Hofstra Magazine Spring 2025 Issue

The Dream Machine

See how Hofstra is helping aspiring entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality.

Meet Mack

T he Hofstra Pride has its newest cub!

Mack, a caramel-colored Australian Labradoodle, joined the University’s Public Safety team in the fall. The specially trained canine – generously gifted to the University by Hofstra alumnus and trustee David Mack ’67 – serves as the lead ambassador for Hofstra’s new PAWS program: Promoting Assistance, Wellness, and Support. The program supports Public Safety’s community engagement efforts by offering the department additional opportunities to interact with students, faculty, and the entire campus population.

PAWS has been a wild success so far. Mack’s presence instantly lifts spirits during his trots around campus, as students often go out of their way for a chance to pet him. “We want to be out there meeting students and listening to them,” said Geraldine Hart, associate vice president for public safety and community engagement and Mack’s after-hours guardian. “Anytime you can enhance communication and build relationships, I think we’re all better off.”

President’s Letter

Dear Hofstra University Alumni and Friends,

It is my pleasure to introduce the spring 2025 issue of Hofstra Magazine

As you will discover within its pages, this is an exciting time at Hofstra. Nearly two semesters into the launch of Hofstra 100, the University’s new 10-year strategic plan, we are actively working to bring this vision to life. I am grateful for the dedication of our alumni, students, faculty, and staff in driving this plan forward. You can learn more about our progress at hofstra.edu/strategicplan. On a related note, I encourage you to listen to Hofstra Campus Conversations, Hofstra’s new podcast series featuring discussions about topics that matter to the campus community and higher education. You can learn more about this podcast, along with several others produced by the Hofstra community, in this issue.

A few months ago, we were very excited to learn that Hofstra received an R2: High Research Spending and Doctorate Production designation by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This achievement marks a milestone for Hofstra because it recognizes the faculty’s growing strength in research and scholarship, which, in turn, will create new opportunities for faculty and students and enhance Hofstra’s national reputation. You can find more information on the R2 designation and the University’s latest research efforts in the pages that follow.

This issue’s cover story explores the entrepreneurial pathways available to Hofstra students. From launching startups to competing in venture challenges to collaborating with entrepreneurs in residence, Hofstra provides the tools, faculty mentoring, and experiences that prepare students to recognize and take advantage of opportunities to be creative in their careers. The future belongs to those who think boldly, and that spirit has long been flourishing at Hofstra.

Current events have brought about a time of disruption and potentially great change in higher education. We cannot predict exactly what lies ahead, but what remains certain is Hofstra’s unwavering commitment to its mission and the core values as articulated in Hofstra’s new strategic plan: belonging, community, creativity, discovery, and integrity. We will abide by these values as we navigate whatever the future holds.

President

Dr. Susan Poser

Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Charles Riordan

Alan J. Kelly

and Alumni Affairs

Vice President for Marketing and Communications

Terry Coniglio

Assistant Vice President for

Francis A. Rizzo III

Assistant Vice President for

and Communications

Deborah Jerome

Managing Editor

Andrew Sheldon

Creative Director

Kelvin Fonville

Editorial Director

Linda Merklin

Contributors

The Head & the Heart

The Dream Machine

PAGE 40

Hofstra University has set its sights high with recent campus upgrades, including state-of-theart tools, renovated spaces, and technological enhancements.

Twenty years ago, Hofstra student-athlete Nick Colleluori was diagnosed with cancer. Before his death the following year, he set in motion a plan that, thanks to his family, continues to cement his legacy. To the Moon

With an abundance of resources for both students and the public, Hofstra’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business has become Long Island’s entrepreneurial launchpad.

Being the first in a family to go to college can be daunting. Hofstra’s firstgeneration students are thriving, however, thanks to increased support and an administrator who understands their journey firsthand.

I invite you to stay connected with your alma mater, inspire fellow alumni and friends, and share your latest news at hofstra.edu/alumni

Sincerely,

Susan Poser President

Lindsey Angioletti

Lois Bentivegna

Justin Chupungco

Stephanie Flynn

Alexis Friedman

Heidi J. Goldenberg

Stephen Gorchov

Ginny Greenberg Andy Kissoon Amy Reich University Photographer Matteo Bracco Senior Vice President for

Gash Business Manager Jessica Ramos

Hofstra University Achieves R2 Rese arch Classification

In March, Hofstra University earned the Research 2: High Spending and Doctorate Production (R2) designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, marking a significant milestone in the University’s academic and research trajectory. With this designation, Hofstra joins a distinguished group of universities recognized for their commitment to research and graduate education.

“The recognition reflects Hofstra’s leadership role in higher education, offering hands-on research opportunities for students while strengthening the economic vitality of our community,” Hofstra President Susan Poser said. “This milestone aligns with the University’s new strategic plan, Hofstra 100, which

prioritizes interdisciplinary collaboration and research, community engagement, and student success.”

T he R2 designation is awarded to institutions that confer at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees annually and invest a minimum of $5 million in total research expenditures. Hofstra has surpassed these benchmarks consistently over the past four years, bolstered by the growth of its doctoral programs in STEM, health sciences, and education, alongside increasing success in securing federal and private research funding. In 2024 alone, Hofstra awarded 95 doctoral degrees and invested $10.4 million in research, including more than $3.5 million in sponsored grant expenditures.

Since 2021, the University has increased its doctoral degree conferrals by 72%, research expenditures by 88%, and sponsored grant expenditures by 122%. These investments reflect Hofstra’s commitment to expanding its scholarly enterprise, enhancing student participation in high-impact research, and supporting faculty innovation.

“Our outstanding faculty have built a strong foundation of academic excellence, and this designation will enhance our ability to further attract top-tier faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, new research partners, and sources of grant revenue,” said Dr. Charlie Riordan, Hofstra provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “Hofstra is committed to research that addresses societal challenges, contributes to meaningful discoveries, and fosters workforce development.”

“Our outstanding faculty have built a strong foundation of academic excellence, and this designation will enhance our ability to further attract top-tier faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, new research partners, and sources of grant revenue,”

–Dr. Charlie Riordan Hofstra Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

For more information on Hofstra University’s R2 designation, visit hofstra.edu/r2.

Spanning Campus Building on Belief

Distinguished alumnus – and fan favorite – delivers inspiring message as Hofstra’s midyear commencement speaker.

Entrepreneur, educator, Super Bowl champion, and Hofstra alumnus Marques Colston ’06 returned to campus in December to deliver the University’s midyear commencement address. Colston was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters during the event, which was held at the Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.

“[My journey] started on this very campus about 23 years ago,” Colston began his remarks. “It’s been a journey marked by major wins sandwiched between moments of imposter syndrome where I just didn’t know if I was capable to take on the task in front of me.”

Ever since stepping foot on Hofstra’s campus, Colston has proven to be more than capable, both on and off the field. As a star wide receiver at Hofstra, he rewrote the football program’s record books. Colston was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 2006 NFL Draft. Over the next decade, he cemented himself as one of the best players in team history. Colston remains the organization’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, and was a key contributor to the Saints’ 2009 Super Bowl championship. He was named to the franchise’s “All50th Team” in 2016 and, three years later, was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame.

fter hanging up his cleats, the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, native set his sights on the business world, founding Marques Colston Enterprises, a professional development service company. He is also an executive coach at Bleeker, a public benefit corporation that advances the talents of people of color, as well as founder of the sports data and analytics company Kompete and franchisee partner of Main Squeeze Juice Company. In 2020, he joined the faculty at The University of New Orleans, where he taught an honors program course called Leadership and ince 2023, Colston has served as one of the school’s entrepreneurs in residence.

“Belief is the foundation of possibility,” Colston told the graduates. “Your vision is truly born when you’re willing to see it as achievable. The bigger and clearer your vision, the more it is going to inspire you to act. But here’s the catch. Vision without action is just wishful thinking. Once you have your vision in the crosshairs, now it’s time to put in the work to go get it.”

Since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies, Colston has continued to give back to his alma mater. He served on the School of Health Sciences’ advisory board and established the school’s Marques Colston Fellowship in Health, which provides experiential learning opportunities for students in health majors. In recognition of his on- and off-field success, Colston was inducted into the Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021 and received the Hofstra Alumni Achievement Award the following year.

Women in Leadership

Hofstra hosts inaugural symposium to celebrate, inspire, and empower.

In March, Hofstra University hosted its inaugural Women in Leadership Symposium, bringing together accomplished female professionals, students, and alumnae to discuss leadership, resilience, and breaking barriers. Organized by Hofstra’s Women in Leadership Advisory Board, the symposium served as a platform to celebrate women’s achievements and provide valuable mentoring opportunities. “We wanted to bring as many women together as possible, share ideas, and engage our alumnae,” said Heather Cohen ’98, advisory board member and president of the Hofstra University Alumni Organization.

Following welcoming remarks from Hofstra President Susan Poser and Maureen Kiedaisch ’93, MBA, ’98, senior managing director at FTI Consulting and chair of the Women in Leadership Advisory Board, the event opened with the keynote address by Priscilla Almodovar ’87 president and CEO of Fannie Mae. Introduced by Dr. Eva Badowska, dean of Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Almodovar then joined Dr. Janet Lenaghan, dean of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business, for an insightful fireside chat in which she shared her journey from Hofstra to leading one of the nation’s most influential financial institutions. She spoke about her early career, the challenges she faced as a Latina in finance, and the importance of perseverance, adaptability, and mentoring.

Almodovar emphasized the critical role of women in supporting and uplifting one another in leadership. Reflecting on her own professional success, she shared how mentoring and advocacy from

other women shaped her career, stating, “In every single position I have had in my career, including at Hofstra University, there was a woman at the center of it. Every single one.” Almodovar stressed the importance of women using their positions of influence to lift others, urging attendees to be intentional about mentoring, sponsoring, and creating pathways for the next generation of female leaders.

T he symposium continued with a series of breakout sessions designed to provide practical insights and strategies for professional advancement. The panelists, all successful Hofstra alumnae, shared their experiences navigating corporate spaces and offered actionable advice for aspiring leaders. The event concluded with a networking luncheon, where attendees participated in meaningful conversations about career growth.

Held during Women’s History Month, the event reaffirmed the University’s commitment to empowering women and fostering a new generation of confident, impactful leaders.

Spanning Campus

Business Leaders Are Made Here

BBC series spotlights the Zarb School’s innovative strategies.

A s its reputation continues to grow nationally, the Zarb School is making headlines globally. T he business school was featured on Leader Generation, a series produced by BBC StoryWorks in partnership with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the world’s largest business education network.

L eader Generation showcases business schools’ transformative role in developing responsible and innovative leaders. Through compelling human-centered storytelling, the series connects students, faculty, and alumni from 18 cities around the world, illustrating how forward-thinking institutions are reimagining business education. “Hofstra’s inclusion in the Leader Generation series is a testament to Zarb’s commitment to preparing the business leaders of tomorrow,” said Dr. Janet Lenaghan, Zarb School dean.

The Zarb School was one of only eight institutions included in the series’ Innovative Education chapter. The episode, titled “Building Confidence for Success,” focused on Zarb’s Charney Family Core Skills Lab, an immersive learning space where students use cutting-edge tools and technology, such as artificial intelligence, to master essential skills like communication, teamwork, and adaptability.

“ We are equipping our students with the advanced technologies, critical thinking skills, and global perspective necessary to thrive in an evolving business landscape,” Lenaghan said. “This recognition affirms that we are not only educating future professionals but shaping responsible leaders who will make a meaningful impact.”

A Soaring Stock

Hofstra’s Online MBA program rises in the rankings.

T he Frank G. Zarb School of Business gained additional national prominence this academic year. The school’s Online MBA program climbed an impressive 15 spots in U.S. News & World Report ’s 2025 rankings, elevating Hofstra to No. 14 in the nation.

T he Online MBA program, led by Dr. Kaushik Sengupta , professor and chair of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship and associate dean of graduate business education, has consistently demonstrated excellence in preparing students for a rapidly evolving business landscape – and has been consistently recognized for it. The program is also ranked ninth nationally by Poets&Quants.

