A Conversation With Dr. Rodney D. Smith - Ramapo College of New ...

A Conversation
With Dr. Rodney
D. Smith:
R a m a p o ’s Pre s i d e n t
S h a res His Vision
for the College
Happy
Anniversary:
30 Years of
Quality Liberal
Arts Education
Joshua Orwa
Ojodeh:
Recipient of the
C o l l e g e ’s 2001
P re s i d e n t ’s Aw a rd
of Merit

Diplomas in hand, the Class of 2001 moves on to new
challenges. For some, it will be studying for an advanced
degree, while others eagerly enter the workforce. Ramapo
t u rns out many exceptional students. In fact, this past year
the College achieved a 100 percent acceptance rate for
School of Theoretical and Applied Science students who
applied to medical and professional schools. Here, we
highlight three from the Class of 2001 who have excelled
as students and who have a blueprint for their futures.
Leyla Amzi of Nutley, NJ, a
graduate of the School of American
and International Studies,
was accepted in the Near Eastern
studies master’s degree program
at New York University.
Leyla also was awarded a Fore i g n
Language and Area Studies Fellowship
by the U.S. Depart m e n t
of Education. The Bosnian
native, who emigrated to the
United States almost five years
ago to escape the strife in her
homeland, says, “I’ve always
been interested in this topic. I
d o n ’t feel the history and culture of the Near East is known
in general.” Leyla spent a year after high school—on scholarship
in a program sponsored by the govern m e n t — a t
Ankara University in Turkey studying Turkish. Also fluent
in Bosnian, at NYU she plans to study Arabic and conduct
re s e a rch on social movements. “I want to re s e a rch how culture
and religion influence society historically and in the
c o n t e m p o r a ry world.” A co-winner of Ramapo’s Outstanding
International Student Aw a rd, Leyla worked at the
Bosnian Consulate in New York City while attending
Ramapo and maintained a 3.79 GPA. She has always had
an idea of her own “big picture” and credits faculty advisor
Cliff o rd Peterson, Ph.D., a professor of intern a t i o n a l
politics, with helping to refine it. Poised and energ e t i c ,
Leyla worked with student Jasmina Bisanovic, alum Edin
Agic, and Professor William Frech, Ph.D., on a successful
proposal to the Ramapo College Foundation. With funding
of $4,000, the group will create an eight-week cooperative
education position for a Ramapo student and a teaching
opportunity for a Ramapo pro f e s s o r, both in Bosnia
and Herzegovina. “Bosnian students will be given a chance
to gain valuable knowledge and attain practical skills that
are lacking in Bosnian society,” stated the team’s proposal.
The intention, adds Leyla, is to help “refill the pool of edu-
FALL 2001
?
DID YOU KNOW?
Graduates of the Class of 2001:
They Proved Themselves at Ramapo; Now They’re Ready to Show the World
cated people who have left the country.” Her long-range
goals entail earning a Ph.D., teaching at the university level,
and conducting research. In addition to beginning graduate
school in September, Leyla also became a U.S. citizen.
Robert and Joyce Lehmann of Monsey, NY are a
remarkable brother and sister team. Both were biochemistry
majors, served as emergency medical technicians on campus,
and received merit awards. Robert has been accepted into
medical school at SUNY Stony Brook, NY and plans to
become a pediatrician. “All of the courses in biochemistry
and the fundamental sciences lead to medicine,” he says. He
enrolled in 1996, spent two years studying in Israel, and
re t u rned to Ramapo in 1998 as a part-time student. “I’ve had
a varied education. My schedule allowed me to investigate a
lot of options off campus.” Robert maintained a 3.9 GPA and
received the College’s Merck Index Aw a rd for excellence in
c h e m i s t ry. This past summer he completed studying for rabbinical
ordination, which, he says, is a personal goal. “My
religious studies have given me an insight into who I am and
w h e re I’m from. It allows me to give of myself to others. It
will make me a better doctor and a better person.” It’s not a
coincidence that both Robert and Joyce enrolled at Ramapo.
“He had already been there,” recalls Joyce, “and he talked up
the program.” Joyce, who maintained a 4.0 GPA, was
accepted into a four-year doctor of optometry program at the
SUNY College of Optometry in Manhattan. “I knew what I
wanted to be,” she says. “Ramapo’s biochemistry pro g r a m
p rovided a strong academic foundation.” Joyce was award e d
R a m a p o ’s Biochemistry Aw a rd and the Fred and Flore n c e
Thomases Scholarship for her academic perf o rmance and
p a rticipation in extracurricular activities. Robert and Joyce
praise advisor Rena Bacon, Ph.D., of the School of Theore t ical
and Applied Science for helping them to realize their
goals. “The professors
take an
active role in
your learning,”
says Joyce. She
also appreciated
the diversity of
the student body.
“They come
f rom a variety of
b a c k g rounds and
they all offer
something.”
Executive Officers
of the College
Rodney D. Smith Ed.D.
President
Pamela M. Bischoff, Ed.D.
Vice President for Student Affairs
Victoria H. Bruni, Esq.
Vice President for Administration
and Finance
Donna Crawley, Ph.D.
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Cathleen Davey
Vice President for Institutional
Advancement
Rita F. Tepper
Vice President for Enrollment
Management
Board Chairs
Arthur C. Ramirez
Board of Trustees
Thomas Palmer
Board of Governors
David Berntsen
Alumni Association
Muff Thayer
Friends of Ramapo
Ramapo Magazine Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Cathleen Davey
Executive Editor
Rosa Diaz-Mulryan
Managing Editor
Cynthia Burns
News Editor
Bonnie D. Franklin
Alumni Editors
Janet Dengel
Bryan Steros
Foundation Editor
Kathleen Austin
Sports Editor
Dawn DeRosa-LaSalle
Design:
Camarès Communications
www.camares.com
Cover Photo:
Herbert Studios © 2001
Other Photos: Joe Salmon,
unless otherwise noted
Information contained in this
magazine can be made available
upon request in alternate media.
Requests should be directed to the
Office of Institutional Advancement,
(201) 684-7611.
Alumni contact: Janet Dengel at
(201) 684-7179 or
jdengel@ramapo.edu
Change of address: Call Michele
Richnavsky at (201) 684-7612 or
mrichnav@ramapo.edu
Student Affairs:
Call (201) 684-7457 or
pbischof@ramapo.edu
Visit our Web site at
www.ramapo.edu
Ramapo Magazine is produced by
the Department of Marketing and
Institutional Relations
Ramapo College of New Jersey
505 Ramapo Valley Rd.
Mahwah, NJ 07430-1680
1
RAMAPO Magazine
Fall 2001
Volume 2, Issue 2
Features
6 Expanding Academic Excellence:
Dr. Smith’s Vision for the College
President Smith, who assumed his position on July 1,
outlines his plans and goals for the future of Ramapo.
He and his family are living at Havemeyer House.
10 Ramapo Celebrates Its 30th
Anniversary
Professor Emeritus and founding faculty member
Henry Bischoff contrasts the continuities and changes
that have contributed to the continued growth of
Ramapo College.
2 Ramapo News
12 Ramapo Foundation
15 Alumni
22 Athletics
24 In the Spotlight
Calendar
Muriel Appram of Englewood, NJ (left) and
her mother enjoyed a delectable feast at
the Multicultural Pot-Luck Dinner hosted
by the Ramapo College Upward Bound
Math-Science program.
Departments
RAMAPO RA MAPO MAGAZINE
MAGAZI NE

Dr. Smith is
Subject of Black
Issues Cover Story
D r. Rodney D. Smith,
R a m a p o ’s president, was
featured on the cover and
in the accompanying art i c l e
of the June 21 issue
of Black Issues in Higher
Education. The article, “The
Changing Guard: A Pre s idential
Class Matriculates,”
relates the barriers that
administrators from historically
Black colleges and
universities face in ascending
to leadership positions
in predominately White
institutions. In the article,
authors Ronald Roach and
Linda Meggett Brown state,
“While hailing the appointments,
observ e r s say
they represent exceptional
moves by the re s p e c t i v e
institutions. . . .”
Lech Walesa,
Poland’s First
Democratically-
Elected President,
Is Convocation
Speaker
Lech Walesa, the first
democratically-elected pre s ident
of Poland, was the guest
speaker at Ramapo’s Fall
Convocation held We d n e sday,
October 3 in the gym.
“Democracy: The Never
Ending Battle” was his topic.
Walesa’s leadership of
P o l a n d ’s underg round labor
movement and later of the
Gdansk Shipyard Strike led
to the social revolution
known as Solidarity. This
movement effectively ended
communist rule and planted
the seeds of freedom and
d e m o c r a c y. On December 9,
1990, Walesa became Poland’s
first democratically-elected
president, winning more
than 74 percent of the votes
cast. He served until defeated
in the election of November
1995. He now heads the
Lech Walesa Institute whose
aim is to advance the ideals
of democracy and free
market reform throughout
E a s t e rn Europe and the re s t
of the world.
Ramapo and
UMDNJ Team
Up to Offer M.S.
in Nursing
Ramapo College and the
University of Medicine and
D e n t i s t ry of New Jersey have
received approval to jointly
offer courses leading to a
Master of Science in Nursing
with a nursing education
track. The focus of the 35c
redit degree program is on
the preparation of nurses to
work as nursing faculty in
higher education or as nurse
educators in health agencies.
“It has been acknowledged
that there is a short a g e
of nurses in the state,” says
Kathleen Burke, Ph.D., dire ctor
of the master’s pro g r a m
at Ramapo and assistant
Russell Berrie (left) and his wife
Angelica (far right) congratulate
award recipients Joseph C. Martoccia,
Sandra Ramos, and Dana Leigh
Christmas at the Russ Berrie Award
for Making a Difference ceremony.
FALL 2001 2
RAMAPO SECTION NAME NEWS
RAMAPO SECTION NAME NEWS
dean of the UMDNJ School
of Nursing. “But there also is
an impending shortage of
nursing faculty. This program
will pre p a re nurses at
the master’s level to work
within nursing education.”
In addition, a post-mast
e r ’s certificate program will
be off e red, designed for
those holding a master’s
degree in nursing who are
i n t e rested in pursuing nursing
education. The deadline
for January admission is
October 15; April 15 is the
deadline for September
admission. For more information
about the program,
including the course listing
and admission re q u i rements,
call Kathleen Burke,
(201) 684-7749.
Russ Berrie Award
Honors 19
Ringwood resident Sandra
Ramos, who founded the
first shelter in the United
States for battered women,
received the top cash award
of $50,000 at the Russ Berr i e
Award for Making a Difference
ceremony held at
Ramapo in May. Dana Leigh
Christmas of Paterson, who
helped rescue students fro m
a residence hall fire at Seton
Hall University in January
2000, received a $35,000
cash award. Joseph C. Martoccia
of Pompton Lakes, a
97-year-old man who has
served the Pompton Lakes
First Aid Squad for more
than six decades, was
a w a rded $25,000.
Sixteen additional New
Jersey residents re c e i v e d
cash awards of $2,500 each.
The 19 finalists were
selected from a total of 295
nominations—an all-time
high and a 50 perc e n t
increase over the 196 nominations
received in 2000.
Now in its fifth year, the
Making a Diff e rence pro g r a m
recognizes unsung hero e s
f rom throughout New Jersey
who have made a significant
d i ff e rence in the well-being
of their communities. The
Russ Berrie Aw a rd for Making
a Diff e rence was established
in 1997 by philanthro p i s t
Russell Berrie and Ramapo
College of New Jersey.
The awards cere m o n y
included a tribute to previous
Making a Diff e re n c e
winners and a keynote
a d d ress by Nora McAniff ,
g roup president of P e o p l e
magazine.
“These people dedicate
their lives to improving or
helping others,” says Berr i e ,
who is founder, chairman,
and CEO of Russ Berrie and
Company, Inc. of Oakland,
NJ, which generates more
than $270 million in sales
and employs more than
1,500 people worldwide.
William Frech
Selected as
Visiting Professor
in Kosovo
William J. Frech, Ph.D.,
associate professor of international
business and marketing,
was selected to join
24 European and American
professors to lecture in the
first Kosovo Summer University
(KSU). The objectives
of KSU are to integrate
the Kosovo higher
education system into the
E u ropean and American
systems and to establish
ongoing re l a t i o n s h i p s
between the University of
Pristina and the universities
of the visiting pro f e s s o r s .
The program ran July 16 to
August 10.
Ramapo College professor Ira Spar, Ph.D., conducts research at The Metropolitan
Museum’s Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art.
Frech was selected in an
i n t e rnational competition
for the 25 teaching positions.
In addition to
teaching a course in international
business, he did
re s e a rch and co-authore d
(with a professor at the
University of Pristina) a
paper on privatization
issues. Frech was a re c e n t
Fulbright Scholar in Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
The project is a joint initiative
of the University of
Pristina in Kosovo and the
Academic Training Association,
which is headquart
e red in Amsterdam. The
KSU is funded by the
Netherlands Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and by the
Open Society Institute.
3
Ira Spar Is
Co-Author of
Metropolitan
Museum’s Series
on Cuneiform Te x t s
C u n e i f o rm Texts in The
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Volume 3: Private Arc h i v e
Texts from the First Millennium
B.C. admits us to the
private worlds of several of
the leading financial families
of Babylon during the
New- and Late-Babylonian
periods of Mesopotamian
h i s t o ry. Co-authored by
Ramapo College Pro f e s s o r
Ira Spar, Ph.D., and Eva von
Dassow, with contributions
by J. N. Postgate and Linda
B. Bregstein, this new vol-
ume is one in a series of
four scholarly publications
focusing on the collection
of cuneiform tablets
and inscriptions in The
M e t ropolitan Museum’s
D e p a rtment of Ancient
Near Eastern Art.
These objects were
acquired largely during the
1880s, when the Metropolitan
became the first American
museum to collect a
substantial number of
c u n e i f o rm texts. To d a y
their holdings total about
six hundred texts and fragments.
The four volumes in
this series will make these
texts available in a manner
that will instruct and
inform as wide an audience
as possible.
Volume 3 illuminates the
management and investment
practices of familyrun
Babylonian enterprises.
Four Assyrian tablets illustrate
business practices
during Neo-Assyrian times
as well. The 164 texts and
fragments that comprise
the Museum’s holdings
f rom private family
archives written during the
first millennium B.C. are
presented in a format that
includes copies, transliterations,
translations, and
commentary together with
drawings, photographs,
and commentary on stamp
seal, cylinder seal, and ring
impressions.
Spar is a professor of hist
o ry and ancient studies
and a re s e a rch Assyriologist
at The Metro p o l i t a n
Museum of Art. For ten
years, he was director of the
RA MAPO MAGAZINE

