Seton Hall Magazine, Winter 2022-23

Urgent Care

Healthcare students get critical training to fight the opioid overdose epidemic

Seton Hall magazine is published by the Division of University Relations.

President

Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D.

Vice President for University Relations

Matthew Borowick ’89/M.B.A. ’94

Assistant Vice President, Strategic Communications and Brand Pegeen Hopkins, M.S.J.

Art Director Ann Antoshak

Copy Editors

Kim de Bourbon

Franklin J. Shobe

News & Notes Editors

Stacy Albanese Fagioli, M.A.

Sophia L Fredriksson

Research Assistance

Alan Delozier

Send your comments and suggestions by mail to: Seton Hall magazine, Division of University Relations, 519 South Orange Avenue, South Orange, NJ 07079; by email to shuwriter@shu. edu; or by phone at 973-378-9834.

Cover: Daniela Arriagada. Photo by John O’Boyle

Facing page: Fall on the South Orange campus. Photo by Earl Richardson www.shu.edu

features

20 Urgent Care

Federal grants help healthcare students train to fight the opioid overdose epidemic.

24 Golden Opportunity

After 50 years, the Federal Pell Grant program is still helping students succeed.

departments

2 Presidents Hall 4 HALLmarks 12 Possibilities

Jason Santos and his team launch Pirates Closet, offering business clothes to students who need them.

Roaming the Hall

Margarita Balmaceda’s third Fulbright project, studying industrial decarbonization, puts her in the middle of the European energy crisis resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Pat Frele ’73/M.B.A. ’79 established a scholarship to honor her parents while helping to support students.

How the Seton Hall student-athlete experience turned one student into a leader for everyone.

Engaged Elevating&

The arrival of the academic year at Seton Hall is always invigorating. That was especially true this year — the first since 2018-19 in which COVID-19 is not anticipated to play a major role. It was especially energizing to open a year that looks and feels much closer to normal.

Indeed, there are many reasons for hope, excitement and gratitude at your University. Making decisions rooted in strategy has enabled us to strengthen our foundations, enhance opportunities for students and faculty to thrive, and position Seton Hall for further success.

Central to our mission — at the heart of what we do — is enrolling the next generation of Great Minds. This year’s freshman class does not disappoint. In August, we welcomed 1,516 first-year students from 41 states and 21 countries who collectively represent the most-qualified and most-diverse class in Seton Hall history.

While the population of college-age students in the Northeast may be shrinking, our extraordinary freshman class was selected from a talented and diverse group of 26,706 prospective students — our largest applicant pool ever.

Seton Hall’s success is proof positive that students desire the outstanding values-based education we have offered for 166 years. The applicants we selected are enriching our academic environment in new and exciting ways. To demonstrate our commitment to them, the University authorized $158 million in scholarships this year — a record level.

True to our mission, we increased the average award given to Pell-eligible students by more than 25 percent over the last four years, as part of our Affordability

Agenda. This support leads students to enroll, persist and graduate ready to focus on their future — not on how to pay for their past.

Freshmen aren’t the only new faces on campus. We welcomed more than 40 full-time and tenure-track faculty members to strengthen the Academy — all of them dedicated to teaching, research and service. I was impressed (though not surprised) by their pedigrees, excitement and vitality. Already they have made themselves at home on our campuses and are making their mark on the University. Their arrival signifies the strategic reallocation of resources to teaching and learning, and the latest step in our emphasis on Seton Hall’s first-rate faculty, which continues to advance in eminence.

We are particularly pleased that four faculty members received prestigious Fulbright scholarships for the 2022-23 academic year, allowing them to pursue leadingedge academic work in Germany, North Macedonia, Scotland and Australia. Also, last year our faculty received $7.38 million in grants and other funding — an increase of 146 percent over 2021.

Building our capacity to elevate Seton Hall has been the primary focus of University Advancement, which finished its most successful fundraising year in history with more than $40 million in new gifts and pledges. This is a strong statement about the ties that bind our community across generations.

Even better, more than 40 percent of recent giving has been dedicated to the endowment, to help establish additional student scholarships, enhance faculty support and target new levels of academic innovation. Thankfully, our collective efforts are being recognized outside the University.

If you attended Seton Hall Weekend in October, you know the South Orange campus transformation is well underway. And if you haven’t visited recently, you would be amazed at our progress. Most notably, the University Center recently reopened after a top-to-bottom renovation that elevated it to a place among the most welcoming and functional campus centers at any college anywhere. I simply cannot express how much this project will improve life for our entire community. You really must see it for yourself.

Renovations and an addition to Boland Hall provided a fresh and updated living experience in one of our oldest residence halls. Meanwhile, the Office of International Programs is advancing the University’s global reach from its new home in

Jubilee Hall. And Fahy Hall is replete with recently completed renovations, including classrooms, lecture halls, common areas and a leading-edge ultra-high definition digital television studio.

We also recently expanded our presence in Newark with a welcome and event center in the heart of the city’s Gateway Complex — just steps away from the Prudential Center and Seton Hall Law.

In closing, let me express my gratitude and admiration for the many ways you foster excellence at the University. I hope you understand how much you are appreciated. So let us embrace the future with eager anticipation of the many opportunities it will bring. Thank you again.

May God continue to bless you and Seton Hall. n

Photo by Erin Patrice O’Brien

In Brief

l Beth Jameson, assistant professor in the College of Nursing, was named a 2022 National Academy of School Nurses Fellow, one of only seven distinguished school nurses from around the country to be inducted.

l The Buccino Leadership Institute was named this year’s “Most Outstanding” Leadership Development Program by the Association of Leadership Educators.

l Seton Hall’s master’s accounting programs have the fifthhighest return on investment among all accounting programs in the U.S., ranking the University’s graduate accounting programs No. 1 in New Jersey.

l The Jim Malgieri Summer Internship Program gives Stillman School of Business students the opportunity to join Pirum, a financial services technology vendor, at its New York City location for 10 weeks.

l WSOU 89.5 FM was a winner in the category of “Political Coverage NYC Metro – Radio” for its 2021 election night coverage.

l Abe Zakhem, associate professor at the College of Arts and Sciences, and Elizabeth McCrea, associate professor at the Stillman School of Business, were awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to establish and develop a minor in business humanities, the first program of its kind in the U.S. to focus on this emerging field of study.

l Immaculate Conception Seminary and School of Theology and The Lay Centre collaborated on a day-long, in-person and virtual retreat — “The Joy of Discovering and Communicating our New Life in Christ: Catechesis in the 21st Century” — for 100 religious educators and leaders.

l Seton Hall has become an Adobe Creative Campus, joining a select group of colleges and universities offering free access to Adobe software and apps to students, faculty and staff to encourage digital literacy.

l Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology offered its annual Lenten reflection series with daily meditations from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week. Accompanied by photos of various parts of campus, the reflections were designed to inspire participants as they pondered “The Cross and the Campus: Learning the Love of Christ.”

l Brian B. Shulman, dean of the School of Health and Medical Sciences, was inducted as the president of the nonprofit International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders for a three-year term that culminates in the organization’s 33rd World Congress in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2025.

l In the Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Sona Patel, associate professor, and Caryn Grabowski, director of clinical education, were awarded a $180,000 grant from the New Jersey Commission on Brain Injury Research for pioneering concussion research that supports unique interdisciplinary training opportunities for students at the University.

l Peggy Brady-Amoon, professor in the Department of Professional Psychology and Family Therapy, was elected to fellow status in the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (Division 2) of the American Psychological Association, a status she holds in the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17) as well.

l Elizabeth Halpin, M.A.’09, associate dean of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, was named acting director of the Buccino Leadership Institute for the Fall 2022 semester.

UN Secretary-General Addresses Seton Hall Graduates

The secretary-general of the United Nations came before Seton Hall’s graduating class in May with words urging them to face a world filled with conflict.

“I know you will look upon your years at Seton Hall as an incredible opportunity to change the world for the better,” said António Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal who spent 10 years as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “And to embody the adventurous spirit shared by all of Seton Hall’s graduates — and one that springs from this school’s inspiring motto: Hazard Zet Forward — ‘Whatever the peril, go forward.’”

As he continued addressing the University’s 166th baccalaureate commencement, Guterres reviewed a long list of global problems: food, energy, financial, climate, inequality, conspiracy theories, hate and mistrust.

“I feel it is my duty to report that you are entering a world brimming with peril,” Guterres said. “We face conflicts and division on a scale not seen in decades.”

“… As I tell world leaders across my travels, these wounds will not heal themselves. They cry out for international solutions. They demand that countries stand with one another within a strong multilateral system. Building a better, more peaceful future requires collaboration and trust, which are sorely lacking in today’s world.

“I do not raise these challenges to darken your special day today,” Guterres told the graduates. “I raise them because it now falls to you, as Seton Hall graduates, to use what you have learned here to do something about it. To live up to your motto, and in the face of peril, go forward in building a better future.”

Opposite:

Photo by Bob Handelman. This page: Photo by Joy Yagid

Fulbright Quartet

Four Seton Hall faculty have received Fulbright Awards for 2022-23 from the U.S. State Department, taking on research assignments in Germany, North Macedonia, Scotland and Australia

Margarita Balmaceda, Ph.D., professor in the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, was originally slated to work in Ukraine researching steel technologies and business-political groups’ orientations toward the European Union and Russia. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she reworked her project and will be a fellow at the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany, where she will focus on industrial decarbonization and how to replace fossil fuels with new technologies. This will be Balmaceda’s third Fulbright fellowship.

Ines Angeli Murzaku, Ph.D., professor of religion and director of the Catholic Studies Program, served this summer as a Fulbright senior specialist in the St. Clement of Ohrid Faculty of Theology at Saints Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia. Her project focused on ecumenism (Orthodox and Catholic) and interreligious dialogue (Christian and Muslim). Murzaku has previously completed

Fulbright-supported research twice in Italy and once in Slovenia.

Kathleen Neville, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, associate dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the College of Nursing, is a Fulbright UK scholar, exploring nursing students’ perceptions of individuals with opioid use disorders in Scotland at the Edinburgh Napier University School of Health and Social Care. The project expands on Neville’s work investigating nursing students’ knowledge and attitudes toward individuals with opioid use disorders in the United States.

Susan Nolan, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychology, will work with colleagues at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, on her project titled “Psychological Literacy from a Global Perspective: Internationalizing Curricula and Assessment.” The project extends work she conducted through a previous Fulbright award in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As part of her work, Nolan and her Australian colleagues are recruiting a multinational team to add psychological literacy and global citizenship as fundamental learning outcomes for international psychology higher education.

KATHLEEN NEVILLE

INES ANGELI MURZAKU

SUSAN NOLAN

MARGARITA BALMACEDA

A$3.6 million federal grant will provide practical experience to Seton Hall nurse practioner students as they serve in mobile healthcare units in Newark and work toward receiving $10,000 stipends upon the completion of their training.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for the College of Nursing and certainly a wonderful collaboration with the City of Newark, a medically underserved area,” said Marie Foley, Ph.D., R.N., C.N.L., dean of the College of Nursing. “This represents the epitome of how we educate our students — learning by doing — and supports the Seton Hall mission of servant leadership.”

The four-year grant is expected to benefit 133 students and was awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration through its Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention-Mobile Health Training Program.