“Our program offers an immersive, dynamic learning environment, including ample opportunities to build strong connections through group projects and experiences that involve networking with leaders in various disciplines and industries worldwide,” Sengupta said. “The Zarb Online MBA program ranks No. 1 on Faculty Credentials and Training and No. 3 on Student Engagement, two of the five subscales that make up the overall ranking. These very strong indicators provide additional insights about the excellent quality of the program.”

Well Positioned

New Zucker School of Medicine deanship honors the past while building the future.

L ast fall, the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell announced the establishment of an endowed deanship that will support scholarships for incoming medical students, beginning with the Class of 2029. The Deborah and Lawrence Smith Deanship at the Zucker School of Medicine is named after Dr. Lawrence Smith, the school’s founding dean, and his late wife, Deborah. The new position is funded by Broadridge Financial Solutions, a Long Island-headquartered global technology leader and longtime supporter of Hofstra University, the Zucker School, and Northwell Health.

“We are immensely grateful to Broadridge for their transformative support in helping us offer more scholarships for students in need,” said Dr. David Battinelli dean of the Zucker School of Medicine and inaugural recipient of the endowed deanship.

“It is a profound honor to be the first dean to hold this endowed position, which pays tribute to my dear friend and colleague Dr. Smith and honors the memory of his compassionate wife, Deborah. Their legacy of service and humanitarianism will live on through the success of our future physicians.”

A s founding dean, Smith guided the Zucker School through its early milestones, including earning full accreditation and graduating its first class of students. “I am deeply honored by this recognition from the Zucker School of Medicine and Broadridge,” Smith said. “This is not just a personal honor but a tribute to the values of compassion and service that define our school.”

Upon retiring in 2022, Smith was succeeded by Battinelli, a founding member of the medical school who previously served as its vice dean and dean for medical education. He presides over a school that is continually gaining national recognition. Broadridge’s financial support will provide generations of medical students with the security to pursue their academic and professional goals, while reaffirming the Zucker School’s leadership role in the healthcare community.

National Recognition

T he Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell was named one of the nation’s top medical schools for both research and diversity by U.S. News & World Report. It marks the ninth consecutive year the medical school has been recognized for research, and the fourth year it has been ranked as one of the most diverse medical schools in the country.

I n the research category, which considers factors such as research activity, student selectivity and achievements, and faculty resources, the Zucker School was among just 16 schools ranked in Tier 1. Diversity was measured by a school’s total enrollment of underrepresented minority students and how it compares to state or national numbers. The Zucker School is ranked No. 52 in the nation and in the top five in New York.

From left: Dr. David Battinelli, Dr. Lawrence Smith, and Rich Daly (executive chairman, Broadridge Financial Solutions)

Scan to watch the episode!

Spanning Campus

Time for Mental Health

New partnership expands Hofstra’s student counseling services.

Hofstra University recently took a significant step toward addressing the mental health needs of its student body by partnering with TimelyCare, the nation’s leading college student telehealth resource. The service complements Hofstra’s extensive on-campus counseling offerings.

TimelyCare provides confidential, 24/7 access to mental health services in a virtual environment at no cost. “[The platform] allows students to connect with mental health professionals within minutes and is available even when students are not on campus,” said Dr. Merry McVeyNoble, executive director of Student Counseling Services.

Enhancing mental health counseling aligns with the University’s strategic plan, Hofstra 100, which calls for a holistic approach to address the evolving needs of students. “We are dedicated to ensuring that our students not only succeed academically but also feel supported mentally and emotionally,” said Jessica Eads, senior vice president for student enrollment, engagement, and success. “Our mental health initiatives reflect our priority to provide students with the resources they need to thrive.”

Coffee & Community

University leaders showcase Hofstra’s community work at legislative breakfast.

Hofstra University’s annual legislative breakfast was held on January 31. Each year, the University invites elected officials and community members to hear from Hofstra’s deans, administrators, and students about the University’s programs and resources supporting the Long Island community.

P resident Susan Poser introduced guests to Hofstra 100, the University’s new strategic plan that will shape Hofstra’s future for the next decade, highlighting the plan’s focus on community engagement. D r. Janet Lenaghan, dean of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business, then presented several programs Zarb offers community members of all ages. Money & Me, for example, sends Zarb students to local elementary schools to teach financial literacy. “We are committed to supporting economic development within our region,” she said. “When you think about the economic empowerment pipeline, it starts early.” Lenaghan also highlighted the Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Program, a semester-long initiative that allows local high school juniors and seniors to earn college credits by enrolling in a first-year course, and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, in which accounting students help residents file their tax returns.

On the technology front, D r. Sina Rabbany, dean of the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science, gave a presentation centered on artificial intelligence. “The emergence of [AI] is going to create a lot of new jobs – data scientists, robotic specialists and so forth, which is going to forward our economy,” Rabbany told the audience. He highlighted the school’s integration of AI concepts into its engineering and computer science programs, and the development of the Science & Innovation Center, home to a $4 million data center that provides a state-of-the-art AI infrastructure.

It’s a Pod, Pod World Hofstra is sowing seeds in the podcast landscape’s rich soil.

The deluge of new podcasts flooding the digital airwaves in recent years is making it increasingly difficult for any single show to separate itself from the pack. But one Hofstra faculty member is proving that great content will always rise to the top.

Diane Hodson, assistant professor of radio, television, film, teaches podcasting and audio storytelling at Hofstra. The Peabody-nominated podcast producer and awardwinning documentary filmmaker worked as the senior story editor for not one, but two of 2024’s most lauded podcasts: Hysterical and Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD

Hysterical details the real-life story of a mysterious illness that spread among a group of high school girls in LeRoy, NY, in 2011. Apple, TIME, and Vulture all named Hysterical the best podcast of the year. Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD uncovers the hidden history of the largest police force in the world. Both The New York Times and The Atlantic included Empire City on their lists of 2024’s best podcasts.

Hofstra has gotten in on the podcast fun, producing a variety of engaging programs for its diverse community. Take a look at some of the University’s most notable podcasts, produced by Hofstra’s radio station, WRHU-88.7 FM.

Campus Conversations

Debuting on the first day of the spring 2025 semester, Hofstra Campus Conversations is the official podcast of the University’s leadership team, focusing on issues of importance to Hofstra and higher education.

President Susan Poser and Provost Charlie Riordan serve as primary hosts for the weekly show.

Well Said with Dr. Ira Nash

In this award-winning podcast, Dr. Ira Nash, associate dean for leadership development at the Zucker School of Medicine, engages in insightful conversations on a wide range of topics related to medicine and health care. The program is coproduced by the Zucker School.

Your Hofstra Vibes: Family Podcast

This parent-focused podcast provides an “inside scoop” on the student experience at Hofstra. It is hosted by graduate student Ginny Helmandollar, who is also the graduate assistant for Intercultural Engagement and Inclusion.

Inside the Z-Suite

Discover and listen to all of Hofstra’s podcasts hofstra.edu/podcasts

In this weekly program, Dr. Janet Lenaghan, dean of the Zarb School of Business, interviews Zarb alumni about their successful careers. The show aims to inspire students with real-life success stories and highlight the expertise of Hofstra’s alumni network.

Critical Conversations: For the Culture From Hofstra’s Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice comes a podcast that examines culture as a critical factor in shaping our thoughts and ideas and looks at how these thoughts and ideas translate into action.

The Health Line: Issues that Shape Our Wellbeing

T he Health Line, launched in fall 2024, is the inaugural podcast of Hofstra’s School of Health Sciences. In each episode, Dr. Andrea Ault-Brutus, special assistant professor of population health, and guests help unravel the complexities of current health discussions.

Diane Hodson

Illustration by Patrick Welsh

In the Community

Testing the Waters

Hofstra partners with local agencies to monitor Town of Hempstead’s water quality.

As the largest and most populated island in the contiguous United States, Long Island’s relationship with, and reliance on, water runs deep. For decades, however, local officials and conservationists have been working to rid the region’s estuaries, bays, wetlands, tributaries, and coastal waterways of high levels of harmful pollutants. Now, thanks to a partnership between Hofstra University, the Town of Hempstead, and the Long Island Regional Planning Council, we know how successful those efforts have been.

L ast year, the group released a report showing that levels of pollutants, notably nitrogen, have decreased significantly. This is largely credited to upgrades to wastewater treatment infrastructure. However, officials emphasized that continued efforts to reduce nitrogen and fully restore water quality are needed. Excess nitrogen, the leading cause of Long Island’s water quality deterioration, causes algal blooms that lead to low oxygen conditions, fish kills, and degraded wetlands and marine habitats. It also contaminates the groundwater, jeopardizing Long Island’s drinking water supply. The health, environmental, and economic costs are too high to ignore, according to Dr. Steve Raciti, Hofstra associate professor of biology and the study’s principal investigator. “Not only does [improved water quality] give us more

Marching Toward a Dream

Hofstra and the Village of Hempstead honor MLK while celebrating community.

Hofstra kicked off the new year by hosting one of the Village of Hempstead’s most important and celebrated annual community events: the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade and ceremony.

With the theme “Moving Forward: The Dream Realized,” the day commenced with a spirited parade led by Hofstra President Susan Poser, who served as grand marshal. Community members, educators, student groups, and elected officials all marched from Hempstead Village Hall to Hofstra’s campus.

vital communities, cleaner water, and cleaner ecosystems, but at the end of the day, it actually contributes toward saving us money, saving us those environmental harms that have real costs to people, to society, and to the economy.”

Hofstra’s partnership with the Town of Hempstead’s Department of Conservation and Waterways dates to the 1960s, when the department began testing water. The monitoring program continued until 2017, when the town’s water-testing laboratory was closed following the discovery of damage from Superstorm Sandy. Between 2019 and 2024, Raciti and his collaborators at the Town of Hempstead were awarded more than $1 million in grants to revitalize the research.

“ The partnership and the community-based research philosophy behind it are important, not only because they leverage the expertise of the University’s professors and students and the town’s conservation experts,” said Lawrence Levy, associate vice president and executive dean of The National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. “Collaboration between institutions of higher learning and municipalities also helps the state and town to deliver cost-effective services, benefiting taxpayers and the environment.”

T he festivities continued inside the Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center, where a powerful and lively program unfolded. Highlighted by a keynote speech from psychotherapist and certified emotional intelligence coach Dr. LaQuetta Solomon, the event also featured an inspiring message about unity from Hempstead Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. and a youth panel discussion on equity and justice moderated by Dr. Ibraheem Karaye, Hofstra associate professor of population health.

“The parade has important historic and symbolic meaning as a display of united and direct action of ‘ordinary people’ creating extraordinary improvements in society,” said Dr. Cornell Craig, vice president for equity and inclusion at Hofstra. “We understand the University’s responsibility to build relationships through learning from and providing service to the community.”

T his was the third year that the University teamed up with Hempstead Village to celebrate King, who will forever be connected to Hofstra. In 1965, just a year after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the iconic civil rights leader delivered the University’s commencement address and received an honorary degree.

Out of the Shadows

H

igh school students experience Hofstra during annual Baldwin Shadow Day.

Hofstra University welcomed 30 Baldwin High School students to campus in February for Baldwin Shadow Day. The annual event offers an immersive experience designed to introduce high school students with specific postsecondary goals to the University and its academic programs.

T his year, Baldwin juniors and seniors had the opportunity to explore the programs offered through the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies (SONPA). Students on the physician assistant track gained experience using sonogram machines and practicing splinting and casting techniques under the guidance of faculty. Meanwhile, students on the nursing track worked in Hofstra’s state-of-the-art simulation labs, engaging in practical training exercises that mimic real-life clinical scenarios.

Carina Loscalzo, interim vice dean, SONPA, emphasized the importance of programs like Baldwin Shadow Day, now in its 27th year. “Experiences like this are critical in sparking interest in health care at a young age,” Loscalzo said. “We help them see the wide range of opportunities available and encourage them to find the path that best suits their passion and skills.”

From left: Susan Poser, Hofstra University president; Don Clavin, Town of Hempstead town supervisor; Richard Guardino, executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Council; and Dr. Steve Raciti

State

Conducting the Future

The Best of Times

Hofstra professor’s latest novel among the best of the year.

