https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/1909/archive/files/49eb983c5c15240b1fd4b8f1d813bf1a.pdf?Expires=1785369600&Signature=QuauuOkm3IUDhySH3HKjseetQmPTIFQgfoGgz9Y2jvPB0WKlEAXZ4VVWL5COFC8Q0dCBmQOrCtxzDnzy0JzgKGKG0MNikyPYLHQ451bKH%7EzNZjrMJHzIRQqUITT01AL-Ha2uTtcQQi6UY9jQsSfe0mp-OZhJYw4V9kPoqKiAGbbCvqbWaPQ-LAkwOCxSb0VAgCfkEBQudv8QRb42bN9p0O8uVy61xK97%7EZpoc-6r2ry03wWyKLXzcf3Wh1bxvpD6egik6rgbysLYAtaNeAmAQ3f3mTZRf4yXazP4QYRSrOZ7TTjSix3UMag04FlNdNXUnJKwocUEmAmP%7EHfwpGgVZw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 55281137890e7bc88416e2f191fb1dbc PDF Text Text FA L L 2 0 2 2 Full Circle Patricia Tooker ’79 M’95 D’16 molds the next generation of nurses Page 12 �Cotsen Wagner Magazine  Fall 2022 V O L . 1 8 , N O. 2 DEPARTMENTS 2 From the President 3 From the Editor 4 From our Readers 5 Upon the Hill 26 Alumni Link 26 32 Class Notes 32 42 In Memoriam 42 44 Reflections 44 �FE ATURES 12 FULL CIRCLE Patricia Tooker ’79 M’95 D’16 became a nurse at Wagner. Now she helps mold the next generation of nurses. 18 STRAIGHT FORWARD A new musical co-written by two alumni and developed in partnership with students makes its debut at the New York Theater Festival. This supermoon was seen from Harborview Hall on June 14, 2022. Sometimes called a “Strawberry Moon” because it coincides with the strawberry harvest season, this was the second closest moon of the year. The photo was taken at 9:29 p.m. just as the moon first rose above the horizon. PHOTOGRAPH : JOSH CAMPBELL �From the President Dear Friends, Wagner community members demonstrate time and again that our college is connected to, not set apart from, the world. This issue of Wagner Magazine highlights just a fraction of our global reach. Students perform on Grymes Hill before taking their talents to Broadway and the Vatican. Wagner faculty take on service leadership roles locally in the Staten Island community, abroad in Haiti, and bring the international community to us through a global symposium on the Holocaust. Alumni spread Wagner’s impact as leaders in public service, education, entertainment and supply chain management. I’m always impressed by the people of Wagner, but seeing it all here emphasizes the value of our work. GROW WAGNER In these challenging times, institutions like Wagner College must rise to the occasion and evolve to meet those challenges. We have launched a comprehensive strategic planning process to chart a course to 2030 and beyond – a course that will strengthen our institution, our impact and our communities. The strategic plan, which I anticipate will be completed in the summer of 2023, will complement efforts already underway to launch innovative new academic programs, invest in enhanced learning and living spaces on campus, and better tell Wagner’s story to the world. 2 WA G N E R Change, driven through growth and innovation, is a necessary part of this plan. We move forward with a deep appreciation of our institutional history and heritage. We will not lose sight of the richness of what makes Wagner, Wagner: our committed students who become engaged alumni; our faculty and staff who are leaders in scholarship, service and civic engagement; our commitment to experiential learning, and our beautiful campus on Grymes Hill in the world’s greatest city. You – our alumni and friends – carry Wagner throughout the nation and world. You are part of who Wagner is today and who we are becoming. Thank you for your continuing support. Angelo Araimo President Our Strength Is Our Community. Together, we overcome new challenges, develop new ideas, and pave the way for the Wagner experience. With the support of the Wagner community, our students become leaders, givers, healers and teachers. This journey is only possible with you. M A G A Z I N E Please help make a difference by supporting the Wagner Fund today. To give securely online visit: www.wagner.edu/give, call Wagner College at: 718-420-4551 or write to: Wagner College Office of the Wagner Fund at Reynolds House One Campus Road Staten Island, New York, 10301-9831. �From the Editor “All I could feel was pride.” As the lights came up at the end of a new play by two Wagner College alumni this summer, that was what a theater faculty member said she felt. (That show, by the way, is the subject of one of our feature stories in this issue.) And as I thought over the other stories in this issue of Wagner Magazine, that’s also the word that kept coming to my mind: pride. Wagner College has produced some really outstanding graduates in a wide range of fields — and the more I’ve gotten to know their stories, the prouder I’ve become of them. For example, I’ve known Patricia Tooker ’79 M’95 D’16, the subject of our cover story, as long as I’ve been on Grymes Hill. The dedication she has shown to the education of the next generation of health care professionals… the ingenuity she has displayed in leading her fellow faculty members… the commitment she has shown to her community… Wrap all that together, and you can sum it up in one word: pride. And it’s the same feeling of pride I have for the subjects of our other profile stories: Fall 2022 • Volume 18  Number 2 success, both in business and in charitable work. “Philanthropy and giving back and supporting my community,” Scott tells us, “that makes me happy.” PUBLISH ER Jonathan Harkel EDITOR • K insey Casey ’02, who grew up in the shadow of her home state’s capitol building, has made her career in public service. Kinsey shies away from attention for herself; she just wants to make a difference for others. • Julie Hassett ’08 went from working as a drug counselor at a Queens methadone clinic to creating extraordinary Halloween costumes for Ariana Grande and painting whimsical body art on the very pregnant bellies of dozens of celebrity women for the philanthropy known as Every Mother Counts. Julie’s amazing creativity, and the way she puts it to use for others, can’t help but make other Waggies proud! Lee Manchester GR A PH I C DE SI GNER Laura Shine Lee WR IT ER S Lisa Fields Lisa Holland Jonathan Harkel Lee Manchester PHOTO GR A PHER S Vinnie Amessé Kevin Birch Joshua Campbell Seth Jolles ’22 Louis Kang I’m sure you’ll feel the same way about your fellow Grymes Hill alumni after reading this issue. Edward Linsmier Lee Manchester Rachel Rambaldi Benjamin Kohen Laura Mares Anna Mulé Max Rottenecker M’18 Editor, Wagner Magazine Matt Stanley • Scott Fink ’83, a Wagner accounting graduate, has become an extraordinary PROD U C T ION A SSIS TA N T Seth Jolles ’22 Wagner Magazine: The Link for Alumni and Friends is published twice a year by Wagner’s Office of Communications and Marketing On the Cover Full Circle Patricia Tooker ’79 M’95 D’16 molds the next generation of nurses Page 12 Wagner Magazine Wagner College One Campus Road Staten Island, NY 10301 718–420–4504 lee.manchester@wagner.edu wagner.edu/wagnermagazine Patricia Tooker ’79 M’95 D’16 now serves as the Kimberly H. Spiro Dean of Nursing for the Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing at Wagner College. The photograph for the cover was taken in Foundation Hall by Joshua Campbell, August 2022. 3 wagner.edu �From Our Readers Many thanks to those who responded to announcements this June of the Grand Gold Award, including campus faculty and staff and members of our alumni community. Here’s a selection of those responses: Congratulations on the CASE award, Lee. Having one of the top alumni magazines in the country is a feather in Wagner’s cap and yours. Wagner Magazine wins Grand Gold Award Early this summer, Wagner Magazine received some very welcome news: Our Fall 2021 article, “Lonnie Brandon & the North Hall 27,” written by Lee Manchester and Stephanie Siek, had been awarded a Grand Gold Award in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s 2022 Circle of Excellence competition. CASE is the top professional organization for university alumni, advancement and communications departments around the globe. This year’s News/Feature (1,000+ words) writing category of the CASE Circle of Excellence competition included six gold prizes awarded to Notre Dame, Yale, Stanford, Boston College, Holy Cross and Portland State — but Wagner College was the winner of the only Grand Gold Award, the top prize in the category. According to CASE, the Grand Gold Award is only given rarely, and many times it’s not awarded at all. - Russ Johnson ’67 M’72 Congratulations, Lee — and, as they say in these parts, mazel tov! All of us who have worked with Lee know what a very fine, dedicated and professional journalist he is and what an incredible archivist. It is so gratifying — and deeply deserved — to see his work recognized in this way. Thank you for bringing this great distinction to Wagner on top of all else you do. - Laura Morowitz, Art history professor Congratulations on the welldeserved honor and award! Always great to see your work recognized, as it should be. You did an excellent job with the Lonnie story; it was awesome to see it come to life! - Deyja Gentile ’19 Congratulations on receiving the Golden Circle of Excellence Award. It is an honor to celebrate with you! Your work never goes unnoticed, but very rarely is time taken to acknowledge it. Thank you for your continued excellence in your role in campus. Your insight in the articles brings a new level of intrigue and understanding to all that read your work. - Kathleen Oberfeldt M’98 D’16 WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU We welcome letters from readers. Letters 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. Lee Manchester, Editor Office of Communications, Wagner College One Campus Road, Staten Island, NY 10301 lee.manchester@wagner.edu 4 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E �The Work Continues On April 5, Wagner College was visited by an old friend, President Emeritus Richard Guarasci, who filled us in on what he’d been doing with himself since his retirement in 2019: writing a book about his keystone experience on Staten Island. Guarasci, a political scientist by training, has always had a deep and abiding passion for civic engagement. That passion shines through in his new book, “Neighborhood Democracy: Building Anchor Partnerships Between Colleges and Their Communities,” published through a collaboration between Stylus Publishing and the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The book leans heavily on Guarasci’s experience in building Wagner College’s partnership with the Port Richmond community on Staten Island, highlighting familiar students and scholars. You’ll find the complete video of President Guarasci’s April 5 lecture on our YouTube channel. Just search for “Richard Guarasci, ‘Neighborhood Democracy.’ ” 10th Black History Month Scholar’s Lecture Since 2013, the high point of Wagner College’s observance of Black History Month has been the BHM Scholar’s Lecture, where a prominent academic has been invited to speak to a campus audience about their research. Our first Black History Month lecturer was Tricia Rose, professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, who spoke about “Race, Media and Social Justice in the Obama Era.” This year, our speaker was sociologist Anthony Ryan Hatch, chair of the Science in Society program at Wesleyan University. Hatch has written extensively about public health issues and the African American community. He has published two books, “Blood Sugar: Racial Pharmacology and Food Justice in Black America” (2016) and “Silent Cells: The Secret Drugging of Captive America” (2019). For his Wagner College lecture, Hatch explored the way public health research about the Covid pandemic was affecting Black Americans. To find multiple videos from our Black History Month Scholar’s Lecture series, including this year’s, search on YouTube for “Wagner College Black History Month events.” FA L L 2022 5 �Upon the Hill Che Bello! Ever since the Wagner College Choir was founded in 1939, annual tours have been the highlight of its calendar. Most of those tours were in North America, but seven took the choir to Europe. In the tour’s highlight, the Wagner College Choir led the music for an afternoon Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, which concluded with a performance of Thomas Juneau’s “Et in Terra Pax (And on Earth, Peace).” his May, the choir embarked on its eighth European tour, making its first-ever visit to Italy. Choir director Thomas Juneau and band director Jose Luis Diaz Jr. shepherded the touring company of over 100 people to some extraordinary performance venues, including the 11th century Chiesa San Stae in Venice and the medieval Basilica Santa Trinita in Florence. The final performance of the tour, in Rome’s St. Paul’s Within the Walls Episcopal church, ended with the two pieces most emblematic of the Wagner College Choir: "Beautiful Savior," its signature anthem, and "Beautiful Upon the Hill," our alma mater. 