PIECES of HOME International Students Share the Mementos That Remind Them of Home

THE MAGAZINE OF MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY » SPRING 2019

PIECES OF HOME International students share the mementos that remind them of home. page 32

MEET THE NEW BOSS Patrick F. Leahy named 10th president of Monmouth. page 04

TALKING TAXES “The Most Tax-Efficient Man in America” takes our questions. page 06

SIGNS OF LIFE Living with a terminal diagnosis. page 24 GRADUATE STUDIES Contents Features | Spring 2019 YOUR FUTURE:

BACKSTORY » Cancer survivor Melissa Surdez, MASTERED Johnson & Johnson’s 2016 Working Mother Information Session of the Year, will give the keynote address at a March 28 Women’s Lead- 4/13 @ 10 a.m. ership Conference on campus. Story, p. 24.

REGISTER @ MONMOUTH.EDU/INFO Continue your studies by pursuing a graduate degree at Monmouth University. Programs include:

• Addiction Studies • Athletic Training • Anthropology • Business Administration (M.B.A.) • Clinical Mental Health Counseling • Communication • Computer Science • Criminal Justice • Education - Teaching, M.S.Ed., M.Ed. and Ed.D. options • English (M.A. and M.F.A.) • History • Information Systems • Nursing (M.S.N., D.N.P.) 24 28 32 • Physician Assistant SIGNS OF LIFE DRAWN OUT PIECES OF HOME Seven years ago, Melissa When Frank Gogol International • Social Work Surdez was given six months began processing a students share - Traditional/Advanced Standing M.S.W. to live. Now her message is, personal tragedy, he the mementos • Software Engineering “terminal” doesn’t mean you turned to an unexpected that remind them • Speech-Language Pathology NEW PROGRAMS: have to stop living. source: comics. of home.

Graduate scholarships available for eligible students. • M.S. in Athletic Training

• M.F.A. in Creative Writing photo MATT FURMAN Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 01 732-571-3452 | West Long Branch, NJ

MU206017_GRAD_Ad-8x10.5_Generic_NewPrograms.indd 1 1/30/19 4:22 PM Contents letters Departments | Spring 2019

MONMOUTH » VOL. 38, NO. 2 12 14 44 Monmouth magazine is published thrice annually by the Monmouth University Division of Enrollment Management.

Vice President for Enrollment Management Robert D. McCaig, Ed.D.

Associate Vice President, The Front Marketing & Communications currents » RESEARCH & REFLECTION Tara Peters ’94, ’99M TELL

Editor US 06 10 12 Tony Marchetti NEED TO KNOW CONCEPTS SOUNDING OFF Assistant Editor WHAT Doug Stives, CPA, “The Most In search of America’s Professor John Morano’s Breanne McCarthy Tax-Efficient Man in Ameri- favorite rock band. eco-adventure novels give YOU ca,” takes our questions. voice to the voiceless. Design & Layout Dog Ear Consultants As a senior criminal justice major, let him win.” It turned out to be a THINK TIDES » CULTURE & COMMUNITY Re: Fall 2018 I interned at the Monmouth very fun and friendly game, and Contributing Writers Email us at Pete Croatto Incredible photo! I was moved to County Youth Detention Center yes, he won. (He probably would magazine@ 14 16 17 Nick DiUlio tears reading the article on Mr. in Freehold, New Jersey. One of have won anyway, because my Morganne Dudzinski ’11, ’13M Hanlon (“Larger than Life”). the most interesting aspects of basketball skills back then were monmouth. THE INSIDER HOW MONMOUTH CAMPUS BRIEFS Kelley Freund Jennifer Moroch Fara this experience was observing not the greatest.) WAS MADE edu, or write us Senior Kayvon Paul is The scene at West Mark Gola via Instagram the interaction between inmates After graduation, I was em- already a force in the The early days of Long Branch. Maureen Harmon and corrections officers. I was ployed as a hotel and casino at Monmouth political world. Monmouth’s Fourth Estate. Meeri Kim I agree with giving employees most impressed with the pro- security officer and as a county magazine, Molly Petrilla an expanded paid family leave fessionalism exemplified by the investigator and special deputy (“Family Matters”). I remember officers despite the difficult situ- sheriff, before going back to Monmouth PLAY » SPORTS & FITNESS Melissa Kvidahl Reilly when starting in the workplace ations they often faced. Although school for paralegal certifica- University, they did not have employee it was a juvenile facility, some of tion and working as a paralegal, Photographers Alumni House, 20 22 23 John Davis leave to take care of a parent or the inmates were charged with senior paralegal, and ultimately Anthony DePrimo child. The only paid leave was for violent crimes and were con- as a case manager at several 400 Cedar FUTURE FOCUSED STRIKING A BALANCE SPORTS SHORTS Matt Furman six months, and you could stay at sidered very dangerous. There large law firms. It’s interesting Ave., West Megan Hart is making the Diego Zubieta finds ful- Recapping seasonal high- Mark Ludak ’81 home with your baby up to a year was a healthy mix of potentially to note that I was able to relate most of the opportunities fillment in two seemingly lights from the world of without pay. But you always had violent juveniles and others who my internship experiences to Long Branch, she’s getting on and off contradictory worlds: art Hawks athletics. Illustrators a job to go back to. They never may have just been in the wrong many of my current and past NJ 07764. the field. and football. John S. Dykes replaced you. I am a mother of place at the wrong time. employment experiences, both Submissions Nenad Cviticanin two adult children, and I can One of my most memorable in law enforcement and legal tell you it wasn’t easy when you experiences was a time when settings. for the Letters have to combine work plus your a correction officer and I were Michael Lodato ’82 page are subject On the cover children’s activities. observing inmates during out- to editing for The Back The Rest Graduate student Zainab Audu, pho- Sandra Cobo ’88 via Facebook door recreation, and I noticed tographed by Anthony DePrimo one inmate shooting baskets by clarity and » Class notes ALUMNI LIFE Letters, 03.Leahy himself. The officer asked the length and must named 10th presi- inmate if I could play a game with A meaningful Let’s include the dent of Monmouth, him. The juvenile, who was being 44 54 04. Explain This, 09. A experience detained for a somewhat violent Connect writer’s name, THE CHANGEMAKER THE MORNING MAN Day at the Beach, 18. Editor’s note: Last issue, we asked readers crime, accepted. As I walked For more content and address, and Karen Silva is leading a new Brad Hennessy takes you Alumni Roundup, 46. 400 Cedar Ave. to share stories about the hands-on learning onto the court, the officer photos, follow us on experiences they had at Monmouth. Read phone number effort to identify and assist behind the scenes at GMA. In Memoriam, 55. The West Long Branch, NJ 07764 the unedited responses at monmouth.edu/ quietly gave me a last-minute Twitter and Instagram: human trafficking victims. Recommender, 56. 732-571-3489 • monmouth.edu magazine. word of advice, “Make sure you @monmouthumag for confirmation.

02 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 03 SPECIAL REPORT » Events & announcements

Monmouth University Names n Dec. 14, 2018, the Monmouth University Board of Trustees announced that Patrick F. Leahy, Ed.D., would serve as the University’s 10th president, effective Aug. 1, 2019. Patrick F. Leahy 10th President O The announcement was made at an event in historic Wilson Hall, where the incoming CURRENT WILKES UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT TO START AUG. 1, 2019. president addressed the university community. BY MORGANNE DUDZINSKI

Leahy emerged as the board’s unanimous selection from 2012. He first served as vice president of university rela- a diverse pool of more than 100 highly accomplished lead- tions, successfully completing a $129 million comprehen- ers in the nationwide search. He will succeed Grey J. Di- sive capital campaign. He was then promoted to executive menna, Esq., who will retire on July 31. vice president, where he was responsible for develop- “I am thrilled to begin my tenure as the next president of ment, government relations, undergraduate and gradu- Monmouth University,” said Leahy. “Monmouth has con- ate admission, intercollegiate athletics, planning, and in- tinually demonstrated its willingness to evolve to meet formation technology. Leahy also taught in the Business the needs of all students and is dedicated to serving an in- Leadership Honors Program. creasingly diverse student body. Before moving to Scranton, Leahy was co-founder and “As we move forward, we’ll build upon the strong founda- president of the Business Affairs Forum, a 15,000-member tion here at Monmouth and move toward even higher levels distance learning community based in Ithaca, New York. He of excellence and access. It is clear that the Monmouth com- has also worked as an investment officer for Allied Capital munity is a family. I, along with my wife, Amy, and our chil- Corporation, as an account executive at Deluxe Corporation, dren, am excited to be joining this family at the Jersey Shore.” and as a development officer at Georgetown University. Leahy comes to Monmouth from Wilkes University in Wil- A native of Towson, Maryland, Leahy graduated from kes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he has served as president Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts in English lit- since 2012. Guided by a fundamental commitment to stu- erature. He earned dual master’s degrees in business admin- dent success, Leahy led the development of a comprehensive istration and labor relations from Cornell University, where strategic plan for Wilkes that focused the university’s efforts he was a Fried Fellow, and earned his Doctor of Education and resources on teaching, research, and civic engagement. from the University of Pennsylvania. The plan set the stage for key initiatives and accomplish- Leahy and his wife, Amy, have four children: Grace, 20; ments, including the introduction of 20 new academic Molly, 18; Jack, 14; and Brian, 12. They will relocate to programs; strategic enrollment growth in online master’s Doherty House, the presidential residence, this summer. programs and doctoral degrees, including the launch of the The announcement of Leahy’s hiring concludes a year- university’s first Ph.D. program; investments in faculty schol- long national search, conducted in consultation with Isaa- arship and research, resulting in the university’s first five pat- cson Miller, headquartered in Boston. The 17-member ents; and innovative external partnerships that expanded presidential search committee included two students, two the university’s reach and supported the local community. administrators, three faculty members, and 10 members Fulfilling key initiatives of the Wilkes plan, Leahy has been of the Board of Trustees, six of whom are alumni. instrumental in over $100 million in transformative cam- “I am grateful to Search Chair Henry Mercer and all 17 pus enhancements, including the construction and renova- members of the presidential search committee, who gave tion of five academic buildings to support learning in the arts, generously of their time to serve the University,” said Board sciences, health care, and business. In order to enhance the Chair Michael A. Plodwick ’82. “I would also like to extend student experience and strengthen undergraduate enroll- my gratitude to President Dimenna for his outstanding ser- ment, Wilkes launched seven new NCAA Division III athlet- vice. His tenure has been characterized by a keen dedication ic teams and the region’s only collegiate marching band. to student engagement and success, and I have greatly val- “Dr. Leahy is a strategic, entrepreneurial thinker,” said ued his leadership, energy, and commitment to Monmouth Henry D. Mercer, III ’87, chair of the presidential search University in the years we have worked together.” committee and immediate past chair of the Monmouth Dimenna will continue to actively lead the university while University Board of Trustees. “He has a clear understand- he works with Leahy to facilitate a productive transition. The ing of how a private university works and knows how to university has appointed a cross-functional presidential tran- get visionary initiatives realized.” sition team, led by co-chairs Robin Mama, dean of the School Prior to his time at Wilkes, Leahy was a senior adminis- of Social Work, and Richard Veit, chair of the Department of trative leader at The University of Scranton from 2004 to History and Anthropology, to help ensure a smooth process.

