MSMC Magazine Summer 2022

NEWBURGH, NEW YORK

SUMMER 2022

Celebrating strength The Class of 2022 emerges resilient after weathering the storm

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE New Game Programming major Emeritus professors look back Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Hunter Hayes electrifies the Mount To kick off Spring Weekend, Grammy-nominated country artist Hunter Hayes played an outdoor concert on campus with the Hudson River as a backdrop.

Celebrating

The Class of 2022 20

Inside 4 10 12 14 16 20 32 34 36

Game Programming Desmond Center progress Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Service and scholarship Emeritus professors look back Commencement 2022

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Knights Athletics Golf & Tennis Tournament Alumni Notes

Cover: Nurse Pinning, May 2022 Volume 44 EDITORIAL TEAM Dean DiMarzo MBA ’13 Lee Ferris Matt Frey ’05 MSEd ’10 Sten Miller Perkins Brianna Bosco ’18 Rosemarie Budhwa ’20 CONTRIBUTORS Michael Doughty Michelle Iacuessa ’94

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MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

Letter from the President

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s I stepped into the role of president at Mount Saint Mary College in 2018, the Class of 2022 was stepping into a new role themselves: Mount students. For each of us, it was a life-changing moment full of anticipation of what was to come, and filled with excitement and promise. The years that followed brought unexpected challenges and tested our ability to adapt and succeed, and yet the Class of 2022 did that and more.

As 500 graduates were honored at this year’s Annual Commencement, I was humbled by their resilience and full of admiration for their accomplishments. I am grateful for the time we spent together and look forward to hearing about what they do next.

This issue of Mount Saint Mary College Magazine touches on many of the enduring qualities that are hallmarks of the Mount community. Service has been a central component of a Mount education since the college was founded by the Dominican Sisters more than six decades ago.

With the founding sisters as our inspiration, we’re making rapid progress with our latest service initiative, the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness. Desmond Center programming is already touching the lives of Newburgh residents, and with the center’s home in Guzman Hall on target for completion at the end of this year, it will be exciting to see it really take off in the coming months and years.

I’m also pleased to announce that the college recently appointed Criminology professor Jenifer Lee-Gonyea to the role of Assistant Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and Chief Diversity Officer. One of the biggest focus points of the college’s 2020 – 2025 strategic plan is DEI, and Jenifer will elevate our ongoing efforts to create a more inclusive and diverse community on campus.

You’ll find these and many other stories of interest here, including the latest alumni happenings, service news updates, and even the story of how my wife, Heather, leapt out of a plane to celebrate the great generosity of our friends and alumni. (And I hope you enjoy that story, since Heather has informed me that she will not be going skydiving again anytime soon.)

We are all looking forward to the Fall 2022 semester and can’t wait to welcome the Class of 2026 to campus.

Above: Fr. Gregoire Fluet; President Jason Adsit; Commencement speaker Karina Cabrera Bell ’01; Board of Trustees Chair Michael Horodyski; VP of Academic Affairs George Abaunza; and student leader Victoria Veloz-Vicioso at Commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2022.

Dr. Jason N. Adsit President of Mount Saint Mary College

MSMC pandemic story earns Catholic Media award A story in the Fall 2020 issue of Mount Saint Mary College Magazine, “Pandemic 2020: Responding with Resilience,” recently earned a first place award in the 2022 Catholic Media Association Alumni Magazine Awards.

From the online only 2020 Commencement ceremony to the challenges of working and learning from home, the 10-page article by Matt Frey ’05 MSEd ’10 details the Mount’s service efforts, academic adaptations, and student nurses fighting on the frontlines during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The story can be read here: msmc.edu/PandemicStory www.msmc.edu

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Level up!

Meet the Mount’s new Game Programming major

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ideo games are an integral part of pop culture.

From mobile and PC apps such as Candy Crush and Genshin Impact, to popular franchises such as Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. and Pokémon, video games have become accessible to a wider variety of audiences by constantly evolving and adapting with the introduction of new technologies.

In response, the Division of Mathematics and Information Technology recently added Game Programming to the college’s list of majors. With game programmers in high demand, the Mount is committed to teaching the next generation how to use emerging digital media and programming technologies within the game development

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industry, and within diverse settings and populations that also use these state-of-the-art technologies.

Game Programming majors won’t just dig deeper into the games they enjoy. They’ll take an interdisciplinary approach by gaining artistic, communication, mathematical, and computational skills that will help them understand what makes games fun.

These skills can be used for more than just making their own games. The computer programming principles they will demonstrate are the same ones that drive the websites, mobile apps, and desktop applications we use every day.

Micah Modell, assistant professor of Information Tech-

nology, explained, “People have played games…because they engage so many aspects of who and what we are: they give us problems to solve; they allow us to exercise and display our skill; they can lend form and structure to our relationships with our communities; and more.”

New science concentrations The Mount has also recently added several new concentrations and made some changes within the Division of Natural Sciences. Beginning in Fall 2022, students enrolled in the Natural Sciences will now receive a degree in Bachelor of Science (BS) as opposed to a degree in Bachelor of Arts (BA), to better reflect the scientific nature of these programs.

Additionally, students will have the opportunity to choose a concentration within the Biology major. The

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB) concentration will allow students to focus on the molecular side of the biology field; the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) concentration will provide a focus on the ecological and evolutionary side of biology; and the General Biology concentration will allow students to choose the courses that best fit their interests in the field of biology.

MBA program offers new online option In January 2023, the School of Business will introduce a fully online option for the standalone MBA and 5-year undergraduate to MBA programs with majors in Business, Biology, Chemistry, English, and Mathematics.

Participants in the 5-year program will be able to complete their undergraduate course work in-person before they have the option to complete the MBA portion online. www.msmc.edu

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News&Notes

A performance of faith

The cast and crew of Hope Stories hosted a special Saturday evening performance of the play for more than a dozen Dominican Sisters of Hope.

‘Hope Stories’ what it means to be a Dominican Sister They say life imitates art.

For the Mount’s theatre group, art imitated life with Hope Stories, an original play based on a longrunning interview project documenting the history of the Dominican Sisters of Hope.

James Phillips, associate professor of Theatre, and Rebecca Ferretti ’16 sought to honor the legacy of the sisters by interviewing members of the Dominican order. The Mount owes much to the vision and hard work of the Dominican Sisters, who founded the college in 1959.

The interviews illuminate each sister’s history, with questions related to why she joined the order,

what she accomplished during her assignments, and how she benefitted from a life as a Dominican.

Written by playwright Jessica Kahkoska, Hope Stories reshaped many of these interviews to create a powerful, authentic script celebrating the legacy of the Dominican Sisters of Hope.

More than a dozen Dominican Sisters attended the final performance of Hope Stories and enjoyed a reception in their honor afterwards.

When Sr. Nancy Murray, OP took to the stage in Whittaker Hall earlier this year, it was an encore a decade in the making.

Ten years ago, Sr. Murray performed her one-woman show, The Life of Catherine of Siena: A Woman for Our Times, at the Mount.

Students, employees, and the public attended, as did members of the Dominican Sisters of Hope, the order that founded the college.

With some familiar and some new faces, the Mount audience was once again moved by Sr. Murray’s portrayal of St. Catherine of Siena’s colorful, passionate, and enthusiastic work in spreading her love of Jesus Christ.

Acting runs in her family: Sr. Murray, a member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, is actor Bill Murray’s sister.

Born Caterina Benincasa, St. Catherine was the 24th child in her family in Siena, Italy, in 1347. She later became a lay member of the Dominican Order. St. Catherine was born on March 25, making 2022 her 675th birthday, Sr. Murray noted.

Celebrating Holocaust survivors in song We Remember: Songs of Survivors, a documentary celebrating the lives of Holocaust survivors and featuring concert footage filmed at the Mount, aired on PBS in the spring.

The hour-long special follows four talented singer-songwriters who work for the community

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arts organization SageArts in the Hudson Valley. Through a program offered by Jewish Family Service of Orange County, they visit local Holocaust survivors to create original songs based on their conversations.

The film documents the relationships and songwriting process, culminating in the live concert.

Sharing stories of success

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nspiring alumnae and other local leaders discussed their experiences as women in the workplace at two recent panel discussions.

First, the college’s Latino Student Union (LSU) brought together five women of color to discuss their struggles and successes at the Influential Latinas Panel.

Sharing their expertise with the Mount community were Genesis Ramos, executive director of the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness and Orange County Legislator (District 6); Susana Alba, former Dean of admissions at the Mount; Giselle Martinez ’20, a Newburgh City Councilwoman (Ward 1); Tiba Araujo, author and on-air personality on CNN’s NotiMuhjer; and Lenora Liz ’12 MBA ’17, Deputy City Treasurer, Middletown, N.Y. Mayor’s Office.

The panel was moderated by LSU president Victoria Veloz-Vicioso, a Mount Business major with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Digital Media Production. She also serves as secretary of the Mount’s Student Business Association.

Later in the semester, three highlysuccessful alumnae returned to their alma mater to share their business experience with the next generation of students. The Women’s Leadership Forum, hosted by the college’s Alumni Office, featured a panel dis-

cussion with Crystal Bhagwandeen Johnson ’06 ’13 MBA ’09, assistant vice president and assistant controller with Walden Savings Bank; Jillian Torre ’14, group marketing manager at Money-Media, Financial Times; and Shannon Morris Zawiski ’06, chief operating officer at Independent Living.

The three discussed how they followed in the footsteps of the Dominican Sisters – the women who founded the Mount – and made their mark with service, hard work, and a commitment to their community.

The forum was moderated by Nikki Khurana-Baugh, vice president for Advancement, and kicked off with an introduction by Sr. Catherine Walsh, OP, a Dominican Sister and former Mount professor of Communications.

From left: Crystal Bhagwandeen Johnson ’06 ’13 MBA ’09; Jillian Torre ’14; and Shannon Morris Zawiski ’06 at the Women’s Leadership Forum.

Top photo, from left: Tiba Araujo, Susana Alba, Leonora Liz ’12 MBA’17, and Genesis Ramos at the Influential Latinas Panel.

Ramos receives Forty Under 40 award Genesis Ramos, executive director of the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness, and a member of the Orange County Legislature (District 6), recently earned a Forty Under 40 Mover and Shaker Award from the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Ramos oversees staffing, program development, and community outreach for the college’s Desmond Center. A lifelong resident of Newburgh and a first-generation daughter of Honduran immigrants, Ramos was also recently elected as the first woman of color in the Orange County Legislature.

www.msmc.edu

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News&Notes

In pursuit of universal justice

Mount alumnus Jay Paige presented “Pitfalls of Startups and How to Overcome Them” during Techstars Weekend on campus.