This young girl’s festive dress—despite her impoverished living conditions—captured the
attention of Raquel Tavera, one of fifteen students who traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico as
part of the Alternative Spring Break program. Ramapo students taught children reading
skills and helped younger ones with numbers and colors.
New Jersey Arc h a e o l o g i c a l
C o n s o rtium excavation
team that unearthed the
3,000 year-old center
of Geshurite civilization,
located at Tel Hadar, Israel
on the eastern shore of the
Sea of Galilee.
Alternative
Spring Break
“It was the best week of
my life,” declares Kathleen
Kirby on re t u rning from Oaxaca,
Mexico, where fifteen
Ramapo College students, a
p rofessor and a staff member
spent spring break mentor-
FALL 2001
ing some of the town’s child
ren, ages three to ten. “All
my Spanish came together—
my Spanish teacher was
amazed.” Marisol Pere z
a g rees. “The trip had a gre a t
impact on my life. You go in
RAMAPO NEWS
with the idea that you’re
going to help these people
and the opposite happens.
The people helped me. They
filled a lot of gaps.”
The students, representing
the Community
Builders’ Coalition on campus,
worked with the child
ren of seven families while
the fathers went to work
and the mothers perf o rm e d
household chores. The
Ramapo team taught reading
skills and helped the
younger children with
numbers and colors. They
found the children with
whom they worked to be
curious about their lives
back in the United States.
They were also eager to
learn English. “It put a lot
of things into perspective,”
continued Kirby, “and put a
face to everything you’ve
l e a rned; it makes you
a p p reciate everything you
have.” The Ramapo students
were impressed by
how welcome they were
made to feel by their hosts.
“They make you a part of
the family and want to
make you comfort a b l e .
They want to give you what
they have.”
Prior to leaving for Mexico,
Kirby and fellow student
Kimberly Rude
solicited donations fro m
Barnes and Noble and private
sponsors for forty-one
Spanish childre n ’s books.
Other students conducted
a clothing drive which
resulted in their taking an
extra four suitcases of clothing,
shoes, and toys with
them. These were distributed
to the families they
visited.
The Ramapo students
also took advantage of the
o p p o rtunity to see the are a .
Via public transport a t i o n
they took side trips to
nearby villages to visit the
craftspeople who pro d u c e
the area’s unique black pott
e ry, textiles and woodcarvings,
as well as to tour the
ruins at Monte Alban.
“ I t ’s a little hard to
adjust, coming back,” says
P e rez. “In Mexico, the
water was limited and there
was less choice in food. I
think of that now. This is a
make-believe world, not the
reality for the rest of the
world,” she explains. She
remains in touch with the
families she stayed with,
thanks to the Internet. “We
s h a red so many things.
Now we send messages to
each other,” states Pere z .
“They save up for a few
weeks, go to an Intern e t
b a r, and send us an e-mail.”
In addition to forging a
relationship with Oaxaca
and its residents, the students
found they bonded
with each other. “We went
as fifteen strangers and
came back as fifteen
friends,” states Kirby, who
expects the group members
to stay close.
Both Kirby and Pere z
consider the trip a lifechanging
experience, one
that has influenced the
d i rection of their plans.
This past summer, both
p a rticipated in Ramapo’s
Study Abroad Program in
Costa Rica, where they
studied Spanish language
and literature. Perez hopes
to return to Oaxaca on her
next spring break and to
Costa Rica to teach English
during the summer of 2002.
Kirby has put in an application
for the Peace Corps.
This is the second year
that Ramapo students have
spent spring break working
in Oaxaca. Last year they
worked with children with
disabilities. Students Alison
Garbutt and Kerri McDowell
along with Charles Carreras,
Ph.D., a professor with
the American and Intern ational
Studies depart m e n t ,
went both years. Elizabeth
RAMAPO NEWS
Caraballo, Bette Farber, Joe
F royan, Ronnie Jackson,
Jovana Petrovic, Michael
Picciotolli, Kimberly Rude,
Raquel Tavera, Brian
Wilson, and John Yao also
p a rticipated in this year’s
Oaxaca Alternative Bre a k
program.
The trip was arr a n g e d
t h rough the Maryknoll Call
and Response program; the
students stayed in dorm it
o ry-style housing pro v i d e d
by Maryknoll. Funding was
p rovided by the Office of
Student Activities, the
Ramapo College Foundation,
Sharp Electronics, The
Cahill Center for Experiential
Learning and Career Services,
and the Educational
O p p o rtunity Fund Pro g r a m .
Residence Hall Fire Simulation Teaches Important Lessons
Ramapo students and campus visitors experienced
the terrifying effects of a fire at a residence hall fire
safety simulation last spring. An actual-size model of a
residence hall room was set on fire and monitored by
f i re safety agencies. The simulation educated students to
the realities of fire and was planned to motivate fire - s a f e
b e h a v i o r. The fire simulation also emphasized the
i m p o rtance of sprinklers. The model residence hall
room, unlike Ramapo’s residence halls, was not sprinklered
and illustrated the ferocity of a fire in a room
Grant Awarded
The Office of Specialized
S e rvices has been awarded a
f o u r-year Student Support
S e rvices Grant. The award
totals $234,484 for the first
y e a r. Funding, which comes
f rom the United States
D e p a rtment of Education,
will provide support serv i c e s
for students with disabilities
to enhance their re t e n t i o n
and graduation rates. The
grant will fund services over
and above what the College
p rovides to assure equal
access to college pro g r a m s
and services.
without them. Coordinated by Gina Mayer- C o s t a ,
Ramapo’s director of environmental health and safety,
the event was a combined effort of Ramapo staff and
students, Mahwah Fire and Police departments, the
Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute, and the
Department of Community Affairs Fire Division. The
simulation was incorporated into a video as part of a fire
safety educational program. In addition, the Berg e n
County Law and Public Safety Institute is developing a
program to be presented throughout New Jersey.

The pre s i d e n t ’s first order of business is to listen and seek
input. “I believe everyone’s opinion, everyone’s idea has
merit. I’m not just talking about members of Ramapo
College pro p e r, but of the surrounding community, anyone
who has an interest in or association with Ramapo College.
I’m interested in developing a collective vision. I believe that
f a c u l t y, staff, students, members of the board, friends of the
College, and members of the foundation are all persons who
genuinely care for this institution and want to see it advance.
I think together we will make a great team.”
S m i t h ’s vision for Ramapo begins with an emphasis on academic
excellence but extends much furt h e r. “We should re f i n e
and expand our academic offerings and our plans for new
facilities. We will reach out to the wider community acro s s
the United States as well as intern a t i o n a l l y, not only for supp
o rt, but also for networking relationships. Subsequently we
will work toward interweaving more internationalism into
the curriculum as well as more interd i s c i p l i n a ry appro a c h e s .
I would like to take the foundations of what we have now and
FEATURE SECTION STORY NAME
President Smith’s Vision: Expanding on Ramapo’s
Dr. Smith, Smith, his wife, Dr. Christina Christina Ramirez-Smith,
Ramirez-Smith,
and and their their two two children, children, Samantha, Samantha, 12, 12, and and Sean, Sean, 6,
are are settling settling into into the the historic historic Havemeyer House.
House.
Dr. Rodney D. Smith, an immigrant from The Bahamas who earned
a doctorate in higher education administration, planning and social pol-
icy at Harvard and served, most recently, as vice president of planning
and dean of the Graduate College at Hampton University, became the
third president of Ramapo College of New Jersey on July 1, 2001. In a
move reminiscent of the “academical village” concept established by
Thomas Jefferson at the University of Vi rginia early in the 19th century,
Smith and his family have chosen to live on campus. His goals for
Ramapo are far-reaching, with the four pillars of a Ramapo education
(international, interdisciplinary, intercultural and experiential) serving
as the foundation.
Academic Excellence
7
by Bonnie D. Franklin
expand on the four pillars. When people talk about Ramapo
College I would like for them to picture a United Nations or
H a rv a rd School of Government setting, whereby people fro m
all over the world are re p resented and come here to speak and
to learn. I would like to see us expand our summer pro g r a m s
to offer ongoing development institutes for professionals fro m
a round the globe. I would like to see us expand and develop
relationships with Washington as well as with the United
Nations’ member countries so that we can provide some of
the training that is needed in their respective regions. I can
see this campus becoming an international microcosm, basically
a living international community; everything is here for
it. When anyone walks on this campus in the future, they
should be able to sense Ramapo’s strong emphasis on international
and intercultural education,” he says. “Whenever
anyone thinks of attaining a global education, Ramapo College
will be thought of within the top ten institutions nationa
l l y. What we’re going to be concentrating on is quality. We ’ re
going to continually raise the bar higher and higher. ”
RAMAPO MAGAZINE

