COLLEGE NEWS
ARUN GANDHI DELIVERS DIVERSITY KEYNOTE Activist Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas Gandhi, delivered the keynote address at the Ninth Annual Diversity Convocation in February. In his presentation, Lessons Learned from Grandfather: Nonviolence in a Violent World, Arun Gandhi delivered a personal reflection on his grandfather and examined religious, political and ideological differences affecting global citizens. Arun Gandhi grew up in apartheid South Africa. As a young boy, Gandhi was beaten up by black youths for not being black and by white youths because he was not white. Filled with rage, he subscribed to Charles Atlas bodybuilding magazines so he would have the strength to fight back. During an 18-month stay with his grandfather, he witnessed his powerful philosophy of nonviolence which shaped the foundation of Arun Gandhi’s life. In 1991, Gandhi and his late wife, Sunanda, founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. It is located at the University of Rochester, New York. In 2007, he started the Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute to build educational and training centers for children living in extreme poverty. The Diversity Convocation was sponsored by the Ramapo College Board of Trustees, the Office of the President and the Diversity Action Committee. The Krame Center for Contemplative Studies and Mindful Living at Ramapo College was a co-sponsor of the visit.
U.S. VETERAN DISCUSSES AWARD-WINNING BOOK Phil Klay, author of Redeployment, discussed his writings at Ramapo College in January. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Klay served in Iraq’s Anbar Province as a public affairs officer. Redeployment takes readers to the front lines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The New York Times described it as “the best thing written so far on what the war did to people’s souls.” The New Yorker called it “…a masterly collection of short stories about war and its psychological consequences.” His book won the National Book Award for Fiction last year. In addition, the National Book Foundation listed Klay among its '5 Under 35' honorees in 2014. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. After his discharge from the military, Klay earned a master of fine arts from Hunter College and also attended New York University’s Veterans Writing Workshop. The Salameno School of Humanities and Global Studies sponsored Klay’s visit.
SAVE THE DATE Wednesday, March 25 | Alumni Lounges SC-136/137/138 Judson Brewer, director of research at the Center for Mindfulness UMass Medical School, will deliver two presentations at Ramapo College. The Neurology of Addiction will take place from 4 - 5:30 p.m. followed by How Mindfulness Can Help Change Habits And Live Happier, Healthier Lives from 7 - 8:30 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Krame Center for Contemplative Studies and Mindful Living at Ramapo College. For more information, visit www.ramapo.edu/kramecenter/community or email mindfulness@ramapo.edu
SOCIAL/POLITICAL WRITER SPEAKS AT RAMAPO Lola Adesioye, a prominent British political writer, commentator and activist, spoke at Ramapo College in February. In an address entitled Modern Black Britain and Its Parallels with the Contemporary Obama-Era African American Experience, she examined the experience of people of African descent in the United Kingdom with the African-American experience in the United States. The event was sponsored and funded by the Schomburg Visiting Scholar Program and coordinated by the African Ancestry Month Planning Committee. Adesioye discussed notions of race, the experience of black Britons in a shifting socio-political landscape and interactions with law enforcement and the justice system. She also met with students in two classes. Adesioye earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in social and political science from Cambridge University. Despite growing up in London, England, as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Adesioye always had an interest in African-American culture. At age 10, she read a book about the transatlantic slave trade, sparking her fascination with American history.
GRANTS AND AWARDS Several faculty members earned grants in 2014 to pursue their research efforts. Recipients included: • Professor of Computer Science Amruth Kumar, who won a $202,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. His project, Practicing the Process of Programming, develops software to improve student learning and outcomes in introductory computer science classes. • Associate Professor of Art History Meredith Davis and Steven Rice, dean of the Salameno School of Humanities and Global Studies, received a $179,000 grant to advance Ramapo's summer workshop for high school teachers, The Hudson River in the 19th Century and the Modernization of America. • The Charles Koch Foundation announced a $11,300 grant to Professor of Finance Murray Sabrin who will develop a documentary on the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid. He previously earned two grants from the same foundation to create documentaries and related programs on the federal income tax system and the 100-year anniversary of the Federal Reserve.
RAMAPO GARNERS NUMEROUS ACCOLADES Commerce Magazine recognized Ramapo College with one its 2014 Best Practice Awards. Ramapo was the only public college to earn the distinction for its innovative Strategic Planning Incentive Fund (SPIF). SPIF ensures that key initiatives are funded in each budget cycle. Ramapo Foundation Executive Director In addition, Ramapo College and Vice President of Institutional Advancement Cathleen Davey with received accolades from numerous Tracy Straka, executive vice president of ranking organizations in 2014. The Creamer Environmental, Inc. and member of the Environmental Business College was cited in US News and World Council of the Commerce & Industry Report in its Best Regional Universities Association of New Jersey North category for public institutions, listed by Affordable Colleges Online as one of top 10 New Jersey Colleges for return on investment, in Kiplinger’s 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, in Princeton Review.com’s Best Colleges Region by Region (Best in Northeast section) and in EducationQuest.com’s Public Ivy 2014-2015 list, among other publications. www.ramapo.edu
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