6 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E �A Caring Community Throughout the challenges our society has faced — from Kristallnacht to Charlottesville — Wagner College has always been a caring voice. This year has been no exception. Rev. Holly Bonner, our director of spirituality and civic engagement, has organized several expressions of the college’s concern. The first was a two-week collection drive this March for first-aid materials, baby supplies and feminine hygiene products for war relief in Ukraine. One of Rev. Bonner’s key helpers was Wagner freshman Daniella Mar, whose family is both Ukrainian and Russian. More than 800 pounds of material was collected. In May, a pair of mass shootings broke the nation’s heart: the first at a Buffalo supermarket, the second at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school. “The Wagner community needs a place to collectively grieve these two immense losses,” Vice President Jazzmine Clarke-Glover wrote in a campus message. “That is why opposite Parker Hall, in front of the community Peace Pole, Rev. Dr. Holly Bonner has installed 21 solar-powered angels.” The angels remained on display June 3-18. And in June, the Knubel Chapel in Kairos House displayed a special altar in observance of Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when African Americans in Texas were informed that they were free. This is the third year Wagner College has observed Juneteenth as an official holiday and day of service. Nursing Seminar in Haiti Five years ago, nursing professor Edna Aurelus M’08 was featured on the cover of Wagner Magazine for her part in a story about Wagnerian refugees. As a “tween” in Haiti, her family was targeted in the turbulent aftermath of the 1991 coup d’état; her uncle helped the family escape to America, where they settled in the Staten Island community of Port Richmond. Today, with four college degrees to her credit (including a master’s from Wagner), Edna Aurelus is a tenured professor in the Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing, having joined the faculty in 2015. Even with a heavy teaching schedule, Professor Aurelus finds time for research as well as service work. Over the last winter break, she found a way to combine both interests, returning to her homeland to present a seminar for a group of 17 Haitian nurses on a peer-reviewed study she had written, “A Decade of Cirrhosis,” with the support of the Maureen L. Robinson ’67 H’03 Faculty Fellows Program. FA L L 2022 7 �Upon the Hill We wish fond farewells to Faculty Retirees GARY S UL LI of the Grymes Hill faculty: Gary Sullivan, Alison Smith and Mary Rose Leacy. VA N Also retiring this year is history professor Alison Smith. She earned her undergraduate degree from Vassar College and her master’s and doctoral degrees from Johns Hopkins, teaching at Vassar before joining the Wagner College faculty in 1992. Let’s put that another way: Only alumni who are more than 69 years old have known a Wagner College without Gary Sullivan. A Theater professor par excellence Gary Sullivan has retired after 47 years on the faculty. S LI ON SMI TH Sullivan joined the Wagner College Theatre faculty in 1975, just seven years after the department’s creation. Educated at Idaho State (B.A.) and the University of Oregon (M.F.A.), he was originally hired as the WCT’s technical director and scene designer. One of his masterpieces of stage design was the 1982 production of “Grease,” when he drove a jazzed-up Honda 600 onto the stage. MARY ROS E LE Y When WCT founder Lowell Matson retired in 1987, Sullivan stepped up to serve as department chair. And when the college needed an interim provost in 1994, Sullivan stepped up again. “Gary Sullivan was soft-spoken, low-keyed and steady under pressure, a commonplace circumstance in theatre,” wrote President Emeritus Norman Smith in his Wagner memoir, “Top Tier.” “He just got the job done.” Sullivan has also directed the arts administration program for many years, training hundreds of skilled leaders for museums, theaters and nonprofit organizations across the country. “He is absolutely irreplaceable,” wrote theater professor Felicia Ruff, “even if we could hire 20 people to replace him.” It’s no wonder, then, that Gary Sullivan was presented with a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award a few years ago when the Wagner College Theatre celebrated its 50th anniversary. 8 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E A C As general manager of the Wagner College Theatre, Sullivan created the WCT’s subscription program. The result: More Staten Island residents became connected to the theater program — and to Wagner College — than ever before. Our third faculty retiree is economics professor Mary Rose Leacy. She earned her B.A. from the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at the New School, her master’s degree from CUNY’s Hunter College, and her doctorate from Fordham. She joined the Wagner College faculty in 1999. ‘Wagner’s Mom’ Retires three longtime members �After 22 years on Wagner’s public safety staff, Monica Wohltjen has finally retired. Naturally, our congratulatory posts on the college’s Facebook and Instagram pages blew up. “I realized this is exactly where I wanted to be. I was going to be a mom, not a security guard,” she said. That’s because, as most alumni of the 21st century will attest, Monica Wohltjen is “Wagner’s Mom.” Always has been. Monica Wohltjen worked herself up the ranks on Wagner’s public safety staff, from part-time to full-time, to shift supervisor, to assistant director. Starting in 2019, she served as interim director following the departure of her predecessor, only being named public safety director in her own right in September 2021. “I started part-time in 1999,” she said. “I was in the booth one day, and I remember students coming up to me, and they started pouring their hearts out to me about things — relationships, situations. We’ll miss you, “Mom.” FA L L 2022 9 �Upon the Hill This June, a Wagner College symposium on “Heroines of the Holocaust” brought 50 scholars from seven countries together to examine the role of Jewish women who fought the Nazis’ “final solution.” But this June’s symposium surpassed everything else the center had done. The conveners of the symposium were two longtime Wagner College faculty colleagues, history professor Lori Weintrob and art historian Laura Morowitz. “Together with Laura,” Weintrob said, “we have been able to open up a conversation within the international field of Holocaust studies. The whole theme of resistance is really just in its infancy. They had been part of the original faculty team behind the 1998 launch of the Wagner Plan. For about 10 years, they taught a freshman learning community — a set of three connected courses — titled “Close Encounters: Creativity, Conquest, Exploration.” “Jewish women were shooting machine guns and throwing Molotov cocktails at the Nazis — and they were also art teachers, nurses, mothers, creating strategies for survival.” “We did great work,” Morowitz said. “We just felt that 10 years was a really long time. We went our separate ways — and then we came back together to work on the Holocaust Center.” Laura Morowitz’s involvement in organizing the symposium arose from her own scholarship as well as her family’s experience. Wagner Scholars Convene Symposium on “Heroines of the Holocaust” The idea for the Wagner College Holocaust Center was born out of Lori Weintrob’s work on another project: the 2011 commemoration of the 350th anniversary of Staten Island’s European settlement. “The slogan for SI 350 was, ‘One Island, Many Stories,’ ” Weintrob said. “From there, in a way, is how I came to Holocaust survivors, because I felt that they were one of many groups on Staten Island whose stories had not been told.” Since the center’s inception in June 2014, it has organized an astonishing number of events foregrounding the Holocaust, including annual commemorations of Kristallnacht each fall and Yom Ha’Shoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day — each spring. In 2018, two productions highlighted the stories of Holocaust survivors on Staten Island that had originally inspired Weintrob. One was a play, “In Light of One Another,” co-authored by Weintrob and Wagner theater professor Theresa McCarthy, in which 12 students performed the curated testimonies of six survivors. The other was a 25-minute documentary film, “Where Life Leads You,” produced by Staten Island Advance reporter Shira Stoll with the Holocaust Center’s cooperation. It told the story of 10 survivors now living on Staten Island. “I remember the moment I learned about the Holocaust,” she said. “I was 8 years old, and I was at my grandmother’s house. I remember my grandmother’s niece, Rose, went to get a turkey out of the oven and her sleeve flew up, and I saw the tattoo,” her prisoner ID number from one of the Nazi concentration camps. “Even as a kid, I remember there was something so frightening and wrong, and I immediately said, ‘What is that?’ ” As a scholar, Morowitz began delving deeply into Nazi atrocities while investigating the fate of a painting by the Viennese artist Gustav Klimt, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer,” for a historic novel. Both Morowitz and Weintrob played key roles in organizing the June symposium, “Heroines of the Holocaust: New Frameworks of Resistance.” “In the end, we had 50 people from seven different countries who came in,” Weintrob said. “People really took this symposium seriously as a turning point in the field of Holocaust studies.” “Several people said that they felt it was one of those watershed moments where things just kind of came together,” Morowitz said. A summary of the symposium will be published by the USC Shoah Foundation. 10 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E �Professors Lori Weintrob (standing) and Laura Morowitz (seated), photographed in the Wagner College Holocaust Center’s Education and Action Gallery, in the Union building. WI N T E R 2022 11 �by Lisa Fields fullcircle 12 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E �Patricia Tooker became a nurse at Wagner. Now she helps mold the next generation of nurses. At first, it was a family connection that drew young Patricia Tooker to enroll at Wagner College — that, and a basketball scholarship. But after her graduation in 1979, she found herself returning, again and again — for advanced degrees, for part-time work, for a full-time commitment as a teacher and leader. Ultimately, it was the reputation of Wagner’s Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing, and its proximity to her home and workplace, that kept her coming back. Today, 43 years after earning her bachelor’s degree at Wagner, Patricia Tooker ’79 M’95 D’16 is a tenured professor and dean. “Wagner, professionally and personally, has been a big part of my life,” Tooker says. “Some of the folks up here, we tease about being lifers, like, ‘Did you ever work anywhere else?’ I say, ‘Yes. Yes, I did.’ ” Making her way Tooker chose Wagner during high school, following in her older sister’s footsteps. One of six siblings who grew up on Staten Island, Tooker didn’t want to go away to college. She played for Wagner’s women’s basketball team, which earned her a scholarship that made college more affordable. “Not a complete, full scholarship — but enough that helped a little bit,” Tooker says. “I didn’t play all four years, because nursing really was very challenging, time-wise, for a ball player.” Tooker always knew that she wanted to become a nurse. Wagner’s baccalaureate program appealed to her at a time when many nursing programs only offered associate’s degrees. “I grew up knowing that I loved the sciences and was fascinated with the human body,” Tooker says. “If somebody had a skinned knee or needed help, I just always seemed to be the person jumping in. I don’t think that’s changed. I think that’s part of my DNA.” Although she was passionate about nursing, Tooker sometimes felt out of place as an undergraduate.   “I wasn’t scholarly, to the point that I felt intimidated when I was surrounded by students who were smarter than me — or so I thought,” Tooker says. “I was strong in the clinical setting, and I felt a sense of accomplishment when I was able to perform the care. Eventually, I learned ways to study better.” FA L L 2022 13 �“My son didn’t grow up with siblings,” she says, “but he grew up with many cousins and aunts and uncles and both sets of grandparents within walking distance.” 14 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E �“The doctor of nursing practice is focused on folks who are in the practice setting, want to stay in the practice setting and want to contribute their research of a project into a community of need,” Tooker says. One discouraging instructor left a lasting impression. “I had a nursing professor when I was, I believe, in my junior year. She stopped me in the hallway, put her finger in my face and said, ‘Mark my words: You will never be a nurse,’ ” Tooker says. “I saw her years later at Maimonides Medical Center when I was a staff nurse. I said to one of my colleagues, ‘Can you just watch my med cart for a minute? I want to go say hello to someone.’ I couldn’t get over to this instructor fast enough to tell her that I was, indeed, a nurse.” Tooker began working as a nurse after her sophomore year. At that time, undergraduate students were allowed to take the exam to become a licensed practical nurse. “Upon passing the LPN boards, I went over and got a job at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, [which] Wagner had a very close affiliation with,” Tooker says. “For my remaining two years in nursing school — and that’s perhaps where the conflict with basketball was — I worked.” She spent every weekend, holiday and school break at Maimonides. Tooker’s strong work ethic paid off; upon graduation, she was offered a full-time position as a staff nurse. That same year, she married Brian Tooker, whom she’d started dating during college. “I knew him my whole life,” she says. “I was born and raised on Staten Island. My husband was born and raised on Staten Island about two, three blocks from where I was living.” After seven or eight years, Tooker left Maimonides to take a position as staff nurse at Bayley Seton Hospital on Staten Island, where she bumped into an old friend who was living in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The friend convinced her to move to Woodbridge, where she and Brian lived for about 12 years. During that time, Tooker’s career advanced. “I answered an ad for a recovery room nurse,” Tooker says. “Within a short time, they named me the nurse manager of a brand-new surgical ICU trauma unit. I remained at Bayley and left as one of their administrators.” While at Bayley Seton, Tooker returned to Wagner for her master’s degree. She also began working part-time as an adjunct professor. The hospital was so close to campus, it was easy to coordinate. “I would come up here for my graduate studies on call and sometimes my beeper would go off,” Tooker says. “I’d have to leave and come back.” Rediscovering her roots Tooker and her husband were married for 15 years before their son, Christopher John (C.J.), was born. “I did infertility treatments for more years than I wanted,” Tooker says. “Most people know I was childless for many, many years. That was a big challenge for me, growing up Top left: Patricia Tooker and her husband Brian Tooker. Left center: Wagner College women’s basketball team from the 1976 Kallista, with Patricia Tooker on the far left. Bottom left: Patricia Tooker, her son C.J., and her nieces Emily Navarro (far left) and Lauren Flynn at commencement in 2015. Bottom right: Patricia and Brian Tooker with their son C.J. at Bradley Beach, N.J., 1998. Far right: C.J. Tooker, 1997, at Bradley Beach. FA L L 2022 15 �in a large family and having a lot of siblings and friends who were having their first, their second, their third, their fourth.” Kim Spiro, left, and Patricia Tooker embrace during the 2022 “Nursing Night Out” event. Enduring Gifts Patricia Tooker was named the first Kimberly H. Spiro Dean of Nursing, a position established following a $3 million gift from the Spiro Foundation which will support leadership and innovation in the Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing. The gift from the Spiro Foundation was the latest in a series of generous contributions made to Wagner College by the family of Donald and Evelyn Spiro, both members of the college’s Class of 1949. “I am so grateful to trustee Kim Spiro for her continued support of Wagner College and the Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing,” Wagner College President Angelo Araimo said. “Kim carries on the legacy of her parents, whose dedication to Wagner spanned seven decades. This wonderful gift carries that dedication forward and allows us to continue growing one of the best nursing schools in America. “And it could not be more appropriate that the first person named as the Spiro Dean of Nursing is Patricia Tooker,” Araimo continued. “Like other excellent leaders, Pat has the ability to inspire those she leads, reminding them that what we’re doing matters. She lives the Wagner Plan, which was her number one job as dean of integrated learning — and she makes the ‘integrated’ part of Wagner learning work in the context of training health care professionals.” When C.J. was young, the family moved from Woodbridge back to the Staten Island neighborhood where Tooker and her husband were raised. “My son didn’t grow up with siblings,” she says, “but he grew up with many cousins and aunts and uncles and both sets of grandparents within walking distance.” After Tooker resettled on Staten Island, an old Wagner friend reached out. Kathleen Ahern, professor and director of graduate studies at Wagner’s nursing program, called to see if Tooker would consider applying for a position as a full-time instructor. “I had her as a student in the master’s program,” Ahern says, “but I also knew her background, that she had very extensive clinical experience and she was very well received by the students as an adjunct before she came on full-time.” Tooker was hesitant, but the position would allow for a better work-life balance. “I said, ‘I don’t really think that’s what I want to do full-time, but I’ll give it a try,’  ” Tooker says. “Kathy Ahern said it would be a lifestyle that would be conducive to raising my son. It would also make it possible for me to keep my skills up by working weekends, holidays, whenever, in the criticalcare areas that I loved so much. And here I am.” Learning to lead Gradually, Tooker was awarded tenure and promoted to different positions at Wagner. Along the way, she earned the 2010 Faculty Teaching Award. “I slowly found myself evolving into leadership roles, similar to what had happened in the hospital,” Tooker says. 16 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E About a dozen years ago, Wagner began making plans to offer a doctorate in nursing practice, the first and only doctoral program, so far, that the college offers. “The doctor of nursing practice is focused on folks who are in the practice setting, want to stay in the practice setting and want to contribute their research of a project into a community of need,” Tooker says. Tooker was one of the faculty members who helped create the program — and when it was approved, she got permission from the provost and president to enroll in it, herself. She graduated with the inaugural class in 2016, shortly before becoming dean of the nursing school. Her DNP research focused on the opioid epidemic, which had developed a stranglehold on Staten Island. “I was one of the initial committee members in a Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness initiative called TYSA, Tackling Youth Substance Abuse,” she says. “It was my commitment to this community agency, trying to wrap my head around, why Staten Island? Why was my hometown an epicenter?” Giving back Despite her many responsibilities as nursing dean, Tooker volunteers with several community organizations. She’s been a member of the Eger Lutheran Homes and Services board of trustees for nearly 20 years. “Pat has a very special work ethic,” says Lorri Senk, Eger’s president and CEO. “She focuses on her work, then she will focus on Eger, and then she’ll focus on her family, but I know that family does come first. She is a warm and wonderful person. She makes you feel that you know you can go to her with problems or concerns.” �For the past four years, Tooker has served as chair of Eger’s board, a demanding role at the height of the Covid pandemic. “Every day, a different challenge, every day, a new set of rules,” Tooker says. “We didn’t know enough about the transmission of the illness, so folks were coming out of the hospital and going into the long- and short-term-care facility being carriers, which just caused further outbreaks.” She’s also spent a considerable amount of time volunteering with the Staten Island Performing Provider System, collaborating on projects and serving on committees. “She must be a magician with time management because, obviously, she has the full-time job at Wagner, and yet she’s willing and able to share her ability and her experiences with organizations like Staten Island PPS,” says Dr. Salvatore Volpe, its chief medical officer. “I believe she does what she does because she cares about people, and that comes across very quickly.” The simple things When she isn’t working, Tooker enjoys walking, biking, gardening and socializing with friends and family. Her son lives on Staten Island, as do her parents, who still live in her childhood home. Most of her siblings live locally, including her twin sister, Ellen Navarro, who is the director of Wagner’s Center for Intercultural Advancement. Tooker also relishes spending time at the beach. She and her husband purchased a small condo in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, shortly after 9/11. “I always wanted a beach house,” Tooker says. “After a lot of loss of life of many friends and colleagues — nurses, firefighters, cops — I had a better understanding of the fragility of life and how it could be over so quickly.” Several of Tooker’s close friends also have second homes in Bradley Beach, allowing them to connect meaningfully in New York and New Jersey. “We just kick back and spend time together and share our stories of raising children and taking care of elder parents and listening to good music and trying to stay healthy and happy,” she says. Tooker deeply values her friends, who understand her busy schedule and accept her for who she is. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, so when we finally get to unwind, we have a lot of fun,” says Diane Ryan, one of Tooker’s longtime friends. “We sit on the beach. We go for a walk. No judgment; just support, laughter. It’s invaluable.” Full steam ahead Although Tooker recently turned 65 and her husband has already retired, she has no plans to leave Wagner anytime soon. Instead, she’s focused on the work ahead. Tooker is collaborating with the Staten Island PPS to incorporate telehealth into Wagner’s nursing curriculum by connecting students with residents at PPS-affiliated long-term-care facilities. “As long as the students are working with a live human being on the other side, not just each other through telehealth, we can use it as some clinical hours,” Tooker says. She’s also begun crafting a curriculum for a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program. “It just looks like a great program that I think would be a really good fit for Wagner, if I could work on that and get it up and going,” Tooker says. “I don’t know. A few more years. My friends keep saying I’ve been saying that for a few years now. They’re like, ‘Really? When are you really going to retire?’ They’re waiting for me at the beach.”  R.J. Tillman The Wagner community gathered to recognize the 10 year anniversary of the death of Ronald “R.J.” Tillman, a Wagner nursing student who was struck and killed by a motorist while bicycling home from campus on February 12, 2012. Following his death, family, friends and alumni raised $14,000 toward a memorial fund which supports the R.J. Tillman Award, given to seconddegree nursing students who exhibit deep caring, sensitivity, and concern for classmates and patients. The award has been given annually since its inception and remains a tradition for the nursing program. Supporters can continue to grow the endowed fund by making a gift at: wagner.edu/give. FA L L 2022 17 �Alumni and student collaboration brings off-beat romance to the stage About ten years ago, a couple of arts administration majors graduated from Wagner College, ready to take on the theatrical world. It took a full decade, and the help of next-generation Waggies, to bring their ambition to fruition. The spark that provided the inspiration for all of this? A surprising, off-beat love story, posted in a blog. Greyson Riley (left) and Andrew King in “Straight Forward” at the Teatro Latea in Manhattan. �Chris Sabol ’12 and Billy Aberle ’13 became fast friends on Grymes Hill. Chris’s high school experience on the Jersey shore had been all about band. Billy’s experience on Long Island was similar, but with ample helpings of high school choir and theater thrown in. Together, they were a great mix. As Wagner undergrads, these Theta Chi brothers became cofounders of Student Run Musical Theatre, an organization that still thrives today, producing several small shows with student directors, performers and crews each year. When they graduated, it made sense for Billy and Chris to form a nonprofit company to produce new works for the theater. “We knew we wanted to write something in musical form,” Billy said. The question was, what? To get some initial direction, they wrote to a couple of guys who were just finding their stride in the theatrical world, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. That team was working on a new musical, “Dear Evan Hansen” — “but this was before they blew up,” Billy quickly added, “and they wrote back with some amazing writing advice. “One of the things they said was, for your first show, try to find something that is a story that already exists.” So Billy and Chris started digging, looking on the internet for some great story about which to write. Finally, in September 2014, Billy found something. Some guy in Boston had written a blog about how love had found him in the most unexpected way imaginable, at least to him: with his roommate. Another guy. Another straight guy. Despite their initial insecurities, the two men finally surrendered to the truth: Love is love, no matter the gender. The story went viral. Chris heard Billy out. He wasn’t immediately sold — but he agreed to at least consider it. “When Billy brought this idea up, I remember saying to him, ‘Okay, I’ll make a deal with you,’ ” Chris said. “ ‘If you reach out to these guys and say, ‘Hi, I’m some random guy and I want to write a musical about your life,’ and they say yes, then we’ll do this.” “The next day, I reached out to them,” Billy said. “They got back to us right away, and they agreed to do the interview. We drove up to Boston, where they lived, and we sat down with them over two days — and that is when it became clear that there was a real story here.” The two guys in Boston, Mike Iamele and Garrett Lech, remember that weekend well. “If I’m being honest,” Mike said to Billy and Chris during our interview, “when you two first reached out, I didn’t expect this to go anywhere. “ ‘They’re just out of college,’ I thought, ‘they’re kids. They seem eager and earnest and really nice, so we’ll entertain this, but at most we’re just having a conversation with people — and that’s totally fine.’ ” Mike, a blog writer and life coach, and Garrett, a clinical pharmacist, had already been exposed to strangers’ reactions to their very personal story. The morning after it was published — on Sept. 14, 2014 — Mike remembers checking the hit count on the blog: over 100,000 people. “It really took me by surprise,” Mike said, “to wake up to phone calls from NPR and Huffington Post wanting to have these conversations. There were so many great messages saying, ‘This resonates. I’ve had a similar experience that I’ve never talked about before to anyone.’ But there was also a lot of hate, a lot of negative response. It was a really interesting moment for me.” “We therapized each other, I guess, for a very long time,” Garrett said. “Every night we had these really deep, profound conversations for a good year and a half.” FA L L 2022 19 �By the time Billy and Chris came to visit, Mike and Garrett were definitely ready for them. But it took more time for Billy and Chris to figure out what they wanted to do with the story — seven years more. “When we had first reached out to Mike and Garrett, we were fresh out of college,” Billy said, “and I don’t even know if we fully understood exactly what we were doing or even understood the story. “I’m glad that it took as long as it did, because if we would have finished it four years ago, there’s no way that it would be like what it is right now.” It took a visit with one of their old theater professors at Wagner to get Billy and Chris off the fence and into the saddle. It was Aug. 6, 2021 — almost exactly a year ago as this Wagner Magazine story is being written — when Billy and Chris met up with Wagner College Theatre professor Felicia Ruff for dinner. “They reached out to me for ideas about their next steps,” Felicia said. “I encouraged them to reconnect with Student Run Musical Theatre. They did, and things fell together from there.” “It was one of the hardest three weeks of my life, from the auditions to opening night,” Sofie said, “but it made me realize that I want to be directing for the foreseeable future, which was eye-opening. Having done a lot of theater growing up and seeing people direct, I know what is good and what is bad, like how to treat actors and manage time.” Good time management came in handy for the director of Billy and Chris’s musical, titled “Straight Forward” — especially since, with the crush of so many other demands on everyone’s time this spring, they were only able to organize seven rehearsals, and only on Sundays. Further complicating matters was the fact that, no matter how much everyone wanted Covid to just go away and leave them alone, the pandemic just wouldn’t cooperate. Although the musical has a cast of just two actors, both of them caught Covid this spring. Andrew King ’22 (playing Garrett) got it pretty early and was able to recover long before performances were scheduled, but Greyson Riley ’23 (playing Mike) was still recuperating just 18 days before the first show. “We needed a fresh perspective on this thing that we’d been sitting with for six, seven years,” Chris said. “I remembered being at Wagner and immersed in our production, and how much passion the students have about creating theater here. It felt right.” Fortunately, both actors were ready to go by Monday, June 6, when the debut performance of “Straight Forward” was scheduled at Teatro Latea, a 75-seat black-box theater on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Billy and Chris had been able to move the show off campus, booking it into the New York Theater Festival’s spring/summer program for three performances that could reach savvy Gotham theatergoers. Billy and Chris contacted Seth Jolles ’22, who was president of SRMT that fall. The venue was packed, with all three shows performed to a full house. The final performance — on Sunday, June 12 — was attended by friends and family members of everyone involved: Sofie’s mother, Chris’s parents, Wagner faculty members, an old college pal of Mike and Garrett … and, of course, the men whose lives were the inspiration for “Straight Forward.” “He didn’t know who we were,” Chris remembers. “We basically said, ‘We started SRMT like a million years ago, and we have this original thing, and we were wondering if you guys wanted to work on it?’ “And he was like, ‘Sure!’ “That’s a testament to the connection between the students at this school and the people that have gone here,” Chris said. That connection between Billy and Chris, on the one hand, and SRMT, on the other, helped the random ideas and separate songs that had been settling over the years finally gel into a real musical play, one that could be performed — and that’s what SRMT did with it, bringing its family of students and alumni together the day after Thanksgiving, while the campus community was on break, for a staged reading. “Just watching the staged reading, I felt there could really be something,” said Sofia Shirey ’23, “and I didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity.” Sofie had been asked by SRMT president Seth Jolles to direct the show for performance this spring and, after a Zoom meeting with Seth, Billy and Chris, she agreed. Sofie Shirey, a “theater kid” from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was majoring at Wagner in theater and psychology. After writing a one-act play for Wagner College Theatre’s “New Works” program, she had directed her first show last fall for 20 Completely Student Productions, another student-theater group on Grymes Hill. WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E “I had fond memories, fun memories reliving that point of our lives,” Garrett said. “Of course, it was scary, but I think because of the fact of where we’re at right now, I’m able to just be really grateful for the experience. At the end, what I really appreciated was that, even though I had to take a step back and say this is inspired by our story, I really love the message that it gives.” “It was really interesting because, at the point in our life that the musical portrays, when we were living it, we didn’t know what the results were going to be,” Mike said, “and now we’re living the results, so there’s some validation in that, knowing that it all turned out OK and things led to a pretty good place.” “As the lights were coming up when the show ended,” said Wagner theater professor Michele Pawk, “all I could feel was pride. I was honored to be there. The work was incredible.” “And it’s not done after New York Theater Festival,” Billy added, “that’s not the end of it. We’re gonna be raising money to put it on again, somewhere bigger — and who knows where it can go? The limit is Broadway.”  �Top left: Actors Greyson Riley and Andrew King from the show poster for “Straight Forward.” Center left: The whole “Straight Forward” team on the steps of Teatro Latea, including director Sofia Shirey (black dress, sneakers) and the men who were the inspiration for the show (center, front), Garrett Lech and Mike Iamele. Right: Playwrights Chris Sabol (left) and Billy Aberle. FA L L 2 0 2 2 21 �Anthony Carrington ’15 leads the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ entry in Songfest 2013. Far right: Matt Hyland and Joanne Thomas, Songfest 1961 22 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E �by l is a hol l and, wag ner col l ege archiv ist For almost 70 years, Songfest has been one of the biggest events on campus. What started as essentially a choral competition gradually changed into Songfest as we know it today, with student groups dancing to medleys of recorded popular music. FA L L 2022 23 �Songfest 1962 Queen Linda Dengel The first Songfest held in 1954 may have looked and sounded quite different from the Songfests of today, but the pride and enthusiasm of the competitors has remained the same throughout the many changes that have taken place. Songfest 1961 Billed as one of the biggest social events of the spring semester, the early competitions were strictly singing. Groups stood on risers dressed in formal attire and sang required songs such as “Greensleeves” for the women and “Once In Love with Amy” for the men. The groups also sang a song of their own choosing; in 1965, Kappa Sigma Alpha chose “Wagner Bells,” sung to the tune of “Silver Bells.” In those early competitions, groups were divided into trained and untrained voices. Zeta Delta Alpha, Songfest 1988. 24 Julianna Pritchett ‘22 donned a shark costume for Alpha Delta Pi’s 2022 salute to Katy Perry’s “California Gurls.” The early 1980s saw a shift in the performances. Groups still focused their efforts on singing but started to incorporate costumes and a few dance moves into their numbers. A review of Songfest 1982 in the Wagnerian commends the sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi for “choreography that brought them off the risers and all over the stage, while still singing in beautiful harmony.” The coming years would see a complete transformation of the event. WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E By the early 1990s, Wagnerian coverage of Songfest began to mention dance routines as part of the competition. Songfests of late have, in fact, featured very little singing, with the focus on choreography, enthusiasm and creativity. �Alpha Tau Mu, including Lorraine McNeill-Popper ‘78, top row, third from the right. Songfest 1978. Lorraine McNeill-Popper shared a sentiment that could be shared by all Songfest participants over the past 70 years: The best part of Songfest, for me, wasn’t winning. It was that, for just one night, one very special night, regardless of our major, our talents, our vocal skills, we all became performers. From barbershop quartets to songs from Broadway musicals … we sang our hearts out and created memories and bonds that would last a lifetime. Lorraine McNeill-Popper ’78, a member of Alpha Tau Mu, recalls taking the competition very seriously, spending weeks choosing the right songs, rehearsing, shopping for the perfect fabric to make their gowns, and sewing those gowns late into the evening. The election of a Songfest Queen and Royal Court has been around since the beginning. Songfest 1975 was the first to have a King and a co-ed court, though it wasn’t until 1984 that a Songfest King became a regular part of the festivities. Alpha Delta Pi’s theme for Songfest 2013: “We Can Change the World.” Groups now prepare 10-minute programs consisting of dancing to a medley of songs based on a particular theme chosen for that year. The Wagnerian said that many of the 1991 Songfest sets had energetic dance routines and elaborate choreography, words that can surely be used for all the competitions that have taken place since then. Salman Saleem ’19 (foreground) with Nick O’Bryne ’21 M’22, Jack Graham ‘20 and Elias Aljunidi ’19 compete for Theta Chi in Songfest 2019. Although the music has changed and dancing now takes center stage, performers still rehearse for weeks, and fliers promoting candidates for Songfest King and Queen can be found all over campus. Sidelined for a couple of years due to Covid, Songfest resumed again in April 2022 and continues to be a beloved Wagner tradition. FA L L 2022 25 �FROM YOUR ALUMNI BOARD Cailin Kelly ’08, the former corresponding secretary for the Alumni Association Board of Directors, was elected this spring as the board’s new president. For the full board roster, see the bottom of this page. MY FELLOW SEAHAWKS, I’m excited to serve as the new president of your Alumni Association Board of Directors! I will work to be an advocate for the board, the more than 28,000 members of our association, and our future alumni: today’s students. I am extremely fortunate to be following in the footsteps of our former president Carolina Silva ’16. She spent several years building a solid foundation for me and our other new officers, Vice President Darren Greco ’98 and Corresponding Secretary Kenneth Nilsen ’88. Because of that foundation, we will be able to push the board to really think outside the box as we plan our upcoming initiatives. Among our priorities this year will be our continuing collaborations between alumni and students, including deepening the partnership between our alumni and student affinity groups and organizations. We’re reaching out to the president of the Student Government Association to discover where new initiatives could be helpful. We’re also considering the possibility of using part of our Saturday board meetings that student leaders can attend, making it easier for us to communicate and collaborate. Throughout all of this, our number one job will be listening: to fellow alumni, to students, to trustees, and to the college’s current staff and leadership. I credit my own career success to my Wagner College education, and I want to make sure that the Alumni Association mobilizes the resources to support all of our alumni, present and future, to support the success of each of them. If you have any thoughts on how to do that, we’d love to hear about them! Just write us at alumniboard@wagner.edu. Go Seahawks! Cailin Kelly ’08 President Alumni Association Board of Directors Alumni Association Board 2022-23 Cailin Kelly ’08, President Darren Greco ’98, Vice President Kenneth Nilsen ’88, Corresponding Secretary Adrian Adderley ’09 Alyssa Ahern ’13 Courtney Bennett ’82 Sarah Braun ’14 M’18 M’20 Aurora Brennan ’13 Andrew Burt ’14 M’16 Joanna Ciavarella ’11 26 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E Nicole Giammarinaro ’07 Ann Taranto Giordano ’69 M’70 Stephanie Jiannetto-Alesi ’96 Scott Lewers ’98 Evan Odeseye ’14 Claire Regan ’80 Charlie Siedenburg ’95 Keith Stith ’87 Tom Thurston ’69 Stacy Trent ’94 Ex officio member John “Jack” Felver ’65 �New Alumni Association Board Members Welcome to the five new members of our Alumni Association board COURTNEY A. BENNETT ’82, a music scholarship student, was a co-founder of Sigma Phi Rho fraternity during his student years at Wagner College. His work as chief tutor for the Boys Choir of Harlem led to his career in nonprofit management. He is currently the executive director of One Hundred Black Men of New York, the first of a 100-chapter network of leaders nationwide, co-founded in 1963 by David Dinkins, Jackie Robinson and others. ANDREW BURT ’14 M’16 began his career in health care administration as a Wagner Plan intern at Richmond University Medical Center. A former president of the college’s Student Government Association, he co-founded the student philanthropy Wagner Cares in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Today, he is a consulting adviser for Press Ganey Associates, a health care company known for the