You Dreamed of Empires (Penguin Random House), a historical novel by Álvaro Enrigue, Hofstra associate professor of romance languages and literatures, was named one of the 10 best books of 2024 by The New York Times

“Bread” Winner

Faculty member honored with fellowship award.

Earlier this year, Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English announced Dr. Cindy Rosenthal, Hofstra professor of drama, as the inaugural recipient of the Kaufman Fellowship Award. The honor recognizes Rosenthal’s decades of service and contributions as a member and co-founder of the Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble.

“It’s an acknowledgment made more precious because it has been given to me by those I revere,” Rosenthal said. “I admire and love the Bread Loaf community deeply and count myself blessed to have had so many creative and intellectually enriching opportunities for collaborations with students and faculty.”

I n what he describes as a “psychedelic comedy,” the Mexican author reimagines the 1519 meeting between Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and Aztec emperor Moctezuma in the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, or present-day Mexico City.

“Short, strange, spiky, and sublime,” the Times wrote in its initial review, adding, “Enrigue, who is clearly a major talent, has delivered a humane comedy of manners.”

You Dreamed of Empires, Enrigue’s third book to be translated into English, was also included in the New York Public Library’s “Best Books of 2024” list and NPR’s annual “Books We Love” compilation.

Bread Loaf is renowned for its summer master’s and continuing education programs for teachers and other professionals. For six weeks every summer, the Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble works with students and faculty to stage a major theatrical production, along with smaller staged readings and events. “It was Bread Loaf that opened my eyes and mind and heart to the joys of the classroom,” Rosenthal said, “to the power in moving and voicing texts solo or in a group, which could be transformative for participants and spectators alike.”

Professor Adam Glaser presides over Hofstra’s evolving – and growing – orchestral family.

A quarter-century ago, Adam Glaser, director of orchestras and associate professor of music at Hofstra, had a self-described “quarter-life crisis.” After earning his MBA, Glaser was building a promising career in marketing. But his first love, music, was pulling on his heart strings. The classically trained pianist’s musical journey began at the age of 3, when his piano teacher mother began giving him lessons. Over the next two decades, he weaved himself a rich tapestry of musical interests, from singer-songwriters like Billy Joel to jazz greats like Chick Corea.

Searching for guidance, Glaser reached out to those who had successfully shepherded his talents before. “Several of [my former music teachers] said that I might flourish in orchestral conducting, noting my background in composition and strong ear for harmony.”

Within a few years, he earned two graduate degrees in conducting and landed a faculty position conducting youth orchestras at Juilliard.

A quarter-century later, Glaser is at Lincoln Center every Saturday. During the week, he teaches Hofstra students and leads its orchestras. He is also in his second year as music director and conductor of Long Island’s renowned South Shore Symphony.

We spoke with Glaser about conducting, teaching, and the evolution of Hofstra’s music program.

What is most rewarding about working with young musicians?

In most cases, young musicians in an orchestra are playing and hearing important masterworks for the first time. There is a palpable, contagious sense of discovery and excitement in the air during rehearsals and performances.

Of course, the best part of working with young musicians is observing their growth and progress. There are few things more inspiring than watching a student overcome an obstacle and realize they are stronger and more capable than they had ever imagined.

What makes Hofstra’s orchestra program unique?

I love the sense of community that permeates our entire Music Department. Hofstra attracts students with diverse musical interests and, importantly, a willingness to explore new genres and instruments. Many of our orchestra members also sing in our choirs or play in our bands, which is not the case at every school. We encourage this approach: Providing multiple, diverse performance outlets for students makes them stronger musicians and more

sensitive collaborators. I am quite fortunate to be part of a faculty team dedicated to fostering an environment in which musicians can tackle new challenges without fear of failure.

How has the program grown in the time you’ve been here, and how would you like to see it continue to evolve?

Hofstra Symphony and Chamber Orchestra concerts have become more thematically driven, inspiring collaborations with other departments. In 2023, for example, we presented Poetry in Motion: Music Inspired by Words, during which Rabinowitz Honors College students recited poems and lyrics before the orchestra performed corresponding musical selections.

I am particularly pleased by the expansion of the Hofstra Chamber Orchestra to include selected woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments. It is smaller than the Symphony Orchestra, which has opened the door to program repertoire that larger orchestras sometimes neglect, such as the early symphonies of Mozart and Haydn.

Most of all, I’m thrilled by the growth of our musical family over the last decade. Our ensembles always feature Hofstra’s incredibly talented music majors, but many people may not realize just how varied and versatile our players really are. Our orchestras have included students from all fields of study, along with faculty, staff, and alumni. I would love to see more of this in the future.

What advice would you give aspiring composers and conductors?

Listen to a wide variety of music. Brush up on your music theory, history, ear training, and keyboard chops. Study as many scores as you can, always with a keen focus on structural analysis. And most of all, in the words of the great 21st-century philosopher Ted Lasso, “Be curious, not judgmental.”

Photos: Ahmed Geber/New York Times (Enrigue); Courtesy of Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English (Rosenthal) Photo: Pete Coco (top)

F ourth T ime’s a Charm

Hofstra’s men’s soccer team establishes dynasty with latest championship.

T he Hofstra University men’s soccer program reached impressive new heights in 2024. The Pride’s 14-win campaign culminated with the program’s fourth consecutive Coastal Athletic Association championship and NCAA tournament appearance. But that tells only part of the story. Let’s go inside the numbers to see how historic Hofstra’s 2024 season was.

First team in CAA history to win four consecutive titles.

Hofstra’s seed in the 2024 NCAA tournament. It was the second consecutive season and the second time in program history that the Pride earned a national seed. No. 7 also represents the Pride’s highest-ever seed, surpassing their No. 14 ranking from 2023.

Once a Captain, Always a Captain

New stadium name honors team leaders.

Last fall, Hofstra soccer’s past and present came together for a weekend of recognition, celebration — and wins! In September, the University’s men’s and women’s programs honored their rich histories with the dedication of Captains Field, the new name for their shared stadium on campus. The moniker honors the exemplary leadership and service of the teams’ former captains. “Knowing firsthand how big a role a team captain plays in creating a strong team culture, I am thrilled that we are able to recognize those past, present, and future with the naming of Captains Field,” said Women’s Soccer Head Coach Simon Riddiough, a former captain of the Hofstra men’s soccer team.

Unveiling ceremonies took place at halftime of both teams’ Alumni Day games, with former team captains in attendance. The weekend was a victory on the field, as well. The men’s team earned a 2-1 win over previously unbeaten Elon. The following day, the women defeated defending Coastal Athletic Association champion Towson, 3-1.

Years in a row the men’s soccer coaching staff was named the Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches. The 2024 staff included Head Coach Richard Nuttall, Associate Head Coach Stephen Roche, Assistant Coach Shaun Foster, and Volunteer Assistant Coach Trainee Dennis Mejia

Number of team members

Total CAA championships won by the men’s soccer program, tying Hofstra with William & Mary and James Madison for the most in conference history.

Hofstra’s national ranking in Top Drawer Soccer Poll at the end of September. It was program’s first top 10 ranking in any national poll.

Total wins by Head Coach Richard Nuttall over his 36 seasons at Hofstra. He earned the milestone victory with the Pride’s CAA championship win. 1 2 4 5 7 8 8 60 350

Number of Hofstra players selected to All-Atlantic Teams, the most of any school in the region: Pierce Infuso, Roc Carles, Jacob Woznicki, Teddy Baker, and Laurie Goddard.

The selection number of Jacob Woznicki in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft. He became the eighth Hofstra player ever drafted into the league. (Gary Flood (2007), Michael Todd (2007), Joseph Holland (2017), Sean Nealis (2019), Matthew Vowinkel (2021), Ryan Carmichael (2023), and Eliot Goldthorp (2023)).

T he dedication was made possible through the generous support of Trish and John Healy ’69, ’77, and Erin ’94 and Craig Dempster ’94. Both John and Craig are former members of the Hofstra men’s soccer team.

E

xcellence Extended

For all their athletic achievements, Hofstra student-athletes have been doing some of their best work in the classroom. “While we are never surprised by their accomplishments, it is truly remarkable to witness the commitment to their academic pursuits and how they fulfill our mission to build champions in academics,” said Rick Cole Jr., Hofstra vice president and director of athletics.

97% 3.57

Hofstra’s student-athlete graduation rate, according to the NCAA’s latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report. The percentage is based on student-athletes enrolled from 2014 to 2017. The 97% mark is Hofstra’s highest GSR ever and 6 percentage points better than the national average.

T he grade point average of Hofstra student-athletes for the fall 2024 semester. It is the Pride’s second consecutive semester posting a record-high GPA, topping the 3.53 mark set in spring 2024.

who played on all four CAA championship teams: Pierce Infuso, Roc Carles, Logan D’Aoust, Jack O’Malley

From left: Rick Cole Jr., Hofstra vice president and director of athletics; Erin Dempster ’94; Craig Dempster ’94; John Healy ’69, ’77; Trish Healy; and Susan Poser, Hofstra president.

Professor Rebecca

Natow

explores the evolving relationship between higher education and federal policy.

By Sally Parker

A Reexamining the Federal Role in Higher Education

Across the country, the future of higher education has become an increasingly popular talking point, suggesting a path headed toward unfamiliar terrain. But in many ways, we’ve been here before, shared Dr. Rebecca Natow, Hofstra associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies. “Some challenges have been around for a long time, and some of them are new, but there are always challenges facing higher ed,” Natow said.

Many of these challenges play out privately in the halls of Washington, D.C., and state capitols. Natow’s recent book, Reexamining the Federal Role in Higher Education, pulls back the curtain on the relationship between the federal government and higher education, and how specific branches, departments, agencies, and interest groups influence and affect policy. Her work earned Natow the 2024 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award, among other honors.

Natow’s curiosity about the workings of higher education began in law school – though she did not recognize it at the time. She loved being a grad student and she relished the research. After graduating with a JD from Georgetown University, she worked at law firms for five years. But something was missing. “When I was practicing, it was more about strategies and how are we going to win this thing? The intellectual aspects sort of slipped away a bit, and I missed that,” she said. “That was a big component of deciding to go into education, because I recognized that I liked the academics of it all.”

Teachers College of Columbia University. In 2017, she joined the faculty at Hofstra, where she focuses on policymaking processes for higher ed (and more recently K-12), and how those policies are implemented at educational institutions. She also teaches and publishes on qualitative research methods. “Higher education policy is something that I’m passionate about because I benefited tremendously from federal student financial aid programs,” Natow said. “It’s something that I want other people to have access to as well.”

“This is something that education advocates need to continue to point out to policymakers: that this is in everybody’s best interests.”

Colleges are becoming more politically savvy about making the case for funding as a public good, Natow said. Research has shown that an educated populace improves social outcomes, from health to prosperity to civic engagement.

“Individual higher education leaders are also getting better at knowing what it is they need to ask for and how to ask for it,” she noted.

“Whenever the federal government thought that it was in the national interest to invest in higher education, they did it. This is something that education advocates need to continue to point out to policymakers: that this is in everybody’s best interests.”

Institutions are going to survive by adapting, but what they will look like is going to change substantially, Natow said. In addition to lobbying, colleges are responding to the challenges by opening new revenue streams that meet market demand and widen the student population.

Natow went back to school to focus on higher education, earning her MA, EdM, and EdD in higher and postsecondary education from

“Higher education does have a reputation for being resistant to change, and I think that that’s correct to a certain extent,” Natow said. “But we wouldn’t have these thousands of institutions continuing to survive if they weren’t consistently adapting to changing circumstances.”

A Light Shines in Newark

Alumna Talia Young brings new life to a 100-year-old cultural treasure.

By Mary Gregory

W“When we invest in each other and we support the development of our community, we all live stronger,” Hofstra alumna Talia Young ’05 said. “What are we, if we’re not doing something together?”

Nurturing community has been the through line of Young’s life. From her early days in Teaneck, New Jersey, leading her high school color guard to her current position as president and CEO of Newark Symphony Hall, Young has been focused on leadership and the arts. That focus enabled her to transform the state’s largest Black-operated arts and entertainment venue into the community’s cultural beating heart – bringing locals together under the historic theater’s roof and sending inspiration, education, economic opportunities, and pride out to residents of Newark and beyond.