04 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 05 Currents RESEARCH & REFLECTION

“ Don’t ever do your return by hand. That’s stupidity. NEED TO KNOW » Topics & trends Accounting is a foreign lan- ” guage; it’s also an art. It’s not a science. I teach my students this. I’ll say to them, “OK, you Many happy just elected me treasurer of your organization. Do you want me to give you good news or bad returns news?” And they’ll say, “Just TALKING TAXES AND MORE WITH DOUG give us the numbers.” And I’ll STIVES, CPA—“THE MOST TAX-EFFICIENT say, “No. Do you want me to MAN IN AMERICA.” show a profit to shareholders and a loss to the IRS?” I’m not INTERVIEW BY NICK DIULIO talking about breaking the law; I’m talking about understanding pecialist Professor Doug Stives spent 36 years the language of business. An accountant isn’t there to just add at a public accounting firm before joining up numbers. Anyone can use a SMonmouth’s faculty in 2006. software program to do that. An accountant needs to put talent Five years later, The Wall or science, or history—I al- and experience together to as- Street Journal bestowed the ti- ways said that if I took anoth- sess who the information is be- tle “The Most Tax-Efficient er history course I was going ing tallied for and what that in- Man in America” on him be- to get sick [laughs]. Account- formation will be used for. cause of his decades of experi- ing wasn’t easy, but I was able ence as a CPA and the ways his to get it. I started to see it as Do your experiences from that nuanced and meticulous use the language of business, and time trickle down to your stu- of annual deductions, benefits, like learning any new lan- dents? and professional autonomy al- guage it’s not fun in the begin- I teach by telling stories. Sure, lows him to “live a fuller life.” ning. But the more I learned, I show PowerPoints and go over Stives talked with us about how the more I liked it. homework and prepare students he first fell in love with account- for exams. But I don’t go 10 min- ing, what the new federal tax Why do you think the subject utes without saying, “Let me tell law could mean for filers, and clicked for you? you about this experience I had.” how you should never do your I think it was because I was al- I use that technique in my con- taxes by hand. ways fascinated with business. tinuing education courses as well. As a kid I would look up stock It adds value and my students ar- What led you to a career in ac- prices in the paper. One time, I en’t just watching a video. counting? visited a family friend who was I took five years at Lehigh a stockbroker in New York, and So your approach is a combi- University to get my bache- we watched the tickertape come nation of theory and practice? lor’s and M.B.A., but when I off the machine. I was captivat- Absolutely. Students need got there, I didn’t even know ed, even though I didn’t under- both. I think some schools in ac- what “CPA” meant. I original- stand it all. My father was also counting have gone a little too ly wanted to become an engi- fascinated with finance, and far in practice. For instance, my neer, like my father. Nonethe- we would sit and read annual students don’t ever do a tax re- less, my studies in engineering reports together. turn in my classes because the weren’t working out, and this forms change, the laws change. was the ’60s, so you didn’t You worked for several de- I want them to understand the drop out, or you got a one-way cades in public accounting be- theory behind the practice. I ticket to Vietnam. The only fore joining Monmouth’s fac- OPPOSITE: Stives is a don’t do my own tax returns, the thing I really enjoyed was my ulty. What did you come to two-time winner of the software does. But if you don’t Leon Hess Business School accounting class. It was dif- realize about the profession in Teaching Excellence understand what the software is ferent. It wasn’t more math, that time? Award. doing, you’re lost.

06 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 illustration JOHN S. DYKES Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 07 CURRENTS

Let’s talk about that title, “The “ ter you get at it. I’m careful. I If you have investments, a EXPLAIN THIS » Most Tax-Efficient Man in know what records I need, and business, or rental properties, Answering your burning questions America.” How did that come You don’t I know what to back up and then you really need profes- about? call a what will survive an audit. sional help from a CPA. And I wasn’t keen on that title, doctor and you need to meet with that actually [laughs]. But here’s just The article also mentions person one-on-one. Unfortu- How Can I Preserve The Wall Street Journal writ- “the flurry of tiny deduc- nately our profession has mor- FAMILY ing about some CPA from New tell him tions that add up,” explain- phed into just scanning your ALBUM Jersey—already you’re off to what’s ing how you write off things W-2 and other forms. Then the My Family’s History? a bad start, because it doesn’t wrong over like allowable mileage and accountant processes your re- get any duller than a CPA from food expenses on business turn and sends it back to you t’s a familiar scene folders and papers, and keep the ing from people who aren’t in New Jersey—but they were the phone, trips—even down to a hot dog for filing. Don’t do it that way. documents as flat as possible to the history books, we’re get- for so many today— looking for a way to get read- right? When you bought at the airport. You don’t call a doctor and just avoid putting any unwarranted ting different perspectives.” ers interested in this tongue- it comes Are there things the average tell him what’s wrong over the I basements full of stress on them. The good news is that it’s easy in-cheek, front-page article. person doesn’t understand phone, right? When it comes old photo albums, attics In addition to storing the orig- to get started capturing your And they said, “What do you to finding about deductions? to finding an accountant, you inal copies properly, Ziobro rec- family members’ personal his- do that’s different?” Well, I get an account- Deductions can be very benefi- have to insist on some kind of overflowing with home ommends investing in an inex- tories. Chances are you already a W-2 from Monmouth, and I ant, you cial. However, one of the things personal meeting, at least the movies, smartphones pensive scanner to create digital have an app on your smartphone get benefits. I used to pay for I’m constantly telling my stu- first time. bursting at the seams versions. Just be sure to cap- that can record crystal-clear au- my own health and life insur- have to dents is that just because you People should also be aware ture a high-resolution image— dio. Ziobro says it’s best to start ance. All pension money came insist on can deduct it from your tax- of the new Qualified Business with selfies and videos. one that is at least 300 dots per simple. “Even if I’m interviewing directly from me. But as a full- some kind es doesn’t make it free. There’s Income deduction, which, if Chaotic? Sure. But put inch, and possibly 600 dpi if the grandpa about his Korean War time employee of the Univer- so much misinformation out you have your own business— scanner is capable. service, it can be hard to jump of personal them together, and what sity, those things are now cov- there. You have people who brag within certain parameters—you For images born digital—smart- right in there,” she says. “Start ered. I even get a 10 percent meeting, at about being in the top tax brack- won’t pay taxes on 20 percent you have is valuable phone photos, for example—Zio- at the beginning with ‘When and discount at the bookstore and least the et or who brag about not paying of what you make. This law sim- family history. “Whether bro recommends printing and where were you born?’ It’s a sim- free tickets to football games. first time. any taxes at all. That tells you a plified taxes for a lot of people backing up the images in the ple question and sets the context Then, on the side, I have Doug lot about a person. but made it unnecessarily com- you’re preserving your cloud or on a thumb drive. “Have for the interview.” Stives LLC, which is my vehicle ” Also, some people think that be- plicated for others. But we don’t family’s stories to pass as many different versions as Oral histories, photos, and vid- for teaching continuing educa- cause they work from home, they have nearly enough time to get down to your children, you can,” she says. “This goes for eos make great family keepsakes, tion classes across the country. can deduct part of their house. into all of those complications printed and digital files.” but Ziobro encourages families For that work I get a 1099. So I Well, no, there are very strict [laughs]! or you’re planning to And while images and docu- to share them with museums, told [the Journal] it’s the best rules about that. People are doing donate your photos or ments can tell a valuable story, historical societies, and oral his- of both worlds. I get benefits stuff they shouldn’t, sometimes Any other tips? keepsakes in some way, all Ziobro says we shouldn’t under- tory archivists. “People tend to from the college side and then intentionally and sometimes be- If you hear from the IRS, get estimate the value of the spoken be humble and think that no one deduct on my tax return things cause they lack information. professional help before you re- of these stories make up word. Collecting oral histories cares about their story, but that’s like my Wall Street Journal spond. The IRS is not the Mid- a narrative worth saving,” can be a fun and informative just not the case,” she says. “We subscription, my computer, This is the first year that peo- dletown police. They don’t read way to make the past accessi- want to know what the average says Melissa Ziobro, a Wi-Fi, my cellphone, continu- ple are filing under the new tax you Miranda rights. You open ble for future generations. “It’s person in New Jersey was doing ing education, and some trav- law. What should the average your mouth, say the wrong specialist professor of so much more relatable because during World War II. The only el expenses. You can’t do that filer know heading into this thing, and you could go to jail. public history. But how to we’re hearing from people in way to get that is to hear these as an employee. They twist- season? their own words and cadence,” ‘average’ stories.” ed it around in journalistic For a lot of people, tax returns What do the next few years do that? she says. “And since we’re hear- —Melissa Kvidahl Reilly fashion—which I admire—and are simple. They get a W-2, and look like for you? When it comes to paper doc- came up with the title. unless they are afraid of com- More of the same wonderful uments like photos, keep them puters, they get a software pro- stuff, really. I know it can’t go comfortable. “Most of these That article says you “use the gram and file that way. By the on forever. I’ve tragically seen family collections get stored in the tax code’s many quirks” as way, don’t ever do your return people who don’t know when the basement or attic because 10-second WHAT’S the means through which you by hand. That’s stupidity. to quit, and I don’t want that that’s where there’s room,” says bonus “can live a fuller life.” How so? As for the new law, a lot of peo- to happen to me. My memo- Ziobro. “But these are the worst WORTH Tax laws are complicated by ple won’t itemize deductions ry is not as good as it used to possible places for them” since question their nature. Congress writes this year. Many people are re- be. I need more sleep. My hear- there is minimal control over them—and Congress can’t do verting to standard deductions. ing is terrible. My eyesight’s bad temperature and humidity. A DONATING? anything without complicat- And if you don’t have more than [laughs]. I think I’ll give myself good rule of thumb, she says: “If A national organization may be ing it. As a professor, I know $24,000 (for married taxpay- another four or five years in the you wouldn’t be comfortable in interested in military uniforms, while what you can do—not what you ers) in deductions, there’s not a classroom. But I still like to ski your basement or attic, the doc- To ask a question of our local groups would love to preserve faculty experts, email can get away with—what you whole lot you need to know. and sail. The last thing I’ll ever uments aren’t comfortable ei- magazine@monmouth. can do to reduce your taxes le- do is sit around screaming at the ther.” Also, it’s best not to use a scrapbook of memories from the edu, or mail Explain This, gally. I’d be a fool not to take What about someone whose television. But right now I am paper clips or staples, which can Monmouth magazine, neighborhood. Many archivists Alumni House, 400 Cedar advantage of those things. And return might be a little more just exceedingly happy doing rust and destroy the documents Ave., West Long Branch, the more you do it, the bet- complicated? what I’m doing. over time. Instead, use acid-free welcome recordings or interviews. NJ 07764.

08 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 09 CURRENTS

CONCEPTS » Dispatches from the Monmouth University Polling Institute The latest example: In a national and Queen were the only other the polling report: Two percent and Keith Richards’ seeming poll conducted by Monmouth bands named by more than 1 of respondents said they’d never immortality, can give you some ROCK OF AGES University’s Polling Institute, percent of respondents. heard of the lads from Liverpool. satisfaction. Americans were asked to name When asked if they like the So take heart Stones fans. Hy- —Compiled from Monmouth IN SEARCH OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE ROCK BAND. the greatest rock ’n’ roll band or Beatles, 86 percent of Ameri- pothetically speaking, there’s University Poll data by group of all time. Nearly 1 in 4 cans said they do, either “a lot” at least a sliver of the popula- Tony Marchetti ity the Rolling Stones. Still going strong nearly six decades after they (23 percent) said the Beatles. The (50 percent) or “a little” (36 per- tion for whom your band nev- formed, scheduled to hit the road in April, and reportedly working on Stones finished a distant second, cent). Eight percent reported er played second with just 8 percent naming disliking the group, while 4 per- fiddle to the a new album, they again find themselves eclipsed by their one-time P them. AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, cent weren’t sure. Perhaps the Beatles. May- rivals, the Beatles—a band that broke up nearly 50 years ago. The Eagles, Aerosmith, most surprising piece of data in be that tidbit,

AERO- QUEEN THE SMITH EAGLES LED ZEPPELIN AC/DC % % ROLLINGSTONES % 2 2 % 3 % 4 % 4 BEATLES 8

23% THE REST SUPPORTING ACTS The following artists were mentioned by no more than 1 percent of respondents: »»The Beach Boys »»Journey »»Bon Jovi »»Kiss »»Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band »»Lynyrd Skynyrd »»Creedence Clearwater Revival »»Metallica »»Def Leppard »»Pink Floyd »»Elvis Presley »»U2 »»Fleetwood Mac »»The Who »»The Grateful Dead »»Guns N’ Roses Visit monmouth.edu/polling for »»The Jimi Hendrix Experience complete findings and methodology.

10 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 11 CURRENTS

acters, both human and animal, in settings ranging from the MONMOUTH Cambodian coral reefs to the volcanic Guadalupe Island, and tackles issues ranging from cli- CAMEOS mate change and pollution to Early in Flocks of One, the new eco-adventure novel by captivity and overfishing. John Morano, a group of scientists and conservationists Flocks of One intertwines new and old characters with a focus convene an international bird conference at Monmouth on birds, such as the critically University. It’s not the first time Monmouth—or some endangered Ivory-billed wood- representation of it—has appeared in print or on screen. pecker. It features scenes set in New Jersey, with both the Pine Here are a few other fictional works that featured Barrens and Monmouth Uni- Monmouth-related cameos: versity’s campus making ap- pearances (see sidebar). While Morano admits that the books in his series focus on Annie highlighting imperiled species 1 Wilson Hall served as the setting for Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks’ Park Avenue. and their stories, which can be mansion in the 1982 movie musical, which was shot partially on campus over emotionally taxing, he does try the course of six weeks. According to The New York Times, Roger Paradiso, a to inspire hope. former Monmouth student who was the location manager for Annie, suggest- “Those are some depressing, ed using the iconic building as the setting for Warbucks’ home. dark stories, and you can capture that … but write a story that’s still hopeful, that says the glass isn’t necessarily half empty, and have characters that might Fall of Giants The first book in Ken Follett’s2 The Century Trilogy includes multiple Sounding Off model the ways things should be,” says Morano. “That’s what I references to Shadow Lawn, the estate that once stood on the grounds PROFESSOR JOHN MORANO’S ECO-ADVENTURE where Wilson Hall now does, and that served as the “summer White NOVELS GIVE VOICE TO THE VOICELESS. tried to do. The books are funny. They’re fun—like Disney for the House” for President Woodrow Wilson in 1916. In one passage from Fol- lett’s historical novel, the main character, Gus Dewar, picks up a ringing BY BREANNE MCCARTHY environment.” Morano’s eco-adventure series phone and is told, “A call from Shadow Lawn. The president wants to has been endorsed by the World speak to you.” Wildlife Fund, the Nature Con- “ servancy, the ASPCA, the Ocean Those n 2011, millions of children around the world fell telling—began 25 years ago with Conservancy, and Oceana. Even are some in love with a Spix’s macaw named Blu, the lead the publication of the first book the Grateful Dead have lent its 303 Rock in what’s come to be called The support, giving him permission depressing, In the season four episode “Anna Howard Shaw Day,” Jon Bon Jovi I character in the animated film Rio. The movie tells John Morano Eco-Adventure to use its lyrics for free: His sec- dark ’01HN touts his Hawk credentials. Playing himself, the singer reprimands the story of Blu, the last known male of his species, as Series, A Wing and a Prayer. In- ond book, Makoona, features Tina Fey’s character for blindly signing paperwork. “Woah, woah, woah, spired by a news story about the a psychedelic octopus named stories, and woah—you shouldn’t sign anything without reading it first,” he warns Fey. he is brought from captivity in Minnesota to his native last hamster of its kind, Morano Molo who only communicates you can “I made that mistake once and ended up NBC’s artist-in-residence. Give Brazil to mate with the last known female of his species. became determined to tell the through the band’s lyrics. capture me it,” says Bon Jovi, adding as he takes the papers from her, “I have an stories of endangered animals A proponent of thinking glob- honorary degree from Monmouth University.” What viewers might not have eco-adventure novels. His new- through the perspectives of the ally and acting locally, Morano that … realized was how that fiction- est book in the series, Flocks of animals themselves. travels to college campuses and but write alized story, which ends happi- One, which was published by “It’s not about our loss, what holds book signings where he a story ly with the birds returning to Grey Gecko Press in February, about their loss? We think of ev- tries to provide a voice for the that’s Back to School4 the wild to carry on their spe- focuses on some of the planet’s erything through our viewpoint,” voiceless. Already at work on Forty-three minutes into this 1986 Rodney Dangerfield movie, the come- cies, forewarned of a grave re- most endangered bird species, says Morano. “But, what’s it like the next book in the series, he still dian jumps on stage at a bar to sing “Twist & Shout.” As the camera cuts ality. Last September, the Spix’s including the Spix’s macaw. “I’m to not—forget about selecting a says he’s grateful for a life which hopeful, back and forth between patrons dancing and the band, you can see an macaw was officially declared not Bill Gates, you know; I can’t mate, what about not being able has afforded him the ability to that says old Monmouth College pennant on the wall behind the backup singers. extinct in the wild. The news throw a hundred million dol- to find a mate? Forget about not work on subject matter that he —Breanne McCarthy hit Monmouth communica- lars at the Spix’s macaw. I want liking your community, what is passionate about. the glass tion professor and nature-lover to—I can’t. So, what can I do? I’ll if you don’t have a communi- “It’s been, honestly, for me, it’s isn’t John Morano particularly hard. write a story. I’ll be that guy.” ABOVE: John Morano is ty? What if your habitat—your been a magical life. Magical,” necessarily “I wanted to cry—I really did,” This avocation—to effect change also the author of Don’t world—is shrinking?” says Morano. “And I don’t know Tell Me the Ending!, a half empty. »»Know of any other Monmouth “cameos” in fictional works? says Morano, who is the author for imperiled species and endan- textbook for aspiring Each book in Morano’s series why or how, but I’m taking the Write us at [email protected] to let us know. of a series of critically acclaimed gered habitats through story- film critics. features a different cast of char- ride.” ”

12 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 photo MARK LUDAK Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 13 tides CULTURE & COMMUNITY

Poll position In the months leading up to last fall’s midterm elections, Paul expanded his political science savvy—and further bolstered his resume—by working as a research assistant for Monmouth University’s Polling Institute. He was part of a team of He took his political educa- students who helped tion outside the classroom in assemble datasets 2016 as an intern with New Jer- The insider for congressional sey Congressman Frank Pallone KAYVON PAUL IS STILL MONTHS AWAY house races across Jr.’s campaign for re-election. A the country. FROM GRADUATING, BUT THAT HASN’T few months later, he worked on STOPPED HIM FROM BEING A FORCE IN THE a local board of education cam- POLITICAL WORLD. paign, and then joined the state Senate campaign of Vin Gopal BY MOLLY PETRILLA as a paid field organizer. Outside of the obvious resume rowsing Kayvon Paul’s LinkedIn profile, it’s easy building, “all this is fun for me,” says Paul. “I like the vibes that I to forget you’re looking at an undergraduate’s get from being around a bunch Bresume. There’s a significant amount of of political people, Republican scrolling required as you cruise through his list of or Democrat. I like listening to other people’s views.” work experiences: field organizer for political races, Paul spent all of 2018 work- community outreach for an LGBT organization, ing as the community outreach coordinator for Garden associate at a Trenton lobbying firm. State Equality—a statewide organization that advocates for At just 22 years old—and still to help pay the bills and tried to LGBT rights. This past Janu- several months away from grad- stay out of trouble. He hadn’t ary, he started full time with uating with his bachelor’s in po- thought much about college un- a Trenton-based lobbying firm, litical science—Paul has leapt til his high school history teach- MBI-GluckShaw, where he fully into the work world while er—who also teaches at Mon- hopes to continue working after still balancing classes and col- mouth—encouraged him to graduation. lege life. At one point, he was consider it. As he looks toward graduation juggling 50- to 60-hour weeks “He has a very good mind that in May, Paul has also been reflect- working on a state senate race grasps things in a commonsense ing on his time at Monmouth. while keeping up with his way,” says Noah Lipman, who He credits the University’s Edu- coursework and serving as pres- taught Paul both in high school cational Opportunity Fund Pro- ident of his fraternity. and at Monmouth. “He can re- gram, Sigma Tau Gamma fra- “If you want something in life, solve daily problems in a much ternity, and the political science you make time for it,” says Paul. quicker, analytical way than department—where “each and “You stay up a little later, wake most people have the ability to.” every one of the professors real- up a little earlier. I have a lot of Paul initially enrolled as a ly cares about the students and friends that are dead, that are in social work student at Mon- wants to see them grow,” he says— jail. I just use that as motivation mouth, but soon politics beck- with propelling him through these every day.” oned. “When people ask me why busy and often challenging college Born and raised in Long I like political science, I usually years. Branch and Asbury Park, Paul say that politics affects every- “If you were to take one of says violence and gangs were all thing you do, every day. How OPPOSITE: Paul has those three things away,” says already taken his LSAT around him. The oldest of eight could you not be involved?” says exam but says law school Paul, “then I probably wouldn’t children, he worked at Rite Aid Paul. will likely wait for now. be where I am right now.”

14 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 photo ANTHONY DEPRIMO Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 15 TIDES

THIS IS MONMOUTH » The scene at West Long Branch Campus Briefs

Hawks helping Zuber says the experience taught had reached 80 percent of its her an important lesson about her goal with $12.2 million in gifts and Hawks future career: “I learned that when pledges committed to date. Presi- The Nest, an on-campus food I become a nurse, and even now in dent Grey Dimenna said reaching pantry opened last semester by the school, I can’t ever expect a day to and exceeding the campaign’s $15 HOW MONMOUTH WAS MADE » Landmarks & stories Junior College). Sadly, it did not in- Student Government Association, go a certain way because this field million goal will enhance Mon- clude a report on who suggested the supports food-insecure undergrad- is full of surprises. I think that’s one mouth’s ability to continue to name The Outlook, nor did it list any uate and graduate students at the of the best things about nursing.” attract highly qualified students PRESS MATTERS of the other names that were consid- University. Students who do not from economically, geographical- THE EARLY DAYS OF MONMOUTH’S FOURTH ESTATE. ered. have any form of meal plan can Springsteen ly, and culturally diverse back- In the 85 years since then, The Out- come to The Nest, which is located grounds. Currently, 30 percent of Sighting BY BREANNE MCCARTHY look has continued to “document the in the Student Center, and select students qualify for need-based, history of this university as it has hap- non-perishable food items, bever- When Monmouth University hosted federally funded financial aid at ne month and two days after Monmouth Junior College pened,” says Professor John Mora- ages, and toiletries that have been a free screening of the Netflix Monmouth. opened to students, the first issue of what would become no, the club’s current advisor. “They donated by their fellow Hawks. original special “Springsteen on covered protests on the Great Lawn; According to The Washington Post, Broadway” in January, the Boss him- Greek spoken here OThe Outlook rolled off the presses. they covered Martin Luther King, more than 30 percent of students self was in the audience. According Jane Fonda, Ralph Nader—anyone attending a college or university in to the Asbury Park Press, Spring- President Grey Dimenna an- Originally titled the Monmouth Ju- president) Edward G. Schlaefer, and a who has ever been here has appeared the U.S. experience some form of steen slipped into Pollak Theatre nounced a full reinstatement of nior College Press Publication, the pa- call for submissions to name the new on the pages of The Outlook.” Because food insecurity. just after the screening started, then the University’s seven fraternities per was produced by a new student or- publication. of this, says Morano, The Outlook has left through the theater’s back door and eight sororities for the spring ganization that called itself “The Press When the second issue hit news- served—and continues to serve—a vi- Crowning relatively unnoticed. Monmouth 2019 semester. The reinstate- Club.” The group met for the first time stands on Jan. 18, 1934, it had been tal role at Monmouth. is home to The Bruce Springsteen ment of the University-affiliated Achievement ABOVE: There was swag on Dec. 14, 1933, and within eight days renamed The Outlook. That issue in- “We’re the Fourth Estate on this Archives and Center for American and info aplenty at the Greek organizations follows the had produced Monmouth’s first stu- cluded stories on newly appointed campus,” says Morano. “We say Nursing students Madalyn Zuber Music. New Graduate Student development of a comprehensive, and Natalia Maticke’s final day of Orientation in January. accountability-based plan that in- dent newspaper. The issue included staff members, a student’s proclama- things no one else is going to say. We Monmouth has added accounts of faculty speeches, reports tion of MJC’s college spirit, and a re- ask questions that no one is going to clinical could not have been more Goal within reach two new grad programs: cludes several changes to current from other recently formed student port on Monmouth’s first basketball ask. That’s our job. Someone has to meaningful or memorable: The duo an M.S. in athletic policies and practices in order to training and M.F.A. in clubs, a letter from then-dean (later game (a 41–30 win over Middlesex do that. The newspaper does it.” helped deliver a baby in the parking As of Feb. 1, Together We Can: creative writing. Info at promote a safe and productive lot of Monmouth Medical Center. The Campaign for Scholarship monmouth.edu/grad. Greek system.

16 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 photo ANTHONY DEPRIMO Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 17 TIDES

A DAY AT THE BEACH » Coastal moments, captured CHILLING OUT A local surfer takes a breather to watch fellow wave riders. Even amid icy coastal temperatures, the surf beyond the University Bluffs still serves as a winter playland for members of the Monmouth University Surf Club.

photo18 MONMOUTH ANTHONY DEPRIMOSpring 2019 photo NAME NAME springSpring 2019 2019 MONMOUTH 19 PLAy SPORTS & FITNESS

IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY HART’S THREE older siblings— Dean, Tom, and Michele—also played collegiate lacrosse and majored in finance. All three excelled at both. “Keeping up with them over the years made me feel like I had to one-up them,” says Hart with a laugh. Has she? “I don’t know about that, but I’ve definitely held my own.” Hart’s on-field confidence car- ries over to the classroom, where FutuRe she boasts a cumulative 3.85 GPA. In June, the finance major will start a 10-week internship Focused in Bank of America’s Advisor Development Summer Analyst MEGAN HART IS MAKING THE MOST OF THE Program. Based in Washing- OPPORTUNITIES SHE’S GETTING ON AND OFF ton, D.C., she’ll be working with THE FIELD. Merrill Lynch’s wealth management team to gain real-world BY PETE CROATTO experience. egan Hart, a junior defender on the women’s Academically, Hart says, last semester felt different. She had lacrosse team, loves that she has been given completed most of her general the green light this season to do more. She education course work and was M heavy into finance classes when knows this is her time to shine, but also that she must the realization hit: This feels earn that right every game. right. I can see myself using this material in the future. There’s no need to remind Hart man year. She entered this sea- “Everything,” she says, “is fall- that mindset applies equally to son eager to become a larger part ing into place.” the moments she is without a la- of the offense. Hart sees another parallel be- crosse stick in her hands. “I think that this year I have the yond athletics providing disci- “I am a very competitive per- potential of being a threat,” says pline in the classroom and vice son,” says Hart, who was com- Hart. “I take the draw. I play de- versa. ing off a two-hour practice and a fense. I’m good with transition.” “Every time I learn some- session in the weight room. Two The 2019 season has already thing in either sports or aca- more classes loomed, and her day added another dimension to demics, it’s such a rewarding wouldn’t end until 10:30 p.m., the upperclassman’s role: team feeling,” she says. “Knowing nearly 15 hours after it began. “I leader. She is teaching newcom- that you’re better than you want to be the best on the field, ers what she’s learned while were the day before, and even but I’m also trying to be the best embracing Head Coach Jordan to look back to my freshman in the classroom as well.” Trautman’s mantra: Be ready to year and just how much I’ve She is well on her way. A 2018 be uncomfortable, and be com- grown, is kind of crazy.” MAAC All-Academic Team se- fortable with being uncomfort- What’s even more crazy? The lection, Hart led the Hawks with able. As Hart tells newer play- green light will be up for a 52 ball controls and tied for sec- ers, “If you can listen, adapt, and while. Hart has another year to ond with 19 caused turnovers overcome, there are going to be OPPOSITE: Hart was show everyone—and, most im- named to the MAAC last year. Both were huge in- really big things for us if we can All-Rookie Team following portantly, herself—how far she creases over a successful fresh- all just buy into that.” her freshman season. can go.

