-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/1909/archive/files/2340067f31d9d2799ee3154707a3d56d.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=KY64tPNI-HqZFZLmOVgQk2ebVxcRQJx3ZUMT0IEflTfxzGEP15p-ap%7Ek5aCqORK46erzIOz4zhvzWkcx2WHI3v-5yWHjmESCA8It7QArVhB5GIB-tlXIuoBtKGni9Nj-Vj0zvuPZyZSzH4WfZn4wcy58YdYtAPIfZwQDFYOytiGXHQeg8eiX-QvxWk7nBmyPwqDInZPB12b8JovTGcVQpwPmqfr21xNW9Ez1EiTZnYk3yeztej6LoihNGxZLV7Ss7HZb0evkPdfow780SeSYaBOST-j19ELGiAzJtKCU9R1n2t9I3lVucc-hX3JG61Z3yZPgx7aP82xvkb9uSUj7oQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
d4312691646bc330c8fa5ab9f2d57ed2
PDF Text
Text
F A L L 2 0 17
Shuttle Stories
Conversations with Wagner commuters
Page 22
�Contents
Wagner Magazine Fall 2017
VO L . 1 5 ,
F E AT U R E S
NO.1
12
D E PART M E NT S
2
From the President
3
From the Editor
4
From Our Readers
5
Upon the Hill
30 Alumni Link
35 Class Notes
42 In Memoriam
44 Reflections
PHOTOGRAPH: VINNIE AMESSÉ
The Right Notes
at the Right Time
After decades of playing with the
stars and nurturing talent, jazz master
Paul West ’58 is still in the groove.
�18
(Ad)Dressing
Wonder Woman
Elizabeth Doyle ’17 and Professor
Sarah Donovan reveal what philosophers
see when they look at pop culture.
22
Shuttle Stories
During 12 hours on the Wagner ferry
shuttle, you have conversations with all
kinds of commuters.
Warm-Up
Before the Homecoming game on
October 14, the Seahawk Marching
Band plays while the Homecoming
Court lines up. It was the prelude to
a long, wild night of football: Only
after four overtimes did Central
Connecticut edge the Seahawks, 51–45.
�From the President
Supporting Students, No Strings Attached
THIS SUMMER,
New
York began offering
a new scholarship for
state universities. Its
creation generated lots
of news coverage, both
good and bad. Those
stories made me think
about the extraordinary
levels of support we offer to Wagner College students
— much of it made possible by the generosity of
previous generations of students. A couple of stories
in this issue of Wagner Magazine highlight some of
those acts of generosity, including the incredible
support of the late Don Spiro ’49 H’88, who helped
turn Wagner around in its darkest hour; and the gift
of Maureen Robinson ’67 H’03 that has endowed a
faculty chair, enhancing the richness of the Wagner
educational experience.
More than 90 percent of Wagner College
students receive financial aid, which may take the
form of direct Wagner scholarships; federal grants,
guaranteed loans or work-study support; and Tuition
Assistance Program aid for New York residents.
Our student aid can be applied to the full range of
the costs of attending college: tuition, books, room
and board. To maintain their merit awards from
the College, students must maintain good academic
standing. That’s all.
New York state’s new scholarship program is billed
as a “free college” plan, which is a truly admirable goal.
Unfortunately, the Excelsior Scholarship (as it’s called)
has several shortcomings that severely limit its utility:
• It only covers tuition — which, at New York
state-supported universities, is only a third of the
cost of attending college. It doesn’t apply to books,
fees, room and board. That means the Excelsior
Scholarship doesn’t help students overcome
their biggest financial barriers.
• It applies only to state-supported
universities — even though private
colleges produce more than half of all
bachelor’s degrees in New York, thus
saving the state’s taxpayers $18,000 a
year per student.
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
• To qualify for
“�I am proud of the
the Excelsior
generous support we
Scholarship,
receive from our former
students must
maintain a
students, making possible
15-credit-hour
the grants and scholarships
load (federal
that enable today’s students
standards
to earn their degrees. ”
define full-time
enrollment as
12 hours per semester), and they must be on track
to graduate in four years — making everyone who
needs to work full-time and attend college parttime ineligible for support.
• Students who receive an Excelsior Scholarship
must sign a contract agreeing to live and work in
New York state for as many years as they received
a tuition award. If they don’t, all of the money
they received as tuition grants becomes a loan that
must be repaid.
All of these factors make me all the more proud
of the generous support we receive from our former
students, making possible the grants and scholarships
that enable today’s students to earn their degrees —
without strings.
Richard Guarasci
President
�E
From the Editor
Taking Time for Stories
ver since I came to work at Wagner, in
January 2007, the ferry shuttle service has
been integral to campus life, offering nearly
round-the-clock transportation between the
campus and the Staten Island ferry terminal.
I myself have taken it often, whether on
Wagner business or for after-work outings.
For a long time, I have thought that a day on
the shuttle would be a good way to generate
a story for Wagner Magazine. You just never
know whom you might meet, and I’ve often
had interesting conversations with my fellow
riders during these 10-minute trips. This
fall, I finally picked a day and did it; see the
results starting on page 22.
Here, I’d like to share a little more about
the drivers. Most of them are retirees from
government agencies, people who devoted
their careers to public service of various
kinds. In general, they aren’t chatty; they
keep their eyes on the road and make sure
everyone has a safe trip. But, they all have
stories, and I was fortunate to hear some of
them during my day on the shuttle.
On one ride where I was the only passenger,
I took the opportunity to chat with shuttle
driver Mario Colasuonno, a retiree of the U.S.
Postal Service. I asked, “What do you prefer,
letter carrying or driving the Wagner shuttle?”
He laughed. “You know what, I had a good time
being a letter carrier. I enjoyed it,” he told me.
He reminisced about walking his route in
Brooklyn, picking up the mail to be delivered
Fall 2017 • Volume 15 Number 1
Laura Barlament
EDITOR
Natalie Nguyen
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Writers
Laura Barlament
Andrew Keating
Lee Manchester
Stephanie Rollizo
Photographers
from the green relay boxes on the street
corners. When he came to Staten Island in the
late 1970s, he drove a Ford Pinto to deliver
the mail. (Those vehicles didn’t work very well,
he said. “How small were those? Very small.”)
“Being a letter carrier, you get to meet all
sorts of people,” he mused. “The beauty in
my eyes — it’s almost corny — you get to
know them and they get to know you. ‘Come
on in!’ Christmastime, Thanksgiving, New
Year’s, you know, ‘Sit down and have a meal.’”
I appreciated the opportunity this
story gave me to get to know the Wagner
community. Like Mario, I’m glad I have a job
where I meet all sorts of people. It is, indeed,
beautiful to listen to others’ stories, sharing in
the banquet of life.
Laura Barlament
Editor, Wagner Magazine
Vinnie Amessé
Pete Byron
Deborah Feingold
Jonathan Harkel
Anna Mulé
Illustration
Keith Negley
Production Manager
Donna Sinagra
Editorial Assistant
Evan Chrust ’20
Wagner Magazine
Advisory Board
Lisa DeRespino Bennett ’85
Susan Bernardo
Jack Irving ’69
Scott Lewers ’97
Lorraine McNeill-Popper ’78
Brian Morris ’65
Hank Murphy ’63 M’69
Andy Needle
Nick Richardson
Wagner Magazine:
The Link for Alumni and Friends
is published twice a year by Wagner’s
Office of Communications and Marketing.
On the Cover
Wagner Magazine
Wagner College
One Campus Road
Staten Island, NY 10301
718-390-3147
laura.barlament@wagner.edu
wagner.edu/wagnermagazine
The Staten Island ferry Guy V. Molinari comes in to dock at
the St. George terminal on September 28. The boat is named for
the class of 1949 Wagner College graduate who served as a U.S.
congressman and Staten Island borough president.
P H O T O G R A P H : P E T E BY RO N
F A L L 2 0 1 7
wagner.edu
�From Our Readers
“Received my copy last week. Great
reminiscences of a wonderful college
experience — being a Wagner College
Choir member. Thanks for producing
this.” — Judith E. Hatke ’60
“
[Wagner] has been
for me many years of
‘Beautiful Upon a Hill’
and still is in my heart.
“Thank you for bringing so much
of our individual experience together
in one place. Our separate stories
and memories take on a whole new
significance being brought together
so well as your book does.”
— Gene F. Barfield ’76
”
Here I Am
Greetings, Wagner! I am a graduate
of the class of 1948. It was the largest
graduating class in Wagner’s history
up to that point. Dr. Langsam was
president, Dr. John Bacher was dean,
and Dr. Deal was head of the biology
department (my major).
Since 1948, with the return of so
many World War II veterans, Wagner
Memorial Lutheran College grew in so
many ways. Now it’s Wagner College,
with an excellent reputation of which I
am very proud.
After graduating magna cum laude,
I married Dr. Robert Dole ’49 and
lived in Rochester, New York, while
he was in med school. Meanwhile,
I worked in the medical research
department laboratory in hematology.
Post-med school training was at
Yale, New Haven, Connecticut,
where he became a pediatrician and I
continued motherhood. We settled in
Cleveland, Ohio, and for me the years
were spent bringing up four sons, all
Hardcover copies
of this print-ondemand book may be
ordered for $27.97
at www.lulu.com/
wagnercollegehistory. It also
provides a link to a free pdf of the book.
of whom became Eagle Scouts and are
doing well in their various fields.
So here I am, 91 years old and still
“functioning.” I just wanted Wagner
to know how much I appreciate being
able to graduate with a scholarship
from Wagner and to live a full life.
… It has been for me many years of
“Beautiful Upon a Hill” and still is in
my heart.
WAGNER PLAN
GRADS:
WE WANT TO
HEAR FROM YOU
Nieves Ribes Dole ’48
Willoughby Hills, Ohio
We Found Our
Voice: The Book
A Facebook announcement of the
publication of We Found Our Voice: A
History of the Wagner College Choir by
Laura Barlament elicited these responses.
“I sang from 1976 to 1979, including
a fantastic tour throughout Germany!
Dr. Arnold Running was our esteemed
director! Great memories!”
— Dan Couture ’80
Do you know what LC
and RFT mean? If you do, you are a
Wagner Plan student. In 2018, we will
celebrate the 20th anniversary of the
Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal
Arts, the groundbreaking curriculum
that has defined the undergraduate
academic experience since 1998.
Graduates of 2002–2017, we want
to hear from you! What are you up
to today? How has the Wagner Plan
influenced your life? Please write to
laura.barlament@wagner.edu or call
718-390-3147.
WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU We welcome letters from readers. Letters
Laura Barlament, Editor
should refer to material published in the magazine and include the
writer’s full name, address, and telephone number. The editor reserves
the right to determine the suitability of letters for publication and to edit
them for accuracy and length.
Office of Communications, Wagner College
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
One Campus Road, Staten Island, NY 10301
laura.barlament@wagner.edu
�PAGE TURNERS “The girls were excited. As soon as they learned we were creating a library, they were interested,” says Ayoub.
A Place to Think
A Wagner student opens a library for girls in her
home country, Afghanistan
has already been on an
extraordinary journey in her young life as an Afghan woman.
With her help, many more will follow.
Ayoub was born in Bamyan, Afghanistan, and was raised
in that mountainous regional capital and in the national
capital, Kabul.
The third-youngest child of nine siblings, she showed
great academic aptitude in school. Her mother had received
little education, and she promoted her daughter’s desire to
learn. The family moved to Kabul so that she could receive
more opportunities, such as attending an English academy.
Yet there were limits to what her family could give her.
Her school, Sayed Shuhada High School, was overcrowded,
with a 50:1 student-to-teacher ratio. It had neither
computers for the students nor a library for the girls. (Girls
and boys are educated separately in Afghan public schools.)
Ayoub wanted to study abroad. She found out about the
Afghan Girls Financial Assistance Fund, an American non-profit
that helps young Afghan women pursue an education in the
U.S. It supports those who want to return to their home country,
work for gender equality, and improve life in Afghanistan.
AGFAF made it possible for Ayoub to attend high school
in Virginia. An aspiring physician, she became interested
in Wagner College. “Wagner stood out to me because of its
strong programs in the sciences,” she says. “I wanted to go to
a small college where my professors would know me. And I
love New York, of course!”
QAMAR MOHAMMAD AYOUB
Wagner awarded Ayoub a scholarship.
AGFAF supplies other essential expenses,
such as books, health insurance, and the
cost of traveling home during summer break.
“I’m not seeking to live my whole
life here, but to have a safe place for my
education and then to return to my country to make change
there. Afghanistan needs me,” Ayoub says.
This past summer, Ayoub started her mission of making
positive change in Afghanistan: She opened a library for the
girls of Sayed Shuhada High School.
While AGFAF provided funds, Ayoub worked with school
and government officials, obtained permits, and contracted
with carpenters and electricians. AGFAF board member Joe
Highland mentored her through this process.
“Girls’ schooling in Afghanistan traditionally is, ‘Sit down,
listen, and write down what I say,’” says Highland. “We are
trying to create a culture where girls read, ask questions, and
discuss what they read.”
The library was created by enclosing a balcony within the
school. The 500-square-foot space is filled with 1,000 books.
Ayoub named the library Andeshagah, a Farsi word that
means “a place to think or contemplate.”
Two local Afghan college students staff the library. In
addition to lending books, it offers a book club, a public
speaking class, and a photography class.
“The library operates as a center for opportunities beyond
what these girls usually get,” Highland says. “It’s life-changing.”
You can follow Andeshagah Library on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/Adeshagah.Library and learn more
about AGFAF and www.agfaf.org.
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�Upon the Hill
{
First the
Facts . . .
300
37
number of steps required to walk
a well-known campus pathway
number of trees that line
this pathway
PAYING TRIBUTE The choir, conducted by Roger Wesby; student-athletes and nurses holding candles; President Guarasci speaking.
He Decided
to Make a
Difference
The many facets of
the late Dr. Donald
W. Spiro ’49 H’88
shone at campus
memorial service
to Dr. Donald W. Spiro ’49
H’88, chairman emeritus and lifetime member of the Board
of Trustees, at a memorial service on October 13.
Spiro died on July 30 at age 91. He was one of the
College’s most generous donors and a key player in its success.
“In the 1980s and ’90s, he was determined that this
College would not fail,” said President Guarasci. “And not
only that, he was determined that this College would aspire
to excellence.”
A Staten Island native, Donald Spiro served his country
in World War II and then studied business administration
at Wagner, choosing it over Princeton. He managed his
family’s business, Capitol Market, a butcher shop and
purveyor of marine institutional food, before beginning a
brilliant career on Wall Street. After a couple of years with
the Dreyfus Corporation, he began his 37-year career with
WAGNER COLLEGE PAID TRIBUTE
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
Oppenheimer Management Corporation. He started as a
fund representative. After three years, he was named vice
president for sales. In 1968, he was promoted to general
partner. From 1985 to 1991, he served as chairman of
Oppenheimer Management Corporation, and was named
chairman emeritus upon stepping down.