Bright ideas flourish at Techstars

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he Mount recently hosted Techstars Startup Weekend Newburgh, where nearly 30 young entrepreneurs cultivated their ideas for new, unique businesses.

Students from the Mount and Newburgh Free Academy (NFA) formed teams, developed their business ideas, and gave their pitches to the judges, all in a span of about 50 hours. Teams also had the opportunity to attend helpful workshops over the course of the weekend, hosted by more than a dozen local business leaders.

Jorden Hidalgo, a junior at NFA, was awarded $250 and a business bank account to help seed his idea. He pitched a mobile shower – a bus converted to have shower stalls – that could be utilized at festivals such as Burning Man. When it is not being used for events, Hidalgo would provide free showers to people who are experiencing homelessness.

Techstars Startup Weekend Newburgh was co-coordinated at the Mount by Micah Modell,

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Attendees included students from Mount Saint Mary College and Newburgh Free Academy.

assistant professor of Information Technology; Sagar Raina, assistant professor of Information Technology; Lee Fothergill, professor of Mathematics; A. Reza Hossain, professor of Economics and chair of the School of Business; Ellen Bourhis Nolan, former director of the Mount’s Career Center; Robin Rosenberg, Mount career counselor; Nikki Khurana-Baugh, vice president for Advancement; and many others.

The event was sponsored by Wallkill Valley Federal Savings and Loan, Get Right Results, Beer World, and Focused Wealth Management.

MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

More than a dozen members of the Mount community made presentations at the Dominican Higher Education Colloquium, held virtually over the summer.

The colloquium was coordinated by the Dominican Higher Education Council. The theme of this year’s event was “Weaving a Tapestry of Universal Justice.”

“This is the highest number of participants that the Mount has had, and it is a tangible sign of how the Dominican charism is vibrantly expressed and experienced within our campus community,” said Charles Zola, assistant to the President for Mission Integration, director of the Mount’s Catholic and Dominican Institute, and associate professor of Philosophy.

Zola arranged for the colloquium to be screened on the Mount campus for the college’s faculty and staff members. At the conclusion of the presentations, Mount participants discussed the day’s topics over dinner on campus.

The Mount community presented a variety of topics including, “Non-Catholic Students in Catholic Colleges,” “Serving with Compassion: Integrating Awareness and Social Justice Through Service in a School of Nursing,” and “Speech as a Dominican Spiritual Charism,” among others.

Zola noted that the colloquium was “a great opportunity to not only learn how the Dominican charism is expressed at MSMC, but also to learn what our sister Dominican schools are doing. It gives participants the chance to interact with others who are committed to the Dominican pillars of service, study, spirituality, and community, and exchange ideas about how we can best implement them in our campus culture.”

1929-2022: The legacy of James Finn Cotter

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oet, author, and professor James Finn Cotter, the longestserving faculty member the Mount has ever known, passed away on January 8, 2022. He was 92 years old.

Family, friends, coworkers, and former students recently gathered in the Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary to celebrate his life and achievements.

“Jim Cotter was a good man,” said Dr. Jason N. Adsit, Mount president.

“He loved his family, he loved his students, he loved his colleagues, and he loved pursuing new knowledge for its own sake. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten.”

While his colleagues remembered Cotter for his academic triumphs, his children – Anne, Jim, and John – also knew him as a dedicated father.

“He was an educator, a scholar, a writer, a poet, a lover of art and nature, a devout Catholic, and a devoted friend and family man,” stated Anne. Added John, “He taught through examples, and he lived a life that was an example to all of us on a life well lived.”

For nearly 60 years, Cotter shared his knowledge and talent with the Mount campus. A distinguished author and educator, his commitment to the growth of the college and its students was unwavering. He impacted the lives of thousands of

students before his retirement in the summer of 2020.

When he wasn’t teaching or aiding with administrative tasks for the college, Cotter delved into his own scholarly work. He was a celebrated translator of Dante’s Commedia, which he began writing on the backs of envelopes and scrap papers early one Christmas morning in the 1980s before his children woke up. Among a great many other publications, Cotter authored Beginnings: The First Twenty-Five Years of Mount Saint Mary College and A New Life: Learning the Way of Omega.

A few years ago, while seated in the campus library named in his honor, Cotter was recorded reading some of his poetry. He ended the session with his poem “The Day I Die.” It reads, in part: “The day I die can be part of a journey, into the bright, starry, heavenly harmony of this great galaxy: another odyssey across an unknown sea. The day I die shall be the moment of unity, when my humanity and His divinity meet at last, lovingly, to end my short story in unending glory.”

Hiking the Hudson Valley Students, faculty, and staff got back to nature with educational hikes at Storm King Mountain, Black Creek Preserve, and more with the Knight’s Outdoor Pursuits and Education Program (KOPE) led by Douglas Robinson Jr., associate professor of Biology.

Alumna named AVP of Enrollment Management Kimberly A. Strano, a Mount alumna, returned to campus this summer as the college’s new assistant vice president of Enrollment Management.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to return to my roots,” said Strano. The Mount “has always held a special place in my heart…This is truly a place where students are not only challenged, but are guided by a community who is dedicated to the education of the whole student.”

Strano brings a wealth of admissions experience, strategic vision, and first-hand knowledge of the Mount to the position.

She comes to the Mount from SUNY New Paltz, where she had been immersed in admissions since 1999. Most recently at New Paltz, Strano served as associate dean of Undergraduate Admission and director of Freshman Admission. In this role, Strano was responsible for the leadership and management of Admissions and Financial Aid, as well as overseeing the college’s recruitment plans to attract qualified and diverse students.

Strano started her career in college admissions right here at the Mount in 1994, the same year she graduated from the college with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary Education. www.msmc.edu

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A recent hard hat tour of Guzman Hall by Mid Hudson Construction Management brought local leaders to the Mount.

Building connections

Desmond Center renovations and programs moving quickly

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s the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness launched its inaugural programs this spring, construction crews arrived on campus to begin the dramatic transformation of Guzman Hall into the center’s new home.

Funded in part by grants from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and New York State’s Higher Education Capital (HECap) program, the Desmond Center will provide accessible and equitable educational, health, and wellness services for community members and families in the local area, including the uninsured, while also creating learning opportunities for Mount students.

Mid Hudson Construction Management is renovating the first two floors of Guzman Hall to help support the Desmond Center’s mission. The finished space will include a two-story glass atrium, exam rooms

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for patients, and offices for healthcare staff and students. The former Founders Chapel will become a multipurpose room with expansive windows, providing views of campus and the Hudson River. Stained glass from the chapel will be incorporated into the new design to preserve the character of the former structure.

Once completed, the college expects the center to serve more than 4,000 residents per year.

Although construction is expected to continue through December 2022, Desmond Center programming is already underway, spearheaded by Genesis Ramos, executive director of the center.

“To date, the overall reception has been overwhelmingly positive,” Ramos stated. “For events held at MSMC, it was most attendees’ first time ever visiting campus! Our aim has been and continues to be

MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

Several notable alumni toured the construction site: Torrance Harvey MSEd ’03, mayor of Newburgh; Genesis Ramos, executive director of the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness; Inaudy Esposito, executive director of the Orange County Human Rights Commission; Ashley Collazo, program coordinator for the Desmond Center; Giselle Martinez ’20, Newburgh councilwoman; and Anthony Grice MSEd ’07, Newburgh councilman.

the overall reception “has... been overwhelmingly positive. For events held at MSMC, it was most attendees’ first time ever visiting campus!

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Genesis Ramos Exec. Dir. of the Desmond Center

Family Literacy Night at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center included a read aloud, break-out literacy activities, health education workshops, and a Fuzzy Friend Clinic.

to create wellness experiences not readily found in the community of Newburgh. We want to identify and fill in the gaps and offer education and holistic wellness experiences that community members may not otherwise have access to.”

Throughout the Spring semester, the Desmond Center hosted several events for the community, including a COVID-19 vaccine and booster clinic, a Family Literacy Night in collaboration with the Mount’s Division of Education, the School of Nursing, and the School of Business at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, and online health equity talks discussing healthcare disparities faced by women of color.

Most notably, the center also held their first Health and Wellness Week, which invited community members onto campus and allowed them to sample more than 10 different health providers in the area, ranging from mental health workshops to yoga and Pilates classes and nutrition education.

Ramos added, “Over 65 community residents attended and we were repeatedly asked, ‘When is this happening again?’ This kind of feedback

lets us know we’re on the right path.”

Throughout the summer, the Desmond Center has also begun offering free classes to the Newburgh community both on and off campus, including Zumba, Yoga, Pound, and Xtreme Step.

Currently, the Desmond Center’s work is centered around the provision of health and wellness services.

As a result, they have planned several programs, trainings, and events for the coming months.

Some of this includes a 10-12 week smoking cessation program involving behavior and habit modification, a 10-12 week program designed for young women of color centered around self-esteem and empowerment, service provider training on mental health topics, and various tabling events to both raise awareness about the center and offer basic health education to community residents on health topics that are most relevant to the City of Newburgh.

While currently functioning as a startup, much of the Desmond Center’s work is not only designing and executing programming, but establishing systems as well. This includes getting the word out that the center

exists through community outreach.

“We are simultaneously building the train as we are operating it, and it has been both exhilarating and challenging,” Ramos explained. “We are out in the community regularly speaking with community members and at trusted local organizations, establishing and strengthening partnerships.”

She added, “Once the building is operating, our hope is that we are a household name here in Newburgh, and that, ultimately, we are seen as a reliable, responsive, and trusted resource and innovation hub for our community.”

The center will also provide excellent opportunities for Mount students to gain hands-on experience while serving the greater Newburgh community and beyond. As the programs continue to expand, the opportunities for students and faculty to get involved will multiply.

“With the center on campus, the services and programming provided will be culturally sensitive, inclusive, and responsive to the diverse needs of our surrounding community,” Ramos said.

The renovation of Guzman Hall is on schedule, with the Mount planning to open the Desmond Center’s doors in December 2022 or January 2023. With its completion, the Mount will be a step closer to realizing President Jason Adsit’s aspirational goal of becoming the most service-oriented college in the nation. www.msmc.edu

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Building a better community Lee-Gonyea heads up diversity, equity, and inclusion at MSMC

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his summer, longtime Criminology professor Jenifer LeeGonyea was named assistant vice president of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), as well as Chief Diversity Officer at the Mount.