most widely used outpatient satisfaction survey in the United States. SCOTT LEWERS ’98 began his career in television programming at NBC Universal and Lifetime Entertainment before joining Warner Bros. Discovery, where he is currently an executive vice president. His work has earned him an Emmy award, and his strategic vision helped propel Discovery to end the 2021 programming year as a Top Five cable network. EVAN ODESEYE ’14 began his management career in the field of health care before branching out into other fields of business. He created a clothing line, First Love Yourself, and a sports management agency, Unrestricted Sports and Entertainment, where his clients were several NBA and NFL athletes. Today, he is a working actor who has appeared on the Showtime drama, “City on a Hill,” starring Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge. This year, he walked for the first time in a New York Fashion Week show. WALTER J. “WALLY” PAGAN ’61, a noted leader and athlete during his student years at Wagner College, has continued to provide leadership for the college and its athletic program since graduating in 1961. He was named this year’s John “Bunny” Barbes ’39 & Lila T. Barbes ’40 Wagner Alumni Laureate for long and distinguished service to Wagner College. JEFFREY D. FORCHELLI ’66, a founding partner of the law firm of Forchelli Deegan Terrana, has served a total of 12 years on the college’s board of trustees so far and became its chairman Sept. 1. He was awarded the Kevin Sheehy ’67 M’70 M’92 H’99 Alumni Leadership Medal for consistent leadership and service. CHRISTINE FLEMING MAHON ’70 made dual careers for herself: one in public health nursing, the other as a leader in the U.S. Army Reserve Army Nurse Corps, earning the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious service. She was named a Distinguished Graduate of Wagner for unique career contributions to her community, state or the nation, bringing honor to Wagner. Alumni Link STEPHANIE JIANNETTO-ALESI ’96 was involved as a student in the Student Government Association and Alpha Omicron Pi. Today, she is the global head of tax information reporting for Citi, an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation. In addition to her direct management responsibilities at Citi, she has been an active member of the corporation’s Women’s Leadership Council. As a Wagner alumna, she has been involved in the Women’s Professional Network, an initiative of the Alumni Association. Alumni Awards 2022 ALEX BONIELLO ’13 is an actor, musician, writer and Tony Award-winning producer, appearing most recently on Broadway as Connor Murphy in “Dear Evan Hansen.” He was awarded the Wagner Alumni Key, given to graduates of the last 15 years who have made extraordinary achievements in their personal and professional endeavors. JOAN F. O’CONNOR ’66 M’69 worked for 30 years with Wagner College’s Early Childhood Center, first as a teacher from 1966 to 1982, then as director from 1983 to 1996, where she championed the causes of diversity and inclusion. She was given the Rev. Lyle Guttu Award, named for one of her mentors, which recognizes contributions to Wagner, local communities or the global world in a spiritual way. FA L L 2022 27 �2022COMMENCEMENT 28 WA G N E R Two annual events, more than any others, have reflected the impact of the pandemic on campus life: move-in, and commencement. Two years ago, commencement was suspended altogether when the Grymes Hill campus was closed during the Covid 19 lockdown. Last year, the state allowed commencement to proceed, but only if we severely limited the size of the audience at each gathering. We had to organize five separate events — three for the 2021 graduates, two for the deferred 2020 grads — but it all came off according to plan. This year, like so many other aspects of modern life, commencement was almost back to normal — with M A G A Z I N E an emphasis on “almost.” The biggest changes in Commencement 2022 were ones that we chose to make, based on lessons learned during the pandemic — and those changes made this rite of passage smoother for everyone involved. The biggest change was to hold two separate commencement ceremonies — one for graduate students, the other for those receiving their bachelor’s degrees — rather than a single event for everyone. The smaller groups of graduates, and the smaller audiences of friends and relatives, made everything from parking to processions proceed more smoothly for all. And both commencement ceremonies featured only speakers from the Wagner community. Graduating students spoke at each event, and incoming provost Tarshia L. Stanley addressed the undergraduate ceremony. �THEATER ALUMNA PLAYS ‘ROXIE’ ON BROADWAY — AT LAST! Two years ago, Wagner College Theatre alumna Emma Pittman ’18 won a casting contest run by Broadway.com, a well-known theater-news website, to play the iconic role of Roxie Hart in the long-running Broadway revival of “Chicago: The Musical.” And then, reality intervened — or, more precisely, the pandemic. But this spring, Broadway.com announced that Pittman’s Broadway turn was back on the calendar! From June 6 through June 19, Emma finally performed in “Chicago” at the Ambassador Theatre. Pittman’s star shone brightly on the Wagner College Theatre stage from her very first year, remembers WCT head Felicia Ruff. As a freshman, Pittman played the role of Victoria, the white cat — “the famous ballet one,” Ruff says — in “Cats.” Upcoming Events Ruff and Williams attended Pittman’s final “Chicago” performance on Sunday, June 19, to cheer on their former student. Of course. It’s the Wagner Way. NOVEMBER Delta Nu Veterans Day Remembrance November 10, Wagner College Women’s Professional Network Fall Social November 16, NYC DECEMBER Alumni & Friends Holiday Reception December 7, NYC FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit our events calendar website: https://WAGNER. EDU/ALUMNI-FRIENDS/ ALUMNI-EVENTS/ Emma Pittman is greeted by Amy Williams (right) following Pittman's final performance in "Chicago." F AF LALL L2 0 22 02 2 2 2929 Alumni Link “Emma’s voice is as bright and clear as her spirit,” said Pittman’s voice instructor, Amy Williams. “It was a joy to teach her.” �- U NCOM MONL I V E S - JULIE HASSETT Julie Hassett ’08 is a body-paint, hair, makeup and cosmetic prosthetics artist who has done some strikingly creative work. Most of her clients are in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. Where are you from? I grew up with my parents and two sisters in Wilbraham, a kind of rural town in western Massachusetts. Now, we all live out here in L.A.! I feel really lucky that we’re able to be together. What kind of art training did you have? There were only a couple of art classes offered in school, so it was mostly outside of school that I was creating. I’d be up drawing all night, under my covers with a flashlight. That’s where all this started. How did you choose Wagner College? I was really into musical theater, so I auditioned for the theater program at Wagner. I didn’t make it, but I did get a 30 Photograph: Rachel Rambaldi WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E music scholarship, so I was in choir. I also got to take painting and drawing classes at Wagner, which was really the first formal training I had taken for art. What was your first job? I’d majored in psychology, and my first job was at a methadone clinic in Queens, making like $16,000 a year while I’m living in New York City. I don’t even understand how I survived. But I actually loved the counseling aspect of the job, and the patients, and being with people, trying to help them and just listening to them. So much of what I do today mirrors that. I could never have anticipated that an education in psychology would have prepared me to be a really great makeup artist. After three years in Queens, you moved back to Wilbraham. That’s right, and while I was there, I found this little part-time job that became the jumping-off point for what I’m doing now. I was hired as a face painter, which I’d never done before, and I’d teach art to kids. I also had a full-time job selling ad space for a newspaper; that was really just to be able to save money, honestly, to move. And then you moved to California. I had this feeling that California would be really cool, though I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My older sister already lived here, and she was like, “Just move! You’re gonna love it.” I thought, “You know, they’re ‘open’ all the time here; it doesn’t really shut down during the winter. I could theoretically start my own facepainting company, and I would be able to do parties all year ’round — and, that way, I would always be working.” Once I started, someone suggested I try body paint — in fact, they’d already told someone I would! I used my sister as a “canvas,” googled “body paint,” picked an image I liked and spent four hours replicating it on my sister. Hassett started getting work in the film industry, steadily increasing her range of skills with each job, often teaching herself after looking things up online. She added cosmetic prosthetics, beauty makeup and hair styling to her skill set. �Union membership would mean good, steady work. How did you get in? After a couple of years, I was asked to department-head a show called “Zac & Mia” — it’s streaming now on Netflix. It was such a big undertaking; it included special effects, and beauty, and people looking sick [the characters have cancer]. I feel so lucky that I was able to get in, because now I’m not living paycheck to paycheck, and I get to work on these really great shows and films. What are some special projects you’ve worked on? One was Sara Blakely’s “Belly Art Project” book, which supports Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit. We painted the very pregnant bellies of dozens of women; I did about half of the ones shown in the book. It was such a niche thing, to be painting a pregnant belly — I mean, who does that?! It really forced me to be creative. I got to do a couple of different prosthetic and body-painting looks on Ariana Grande for Halloween. It went over really great — and it is really cool to see your work show up in Cosmopolitan! Some of my favorite body paints are where I’ve done like a camouflage: a person will stand in front of a backdrop, and I’ll paint them to blend into it. When it comes out good, it’s really satisfying. FA L L 2022 31 �1949 Egon O. Wendel reflected on a long relationship with Wagner College: “As a former W.C. student, my 1962 appointment to the faculty, and my 10 years as academic vice president, I am thankful for the opportunities the college offered. I am happily married for 70 years to Katherine M’67, a wonderful woman. Of course, we do have medical problems, but with the valuable assistance of our son Wayne ’79 M’84, we manage. My regret is the loss of many friends from the 1949 class; I miss them. I celebrated my 97th birthday in January.” 1950 On June 14, Ed and El Hecklau (aka Edmund Hecklau ’50 and Eleanor Straub Hecklau ’51) marked their 70th wedding anniversary, celebrated during a week-long July family vacation with their three children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Having the entire family together was a rare and highly anticipated event, they said. 1951 On June 14, El and Ed Hecklau (aka Eleanor Straub 32 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E Hecklau ’51 and Edmund Hecklau ’50) marked their 70th wedding anniversary, celebrated during a week-long July family vacation with their three children, six grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren. Having the entire family together was a rare and highly anticipated event, they said. 1952 Fred Brockmann ’52 M’54 and Lee Schriever Brockmann ’53’s daughter, New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann and her son Jason T. Gaffney have just completed filming a sixsegment TV comedy series, “Marriage of Inconvenience,” that will be available on the Dekkoo streaming service this fall. Fred and Lee are alive and proud in Sarasota, Florida, and celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on June 8. 1953 Lee Schriever Brockmann ’53 and Fred Brockmann ’52 M’54’s daughter, New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann and her son Jason T. Gaffney have just completed filming a sixsegment TV comedy series, “Marriage of Inconvenience,” that will be available on the Dekkoo streaming service this fall. Fred and Lee are alive and proud in Sarasota, Florida, and celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on June 8. 1957 Peter Suchman is still alive and kicking in Springfield, Virginia. Long retired after a career that included the Coast Guard, the Foreign Service, the U.S. Treasury Department (Deputy Assistant Secretary) and private law practice, Peter is enjoying life with his wife of 57 years, Diane, their kids and grandkids, and two Yorkies. 1960 Norman Black ’60 M’73 has published his latest book about combat, “Combat Veterans Returned with PTSD and TBI,” a collection of four stories about nine men returning to civilian life after the Korean War. One of the stories, “MacKenzie and Smith,” is a sequel to his military history novel, “Ice, Fire and Blood.” The new book is available on Amazon. 1961 Fred and Marian Frudden Ufferfilge of Ramsey, New Jersey, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this April. 1962 Dan Hays, formerly on the staff of the Wagnerian, is still writing news. Now living in East Hampton, New York, Hays writes the script for a Monday night program on local New York news for WPKN radio, a nonprofit station in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and recently published an article in Rudder Magazine about the East End (Long Island) Classic Boat Society, to which he belongs, that builds and restores boats in Amagansett, New York. This April, Beverly Hoehne Whipple received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dean of Nursing at Rutgers University. 