, and even remember walking around Manhattan and thinking, ‘Is this a dream?’” she said. “Then, just after my 23rd birthday, I felt a strange lump in my left breast.”

Though breast cancer is rare in young people, Spencer had always been vigilant about doing routine monthly self-exams because her mother died from the disease at age 36. Still, she and her doctor didn’t think much of the lump when they scheduled her for a mammogram.

Spencer was getting ready to head to work when she was summoned to see her radiologist. “Suddenly I was alone in New York City, being told I had cancer at age 23,” she recalls.

“I froze.”

When her mother died, Spencer was just four years old. She has very few memories of her mother, but heard many stories from family and friends as she grew up in Rehoboth, a small town about an hour outside Boston.

“I never felt I had a broken childhood because something so sad had happened to me,” she says, largely crediting her father, Scott, for his support. He remarried a few years later, and his wife, Barbara, adopted Annik.

“My dad is a minister, and being a part of a large, close-knit church family where I had to occasionally face difficult situations such as illness and death in the lives of people I really cared about also helped me deal with having lost my mom,” she said. “It made me strong, and I could understand better what others in similar situations were going through.”

“I had an adorable apartment and had just started dating an amazing guy.

I had an income, freedom and happiness, and even remember walking around Manhattan and thinking, ‘Is this a dream?’” she said. “Then, just after my 23rd birthday, I felt a strange lump in my left breast.”

She often found joy through dance, and hoped to one day teach the art to small children. Her passion led her to enroll as a dance major at Hofstra, where she spent every day rehearsing and working on choreography in the large studio located in The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. Countless hours spent in that building drew her attention to class offerings in public relations, which she took on as a second major in the spring of her first year.

“Having access to New York City without having to live in New York City was really important to me in building a future in both majors,” she said.

She started her PR classes around the same time that Professor Jeff Morosoff arrived to teach in the program. “I’d never had a teacher that cared so deeply about his students and wanted them to really walk out of his class having learned a lot,” she said.

Morosoff became both a mentor and friend to Spencer over the years, offering guidance on classes, internships and career prospects. He encouraged her to join the Public Relations Student Society of America, and she would later come back to its networking dinners as an alum to mentor students and recruit interns for her firm.

Spencer also used her PR and communication skills as a student aide in the Office of University Relations, where she served as a media volunteer at two U.S. presidential debates – the first as a student during the 2012 debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and again, as an alumna, for the 2016 debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

“That first debate was the most exciting experience I’ve had at Hofstra,” she said.

“I was just awestruck by how the entire world had focused its attention on this campus. It was also the first election that I could vote in, and I became really

passionate about politics because every class – even my dance classes – had some aspect of the debate as part of the curriculum.”

And, every spring, there was her work helping to coordinate the Relay For Life fundraiser. She worked largely behind the scenes, not knowing that in a few short years, she would be taking center stage.

Last April at Relay For Life, Spencer spoke publicly for the first time about the days following her cancer diagnosis.

“The next six months were a blur,” she said. “Honestly, even now, I don’t remember much. It’s probably for the best.

Those were the worst months of my life.”

“I felt isolated and sad; my anxiety was crippling,” she recalls. “But when you are going through something like this, you don’t really have a choice but to fight for your life.”

She had a double mastectomy, breast reconstructive surgery to receive implants, and 12 rounds of chemotherapy – as well as fertility treatments to preserve her eggs in case the chemotherapy affected her ability to have children later.

She used a device called a “cold cap” – a helmet of dry ice – for eight hours every Friday to freeze her hair follicles during chemo treatment so her hair wouldn’t fall out. She also underwent genetic testing, which showed no link to her mother’s cancer.

Her parents and brother, her boyfriend, her three best friends from high school, and a trio of women who had been at her mom’s side during her cancer battle helped her get through long hours in the chemo room.

“I was impressed by the grace and determination she showed during her ordeal, but it didn’t surprise me,” Morosoff said. “That’s who she is.”

Now cancer-free for two years, she shares three important lessons from her experience: Offer support to others, even if you don’t know what to say; pay attention to your body, even if you are young (about 1 in 8 U.S. women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in her lifetime); and even with a good doctor on your side, always be prepared to advocate for yourself.

Fear of a recurrence is still with her every day, but so are reminders of how lucky she is.