The college is excited to have LeeGonyea in these roles, where she will be working to meet important DEI objectives of the Mount’s Strategic Plan. She will also be responsible for deepening the college’s ongoing efforts to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.

Below, Lee-Gonyea discusses DEI and its components, as well as how we can apply these concepts at the Mount to make it a better place for everyone.

Why is diversity, equity, and inclusion important?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are, in my view, ways to think about how our society can be the best version of itself. Diversity, equity, and inclusion is sometimes accompanied by the additional concepts of belonging and justice. Each of these are the external, outward acknowledgment that these values are important and an essential starting point for what we want in a society. These are an acknowledgement that we owe our members – in a society, in an organization, in an institution – the respect of being seen as a full person.

To make things right, we must first acknowledge where we have fallen

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Jenifer Lee-Gonyea is the Mount’s first Assistant Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Chief Diversity Officer.

short and where we continue to fall short. If we truly want to move closer to what is right, just, and best for society, we have to do the work that is demanded by DEI and be honest about the results.

The benefits of DEI for society are far-ranging. It allows members of society to be fully engaged, it allows other members of society to get a

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fuller understanding of some of the challenges that exist, it can allow barriers to come down, and it allows people to perhaps see some of their own blind spots. Equity has real-life implications that extend beyond the individual. Providing equity extends beyond pay equity; it’s equity in how groups are represented in all levels of society.

If we truly want to “move closer to what Why did you want to take on these new roles at the Mount?

Over the past few years, my interest in matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education has really increased. These had always been a part of the Criminology courses I taught, because you really can’t teach Criminology without engaging in matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the campus created different avenues of discussing these issues, and I became involved in those efforts, I really wanted to see what could happen on a campuswide level if given the opportunity. I wanted to continue discussions and work around DEI on the campus, but I wanted to be able to do it full-time with the goal of implementing new policies and programs to meet the needs of the campus, its students, faculty, and staff.

What are the Mount’s DEI goals?

The strategic plan provides a guide for DEI on campus. For example, one objective focuses on creating DEI opportunities for students in our curriculum, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities. Another focuses on creating DEI learning opportunities and professional development for faculty, administrators, and staff. The strategic plan also addresses the need to recruit and retain diverse students, faculty, and staff.

In the short-term, our DEI goals will focus on gaining insight and information on where MSMC is currently on some DEI markers (student composition, faculty and staff composition, completion rates, campus climate) as well as creating a baseline for DEI in the curriculum.

is right, just, and best for society, we have to do the work that is demanded by DEI and be honest about the results.

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tion of diverse students, faculty, and staff.

Practices that ensure the appropriate resources are available for faculty to teach inclusively.

What can students, faculty, and staff do to help the college reach our DEI goals?

In addition, developing and conducting some DEI professional development for faculty and staff. Finally, it’s important to speak with academic and non-academic units on campus about their experiences with issues related to DEI and any possible recommendations.

There are goals that will take longer to fully understand and then start to address on an institutional level.

Those include matters of recruitment and retention for students, faculty, and staff, as well as curriculum and a response plan for DEI-related harms.

Participation by all stakeholders is key to assisting the college in reaching these goals. This means participation in conversations, trainings, workshops, and small and large meetings. I don’t think these goals can be achieved without buy-in from all groups on campus. Honestly, it’s about people showing up and participating – even when they feel uncomfortable or unsure.

What programs, policies, and practices do you see the Mount implementing?

Restorative justice focuses on relationships and acts of harm that damage those relationships. It also requires the involvement of all major stakeholders to lead to the repair of relationships and hopefully longterm healing.

Restorative justice has taught me to look at the people who are involved, not just the consequences of actions. It is about accountability when a wrong or harm is committed but not about blame. The goal is to find ways to address the harm, so those [who were] harmed feel heard, and those who caused the harm find their way back into their community.

Making this work about the people is key to developing a supportive and welcoming environment for all people who are part of the MSMC community.

Programs that focus on the continuous professional development of faculty (full-time and part-time) related to inclusive teaching/pedagogy. In addition, extending these professional development programs to staff and administration.

Policies being implemented to address DEI-related harm between students and staff, grounded in the concepts of restorative justice.

Programs focused on the regular review of curricula to ensure course and program offerings are diverse and inclusive.

Practices that increase the recruitment of diverse students, faculty, and staff.

Programs that increase the reten-

How has your research focus on restorative justice prepared you for these new roles?

www.msmc.edu

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Fr. Gregoire Fluet oversaw another successful food drive through Campus Ministry.

Service and scholarship

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ervice and the community matter. This is the first element of the Mount’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. It’s also a core value that has been shaping our students, employees, and alumni since the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh established the college as a four-year institution more than 60 years ago.

Even after Commencement, our graduates carry on the college’s legacy of service in their personal and professional lives. They are nurses, teachers, mental health counselors, social workers, cybersecurity professionals, and more. They continue to volunteer in their communities. They don’t just want to make a difference – they are ready to act.

And it all starts in their freshman year.

Giving back on campus Through Campus Ministry’s annual St. Valentine Food Drive this winter, students of all grade levels, faculty, and staff donated more than $1,000 worth of food to help feed local people. The donations were given to the Deacon Jack Seymour Food Pantry in Newburgh.

“This collection allowed us to once again fulfill our mission at Mount Saint Mary College of outreach and service,” explained Fr. Gregoire Fluet, chaplain and director of Campus Ministry.

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The Knights doubled their service hours.

“We were grateful to reach out to the larger community and help those who are in need.”

Fr. Fluet thanked everyone who pitched in for their efforts and their generosity, including the college’s Student Government Association and the Athletics department.

Meanwhile, dedicated Business students in the Walden Savings Bank Medici Scholars Program aided the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley’s philanthropic goals. This culminated with presenting a $500 check to William Vacca, board chair of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley and vice president of Business Development at Walden Savings Bank, at the program’s graduation ceremony in May. Medici Scholars is a competitive program

Nursing students ran Fuzzy Friends clinics to introduce area youth to healthcare.

open to a handful of Mount Business students each year. It’s made possible through an endowed gift to the Mount from Walden Savings Bank.

The program is overseen on campus

by Anthony Scardillo, Medici faculty advisor and assistant professor of Marketing.

Joining the Medici Scholars in their service to the community was the Mount’s Dominican Scholars of Hope (DSH), who recently donated $300 to the Baby Steps Baby Pantry at Christ Lutheran Church in Newburgh.

Rooted in the values of the JudeoChristian and Dominican heritage of the college, DSH is a nonacademic living and learning community for highly-motivated Mount students.

The program is spearheaded by Charles Zola, assistant to the President for Mission Integration, director of the Mount’s Catholic and Dominican Institute, and associate professor of Philosophy.

Through a Krispy Kreme donut fundraiser, the DSH raised the funds for the pantry, which provides infant supplies for families in need in the local area. Each month, families who are part of the program are provided with a week’s worth of diapers, wipes, wash, and cream. The Rev. Ernst

Mossl, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, was grateful to accept the donations in person near the end of the Spring 2022 semester.

Also near the end of the semester, the Mount community came together for another kind of donation event: a blood drive. The college’s Student Nurses Association (SNA) planned the event and its members were among those assisting, along with medical professionals from the New York Blood Center. It was the second SNA blood drive of the semester, adding up to a combined total of more than 100 pints of blood collected.

In the community For the Mount, service projects don’t end at the college’s main gate.

From students hosting educational children’s programs at the Newburgh Ministry to volunteering at local food banks, the college is deeply rooted in the community.

Knights in the Community, a service initiative run by student-athletes and coaches at the college, nearly doubled their amount of volunteer hours in the Spring 2022 semester. This included volunteering on Saturday mornings at The Newburgh Armory Unity Center, with a differ-

ent team going each week; hosting a Trunk or Treat Halloween event at Bishop Dunn Memorial School; and sponsoring full Thanksgiving meals for local families in need. Athletes also spearheaded unique service projects with their teams, such as the Men’s Soccer team hosting a free soccer clinic for San Miguel Academy, a boys’ middle school in Newburgh; the Volleyball team lending their time to a local animal shelter; the Baseball and Softball teams offering a free clinic for adult aged individuals with disabilities; and the Men’s Basketball team unloading food trucks and serving it to those in need.

The Mount’s School of Nursing also enjoys giving back to the local communities. In addition to various community health education events throughout the year, the school regularly offers their popular Fuzzy Friends clinics, where children learn the “bear necessities” of medical care.

Led by Linda Kelly, assistant professor of Nursing, the clinics feature students demonstrating how doctors and nurses use stethoscopes, bandages, blood pressure cuffs, and more to keep patients happy and healthy. The patients in this case are the children’s very own stuffed animals – ranging from traditional teddies to superheroes.

“Sometimes children get scared at a doctor’s office when they see the stethoscope or other unfamiliar equipment, so this allows them to get comfortable with healthcare and nursing professionals,” said Kelly.

The clinics recently made a triumphant return after being put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The most recent clinic was held at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center as part of Family Literacy Night, but other clinics have also been held at Marlboro Free Library and beyond.

The Mount’s service-focused approach to education goes hand-inhand with helping professions like Nursing, Kelly added. www.msmc.edu

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Early Mount memories Professors look back with fondness

Above: Arts and Letters veterans James Beard, Sr. Catherine Walsh (bottom right), and Irene Nunnari (bottom left) circa the mid-1980s.

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edicated. Unforgettable. Iconic. For alumni of Mount Saint Mary College, that’s the only way to describe seminal faculty members like James Beard, professor emeritus of Communication Arts; Sr. Catherine Walsh OP ’70, professor emerita of Communication Arts; Louis Fortunato, professor emeritus of Accounting; and Andrea Ackermann, professor emerita of Nursing. Before their retirement, these four professors tenured a total of more than 110 years of service to the college.

Their devotion to their students, their profession, and the Mount are outstanding.

Recently, they shared some of their favorite memories of the Mount.

The early days Beard and Sr. Walsh joined the Mount family in the early 1980s. The campus, they noted, was quite different back then: Hudson Hall served as the Jewish Community Center, Sakac Hall and the Elaine and William Kaplan Recreation Center didn’t exist yet, and the Dominican Center had not yet become part of the college. Casa San José – which had served as an elementary school many years ago, and later as office space – was still standing near Guzman Hall.