1963 Zuzana Plesa writes, “I am working for Military One Source, providing counseling to active-duty military members and their families via Zoom. Working from home is a good option.” 1964 William Heuss and his wife, Margaret Anne, are Episcopal chaplains to other retired �clergy and spouses on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and neighboring islands off the Massachusetts coast. Bill is the summer priest in charge of Trinity Episcopal Church in Ocean Park on Martha’s Vineyard. “Officially” retired at age 82, Alexander Sickert is “living in a suburb of Philadelphia (since 2010),” he tells us, “and facing a daily challenge with rheumatoid arthritis that has me seriously handicapped.” His first wife died in 2002, and he remarried in 2004. 1966 1967 Eight years ago, Paul Fein ’69 M’72 retired as a global executive director for a medical device corporation in Sweden. “I currently write articles on leadership, L&D and coaching, about 10 a year,” he tells us, but his in-person workshops were put on hold during the pandemic. His first book was “The Chemistry of Leadership: A Self-Discovery Formula to Finding the Leader in You.” He’s working on a second book. Nicholas Rossos, a physician, has maintained a solo private practice in internal medicine for more than 42 years in Bordentown, New Jersey. He attended his 50th graduation anniversary in May 2019 as a Golden Seahawk, walking with the new graduates at Wagner’s annual commencement exercise. “I was thrilled,” he says. Linda Barbes Stein ’69 M’73 appeared in two short plays on stage at Jarvis Hall, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, this June. “Our community center acting class produces two ‘Sea Shorts’ productions a year,” Linda explained. “We solicit 10-minute plays from Florida playwrights and select seven or eight for each production. I have been with Seaside Players since 2018 and have appeared in several plays over the years.” A member of the Wagner College Guild board, Linda and her husband are also members of the Heritage Society and are supporting the Athletic Department’s effort to upgrade the Seahawk mascot’s costume. This April, Seahawk Hall of Famer Bill Wolfe was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame. Bill “was a gritty point guard and middle infielder at Curtis High School … and at Wagner College,” his citation said. “Decades later, that same competitive spirit drove Wolfe to two national racquetball titles.” 1971 Carol Rabbitt Barth was one of 50+ pianists playing compositions by 10 Ukrainian composers in a virtual benefit concert, “Stand with Ukraine,” organized by Sonatina for the Global Giving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. 1972 Finance major Robert Mazur became a spy for the U.S. Customs Service charged with taking down the Medellín drug cartel (see wagner.edu/ wagnermagazine/mysteryman). Now Bob has a new memoir, “The Betrayal: The True Story of My Brush with Death in the World of Narcos and Launderers,” a sequel to “The Infiltrator” (2009), which Russ Johnson ’67 M’72 has published his 19th and 20th novels, “Rain in Dark Woods: A Detective Pete Nazareth Novel” and “Professing Romance: A Romantic Comedy.” Both are available on Amazon. Peg Nuspliger directed, and Rod Ventura ’66 accompanied on organ, a performance by the Adirondack Community Chorus of Dan Forrest’s “Requiem for the Living” in Boonville, New York, this May, raising over $1,300 for Ukrainian humanitarian relief. Five alumni and their companions gathered this February in Boynton Beach, Florida: Al Palladino ’61, John Campi ’62 (his friend Mary), Christine Zullo Palladino ’64, Wally Pagan ’61, Gail Pagan, Paul Nuzzolese ’60 and Cynthia Nuzzolese FA L L 2 0 2 2 33 Alumni Link Rod Ventura accompanied on organ, and Peg Nuspliger ’67 directed, a performance by the Adirondack Community Chorus of Dan Forrest’s “Requiem for the Living” in Boonville, New York, this May, raising over $1,300 for Ukrainian humanitarian relief. 1969 �Around Scott Fink knew what hard times looked like. His parents, who met in an orphanage, raised their three boys in the projects of Sheepshead Bay. He wasn’t a top student in high school, but he threw shot put on his track team — and his coach, Bob Murphy ’69, was a Wagner alum. “Murph” helped open the college door for Scott Fink. “If not for him, if not for Wagner,” Fink says, “I probably would not have gone to college.” As a junior, Fink took a leadership role in the college’s faltering Board of Social and Cultural Affairs. “What was, up to two years ago, a terribly inefficient, shrinking organization, has now been turned completely around under the guidance and instructive hands of its president, Scott Fink,” Richie Wilner wrote in the Wagnerian of March 19, 1982. Scott Fink ’83 learned how to turn around a faltering operation. Now he’s investing to help neighbors turn their lives around. 34 Photograph: Edward Linsmier WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E After graduating in 1983 with an accounting degree, Fink worked for a couple of years as an auditor for Brooklyn Union Gas, and another four years as a regional marketing manager for Lincoln Mercury — but it wasn’t until he bought his first car dealership, in 1989, that he really found his stride. Clearwater, Florida Mitsubishi went from losing a million dollars a year to the largest-volume Mitsubishi dealership in America in just three years. �C O N T I N U ED FRO M PAGE 3 3 But in 1999, after selling his business, Fink was at loose ends. He and his wife Kathy thought about moving from the Tampa Bay area back to the northeast — but something didn’t feel right. He couldn’t sleep. “Everything I’ve built and developed, all the relationships I have are here,” Fink said to his wife, late one night. “I have to figure it out here.” So that’s what he did. The next year, Fink was awarded a franchise for Hyundai of New Port Richey, which became the flagship of a chain of dealerships and “the highest-volume Hyundai dealership in the U.S. for eight consecutive years,” according to Tampa Bay Business & Wealth. It was a “60 Minutes” segment on March 6, 2011, that gave the Finks pause — specifically, Scott Pelley’s report about homelessness in central Florida, called “The Hidden America.” “It absolutely hit me emotionally,” Fink said, “and I looked over to my wife and she’s got tears going down her eyes. At the same time, we both said, ‘We gotta do something.’ ” That urge to action led to their collaboration with Metropolitan Ministries of Tampa, a faith-based social service agency. Gifts and organizing work from the Finks led to the ministry’s expansion into Pasco County, north of Tampa, where the Finks live. Next year, the “Miracles of Pasco” campus will undergo a $12 million expansion, doubling its capacity to 48 housing units. “I grew up in the projects, where money was always an issue,” Fink said. “We’re very fortunate, but I’ve learned that money does not make you happy. It doesn’t. “Philanthropy and giving back and supporting my community — that makes me happy.” On June 24, Susan Schrader and William A. Sonstrom, a brother of Susan’s former roommate, celebrated 50 years of marriage. “We have been blessed with a son and daughter and four grandsons,” Susan writes. 1973 “All is well in our little corner of the world,” writes Mary Jane Ruggles Dow. She and Bob Dow married in 1978 after earning graduate degrees in Iowa, she in counseling psychology, he in geology. When they took jobs in Salt Lake City, Utah, they planned to stay no more than a couple of years — 44 years ago! Mary Jane was on the staff of the University of Utah Counseling Center; Bob worked as a geologist at the Park City silver mine, later earning a Ph.D. in philosophy and teaching at the University of Utah and other local colleges. The Dows have two sons and two granddaughters. “We love Utah, and we love having company,” Mary Jane writes. “Come see Utah for yourselves and stay with us!” 1977 Phyllis Barone Ameduri has published her second book, “Nursing: What the Heck was I Thinking?” As she told us, “The book begins with the decision to major in nursing (not a first career choice) and tells the story of how, over time, I fell in love with the profession. The seeds of that love started at Wagner College, and I still use the lessons from Wagner in career and life today, decades later.” Her first book was “Never Ruled by Man,” a historical novel set in 19th century Staten Island. Both are available on Amazon. Joseph Del Priore tells us that he is celebrating his 18th wedding anniversary this year. “We have two children, both boys, and two granddaughters,” he writes. 1980 Ed Burke, longtime Staten Island deputy borough president (2006-21), had expected to retire at the end of last year, but newly elected Borough President Vito Fossella persuaded Ed to stay on with the B.P.’s office in a senior advisory capacity, as disclosed in his front-page profile story in the Jan. 4 Staten Island Advance. Mary E. Mongioi was among the 119 exemplary women included in the 2022 Notable Women in Law list published by Crain’s New York Business. Mary is a partner at Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP, where she chairs the firm’s veterinary practice group. 1982 Robert “Bert” Benedetto ’82 M’85 was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame last November as a member of Silvestri’s, the national fast-pitch softball champions and Staten Island’s FA L L 2 0 2 2 35 Alumni Link Fink spent 20 years building up that business — but in the midst of that long run of prosperity, the Finks grew disturbed by the poverty of their neighbors. was adapted by Bryan Cranston for the screen (2016). For more, visit robertmazur.com. �Crib Notes 1988 Andrew Ostrowski has published a second book, “20 Years in Ink,” compiling 352 newspaper articles and columns he wrote between 2001 and 2021 for the Staten Island Advance, the Am-Pol Eagle News of Buffalo, New York, and a now-shuttered Long Island paper. “If you really think about it, news is what drives our lives, day in and day out,” Andrew writes, explaining the significance of the collection. The book is available on Amazon. From left to right: Jaclyn King ’08, daughter Kennedy King-DeMarco, with husband Jordan DeMarco. Haley Carlucci ’08, daughter Daphne Finkelstein, with husband Matt Finkelstein. Erin O’Neil Ban ’08, husband Matt Ban ’09, with daughters Ruby and Claire Ban. dominant fast-pitch softball team for more than a decade. Bert and family also welcomed a new member into the world, granddaughter Kelly Rose Benedetto, daughter of Rob and MaryKate Benedetto. 1983 In February, Wall Township (N.J.) High School named Ed Gurrieri as its next head football coach, following his long and successful run leading the football program in Manalapan, New Jersey. Gurrieri was the Shore Conference Football Coaches Association 2011 Coach of the Year and the New Jersey Football Coaches Association 2014 Central Jersey Coach of the Year. Before going to Manalapan, Gurrieri was 36 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E offensive coordinator at his high school alma mater, Susan Wagner on Staten Island. 1985 was named president and chief executive officer of Provident Bank, headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey. Anthony came to Provident in 2020 when the bank merged with SB One Bank, where he had served as president and CEO. Anthony Labozzetta 1986 Edward J. Nitkewicz has been recognized for a ninth year in the annual edition of New York Super Lawyers. He was recently named partner and senior trial attorney for the Woodbury, New York-based personal injury law firm of Salenger, Sack, Kimmel & Bavaro LLP, where he tries personal injury cases for the firm’s clients. Ed also represents victims of sexual abuse under the New York Child Victims Act. He was recently featured in an episode of the documentary series “Very Scary People” about serial killer Michael Swango and Ed’s role in prosecuting civil claims on behalf of the families of Swango’s victims. In December, Ed concluded 12 years of service as a schoolboard trustee for the South Huntington School District and was honored by the New York State School Boards Association with its President’s Award for his dedication and service to the children of New York State. This April, Robin Petty was appointed managing director and head of wealth strategy for NewEdge Wealth LLC, an investment advisory firm in Stamford, Connecticut. She previously served as managing director at Hawthorn PNC Family Wealth. 1995 Last November, Charlie Siedenburg was honored by the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association with a “Special Award … for his exceptional support for Arts Journalism in the Berkshires.” Charlie has represented the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts since 2005. “When does a press rep get an award?” Charlie asked upon receiving it. “When you do what you love.” 1997 Jennifer Webb, current resident of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, was named �artistic director of the Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Centre & Conservatory in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where she had been education director since January 2020. 1998 Daniel Piazza, chief curator of philately at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., talked about “Honoring Black History with Stamps of the United States Postal Service” at a February meeting of the Mercer Island (Wash.) Rotary Club. secure a new location. For details, visit souljoels.com. President Emeritus Norman Smith H’02 is heading the Presidential Leadership and Governance Advisory Team for the Registry of College and University Presidents. The team is made up of more than a dozen distinguished veteran college and university presidents. 