During the memorial service, Norman Smith, Wagner’s
president from 1988 to 2001, recalled that critical moment
in 1988 when Spiro stepped in to raise millions of dollars
in emergency funds that would keep the College open.
“Wagner College would not be here without Don Spiro,”
Smith said. Spiro was elected to the Board of Trustees in
1974 and became chairman in 1989. Not only did he give
of his own means, but he also recruited other key Wagner
alumni to contribute and serve as trustees.
Two of those trustees, Dr. Robert C. O’Brien ’66 H’95 and
Dr. John H. Myers ’67 H’02, spoke about Spiro’s business
leadership as well as his instrumental role at Wagner.
Myers, the former president and CEO of GE Asset
Management, hailed Spiro as a marketing genius, a leader
in corporate governance and ethics, a financial products
innovator, and a pioneer in hiring women.
“Wagner was very fortunate to have a man like Don Spiro
who decided to make a difference here on Grymes Hill,”
Myers said. “The legacy he has left at Wagner will live on.”
The names of Donald Spiro and of his wife and college
sweetheart, Dr. Evelyn Lindfors Spiro ’49 H’92, mark many key
buildings and programs on campus. Their daughter Kimberly
�∕10
1
of a mile is the
pathway’s length
Which campus feature, surrounded
by a pathway, is named for the man
who selected Wagner’s location 100
years ago this fall? Answer on Page 11
. . . Then
the Quiz!
}
SHARING MEMORIES Kimberly Spiro, daughter of Don and Evelyn Spiro (portraits on far left and right); Dr. John H. Myers ’67 H’02.
Spiro, a current Wagner trustee, explained that “every building
has a dream and a meaning.” She spoke of Donald and Evelyn’s
deep devotion, which inspired their many gifts.
Donald Spiro believed in promoting students’ access to
technology and athletic excellence, leading him to fund the
College’s first computer lab in the Spiro Communications
Center and a major expansion of the Sutter Gymnasium
into the Spiro Sports Center. His gifts to the health
professions at Wagner were motivated by his love for Evelyn,
a nursing graduate. In 2005, Wagner opened the Evelyn
Lindfors Spiro Nursing Resource Center. In 2006, Wagner’s
department of nursing was named the Evelyn L. Spiro
School of Nursing. In addition, the Spiros funded a summer
internship program for Wagner’s nursing and biology
students at the hospital and biomedical laboratories of Johns
Hopkins University.
Dozens of nursing students and student-athletes attended
the memorial service, and the Wagner College Choir
provided the music. Another speaker at the service was
the Rev. Sarah Barnes ’11, recipient of the Dr. Donald W.
Spiro Award for Outstanding Academic and Co-Curricular
Achievements, the top student honor awarded each year to a
senior at commencement.
Evidence of Excellence
Annual college guides continue to rank Wagner at the top of the class
• For the 19th year in a row, Wagner was ranked in the Top 25 percent of northern regional universities in the
U.S. News & World Report 2018 Best Colleges guide. Wagner was also ranked as a best value college.
• Wagner was named one of America’s best colleges in the 2018 edition of the Princeton Review’s Best 382 Colleges
guide. Special kudos went to the Wagner College Theatre program, which was ranked No. 4 in the nation. WCT
has been on this list for more than a decade.
• For the fifth year in a row, Wagner appeared on the Forbes America’s Top Colleges list. Forbes emphasizes “the direct
benefits a college or university provides its students,” looking at criteria like graduation rates and alumni salaries.
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�Upon the Hill
{
Quote
Unquote
“Luther believed our work is a
way of glorifying God, of serving
God, and all vocations and forms
of work in the world are equal.”
LASTING LEGACY The Martin Luther monument in Dresden, Germany,
south of Wittenberg, is one of many markers of the religious reformer’s
historic significance.
Reflecting on
the Reformation
Wagner devotes a day to Martin Luther’s legacy
a non-sectarian college for decades.
But, like many American colleges, it was founded with a
religious purpose — in Wagner’s case, it was founded by
Lutherans to educate pastors. Although it soon embraced
a broader educational purpose, for 76 of the College’s 134
years, “Lutheran” was part of its name (Wagner Memorial
Lutheran College until 1952, Wagner Lutheran College until
1959). Scores of alumni are Lutheran pastors and Lutheran
church members.
That history, plus the overwhelming historical importance
of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, impelled
Wagner’s faculty to offer a full-day symposium this fall on the
Reformation’s 500th anniversary and Martin Luther’s legacy.
The symposium organizers were Alison Smith, professor
of history; Rita Reynolds, associate professor and chair of
the history department; and Kristen Whitaker, department
secretary.
WAGNER HAS BEEN
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
}
Walter Kaelber, Robinson Family
Chair of Comparative Religion
Reflecting on the Reformation
Symposium, Oct. 23
In October 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther
nailed 95 theses, outlining his arguments against certain
practices of the Roman Catholic Church, to a church door in
Wittenberg, Germany. So the story goes, at least. Introducing
the symposium, Provost Lily McNair pointed out that the
exact details are uncertain.
“Last night, we had a very interesting conversation about
whether or not Martin Luther actually nailed his 95 theses
on the Wittenberg church door,” McNair said. “There is
abundant evidence, both for and against. What is certain
is that on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther mailed the 95
theses to the archbishop of Mainz.” Thus, he unleashed a
series of events that led to the Protestant Reformation.
The Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, a Wagner trustee and bishop
of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, introduced the two guest
scholars who spoke: Joy Schroeder, Bergener Chair of
Theology and Religion at Capital University and Trinity
Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio; and Anthony
Bateza, assistant professor of religion at St. Olaf College in
Northfield, Minnesota.
Most of the speakers during the day-long event were
Wagner faculty: six professors representing the departments
of history, English, religion, and art history. In addition,
Wagner’s chaplain, the Rev. Martin Malzahn, and a
visiting Fulbright professor, Kamil Wielecki, added to the
conversation.
The many-faceted discussion addressed questions such
as Luther’s theology and the influence of Luther and the
Protestant worldview on science and art, as well as such
vexing issues as Luther’s anti-Semitism and racism in
Protestant churches.
At the symposium’s end, Bishop Rimbo summarized
the best and the worst of the Lutheran heritage in today’s
Lutheran world.
“The worst thing we can do,” Rimbo concluded, “is
look backward, and the best thing we can do is ask, ‘How
can our commitment to unity in Christ, and how can our
commitment to unity with other faiths shape our life in the
next 500 years?’ The days of denominations are over. We
need to take the pieces that are life-giving and fruitful for us
today. Other pieces will need to be left behind.”
�WHAT’S INSIDE
The Printmaking Studio
has been teaching printmaking at Wagner
since 1984, in the studio located in Parker Hall’s basement. Murphy is wellknown for his own etchings and lithography. Here, he shares his expertise
in drypoint etching, a style of intaglio printmaking, with students.
BILL MURPHY, PROFESSOR OF ART,
5 �Mckenzie
Kupres ’18 reveals her final print. An arts administration major, she is also president of the Wagner Choir. Last spring, she
went on the choir tour in Spain and captured this image of the palm trees at sunrise in Malaga, on the country’s southern coast.
5
4
4 �The
inked plate is placed on the press bed and covered with
dampened paper. The hand-cranked press applies an even pressure
that transfers the ink from plate to paper. This press is about 50
years old and was made by Charles Brand, a famous manufacturer.
3
3 �Ink
is added to the plate. It sits in the lines and on the raised edges,
or burrs. Burrs are unique to dry point etching and come from the
act of scratching lines directly into the plate.
2 �Joanna
Catalano ’18 is a theater design, technology, and management major and
an art minor. “It just came to me,” she says of her design. “I draw faces a lot. I like
how the print turned out. I like how it makes my style look nostalgic. I usually
use color. I love color. But this class is making me like black and white more.”
print starts with a metal plate. The students bring a drawing or
other image scaled to the size of the plate, and Murphy shows them
how to transfer it to the plate using a tool called a scribe.
2
1 �The
P H O T O G R A P H : J O N AT H A N H A R K E L
1
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�Upon the Hill
{
Quote
Unquote
“During pregnancy, women’s experiences
affect the fetus and shape their babies’
future brain/behavior development.”
Catherine Monk,
Professor of Medical
Psychology, Columbia
University
Kaufman-Repage
Lecture, Oct. 11
}
class, given by Lutheran
ministers, was an eyeopening course on religious
diversity,” she says. “It has
stayed with me and guided
me all my life, enhancing
my understanding of history,
of cultures, of my students
and even in my travels.”
Kaelber, who has taught
at Wagner since 1972,
emphasizes the value that
studying religion has for
today’s students.
SEAHAWK STALWART Dr. Maureen L. Robinson ’67 H’03 celebrated her 50th graduation anniversary this year at
When he went to
Wagner Reunion with fellow cheerleaders Linda Cathers Schueler ’69 and Sharon Kaplan Luchow ’67.
graduate school at the
University of Chicago in
the 1960s to study under
the renowned scholar Mircea Eliade, interest in Eastern
religions was reaching a cultural peak as a personal quest
for many young people. Over the past 50 years, the world
has changed greatly, but the need for education in world
New endowed chair boosts the study
religions has gained even more importance.
of world religions at Wagner
“What enables people to get along with each other and
understand each other has nothing to do with technology,”
WALTER KAELBER, PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES, was
says Kaelber. “How do we understand people with different
named this fall to the new Robinson Family Chair of
beliefs? How do you work with people from other cultures?
Comparative Religion.
How do we reduce misunderstandings? The world is much
This named chair — the first in the humanities at
smaller. The study of religion is a means of bringing people
Wagner — is a gift of Dr. Maureen L. Robinson ’67 H’03,
together in mutual understanding.”
a longtime supporter and trustee. The chair is supported
Wagner offers a minor in religious studies, and all students
by an endowment, which will allow the College to fund it in
must take courses in the humanities and international
perpetuity.
perspectives as part of their general education. Kaelber’s
A Wagner English major, Robinson spent her career
courses this fall include Spiritual Quest in Literature, which
teaching English at Curtis High School in Staten Island.
examines religious questions in fiction; Hinduism and
“A great and dedicated faculty is the very heart of important
Buddhism; and Death and Beyond, a cross-cultural study of
educational institutions,” she says. “When I look back at my
beliefs and practices regarding death and the afterlife.
undergraduate years, it was my professors who pushed me to
While the Robinson Family Chair is the first to support
keep reading and analyzing the world around me.”
the humanities, the Megerle family established the Martha
For the past dozen years, Robinson has annually funded
Megerle and Eugen E. Megerle Chairs in the Sciences in
a grant to support the scholarly pursuits of junior faculty
2011. The Megerle Chairs rotate every two years among
in the humanities. The new endowed chair in comparative
the faculty in biology, chemistry, microbiology, physics, and
religion, she says, is a logical outgrowth of that program.
anthropology. Faculty in those areas apply for these funded
Robinson adds that studying religion at Wagner was
positions in support of their research.
extremely valuable for her personally. “The required religion
A Fund for Mutual
Understanding
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
�{
The
Answer
Quiz Question
on Page 7
The Sutter Oval is named
for the Rev. Frederic Sutter.
Read the full story on page 29.
Foiled Again
A seabird scientist coaches
Seahawk saber
AS AN ORNITHOLOGICAL PROFESSIONAL,
Professor Brian Palestis says, “Seahawks
are not real birds.”
But when it comes to the new Seahawk
fencing team, he’s all in.
Palestis is a professor of biological
sciences at Wagner. His specialties are
animal behavior, ecology, and evolutionary
biology; he focuses on birds and has
published many studies about terns. His
research also touches on sports science.
Palestis is also an expert in the sport of
fencing. Last year, when Wagner added
women’s fencing to its roster of NCAA
athletic teams, he started coaching the team
as a volunteer. His specialty is the saber.
(Fencing includes three events: saber, foil,
and epee, each of which has its own set of
rules and techniques.)
Palestis began fencing during his
freshman year at Pompton Lakes High
School in New Jersey. He was an all-around
athlete, competing in several sports and
playing football through his junior year of
high school.
}
During his senior year, he increased
his focus on saber and earned a spot on
Princeton’s fencing team. He was a four-year
starter and two-time Honorable Mention
All-American for a team that won Ivy
League titles in 1994 and 1995 and placed
fourth at the 1994 NCAA championship.
(His brother, Paul Palestis, a member
of New York University’s fencing team,
won the 1995 NCAA national individual
championship in saber.)
For years, Palestis has coached and
refereed for New Jersey private fencing
clubs. Now, he works three hours a week
with the Wagner fencers on their saber skills.
Last year, Palestis and Head Coach
Fatima Largaespada coached a few studentathletes who came to fencing from other
sports. This year, they have a full team
that includes three experienced freshman
recruits. They also gained another assistant
coach, Olivia Wynn, a Temple University
fencing alumna.
The season started in November, and the
team has won two meets so far, defeating
Queens College at the Vassar Invitational
and Yeshiva University at the LIU Post
Invitational.
It seems the ornithologist-coach took to
the Seahawks like a duck to water.
DR. COACH Brian Palestis, professor of
biological sciences, coaches the saber event
for Wagner’s new women’s fencing team.
Theatre performance majors Danielle Allen
’18 and Emily Upton ’20 perform in Trifles.
Theater’s Workshop
Wagner College Theatre is giving
students the opportunity this year to be
a part of creating new stage plays — and
audiences the chance to watch theaterin-the-making — through its New Works
Agenda. This series is being produced in
Stage One, the black-box theater located
behind the Wagner football field.
“We’re interested in working with
students on new plays and musical
theater works that have been unknown
to the actors,” says Professor Theresa
McCarthy, who is spearheading the New
Works Agenda. “We want to give them
the opportunity to create a role that has
no precedent for them to emulate.”
This fall, the workshop series
featured the one-act play Trifles by
pioneering feminist writer Susan Glaspell
(1876–1948) and the musical Small Town
Story, with book and lyrics by Sammy
Buck and music and lyrics by Brandon
James Gwinn.
In the spring, McCarthy will direct
The Mouth Pieces (April 6–8), an
evening of three one-act musicals by
two contemporary theater artists, Sophia
Chapadjiev (lyrics) and Allison LeytonBrown (music).
The student actors will learn these
pieces during an abbreviated rehearsal
process, mirroring how new musicals
are created and “workshopped” in the
professional theater world. “This is a
crucial opportunity for the students to
process the material much more quickly
than they are accustomed to do, while
maintaining the same level of attention
to detail in order to prepare for their
performance,” says McCarthy.
And, who knows? Today’s workshop
could result in tomorrow’s Broadway hit.