“The facilities were not what we have now,” explained Sr. Walsh. “However, it was a place with an emphasis on student success and involvement. Programs were growing or straining to grow. Space was a big issue; office space and student space. But we managed. Yes,

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we whined, but we kept at the mission. I was always amazed at the dedication of all.”

Around that time, it was not uncommon for faculty members in different fields to share the same office suites. For example, Joan Miller from Education – now a professor emerita herself – was stationed in the same wing as Arts and Letters.

One day the college’s power went out, Sr. Walsh said, and “offices without windows were in complete darkness. Well, those of us with windows still came out to chat, but there was Joan Miller in a very dark office correcting papers to the light of her cigarette. Yes, smoking was allowed in the building then. We joked with Joan about her dedication.”

Ackermann joined the Mount faculty right before the turn of the century in 1999 – nearly a decade before the Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST) addition to Aquinas Hall was built and about 15 years before the Dominican Center would host the Kaplan Family Library. While the college had grown significantly since the decade of Ronald Reagan, The Golden Girls, and Pac-Man, when she started, things on campus were still a bit cozy.

“The college was smaller then,” Ackermann said. “Our enrollment was fewer as well, which gave me more time with each student. We also had less equipment, labs, and technology back then, too. My first office was in the Villa attic.”

There were, however, some advantages to having a smaller campus. Beard noted that the

“I’m hoping that my passion in the classroom has shown students that they can be enthused about their careers.”

Professor Lou Fortunato

college’s size “proved an ideal atmosphere for a new and inexperienced faculty member to learn and grow. Limited faculty meant maximum opportunity to participate in governance committees, to mentor student clubs, to develop new courses, and to help build a young college.”

As those new courses were developed, the older ones evolved with the times. Fortunato started his nearly three-decade career at the Mount in 1987. By the time of his retirement, he said, Accounting courses had changed greatly in response to shifting business trends and requirements.

Most notably, there was a massive leap in technology, he said.

Education in the digital age Thanks to technology, education delivery methods both inside the classroom and out have “changed drastically” and become “more dynamic and efficient,” Fortunato explained.

Put simply, education has “gone from chalk and talk to the digital age.”

The era of computers and virtual workspaces evolved slowly in the ’80s and early ’90s, compared to the breakneck pace of technology in 2022, noted Fortunato. But by the late ’90s and early 2000s, the Mount – and the rest of the world as well – was fully entrenched in this new era of technology.

One example of this, noted Ackerman, is the educational technology Mount Nursing

students use in the college’s medical labs. It provides them the training they need to be successful in the modern medical field.

“When I first started at the Mount…we had classes, static and practice labs, and off-campus clinicals,” she explained. “As time went on, fewer clinical opportunities were available in which the students could participate. In response, we were able to get funding for the creation of the Nursing Simulation Center. It took years to develop, but it gave students a chance to care for a [simulated] patient, develop skills, increase communication, and use decision making. I dedicated my time to developing the new labs when the MST building was completed and the upgrades to Aquinas Hall were finished. This brought us new opportunities for learning.”

Top: Louis Fortunato works on a project with his student, Vincent Mattarella ’97.

Above: Andrea Ackermann teaches a class in the 2000s.

www.msmc.edu

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What the Mount has now in terms of technology is a far cry from when Sr. Walsh started at the college. She has vivid recollections of building the college’s first TV studio, complete with analog tape decks and large cameras.

“The studio was small, in the cloakroom of the theatre,” Sr. Walsh explained. “We had three cameras and three portable recorders. Students could sign them out to do their productions. Imagine my surprise when I heard that a set of equipment was in Pops Paradise on Gidney Avenue – a neighborhood bar – filming the reaction to the Tawana Brawley case [of 1988]. Those early productions were thoughtful, timely, and challenging.”

Celebrating success Anyone who took classes taught by these professors will agree: their students always came first.

Beard often burned the midnight oil for the benefit of his theatre students. Though it could be exhausting, it was an experience he’s thankful he had.

“Directing student productions required evenings and weekends of long, hard work,” he explained. “A cast and crew can build camaraderie quickly, often becoming a family. It was a great joy to watch inexperienced student performers and production staff grow in confidence and ability, and I was honored that they put their trust in me to guide them.”

For Ackerman, one of the highlights of her career was seeing her students graduate and head out into the work world.

“I always enjoyed the end of the academic year, but not because the students were leaving campus; I missed them over the summer,” Ackerman said. “I enjoyed seeing the entire campus community joining together and celebrating the success of our students at the School of Nursing pinning ceremony and college

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Aquinas Hall before the construction of the Kaplan Family Mathematics, Science and Technology addition.

Commencement. It was always a very joyful time for me.”

Fortunato fondly remembers asking his students to dress for their final exams as if they were going to a job interview. Ellen Bourhis Nolan – former director of Mount’s Career Center who retired in the Spring of 2022 – then evaluated the students’ attire through the lens of an employer. Fortunato upheld his “Dress for Success” tradition one more time for his final classes in December 2015.

As always, it made him proud to see his students arrive wearing pressed shirts, shined shoes, and sharp suits.

They could have walked out of the classroom and into the workplace – and that’s just what many of his students did, thanks in no small part to Fortunato’s mentorship.

“I’m hoping that my passion in the classroom has shown students that they can be enthused about their careers,” said Fortunato. “And when they look back, they can say, ‘I’m glad I came [to the Mount] and I look forward to tomorrow.’”

Friends forever Even with the myriad of additions and physical changes to the campus over the years, the massive jumps in technology, and the fulfilling nature of their work, what has stuck with

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the four emeritus professors most is the friendships they made with their students and coworkers.

When asked what she missed most about teaching at the Mount, Ackermann replied, “This is easy: the students! I miss being with students, helping them, guiding them, or just chatting with them as they make their plans for after graduation. I love hearing from them now. I also miss all the people on campus…I felt a keen sense of community.”

While Beard doesn’t mind leaving the more tedious aspects of his career in the past, such as preparing classes, grading student work, or attending committee meetings, he does miss the students, faculty, and staff that made his time at the college some of the best days of his life.

“I was fortunate that my work at the Mount allowed me opportunities to build trust and friendship with many outside the classroom [and] of course, many strong bonds remain,” he said. “Several former students have honored me with visits, and Facebook has allowed me to connect with many alums, several of whom are now grandparents. While retirement has many rewards, I sincerely miss the day-to-day interaction with students, faculty, administrators, and staff. To me, the Mount’s strength

Professors Beard and Nunnari in I Hate Hamlet

Sr. Catherine Walsh in 2019

Ackerman at her farm

has always been its people and that genuine camaraderie we shared.”

Sr. Walsh agreed with her longtime friend and coworker: “Faculty bonded with students outside the classroom. We worked on the plays together and students were in our office area constantly to seek help with coursework or just to visit. I miss that student interaction. I miss seeing them grow in knowledge and into fuller adults. I miss the relationships with colleagues, however so many of us still get together. During COVID some of us met on Zoom almost every week.”

Life after MSMC Since his retirement from the Mount, Beard continues to live in Newburgh with his husband, Jimi.

Beard was known for encouraging his students to dress for success, and he practiced what he preached.

Thankfully for him, retirement has offered Beard the opportunity to ease up a bit on his signature suit and tie look and enjoy life in more comfortable clothing.

Students suited up for finals with Fortunato

Ackermann and her husband, Paul, moved out of the Hudson Valley and into Cherry Valley, in Otsego County, N.Y. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their new home, which they have been developing since 2007. It’s located on their very own farm.

“Working on the farm is tiring, but I enjoy it…We love it up here,” said Ackermann. “I have made many friends as I keep busy volunteering with the VFW Auxiliary, helping veterans and local military personnel who are deployed around the world.

I am also busy with St. Mary of the Lake church in Cooperstown.”

For Sr. Walsh, “retirement” hasn’t quite been an accurate way to describe her post-teaching life.

After her decades with the Mount, Sr. Walsh transitioned to a leadership position for the Dominican Sisters of Hope. When that term ended in

2019, she had intended to take a short sabbatical and then move on to volunteer work. But like so many other things, the pandemic forced a change of plans.

Currently, she said, “I have been chairing a task force for the five Dominican women’s congregations in the Northeast…and caring for our house and being in the community with the sisters has kept me busy.”

Since leaving the Mount in early 2016, Fortunato has continued to live in Newburgh with his wife Regina, herself a Mount alumna. He also manages his private practice, Louis P. Fortunato, CPA in the Town of Newburgh, N.Y. However, he will soon be retiring from that as well, after many years of service to the local community.

Fortunato summed up his time at the Mount in a single sentence: “I would never teach anywhere else!” www.msmc.edu

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Commencement 2022

Class of 2022

Coming through the storm

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hings weren’t easy for the Class of 2022. From navigating online courses to living and learning six feet away from their classmates, these students faced challenges they couldn’t possibly have anticipated when they started their college journey in 2018. Through it all, they persevered.

Their well-earned reward, on Saturday, May 21, was the first traditional Commencement ceremony the Mount has been able to host since 2019.

Dr. Jason N. Adsit, president of the college, congratulated the faculty, parents, and graduates on a job well done.

“To use an old adage, the Devil whispered in your ear and said, ‘You’re not going to make it through the storm,’” he said to his inaugural class. “And you rose up and you yelled back with balled fists, ‘I am the storm!’”

The graduating students then heard from honorary degree recipient and Commencement speaker Karina Cabrera Bell ’01, a Fortune 500 executive and former official in the Obama White House.

Cabrera Bell currently serves as Senior Manager within the Inclusion,

generation “ofThis Knights has gone through something that no other classes have before.

”

Karina Cabrera Bell ’01 Commencement speaker

Diversity, and Equality (ID&E) Practice at Accenture, a multinational professional services company that specializes in information technology services and consulting. In this role, she advises Fortune 500 clients in ID&E, talent strategies, cultural transformation, and responsible business practices.

Before moving to the private sector, Cabrera Bell served in many levels of government in her 15-year career in public service. At the Obama White House, she was director of Congressional Affairs, www.msmc.edu

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Commencement 2022

Baccalaureate Mass at the Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary.

Heading to the ceremony.

By the numbers Total degrees awarded: More than 500 Master’s degrees awarded: More than 120 Bachelor’s degrees awarded: More than 380 Grads hailed from 11 states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

One grad lives in Nigeria.

