Senator Visits University’s Thanksgiving Dinner

President Arnold Speert and Senator Robert Menendez

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) visited the University’s ninth annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Held on November 18 at the Brownstone in Paterson, the event was attended by more than 300 senior citizens and members of the Silver Pioneers, the University’s new club for people age fifty-five and older. The club is designed to offer new skills, opportunities for socializing, and lifelong learning through the institution’s Center for Continuing and Professional Education. The group meets once a month on Mondays.

"This event is a great example of how William Paterson University serves as a valuable resource to our region, and the positive feelings created within the community have a long-lasting benefit,” says Valerie Marino, coordinator of the event, from the Center for Continuing and Professional Education.

Garret Hobart IV Brings History Alive During Visit

Martin Rittenberg ’53, M.S. ’58, Riva (Isaacs) Berkenblit ’52, and Garret Hobart IV

Garret Hobart IV, whose family owned Hobart Manor and the estate on which the University is situated, visited the campus on November 29 to share his memories of life at Hobart Manor during a presentation to alumni and retired faculty sponsored by the Hobart Manor Revitalization Campaign Committee.  Hobart is the great-grandson of Garret A. Hobart, the 24th vice president of the United States, whose widow, Jennie Tuttle Hobart, purchased the estate in 1902 for her son, Garret Hobart Jr.

“We invited Mr. Hobart to participate in this event to reconnect him and the family to the University as part of the Hobart Manor revitalization program,” says Judy Linder, executive director of alumni relations. “We invited alumni from the years 1950 to 1956, who were among the first to use the Manor as a campus, to meet with him as he reminisced about visiting the Manor as a child.”

“I remember my grandfather swinging me over his head in this very room,” Hobart said of the building’s living room, where the presentation was held.  He recalled visiting his grandparents at the house often during the years of World War II.  “My brother and I would stay in one of the bedrooms where the radiator clanked and we imagined it was caused by enemy spies,” he said.  He also remembered stargazing with his father, Garret Hobart III, on the building’s roof, which also afforded a view of New York City.  “I certainly enjoyed visiting here very much.”

The revitalization of Hobart Manor is led by a challenge gift from David Bolger and The Bolger Foundation, and support from alumni and other friends. Fundraising is underway to complete a number of projects to revitalize the building.  Work already completed includes furniture restoration in the dining room, recarpeting of the front stairs, and painting of the lobby and first floor conference room.  For information concerning fundraising opportunities or to join the Revitalization Committee, please contact Linder at 973.720.2175.

William Paterson student Adrian Alfonso who took second place

William Paterson students shared laughs with some of the funniest college students in New Jersey during the University’s first comedy festival held from November 29 to December 9. Bloomfield College took first place in the stand-up comedy competition for “Funniest College in New Jersey;” William Paterson came in second, and Gloucester County College placed third.

Gordon Baker-Bone of Bloomfield College won the award for “The Funniest College Student in New Jersey,” and will have a chance to perform his act at the Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. Adrian Alfonso, a student at William Paterson, took second place, and Steven Stover from Bloomfield College placed third in the competition.  Three professional comedians served as judges.

Phil Simms, TV football analyst and former star quarterback, will speak as part of William Paterson University’s 27th Distinguished Lecturer Series (DLS) in a conversation moderated by Sports Illustrated writer Peter King on Friday, January 26, at 8:00 p.m. in the University’s Shea Center for the Performing Arts, Wayne, N.J.  The event will take place nine days before Super Bowl XLI. Tickets are available and on sale now.

Doris Kearns Goodwin (left) with Dewar MacLeod, history, who moderated the Q and A session with students in Hobart Manor prior to the lecture

Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and noted historian, spoke to a nearly full house in Shea Center on Friday, November 17 during the University’s Distinguished Lecturer Series. The lecture was based on her best-selling book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.



Five Pioneers Inducted Into the Athletic Hall of Fame

Five new inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame are (from left): Robert Slomkowski; Wendy Kane-Schlesinger; Meghan Fox; Diane Naugle; and Delvin Horsford.

Five alumni were inducted into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame on November 13. Wendy Kane-Schlesinger ’02, women’s basketball; Meghan (Renna) Fox ’01, women’s basketball; Delvin Horsford ’98, men’s soccer; Diane Naugle ’02, softball; and Robert Slomkowski ’99, baseball, were honored during the recent induction ceremony held at the Madison Hotel. Their selection into the Hall of Fame brings the total number of inductees to 122.

Achievements

Ming Fay, art, exhibits his work, “Floating Reed,” at the 5th Shenzhen International Ink Painting Biennial 2006 at the He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen, China. The event runs through January 10, 2007. Fay also installed a sculpture called “Goldilocks” in the lobby of the Tivoli apartments in Philadelphia on November 20. Read More

Custis Wins Back-to-Back NJAC Women’s Basketball Weekly Awards

Luci Custis

Senior guard Luci Custis (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark) earned the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Women’s Basketball Player of the Week award on both Nov. 27 and Dec. 4.  The reigning 2006 NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, she has helped lead the Pioneers to a 7-2 overall record and a 3-0 mark in NJAC play to start the season.

Men’s Basketball off to
Successful Start

The William Paterson men’s basketball team has lived up to its early billing, posting a 8-1 overall record and a 2-0 mark in NJAC play (through Dec. 9).  The Pioneers were ranked 12th in the Dec. 4 d3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

Stephon Anderson was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Football Defensive Rookie of the Year; sophomore forward Amanda Kurdyla and senior forward Melissa Boka earned selections to the d3kicks.com Women’s Mid-Atlantic Region Soccer Team, and Kurdyla also earned a spot on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team. Field Hockey sophomore forward Meghan Hall was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) South Atlantic Region Second Team. Five members of the William Paterson men’s soccer team were selected to NJAC Teams; Evonne Tan was named to the NJAC Women’s Tennis Team.

Gurka Earns 250th Win as Men’s Swimming Coach

Ed Gurka

William Paterson swimming and diving coach Ed Gurka earned his 250th victory as the men's coach as the Pioneer men (4-1) and women (5-1) defeated Lehman Nov. 16. With the victories, Gurka improved to 250-136 as the men's coach, and 265-134-3 as the women's mentor, for an overall record of 515-270-3 in his 31st season.