“Sometimes I’ll be running over the Williamsburg Bridge or sipping a particularly good mimosa at brunch or having a kick-ass week at work, and I’ll get this warm and appreciative feeling that I didn’t have before cancer,” she said.

“The relationships I have now are a lot deeper. Life is a little bit sweeter.”

New

Center for“Race,” Culture and Social Justice During the spring 2017 semester, Hofstra launched the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice to promote diversity and cultural awareness in faculty hiring, curriculum, and professional development.

“Diversity is one of Hofstra’s core values, and this effort recognizes and builds on our commitment to it,” said President Stuart Rabinowitz.

“Embracing diversity and cultural understanding is not a static goal; it is a process that should evolve and change as we learn more about each other. This center will provide the focus and resources necessary to do that.”

The center drew a full house for its inaugural event last March, a talk by attorney Gloria Browne-Marshall, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and author of the 2016 book The Voting Rights War: The NAACP and the Ongoing Struggle for Justice.

Her talk, “Forging a More Inclusive Campus in a Conflicted Country: Navigating ‘Race,’ Diversity and Social Justice,” encouraged the campus community to support the center and its mission.

The center falls under the auspices of the Provost’s Office. Dr. Jonathan Lightfoot, associate professor of teaching, learning and technology, serves as the center’s director.

Dr. Benita Sampedro Vizcaya, associate professor of romance languages and literatures, and Dr. Santiago Slabodsky, associate professor of religion and the 34

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Florence and Robert Kaufman Chair in Jewish Studies, serve as the center’s associate directors.

“We want to make certain that the entire Hofstra community is on the same page when it comes to issues of diversity,” said Dr. Lightfoot. Among the center’s goals are: •T o expand the demographic profile of Hofstra faculty to include more faculty of color •T o work to minimize discrimination, cultural insensitivity, and bias •T o advocate policies to encourage and incentivize faculty to improve their pedagogy and advance their professional development through ongoing diversity training •T o support development of curricular offerings across all schools and disciplines, to enable students to embrace diversity on campus and to continue doing so as Hofstra alumni Among the center’s first projects is a faculty summer research grant to develop a new course, or a lecture or workshop that advances its mission. The first faculty research grants were awarded to Kristal Zook, professor of journalism, media studies and public relations, to study how millennials navigate and experience multiracial identity, and Mustapha Masrour, director of the Language Laboratory, for a project titled “Academic Literacies: A Gateway Into Emancipatory Pedagogy of Citizenship in Our Global Village.”

“ RACE” – WHY QUOTATION MARKS? Placing “race” in quotation marks seeks to show that “race” is a social and political construct, rather than a biological and scientific one.

Below is an excerpt from the American Anthropological Association’s 1998 statement on “race”: Historical research has shown that the idea of “race” has always carried more meanings than mere physical differences; indeed, physical variations in the human species have no meaning except the social ones that humans put on them.

Today scholars in many fields argue that “race” as it is understood in the United States of America was a social mechanism invented during the 18th century to refer to those populations brought together in colonial America: the English and other European settlers, the conquered Indian peoples, and those peoples of Africa brought in to provide slave labor.

TAKING THE

Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Health Professions and Human Services will begin the 2017-18 academic year with new deans.

Dr. Benjamin Rifkin Dean, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dr. Benjamin Rifkin began his tenure as dean of Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on June 15. He succeeds Dr. Bernard Firestone, professor of political science and dean of HCLAS since 1997, who is retiring from the position and returning to the faculty.

Dr. Rifkin, a scholar of Russian language and literature, previously served as provost and vice president for educational affairs at Ithaca College. Prior to that, he served as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) from 2009 to 2015.

As dean, he led the creation of a new strategic plan and mission statement, as well as the development of an advisory council, a shared governance system, an advising policy, and a public speaking requirement for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

“I am excited to join the Hofstra and HCLAS community because I am inspired by the dynamic work of the faculty, students and staff, by Hofstra’s commitment to a learning environment in which students are the very center, and by the warmth and friendliness I experienced in my interactions during my campus visit,” said Dr. Rifkin. “I’m looking forward to working closely with colleagues and students within the college, and throughout campus, and in the greater community to sustain, celebrate and advance our successes, and to engage with both pride and purpose in realizing the mission and vision of Hofstra University.”