“I am committed to maintaining a very strong public
liberal arts college,” continues Smith, “with an emphasis
on college, not on university, and a further emphasis
on liberal arts education. I believe that Ramapo College is
ideally suited to an undergraduate population of about
5,000 students and a graduate population of 1,000, placing
the institution around 6,000 maximum. I think that
should be the capacity of the institution.”
The challenges faced by the College and its pre s i d e n t
a re both regional and national. Smith notes that the immediate
regional challenge is one shared by all the New Jersey
public colleges and that is the
kind of financial support the colleges
receive. “The state support for
public colleges in New Jersey has
been decreasing over the years
which means there is a need to
i n c rease fundraising eff o rts fro m
private as well as public sectors. It’s
inadvisable to rely on incre a s i n g
tuition and fees at any institution,
whether private or public. So, there
will be a more concentrated eff o rt
t o w a rd fundraising.”
Smith recognizes the challenges
n a t i o n a l l y, those faced by state
institutions across the country, as
ones dealing with student popula-
tions – for example, “what we need
to be teaching our students, how
we should be preparing the next
generation or even this generation. We need to be thinking
ten to twenty steps ahead of where society is today –
that is where we need to be. We must pay particular attention
to cultural diversity on campus. Often times we open
the doors and make the campus accessible to other cult
u res but we fall short of making the environment supp
o rtive – it’s the diff e rence between re c ruitment and re t e ntion.
We need to develop programs that are designed to
enhance retention activities for students, faculty, and staff . ”
Some of the challenges have to do with technology.
“ Technological advancements are such that the institutions
in America that are going to be affected more are those in
higher education. We have to keep abreast of advancements
in the training and preparation of individuals to go out and
work in the corporate sector. Unfort u n a t e l y, the majority of
American colleges tend to be reactive to technological
advancements and to the market as opposed to being pro a ctive
based on the needs of the institution. Those institutions
that are more proactive are the ones that are planning ahead
FALL 20 01 8
FEATURE STORY FEATURE SECTION STORY NAME
Joining the president is his wife, Dr. Christina Ramirez-Smith. She
will take an active interest in the Mahwah community, particularly
its historical significance.
for the ongoing funding of technology advancements. In
o rder to remain proactive, it might be necessary to establish
an endowment for technology. That money has to be there
on a regular basis.”
Joining the president in facing these challenges is his
wife, Dr. Christina Ramirez-Smith. Ramirez-Smith was dean
of the largest college at Christopher Newport University,
the College of Liberal Arts and Education. She is widely
published and highly respected as a consultant in educational
administration. Though she was offered a provost
position, she has put her career on hold to support her husband
and their two childre n ,
Samantha, 12, and Sean, 6.
R a m i rez-Smith plans to work
closely with the community in supp
o rt of Ramapo. She will take an
active interest in the Mahwah
community, particularly in its historical
significance, and in the
p re s e rvation of the character of the
Havemeyer House.
About his family’s decision to
live on campus, the president says,
“It’s important to know what it’s
like here on the weekends and at
night. I come in to the office to
work on the weekends, walking
from the house to the office and
back. This gives me an opport u n i t y
to meet students, faculty, and staff
members. That makes a big difference.
It helps to make a campus a residential community.
When you have the president living close to the institution,
right across the street, it begins to feel like a more
solidified community. That is what I’d like for Ramapo.”
At Hampton University Smith is known for administrative
effectiveness and efficiency and for building stro n g ,
effective teams. His legacy includes increased retention
and graduation rates, as well as an increase in the academic
standards of the institution. He oversaw the development
of graduate programs, and spearheaded the
development of a ten-year strategic plan and the implementation
of the campus-wide code of conduct.
At Ramapo, Smith says, “What I bring that I think is new
is the fact that I am not American-born; I am an immigrant.
And, just the mere fact that my family and I are a part of this
institution brings an international richness; it brings a diff
e rent perspective. I think I bring to Ramapo College what
Ramapo College is all about. This is an institution that we
have chosen, one that provides the foundation within its
mission statement of what we sought in an institution of
higher learning. I am grateful for this wonderful opport u n i t y ;
grateful to be a part of this respected community of scholars;
and, grateful to all faculty, students, staff, friends of Ramapo,
members of the Foundation, and the Board of Trustees. I am
especially grateful to all those persons who have gone the
extra mile to help my family settle in here at Ramapo College
and to the Mahwah community. ”
The Havemeyer House
In a reversal of the 20th century tendency for college
and university chief executives to live off campus,
President Rodney D. Smith and his family have opted
to live in the Havemeyer House, the renovated historic
mansion on the west side of Rt. 202. The College re c e n t l y
a c q u i red the Havemeyer House and the surrounding
4.7 acres of property.
The Havemeyer House was built by Henry Hagerman
in 1949 for his son, Andrew. Henry and his wife, Anna
Hopper Bogert, lived in an adjacent house form e r l y
owned by her grandfather, Andrew Hopper, which serv e d
as one of Wa s h i n g t o n ’s headquarters during the
American Revolution. The
Continental Army encamped
nearby on the land now used
as Ramapo College’s athletic
fields. In 1861, Andre w
H a g e rman sold the pro p e rt y.
It changed hands several
times before it was rented to
Theodore Havemeyer of the
Havemeyer and Elder Sugar
Refining Company in 1877.
When the pro p e rty owner’s
business failed in 1878, the
Havemeyer family decided
to buy the house along with
the surrounding acre a g e .
Havemeyer developed a
model farm and estate of over
1,000 acres and made many
i m p rovements to the house.
The financial success of
the American Sugar Refining
C o m p a n y, a trust created by
Havemeyer and his brother
in the late 1880s, enabled
T h e o d o re to build a $100,000
S m i t h ’s fall semester agenda will bring exciting changes
to the Ramapo landscape, and new academic and communitybuilding
opportunities. His priorities include developing a
college strategic plan, the search for a provost in Academic
A ffairs, meetings with alumni, planning for the re c re a t i o n
c e n t e r, gro u n d b reaking on a 528-bed townhouse complex,
and the launch of an institutional image campaign.
(For more information on Dr. Smith, refer to the spring 2001 issue of Ramapo Magazine. )
mansion for his daughter and her husband, the curre n t
administration building on Ramapo’s campus, and to
remodel his own home. In the process, the workers
dismantled the historic Andrew Hopper house to make
way for a new wing of the Havemeyer House that included
a kitchen, servants’ quarters and laundry. A fireplace fro m
the old house was pre s e rved and added to the serv a n t s ’
kitchen. The mansion remained in the Havemeyer family,
becoming the home of grandson Henry O. Havemeyer
in 1936. Upon his death in 1993, the home was
p u rchased by Timothy Bray, who completed an extensive
renovation in 1999.

As Ramapo celebrates its 30th anniversary and the arrival of
its third president, Dr. Rodney D. Smith, the editors of R a m a p o
M a g a z i n ehave asked me to analyze the continuities and changes
at the College during the last five years based on the work I
developed in my earlier account of its first 25 years.
Most striking to me are the new buildings and the plans
u n d e rway for additional construction that reflect the continuing
vitality and attractiveness of the College. Within the last
t h ree years two residences, now filled to capacity, have been
completed, as well as a satellite dining pavilion. Gro u n d b re a king
has taken place for an additional garden apartment-style re sidence
for 528 students scheduled to open in August 2002. There
a re now 1,800 students living on campus and by next year this
will increase to 2,200. Plans are being formulated for twin 300person
residences to open in 2003 and in 2005.
This activity reflects the growth in the number of full-time
students, improved retention, more incoming freshmen, and
an increase in students coming from throughout New Jersey
and beyond. Pamela Bischoff, vice president for Student
Affairs, reports that 85 to 90 percent of incoming full-time
freshmen are now requesting on-campus housing. She states,
FALL 2001 10
Ramapo’s 30th Anniversary
A Time to Reflect on the Past
and Celebrate the Future
George T. Potter, the first
president of Ramapo College
(l.) admires “One Man in
Memory of Six Million,” by
sculptor Judith Peck (r.).
Peck, who is a professor of
art education in Ramapo’s
School of Contemporary
Arts, recently celebrated
50 years as a sculptor. The
work is permanently installed
adjacent to The Mansion.
“Ramapo is increasingly becoming primarily a residential college.
This strengthens community life at the College, but also
requires added student facilities and activities. All residences
have been wired for voice, video, and data access, and they all
have sprinkler systems for fire protection. The Ramapo residences
are a prime attraction as students consider a number
of college choices.”
Attention also has been given to the College’s academic buildings.
The long-promised improvement in facilities for Contemp
o r a ry Arts students has in part been fulfilled with the completion
of the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for the Perf o rm i n g
and Visual Arts. Within it are a modern theater of 350 seats and
a smaller “black box” theater, specialized classrooms, a photography
lab, offices, and a café. An extensive schedule of cultural
events is off e red to students, staff, and the public.
Academic buildings A, B, and H are in the process of being re novated.
This will include new classrooms and offices for the
schools of American and International Studies and the School of
Administration and Business as well as state-of-the-art facilities for
the College’s large communications major. A Center for Sustainability
Education is being built on the site of the outdated Alter-
FEATURE SECTION STORY NAME
nate Energy Center. Within the buildings on campus there has
been a constant updating of technology, partially supported by
special loan funds from the state. In addition to the wiring of the
e n t i re campus, there are numerous computer labs, high tech classrooms,
and increased technology in the library.
The growth in the number of full-time students has been
accompanied by increased selectivity, including rising SAT score s
and class rank among incoming freshmen. Approximately 40
p e rcent of students who apply are accepted; average SATs stand
at 1120 for the class of 2005. There has been an increase in available
student aid, including scholarships for 60 high-achieving
incoming students. These achievements have been accompanied
by a widening recognition of Ramapo’s quality of education.
A graduate education program, part of the vision of the
founders of the College, was launched in the early 1990s with the
Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS). The curriculum, as well
as several students and faculty members in MALS, has re c e i v e d
national recognition. From this beginning, the College has gone
on to develop three additional masters’ programs in educational
t e c h n o l o g y, business administration, and in fall 2001, a Master of
Science in Nursing geared to those who wish to teach nursing.
T h e re has been an expansion in the number of students who
e n roll in the College’s education programs. The certification program
for high school teachers has grown to more than 200 students
and a new elementary education program now has 300. In
response, a teacher education complex has been created in the G
Building. And, there are 300 students in an undergraduate nursing
p rogram off e red in conjunction with UMDNJ. Additionally, a bioc
h e m i s t ry major and a tract in criminology in the law and society
major have been established and consideration is being given to a
major in aviation science. Environmental studies and science
remain an important part of the College and their experimental
facilities will be transformed into an exciting Sustainability Center.
Ramapo has been a leader among public liberal arts colleges
since its beginning. It was a founding member of the Council of
Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) and remains an active and
influential member of this national group. According to Mart h a
E c k e r, associate vice president for Academic Affairs, Ramapo’s
general education curriculum has been made more cohesive and
t h e re has been a strengthening of its emphasis on thinking skills
and on the study and application of values. This liberal arts core
c u rriculum retains its central place in the education of all Ramapo
College undergraduates.
Ramapo has continued to strengthen its four pillars of undergraduate
education. International and intercultural perspectives,
i n t e rd i s c i p l i n a ry, and experiential learning have been notable
f e a t u res of its curriculum since its founding.
In fact, the international focus has been substantially enhanced
a c c o rding to Kwesi Aggre y, assistant vice president for Academic
A ffairs. More than 200 international students continue to bring
global perspectives into the classrooms and the re s i d e n c e s .
Exchange faculty comes from Shanghai and Volgograd and,
t h rough an arrangement just made with the University of Science
and Te c h n o l o g , yin
Ghana. New Study Abroad programs in South
11
By Henry Bischoff
Africa and Greece and opportunities for MALS and MBA students
have increased the already strong international study and co-op ed
activities of Ramapo students. During the spring 2002 break, incoming
freshmen will have the opportunity to experience an introduction
to the Study Abroad Program in Puerto Rico. The Intern ational
Studies and International Business majors continue to draw
students; there is more international content in regular courses;
new language labs are available to students; the Model United
Nations and other international clubs continue to be active; and
the International Food Festival continues as one of the most popular
events on campus. Ramapo welcomes regular full-time faculty
f rom Liberia, Ethiopia, Germ a n y, Madagascar, and Nigeria, joining
colleagues from Sweden, Ecuador, China, Cuba, Ghana, India,
Canada, Iran, and Lebanon. It is likely that most Ramapo students
will have “international experiences” on the campus or abro a d .
The intercultural aspects of Ramapo have been enhanced by
the growth in the number of immigrant and Latino students.
All students can benefit from the activities of the Culture Club
and its publication, The Cultural Journ a l, as well as from the International
Students Organization, which seeks opportunities to
connect American students of all backgrounds with their members.
There has been a strengthening of the Educational Opportunity
Fund Program (EOF) with more diverse and better- p repared
students, greater retention rates, and a higher rate of
graduation. The African-American Studies minor and the Org anization
of African Unity continue as important components of
the College as does the Organization of Latino Unity.
Ramapo’s focus on an interdisciplinary education is an
underpinning of many majors and individual courses. The
newer undergraduate majors and the graduate programs are
s t rongly interd i s c i p l i n a ry.
Experiential education is valued by an increasing number of
students and faculty members. This has been aided by the work
of the Cahill Center for Experiential Learning and Career
Development. Named for a former governor who was an early
s u p p o rter of Ramapo, it has received special state funds. Serv i c e
learning is growing; co-op education remains very strong
and many courses and majors re q u i re a substantial amount of
fieldwork and/or stru c t u red internships.
T h e re remains an important nucleus of founding and pioneer
faculty members (persons hired in the first five years of the
College) who work vigorously at carrying forw a rd many of the
original ideas of Ramapo as an innovative college. The infusion
of new faculty, many of them from strong, prestigious graduate
schools, has only strengthened the commitment Ramapo has
to its original ideals. The cro s s c u rrents between the new and old
have created positive intellectual ferment not only for the faculty
and staff, but most importantly, for the students.
H e n ry Bischoff is a Professor Emeritus of history and urban studies and
a founding faculty member of Ramapo College. He is the author of Innovations and
Realities: A History of Ramapo College of New Jersey: the First Quarter Century, 1971-1996 a n d ,
with Mitchell Kahn, M.S.W., F rom Pioneer Settlement to Suburb: A History of Mahwah, New
J e r s e y, 1700-1976. Another book, Immigration Issues, will be published by Greenwood Pre s s
this November. Bischoff teaches multicultural America in MALS and is director of
historical studies at The Hermitage, a national historic landmark in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ.
RAMAPO MAGAZINE

2001 Foundation
Mission Award
Millicent G. Anisfield,
Manfred H. Edelman, and
Mark W. Grannon are re c i pients
of the 2001 Ramapo
College Foundation Mission
Award. The Award recognizes
outstanding leadership
and service to the Ramapo
College Foundation Board of
Above: Millicent G. Anisfield,
Mission Award recipient.
Right: (l. to r.) Cathleen
Davey, Executive Director,
Ramapo College Foundation;
Mark W. Grannon, Mission
Award recipient; and Thomas
Palmer, chairman, Board of
Governors at the Mission
Awards presentation.
Below: Manfred H. Edelman,
Mission Award recipient.
Governors. Combined, the
recipients have provided
m o re than thirty years of service
to the Foundation. They
also co-chair the Foundation’s
Development Committee.
Both Edelman and
Grannon are past chairm e n
of the Board of Governors.
Anisfield is past chairw o m a n
of the Ramapo College Board
of Tru s t e e s .
Philanthropic
Lender CIT Group
The CIT Group has often
been featured in R a m a p o
M a g a z i n e, and, for good re ason.
The commercial and
consumer finance leader
and its employees have
been faithful supporters of
the College for more than
six years.
“Symbolic of CIT’s role
as a responsible corporate
citizen is its support in the
a rea of education,” said
A l b e rt Gamper, pre s i d e n t
and chief executive officer.
Since 1992 the company
has provided nearly $1 million
in academic scholar-
FALL 2001 12
RAMAPO SECTION FOUNDATION NAME RAMAPO SECTION FOUNDATION NAME
ships to more than 75 high
school and college students.
CIT has an on-site
tutoring program for 30
c h i l d ren from a Newark elem
e n t a ry school and the
company provides internships
for college-bound students.
In addition, many
CIT employees serve on the
b o a rds of various educational
organizations.
Three Ramapo students
— A n d rea Ayers, Elsie Byers,
and Keturah Hicks—were
selected as CIT scholars this
year. A student in the challenging
biochemistry program,
Ayers is thinking
about majoring in nursing
with a psychology minor.
Hicks would like to major
in business administration/
m a n a g e m e n t . Byers is
planning to major
in literature, minor
in theater, and
e a rn her teaching
c e rt i f i c a t i o n .
“I pro b a b l y
would have had to
get a job, take
fewer classes, or
take out loans if it
weren’t for my CIT
scholarship,” said
Hicks. “The scholarship
has made it
easier for me to
focus on my school work
and get good grades.”
“We are very impressed
with the quality of education
Ramapo gives its
students,” said Joe Leone,
executive vice pre s i d e n t
and chief financial off i c e r
of CIT and a Ramapo
College Foundation board
m e m b e r. “To g e t h e r, CIT
and Ramapo have been able
to provide an education to
students who may not have
had the wherewithal to
attend college. Since education
is a big part of CIT’s
corporate giving pro g r a m ,
and we are located in New
Jersey, supporting Ramapo
is a natural match for our
philosophy.”
On behalf of the Ramapo
community, thanks, CIT!
Keturah Hicks, Andrea Ayers, along with
Elsie Byers (pictured separately) were
selected as CIT scholars. “Together, CIT
and Ramapo have been able to provide
an education to students who may not
have had the wherewithal to attend
college,” said Joe Leone, executive vice
president and chief financial officer of
CIT and a Ramapo College Foundation
board member.
The Foundation Performing Arts Series sponsored by
CIT Group presents four perf o rmances this season at the
Berrie Center. Patrons of the Series will be enchanted by
the prestigious Moscow Boys Choir on December 7, the
resonant chords of Kenny Rankin on February 8, the
amazing agility of the Peking Acrobats on March 17, and
another offering in the spring. Series supporters dine
before the performance and “meet the artist” at a recep-
Konica Photo
Imaging
Konica Photo Imaging
has joined the Business
P a rtners program at
Ramapo College and a
s t rong relationship between
the company and the College
is underw a y. Konica’s
new North American headq
u a rters is a welcome
neighbor to the Ramapo
College campus and other
corporations in Mahwah’s
Darlington section. After
visiting the campus, Koni
c a ’s president Robert E.
Striano said, “We want to
be involved with the College.
I would like to see coop
students and intern s
working at Konica, and we
want to find out how we
can assist the photography
p ro g r a m . ”
Since its founding in
1875, Konica has explored
unknown business terr i t ories
and developed new
p roducts. Over the years,
K o n i c a ’s pioneering spirit
has yielded many innovations
including Japan’s first
brand-name camera, the
first camera with built-in
flash, and the first automatic
focus camera. As people
everywhere move into
a networked, digitized age,
Konica is positioned to
p rovide imaging solutions
in information processing,
communications, and
image storage.
Todd Tereshkow, (l.) vice president for technical service, Konica Photo Imaging, demonstrates
a color processing system in the Berrie Center’s photography lab for David Freund,
M.F.A.(r.), professor of photography and Charles Marano, Mac systems administrator
(background). Konica recently joined the Business Partners program at Ramapo College.
tion afterwards. Proceeds benefit the ongoing work of
the Ramapo College Foundation.
“The Series is a creative demonstration of how Ramapo is
g rowing in new ways that continue to help students,” said
Joe Leone, executive vice president and chief financial off icer
of CIT and a Ramapo College Foundation board member.
For more information call the Ramapo College Foundation
office at (201) 684-7613.
13
Mark Grannon (right), co-chair of the Foundation’s Development Committee, recognized
the Yampells (left) and international student recipient Harsh Shah (center) at the spring
Scholarship Reception.
Growth in Foundation
Scholarships
and Awards
Over 170 re c i p i e n t s
received awards totaling
$315,000 during 2000-
2001, a 198 perc e n t
i n c rease from FY ’98
through FY ’01. Growth in
the number of endowed
funds, plus an increase in
market values of these
funds, allowed the Foundation
to assist more student
scholars and projects that
support the mission of the
College. The market value
of College and Foundation
endowment funds has
increased 416 percent from
FY ’96 through March 31,
2001 in FY ’ 01.
One of the newer
endowments was cre a t e d
by Bernice Yampell, former
d i rector of Intern a t i o n a l
Student Services, and her
husband. Upon her retirement
in 2000 they established
the Bernice Yampell
I n t e rnational Student
Scholarship to re c o g n i z e
needy students from overseas
who are quietly
striving to complete their
education.
RAMAPO MAGAZINE

