An aging population, emerging technologies, medical advances, and healthcare reform are reshaping the healthcare industry and creating an increased demand for skilled labor in both clinical and non-clinical positions. In Connecticut alone, healthcare practitioner and technical positions are expected to grow almost 10 percent over a 10-year period, ending in 2024, and about 24,000 new healthcare jobs will be added (according to the Connecticut Department of Labor).

To address the projected shortfall of skilled applicants for current and future healthcare positions, the College of Health and Human Services at Southern has launched a new interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science degree program in Healthcare Studies.

“This program provides students with foundational skills that are essential in today’s healthcare settings, introduces them to a wide range of current and emerging entry-level healthcare careers, and provides specialized training required to succeed in those positions,” said Sharon Misasi, director for the Healthcare Studies program at Southern. Misasi brings more than 30 years of higher education and healthcare experience to her position.

“We built this degree program with input from major healthcare employers in our region including Yale New-Haven Health Systems and Griffin Hospital,” said Angela Ruggiero, coordinator of administration for the Healthcare Studies program. “Our local healthcare employers are seeking bachelor-level trained employees to fill both clinical and non-clinical positions.”

Sandra Bulmer, dean of the newly-named College of Health and Human Services at Southern, took great care to ensure that faculty worked closely with industry professionals to create a degree program that provides students with excellent job opportunities upon graduation.

“I am very proud that our faculty and staff have created a program that meets the needs of current healthcare employers and has built-in flexibility to respond to the rapidly evolving healthcare sector and the specific interests of our students,” Bulmer said. “In addition to completing Southern’s very comprehensive liberal education program, every student will graduate with core knowledge and skills in areas that include but are not limited to healthcare systems, patient-centered care, medical ethics, health informatics, health and lifespan psychology, and disability awareness.”

Healthcare Studies students will also use up to 34 elective credits to obtain more specialized skills in areas that are important to healthcare employers including clinical research, project management, health informatics, data science, medical Spanish, recreation therapy, aging services, digital media, and public health.

Beyond training students for a range of careers in this burgeoning industry, the new Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare Studies provides students with a strong foundation for graduate degree programs in health and human services disciplines or accelerated bachelor’s degree programs in nursing. This program serves as an ideal bachelor’s degree completion program for working healthcare professionals who already have an associate degree and are seeking more advanced academic credentials that can lead to career advancement and admission to clinical graduate programs.

The College of Health and Human Services at Southern is uniquely positioned to deliver this interdisciplinary degree program. The College is one of four major academic divisions within the university and employs approximately 100 full- and 400 part-time faculty in disciplines that include nursing, communication disorders, social work, marriage/family therapy, public health, movement sciences, physical education, athletic training, respiratory care, recreation, and sport management.

“Many of our faculty are currently employed in healthcare settings and provide our students with outstanding practice-based learning experiences and employment connections,” Bulmer said. “And we are in the process of hiring additional faculty and staff to serve the needs of our rapidly growing student population.”

“This program will serve as a critically important source of employees for the growing healthcare sector in Connecticut,” Misasi said. “Our faculty are deeply committed to ongoing communication with our regional healthcare employers. We plan to continually update our curriculum as needed to ensure that we are meeting the needs of healthcare employers, patients, families and communities.”

For more information about the Healthcare Studies program visit the online academic catalog or contact Angela Ruggiero at ruggieroa1@southernct.edu or (203) 392-5302.

Southern Connecticut State University’s nursing program hit the half century mark this year, and the future looks exceptionally bright. The program has maintained its commitment to nurse education and excellence – its pass rates are near perfect – and can now add expansion to its roster, as the university will soon break ground on a building that will serve the Nursing Department and other health-related programs.

Nursing alumni, faculty, students, and university officials will have the chance to come together to celebrate this week at “50 Years of Nursing Excellence – Looking Back as We Look Forward.” Dr. Leslie Mancuso, ’78, PhD, RN, FAAN, president and chief executive officer of Jhpiego, an international nonprofit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, is the keynote speaker.

“It is a true milestone,” said Lisa Rebeschi, BS ‘84, and MS ‘91, former associate professor and chair of the Nursing Department.* “[In 1969] we started with just 13 students. The difference we are making to state healthcare field and in nurse education is drastically different than it was 50 years ago. Certainly, we’ve come a long way.”

One of the staples of the program, since inception, has been its quality of excellence.

“The Nursing Department takes great pride in the quality of education that they provide,” said Dr. Sandra Bulmer, dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Southern. “Students are both going to be prepared to practice nursing on day one and be able to pass the NCLEX-RN, the National Council Licensure Examination, on the first try. Consistent accreditation is another marker of the high quality.”

Growth and evolution have played key roles in the program’s success as well. When the nursing program was established in 1969, it consisted of a traditional four-year bachelor’s degree program. The program now includes a bachelor’s degree program with two admission pathways, an accelerated career entry (ACE) program for those with a BS or BA in another discipline, and an RN-to-BS completion program.

In 1985, Southern added graduate MSN programs that allow students to choose from one of three tracks: Nursing Education, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Clinical Nurse Leader; students who already have an MSN can enter certificate programs in any of these three areas. And in fall 2012, Southern added an EdD in nursing education in collaboration with Western Connecticut State University. It’s one of the few doctoral programs in nursing education in the United States.

Across the board, pass rates for programs are stellar: The NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate for the 2018 graduates from the traditional program was 100 percent. The NCLEX-RN first-time pass rate of 2018 graduates from the ACE program was 97 percent. Ninety-two percent of MSN graduates passed their FNP (family nurse practitioner) certification exam on their first attempt.

“The range of degrees is across the spectrum,” Bulmer said. “Our interdisciplinary curriculum is developed to be the core in innovation in the way we educate; we train our own nurse educators to go out and train.” Added Rebeschi, “We literally train from bedside to practitioner.”

More growth looms on the horizon: Southern is about to break ground on a new building that will serve the Nursing Department. The building will feature increased, dedicated space for practice-based learning, lab rooms for hands-on instruction, and a simulation center.

“There will be one high-fidelity lab with computerized high-tech mannequins, known as Sim Man, and video capture,” Bulmer said. “It mimics the floor of a hospital with a medical station and nursing station, and different patient rooms. Students will encounter real-life situations. Students will be debriefed, which gives them the opportunity to see what they’re doing right and wrong. It’s a highly effective way to train.”

In addition to the high-tech Sim Man — some of these mannequins talk and can even give birth — the program will use patient actors, guided by scripts, in realistic “doctor’s rooms” and a home simulation room that will mimic home visits.

Of course, growth comes with a price tag. Technology is expensive, as is the manpower to manage it. Opportunities for clinical sites, which are heavily supervised and monitored, are taxed as well. But the program’s 50-year evolution always has been guided by keeping a close ear to the needs of the local healthcare system, so the program will keep doing what it’s been doing all along: innovate.

“Southern is a leader in preparing the next generation of academic nurse educators,” said Cheryl Resha, chairperson and professor, Nursing Department. “We have accomplished and talented faculty who have authored books, chapters, articles in peer-reviewed journals, and practice guidelines. SCSU’s faculty is dedicated to evidence-based practice and is committed to ensuring students are educated on the most up-to-date evidence.”

Bulmer added, “Everyone does a great job training nurses in Connecticut, but we provide access and opportunity and produce a workforce that’s diverse. There’s a need for nurses of color and doctors and nurses of diverse income to serve their counterparts. We want to help healthcare diversify its workforce and to grow our capacity to serve students and Connecticut.”

“The future,” Bulmer said, “is incredible.”

*Rebeschi is currently Associate Dean, School of Nursing, Quinnipiac University.

Madhouse, funny farm, psychiatric hospital, loony bin, nuthouse, mental institution: no matter what you call it, the asylum has a powerful hold on the American imagination. Stark and foreboding, these institutions symbolize mistreatment, fear, and imprisonment, standing as castles of despair and tyranny across the countryside. In the “asylum” of American fiction and film, treatments are torture, attendants are thugs, and psychiatrists are despots.

In Nightmare Factories: The Asylum in the American Imagination, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, Troy Rondinone, professor of history, offers the first history of mental hospitals in American popular culture.

The book focuses on how the asylum has been portrayed though movies, novels and other media, exploring the effect that these portrayals have had on American culture and the stigma of mental illness.

