Annual Report 2018 / 2019 Campus Stories Message from the President Dear Friends, I welcome the opportunity to present to you the Mission Statement 2018 – 2019 Annual Report and share with you The aim of Dominican College is some of the accomplishments of this past year. to promote educational excellence, In May 2019, having graduated its largest class, leadership, and service in an 579 students, the number of degrees awarded environment characterized by since the founding of the College rose to 15,688. respect for the individual and concern for the community and its Dominican College takes great pride in the accomplishments and generous service needs. Founded by the Dominican of its alumni as well as its current students. This past year, a student was named the Sisters of Blauvelt, the College is Outstanding Undergraduate Social Worker of New York State; another received a full an independent institution of higher scholarship to study law upon graduation; and a third was accepted into a prestigious learning, Catholic in origin and program at Princeton for the study of Biology. heritage. In the Dominican tradition, it fosters the active, shared pursuit In June, the College celebrated the growth of its campus over the past quarter of truth and embodies an ideal century. Since the dedication of the Hennessy Center in 1994, three residences of education rooted in the values have been created—Hertel, Rosary, and Guzman; Prusmack Center, the academic of reflective understanding and building, has been constructed; Casey and Forkel Halls were upgraded, magnificent compassionate involvement. expansions were added to Granito and Hennessy Centers, and the Sullivan Library was dedicated. How grateful the College community remains for the support and Committed to building its programs vision of its Board of Trustees and its many donors! upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, the College Currently, the College is engaged in planning for a new turf field and track to be maintains a student-centered climate used primarily by the men’s and women’s soccer, lacrosse, and track teams. Close and serves a diverse community 14 to 300 undergraduates play on 17 varsity teams as members of the Central Atlantic of students in undergraduate and Collegiate Conference (CACC). This past year, the men’s basketball and men’s golf graduate programs. The College teams won their respective conference championship. empowers this community of learners Sections to excel, lead, serve with integrity, The New York State Education Department approved the introduction of an and to engage responsibly in the Student Stories 04 undergraduate program in Health Sciences and an online program moving pursuit of a more just, ethical, registered nurses to the baccalaureate level, as well as a graduate program and sustainable world. Campus Development 10 in Organizational Leadership and Communication. These programs were introduced in the fall of 2019. Dominican College is dedicated Campus Stories 14 to the principle that its educational Happily, the fiscal year ended with a surplus of over $560,000; the endowment programs and services must be Events 24 grew to $6,578,300 and all bank and governmental covenants were realized. both challenging and supportive, In addition, the Board approved a plan to double the endowment within the next distinguished both by high standards Athletic Highlights 26 few years. Efforts to raise alternative revenue through rentals, camps, and other and by attention to the needs and creative endeavors have been undertaken. potential of the individual student. 4 26 Volunteers 30 Affirmed and engaged by these Dominican College continues to work toward a promising future, in spite of standards and values, graduates are Student Stories Athletic Highlights Ways to Give 32 enrollment and fiscal challenges. The College is grateful for the guidance prepared for purposeful lives and for of its Board, the dedication of its faculty and staff, and the enthusiasm of its students. the careers and professions they Our Donors 34 choose to pursue. Thank you for keeping Dominican College in your prayers and among your priorities. ON THE COVER Milestones 44 Best wishes to you and yours for a blessed 2020. Dominican College 470 Western Highway Celebrating 25 Years of Campus Development Noteworthy, Scholarly, 48 Gratefully, Orangeburg, NY 10962 Dominican College’s growth and expansion continues & Other Professional Activities 845-359-7800 to enrich the lives of students, faculty, and the community. Seen on the cover is the Granito Center (completed 1996), Financials 54 www.DC.edu a lab and classroom in the Prusmack Center (completed Sr. Mary Eileen O’Brien, O.P., Ph.D. 2005), and the Fitness Center, part of the Hennessy Center President expansion (completed 2017). Chief Administrators 55 2 Dominican College Annual Report 3 Student Stories Student OTHER AWARDS AND HONORS INCLUDED: ■ John E. Sorrentino, retired Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Pfizer in Pearl River, NY, received an honorary degree, Doctor of