2004 2002 2006 1999 Lots of Waggies know about Joel Richardson ’02 M’08 — “Soul Joel” to his friends and fans — and his years-long effort to create and run a performer-centered comedy club in New Jersey. “We opened up in 2019,” he writes, “going from one day a week to five days by the end of February 2020.” The onset of the pandemic forced Soul Joel’s to set up an outdoor stage, which thrived for well over a year — until a developer bought the land out from under him. Now, he’s organizing the resources to Michael Armato was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor of political science at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Diane Recinos M’06, who was appointed interim president of Berkeley College in Woodland Park, New Jersey, last October, was named Berkeley’s new president in March. Diane has been a part of the Berkeley community since she became director of financial aid in 1992, later serving in two senior vice president roles (for student success and enrollment 2007 Nicole Giammarinaro co-authored a case study of hospital-based virtual visitation during the Covid pandemic, published in the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management. Lauren Patsos, an elementary music teacher in the Sarasota County (Fla.) schools, was the soprano soloist for the final concert of Musica Sacra of Sarasota’s spring season. They performed Beethoven’s Mass in C Major Op. 86, partnering with a 10-piece ensemble made up of the principal chair members of the Sarasota Symphony Orchestra. Amy J. Smith co-authored “The Law Student’s Guide to Networking,” available on Amazon. The book guides law students step-by-step in creating a practical plan for networking to jump start their legal careers. Amy is a partner in the law firm of Lambariello, Edwards, Smith & Speed in Warren, New Jersey. 2009 In May, the Greek America Foundation named Lia Papazoglou to its Forty Under 40 list, billed as “the leading recognition for North Americans of Greek descent, 40 years old and under. The awards recognize those who have excelled in their professional endeavors while simultaneously showing care and concern for the world around them through philanthropic initiatives.” Lia is cofounder and program director of Ecogenia, a Greek nonprofit organization that seeks to mobilize Greek youth through civic service to accelerate sustainable development in Greece. It was in that capacity that Lia participated in a breakfast meeting this spring with Belgium’s Queen Mathilde, who is a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. Lia has spent her entire career in the nonprofit sector. Ryan Rogers-Hammond, who earned her Ph.D. in biomedical science in 2014 from the University of Cincinnati, taught biology for nearly seven years at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Late last year, she was recruited by a Harvard Medical School lab as a grant writer and project manager. She lives in Boston with husband Matt Hammond, daughter Blake (3½ years old) and son Archer (1). 2010 “How to Keep Time,” the debut novel by Kevin Kearney, will be published by Thirty West Publishing House this fall. Kearney was a captain on the men’s track & field team and an English major while at Wagner. FA L L 2 0 2 2 37 Alumni Link Lars Londot ’99 M’01, who teaches physics at Richardson High School in Dallas, Texas, was recently named a Distinguished Modern Classroom Educator by the Modern Classrooms Project. When last we saw Renée Marino, she had made the big jump from her Broadway role in “Jersey Boys” to Clint Eastwood’s 2014 film adaptation of the show. Now, Renée has become a communication coach and has written “Becoming a Master Communicator: Balancing New School Technology with Ol’ School Simplicity,” available on Amazon. management). Diane was also named to this year’s City & State New York Power 100 Higher Education List, which features “the most influential leaders of New York’s colleges and universities,” according to City & State magazine. �Kinsey Casey ’02 was destined for a life in public service. Her Wagner College professors all knew it. So did her classmates, who chose her as a student senator, then president in our Student Government Association (among her many extracurricular activities). Photography: Laura Mares 38 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E �And no wonder: Her childhood home in Helena, Montana, was located just three blocks away from the state capitol building; her second-grade soccer team practiced on its big, open lawn. “That’s how I like it,” she said. “I like to be the person behind the visionary with the big ideas; I take those big ideas and make sure that they happen.” “I’m pretty sure my mom took me to city council meetings when I was a tiny baby,” she said. “My parents were hippies; my mom was always protesting, and my dad sort of got swept up into it.” Kinsey worked for three years as an “advance” staffer for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, “one of the greatest experiences of my life,” she said, “my traveling education of the world. I ended up going to 23 countries with her.” As a high school student, Kinsey was one of five students nominated by her teacher for the American Legion’s Girls’ State model legislature program. Kinsey was, of course, elected speaker of the house. As a Wagner sophomore, Kinsey interned with two campaigns: one candidate lost (Nancy Keenan in Montana), the other won (Hillary Clinton in New York). But it was her first real job in politics, as a field organizer for New Hampshire governor Jeanne Shaheen’s 2002 senate campaign, that yielded the connection that would shape much of the next five years of her life. “I went up there partly because New Hampshire has the first-in-thenation primary, and it’s sort of the training ground for presidential campaigns,” she said. “Almost every presidential candidate came to my tiny little field office. Howard Dean was there for my birthday.” Also visiting her field office was Nick Baldick, who was running John Edwards’ campaign — and they connected. “He had a reputation of being a young go-getter in politics,” she said. “He was the next up-and-coming campaign manager.” Kinsey Casey worked for Baldick, off and on, through a number of campaigns for a number of years, including a 13-month gig with Hilltop Public Solutions, Baldick’s D.C.-based political consultancy. Kinsey calls the Edwards campaign, which sank amid scandal, her “one big mistake” — but her departure from it led to a staff position with the upcoming Democratic National Convention and a role in the 2008 Barack Obama campaign. On election eve, she and a quarter million of her closest friends (including a teary-eyed Oprah Winfrey) gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park to celebrate the president-elect’s historic victory. Paradoxically, up to this point, Kinsey Casey didn’t have a particularly good impression of life inside the Beltway, based mostly on her consultancy experience. “I actually hated the time I spent in Washington,” she had told us in an earlier interview, some 15 years ago. “I vowed never to go back unless I’m working in the White House.” Naturally, her next move was to Washington, where she spent seven years working in the Obama administration — part of it in the White House — becoming one of those unsung operatives who quietly get stuff done for the American people. That was followed by two years on the White House staff as national security director for presidential personnel — “somewhere I’d always aspired to be and didn’t think, as a little girl growing up in Montana, was something achievable” — and another two years as the chief of staff for Secretary of State John Kerry’s Office of Global Partnerships. “I didn’t want to leave that job because I loved it, it was fun,” she said — but the end of the Obama administration was approaching, and her long-term boyfriend had gone back to his home town of Pittsburgh. After about a year of commuting between the two cities, Kinsey decided it was time to move to the Steel City herself. During her job search, she connected with another former Obama administration official who needed “a D.C. person” in his office. For the first time in her career, Kinsey Casey spent two years outside politics and government, working as deputy chief of staff for the chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. It was the disruption at Pitt caused by the new Trump administration — especially the chaos caused in higher education by the travel ban of early 2017 — that led her back into politics. Emerge America, a San Francisco-based organization dedicated to increasing the number of Democratic women leaders, needed a new chief of staff — and her name was Kinsey Casey. “After Trump was elected, the organization grew so quickly because everyone wanted to join this fight to elect more women,” Kinsey said, “and the wheels were coming off because it was expanding so quickly.” Kinsey and her husband, Rick Siger, moved back to Pittsburgh after a year and a half, where Kinsey took another public-service job as chief of staff to Bill Peduto, the city’s mayor. Peduto lost his reelection primary last year — meaning that, come the new year, Kinsey would need another job. So it was back to Pitt, where she serves today as the associate vice chancellor for economic development in the health sciences. “We’re working on building a facility we’re calling BioForge, a celland gene-therapy manufacturing facility,” she said. “It’s designed to take cells out of a human, manipulate them, and put them back in to fight cancer or whatever it is you’re trying to fight. “I’m not a scientist,” she said, “I’m just trying to help the vision of these scientists become a reality.”  FA L L 2022 39 �Knot Notes Congratulations to newlywed alumni Katie Smith Remini ’14 M’15 and Michael Remini ’14 M’16! The Wagner couple of 10 years married on Nov. 20, 2021. “We met in our freshman-year chemistry lab,” Katie told us, “but we got to know each other better through Greek life. Mike is a brother of Theta Chi, and I am a sister of Alpha Sigma Alpha. We started dating in the fall of our sophomore year (in 2011) and have been together ever since. “We both graduated with our bachelor’s degrees in 2014; I received my master’s with the PA program in 2015, and Mike received his master’s in education in 2016. “Wagner was where our love began and grew into something neither of us could have imagined,” Katie said, “so when we decided to have a mini-wedding, it only felt right to include Wagner in some way.” 2011 “After 12 years of performing in musicals across the nation, my career in the arts was brought to a halt by Covid-19,” said Salvatore Pavia. “At the same time, my wife and I got the incredible news that we were to be expecting a baby boy in just a few months.” That was the motivation behind the creation of Flora + Dean Event Design, “which specializes in blooms and décor for any celebration,” according to a new-business story this February in the Staten Island Advance. 2013 Theater pro’s Alex Boniello and April Lavalle worked with 40 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E illustrator James Kwan during the Broadway shutdown to create “A Case of the Zaps,” a book for young readers about Pi, a “kid robot” whose schoolteacher takes him on a field trip to Olde Silicon Valley. “Pi couldn’t be more excited!” write Alex and April — until he starts worrying about “the Zaps.” Publisher Abrams Books calls it “a charming and heartfelt picture book that’s a great way to start a conversation about anxiety and mental health” with young readers. This May, Doug Donato was appointed executive director of the Waterbury (Conn.) Symphony Orchestra, where he had previously served as operations manager and acting executive director. Former Seahawk football assistant coach Justin Hinds was named an assistant defensive line coach this February by the Chicago Bears. At Wagner, Justin was part of the historic 2012 team, the first to win the Northeast Conference championship and the first to win a game in the NCAA FCC playoffs. He has worked at Western Carolina, Lafayette and Central Michigan. 2014 Sarah Braun ’14 M’18 M’20 returned to the tri-state area this year to serve as associate director of international admissions at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. Wagner alumna Mercedes Forrest became engaged on April 18 to boyfriend Tyler Woodward. They plan to get married in Newport, Rhode Island, next summer. They currently live in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, with their dog Bruni. Last fall, Kristen D. Matteoni joined the law firm of Snell & Wilmer in Reno, Nevada, as an associate in its private client services practice group. She had previously been an associate with Maupin, Cox & LeGoyl after clerking for Nevada Supreme Court Justice Mark Gibbons. Lilah Souza has published “Scrambled Eggs,” a short-story collection available on Amazon. “She is a sci-fi and fantasy lover,” her author’s bio says, “who has been weaving her daydreams and nightmares into all sorts of chilling and thrilling tales since she was five years old.” 2016 PatriciaAnn McCaffrey, a Wilson Reading teacher at the James H. Vernon School in East Norwich, Long Island, was one of the 12 educators chosen this May for recognition (from among more than 1,000 nominations from across the nation) in the Teachers Federal Credit Union’s Second Annual Teacher Appreciation Week Contest. Her award citation said, “PatriciaAnn McCaffrey is a special education reading teacher who not only teaches her students how to read, but also inspires them to �advocate for their needs and the needs of others. She has dedicated her after-school time to teach parents and community members English as a second language.” Seahawk baseball star Ben Ruta, formerly of the Staten Island and Trenton Yankees and the El Paso Chihuahuas, joined the Staten Island FerryHawks as an infielder for the team’s inaugural season. The new Atlantic League team is playing on the Baby Bombers’ old diamond in St. George. 