Parents Advisory
Council Is Growing
The Ramapo College
P a rents Advisory Council
has accomplished a lot
since its inception a year
ago, thanks to the enthusiasm
of its members. The
P a rents Council was form e d
to give parents a way to
Bob Cottignies (r.), co-chair of the Parents Advisory Council, welcomes
Ken Rath, the father of a Ramapo College freshman, to the Council.
stay involved in their children’s
education and to get
involved in the future of
Ramapo College. The
group’s mission is to:
•P rovide a means of
two-way communication
between pare n t s
and the College.
•S e rve as advisors to
College staff.
•Assist the admissions
o ffice in attracting
qualified students.
•Garner support for the
College and the Pare n t s
Fund.
•Plan events for parents
to enjoy with their sons
and daughters.
In addition
to
adopting a
mission and
bylaws,
Council
members
participated
in a number
of on-campus
activities
including a
Ramapo
image campaign
focus
group. They also talked to
parents of incoming freshmen
during the Freshmen
A d v i s o ry and Registration
(FAR) days. A highlight of
the year was attending
an event at the Berrie
Center with their Ramapo
students.
RAMAPO SECTION FOUNDATION NAME
FALL 2001 14
2001 Evelyn L. Atwater Scholarship recipient Cesarina Baez (right) attended the
prestigious Tribute to Women and Industry (TWIN) Award Dinner with 2000
Atwater Scholarship recipient Elizabeth Caraballo (left) and presenter Susan Borea
(center). This annual $1,000 award recognizes promising female Ramapo students
whose goal is to pursue a career in business or industry.
“Joining the Parents Advisory
Council gives you a
voice on campus,” said Bob
Cottignies, co-chair. “You
feel that you are doing your
part to make Ramapo College
the best place for your
son or daughter to be.”
Last spring the Council
launched an “Honor Wi t h
Books” library bookplate
p rogram. Parents looking
for a meaningful way to
mark a special occasion—a
b i rth, wedding, anniversary,
b i rt h d a y, or graduation—
can buy a bookplate that
will be placed inside a new
book in Ramapo’s George T.
Potter Library. The bookplate
will include the name
of the person honored and
the donor’s name.
To join the Parents Advis
o ry Council, or order a
bookplate, call Janet Dengel,
director of alumni relations
and annual giving, at
(201) 684-7179.
Minolta Summer Concert Series
John Reardon (r.), vice president and general
manager of Minolta Corporation and Dr. Rodney
Smith, Ramapo College president, welcomed a
large audience to the first of four summer concerts
at the College sponsored by Minolta Corporation.
Additional support for the series was
p rovided by Commerce Bank North, Hudson
United Bank, The Friends of Ramapo, and
McBride Enterprises.
Over 6,000 miles from his native Kenya, Joshua Ojodeh
s t rolled the Ramapo campus on Commencement Day 2001 feeling
right at home. Flashing a huge smile at his former professors
—who approached for a handshake or hug—marked a reunion
after a decade that has brought change to both Ramapo’s and
Ojodeh’s worlds.
Ojodeh re t u rned to his
alma mater to receive one of
the highest honors bestowed
by the College: The Pre s ident’s
Award of Merit. Initiated
in 1994, the award recognizes
accomplishments by
Ramapo College alumni and
s e rves as an inspiration to
both alumni and students.
“ To be here at Ramapo
and to receive this award is
one of my best moments,”
says Ojodeh. “It comes as an
honor not only to me, but
also to my entire constituency
and my country. Let
me congratulate my pro f e ssors
at Ramapo, since they
w e re inspirational and supp
o rtive. They taught me to
translate a vision into re a l i t y. ”
Ramapo was home to
Ojodeh when he took part in
a student exchange program.
He received a liberal
a rts education, shared his cult
u re with other students,
g rew stronger in his vision,
and gained the foundation
needed to fulfill his dre a m :
to re t u rn to Kenya and make
a diff e rence. To d a y, he is a
member of Parliament re p resenting
Ndhiwa, Kenya and a leader in his country ’s transition to
a multi-party democracy. He was recently named an assistant minister
for education, science, and technology. Known as the diplomatic
flag-bearer of his political part y, the National Development
P a rt y, Ojodeh is emerging as a driving force in Kenya for democr
a c y, government re f o rm, improved health care, and education.
Ojodeh spent his childhood in a rural section of Kenya, an
a rea re g a rded by the elite as primitive. After high school, he came
SECTION ALUMNI NAME
Joshua Orwa Ojodeh ’90
Member of Parliament of Ndhiwa, Kenya
Recipient of the 2001 President’s Award of Merit at Ramapo College
by Janet Dengel
Alumnus Joshua Orwa Ojodeh, a member of Parliament in Kenya and recipient of the
C o l l e g e ’s 2001 Pre s i d e n t ’s Aw a rd of Merit, addresses the Class of 2001 at commencement.
15
to Ramapo College to pursue a bachelor’s degree; he had always
planned to use his education to help his countrymen. While at
Ramapo, Ojodeh majored in environmental studies and international
business and was vice president of the International Students
Organization.
After re t u rning to Kenya,
Ojodeh made his political
debut in 1992. Following a
failed run for Parliament,
Ojodeh spearheaded drastic
internal reforms to fight corrupt
elections. His outspoken
criticism of the Kenyan political
stru c t u re resulted in his
arrest, but also led to his victory
by landslide margins in
1994 and 1997. Political
o b s e rvers view Ojodeh as a
liberal democrat, an active,
p ro - re f o rm crusader for his
constituents. His determ i n ation
and approach to issues
has earned him respect and
admiration within his country.
R e f e rring to his activism,
Ojodeh says, “A number of
economic reforms are taking
place. I am supportive and in
favor of liberalization. However,
I will rise to fight should
the re f o rm policies dictate
against the interests and economic
welfare of my people.
T h e re are 28 million people
in Kenya. Our main needs
a re for a health center,
water projects, and school
improvement.”
O j o d e h ’s visit was brief.
Parliament was still in session
and his return flight was scheduled the day after commencement.
He left with words of thanks to the Ramapo community for
the education he received, for a donation of computers to students
in Kenya, and for scholarships that allow students from his
country to receive an education at Ramapo that they could not
a ff o rd or obtain at home. He made one last stop on campus—the
College bookstore to buy a fishing hat embro i d e red with
“Ramapo College of New Jersey.”
RAMAPO MAGAZINE

SECTION ALUMNI NAME
The Ramapo Experience:
An Imprint on the Lives of Several “First Grads”
Back in the 1970s, those
who enrolled in Ramapo—the
new state college—were pioneers.
Today, they are still pioneers—leaders
in business, the
environment, social work, and
l a w. And, they remain dedicated
to Ramapo College.
H e re, we highlight several
Ramapo “firsts.”
Geri Squire, Esq. ’74
developed a passion for learning
and teaching at Ramapo
that led to a B.A. in psychology,
two master’s degrees, and a
law degree from Seton Hall.
S q u i re has her own practice in
Hackensack, specializing in
family law, teaches at Seton
Hall, and has published chapters
in the New Jersey Tr a n s a ction
Guide. “Ramapo pre p a re d
me for real life. I like being in
the court room. I’m proud to
be part of the legal pro f e ss i o n . ”
J e ff rey Wa rren ’73, senior
d i rector of alliance development
at Pfizer Health Solutions
in Parsippany, gives back to the
students at Ramapo College.
Wa rren and his wife Andre a
established an endowed scholarship
fund to benefit students
with physical or learning disabilities
in the School of Cont
e m p o r a ry Arts. “Looking back,
I fully appreciate the unique
o p p o rtunities at Ramapo that
helped shape my care e r,” said
Wa rren. “In establishing a
scholarship we hope to help a
new generation of Ramapo students
fulfill their dreams.” The
first Jeff rey and Andrea Wa rre n
Scholarship was awarded for
the fall 2001 semester.
For Kay Dundorf ’78,
being executive director of
One Stop Senior Services in
Manhattan is a bigger challenge
than it first appears. This
community center serves over
2,000 seniors and spans a
“ n e i g h b o rhood” that stre t c h e s
from 59th to 125th Street and
Central Park West to the Hudson
River. The One Stop Senior
S u p p o rt Project (OSSSP) is a
new program for victims of
elder abuse/neglect and their
families. “As Ramapo celebrates
its 30th anniversary,
One Stop celebrates 20 years
of service,” said Dundorf .
“Ramapo nurtured me in my
i n t e rest—the field of aging and
the opportunity for humans to
grow as we age.”
After graduating Ramapo
with a B.S. in environmental
science, Joe Gearo ’78 pur-
sued his dream of working
with the U.S. Enviro n m e n t a l
P rotection Agency (EPA ) .
Gearo’s career has taken him
a round the country working
on teams for the Superf u n d
P rogram, the Clean Air Act, the
E PA’s Emergency Response
Team, the Safe Drinking Water
Act, and more. Most recently,
the U.S. Department of Energ y
appointed him as the director
of environmental programs at
the U.S. Army Dugway Pro v i n g
Ground, the nation’s chemical
and biological defense installa-
FALL 2001 16
Dennis Bonagura ’77 (center), president of EXTOL Incorporated, a leading provider
of electronic business solutions located in Franklin Lakes, keeps the business in the
Ramapo family by hiring other alumni and Ramapo students. Pictured above are
(l. to r.): Ramapo student Thomas Van Beuzekom, James Piccione ’94, Ralph
Cross ’01, and Ehren Hozumi ’99. EXTOL is also a new member of the Ramapo
College Business Partners program.
tion. “I still wear my Ramapo
ring and have my diploma
mounted on my office wall,”
said Gearo.
Donald J. Mahoney ’73
has always kept strong ties
with Ramapo, serving on the
executive committee of the
Ramapo College Foundation
B o a rd of Governors for five
years and the Foundation Golf
Committee for four. His professional
career includes serving
as vice president of sales
for Time Inc. Golf Properties.
Mahoney was honored at the
Distinguished Citizens Dinner
in 1997. He also is a member
of the Cancer Research Institute
and serves on the board
of directors of the Metropolitan
Golf Writers Association.
Carry the Arch in
Your Wallet
C a rry the Ramapo College
Platinum Plus S M M a s t e r C a rd ®
c redit card—featuring the
A rch—and support the College.
Issued through MBNA America
Bank, N.A., the Ramapo College
c redit card offers benefits
including no annual fee, a low
i n t ro d u c t o ry annual perc e n t a g e
rate, fraud protection, 24-hour
customer satisfaction, and
access to Palladian Travel Serv
i c e s ® . For each account
opened and retail purc h a s e
made, a percentage is donated
to the 2002 Annual Fund.
Request your card by calling
t o l l - f ree 1-866-GET-MBNA. (Use
priority code B5QB.)
(l. to r.) Scholarship recipients Jennifer Mutch of Toms River and Yanivis Fragozo of Hawthorn e
receive congratulations from Mark W. Grannon, past chairman of the Ramapo College
Foundation Board of Governors, and Kristan Mathews, Alumni Association Board member.
Alumni Welcome
Class of 2001
On May 20, the eve of the
43rd Commencement, graduating
seniors and their families
g a t h e red for a toast to congratulate
the Class of 2001.
S p o n s o red by the New Alumni
Committee, the event hosted
175 people in the Grove for an
outdoor welcome to our
newest alumni.
All ages had a great time honoring
the Class of 2001: Shown (l. to r.)
Margaret Griffin, Gladys Kahn,
Leigh-Ann Lewis ’01, Jana Kahn ’01,
Eileen Smith, Julia Smith ’01, and
Charles Smith.
Alumni Association
Scholarships
Make Students’
Dreams Possible
C reated with gifts from former
Ramapo students, the
Alumni Association Scholarship
endowment has grown dramatically
thanks to the success
of car raffles and the golf outing.
Every year one freshman in
each of Ramapo’s five schools
receives an Alumni Scholarship.
This year, the recipients were :
Yanivis Fragozo, Jonathan
L a s k y, Jennifer Mutch, Kevin
P e rtusiello, and Kristin McCre a .
ALUMNI
17
Where in the
World Are
Ramapo Alumni?
A revised Ramapo College
of New Jersey Alumni Dire ct
o ry will be the most up-todate
and complete reference
of alumni ever compiled. This
volume, published by Bernard
C. Harris Publishing Company,
Inc., will include the curre n t
name, address, phone numb
e r, academic data, plus
business information bound
into a library-quality edition.
All alumni with addresses
on file in the alumni office
will receive a questionnaire
in the mail. Please complete
and re t u rn it before the
deadline indicated to be
included in this publication.
It’s a great way to reconnect
and keep in touch.
Fraternity
Scholarship
Established
The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity
has established the Daniel
F. Boylan Memorial Scholarship
to perpetuate the memory
of their beloved fraternity
b rother and alumnus of
Ramapo College who died on
March 2, 2001 at the age of
28. “Dan was always helping
us out,” said junior Jord a n
Heykoop, a member of the fraternity.
“This scholarship in his
memory will benefit an active
member of Alpha Epsilon Pi.”
For information, call Claudia
Esker at (201) 684-7374.
Alumni Board
Welcomes New
Members
T h ree new members were
elected to the Ramapo College
Alumni Board: Laurisa Palmer
Sampson ’89, Jaguar Cars in
Mahwah; Peter Morris ’96, second
vice president - investments
for Salomon Smith Barney; and
Suzanne Adrion ’83, an adjunct
p rofessor at Ramapo. Suzanne,
who is relocating to Rochester,
N Y, will serve as the first member
of Ramapo’s National
Alumni Board.
Laurisa Palmer Sampson ’89 and Peter Morris ’96
We at Ramapo College
are deeply saddened by
the tragic destruction of
life in the World Tr a d e
C e n t e r, the Pentagon,
and in Pennsylvania.
Our thoughts and
prayers are with the
injured or lost including
the rescue workers. If we
can reach out in any
way to alumni, parents,
friends, students, and
the Ramapo family
c o m m u n i t y, please let
us know.
RA MAPO MAGAZINE

