9 minute read
Presidential Inauguration
Hello!
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I am so excited to be writing my first
President’s Message for this fabulous
magazine. Happy 2020! The new year is full
of promise for Bloomfield College as we
celebrate our 2019 successes and continue to
work together every day of this new decade
to place Bloomfield College on the map
where it belongs… as a national leader and
role model for inclusive excellence.
Nearly everything we celebrated the last six months – including my presidential inauguration –
can be found in these pages. Please enjoy the event recaps, college, student, and alumni updates,
and other featured stories. The individual and collective accomplishments of our community is at
the heart of our work and drives our mission. These highlighted stories – from around campus
and the world – fill us with #BloomfieldPride and make us who we are.
With each passing month, my love for this diverse community reaches new levels. None of what
we do would have been possible without the dedication of our Trustees, faculty, staff, students,
alumni, donors, and friends. I hope you all had the merriest of holiday seasons and a joyous
new year.
See you on campus soon. Go, Bears!
Marcheta P. Evans, P.h.D. PRESIDENT B L O O M F I E L D C O L L E G E
BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE
President MARCHETA P. EVANS, Ph.D.
Interim Vice President for Institutional Advancement NICOLE QUINN
Director of Institutional Communications ALICIA COOK
Office Manager JONI FRASCATI Development Coordinator PATRICK VERA, LSW
Bloomfield College Board of Trustees WILLIAM H. TURNER, III, CHAIR JOHN J. DELUCCA ’66, VICE CHAIR JOANNE T. MARREN, ESQ., SECRETARY
JIM AXELROD HECTOR O. BANEGAS, CTFA MELISSA BASTAN NICHOLAS CARLOZZI JACQUELINE COLGAN GEOFFREY M. CONNOR, ESQ. CARMEN AMALIA CORRALES, ESQ. BRIAN F. DORAN, ESQ. VERNON M. ENDO JOSEAN FERNANDEZ ’06 STEPHEN A. GLASSER SANDRA L. GONZALEZ, ESQ. EDWARD C. HEFTMAN ’67 STEPHANIE LAWSON-MUHAMMAD CRAIG B. LINDSAY ’76 ALISA C. NORRIS JOHN PANAGAKIS ’85 SANFORD B. PRATER GLENN M. REITER, ESQ. STEVEN M. ROSE ADRIAN A. SHELBY H ’98 LARRY I. SILLS JONATHAN B. SIMON JOHN B. SKOWRONSKI ’91 ADEBOLA A. TAIWO ’09 HANK UBEROI NANCY H. VAN DUYNE JOEL M. WEINER ’66 THOMAS N. WILFRID, PH.D.
EMERITI BERNARD S. BERKOWITZ, ESQ. JAMES R. GILLEN CAROLYN ROBERSON GLYNN ’69 ROSEMARY T. IVERSEN JAMES C. KELLOGG (IN MEMORIAM) NANCY L. LANE L. DONALD LATORRE (IN MEMORIAM) MARTIN MCKERROW H ’15 P. HENRY MUELLER, H ’91 (IN MEMORIAM) PETER A. OLSON DR. RICHARD A. POLLACK H ’99 (IN MEMORIAM) ALICE W. PRICE (IN MEMORIAM)
973-748-9000 / ext. 1293 www.bloomfield.edu
On The Green is published by the Office of Institutional Advancement, 68 Oakland Avenue, Bloomfield, N.J. 07003
Author: Alicia Cook Photography: Roy Groething, Alicia Cook, Gladstone Harris, Patrick Vera Design: Eric Miller + Associates Printing: Garrison Printing Company
Tuesday, February 11, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, April 3
Wednesday, April 8
Tuesday, April 14
The 2020 calendar is being updated daily. To receive the most up-to-date information on all events, check the website, keep up with us on social media, make sure you are subscribed to our monthly newsletter, or reach out directly! Please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 973-748-9000 ext. 1293 or email advancement@bloomfield.edu
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W I N T E R 2 0 2 0
F E A T U R E S
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Presidential Inauguration Dr. Marcheta P. Evans becomes the 17th President of Bloomfield College
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Strategic Plan Announced Transformation and innovation by 2025
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S E C T I O N S
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Newsroom E-Sports Center opens; new rankings and awards; C-Span shout out; and Trustee and faculty announcements
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Events Homecoming and Reunion; Thanksgiving dinners; Open House, and more
Honor Roll This list recognizes the individuals and organizations that made a contribution to the College between March 21, 2014 –June 30, 2019
Student, Alumni, and Donor Spotlights 2013 alumna establishes her first scholarship
Athletics Women’s bowling and men’s track and cross country updates
Passages
on the cover: Dr. Evans smiles during her Inauguration
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Once upon a time, there lived a young girl from Mobile, Alabama. Raised by her grandparents in the South during the civil rights movement, she endured sexism, racism, and poverty. Nevertheless, empowered by her grandmother’s belief in education, she never gave up on her dreams.