2017 Seahawk basketball and football star Greg Senat joined the New York Jets roster at the 2019 graduated this May from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business with a master’s degree in accounting. She also received the Exemplar Service Award, which recognizes graduate students whose influence and achievements have a significant impact on Gabelli School student life and beyond. Rebeca Rozenbaum ALUM PAYS TRIBUTE TO FACULTY MENTOR Some teachers leave an indelible impression on their students. For Jeff S. Dailey ’80, artistic director of Collectio Musicorum, that teacher was Ron Cross, who joined the Music Department faculty at Wagner in 1968 and continued teaching until his death in 2013. Widely known for his annual Halloween concerts, “Music from the Court of Vlad the Impaler (Prince Dracula),” the special focus of Cross’s scholarly work was the 15th and 16th century Flemish composer Matthaeus Pipelare. In February, Dailey marked his mentor’s 93rd birthday by conducting the Festival Chorus of Collectio Musicorum in a performance of Pipelare’s “Missa L’Homme Arme” (1498), in the edition prepared by Ron Cross. Along with the performance video, Dailey also posted an introductory talk, both of which can be found on the Collectio Musicorum’s blog page (http:// collectio-musicorum-media.blogspot.com/). Alumni Link In March Nicholas Buchholz was named press associate at Lincoln Center Theater. As an arts administration major, he interned in the LCT press office before joining their staff full time. “The job is equal parts creative and administrative,” Nick tells us, “perfect for a Wagner College arts admin major! I feel lucky every day to be at the LCT.” beginning of the year and was re-signed in April. Greg has played with the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, and he was signed to practice squads for the Cleveland Browns and the Indianapolis Colts. 2021 This spring, former Wagner men’s basketball standout Will Martinez signed a professional contract to play with Los Cangrejeros de Santurce in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Wagner Fund keeps this beautiful college upon the hill growing and thriving — with your help. Gifts to the Wagner Fund support student scholarships, faculty research and teaching and campus improvements. Give to the 2022–23 Wagner Fund. Your gift will make a beautiful difference. wagner.edu/give • 718-420-2252 41 FA L L 2 0 2 2 41 �Celebrating lives that enriched the Wagner family ALUMNI Louis DeLuca ’60 Nancy Herrmann Fraser ’72 Mario Moccia ’41 Anthony A. Mastronardi ’60 Tracy Windrum ’72 John W. Russell Jr. ’60 Robert K. Larsen ’74 Robert F. Tynan ’60 M’65 Pauline M. Perry ’74 Ruth Germaine McGowan Burton ’61 M’69 Alice M. Sielski Laswood ’76 Robert L. Gordon ’61 M’64 Roland G. Cortelyou M’77 Smedley W. Lynn ’61 Paul W. Weinland M’77 C. Eugene Ernest M’62 Patrick L. Giallombardo ’80 Donald A. Stewart ’62 John D. Quinlan M’80 A. J. Williams-Myers ’62 Cheryl M. Gucwa ’81 Carol Pearson ’63 Kathleen Foote Sweeney M’81 Charles K. Wetherill ’63 Richard J. Saborio ’85 Michael T. Fahey ’64 James A. McMahon M’97 William C. Johnes ’64 Erin E. Feehley-Maus ’07 Robert Bruce Warren ’64 Philip C. Lyster ’12 Erma Hinman Colvin ’43 Gerda H. Pahnke Mentha ’45 Margaret C. Christie Nicolais ’49 H’14 Joanne Clason Decher ’50 Ralph H. Hosler ’50 Rudolph J. Mikson ’50 Warren R. Tompkins ’50 Samuel T. Weening ’50 Frank J. Lynch ’51 Viola Wanzer Maxfield ’51 Louis W. Siani ’51 M’62 George E. Dorry ’52 Carolyn Honeycutt Polglase ’52 Anthony Nastasi ’53 Robert P. Olson ’53 Miriam A. Plitt ’53 Stephen Hluchy ’54 S. Jane Welter Cangemi ’55 Hans W. Marcussen ’55 Robert Conners ’56 M’61 Edward Fracker ’56 Charles William Johnson ’56 Joanne Flotten Melloh ’56 M’59 Robert Vanderbeck Shinn Jr. ’56 Marie Attonito Alberti ’57 James A. Costie ’57 Carol J. Marasco Liguori ’57 Vivian C. Mattson Corgan ’58 Louis Imhof ’58 Erika Knierim Underwood ’59 Walter W. Boesch Jr. ’60 Richard C. DeHaven ’60 42 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E Arlene Le Cardi Clair ’65 John B. DiMaggio ’65 M’75 FRIENDS OF THE COLLEGE A. Ronald Erickson ’65 James Benson Steve Grossman ’65 Nancy Cohen Frederick M. Robinson ’65 Harriet Efron Peter H. Schlegel ’65 Israel Greenwald Hazel Eick Schroeder ’65 Peter J. Killen William K. Scott ’65 Earl E. Maxfield Jr. Kathryn E. Devlin ’66 Brenda Perelman Janet Dahlberg Pierce ’66 Cecelia Reilly Joseph Albanese M’67 Karen R. Saks Jennifer E. Corallo Dolcimascolo ’68 John A. Erdmann ’68 George A. Olsen ’68 Renee Bittar Hamilton ’69 Robert G. Beckel ’70 H’97 FA C U LT Y & S TA F F Zoltan Fulop Marie Jensen M’66 Richard A. Kendrick David Paul Kesselman ’70 Fred S. Tessler Joyce D. Clark ’71 Information received from Nov. 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022 Joseph Ziznewski ’71 �WA AG GN NE ER R LL E EG GA AC C II E E SS W Margaret Christie Nicolais ’49 H’14 died Dec. 29. She was 94. Wagner’s Nicolais School of Business was named to honor Margaret and her late husband, Michael Nicolais ’49 H’14, after Mike’s passing in 2016. A Wagner business graduate, Margaret later earned her R.N. credential and served as a nurse at Staten Island’s Marine Hospital. Active in her home community of Chatham, New Jersey, Margaret served on Wagner’s Alumni Board and raised funds for her alma mater. Her daughter, Joan Nicolais, is a former chairwoman of our board of trustees. Lou DeLuca ’60 died Jan. 2. He was 88. Best known as the CEO of United Activities Unlimited, a nonprofit organization serving Staten Island youth, he was a frequent adjunct education professor at his alma mater. DeLuca served on the Wagner staff as alumni director (1967-69) and fundraising/P.R. director (1975-77). He is survived by his longtime partner, Cynthia C. de Heyman Spry ’62 ’78 M’82. Bob Beckel ’70 died Feb. 20 at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was 73. Beckel’s career in politics began while he was still a student at Wagner College, when he worked on Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 Democratic presidential campaign. Sixteen years later, as Walter Mondale’s campaign manager, he helped the former vice president secure the party’s nomination after overcoming an early loss to Gary Hart in the New Hampshire primary. Beckel’s rollicking 2015 memoir was titled, “I Should Be Dead: My Life Surviving Politics, TV, and Addiction.” Sam Hager Frank Former Wagner College president died Dec. 20. He was 89. Born in Missouri, Sam Frank was raised in Florida. A military historian and Fulbright scholar, he was chancellor of the Louisiana State University campus at Alexandria before serving as Wagner’s 16th president (1981-87). Frank retired to Sugar Land, Texas, with his wife, Ellen Wilson Snow, who died in 2008. Zoltan Fulop Beloved Wagner College biology professor died Dec. 10. He was 76. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Fulop became a research professor at Rutgers University in 1990. He joined the Wagner College faculty in August 1998, where he taught neurophysiology and histology in our Department of Biological Sciences. FA L L 2022 43 �Reflections The Beauty of Small Things Musings on language and learning by Margarita Sánchez This essay was originally written as the welcome message to our newest class of first-year students. It has been edited for publication in Wagner Magazine. hy did I become a college professor? We are not here because of money, believe me; we are here because we are passionate about what we do. And our ultimate goal is to make our students passionate about the lessons that we share with them. W The beauty of small things for a professor is something as simple as a “Good morning, professor, how are you today?” You can’t imagine the number of times that students have passed in front of me as if I were transparent. (Hey, I am small, but you can see me when you enter my classroom!) The beauty of small things is showing interest in one concept, in one word, in one image, in one mathematical operation, in one musical note, in one posture. When a class ends with a couple of students staying for a few minutes to continue the discussion, to connect the lesson with their own experiences, I consider myself the happiest professor on earth. When the opposite happens, when I see empty expressions and students watching the clock, when I hear them packing up 10 minutes before the class ends, I feel that I have failed that day and I consider becoming an empanadas vendor. 44 WA G N E R M A G A Z I N E The beauty of small things is to create a safe space in which all of my students become avid readers, curious learners and compassionate human beings. A safe space … but not a failure-free space. This path is arduous; the journey entails risk, which requires courage. But remember: Failure will not doom your journey, and it is not something to be avoided at all costs. You will learn from it, and you will become responsible for charting your own path in learning. Your struggles are an important part of that process. The beauty of small things is to understand that your professors are not criticizing you as a person; they are criticizing a product you are creating, and that product can always become better. It will never be perfect, because perfection does not exist. The professors I remember the most were those who gave me back papers full of circles, arrows, interrogation marks and comments. They helped me become a better writer, a reflective student and, ultimately, a better person. Professors will point out areas where you need to grow, and they will accompany you as you overcome obstacles. The beauty of small things is language, and as a foreign-language learner and teacher, I will talk about this for a moment. Have you ever thought about the power and the magic of words? What is in each word that comes out of your mouth? What about the ones that you write? The popular saying insists that we are what we eat. I would invite you today to think about the fact that we are what we write. In each word — whether it is in a text message, an email, an Instagram comment or an academic paper — there is both an obvious message and a hidden message. Our readers will recognize love, rage, wisdom, apathy and sadness in those written words. As someone enchanted by languages, I have spent a good portion of my life learning words, repeating sounds and practicing the musicality of phonemes that are foreign to me. I am constantly in awe of the onomatopoeic sounds in English, those words that sound like the action you are describing. I feel the fresh water in “shower,” I am startled by a “boo,” I can visualize “drop” from the beginning of its journey to the moment it reaches the surface, I feel like crying with a “howl,” and I jump with happiness when I hear a “hurrah.” I bring my nails to my skin with an “itch,” and I rush to the door with a “knock.” I sharpen my ears for a “murmur,” and I cover them for the “thunder.” I go to sleep with a “whisper.” As fascinated as I am with some words, I avoid the use of others. That is also the beauty of small things, especially when it comes to writing. I respect nouns and verbs, and I have learned to eliminate adjectives and adverbs. The Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro told us to “invent new worlds and guard your word; unless it gives new life, the adjective kills. Oh poets, why sing to the roses, let them flower in your poem.” Similarly, Mark Twain warned us, “When you catch an �adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them; then the rest will be valuable.” Just remember this: When you write, don’t tell your readers that something is interesting or important; tell them why it is interesting or important without using those adjectives. Invent new worlds and guard your word; unless it gives new life, the adjective kills. Oh poets, why sing to the roses, let them flower in your poem. - V I C E N T E H U I D O B RO The secret to seeing the beauty in small things is to value them. Value each and every step you take. Accept imperfections, because they humanize you; embrace them, because they will allow you to connect more deeply with others. Care for others: those who enrich your life, who serve you an omelet in the morning, who clean the corridor in your dorm … the professors who share with you their knowledge, the administrators who care about your well-being at Wagner … those with whom you interact on a daily basis. Look them in the eye and offer them a gesture that shows you care about their efforts to make your life worth living. The secret of small things is to leave this gathering with the eagerness to accomplish something small every day. Remember: Everything is in the details.  Margarita Sánchez, a former journalist from Colombia, is a professor of Spanish language and literature. She joined the faculty at Wagner College in 2000. Artwork: Twins Design Studio | Shutterstock FA L L 2022 45 �Office of Communications and Marketing Wagner College One Campus Road Staten Island, New York 10301 Photograph: Josh Campbell The Seahawk first became the Wagner College mascot in 1947 and there have been many renditions since then. After two decades of service, the last costume was retired and a new look was revealed. Watch the video, shot by Max Rottenecker M’18, by scanning the QR code or visiting wagner.edu/seahawk. � 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 2022 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. 48 pages Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource text