Winners of the 2019 Spirit of the Founders Award Announced

The 2019 Spirit of the Founders Award was presented to Bruno Garcia and Samantha Colon.

The Dominican College 2019 Spirit of the Founders Award was presented to senior Samantha Colon and junior Bruno Garcia during a ceremony at the Granito Center on Thursday, September 26, 2019.聽 The event was one of the highlights of the week- long celebration of Founders Week.

The Spirit of The Founder鈥檚 Award recognizes the contributions of student leaders who hold the promise of carrying the Dominican spirit into the future.聽 鈥淚t means that all the work we are doing in college has a purpose, not only for us, but also for the community that we live in,鈥� said Garcia, who added that he was honored to receive the award.聽 Garcia is a member of the soccer team, a Resident Assistant, a student ambassador, a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and the junior class representative on the Student Government Association (SGA).聽 He has also been on the Dean鈥檚 List every semester.

Colon said she was pleased that her hard work was noticed and encouraged others to get involved.聽 鈥淭he more you get involved, the more people you know and the bigger impact you can make on the campus community and what we do outside of here,鈥� she said.聽 Colon participated in the Alternative Spring Break, is a tutor at the Academic Success Center (ASC), speaks at open houses, is secretary of DC Strength, and volunteers at St. Dominic鈥檚 School.聽 She has also been on the Dean鈥檚 list for the last three years.

The winners of the Spirit of the Founders Award are selected by a vote of Dominican College administrators, faculty, staff, and students.聽 The runners-up for the award were Denzel Edwards, Isabelle Ossee, Jaylen Cruz and Savannah Donaldson.

September 26, 2019

College Celebrates Founders Week

Kevin Ahern, Ph.D. presented the keynote presentation, A Dialogue of Faith and Reason for a Better Future., during Founders Week.

Dominican College began its Founders Week celebration with a keynote presentation from Theological Ethicist Kevin Ahern, Ph.D. Ahern served as President of the International Movement of Catholic Students and in 2016 was elected President of the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs.

Ahern told students that the legacy of St. Thomas Aquinas, who lived in the 13th century and was Dominican, was important to them today.聽 鈥淚鈥檇 encourage you to think about how you can mix faith and reason, how you can strive for justice for the common good 鈥� especially in this moment when lots of human beings are treated as sub-human,鈥澛� he said.

He also encouraged the students to follow St. Thomas Aquinas鈥檚 lead by:

  • Thinking of something bigger than themselves, like God or humanity.
  • Having critical dialogue with people who have different opinions than they do.
  • Always having hope.

Ahern presented a clear, impassioned message to the students 鈥� describing St. Thomas Aquinas as a fascinating character who is still very relevant when it comes to fighting discrimination, racism, and poverty.

Founders Week is the annual celebration of Dominican College鈥檚 heritage and the Dominican Sisters who established it.聽 Activities include guest lectures, a preaching in action project, and the presentation of the Spirit of the Founders Award to two聽 students.

September 23, 2019

College Administrators Raise Money to Construct Well in El Salvador

Dorothy Filoramo and Ryan O’Gorman met with local officials and members of the community in El Salvador to make preparations for a new well to be constructed.

Three villages in El Salvador will finally have access to a clean, plentiful water supply thanks to the efforts of two College administrators. 聽Dorothy Filoramo, former VP for Institutional Advancement, and Ryan O鈥橤orman, Director of Retention and Student Success, are both members of the Rotary Club of Pearl River and were recently awarded a Rotary International grant of $27,000.聽 That money coupled with the $58,000 they had previously raised will be used to construct a new well for the communities of Sol Naciente, Once, and San Francisco.

鈥淭he residents鈥� quality of life will improve with access to clean water for cooking, bathing, and washing their clothes,鈥� said Filoramo. 鈥漈hey have been relying on meager supplies and buying water.聽 This will mean clean water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for three communities.鈥�

O鈥橤orman added, 鈥淔or us, we take clean water for granted because we turn on the faucet, there it is, and we drink it.聽 Whereas for them, they are appreciative and want to assist us in bringing them clean water.鈥�

Filoramo and O鈥橤orman established partnerships with Rotary Clubs in San Miguel, El Salvador and Pune, India, as well as with Dominican College and Molloy College to assist with the project.聽 In addition, they have traveled to El Salvador several times to arrange for the purchase of land, for test drilling, and for a hydrological study.聽 Filoramo and O鈥橤orman plan to return to El Salvador in January to be there for the beginning of the well construction project, which is expected to take two months to complete.

Each year, students and administrators from Dominican College and Malloy College travel to Sol Naciente to volunteer at a children鈥檚 day camp that is run by a Dominican Sister, Sr. Flor Buruca, of Amityville, NY, who grew up in El Salvador.聽 It was during one of these service trips about four years ago that Filoramo and O鈥橤orman first discovered the need for clean water in the community and learned that the well used by residents was running dry.

September 20, 2019

College Secures Grants to Support TVI Program

A student in the TVI program at Dominican College is shown here looking through a light filter. This allows a student who is visually impaired to use best contrast when viewing their environment.

Dominican College鈥檚 graduate level program to educate teachers of students who are blind or visually impaired (TVI Program) is getting updated equipment thanks to an influx of grant money. The grant money will also be used to support technology, instruction, professional development, student assistance, marketing, and outreach for the TVI Program. The College has secured a total of $394,507 in grants since July 2018.

Dominican College has one of just two graduate level TVI programs in New York State. The College鈥檚 program combines both online and on-campus learning and aims to help meet the needs of a severely underserved population. Experts say 5,000 additional teachers of the blind are needed nationwide to serve more than 63,000 students who meet the definition of blindness or low vision.

鈥淭he money that we鈥檝e received is very much appreciated and will help us get additional instructional materials, such as braille writers, embossers, and assistive technology devices that our students will utilize in the classroom,鈥� said Yvette Blitzer, Dominican College Coordinator of the TVI Program.

Dominican College is also increasing marketing and outreach efforts for the TVI program in an attempt to educate more students to help meet the demand for teachers of the blind and visually impaired in New York State and across the nation.

Dominican College received grants from the Lavelle Fund for the Blind, the Hearst Foundation, the Sarah K. de Coizart Article TENTH Perpetual Charitable Trust, the Thomas & Agnes Carvel Foundation, and the Ralph M. Cestone Foundation.
The TVI program is a certificate program that also offers students the option of earning a Master of Science in Education.

Beginning this fall, undergraduate students also have the option of earning a master鈥檚 degree in the TVI program in five years as part of the Senior Year Overlap Program or SYROP. In this program, highly motivated students are able to earn graduate credits during their senior year, while simultaneously completing requirements in the undergraduate Teacher Education Program.

For more information about the Teachers of Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired Program, contact 845-848-7910 or visit dc.edu.

September 16, 2019

Student Accepted into Selective Princeton University Program

Junior Stephanie Moncayo has been accepted into Princeton University’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Scholars Program.

Junior Stefanie Moncayo has been accepted into Princeton University鈥檚 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Scholars Program.聽 The highly competitive and selective program provides talented potential graduate students with a preview of the opportunities at Princeton University during four days in October.聽 Moncayo said she will be staying with a graduate host to experience life on the Princeton campus.

鈥淚 will also be presenting research that I鈥檓 working on at Dominican College,鈥� said Moncayo. 鈥淭he graduate students will present their work as well, and I will have the opportunity to meet professors in the program. 鈥�

Moncayo has a double major in biology and math with a minor in chemistry.聽 She said she is thankful that Dominican College professors in the science and math departments prepared her to be accepted into such a prestigious program.

September 4, 2019

Dominican College Welcomes Class of 2023

The Class of 2023 posed for a class photo following the Freshman Convocation on Saturday, August 24, 2019.

The Class of 2023 has arrived on campus.聽 Freshman Move-In Day took place on Friday, August 23, 2019 with upperclassmen helping students get settled into Hertel Hall and Rosary Hall.聽 Freshmen then took part in Orientation activities and Freshman Convocation.

There are more than 280 freshmen registered for the fall semester at Dominican College.聽 The students are from 17 states and seven countries outside of the U.S.聽 The most popular major among incoming freshmen is nursing, followed by business management, biology, teacher education, criminal justice and psychology.

The fall semester started on Monday, August 26th with a week full of student activities for freshmen and returning students,聽 including the Charger Block Party and Club Fair.聽 New programs for the 2019-2020 school year include a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and Communication, a reduced credit MBA program, and an online RN to BSN program.聽 In athletics news, the College now has a men’s and women’s tennis team for a total of 17 sports.

September 3, 2019

Dominican College Welcomes Class of 2023

The Class of 2023 posed for a class photo following the Freshman Convocation on Saturday, August 24, 2019.

The Class of 2023 has arrived on campus.聽 Freshman Move-In Day took place on Friday, August 23, 2019 with upperclassmen helping students get settled into Hertel Hall and Rosary Hall.聽 Freshmen then took part in Orientation activities and Freshman Convocation.

There are more than 280 freshmen registered for the fall semester at Dominican College.聽 The students are from 17 states and seven countries outside of the U.S.聽 The most popular major among incoming freshmen is nursing, followed by business management, biology, teacher education, criminal justice and psychology.

The fall semester started on Monday, August 26th with a week full of student activities for freshmen and returning students,聽 including the Charger Block Party and Club Fair.聽 New programs for the 2019-2020 school year include a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and Communication, a reduced credit MBA program, and an online RN to BSN program.聽 In athletics news, the College now has a men’s and women’s tennis team for a total of 17 sports.

September 3, 2019

High School Students Participate in Summer Science Program

Students in the RISE program are shown here removing invasive plants that are suffocating native and ornamental species.

Dominican College hosted a three-week summer research experience for high school students in July.聽 The free program is called RISE (Research Immersion in Science and Ecology) and was generously funded by Orange and Rockland Utilities.

Biology Professor Regina Alvarez said the 15 high school participants in the program were mature, intelligent, and highly motivated to learn.聽 鈥淥ur aim was to expose the students to different STEM and environmental science fields and to nurture and promote their interest in science,鈥� she said.

During the first week of the RISE program, students were introduced to a range of STEM fields and careers through various workshops. Students then worked with undergraduate mentors and a scientist, to complete a project during the second week.聽 The projects focused on the Sparkill Creek and included chemical descriptions, microbiological and viral genomics, and botanical and ecological surveys. The program concluded with students learning how to analyze data and prepare a poster presentation.聽 On July 26, 2019 the students presented their work at Dominican College to their families, friends, and teachers.

August 3, 2019

Communications Professor Studies Prevalence of Opinions on Cable News

Communications Professor Dr. Mark Meachem examined 11 years of primetime cable newscasts during his sabbatical.

Communications Professor Dr. Mark Meachem has completed his sabbatical research examining 11 years of primetime cable news.聽 His research showed that an average of one in every five comments on cable newscasts was an opinion, rather than fact.

Dr. Meachem studied the top-rated news shows on MSNBC, CNN, and FOX News, anchored by Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, and Sean Hannity. 聽He said the blending of fact and opinions helps explain why, according to a national study of more than 5,000 U.S. adults, only about a quarter of Americans could correctly distinguish factual statements from opinions.

There are a number of ways that newscasts mix opinions and news.聽 鈥淢ost common and most troubling is the phrase 鈥業 think鈥� to preface both facts and opinions,鈥漵aid Dr. Meachem. 鈥淭he phrase is used, on average, every two minutes of a primetime cable news show.”

Dr. Meachem admits he was surprised that he did not find an overall trend of increasing opinions being offered on the cable news shows. 聽聽Rather, he said, the results went up and down.聽 Only Anderson Cooper’s show showed a sharp increase in the number of opinions, although that program began more as a standard news show compared to shows on MSNBC and FOX.

The research and Dr. Meachem鈥檚 resulting presentation at the Eastern Communications Conference in Providence, RI in April sparked a lot of discussion about what the media can do differently. 聽Dr. Meachem believes that cable news shows should do聽 a better job of separating opinions from facts.

July 23, 2019

College Board of Trustees Elects New Leadership

Steven T. Sabatini, the CFO of Modern Bank’s holding companies, has been elected the new Chair of the Dominican College Board of Trustees.

The Chief Financial Officer of Modern Bank鈥檚 holding companies has been elected Chair of the Dominican College Board of Trustees. Steven T. Sabatini will serve with former Rockland County Commissioner of Health Joan H. Facelle, M.D., who was elected Vice Chair. They assumed their new positions July 1, 2019.

Sabatini has been a member of the Board since 2002 and served as Vice Chair for the past nine years. He is a Certified Public Accountant and served as Chairman of the National Epilepsy Foundation of America and as a Director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Metropolitan New York.

Sabatini said he was honored to be asked to serve as Chair of the Dominican College Board of Trustees and is committed to the College and its continued success.聽 鈥淎s Chair, I would like to see the College continue to provide an affordable, high-quality education to its students, expand enrollment, and develop the facilities necessary to maintain Dominican College鈥檚 reputation as an institution of excellence,鈥澛� he said.

His priorities as Chair include:聽 increasing the use of technology; continuing development of sports and sports facilities, including a new turf field; enhancing enrollment; and increasing fundraising and the endowment.

Sabatini replaces Ken Marks who was Chair for the past nine years, and was first elected to the Board in 2000. President Sr. Mary Eileen O鈥橞rien, O.P., Ph.D., 聽thanked Marks for his demonstrated passion to the College and his deep commitment to ensuring its success.

July 22, 2019

College Welcomes New VP for Institutional Advancement

Joseph G. Valenti outside his Siena House office on his first day as Dominican College’s new VP for Institutional Advancement.

President Sr. Mary Eileen O鈥橞rien, O.P., Ph.D.,聽 has announced that Joseph G. Valenti has been named Vice President for Institutional Advancement, beginning July 15, 2019.

In this role, Valenti will be responsible for fundraising, alumni relations, special events, marketing, and communications at the College.聽 As part of the leadership team, he will serve as a member of the President鈥檚 Cabinet and on critical committees, including those involved with drafting the budget, the strategic plan, and the master plan for the College. Among his first projects will be to help secure the monies needed to build a new turf field and track.

鈥淲e are delighted to welcome Joe to the Dominican College family.聽 He joins us with a wealth of experience in fundraising and development at institutions of higher education,鈥� said Sr. Mary Eileen. 鈥淗e will be a key player in the College鈥檚 future, as we aspire to continued growth and vitality.鈥�

Valenti is the former VP for College Advancement at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY 鈥� a position he held for nine years. He has also worked at Mercy College, Iona College, Manhattan College, and Marymount College.聽 In all, he has more than 27 years of experience in fundraising management. 聽Valenti earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and a Master of Arts degree in government from St. John鈥檚 University in Jamaica, N.Y.

The position of VP for Institutional Advancement was previously held by Dorothy C. Filoramo, who retired after more than 25 years in the position.

July 15, 2019

Dominican College Celebrates 25 Years of Campus Development

Dominican College celebrated 25 years of campus development at the 47th Annual Grand Reception on Sunday, June 9, 2019 at The View in Piermont, NY.

During the Grand Reception, special recognition was given to a number of individuals who have been instrumental in the College鈥檚 growth including: 聽Ross Pepe, Jack Holt, Pat Diccianni, Nick Badami (posthumously), Jim Granito,聽 Pat Aguanno,聽 Joe Corless,聽 Jim Hennessy, Pat Miele,聽 Karim Abood, Jon Prusmack (posthumously), and Patti Prusmack.

鈥�Each of these individuals played a key role in the development of the campus and the construction of new buildings. We are grateful for their wisdom, hard work, and generosity in helping us to develop the campus over the past quarter century,鈥� said Sr. Mary Eileen O鈥橞rien, O.P., Ph.D., College President.

At the event, it was announced that a brass plaque giving special recognition to the individuals was affixed to a large rock in front of the Hennessy Center.

Dominican College has undergone tremendous growth since 1994 when the College opened the Hennessy Center, the main athletic facility on campus.聽 In 1996, Hertel Hall, a 290-bed student residence opened, along with the Granito Center, a student center and dining hall. Four years later, the second floor of the Granito Center was completed, containing the Badami Board Room, the Health Center, and the College Bookstore.聽 In 2005, the Prusmack Center for Health and Science Education was completed to offer updated classrooms, laboratories, and a lecture hall.聽聽 Guzman Hall, a 200-bed student residence, was constructed and opened in 2007.聽 Most recently, in 2017, the Hennessy Center expansion was completed, with a new gymnasium and fitness center.

 

 

June 12, 2019