20 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 photo ANTHONY DEPRIMO Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 21 PLAY

Striking a balance SPORTS DIEGO ZUBIETA FINDS FULFILLMENT IN TWO SEEMINGLY CONTRADICTORY SHORTS WORLDS: ART AND FOOTBALL. champs again BY MARK GOLA Last fall, the women’s soccer team won its third straight ontrast is a principle of art that refers to the raising the flag during the Bat- MAAC title while the field arrangement of opposite elements. Light versus tle of Iwo Jima to honor the Ma- hockey team captured the rines and complement his por- dark colors. Large versus small shapes. Smooth program’s third MAAC Cham- C trait.” pionship in the last five years. versus rough textures. Artist versus … football player? The mural took three months to complete, as Zubieta de- Senior Diego Zubieta would posted 135 career tackles in 37 signed and painted between refute the notion that there is a games as a linebacker for the summer workouts. Following white out Wide receiver Reggie White contrast between his being both Hawks. “I needed to be disci- a fundraiser walk last fall, the Jr. closed out his stellar Hawk a football player and an artist. plined in both, pay attention to mural was unveiled to the Cos- career as the program and Since childhood, the lessons he detail, be willing to take risks, grove family. They were deep- Big South record holder in learned from both pursuits have and battle through adversity. ly touched by the commemora- career receptions and recep- blended together to develop his The skills are interchangeable, tion and greatly appreciative to tion yardage. During his se- character, challenge his resolve, and I progressed in both worlds both Venier and Zubieta. nior year, his best ever, White and provide him genuine joy. as a result.” “I went into the project doing had 1,133 receiving yards on 71 “I’m a football player who Last summer, the world of a favor for a teammate,” says catches with 11 touchdowns loves art just as much as be- football presented Zubieta Zubieta. “And I came out of it and was named Second Team ing on the field,” says Zubieta, with perhaps his greatest ar- with a profound respect for All-America by the AP and who will graduate this spring tistic challenge. Teammate the military and this incredi- Third Team All-America by with a degree in graphic and Nick Venier, a junior who com- ble feeling that I helped a fam- Phil Steele. interactive design. “It’s given pleted four years in the U.S. ily honor their son and broth- me great balance in life. Foot- Air Force prior to enrolling at er, who was a hero. Lance Cpl. ball is regimented and a phys- Monmouth, approached Zubi- Cosgrove’s mom sent a letter ical battle, and creating art is eta about painting a mural in to the institution thanking me giving back a time that I have individual the Veteran Student Lounge and Nick. It was really moving.” In December, approximately freedom and am encouraged in the Student Center. The While drawing is his natu- 40 student-athletes visited to open my mind.” Student Veterans Association ral talent, Zubieta has broad- LADACIN Network’s Schroth At a glance, football and art wanted to honor Lance Cpl. ened his skill set at Monmouth. School in Ocean Township, would seem to have little in com- Christopher Cosgrove III ’05, His artistic repertoire now in- New Jersey, to hand out gifts mon. One is a team sport domi- who was killed in action in cludes painting, sculpture, and and spread holiday cheer to nated by physical force with de- 2006 while conducting com- computer graphics. He is also the school’s special needs fined rules and objectives. The bat operations in Iraq. Zubie- creating graphics for the Ath- students. LADACIN (Lifetime other is an individual conception ta eagerly accepted, but there letics Department to expand Assistance for Developmental that is harmonic, creating visu- was no playbook to study. Ve- his portfolio. Zubieta is tar- and Challenging Individual al expression through bound- nier provided him with the geting a career in branding or Needs) Network is a non- less imagination and technical space for the mural and a por- packaging design and feels the profit agency that provides skill. But artist and author Carrie trait of Cosgrove. The concept campus location between New education, therapeutic, social, Lewis cites that each great artist and presentation were en- York City and Philadelphia is residential, and support shares five common characteris- trusted to Zubieta. OPPOSITE: A optimal for a designer. services for people with ce- tics: persistence, patience, pas- “There were three main themes mural Zubieta “I loved everything about rebral palsy or other physical painted in the sion, sense of adventure, and dis- to the mural,” says Zubieta. Student Center Monmouth,” says Zubieta. “I’ve disabilities. This was the 20th cipline. Those traits are equally “Lance Cpl. Cosgrove was the fo- to honor Lance made personal connections year Monmouth student-ath- Cpl. Christopher letes made the trip. prized in the makeup of a play- cal point, and we wanted to hon- Cosgrove III ’05, and developed friendships with er in pursuit of gridiron success. or the history of the Marines and who was killed people from so many differ- “Football and art are different, our nation’s flag, which is what in action in 2006 ent backgrounds. It’s been the while conducting but how you get things done is he fought for. I used the famous combat opera- perfect college experience for Compiled from Office of Athletics Com- tions in Iraq. very similar,” says Zubieta, who image of the six U.S. Marines me.” munication and New Media reports.

22 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 photo ANTHONY DEPRIMO Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 23 MELISSA SURDEZ WAS GIVEN SIX MONTHS TO LIVE. NOW, NEARLY SEVEN YEARS LATER, SHE’S SIGNSTELLING OTHERS THAT “TERMINAL” DOESN’T HAVE TO MEAN THEY SHOULD STOP LIVING.

BY MAUREEN HARMON PHOTOS BY MATT FURMAN

elissa Surdez ’91 will tell it like it is. She will tell you about the beauty of life—of the ways Mthat college love can turn into marriage; of children that can come your way; of simple moments like when those children OF bound in from school to tell you of an aced test, a scorned crush, or of landing the coveted part in the school play. She will also tell you about anger and true, crushing sadness—of unfair diagnoses when you had planned ahead, of mapping out your own funeral, of imagining the lives of those precious children and that husband moving on without you. And Misse, as friends and family know her, will tell you about these things—about anything you ask really—in a no-nonsense manner, in a New Jersey accent, her language riddled with profanity and punctuated with laughter. LIFE24 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 25 hen Misse was 35 years old, isse Surdez is still riddled with her sister, Jessi Israel, a phy- cancer. It is not going to go W sician, convinced her to par- Maway. She will not beat it. But ticipate in some of the early genetic that six-month lifespan has stretched screenings that focused on the BRCA1/ on for nearly seven years. It was a com- BRCA2 genes—indicators of breast bination of chemo drugs called Her- cancer. The sisters knew their breast ceptin and Perjeta. Every three weeks, cancer risk was higher than most she takes a day off of work and gets che- women. Their mother had been diag- motherapy. Within 48 hours, she’s back nosed with the disease at stage four, up and running—working, mothering, and died in 1988. life-coaching, and TED-talking about Knowing medicine like she did, Jessi doing all of it with a terminal illness— wasn’t going to take any risks. The sis- and life is relatively normal. “She’s do- ters were screened, and after six weeks, ing great,” says her husband, Lance ’90. the results were in: Jessi, the elder by 15 “She lost weight; she’s going back to the months, was positive for the BRCA gene. gym; she’s eating healthy. You wouldn’t Misse was negative. That meant that even know she had it.” Jessi was facing a 90 percent chance of But she certainly does have it. There developing the disease unless she had a is no question. If her oncologist takes double mastectomy, which she prompt- her off the drugs, she “lights up like a ly did. Misse’s chances dropped to just 3 Christmas tree in the scans,” as he likes percent, and she went on about her life. to put it. So, it’s as simple as that. She She had been getting regular mammo- will take this combination of drugs for grams prior to the screening because as long as she lives. The cancer, though of her family history. But the knowl- contained, will always call her body edge she now had in her back pocket— home. And she’s using that to connect that figure of 3 percent—put her mind “ with others. at ease. And she decided that she could Cancer “If you’re diagnosed with a chronic ill- wait on additional mammograms until ness, you’re going to be scared to death, the recommended age of 40. “You tell a is an and you’re probably going to start on woman who has kids and is working for individual the side of, ‘Jesus Christ, did this hap- a living that she’s not going to have to sport. So pen to you? Do you think I’m going to squish her enormous boobs in that un- when you die? Will I die? What am I going to do?’” comfortable machine? Well, I’ll see you says Misse, who was named the 2016 “Remember who your anchors in life are,” says Misse, go on the when I’m 40,” says Misse. “And I lived But Misse, a senior human resources mother had breast cancer. So did my pictured here playing a game of Scattergories with Working Mother of the Year by Johnson my life, from that point on, thinking I’m director with Johnson & Johnson, had aunt, her sister. I had to go off of those her anchors: husband, Lance, and children, Quinn and internet in & Johnson and today sits on the board Brielle. never getting breast cancer.” had the screenings. She knew the risks, facts, even though the one that made a state of of the Central and South New Jersey so her sister’s teary eyes, the need for me make all my decisions—the results branch of Susan G. Komen. “And I’m go- additional testing, the quickness with of the genetic test—came out negative. panic, and ing to hear that out. I’m going to ask you which her doctor had requested she get That was just a piece of information.” you start open questions. While you’re talking t was a Saturday in the shower when the mammogram completed, simply es- This is the kind of thing Misse tells peo- looking up and telling me this story, I am getting she first felt the lump in her upper caped her. “Even at that moment, I was ple who call her today and ask her how insurance company to understand her a piece of you—one of the many thou- Iright breast. “It felt like an egg under still like, ‘Well, what the hell could it she lives with a terminal illness. In ad- benefits. “I absolutely went into finaliz- survival sands of stories that make up you, and the skin,” says Misse, “and I was like, possibly be? Did something get stuck in dition to her role with Johnson & John- ing mode, but that, to me, only lasts so rates, you I’m listening. I’m figuring out a way to ‘Shit, what the hell is that?’” there?’” son, she’s become a life coach and a con- long. It only has a certain runway.” have to connect and be able to use it back with After breast exams by her sister and Misse, the mother of two children fidante to others who received terminal This runway brought Misse to her you, so that you can start to see through her gynecologist, she was given en- named Quinn and Brielle, had stage diagnoses—she’s truly living, knowing own fork in the road. Sit tight and wait remember: to the other side and remember who couraging words—“It’s probably just three breast cancer. She was 40 years how she will likely die. for death, or live with this particular you’re only your anchors in your life are.” a cyst”—and a script for a mammo- old—the same age her mother was when When the diagnosis came—and then hand. She decided to believe in mod- playing For Misse, those anchors are Lance gram, which the doctors wanted to she died of the disease. came again, when she was diagnosed ern medicine. To trust her oncologist. and Brielle and Quinn and Jessi. Even have completed quickly, within three with stage four breast cancer after a brief To trust her sister. And to do what she against though cancer would like to take her days. Jessi encouraged her sister to time of remission and given six months was told. What her sister told her was your own out, those anchors keep her ground- come to Monmouth Medical Center, to live—Misse, Type A in the extreme, this: “Cancer is an individual sport. So self. Your ed to this life. When she thinks too far where she worked, so she could read enetic testing, Ancestry.com, began making plans. “I do all the bills. I when you go on the internet in a state DNA, your ahead, when she takes herself out of the the slides herself. Misse did as she was and 23andMe are all wonderful do everything. I balance the checkbook, of panic, and you start looking up sur- present moment when she’s laughing told and parked herself in the waiting Gthings, says Misse, but you can’t so I came home that week, and I wrote a vival rates, you have to remember: genetic with her husband or hearing about her room in her robe as her sister headed use them alone. “Every ounce of infor- big spreadsheet for [my husband] Lance You’re only playing against your own makeup, son’s college experience or her daugh- in to review the images. When the old- mation—like true, factual, non-fake of all of the bills, all of the passwords, the self. Your DNA, your genetic makeup, are not in ter’s final years of high school, she reer sister returned, she had tears in her news information—will help you make usernames.” She called Johnson & John- are not in those stats.” Misse simplifies members, “Wait a minute, I can’t go eyes. All she said was, “Misse, it’s not decisions,” she says. “But you still have son to make sure the beneficiary infor- it: “I’m in my own swim lane.” those stats. anywhere. This is too grand, hanging a cyst.” to go off of all the other factors. My mation was up to date. She called the ” out with these guys.”