Alumni Board
Members Sought
The Ramapo College
Alumni Board of Directors is
looking for new committee
members. If you have an
i n t e rest in career networks,
minority recruitment, business
p a rtners, special events,
new alumni (five years or less),
golf or other sports, please
contact Janet Dengel at
(201) 684-7179.
Golfers Enjoy a
Day on the Links
David Berntsen ’84, golf
committee chair, did an outstanding
job of putting
together the annual golf outing.
He motivated alumni to
reach out to their companies
and clients to support this
event. Proceeds, totaling more
than $5,000, will benefit student
scholarships through the
Alumni Association Endowed
Scholarship Fund.
Did You Know?
The Class of 2001 now
brings our total number of
alumni to 17,456 pro u d
Ramapo graduates. Out of the
m o re than 870 new alumni,
122 were students with double
majors or minors; 128 re c e i v e d
their degrees cum laude,
magna cum laude, or summa
cum laude; thirty one were
international students from a
total of thirteen foreign countries;
seventy-three re c e i v e d
m a s t e r ’s degrees; and seventysix
were students in the
EOF (Educational Opportunity
Fund) program. Congratulations
to all!
B e l o w :The Student Alumni Association,
a club with the goal of bridging the
gap between students and alumni,
hosted a Student Alumni Banquet
in March. The event provided an
opportunity for students and alumni
to meet and network.
Right: Thanks to the generous
donations of local businesses and
the green thumbs of the New Alumni
Committee, the garden by Mahwah’s
train station is in bloom!
Calendar
Check online at w w w. r a m a p o . e d u for more
information on these upcoming events.
Alumni Art Auction (wine and cheese social)—
November 30, 2001 at 7 p.m., The Robert A. Scott
Student Center. Alumni who are interested in
p roviding works of art for the auction may contact
B ryan Steros ’98, assistant director of annual giving
and alumni relations at (201) 684-7115 or e-mail
bsteros@ramapo.edu.
Alumni Basketball Reunion—February 9, 2002
Last year 27 former players took the court. Will you be
among them this year? Get together, shoot some hoops,
and have fun!
Alumni Ice Hockey Reunion—March 2002
Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame—April 27, 2002
The committee is working on the selection of candidates
for this prestigious honor. If you know of a deserving
Ramapo athlete, contact Bryan Steros.
’ 7 5 M i k e
L e h m a n n works with the
New York State Division of
Veterans as a counselor. He
w rote to share a memory :
“Ramapo opened its arms
to many veterans re t u rn i n g
f rom Vietnam. Many times
over the years, I have talked
to Vietnam veterans who are
s u ffering with post-traumatic
s t ress disord e r. I invariably think
back to Ramapo and reflect
on the support system we
had there. The College allowed
’74 Kenneth
D o m o n k o s is employed
as a salesperson in the
computer field. He also
has his own Intern e t
business buying, selling,
and trading sports cards
and sports memorabilia
on eBay. Domonkos is
active with org a n i z a t i o n s
that support and protect
the Second Amendment.
He and his wife Connie
reside in Manchester, NJ.
us to function, gro w, heal,
l e a rn, and make something
of ourselves.”
’ 7 6 Marian L.
S e n n e t t teaches at Coral
Springs Middle School in Coral
Springs, FL. As a surprise for
Teacher Appreciation We e k ,
May 6-12, the principal of the
school contacted the Ramapo
College Alumni Office, which
then sent a letter of congratulations
to Sennett and a CD holder
printed with the Ramapo Arc h .
CLASS NOTES
’ 7 8 Rabbi Shefa
Gold spoke to students, faculty,
and staff at Ramapo on
the topic of “Living with Wonder
and Wisdom: Exploring
the Connections Between Spiritual
Well-Being and Our
Career Paths.”
’ 8 2 Barbara
B a l d a c c i received a pro m otion
to assistant treasurer and
assistant controller in Interchange
Bank’s accounting
department. She also serves as
the tre a s u rer of Fair Lawn High
School Friends of Music.
M a rtha “Marty” Ta p p a n
received West Milford’s Mary
B. Hasse Lifetime Achievement
Award for her years of volunteer
work and leadership in the
borough with Cub Scouts, the
West Milford Garden Club, the
League of Women Voters, the
West Milford Band Pare n t s
Association, the Highlands
Audubon Society, the Skylands
Association, the West Milford
FALL 2001 18 19
RAMAPO MAGAZINE
Births
Nancy (Zaczek) Collentine
’89 and Dan, a daughter,
Danielle Joy
M a ry Bern t s e n
Hutchins ’90 and Curtis, a
daughter, Sarah Nicole
Russ Klepper ’87 a n d
Eileen, twins, Maeve Bridgit
and Cornelius Quinn
Weddings
Giuseppe Castellano ’98
to Lisa Cappelluti
Tanya Michelle Cole ’96
to Stephen Giordano
Scott Engelhardt ’98 to
Kathryn DiGiovanni ’96
M a rc David Lewis ’92 t o
Constance Lee Gucker
Paula Ann Montalbano
’98 to Mathew C. Rubenacker
Karen A. Pascale ’83 to
Richard J. Apgar
Christine Tibaldi ’94 to
David Liss
Michael Zimerman ’00
to Yael Nagler
In Memoriam
Jonathan Harelick ’97
Barbara Pape ’80
’75-76 Ramapo College Ice Hockey Team was
inducted into the Ramapo College Alumni Athletic Hall of
Fame in 2001. Coached by Artie Chill ’74, this “super
team” had a 29 game unbeaten streak, a 15 game winning
streak, outscored opponents 285-73 goals, and
boasted eight shutouts. They dominated the competition
en route to the league championship.