Beginning with Edgar Allan Poe’s 1845 short story “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether,” Rondinone surveys how American novelists, poets, memoirists, reporters, and filmmakers have portrayed the asylum and how those representations reflect larger social trends in the United States. Asylums, he argues, darkly reflect cultural anxieties and the shortcomings of democracy, as well as the ongoing mistreatment of people suffering from mental illness.

Nightmare Factories traces the story of the asylum as the masses have witnessed it – often as dark, scary places, where patients are tortured with their “treatment.” This scenario is partly true and partly exaggerated, according to Rondinone, who shows how works ranging from Moby-Dick and Dracula to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Halloween, and American Horror Story have all conversed with the asylum.

Drawing from fictional and real accounts, movies, personal interviews, and tours of mental hospitals both active and defunct, he has uncovered a story at once familiar and bizarre, where reality meets fantasy in the foggy landscape of celluloid and pulp.

Rondinone also points out that today’s mental health institutions are not like the scary places associated with the American imagination. But he said that unfortunate mantle has fallen to some of America’s contemporary prisons, particularly those where inmates are forced to stay in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.

Rondinone has discussed this topic with the media, including a recent conversation on WSHU radio.

He also has been writing a series of blog posts for Psychology Today magazine – exploring the history of mental institutions in America, their portrayal in pop culture and the impact that they have had on the American psyche and culture.

And most recently he wrote a perspective piece for The Washington Post: “Scary asylums are a Halloween classic, but it’s time to retire the trope: It’s hurting those suffering from mental illness.” 

Americans are divided on everything — except division. That’s the not-so-stunning conclusion of an NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll in which 80 percent of respondents described the U.S. as divided.

Helping to bridge this political and ideological rift, Jonathan Wharton, associate professor of political science and urban affairs, is a unifying force on campus — serving as adviser to the College Republicans and the College Democrats.

“I never thought I had to be partisan,” says Wharton of his students-first approach. Wharton is a member of the Republican Party, but was raised with an acceptance of opposing viewpoints by parents, who are members of different political parties. “They actually agree on 80 to 90 percent of things. But they are sticking [with their parties], and it was never problematic or disrespectful,” says Wharton.

The College Democrats and College Republicans work well together. The two student organizations held on-campus viewing parties during the 2016 presidential election. (Inspired, in part, by Wharton’s dual advisory roles, the vibrant gatherings received significant attention from the media.) In 2018, 20-plus students — members of both parties — joined faculty at the gubernatorial debates at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven. More joint events are promised for the 2020 election.

When it comes to political action, Wharton describes himself as “a behind the scenes kind of guy,” drawn to planning fund raisers and networking. “My students would rather do the door knocking, the phone banking, the social media. They’d rather follow the research, get the data,” he says.

Adept at wearing multiple hats, Wharton is also the internship adviser for the department. Many students complete multiple internships, up to 15 credits, working in federal and state congressional offices, law firms, nonprofit organizations, city offices, think tanks, and more.

“Most are much better students because of it,” says Wharton, who finds their commitment inspiring and heartening. “Do you know how many students love to do campaign work? It boggles my mind,” he says.

Following, Wharton shares more on his commitment to urban planning, politics, and students.

A born educator: “One could argue it’s in the DNA. Both sides of the family have been educators,” says Wharton. His parents met in the doctoral program at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. His grandmothers were teachers. Both grandfathers were lawyers; his paternal grandfather an ambassador as well. “There was always this interest in politics, law, and education,” he says.

A career change: Wharton left a position working with the New Jersey State Legislature to pursue a career in education. “The classroom drew me back in every time,” he says.

In the class: “I like to spark debate and discussion. . . . I want students to be intrigued, curious, and provoked.”

Always civic minded: Wharton serves on the City Planning Commission of New Haven.

Thinking local: “What I try to convey to [students] is that you can make a difference in your community at the local or state level. It takes them a while to get their heads around that. But when they recognize it, the potential is there,” says Wharton.

Why he choose Southern: “I was struck by the fact that it was a teaching university. . . . I liked the small classroom sizes at Southern. And I like the regional universities dynamic. They take teaching so seriously, which I think is critical. They do faculty development workshops, analyze teaching methods, and focus on pedagogy concerns.”

Four treasured office mementos:
1) campaign signs — “A great opener with students when discussing the ins and outs of campaign work,” he says.
2) a first-place banner from a National Collegiate Club Golf Association tournament (2017), signed by the participating students. Wharton also is adviser of Southern’s golf team, which competes in the Metro region.
3) several awards for exceptional work as an adviser
4) a “Distinguished Alumnus Award” from Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity (March 2019)

Research focus: Wharton and Theresa Marchant-Shapiro, associate professor of political science, are working with university librarians to accession the archival papers of several former New Haven mayors. The collection was established through the generosity of attorney Neil Thomas Proto, ’67, and is housed in Buley Library.

In the News: Wharton is a monthly state/local politics analyst on WNPR’s Where We Live and The Wheelhouse.

The Top Owl Social Justice Award is given to recognize contributions toward helping the university achieve its mission of creating and sustaining an inclusive community that appreciates, celebrates, and advances student and campus diversity.

This award, selected by the President’s Commission on Social Justice, will be awarded this academic year during the months of November, December, January, February, and March to recognize the contributions, leadership, and service of a worthy faculty, staff, part-time student, and full-time student.

For the month of November, the Top Owl Award winners are Marian Evans, assistant professor of public health and the department’s graduate program coordinator, and Jane DeLuca, secretary in the Department of Management.

Marian Evans incorporates social justice into her classroom curriculum and inspires her students to take initiative for their own social justice journey while guiding them with reading, support, and events. She has led the public health service trip to Bermuda and beforehand held a “how to pack” session for students who had never traveled or who may not own traditional luggage. 

Evans’ nominator wrote, “Dr. Evans continuously involves herself in making the university better and more equitable for her students. She is always willing to listen to students and over the month already has met with various students who were struggling with employment or class, and helped them navigate the systems to best meet their needs. Overall Dr. Evans does a lot for this SCSU campus and for her students who are struggling.”

Evans’ teaching and research interests include public health, women’s health, environmental health, health disparities, academic and public partnerships, and scholarship of teaching and learning.

Jane DeLuca‘s nominator wrote that as the department secretary, “she ‘intercepts’ a lot of calls and/or visits from students and faculty. She treats everyone with respect and dignity even when they do not treat her with respect back. Oftentimes, they are upset, mad, crying, yelling or frustrated. She is compassionate and a great listener. She also knows who to refer each student or faculty to in order to solve their problem. There is no one like her throughout the entire campus.”

Congratulations to November’s Top Owl Award winners!

To nominate someone for a Top Owl award, visit the university’s Social Justice website.

Scientist Peter Marra, ’85, views the world through the eyes of a naturalist — and that includes his childhood. “I was a feral kid,” says Marra, of growing up largely unsupervised in a wooded neighborhood in Norwalk, Conn. The youngest of four siblings, he was raised in a broken home. His father, an Army veteran turned baker, left when Marra was only 1 and his mother was left seriously struggling.

By middle school, Marra was struggling as well, smoking and experimenting with alcohol. He also spent time wandering, often ending up at the neighboring Westport Nature Center. One day, the center’s staff set up a mist net: made of very fine threads, it blends with the surroundings and is used to catch birds without harming them. “I was able to experience a chickadee up close and personal. I’m pretty sure I even held it,” says Marra. “I don’t remember a lot, but I remember there being this moment that was pretty magical.”

The experience was an epiphany and a saving grace. “I could have continued down this really bad road. Some of my friends from that time did, and it didn’t end well,” says Marra, who, instead, opted to pursue his passion. Today, he’s an internationally recognized naturalist and ornithologist (expert on birds), an emeritus senior scientist with the Smithsonian Institute, and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2014).

“You could live without art. You could live without music. But would you want to? Would we want to live in a world without warblers, shorebirds, and hawks?”

— Peter Marra, ’85

In August 2019, Marra left the Smithsonian after a 20-year tenure, where he most recently served as director of the Migratory Bird Center at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C. For the next chapter of his career, he’ll direct the Georgetown Environment Initiative, which integrates Georgetown University’s scholarship and outreach efforts related to the earth’s stewardship. Marra also was named the Laudato Si’ Professor of Biology and the Environment, and a professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy.