The program allows graduate students in the adult-gerontology primary care, pediatric primary care and new psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner programs to take part in a semester-long clinical experience with the Newark mobile units, completing 120 hours or more of training.

Students who complete the practicum each will be eligible to receive the stipends to offset costs of tuition, books, travel and other expenses.

The project is intended to strengthen the diversity, education and training of the nursing workforce and to provide quality care to vulnerable, medically underserved residents of Newark.

University Center

Correction: The “Monsignor Turro Turns 100” Hallmarks news brief in the Spring 2022 edition of Seton Hall magazine included words and quotes from an article by Father Alexander M. Santora in The Jersey Journal without attribution. We regret this oversight.

Outstanding Program Designation

An international organization of top educators in the field of leadership development presented Seton Hall’s Buccino Leadership Institute with its Outstanding Program award this year.

Given by the Association of Leadership Educators, it is the first for the Buccino Institute, formerly known as the Gerald P. Buccino ’63 Center for Leadership Development when it was based within the Stillman School of Business. The institute was renamed and expanded University-wide in 2018.

“Buccino initiatives have enhanced Seton Hall’s overall efforts to foster leaders for more than 25 years,” said University President Joseph E. Nyre. “The unique qualities of these programs have resulted in remarkable success that is further affirmed by this prestigious award.”

Provost Katia Passerini noted that the recognition “does not come as a surprise — but it does come as a truly welcome addition to our accolades.”

Seton Hall nominated Buccino Leadership Institute for the award as a four-year university-wide, non-credit bearing program that includes intensive workshops, student-led initiatives, professional leadership coaching and field trips. But what really makes the Buccino program different, according to founder and former Executive Director Bryan Price, is the institute’s interdisciplinary teams — real-world, semester-long projects that allow students to lead each other with minimal involvement from professors and maximum opportunities for growth.

“Buccino initiatives have enhanced Seton Hall’s overall efforts to foster leaders for more than 25 years,” said University President Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D.

Robin Roberts Honored at Sports Media Gala

Seton Hall’s new Center for Sports Media presented veteran TV broadcaster Robin Roberts with its first Lifetime Professional Achievement Award at an inaugural gala in New York City in September.

More than 160 media educators and professors came together to help officially launch the center, which was established last fall with a $2 million gift from Bob Ley ’76, the 40-year veteran ESPN reporter and anchor who serves as executive founder. The event itself raised an additional $380,000.

Ley presented the award to Roberts, who co-anchored ESPN’s SportsCenter with him in the 1990s. Roberts spent 15 years at the sports network and recently celebrated 20 years with ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.”

Roberts spent time before the program meeting with students to share advice and encouragement, and she commented on the experience during her remarks.

“When I met those young people it was like a kaleidoscope, that was so wonderful to see — the representation that you have here — and to see their big eyes and their dreams,” she said.

“Representation is important. It’s not a goal — it has to be seen as a value. Diversity — that’s great. That’s being on the team. Inclusion — that means you’re in the game. I thank you for the opportunity to get in the game. Game on!”

SHU IN THE NEWS

“For Vincent, the task of the entire church — pope, bishops, theologians, laity — is to foster development and growth over time, but always in full accord with the Gospel and the dogmatic tradition.”

Monsignor Thomas G. Guarino, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, Catholic News Service/Crux, discusses the fifth-century monk Vincent of Lérins.

“There are over 100 Americans who have been illegally detained in different countries across the world and as much as it would be terrific to have Brittney Griner home last week, this is a much larger issue. If you are the U.S. government, you have to think about the relative safety of Americans abroad and the ability to travel freely if you are allowing what is essentially political hostage-taking to be rewarded so quickly.”

Jane McManus, executive director of the Center for Sports Media, Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, discussing Brittney Griner’s imprisonment in Russia and female equity in sports.

“The sociopolitical, economic and foreign policy impact of long zero-COVID … could be much more profound and enduring than the government thinks.”

Yanzhong Huang, director of the Center for Global Health Studies, CNN, discussing the cost of the continued implementation of China’s zero-COVID policy over the next five years.

“Putin still has enormous support within Russia and, sadly, so does Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine. But losing international prestige, together with the slow but certain impact of economic sanctions on Russia, is little by little giving the Russian population a clear signal that Putin is no longer able to guarantee their well-being.”

Margarita Balmaceda, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, a specialist on comparative energy politics of the post-Soviet states, TIME

“Our results suggest that surprise success in the [NCAA] tournament has little to no impact on the quantity of applications in subsequent years. However, we find that freshmen enrollments increase for private schools two academic years after a Cinderella run (with mixed results on the quality of freshmen — although not worse).”

Kurt Rotthoff, professor at the Stillman School of Business, Forbes, discussing his research on the “Cinderella effect” on March Madness and the men’s NCAA basketball tournament.

Kathleen Neville, associate dean of graduate studies and research at the College of Nursing, PBS One-on-One with Steve Adubato.

“Most of the heroin on the streets in New Jersey and nationwide has fentanyl in it so it kills.”

SUITABLE LEADERSHIP

Jason Santos was in a bind. He had precious little time or money to find professional-looking clothes for a Buccino Leadership Institute event at Seton Hall. So off he raced to Burlington Coat Factory to “put together everything I could” with $50 and the clock ticking.

He made it to the event on time, appropriately dressed, but the experience left the thensophomore a bit downhearted — briefly.

“I felt embarrassed I had to go through all that,” he admits. “But then I came to realize this isn’t something to be embarrassed about, and it’s not a problem that only I face. It’s a problem a lot of my peers face. And it’s something there should be a solution for.”

The solution, it turns out, started with Santos himself. What if there were a resource on campus where students could just walk in and borrow suitable clothing for events where business attire is the appropriate choice?

He pitched the idea to peers in the Buccino interdisciplinary team initiative, which puts freshmen and sophomores together in semester-long projects that are completely student-run. Students with winning ideas get to act like CEOs, hiring a team to execute their plan to turn the idea into reality.

Fast forward to his junior year, and his inspiration is taking shape as the Pirates Closet, where students will

be able to browse through donated articles of clothing for something that suits a business setting.

While Santos first envisioned the Pirates Closet as a lending program, the response has been so positive that it’s been recast as a giveaway program. “We have so many donations, we’re looking to open very soon,” he says. “Right now, we’re focusing on making sure the room [housed in the Career Center] is presentable.”

Initially, donations came from within the Seton Hall community. Then a story on the Pirates Closet found its way to Burlington Coat Factory management, who promptly pledged to donate 500 articles of clothing. Other companies are already following Burlington’s lead, ensuring that the clothing racks Santos and his colleagues are still assembling and arranging will be full in no time.

As with all interdisciplinary team groups, the Pirates Closet team reflects the breadth of students who participate in the Buccino Leadership Institute, coming to the program from schools and majors that include Business (Kyle Torre and Julia Boivin), Arts and Sciences (Graceanna Gargano and Abigail Hall), Diplomacy (Shweta Parthasarathy), Communication and the Arts (Ryan Johnston), Education (Adam D’Ambrosio) and Nursing (Tiffany Mendez).

Now in its fifth year, the interdisciplinary team program provides a way for future business leaders to

Jason Santos and his team launch Pirates Closet, offering business clothes to students who need them.

“... I came to realize this isn’t something to be embarrassed about, and it’s not a problem that only I face. It’s a problem a lot of my peers face. And it’s something there should be a solution for.”

apply what they’re learning in the classroom to realworld situations. Some are so successful that they evolve into full-blown initiatives that live on after their creators have graduated. One example is Pirates Play, in which Seton Hall collaborates with the East Orange Department of Recreation on a youth sports leadership camp.

According to Elizabeth V. Halpin, acting Buccino director and associate dean of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, the interdisciplinary team program “is a practical application of the leadership lessons the students are learning. They get to try out their capabilities and the techniques they’ve learned and observe the way these things work in the world.”

Santos, who’s majoring in economics and mathematical finance and is the first of his family to attend college, couldn’t agree more. He especially appreciates the opportunity to apply essential management skills.

“There are a lot of things you learn outside the classroom that you can’t learn in the classroom. One thing I really came to learn was time management, as basic as that sounds,” he says. “I’m not only worried about my schedule. I also have to accommodate a team of other students.”

Similarly, he’s found that ensuring all teammates know their role is essential to both the success of the project and his teammates’ engagement. “It’s making sure everyone feels important. At the end of the day, I couldn’t do this all by myself. They wanted to be part of this, so I don’t want to do them an injustice by making them feel less valuable than I should.”

It’s exactly that kind of “servant leadership” that makes the interdisciplinary team program flourish, in Halpin’s eyes. “Jason is a visionary leader and a great example of what great minds can do at Seton Hall,” she observes. “He’s like a pinnacle example of who we want our students to be.” n

Photo by Michael Paras

Harris Fleming is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.

ELEMENTAL CHALLENGE

Margarita Balmaceda’s third Fulbright project involves both carbon and hydrogen as she heads to Germany to study industrial decarbonization.

The interdependencies of fossil fuels may sound like an esoteric topic, relevant only to a specialized audience, until you consider the critical state of energy politics between Ukraine, Russia and Europe, and the unsettled state of the global economy. Margarita Balmaceda, a professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, headed back to Europe on her third Fulbright fellowship, hoping to increase her understanding of industrial decarbonization, particularly as it relates to the metallurgy sector.

Balmaceda has studied steel and coal production in Ukraine, Russia and Germany for years. A specialist on the comparative energy politics of Eastern Europe, for more than 20 years she has been following the complex relationship between Russian oil and gas producers, post-Soviet transit states, and European consumers.

She planned to complete her Fulbright project at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv, Ukraine. But she is being rerouted to Germany due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the continuing war there.

“I won’t be able to conduct my project — which was related to steelmaking technologies — in Ukraine because of the dramatic circumstances,” Balmaceda says. “But I have retooled [my project] into a broader study of the geopolitics of industrial carbon. I’m going to be working on industrial decarbonization at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany.”

Balmaceda’s mission now is to learn about broader issues related to industrial decarbonization, which affects not only steel production but also production of items such as chemical fertilizers. She’ll also study hydrogen, seen as a promising component in industrial decarbonization. Germany is taking a leading role in developing the technical standards and regulatory framework for industrial-use hydrogen, so being in Germany will be crucial for her.

But it will not be an easy winter. In retaliation for European support for Ukraine, Russia has been cutting supplies of fuel throughout Europe, and Germany has been forced to ration resources, including for businesses. “I’m looking forward to learning something new and bearing

witness to what happens when you don’t get Russian energy,” Balmaceda says. Considering the region’s volatility, she is preparing herself for all contingencies. “I’m going to be there at the very moment where the energy crisis that has been created by Russia’s war against Ukraine is going to be showing its teeth,” she explains.

Before the conflict with Russia, Balmaceda says, Ukraine had already been operating in a way that the industry considers to be “very energy inefficient.” Ukraine is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, she says, and it is the only country that still uses the open-hearth furnace.

With the war’s destruction of steel plants and other facilities throughout Ukraine, the country potentially stands on the edge of an industrial change. Balmaceda believes the world may be on the last frontier of decarbonization, and she is curious to see how Ukraine will rebuild, and what it would take for them to adopt certain greener technologies.

