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Local Author Waxes Poetic
Tom Sleigh, a New York poet and author, held a poetry reading at the College in
December. Many of his selections came from his newest collection of poetry, Far Side
of the Earth, which was named an Honor Book by the Massachusetts Society for the
Book. The event, sponsored by the Manhattan Magazine and the English department,
allowed students to listen to poems they had been studying in several Liberal
Learning sections.
Sleigh started with Newsreel, a poem set in a Texas drive-in theater during the 1950s.
The poem, heavily inspired by his own childhood, describes a young boy who finds
himself lost in the parking lot. The poem laces together the serene images of Marilyn
Monroe on screen with the overwhelming fear of being lost. Sleigh introduced the poem
by explaining how his parents owned a drive-in movie theater, and his father ran the
projection screen.
The evening concluded with readings from a section of his poetry entitled New York
American Spell, 2001. These poems are Sleigh’s response to what he saw at Ground
Zero in the days immediately following the attacks, and, like much of his other work,
include many classical and Greek allusions. He presented his work in the Alumni Room
of the O’Malley Library, where a display of 9/11 photographs was exhibited.
Breaking the Cycle
Holocaust Center Lecturer Discusses
Her Experiences in Austria
What happens when a teacher asks
her students to confront some of their
most deeply held beliefs about the
world? What happens when she has to
confront her own?
Sondra Perl, a professor at Lehman
College of the City University of New
York, found herself with those very
questions when, teaching adult English
learners in Austria, she asked them to
discuss the Holocaust. Her students, the
descendents of Nazis, rarely thought of
the event. Perl, a Jewish woman, had
been taught all her life to despise the
Nazis and those who had sympathized
with them. She had intended to provoke
her students to examine their beliefs
and assumptions but found that her own
thinking and feelings came under the
microscope as well.
Perl discussed her experiences in her
Austrian classroom in Breaking the
Cycle of Hate: New Dialogues in the
Post-Holocaust Era, a lecture sponsored
by Manhattan’s Holocaust Resource
Center and the dean of arts. Held in
December, Perl’s lecture was based on
her recent book, On Austrian Soil:
Breaking the Cycle of Hate, a Teaching
Memoir. Speaking to a group of Manhattan
students and community members, Perl
discussed the changes her own beliefs
underwent as she taught people she had
always hated, as well as the implications
her experience had for modern Holocaust
studies. After the lecture, she took
questions from the audience.
“The lecture was received by everyone
who attended with genuine enjoyment,”
says Jeff Horn, associate director of the
Holocaust Resource Center.
He noted that the lecture marks a
return visit to the campus for Perl, who
was named the 1996 New York State
Professor of the Year by the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching. In September, she gave a
lecture to approximately 70 students
in Horn’s Introduction to History class
on using personal experience to write
and think about history.
The Holocaust Resource Center
recently received a $10,000 grant from
the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, which
will fund fellowships for four Manhattan
students in the school of education.
During the summer, the selected students
will interview Holocaust survivors in
Riverdale to provide a permanent record
of their experiences.
Honoring
Hispanic
Heritage
On a crisp winter afternoon in
November, students, staff, faculty and
guests gathered in Smith Auditorium for
Manhattan College’s Hispanic heritage
celebration. The day was marked by a
traditional Latin luncheon, music that
made even the most stationary listener
feel like dancing, and an atmosphere
that was fun-filled.
Manhattan College’s advisory committee
on diversity in conjunction with student
activities, academic support services
and Caridad Restaurant joined forces
to sponsor the commemoration of the
special day. This event is designed to
celebrate the Latin community on campus
while introducing Hispanic culture,
delectable fare and diverse views of
such countries as Argentina, Costa Rica,
Ecuador and Panama (just to name a
few) to the entire College community.
The anticipated afternoon began with
the introduction of guest speaker Tyrone
Fripp, human resources director of
Latina magazine. Luis Mendez, assistant
to human resources administrations,
operations and IT, accompanied him.
Fripp was born and raised in the
Bronx, graduated from the High School
of Music and Art, and then earned a
degree in communications from Syracuse
University. He spoke of the journey that
has landed him at Latina, which covers
the best in Latin fashion, beauty and
culture. Fripp spoke proudly as he
elaborated on the many awards that
Latina has earned, including its place
for advertising growth on Advertising Age’s
2004 list of the Top 300 Magazines.
Hispanic Heritage Day was a festive
celebration that left those in attendance
well-informed and well-fed.
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