The mood was celebratory and graduates’ caps were filled with messages for friends and family.

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We live in a hard time “with lots of problems.

I know there is a temptation to tune it out. But I ask you to do the opposite, to engage, to rise up and leave the world better than you found it.

”

Karina Cabrera Bell ’01

Student leaders Julia Lavin, Joshua Laskowski, and Cullen Roper.

Above, Natural Sciences professors Moran, Merkhofer, and Robinson.

Below, bagpipers led the procession to the Commencement ceremony.

forging partnerships with Congress and national advocacy groups to recruit top talent.

Cabrera Bell praised the graduates for their ability to overcome unforeseen obstacles while remaining upbeat and focused on their studies: “This generation of Knights has gone through something that no other classes have before,” she said.

“Yet, through it all, you have shown incredible resilience and strength.”

Reflecting on her own time at the college, Cabrera Bell said, “The Mount changed so much for me. It’s where I started an entirely new path for my life. It’s where Professor Irene Nunnari told me I had a voice…It’s where I learned that if I wanted to change things, I had to be vulnerable and put myself in the arena.”

Finally, she encouraged the students to take what they have learned at the Mount and use it to make the world a better place.

“We live in a hard time with lots of problems,” Cabrera Bell said. “I know there is a temptation to tune it out.

But I ask you to do the opposite, to engage, to rise up and leave the world better than you found it. Be the spark in your circle, in your job, and in your community. If you see someone getting bullied or mistreated, be the spark that stands up for them. If you see a cause that needs a voice, be the spark that speaks up for it.”

Julia Lavin, Senior Class president, www.msmc.edu

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Commencement 2022

At left, Fr. Gregoire Fluet, seen in the Commencement procession here, was the recipient of the College Faculty Award in recognition of his service to the Mount community.

congratulated the Class of 2022 for not only enduring the hardships of COVID-19, but for also thriving throughout the pandemic.

“Even though we have not had the most conventional college experience, thanks to our wonderful professors and administrators who care so deeply about their students, there is not a doubt in my mind that we are prepared to handle anything that gets thrown at us along the way,” she said.

“We are all leaving more resilient and capable people than when we arrived here.”

In his speech to his fellow graduates, Cullen Roper, vice president of the Student Athletic Advisory

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Committee, reminded students of the need for unity.

“We are all living proof that alone we can accomplish many things, but with the help of others, we can accomplish anything,” he said. “To be a college graduate is one success of its own, but to become a welcoming and caring human being will propel us into the next chapter of our lives.

I am proud to be here in front of you all today and proud to be a Mount Saint Mary College graduate.”

Two awards were given to Mount professors during the ceremony.

Joshua Laskowski, president of the Mount’s Student Government Association (SGA), presented the SGA’s

MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

Excellence in Teaching Award to Jennifer Bready, professor of Mathematics. The award recognizes a full-time professor that the students believe goes above and beyond in their role as a professor and in their commitment to student success.

Anne Ferrari, associate professor of Psychology and Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee, presented the Mount Saint Mary College Faculty Award to Fr. Gregoire Fluet, college chaplain and director of Campus Ministry. Ferrari praised Fr. Fluet’s dedication, integrity, and service to the college, as well as his unwavering support for everyone in the Mount community – especially students.

May 2022 graduates at the nurse pinning ceremony.

‘Advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves’

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he day before Commencement, the Mount honored nearly 80 graduates of its prestigious Nursing program at a pinning ceremony.

Fr. Gregoire Fluet, chaplain and director of Campus Ministry, blessed the pins, which were presented to the graduates by chosen family members and friends.

“The journey to become a registered, professional nurse is not an easy one,” said Vidia Saleem, instructor of Nursing, as she welcomed the Class of 2022 and their families.

“These students have just reached a milestone. They are now ready to make the transition from student nurse to graduate nurse.”

Christine Berté, dean of the School of Nursing, urged the graduates to “take your knowledge, your compassion, and your enthusiasm, and make this profession better.”

Thomas “TJ” Coyne, president of the Student Nursing Association, offered his reflections on the group’s journey to becoming nurses.

“I’d like to express how proud I am of my fellow classmates, for persevering through all the challenges we have faced over the last four years,” he said. “Our great professors have

Allison Krom was pinned by her son, Caiden.

gifted us the tools we need to be successful nurses. Now it’s up to us to build a better world.”

The ceremony’s keynote speaker, Linda Kelly, assistant professor of Nursing, discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the Class of 2022. The nursing class soon adopted the motto “Stay positive, but test negative,” she explained.

Kelly left the new graduates with some important words of wisdom: “As you enter the profession of nursing, find your voice and take yourself off mute. Advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

New nurse practitioners honored at ceremony The previous week, nearly 30 students from the Nurse Practitioner program were honored at a White Coat Ceremony.

Thomas Coyne

Fr. Fluet blessed hands at the White Coat Ceremony.

The ceremony reflected the transition of the nurses to the professional nurse practitioner role. Nurse practitioners are advanced practice nurses who provide high quality healthcare services. They can diagnose, treat, and prescribe across a wide range of health problems.

Fr. Fluet closed out the ceremony with the Blessing of the Hands.

As nurse practitioners, he noted, the graduates’ hands are their most important healing tool. www.msmc.edu

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Commencement 2022

For three sisters, the journey was better together

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our years ago, the Romaniello triplets of Waterbury, Conn. lugged food, clothing, and their computers into their shared room in Sakac Hall on a summer Sunday.

On a warm spring day this May, Ashley, Haley, and Jessica headed across the college’s Commencement stage, decked out in honor cords.

Their parents, Glorie and Todd, cheered as their daughters were recognized for their hard work.

The young women each went to a different high school. When it came time for college, Jessica came to the Mount to study English on the Adolescence Education track. Ashley and Haley selected the Mount for its prestigious Nursing program.

“I always loved the idea of going away to college with my sisters, and once it became a reality, I was so excited,” Haley explained. “I could not have imagined going through four years of college without them.”

Ashley, who was the valedictorian of Wilby High School, had received a full scholarship to another college.

She turned it down in favor of the Mount’s small class sizes and tightknit, family atmosphere. It’s a decision that paid off.

“I am in a field I love,” she said.

“Yes, the schooling, exams, homework, and clinicals were tough, and at some points, I never thought this

Ashley, Haley, and Jessica Romaniello at this year’s Commencement, above, and at left with their mother Glorie on Move In Day four years ago.

day would come. But I persevered and here we are. I can confidently say that the Mount has prepared me for my future as a registered nurse.

I couldn’t be more grateful.”

After four years together at the Mount, the time has come for the sisters to follow their own separate paths. Ashley will be working at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a Nurse Resident in the Intensive Care Unit. Haley landed a job at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut

Last, but not least At the very end of the long line of graduates going in procession to the Commencement ceremony was Nursing major Hope Yaworowski.

Had it not been for another student who was accidentally separated from his fellow Math majors during the ceremony and placed at the end, Yaworowski would also have been the final grad to receive her diploma.

But her place in line didn’t dampen her enthusiasm. She thanked her family for their aid through her years as a Mount student.

“Thank you to my parents and family for always supporting me,” she said. “You taught me that hard work always pays off and pushed me to achieve my goals.”

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as a Registered Nurse in the Medical Surgical Unit. And Jessica will be attending Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. to pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching for Secondary English Education.

Looking back at her growth over the last four years, Jessica has some advice for new college students: “Do everything and anything possible, even if you’re unsure. Join the clubs!

Take a class you normally wouldn’t think to take to fill a requirement!

I’ve made friends that I will have for the rest of my life through theatre and going out of my comfort zone.

College is the time to have fun and try new things!”

Earning honors half a world away

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s hundreds of Mount grads crossed the Commencement stage, one was recognized for her achievements as she watched from nearly 7,000 miles away.

Sr. Maria Judith Okwudiri Okoroafor, of the Order of Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in Nigeria, graduated via livestream after completing her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology online. It was a journey she began nearly 14 years ago.

After coming to the United States in 2008 for religious experience, Sr. Judith used the opportunity to attend classes at the Mount from Fall 2009 to Spring 2012.

“It was not planned for me to graduate from MSMC,” she explained. “So, I came back to Nigeria and I never thought of coming back to complete the degree.”

It wasn’t until 2020 that the General Superior of her religious order, Sr. Gertrude L. Ihenach, and her council asked Sr. Judith to go back to the USA and finish her degree.

However, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic halted the process.

After speaking with the Registrar’s Office, Sr. Judith was allowed to complete her course work online.

“It was like a battle to complete

this degree online in Nigeria,” she said. “There was no electricity and unstable internet networks. I got low grades in some of my first online semester exams due to a poor network system and my lack of online school skills.”

In her day-to-day life, Sr. Judith always made time for her studies.

She would spend her days attending community prayers, morning Mass, cooking, taking care of laundry, and cleaning. But, she added, “This final semester was so challenging that I did my prayers privately. My Zoom classes overlapped with my community prayers and morning Mass was not every day. I couldn’t wake up on time because of midnight classes and studies.”

Throughout it all, Sr. Judith’s faith helped her to accept whatever difficulties she faced. She persevered, increasing her study times and improving her grades. “I thank God Almighty who has given me the strength, knowledge, and wisdom to complete this degree with Honors in Psychology,” she said.

Senior Cruise In the week leading up to Commencement, Mount seniors enjoyed a sunset cruise on the Hudson River aboard the Pride of the Hudson.

Degree marks the start of a new chapter

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he first graduate of Mount Saint Mary College’s partnership with Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, Douglas A. Matthews, was proud to receive his diploma.

Matthews was recently released from incarceration and was overjoyed to be able to attend the ceremony in person. Hudson Link “allowed me to achieve something while I was inside,” he explained. “This was one opportunity that I knew I could use to improve myself and help me to become something different, something better…It allowed me to develop myself and hopefully pass that on.”

The Mount began its partnership with Hudson Link in January of 2020, giving several incarcerated men at Shawangunk Correctional Facility the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Hudson Link provides college education, life skills, and reentry support to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals to help them make a positive impact on their lives, their families, and their communities. It also aims to lower rates of recidivism, incarceration, and poverty.