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�After decades of playing with
the stars and nurturing talent,
jazz master Paul West ’58
is still in the groove
the
right
notesat
the right
time
BY DAVID
MCKAY
WILSON
�w
HEN JAZZ BASSIST
Paul West ’58 arrived at
Wagner College in the fall
of 1954, he was a very busy man, with
what seemed like an attainable goal.
Years before he would play with
Dizzy Gillespie or Carmen McRae,
and 63 years before his latest
recording was released this fall, West
wanted to major in music education,
intent on launching a teaching career
in New York City’s public schools.
That would provide the financial
security to raise a family, and evenings
free to pursue his artistic dreams in
the world of jazz.
He arrived on Grymes Hill with a
basketball scholarship, courtesy of the
connection he made with Coach Herb
Sutter through his brother, Lonnie
West ’58, one of Wagner’s all-time
basketball greats.
West had a full-time job for three
months during his freshman year,
playing four sets nightly with a quartet at
a Harlem club called The Baby Grand.
“I’d play until 4 a.m., take the
subway to the ferry, get to Wagner,
and nap in my brother’s dorm room,”
recalls West, a trim octogenarian who
lives with his wife, Mariko, in an 11thfloor Bronx apartment that overlooks
the Hudson River. “I’d have classes
from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., then go to
basketball practice at 3. I’d squeeze in
some homework, and then it was back
up to Harlem to play.”
He juggled his way through two
years at Wagner. But in September
1956, as he prepared for his junior
year, the telephone rang.
It was Dizzy Gillespie, the bebop
trumpet virtuoso who was going on
the road with his big band.
Was Paul West, the 22-year-old
classically trained violinist, who first
picked up the bass in his senior year
of high school, available? Would
he join the band with 18-year-old
trumpet wunderkind Lee Morgan?
The decision came quickly.
“Dizzy was the king,” says West.
PHOTOGRAPHS: DEBORAH FEINGOLD
He had a plan. He’d take a leave
from Wagner, tour with Dizzy, resume
his studies, and land that teaching job
in a few years.
“I knew that the life of a musician
did not necessarily mean steady
employment,” he says. “Sure,
musicians can make money, but you
are always traveling, and the money’s
not reliable for a family.”
West’s life didn’t go exactly according
to his plan. It took West until 2001
to finally obtain his Wagner diploma.
Nevertheless, he enjoyed a top-flight
career in performance and music
education, just as he’d contemplated
in the early 1950s. He performed with
the icons of 20th-century jazz and
emerged as a stalwart in New York’s
music education community.
JAZZ
ROYALTY
WEST HAS ACCOMPANIED A
pantheon of jazz luminaries. There
were the singers: Billie Holiday,
Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington,
Betty Carter, and Abbey Lincoln.
There were the pianists: Randy
Weston, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny
Barron, and Erroll Garner. And there
were the band leaders: Lester Young,
Milt Jackson, and Max Roach.
Jazz singers in particular wanted
West backing them.
“You are there to support the artist,
not to demonstrate how capable you
are, playing all over the instrument
with a lot of notes,” he says. “You need
to play the right notes, at the right
time, to the right beat. You need to
support the singer, both harmonically
and rhythmically.”
He was a music educator too,
though he never received his
teaching certificate. Instead, he
was an arts administrator, serving
as executive director of New York
City’s Jazzmobile program from 1969
to 1973. That’s when he befriended
Mayor John Lindsay, who believed in
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�the power of music to transform lives
and build communities.
In 1973, he took charge as director
of the Henry Street Settlement
Music School in Manhattan’s Lower
East Side. Until 2000, he created the
programs and atmosphere to educate a
generation of New York musicians.
No college diploma was required to
work at the school, part of the Henry
Street Settlement non-profit, founded
in 1893. It provides a wide range of
social services to more than 60,000
New Yorkers each year.
“It ended up working out better
for me,” says West. “I became an
administrator of the arts. I wasn’t a
teacher. I hired them.”
At Henry Street, West developed
programs in jazz, opera, choral, and
symphonic music. He produced
fundraising events as well, which featured
some of the jazz world’s top artists.
West, who had produced almost 300
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
concerts at Jazzmobile, had a tendency
to dream big. In the early 1980s,
Henry Street built the Louis Abrons
Arts for Living Center, a facility for its
multi-disciplinary programs in music,
dance, theater, and the visual arts. But
it didn’t have the budget to operate it.
West suggested bringing jazz royalty
to Lincoln Center to raise operating
funds for the facility.
He laid out his vision to the Henry
Street board for a benefit concert at
Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center
for the Performing Arts. West would
conduct the Henry Street Orchestra,
featuring singer Carmen McRae. Then
Tony Bennett would sing with the
Count Basie Orchestra.
“Some people doubted I could do it,
but the board backed me, and we filled
Lincoln Center,” says West, pointing to
the concert’s poster, which hangs in his
Riverdale living room. “We received
millions in publicity and awareness.
That concert was the pinnacle.”
At Henry Street, he met jazz
pianist Randy Weston, the composer,
educator, and band leader who melded
African rhythms with Western jazz.
Weston needed rehearsal space for
his band. West found a practice room
for him at Henry Street. Weston later
called on West to conduct orchestras
in Manhattan and Montreal.
Last fall, West participated in
Weston’s jazz history program at
Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.
“Paul has a wonderful touch as a
conductor,” says Weston. “He’s very
calm, and knows the feelings of the
jazz musicians.”
Now 83, West has outlived many
of his contemporaries, several of
whom succumbed to alcoholism or
substance abuse. West, the son of a
Wagner-educated Lutheran minister,
credits his Harlem upbringing for
keeping him on the straight-and-narrow.
�“I was a strong-minded Christian,”
says West. “I knew my limitations.
Thank God I was able to repel a lot
of activity that surrounded me. I had
my family strength. I had to be strong
enough to keep away from it, and I did.
Here I am, I’m 83, and I’m still playing.”
THE STANDARDS,
REVISITED
THIS FALL, WEST HAS BEEN
in demand on bandstands around the
New York metropolitan area, riding
the wave following the release of the
Mike Longo Trio’s album, Only Time
Will Tell. Longo and West go back to
the early 1960s, when they played at
the Playboy Club on East 59th Street.
In September, Longo and West
performed as a duo at Mezzrow in
Greenwich Village. Two weeks later,
they played at the Louis Armstrong
House Museum in Queens. By
month’s end, they were at Maureen’s
Jazz Cellar in Nyack, interpreting
some of the same standards they
played more than five decades ago,
like Jerome Kern’s 1930s ballad,
“Yesterdays.”
“What I like about Paul is his bass
line, his musicality, and his taste,” says
Longo. “He plays so tastefully. And
he’s got one of the swinging-est grooves
around.”
On stage at Maureen’s, West perches
on a stool, his argyle socks showing
above his shoes, which tap to keep the
beat. West strolls through “The Shadow
of Your Smile,” one of the tunes Longo
and West played with Dizzy Gillespie’s
quintet in the late 1960s. He’s really
swinging when they launch into
Duke Ellington’s “Love You Madly,”
venturing all the way down the neck of
the bass to hit a high note.
By the time they play “Summertime”
from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, West
“Every time you play, it’s different.
That’s the uniqueness of jazz.
How do you feel that day?
Are you sad? Are you happy?
Do you want to be intellectual?”
slows it down, as the seasoned jazz
masters improvise, with West’s bass
laying down the sultry melody. His
eyes are closed as his hands dance
along the strings.
“I like playing in a duo because it
reveals the essence and importance
of the bass,” says West. “It plays a
dominant role, taking the role of
both the bass and the drums – both
rhythmic and melodic.”
He enjoys reworking the standards,
which afford opportunities for
improvisation as the tune unfolds.
“Every time you play, it’s different,”
he says. “That’s the uniqueness of jazz.
How do you feel that day? Are you
sad? Are you happy? Do you want to
be intellectual? It’s all about the music,
and how you hear it that day.”
GROWING UP
IN HARLEM
WEST’S APPRECIATION of music
started young — both at home and at
the church his father led in Harlem.
His father, the Reverend Paul West
’25, who was born in St. Croix, Virgin
Islands, spent much of his youth in the
Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
He moved to New York, and later
enrolled at Wagner, where he studied
religion.
After the senior West’s graduation,
he went to the Lutheran Theological
Seminary in Philadelphia. He was
ordained and was called to lead the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of the
Transfiguration at West 126th Street
and Lenox Avenue, in a neighborhood
where immigrants from the West
Indies had flocked in the early 20th
century. Rev. West served as pastor
there until 1955.
Paul West grew up in his father’s
church, where music was a central part
of its worship. His mother was a piano
teacher. West began his violin studies
at age 6, with his uncle.
By the time he’d graduated from
the High School of Music & Art,
he’d performed at Carnegie Hall and
conducted the high school’s senior
symphony orchestra. At church, he
organized a youth orchestra and
chorus for teens throughout Harlem.
“There was no jazz at home,” West
says. “All I heard was classical music.”
He discovered the bass during
his senior year of high school. One
afternoon, when the jazz band was
rehearsing swing tunes from the Count
Basie charts, West decided to explore
the closet that stored the basses. He
picked one up, and started plucking
along with the band.
When it stopped, he kept playing.
The teacher heard him. He was busted.
“The teacher told me if I wanted
to play, to move up to the stand,” he
recalls. “I didn’t know anything about
the bass. But I knew the violin, and I
applied what I knew.”
That set him in motion. He had
a pianist friend who played jazz,
and they started collaborating. He
wasn’t ready for college, so he worked
THE INSTRUMENT Paul West with his double bass, which he still practices every day (far left). THE BATON West conducts the Henry Street Settlement
Symphony Orchestra with Carmen McRae at Avery Fisher Hall in January 1983 (top right). THE KING Dizzy Gillespie’s band at Birdland in 1957 with Paul West
on bass, Dizzy with his trademark bent trumpet, and the actor Marlon Brando on conga (bottom right).
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�JAZZ STARS Dizzy Gillespie’s band in 1957: Paul West, Ernie Henry, Bennie Golson, Charli Persip, and Lee Morgan (opposite, top left). FAMILY Paul West, seated
next to his mother, with his wife, two daughters, sons-in-law, and six grandchildren (bottom left). HOME In his living room, awards line the walls (far right).
at Melody Music in Midtown
Manhattan, where he came in touch
with the 1950s music scene.
Three years later, after enrolling
in Wagner, he had his first recording
date, with Ray Charles, the up-andcoming pianist and singer, on what
became the smash hit, “Drown in My
Own Tears.”
West’s work in the studio and
clubs caught the ear of Gillespie, who
invited him to join his 17-piece big
band in 1956. West was married to his
first wife, Carlotta; and, by the time
the band broke up in early 1958, they
had a daughter, Lera, and a second,
Deborah, was on the way.
Another call came from Dinah
Washington, the singer they called
“Queen of the Blues,” who needed a
bass player for her trio.
West wasn’t returning to Wagner
just yet.
The band hit the road, with West
driving a Chrysler station wagon and
Washington riding in her Chrysler
Imperial. Reality hit home one
night, away from his baby girls, when
Washington sang the slow ballad, “I
Thought About You.”
The lyrics touched his lonely heart.
“Tears came out of my eyes,” he
recalls. “Dinah turned around, and
retirement home in the Catskills. His
mother stayed after his father’s death
in 1957, and West moved his family
to a bungalow next door. He landed a
teaching job at the Otisville Training
School for Boys during the day and
played a steady jazz gig at night at the
Concord Hotel.
New York City, however, beckoned.
In 1963, he was back, playing with the
house band at the Playboy Club. It was
a steady job.
It brought him back to Wagner,
commuting over the Verrazano
Bridge in his Pontiac Bonneville
from Brooklyn, intent on earning his
diploma. On Grymes Hill, he found
inspiration from music professor
Harald Normann.
Normann instructed West to play
all the instruments he’d need to teach
in the New York City public schools.
West also played in the college band
Normann led, which performed in
1964 at the World’s Fair in Flushing,
Queens, with West conducting one
tune for that performance.
“Dr. Normann and his wife, Polly,
were very supportive of what I wanted
to do,” he recalls. “My plan was to get
away from going on the road.”
That didn’t happen quite yet. The
calls kept coming in. There was British
“The second night we played the
song again. The same thing happened.
I felt such loneliness. I wanted
to be with my babies and wife.”
says, ‘I got you!’ The second night we
played the song again. The same thing
happened. I felt such loneliness. I
wanted to be with my babies and wife.”
He stopped touring and moved his
family to upstate New York. In the
mid-1950s, his parents had built a
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
singer Petula Clark, famous for the
song “Downtown,” who came to tour
the U.S. and Canada. There was French
singer Charles Aznavour, who arrived
for six weeks in North America.
He was all set to travel to Asia with
a U.S. State Department-sponsored
jazz band in 1968 when the Navy spy
ship USS Pueblo was attacked by North
Korea in the Sea of Japan. While West
was in Los Angeles, awaiting his plane,
the State Department canceled the trip.
Stranded briefly in L.A., he
connected with the local jazz scene.
One night he showed up at the
Lighthouse Club to hear Dizzy
Gillespie’s quintet. Gillespie motioned
him up to the bandstand.
The band’s bass player had just been
removed from the club by local police
who were investigating a crime.
“Dizzy says to me: ‘I need a bass
player. Can you play?’” recalls West.
He played that night, and joined
the band, with Mike Longo on piano,
and off they went for more than a
year on the road, until he was tapped
to become executive director of New
York City’s Jazzmobile program.
LEE MORGAN’S
MURDER
DURING HIS STINT at Jazzmobile,
West reconnected with Lee Morgan,
the youthful trumpeter. It wasn’t
pretty at first, when he came across
Morgan in an alleyway, strung out on
heroin. But Morgan soon found love,
with a woman named Helen Moore,
and recovered. West hired him for
teaching and performance gigs with
Jazzmobile as Morgan once again
found his footing in music.
“I thought the best situation for
him would be to get him involved with
young musicians, who would look to
him for musical and spiritual guidance,
where he’d give of himself, and develop
a sense of worthiness.”
That helped, but not enough.
West was a witness to the tragic
incident.
One snowy night in February 1972,
West went downtown to hear Morgan
play at Slug’s Saloon in the East
�Village. Morgan was drunk. Morgan’s
wife, Helen, was not happy to see
another lady on Morgan’s arm.
She approached West in the bar,
and asked him to intervene. West told
Morgan that he needed to send the
young lady home in a cab. Morgan
didn’t listen. Morgan and his wife got
into a verbal battle over his betrayal.
Then Morgan shoved her out into the
cold, without a jacket.
She returned, irate.
“I’m on my way to give Helen
her coat, and she taps Lee on the
shoulder,” West says. “I’m five feet
away. Her hand is in her hand bag.