Dr. Rifkin’s professional experience also includes an appointment at Temple University, where he was vice dean for undergraduate affairs at the College of Liberal Arts as well as a professor of Russian; department chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; director of the Middlebury College Davis School of Russian summer program; and a visiting professor at Princeton University. Dr. Rifkin received an AM and PhD in Slavic languages and literature from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1987 and 1990, respectively, as well as an MA and a BA (magna cum laude) in Russian and East European studies from Yale University in 1983.

Frequently published in scholarly journals and other publications, Dr. Rifkin’s co-authored textbook, Panorama, will be published by Georgetown University Press in July of this year. While at UW-Madison, Dr. Rifkin was a recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching (2000) and the College of Letters and Science Faculty Advising Award (2004). He has received several awards from the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL). While a faculty member at Wisconsin, Dr. Rifkin received state certification to teach Russian at the secondary level.

Dr. Holly J. Seirup Dean, School of Health Professions and Human Services Dr. Holly J. Seirup, who has been serving as vice dean of the School of Health Professions and Human Services since June 2015, was appointed dean in March.

During her tenure as vice dean, the School of Health Professions and Human Services added a graduate program in health informatics and welcomed its first cohort of students in occupational therapy. Also, the school’s Master of Public Health program and its graduate program in mental health counseling earned national accreditations.

“It’s been an honor to work with such talented and motivated faculty and students to grow and develop the outstanding programs at the School of Health Professions and Human Services,” Dr. Seirup said. “I’m excited to become dean of a school with such promise and potential as we work together to educate future health care leaders, clinicians and compassionate advocates.”

Dr. Seirup joined Hofstra in 1982, and began teaching full time in 2006. She holds a joint appointment as a professor of counseling and of educational leadership. She previously served as chair of the Department of Counseling and Mental Health Professions.

Before joining the faculty, Dr. Seirup held various positions at Hofstra in Student Affairs for Residence Life and the Dean of Students Office, in addition to serving as vice president of campus life. In 2014 she was chosen by graduating students as the HPHS Teacher of the Year, and in 2015 she received the Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member from the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).

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Featuring performances by Lil Wayne, Bad Mary, U2 tribute band Unforgettable Fire, and C+C Music Factory

Friday-Sunday, October 6-8

Stay tuned to hofstra.edu/fallfestival for ticket information and updates.

LIL WAYNE

BAD MARY UNFORGETTABLE FIRE Artists’ appearances arranged through Gotham Artists.

C+C MUSIC FACTORY

the Music

A pioneering group of students launched a student-run record label this year called Mane Records as part of a new project supervised by the Center for Entrepreneurship.

Mentored by top industry professionals, students got real-world experience recording, producing, promoting and distributing music – including signing the label’s first artist – alum Rashaan Perkins, a rising rap artist who goes by the stage name izzeYe. The students spent time at Engine Room Audio, a studio in lower Manhattan where the label’s first EP was mixed.

The project, a partnership with The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, the Frank. G. Zarb School of Business, and the Department of Music (School of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), is open to students of all majors, and some students earn academic credit.

The students plan to shoot a video with izzeYe, and the EP will be released sometime this fall.

@ManeRecordLabel Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .eps

Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .eps

facebook.com/ManeRecordLabel/

Manerecordlabel.com

We congratulate the following faculty for the publication of their work, awards and leadership appointments

HOFSTRA FACULTY PUBLICATIONS MEENA BOSE Professor of Political Science; Director, Peter S. Kalikow Center for Public Policy and Public Service Programs, Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs t E ditor, The George W. Bush Presidency, Volume I: The Constitution, Politics, and Policy Making t C o-editor, with RICHARD HIMELFARB, Professor of Political Science, The George W. Bush Presidency, Volume II: Domestic Policy t C o-editor, with PAUL FRITZ, Associate Professor of Political Science, The George W. Bush Presidency: Volume III, Foreign Policy Nova Science Publishers, 2016 ALAFAIR BURKE Professor of Law The Sleeping Beauty Killer Co-author with Mary Higgins Clark RUSSELL CHUN Assistant Professor of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations Adobe Animate CC Classroom in a Book Adobe Press, 2017 STEVEN R. COSTENOBLE Professor of Mathematics; Senior Associate Dean for Budget and Accounting and STEFAN WANER Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Equivariant Ordinary Homology and Cohomology, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, v. 2178 Springer International Publishing, 2016 LISA DETORA Assistant Professor of Writing Studies and Rhetoric; Director, STEM Writing Editor, Regulatory Writing: An Overview Regulatory Affairs Professional Society, 2017