The significance isn’t lost on Marra, who notes he was first in his family “to even think about going to college.” He’d applied only to Southern for his undergraduate degree. The draw: the late Noble Proctor, ’70, M.S. ’72, professor emeritus of biology — a nationally recognized naturalist and author who, during his lifetime, traveled to some 90 countries conducting avian research. Marra, like many students, called him Nobe.

Southern proved a great match for Marra. “I think it cost me $350 a semester. Having a really quality education available to me at an affordable price made all the difference in the world,” says Marra, who studied — and often simultaneously worked — full time. As a senior, he received the university’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Biology, and more than 30 years after graduating, he easily recalls his professors’ names. He credits Proctor with helping him secure an internship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture — he researched the interaction between gypsy moths and birds — and says the professor also helped him get into graduate school. Marra earned a master’s from Louisiana State University and a doctorate from Dartmouth College, before joining the Smithsonian in 1998.

Through it all, curiosity was a driving force. He’s jointly published more than 215 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His research has three broad themes: the ecology of migratory birds, urban ecosystems, and disease. Basically, if an issue relates to birds, Marra has probably investigated it. He’s studied migratory birds wintering on military bases; what happens to birds and otters when a dam is removed; and the role migratory birds play in the spread of West Nile virus.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Marra, who’s received top research awards from organizations such as the Smithsonian (Secretary’s Distinguished Research Prizes in 2008 and 2010) and the American Ornithological Society (the Elliott Coues Award in 2018). In sum, Marra is an experts’ expert — the one the White House and members of Congress call for briefs on the highly contagious bird flu.

Of course, in most cases, the birds are the ones in danger, and Marra has spent his career studying direct anthropogenic stress: the many ways humans harm birds. “The number one killer is cats,” says Marra, who discusses the issue in-depth in his book, Cat Wars, the Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer, co-authored with Chris Santella.

Marra estimates that cats kill 1.3 – 4 billion birds annually in the U.S. — and three to four times that many native mammals. (There’s limited data on feral cats, hence the wide-ranging statistics.) But the end results, Marra says, are devastating for bird populations. Cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species around the world, he explains. “DDT, in comparison, has never caused the extinction of a species,” he says, stressing the importance of keeping pet cats inside and on leashes when outdoors. The book also advocates management of feral cat populations, including euthanasia in some cases.

Another decidedly less controversial research project is centered just outside of Nome, Alaska, and focuses on a small bird called the bluethroat. It’s primarily an Old World species — meaning it breeds and spends most of its life in Europe and Asia, says Marra. But long ago, one population of bluethroats started traveling to Alaska. The birds annually arrive in May and remain through June to breed. These bluethroats then migrate to another location. “Probably to someplace in Southeast Asia, but we don’t know where,” says Marra.

In summer 2018, Marra and other researchers began catching the birds and tagging their backs with light-level geolocators that use daylight to estimate location. It’s an intense process. In Alaska, Marra jump-started the day with a cup of coffee, followed by trudging through deep snowbanks to reach small patches of vegetation. The goal: stay clear of musk ox and grizzlies while searching for the newly arrived bluethroats, which must be caught and tagged.

The scientists then wait. “If we catch the birds again when they come back next year, we can download the data off their backs,” says Marra. The project was a dream assignment for the naturalist, who is working on The Atlas of Migratory Connectivity for the Birds of North America. Still, recapturing a bird is a challenging task. Only about one in every five birds that scientists tag is captured again the next year, according to the Smithsonian. But Marra remains undaunted, inspired by how much remains to be learned.

“The last 10 years, we’ve made some real advances because of the miniaturization of tracking devices and other technology. It’s been a remarkable time to be in migratory animal ecology,” he says.

Marra’s new post as head of the Georgetown Environment Initiative will capitalize on his commitment. Ask Marra why we should care about the conservation of various bird species, and he turns thoughtful. There are practicalities: removing insects and rodents, spreading seeds, pollinating plants. Birds fulfill critical ecosystem services, he explains: when populations decline or worse, become extinct, it’s a sign that something is deeply unhealthy with the environment.

Other motivations are more difficult to articulate, says the conservationist. “You could live without art. You could live without music. But would you want to?” asks Marra. “Would we want to live in a world without warblers, shorebirds, and hawks? I don’t think so. . . .When I wake up in the morning and hear birdsong outside — that fulfills me.” 

Bird Calls

Want to attract more birds to your yard? Get planting — and be sure to include as many native species as possible, according to a study from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. The magic ratio of native plants? Seventy percent.

“If more than 30 percent of the [plant] species in your yard are non-native, your yard will not produce enough insects to successfully support bird populations,” says Peter Marra, ’85, outlining the results of a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

The research looked specifically at chickadees, but has widespread implications. More than 90 percent of herbivorous insects target only one or a select few plants for food. “Everybody, even those in an urban or suburban environment, should be thinking about their yard as a natural park, a place that wildlife depends on — including insects and birds,” says Marra.

The Smithsonian suggests these online sites for information on bird-friendly plants: the Audubon’s Native Plants Database, the National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Plant Hardiness map. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted in conjunction with the University of Delaware.

Read more stories in the Fall ’19 issue of Southern Alumni Magazine.

Never underestimate the power of a great mentor. As a first-generation college student, Jacquelynn Garofano, ’06, came to Southern to major in physics — and, within that first year, was conducting research in the physics lab. “The catalyst that really set me on my path was meeting and working with Professor [of Physics Christine] Broadbridge. She was instrumental in igniting my love of materials research and guiding me in the pursuit of a doctoral degree,” says Garofano.

Today, Garofano has come full circle, mentoring the next generation of engineers as the program manager of the Margaret Ingels Engineering Development Program at United Technologies, a new entry-level program for top engineering students. Participants rotate through four six-month assignments across the United Technologies business units, such as Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace.

This focus on education echoes Garofano’s early career. Under Professor Broadbridge’s leadership, she held several positions with the Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (CRISP), a National Science Foundation-funded partnership between Southern and Yale University. Its goal: to share the wonders of science with K-12 students, college students, and educators. Garofano’s commitment to Southern remains strong — and this fall, she joined the SCSU Foundation Board of Directors.

“The two pillars that my career stands on are mentorship and networking,” says Garofano. “Over all this time, a simple but powerful mantra has struck with me: ‘I want to be for someone what Christine was for me,’ and it has materialized in a profound why.”

She’s a STEMinist: Garofano advocates for increasing the presence of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). “Representation matters (#SeeHerBeHer). As a first-generation college student, I was fortunate to have a strong female role model and mentor at Southern: Christine Broadbridge, [professor of physics and executive director of research and innovation]. Now that I’m a professional woman in the tech industry, I make every effort to share my journey and empower young students — but young girls and women, in particular.

A few accomplishments: Garofano earned a doctorate from the University of Connecticut and was named a “Woman of Innovation” by the Connecticut Technology Council in 2011; was spotlighted on the “40 under 40” lists of outstanding young professionals compiled by Connecticut Magazine (2013) and Hartford Business Journal (2015); and was honored by the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund for advancing women and girls in the STEM field.

On the job: “As program manager of the Ingels program, I have the privilege of cultivating and leading the next generation of engineers who will shape our future. Frankly, this is what attracted me to this role,” says Garofano, who has complete oversight of the program. Her responsibilities include: leading recruiting activities, managing associate rotation schedules, and planning training curriculum for both technical and leadership development.

On board: “I’m thrilled to have been asked to serve on the SCSU Foundation Board of Directors and look forward to the opportunity to support Southern’s mission of providing exceptional, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities to students through the work of the foundation.

A mighty mentor: Last fall, Garofano was approached by a young woman, Edwina Lorient, a native of Haiti, who was studying mechanical engineering. “Edwina was interested in learning more about the different aspects of engineering and hearing about my experience as an engineer,” says Garofano. “She shared with me her desire to use her engineering skills to support her family and community in Haiti with innovative solutions to provide pure water and clean energy,” she says. Garofano encouraged her to apply for summer research experiences, directed her to the Leadership Summer Research-Early Identification Program through The Leadership Alliance, and guided her through the application process. “I was elated when she told me that she was accepted into Brown University’s program for the summer! The return on my seemingly effortless investment has been massively rewarding, not just for Edwina in securing a research fellowship, but, for me also, because I’ve been able to be ‘that person’ for an aspiring young woman engineer,” she says.