26 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 27 DRAWN OUT

WHEN FRANK GOGOL BEGAN PROCESSING A PERSONAL TRAGEDY, HE TURNED TO AN UNEXPECTED SOURCE: COMICS. BY BREANNE MCCARTHY ILLUSTRATIONS BY NENAD CVITICANIN

rank Gogol’s early life was a series of painful setbacks. His father died of a drug overdose before he turned 2. His mother, who also struggled with addiction, did her best to Fsupport them by working multiple waitressing jobs, but they moved around often.

Gogol enjoyed a relatively stable home which seemed mostly normal to him. “My life for a few years after his mother met mom—she wasn’t the best person, but she his stepfather. There were Christmas- was a good mom. She really did bust her es spent as a family, birthdays that had butt working two to three jobs making gifts. But his stepfather also struggled sure I was taken care of.” with substance abuse, and when Gogol’s An anchor in the chaos for Gogol was mother relapsed around the time he the fictional worlds provided by books, turned 12, he was sent to live with fam- comics, and cartoons. He was an avid ily friends. When they were no longer reader and vividly remembers buy- able to take care of him, he was placed ing his first comic book at the Rite Aid in a group home where he remained in Hazlet’s Airport Plaza in 1997. “I through his teen years up until the think having those colorful characters week before he moved in at Monmouth. like the Ninja Turtles and Spider-Man During his freshman year, Gogol re- growing up, they were helpful in keep- ceived word that his mother had been ing me young when there were things hit by a car and was in a coma; she died a going on around me that would maybe few months later. make other people have to grow up a lit- “If I had known then what I know now, I tle faster,” says Gogol. may have realized things were a little bit His love of reading led him to take as more off,” Gogol says of his upbringing, many English courses as he could in

28 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 29 “ moments of grief, some, like “Prayer,” are ultimately stories of hope. I had all of “You know that the mother’s and son’s this stuff lives are not going to get markedly better between that story and the next morn- happen ing, or maybe the next year, but the uni- to me, and verse sort of provided for them in that moment,” says Gogol. “It’s realistic—it’s sometimes not perfect—but it’s hopeful … and that is I’d dealt kind of how my life has gone.” with it, and Once he had 10 stories written, Gogol paid over $3,000 out of pocket to have other times them produced by professionals. He I hadn’t. sold collector comic books to pay for a large portion of that cost and then This sort of started a Kickstarter campaign to re- gave mE a coup some of the cost and to get the content out so that people could read framework it. Supporters who gave $1 or more to under- would receive a PDF download of the finished product: GRIEF, the antholo- stand what gy. He launched the campaign in April I had been 2017, and to Gogol’s surprise, supporters surpassed his goal of $1,500 within through the first 10 hours. A few months later, and what I Source Point Press approached him was going with an offer to publish GRIEF in pa- perback form. through up Print copies of GRIEF are available on- until that line, and Gogol also sells them at conven- tions. While doing so at New York Comic point in my Con, he experienced a touching moment life. with a fan. A trans man who had pur- chased GRIEF the day before returned ” after reading the story “Different.” The man broke down, crying quietly on the convention floor and thanked Gogol for high school, and it was there that he ing to be a writer, trying, and then not with stories his aunt had told him of the stages of the grieving process,” says total—two for each of the five stages of showing a trans character in both a posi- first felt inspired to write. For an hon- getting really far.” the struggles faced by parents raising Gogol. He hadn’t consciously set out the grieving process. The stories span tive and accurate light. ors class, he had to read Their Eyes Were Then in early 2015, Gogol had an aha children on the spectrum. Within two to write about grief but thinks that be- genres—from drama to horror, magic “I do want to be a socially conscious Watching God. A key passage in the moment. Feeling unfulfilled at work, weeks of the class ending, he had found cause of his life experiences, the griev- to superhero—and while all address the writer … and I’m of the opinion that sto- book, in which the main character de- he was reviewing a conversation he an artist, colorist, and letterer who ing process had become somewhat in- topic of grief, many also tackle current ries should be useful to people in some cides to leave an abusive relationship had with a friend on Facebook Messen- turned the script into a complete illus- grained in him through the years. (Not social issues. “Different,” for example, is way, shape, or form, either entertain- and lets her hair down for the first time, ger that had spanned years. When Go- trated comic within 10 days. to mention, he particularly loved a com- about a transgender woman struggling ing, or they should learn some lesson resonated with Gogol. gol saw how long he had talked about “Once I had that finished story, and ic book miniseries called Fallen Son: to find her place in the world. She suc- from it,” says Gogol. “And if we, as a so- “It’s sort of on-the-nose poetic. It’s wanting to be a writer—without actu- I could read the script next to the fin- The Death of Captain America, which ceeds by finally accepting who she is and ciety … talked about [grief] in a more symbolic of her having her freedom— ally doing much writing—he realized ished pages and say, ‘This is my thing,’ I included five stand-alone stories of uses her painful experiences as a spring- positive way and embraced it and were her hair is no longer up in this tight it was time to “fish or cut bait.” With really—there’s no better word for it, but Marvel superheroes grieving the death board to create a better version of her more open about it, then I think we’d be thing; now it’s down and free like she is,” the blessing of his then-girlfriend now I—got addicted to it,” says Gogol. of Captain America.) life. Another story, “Prayer,” features a better off for it.” says Gogol. “When I took that in, I real- fiancee, Catherine, he quit his job to Encouraged, he set out to expand his “That was another one of those touch- woman in a Narcotics Anonymous meet- No longer unsure what to write about, ly fell in love with what stories can do.” figure out exactly what it was that he portfolio. He wrote a few stories back- stone moments for me, not as a writing expressing how her financial strug- Gogol says he’s at work on several books. He enrolled at Monmouth as an En- wanted to do. to-back, writing each in a different er but as a person, because I had all gles make it impossible to buy her son But GRIEF will always hold a special glish major with minors in creative He freelanced at first and then, genre to flex his creative muscles. When of this stuff happen to me, and some- a Christmas present. When she leaves place for him. writing and graphic design, earning his thanks to a gift from Catherine, en- he had six stories finished, he laid the times I’d dealt with it, and other times the meeting, she finds a box of presents “This is the kind of book I wish I’d had bachelor’s in 2010 and, a year later, his rolled in a class offered by Comics Ex- scripts across his office floor to look for I hadn’t,” says Gogol. “This sort of gave sitting on her trunk (see illustration when I was growing up. I think I would master’s in English with a focus in cre- perience, an online comic book school. holes in genre and style that he could me a framework to understand what I above). Gogol says “Prayer” is plucked have done things differently with my ative writing. He quickly found a job in For the class, he had to write a five- fill with additional stories. He noticed a had been through and what I was going straight from his childhood—but it was own grieving process, and healing, and marketing but floundered on the cre- page script. That story, “Embrace,” is a pattern. through up until that point in my life, his birthday, not Christmas, and rather growing up,” says Gogol. “And that has ative writing front, he says. He knew snapshot into the life of a father strug- “I was moving things around, moving and it really was just very helpful to me than buying him presents, his mother’s 100 percent been my experience talking he wanted to write but was unsure gling to connect with his autistic son. stories next to each other, and I realized in a weird way.” NA group chipped in to buy him a cake. to people—that is what [GRIEF] is doing what to write about. “I was having a lot Gogol, whose cousin has autism, com- that these stories—sometimes directly, Gogol ran with the idea and round- While several of the stories touch on for people, and that’s what brings me the of false starts: talking a lot about want- bined his own worries of parenthood sometimes a bit indirectly—addressed ed out the collection with 10 stories in dark themes, highlighting the harsher most happiness by far.”

30 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 31 PIECES OF SARAH HOME ALMUHAISH HOME COUNTRY: SAUDI ARABIA IN SAUDI ARABIA, IT IS CUSTOMARY TO burn oud, or agarwood, in a censer at celebratory events such as weddings, INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS during Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr, and to SHARE THE MEMENTOS THAT welcome guests into your home, says Sarah Almuhaish. Other types of incense are also REMIND THEM OF HOME. regularly burned in censers, so that their fumes can freshen clothes and a person’s BY TONY MARCHETTI hair. “People in my country spend a lot of PHOTOS BY ANTHONY DEPRIMO money on perfume—a lot,” she explains. “It’s part of our culture.” Almuhaish, who received a scholarship he students who come to Monmouth from 31 countries from the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission around the world choose to do so for the same reasons to pursue her M.S. in information systems their domestic counterparts do: competitive academic at Monmouth, says she had to overcome “culture shock, weather shock, everything programs; the opportunity to actually know their shock” upon arriving in the U.S. from professors (and have their professors know them—by Al-Hasa, the oasis town in Saudi Arabia’s T Eastern Province that she calls home. She name); the allure of living and learning on an idyllic campus that’s is settled in fine now—she recently got her one mile from the beach and an hour from New York City. driver’s license and bought a car—but still But the journeys international students take to get here can thinks of home often. “The sense of smell is important to mem- span oceans and continents, meaning visits home are few and ory,” says Almuhaish. “And any time I smell far between. For that reason, many students who come here from these perfumes, I remember my family, my abroad bring a treasured object to serve as a reminder of the people home, the parties we would have, and all the people I left over there. I have pictures and places they left behind. We asked these 11 students to share the on my phone, but it’s not the same. These story behind their piece of home. scents take me home.”

Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 33 DYLAN BARKHUIZEN HOME COUNTRY: eing recruited to swim for Monmouth University made SOUTH AFRICA it possible for Dylan Barkhuizen to pursue his dream of Battending college in the U.S. It also meant leaving behind everything he holds dear: family, friends, his African Bulldog Sven, and his home.

Barkhuizen admits the first two When he left for Monmouth, Barkhu- weeks of living on his own “half- izen packed a South African flag to way across the world” were rough. hang in his residence hall as a remind- “Homesickness hit me so hard,” he er of the people and places he’d left says. “It was hard to grasp that I was behind. “It brings back a lot of mem- so far away from home.” Daily phone ories of growing up,” he says. “South calls with mom helped while he set- Africa is such a beautiful country, tled in and got to know his professors and I’m so proud of it. Looking at the ZAINAB and teammates. Now that it’s behind flag just makes me happy. It’s a small him, he says the process made him ap- thing, but it makes a massive impact preciate his family even more. “I nev- knowing that I’ve got something from er knew how much I loved my parents home to remind me of where I came AUDU until homesickness hit me.” from.”

HOME COUNTRY: NIGERIA THERE IS A REASON ZAINAB AUDU projects a regal air: She is descended from royalty. Her paternal grandfather, now deceased, abdicated his seat as Onu of Ajakouta (an area within Kogi State) because he feared for his safety. He advised his son to stay away too if ever asked to rule. “My father is a medical doctor in Lagos—he’s not going to go be a king,” Audu says with a laugh, as if it’s all very normal. So while the royal bloodline lives on, don’t expect anyone from Audu’s family to assume the throne, she says. A student in the M.S. in information systems program, Audu says the fabrics that make up her dress represent her parents’ lineage. The patterned part is Ankara, typically worn by the Yoruba people of Oyo State (mom’s side). The solid part is Itauba, typically worn by the Igala and Ebira peo- ples of Kogi (dad’s side). “Back home when you wear this, no one cares,” says Audu. “But it’s the first thing Americans see and ask about, and it gives me a chance to talk about home.”

