USING SEU DEGREE TO RESTORE HEALTH TO AT-RISK COMMUNITIES

ATHLETICS Student-Athletes are Ready for Success

Our students embody school spirit on and off the field. Pictured are members of the SEU women’s soccer team, the cross country team, students cheering on SEU, an intimidating women’s volleyball team and SEU athletes gathered at Holy Family Chapel for the Mass of the Holy Spirit.

Eagles Profiles

Leaving home for the first time is always a daunting experience. Anxiety, excitement and uncertainty typically underscore many experiences for freshmen. However, SEU’s small class size and supportive environment allow students to thrive. “Saint Elizabeth University enables me to be me to the best of my ability,” says CECILIA SMITH, ‘25, a goalkeeper for SEU’s women’s soccer team. “Everyone here gets along really well, which makes me feel comfortable.”

Planning on majoring in history, Cecilia intends to work at a museum or on a historical site after graduation. However, she would not have attended SEU at all if it weren’t for a generous scholarship.

“The scholarship I received is the reason I’m able to study here,” says Cecilia. “And studying at SEU is preparing me for the real world.” FRANCISCO POLANCO, ‘25, was raised on baseball. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, he would hone his athletic ability by challenging friends and family to games. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather all shared the same passion for the sport. It was this familial interest that led Francisco to SEU.

“Getting an academic scholarship and playing baseball at the University are my proudest accomplishments,” says Francisco. “The coaching staff always believed in me. They’re actually the reason I came to SEU.”

Once at the University, Francisco began pursuing a degree in computer software engineering in hopes of entering the automotive industry after graduating.

“These days, all cars are computerized,” explains Francisco. “A degree in computer software engineering will help me get into that field and become successful.”

INSPIRING THE YOUTH

“When I was in the first grade, my teacher tied me to a chair with a jump rope and left me there for more than an hour,” explains DR. DAVID JEFFERSON JR., ‘21. While this abuse initially made David wary of educators, he soon realized that his calling was to become the person he needed most in that moment. “My time in education has gone from trauma to triumph,” explains David, who recently earned his doctorate in educational leadership at SEU. “That experience set the backdrop for me working with at-risk students who have also had challenges in education.” A multi-vocational leader, David says every aspect of his professional, vocational and personal life has centered on assisting and inspiring young people to overcome obstacles blocking their success. In 2014, President Barack Obama tapped David to lead the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (MBK Alliance) in the city of Newark. Despite being in the midst of earning his master’s in divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, David took a threeyear leave of absence to lead this initiative. Dedicated to building safe and supportive communities where boys and young men of color feel valued, David helped these young people realize their potential through promoting effective programs and policies. “The desire to help others stems from my mentors, great heroes and ‘sheroes,’ that instilled in me a desire to serve and give back,” says David, a cum laude graduate of Morehouse College. “I feel God has put me in a position to help others achieve their goals.” As a thirdgeneration Baptist preacher, David literally grew up with the tenets of compassion, love and service that surrounded the church. Passed from his grandfather to his father, their legacy inspired David to make his own mark on the world. Presently serving as a pastor at the Community Church of East Williston on Long Island and engaged in family ministry at Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark, David is intent on mentoring young people. In fact, he lives his life in accordance with Jeremiah 29:11, a Biblical passage that reads, “For I [God] know the plans I have for you.” “I strongly believe everyone has a plan for their life,” says David, a recipient of the Kenyon J. Wildrick Award in Homiletics from Princeton. “As an academic advisor, adjunct professor and educational specialist for Kean University, my job is literally to help my students find their own path in life. When that path is obstructed, I find ways to break down doors in the system.” Whether he’s inspiring young people in the church or the classroom, David has utilized the knowledge he acquired in every stage of his life to become the educator, mentor and teacher he needed as a child.

Students in SEU’s education department are outperforming other students on both a national and state level. In the last three years, SEU students have earned a 94% pass rate on the edTPA assessment for “Elementary Education: Literacy with Mathematics Task 4.” This is 8% higher than New Jersey’s state pass rate and 22% higher than the national pass rate. “The pass rates for the teacher candidates at Saint Elizabeth University are truly impressive. The teacher candidates have proven that they are dedicated to learning and growing in the teaching profession,” says DR. KAREN FASANELLA, chair of the education department. “The edTPA pulls all of their pedagogical knowledge and skills together to indicate that they are more than ready to enter the classroom as novice teachers.”

The edTPA is a performance-based, subject-specific assessment used by teacher preparation programs throughout the United States to measure the skills all teachers need on their first day in the classroom.