Joseph Kelly ’77, his mother K a t h ryn ’88, and his
daughter C a rolyn ’01 have made history by becoming the
first family to have three generations graduate from Ramapo
College. Joseph graduated with a fine arts degree, teaches in
the Jersey City school system, and is pursuing his master’s
d e g ree in special education at New Jersey City University.
K a t h ryn, now a re t i red substitute teacher, worked at Ramapo
and obtained her degree as an adult student. Caro l y n
received her degree in history and a teacher certification at
this year’s 43rd Commencement. She is the assistant dire c t o r
of School Age Childcare in Leonia’s afterschool program.
E n v i ronmental Commission,
and the Friends of the Library.
Tappan also serves as a church
elder and the director of Christian
education at West Milford
Presbyterian Church.
’ 8 3 Ed Sro c z y n s k i
works as an employment specialist
for Lighthouse, a Manhattan
organization that works
with the visually impaire d .
S roczynski, visually impaire d
since birth, discovered a love for
music and shares his folk, jazz,
rock, and classical music at local
restaurants and coffeehouses in
New York and New Jersey.
James Conyers s e rves as
the department chairman of
the University of Nebraska’s
Black Studies Department. He
is proud that the department is
celebrating its 30th annivers
a ry, now enrolls more than
2,000 students, and has twenty
students majoring in black
studies. Conyers received his
doctorate in African-American
studies from Temple University.
Barbara Klemt will be
p rofiled in the 2001 D i re c t o ry of
American Scholars, a Gale Gro u p
re f e rence book that features the
best scholars in the United
States and Canada. Klemt is
being recognized for achievement
in English and journ a l i s m .
She recently adopted a chow
mix from an animal shelter and
named the dog J.D. in honor of
late entertainer John Denver,
the subject of Klemt’s doctoral
d i s s e rtation and three conference
pre s e n t a t i o n s .
CLASS NOTES
FALL 2001 20
’8 4B ruce Mitchell
was elected chairman of the
Waldwick Zoning Board of
Adjustments. He and J o a n n
Frijia Mitchell ’86 c e l ebrated
their 20th wedding
anniversary this year.
’ 8 5 R o b e rt C.
V l i e t was named first vice
p resident of Valley National
Bank, Wayne and will be
responsible for collection of
delinquent retail loans. He is
active in his home community
of Wayne as a volunteer with
Habitat for Humanity.
’86 L a rry Moran
is the vice president of sales
and marketing for Econium,
Inc. in Totowa, a technology
consulting firm which specializes
in building customized
communications solutions for
businesses.
(l.) Todd Meyer welcomes Timothy Greene
’91 into the Ramapo College Alumni Athletic
Hall of Fame.
’ 8 7R o b e rt J. Skead
is the author of a childre n ’s
book, Hitting Glory: A Baseball
Bat Adventure, recently published
by Cross Training Publishing.
He is the author of two
other childre n ’s fiction novels,
Safe At Home: A Baseball Card
M y s t e ry and Elves Can’t Dunk.
’ 8 9 Lesley Maklin
graduated from Fordham Univ
e r s i t y ’s School of Education in
May 2001 with a professional
diploma in School District
Administration and Superv ision.
Maklin is an executive
member of the Ramapo College
Alumni Association.
Andy Latincsics teaches
c h e m i s t ry at Lenape Va l l e y
Regional High School in
Stanhope.
’ 9 4 Kirk Schuh
joined Shoppers Charg e
Accounts in Mahwah, as a
’91 Timothy Gre e n e
was inducted into the
Ramapo College Alumni
Athletic Hall of Fame for
2001. Green achieved
1,208 career points at
Ramapo, earning him a
ranking of third on the
A l l - Time Scoring list.
Greene holds the record
at Ramapo of 23
rebounds in one game
and led the New Jersey
Athletic Conference in rebounding in ’89, ’90, and ’91. He
was Ramapo Basketball’s Most Valuable Player in ’88 and ’90
and College Athlete of the Year in 1990. Greene was honore d
by being chosen for the All-NJAC in ’90 and ’91 and All East
Coast Athletic Conference in ’91.
Assistant athletic director Kathleen Finnegan
(r.) welcomes Barbara Schifano into the
Ramapo College Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame.
national account manager.
He previously worked for
DialAmerica Marketing in
Mahwah.
’ 9 5 M a u re e n
M a rro n e, manager, visual
m e rchandising, at Hunter
Douglas, Inc. was named a
2001 TWIN (Tribute to
Women in Industry) Honoree.
Marrone is responsible for the
company’s visual merchandising
image. She also served as
co-chair of a Women in Industry
event, raising $140,000 to
fight breast cancer.
Johann Grimm received
a commission from the United
States Army as a Second Lieutenant
in Military Intelligence.
He has also begun coursework
for a master’s degree in International
Relations at Georg e
Mason University.
’ 9 2 Barbara Schifano
was inducted into the
Ramapo College Alumni
Athletic Hall of Fame for
2001. Ramapo named
Schifano “Woman Athlete
of the Year” and
“Most Valuable Player.”
Bergen County honored
her as one of the
“ Women of Stre n g t h
and Vision” who successfully
combines athletic
excellence, leadership,
and academic
achievement. As a freshman catcher, Schifano had 120
putouts and 30 assists without committing an error in regular
or post-season play. In 1987, she was rated number one
in the country with 53 RBI’s and reached the Top 10 in the
country in batting average and doubles.
Damien McKeever is the
associate director of information
systems with the New Jersey
Education Association. He
develops new and existing custom
software applications as
well as the org a n i z a t i o n ’s We bsite
and Internet applications.
’ 9 6 N a t a s c h a
Estep is the president of her
own liqueur importing comp
a n y. She imports the first and
only German plum liqueur into
the United States, which is
s e rved at many fine re s t a u r a n t s
in New Jersey.
’ 9 7 BS ’01 MBA
Claudia Bakhtiary i s
employed as a materials planner
for Wyeth-Ayerst in Pearl
R i v e r, NY. She is in the children’s
vaccine division.
CLASS NOTES
21
Noeline M. Gre f r a t h is a
teacher at Jessie F. Georg e
School in the Township of
Washington. She recently graduated
with honors from Iona
College with a master of science
in teaching (MST). Grefrath is
also a member of the We s twood
Library Board, serving as
an alternate for Dr. Roy Montesano,
superintendent of schools,
and has served the board both
as vice president and tre a s u re r.
Eric Melniczek is a graduate
student at Vi rginia Te c h
pursuing a master’s degree in
higher education and student
a ffairs administration. He
works in the university’s Care e r
S e rvices Office and can be
reached at emelnicz@vt.edu.
M a rcella Runell is the
c o o rdinator of student and club
development at New York Univ
e r s i t y. She received her mast
e r ’s degree from NYU in higher
education administration with a
concentration in multicultural
education. Runell just re t u rn e d
f rom Poland as a facilitator for
the March of Remembrance
and Hope, which gathered 400
college students from aro u n d
the world for a mission to study
p rejudice and hate during the
H o l o c a u s t .
’ 0 0 Lori Ebanietti
received the Bergen County
technology fellowship from the
New Jersey Department of Education.
She travels to conferences
in Bergen County, the
state, and nationwide to speak
on how to infuse technology
into teaching and teacher training.
Ebanietti also presented at
the Tech Share 2001 Confer-
ence at Bergen Community
College. She graduated fro m
Ramapo with a master of science
in education technology.
Iva Cadmus is a fre e l a n c e
writer covering sports for The
Star Gazette and a substitute
teacher in special education.
Judy Keyes has been
named market research officer
at Columbia Savings Bank in
Fair Lawn. Keyes will be
responsible for re s e a rch and
analysis of present and potential
markets, products, and services
in support of Columbia’s
marketing objectives.
’01 Glenn Fallon
is the manager of media relations
for the Newark Bears
minor league baseball club. He
was an intern there during his
senior year at Ramapo and
joined full-time after graduation.
He reports that the Bears
had a great season!
How long has
it been since your
fellow graduates
at Ramapo College
have seen your
smiling face?
Now they can—
right on the pages of
Ramapo Magazine!
Send us a recent photo along with
the latest news on your careers, family,
milestones, and events in your life.
Mail to: Bryan Steros, assistant
director, Annual Giving and Alumni
Relations, 505 Ramapo Valley Rd.,
Mahwah, NJ 07430. Visit our new
and improved Web pages at
w w w. r a m a p o . e d u. We’d love to
RA MAPO MAGAZINE
hear from you!

Above: Jason Valloni (l.) and Corey
Brown are the Robert Hartman Male
Athletes of the Year.
Right: Advantage Bette Farber and
Ramapo! Farber led the women’s tennis
team to its best overall record
in more than five years. For her efforts
she was named a Betty Logan Female
Athlete of the Year.
Students who part i c i p a t e
in Ramapo College’s competitive
sports pro g r a m s
serve as off-campus ambassadors
for the College by
demonstrating cooperative
e ff o rt, skill, and spirit.
These highly motivated students
were recently hono
red at the annual Sport s
Aw a rd Luncheon along
with their coaches. It was a
festive celebration of yearlong
achievements.
Senior Corey Brown of
East Orange and junior
Jason Va l l o n i of Katonah,
NY were honored as the
R o b e rt Hartman Male Athletes
of the Year. Brown led
the men’s basketball team to
an 11-13 overall record and
was named to the NJAC All-
C o n f e rence Second Te a m
after averaging 14.8 points
per game and shooting 59
p e rcent from the floor.
Athletes and Coaches
Pave Winning Road
Valloni, a catcher and the
baseball team’s batting
l e a d e r, led the Roadru nners
to its first-ever Easter
College Athletic Conference
(ECAC) Division III
M e t ro Championship and
its first NJAC playoff slot
since 1989. Valloni hit
.346 with 12 homeru n s
and 33 RBIs.
Bette Farber o f
Ya rdville and Amy Gord o n
of Middletown were named
the Betty Logan Female
Athletes of the Year. Farber
led the women’s tennis
team to its best overall
re c o rd in more than five
years (8-6) and finished
the season with an 8-2
singles’ re c o rd. She was
also named to the NJAC
A l l - C o n f e rence Singles
Team. Gordon led the
w o m e n ’s soccer team
to a 9-7 re c o rd, the best
in the history of the
program. She finished the
year with 17 goals and
14 assists, leading the NJAC
in both categories and
FALL 2001 22
SECTION ATHLETICS NAME SECTION ATHLETICS NAME
finishing the year eighth in
the nation in points per
game and third in assists.
The Rookie Athletes
of the Year were R o n n a
K i l l i n s of Harr i s b u rg, PA
and Kris Fraser of Lakewood.
Killins had an outstanding
indoor track season
winning the 800M ru n ,
was a member of the second
place distance medley
team, and the third place
4X400 relay team at the
NJAC Championship. Continuing
her success in outdoor
track and field, she
was crowned the NJAC
800M champion and qualified
for the ECAC Championship.
Fraser helped lead
the men’s volleyball team
to a 25-6 overall re c o rd and
the NECVA Metro We s t
Division Championship.
He totaled 319 kills, 139
digs, 84 blocks, and 75
s e rvice aces and was
named to the Nort h e a s t
Collegiate Vo l l e y b a l l
Association (ECVA )
All-Conference
Second Te a m
for his
efforts.
Ramapo women’s soccer player Amy
Gordon finished the year eighth in
the nation in points per game and
third in assists. The Betty Logan
Female Athlete of the Year led
the College’s team to a 9-7
record, the best in the history
of the program.
T h ree head coaches
s h a red the Coach of the
Year Aw a rd. Wo m e n ’s tennis
coach Chuck McBre e n
guided his team to an 8-6
overall re c o rd, bringing
them over .500 for the first
time in more than five
years. Don Va n d e r b e c k
coached men’s volleyball,
capping an outstanding season
with a NECVA Metro
West Division Championship.
Rich Mart i n l e d
the baseball team to a 25-13
re c o rd, its first-ever ECAC
Division III Metro To u rn ament
Championship, and a
NJAC Playoff slot.
R O A D R U N N E R S
Baseball
Claims ECAC
Championship
In his first season as
head coach, Rich Mart i n
did what every coach sets
out to do: take his team to a
post-season championship.
Under his guidance, the
2001 baseball team was
c rowned the ECAC Division
III Metro Champions—the
first time in the
h i s t o ry of the program. The
R o a d runners earned the top
seed in the four-team tournament
and defeated conference
rival Kean University
(9-7) on the Ramapo
home field in Mahwah. An
eighth inning rally gave the
R o a d runners the tourn ament
title as Ramapo
scored six runs on four hits
with two Cougar erro r s ,
retiring four Kean pitchers
in the inning. Ramapo
defeated FDU Madison (4-
3) in the opening game of
the tournament. The Most
Valuable Player of the tournament
was Roadru n n e r
junior catcher, Jason Va lloni.
In two games he went
3-8 with two RBI and three
runs scored.
The Roadrunners ended
the season with an outstanding
27-15 re c o rd, their
best finish in more than ten
years. Throughout the re g ular
season, the team enjoyed
an 11-7 NJAC re c o rd and
had impressive victories
against William Paterson
(19-7), Rowan (10-7), and
Rutgers Newark (12-1). The
Champion Highlights
Roadrunners’ most important
regular season win
came when they swept a
double header against Rutgers
Camden (12-2/10-9) to
e a rn the fourth spot in
the NJAC Championship
Tournament.
Men’s Volleyball
Crowned Regular
Season Champions
The men’s volleyball
team reveled in a 25-6 overall
re c o rd, 12-2 NECVA, and
ended the regular season in
Clarks Summit, PA against
Stevens Institute of Te c hnology
where they clinched
the Division III Metro West
Championship Title. This
season, the team recorded
the best record of all Division
III schools in the
nation. The Roadru n n e r s ’
25 wins gave them the
most victories in five years,
closing the season ranked
1 1 t h in the nation with
nationally ranked players
Chris Baron, Kyle Boettke,
and Kris Fraser. Baro n
ranked ninth in kill average
and 20th in blocking,
Boettke ranked 11th in
blocking, and Fraser third
in service ace average. The
successful season included
an impressive 15-match
winning streak with the
R o a d runners defeating
Mount St. Vincent (3-0),
Stevens Tech (3-2), Baptist
Bible (3-0), and Rivier (3-2).
The streak gave the Roadrunners
national re c o g n ition
for the most consecu-
23
tive victories in a season.
The team went on to earn
the fourth seed in the
N E C VA Championship
Tournament.
Softball Earns
Tournament Bid
The Roadrunner softball
team ended the 2001 season
with a 23-16 overall
re c o rd and earned the number
three seed in the ECAC
Division III South Softball
Championship. This was
the Roadrunners’ first
t o u rnament appearance
since 1993.
Fall Sports Kick Off
2001 Season
A score of team-sport
o p p o rtunities are open
to athletically minded students.
Fall sport s
action includes
men and
women’s soccer,
women’s tennis,
cross-country,
and women’s
volleyball.
Kudos to
senior goalkeeper
Alissa
Calandra who
re c o rded her first
shut out of the
season as the
Ramapo College
women’s soccer
team defeated St.
Joe’s Patchogue
(5-0) and had a repeat performance
against SUNY
F a rmingdale (7-0). Another
s e n i o r, Amy Gordon, a Betty
Logan Female Athlete of the
Year, tallied five goals and
one assist in the SUNY game.
M o re soccer news…
rookie goalkeeper Rich
Wolfle re c o rded his first
shutout of the season after
blocking two shots in a
game against SUNY Old
Westbury (2-0).
In the first cro s s - c o u n t ry
meet of the season at the
William Paterson University
Invitational, senior
Brian Daly was selected the
Big Time Performer of the
Week running a time of
29:49 and placing 10th
overall. The Big Time
P e rf o rmer for the women
was Ronna Killins who
placed 6th with a time
of 21:23.
RA MAPO MAGAZINE