Then, boom! The gun goes off. No
dialogue. No nothing. And Lee
Morgan was dead.”
West was a primary source for
the 2016 documentary I Called Him
Morgan, which explores the young jazz
trumpeter’s all-too-short life. He was
also on a Lincoln Center panel that
discussed Morgan’s life — and death
— at the movie’s New York Film
Festival premiere.
“The movie really hit me
emotionally,” says West. “I thought
back on what his stature could have
been, when you think of the talent he
demonstrated as a youngster. In 1972,
he was on his way back, to be one of
the leaders of the pack.”
FINALLY A
WAGNER GRADUATE
AFTER RETIRING from Henry
Street in 2000, West again focused
on his Wagner diploma. Over the
years, he’d cobbled together credits
from City College of New York,
Pace University, and Orange County
Community College, with the lion’s
share of his credits from Wagner.
What he lacked was enough credits
in his major — music education.
“I was possessed with finishing this
thing,” he says.
The problem dated back to 1956,
when he was working full time and
taking three music courses. That’s
when he butted heads with one of his
professors over music theory, which he’d
learned at the High School of Music &
Art, and in jazz clubs around New York.
They disagreed over such issues
as chord progressions and the
development of Johann Sebastian Bach’s
fugues. West recalls that his fellow
students encouraged him to speak up
if he disagreed, which West often did.
The professor didn’t like West’s attitude
one bit. He flunked West in all three
courses, despite the fact that West had
received an A in each class.
The professor cited West’s
absenteeism — more than three per
course — as grounds for the Fs.
“He was really angry with me, and I
could understand that,” West says. “I was
excessively absent, as I was working all
those jobs and commuting to Wagner.
But I’d completed the courses. I worked
really hard for it. I had paid my dues. I
only wanted to get what I earned.”
College officials reviewed his record.
They reversed those flunking grades. In
2001, West received his Wagner diploma.
All was forgiven. In 2008, the class
of 1958 — his class — gave him a
plaque, honoring his time at Wagner. In
2012, West’s trio performed at Wagner
College President Richard Guarasci’s
10th anniversary celebration at the
Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park City.
“I deeply appreciate what Wagner
gave me,” says West. “Wagner was
home to me.”
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�iloso
h
P
t
a
h
W
ph
n Th
e
h
W
e
e
ers S
ey L
ltu
u
C
p
o
P
ook at
re
R
D
)
(A D
P
HILOSOPHY PROFESSORS
and senior philosophy majors:
Aren’t those the types who
sit around and debate the fine points
of Plato’s metaphysics? Wouldn’t
you picture them, dressed in their
tweed jackets and holding their pipes,
turning up their noses at a flashy
movie about a pretty, scantily clad
superhero like Wonder Woman?
Yet the summer blockbuster movie
Wonder Woman is precisely what we —
a philosophy major and an associate
�G
N
N
I
S
A
S
M
E
O
W
R
E
D
WO N
beth D
By Eliza
professor of philosophy — have
been discussing. While we do enjoy
pondering the postmodern critique of
the Enlightenment subject, we bonded
in a different way this summer. That’s
when Ms. Doyle noticed a timely new
book on Professor Donovan’s desk,
Wonder Woman and Philosophy: The
Amazonian Mystique. Donovan had
contributed a chapter to this book.
Doyle was intrigued. She borrowed the
book, and a conversation began.
We believe that pop culture is
oyle ’17
a place where philosophy can and
should be applied. With Doyle
graduating in December with a degree
in philosophy, what better moment
to think collaboratively about pop
culture and the wide world Doyle will
enter? With whom would it be better
to think it through than one of the
most successful female superheroes,
Wonder Woman?
The philosophical topics Wonder
Woman opens up are numerous. But
since we have already mentioned
h Don
and Sara
ova n
clothing (and, just to set the record
straight, we do not wear tweed),
we would like to focus our critique
on something that may seem
stereotypically feminine: what Wonder
Woman is wearing. Our intention,
however, is not to comment on
Wonder Woman’s style, but rather
to show that the scenes where
she changes her clothing present
opportunities to think philosophically
about gender roles and expectations.
�ONE:
SCENE
R e a l ly
s
e
s
s
a
l
The G
e Outfit
h
t
e
k
a
M
F
OR ANYONE who hasn’t seen
the movie, let us set the scene.
It introduces Wonder Woman as a
character named Diana who
has spent her entire life among
a society of female warriors
on Paradise Island. Into this
feminist paradise bursts Steve
Trevor, a World War I Allied
spy who crashes through the
island’s magical, protective
barrier. The idealistic young
superhero insists on leaving
with him when he promises to
help her pursue her mission to
1
defeat the God of War.
They proceed back to
London, circa 1917. Steve
wants Wonder Woman to blend
in. Her style of dress — the
typical Wonder Woman outfit
with combat bustier, short skirt,
and boots — is not socially
acceptable here. Steve and his
secretary, Etta Candy, take
Wonder Woman to an upscale
clothing store to buy her an
“appropriate” new outfit.
2
The scene is set up for
comedy, as we see Wonder
Woman inspect and appear
in a series of clothing styles. Wonder
Woman asks if a lace-trimmed silk
corset, which resembles her warrior’s
bustier in form only, is what counts as
women’s armor in London. We watch
her model a frilly, full-skirted purple
dress (the “war crinoline” style) with
heels she can barely walk in, and then
rip an elegant pencil skirt when she
tries a karate-style kick. Finally, after
settling on a sober outfit that look like
a form-fitting version of Steve’s suit,
she walks out of the store still carrying
her enormous sword and shield.
There is obviously humor to this
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
scene; but, if you stop to think about
it, there is also a deeper philosophical
message to it. Much has been written
in feminist philosophy about social
ideals of femininity as expressed in
clothing. Wonder Woman’s trip to the
clothing store is a great example of a
woman being pushed to achieve social
acceptance in her environment.
While Wonder Woman is permitted
to choose an outfit with another
woman’s oversight, Steve is the one
who has the final word. At the end of
the marathon shopping spree, Steve
whisks in and asserts his authority.
Expressing his disapproval with a
subtle eye roll, he reproaches Etta,
“Miss Candy, the whole point was
to make her look less distracting.”
Grasping for a solution, he places
on Wonder Woman’s face a pair of
black-rimmed eyeglasses. “Better,”
he declares.
Glasses will make no difference,
as Etta’s sarcastic response indicates:
“Really, specs? Suddenly she is not the
most beautiful woman you have ever
seen?” Steve may think he knows best,
but Etta (like most women) is as much
an expert (or even more of an expert)
on what “distracts” people (i.e., men)
as he is. Nevertheless, both women
comply with the addition, leaving the
man as the official master of
Wonder Woman’s appearance.
We both noticed that
this scene got big laughs
in the theater. What does
that laughter mean? Is it
funny because we think that
women are no longer held
to expectations about how
they ought to look — in
other words, the scene is a
humorous cultural artifact?
Or, is it a knowing laugh that
indicates camaraderie, because
we have experienced the very
same cultural dynamic? Or
do we laugh because we have
accepted society’s expectations
about how women should look?
Do we laugh because we do not
register that this scene points
out a reality that is damaging
to women?
T WO :
SCENE
nto
e W hat i
r
o
W
e
h
S
’s Land?
n
a
M
o
N
I
N THE SECOND SCENE ,
Wonder Woman and Steve have
arrived at the warfront trenches.
The land between the Allies and the
Germans is too dangerous to cross and,
therefore, is appropriately called “no
man’s land.” Wonder Woman, however,
says they must cross it in order to
save a captured village on the other
side. Steve insists this is impossible,
and that she must give up the idea of
�saving everyone. Wonder Woman reacts
defiantly by letting down her flowing
hair, putting on her warrior princess
crown, taking off her cloak to reveal her
Amazonian warrior outfit underneath,
and climbing a ladder out of the trench
to cross no man’s land alone.
This scene is lauded by many as one
of the signature scenes of the movie
(a picture of it is featured in a widely
publicized Wonder Woman poster). It is
clearly a triumphant scene for Wonder
Woman, because she has decided that
Are we most comfortable
with female fighters
who are emphatically
female, who conform to
and display the popular
image of sexy femininity?
she doesn’t take orders from Steve
and has confidence that she, a woman,
can do what no man (literally!) has
been able to successfully do. Boldly
deflecting bullets and bombs, she
clears the way for the men who follow
her. We could take the easy road and
simply label this a moment when
Wonder Woman becomes a leader and
a hero (which it is), but it is
surely more complex.
We were especially taken by
the depiction of Wonder Woman
as she enters no man’s land — in
particular, her clothes and her body.
She looks stunning, in the mold of
a 21st-century fashion model, as her
outfit features her flowing hair, high
cheekbones, flawless skin, long legs, and
hourglass figure. How would a different
outfit alter the viewer’s experience of
the scene? Would people have wanted
to watch Wonder Woman cross
no man’s land in a traditional
army uniform, her body encased
in bulky layers and her hair
concealed under a helmet? Are
we most comfortable with female
fighters who are emphatically
female, who conform to and
display the popular image of
sexy femininity?
Further, what did it mean for our
experience of Wonder Woman as a
hero to watch her in a slow motion
sequence? Anyone who has watched a
blockbuster superhero movie has seen
a male superhero fight in slow motion.
We could say that this is just the norm
of the genre. But even if it is the norm,
does it mean the same thing for us to
watch Wonder Woman run
and fight in slow motion as it
does for us to watch a Batman,
a Superman, or a Thor do the
same? Historically, it has simply not
meant the same thing for women to be
looked at as it has for men to be looked
at. Women have been objectified, or
made into sexual objects, in a way that
men have not. And so, we have to ask if
Wonder Woman can be filmed running
and fighting in slow motion like a
male superhero, and not have it entail
objectification?
L ARTS
A
R
E
B
LI
nstream
i
a
M
e
h
in t
O
UR OBSERVATIONS about
these two scenes exemplify the
thoughtful reflection that Socrates
intended for all philosophers to engage
in — especially when it comes to
our role models. We hope that our
analysis and philosophical reflections
have provided some insight into how
a liberal arts degree prepares students
not only to enter careers, but also
to ask interesting and life-enriching
questions using even the most
“poppy” of pop-culture subjects as a
starting point. Socrates says that the
unexamined life is not worth living. We
think that Wagner graduates from all
sorts of majors understand the value of
the intellectual curiosity that Socrates
is promoting. And while Wagner is not
launching Doyle into the world after
intense physical training to defeat the
God of War, we feel confident that
she is ready for whatever comes next
(tweed jacket optional).
Elizabeth Doyle ’17 (right) graduates from
Wagner College with a B.A. in philosophy
in December 2017. Sarah Donovan (left)
is an associate professor of philosophy and
interim dean of integrated learning.
P H O T O G R A P H S : J O N AT H A N H A R K E L
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�SHUTTLE
stories
A Day on the Wagner College Ferry Shuttle
BY LAURA BARLAMENT
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETE BYRON
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
�WHITEHALL
TERMINAL
E V E RY M O R N I N G AT 6 : 1 0 S H A R P , a
6 :1 0
A.M.
white 11-passenger van rumbles away from its starting
point next to Parker Hall and out to Howard Avenue.
It takes a right, and continues to Victory Boulevard
and down the big hill, Manhattan’s skyline gleaming
on the horizon.
It’s the first run of the day for the Wagner College
ferry shuttle service. Every day of the year except for
Easter, Christmas, and New Year’s, the Wagner vans
make two trips per hour between the campus and the
Staten Island ferry terminal — from whence the famous
orange ferry boats connect to Manhattan. The day ends
at 1:10 a.m., with the last run from ferry to campus.
Launched a dozen years ago, the ferry shuttle
service has blossomed into an essential part of life
at Wagner College, strengthening the College’s
connection to the entire New York City metro area.
“The ferry shuttle has turned out to be a major
part of what we offer students and faculty,” says
Miles Groth, professor of psychology, who has been
teaching at Wagner for 24 years, commuting via public
transportation from his home in Manhattan.
On Thursday, September 28, photographer
Pete Byron and I spent 12 hours taking the shuttle,
collecting stories of the people along the way.
The result: a portrait of Wagner College life
in its connection to greater New York.
WA G N E R
CO L L E G E
A Young Alum Going to Work
7: 4 0
A.M.
D E VO N F L I N T ’ 1 7 graduated in May and lives
in a house near campus. His roommates are Wagner
students now in their final year in the physician assistant
master’s program. They have an intense schedule, and
so does he. He’s friendly but not very talkative.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “This is just usually my most
miserable time of the day. … Thinking about work till
I get there. I have a lot of things to do.”
Flint works as a video editor with an advertising
agency in Manhattan. He started this commute eight
months ago, as a senior arts administration major. His
internship turned into a full-time position. Despite
the long hours and long commute, he likes the job.
“It’s cool, it’s really interesting stuff. It’s just stressful.
Everything’s got a deadline.”
He has continued coming to campus to take the
Wagner ferry shuttle even after graduation, since he
lives nearby and knows it’s completely reliable. This
upstate New York kid has become a real city commuter.
S T. G E O R G E
TERMINAL
�9 :1 0
A.M.
A Professor
Begins
His Day
Interns Behind
the Scenes of the
Entertainment Industry
F O R D A N E S T A L C U P , assistant professor of
E L I S E B E G G ’ S long hair is still wet, but it’s not
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
because she just rolled out of bed. She has been up since
5 a.m. Her day started with team practice — water polo
is what brought this Southern Californian to Wagner.
She finished her workout, took a shower, and got dressed
for work as a rights management intern at The Orchard,
9:40
By the Numbers
A.M.
F E R RY S H U T T L E
modern languages, literature, and culture, the first
class of today is Introduction to French Translation.
His students are working on Ernest Hemingway’s A
Moveable Feast, about his youthful expatriate years as
an apprentice writer in Paris. For anyone interested in
literature, riding the shuttle van with Dane Stalcup is
an invitation to that bounteous table.
We talk about Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and
Alice B. Toklas. We talk about Stalcup’s favorite
writers, Karen Blixen in English and Balzac in French.
We talk about the fantastical 19th-century German
writer E. T. A. Hoffmann.
Stalcup lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Typically, he says, “the ferry is for grading or social
media, and so is the van. Or emails.” His favorite
part of his commute, however, is the 20-minute
ride on a CitiBike (NYC’s bike share system) from
his apartment to the ferry terminal. “It’s a scenic
route along the river by Chinatown and under the
bridges,” where he passes groups practicing tai chi in
the morning. And, he reflects, “I like the boat. The
morning’s always nice. In the evenings sometimes
I have ice cream, or Pat Moynagh [professor of
government and politics] and I have a beer.”
Some people just know how to turn life into a
moveable feast.
�a music, film, and video distribution company. It’s her
senior year as a business marketing major.