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BRENDA ELSEY Associate Professor of History; Codirector, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program and STANISLAO PUGLIESE Professor of History; Queensboro UNICO Distinguished Professor of Italian and Italian-American Studies Football and the Boundaries of History: Critical Studies in Soccer Palgrave, 2017 FERNANDO ESPINOZA Adjunct Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Wave Motion as Inquiry: The Physics and Applications of Light and Sound Springer, 2017 CAROLE FERRAND Professor of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences; Chair and Graduate Program Director, Department of SpeechLanguage-Hearing Sciences Speech Science: An Integrated Approach to Theory and Clinical Practice, 4th ed.

Pearson Education, 2018 VALERIA LUISELLI Assistant Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions Coffee House Press, 2017 REBECCA A. NATOW Assistant Professor of Specialized Programs in Education Higher Education Rulemaking: The Politics of Creating Regulatory Policy Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017 BENJAMIN RIFKIN Professor of Comparative Literature, Languages, and Linguistics; Dean, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Panorama: Intermediate Russian Language and Culture Co-author with Evgeny Dengub, Susanna Nazarova Georgetown University Press, 2017

CINDY ROSENTHAL Professor of Drama and Dance t C o-editor, The Sixties, Center Stage: Mainstream and Popular Performances in a Turbulent Decade (with James Harding, University of Maryland) t E llen Stewart Presents: Fifty Years of La MaMa Experimental Theatre (awarded Furthermore grant in publishing) University of Michigan Press, 2017 SANTIAGO SLABODSKY Assistant Professor of Religion; Florence and Robert Kaufman Chair in Jewish Studies Caribbean Philosophical Association 2017 Frantz Fanon Outstanding Book Award for Decolonial Judaism: Triumphal Failures of Barbaric Thinking G. STUART SMITH Professor of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations A Life in Code: Pioneer Cryptanalyst Elizebeth Smith Friedman McFarland, 2017 STEVEN D. SMITH Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, Languages and Linguistics Man and Animal in Severan Rome: The Literary Imagination of Claudius Aelianus (Greek Culture in the Roman World) Cambridge University Press, paperback, 2017 BARBARA STARK Professor of Law and John DeWitt Gregory Research Scholar Editor, Human Rights and Children Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017 BENITA SAMPEDRO VIZCAYA Associate Professor of Spanish; Co-director of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program Rerouting Galician Studies: Multidisciplinary Interventions Palgrave MacMillian, 2017 JINGSU CHRISTINA WU Assistant Professor of Media Studies Entertainment and Politics in Contemporary China Palgrave MacMillan, 2017

HOFSTRA FACULTY AWARDS and LEADERSHIP APPOINTMENTS KARA ALAIMO Assistant Professor of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations t Titan of the Future Award, World Communication Forum Gala, 2017 t “50 Game-Changers of PR,” PR News, 2017 HERMAN A. BERLINER Dean, Frank G. Zarb School of Business LIST (Long Island Software and Technology Network) Long Island SummIT Award SCOTT BRINTON Adjunct Assistant Professor of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations Executive Editor, Herald Community Newspapers EDWARD COFFIELD Assistant Professor of Health Professions Leadership in Education Award, Healthcare Leaders of New York, 2017 ANIRUDDHA DESHPANDE Assistant Professor of Audiology 2016-17 Leadership Development Program, American Speech-LanguageHearing Association ADAM DURST Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy 2017-2019 Scholar Program, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP), University of California, Santa Barbara ANDREA ROSSO EFTHYMIOU Assistant Professor of Writing Studies and Rhetoric Chair, National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (Reaching Out: Revising Writing Center Spaces and Identities, Hofstra University, October 2017) BRENDA ELSEY Associate Professor of History; Co-director, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program 2017-18 Fulbright Scholar in Argentina (for research on the history of gender, sexuality, and sport in Latin America) ANITA FELDMAN Associate Professor of Drama and Dance; Director, Dance Education Program Outstanding Post Secondary Dance Educator Award, New York State Dance Education Association, 2016