Young, who graduated in 2005 with a BA in Public Relations and Strategic Communication and a minor in dance, credits her years at Hofstra and PALS (Program for Academic Learning Skills) with overcoming a lifelong learning disability and introducing her to a new way of seeing. “When I realized that I learned differently and I thought differently, the world opened to me,” she said. “Hofstra invested in my education. I always got the assistance and tutors and extra resources that allowed me to be great.”

The revamp will include a new marquee, restaurant, offices, and educational spaces, and a refurbished main stage that has presented artists as legendary and diverse as Marian Anderson, Judy Garland, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Richard Pryor. All the while, Young and her team are leaving the lights on. “Most organizations, when they’re rebuilding, go dark,” she noted. “We don’t have that luxury. We do too much community programming and function as an anchor in the neighborhood, so we’ve been strategically designing our restoration plans through the reactivation of the building.”

“What I’m proud of is to show my kids and other kids that I’m involved with what leadership looks like from a Black female.”

Now, the mother of two young children directs her energy and creativity to the future of the legendary Newark Symphony Hall. First is the completion of a $100-million renovation, just in time for the venue’s centennial. Young’s background in policy and finance, acquired during her time serving as senior project and policy manager for U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg and as vice president of City National Bank of New Jersey, the state’s first Black-owned and operated bank, gave her the tools and confidence for the project.

The venue’s Production Assistant Training program offers community members comprehensive training and hands-on experience to prepare them for careers in the area’s rapidly growing film and television industry. It’s innovative, life-changing, and typical of the way Young works. “Art is not always performed on stage,” she said. “Lighting, sound, engineering, production – these are all sustainable union jobs that need to be more diversified.”

With overseeing a multimillion-dollar expansion and a growing staff, strengthening the community, and highlighting the ineffable benefits of the arts, it’s a challenge for Young to pick what’s most rewarding. “What I’m proud of is to show my kids and other kids that I’m involved with what leadership looks like from a Black female.”

As for her dream for the Newark Symphony Hall? She has that envisioned already. “What I see as the best thing ever would be a sold-out cultural show in the concert hall; kids upstairs in theater class dancing and singing; and in the terrace ballroom, a community program that’s accessible for seniors. What success looks like for me is when we have adapted and invested in this building to be used in so many different ways at the same time. That it’s an arts institution of diversity and accessibility. That’s the dream.”

From

“Our mission is to end senior loneliness. It’s easy to forget that they are helping us as well.”

Painting Nails, Bridging Generations

Glamour Gals & Pals combats loneliness by connecting seniors and students.

By Charity Robey

WWhen Erin Smyth ’25 visits the Hempstead Housing Authority Senior Village, which she does about 10 times each year, she always brings along a new group of 15 friends. These are not just any friends; they are members of one of Hofstra’s largest and most active student organizations.

Smyth is president of Glamour Gals & Pals, Hofstra’s chapter of a national organization that connects senior citizens with local student volunteers. Hofstra’s club was founded in 2021 and has grown to include roughly 150 active members. The organization’s executive board – President Smyth, Vice President Shafrana Sharak ’26 Treasurer Gabriella DeLeon ’27, and Secretary Rosalie Marfoglio ’26 – organizes 10 social events a year at the nearby senior center.

Each event is centered around an activity the club members and seniors can enjoy together. “We’ve made jewelry with them, we’ve played board games, but what they really love is nail painting,” said Smyth, whose grandmother once asked to have Santas painted on her own nails after seeing the design on her granddaughter. “From then on, I would paint her nails. When I realized Glamour Gals does nails, I knew it was a great idea.”

member is assured the opportunity to make at least one trip during the academic year. Those who cannot attend a particular visit are invited to join fellow club members in making greeting cards that are distributed to the seniors in person. Often, other student organizations get in on the fun. In February, members of Hofstra’s coed professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi helped make Valentine’s Day cards. “People are inherently good,” Smyth said. “They want to do things for others, to leave people better than they found them.”

The club’s efforts are focused on seniors, who are particularly vulnerable to loneliness due to lifestyle changes and declining health, among other factors. But the members of Glamour Gals & Pals are quick to point out that their work also helps another generation in need of connection: their own. Younger adults, who often are self-isolated through technology and social media, are increasingly struggling with loneliness. A 2024 American Psychiatric Association survey found that 30% of Americans aged 18-34 reported being lonely every day or several times a week.

Games are also a hit with the seniors, especially card games, which spur cross-generational exchange and friendly competition. “They taught us this game called Spades. It was so fun,” Smyth said. “They beat us every time.”

Despite its growing numbers, Glamour Gals & Pals caps the number of students for each visit so as not to overwhelm the seniors, but every

“Our organization connects those two demographics, teenagers and elders,” Smyth said. Glamour Gals & Pals’ hands-on, in-person activities – card writing, nail painting, game playing, jewelry making – invite a natural form of socializing that spans generations. “Our mission is to end senior loneliness,” Smyth said. “It’s easy to forget that they are helping us as well.”

That help includes the emotional rewards of building genuine personal relationships. “You physically see the people you are helping,” Smyth added. “We build connections with the people we help. What we do matters, and it is benefiting people.”

left: Rosalie Marfoglio ’26, Shafrana Sharak ’26, Erin Smyth ’25, and Gabriella DeLeon ’27

to the moon

Hofstra University has set its sights high with recent campus upgrades, including state-of-the-art tools, renovated spaces, and technological enhancements.

B erliner Hall Telescope

The largest and most precise telescope on Long Island now resides at Hofstra.

The telescope, installed inside a permanent dome last winter, features a 20-inch aperture capable of gathering 6,000 times more light than the human eye. Use of the sky-watching device will be incorporated into the curriculum of current and future astronomy courses. Plans are underway to expand course offerings and create a major in astronomy.

Tony Cavallaro Control Room

Through a joint effort with Hofstra Athletics and the University’s Information Technology Services, The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication is home to a new state-of-the-art control room.

Dedicated this spring, the Tony Cavallaro Control Room provides students with professional broadcasting experience while enhancing the production quality of Hofstra’s athletic events. The facility will be used for the new Sports Media major the Herbert School launched in 2023.

photos by matteo bracco

A xinn Library & Unispan

There is a new favorite study spot on campus! Hofstra kicked off the academic year by unveiling the renovated 10th floor of the Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library. What was once an empty event room is now a dedicated space for students. The floor can accommodate 100 people and features a variety of seating options, such as group desks, sofas, and egg chairs. Building renovations include a repaired façade, exterior lighting, and energy-efficient windows. Both the Axinn Library and the Unispan were also repainted, allowing the two Hofstra landmarks to shine a little brighter.

The Head & the Heart

20 years ago, Nick Colleluori woke up feeling sick. 20 months later, he passed away. What he did in between will last forever.

By Andrew Sheldon

November27,2006

The Monday after Thanksgiving, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team boarded a bus destined for southeast Pennsylvania. Three hours later, they exited I-95 and snaked through the suburban Philadelphia streets, before parking in front of a house. Dozens of student-athletes, coaches, and staff exited the bus, filed through the doorway and into the living room, filling the space with concentric circles of lacrosse players. A palpable nervousness saturated the room.

Holding court in a recliner in the middle of his family’s living room was their teammate, Nick Colleluori. Aside from the setting, this was a common sight. Outgoing and charismatic, Nick was known to captivate others with hours of stories and jokes. Now, surrounded by concerned teammates, Nick displayed his greatest skill: making others feel comfortable. “He knew how [they] must have felt, and he wasn’t having it,” Head Coach

Seth Tierney recalled. “He cracked a few jokes and made them feel pretty good.” In a moment, the players’ shared uneasiness fell to the ground as the Colleluori living room turned into the Hofstra locker room.

On the trip home, Tierney stared out the window heading up the New Jersey Turnpike, his thoughts a mixture of shock, confusion, and dread. Just three months earlier, he was in the exact same place –traveling northbound through New Jersey, thinking about Nick.

Tierney had just been named Hofstra’s head coach following six seasons as an assistant at Johns Hopkins University. Understanding Nick’s importance to the team, Tierney wasted no time forging that relationship and called Nick on his way up to Hempstead. “There were a lot of other great players, but Nick was the most important player,” Tierney said.

Three months later, summer had turned to autumn, but Tierney was still staring out a northbound window, thinking about his player – or, more accurately, about how he was going to handle the immense responsibility of delivering Nick’s eulogy.

October19,1985

Nick Colleluori was the third of Cheryl and Pat Colleluori’s four sons. Born with a magnetic personality, Nick developed a preternatural ability to take over any room. “Throw Nick in a kindergarten, or a nursing home, or a professional fundraiser, and he would fit in

naturally,” his younger brother Michael said. “He was a unique personality,” Cheryl added. “People were drawn to him from the time he was a kid.”

“The ultimate teammate,” as Michael referred to him, was a three-sport star at Ridley High School. He won three state lacrosse championships but truly showed his toughness and determination on the football field.

“If I showed the clips of him playing football, you would shake your head,” Michael said. “He was a lineman at 165 pounds in high school and was all-state.” Too small to play D-I football, Nick pivoted to pursuing another dream: playing collegiate lacrosse with Michael, who was only one year his junior. They just needed to find a school.

“I first noticed Nick at a tournament in Baltimore,” said Navy Head Coach Joe Amplo, who recruited Nick while working as a Hofstra assistant coach. “It was a dreadfully hot summer day, and he was playing like it was the National Championship. You could feel his intensity throughout the game.”

While Amplo and then-Head Coach John Danowski made the pitch, the University closed the deal. “[Nick] stepped on to Hofstra’s campus, and it was almost like he was home,” Cheryl said. “He had this immediate comfort level – the relationships, the camaraderie. It was like our home.” When Hofstra offered Michael the opportunity to join the team the following year, the decision was easy.

April9,2005

After the Pride’s 13-3 road win over intraconference foe University of Delaware, Nick greeted the large contingent of family and friends who made the 30-minute trip from his hometown. His parents had hosted the tailgate party prior to the game. Neither the commanding victory nor postgame celebration, however, are why Cheryl Colleluori remembers this day. Instead, it was the message her son greeted her with: “I woke up this morning and I can’t hear out of my right ear.”

Believing it was nothing more than an ear infection, Nick went back to Hofstra and finished the season, playing in all 16 games. His health problems dragged into the summer, however. After the ear issue, Nick developed another mysterious symptom: a whistling nose. In September, it was determined that Nick would need to undergo a routine procedure to remove his adenoids. After the operation, the doctor asked to speak with Cheryl. “I didn’t like the texture of the tissue,” the doctor told her. “I’ve sent it off for pathology. I think it’s lymphoma.”

September21,2005

It was Christmas in September – the annual day when the lacrosse team picks out their equipment for the upcoming season. That morning, Nick was greeted by a familiar face as he walked out of class. Coach Danowski asked Nick to walk with him to his office. Nick didn’t think anything of it until he saw who was waiting for him there: his mom and dad.

Minutes after the door closed, Nick learned he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood cancer affecting the lymphatic system. News that would level most people seemed to ricochet right off Nick. “He was not upset,” Michael recalled. “‘I’m going to beat it and I’ll be back in the spring.’ That was his mindset.”

In classic Nick fashion, his thoughts immediately focused on others. “‘I want to tell my teammates,’” Michael recalled his brother saying. “We went downstairs into the locker room. Nick stood in front of the team and told everybody, ‘Guys, I just got some bad news. I was diagnosed with cancer. I have to go back to Philly for treatment, but I’ll be back in the spring.”

The positivity Nick infused into his announcement dulled the room’s collective pain. More importantly, he allowed everyone to move forward courageously rather than in fear. “There was obvious heartbreak and anger, but Nick brought hope and joy into the room,” Amplo remembered. “He took a scary scene and made it into a celebration for his fight. Everyone left there, not feeling bad for Nick, but excited to watch him fight this. It was incredible.”

With that, Nick returned to Philadelphia for treatment.

October11,2005

Nick began chemotherapy treatment eight days before his 20th birthday. It would be the start of him spending considerable time in the hospital. Restless and personable, he began perusing the halls, meeting other patients like him.

These conversations illuminated the serious and potentially fatal gaps in cancer patient care. “‘Why isn’t this available? Why is there loneliness? Why are they sleeping on a chair? Why can’t this person afford it?’” Cheryl recalled Nick asking. “He started polling the patients – ‘What can I do to improve the morale? What can I do to raise money?’”

Nick contemplated these questions, their answers, and how he could help for months, often during his multiday treatment sessions. “He was all about serving others,” Cheryl added, “about what he could do to inspire someone around him, make someone a better person.” Nick was determined to become an advocate for cancer patients.

Treatment went on through the fall. By winter, Nick was improving, but some cancer remained. Doctors put him on several more rounds of chemotherapy before the start of spring semester. Feeling up to it, Nick moved back to Hofstra, reuniting with his brother and the rest of his teammates.

Just five weeks later, the news came: The extra treatments did not work. He would need to undergo a stem cell transplant.

February26,2006

On a chilly New England Sunday, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team lost their 2006 season opener to UMass. They would not lose again for three months.

While Nick was fighting his fight, the team did their best replicating their teammate’s drive and determination. The result was one of the best seasons in program history. The squad was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally as it went 17-2, setting a Hofstra record for wins in a season, which still stands today.

“I have never been a part of a team like that,” Michael said. “It was a level of commitment that I had never seen before. It was striving for excellence, and that’s why we were the best team in the country. It was amazing.”

Michael played in 17 games that season on his way to making the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie Team – all while his brother fought for his life. “I was fortunate enough to have a great group of

CherylColleluori

MichaelColleluori

teammates,” he said. “They really lifted me up. I just tried to focus on my academics and my game, and making sure Nick was a part of that experience with me.”

The team captured the CAA championship in May – the same month as Nick’s transplant. The operation required a month-long stay, giving Nick time to finalize his plan to help cancer patients.

Laying on a gurney about to enter the operating room, Nick asked his mother for a pen and paper. Settling for a napkin, Nick started diligently doodling. “He turns it around and says, ‘Logo for foundation. I’m going to start an organization!’”

Nick later gave Cheryl a document containing the organization’s name, mission, short- and long-term goals, and even the color palette: Hofstra blue and lime green, the former for his school, the latter representing the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma awareness color. The nonprofit would work to improve the lives of those affected by cancer. Playing off his nickname, “head,” Nick’s organization would be called the HEADstrong Foundation.

November28,2006

The summer after the transplant, Nick worked to get in shape, but when fall rolled around, his condition deteriorated. In November, Nick and his family learned there was nothing doctors could do to prolong his life. On the morning of November 28, 2006, the day after saying goodbye to his teammates, Nick Colleluori passed away. Days earlier, on his final ride home from the hospital, Nick set his plan in motion. In this case, that meant passing the torch. “Nick was in a wheelchair, he was very, very ill,” Cheryl recalled. “We got him situated in the car, and he said, ‘Mom, I need to talk to you about the foundation. You have to promise me that you will continue with it. … You have to promise me that other people who follow in my footsteps will benefit from my life.’”

Executing Nick’s plan was now on the family’s shoulders. “We made the promise to Nick that we would continue, not even having a plan or understanding what that would look like,” said Cheryl, who was determined to keep her son’s dream alive but had no experience running a nonprofit. She did, however, have Hofstra lacrosse, whose assistance was immediate and immeasurable. The team gave Nick’s scholarship to Michael to rid the family of any financial concerns. Then, Tierney pitched the idea of hosting lacrosse tournaments at Hofstra and in Nick’s hometown. It was the HEADstrong Foundation’s first fundraiser.

With that, HEADstrong was off and running with Cheryl as president and Michael as vice president. Since becoming incorporated in June 2007, the foundation has assisted more than 36,000 patients, offering a variety of services, including comfort

kits, peer support, financial assistance, and even lodging for out-oftown patients traveling to receive treatment.

To fund these efforts, HEADstrong has raised more than $37 million over the years, much of it thanks to Nick’s second family. “The lacrosse community really uplifted Nick during his treatment. They rallied around him and inspired him to fight on,” Cheryl said. “When he passed, they did the same thing with our family. They embraced us and encouraged us and were a lifeline to help us overcome the loss of Nick.”

The Colleluori Classic, as it is known, continues to this day. It is one of several ways in which Nick’s memory lives on at Hofstra. The University also bestows the Nick Colleluori Unsung Hero Award to student-athletes who help their respective teams achieve success in ways that may not always be measured by statistics.

Most notable, however, is the No. 27. Nick was buried in his Hofstra jersey, but his number lives on. Since 2010, the men’s lacrosse team has given the Nick Colleluori Tribute Award to the student-athlete who best exhibits Nick’s selflessness, team spirit, and relentlessness on and off the field. The recipient wears Nick’s No. 27 jersey for the season. “We wanted to keep 27 and Nick alive,” Tierney said about the tradition. “And 19 years later, the guys on my team know who Nick Colleluori is.”

December2,2006

Five days after their journey to Nick’s house, the men’s lacrosse team made a return trip to Philadelphia. This time, the bus pulled into the parking lot of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

The church was filled for Nick’s funeral. In the middle of the ceremony, Tierney walked up to the podium and delivered Nick’s eulogy, a request from the Colleluori family, made during the team’s previous visit. When he was done, the crowd gave a standing ovation.

“I remember the team coming back on the bus, and every guy gave me a pound,” Tierney recalled. “And I remember Joe Amplo saying, ‘It’s your team now.’” Even after his passing, Nick was providing others with opportunities to flourish and, in turn, bettering their lives. “We all want to win,” Tierney added. “But this wasn’t a game versus a local rival – this was the game of life. The Hofstra lacrosse program won at the game of life in supporting Nick and the HEADstrong Foundation.”

The 27 Club

Before every season, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse program presents the Nick Colleluori Tribute Award to the student-athlete who best exhibits Nick’s selflessness, team spirit, and relentlessness. There is no trophy or plaque. Instead, the player has the honor of wearing Nick’s No. 27 jersey for the season. “We wanted to keep 27 and Nick alive,” Head Coach Seth Tierney said about the tradition. “And 19 years later, the guys on my team know who Nick Colleluori is.”

Nick Colleluori Tribute Award Recipients

SethTierney

The Dream Machine

See how Hofstra is helping aspiring entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality.

By Danna Lorch

Illustrations by Chris Gash

When Michael Seiman ’01 turned down an interview for a coveted programming job with Microsoft to bet on his own business idea instead, his classmates could only shake their heads in disbelief. Two years earlier, as a sophomore at Hofstra, Seiman started CPXi, a digital marketing platform that would become a pioneer in the industry.

“Entrepreneurship isn’t something I set out to do,” Seiman admitted. “It’s something I fell into. There were no academic resources for studying it at the time. I just started doing stuff and making money, and then I kept building, selling parts of it off, and growing it.”

A quarter-century later, it is clear that Seiman, a member of the Hofstra Board of Trustees, made the correct choice –Digital Remedy, as CPXi is known today, is a leading digital marketing agency with offices across the country. Now, Seiman helps future business founders by mentoring Hofstra

students and judging the annual Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge, a Shark Tank-style event in which students across the University pitch their business ideas and compete for prizes. “It feels good to give a push forward to the next generation of students and help make sure they have the resources to start their own successful businesses,” said Seiman, who funds the competition’s prize money.

The Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge is just one example of the University’s entrepreneurial push. In recent years, Hofstra has expanded its entrepreneurial-focused resources and academic offerings to help meet the demand of the rising number of aspiring business owners. In 2023, more than 5.5 million new small-business applications were filed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau – up 46% from 2019.

Because of these efforts, the Frank G. Zarb School of Business is now a premier destination in the region for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship for All

At Zarb, studying entrepreneurship isn’t an elective. It’s a requirement.

All students working toward a Bachelor of Business Administration take an introductory course in entrepreneurship. By the close of the semester, they have learned how to build a business model, conduct customer discovery to test a concept, and pitch an idea for funding.

Even if students don’t become founders, the skills required to launch a startup are transferable and in demand across the business sector, from pharma managers developing new products to nonprofit executives rolling out programs that empower communities. “Thinking entrepreneurially is about being able to identify opportunities. It allows you to develop your next big and bold project,” said Richard Hayes, Hofstra associate professor of management and entrepreneurship.

For those students who are passionate about the startup life, the major in entrepreneurship offers a pathway for founding a business even before they have completed their degrees. It starts with a foundational, one-year course sequence of Entrepreneurial Vision

and Entrepreneurial Practicum. During the year, students not only conceive a business idea but, by the spring, launch it with opportunities to compete for seed funding.

For practicum student Luka Gotsiridze ’24, what began as a final class project – testing the local market with a crepe cafe concept that honored his Georgian heritage – led to the launch of G Taste Crêpe Café, a thriving family business in Huntington, New York.

Students in other majors who see founding a business in their professional future can choose a minor in entrepreneurship. With elective courses such as Law for the Entrepreneur, Financing the New Venture, and Introduction to E-Commerce, students gain valuable business skills they may not have received in their respective programs.

This interdisciplinary approach has proved especially valuable to non-Zarb students, according to Dean Janet Lenaghan. “If a student is majoring in public relations and has an interest in opening an agency, for example, enrolling in the entrepreneurship minor will help them develop the skills and competencies they need to launch their business,” Lenaghan said. “But, regardless of whether a student takes a formal course in entrepreneurship, they can tap into critical resources at Zarb for putting together a business model and pitching it to investors.” And they’ll find willing mentors, too.

Institute of Innovation and

Entrepreneurship

At Zarb’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE), students study business alongside practitioners. The Entrepreneurin-Residence program matches students with a diverse group of mentors who are experts on topics they need to master, and the one-on-one coaching is offered free of charge. The entrepreneurs are either serial founders engaged in their companies or experts on subject matters such as infusing creativity into advertising or opening a brick-and-mortar shop. The residents also provide workshops, panels, and boot camps for students. “All students have to do is reach out to IIE and let us know about their business concept, and we will make the connections for them,” said Hayes, who serves as IIE’s executive director.

Students can also sign up for courses like Hayes’ International Entrepreneurial Consulting, which illuminates startup life in a different country each year, from South Africa to the United Kingdom. The course culminates in an on-the-ground trip in which students learn from and help local businesses. Or they can join student-run businesses like Unispan Records, a record label out of IIE that signs up-and-coming local musical artists, helps them produce albums, and markets their songs.

There is also the student-run Zarb Store, a retail outlet in C.V. Starr Hall, in which students design, produce, sell, and market Zarb merchandise. “This is a store for students by students,” Lenaghan said. “From first-year interns to the management team, the Zarb Store offers students hands-on experience running a retail store. They are learning how to make data-driven decisions and adapt to changing market demands. For example, students are currently exploring how to launch an e-commerce platform with new branding.”

State-of-the-Art ideaHUb

The IIE’s mission is to grow the next generation of business leaders, including Hofstra students and local community members. “There’s a lot of energy being put into growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem on Long Island, and Hofstra has historically been a key partner,” Hayes said.

The IIE, which was founded 2015, moved to a dynamic new space in the Leo A. Guthart Hall for Innovation and Discovery in 2023. Visitors walking through the doors of the 4,811-squarefoot ideaHUb can immediately feel the collaborative vibe. The workspace brings together students, mentors, and local startups virtually and in person. As a New York State Certified Business Incubator with funding from Empire State Development, the ideaHUb offers dedicated work and meeting spaces, a conference room, and a kitchen for community entrepreneurs looking to launch and scale their businesses.

Together with students, these local business owners also have access to a high-tech Maker Space for transforming abstract concepts into sophisticated prototypes. The equipment includes 3D printers and scanners, a full-spectrum laser cutter, milling machine, vinyl cutter, laminator, drone, photo booth, and fashion area. “We have businesses incubating right inside Zarb,” Lenaghan said. “In terms of student learning, it provides builtin internship opportunities and the chance to be mentored by the founders. Conversely, our students mentor up by sharing the knowledge and skills they’ve developed at Zarb to help the entrepreneurs succeed.”

Current businesses in residence at the ideaHUb include COUNT, a startup that helps CPAs meet their state licensing requirements with unconventional continuing education offerings, and Our Bloom, a women’s health company working to destigmatize menstruation and support women of color with a recently launched app.

The experiential learning opportunities at the ideaHUb go hand in hand with the knowledge students gain in the classroom. “Entrepreneurship is not just about sitting in a class and taking notes,” Lenaghan said. “To really learn business, you have to bridge theory and practice. There’s a science to what we teach, but there is also an art to practice. We want Hofstra students to get both.”

Legacy of the Entrepreneurial Assistance Center

Since its founding in 1991, the Entrepreneurial Assistance Center (EAC) has built a legendary reputation for preparing founders to start or scale small businesses that earn an annual revenue of up to $250,000.

The program, which is subsidized by Empire State Development, is an ideal option for community members who do not have the time or resources to study business full-time.

Over 10 weeks, participants learn all aspects of starting and running a business, while also having access to in-person workshops and one-on-one mentoring. “It’s a program that helps you level up to the next stage and gives you the business fundamentals and a plan of action to move forward right away,” said Joy Williams, EAC’s associate director for community engagement and initiatives.

For example, Jim Skinner of A&C Pest Management, a secondgeneration small business in East Meadow, New York, reported that the lessons he took away from the program helped him boost his revenue by 31% within a year. He was so impressed that his sons, the business’s next generation of leaders, also signed up.

The EAC has empowered nearly 1,500 entrepreneurs to start 432 businesses, create 1,097 jobs, generate $39.45 million in revenue, and secure $19.63 million in financing. Hayes said, “I want Hofstra alums to hear about this work and be able to say that their alma mater is continuing to do great things with students and is also really engaged in the life of Long Island. We take pride in that.”

Living the Dream

Hofstra students and EAC alumni are invited to pitch their business plans at the aforementioned Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge. This business pitch competition has awarded more than $75,000 in seed funding so far. Every spring, participants take the stage to make compelling five-minute presentations and try to impress a panel of seasoned judges with their products, services, and solutions.

The fall 2024 EAC winner, Zarifah Dixon, JD, ’19, is an alumna of Hofstra’s Maurice A. Deane School of Law who returned to campus to participate in the EAC course as she prepared to establish her own law practice. With a background as an attorney for Legal Aid and a real estate broker, Dixon was well-positioned to start her own firm in real estate law. “EAC helped me shift my mindset from just a lawyer to also that of a business leader,” Dixon said. “I became confident with my pricing, scaling, and business marketing.” She also impressed judges with her strategic business plan for hiring staff and expanding services and has already taken the first steps to bring her pitch to life. “People ask me what my dream job would be, and I tell them I’ve got it,” Dixon said.

Seiman said that, as a judge, he has seen the same students return year after year to pitch new business concepts. “We have students who are determined, no matter what, to become entrepreneurs.”

Daniel Reitman ’13, a previous finalist who won a prestigious Empire Award last year, was one of them. From the time he was a kid buying candy at Costco and reselling it at a markup on the school bus, it should have been obvious to him that business was in his future. But instead, his life took a winding path, including dropping out of Loyola College before eventually heading to Hofstra.

While working as a vet tech at his local animal hospital and spending time with his own menagerie of pets, Reitman realized that starting his own pet care business was his true career goal. He built Dan’s Pet Care from the ground up, initially walking customers’ pets himself. Today, his business is one of the top pet care service providers on Long Island’s North Shore – with three locations and ambitious plans to scale nationwide.

Reitman acknowledged the sacrifices one must make to get a business off the ground, but, he said, “If you want to create something amazing that you’re proud of and wake up each day to build your own dream, then you have to go for it as an entrepreneur.”

One night each month, when the clock strikes 6:30, Amsterdam House transforms from a residence hall into a home. Dozens of students fill the lounge while a handful of administrators and faculty members, and yes, even some student volunteers, work in the kitchen. A delectable blend of conversation and aroma saturates the space. Welcome to family dinner!

These communal dinners are the signature event series of the Office of First-Generation Support and Engagement. Firstgeneration students, defined by Hofstra as those whose parents have not earned a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. institution, represent a growing demographic on college campuses. Already, more than half of all higher-ed students nationally, and one in three at Hofstra, are first-generation. This is only expected to increase in coming years. As such, the University has spent the past decade building up its first-gen support infrastructure.

Teaching first-gen students about the University is only one component of the office’s mission. Another is teaching the University about first-gen students. “Part of my office’s role is to help the University see them through an asset-based lens,” Smith said. “What do they have and what do they bring that is valuable for our community?” First-gen students, he said, have historically been viewed through a deficit-based lens in which only the qualities, characteristics, and skills they do not have are taken into consideration. Of course, such a perspective illuminates only half the picture. Left in the dark is the wealth of perseverance, problem solving, and courage first-gen students develop innately.

Hofstra’s first-generation students are finding their way and forging a path for those who follow.

Those efforts have been spearheaded by Dr. Russ Smith, director of the Office of First-Generation Support and Engagement. After years working with and studying first-gen students, Smith knows their needs, struggles, and potential better than most. But the depth of his understanding is the result of lived experience. When the Kansas native graduated from Webster University in St. Louis, he became not just the first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree, but the first and only person to attempt college at all.

Smith began working with first-gen students at his previous post at Southern Connecticut State University. “That’s when the spark happened for me,” he recalled. “These are students who really benefit from this programming. … It seemed more impactful, and the work was more rewarding and more exciting.”

Smith arrived at Hofstra in 2015, just in time to join a task force focused on first-generation student success. One of the group’s recommendations was to create a living-learning community (LLC) for first-gen students. Hofstra offers several LLCs, residences where first-year students live among peers who share personal or academic pursuits. The First-Gen LLC was established in Amsterdam House in 2018.

Seeing the positive impact of such community-building efforts, Hofstra expanded its outreach by opening the Office of FirstGeneration Support and Engagement in the fall of 2023. Through academic and social programming, mentoring, newsletters, and other resources, the office helps all first-gen students fill in any navigational gaps. “Many lack access to what we would call ‘cultural capital,’ which is the knowledge of how systems work and how to navigate them,” Smith said. In March, Hofstra was named one of only 18 higher-ed institutions selected to the newest class of FirstGen Forward Network Champions, establishing itself as a national leader in advancing first-generation efforts.

Yet, it is easy for such traits to be unrecognized and undervalued, even by the students themselves. And the results are predictable: First-gen students are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities, hold leadership roles, complete a paid internship, study abroad, or attend career fairs. They are also more likely to transfer or drop out after their first year than continuing-generation classmates.

Events like family dinners are so critical, especially early in a student’s college career, because they open doors to everything else. “We have a number of programs that help students find community and a sense of pride about being a first-gen student, so that maybe they’ll be braver to put themselves out there,” Smith said. Being a first-generation student is not an interest; it’s an identity. By finding their community, these students find themselves – and their way forward.

Here, in their own words, six firstgeneration Hofstra students describe their college journey – from loans and loneliness to siblings and successes – and the pride and responsibility of being a pioneer in their family. The stories showcase deep reserves of perseverance, problem solving, determination, and courage. Assets, if you will.

Portraits by Matteo Bracco

“ B eing a first-generation college student is a mission — one I’m entering somewhat blindly, but one I must remain open to as go along. It comes with a deep sense of pride, even if we don’t fully recognize it at first. It’s a privilege, and embrace this journey every day that get to be part of it. ”

Leylanis Barbot ’25

Hometown: West Springfield, MA Major: Psychology

My parents grew up in Puerto Rico and always emphasized the culture. (My abuela helped me learn Spanish as a child.) I have three younger siblings, and being an older sister is a big part of my identity.

Being the first in my family to go to college is a heavy weight on my shoulders, one that is comforting in its familiarity but daunting in its full weight. My degree does not only belong to me. It belongs to my family and the sacrifices they made to help me get here.

I wanted to go to school outside of Massachusetts to meet new people and branch out. Hofstra’s admissions staff did a beautiful job of promoting the University. At first, I was very lost – alone in a state I wasn’t from with people I didn’t know. I thought I had made a mistake going to school far from my support system. This caused a heavy bout of homesickness.

The First-Gen dinners were the biggest help. I met new friends, and the home-cooked meals gave me a slice of familiarity that I desperately missed. Those dinners are a godsend. I’m now working for the First-Gen Office as a peer mentor, which gives me the privilege of helping other students whose shoes I was once in.

Abdul Sanz ’26

Hometown: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Majors: Civil Engineering and Dance

My childhood was mostly solitary, as I focused heavily on academics and dance. There were many things I couldn’t pursue due to Haiti’s political instability and safety concerns, but I made the most of what I had and worked to create positive experiences for myself and others.

Being the first in my family to graduate from college sets a new standard. As the oldest of the “grandkids,” the entire generation looks up to me. Ultimately, it’s most important to do this for my mom, who sacrificed so much to get me here, and my little brother, so I can be the role model I wish I had growing up.

I chose Hofstra because it felt like an environment where I could grow into the best version of myself. It has provided me with the opportunity to pursue my passion in dance while studying engineering and taking on leadership roles.

The First-Generation Office has equipped me with the tools and strategies to navigate college with confidence. It serves as a gateway for first-gen students, helping us integrate and immerse ourselves in the college experience. It is a place of empowerment – harnessing the dreams, passion, and drive of students who have so much to offer but need that initial push.

B eing a first-generation college student means ‘doing it anyway’ despite my fears, need for research, and setbacks. can only hope that it sets myself and my future family up for success.

“ ” ” ” “ “

Sara Bowles ’25

Hometown: Warwick, RI

Major: Music Business

It’s important for me to create a new cycle for my family – trades and service positions were the norm. To be the first in my family to earn a college degree would bring new opportunities not only for myself, but for my family, present and future.

Hofstra had everything I could ask for: a unique program, beautiful campus, incredible work connections, great location, and student clubs that cater to every interest of mine. There have been challenges. I had to learn how to fill out a FAFSA and put together my first resume. My parents are always a great support, but it could be something as simple as not knowing what I will need in my first dorm. The First-Gen Office gave me the confidence push I needed. My mentor, Kelly McMasters (a first-gen student turned professor), helped get me on my feet. She shared how she overcame her challenges and even enlisted me for an Honors College research project – the first bullet on my resume!

I went to a first-gen family dinner after presenting my research, and everyone congratulated me and wanted to make real connections. Sharing a meal with people who know exactly what hardships you’re facing is more comforting than I could have ever imagined.

The First-Gen Office continues to remind me that I’m not alone.

B eing a first-generation student m eans being an older sibling, e ven if you don’t have any siblings yourself. You, like a sibling would, a re creating the steps for p eople to follow you. It is an dentity am grateful to be experiencing, despite its c hallenges .

Alex Hoy ’26

Hometown: Columbia, MD

Major: Audio/Radio Production and Studies

From a young age, my parents had always told me that they wanted me to go to college and get the experiences that they were never able to. It was important for me to attend college because it allowed me to grow as my own person, both educationally and socially, being away from home on my own.

I chose Hofstra because I was looking for a school far enough away from home that I could learn to be my own person, but still close enough that I could visit family. Hofstra also allowed me to explore a few different departments and programs before I declared Audio/Radio as my major. Other schools I was looking into made students declare a major before being able to take classes within that department.

Most of my challenges have stemmed from financial aid, specifically the FAFSA form and the frustration from having to fill it out so often.

The First-Gen Office helped me meet other first-gen students and faculty, who have been welcoming presences I can go to during office hours and advisory meetings. Assisting with the monthly dinners has been something that’s really stuck with me. I like talking with guests and seeing my friends and other students enjoy the food. It’s something I really look forward to each month.

B eing a first-generation student

m eans having a community of other students to help each other igure out how to navigate college ogether, but more importantly, knowing that there are other p eople going through similar u ncertainties.

B eing a first-generation college student means breaking barriers and being a difference-maker in my family. One of my f avorite quotes is, ‘a rising tide lifts all ships.’ T hus, when succeed, we all succeed. U pon crossing that stage at graduation and r eceiving my diploma, my future and my family’s f uture will change. Knowing get to be a c entral part of that journey is a b eautiful thing.”

Leivys Maria Garcia ’24, ’27

Hometown: Weehawken, NJ JD candidate

When I was 9 months old, my father left Cuba on a little boat en route to the United States. After three years of legal battles, my mother and I joined him. Learning to navigate the American educational system as an immigrant child who didn’t speak English was very difficult. Most of the time, I had no idea what was going on. It did not look like I was destined for too much in those days.

After many years of hard work, I started to get the hang of the whole “school thing.” I chose Hofstra because of its beautiful campus, networking opportunities, and proximity to New York City. I graduated in 2024 with majors in political science, writing studies, and global studies with a minor in geography. I’m currently attending the Maurice A. Deane School of Law to pursue my dream of becoming a corporate attorney.

As a first-gen student, though everyone at home supports you, no one is there to guide you. You are forced to find the answers yourself, compiling an arsenal of resources that will help you along the way. The constant battle with the unknown makes us resilient, resourceful, and unfazed by whatever comes next.

Matthew Mandolese ’25

Hometown: Bethpage, NY

Major: Accounting

I am blessed to have two incredibly loving and supportive parents who instilled in me a strong work ethic and a positive outlook on life. They taught me to put my best foot forward and be happy in my pursuits. I owe much of my success to them.

In a world where jobs increasingly require higher education, it was important for me to attend college and not limit my career options. I chose Hofstra because I knew the University was known for its accounting program and extensive recruitment from the top firms.

T here have been times when it was hard for my family to understand what I was going through because they have not been in my position. I am fortunate to have a large support system of extended family, friends, and resources at Hofstra, such as the First-Gen Office, which has provided constant support through the various highs and lows. I am a huge advocate of the mentor/ mentee program. Knowing I have a resource who has been in my shoes to offer guidance has been invaluable.

One particularly memorable experience was being a guest speaker at the First-Gen First-Year Seminar as an upper-level student. I felt like I made it in that moment. And I was happy to share my experiences and tips with those who may benefit from them.

Hofstra Welcomes Two New Trustees

Alumni Updates

A pair of Hofstra alumni, Ed Watson ’89 and Tracey Ant ’87, joined the University’s Board of Trustees during the 2024-2025 academic year. They are the sixth and seventh trustees elected to the board since Dr. Susan Poser became president in 2021. Hofstra’s governing body now consists of 25 trustees.

Watson, who earned his MBA from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business, is a seasoned finance executive and founding partner at New Bridge Consulting Group. Over a 30-year career, he has held senior executive roles at major financial institutions such as Citigroup and Fannie Mae. Watson also remains deeply engaged with the Zarb School, where he serves on the advisory board and is an adjunct associate professor of finance. He is also the founding member and first president of the Zarb School of Business Alumni Association. Watson received the Hofstra Alumni Achievement Award in 2013.

Ant is head of middle and large commercial at The Hartford, where she is responsible for leading over 400 commercial underwriters and growing a nearly $4 billion premium portfolio. Prior to joining The Hartford in 2013, Ant served as a managing director and the primary casualty placement leader for the United States for Marsh McLennan. She began her career as an underwriter at The Hartford. Ant earned a BBA in Finance from Hofstra University and an MBA in Accounting from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is a member of Hofstra’s Women in Leadership Advisory Board and is active with the University’s women’s basketball program. In 2018, Ant received the Hofstra Alumni Achievement Award.

“

B eing a first-generation college student means that I get to pave the path f or the little ones in my family who just started their academic journeys. I means that get to be their network, their resource, and their role model.

M y graduation will also honor the risks m y parents and family took to get me to t his point. It is the turning point for m y family, one that ushers in a new e ra of collective success and w ell-being.

”

2024 Hofstra Radio Hall of Fame Induction

Last fall, Hofstra alumni, students, faculty, staff, and administrators gathered to celebrate the induction of seven alumni into the University’s Radio Hall of Fame.

The evening’s celebration was emceed by Lee Harris, a member of the Hofstra Radio Hall of Fame Class of 2009 and recent inductee into the national Radio Hall of Fame, and Jamie Morris ’07, host of K-JOY’s Mornings with Jamie and You. All proceeds benefited the Hofstra Radio Alumni Association.

Over the past 60-plus years, Hofstra’s student-operated radio station, WRHU, has won some of the industry’s most coveted awards, including four Marconi Awards for College Radio Station of the Year from the National Association of Broadcasters.

The 2024 Hofstra Radio Hall of Fame Class

Danielle Dellilo ’01, ’21

Shannan Ferry ’14

Jared Greenberg ’05

Damon (Dave) Mock ’00*

Shawn Novatt ’00

Stu Rushfield ’89

John Santucci ’11

*Posthumously awarded

Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Spotlight Awards

In March, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences held the second annual HCLAS Spotlight Awards Dinner. The celebration honored 13 alumni in the arts and humanities, sciences and mathematics, and social sciences who have demonstrated exemplary service in their professions or communities.

THE 2025 HONOREES:

Howard Balzer ’74 Social Science

Christy L. Bareijsza ’98 Liberal Arts

R achel Blaustein ’13 Music

Christopher De Bono ’06 Mathematics

Benjamin Dynkin ’14 Economics

Scott Eck ’79 Theater Arts

Matthew Goldberg ’12 Psychology

Sanam Hafeez, MS, ’00; PsyD, ’03 School-Community Psychology

Jeannette E. Jones ’93 History

Emily Miethner ’10 Fine Arts

Eric M. Plakun ’68 Biology

Joshua Sankowski ’09 Political Science

Jamie Whitfield ’82 Liberal Arts

NYC SUMMER SOCIAL June 26 • HEMPSTEAD FOR HOFSTRA/ HOFSTRA FOR HEMPSTEAD SCHOLARSHIP DINNER September 30 • ALUMNI AWARDS DINNER

October 15

Class Notes

1961

Peter M. Lee (BA, Drama) of East Northport, NY, recently participated in an event called “Marxfest,” held at The Lambs Club in Manhattan. He spoke about the Marx Brothers; The Pickle Brothers Comedy Team, which began at Hofstra University in 1958; and what it was like to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show

Richard J. Rosenthal (BBA, Marketing) of Venice, CA, served as president of the California Association of Realtors in 1986 and received the 2005 National Association of Realtors’ Distinguished Service Award. He is also a Counselor of Real Estate (CRE) and Certified Real Estate Broker (CRB). In 2024, he celebrated his 24th wedding anniversary.

1964

Grace Merrell Slezak (BA, Biology; MA, ’65) of Glen Cove, NY, was included in Marquis Who’s Who

1967

Dr. Bernard Parker (BA, Psychology) of Rockwall, TX, was named a 2024 Top Doc for internal medicine by Best in Texas Magazine

1973

Steven Epstein (BSEd, Music) of Stanfordville, NY, is producing the complete Beethoven piano trios with Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and Leonidas Kavakos for Sony Classical. His latest production of French music for cello and piano, featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott, titled Merci, was released by Sony Classical in October 2024.

1986

Doreen Spagnuolo (BBA, Banking and Finance) of Massapequa, NY, was named one of the 2024 Herald Premier Business Women of Long Island. The annual award celebrates exceptional female business leaders who have made a positive impact in their fields and in the community.

1987

Evan Giniger (BBA, Marketing) of New York, NY, is married and has two children, ages 7 and 10. He is the founder and president of Dynamic Resources Inc., a 30-year-old international retail design and installation company. Dynamic Resources employs over 125 people across six offices worldwide. The company partners with Fortune 100 brands such as Apple, Nike, Estée Lauder, and Macy’s.

1989

Ellen B. Galvin (BA, Economics and French) of Portland, OR, is thrilled to share that The Daily Connector: 366 Ways to Galvanize Your Life with Better Relationships, a book she cowrote with her business partner and husband, Patrick Galvin, has been published, along with its daily companion journal. These works represent the distillation of more than a decade of coaching and consulting, offering practical tools to help people build stronger, more meaningful relationships.

1990

Brenda Marsteller Kowalewski, PhD (BA, Sociology), of Ogden, UT, received the 2024 Barbara A. Holland ScholarshipAdministrator Award from the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities.

Carlos Parra (BS, Industrial Engineering) of St. Augustine, FL, moved to Jacksonville, FL, in 2012. He has three children: Vanessa (21), Ana (14), and Leonardo (13). He remarried in 2008 and, since 2022, has worked at SoFi Bank as a fraud investigator manager.

1992

George G. Elkin (MBA, Banking and Finance) of West Islip, NY, recently joined North Ridge Wealth Planning as a senior wealth advisor.

1994

Mark Getman (BA, Communication Arts) of Cedarhurst, NY, had been in remission for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma since 2017 but in September 2024 was diagnosed with a recurrence and is currently undergoing treatment. He is a full-time public affairs/ visual information specialist for U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, NY, and is enrolled in the Department of Defense Information School’s Public Affairs & Communication Strategy Qualification Course. In addition, he serves as a part-time rabbi for a congregation in Brooklyn and works part time as a security guard for a yeshiva on weekends. During his spare time, he trains as a figure skater and performs in local showcases.

Brian D. Sackstein (BBA, Accounting) of Plainview, NY, recently joined Anchin as a partner in the firm’s service group and as the leader of Anchin’s not-for-profit and healthcare practices.

1997

Jennifer Rae Schoenig (BS, Applied Economics; MBA, Business Administration, ’24) of Seaford, NY, was recently selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who

1998

Brendan Shanahan (MBA, Finance) of Weston, CT, was recently appointed chief financial officer at GoHealth Inc.

1999

Matthew Kennedy (BBA, Accounting) of Mount Pleasant, SC, recently joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within the employee benefits group.

Edward Kitsos (BA, Communication Arts) of Wilton Manors, FL, recently joined Priority Marketing as a senior media buyer.

John C. McLoughlin (BA, Political Science) of Mount Sinai, NY, was recently appointed by the New York State Senate as a board member of the Veterans Employment Task Force with the New York State Department of Veterans’ Services. The task force is charged with advising the governor, the temporary president of the Senate, and the speaker of the Assembly on developing innovative strategies and programs to help New York’s veterans secure and maintain meaningful employment.

business affairs, and global partnerships at AMC Networks for We TV. She recently joined High Point University’s Access to Innovators Program, where she mentors students as HPU’s media production and sales expert in residence.

2000

Yolanda Robano-Gross (MHA, Health Administration) of Woodmere, NY, is celebrating her 10th anniversary as chief executive officer of Options for Community Living (optionscl.org). Options is a not-forprofit organization that has been in operation since 1982, serving some of Long Island’s most vulnerable residents. In a “proud mom” moment, Robano-Gross’ daughter, Morgan, graduated from Susquehanna University in May and is working as the development associate for New Ground, a not-for-profit in Levittown, NY.

2001

(BA, English) of Cutchogue, NY, was appointed an affiliate board member of the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island (CIBS) and cochair of the CIBS Women’s Committee.

Carle-Marie Memnon (MA, Health Administration; MBA, Strategic Business Management, ’13) of Brentwood, NY, completed her term as president of Healthcare Leaders of New York (HLNY), the local chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). HLNY provides access to networking, education, mentoring, and career development, all at the local level for ACHE members. Under Dr. Memnon’s term as HLNY president, the chapter reached a historic milestone by gaining over 2,000 members – from students and early, mid, and senior-careerists to C-suite executives and life status members. This significant accomplishment is a first for both the chapter and ACHE, the professional society for healthcare leaders committed to improving health.

Theresa Patiri (BA, Social Science; MA in Education, Counseling, ’04) of Babylon, NY, is senior vice president of production,

DANIELLE DELLILO

(BA, Communications; MA, Journalism, ’21) of Long Beach, NY, was promoted to director for iHeartMedia AC WLTW (106.7 Lite FM)/New York and iHeartRadio Broadway. She also serves as artist relations and public relations director for iHeartMedia New York. In addition to these roles, she has taken on the responsibilities of promotions director for WKTU/New York.

AMANDA SAGNELLI

(BA, English and Elementary Education; MSEd, Literacy Studies, ’03) of Seaford, NY, was recently named principal at Barnum Woods Elementary School in East Meadow.

2004

Lisa Bertrand Brathwaite (MA, Foundations of Education) of Scarsdale, NY, was recently appointed director of the Big Futures program at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Westchester & Putnam.

Danielle L. Brodnax (BA, Political Science) of New York, NY, recently started a position with the real estate agency Bond New York, specializing in short-term leases, sales, firsttime buyers, rentals, and relocations.

ANDREA TSOUKALAS

CURTO

ADESHOLA AKINTOBI

(BS, Community Health; MBA, Management, ’08) of Upper Marlboro, MD, was named associate dean of strategic initiatives and innovation at Howard University School of Law. In this role, she collaborates with all departments to help shape and implement innovative strategies to enhance the law school programs, partnerships, and overall impact. Akintobi is a PhD candidate in Urban Governance & Policy Leadership at the University of the District of Columbia’s College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES). She is also a Washington University at St. Louis Social Policy Institute Fellow and a founding board member of Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy.

Susan McNeilly (BA, History and Social Studies Education; MA, Social Studies Education, ’09) of Seaford, NY, recently joined Muhlenberg College as executive director of The Career Center.

JUSTIN PATSEY

(BBA, Marketing) of Red Bank, NJ, was recently appointed president of the Berliss Companies.

2006

Christopher McKittrick (BA, Film Studies & Production and English; MA, English & Creative Writing, ’08) of Cherry Hill, NJ, recently published two books, Gimme All Your Loving’: The Blues, Boogie, and Beard of ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons and Howling to the Moonlight on a Hot Summer’s Night: The Tale of the Stray Cats

Tina McLeod Harris (MS, Physical Education) of Bronx, NY, recently published a new book, The Dreaded Hiccups

Sandeep Sanghavi (BBA, Business Computer Information Systems) of Bayside, NY, was recently promoted to senior vice president, senior business banking relations manager for the Long Island region at M&T Bank.

2007

Christopher Hale (MA, Wind Conducting) of Dix Hills, NY, was recently named the fine and performing arts director in the Manhasset School District.

Kiran Mander (BBA, Management) of Westbury, NY, recently joined BCA Research as head of marketing.

2008

Janeita Bellamy (BA, Video/Television) of Parlin, NJ, was recently named senior creative production lead at Airbnb.

2009

(BA, Dance/Global Studies) of Mars Hill, NC, was promoted from marketing director to chief marketing officer at Eagles Nest Outfitters. She also married Luke Doyle.

Kunal Swani (MBA, Marketing) of Yellow Springs, OH, and his team received the William R. Darden Best Research Paper Methodology Award in May 2024 at the Annual Academy of Marketing Science Conference.

2010

Lorraine M. Radice (BA, Elementary Education; MSEd, Literacy Studies, ’12; PhD, Literacy Studies, ’18) of Rockville Centre, NY, was recently named assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Valley Stream Union Free School District 13.

2011

Nicole Caswell (BBA, Legal Studies in Business) of Huntington Station, NY, was recently promoted to vice president of client success at COPILOT Provider Support Service, LLC.

2012

JAMES DOCHERTY

(BS, Biology; MS, Biology, ’14) of Binghamton, NY, joined the Family Medicine Residency Program at United Health Services Hospitals as faculty in September 2023. In January 2024, he was promoted to associate director of osteopathic education.

Paige Furman (MSEd, Business Education) of East Northport, NY, was recently appointed assistant principal of Half Hollow Hills Central School District.

2013

Rachel M. Stephens (BS, Forensic Science) of Alexandria, VA, has been working as a forensic scientist for the United States Secret Service for the past three years. She specializes in the detection of counterfeit currency.

her desire to help couples plan their dream events, regardless of challenges. A mother of two (born in 2019 and 2022), she is inspired to deliver unforgettable and seamless experiences for her clients.

2014

Corey Caputo (BA, Rhetorical Studies) of Towson, MD, recently joined Mackenzie Commercial Real Estate Services as senior real estate advisor.

William White (JD) of Miami, FL, recently joined Meland Budwick, with a focus on real estate and corporate law. He leverages his commercial real estate knowledge to provide excellent service to clients in lease negotiations, refinancing, and purchase and sale agreements. He also counsels clients on a variety of legal issues associated with construction contracts and claims, construction loans, commercial real estate transactions, operating agreements for joint ventures, and developing compliance and risk-management programs.

2015

Erika R. Genova (BA, Journalism and Psychology; MA, Journalism, ’16) of Massapequa, NY, is pursuing her MBA at Hofstra University. She works as a senior desktop compositor and interior book designer at Simon & Schuster, LLC. She has designed titles such as The Split by Kit Frick, Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan, and Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis, among hundreds of others.

Jessica Harris (BA, English) of Islip, NY, began working in the wedding industry in 2012 while attending Hofstra, gaining experience across various sectors. After graduation, she pursued a career in publishing but later transitioned to her family’s construction company in NYC, excelling in administrative and organizational roles. With a passion for wedding planning, she returned to the industry, working for another brand before launching her own full-service wedding and event planning company, Cue the Details, in September 2024. Her own wedding, postponed due to COVID and celebrated in 2021, solidified

2018

Kimberly Minto (BBA, Marketing) of Elmont, NY, is CEO and founder of Sitting Beauty Media. She launched Sitting Beauty, a digital magazine for women with disabilities that covers adaptive fashion, beauty, and disability representation. The current free issue features an interview with Mindy Scheier from Runway of Dreams, where Scheier shares her insights on developments in adaptive fashion.

Holly A. Schiff (MS, School-Community Psychology; PhD, School-Community Psychology, ’18) of Old Greenwich, CT, is a clinical psychologist licensed in Connecticut, Florida, New York, and Rhode Island. She is a speaker, author, media expert, medical reviewer, and consultant, and has been featured in Forbes, Parade Magazine, The Washington Post, National Enquirer, Global Magazine U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider, People, Reader’s Digest, and Popular Science. She has also been featured on podcasts and television and radio shows and served as an expert panelist on multiple seasons of a PBS series focused on neurodiversity. In addition, she partnered with Nickelodeon to develop tips for children’s meditation and activities that promote empathy and kindness.

2016

Areeba Khan (BA, Biology; MHA, Health Administration, ’18) of Liberty Township, OH, was promoted to project manager at Northwell Health in 2021. In January 2023, she welcomed her daughter, Ayla, at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. In October 2023, Khan relocated to Ohio with her family due to her husband’s position at GE Aerospace. She subsequently resigned from her role at Northwell to focus on her family, a decision she wholeheartedly embraces.

2017

James Laino (BBA, Accounting; MS, Accounting ’18) of West Babylon, NY, was named to Long Island Business News’ list of 2024 Emerging Leaders Under 30.

Etheard Joseph (MSEd, Business Education) of Jupiter, FL, launched a new venture, Etheard Art LLC. He has also begun filming the third season of his “Artists Connecting South Florida” film project. Additionally, a traveling exhibition of his fishing line art project is scheduled for late autumn.

2019

Ryan T. Dwan (BA, Political Science; JD, ’21) of Poughkeepsie, NY, recently joined Feldman, Kleidman, Collins & Sappe as an attorney.

Sabeen Humayun (MA, Public Health) of Hicksville, NY, was recently promoted to the position of doctoral lecturer of public health and basic sciences in the Department of Health Sciences at York College CUNY. She developed a nonprofit mental health program, Al-Haadi Support Services, to support the social, emotional, and mental health needs of Long Island communities through counseling, therapy, and education.

Adam Hussain (BA, Computer Science) of Port Washington, NY, was recently promoted to senior technology architect at PSEG Long Island.

Tekla Simon (BA, Anthropology) of Jenkintown, PA, has built a diverse and fulfilling career since graduation. She began teaching French with Bonjour NY, then transitioned to teaching riding skills at Pegasus Therapeutic Riding Academy. Currently, she is an events specialist at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, managing a wide range of events from weddings and corporate gatherings to movie premieres and concerts. Her work includes high-profile events like hosting the press for President Biden’s press conference and coordinating unique experiences like cannon fire from the USS Olympia. Beyond her career, Simon traveled to Hungary and settled in her first apartment, and she maintains strong connections with lifelong friends from Hofstra, which she credits for her success.

Hiro Soriano (MBA, Management) of Greenlawn, NY, is the founding partner at Premier Care Dental Management.

ANNA RAWLINS

2020

Shaun Higgins (BBA, Management) of Newport Beach, CA, was recently promoted to president of Cousins Maine Lobster.

2021

Emily M. Labrie (BS, Video and Television) of Attleboro, MA, celebrated her marriage in 2024 and received a promotion to senior event technician at AVI-SPL in June 2024. As the lead technician on most company events, she ensures all spaces are operational and collaborates with her team to resolve any technical issues.

2023

Sonia Saleem (MHA, Health Administration) of Glen Cove, NY, was promoted from project manager to clinical informatics specialist at Vivo Pharmacy (Northwell Health). She also married.

2024

Ella Pickell (BS, Chemistry) of Rockville, MD, recently started a PhD program in chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Jake Temkin (BA, Political Science) of Mineola, NY, began attending the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., in August 2024. Inspired by his experience with the Washington Center Program through Hofstra’s political science program, he felt driven to return to the nation’s capital for the next chapter in his educational journey.

In Memoriam

Betty Sutter (BA, ’50)

Walter Sherman (BS, ’50)

Eleanor M. “Ellie” Barney (AAS, ’54)

Gordon M. Campbell (BA, ’54)

Helen Thorgrimson (BA, ’54)

Lorel E. Teolis (BBA, ’55)

Constance Friedrich (BA, ’54; MSEd, ’56)

Kathryn McCausland (BSEd, ’57)

Marriages

Jude Almeida-Merrell (BA, Psychology, ’97) of Northampton, MA, to Rachel Almeida-Merrell.

William B. Florio (BA, Political Science, ’06) of Williston Park, NY, to Sophia Florio.

Sarah Hoogenraad (BFA, Theater Arts, ’20) of New York, NY, to Chandler Holloway, after returning to the U.S. from her post-grad position at Universal Studios in Beijing, China. Her recently written one-man play was produced as part of the Chain Theatre Winter One-Act Festival in February.

Mollie A. Wichtel Quarmley (BA, Public Relations, ’16) of Princeton, NJ, to David T. Quarmley (BBA, Marketing, ’15). The two met at Hofstra in 2015.

William Harrington (BA, ’58)

Henry Hull (MS, ’58)

Marcia Leverte (BSEd, ’58)

Ann O’Dwyer (MSEd, ’59)

JoAnn Auwaerter (BA, Education, ’60)

Edward H. Schacker (BA, ’60)

Louis C. Villamana (MA, ’62)

Bonnie Klein (BS, Education, ’65)

David F. Kunca (MA, ’65)

Roger Malfatti (BA, ’65)

Charles Schumacher (BA, ’65)

Anson Rabinbach (BA, ’67)

Jack Sebor (BA, ’67)

Robert H. Seibold (BA, ’67)

Louis G. Trapani (BA, ’69)

Adrienne Orlan (MS, ’74)

Remembering Martin B. Greenberg

Hofstra University lost a valued member of its community in November with the passing of alumnus and former trustee Martin B. Greenberg ’60. The Frank G. Zarb School of Business graduate was chairman of Sterling Commodities and a generous Hofstra benefactor.

In 2007, the C.V. Starr Hall Trading Room, one of the largest academic trading rooms in the country, was named after Greenberg, in recognition of his generosity and commitment to Hofstra students. A year later, Greenberg’s trading jacket was retired and is now on display in the Trading Room. Greenberg supported several other initiatives on campus, including establishing the Martin B. Greenberg Family Endowed Scholarship. A dedicated member of Hofstra University’s Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2018, Greenberg received the Hofstra University Alumni Achievement Award in 2005.

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Hofstra University alumna Ashley Chan ’16 appeared as a contestant on Jeopardy! in December. Chan won four games, walking away with a total of $67,400 in winnings.