Her schedule is tight, but she is not fazed by it.
“Yeah, it just takes a lot of planning. The company I
work with is pretty flexible with my hours. I work 9:40
to 4:30 on Tuesdays, and then 11 to 6 on Thursdays,
and 12 to 6 on Fridays. I cram all of my classes into
Mondays and Wednesdays. I’m up from 5 a.m. to 9
p.m. every day, out of the room.”
To be efficient, she’s productive on her commute.
“Recently, I’ve been using it to work on my senior thesis
paper. I wrote my abstract on the shuttle the other day.”
M E G H A N G U N T H E R ’ 1 9 , an arts
administration major, is going to an internship as well.
She’s working at a casting company, not for credit, but
for the experience.
“We do TV shows and Broadway and Off-Broadway
productions. We just bring people in every day and
have them audition. It’s fun. I schedule actors and I
bring them in, and I watch them audition. And
I make comments. Obviously,
I don’t have a lot of say in
who gets picked, but I get
to comment, and I get to
experience the audition
process professionally,
which is cool. I’m
kind of the liaison
between the casting
directors and
the actors.”
T O T A L R I D E R S H I P, 2 0 1 6 :
117,380
BUSIEST MONTH, 2017:
September (15,099 riders)
B U S I E S T D A Y, 2 0 1 7 :
April 27 (1,042 riders)
T R I P S P E R D A Y:
76*
MAXIMUM RIDERSHIP
C A PA C I T Y, P E R D A Y: 3,344*
*During the fall and spring semesters.
A City Researcher
and a Theater Junkie
Q U I N C Y R A S I N ’ 1 8 , a North Carolina native majoring in
public policy and administration, is headed to his senior internship
with the New York City Housing Authority, or NYCHA, in Lower
Manhattan. Serving more than 400,000 people in 326 public housing
developments, it is the nation’s largest agency of this type.
At the same time, Rasin is working on a senior thesis about
gentrification and the displacement of low-income residents in
Central Harlem.
“Tonight for my internship, they are taking me to a town hall
meeting,” he says. “There are new zoning laws that are happening,
and there’s going to be a town hall tonight about what that may
entail. I already developed some surveys that I hope to get filled out,
collect some primary data. So, today’s going to be a long day.”
How does he use his commute? “I listen to music and read for
my thesis or for my classes. I was reading [Robert Caro’s] The
Power Broker for fun, but my class reading has interfered with
that. That’s a very big book. It’s about Robert Moses, the
man who built the city.”
His fellow student commuter, O L I V I A B I S H O P ’ 1 9 ,
a theater studies major from Pennsylvania, is departing
for her part-time job as a page at the Performing Arts
Library at Lincoln Center. “They have a lot of materials
about theater in New York,” she says. “To be exposed and
to be around theater stuff all the time is really nice. A lot
of the materials that I need for school are there, too.”
11: 4 0
Bishop, who wants to be a director someday, believes in
A.M.
the power of theater to “tell the stories that people aren’t
aware of.” She has recently enjoyed such Off-Off-Broadway
productions as a two-person silent version of Macbeth and
a one-act about death row inmates. “However, I am very
excited for SpongeBob SquarePants, the musical,” she adds.
“I’m interested in seeing everything.”
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�2: 4 0
P.M.
Long Hours and
Long Commutes
I T ’ S L I K E A FA C U L T Y M E E T I N G on
this trip, with six professors representing six different
departments: psychology, English, philosophy, art,
sociology, and music.
B E R N A D E T T E L U D W I G , assistant professor of
sociology, says that it is unusual for her to be leaving
campus this early.
What’s been keeping her so busy? This semester,
Ludwig co-teaches a First-Year Learning Community
and supervises her students’ community hours. She
also teaches a sociology course on gender. She has
been staying late to help with “a modified version
of the ‘Clothesline Project,’” which is a nationwide
domestic violence awareness initiative. The Wagner
Clothesline Project will “draw attention to domestic
violence that goes against all different genders and
not just women,” she explains. Several student groups
and faculty are collaborating on this effort, which will
culminate in displays of T-shirts decorated with stories
contributed by the Wagner community. Plus, Ludwig
DRIVER Q & A
has a close connection to the Liberian immigrant
community in Staten Island, and she’s returning to
campus on Saturday so that she can take students to
the annual Liberian cultural festival.
Coming to campus is a considerable time investment,
as she lives in Harlem. During her two-hour commute,
she says, “I listen to the NPR app. I grade. And
sometimes I take a nap on the ferry.”
At the mention of a nap, philosophy
professor J O H N D A N I S I breaks in
with his commuter sleeping story: He
rides the 1 train every day at 6 a.m., from
242nd Street in the Bronx to South Ferry.
He always rides in the first car. For a time,
he and three other men, construction
workers going to Lower Manhattan, would
all nod off during the one-hour ride. When
they were approaching South Ferry, Danisi
adds, “The engineer would wake us up.”
with Brian Tooker, U.S. Postal Service Retiree
Q: �H OW ’ D YO U S T A R T D R I V I N G T H E S H U T T L E ?
A: �
After he retired, eight years ago, he was visiting his wife, Patricia Tooker, dean of the
Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing. That’s when he learned about the shuttle service.
“
I said, ‘I could do that!’ [George Pepio] said, ‘Why, you
lookin’ for a job?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, yeah! I’d be interested.’
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
”
�A N I N T E R N A T I O N A L T R I O of women’s
water polo team members — two freshmen and a
sophomore — are headed to Union Square for a
dinner-and-a-movie outing.
They know they want to see the movie Friend
Request, but all other details are up in the air.
“It’s been like a long, hard week,” says M I L L I E
P U L LY B A N K ’ 2 0 , of Melbourne, Australia. “So I
personally just wanted to get off campus.”
“We’ll probably get lost,” says K A T I E
C A M P B E L L ’ 2 1 , of Saskatchewan, Canada, after
a discussion of which train it is, exactly, that goes to
Union Square. “Learning the subway is so hard. When
my mom comes, she says, ‘You’re going to show me.’
And I’m like, ‘Nope.’”
As they find their way in college and city, the ferry
shuttle frequently figures into their plans. Campbell
has been visiting museums. “Sometimes I go for
Starbucks,” adds S E R E N A T H U R M A N ’ 2 1 , of San
Diego, and everyone laughs. “Yeah, ’cause it’s right off
the ferry. Wagner Starbucks just doesn’t taste real.”
Three Friends
Exploring the City
Pullybank arrived here in January of this year as a transfer
student and already feels comfortable taking the subway by herself.
“It would be a shame if I just stayed on campus,” she says. “I’m so
far from home, and I might as well actually experience it over here.”
4: 4 0
P.M.
A First-Year
Student Commuter
from Staten Island
D A R I A M I G N O L A ’ 2 1 is taking the ferry
shuttle not to catch the boat to Manhattan, but to
connect with the Staten Island Railway, which ends
at the St. George ferry terminal. She commutes to
the campus from Prince’s Bay, on the South Shore of
Staten Island, via the railway and the ferry shuttle.
She often times her trip home, like today, to
meet her mother, who is coming home from work in
Manhattan. Daria is the daughter of Lora GiacomoniMignola ’85, assistant vice president for quality, risk,
and patient safety at the New York City Health and
Hospitals Corporation; and Brian Mignola ’84, a
Staten Island family practice doctor.
As a Staten Islander and the daughter of two
alumni, Mignola has known about Wagner all of her
life. Now, she is discovering it for herself.
“I’m the first person awake every morning in my
house,” she says. “I love to go to school.”
She’s taking Learning Community 14: Society and
the City, which is allowing her to explore
more of her hometown than she ever had
before through field trips and guest lectures.
She’s also enjoying Foundations of Music
Theory and learning more instruments —
she already sings and plays the trumpet.
For her major, she’s considering biology and the
pre-veterinary curriculum. She’s making great new
friends, going out to Manhattan with
them, connecting with fellow
student commuters, and looking
into joining various student
organizations — the Art
Club, WCBG radio, and a
sorority (when she’s eligible
next semester).
“Even though I’m a
commuter, I’m barely
home now,” she notes. But
she still looks forward to
the train ride to Prince’s
Bay with her mother
and the chance to talk
over everything she’s
experiencing.
6 :10
P.M.
�Completing a Quick Errand
and a Long Day at the Lab
is also a frequent
Manhattan commuter. He’s ending a long day, spent
at Rockefeller University. At this biomedical research
institution in Manhattan, Hart is working in the
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology,
headed by Vincent Fischetti ’62 H’10.
Hart completed his bachelor’s degree in
microbiology in May, and is continuing his studies in
Wagner’s microbiology master’s program as well as in a
two-year fellowship at Rockefeller. He spends at least
20 hours a week at the fellowship, traveling there three
days a week. He also works 20 hours per week as a
graduate assistant in Wagner’s Center for Leadership
and Community Engagement.
It may be a lot, but he’s doing what he loves to do.
Fischetti’s lab focuses on developing novel antibiotics
to address the problem of drug-resistant infections.
Hart is contributing to that effort.
“I’m working on a specific part of the project, which
is awesome, and I have some autonomy,” he says. “So,
that’s really cool. I love it.”
“‘I’ll sleep eventually’ is my motto,” he notes with a
smile.
BRANDON HART ’17 M’19
A D A M W I L L I A M S ’ 2 0 is returning to campus
The D R I V E R S
from a quick trip to Manhattan to acquire a specific
item needed for Kappa rush. “I had the task of
purchasing three bandannas,” he says. “I tried to get
bandannas last night, and I couldn’t. so I took the ferry
shuttle to go to Michael’s on 22nd Street to get these
bandannas. So today was a pretty quick errand.
“Mission accomplished. Very efficient,” he concludes.
Williams goes to Manhattan frequently, four or
five times per week, to visit friends. He’s a business
marketing major from Portland, Oregon, who wants to
go into the fashion industry. “That’s what drew me to
New York, the fashion industry.”
W A G N E R
G E O R G E P E P I O , who retired from
Wagner in January, was the first shuttle
driver and manager. In conjunction
with then-Chief of Staff David Martin
and then-Public Safety Director Tony
Martinesi, Pepio created the ferry shuttle
service in 2004–05. They established a
safe, reliable system that became highly
successful; in 2016, the ferry shuttle
transported 117,380 passengers.
The drivers are key to the service’s
success. Most of the three dozen or so
drivers on the roster are, like Pepio,
retirees from government agencies like the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(MTA), the New York City Department
of Sanitation, and the U.S. Postal Service.
Seasoned professionals, they enjoy the job
M AG A Z I N E
and know how to handle
any conflicts that arise.
They also care deeply
about the students.
Pepio, an MTA Bridges
and Tunnels retiree,
took on the ferry shuttle
program with great
personal engagement.
“I enjoyed the students
in the early years,” he
recalls. “I saw the freshman class, and they graduated
four years later. You see them grow up. I felt like the
eyes of their parents.”
In addition to the ferry shuttle, Wagner has
expanded its transportation services to supporting
students’ work in Port Richmond and other
community placements in Staten Island.
6: 40
P.M.
�W H Y I S WA G N E R
COLLEGE ON
GRY M E S H I L L ?
A century ago, a Lutheran pastor
and an anniversary party played
key roles in finding this place
T
H I S FA L L , Wagner College marked the centennial
wedding anniversary party. At that celebration, he
of an occasion that utterly changed the institution: the
said, “My attention was called to another tract of land
purchase of the Staten Island campus.
on Howard Avenue, known as the Belview property”
As Wagner history buffs will recall, the College was
— also known as the Cunard estate.
founded in Rochester, New York, in 1883 as a Lutheran
“Early the next morning,” Sutter recalled, “I
seminary prep school. The school consisted of a single
inspected it. … The property consisted of about 38
building on a one-third-acre residential lot. Its maximum
acres and had on it several cottages and what is now
enrollment was 49 students, and
known as Cunard and North
it had no room to grow.
[today’s Reynolds] halls. Thus,
Since 1901, the statewide
in September 1917, the college
church body that ran the
purchased the Belview property
College had known that a move
… which at that time was
would be necessary; they finally
owned by Oberlin College.”
made the decision in 1916 and
Oberlin College owned this
chose semi-rural Staten Island,
property, which included the
which had been consolidated
1852 Italianate villa of the
into the City of New York in
Edward Cunard family, because
‘A SUITABLE LOCATION’ The Rev. Frederic
1898, as the College’s new home.
a man named Amzi Lorenzo
Sutter and his wife, Emma, pose for a photo on
Wagner’s new campus. The former Cunard estate
The man charged with finding
Barber, an Oberlin College
had been used as a resort hotel (seen above).
a specific site was Staten Island
graduate (and trustee) had
pastor and Wagner alumnus
bought it in 1889 and left it
Frederic Sutter, class of 1894, recently elected for the
to his alma mater upon his death in 1909. Barber had
second time to Wagner’s Board of Trustees.
leased it out as a summer resort colony known as the
“I had no idea where to put a college, and neither did
Bellevue Club or the Hotel Belleview.
most of the clergy and laymen who drove all over Staten
There was still some work to be done on the
Island to find a suitable location,” Pastor Sutter said in a
property before Wagner could move in. The resort’s
1968 memoir. “We had pretty much decided on the plot
summer cottages had to be winterized, and a new
of land next to what is now the football field” — a sevenhouse had to be built for the college president and
acre plot with a three-story house known as Fair Acres.
his family — but the work proceeded swiftly and, by
At the last minute, however, Sutter’s attention
September 1918, Wagner Memorial Lutheran College
shifted. The night before the papers for the sale of
(as it was known until 1952) was holding its first
Fair Acres were to be signed, he attended a golden
classes on the new campus. — Lee Manchester
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�Three Heads in a Science Lab
The historic hunting trophies of Megerle 405 get a face lift
MEGERLE LABORATORY 405 has housed some special
guests for more than 40 years.
The heads of a Cape buffalo from southern Africa, a
North American caribou (a.k.a. reindeer), and a Central
African topi (a subspecies of antelope) have long surprised
students and visitors on the fourth floor of Megerle Science.
“They were in the lab when I was a freshman in 1973,”
states Kathy Bobbitt ’76 M’78, a Wagner bacteriology
(now known as microbiology) major who went on to earn
her Ph.D. at St. John’s University. She’s now an associate
professor of biological sciences at Wagner.
In 1973, Wagner President Arthur O. Davidson received
an African hunting trophy collection from the estate of
Lauritz Melchior H’50 (1890–1973), a famous opera singer
and friend of the College. The collection comprised 41
trophies, including a reedbuck from Kenya and “a worldrecord (14 and 4/8”) bushbuck from Mozambique,”
according to a 1973 article in the Wagner archives. Over the
years, unfortunately, most of collection has been lost.