According to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, 41 percent of people return to prison within three years of release. As of 2020, the recidivism rate for those who have gone through the Hudson Link program was less than 3 percent in two decades. www.msmc.edu

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Commencement 2022

Psychology major pursues a future in physical therapy

Double major earns full scholarship to Albany Law

or Anthony Acosta, his future started with an internship. Acosta, a Psychology major with a focus in Physical Therapy, recently accepted a job as a rehab tech at Bardonia Physical Therapy, an outpatient clinic in Monroe, N.Y. At the end of his recent internship with Bardonia Physical Therapy, Acosta was offered a permanent position with the company, and was given the opportunity to work while completing his studies as a full-time student.

“I enjoy meeting and building relationships with all of the patients that I work with, and I enjoy being able to teach them and inspire them to keep getting better,” Acosta explained.

“My favorite is when a patient comes in and tells me that what we do is working for them and that they are feeling better.”

In addition to his strong work ethic and ambitious personality, Acosta credits his time at the Mount for helping to mold him into the success he is today.

One experience that stood out to him was being a member of the Mount’s track and field team, where he became familiar with many of the different stretches and exercises that he would later be asked to teach his patients.

He is also grateful to the Mount professors who have guided him throughout his academic career. For example, Acosta thanked Paul Schwartz, professor of Psychology, “for teaching [me] so much and pushing me to strive for more, and also introducing me to the field of Psychology and how important it is to everyday life and my career itself.”

He added, “I know in my heart that I will always carry the blessing of the Knights.”

ouise Goodman, a double major in English and Psychology, was recently awarded a full scholarship to Albany Law School.

But there was a catch: the stellar student had to decide between Albany Law and Penn State University, which had also offered her a full scholarship.

“My favorite thing about the Mount is the small community feel,” Goodman said. “I like knowing my professors and the other students, and that’s what I think Albany can provide me with. That’s why I chose to go there.”

Goodman has demonstrated excellence at every step of her college career. In 2020, she won the college’s Fifth Annual Writing Contest. A year later, she was named an Aquinas Scholar, which requires a minimum grade point average of 3.60. While taking part in the college’s annual Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), she enjoyed hands-on research into medieval recipes with Rob Wakeman, assistant professor of English.

And now, she has her sights set on becoming an attorney. “I work hard and I enjoy working hard,” she said. “Higher education is something that brings out the best in me.”

Goodman is one of seven children, and like her siblings before her, she is a first-generation college student. Her brother, George, graduated from the Mount’s Nursing program in 2016. Her sister, Lily, was a Biology major on the Pre-Physician’s Assistant track who graduated summa cum laude in 2018.

“If you let it be, academia can be very lonely if you only focus on the score aspect of it,” Goodman explained. “I tried that; it’s not a good place to be.

I love being surrounded by people and the compassion of the teachers – that makes all the difference to me.”

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STELLAR SENIORS

First-gen grad taking his degree to the next level

Ready to lead the class and make a difference

ateo Antonio Lopez recently finished his undergraduate studies in Biology, and now he’s off to graduate school in the University of Tennessee’s Health Science Center in Memphis.

It’s a new adventure for the lifelong New Yorker.

But like his parents before him, who emigrated to the United States from Mexico, Antonio Lopez is ready for the challenge. As a first-generation college student, this is far from the first time he has needed to step outside his comfort zone. For example, anytime he needed to get online to continue the Mount enrollment process, he’d need to walk two miles to the local library. And that was just a prelude to his busy college years.

The days started early for Antonio Lopez, who hopped on the 6:40 a.m. train to Beacon and then took a bus to the Mount. The process took between 45 minutes to an hour each way. That was in addition to working about 70 hours a week. As a result, the gifted student mastered the art of time management.

“I served customers and thought out my projects at the same time,” he explained. “I really had to use my time very wisely.”

The Mount opened up a new world of learning for Antonio Lopez, who participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURE), the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, and more.

“When I came to the Mount, I became fascinated about how much you could learn about Biology,” he explained. “And the more you learn, the more you don’t know, is what you realize.”

Looking back, his advice to new college students speaks to what made his time at the Mount successful.

“Seek discomfort and try new things,” he said. “If you have the passion, you can always make some time.

There’s always time to learn new things.”

or Asha Mendez, the most rewarding challenge of her academic career was student teaching.

Before graduating with a master’s degree in May, Mendez completed two placements: one at Poughkeepsie’s Noxon Road Elementary School and another at Fishkill’s Glenham Elementary School. Both times, she worked with a mix of general and special education students.

These classroom experiences have been “invaluable” to her growth as a teacher: “I walked away from both placements with tools and strategies that I know will be helpful to me in my career as an educator,” she said.

In addition to her student teaching experiences, Mendez credits the Mount’s Education program with helping her to be so successful in her field.

“I found myself using a lot of what I learned in my methods courses in my student teaching,” she explained. “The research and theory learned in these courses have really laid a strong foundation for me as an educator.”

She also thanked Jennifer Wutz and her mother, Priya Mendez, from the college’s Office of Student Teaching, “for taking care of all the student teachers each and every semester. I appreciate their support and encouragement at such an important time in our careers.”

The future is looking bright for Mendez, who lined up a long-term subbing position in the Wappingers Central School District for a teacher on maternity leave.

“It’s been my dream to be a teacher since I was 5 years old and I am excited to finally have that dream realized,” she explained. “My biggest goal is to make a difference in the lives of as many students as possible.”

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Commencement 2022

Bio grad snags job at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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ays before Commencement, Biology major and Chemistry minor Jayda Cavanaugh received a Student Research Scholarship Award from the Mount.

It’s no surprise that Cavanaugh was honored for her academic skill and dedication. She’s a highly motivated student and the first person in her family to earn a college degree.

One of her latest accomplishments might just be her greatest: Cavanaugh earned a job as a research technician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Genomics in Boston, Mass. It’s a career that hits close to home for Cavanaugh, whose mother is currently battling breast cancer.

“I really love what Dana-Farber stands for,” Cavanaugh explained. “They’re doing cutting edge research.”

It was through the Mount’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), where students work closely with professors on applied research, that Cavanaugh discovered her love of scientific research.

“The opportunities I had through SURE, through independent study, and through the insight of my professors allowed me to get a lot of research experience, to really understand that this was the field I wanted to go into now and for the rest of my life,” Cavanaugh said. “My heart is really in research.”

The Mount’s rigorous Natural Sciences program helped her to prepare for her upcoming career with Dana-Farber, Cavanaugh said: “You go to the Mount and you leave a scientist,” she explained.

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MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

MBA project aims to advance youth safety

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ajani Ramphal, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduate with a concentration in Healthcare Administration, constantly seeks new ways to challenge herself.

She says the experience she gained at the Mount has already strengthened her performance in her career as a physical therapist, a position she has held for 15 years.

“I worked through COVID and struggled with the imbalance of our healthcare system. I have a true passion for healthcare and wanted to be a part of the strategic solution,” she explained. “This led me to enter the MBA program, so I could not only carry on with my clinical experience, but also gain a better understanding of the leadership role.”

She added, “I hope and wish to make a difference in our healthcare system one day. I want to be an advocate for my patients and our everyday healthcare providers.”

Ramphal spearheaded a large project as part of her MBA practicum experience. As the Safety Director for the Monroe Woodbury Football and Cheer League, she aimed to provide concussion and CPR/AED protocols for local football teams. Working with the Orange County Youth Football League (OCYFL), she will be creating a proposal for an OCYFL Universal Safety Protocol this summer.

“This is what the MBA program is about,” Ramphal stated. “Challenging yourself beyond what was imaginable. Allowing you to take charge, evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, and strategize to make changes to develop new goals.”

Her time at the Mount was well spent, Ramphal noted. “The lessons I learned from my professors and peers have been invaluable,” she said. “Teamwork, creativity, and professionalism are skill sets that I will carry on throughout my career.”

STELLAR SENIORS

The Mount’s first Cybersecurity grad

D

evin Kelley has certainly made his mark on the Mount: He was the first student to graduate from the college with a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity.

Kelley was enjoying what he was learning as a Criminology major, saying it made him both a better writer and a more inquisitive student. But when the Mount began offering Cybersecurity as a major in the fall of 2020, the opportunity was too good for Kelley to pass up.

Two years later, Cybersecurity has become a passion for him: “It’s an awesome field and it’s only going to get bigger,” he said.

Although he’ll miss being a Mount student, Kelley is thankful for the professors who helped him along the way, such as Sagar Raina, assistant professor of Information Technology, and Denise McCarroll, instructor of Information Technology.

Kelley will also miss being a student-athlete.

The time management skills he gained while juggling scholastics and Lacrosse have proven to be invaluable.

“Especially in-season, you don’t have as much time to yourself,” noted Kelley. “Your schedule is very rigid.

That’s what helped me to not be distracted, knowing I had to get my work done or I’d be up until 3 o’clock in the morning. It definitely made me a better student.”

Kelley has some advice for students who are considering a major or concentration in Cybersecurity: If you want something that’s fulfilling and in demand, Cybersecurity is a great fit.

“Stick with it,” he said. “If there’s something you don’t know, look it up or ask your professors – they’re really, really good. Their office doors are always open and they’re always willing to help you.”

Grad sets his sights on MSG and an MBA

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ullen Roper, a General Business Administration grad, strives to take opportunities to advance his education and career.

For example, Roper, originally from Stratford, Conn., moved to Newburgh recently to be closer to the Mount. He also graduated a year early and is planning to continue his education through the college’s MBA program.

Now, Roper is taking on a three-month internship for Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) in New York City, as a Sales Operations and Analytics Student Associate. In this role, he supports upper management and sales staff, tracks and updates reports, and participates in sales and service training. He also has access to other professional development opportunities – including the possibility of a full-time job in the future.

Roper credits the Mount with preparing him for the Business field and inspiring him to apply for the MSG internship. During his freshman year at the college, he learned about the internship while on a field trip with other Business majors, where they took the All Access Business Tour of Madison Square Garden. Keeping the position in mind throughout the rest of his college career, he applied and was accepted for the summer.

Roper is one of six siblings and his father passed away about a decade ago. He paid for college and supported himself these past three years by working in a restaurant. While he is the fifth person in his family to graduate from college, he will be the first to earn a master’s degree.

www.msmc.edu

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Coach Colleen Ames was named Skyline Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year.

Knights claim 2022 Skyline Conference Championship

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he Knights Women’s Basketball team won their 13th Skyline Conference title in program history recently, pulling away for a 61-53 victory over the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA).