Science, in Stories recognition of his outstanding work in the development of life-enhancing vaccines. He also led Pfizer’s corporate citizenship The Dominican College experience efforts and was helpful in upgrading the College’s biology and chemistry extends beyond the classroom laboratories in Forkel Hall. as students discover new worlds. Dominican College’s 65th Annual Commencement Exercises ■ Dr. Ronald Israelski, a hand/micro vascular surgeon, is currently Director of Medical Education at Orange Regional Medical At Dominican College’s 65th Commencement Exercises, 579 students Center and received the Veritas Medal. graduated, including 102 with doctoral degrees and 101 with master’s degrees. Dr. Israelski has done extensive relief and charity work in Haiti, working tirelessly to President Sr. Mary Eileen O’Brien told the graduates to accept their diplomas improve medical delivery to the people with a sense of pride in their accomplishment. “Be proud of your Alma Mater, of Port-au-Prince. He has also improved as we are of you. Remember, once a Charger, always a Charger! Dominican medical services to the uninsured in College will ultimately measure its effectiveness, not by the degrees of its Sullivan County, NY and New York City. faculty or the size of its campus, although we treasure both, but rather by the competence ■ Abdul Sulaiman Jr., ’09, received the and compassion, the vision and generosity Badami Outstanding Young Alumnus of its close to 14,500 graduates. How greatly Award. Sulaiman founded a company the world needs your joyful and hope-filled called Project Pawn to mentor children lives,” she said. through the game of chess. Over the past six years, Project Pawn has taught The Commencement Address was delivered thousands of young people important life by His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, lessons about planning ahead, problem who received an honorary degree, solving, having patience, learning how Doctor of Humanities. to win, and learning how to lose. 4 Dominican College Annual Report 5 Student Stories Student Stories Students Who Deliver Meals Named Volunteers of the Week by Local Newspaper A local newspaper, the Rockland County Times, named Dominican College OT Students’ Invention students who volunteer with Meals on Wheels, the “Volunteers of the Week” Reaches the Semifinal Round in their December 6, 2018 edition. Every Friday, the students deliver meals in a Statewide Competition to the elderly and homebound along a designated route. Student Receives Statewide Graduate Awarded Full In the Rockland County Times article, Meals on Wheels Volunteer Coordinator An invention of Dominican College Award for Social Work Law School Scholarship Dianna Diffley said that Dominican College students have great enthusiasm. Occupational Therapy students was “Some have returned after graduation and taken their own route. Connecting chosen as one of 25 projects to move the aging population to the youth has proven to be wonderful,“ she said. ahead in a New York State Department of Nelcy García de León, ’19, received the Undergraduate Student of the Recent graduate Kyle Dimas Souza, ’19, was Health (DOH) competition. The DOH Aging Year Award from the New York State Social Work Education Association awarded a full-tuition scholarship to Quinnipiac Dominican College students have been delivering nutritious meals for Meals Innovation Challenge encourages New York (NYSSWEA) in October 2018. The award is given in recognition of University School of Law. Souza was a star on Wheels for the past seven years. students to develop innovations to assist a student’s passion for social justice and dedication to academic student and standout lacrosse player at aging New Yorkers and their caregivers in achievement, college and departmental leadership, and service Dominican College. He graduated from the completing activities of daily living. to diverse populations. College’s Honors Program with a cumulative grade point average of 3.98, with a major in Amanda Fortuna, ’18, took the lead in García de León said there are criminal justice and a minor in philosophy. submitting the idea for a battery-powered a number of factors that have reacher, which was conceived with some of contributed to her passion for social “Positive community Souza delivered the 2019 Class Message during her classmates during an Advanced Practice justice. “Being an immigrant, having the Baccalaureate Awards Ceremony, reminding OT course. “Typically in field work or clinical strong family role models, and my involvement is my his classmates of all they had accomplished. scenarios that we’ve been in, we’ve seen personal experiences of injustice, moral obligation.” “We did it all and we never gave up. We pushed that people are given reachers, but they have all led to my acquiring a sense – Nelcy García de León, ’19 through it. College is not like high school. It don’t have the grip strength to maintain a of responsibility and understanding is not for everyone. It is hard. But we are not grasp to pick up an item,” she said.