According to a small plaque that has survived all these
years, the topi was a trophy of the Chapin Ruwenzori
Expedition, Kenya, 1926. Today, this area is called the
Rwenzori Mountains, which cross the border of Uganda and
the Democratic Republic of Congo; but in 1926, all of that
land was part of the British Colony of Kenya. James Paul
Chapin (1889–1964) was an interesting man who worked at
the American Museum of Natural History, and it is quite
possible Lauritz Melchior was
with this hunter/taxidermist on
this expedition.
About a year ago, the
biology department decided
to refurbish the three animals,
which were showing their age
at almost a century old. This
summer, Professor Linda Raths and I led
this new adventure that took us and our animals to Queens,
where taxidermist John Youngaitis — the last tradesman of
his kind in New York City — operates his business.
It wasn’t easy; the largest trophy, the Cape buffalo, is
more than two feet wide and weighs around 50 pounds.
Fortunately Jonathan Blaize, assistant professor of biological
sciences, came to our aide in transporting the trophies via
Wagner College van.
During their four-week rehabilitation process, the animals
were thoroughly cleaned, their fur was conditioned, and
frayed areas were patched. The taxidermist expertly repaired
the topi’s cracked nose and enhanced all three with hand
painting to refresh the noses and eyes. With Public Safety
setting us up for the return trip, Facilities helping with
the move, and freshly painted walls courtesy of Campus
Operations, our endeavor culminated with our animal family
proudly displayed back in the lab. — Stephanie Rollizo,
Faculty Secretary, Biological Sciences
A WILD RIDE The Wagner vans
carried some unusual cargo this
summer. Above, Lauritz Melchior
left his hunting trophies to Wagner
in 1973. At left, center photo,
Stephanie Rollizo and Linda
Raths pick up the trophies from
taxidermist John Youngaitis. At
right, Timothy Umana of Wagner’s
shipping and receiving department
unloads the restored reindeer.
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
�Welcome to Wagner
A new team is guiding the College’s outreach to alumni
WAGNER’S OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS has
a new team on board since this summer. Karen Moran was
named director of alumni relations as of July 24, Juliana
Formica M’14 began her work as alumni relations officer
in early May, and Nicolina Astorina started as alumni
coordinator on September 6. Now that the office is fully
staffed, we wanted to take this opportunity to introduce them.
First, a few updates about previous staff: Chris Fourman
’09 M’11, former director of alumni relations, moved into
a new role in Reynolds House as a major gifts officer. The
two other team members, Rebecca Colucci Kelly ’06 and
Heather Wolf ’15, advanced to new stages in their careers
with different organizations. Rebecca joined Sunrise Senior
Living as a life enrichment manager, while Heather was
named a senior consultant with the Munshine Group.
Karen Moran is a South Jersey native who graduated
from The College of New Jersey and began her career in
alumni relations at Princeton. Her previous experience also
encompasses positions at Rider University, Albright College,
the American Cancer Society, and Christian Retreats Network.
She is married to Tim Moran, director of housing and
residence life at Seton Hall University, and they have a fouryear-old daughter, Isla.
“I fell in love with inspiring nostalgia in people,” Moran
says about her interest in alumni relations. “I enjoy finding
out about people’s stories and using it to provide experiences
that bring them back to campus.”
She is now focused on getting to know the College and
its alumni. “It’s
important for me to
understand Wagner
alumni to learn how
best to engage the
alumni. What are their
interests? How do they want
to be engaged with Wagner?”
Juliana Formica has a long history with Wagner, even
though she didn’t attend here as an undergraduate. Her
parents are Bianca ’80 and William ’81 Formica, and
multiple other family members are alumni. Juliana earned
her bachelor’s in hospitality management from St. John’s
University, Staten Island campus. Then, she went to Wagner
for an MBA in marketing, working as a graduate assistant in
athletics marketing for two years, 2012–14.
She worked in fundraising for the March of Dimes on
Staten Island before coming back to Wagner as an alumni
relations officer.
Nicolina Astorina, a resident of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn,
completed her undergraduate degree in English, with a
minor in psychology, across the street from Wagner, at the
Staten Island campus St. John’s University. While working
on her master’s degree in English at SJU, she served as a
graduate assistant in alumni relations. “I was interested in
event planning and outreach and what it takes to bring
alumni back here,” she says. “It’s always good to be involved
and to keep coming back to campus.”
Fun Facts
When Karen Moran started college,
she wanted to become an engineer
so that she could design theme parks.
But, a series of rollercoaster accidents
in the news and a feeling that she
didn’t fit in with the engineers led her
to business instead, where she could
still use her math skills.
Nicolina Astorina is a fluent speaker,
reader, and writer of Italian. Last
summer during a stay with family in
Italy, she toured the Gole dell’A lcantara,
a canyon created from the lava flows of
Mount Etna.
Juliana Formica completed her
entire education on Grymes Hill,
attending Wagner’s pre - school, Notre
Dame Academy on Howard Avenue
from first grade to high school,
St. John’s Staten Island campus
for her bachelor’s degree, and
Wagner for her master’s degree.
Contact the New Team
karen.moran@wagner.edu
juliana.formica@wagner.edu
nicolina.astorina@wagner.edu
718-390-3224
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�HOM E CO M I N G 2 017
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
�Upcoming Events
FEBRUARY
College Choirs’ Tribute to Black Music
February 21, 9 p.m., Performance Center,
Campus Hall
APRIL
Wagner College Theatre: Hair
April 19–29, Main Stage
Wagner College Theatre: Bloody Bloody
Andrew Jackson
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
celebrates the Sixties counterculture with an
infectious rock soundtrack, reminding us of
what it’s like to be young and to believe you can
change the world.
This rock musical about the founding of the
Democratic Party and America’s seventh
president brings our nation’s past into the
raucous, comedic present.
Wagner College Treble Concert Choirs:
Spring Concert
February 22–March 4, Main Stage
College Choirs at Black History Month
Town Hall
April 22, 4 p.m., Trinity Lutheran Church,
Staten Island
Wagner College Choirs: Final Concert
April 22, 4 p.m., Trinity Lutheran Church,
Staten Island
MARCH
MAY
Wagner College Theatre: The Dance
Project 2018
May 10, 4 p.m., the Oval
March 1–4, Stage One
Original choreography and music will be
featured in a collaboration between Wagner
Head of Dance Rusty Curcio and Musical
Director Lauri Young.
Wagner College Choir at Carnegie Hall
March 19, 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall,
New York
The Wagner Choir joins a concert where choirs
from around the nation perform together in
Carnegie Hall.
Alumni Link
February 24, 12 p.m., First Central Baptist
Church, Staten Island
Baccalaureate
Commencement
May 11, 10 a.m., the Oval
JUNE
Reunion Weekend
June 1–3
Welcoming back all alumni to Grymes Hill,
especially those marking milestone reunions
(years ending in 3 and 8).
CHANGE HAPPENS. Please call the Office of Alumni Relations at 718-390-3224
or check wagner.edu/calendar for updates.
FAMILIES AND FRIENDS,
cheerleaders and Greeks, freshmen
and faculty added up to a record
crowd on October 14. Heightening
the drama, Patrick Larkin ’07
(disguised in the Seahawk costume)
popped the question to Nicole D’Orazio
’11 from the main stage (top center photo).
Will there be wedding bells next year?
PHOTOGRAPHS: VINNIE AMESSÉ
Regional Alumni
Events Nationwide
February 1
A series of Alumni and Friends Dinners
are being scheduled for February and
March of 2018. Details and reservations
are still being confirmed. If you would like
more information, please call the Office
of Alumni Relations at 718-390-3224 or
email them at alumni@wagner.edu.
February 8
Scottsdale, Arizona
February 7
Dana Point, California
Los Angeles
March 13
Tampa, Florida
March 14
Naples, Florida
March 15
Palm Beach, Florida
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�History Makers: Peter Berger ’49 H’73 became ‘one of the greatest
sociologists of religion and modernity’
that he was “inspired by religious
fervor” and “wanted to become a
Lutheran minister.” He went to the
Lutheran Theological Seminary in
Philadelphia, a path often trod by
Wagner graduates; but after a year,
Berger decided theology school
was not the right choice for him.
He switched to sociology, earning
a Ph.D. from the New School for
Social Research. It was there that
he found his intellectual home and
launched a brilliant career as a
professor, scholar, and writer.
Peter Berger died this year on
During Faith and Life Week in March 1973, Peter Berger ’49 receives an honorary degree from
June 27, at age 88. The New York
President Arthur O. Davidson, while Trustee Andrew G. Clauson Jr. looks on.
Times called him “an influential, and
contrarian, Protestant theologian
IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II, Wagner’s
and sociologist who, in the face of the ‘God is dead’
enrollment swelled as veterans returned to college en
movement of the 1960s, argued that faith can indeed
masse on the G.I. Bill.
flourish in modern society.”
Amidst those who had fought the Nazis, there were
Berger’s most famous work on this topic was A Rumor
also a couple of students who had escaped becoming the
of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the
regime’s victims. One of them was Peter Berger ’49 H’73.
Supernatural , published in 1969. Berger returned to Wagner
Peter Berger was born in 1929 in Vienna. His parents,
in March 1973 to speak about “Religion and Political
Jewish converts to Christianity, fled Vienna in 1938 upon
Language in America Today” as part of Faith and Life Week,
the Anschluss , or annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany.
an annual tradition at the College for many years. The
They spent the following years in Palestine, then under
College awarded him an honorary doctorate at that time.
British control, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1947.
Berger was also noted for his work on the sociology
By 1949, at age 20, Peter Berger had already attained
of knowledge. His 1966 book The Social Construction
his B.A. in philosophy from Wagner College. “It was part of
of Reality , co-written with Thomas Luckmann, was
his becoming integrated into American society,” says his
translated into more than 20 languages. The International
son, Thomas Berger, a professor of international relations at
Sociological Association ranked it No. 5 among the 20th
the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University.
century’s most influential sociology works.
Howard Braren ’50 H’12 remembers Peter Berger
Berger wrote many more books. He retired as a
as a quiet, studious young man who lived down the hall
professor emeritus at Boston University, where he founded
from him in the dorm (today’s Reynolds House). Berger’s
the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA)
roommate was Friedrich “Fred” Katz ’49, a fellow Austrian
in 1985. His longtime colleague Robert Hefner, who
Jewish émigré who also had an intellectual bent.
followed him as the CURA director, says that Berger “will
Katz, who died in 2010, became a distinguished
be remembered as one of the greatest sociologists of
historian at the University of Chicago. Berger writes in
religion and modernity in the period stretching from the
his memoir, Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist ,
late 1950s to today.”
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
�1950
1952
and Lee
’53
celebrated their 65th
wedding anniversary on
June 8. The couple met
Fred J. Brockmann
Schriever Brockmann
1953
Lee Schriever Brockmann
and Fred J. Brockmann ’52
celebrated their 65th
wedding anniversary on
June 8. The couple met
at Wagner in 1949 and
married in 1952, the
day after Fred graduated.
Afterwards, Lee finished
her senior year while
Fred worked on his
master’s degree. They live
in Sarasota, Fla. Miriam
Plitt continues her work
with the editorial team
for Creative Expressions, a
magazine published yearly
by residents of Carroll
Lutheran Village in
Westminster, Md.
1954
Dana Jacobsen, the
daughter of Jacques Noel
Jacobsen Jr. ’54 M’63,
notified us in August
that her father died on
December 16, 2016,
following complications
from surgery. “My father
attended Wagner College,
as did many of his family
members,” she noted. “He
had an intimate relationship
with Wagner College
throughout his life.” Jacques
was the son of the late Anita
Kershaw Jacobsen ’63 M’68
and the nephew of the
late Edythe Kershaw Larson
’44, who was a professor of
bacteriology at Wagner for
many years. Jacques himself
studied bacteriology
(microbiology) at Wagner
and was a science teacher.
He also studied archaeology
and taught Egyptian and
Near Eastern archaeology
at Wagner. Jacques is
survived by his wife of 57
years, Marion M. Jacobsen,
four children, and four
grandchildren.
Alumni Link
Donald C. Betzler celebrated
his 96th birthday in August.
He and his wife, Mary
Bartell Betzler, celebrated
their 70th wedding
anniversary in September
at a party thrown in their
honor in Boulder City, Nev.
Mary also celebrated her
96th birthday in October.
They last attended the
2010 Wagner reunion, and
are proud supporters of
Wagner. Don supported
Wagner for many years
through matching gifts
from his employer, Exxon.
at Wagner in 1949 and
married in 1952, the
day after Fred graduated.
Afterwards, Lee finished
her senior year while Fred
worked on his master’s
degree. They live in
Sarasota, Fla.
1955
David E. Williams , M.D.,
retired from the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, Minn.,
after 36 years as a consultant
in internal medicine. He
has four children and eight
grandchildren.
1960
Frances Ricciardi Saraceno
lives in Esopus, N.Y., and
Keep in Touch!
Email: alumni@wagner.edu
Web: wagner.edu/alumni
Mail: Alumni Office, Reynolds House,
Wagner College, One Campus Road,
Staten Island, NY 10301
Deadlines: This issue reflects news
received by November 1, 2017. The
submission deadline for the Summer
2018 issue is June 1, 2018.
Content: Wagner welcomes your news
and updates, and we will happily share
them with the Wagner family. We ask
that you send us announcements of
weddings, births, and graduations
after the fact.
Photos: We accept photos of Wagner
groups at weddings and other special
events. With the photo, send the names
and class years of all alumni pictured;
birth date, parents’ names, and class
years with photos of children; and dates
and locations of all events.
Photo Quality: Digital and print photos
must be clear and of good quality. Prints
should be on glossy paper with no
surface texture; they will be returned
at your request (please attach your
address to the photo). Digital photos
must be jpegs of at least 250 pixels per
inch; low-resolution photos converted to
a higher resolution are not acceptable.
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�spends her summers in
Ayamonte, Spain, as has
been her tradition since
1971. She earned her
master’s in Spanish from
Middlebury College. She
has three daughters: Maria,
a Spanish teacher and
department chair for the
Monroe-Woodbury school
district (N.Y.); Gina, a
French and Spanish teacher
at Hyde Park High School
(N.Y.); and Francesca, who
is an English teacher living
in Italy.
1962
Richard Bertucco was in
Guam from March to May
of this year, visiting his
daughter Kristina. She is
a teacher at the U.S. Air
Force elementary school,
where she celebrated her
20th year. Richard, who
lives in Lake Geneva,
Wisc., enjoyed painting
scenes on the Pacific
coastline. Dr. Bjarne “B. J.”
Gabrielsen presented a talk
about his cancer website,
Godandprostate.net, at an
annual medical symposium,
Medicine and Religion, this
fall; his co-presenter was Dr.
Jacek Mostwin from Johns
Hopkins. B. J. has served
on the chemistry faculty
at Wagner College and
the Univeristy of Florida,
where he became “a
diehard Gator.” He worked
at the National Cancer
Institute of the National
Institutes of Health in
Frederick and Bethesda,
Md., from 1986 to 2006,
when he retired as senior
advisor for drug discovery
and development. He
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
received the NIH Award of
Merit in 2002. He and his
wife, Marie, live in Punta
Gorda, Fla.
1966
is an
attorney and managing
partner at the law firm
Forchelli, Curto, Deegan,
Schwartz, Mineo & Terrana
LLP, based in Uniondale,
N.Y. He received an
ICON Award from Long
Island Business News this
fall, based on his years of
experience, achievements,
and ability to lead,
motivate, and teach others.
He was also selected by his
peers as a 2017 New York
Super Lawyer and as a 2018
Best Lawyer in America in
real estate.
Jeffrey D. Forchelli
1967
and his wife,
Roseann, celebrated their
50th anniversary in July.
The Staten Island Advance’s
Carol Ann Benanti wrote
about them in the August 7
issue of the newspaper. John
and Roseann marked their
special day by attending
a mass in St. Patrick’s
Cathedral for people
celebrating their 50th,
60th, and 65th wedding
anniversaries. They told
Benanti that the secret to
their marriage’s success is
“patience, understanding,
love and sacrifice.” Russ
Johnson released the e-book
of his fifth novel, Eyes in
the Cave, through Amazon
on July 9. It is part of his
NYPD Detective Pete
Nazareth series.
John Castellano
1972
Richard Eterginoso retired
this year from the New
York City Department of
Probation after 31 years of
service; he most recently
served as a supervisor.
During his career, he
received a Medal of Valor
in City Hall’s Blue Room,
a letter of commendation
from the assistant regional
director of the FBI, and
a certificate of honor as
a first responder during
9/11. He was named
Employee of the Year in
2000. He is a longstanding
member of the Wagner
College Hardwood Club.
He lives in Staten Island,
his home of 45 years, with
his oldest daughter.
1977
Luga Podesta , M.D., joined
Missouri-based Bluetail
Medical Group in October
to spearhead its new office
in Naples, Fla. Luga is a
sports medicine physician
who specializes in the
non-surgical treatment of
orthopedic, musculoskeletal,
and sports-related injuries.
Previously, he was director
of sports medicine at
St. Charles Orthopedics
in Port Jefferson, N.Y. “I
consider partnering with
Bluetail Medical Group an
outstanding opportunity
to create and spearhead a
new state-of-the-art practice
that focuses on non-surgical,
renegenerative orthopedic
and musculoskeletal
medicine,” he says. He
has nearly 30 years
of experience treating
professional athletes,
musicians, performing
artists, and many others.
1978
Nick Kvasic retired from
coaching girls’ soccer at
New Dorp High School,
Staten Island, this fall,
the Staten Island Advance
reported on October 20
in a story entitled “New
Dorp legend Nick Kvasic
to coach his final soccer
game on Sunday.” It was
his 37th season. Highlights
of his teams’ achievements
include going to nine Public
Schools Athletic League
(PSAL) city championship
games and winning six of
them. But, Nick told the
Advance, “Wins and losses
weren’t that important to
me. … I really just wanted
to see that the kids played
to their potential every
single game.”
1979
In June, Wayne T. Wendel ’79
M’84 completed his 25th
year of teaching social
studies in the West WindsorPlainsboro Regional School
District in N.J.
1980
presented a
concert on October 20 in
memory of Wagner College
music professors Ronald
Cross and Arnold Rosner.
Featuring the Festival Chorus
of Collectio Musicorum,
it was held at Christ and
St. Stephen’s Church in
Manhattan. The program
included pieces by Cross
Jeff S. Dailey
�and Rosner as well as music
by Mattheus Pipelare (ca.
1450–1515), whose forgotten
works were brought back
to light by Ron Cross. Mary
E. Mongioi was selected by
her peers as a 2017 New
York Super Lawyer. She is
an attorney and partner at
the law firm Forchelli, Curto,
Deegan, Schwartz, Mineo &
Terrana LLP.
1983
1986
Patricia Denise Coscia
is working as a model
and actress as well
as publishing poetry
magazines. Her work was
included in a children’s
book of poetry for 2017.
She lives in the Bronx.
Tom Marchetti ’06 married Elaine
Nessle on August 6, 2016, in Geneva,
N.Y. Pictured: Kevin McKenney
’07 (best man), Michael Coleman
’06, Elaine Nessle (bride), Tom
Marchetti (groom), Nick Gross
’07 (groomsman), Jared Jax ’06
(groomsman), Phillip McKenzie ’05,
and Luke Morris ’06 (groomsman).
Kristina Ketelsen ’09 and Pawel
Gradzki ’09 M’11 were married on
June 3, 2017, in Red Bank, N.J. They were
joined by Walter Hameline, Wagner director
of athletics, and alumni Lauretta Zitano
’81, MaryJo Balve ’82, Franze Balve ’82,
Joanne Love ’81, Dana Ketelsen ’81, Kevin
Ketelsen ’79, Matt Abbey ’09, Alissa Cafaro
Abbey ’09, Kenneth Formica ’81, Andrea
Formica ’82, Peter Demeropoulos ’83,
Jennifer Merezio ’09, Marissa O’Brien
’09, Keith Heaney ’10, Joe Kross ’09,
Bradley Hyde ’10, Adam Ziegler ’09, John
Popaca ’09, John McGowan ’09, Michael
Durkan ’09, Ashlee Hillier ’10, Bianca
Formica ’80, William Formica ’81, Jaron
Stunkard ’09, and Blake Lintelman ’08.
Alumni Link
Scott Fink is a member of
the Board of Directors for
Metropolitan Ministries,
a community nonprofit
based in Tampa, Fla. He
served as chair for a new
residential project in
Holiday, Fla., Miracles for
Pasco, which was completed
on August 18. Like
Metropolitan Ministries’
MiraclePlace facility in
Tampa, Miracles for Pasco
offers safe shelter, three
meals a day, counseling,
child care, educational
services, and job placement
to individuals and families
who might be homeless
otherwise. Karin Prussak
was named an assistant
professor of medicine at
the Mayo Clinic College
of Medicine and Science
in Jacksonville, Fla., in
February.
Knot Notes
Kevin Kearney ’10 and Sloane
Herrick ’10 were married on July 15,
2017, in San Diego, Calif. Pictured:
(front row left to right) Zach Spector
’12, Colin Macdonald ’11, James
Johnston ’10, Thomas Iannacone ’12,
Kevin Kearney ’10, Sloane Herrick
Kearney ’10, Emily Mihalick Jeffries
’10, Holly Shriver ’10, Allyssa Agro ’10,
and Mary Jebran ’10, along with (back
row left to right) Nat Harting ’10, Tyler
Jeffries ’10, Alanna Nevins ’11, Caitlin
McGee ’10, and Jillian Porter ’10.
Joseph Cardone ’11 and Christine Gomez
’12 M’14 were married on June 24, 2017,
at Chateau Briand in Long Island, N.Y. The
couple is pictured surrounded by their Wagner
family: Cindy DelVerne-Gomez ’81, Jaclyn
Gomez ’17, Cori Curylo-Sciortino ’07 M’08,
Audrey VanDina ’81, Brittany Chiaffarano
’12, Michael Pinto ’10, Michael Ditommaso
’11 M’12, John Rice ’11, Elizabeth Bennett
’12 M’14, Alyssa Hook ’11, Christine
Barclay ’13 M’15, Anthony Arpaia ’18, Gia
DeStefanis ’13, Christina Moore ’12, Lisa
Schneider ’12, and Brian Conlan ’11.
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�UNCOMMON LIVES
�1987
Arnold Obey ’68
He Runs the City
CLAIM TO FAME Arnold Obey ’68 holds an elite standing in the world of marathon
runners. The retired Staten Island public school principal, who celebrated his 70th birthday
this year, has completed 37 consecutive New York City Marathons.
THE MARATHON LEADERBOARD Today’s TCS New York City Marathon started in 1970,
and Obey has run every one since 1980. According to marathon records, 21 people have
completed 35 or more; the top finisher has run 41.
marathons despite suffering a stroke and undergoing heart surgery in 2012. The marathon
was canceled that year because Hurricane Sandy had devastated large portions of the
city just days earlier. Staten Island, where the marathon begins, was especially hard hit.
“YOU’RE OUT OF YOUR MIN D!” Obey grew up in the Bronx and came to Wagner for
the opportunity to attend a small college on a basketball scholarship. During his sophomore
year, he tried out for the track and field team to keep up his conditioning after basketball
season ended. He ran sprints and also held the school record in the triple jump for over
30 years, with a leap of 44' 11 ½". (In 1991, he was inducted into the Wagner Athletic
Hall of Fame for his basketball and track and field achievements.) “When I saw the long
distance runners — the guys running a mile, 2 miles — I said, ‘You’re out of your mind!’”
A NEW HABIT That changed after he graduated. Besides teaching in Staten Island public
schools, he coached basketball and was a high school referee. But, he wasn’t playing, and
he wanted to stay in shape. So, he joined a neighborhood running group. His wife, Cheryl,
would run with him; it turned out to be a good time to “solve the world’s problems,” as he
says jokingly, or at least to talk through family issues. Daily at about 5:30 a.m., he started
with 3 miles, before building up to 5 miles, 7 miles, a half marathon, and finally a marathon.
SCENIC START One of Obey’s favorite scenes comes right at the beginning, when the
runners cross from Staten Island into Brooklyn on the Verrazano Bridge, and he looks at the
view of Manhattan across the harbor and the FDNY boats shooting out red-white-and-bluecolored water down below.
BEST OF ALL Obey has completed multiple Boston Marathons as well as the Disney World
and the Philadelphia marathons, but NYC remains his favorite because of the crowds and
entertainment all along the way. And that’s the simple reason why he keeps doing it, year
after year: “I enjoy it, it’s a good time.”
P H O T O G R A P H : J O N AT H A N H A R K E L
1990
Chris DiBello , a former
Wagner football player and
national championship
team member, passed
away unexpectedly in
October 2016 after a
stroke. Chris’s family and
friends honored his life by
hosting a golf tournament
to raise money for causes
such as the American
Stroke Association, Camp
Sunshine, and his memorial
scholarship fund, the Chris
DiBello #32 Foundation.
The tournament was held
on the anniversary of his
death, October 13, 2017, in
Northborough, Mass.
Alumni Link
EXCEPTION Obey (pronounced “OH-bee”) kept his perfect record of consecutive
Harshan Bhangdia was named
chief financial officer of
Ellucian, a leading provider
of higher education software
and services, in July. A
certified public accountant
since 1994, he previously
served as vice president,
controller, and advisor to
the chief financial officer
at Quintiles IMS, where he
worked for 15 years.
1994
Bobby Hopson , a star
of Wagner basketball,
came from the storied
Bridgehampton (N.Y.)
High School program that
is the subject of a new
documentary, Killer Bees,
by filmmakers Orson and
Ben Cummings. Shaquille
O’Neal is an executive
producer. Bobby was
part of a panel discussion
at the film’s debut in
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�1998
October at the Hamptons
International Film Festival.
“The story goes beyond
basketball to examine
issues of race and absurd
income inequality as
community leaders fight
to keep the school open
and preserve a place for
the black population in
the Hamptons,” say the
filmmakers.
Gregg Gavioli hosted fellow
Theta Chi fraternity alumni
at his beach house in Avon
by the Sea, N.J., this past
Labor Day. This annual
meet-up on Labor Day
Weekend included Robert
Addonizio ’96, Andy D’Orio
’95, Anthony Labella ’95, and
their collective 11 kids —
“potential future Wagner
students,” he says. Nadia
Lopez ’98 H’16 was featured
in the August 2017 issue
of Glamour magazine. The
article, entitled “This Is
My Job,” gives Lopez’s
perspective on her work
as principal of Mott
Hall Bridges Academy
in Brownsville, Brooklyn,
and the viral social media
B E A U T I F U L U P O N t he H I L L
The Wagner Fund keeps this beautiful college upon the hill
growing and thriving — with your help. The Wagner Fund
supports student scholarships, faculty research and teaching,
and campus maintenance.
Give to the 2017–18 Wagner Fund.
Your gift will make a beautiful difference.
wagner.edu/give
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
•
718-420-4 5 5 1
post that propelled her
school to wide notice and
support in 2015. “I felt
like Brownsville was finally
being given a voice,” she
says in Glamour. “It’s now
two years later, and with
more than 200 students,
my job isn’t done. I want to
keep inspiring my kids to
pursue their dreams.”
1999
Henry Quinlan M’99
was promoted to chief
operating officer of
South Coast Improvement
in Marion, Mass., a
construction design and
engineering firm. He is
responsible for oversight
of all project managers
and site superintendents
at all South Coast
Improvement projects,
as well as creation and
implementation of new
work flow systems. Henry
coached football at Wagner
from 1995 to 2000. “In
my career here at SCI, I’ve
been lucky in that I’ve
been able to channel my
coaching instincts to help
create construction crews
that consistently deliver a
superior experience for our
clients,” he says.
2003
Ray Wetmore gave a talk at
Wagner on September 26
about his work as a props
master and designer for
various Cirque du Soleil
productions in Las Vegas
and on Broadway and for
the Barrow Street Theatre’s
current production of
Sweeney Todd.
�2005
Kate Refsnyder was named
head softball coach at
Hamilton College in
Clinton, N.Y. She was a
proud four-year member
of the Seahawk women’s
softball team, posting a
2.25 earned run average in
her senior year. Previously,
she was head coach at
Archbishop Carroll High
and Albright College, and
was an assistant coach at
Coastal Carolina University,
Indiana University
of Pennsylvania, East
Stroudsberg University, and
Brown University.
Elisabeth Cardiello ’06
M’07 is leading a new
organization, Legacy
Out Loud, which
promotes young women’s
entrepreneurial skills.
Elisabeth was featured
on Worldwide Business with
Kathy Ireland, in a segment
that aired in October
on Fox Business and
Bloomberg International.
Maria Maniglia ’06 M’07
returned to Wagner as
the director of financial
planning, responsible
for long-term forecasting
for the College. After
graduating from Wagner
with a B.S. in business
administration and an M.S.
in accounting, she worked
at PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP and a smaller firm
in Times Square before
joining the BMW Group in
2011. “I’ve been welcomed
back to the Wagner family
with open arms and I’m
2008
announces
the birth of her son
on August 21 and also
the release of her book,
Close Your Eyes Get Free,
with Da Capo Press on
December 26, 2017, under
the name Grace Smith.
More information on her
hypnotherapy work can be
found at gracesmithtv.com.