The game marked the team’s 11th straight victory of the season and pushed it to 23-3 overall as they headed into the 2022 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Morina Bojka led the Knights by 19 points and was named the Skyline Conference Championship Most Outstanding Player. The Knights’ coach, Colleen Ames, was named Skyline Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year.

A tightly contested opening period featured four lead changes before baskets by the Knights’ Annie Keenan and Lauren Desrats opened a 12-9 advantage in the first quarter.

With the Knights in front 14-10, their

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Morina Bojka was named Skyline Conference Championship Most Outstanding Player.

largest lead of the period, USMMA responded with the final four points of the quarter to tie the score.

The Knights closed the second period by building their lead back to 34-29. With a shot percent of about 34 percent in the first half, the Knights struggled from three-point range after going just 2-for-16 from behind the arc.

In the second half, neither team would get on the board until Keenan

MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

knocked down a pair of free-throws in the third quarter to give the Knights a 36-29 advantage. USMMA responded with the next six points to cut the Knights’ advantage down to a single point, at 36-35. But Bojka pushed the Mount back in front by three with a jumper before Asia Rivera buried a three-pointer.

In the fourth quarter, the Knights put together a 15-2 run covering nearly six minutes to open their largest lead of the game at 58-43. Though USMMA climbed back to within striking distance of the Mount, the Knights ultimately ended the game with a 61-53 victory.

The Skyline win earned the Knights a spot in this year’s NCAA Division III tournament. They opened the contest with a win against Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., but the Knights’ journey was halted in game two by the Christopher Newport University team, the Captains.

Athletics Mount teams race to victory

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t was a great season for both the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams. They finished the Spring 2022 semester strong, with several notable records being set in the process.

Samantha Papadopoulos

Women’s Team The Women’s Track and Field team placed third at the 2022 Skyline Conference Championships late in the Spring 2022 semester. The Knights totaled 105 points at the meet and won three events.

Samantha Papadopoulos won both the 100- and 400-meter hurdle events, setting a new school record in the 100-meter race. She also won the 100-meter hurdle event. In the field events, Papadopoulos took the runner-up position in the long and triple jumps.

KellyAnn Platt also had a strong showing at the Skyline Championship, taking second in discus, third in javelin, and fourth in shot put.

The 4x100-meter relay team of Platt, Jessica Kerrigan, Joanne Kubat, and Ashlyn Rivera scored a victory in less than a minute. Rivera finished off a strong day for the Mount with a third-place finish in the 1,500-meters. Priya Patel scored a third-place finish in the 800-meters, while Alyssa Millburn placed fourth in the 400-meters.

Just a few days before the Mount’s Commencement ceremony in May, Papadopoulos would go on to set two Mount records at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship on her way to being named the ECAC Championship Most Outstanding Performer. Papadopoulos led the Mount to a fifth place finish out of 14 teams, first among Skyline schools, with 40 points. Papadopoulos, who graduated this year, closed out her college athletics career with four outdoor school records.

Kenneth Barrett

Men’s Team Kenneth Barrett and Dabein Walker each set a pair of school records as the Men’s Track and Field team finished in third place at the 2022 Skyline Conference Championship in April.

Barrett set both of his school standards on the track, posting program records in both the 800-meters and the 1,500-meters. Barrett posted a time of 2:02.65 in the 800-meter race.

He went on to clip his own previous record in the 1,500-meters in a second-place finish.

Walker continued his stellar career with victories and school records in the high and triple jumps to go along

with a thirdplace finish in javelin. Walker set a new high jump record with a mark of 1.90 meters, and added a new school record in the triple jump.

Jesse Hull won discus for the Knights and finished as the runner-up in shot put. Andrew Maloy added a runner-up finish for the Knights in the hammer throw.

Right before the end of the Spring 2022 semester, Barrett became the first men’s athlete to win a track event at the ECAC Championship, winning the 5,000-meters. It was the first win on track for the Knights in program history.

The Knights also got strong performances at the ECAC Championship from Walker and Maloy. Walker scored a third-place finish in javelin before placing fourth in triple jump. Maloy took the runner-up position for the Knights in the hammer throw. www.msmc.edu

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Golf & Tennis Tournament

Day of fun boosts scholarships

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ith a sunny spring day as the backdrop, the Mount’s 44th Annual Golf and 11th Annual Tennis Invitational Tournament earned more than $100,000 for scholarships.

Held at the Powelton Club in Newburgh, the event honored the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 363 and the organization’s business manager, Sam Fratto.

Nearly 200 friends of the college came to support the Mount.

Donations and proceeds supported the college’s Golf and Tennis Tournament Endowed Scholarship Fund. This scholarship is awarded to academically strong students with financial need, with preference given to students pursuing sports management, sports medicine, or similar fields.

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David Melby, chair of the Mount’s Golf and Tennis Committee (right), recognizes honoree Sam Fratto, business manager of IBEW Local 363.

MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

For more photos, visit msmc.edu/golf44

www.msmc.edu

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Alumni Notes

Wayne Keller

1972

Drs. Mary Ellen (Scannell) Doherty and Elizabeth Scannell-Desch presented research studies on posttraumatic growth at Eastern Nursing Research Society’s Scientific Sessions in Providence, R.I., and at the American College of NurseMidwives Annual Meeting in Chicago, Ill. They will also present this research at Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing’s Research Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1973

Mike Dolan is enjoying his retirement.

1975

Barbara Stevens has reached the end of her working days. She is enjoying retirement and all the freedom it brings. She is trying to make plans to see all the friends she has not seen in

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Michael Fraser

a long time. “Time passes so quickly and I want to make the most of every day,” she said. “I miss my friends and my days at MSMC. I am hoping to make the next reunion and wish everyone good health.”

1978

Regina (Hosey) Adducci has proudly retired after 44 years of service at Danbury Hospital. More than 30 of those years were in nursing administration. Regina’s staff threw a party in honor of her and two staff nurses who retired from the same unit.

She is missing her staff but looks forward to traveling, gardening, home remodeling, and volunteer work.

Mary (Sullivan) Bruno made the difficult decision to retire in 2020 due to the changes that COVID had on teaching and education, especially special education.

MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

Luci (Levesque) Porter

She has been busy with a kitchen remodel and expects to be even busier in 2023 with two weddings: Her daughter’s in April and her son’s in September. Mary is looking forward to the next chapter in her life.

1982

Michael Fraser continues his practice as a sports psychology consultant. This spring he contracted with the South Georgia State College Softball Program. He continues to lecture and consult with various programs, athletes, actors, and musicians throughout the United States to help them achieve peak performance.

Michele (LaPorta) Freeman retired after 35 years of teaching high school science at Schalmont High School in Rotterdam, N.Y. Her daughter, Danielle Freeman Hafner ’12, gave birth to a

son on September 18, 2021, bringing Michele her first grandchild.

Karen Capellini Petrosino has been working as an RN at Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson, N.Y. for 34 years — the last 24 years as a wound care nurse. Karen and her husband Glen have eight grandchildren and are celebrating 40 years of marriage this August.

1983

Laurie Iuzzini Lawrence is in her 17th year of teaching gifted education (K-5) and in her 30th year teaching overall. As much as Laurie loves it, her husband Dennis, ’86, cannot wait to relocate to their land in Bokeelia, Fla., where they will build their final house and live the retirement life. Their son, Andrew, recently married his wonderful wife, Rachel, and the couple have given Laurie

and Daniel furry grandbabies: Lucy, a pit-lab mix, and Byron, the elusive kitty.

1987

Luci (Levesque) Porter has been working at the Waterbury Hospital since 1989. Luci currently works in the cardiac cauterization lab.

Waterbury Hospital recently introduced a nonsurgical aortic valve replacement program, known as TAVR, and Luci is proud to say that she was one of the pioneers of that program at the hospital.

1990

Jacqueline Gallo earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in August 2021. Jacqueline says “hello!” to all of her fellow classmates and hopes that all are doing well.

1997

June (Kelley) Pierce states, “When I applied for my first job, I knew I had made the right choice in graduate school. Mount Saint Mary was the best! I taught school for more than seven years, tutored, taught educational summer camps for several years, and then decided to write Children’s Skill Books.

I have now written eight [skill books] and five novels, all published. Thank you Mount Saint Mary College!”

1999

Wayne Keller, in 2019, completed the MS Organizational Leadership program from Nyack College and earned his doctorate of Ministry – Christian Leadership and Spiritual Formation in 2022,

from the Alliance Theological Seminary. Wayne is also excited to announce his daughter, Brianna, graduated from the Mount with her nursing degree in 2022!

2000

Joseph Polvere is entering his 22nd year of teaching in Demarest, N.J. In addition, he continues to work as an adjunct faculty member at several colleges.

2001

Jeffery Finton will be starting as the director of Pupil Personnel Services in the Minisink Valley Central School District.

2003

Lori Kasprzak made a career change. After nearly six years in the mortgage/finance industry, Lori decided to move into the healthcare field. She is now working with Novant Health at a family practice doing registration and clerical work. She is very excited for the change.

2004

Nicky (Barsa) Germano is happily married with two sons; ages 6 and 3. She is an executive legal assistant at an Elder Care Law Firm.

Grads celebrate 15th anniversary of local practice

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hen Christian Plaza ’14 MSN ’18 MBA ’18 FNP-C co-founded Cross Valley Health & Medicine P.C. in 2007, he and his husband, founder Dr. Paul I. Saladino, M.D., established the mission of providing care for diverse Hudson Valley communities.

On their 15th anniversary, Plaza announced that the practice would be expanding its medical services beyond Orange County to deliver primary care and medical services in-person through telemedicine to New York State residents.

The Orange County Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting at their practice’s central location in Newburgh to commemorate this milestone, inviting members from Mount Saint Mary College, St. Luke’s Cornwall, Walden Savings Bank, the City of Newburgh, and Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union.

Over the years, the practice has also hosted an internship program that allows students to experience firsthand the daily operations of an independent multi-specialty telemedicine practice.

The program, supervised by Mark Olsen ’20 MBA ’21, Program Manager, accepted three Mount students this year.

Plaza, Dr. Saladino, and Olsen are thankful for the support received from patients and community members over the years, and are looking forward to continuing engagement with Hudson Valley residents and forging new relationships.

In 2018, Plaza was the only Mount student to earn two master’s degrees simultaneously, in between working full time at Cross Valley.