34 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 photo NAME NAME Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 35 HOME COUNTRY: JAMAICA

THE LEATHER BRACELET ON Alicia South’s wrist reads, “Jamaica One Love.” She bought it two years ago at a craft market in Kingston, just before coming to Monmouth to pursue her M.B.A. “It’s a typical Jamaican greeting,” she says. MEGAN DE LANGE “Every now and again I’ll look at it and smile.” South had just finished her last exam—ever—prior to her pho- to-shoot. Hence the big smile. That’s not to say she won’t miss Monmouth. She says she “found a family away from home” through Monmouth’s Global Education office. HOME COUNTRY: She served as president of SOUTH AFRICA the International Club for a year and, last fall, mentored er teammates call her two first-year international “Lil Meg,” so it’s perhaps students. “It felt good to facilitate someone else’s Hfitting that the object transition and make them Megan De Lange brought to feel comfortable here.” remind her of home—“lucky Born and raised in Jamaica, South says her beans”—are themselves experiences at Monmouth diminutive. But you’d be foolish changed the trajectory of to underestimate the strength of her life, and she is contem- plating staying in America. either De Lange or her beans. To do so, she’ll need to find full-time employment De Lange says the beans are the seeds before her VISA runs of coral trees that are native to South out. So recruiters take Africa. (In fact, the trees from which note: If you’re seeking an they come, E. lysistemon, are often re- energetic, newly minted ferred to as “Lucky Bean Trees.”) The ALICIA M.B.A. grad with expe- beans are supposed to keep you safe and rience in international give you luck, says De Lange, adding, “I banking and finance— keep one with me all the time.” and an infectious smile A sophomore majoring in biology with to boot—look no further. a concentration in molecular cell phys- SOUTH iology, De Lange says her beans come from trees that grow outside her grandmother’s holiday home in Plettenberg Bay. “I go there every December, and I’ll gather some when I visit. I brought a bunch back and gave them to all the girls on the team.” Last fall, De Lange started all 20 games for the Hawks field hockey team, which captured the MAAC championship. Like we said, don’t underestimate the power of De Lange and her lucky beans.

36 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 37 few months before leaving for Monmouth on a tennis GEORGIA scholarship, Sergio Martinez was walking through a market Ain Mexico City with his grandfather, Javier Jimenez, when a GARDEN silver bill clip engraved with the Mayan calendar caught his eye. “I said, ‘Hey, Grandpa, can you buy this for me? I want to have it with BACHOP me to put my bills in it like you do,’” recalls Martinez.

Jimenez has been an influential pres- caring person and has always been sup- ence in Martinez’s life. “I look up to him portive of me and my tennis.” And, adds HOME COUNTRY: a lot,” says Martinez about his grand- Martinez, his grandfather always car- MEXICO father, who still lives next door to the ries a bill clip wherever he goes. HOME COUNTRY: Martinez home in the city of Orizaba. Now, so too does Martinez. “It makes “He built his own construction com- me think of the Mayan culture, which NEW ZEALAND pany from the ground up. He’s a hard has a very strong presence where I come “SPORTS ARE VERY BIG IN MY worker—a laborer who works with his from. And it also makes me think of my family,” says Georgia Garden Bachop. hands but has a soft side too. He’s a very family, and my grandfather especially.” Her father, Stephen, was a star rugby player and coach; her mother, the late Sue Garden Bachop, was a four-sport star and one of the first women to coach a men’s rugby team in New Zealand; and her brothers, Jackson and Connor, both play professional rugby. SERGIO At Monmouth, Georgia has made a name for herself in a different sport: field hockey. While etching her name MARTINEZ across the program’s record books, she helped lead the Hawks to two MAAC Tournament Championships (2016 and 2018). Last fall, as a senior, she was named the MAAC Player and Offensive Player of the Year and the conference’s All-Championship Team MVP. Georgia was born in southern New Zealand, lived in England for four years, and then moved to Wellington, so homesickness “isn’t something that happens to me,” she says. “Home is where the people that you love are, and I love my team and the friends that I’ve made here so much.” Nevertheless, the photo of her parents serves as a reminder of sorts. “It was taken just after they found out my dad was named to the national rugby team,” says Georgia. “They were successful in their sports and helped set things up for me, so I just want to follow in their footsteps and make my family proud.”

38 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 39 HAMZA ZAFAR ANEESHA MOYYA

HOME COUNTRY: INDIA ou know the cliché about kids taking apart toys to see THE PIECES IN ANEESHA MOYYA’S HOME COUNTRY: how they work? I was all about that when I was little,” jewelry collection come from across PAKISTAN India, and each item has its own story. But “Y says Hamza Zafar. He says that love of tinkering and together they remind Moyya primarily technology led to his interest in the software and IT fields. After of her late grandmother, Sukanya, who accompanied her on countless shopping earning his bachelor’s degree in Pakistan, the Lahore native wanted to expeditions to acquire them. “She had continue his studies in America. “It’s a driving ground for innovation— great taste,” says Moyya with a smile. “I the perfect sandbox if you have an idea,” he says. “You’ve got the tools have an emotional connection to so many of these pieces because of her.” you need at your disposal, and there is a community here that will A self-described introvert, Moyya says help you make your dream a reality.” leaving her home in Hyderabad meant taking a big step outside her comfort zone. After considering the University of Michi- Each page features a simple line draw- However, doing so has given her a new- gan and Penn State, he chose Monmouth’s ing and a few words that highlight the found sense of empowerment. “I’m close M.S. in software engineering program be- little things Pakistani people enjoy to my family. My parents always helped me cause the people here were “friendly and in their daily lives. “These things are in all of my decisions,” she says. “But when inviting,” he says. “The other universities unique to, and ingrained in, our cul- you start doing things on your own, you re- I talked with, their emails sounded robot- ture,” says Zafar. alize, ‘I can do that. I don’t need to depend ic—like auto replies.” One page shows an illustration of two on anyone else.’” Coming to Monmouth marked Zafar’s people and the words “Main aur tum” Moyya says it had long been her dream first trip outside of Pakistan. Despite (“me and you”). Zafar’s friends changed to study for her master’s in information that, he says he didn’t plan to bring any the text to read “us” and then drew systems in the U.S. “I enjoy every day memento of home because he doesn’t themselves onto the page and signed it. here,” she says, adding that her grand- get homesick. But when his friends When they showed it to him, they gave mother would be particularly proud. “She came to see him off, they brought him him a hug. “That almost made me tear wanted me to go, so I think she would be a present: the book Choti Choti Khu- up, which is a really big thing for me,” really happy I’m here.” shiyan. “The title loosely translates to Zafar says with a laugh. “I’m not a sen- small pieces of happiness,” says Zafar. timental guy.”

40 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 41 HOME COUNTRY: NETHERLANDS

THE PHOTO BOOK JOSEPHINE VAN Der Hoop’s mother made for her is filled with scenes from her family’s first visit to Monmouth. “It’s nice because I can look at it whenever I want to and be reminded of them being here,” says the junior business management major. A midfielder on the Hawks field hockey team, Van Der Hoop says Monmouth’s size, location, and beautiful campus helped seal the deal when she was being recruited by colleges. “I’ve loved it here since my first semester,” says Van Der Hoop. “I went home [to Rotterdam] after my first semester with a big smile on my face and told my parents, ‘I’m never leaving there.’” RIDHIMA MEHRA

HOME COUNTRY: fter earning her bachelor’s in computer science from INDIA Punjab Technical University, Ridhima Mehra worked as an AIT consultant in Chandigarh, India, for four years before deciding to pursue an M.B.A. to advance her career.

She says she had heard of Monmouth time marketing job with Monmouth’s through a friend of a friend, and when Athletics Department. she took a closer look at the Universi- “In my culture, whenever we start a ty, she liked what she saw: a competi- new task, or a new job, or even a new tive business program, evening class- day, we worship Lord Ganesha,” says es, and scholarship and assistantship Mehra. “We ask him to shower his opportunities that would make getting blessings on us so that whatever we her degree more affordable. One semes- are about to initiate turns out to be a JOSEPHINE ter into her studies, she’s happy with positive.” Coming to Monmouth “was her decision. “My professors are really a new beginning for my life,” she says. interactive, the classes are challenging, “I brought the Lord Ganesha idol so VAN DER HOOP and my grad assistantship [in the Leon that every day I will have his blessings Hess Business School] is going well,” with me, and whatever I’m doing I’ll says Mehra, who also landed a part- be successful in it.”

42 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 43 Class notes ALUMNI LIFE

How you can help Human trafficking victims are often “hidden right in front of us” says the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Since 2017, Silva and a team THE CHANGEMAKER » Alumni making waves Monitor and Combat that includes a lawyer, social Trafficking in Per- workers, and other nurses, have sons. Common indi- trained almost 600 Cedars-Si- cators to a trafficking Stopping nai staff members on how to situation can include recognize signs of human traf- persons living with ficking. Silva’s team gives lec- their employer traffic tures that include background or with multiple information on the issue, such KAREN SILVA IS TRAINING HEALTH CARE people in cramped as different types of human traf- WORKERS IN LOS ANGELES TO SPOT AND conditions, and ficking and how traffickers lure persons showing a ASSIST INDIVIDUALS TRAPPED IN LABOR victims and keep them trapped. reluctance to speak AND SEX TRAFFICKING OPERATIONS. The team also presents com- individually—or, when mon behavioral and physical BY MEERI KIM doing so, providing indications to watch for that scripted answers. might show someone is being If you suspect such s Karen Silva ’00M learned more about human trafficked: certain injuries, tat- an occurrence, the toos or brands, implanted chips, trafficking, she came to the realization that this office recommends inappropriate clothing, and form of modern-day slavery was happening you call 911 or the A someone else speaking for the National Human everywhere around her. Silva came to the U.S. as a person seeking care. Trafficking Hotline at Despite being less than two nurse from Brazil—a country with high rates of sex 888-373-7888. years old, the initiative has al- and labor trafficking—at the age of 24. Now, nearly 30 ready raised awareness and years later, she has made it her personal mission to helped victims. train hospital staff to recognize the signs of human “This year, staff members at Cedars-Sinai were able to de- trafficking and help aid the victims. tect 20 victims of human trafficking—and 10 of them ac- “Human trafficking has un- ship, or age. However, certain cepted help,” says Silva, who fortunately become more com- states like Texas, Florida, and received her M.S. in nursing and mon because it’s a very profit- Silva’s home state of California her post-master’s certificate in able criminal business,” says suffer from higher rates of hu- forensic nursing at Monmouth Silva, who today is an educa- man trafficking. University. tion program coordinator and “Here in California, we have one In addition, she holds a doctor- instructor of psychiatry at Ce- of the highest rates of human traf- ate in psychology and says her dars-Sinai Medical Center in ficking in the U.S.,” says Silva. “It “day job” at the hospital involves Los Angeles. “A lot of criminals is a border state, and there’s Hol- teaching other nurses how to are letting go of drug traffick- lywood of course, so a lot of young work with particularly vulner- ing and going into human traf- people come here to pursue their able patients. Silva responds to ficking because they can use the dreams and fall into the traps of psychiatric emergencies in the same commodity over and over, traffickers, who lure them in with hospital, works side-by-side unlike with drugs.” false promises of work or educa- with nurses at the patient’s bed- Thousands of human traffick- tional opportunities.” side, works on ways to prevent ing cases are reported in the U.S. Health care practitioners—in patient falls, and troubleshoots each year, but since victims rare- particular those who work in problems in the care unit. ly come forward to seek help, emergency departments—are “I’m a jack of all trades, and many more cases go unnoticed. well-positioned to identify and my job is not limited to one or

Victims are hidden in plain sight assist victims. A 2014 study OPPOSITE: Silva was the two things,” she says. “But this at nightclubs, truck stops, facto- found that 88 percent of sex co-author of the first schol- project on human trafficking ries, and farms. Anyone can fall trafficking survivors had some arly article ever published education is going to go on for- in Brazil about forensic prey to traffickers, regardless of contact with health care profes- nursing. ever. I think the issue is that a person’s race, gender, citizen- sionals while being trafficked. important.”