ELLEN TASHIE FRISINA Associate Professor of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations Outstanding Mentor, Public Relations Professionals of Long Island, 2017 DAVID FRYLING Professor of Music; Director of Choral Studies 2016-17 American Prize in Conducting – Chorus, College and University Division RAYMOND GREENWELL Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Lifetime Achievement Award, Annual Meeting of the Metropolitan New York Section of the Mathematical Association of America JENNIFER GUNDLACH Clinical Professor of Law 2017 Deborah L. Rhode Award, American Association of Law Schools, Section on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities RUSSELL HARBAUGH Assistant Professor of Radio, Television, Film Director and co-writer of feature film Life After Love – April 2017 premiere at Tribeca Film Festival MARK L’EPLATTENIER Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies Chair, Physician Assistant Education Association psychiatry examination PHILLIS LEVIN Professor of English; Poet-in-Residence Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, for her fifth collection of poems, Mr. Memory & Other Poems THEO LIEBMANN Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Programs 2017 Howard A. Levine Award for Excellence in Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare

ANDREA PERKINS NERLICH Associate Professor of Counseling and Mental Health Professions President’s Award, The National Council on Rehabilitation Education, 2017; Inaugural 40 Under Forty Award, Springfield College, 2016 ANTHONY SANTELLA Associate Professor of Health Professions; Director, Master of Public Health Program Elected Governing Councilor, HIV/AIDS Section, American Public Health Association COMILA SHAHANI-DENNING Professor of Psychology; Director, MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology Program Secretary, New York Metropolitan Association of Applied Psychology (METRO) GAIL SIMMONS Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs; Professor of Biology t The Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO) Digital Fellows Program t Butterfly Award, Girls Inc. of Long Island SHAWN THELEN Professor of Marketing and International Business 2016 Marketing Education Review Article of the Year (with co-author Dr. Earl D. Honeycutt Jr., of Elon University) DAVID WAYNE Adjunct Associate Professor of Mathematics Long Island Math Educators Hall of Fame PHYLLIS ZAGANO Senior Research Associate-in-Residence, Department of Religion Vatican Commission on Women Deacons

CARINA LOSCALZO Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies; Director, Physician Assistant Studies Program Newsletter editor, New York State Society of Physician Assistants Hofstra

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4

Luke Brown

YOUNG GUNS

The Pride’s FOUR CAA Rookies of the Year THEY ARRIVED AT HOFSTRA FROM ACROSS THE OCEAN AND JUST OVER THE COUNTY LINE, FOUR FIRST-YEAR STUDENT-ATHLETES JUST HOPING TO FIT IN. INSTEAD, THEY STOOD OUT, BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ROOKIE CLASSES IN PRIDE HISTORY.

Alyssa Parrella

Luke Brown of men’s soccer, Laura Masciullo of volleyball, Ryan Tierney of men’s lacrosse, and Alyssa Parrella of women’s lacrosse all earned Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Year honors — the most among any CAA member school that fields the same 17 athletic programs as Hofstra.

Hofstra Athletics Tierney was recruited by his father, Hofstra Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach Seth Tierney, while Parrella’s sister, Tiana, spent two seasons on the Hofstra Women’s Lacrosse roster.

For Tierney, it took less than three minutes for him to find the back of the net in the season opener against Monmouth.

“My favorite moment from this season was probably scoring that first goal,” said Tierney, a Massapequa native, who helped the team to a record-setting 10-0 start in 2017. He finished second on the team with 31 goals and 47 points. “It really relaxed me into that first game and let me know that this level isn’t too far off. I could do it.”

Ryan Tierney

It didn’t take long for any of them to make their presence felt.

All four scored in their first games. Brown, Tierney and Parrella, in fact, each scored on their first collegiate shot – and scored the first goals of the season for their teams.

Brown, a native of Cambridgeshire, England, scored his first goal just over 19 minutes into the men’s soccer season opener at Stony Brook. But for him and fellow international student Masciullo, playing at a higher level almost seemed like the easy part.

“The toughest challenge was actually moving away from home and all my friends and family,” Brown said. “But everyone gets on really well as a team, so it’s easy to settle in, and when everyone around you is in the same situation, it makes it seem like it’s not even an issue.”