Bloomfield College celebrated the Inauguration of its history-making President on Friday, December 6, 2019. The ceremony was held in the Doris E. Gilbert auditorium at Bloomfield High School.
Dr. Marcheta P. Evans is the first woman and African-American President of the College since its founding in 1868, and the only woman of color currently serving as president of any four-year college or university in New Jersey.
This Inauguration lived up to its promise of being unlike any other, with live musical performances by Everett Suttle, tenor; Diane Monroe, violinist; Anika Sampson-Anderson, soprano; and the Newark Boys Chorus School, as well as a stage performance by The Company @ Bloomfield College. Jim Axelrod, chief investigative and senior national correspondent at CBS, who serves on the College’s board, acted as Master of Ceremonies.
“This is a profound day for this community; filled with meaning, music, and more than a little magic,” said Axelrod, who was visibly impacted by the occasion, and was seen wiping away tears from his eyes. “As a reporter, I spend far too much time looking at what is wrong with the world. But this morning, all of us get to celebrate what is most definitely right in the world.”
I N A U G U R A T I O N D A Y
“Today we are celebrating a day of firsts. Every second of this Inauguration underscores what that means to the mission of this special place,” continued Axelrod. “For the first time in the history of Bloomfield College, we don’t have to tell many of our students about what’s possible for them to achieve, no matter who, what, or where they come from; we simply need to point them to the President’s Office and show them who is sitting behind the big desk. For the first time, many of our students will see someone leading the College whose journey will feel so exquisitely familiar.”
A special touch that elevated the ceremony happened during Dr. Evans’ inaugural address, which was broken into her discussing the past, the present, and the future. While revisiting her past and what brought her to Inauguration day, Dr. Evans wove the dearest people from her life into her speech.
Her sister, Cathy V. Sellers; her childhood friend, Dr. Ralph Johnson; her college friend, Crystal Thompkins; and her close colleague, Dr. Thelma Duffey appeared on stage as the spotlight moved away from Dr. Evans and onto the people she credits most for helping her achieve her ultimate dream of becoming a college president. They each shared special moments in time, with the President later connecting their words with the shared experiences of the audience.
“We were poor, but we didn’t know we were poor,” said Sellers, Dr. Evans’ cousinturned-adoptive-sister. “‘Poverty’ was not a word that was spoken to us in our home. Our home encompassed the language of love, resiliency, faith, and the importance of our education.”
“Marcheta and I met while we were waiting in line during freshman orientation. That day proved to me that you can meet someone in one moment and they can change your life forever,” said Thompkins. “Marcheta and I created a lifelong bond, a sisterhood. We are each other’s ride or dies. We are each other’s mirrors – when we lose our way, we look to each other and our faith reminds us where we’ve been and who we are.”
“When I got to college, I thought I would never be hungry again — and I was wrong. Many nights the same food insecurities some of you are experiencing now, we
was capable and equipped to lead. The primary
purpose is to be a role model to young people who
the websites or behind the podiums.”
— D R . E V A N S
experienced when we were students,” said Dr. Johnson, Dean of Student Success at Washington Adventist University. “But we had each other, and would come together and eat a meal, with each person contributing what they could. We often say that those meals were some of the best meals of our lives.”
“As friends, Marcheta and I have been each other’s sounding boards. We’ve helped each other navigate higher education as women of color,” said Dr. Duffey. “Students, big dreams do come true. Believe in them. Inspire one another. It takes a village. Invest in your village and in yourselves.”
Dr. Evans used time at the podium to speak emotionally and candidly about the disparities in higher education, specifically the lack of representation of women presidents, noting only 5% of college presidents are women of color, and that today, African-American men make up just 6%, and LatinX men make up 12%, of all undergraduate students enrolled at institutions of higher education.
“As I progressed in my career and saw that no one looked like me, I became completely dedicated to reaching this mountaintop. I did not just fall into a presidency. I had to prove to myself and others that I belonged here — that I was capable and equipped to lead,” said Dr. Evans. “The primary purpose is to be a role model to young people who do not look like the majority of the faces they see on the websites or behind the podiums.”
As the ceremony ended, and Freedom by Pharrell Williams began to blast through the auditorium, Dr. Evans danced off the platform with a big smile on her face. n