44 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 photo JOHN DAVIS Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 45 CLASS NOTES

their productivity and effective- 1 2 ness by saving time and reducing personal stress. Over 5,000 people throughout the U.S. have graduated from their various PEP® Programs and have saved more than nine hours per week, amounting to a gross savings of over 2.5 million hours of time. The Shermans have had hiking adventures in England, Spain, France, and Italy. Lynn, who was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, and received her B.S. in communications from Clarion State College and an M.Ed. from Alumni the University of Pittsburgh, has also hiked in Patagonia and New- foundland, as well as climbed Mt. roundup Kilimanjaro and Mt. Whitney. The LISTED BY GRADUATION YEAR Shermans grow grapes and make award-winning wine at Rancho yon. Their 16-mile adventure was Wamhas, their home and vine- a celebration of Bary’s 77th birth- yard, in Fallbrook, California. 1960s day. While at Monmouth, Bary »»Bary C. Sherman ’63 and his was president of TKB fraternity, »»Even though they were strang- 3 4 5 wife, Lynn, recently hiked the a founding member of TKE, pres- ers to each other, Connie Gry- Grand Canyon. They hiked down ident of the Inter Fraternity/So- czka ’66 and Marianne and Tony the super steep South Kaibab rority Council, and vice president Volonnino soon discovered that Trail (6.5 miles), spent two nights of student government. Since they had common ground on for- at Phantom Ranch at the bottom 1990, the Shermans have operat- eign soil. While waiting in a line of the Grand Canyon, and then ed PEPworldwide, a training and at the Rome International Airport hiked back up the super long consulting firm that specializes in Rome, Italy, Connie struck up Bright Angel Trail (9.5 miles) to in helping people, in both public a conversation with the couple the South Rim of the Grand Can- and private sectors, improve who were standing behind her. It didn’t take long before they discovered that Monmouth University was familiar to both of them. Although the Volonninos have not yet visited the campus, they were proud to say that CELEBRATIONS their granddaughter, Lauren, is CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: 1. Last August, President Grey Dimenna and staff from the Offices of Alumni enrolled as a first-year student at Engagement and Annual Giving and Career Services met with more than 85 Monmouth alumni Monmouth. who work at Commvault in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. 2. President Emeritus Samuel Magill (left), »»Nina Anderson ’67 received Professor Emeritus Robert Rechnitz, and Joan Rechnitz ’84, ’12HN outside Rechnitz Hall last summer. the Wright Brothers Master 3. Monmouth alumni from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Lakehurst Pilot Award for 50 years of safe flying presented by the FAA gathered together in September at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. The pictured in Hartford at the Connecticut alumni are, from left, Tom Donnelly ’92; Rudy Masia ’84, ’86M; David Kiernan ’87, ’00M; Gayle (Kraus) Ninety-Nine’s women pilot’s Edwards ’86; Kathleen Donnelly ’91; and Allison (Barrow) Murawski ’10. 4. Iota Alpha Phi sisters meeting. Anderson says she was the first female corporate Joan R. Devivo-Brownlee ’78, Kim (Bolton) Miller ’78, Patty (Wilson) Wilhelmsen ’78, Sharon (Pitt) NOT TO MISS » This juried exhibition, spurred by jet pilot in New Jersey flying Campagnola ’79, and Patty (Wasylyk) Lewandowski ’80 celebrated their sorority’s 40th reunion Now–April 30 for Philip Morris out of Teter- the #MeToo social media movement, last fall at Homecoming. 5. The Phi Delta Sigma reunion was held on campus in early September. BEYOND boro Airport in Teterboro, New aims to raise awareness, as well as Jersey. She soloed in 1968 at the There to celebrate were (front row, left to right) John Winterstella ’65, Mike Tufariello, Brian Limberg #METOO drum up support and solutions, for now defunct Red Bank Airport, ’64, Frank Oakley ’69, Phil Hueston, and John Burns ’62, as well as, (back row, left to right), Chuck formerly in Red Bank, New Gerdon, director of development for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences; Bob Davis ’65; Paul those affected by sexual assault and Jersey. Retired, Anderson harassment. Continued, p. 49 Doherty ’67, ’04HN; Bob “Bis” Beni; John McCarthy ’61; Nelson “Bucko” Carr ’65; Ozzie Measure ’65.

46 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 47 CLASS NOTES

now flies for fun out of Great pagnola ’79, and Patty (Wasylyk) Creativity, and a grant from the 1 2 Barrington Airport in Great Lewandowski ’80. “The old girls Urban Coast Institute. Barrington, Massachusetts. still know how to have a good time,” Devivo-Brownlee said. 1990s »»Kurt Gruendling ’96M is vice chair of the board of directors 1970s for the Lake Champlain Regional 1980s Chamber of Commerce. He is »»Jeff Zamek ’70 walked into a also the vice president of market- pottery studio in 1967 and start- »»Mark Ludak ’81 had his photog- ing and business development at ed his career as an amateur pot- raphy series, Transition: Vietnam, Waitsfield and Champlain Valley 1 ter. After completing a degree on display in the windows of the Telecom where he is responsi- in business from Monmouth, he Art Alliance of Monmouth Coun- ble for all facets of marketing, obtained B.F.A./M.F.A. degrees ty in Red Bank, New Jersey, for customer service, public relations, in ceramics from the New York the month of November. Ludak strategic planning, and new prod- State College of Ceramics at traveled through Vietnam over uct and business development. Alfred University in Alfred, New a two-year period exploring the Gruendling also currently serves York. While there he developed rapid changes taking place there on the marketing and public the soda firing system at the as it becomes a significant part relations committee of NTCA – college and went on to teach at of the global economy. In 2018, The Rural Broadband Association, Bard College at Simon’s Rock he was awarded an individual where he served as committee in Great Barrington, Massachu- fellowship in visual art-photogra- chairman, and is past chairman setts, and Kean University in phy from the New Jersey State of the marketing committee for Union, New Jersey. During this Council on the Arts. In 2016, he the Organization for the Promo- time, Zamek earned his living as received a Puffin Foundation tion and Advancement of Small a professional potter. In 1980, Grant for photography. Ludak is Telecommunications Companies he started Ceramics Consulting the recipient of two Monmouth (OPASTCO). Services, a ceramics consulting University Grants in Aid of Continued, p. 50 firm that develops clay body and glaze formulas for ceramics 3 4 5 supply companies throughout the United States. He works with individual potters, ceramics companies, and industry, offering technical advice on clays, glazes, kilns, raw materials, ceramic toxicology, and product development. He is a regular contributor to several ceramics magazines and technical journals. Zamek’s books What Every Potter Should Know and Safety in the Ceram- ics Studio, featuring the safe handling of ceramic materials, and The Potters Health & Safety Questionnaire are available from Jeff Zamek/Ceramics Consulting Services. His latest book, The Potter’s Studio Clay & Glaze NOT TO MISS » Follow six Louisiana women as March 6–14 Handbook, was published in they gather in their small-town June 2009. STEEL CELEBRATIONS beauty parlor to gossip, complain, BIRTHS: 1. Jacqueline Turner ’12 and Eric Bancroft ’09 welcomed their first child, Marina Christine MAGNOLIAS »»Joan R. Devivo-Brownlee ’78 and share the joys and sorrows Bancroft, at 7:16 p.m. on July 16, 2018. 2. Lori Kaufman ’07 and her husband, Shane Derris, welcomed reports that Iota Alpha Phi soror- they face in their lives in the spring their first child, Simon Baines Derris, on Nov. 9, 2018. WEDDINGS: 3. Jennifer Jamieson ’13 wed ity celebrated its 40th reunion at production of the Department of Michael DiBerardino ’13 on August 25, 2018. 4. Kathleen Fitzpatrick ’09 married Christopher Baile ’10 Homecoming last fall. In attendance were Devivo-Brownlee, Kim Music and Theatre Arts. in Manasquan, New Jersey, on September 28, 2018. 5. Christine (Schumann) Finan ’07 wed Jim Finan (Bolton) Miller ’78, Patty (Wilson) on Sept. 14, 2018. Wilhelmsen ’78, Sharon (Pitt) Cam-

48 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 49 CLASS NOTES »»Superintendent of Long into the Red Bank Regional High »»Award-winning businesswoman, Their success depends on you. Branch Public Schools, Mike School Athletic Hall of Fame. respected keynote speaker and Salvatore ’98 was named New best-selling author Donna Cardillo Jersey’s 2019 Superintendent ’02, also known to many as the of the Year by the New Jersey “inspiration nurse,” was accepted Association of School Admin- as a fellow into the American ith more than 30 percent of Monmouth University students istrators. A prolific writer and Academy of Nursing. She is one qualifying for need-based federally funded aid, and more than 40 presenter, Salvatore is often 2000s of 195 nurse leaders accepted into tapped to speak on various the academy for making significant percent identifying themselves as first-generation college students, topics including, but not limited »»Bill Bradshaw ’01 was listed contributions to the nursing and W the need for private financial support is clear. to: early childhood education, as No. 85 on InsiderNJ’s OUT health care fields. Cardillo makes digital leadership, account- 100 Power List, a first-of-its an impact through her speaking ability, teacher evaluation, kind-tribute to influential engagements at numerous nursing seeks to raise $15 million in standardized assessment, and LBGTs in New Jersey politics. and health care conferences, Together We Can: The Campaign for Scholarship 21st-century leadership. He has Bradshaw sits on the board business groups, and health care gifts and pledges by June 30, 2019, to ensure that deserving students can benefit served as a keynote speaker for of directors for Garden State facilities, as well as through her the New Jersey Association for Equality, The Center in As- published books and signature from the outstanding, highly personalized, private education that Monmouth Supervision and Curriculum De- bury Park, and the Monmouth programs. The fellows were University provides. velopment, Rutgers University County Fair Housing Board. He honored at the academy’s annual Certified Educational Facilities recently joined KPMG, LLP on policy conference in November. Manager, the National Plant the national human resources Please, give now at monmouth.edu/together. Management Association, Fu- team, as a manager of their in- »»A staged reading of Jennifer ture Teachers of America, and clusion and diversity initiatives. Pergola’s ’05 play Change or the New Jersey Department of He was recognized by InsiderNJ Death, a murder mystery spoof, Homeland Security. for raising almost $100,000 for was performed by The Grange LGBT equality within 15 minutes Playhouse in Howell, New Jersey, »»Kyle La Baron ’99, who played at Garden State Equality’s in November. soccer as a Hawk, was inducted annual gala last spring. »»Chrissy Skudera ’05 completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training with the School Yoga Institute in Calca, Peru. During her five weeks in Peru, she also hiked Machu Picchu and explored the Peruvian Amazon.

»»Christine (Schumann) Finan ’07 wed Jim Finan on September 14, 2018. There were many Monmouth alumni in attendance, including matron of honor Stacie (Czurlanis) Hipolito ’07.

»»Lori Kaufman ’07 and her husband, Shane Derris, welcomed their first child, Simon Baines Der- ris, at 12:39 a.m. on November 9, 2018. The family lives in Cranford, Visiting writer Hanif Abdurraqib is NOT TO MISS » New Jersey. March 7 a poet, essayist, and cultural critic VISITING who has been published in The New »»Grant Lucking ’08, ’10M has been promoted vice president of WRITERS Yorker, The New York Times, and SERIES environmental affairs at New Jer- Pitchfork, among others. sey Builder’s Association. Now in his fourth year at the association, Lucking previously served as the director of communications and public affairs.

»»Eric Bancroft ’09. See note for Jacqueline Turner ’12. Continued, p. 52

50 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 51 CLASS NOTES

»»Kathleen Fitzpatrick ’09 »»Rachel Feirstein ’11 is engaged »»Jacqueline Turner ’12 and Eric 1 2 wed Christopher Baile ’10 in to Frederick Borsello. Feirstein is Bancroft ’09 welcomed their first Manasquan, New Jersey, on Sep- an elementary teacher on Long child, Marina Christine Bancroft, at tember 28, 2018. Island, New York. The couple plans 7:16 p.m. on July 16, 2018. on a November 2019 wedding. »»Nick Lezoli ’09 is the new »»Jennifer Jamieson ’13 wed Mi- boys’ varsity basketball coach at »»Christopher Cavalier ’12 co-pub- chael DiBerardino ’13 on August the Michael J. Petrides School lished a book, Alive by Grace: A 25, 2018.. in Staten Island, New York. A Mother’s Story with a Message of special education teacher, Lezoli Hope from Christopher, which tells »»Bryan Jenner ’13M was elect- has coached the Panthers’ junior the inspirational true story of his ed to a three-year term on the varsity team for the past five life. Cavalier was the first patient Manchester Board of Educa- seasons. born with congenital diaphrag- tion. A retired public-school matic hernia (CDH) to survive an teacher, Jenner is currently a 1 experimental procedure known as clinical supervisor at Monmouth extracorporeal membrane oxygen- University. ation (ECMO) at Boston Children’s Hospital. The book highlights the »»Nicole D’Agostino ’15M has 2010s challenges Cavalier faced through- joined Velociti Inc., a global out his life—he was hospitalized provider of technology de- »»Christopher Baile ’10. See note 18 times during his first year of sign, deployment, and support for Kathleen Fitzpatrick ’09. life alone and was eventually services, as a business devel- diagnosed with hypoplastic lung, opment manager. Formerly, »»Brian Blackmon ’10, ’11M has pulmonary hypertension, GI reflux, D’Agostino worked with the published a new edition of his hydrocephalus, scoliosis, and an American Trucking Associations most recent book, The Beatnik enlarged heart. In his own words, as an economic research analyst Fox Almanack, which contains a Cavalier talks of how he overcame specializing in driver compen- “definitive treasury of experimen- the physical pain and emotional sation, safety investment, and tal artistic endeavors” from the suffering, and how a spiritual driver turnover studies. She was writer’s literary vault. breakthrough changed everything. also a consultant for Gallup Inc., where she worked on imple- menting large organizational cul- 3 4 5 ture change efforts for various industries.

»»Pierson Commercial, a retail real estate brokerage advisory firm, promoted Ryan Starkman ’15M to the position of director. Starkman, who joined the firm in 2014 and represents national retailers like 24 Hour Fitness, focuses on the marketing and leasing of shopping centers, investment sales, land acquisi- tion, development, and tenant representation. Prior to joining Pierson Commercial, Starkman worked in the asset management division of BLDG Management in CELEBRATIONS New York City. ACCOLADES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 1. Bary C. Sherman ’63 and his wife, Lynn, recently hiked 16 miles »»The New York Giants signed of the Grand Canyon to celebrate Bary’s 77th birthday. 2. Chrissy Skudera ‘05 completed her 200-hour NOT TO MISS » Frank Warren, founder of The former Detroit Lions tight end yoga teacher training with the School Yoga Institute in Calca, Peru. 3. Nina Anderson ’67 received the March 26 Hakeem Valles ’15 to their prac- PostSecret Project, a collection of Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for 50 years of safe flying. 4. Blake Burger ’17, ‘18M joined Denholtz POSTSECRET tice squad. more than 1 million anonymous Associates as an acquisitions and development associate. 5. Though strangers to each other, Connie live WITH “secrets” which have been mailed to »»Jennifer Chiappone ’16 grad- Gryczka ’66 (left) and Marianne and Tony Volonnino soon discovered they had common ground on FRANK uated from George Washington his home on postcards, will tackle foreign soil: while chatting at the Rome International Airport, Gryczka discovered the Volonnino’s WARREN University in Washington, D.C., the topic of #MeToo. Continued, p. 55 granddaughter, Lauren, is a first-year student at Monmouth.

52 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 53 CLASS NOTES

with her master’s in art history, with IN Memoriam a concentration in museum training. SEND She has accepted a position as an »»ALUMNI editorial/publishing assistant at the Mildred Younger ’45 (Sept. 1, 2018) United States Holocaust Memorial US Museum in Washington, D.C. Jack R. Dessalet ’59 (Dec. 4, 2018) YOUR Martin LeRoy Koempel ’60 (Aug. 25, 2018) »»Matt Cox ’16 works for WWE Norman Miles ’61 (Sept. 1, 2018) as a social media producer. He Carl La Salle ’61 (Oct. 16, 2012) works directly with the WWE su- NEWS perstars to help them with their »»Online: Marilyn J. Harris ’62 (Nov 14, 2018) social media content and creates monmouth.edu/ Leon Smock ’63 (Sept. 28, 2018) content for the company’s flag- ClassNotes James Rizzolo ’64 (Sept. 26, 2018) ship programs such as Raw and Dolores Zilincar ’64 (Sept. 7, 2018) Smackdown. »»By email: classnotes@mon- Virginia D. Tringola ’65 (Dec. 5, 2018) »»Blake Burger ’17 has joined mouth.edu Roslyn Linse ’66 (Aug. 7, 2018) Denholtz Associates, a fully inte- Jackalyn Rawlings ’68 (Sept. 21, 2018) grated real estate development, »» By mail: Eileen Sagurton Borden ’69 (Sept. 20, 2018) investment, and management Class Notes, company, as an acquisitions Monmouth magazine, Rebecca Marchese ’69 (Aug. 31, 2018) and development associate. In 400 Cedar Ave. Joseph Mark Reich ’69 (Aug. 31, 2018) WHAT IT’S LIKE » Firsthand accounts his new role, Burger will work West Long Branch, Dana Lemke ’70 (Oct. 25, 2018) closely with the executive NJ 07764 leadership team to assist with Mitchell Lee Singer ’73 (July 13, 2018) The Morning Man deal sourcing, underwriting, due Diane M. Kanach ’76 (Dec. 1, 2018) BEHIND THE SCENES AT GOOD MORNING AMERICA. diligence, community relations, Donald McMillan ’80 (Sept. 6, 2018) and analytics. Robin D. Hallgring ’83 (Sept. 28, 2018) BY BRAD HENNESSY ’98, AS TOLD TO KELLEY FREUND »»Former Monmouth University Monmouth University Mary Bowers ’86 (Sept. 8, 2018) encourages alumni to John J. Hildin ’88 (Oct. 10, 2018) came to Monmouth because I was interested in “ are horrible, so it can some- women’s soccer standout Gabri- share news regarding times be tough. For instance, ella Cuevas ’18M has signed a career changes, awards Claire Addario Clark ’89 (Aug. 12, 2018) the soccer program, but an ankle injury prevented THe Show’s professional contract with Macca- and honors, marriages, when the Pulse nightclub shoot- anniversaries, births, James B. Earthman ’90 (Oct. 29, 2018) me from playing. Lucky for me, I got a career out Schedule ing occurred in 2016, producers bi Kiryat Gat F.C. of the Women’s and other life events for I inclusion in Class Notes. Lynn M. Gonnello ’97 (Nov. 19, 2018) scrapped the entire show we Premier League in Israel. Cuevas of the experience thanks to Monmouth’s wonderful Can ALWays All submissions are subject Jeanna Mari ’00 (Aug. 21, 2018) had planned and stayed with the had a brief stint with Sky Blue FC to editing for clarity and communications program. change Pulse story as it developed. Re- in the National Women’s Soccer length. We welcome sub- Lea Alyssa Maniaci ’01 (May 19, 2018) gardless of what’s happening on League on a national team re- missions of high-resolution because of digital images for possible Robyn Friedman ’02 (Aug. 26, 2018) Internships played a key role fore 4:30 a.m. when I arrive at breaking any particular morning, I think placement contract in late August inclusion with your class in steering me toward my ca- the studio for a meeting where our team does a good job of pre- while also serving as a volunteer note; however, we reserve Marquita Hannibal ’02 (Dec. 6, 2018) news, and I assistant on Krissy Turner’s staff the right not to print sub- reer. Working first at ABC- our director walks us through senting it in the best way pos- mitted photos due to space News.com and then at MTV’s rundowns of both shows. Then love having sible. We have the best anchor at Monmouth this season. limitations or issues with »»FRIENDS Total Request Live, I gained a I do everything from wrangling team. They like what they do, image resolution. the chance In addition to the news Arlene Marie (Krauss) Boesch (former employee) Oct. 13, 2018 ton of experience and learned guests, to directing anchors to and it shows. »»Bryce Wasserman ’18 was named items sent by alumni, the Bonnie Le (Sherman) Bostick (former student) Aug. 18, 2018 what it’s like working for big- cameras, and counting them to be on One of my favorite parts of the the 2018 Collegiate Athletic university receives press time TV in New York City. After in and out of packages. GMA the cusp job is working on our concert se- Administrators of New Jersey releases from businesses William Feist (professor emeritus) Oct. 7, 2018 and organizations an- graduation, those experiences is fast-paced, and I love that. of events ries in Central Park. Being off to (CAANJ) Male Student-Athlete nouncing alumni achieve- Garland Grammer, Ph.D. (Instructor) Jan. 30, 2019 of the Year. The award comes ments and subscribes to led me to positions at Philadel- My fellow stage managers and the side of the stage and hearing Louis Kijewski (professor emeritus) Oct. 14, 2018 phia Park Racetrack—it was re- I always have to stay one step as they’re people chant an artist’s name or following Wasserman’s senior an online news clipping service that provides news Jay Kislak (friend) Oct. 3, 2018 ally low-paying, but I got to do ahead of the show as it’s going happening. sing along to their songs sends season in which he set single- items about alumni. These everything from shooting cam- along. It’s live TV, so things of- chills down my spine. I’m a big season program records for goals items are edited and James Reme (former employee) Nov. 1, 2018 ” placed in the appropriate era to audio and graphics—and ten don’t go as planned, but music fan, so I love having that (34), assists (17), and points (51). He class section. Monmouth Albert J. Maraziti III (former student) Aug. 31, 2018 closed his career as Monmouth’s all- magazine staff members later to shows at VH1, Comcast that’s OK. You just have to be kind of access and experiencing Joseph Naglak (former student) Sept. 17, 2018 Sports Net, ESPN Classic, NBC flexible. it up close. time leader in goals (99), game-win- try to verify the accuracy of this information; howev- Joyce Jacqueline Clark Peak (former employee) Oct. 16, 2018 Sports, and the Oprah Winfrey The show’s schedule can al- I really love my job. It’s great ning goals (9), hat tricks (14), assists er, the university cannot be Network. ways change because of break- to be part of a team like this, es- (50), and points (149). An All-MAAC responsible for incorrect Jayne Robin Sampson (former student) Nov. 1, 2018 First Team selection in 2018, Was- information contained I’ve been at Good Morning ing news, and I love having the pecially since I didn’t know if herein. If you would like us Thomas R. Seyler (former student) Sept. 1, 2018 America since 2014, where I’m chance to be on the cusp of I’d ever make it. If there’s one serman also became Monmouth’s to correct any inaccu- Thomas V. Sollas Jr. (friend) Aug. 20, 2018 one of four stage managers who events as they’re happening. thing I’ve learned from my ex- first-ever Major League Lacrosse racies that have been ABOVE: Hennessy on set printed, please contact the Elizabeth (Wills) Real (former student) Aug. 22, 2018 work on GMA and GMA Day. Obviously, some of the things during a filming of Good perience, it’s this: You just have draft pick when he was chosen by magazine at magazine@ My workday starts a little be- that happen in today’s world Morning America. to believe and keep on trucking. the Denver Outlaws. monmouth.edu. Zachary J. Wilson (former student) Nov. 5, 2018

54 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 photo PAULA LOBO Spring 2019 MONMOUTH 55 CLASS NOTES

THE RECOMMENDER » Tips and good advice 5 tips for building ALUMNI a personal brand PR MAVEN CASSIE GALASETTI HELPS YOU STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD. WEEKEND BY MELISSA KVIDAHL REILLY

he days of setting yourself apart with a resume and an elevator pitch are over. Today, it’s all about your personal Tbrand, says Cassie Galasetti ’05, co-founder of Social June 7–9 Sidekick Media, Branding & Public Relations, a boutique social marketing agency based in Spring Lake, New Jersey.

The good news is that maintain- job hunters. “Having a person- ing a personal brand isn’t compli- al brand online sets you apart and Kick off the summer cated or time-consuming. “Cre- shows you’re keeping up with the ating a personal brand is simply times,” she adds, whether it’s on making new memories communicating online what you’re Instagram, LinkedIn, or your per- with old friends. known for,” says Galasetti. “Who sonal blog. “Even for executives you are, what your personality is, who aren’t necessarily looking to what your style is like, and your make a career move, it sets a good reputation.” example for current employees.” Anyone can benefit from a per- Ready to get started? Here are Gala- Whether you turned your tassel last sonal brand. But Galasetti says setti’s top five tips for building a per- that it’s especially important for sonal brand. year or 50 years ago, all alumni are invited back home to celebrate!

Register online 1 2 3 4 5 for a full schedule of events, Be real. Be snappy. Be flexible. Be engaged. Be inspired. including the rooftop reunion—

“No one wants to work “Everyone should be Personal branding is Keeping your accounts “Always have someone an alumni favorite! with someone who isn’t able to sum up their also about how you up to date is key, says to look up to, even if genuine,” says Galasetti. brand or themselves behave in person and Galasetti. “The more it’s someone you never “And it’s easy to pick up in a few sentences,” on the phone. Gala- you post, the more met,” says Galasetti. on whether someone says Galasetti. Online, setti recommends a likely you are to ap- “Follow them on social monmouth.edu/alumniweekend isn’t being themselves translate this to short can-do attitude. “Go pear in a web search,” media. Share their online.” So get photo captions or outside your comfort she explains. “Plus, it tweets. In terms of a little personal. easy-to-read blog zone,” she says. “This shows you’re engaged.” your personal brand, it “As long as you posts. One of Gala- is great for a personal Just don’t make it all motivates you to keep keep it professional and setti’s favorite ways brand because you about you, all the time. going.” appropriate, it’s great to communicate is may be able to add Sharing posts from to show a picture of through short Insta- new skills to your others is a great way to your dog by the lake, for gram videos, which can brand. It also shows give props. example. It shows that be eye-catching in a that you’re flexible, you’re an approachable, sea of photos. which is a valuable real person.” asset in a co-worker.”

56 MONMOUTH Spring 2019 illustration ERHUI1979/ISTOCK ALUMNI NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY

400 Cedar Ave. West Long Branch, NJ 07764 monmouth.edu

1,000 WORDS » A story in a picture GETTING READY TO SAY GOODBYE WHEN GREY DIMENNA RETURNED TO SERVE as Monmouth’s president in February 2017, he made it clear his tenure would have a fixed endpoint, lasting only until the University completed a national search and hired his replacement. The announcement that Patrick F. Leahy will serve as Monmouth’s 10th president beginning Aug. 1 (see p. 4) puts that endpoint in sight. Dimenna’s impact on the University has been extraordinary, perhaps nowhere more so than in the personal connections he has made with Monmouth alumni, friends, employees, and students.

As the University community prepares to say goodbye to its ninth president, we invite you to share your favorite Dimenna-related memories and anecdotes by writing us at [email protected] or the address above.