RJ Tu rchick, a 21-year- o l d
s e n i o r, embodies Ramapo’s
goal to be the college of
choice for a global education.
He has participated in
the entire spectrum of experiential
opportunities: the
Study Abroad Program,
the Cooperative Education
P rogram, the Intern a t i o n a l
Cooperative Education
P rogram, and the National
Student Exchange Pro g r a m .
M o re than forty of the
c re d i t s he has earned have
come from off-campus, and
in many cases, intern a t i o n a l
experiences.
While a sophomore, RJ,
who grew up in Kinnelon
went to Costa Rica through
R a m a p o ’s Study Abro a d
p rogram. “Costa Rica was
awesome and the experience
made me want to see
m o re of the world,” he says.
N o w, RJ is the Intern a t i o n a l
Cooperative Education
P ro g r a m ’s first student to
be placed in Latin America.
He is participating in a twosemester
opportunity to
teach English as a second
language (ESL) at INTENSA
Language School in San
José, Costa Rica.
“I love Costa Rica and
this allowed me to re t u rn to
friends and favorite places.”
RJ does not speak Spanish
fluently and is taking language
classes. “Living in a
f o reign country is the best
way to learn another language.
I am forced to speak
Spanish every day. Whether
it is talking with teachers or
my friends, there are ample
o p p o rtunities to pro p e r l y
l e a rn the language.”
Turchick says he has gained
personal satisfaction and
s e l f - respect by teaching ESL.
San José is the capital
city of Costa Rica. RJ
describes it as a developed
city with many of the
amenities available in the
United States. “Once you
leave the Central Va l l e y
and head into the mountains,
you run into the tro pical
lush countryside with
r a i n f o rests, beaches, and
waterfalls. Since I am earning
Costa Rican wages, I
c a n ’t aff o rd many things.
H o w e v e r, I have a nice
apartment with everything
I need at the moment.”
“When I first met RJ, he
was working as a manager
for a local furniture store,”
says Donna Kauder,
R a m a p o ’s director of international
cooperative education.
“For such a young
person, he already had
IN SECTION THE SPOTLIGHT NAME
An International Business Major
Gains Global Perspective
The menacing, yet magnificent, crater of
the Poas Volcano that Turchick visited in
his free time.
FALL 2001 24
assumed so much responsibility
in the work world
while maintaining a near
perfect GPA.”
Indeed, his resume is
i m p ressive. In 1999,
Tu rchick was placed with
P roduction Groups Intern ational
(PGI), a global events
and conferences company
in Manhattan. This placement
was part of a dual-city
i n t e rnship that led him to
work for PGI in London the
following semester. There ,
he attended marketing
functions promoting the
company and its serv i c e s .
“ Working and living in
London helped me grow
as an individual,” he says,
“not only by adjusting to
another culture and count
ry, but also by finding a flat
in an unknown place and
s u p p o rting myself mentally
and physically to handle the
immense challenge of living
and working abroad.”
The following semester,
Tu rchick took part in the
National Student Exchange
P rogram (NSE) and lived
and studied at Florida International
University (FIU) in
Miami. He continued working
for PGI, this time as an
on-site staff member providing
meeting and greet-
ing services at local airport s
and transportation for
almost 1,000 program participants.
At FIU, Turchick
kept his high GPA and was
inducted into Delta Mu
Delta, the business honor
s o c i e t y. Not surprisingly,
PGI offered him the opportunity
to work in their San
José, Costa Rica off i c e .
“When the company asked
me to stay on, I gladly
accepted,” he says.
Tu rchick is matter- o f -
fact about his determ i n ation.
“I have to work to
s u p p o rt myself while in
school. I always put schoolwork
before work. At times,
this is difficult, but I get
through it. It has made me
a stronger person for being
able to successfully balance
school and work.”
Taking life one day, or
p e rhaps one semester, at a
time, RJ is not sure what’s
next. The intern a t i o n a l
business major plans to
graduate in May of 2002. He
would like to earn a master’s
d e g ree and live and work
outside the United States.
“I had no idea when I
s t a rted Ramapo four years
ago that my college care e r
would take this turn. I think
it is incredible.”
November
8 Recess: Translating the New 1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
Disc Jockeys and Musical Mediation: Kai Fikentscher
Berrie Center, Adler Theater, Free
16 Club Adler 8 p.m.
The Comedy of Flash Rosenberg:
Camping in the Bewilderness
Berrie Center, Adler Theater, $17, $15, $10, $5
20 “Freedom and Its Enemies” 5 p.m.
John Stossel, ABC News Correspondent, “20/20”
Sponsored by the School of Administration
and Business and the Business Network
The Pavilion
25 New Jersey Tap Ensemble 3 p.m.
Rhythm is Our Business
Berrie Center, Sharp Theater,
$18, $15, $10, $5
30 Jazz at the Berrie Center 8 p.m.
Friends of WBGO Radio Jazz Jam
Berrie Center, Sharp Theater,
$15, $12, $7, $5
December
2 York Room Salon Series 3 p.m.
Musicora
York Room, The Mansion, $7
5 Fall Colloquium Series 4 – 6 p.m.
Professor Ira Spar discusses his current research
Sponsored by the School of American and
International Studies
York Room, The Mansion
7 Moscow Boys Choir 8 p.m.
Christmas Around the World
Berrie Center, Sharp Theater, $20, $17, $10, $5
8 Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company 8 p.m.
Mayne Mentchn (My People)
Berrie Center, Sharp Theater, $20, $17, $10, $5
SECTION CALENDAR NAME
11 Recess: Translating the New
1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
The Contemporary Curator:
Sydney O. Jenkins
Berrie Center, Adler Theater, Free
14 Jazz at the Berrie Center 8 p.m.
The American Songbook: Of Thee I Swing
Dick Hyman, Piano and Ken Peplowski, Clarinet
Berrie Center, Sharp Theater,
$20, $15, $10, $5
15 Chinese Theater Workshop 3 p.m.
A Presentation of Little Red Riding Hood:
the Chinese Opera
Berrie Center, Sharp Theater, $15, $12, $7, $5
Winter 2002 Academic Calendar
• November 1 - January 1: Winter 2002 Web Registration
• November 2 - January 1: Winter 2002 Registration – all students
• January 2 - First Day of Classes for Winter 2002
• January 25 – Last day of Winter 2002 semester
For events at the Berrie Center, call (201) 684-7844
For tickets for Alumni events, call (201) 684-7115
For Ramapo College Foundation and Friends of Ramapo
events, call (201) 684-7613
ON CAMPUS
25
RAMAPO MAGAZINE

505 Ramapo Valley Road
Mahwah, NJ 07430-1680
New Jersey’s Public Liberal Arts College
The Ramapo College community
warmly welcomes the incoming freshman
class, the Class of 2005.
Most common first names?
Michael 14
James 10
Matthew 9
Brian 8
Daniel 7
Ryan 6
Jennifer 12
Jessica 12
Lauren 11
Heather 10
Kristin 9
Kristen 8
How many in the Class of 2005
ranked in the top 10% of their
graduating high school class?
101 students
How many scored over 1200 on
the SATs?
104 students
How many of the Class of 2005
w e re accepted through the
Immediate Decision Day pro c e s s ?
144 freshmen
What percent of the class rated
Ramapo as their first or second
choice of college?
More than 94 percent
What percent of the class live
in Ramapo residence halls?
85 percent of incoming freshmen live
on campus
The class of 2005 re p resents
how many states and countries?
Members of the class entered from nineteen
counties in New Jersey and five
other states: New York, Connecticut,
C a l i f o rnia, Pennsylvania, and Ve rm o n t .
Sixteen foreign countries are re p resented:
Yugoslavia, Brazil, Bulgaria,
Kenya, India, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Peru ,
Pakistan, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Nepal,
Ethiopia, France, South Korea, and Syria.
In what activities were our
newest students involved during
high school?
Band Chorus
Drama Musicals
Student Council Class Officers
Athletics Cheerleaders
Religious volunteers Lifeguards
Camp counselors Newspaper staff
Peer Leaders Yearbook staff
Community volunteers SADD
F o reign language clubs Chess
Non Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Hackensack, NJ
Permit No. 1037
Facts, Figures and “Fun”damentals About the Class of 2005
What are some of their accomplishments?
National Honor Society
Who’s Who
E d w a rd J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholars
Eagle Scouts
Gold Award winners
Boys/Girls State
Selection to the Foundation for Fre e
Enterprise seminar
Most common birthdays?
Six students share these birth dates: Janua
ry 18; March 10; April 6; June 21; July 26
Five students celebrate on each of these
dates: January 27; February 3 and 26;
M a rch 8, 16, and 22; April 1; June 4; July
17; August 30; September 23; October
11 and 28; November 6
How many applications did the
Office of Admissions receive for
the Class of 2005?
3,550 freshmen applications
How many freshmen applicants
were accepted?
1,497 (42.2%)
Ramapo is one of only 115 schools
nationwide (out of nearly 2,000) that
admits fewer than 50 percent of
its applicants.