“There are plenty of steel factories still working and exporting, but once Ukraine starts to rebuild, the question becomes: how are they going to rebuild? Are they going to rebuild using fossil fuels, or are they going to rebuild with new technologies — hydrogen-based steelmaking, for example?”

A common challenge with transforming the use of fossil fuel in industries like steel is that the usage goes far beyond just electricity production, and the other industrial uses of fossil fuels are much harder to decarbonize than electricity production. This affects other industries, too: cement production, plastic, even fertilizer. “It’s about some chemical processes that they use, and ultra-high temperature processes that they use as well.”

Balmaceda is eager to get started on her journey, propelled by a belief in resilience, which she gets from completing tough projects like cycling across the United Kingdom, one of her most recent challenges. She hopes through her Fulbright journey to not only raise awareness about decarbonization, but to also inspire her students at Seton Hall. n

Photo by Michael Paras

Tonya Russell writes about health equity and the environment.

A PERFECT REASON

Pat Frele ’73/M.B.A. ’79 established a scholarship to honor her parents while helping to support students.

Pat Frele ’73/M.B.A. ’79 believes in signs — and she received a big one when she met the very first recipient of the James and Rose Frele Scholarship, which she established at Seton Hall in honor of her parents.

“We were talking at dinner, and she said, ‘Oh, I’d love for you to come to my graduation. It’s May 21,’” Frele recalls. She was awestruck, and not just by the young lady’s offer. “May 21 is my parents’ wedding anniversary — talk about a sign!”

Not that Frele needed confirmation that her decision to start the scholarship was the right one. She is quick to credit the University with preparing her for a very successful career on the business side of the medical testing industry.

It was a circuitous route at the beginning, though. Eager to find a teaching job after graduating with a degree in education, Frele grew frustrated by a tight job market in New Jersey school districts in the ’70s. She started working with a temp agency that placed her at Roche Clinical Laboratories (then a unit of pharmaceutical giant Hoffman La Roche). She performed well there and liked the work, so when they offered her a full-time position, she was eager to accept — which in short order led her right back to Seton Hall to earn her M.B.A. at the company’s expense. Over time, Roche Clinical Laboratories was merged with

other lab companies and ultimately became Labcorp, one of the largest medical testing companies in the country.

Throughout 43 years rising through the Labcorp ranks to become an administrative vice president, Frele never lost a sense of affection and gratitude for what she learned at Seton Hall, both academically and about life. “The whole experience played a very key role in my life. It taught me how to work with people, how to get along with different people,” she says.

While she was an active donor to the University for many years, Frele felt a calling to do more. A conversation with Nora Nasif Rahaim, the University’s senior director for gift planning and principal gift officer, gave her the inspiration to start the scholarship fund named for her mother and father.

“I came from a very middle-class family. Both my parents worked and when I wanted to go to Seton Hall they could have said, ‘We can’t really afford it. Why don’t you go to one of the other smaller schools that cost less?’” she explains. “But they encouraged me and said, ‘If that’s where you want to go, we will support you and give you as much as we can.’ God knows what they sacrificed; I don’t, fully. This is, for me, a way to acknowledge them.”

The scholarship is not only Pat’s acknowledgment of gratitude for her parents’ support, but also a way to ensure that for generations to come, people who

never met James and Rose Frele will know their names and associate them with a spirit of generosity and commitment to higher education, regardless of a student’s means.

Rahaim observes that while Seton Hall clearly benefits from the generosity Frele and other alumni demonstrate with their financial support, there are benefits for the donors which may be less obvious. “It’s rewarding to me to align the philanthropic interests of our alumni and friends with the needs of the University, and particularly to see that Pat feels so rewarded by doing this,” Rahaim says. “She just really embodies the true spirit of Seton Hall.”

The words Frele uses to describe her relationship with Seton Hall echo Rahaim’s perception. “This is a reflection of my affection for the University,” she says.

“The fact that in my life and my career I have been so blessed to be able to do this — I want so much to help these students and to honor my parents. It may mean the difference between going to the University or the school of your choice or going versus not going. When you realize how grateful they are, and the impact you’re making on their lives, it is such an affirmation that you are doing the right thing.”

n

SETON

Harris Fleming is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.

From the Baseball Field to the Boardroom

How the Seton Hall student-athlete experience turned one student into a leader for everyone.

From the outside looking in, the challenges for anyone overseeing a grocery store chain during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were seemingly insurmountable. Employees were faced with daily risk simply by showing up for work; the supply chain was in disarray and some store shelves were glaringly empty; and when customers came to the store, it was with a heavy dose of anxiety about this new, frightening disease. Yet for Chris McGarry, recently retired CEO of California-based Save Mart stores, navigating the challenges was quite simple. “Do all you can to support the people in your stores, ensuring you’re providing whatever they need to feel safe,” he says.

That meant giving staff the necessary PPE (personal protective equipment), putting in place a bonus program for employees coming into work and maintaining that for 17 months, and absorbing all employee medical costs associated with COVID. “We also provided three meals a day to our people because they might have been struggling to access prepared food at that time, and we paid particular attention to their personal needs and issues,” McGarry explains. “I could recite hundreds of stories of employees who demonstrated incredible commitment to our stores, customers and colleagues, and it was important we recognize that.”

Ultimately, McGarry says that the pandemic served to “restore the grocery store to its proper place in the community. It was a reminder of our normal, daily lives, and one of the only places for human interaction in the early days of COVID.”

McGarry didn’t set out to work in grocery retail, but his preparation for leadership began early at Seton Hall, when he earned first a bachelor’s degree in history in 1988, followed by an M.B.A. in economics

in 1989, and finally, a J.D. in 1992. He drew lessons from both the classroom and the ballfields/courts as a student-athlete in baseball and tennis.

“Coming into Seton Hall as a driven, headstrong and ambitious guy, I was unaware of how much I really needed to learn,” says McGarry. “I formed great relationships, learned from every experience, and left thoroughly impressed by the programs.”

When he reflects on his experiences as a student athlete, McGarry can now see how they prepared him for the career path he eventually followed. “I remember a real estate law class with Professor Paula Franzese, and the way she engaged us with her creative teaching methods,” he says. “At the time, I was impatient and thought that if a class or work wasn’t painful, I wasn’t making progress. But as a CEO who had to get in front of everyone in an organization, I learned to appreciate her approach for drawing in a diverse audience from a wide variety of circumstances.”

This has proven particularly valuable to McGarry as he worked to evolve ideas for diversity and inclusion at Save Mart. “These were lessons I never appreciated in the moment, but by applying them I saw how we became a more powerful and effective organization as a result,” he says. “Seton Hall allowed me to grow intellectually, developing an appreciation for other people, for ethics and for ideas.”

Likewise, his experience as a walk-on freshman baseball player left him with life lessons he has put to good use. “I was welcomed into the program and mentored, allowing me to make tremendous progress,” McGarry says. “It was such a well-run program, and it unwittingly made an impression on me that I drew on as a CEO.” n

Amanda Loudin is a Maryland-based freelance writer.

Photography by Gerry McIntyre

Kathleen Neville at the Interprofessional Health Sciences campus, Nutley, N.J.

Urgent Care

Maybe you’ve read the obituaries and noticed how many are for people who seem much too young to die — 24, 34, 44 — and then saw where memorial donations were suggested to go: to an addiction recovery center.

Overdose.

Maybe you’ve paid a condolence call after the untimely death of somebody in your circle of friends and neighbors and stood at a wake nodding sadly with little more to say than, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

Overdose.

Or maybe you’ve buried a member of your own family, racked by questions for which there are no simple answers: What signs did I miss? What else could I have done? Why, why, why?

Overdose.

More than 107,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States in 2021, the most ever recorded. Read that number again: 107,000 dead. We lost from overdoses in a single year almost twice as many Americans as we lost in all the years of fighting in Vietnam. It’s a number that has grown relentlessly every year, and that has reached a brutal threshold where it is almost inescapable.

“We all know someone,” says Kathleen Neville, associate dean for graduate studies and research at the College of Nursing. “We may not talk about it, but the bottom line is, we all know someone.”

Most of those deaths are from overdoses of synthetic opioids — drugs that are effective both at relieving pain and at producing a euphoric high that is devastatingly addictive. The spread of opioids over the last decade, most lately and lethally in the form of illegally produced fentanyl, has created what Neville describes as “a major healthcare epidemic that continues to worsen.” It is an epidemic that the healthcare system needs more weapons to help fight, and she had an idea about how to sharpen one of those weapons.

Opioid addiction — opioid use disorder, or OUD, in the language of the field — is powerful, but not invincible. A combination of counseling, behavioral therapy and drugs that is known as medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, can sate the addictive cravings.

“MAT is the gold standard at this point,” Neville says. But there are more people who have addiction issues who need this treatment than there are healthcare professionals available to provide it. Physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants must complete special training and receive a waiver from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) before they are permitted to prescribe the medications.

“They can prescribe an opioid, but not the treatment,” Neville says, noting the irony.

Photography by John O’Boyle

Federal grants help healthcare students get critical training to fight the opioid overdose epidemic.

In the face of this problem, the necessary MAT training is now part of the standard curriculum at the Interprofessional Health Sciences campus in Nutley. Neville is the principal investigator for a federal grant helping to provide medical students at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, nurse practitioner students at the College of Nursing and physician assistant students at the School of Health and Medical Sciences the training they need to fight opioid abuse.

The first students to complete the training graduated this spring — 433 more foot soldiers in the war against addiction.

“This whole grant is about getting all of our students on board to be able to prescribe after graduation,” Neville says. “It needs to be embedded in the curriculum, that opioid use disorders are a disease that warrant being treated as a disease. The stigma’s got to go away. It’s not weak moral character. Some people are very prone to addiction.”

When Neville was a young nurse, working with adolescent cancer patients at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and studying for a master’s at New York University, she thought of addiction as what she saw on the streets of Manhattan. That’s how a lot people thought of addiction then, before the waves started breaking on their own streets.

By 2013, she was a professor in the School of Nursing at Kean University and consulting with hospitals to get nurses more involved in research when she started work on a study: What were nurses’ attitudes toward patients with substance abuse disorders?

“I’ve always been very interested in the emotional and psychological aspects of illness,” she says. Her doctoral research turned into a book: “Mature Beyond Their Years: The Impact of Cancer on Adolescent Development.”

“Maybe that’s why I went into adolescent oncology as a beginning nurse,” she says.

Nurses, she found in her study, tended to be “mistrusting,” even “fearful,” of patients they regarded as addicts. “I’m hoping that tide has changed a little bit,” she says. “I think by educating, we’re changing it.”

That’s one of the key lessons of the MAT training to fight opioid use disorder. “The nonjudgmental attitude of the provider is so important,” she says. “If society views

a person with an OUD as less than desirable, chances are that person with the OUD has their own deprecating view of themself and they are less likely to seek treatment.”

Soon after Neville arrived at Seton Hall in 2018, the University and Hackensack Meridian Health were awarded a three-year grant from SAMHSA to establish the training program: 24 hours of online classes for nurse practitioner and physician assistant students, and 10 hours of clinical experience at places that treat patients with addictions. (Medical students take a more condensed course of eight hours.)

“One of the earlier modules we had was about the changes in brain chemistry, and the reward pathways in the brain that keep someone addicted to opioids,” says Rebecca Fiedler-Giordano, a third-year nurse practitioner student who works as a cardiovascular nurse in Denver. “You definitely learn to appreciate how hard it is for people to get on the other side of addiction.”