Kate Smith
2009
Kevin Burke was awarded a
Boren Fellowship this fall,
allowing him to continue
his Russian language studies
at KIMEP University in
Almaty, Kazakhstan. He is
also conducting independent
research. Last year, he started
working on a graduate degree
in international relations,
with a focus on Eurasia, at
American University, and
he plans to return there
after his Boren Fellowship
is completed next summer.
He previously served in the
Peace Corps in Kazakhstan
for two years and worked
in Almaty for four years.
Kristina Ketelsen and Pawel
’09 M’11 were
married on June 3, 2017, in
Red Bank, N.J. See Knot
Notes on page 37 for a
picture.
Gradzki
2010
and Sloane
were married on
July 15 in San Diego, Calif.
See Knot Notes on page 37
for a picture.
Kevin Kearney
Herrick
2011
M’11
married Christine Gomez
’12 M’14 on June 24 at
Chateau Briand in Long
Island, N.Y. See Knot
Notes on page 37 for a
picture. Rob DeLuca ’11
M’13 has become a firsttime restaurant owner.
DeLuca’s Italian Restaurant,
located in Tottenville,
Staten Island, boasts a
coal-fired oven and a
casual Italian menu based
on family recipes. Andrew
Pena ’11 M’14, a double
alumnus of the Evelyn L.
Spiro School of Nursing,
was named ACP-Nurse
Practitioner of the Year at
the Staten Island University
Hospital Advanced Care
Provider Awards ceremony,
held on November 2 at the
Vanderbilt on Staten Island.
National Football League
linebacker Julian Stanford
returned to the active New
York Jets roster this season.
Joseph Cardone
2012
Christine Gomez ’12 M’14
married Joseph Cardone
M’11 on June 24 at Chateau
Briand in Long Island, N.Y.
See Knot Notes on page 37
for a picture. Justin Lefkowitz
exhibited his “Americana
Art” series in the Horrmann
Library’s Spotlight Gallery
this fall. This work is
intended to draw attention
to the spirit of our nation in
a way that is both playful and
meaningful. The series also
does good in another way:
Justin is donating 22 percent
of the proceeds to the
veterans program Building
for America’s Bravest.
2013
Mike Miller M’13 was named
associate athletic director
for marketing strategy
at Columbia University
in September. He was
Wagner’s associate athletic
director for external
relations for the last eight
years as well as sport
administrator for the men’s
and women’s tennis and
golf teams, the cheerleading
and dance squads, and the
marching band.
Alumni Link
2006
excited to contribute to
the success of the College
for many years to come,”
she says. Tom Marchetti
married Elaine Nessle on
August 6, 2016, in Geneva,
N.Y. See Knot Notes
on page 37 for a picture.
Brian Scrocca has joined
the insurance company
Alliant. As vice president
of Alliant Americas middle
market division, he will
help expand the company’s
Northeast client base.
2014
Kevin Farrell ’14 M’17 left
his role as associate director
of Wagner’s Center for
Leadership and Community
Engagement in July in
order to accept a position
as program director for the
New York City Center for
Interpersonal Development
at Concord High School
in Park Hill, Staten Island.
Max Wassel ’14 M’16 was
named one of the two new
freshman football coaches
for the 2017 season at
Passaic Valley High School
in N.J. Max played football
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�for Passaic Valley and Wagner
College, and he served as an
assistant football coach at Wagner
in 2014 and 2015.
2015
Celebrating lives that enriched the Wagner family
Matthew Kane came to Wagner’s
campus on September 20 to
speak with the students of FirstYear Learning Community 2:
On Passions and Reasons on the
topic “Working Through Failure,
Striving for Success.” You can see
the talk on Wagner’s YouTube
channel. Matt is working on his
master’s degree in marriage and
family therapy at Seton Hall
University.
2017
Hadeel Mishal was named a
Newman’s Own Foundation
Fellow this summer. During
this yearlong fellowship, she is
working with the Food Trust in
Philadelphia. The foundation
places each fellow with a
nonprofit that aligns with their
interests and also provides
workshops, coaching, career
development, and other support.
Anthony Tucker-Bartley , a member
of Harvard Medical School’s class
of 2021, was part of the first class
in HMS’s 234-year history to
spend part of orientation traveling
across Boston to get to know the
people and communities they will
be serving. Anthony and his fellow
medical and dental students were
able to meet with leaders from
local health organizations and tour
several neighborhoods. Anthony
was featured in an HMS story
about this initiative.
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
Dr. Albert B. Accettola ’41
Mrs. Charlotte Keffer Demchock ’41
Mrs. Helen MacNeal Huber ’43
Rev. Paul E. Hoffman ’49
Mr. Joseph F. Roggenburg ’49
Dr. Donald W. Spiro ’49 H’88
Mr. Sanford A. Krongold ’52 M’61
Miss Dorothy M. Lazareth ’52
Mrs. Joyce Biller Bishop ’54
Mrs. Claire E. Magnuson Guertler ’54
Mr. Jacques N. Jacobsen Jr. ’54 M’63
Mrs. Marilyn Chery Preede ’55
Dr. Clarence D. Rappleyea ’56 H’98
Mrs. Ann Pantano Fischer ’57 M’63
Dr. Alma N. Quigley ’57
Rev. Peter A. Anderson ’58
Mrs. Lottie Carney ’58 M’61
Mr. Walter Erosh ’58
Dr. Walter T. Schoen ’58
Mrs. Pauline Boberg Campbell M’60
Mr. Vincent N. Gattullo M’60
Ms. Carol E. Sharpe ’60 M’68
Mr. Donald Cavalli ’62
Dr. Bruce R. Barnhard ’64
Dr. Theresa D. Harford ’65
Mr. Monroe J. Klein ’66
Mr. Francis R. D’Addario ’68
Ms. Elizabeth Wheeler De Lucia ’71
Mr. Jeffrey C. Bubb ’75
Mr. Nickolas G. Mitilenes M’82
Mrs. Margaret M. Massoni ’83
Ms. Colleen M. Abbate ’87
Mr. Edward Garcia ’87
Mrs. Esther P. Prescod Rivers ’93
Mr. Antonio D. Pimenta ’00
�WA G N E R L E G A C I E S
Dr. Albert B. Accettola ’41
Dr. Albert B. Accettola ’41, a Wagner Lifetime Trustee,
died on July 18, 2017. He was 99 years old.
Dr. Accettola was an orthopedic surgeon who served
as Wagner College’s athletic teams’ surgeon from 1949
until 1987. He was in private practice in Staten Island
for many years. He also taught orthopedics as an
associate clinical professor at New York University and
was attending physician at the Department of Surgery
at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, among many other
positions and accomplishments in the medical field.
Dr. Accettola graduated from Wagner in 1941
with a B.S. in chemistry. He was a fencer as a Wagner
undergraduate. He went on to earn an M.D. from the
Boston University School of Medicine. Elected to the
Wagner College Board of Trustees in 1981, Dr. Accettola
became a Lifetime Trustee in 1993. The Wagner Alumni
Association named him the John “Bunny” Barbes ’39 and
Lila T. Barbes ’40 Wagner Alumni Laureate in 2007.
He was inducted into Wagner’s Athletic Hall of Fame in
1994. He was chairman of the Seahawk Fund Drive and
a member of the Heritage Society. He also established
the Rose Accettola Scholars in Nursing award at Wagner
in honor of his late wife.
In 1987, Dr. Accettola retired to his 90-acre farm in
Flemington, New Jersey, where he remained busy and
active with farming, antique restoration, and enjoying
time with children and grandchildren. He remained a
voracious reader until his 99th and final year; even when
his eyes had failed him, he still consumed several audio
books each week. In addition to his achievements and
distinguished service to many, he was known as a man of
civility and compassion.
Dr. Clarence D. Rappleyea ’56 H’98
Dr. Clarence D. Rappleyea ’56 H’98, a former Wagner
trustee, died on September 4, 2016. He was 82 years old.
Known as “Rapp,” Dr. Rappleyea was an
accomplished and distinguished public servant in the
state of New York. He was the city attorney for his
hometown, Norwich, New York; representative to the
New York State Assembly for 22 years, with 12 years as
Republican minority leader; and trustee and chairman
of the New York Power Authority. That organization’s
headquarters in White Plains is named in his honor.
Deaths reported to Wagner College from June 28 to November 3, 2017.
Dr. Rappleyea attended Wagner College and
played baseball for the Seahawks before completing
his undergraduate degree at the State University of
New York in Albany. He served on Wagner’s Board
of Trustees from 1987 to 1999 and was instrumental
in the College’s progress during that period of time.
The College awarded him an honorary doctorate in
public policy in 1998. The Albany Law School also
honored him by establishing the Clarence D. Rappleyea
Government Scholar in Residence program.
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�Reflections
A Life Guided By Curiosity
Pursuing One’s Goals to Surprising Places By Andrew Keating ’07
M
y nine-mile hike this fall
in the Absaroka-Beartooth
Wilderness, an hour south
of Big Timber, Montana, began with
a road closure. Over the whine of
my beagle, Foster Wallace, who was
anxious to get out of the car after
two hours of driving, an employee of
the U.S. Forest Service informed me
that I could not access the road to my
favorite camping spot for another four
or five hours. I was encouraged to hang
out at the picnic area a hundred yards
back while I waited for the road to my
campsite to reopen.
I knew there was a trailhead about
a quarter mile past the closure point.
I had never been on this trail and
took it primarily out of convenience.
I changed my clothes, packed a pair
of waterproof trail shoes and lunch,
and set off without a map or any
expectations regarding where the trail
might lead.
A camping trip in true wilderness
should have its share of unexpected
challenges. This one included snow
and freezing rain, high wind speeds
that forced me to relocate my
campsite shortly after sunset the first
night, and a five-hour road closure.
Unlike my anxious beagle in the
passenger seat, I was empowered
by my willingness to adapt to
these challenges, knowing that my
experience would result in a far better
story if I decided not to simply sit and
wait it out.
W A G N E R
M AG A Z I N E
“
Each project,
each step in
between then
and now was
fueled by an
intense desire
to try something.
”
It is difficult to imagine myself
10 years ago, freshly graduated from
Wagner College, working in New York
City, contemplating where I’d be today
— 10 years in the future. In many
ways, the “Last Best Place” is perhaps
the last place I would have expected to
be at this point in my life.
I have always enjoyed being
motivated by whim and chance. My
mother, who was an exceptional
elementary school teacher, consistently
encouraged the exploration of
curiosities. I tried everything as a child.
I asked questions, and I did not allow
for delay in understanding the answers.
As I grew older, I was fortunate to find
a path of education that embraced and
encouraged my curiosity. At Wagner,
my desire to be an actor shifted into a
passion for directing, and the College’s
unique English program allowed for
me to turn a love for reading into a
career of creative writing, publishing,
and teaching. It was by chance that
I became editor of Wagner’s literary
journal, Nimbus – a role that would
define my final two years at the College.
Ten years ago, I had never
considered that my experience with
Nimbus would be the first step
toward publishing a book of fiction
(Participants), founding a publishing
company (Cobalt Press), or teaching
creative writing at a small liberal arts
college in Montana.
This is the nature of being guided
by curiosity.
Six months after I graduated from
Wagner, I was writing quarterly real
estate investment trust reports in the
penthouse office of the World Trade
Center in Boston, contemplating the
chief financial officer’s suggestion that
I should enroll in an MBA program.
A year later, I was writing lottery
technology proposals for GTECH in
Providence, Rhode Island, with a year
of graduate business courses under my
belt. Another year later, I was living
in Baltimore, directing a play, working
in public relations for a financial
publisher, and enrolled in a master of
fine arts program. (Meanwhile, I was
writing my MBA thesis about Barnes
& Noble’s Nook e-reading device,
returning to Providence semi-monthly
to meet with my thesis advisor.)
That is a rather truncated version
of my career before I began teaching
in 2012. From one year to the next,
city to city, job to job, the summary
�reads as erratic. However, the result
is the same as I had set out for
in 2003, when, as a freshman at
Wagner, I declared my major and was
determined to become an English
teacher. Each project, each step in
between then and now was fueled by
an intense desire to try something.
I met someone in the middle of that
brief summary, too. It was at a party
on New Year’s Eve, and I was busy
convincing people that the painting
of Samuel Beckett on the wall was my
grandfather. I walked past her and
made another non-sequitur joke; she
laughed and followed with curiosity. A
little over a year later, we were engaged.
Stacie grew up in two small towns
in Montana, Hamilton and Belt. She
had graduated from high school early
and did what many teenagers, myself
included, are inclined to do at that
point in their lives: She put hundreds of
miles between herself and home. Stacie
had no plans to return permanently.
The Christmas after we married, I
visited Montana for the first time,
experienced the two hours of driving
through nothingness to get from one
city to the next. The town in which we
stayed for the holiday had a population
equivalent to a single floor of
Harborview Hall, and it was a fifteenminute drive to reliable cellular service.
The trip ended with an intentionally
incendiary joke on Facebook: “I will
never live in Montana.”1
But I had fallen in love with her, and
eventually Montana, and less than five
years after that Facebook post, I was
convincing Stacie that we should move.
To most, hiking in unfamiliar
territory without a map would seem
foolish, even dangerous. However, I
have spent my whole life traveling
without a map, without certain
1
direction — most of us do, really.
And, while I’m not suggesting that
we should all traverse bear country
without a plan (I did have bear
spray and a GPS tracker in case of
emergency), I do think it is critical
that we allow ourselves to be driven
onto new trails by curiosity, whim, or
circumstance, from time to time.
Andrew Keating
’07 is director of
communications
and a teacher of
creative writing at
Rocky Mountain
College in Billings,
Montana.
Every year, Facebook’s “On This Day” feature rubs this joke in my face.
I L L U S T R AT I O N : K E I T H N E G L E Y C / O T H E I S P O T . C O M
F A L L 2 0 1 7
�Office of Communications and Marketing
Wagner College
One Campus Road
Staten Island, New York 10301
Let the Good Times Roll
Samantha Quinn ’19, Shaelynn O’keefe ’20, and Emily Upton ’20 were part of the high-energy
crowd helping on freshman move-in day, August 24. Besides having a little fun with the rolling
bins, they welcomed the class of 2021 by moving the new students’ stuff into their rooms
in Harborview Hall. “All I did was come out and park the car, and they did the rest,” said one
surprised parent. See a video about the day at wagner.edu/wagnermagazine.
P H O T O G R A P H : J O N AT H A N H A R K E L
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wagner College Alumni Publications
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains the publications created for the alumni of Wagner College. Starting in 1948 and known as the Link, this series has gone through a variety of name and format changes and is currently known as Wagner Magazine.
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wagner
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Fall 2017
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
U.S. and international copyright laws may protect this work. It is provided by Wagner College for scholarly or research purposes only. Commercial use or distribution is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder.
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Wagner College Digital Collections
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
48pp
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text