Parrella, of Miller Place, similarly tore through her rookie season. She led Hofstra in every field statistical category, posting 47 goals, 29 assists, 76 points, 54 draw controls, 39 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers. Her single-season point total ranks second in program history.

“It was nerve-racking in the beginning, but the transformation was easier than expected, mainly because of the girls on the team and the coaches,” said Parrella, whose first collegiate goal knotted the score at one in an eventual 15-5 season-opening thumping of Bucknell.

“Once the first game was over, the nerves became more anxious excitement and the pace of the game just became so much fun to play,” she said.

Now, this rookie class has just one goal in their sights: a CAA Championship.

“We are hungry for it,” Parrella said, “and we have the mindset.”

Laura Masciullo

Brown spearheaded the Pride’s offense in 2016, recording eight goals and two assists for 18 points in helping men’s soccer to its second consecutive CAA regular-season title.

Masciullo, who grew up in La Spezia, Italy, also excelled on the court, posting arguably one of the best rookie campaigns in volleyball program history. She led the Pride in points and kills – averaging 3.87 points and 3.41 kills per set – and helped Hofstra to an undefeated record at home.

“Coming to the U.S. was a huge change for me,” she said. “I realized the importance of that decision just when the airplane to New York was taking off. Italy and the United States are really different. (But) As soon as I got used to it, it all went great. I loved the perfect organization and the determination that characterize the American scenario.”

Long Island lacrosse phenoms Tierney and Parrella had a much shorter commute to Hempstead, and they were no strangers to Hofstra Lacrosse when they arrived on campus.

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SOUND SILENCE OF

F

or people who suffer from a continuous ringing, buzzing or hissing in their ears, a new resource can help. The Hear-Ring Lab, a clinical research facility run by the School of Health Professions and Human Services, studies different approaches to assessing and managing tinnitus, a condition that affects 30 million Americans, including as many as a quarter of those over age 60. The condition can disrupt sleep, interfere with concentration, and cause psychological distress.

“A lack of silence can be devastating,” said Aniruddha Deshpande, PhD, CCC-A, assistant professor in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences and a certified audiologist who directs the lab and oversees its studies. “Tinnitus has no cure, but its impact can be successfully reduced in many patients.”

Dr. Deshpande’s undergraduate and doctoral students help run the lab’s five current projects, which include studies investigating how people seek out information on tinnitus, examining brain waves in patients with bothersome tinnitus, and the occurrence of music-induced

hearing loss and tinnitus in high school students. The lab also tests the use of virtual reality technology as a treatment option.

The lab’s mission is to provide information on causes, prevention and management strategies, and to recruit participants for research projects.

“What I love about this field is that you can often see right away that you’ve helped someone,” said Tova Shimunova, who is beginning her first year as a doctoral student in audiology. “When someone comes in with an issue such as hearing loss and leaves satisfied because you provided a solution for them, you know you’ve made a difference.”

Shimunova will serve as the HearRing Lab manager starting in the fall, and will work on a research study exploring the use and effectiveness of mobile apps for tinnitus.

“The lab provides a good opportunity for students to not only develop their own research ideas, but also strengthen their managerial skills,” said Dr. Deshpande.“They get hands-on experience operating

different audiological equipment and interacting with patients. We have regular lab meetings to discuss their ideas and suggestions to improve the lab.”

Dr. Deshpande established the lab, located in Davison Hall, when he arrived at Hofstra in fall 2015 from the University of Iowa, where he was a research audiologist and postdoctoral fellow. For his work on tinnitus, Dr. Deshpande was selected last year as one of 28 professionals nationwide for the American Speech-LanguageHearing Association’s 2016-17 leadership development program for audiologists.

“Dr. Deshpande’s important work in tinnitus research and management is of great benefit to the University, as well as to the larger community, “ said Dr. Carole Ferrand, chair of the Department of Speech-LanguageHearing Sciences. “By developing further insights into this disorder, he is making a significant contribution to the field of audiology and advancing our mission to prepare students to be skilled, compassionate health care professionals.”

For more information about the Hear-Ring Lab, and for a list of local facilities that provide clinical hearing services, go to hofstra.edu/hear-ringlab.

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Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Hofstra University

Hempstead, New York 11549 Vol. 29 No. 1 • The Year in Review 2016-2017

73138:8/17

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