She saw that, too, in her own life — a friend of her husband who died of an overdose — and in her first clinical rotation for the nurse practitioner program, even before the subsequent one she did for the MAT training. It was at a federally qualified health center in Denver that served a large homeless population. Tuesdays were MAT days, when she shadowed a nurse practitioner who was seeing patients who were taking suboxone or naltrexone, medications prescribed to treat opioid addiction.

“A layperson might think, ‘OK they’re not going to be doing heroin or oxycodone, but they’re going to be on this other medication for years at a time,’ so initially there’s a little bit of skepticism,” says Fiedler-Giordano, whose experience in the MAT program has led her to consider working in a similar clinic after graduation. “Some people think of addiction and they say, ‘Well, why don’t you just go cold turkey?’ but you can see how that doesn’t work for a lot of people. This medication is really what people need to rewire their brains.”

Daniela Arriagada, a physician assistant student who grew up in Elmwood Park, had also seen the cost of addiction before starting the program — several classmates who died of overdoses of heroin or prescription opioids. “But I was really surprised to learn that it’s much more common than just what I’ve seen,” she says. “I thought it

was because I lived in such an urban area where it has that negative connotation that there’s a lot of drugs involved. But going to different towns all over New Jersey, towns with the white picket fences, you think nothing’s happening there, but it is, just a little bit more behind closed doors.”

Arriagada did her MAT clinical hours at Broadway House for Continuing Care in Newark. “That definitely brought the program together for me,” she says. “You’re seeing the patient and the outcome, and you’re getting to apply your interviewing skills and your knowledge of medications and resources and treatment.”

One patient she saw was nearing the end of her third stay in the residential treatment program at Broadway House — a middle-aged woman who grew up around addiction, and who has struggled with it herself since she was a young teenager. “It’s important not to be judgmental, because they’re here for a reason,” says Arriagada, who studied neuroscience as an undergraduate at Rutgers. “They’re trying to take action and make a change in their life, and they need someone to support them. It’s not a moral failing, it’s a physical addiction. It’s an actual mental condition. It’s not that someone chooses to be addicted — it’s that your brain chemistry is completely altered.”

Addiction treatment is one career path Arriagada is considering after graduation; but producing more specialists like that is not the primary goal of the program. The goal is to enable more clinicians all across the healthcare system — especially in primary care — to treat addiction as thoroughly as they treat cancer, heart disease or any other chronic illness. Last year, Seton Hall was awarded a second three-year grant from SAMHSA to expand the program to students at Monmouth University, as well as to address health disparities in medically underserved cities with high overdose rates. By the end of this grant another 1,050 foot soldiers will be joining the fight.

And now Neville is expanding her mission even farther. She was recently chosen as a Fulbright UK Scholar, and in September, after addressing the newest group of students who are taking the MAT training, she left for Scotland, which has by far the highest overdose death rate in Europe. She will be surveying and interviewing nursing students at Edinburgh Napier University to learn what their attitudes are toward people with opioid use disorders. “What I did at the College of Nursing I’m extending it to Scotland,” she says. “I’m going international now.” n

Kevin Coyne is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.

Daniela Arriagada at the Broadway House, Newark, N.J.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

As the Federal Pell Grant program marks its 50th anniversary, we look at how the grants — and other critical support — allow Seton Hall students to succeed.

Photography by Michael Paras

Sampson Davis ‘95, M.D.

A recruiter from Seton Hall came to his high school and spoke about the science and medical academic opportunities there. Something lit up in Davis — he and two friends, Rameck Hunt ’95 and George Jenkins ’95, made a pact to go to college, and all three were accepted to Seton Hall.

But there was a problem: Davis was the first in his family to pursue higher education, and there wasn’t money for college. Fortunately, he and his friends were all able to get federal Pell Grants along with support from the University to fund their studies.

Every semester, Davis would work creatively to figure out how to remove the balance on his account so he could register for more classes. He flipped through enormous books of scholarships to find ones that he could apply for — like a golf caddie scholarship from a local golf course. He’d search high and low for anything that would help him pursue his dreams. “Having that support was everything because I couldn’t afford it,” he says. “Without it, I would have never been able to achieve this level of accomplishment.”

Seton Hall has historically been committed to being a university of opportunity, and that commitment continues for students, says Dean Majid Whitney. “These opportunities really change the scope of their lives, and ultimately break the cycle of poverty that plagues so many families and community members.”

Since its beginnings, the University has welcomed students seeking higher education regardless of their socioeconomic status. Each year, Seton Hall provides

more than $150 million in direct financial support from its operating budget, money that is granted in addition to what’s given to students through the Pell Grant program, now in its 50th year.

The Pell Grant is one of the first forms of financial aid that a student will receive, Whitney says, and plays a crucial role. Students must meet certain financial requirements and complete the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Ninety-eight percent of Seton Hall’s full-time undergraduate students who file the FAFSA application and demonstrate need receive financial assistance from the University’s program.

“I think we do a really good job of ensuring that the students at Seton Hall are completing those applications and are able to benefit from all forms of support,” says Whitney, since additional help is almost always needed.

He adds that a Pell Grant has a lifespan of about six years or 12 semesters — encouraging students to finish their studies in a timely fashion. The program has also expanded to cover summer tuition, which has helped students get the classes they need. “Every dollar matters,” says Whitney. “And Seton Hall has just done a really beautiful job of complementing the aid provided by Pell and other forms of scholarships by filling in needbased gaps for students who are financially vulnerable.”

Seton Hall’s Catholic roots play into its devotion to helping everyone succeed. Access without support is not opportunity, Whitney says. “I think it’s one thing to open your doors. I think it’s another thing to provide

Sampson Davis ’95 grew up in Newark as the fifth of six children, and college wasn’t exactly on his radar. His family life was rough, his living quarters cramped, and although he was a good student, his life revolved around survival — not long-term planning. “College was like dessert,” he says, “Higher education was on the menu, but it wasn’t what I was focused on at the time.”

support when someone is through its doors so that they have an opportunity to succeed.”

He adds that this aligns with Seton Hall’s mission to develop servant leaders in a global society — and notes that servant leaders are not always going to come from financially privileged backgrounds. “I believe that providing these additional resources to students really casts a much wider net in terms of who we are able to invite to our community to really be a part of the change that we wish to see in the world.”

Part of Seton Hall’s commitment to students of all backgrounds includes helping them flourish. In December 2020, the University Board of Regents unanimously endorsed a strategic plan which calls for a student experience that is “equitable and consistent” and “enhances student support and retention.”

Andrieh Darwich ’19 says the Pell Grant was an opportunity to continue his education with less worry about whether he’d be able to pay for it. “The grant created a sense of comfort that the school was advocating on my behalf, that I should be able to pursue higher education without fear of financial instability,” he says.

He notes that the Pell Grant and other support can be a life-changing experience for students who otherwise might have to choose between continuing their education and affording a car, meal or textbook.

Darwich is now pursuing a medical degree at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. “Seton Hall has also impacted the way I view the world,” he says, “as it has exposed me to many different ways of thinking, from theological to real life, and has put me in contact with phenomenal advisers, where every conversation, meal and constructive feedback has shaped me today.”

The Federal Pell Grant Program

was

created by the Higher Education Act of 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s plan to improve higher education. Pells were designed specifically to be federally funded grants that did not have to be repaid like student loans. Students may use their grants at any one of approximately 5,400 participating postsecondary

institutions. In August, President Joe Biden announced a plan to cancel up to $20,000 of student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients, although a court challenge makes it unclear if the program will go into effect before the next payments are due in January.

The program has been incredibly successful — researchers say Pell Grants boost college enrollment, reduce drop-out rates and improve student outcomes. But the money doesn’t go as far these days: in 1975, a Pell covered 79 percent of school costs; today it covers less than 29 percent.

Each year, Pell Grants help about 5.4 million full-time and part-time college and vocational school students nationally — paying about $6,495 toward a student’s tuition, fees, room and board. At Seton Hall, 31 percent of undergraduate students — and 33 percent of new freshmen — received the grants.

It may seem like a small amount, but that support can mean the difference between success and dropping out, says Jason Oliveira, who directs Seton Hall’s Educational Opportunity Fund programs. “A lot of people may not see it as life changing because it’s only $6,000 and change, but for a family, your income cannot exceed $36,000. So when the federal government is offering you $6,000, that’s a sixth of your income,” he says, “which is a big deal.”

Oliveira says the Educational Opportunity Fund programs, which were created in 1968 to ensure access to higher education for students from disadvantaged

Part of Seton Hall’s commitment to students of all backgrounds includes helping them flourish. In December 2020, the University Board of Regents unanimously endorsed a strategic plan which calls for a student experience that is “equitable and consistent” and “enhances student support and retention.”

Ricardo Muñoz ’21

backgrounds, have the highest retention rates and graduation rates on campus. “It’s because of these opportunities that students are given,” Oliveira says.

Students who are the first in their families to attend college also face unique challenges. At Seton Hall, the Resilience, Integrity, Scholarship and Excellence (RISE) program helps low-income, firstgeneration or students with disabilities stay in school and graduate. The program gives students a comprehensive plan that includes academic, professional and social support, including tutoring and coaching, personal financial advising and career counseling and planning.

Ana Da Silva ’07 was a first-generation student. Her family moved from Brazil to New Jersey when she was 3, and she was raised by a single mother. “So times were tough, and college education was always out of reach,” she says.

Da Silva was able to secure several scholarships, along with the Pell Grant. She was able to afford all four years, and graduated with less than $20,000 in loans. She majored in criminal justice and has worked for the Jacoby & Meyers law firm for 14 years.

“I loved Seton Hall because it was such an intimate classroom experience,” she says. “It gave me the chance to get to know students and teachers. I was never just a number in a class of a hundred.”

Ricardo Muñoz ’21 says the Pell helped him cover the cost of tuition, which removed a major burden off his shoulders and allowed him to focus more on academics. Muñoz studied biology and is now a second-year medical student at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

“Seton Hall had a major impact on my academic journey,” he says. “It allowed me to meet great faculty

and staff who assisted me the whole way. They believed in me and my dream of matriculating into a medical school. Some of the most impactful moments at Seton Hall were when I would sit down with my advisers to talk about my life and education. They truly cared about my education and my overall health, and it’s something I still carry with me to this day.”

Sampson Davis has also carried his Seton Hall education with him. He and the two friends who came to the University with him graduated Seton Hall’s Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Plus program, designed to encourage minority students to pursue medical careers. Then the three headed off, still together, to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Davis became an emergency room doctor, Hunt became an internist and Jenkins a dentist. Together, they formed the Three Doctors Foundation, which uses peer and mentor programs to motivate youth to become leaders and succeed in their community. The foundation was engaged on Seton Hall’s campus until the COVID-19 pandemic, holding walkathons to promote healthy activity.

Davis says opportunities like the Pell Grant produce graduates who give back — and generate a self-reenforcing cycle.

“Having this huge gamut of people from different walks in different atmospheres of life helps us strengthen our community,” he says. “It helps us build our community, our neighborhood and it helps to give back in ways that we don’t even realize in the moment.” n

Katharine Gammon is a freelance writer based in Santa Monica.

“Some of the most impactful moments at Seton Hall were when I would sit down with my advisers to talk about my life and education. They truly cared about my education and my overall health, and it’s something I still carry with me to this day.” RICARDO MUÑOZ

Title IX: 50 Years Later

The stands of Walsh Gymnasium are full as the Seton Hall women’s basketball team battles a ranked opponent in the NCAA Tournament. Fans follow the exploits of a Pirate softball player setting home run records. Seton Hall’s star soccer player becomes one of the most prolific scorers in college history. Sports change the lives of thousands of women, creating memories and connections that last forever.

Title IX made all these events possible. The historic anti-discrimination law that led to the creation and advancement of women’s sports programs across the country was enacted 50 years ago, and its effects are felt every day.

No one appreciates Title IX’s impact more than Sue Dilley Regan, Seton Hall’s first women’s basketball coach who became the University’s first female athletic administrator, working in jobs that included director of athletics. Her coaching gig paid $500 while her main job was as assistant director of recreation. The women practiced at 6 in the morning or 8 at night, with Regan keeping the team’s basketballs in the trunk of her car. “There were a lot of things that certainly didn’t make it easy,” she says. “We never had as much money as anybody else, but it was a very tight-knit group, with a lot of help all the way around. Everybody helped each other out.”

Years later, when the 1994 women’s basketball squad went 27-5, Regan watched in Walsh Gymnasium as Seton Hall defeated Texas in the second round of the NCAA tourney, marveling at how far the program had come. “The place was just packed,” Regan says. “I remember standing up in a corner and the pride, everything, just swells in you at moments like that.”

Basketball and fencing were the first two varsity female sports at Seton Hall, and the school gradually

added programs. The list of iconic athletes includes track and field stars like Keisha Caine ’95 and Flirtisha Harris ’94. A nine-time All-American, Caine won a pair of 4x4 relay NCAA titles while Harris brought home four NCAA individual or relay titles, including 400-meter victories at the 1994 Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Championships.

Former Pirate soccer superstar Kelly Smith scored an incredible 76 goals and 174 points in 51 matches. Softball standout Laura Taylor ’05 slugged 59 career home runs while leading Seton Hall to consecutive BIG EAST Tournament titles. The 1990 volleyball team finished 27-11, led by superb setter Casie Alexander ’94, who totaled 416 career service aces, the most in NCAA history at that point. In 2015, the women’s basketball team won a school record 28 games and the BIG EAST title. And on it goes.

The legacies of the women’s programs started with standouts like Robin Cunningham ’78, who played for Regan on the early basketball teams. The first woman to receive an athletic scholarship at the school, she also became the first woman in program history to score 1,000 points. She also competed in softball and tennis.

The Westfield, New Jersey, native’s journey started when the mother of a high school teammate talked to her at a game and said she’d seen Seton Hall President Monsignor Thomas Fahy on TV talking about Title IX’s

passage a few years earlier and “how Seton Hall was going to start offering athletic scholarships to women the next year. Honestly that’s the first I ever heard about it.” Cunningham wrote a letter to Regan inquiring about scholarships, and she eventually made history, receiving a partial one that later turned into full tuition, though she still paid for housing.

Five decades later, Cunningham savors those chances that were unavailable to previous generations. “I was blessed. I guess I had some talent, but I also just had really good timing. ... Sometimes I would finish tennis practice later in October, and then I would run to the gym and have basketball practice on the same day. And then we’re still playing basketball in late February, March, and I’d go to softball practice. We had a blast, it was a wonderful time.”

Cunningham says she “never felt any discrimination or negativity, but the reality of it was nobody came to

our games.” The competition itself provided the energy and joy. Over time, fan support grew. Programs matured. Opportunities expanded.

Title IX changed everything, as did the administrators, coaches and athletes who created all that followed.

“On a day-to-day basis we were just doing our jobs,” Regan says, “figuring out schedules, practicing, traveling, recruiting. But by the same token, we were a part of these regional and national associations that were governing women’s programs at the time. ... We did know we were doing something special, something that needed to be done and had never been done before.”

Share your favorite memories of Seton Hall University women’s sports to shuwriter@shu.edu. n

Photo courtesy of Seton Hall Athletics

Shawn Fury is an author in New York City.

PLAYING THE FAIR WAY

Gregor Tait ’21 helped Seton Hall win its first BIG EAST golf tournament in 22 years with one of the greatest individual rounds in University history. But it was a gesture of remarkable sportsmanship that made him a true standout; he conceded a playoff round so that a competitor could advance with him to the NCAA Regionals.

It happened after the final 18 holes of the tournament at Callaway Gardens in Georgia, when Tait, a standout from Martlesham Heath, England, used a blazing start to his round to chase down 36-hole leader Caleb Manuel of the University of Connecticut.

Overcoming breezy, difficult course conditions, Tait enjoyed the best round of the day by four shots, opening with four consecutive birdies and never letting up. “You’re nervous, of course, but I wasn’t nervous to the point where I wouldn’t commit to what I was going to do. I was nervous because I wanted it so bad, but I was also just very calm.”

Manuel wrapped up his 18 holes tied with Tait at 11-under, making them co-champions of the tournament. As the two competitors gathered on the 18th hole, tourney officials told them the winner of a playoff round would automatically qualify for the NCAA Regionals.

Thanks to Seton Hall’s team victory, Tait had already earned his way to Regionals. But if he won the playoff, his opponent couldn’t advance. A concession, Tait discovered, would guarantee Manuel a spot.

Tait didn’t hesitate, deciding to concede the round without any input from his coach Clay White, or from Manuel, who did have to knock a single shot off the tee to officially seal his bid.

“Once I figured out what was happening, then it was an easy decision,” Tait says. “It would have been the wrong thing to play that playoff, because I was already going. I would have just been putting effort in for Caleb to not go to Regionals.”

White adds, “It was awesome for a player to come to me, without me even mentioning it, and to be like, ‘Coach, this is what I want to do.’ And I was 100 percent in agreement. He earned the right to make that decision on his own, and he’s just a good kid and that’s what a good kid would do.”

Word of this display of sportsmanship spread quickly in the golf world, with publications such as the Hartford Courant and the website Power Fades complimenting Tait’s grace.

But receiving personal accolades couldn’t compare to the joy Tait felt at helping the Pirates capture the BIG EAST team championship for the first time in 22 years.

It was a gesture of remarkable sportsmanship that made him a true standout; he conceded a playoff round so that a competitor could advance

him to the NCAA Regionals.

“I promise you, I did not think about the individual leaderboard,” Tait says. “The entire golf tournament, not once. Winning the BIG EAST championship was the singular goal once we got into spring. The scores at the BIG EAST, it was amazing. It was brilliant. It was exactly what we wanted. We had a game plan and we executed it and you can’t really write it up any better than that.” Tait went on to help Seton Hall to its best Regionals result in school history, an eighth-place finish. He shot 1-under to tie for 21st with teammate Andres Acevedo.

The postseason capped an outstanding college career for Tait, who took a somewhat unusual path on his way to success. Unlike many top golfers who started playing almost as soon as they learned to walk, Tait came to the game as a teenager. Once he fell in love with golf he proved a quick study and caught the attention of White, who saw Tait play at the British Boys’ Championship. “I’m always on the lookout for players, and I was really just walking around and saw him swing a couple of times, I think he was hitting some short irons, and I was just like, wow.”

Over his five seasons at Seton Hall, Tait wowed White many more times — he played the most rounds in University history and had the fourth-best career scoring average. Tait has left a legacy at Seton Hall, and a lesson in sportsmanship for the golf world. n

Shawn Fury is an author in New York City.

Photo courtesy of Seton Hall Athletics

with

60s

alumniPatrick J. Gallo, M.S. ’62 wrote his 10th book, The Nazis, the Vatican, and the Jews of Rome, which will be published in November by Purdue University Press. … Nicholas R. Scalera ’63 wrote Growing Up Italian in Newark: A Memoir, which conveys childhood memories of his Italian-American family in a close-knit Italian neighborhood of Newark, N.J. It also includes comments about his longtime friendship with former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. ... Alexander R. Mazziotti M.D. ’64 published a book titled Unraveling the Seven Riddles of the Universe, which takes readers on an imaginative journey toward unraveling the mysteries of existence, melding science with philosophy and theology and highlighting people who have pursued the seven riddles of the universe. ... Donald J. Yost ’67 wrote Henry: A Sequel to Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, a novel on the lessons of war and its generational impact. ... Father Joseph F. Barbone ’68/M.D.M. ’75 retired as a pastor on July 1, 2021. More recently, he celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest with a special Mass on June 12, 2022, at Saint James the Apostle Church.

Roger J. Dow ’68 was honored as the 2022 inductee into U.S. Travel’s Hall of Leaders. ... Edward F. Eggert ’69 is enjoying retirement in the Carson Valley of northern Nevada with his wife, Cheryl.

70s

Paul J. Forti ’71 was elected to “Who’s Who in America 2022” and authored a book, The Best Practices of Executive Coaching. ... Kenneth F. Kobularcik ’72 has published a new book in his “Going for a Walk with Papa” series of children’s books, The Playground Story. ... Bettye J. King, M.A.E. ’73 was honored for 41 years as a distinguished member of Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education. ... John Yavelak ’73/M.B.A. ’79 retired from General Motors in April. ... Walter E. Bishop ’74 has retired from a career in advertising after winning several

awards, including the CLIO award, as a creative director for Super Bowl and other commercials. ... Maureen Conroy Tauriello ’75 and Peter J. Tauriello ’76 host a weekly podcast called The Sonic Boomers, streaming on all platforms. ... John P. McDonald ’76/J.D.’79, a Superior Court judge, was nominated to become the next Somerset County prosecutor by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. ... Monsignor John E. Hart ’77, pastor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roman Catholic Parish in Morristown, celebrated his 40th year of being a priest. ... Joseph M. Santoro ’77 has developed an award-winning process for real estate transitions through his veteran-owned business, Personal Property Managers. ... Jeffrey K. Christakos ’78 was named to the NJBIZ Accounting Power 50 list for the third consecutive year. ... Maria T. Wilms ’79 was promoted to Dame Grand Cross of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (DGCHS) at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, on October 16, 2021.

80s

Rita Marie John, M.S.N. ’80 published a book, Pediatric Diagnostic Labs for Primary Care: An Evidence-Based Approach. ... Lorie Reilly ’80 has received the Linda Strangio Editor’s Award for the Journal of Radiology Nursing and the Joseph P. Cravero Award for the Society for Pediatric Sedation, and was named a fellow in the Academy of the Association of Radiologic and Imaging Nursing. ... Gary W. Vayianos, J.D. ’80, owner of Star Tavern, was featured on MUNCHIES’ The Pizza Show, a YouTube series. … Christine A. Amalfe ’82 was honored by the Essex County Bar Association with its 2022 Samuel S. Saiber Professional Achievement Award and was elected second vice president of the New Jersey State Bar Association. ... Richard M. Gutierrez, J.D. ’82 was nominated to the New York City Advisory Committee on the Judiciary by Mayor Eric Adams. ... Margaret Nielsen ’82/J.D. ’91 is the regional director of risk management for Monmouth Medical Center and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus. ... Michael L. Cahill ’83/M.A.E. ’85 published a memoir,

The Schooling of a 21st Century Principal, highlighting the influence of the late Seton Hall professor Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D., on the Holocaust curriculum and programs at the Millburn Middle School in New Jersey where he served as principal for 16 years. ... Robert N. Davison ’84 was named to the board of Mental Health America (MHA). He is the chief executive officer of the New Jersey-based Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris, Inc., an MHA affiliate. ... Todd M. Tersigni ’84 was elected to the New Jersey Conference of Mayors board of directors for 2022-23. ... Lisa R. Durden ’86, an award-winning director/producer, content creator and media maker, leads the production of the documentary Blind Divas Janet C. Gough, M.A. ’86, author of 15 trade books for Food & Drug Administration-regulated industries, has published a novel Brooklyn Girl: Growing Up Norwegian in New York City under the pen name Jan Carol Simonsen. ... Joseph F. Lugara ’86 was featured in a solo art exhibition at the Noyes Galleries at Kramer Hall in Hammonton, N.J., this summer, part of a continuing series, “Scrutiny.”... Tim F. McGoughran, J.D. ’86 was sworn in as president-elect of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Elizabeth M. Wise ’87 was named president and chief executive officer of the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health system in January. ... Rupert Hayles Jr. ’88 was inaugurated president of Pillar College in Newark. ... Michelle Keefe ’88 was named CEO of Syneos Health, and also joined Tandym Group’s board of directors. ... Aldo Russo ’88 was appointed judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey by Gov. Phil Murphy. ... Joseph J. Scarpa III ’88 has retired after serving 25 years as borough administrator in Emerson and Bogota, N.J. He also served as mayor and township committeeman in Rochelle Park from 1991-2018 and is a member of the New Jersey Elected Officials Hall of Fame.

... Lydia Stockman ’88/M.H.A. ’11 was appointed chief administrative officer for Inspira Medical Centers Mullica Hill and Woodbury, N.J., in January. ... Todd Burroughs ’89 launched a book on Dr. Jared Ball’s IMIXWHATILIKE program on the Black Power Media YouTube Platform

PROFILE MLB Asset

Some people turn their dreams into reality. Matt Baker ’10 is one of them.

Sports and Pirate blue are in Baker’s blood. His grandfather is a Seton Hall graduate, and Matt grew up supporting the Pirates and working at golf courses. In 2006, he applied for early admission to Seton Hall — the only college he wanted to attend.

What attracted him to Seton Hall, in addition to family ties, was the proximity to his hometown and the University’s sport management program. Entering with an interest in a front-office career for a team, Baker completed sports marketing and management classes in addition to regular business courses. Taking full advantage of the opportunities the Stillman School of Business offers, he completed two internships, one with the New Jersey PGA and the other with a local golf course.

Baker’s hard work paid off, as he moved into a yearand-a-half long internship with the Somerset Patriots baseball team’s front office. After this he transitioned to a researcher position with the baseball channel MLB Network, where he has been for 10 years.

As a researcher, Baker gathers information for the network, telling the staff of MLB Network shows what they need to know about goings-on in the sports world. Baker works with on-air talent, helping write one-pagers on every game, sitting in the control room during broadcasts, and feeding broadcasters information during shows through their earpieces.

Baker was surprised at how swiftly he adapted to the fast-paced environment at MLB Network, citing its role in his success. He is not the only long-tenured employee at the sports channel, which was founded in 2009, and he points to the close-knit environment there as the key aspect of the job’s enjoyability.

While Baker likes research, with the support of his superiors and peers he has recently explored production work, observing as well as having a chance to produce several hours of shows.

“I’ve been very lucky to be given the opportunity to go to a school with a program I wanted,” he says. “Not many people have the chance to make their passion their careers.” |

FRANKLIN J. SHOBE

Photo by Kristine Foley

alumni

90s

Norberto A. Garcia ’90 was sworn in as treasurer of the New Jersey State Bar Association. ... Patrick C. Dunican, J.D. ’91 had the boardroom named in his honor at Gibbons P.C., where he served as managing director for 18 years. ... Jeffrey H. Goldsmith ’91/J.D. ’94 was promoted to complex director with American International Group (AIG). ... Monsignor Anselm I. Nwaorgu, M.D.M. ’91/M.A.T. ’91/M.A.E. ’92/Ph.D. ’99 celebrated 30 years of priesthood at the Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Church with hundreds of parishioners. ... Michelle L. Obetz ’91 has joined Allied Resources Group’s leadership team as chief financial officer. ... Glennon G. Troublefield, J.D. ’91 was installed as secretary of the New Jersey State Bar Association. ... Margaret M. Calderwood, J.D. ’92 is first assistant prosecutor with the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and was honored with the the county bar association’s 2022 Criminal Practice Award. ... James M. Merendino ’92 completed his fifth New York City Marathon in 2021. ... Evelyn Padin, J.D. ’92 has been confirmed as a federal judge for the District of New Jersey. ... Margarita Rodriguez Johnson ’92 will complete her 20th year in the military in December, and will retire with the rank of major. ... James M. Murray, M.A.E. ’94 is retiring as director of the Secret Service

after a 27-year career to take the position of chief security officer with Snap, Snapchat’s parent company. ... David V. Calviello, J.D. ’96 joined as partner at Calcagni & Kanefsky, LLP in Newark, after serving 25 years as an assistant prosecutor and trial chief with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. ... Leslie D. Hardesty ’96 was promoted to head track and field coach at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. ... Jeralyn L. Lawrence, J.D. ’96 was installed as president of the New Jersey State Bar Association. ... Joan M. Bosisio ’97 was appointed as the vice president of BML Public Relations + Digital. ... Paul A. Petruzzi, M.A. ’97 published the lyric novella, Sorrow: The Legacy of Cio-Cio-san, which continues the story of Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly.” ... Nyugen E. Smith ’98 has work displayed at a new exhibition at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wis., through March 26, 2023. ... Nicole A. Olaya ’99 was promoted to senior vice president, risk management at Columbia Bank in Fair Lawn, N.J.

00s

Howard Lesnik, J.D. ’00 has published the New Jersey Car Insurance Buyer’s Guide, based on his experience in personal injury claims and dismay at misleading insurance advertising. ... Mary E. Russell, Ph.D. ’00, a RWJBarnabas executive, received

an inaugural global leadership certificate from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. ... Paul R. Semendinger, Ed.D. ’00 published The Least Among Them, a baseball book that looks at the history of the New York Yankees. ... Pravina A. Raghavan, M.B.A. ’01 was selected by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology as the new director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership. ... Jennifer L. Nangano ’02 published Fidgety Frank Goes to Field Day, aimed at educating children on the acceptance of students who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ... Jennifer L. Davenport, J.D. ’03 was nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy to be New Jersey’s representative on the Waterfront Commission of the New York Harbor. ... Alicia M. Figurelli ’03 was named a recipient of the 2022 Most Influential Women Award from the Women’s Industry Network, in recognition of her career in the collision repair industry. ... Christina N. Jordan ’03 was honored as an Enterprising Woman of Commerce by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey. ... Linda E. Bryce, M.A. ’04 published The Courage to Care: Being Fully Present with the Dying in 2021, which was the #1 Amazon bestseller in nine categories and is also the 2022 Global Book Awards first-place gold medalist in the grief and bereavement category. Another

book will be published this fall, Old Oak and Little Pumpkin Michael T. Long, J.D. ’04 is the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety’s director of the Division of Law, leading the largest law firm in the state and responsible for providing legal advice and counseling to executive branch agencies. ... Steve K. Stoute ’04 began his tenure as the 25th president of Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., on July 1. Kristin M. Gibson, Ed.S. ’05 published Ordinary Monsters, a children’s story about a young girl excited to be moving into a new house but discovering there are monsters everywhere. ... Christopher J. Morgan, M.A. ’05 retired October 31 as Princeton’s chief of police. ... Nicolas B. Hausman ’06 was named to the 40 Under 40 list in Mobile, Ala. ... Kelly A. Kaysonepheth ’06 of Ahwatukee, Ariz., became the first AsianAmerican president of the Junior League of Phoenix. ... Ryan M. Jennings ’07/J.D. ’10 was named a “2022 VISTA Millennial Superstar” by VISTA Today, a Chester County, Pa., news outlet. ... Christopher R. LoSapio, ’07/M.B.A. ’08 is the director of asset management for the FCP real estate investment company and spoke at the RealWorld 2022 Conference. ... Kathryn C. Monet ’07, CEO of the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans, spoke at the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment’s summer symposium. ... John C. Parnofiello ’07 joined the board of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Greater New Jersey Chapter. ... Anthony Rapa, J.D. ’07 was named partner at Blank Rome, leading the law firm’s national security team. ... Robert J. Vadovic, M.S.N. ’07 was recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a healthcare professional in recognition of his work at Intermountain Healthcare. ... Paul R. Roper ’08 was promoted to senior network coordinator in the Audio Division of Learfield, a collegiate sports marketing company that represents Seton Hall. He finished his first season as a play-by-play announcer for the Davidson College football team. ... John M. Colombo ’09 was featured in the South Florida Business Journal as a leader in corporate philanthropy. He is the senior director of the Florida Panthers Foundation. Brunilda Sanchez ’09 has been a nurse for 27 years and was named to AL DÍA news organization’s 2022 Top Nurses list.

10s

Erika L. Halayko, J.D. ’10 was promoted to chief assistant prosecutor at the Atlantic County, N.J., Prosecutor’s Office. ... Laura J. Stevens ’10 is studying how to help those struggling with mental health issues during and after pregnancy. ... Cathy A. Buchanan, M.A. ’11/M.A.M. ’18 has joined the Dominican Sisters of Peace. ... Kevin M. Fountain ’11 is senior director of communications for Little League International. ... Melissa A. Ledesma ’11 was named vice president of communications for Digital Media Solutions. She is also the co-founder of Women of Martech, a not-for-profit trade association for women in marketing and marketing technology. ... Lance M. Aligo ’12 was promoted to partner at KRS CPAs. ... Sabrina N. Browne ’13/M.A. ’16 was named one of the Top 100 Women Leaders of New Jersey, and also appointed as a co-chair for the Public Relations Society of America’s Black Voices Affinity Group. ... Olivia C. Feriozzi ’13 was named head athletics coach for Team New Jersey at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games. ... Barbara J. McKeon, Ed.D. ’14 hosted a webinar titled “Positive School Culture Starts with Social-Emotional Leadership.” ... Moses O. Salami, M.H.A. ’14 was named one of the top 25 hospital marketers by DTC Perspectives, a publishing company for healthcare marketing. He also contributed to a textbook, Population Health Management Gemma Valentina, M.A. ’14 earned a doctor of philosophy in human development last year with a thesis titled A Suffering Soul on Redemptive Journey Maria C. Del Cid-Kosso ’15 was appointed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to serve as one of five serving on the new Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

... Malaak Jamal, M.A. ’15, director of policy and research at the Human Rights Foundation, was part of an online discussion about justice in Syria in July. ... Rachel A. Frost ’17/J.D. ’20 is an associate attorney at Brach Eichler LLC., practicing in the corporate transactions and financial services and real estate departments. ... Father Matthew Gonzalez ’18 and his father were ordained two weeks apart, making history at Catholic Mass. ... Sarah M. Pranaitis ’18 graduated from Lincoln Memorial University - DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine with honors

Home of the Hall

Join Pirate Nation for pre-game receptions, regional activities and game watches this basketball season. Gather with fellow Pirates live at the Prudential Center or when they play in your region, or during a game watch to cheer on the Seton Hall men’s basketball team. To learn more, visit www.shu.edu/homeofthehall. Go Pirates!

and is working in a pediatric residency program. ... Katherine M. Dwyer ’19 was honored as Young Professional of the Year by the Monmouth, N.J., Regional Chamber of Commerce 2022 Beacon of Excellence Awards. ... Julie A. Mazur, Ph.D. ’19 was promoted to assistant provost at Montclair State University.

20s

Kathleen E. Garrison, M.S. ’20 ran for lieutenant governor of Kansas in November on the ticket with state Sen. Dennis Pyle, an independent gubernatorial candidate. ... Justin G. Tsai ’20 has started Tsai Mobile Health, a medical consulting and executive protection firm and staffing agency, finding local first responders to serve on protection detail for celebrities and VIPs.

alumni

Baby Pirates

Laura Cooley ’12 and Nicholas ’12, a boy, Samuel George, on May 30, 2021. Kalie Marshall ’13 and Brian ’18, a girl, McKenna Mae, on February 19, 2022. Erin Fondacaro ’12 and Jack ’12, a boy, Lucas Elio, on February 26, 2021.

Zoragina (Castillo) Mazur J.D., ’10 and Matthew, a boy, Jaxon Ari Mazur, on October 13, 2021. Jonathan Brandon ’96 and Alyssa, a boy, Giovanni Manlio Brandon, in September 2021. Rachel Nemeth ’07 and Joe, a girl, Claire Josephine Nemeth, on May 23, 2022. Diana Ryder ’15/D.P.T. ’17 and Zachary ’15 welcomed their first baby, in 2021.

Weddings

James Bosworth Jr. ’94 to Alia YahiaBosworth on December 12, 2020. Joseph Ravino ’11 to Gaby Alvarez on July 24, 2021. Anton Heldmann ’12 to Jennifer Crowe ’14 on August 28, 2021. Erica Garcia ’14 to Paul Soranno ’14 on November 13, 2021. Moses Salami, M.H.A. ’14 to Danapolie Salami in September 2020. Kenneth Zampino ’14 to Amanda Payne ’15/M.P.A. ’17 on October 9, 2021. Douglas Rynkewicz ’15/M.A.’18/Ed.S. ’18 to Michelle Goff on October 2, 2021. Danielle Andreani ’16 to Angelo Piro ’16/M.A. ’19 on May 21, 2022. Kayleigh Richardson ’18 to Carl Ciullo on November 20, 2021. Michael Perrotta, M.P.A. ’18 to Rosie Venezia on June 11, 2021. Chelsea DeFelice ’14/M.S. ’18 to Brian Doughty M.A. ’23 on November 5, 2021. Mark Cashin ’16/M.S. ’17 to Nicole Sgherza ’16/M.S. ’17 on June 19, 2022. Tasha Nassy ’02 to Harvey Barnwell, Ed.S. ’20 on June 23, 2022. Jacob Simon ’18 to Isabella Whelan ’20 on January 1, 2022. Brian Connor ’08/M.A. ’10 to Jenna Ruela, surrounded by many fellow Pirates!

In Memoriam

We regret that the following alumni were listed incorrectly as deceased in “In Memoriam” in the Spring 2022 issue due to a database error: Dominic C. Migliorini, Ph.D. ’66, Kristi J. Acuff ’02 and Martin Tuchman ’68. Our deepest apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Samuel F. D’Ambola, M.D. ’47

Frank W. DeRoberts ’49

Leslie A. Hynes ’49

Morris P. Miserendino ’49

William M. Weaver Jr. ’49 Anthony J. Bartolotta ’50

John A. Boffa ’50

Thomas W. Collinson Sr. ’50

Richard J. Connors ’50

Francis E. Elwood ’50

Walter Laufhutte ’50 Walter P. Livingston ’50

Monsignor Francis R. LoBianco ’50 Thomas D. McCrink ’50

Robert J. Mihok ’50 Lyndon T. Abbot Jr. ’51

Paul F. Haas ’51

Aaron Kurtzman ’51

Harry H. Mix ’51 Thomas R. Tierney ’51 Jane Whelan ’51

Robert Whelan, M.S. ’51

William J. Downey ’52

Cyril V. Regen Jr. ’52 Stanley A. Urbaniak ’52

John L. Beck ’53/Ph.D. ’69

Sabatino Costanzo ’53

Anthony R. Volpe ’54

Francis E. Walsh ’54 Herbert B. Beeber ’55

Roland O. Bianchi ’55 Charles E. Brino ’55

Charles H. Feeley Jr. ’55 Monsignor John B. Wehrlen ’55/ M.D.M. ’78

Sheldon S. Zinberg, M.D. ’55 N. John Lombardi ’56

Bernard Beihl Jr. ’57

Salvatore J. DiRusso ’57

Robert J. Nolan, J.D. ’57

Bruce C. Powley ’57

John A. Bronikowski, M.D. ’58 William J. Leber ’59

Maurice M. Whalen ’59

Emanuele A. Alfano ’60

Vincent J. Kloskowski Jr. ’60/M.A. ’72

Joseph Laufen ’60

John P. McGreevey ’60

William J. Morris ’60

Leonard J. Orlando, M.A.E. ’60

John J. Radel III ’60

Alfred J. Ricciardi ’60

John M. Shiels ’60/M.B.A. ’69

Thomas S. Struble ’60

Robert L. Winston, M.A.E. ’60

William T. Wise, J.D. ’60

William H. Airel, M.B.A. ’61

John H. Bogan, D.D.S. ’61

Kurt T. Borowsky ’61

William J. Connolly ’61

John A. Miele, J.D. ’61

Christopher M. Papa, M.D. ’61

Ann Romano ’61

Richard E. Brennan ’62

Roger M. Casulli ’62

Jay H. Kaplan ’62

Daniel A. Nichols ’62

Charles M. Poppe ’62

Charles J. Stancel Sr. ’62

Raymond J. Vallillo ’62

Barbara A. Bazitois ’63

Eugine I. Caffrey ’63

Sister Joanice Carlson ’63

Catherine S. Cerbasi ’63

Robert J. Dausend ’63

Richard F. Fosko, M.A.E. ’63

Gerald J. Libertelli Sr. ’63

John P. Moran ’63

John E. Scheidnagel ’63

Rebecca B. Schwarz ’63

David R. Sheppard, D.D.S. ’63

Herbert J. Toy Jr., M.A.E. ’63

Linda R. Caputo ’64

Beatrice T. Dante, M.S. ’64

Eugene C. Duffy ’64

Joanne T. Gordon ’64

Francis J. McAuliffe ’64

Thomas P. Porter ’64

Ronald L. Stringari ’64

James W. Zdanewicz ’64

Patricia Denitzio ’65

Samuel M. Falzone ’65

Elaine A. Kelleher ’65

Sheila C. Moran ’65

William C. Safranek ’65/Ed.S. ’85

Father Kenneth J. Stamand ’65

John R. Stellabotte ’65

Beatrice M. Weingast, M.A.E. ’65

Thomas R. Hilberth, J.D. ’66

Laura K. Franklin ’66/M.A. ’92

Robert I. Rosenhaus ’66

Robert J. Setzer ’66

Conrad A. Thamm ’66

Joan L. Ward, M.A.E. ’66

David M. Devlin ’67

Raymond A. Kalainikas ’67

Vadim M. Schaldenko, M.D. ’67

James M. Archinaco ’68

Sister Marian T. Boudreau, M.S. ’68

Gerard A. DelTufo, J.D. ’68

New Leader, New Members Serving on Alumni Board

Bonnie Evans, M.H.A. ’02 was elected president of Seton Hall’s Alumni Board of Directors effective July 1, the Department of Alumni Engagement & Philanthropy announced.

Evans is serving a two-year term overseeing the board of approximately 30 members in advising the Department of Alumni Engagement and Philanthropy. She also represents the Alumni Board and more than 100,000 alumni worldwide on the University’s Board of Regents.

A graduate of the School of Health and Medical Sciences, Evans retired earlier this year as CEO of Kessler Institute in West Orange, New Jersey, where she was responsible for the day-to-day management of a 152-bed hospital with oversight of patient care, employee engagement, regulatory compliance, facility management, financial performance and overall governance.

She has been a member of the Alumni Board for six years, and throughout that time has provided guidance on its strategy to increase the frequency and quality of engagement with alumni.

In 2017 she was recognized as Seton Hall’s Most Distinguished Alumna during the annual “Many Are One” Alumni Gala – the highest honor for a Seton Hall graduate to achieve from the University. She also continues to give back to the community through work with local nonprofits.

New Board Members

The Alumni Board of Directors also recruited and welcomed five new members on July 1 as the University’s newest ambassadors.

During their tenure on the board, serving up to two terms of two years each, members will serve as key advocates to the University, as they implement initiatives to drive alumni participation and serve as liaisons to students while upholding the Catholic mission.

Shahria Boston ’04 owns a law firm in Massachusetts, which she formed in 2010. Her firm specializes in real estate, premises liability/personal injury and employment law, in addition to handling other civil matters. Upon graduating from Seton Hall with a B.A. in Criminal Justice, she attended Northeastern University Law School. While at Seton Hall, Boston was involved in the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Association and remains connected with the group as an alumna. She also serves as a volunteer on several nonprofit boards.

Darlene Flagg ’90/M.A. ’98 is a vice president and chief marketing officer at National Life Group, leading the insurance firm’s marketing and brand efforts for both life and annuity. Flagg has over 20 years of senior management experience and 27 years of financial services and marketing experience. In her role, Flagg creates and oversees the execution of marketing strategies that help people understand life and annuity solutions should they become ill, live too long or die too soon.

Joe Nuss ’84/M.A. ’93 earned a B.S. in Business Administration (Computer Science) in 1984, and an M.A. in Elementary Education with Teacher

Certification in 1993. Born and raised in Woodbridge, New Jersey, Nuss has lived in Omaha, Nebraska, with his wife, Suzanne (M.S. ‘88), for 26 years. Their son, Josh, graduated from Seton Hall in 2016. Nuss retired in 2019 after 24 years of teaching sixth grade for the Omaha Public Schools. He is active as a substitute teacher, tax preparer and educational consultant for an Omaha

tech company. The Nusses are enthusiastic supporters of the University and established a nursing scholarship in 2021.

Erin Miu ’11 is a recent M.B.A. graduate of Syracuse’s Whitman School of Management and has been an accountant at her family’s firm, Miu & Company, for over eight years, consulting with business and individual clients primarily in tax and financial planning. Before that, she managed fashion designer Vivienne Tam’s flagship boutique and helped host events and fashion shows during New York’s biannual Fashion Week. A 2011 graduate of the Stillman School of Business, she holds a B.S. in Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and a minor in French. She is pursuing an M.S. in Accounting at Syracuse University.

Vincent Santore ’17 is a systems engineer, data scientist, and researcher at Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, continuing a tenure that started with undergraduate internships. With multiple peer-reviewed papers in the field of data analytics, he seeks new ways to leverage data for the greater good. As a student at Seton Hall, he was a member of the University’s Honors Program while obtaining both a B.S. in Business IT Management and a B.A. in Catholic Studies. Shortly after graduation, he became the founder and CEO of The Burr Project, a nonpartisan political data analytics organization. He also holds an M.S. in Data Analytics from Rowan University, and is continuing his education at Ball State University pursuing an M.B.A. in IT leadership, while residing in Philadelphia.

To learn more about the Alumni Board of Directors, visit www.shu.edu/alumniboard. To volunteer to work alongside the Board, www.shu.edu/volunteer.

alumni

Wayne R. Lloyd ’68

Walter A. Meyer, M.B.A. ’68

Michael R. Mishkin, M.B.A. ’68

Alan S. Percely ’68

Jeanne M. Polinksi ’68

Anthony J. Sciuto, J.D. ’68

Henry J. Wernoch, M.A.E. ’68

Barnett L. Barmen ’69

Richard E. Gardner ’69

Raymond F. Hanbury Jr., M.A.E. ’69

Maureen C. Hendricks ’69

William S. Paciesas ’69

Monsignor George R. Trabold ’69/ M.D.M. ’73/M.A.T. ’79

Michael A. Berzansky, M.A.E. ’70

Richard T. Brannegan, M.D. ’70

Thomas N. DeVoe ’70

Edward G. Henry ’70

John G. Kovac, J.D. ’70

Philip K. Lees, M.A.E. ’70

Anthony J. Schinella Jr. ’70/M.B.A. ’80

Neil H. Shuster, J.D. ’70

Helen J. Wussler ’70

Joseph Callaghan Jr. ’71

John J. Depalma ’71

Thomas P. Niziol ’71

Frank J. Sciro Jr., J.D. ’71

Thomas Werderits ’71

Janett T. Gibbons, M.A.E. ’72

Richard V. Keegan, J.D. ’72

Julius F. Uribe, M.A.E. ’72

Clarence Eddy, M.A.E. ’73

James P. McGill ’73

Sister Mary C. Mitchell, M.A.E. ’73

Leslie Pastor ’73

Sister Mary P. Zdzichowska, M.A.E. ’73

Henry Attanasio ’74

Sister Clare A. Conforti ’74

Joseph L. Gomeringer ’74

Josephine Bannon ’75

Monsignor Michael J. Corona, M.A.E. ’75

Michael J. Flynn, J.D. ’75

Sharon Benner Granetz, M.A.E. ’75

Alan R. Latini ’75

Daniel J. Carey ’76/J.D. ’80

Raymond P. D’Uva, J.D. ’76

Vincent J. Witkowski Jr., J.D. ’76

Carrie Krone ’77

Robert Novak ’77

Richard A. Giles, J.D. ’78

Reverend William J. Halbing ’78/ M.D.M. ’81/M.A. ’00

Robert A. Drexel, J.D. ’79

Eric C. Dummett ’79

John D. Seneca ’79

Peter R. Yarem, J.D. ’79

Brian O’Toole ’80

Mary J. Candido, M.S.N. ’81

Chee K. Chan, Ph.D. ’81

George Hajjar ’81

Thomas D. Hoffman, J.D. ’81

John J. Malley ’81

Emilio Aballo ’82

Gary Tatton, M.A.E. ’82

Joan Thackaberry, M.S.N. ’82

Dorothy McCarthy, M.A.E. ’83

Linda M. Iannaccone ’84

June S. Menegus, M.A.E. ’85

Barry Winston, M.A.E. ’86

Vincent A. Giorgio ’88

Arlene A. Cardinale, Ed.D. ’89

Karen A. Ely, M.A.E. ’89

Lisa A. Gorab, J.D. ’89

Dawn Gemeinhardt, Ph.D. ’90 Rhondalyn E. Johnson ’91

Frank Marinaro ’91/M.S.T. ’94/J.D. ’94

William P. Stoffel, M.B.A. ’91

Elaine J. Sulse ’93

Gary H. Cummings, M.A.E. ’94

Young Alumni Council

The council’s executive board serves as a liaison between the University and alumni who graduated in the past 10 years. The board is a group of volunteers who plan events and other opportunities that allow young alumni to foster relationships with fellow Pirates. Programs include social events, professional development and volunteer opportunities. To see some of the fun we’ve had so far this year — and to learn more about who we are — visit www.shu.edu/yaevents.

Mary W. Sugarman ’94

Jennifer T. Hynes ’96

Robin J. Stone ’96

Hugh T. Casey ’97

Thomas P. Keating, M.S.T. ’99

Krista M. Martin-Ullom, M.S.N. ’99

Geoffrey D. Urbanik, M.P.A. ’00

Joseph M. Gisoldi ’01

Antoinette Pridgen ’01

Ruth A. Kavanagh ’02/J.D. ’05

Elnardo J. Webster, Ed.D. ’02

Peter Laskaris, M.B.A. ’04

Jessie Wintle ’04

Joseph J. Schreiber, M.A.T. ’07

Adam J. Harfosh ’09

Gina M. Hrnciar, M.A. ’09

Kristian Kaari, J.D. ’09

Michael J. Cruz ’12

Mary Curtin Creaser, M.H.A. ’14

Richard C. Jordan Jr., M.A. ’15

Shelly H. Sanders, M.A. ’16/Ed.S. ’17

Friends

Richard P. Adinaro

Robert L. Augustine

Peter B. Baker

Professor Lawrence Bershad Frances Bianco Robert P. Blewett

Richard H. Bohan

Edward Burns James M. Doyle

Robert A. Gaccione Jr. John J. Hampton

Eugene W. Heiser

Miriam K. Hunt

Irene Kochanek

Howard H. Levin

Harry A. McEnroe Jr.

Clifford McKenzie

Dr. Thomas A. McManus Jr.

The Honorable John Menzies

Ronald E. Myzie

Sister Maricela Quintana

Dennis Raffa

Paul L. Ramee Jr.

Paul H. Reilly Sr. Charles Seliga

Patricia Scheidnagel

Ann B. Stein

Terry D. Taffer James David Wolfensohn

Share your news...

Have you been promoted? Earned an advanced degree? Been honored for professional or personal achievements? Recently married? Added a baby Pirate to the ranks? We want to know! Visit us at www.shu.edu/alumni and share your success. Your news may be published in an upcoming issue of Seton Hall magazine. If you can’t log on, fill out the form below with your news and send it to:

Moses Salami, M.H.A. ’14 was married to Danapolie Salami in September 2020.

Paul Monacelli ’68, James Suessmann ’68, Alfred Galluzzo Jr. ’68 and Michael Walsh ’68/ M.B.A. ’75 of The Pershing Rifles K-8 Alumni Association placed a wreath at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Moving Wall located at the County College of Morris in Randolph, N.J., on July 9. The

honored the six Seton Hall alumni who

Pirate Babies

1. Diana Ryder ’15/D.P.T.’17 and Zachary ’15 welcomed their first baby, in 2021.

2. Laura Cooley ’12 and Nicholas ’12, a boy, Samuel George, on May 30, 2021.

3. Kristin Onimus Moroney ’05/M.A. ’11 and Sean Moroney ’06/M.B.A. ’08, a girl, Zoe, on July 15, 2021.

4. Erin Fondacaro ’12 and Jack ’12, a boy, Lucas Elio, on February 26, 2021.

5. Jonathan Brandon ’96 and Alyssa, a boy, Giovanni Manlio Brandon, in September 2021.

6. Zoragina (Castillo) Mazur, J.D. ’10 and Matthew, a boy, Jaxon Ari Mazur, on October 13, 2021.

7. Rachel Nemeth ’07 and Joe, a girl, Claire Josephine Nemeth, on May 23, 2022.

8. Kalie Gilbert ’13 and Brian ’18, a girl, McKenna Mae, on February 19, 2022.

Tying the knot

1. Brian Connor ’08/M.A. ’10 to Jenna Ruela, surrounded by many fellow Pirates.

2. Chelsea DeFelice ’14/M.S. ’18 to Brian Doughty M.A. ’23 on November 5, 2021.

3. Anton Heldmann ’12 to Jennifer Crowe ’14 on August 28, 2021.

4. Tasha Nassy ’02 to Harvey Barnwell, Ed.S. ’20 on June 23, 2022.

5. Kayleigh Richardson ’18 to Carl Ciullo ’18 on November 20, 2021.

6. Kenneth Zampino ’14 to Amanda Payne ’15/M.P.A. ’17 on October 9, 2021.

7. Erica Garcia ’14 to Paul Soranno ’14 on November 13, 2021.

Coffee, Conversation and Faith

This fall a coffee-house style, faith-based storytelling program called Agape Latte was introduced at Seton Hall. Launched in 2006 at Boston College, the program now runs at more than 50 colleges and universities across the country. Here, on the third Thursday of each month, guests gather in McNulty Hall to watch a student-directed opening act, share coffee and refreshments, and listen to a guest speaker share a brief story about faith. Seton Hall magazine editor Pegeen Hopkins talked to Matthew Higgins, director of programs for the University’s Center for Catholic Studies, to learn more.

What does

Agape Latte

offer to students?

First and foremost, it affords them the opportunity to see their professors or University administrators in a very human light. Which they don’t always see if they meet professors only in class or get an email from an administrator once a week.

For our student leaders, it helps them to be creative — they make fliers and come up with topics and speakers they’d like to invite. It also helps them practice relational skills: The only way other students are going to attend is if the leaders themselves are inviting them. They will invite the speakers to come as well, walking presenters through their talks, and giving a friendly critique about content.

Another beauty of the program is that it offers students who may be on the peripheries of a personal faith journey an open, casual conversation about faith. They come to see that, in an increasingly secularized

world, faith is still very important to their fellow students and to their professors.

The program deepens relationships and moves the professor-student interaction beyond “I’m the teacher; here’s the information you need to know so you can go get a job” to a very human experience. It allows people to see that at Seton Hall, Catholic identity is not something reserved only for the chapel or handled solely by Campus Ministry. They see that faith is, in fact, experienced within campus culture — both in and out of the classroom.

Who has Seton Hall’s Agape Latte featured so far?

Dean Christopher Kaiser from the College of Arts and Sciences spoke about the times in his life where he’s experienced hope through hardships and how his faith played a role in that. Professor Melinda Papaccio from the English Department spoke about how the Word of God played a role in the most tragic moment of her life.

How has Agape Latte been received on campus?

The program has been well received by the students. A lot of the feedback included sentiments such as, “I had this professor in class, but I never knew that about them, and it was really eye-opening” or “It was really encouraging to hear that they’re a person of faith like me.”

Coming out of two years of pandemic where people were shut off from each other, many people have lost skills of how to socialize and have a casual conversation. Agape Latte opens up a lot of doors. n

With estate planning, you can:

n Save on taxes by giving appreciated stocks, bonds or mutual fund shares.

n Make a gift through your IRA.

n Use a gift to reduce your estate tax exposure and eliminate capital gains.

n Receive payments for life.

Contact Nora Nasif Rahaim at 973-378-9878, nora.rahaim@shu.edu, or Blain Bradley at 973-378-858, blain.bradley@shu.edu www.shu.edu/plannedgiving

Mother Seton’s Legacy

Seton Hall University is committed to providing an outstanding education for students from all backgrounds.

By increasing affordability, we continue Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s mission of making education accessible to all. Make a gift to the Seton Hall Scholarship Fund today: www.shu.edu/giving