2006

Nicole (Knapp) Ey MSEd ’06, elementary school Principal of Ellenville, N.Y., was selected as the 2022 New York State Elementary Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

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Alumni Notes

Mary Bocskocsky

Colleen Zyla and co-hosts

Tara Simmons

Stephanie (Babcock) Sanders

Thomas Asfar Tara Simmons is grateful to Mount Saint Mary College for preparing her for her mission to spread awareness and to educate everyone on our fundamental human rights.

This summer, Tara will be making a 2,717 mile cross country run/bike trek from Death Valley, Calif. back to her hometown, Beacon, N.Y., all in the name of equality for all humans. Tara would love to work with other alumni to raise awareness about everyone’s human rights.

Gregg Weatherby has published a new book of poems, Before We Forget. You can purchase the book at Finishing Line Press.

2008

Colleen Zyla ’08 FNP ‘20 received her FNP from the Mount and has created a podcast called 4NPs Podcast with Oneida (Itero) Wands ’08 FNP ’18, Christina (Lee)

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McArdle ’08 FNP ‘19, and Alicia Sheppard ’08 FNP ‘21, all who met as undergrads at the Mount. They went on to complete their MSN as well. Their podcast is for NPs, nursing students, nurses, and anyone interested in the medical arts. Listen at 4NPsPodcast.com.

2015

Mary Bocskocsky recently received the honor of the Boca Raton Rotary Teacher of the Year. Mary states, “I credit all of my success as an educator to Mount Saint Mary College. The staff, the curriculum, and the fieldwork were pivotal pieces to my growth as a teacher. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to begin my journey in education at the Mount. Thank you MSMC!”

MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

Jennifer Hasbun

2016

Stephanie (Babcock) Sanders is a two-time graduate of Mount Saint Mary College! In 2016 Stephanie earned her BSN. Since 2016, Stephanie has been bedside nursing on a cardiac telemetry unit.

In 2018, Stephanie came back for her MSN degree in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Since graduating in May of 2022, Stephanie has continued bedside nursing while preparing to take her FNP boards. She is confident she will pass the boards and find her dream job in the outpatient setting.

2018

Jennifer (Gambuti) Volino passed the NCMHCE licensing exam for mental health counseling. She will be opening a private practice for psychotherapy.

2020

Jennifer Hasbun is currently working at CPL, an architectural, engineering, and planning firm, as the Internal Communications Specialist for their marketing team. Jennifer works with leadership, business partners, and internal teams to write and edit content that establishes organizational messages and keeps the team members apprised of big-picture developments.

2021

Thomas Asfar cannot wait to return as an alum and encourage more bright minds to flourish on this beautiful campus. Thank you, MSMC! Samantha Gangemi is currently an RN at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. She is a circulator in the main operating room.

In Memoriam Sr. Nora M. Foley OP ’65 passed away on April 9, 2022.

Sr. Maria M. Fontan RCD ’67 passed away on April 2, 2022.

Sr. Arlene Oswald OP ’67 passed away on January 4, 2020.

Gail (Hosking) Culver ’75 passed away on March 19, 2020.

Marriages Nicole Havrilla ’14 MBA ’17 and Stephan Sookdeo ’17 got married on November 19, 2021 at the Mount Saint Mary College Dominican Center’s Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary. The wedding party included Rachel McGinty ’14 MBA ’17, Karen Borst ’14, Sarah Favata ’14, Nicole (Aruilio) Giardina ’15 MBA ’16, Joe Certa ’17, Jesse Matuza ’17, Kevin Edger ’18, and Steve Juergensen ’17. Nicole and Stephen met while giving tours eight years ago. They loved their time at MSMC and formed many lifelong friendships.

Births

Albert Sutherland, husband of Nancy (Rust) Sutherland ’75, passed away on April 1, 2022.

Lesle (Schleinitz) Cercone ’79 passed away on May 14, 2022. Lesle is survived by her loving husband of 42 years, Louis Cercone ’77. She had three daughters, Stephanie, Kimberly, Angela, and seven grandchildren.

Richard D. Davie, Sr., husband of Carla (Bunch) Davie ’80, passed away on June 13, 2022.

Stacey (Mikulak) Wilson ‘05 welcomed a baby girl on February 4, 2022.

Jennifer (Gambuti) Volino ’18 welcomed her daughter, Natalie Anne, into the world on February 20, 2022.

Anne (Tompkins) Jarnagan ’75 passed away on November 25, 2021.

Erica Pingert Durfee ’87 passed away on January 6, 2021.

Philip A. Legare, Jr., father of Patrick Legare ’92, passed away on February 13, 2022.

Jennifer (Gambuti) Volino Robert W. Mayer, husband of Kathleen H. Mayer ’74 and father of Christine (Mayer) Hatzigeorgiou ’05, passed away on January 10, 2022.

SAVE THE DATE!

Patricia Vannoni, mother of Jeffery Vannoni ’94, passed away on December 23, 2021.

Vincent T. Baker, father of Christine Baker ’95, passed away on February 9, 2022.

ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND

September 23-25 MSMC.EDU/ALUMNIWEEKEND

Virginia Rigillo, mother of Tara (Rigillo) Koehler ’02 and mother-in-law to Michael Koehler ’02, passed away on March 13, 2022.

Carol K. Armstrong, mother of Michelle Armstrong Mullooly ’05, passed away on July 4, 2022.

David M. Johnson, longtime instructor of Sociology at the Mount, passed away on March 19, 2022.

www.msmc.edu

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Alumni finding success in Newburgh SHANNON ZAWISKI ’06

ALBERTO GILMAN ’19

Assisting those with disabilities

Reporting the news

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ixteen years ago, Shannon Zawiski ’06 began working at Independent Living, Inc. (ILI) in Newburgh, N.Y., a role she started just two days after graduating with her bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Psychology.

After several promotions and opportunities to grow, Zawiski (formerly Morris) is the Chief Operating Officer for ILI and Independent Home Care (IHC), community-based organizations that provide support and services to individuals with disabilities and their families.

“When I first started, I figured I would stay here for a few years until I got more experience,” said Zawiski.

“After a few months, I planned on staying until retirement. I have had the good fortune to be able to grow with the organization over the years.”

She added, “One thing that struck me during my first couple of weeks was something that our CEO, Doug Hovey, said — ‘Only 15 percent of individuals who have a disability were born with that disability. The remaining 85 percent acquired their disability.’ This really made me realize that anyone, at any time, could need our services.”

Before becoming an administrator, she worked with service recipients directly, assisting these individuals by identifying and executing plans to help them live as independently as possible.

“I worked with a young lady who did not have a very peaceful or safe living situation with her family,” Zawiski explained. “By working together and with other service providers, we were able to secure a new living situation. The situation was very complex and took time, but, in the end, it was worth it to see how much happier and healthier she is today.”

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Since assuming her current role in 2017, Zawiski has been overseeing the company’s 35-plus programs and services across seven counties and helping to create new ones. Most notably, she has been implementing electronic health records across both organizations, oftentimes entering previously handwritten documentation into these systems. Although a long and difficult process, it has allowed the organizations to be more efficient with documentation, reporting, billing, and monitoring.

Zawiski credits the Mount’s Career Center with preparing her for her various roles at ILI and IHC. As a student, she was connected to a pair of internships, which she found invaluable. These internships helped solidify that she wanted to work in human services.

Recently, Zawiski returned to her alma mater for the Women’s Leadership Forum, where she and other inspiring Mount alumnae who are making their mark in business, shared their experience with the next generation of students.

“In my career, I have been fortunate enough to have several women in the field who mentored me. I am always happy to have the opportunity to share that wisdom with others,” she said. “I was also eager to participate because women should be supporting other women to grow within their selected fields as much as possible.”

MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2022

When Alberto Gilman graduated with his Communications degree in 2019, he had no idea that his career would bring him back to Newburgh. Now, Gilman is a fulltime reporter for the Mid-Hudson Times, covering numerous community and municipal events and functions for the local publication.

Following the completion of his master’s degree in Journalism from Emerson College in Boston, Mass. in 2020, Gilman began working in retail while applying to several reporter positions. A year later, he was contacted by the Mid-Hudson Times to write several freelance stories before officially becoming a staff reporter a few months later. In his current position, he has written more than 200 news articles.

“Working as a journalist, here in the City of Newburgh, I sometimes say to myself, ‘I’m a steward of the story, and a student of the city,’” Gilman explained. “I believe that learning never stops and my hope is that my articles create communal interest, lead to discussions, and continue to highlight the communities I work in.”

Gilman credits much of his success to his alma mater, and in particular, to Regina Pappalardo, associate professor of Journalism.

“It was in her class that she tested my creativity, tested my writing, and gave me the necessary reporting tools to seek out noteworthy stories,” explained Gilman. “All of these experiences from the Mount have helped me develop and grow into the hardworking professional I am today.”

LOOKING BACK

In his own words

Much has been said of James Finn Cotter, an English scholar and professor, in the last six decades.

With his passing earlier this year, we look back on what the Mount legend said in his own words.

Mount Saint Mary College Archive

On his early days at MSMC

On teaching

“In the early days, we were really involved in setting up committee work with Dr. Whittaker,” the professor whom Whittaker Hall is named after, said Cotter. “We were hard at work establishing ourselves as a college that was fully committed to our mission of education.”

Of the Newburgh, N.Y. home where he lived for more than 50 years: “I had planned on just renting it,” Cotter explained.

“I enjoy teaching very much,” noted Cotter in 2014. “I like the students, and I have a lot who have signed up over the years who are not English majors. They are there because they want to write, and I am here because I want to teach.”

His feelings hadn’t changed upon his retirement in 2020: “Walking into a classroom had been as natural as eating, drinking, and breathing,” Cotter said. “The task is there before us, we are the readers and responders.

Without us, there would be no Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Donne, Keats, Hopkins, Dickinson, Frost, or Salinger. We keep them alive by being their audience, supporters, friends, and lovers. Each day is a new day, and each class has new faces and voices that will share their learning.”

On faith “Faith has been a great part of my experience here” at the Mount, Cotter once said.

“After my father’s death, I started to reexamine my own priorities and religion – that was in 1973 – I started to go to mass here every morning.”

www.msmc.edu

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Mount Saint Mary College 330 Powell Avenue Newburgh, NY 12550

o L ok up in

the sky...

It’s a bird! It’s a plane!

No, it’s Heather Adsit, wife of president Dr. Jason Adsit, skydiving in honor of the Mount’s annual Go Blue fundraiser hitting $80,000 in donations.

Go Blue lets you support what you love about the Mount.

Visit msmc.edu/GoBlue to give today.