Words of wisdom: “I encourage our program associates to build a strong professional network (as they have a unique opportunity to have four different roles across our enterprise), but most importantly, enjoy the journey and have fun!” she says.

Read more stories in the Fall ’19 issue of Southern Alumni Magazine.

Dean Ellen Durnin and the SCSU School of Business recently hosted the annual Business Etiquette Dinner in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom. Nearly 150 business students, faculty, and staff attended this popular event.

Sponsored by Marcum, LLC, the event featured keynote speaker, Karen Hinds, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Workplace Success Group. Hinds has an impressive list of corporate clients as well as being a regular contributor on television and radio. She is also the author of five books, the most recent being Get Along, Get Ahead: 101 Courtesies for the New Workplace; Networking for a Better Position & More Profit; and A Young Adult’s Guide to the Global Workplace.

Hinds presented an interactive experience, first talking students through a mocktail networking portion of the evening, and later an immersive professional dinner.

During mocktail hour, Hinds covered a number of topics including where to position nametags, which hand to hold a drink in, how to properly shake hands, how to enter and exit a conversation, and how to deny a drink graciously. The latter she stressed heavily saying that, in interview situations, drinking while out with future employers is never a good look.

With the networking portion of the evening out of the way, the dinner — which featured proper etiquette for both Continental and American dining — delved into the proper way to drink soup, butter bits of bread, and signal to wait staff the enjoyment of a meal.

Outside of the proper ways to eat, the dinner also went over proper use of utensils and napkins, how to pass the salt and pepper shakers (always together), and how to properly excuse oneself from a table.

Although proper etiquette is important, perhaps the most important piece of advice given to students by Hinds was to focus more on the interview and networking opportunity than the meal. This includes ordering foods that are easy to eat with utensils, never taking a to-go bag, and possibly even eating before the actual dinner itself. In professional situations, the food isn’t the main focus, business is.

From “Where do I put my bag or purse?” to “What do I do if I spill something on my host?”, students had a chance to ask Hinds all of their questions to ensure a smooth dinner when the opportunity arises.

Employers frequently mention soft skills as an area where recent graduates fall short. The School of Business is committed to supporting students’ growth in these critical areas with programming and resources. By practicing networking and professional dining in a real-life situation, SCSU students can become more comfortable in the situations they’ll encounter in the workforce as well as in their personal lives.

Story by Goldy Previlus

When humans invented agriculture some 10,000 years ago, it forever changed how people worked and lived. In just about every place in the world where agriculture took hold — from Mesopotamia to Mesoamerica — small, transient hunter-gatherer tribes morphed into villages and large cities.

With these new, bustling settlements came sweeping cultural changes, new social hierarchies and, often, vast extremes of poverty and wealth. (Think pharaohs and slaves; kings and commoners.)

Except, that is, in New England.

In fact, around 1,000 A.D., when maize agriculture migrated here from Central Mexico and the Southwest, life seemed to go on pretty much as usual. Or so archaeologists thought.

Now, new research conducted by Assistant Professor of Anthropology William Farley is challenging that assumption. In a paper published last April in American Antiquity, Farley and coauthors Gabriel Hrynick and Amy Fox highlight a pattern of architectural changes that coincide with the arrival of maize farming in New England — shedding new light on a mystery that has stumped archaeologists for decades.

“The answer isn’t what people thought before, which is that maize came into the region and nothing happened,” Farley says. “The changes are subtler than in places like Mesopotamia, where you had 50,000 people living in a city. But we do start to see these subtle changes in houses. And from research we know that houses tend to strikingly reflect cultural values.”

Like so many good ideas, Farley’s was born on the back of the proverbial cocktail napkin, over drinks with Hrynick, a former University of Connecticut classmate, now also an archaeologist. The two were attending a conference and, having reconnected at a hotel bar, were deep in conversation, pondering age-old questions about the arrival of agriculture in New England — and its seemingly negligible influence on society.

“Why does New England look so different from other parts of the world? Why can’t we find these villages?” Farley recalls asking. Although some early European settlers describe encountering villages in the region, archaeologists have never found any evidence, Farley explains.

The talk was a serendipitous meeting of the minds. Farley is an archaeobotanist (he studies the interconnection of plants and humans), while Hrynick’s wheelhouse is architecture. Farley’s geographic focus is southern New England; Hrynick’s is northern Maine and Canada’s Maritime Provinces.

Farley recalls the conversation: “We were talking about different sites in the region and Gabe [Hrynick] said, ‘You know, the houses stayed really small in the North.’” Unlike southern New England, the North adopted agriculture only after Europeans arrived.

In contrast, Farley observed that in southern New England, where he had worked on archeological digs, some of the houses grew larger during later periods. Could it be a pattern? And could maize farming be the reason for the shift?

“Maybe we should explore that,” he remembers thinking. It took a setback — one that threatened to derail Farley’s Ph.D. ambitions — to catapult the idea from barroom brainstorm to bona fide research project.

In January 2017, around the same time he was offered a full-time teaching job at Southern to start the following fall, Farley was diligently plugging away at his doctoral dissertation when his research came to a standstill. “I lost half of my data,” recalls Farley, a UConn grad student at the time. “I was looking at this site from Massachusetts, and the people who controlled the data told me I couldn’t use it anymore.”

He had six months to complete his dissertation. “I was in crisis mode,” says Farley. Forced to find a new topic, he called his friend Hrynick, now a professor at the University of New Brunswick in Canada. “Hey, do you want to write that paper together that we talked about that time at the bar?” Farley asked him.

And so the archeologists joined forces. They later recruited Fox, a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto and a “brilliant mathematician,” says Farley, to help with the statistical analysis.

Although their research examined more than 100 archeological sites from New York City to Newfoundland, “we didn’t move a spoonful of dirt,” Farley says. Instead, he spent eight hours a day for nearly two months in libraries around the region, poring over more than a century’s worth of often-obscure archaeological literature.

“Anytime anybody had excavated a house, a wigwam, a pre-European Native American house, we were going to measure them,” Farley says.

After he amassed and crunched all the data, an interesting pattern emerged. In the Maritime Peninsula, where agriculture had not taken hold, houses stayed the same size and shape — small and round — for some 3,000 years. The same was initially true in southern New England — until about 1,000 years ago, when bigger, more elongated houses appeared.

“Things changed right at the same instant, archeologically speaking, that maize arrived in the region. You got a bifurcation of the data,” says Farley.

He can’t say exactly why the shift occurred. “It could be that a social hierarchy is emerging. It could be changes in labor practices,” he says. “I don’t think we’ve got enough data to say for sure. But I think there’s evidence that when maize agriculture arrived, society started changing,” he says. Seeing his work published in American Antiquity, the premier academic journal for American archaeology, marked a major career milestone for Farley, who is 33.

“It really was a bit of a lightning strike — a combination of Gabe’s and my interests,” he says. “This was a nagging question that archaeologists have been interested in for many decades in New England. We took a different approach than anyone has ever used before. We just got a little bit lucky that it worked.”

In 2006, Camille Serchuk, professor of art history, was working on a  project about French art in the 15^th century when she discovered a previously-unknown map of France in a manuscript in the national library in Paris.

Uncovering and exploring that map launched her on a scholarly journey that has culminated in the exhibition entitled Quand les artistes dessinaient les cartes: vues et figures de l’espace français, Moyen Âge et Renaissance (When artists made maps: views and figures of France in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance). The exhibit runs through Jan. 7 at the Archives nationales in Paris.

Skeptical of the widely held belief at that time that the French hadn’t made any maps before the 17^th century, Serchuk wrote to hundreds of French local archives to inquire what kinds of examples they had in their collections.

She received only a few replies. Most said either that they had no maps or only later printed ones; a few said, “this is a fascinating project but we really don’t know what we have,” and about a handful said, “Come! Look at what we have!”

Following those leads she began to research about a dozen local and regional maps that were little-known or unpublished. Serchuk was fascinated to discover that many of the maps she was examining had been made by painters, and that they shared many features with artistic traditions of their time.

After delivering a paper at Oxford University in 2012 about one of these maps – depicting the  forest of Thelle, in Normandy, drawn by two young artists – Serchuk met Juliette Dumasy-Rabineau, a medieval historian who had come to a similar conclusion: the French had a robust tradition of mapmaking in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; it merely needed to be excavated from the archive.

When, in 2014, Dumasy had the idea for an exhibition of these maps, she contacted Serchuk to see if she would be interested in collaborating on it. Dumasy thought that an art historian, and an American, would bring a perspective to the project that would be different from her own and valuable to it.

Together, building on their prior research, they assembled a collection of items, organized them into themes and categories, and brought the project back to the national archives, where their team was joined by Nadine Gastaldi, the curator of maps and plans there.

The exhibition also explores the contribution of artistic traditions to cartography and how painters drew on the skills acquired during their training to make these maps, Serchuk said.

“Maps are not traditionally classified as works of art, but there is no doubt that there is considerable overlap in production methods and techniques, and the frequent role of painters as cartographers reveals how artists worked on a daily basis, between major commissions,” she said.

Indeed, many of these maps, or “figures,” as they were called at the time, were made by painters who were among the most renowned of their time (including Jean Cousin, Bernard Palissy, and Nicolas Dipre).

As such, they offer exceptional insight into the landscapes and scenery of everyday life at the turn of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance., Serchuk said.

Oddly enough, none of the maps in the exhibit were made to show the way from one place to another or to guide the traveler. Made at the request of prestigious sponsors (kings, princes, abbeys, cities), they were linked to practices of government.

The maps on display were produced by painters to delineate boundaries or legal rights, to resolve territorial disputes, to document public works, to support military operations, to describe historical events, to catalogue possessions, and to celebrate the identity of a place or territory.

At a time when cartography intersected with art, empirical observation took precedence over measurement in mapmaking, Serchuk said.

The painters drew on their expertise in drawing, composition, and perspective to create spectacular visual documents in a wide variety of media and formats, Serchuk said.

“Richly colored and abundantly detailed, these compelling images offer rich and unexpected insights into artistic and cartographic practice, and into the factors that shaped urban and rural landscapes during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,” she said.

For more on the exhibit, visit:  http://www.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr/quand-les-artistes-dessinaient-les-cartes

Dr. Ellen Durnin, dean of Southern’s School of Business, joined three other powerhouse women and moderator Stephanie Simoni of WTNH-TV in a discussion on “Navigating Strategic Partnerships,” part of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce’s annual Big Connect business exposition on November 21 at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale.

The panel discussion, modeled after the daytime talk show The View, tackled overcoming personal and professional setbacks, carving out paths that are both rewarding and well-paying, and managing societal expectations that predominantly impact women.

When Durnin first went to college, she said, she chose the traditionally female career path of elementary education. She pointed out that everyone gets a wake-up call in life at some point, and she is grateful hers came early in her career, when, after spending time in an elementary school, she realized that was not the right choice for her. She went back to school and earned her master’s degree in labor relations and later her Ph.D. in business. She started her career in union organizing, and there she learned valuable lessons about conflict resolution and negotiations.

Another panelist, Nancy Butler’s, career was jump-started when she was newly divorced with small children and no high school diploma. She built an asset management and financial planning business with not much more than grit, a willingness to learn, and the knowledge that networking was key. Butler had $200 million in assets under management before she sold her business 12 years ago.

Panelists Alice Turner and Simone Morris were both comfortable in corporate careers until they were downsized. Turner, finding herself unemployed in midlife, was terrified, but found a way to leverage what she’d learned in her corporate life to create URISE, an award-winning nonprofit with an innovative approach to education and economic development, preparing minority youth for careers in STEAM fields as leaders, employees, and entrepreneurs. She is focused on bettering the educational experience for Connecticut’s urban youth, and finds immense fulfillment in her pursuits. She’s even talking about going back to school herself, embracing the fact that we are all lifelong learners.

Morris had to overcome her introverted nature to find success in her entrepreneurial career after losing her corporate IT job. She utilizes LinkedIn as a key component in her networking strategy, but admits she is most successful when she gets out from behind her computer. Morris’ current business, Simone Morris Enterprises, is her third LLC and specializes in corporate diversity and inclusion training, career workshops, and success coaching.

Butler and Morris both stress the importance of building name recognition when growing a business. Butler sent out mailings offering her services as a public speaker, and reached out to other local professionals with an offer to buy them lunch. But she cautioned, “You can’t build a business quickly by seeing one person at a time. You need to get in front of a lot of people.” Their seats on the Women’s Power Panel show these successful women are still practicing what they preach by getting in front of a crowd.

Durnin, in her role as the SCSU School of Business dean, is used to interacting with strong personalities, including faculty members and her Business Advisory Council, two groups who are valued for their strong opinions. She admits it can be difficult managing a group of people with differing priorities and opinions, but knows that by digging deeply, connections can be made. Durnin also touched on the importance of not only managing down, but managing up. She mentioned two supervisors from her past, one who wanted a high level overview of a topic, and the other who needed every detail. She says it’s critical to know what your boss needs and how they need it delivered for both your success and theirs, adding, “Managing your boss is a critical skill for navigating strategic relationships.”

Chaz Guest, ’85, may not be a household name, but his work has been embraced by many big ones. Herbie Hancock and Vanessa Williams collect his paintings. Former President Barack Obama hung his portrait of Thurgood Marshall in the Oval Office. Oprah Winfrey praised a portrait of Maya Angelou as a little girl that she had commissioned from Guest: “Saying the painting is beautiful is too mild of a word.”

Guest arrived at Southern as a gymnast on scholarship, not knowing what direction he wanted his life to take. He left after studying graphic design with an inkling he had become an artist. He credits David Levine, his art history professor, and the late Howard Fussiner [professor emeritus of art], the only painting teacher he ever had. “Those two put me on the path of the life I have now as a painter,” Guest says from his studio in Los Angeles, brush in hand, working on a portrait of the abolitionist John Brown while we speak. One of Fussiner’s landscapes hangs on the wall.

Levine introduced Guest to the history of art. Fussiner encouraged him to become part of it. The painter — who reminded Guest of Salvador Dali with his wild white hair, quirkiness, and energy — encouraged Guest by praising his work in front of the class. He also passed along commissions to paint watercolors of people’s homes. “He opened my eyes to the idea that I could paint something and actually earn some money,” Guest says.

After studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and a brief stint illustrating fashion magazines in Paris, Guest devoted himself to his own painting. He sold his first work on the sidewalk outside his apartment in New York City. With that money, he bought a larger easel and more supplies and was on his way. Today, the artist is represented by the Los Angeles-based Patrick Painter Gallery. His work has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Paris.

A devotee of Kyokushin karate, which his older brother taught him upon returning from the service in Okinawa, Japan, Guest has used the martial arts to open his mind and dedicate himself to his art. An aging hip prevents the 58-year-old from regularly practicing karate, but he still applies the mental principles. “Martial arts is a way of life,” he says. “I certainly have it in mind.”

His influences range from Fussiner to Balthus, from Dali to Picasso. Inspiration also comes from musicians — Pavarotti to Mahalia Jackson, but especially his beloved jazz. Thelonious Monk. John Coltrane. He has painted them and frequently plays their music in his studio while working. He’s also created paintings on stage inspired by live jazz performances. He starts without preconceived notions of what he is going to paint and improvises along with the musicians. “It’s best to have a blank mind, and flow to the vibrations and spirit of the music,” he says.

Guest works in a variety of mediums. His Geisha Series, created on Japanese zori sandals, was inspired by a trip to Japan, and his Cotton Series, portraits of enslaved men, women, and children, is done on cotton picked from Southern fields, where the subjects might have toiled.

After admiring Guest’s Cotton Series, Yahya Jammeh, then president of the Republic of Gambia, invited him to visit in 2010. Guest painted an oil portrait of Jammeh as a gift, which he presented upon his arrival. “It was a life-changing trip,” Guest says.

A stop at James Island in the Gambia River to see the remains of a fort used by British slave traders was particularly profound. Guest spent time alone in a holding cell. “I felt all of my nightmares as an African-American started in this one place,” he says. He wept. Anger and sadness washed through him. He emerged transformed. “Afterward, I felt new,” he says.

Guest suggested that the island be renamed Kunta Kinteh Island to honor the slaves who passed through. Jammeh agreed and the name was officially changed in 2011. For the occasion, Guest sculpted a Mandinka warrior rising out of one of the island’s many baobab trees and escaping the shackles of slavery. He called it Freedom. It was not installed as a 30-foot statue on the island as originally intended, as it lacked the support of the president who succeeded Jammeh.

But the bronze sculpture was chosen for the statuette of the ICON MANN Legacy Award, most recently presented to Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ruth E. Carter, winner of the 2019 Academy Award for costume design on the film, Black Panther. The Legacy Award honors those whose body of work has positively transformed the narrative and trajectory of black culture.

For all of his success as an artist, Guest is proudest of his role as a father. He has two sons, Xian, 16, and Zuhri, 25. He wears a bracelet made from a mold of their umbilical cords. “I enjoy being a father of two great boys,” he says.

Guest’s latest project is Buffalo Warrior, a graphic novel he wrote about a boy born into slavery in the 1800s who becomes a modern-day superhero. Guest illustrated the book in Japanese sumi ink on handmade paper — and also painted a series of the hero in oil and another related series entitled Buffalo Soldiers. He’s in discussions with movie studios to turn the story into a feature film.

He sums up his aesthetic, which is particularly apparent in the Cotton Series and Buffalo Warrior: “I wanted to start from the root of our American experience, which happens to be slavery. So I wanted to go back there in that time and paint with everything I have to convey dignity and love and [that] they’re people, not only slaves. If you want to make a good painting, you’ve got to paint what you love — and I love those people.”

The School of Business inducted the nineteen newest members of Delta Mu Delta honor society on Saturday, November 23, 2019, at Amarante’s Sea Cliff.

The students and their families were joined by Professors Jim Aselta and Dr. Wafeek Abdelsayed, who serve as the faculty advisers to Delta Mu Delta and who organized the ceremony, and Dr. Ellen Durnin, dean of the School of Business.

Each year the Southern School of Business Zeta Nu chapter of Delta Mu Delta recognizes an honorary inductee, someone who represents the ideals of Delta Mu Delta and who is a friend to the School of Business. This year’s honoree is Lindy Lee Gold.

Gold has been an active and invaluable asset to every organization and community in which she involves herself. She is known for her enthusiasm, her dedication, and her willingness to step up to help. She participates not only as a donor, but takes time from her busy professional and civic schedule to get personally involved in causes and organizations that are important to her. The SCSU School of Business, and especially the Women’s Mentoring and Leadership Program, are fortunate to be among them.

Gold, well-known in the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development, serves as a senior development specialist, a position she had held since 1998. Lindy is responsible for business retention, recruitment, development and expansion.

Prior to joining the state office, Gold was director of development and community relations for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Connecticut State Office. Her professional background also includes work in the travel and investment industries, as well as devoting efforts to directing and coordinating development and renovation of low- and middle-income housing.

Gold’s civic accomplishments are vast, including service on the Gateway Community College Foundation. She also serves on the state board of the Anti-Defamation League; as an associate fellow at Yale’s Pierson College; and on the boards of the Arts Council, the United Way of Greater New Haven and the Jewish Foundation. Additionally, Lindy serves on the Cultural Affairs Commission City of New Haven; Southern Connecticut State University Foundation Board of Directors; the Housatonic Community College Foundation Board of Directors; and Connecticut Health Investigative Team (C-HIT) board.

Congratulations to the 2019 SCSU Delta Mu Delta inductees: Elise Abu-Sitteh, Christianne M. Accurso, Sage Marie Albino, Katia Dutra Astudillo, Alexandra Grace Bucci, Julie Ann Delucia, Esosa Osaro Enagbare, Rudolfo Hernandez-Velaquez, Andrea Gudino, Satchel Christopher Harrell, Justin Paolillo, Alejandro Jaime Quijada, Gabriela Maria Rodriguez, Eldi Shahini, Kari Ann Swanson, Michaela Hart Tiani, Kyle Raymond Tuttle, Katherine Wojcik, and Alexis Marie Young.

The Social Justice Community Awards honor individuals and groups for outstanding achievement in promoting diversity, inclusion, equity, and access at Southern and/or the community at large — and a demonstrated commitment to these goals through programs, projects, or partnerships.

These awards are presented annually in six categories, and the award winners are selected by the President’s Commission on Social Justice in the spring of the academic year, following a call for nominations. Honorees receive a monetary award ($250 value for students; $500 value for faculty, staff, organizations and departments) and a certificate.

For the 2018-2019 academic year, the Social Justice Community Awards were awarded in the spring 2019 semester and included the following honorees:

• Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award: Jim D’Elia
• Outstanding Graduate Student Award: Vanessa Parker, Women’s and Gender Studies Program
• Outstanding Student Organization Award: The Omicron Theta chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated
• Outstanding Staff Award: James Furlong, University Chaplain
• Outstanding Faculty Award: Dr. MaryJo Archambault, Assistant Professor of Recreation, Tourism, & Sport Management
• Outstanding Department/School Award: Southern Educational Opportunity PROGRAM (SEOP)

Undergraduate Student Award

Jim D’Elia was nominated for the Top Owl Award before his graduation from the university in May with a degree in sports marketing. As an undergraduate at Southern, he was an active member in student organizations on campus that focus on disability awareness and advocacy and served in leadership roles within those organizations, which included Outreach Unlimited and the Autism Awareness club.

Known as an advocate for others, D’Elia planned and organized programs for Disability Awareness Month and throughout the year. He also contributed to programs that support populations that are underserved and in need — for example, he helped to organize the campus’ Stuff-a-Shuttle event, which collects donations of basic necessities such as food, clothing, and toiletries and delivers them to Saint Luke’s Church in New Haven. When he needed a summer job, instead of returning home to Wethersfield to find work, D’Elia stayed in New Haven to work with local children in a summer program at a school located near the SCSU campus.

D’Elia’s nominator said that in addition to getting involved in programs that help others, D’Elia also advocates for friends and classmates in social settings by making sure others do not feel left out based on differences.

His nominator wrote, “If one were to gather Jimmy’s friends and acquaintances in a room, you would need a very large room, as he is well liked and well respected by many. What you would also see in that room, is a very diverse group, as Jimmy makes friends with everyone. He has a natural ability to bring people together while encouraging action and social justice among his peers.”

D’Elia made the Dean’s List on several occasions during his years at Southern, according to his nominator.

Graduate Student Award

Vanessa Parker, who goes by “Parker,” graduated from the university in May with a Master of Arts degree in Women’s and Gender Studies, and was nominated for the Top Owl Award prior to her graduation.

While at Southern, Parker demonstrated exceptional leadership in bringing together both graduate and undergraduate students in raising awareness and inspiring action on social justice issues. She accomplished this via culturally focused programming that she conceived and implemented, and also via healing dialogue that she has initiated between student groups that were experiencing conflict.

Parker was elected president of the Kappa Chapter of Iota Iota Iota (Triota), the National Women’s Studies Association Student Honor Society, for the 2018–2019 academic year. In her capacity as president, she led the graduate and undergraduate members in developing an agenda committed to building a sense of a “service community” and leading the students in implementing the activities. For example, Parker organized, produced, and directed a campus presentation of The Vagina Monologues to raise funds for a crisis center. She also organized a campus-wide donation drive for basic care necessities for a local shelter. In her leadership roles in initiating and carrying out these community service activities, she inspired students by raising their moral consciousness on the needs of those who struggle with racial, gender, economic and social discrimination and disadvantages.

Parker was also the principal organizer for a campus presentation of a play written by Southern alumna Daisha Brabham, Homegoing: A Herstory of the Black Woman, which traces the experience of Black women from their African roots to their struggles in white-dominated cultures. Parker organized, advertised, and produced the play and led two post-play dialogues with audiences on racial unity.

One of Parker’s nominators wrote that she “seeks out opportunities to build bridges among different student constituencies on campus” and calls her “a natural healer, a gifted bridge-builder who employs all her education, skills, experiences and talents to bring people together and help them to interact with mutual dignity, respect, compassion, kindness, and civility.”

As a Graduate Assistant for the LGBTQIA Center and Women’s Center at Connecticut College, Parker worked to build community among students of gender and sexual diversity and to advocate for their rights to equal access, respect and equality in society.  Also, for her hometown of New London, Parker organized a donation drive for hair-care products for women of color who are suffering severe economic challenges and seeking help at New London shelters and charities.

As a graduate student in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Parker created a project, “Queering Healing Spaces Occupied by Black Womxn: A Queer Black Feminist Theory Multi-Media Project,” in which she highlighted the the role Black womxn (Black Cis, Queer, and Trans) have played in creating healing spaces in the United States since the 1600s. She did field work at Hearing Youth Voices (HYV), a student-led organization invested in creating systemic change in the education system.

After graduation Parker had planned to open a healing space for Black womxn in New London, Conn., her hometown, which would be the first in her area.

One of Parker’s nominators wrote, “I am very excited to recommend Vanessa Parker for the Social Justice Community Award and wholeheartedly support her candidacy. Her academic and professional pursuits along with her campus leadership indicate her commitment to community and social justice for all especially those of marginalized groups.”

Club Winner

The Omicron Theta chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, actively engages with students at Southern through various events, personal interactions, and programs hosted. The chapter also reaches out to the New Haven community through volunteering during Thanksgiving food drives, March of Dimes and Breast Cancer Awareness walks, and working with the students of Lincoln-Bassett Community School.

The chapter — whose motto is motto is “Culture for Service, Service for Humanity” — commits to service in everything it does on campus and beyond. Its national philanthropy, March of Dimes, works to improve the health of mothers and babies. In New Haven, members speak to kids of all ages about college and their own experiences, welcome young students on their first days of school, and give various performances and shows at schools and after-school programs.

Phi Beta Sigma stands by the phrase of being the “inclusive we” rather than the “exclusive we” and lives by three principles: Brotherhood, Scholarship, and Service. On the Southern campus, the Omicron Theta chapter makes it a point to exemplify those principles. All current members of the chapter hold various positions on campus, in jobs and other club or organization commitments. With everyone involved in in different areas of the campus, the group’s nominator wrote, the chapter is better able to reach out to build relationships across the university.

Two years ago, Phi Beta Sigma collaborated with Beta Mu Sigma Fraternity for a program called the “Power of Privilege,” a panel discussion with four students and a faculty member. The program was part of Social Justice Month and aimed to raise students’ awareness of what privilege is and the different privileges people have because of their socioeconomic status, race, and gender. The chapter was recognized for this program and won an award with Beta Mu Sigma for best collaboration event of the year.

The chapter’s nominator wrote that “The brothers of the Omicron Theta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, have contributed to this campus their principles with the students of Southern. We support Southern’s mission of creating inclusive environments for everyone here, and we will continue to provide that for everyone throughout our civic engagements, events, and interactions with faculty and students. We are happy to be a part of the Southern community and give back where we can, share experiences, and keep the lively, exciting atmosphere of Southern thriving.”

Staff Winner

James Furlong provides a safe, welcoming atmosphere in the Interfaith Office at Southern. His nominator wrote that he shows care for students, demonstrates understanding, and “has a boundless empathy for students, faculty and staff.”

For the last 13 years, Furlong has led the university’s Newman Society (club) to annual alternative break trips to such places as New Orleans and Philadelphia, where he makes sure that students are exposed to social justice issues such as racial inequality, persistent homelessness and drug addiction. He not only exposes students to such issues, but guides them in reaching out to and being present in communities facing such issues.

He has helped organize a “Soup for Souls” event, to benefit food insecure students on campus and demonstrates a commitment to the well being of the Southern community by sponsoring monthly Chinese Luncheons, open to students seeking a meal. He also cares for the community around the university by bringing students to Saint Anne’s Soup Kitchen, a local New Haven soup kitchen, where he serves meals every week.

Furlong has organized an event, “Catholic Social Justice,” which helped students learn about social justice issues in a faith-based context. He has also worked with VPAS on a display about the plight of domestic workers in Connecticut, to encourage students to fight for the rights of these vulnerable workers.

His nominator wrote that Furlong shows a strong sense of openness, respect, and solidarity with the different faith communities on campus, offering a home and friend for all students following their conscience and regularly reaching out to help all the faith organizations on campus. He also is known to, as part of his daily routine, walk around the upper levels of the Adanti Student Center where he works, greeting faculty and staff with a warm smile.

Finally, Furlong’s nominator wrote, Furlong is “a true blue Southern Owl. He has endless pride in Southern, always carrying the school’s values with him and rooting for the school’s sports teams.”

Faculty Winner

MaryJo Archambault was described by her nominator as going “above and beyond in all she does in and out of the classroom, with the utmost fairness, compassion and integrity.” The Social Justice Faculty Community Award recognizes a faculty member who incorporates diverse values in the classroom, curriculum and/ or research; displays a commitment to diverse cultures, religions, abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and other areas of inclusion and perspective; makes the classroom accessible for and supportive of diverse learning styles; engages in equity, diversity and inclusion efforts in the campus community; uses innovative teaching methods to support students with special learning needs; and/or mentors underrepresented students or diverse populations of students, faculty and/or staff. The awardee receives $500, which can go to their department or to professional development funds.

Recognizing a gap in service delivery for persons with disabilities, Archambault has been instrumental in the development of the Institute for Adapted Sports and Inclusive Recreation. Reflective of her research and areas of interest, the institute provides programming opportunities, education experiences, and advocacy services for individuals with disabilities, and conducts research and evaluation relating to adaptive sports and inclusive recreation.

Archambault has been active in applying for research- and program-related grants and has been awarded over $45,000 in grant dollars over the course of the past four-plus years. Most noteworthy, she along with a colleague serve as the co-project directors for a $38,000 grant awarded to Southern by the Office of Veteran’s Affairs in Washington, D.C., for the purpose of providing or facilitating the provision of adaptive sport opportunities for disabled veterans.

Archambault also provides exemplary service to the department of Recreation, Tourism and Sport Management; the School of Health and Human Services; and to the University through her active and varied involvement in numerous committees and board memberships. In addition, she engages in numerous student recruitment activities.

Department Winner

SEOP focuses on providing access to diverse groups of students. The program is committed to recruiting and retaining underrepresented populations on Southern’s campus. SEOP promotes equity and diversity as well as opportunity and success. This program also hires students who have successfully completed the program, adding to the diversity of the campus workforce and providing even more opportunity to those students to gain work experience.

Congratulations to all of the awardees!

Samuel Andoh, MBA program director and professor of economics, and James Thorson, professor and chair of economics, will be presenting their research titled “Female Entrepreneurs in Africa: Ethiopia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, and Ghana” at the 2019 Association of Global South Studies Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 12 – 15, 2019.

Andoh and Thorson’s research seeks to understand whether women are more or less likely to apply for credit compared to men, and what factors explain the disparity, as well as whether women entrepreneurs use less leverage than men, and finally, whether women entrepreneurs are risk-averse. The answers to these questions could provide insights on how policy makers can work to include women in the rapid economic growth which countries such as Ethiopia and Ghana are currently experiencing.

As director of Southern’s MBA program, Andoh hopes not only to conference with colleagues and share his research in Argentina, but also to meet with anyone curious about the MBA opportunities at SCSU.

To highlight the strength of the SCSU School of Business MBA program, and the high quality of the students in the program, Andoh points to two recent graduates.

Teresa Rivera, a mother of three, enrolled in the MBA program while still nursing a baby. She defied the odds to complete the MBA, took the Treasury Management course, which proved to be her ticket to an executive position at Hartford Healthcare, where she works as a senior treasury analyst.

Eliza Tabaka, a mother of two young children, worked as a translator and as a Graduate Assistant in the School of Business while she pursued an intense Accelerated MBA. After passing the Treasury Management course, Tabaka was one of two students selected to join Webster Bank’s competitive internship program, and was subsequently hired by Webster Bank, where she is currently employed.

If you are interested in joining the ranks of successful Southern MBA grads, or hearing more about either the traditional MBA path or the accelerated MBA format, which allows students to complete their MBA degree in just 18 months with combined Saturday and online courses, please contact Dr. Sam Andoh at AndohS1@SouthernCT.edu. He is available to schedule meetings December 12 to 16 at Hotel UOM Buenos Aires.

Lula Mae White, a Freedom Rider who was a longtime resident of Hamden and New Haven, died in September at age 80. Ms. White’s family invites the public to attend a memorial for her on Sunday afternoon, December 15, 2019, from 2-5 p.m. in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom. In addition to other speakers at the memorial, Journalism Professor Frank Harris III will be taking part, showing a short documentary on Ms. White that he made based on an interview he did with her several years ago.

The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge non-enforcement of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions that ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. In 1961, as a 22-year-old University of Chicago graduate student, Ms. White became one of 300-400 individuals to risk life and limb to ride the buses in the South to test the law that was supposed to provide for integrated transportation facilities in America. She was arrested and spent time in Mississippi’s notorious Parchman Prison. The efforts of the Freedom Riders led to the integration and removal of the “colored” and “white” signs that used to dominate the landscape in America’s South.

A new Haven native, Ms. White attended Hillhouse High School, class of 1956, and earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in history with honors from the University of Chicago. She went on to teach history for over 28 years at the former Lee High School in New Haven. She was recognized by the Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2016, was awarded the Thurgood Marshall Award for her activism and community service, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Albertus Magnus College in 2010.

Read a column about Ms. White by Harris, published in the Hartford Courant last September: “Saying goodbye to, but never forgetting, a freedom rider.”

Radio station WNPR (90.5 FM) aired a story on December 9, 2019, about an ongoing study of the Northern Star Coral conducted by Sean Grace, chair of the Biology Department, and Gabriella DiPreta, an adjunct faculty member in the Biology Department who is a former student of Grace. The coral has “hearty New Englander” qualities in being able to withstand changes in the water temperature and acidity due to global warming better than other corals. The hope is that by researching why these corals are more resistant to such changes, scientists may be able to improve the resiliency of other corals and sea life. The study is a joint effort with the Milford Laboratory of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

Read and listen to the WNPR story, which is by reporter Patrick Skahill.

You’d be hard pressed to find someone who understands college students better than Barbara Matthews, associate director emeritus of counseling. “I’ll tell you one thing about Southern students. They come here determined,” says Matthews, who worked with thousands during her 30 years at Southern — including members of the Black Student Union (BSU), which she advised throughout her tenure.

Originally called the Organization of Afro-American Students, the BSU was formed in 1968 and was still a young organization when Matthews came on board in 1972. Its establishment reflected a national movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination in education on the basis of race, color, and national origin. Still, many black students who enrolled at predominantly white colleges and universities faced hostility. In an effort to support students and promote positive change, in 1966, the first Black Student Union in the nation was established at San Francisco State College [now University].*  Two years later, Southern followed suit. “Black students on campus needed direction and a voice. The Black Student Union made that happen,” says James Barber, ’64, M.S. ’79, Southern’s director of community engagement.

Throughout the years, Matthews remained a mentor. “We were a force to be reckoned with, I’m proud to say,” recounts Michael Jefferson, ’86, who was elected president of the BSU in 1984. “We had to meet certain challenges, and I don’t know if students today appreciate how difficult it was at times. She [Matthews] was a huge influence. She was my confidente,” adds Jefferson, now an attorney based in East Haven.

Like many BSU alumni, he’s remained active with the organization and was instrumental in setting the groundwork for the scholarship. It began with “Martinis and Wings,” a BSU reunion held at Jefferson’s home in 1997. BSU alumni came to reconnect and raise funds to support students. They also celebrated Matthews, who received an award for paving the way for so many.

In 2019, the fund was fully endowed. The Barbara Matthews Endowed Scholarship was awarded for the first time during the 2019-20 academic year and will continue to benefit students who are active members of the BSU in good academic standing.

The scholarship is a fitting tribute to Matthews, who devoted her career to higher education. A 1968 graduate of Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), she first worked in academia at a city-run residence hall for college students. Urged on by her coworkers, she earned a master’s degree from Hunter College in 1971, and joined the staff at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, which had just opened its doors as the youngest institution in the CUNY system.

Then she heard about a newly created position at Southern. “Students from the BSU came up with the plan,” recalls Matthews. “They were reaching out for someone to work with them. That’s why I felt an immediate connection, and it hasn’t been broken since. This one caught my heart. It’s been a love affair,” she says.

Her career has been a calling as well — one that’s enhanced the lives of generations of students. Southern’s campus has become increasingly diverse in recent years: in fall 2019, about 40 percent of the incoming class are students of color and 21 percent of full-time faculty are minorities. But when Matthews arrived in 1972, diversity was not a campus hallmark. As late as fall 1984, fewer than one in 20 full-time undergraduates was black and fewer than one in 100 was Hispanic. Among the 406 professors at Southern in 1984, only five were black — about one percent.

“Most of us were coming from the tri-state area from high schools where the student body looked very different from Southern,” says Jefferson. “Coming to a place like Southern was sometimes difficult. . . . It was important for us to create a supportive organization to deal with some of the challenges,” he says.

Throughout the years, the BSU, guided by Matthews, promoted inclusivity in countless ways. Noting a dearth of black faculty, the BSU sent student ambassadors to talk with academic department heads about the issue. Concerned about the percentage of black student-athletes who weren’t graduating on time, the BSU worked with the administration to dedicate an academic adviser to them. The group also organized cultural events for the entire campus.

Historically, the BSU’s commitment has extended to the New Haven community as well. Members worked on voter registration and advocated for children at New Haven Board of Education meetings. They also strove to enhance local neighborhoods. Michele Helms, ’92, remembers working on a comparative analysis of a nearby neighborhood while she was attending Southern. She recalls finding a high number of liquor stores and a disturbing lack of resources. It was upsetting and a call to action.

“I continue to hold BSU close to my heart because it was a platform that empowered me to make a difference — and she [Matthews] was a big part of that,” says Helms, an English as a second language [ESL] teacher in Stamford, Conn.

Her sentiment is echoed by Kermit Carolina, ’94, M.S. ’03, who, as a student, was president of the BSU. His memories of the organization include Saturday mornings spent with New Haven children who came to campus for mentoring and tutoring. “We had an opportunity to make an impact on the greater New Haven community. Every year, this commitment was passed down from president to president,” says Carolina — now supervisor of youth development and engagement with New Haven Public Schools.

Through each program and initiative, Matthews kept a careful eye on her students. “We’d be sitting in her office, talking about the BSU. And she’d casually swivel around to her desk, and say, ‘So, how are classes going? How are your grades?’” says Jefferson.

“I had access to their academic information!” Matthews says, with a laugh.

“It really was like having a campus mom,” says Jefferson.

“We never wanted to disappoint you,” adds Carolina.

This enduring, almost familial, connection — fostered by Matthews over three decades and beyond — gives the BSU much of its strength. In October 2018, the BSU held several events in conjunction with Southern’s Homecoming. The BSU tailgate alone drew about 400. Among them was Kendall Manderville, a senior majoring in recreation and leisure studies, who is president of the BSU today and the scholarship’s first recipient. He met Matthews there after hearing about her for years — and notes that the scholarship is inspiring and needed.

“Finances aren’t the only reason students of color might have difficulty staying in school, but they’re a primary issue. All of us have friends who didn’t come back because they couldn’t afford it,” says Manderville.

He continues: “I also feel students of color, especially black students, are not always aware of some of the resources available to them. They are not aware of how many scholarships are out there. So having one that’s just for them, right here at the university . . . It makes a difference.”

One of the largest grant awards Southern has ever received will directly benefit students who face educational or economic disadvantages.

The five-year, $2.18 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education, through its Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP), was spearheaded by Kathleen De Oliveira, director of the university’s Academic Success Center.

De Oliveira’s grant submission, “Promoting Educational Retention through Collaborative High-Impact Services,” or PERCHS (an acronym that nods at Southern’s mascot, Otus the owl), proposes one overall goal: to increase the success and retention of promising students who face educational or economic disadvantages and who will thrive with additional support.

“The opportunities this creates for impact on our students is amazing,” Tracy Tyree, vice president for student affairs, said. “We are really focusing on what holds students back, and we recognize that we have to get down to a more granular, student-by-student level. One-on-one points of connection are important and successful ways to help students persist.”

Students who face educational or economic disadvantages — notoriously called at-risk — constitute a growing portion of Southern’s population. Close to 40 percent of Southern’s undergraduate class receive federal Pell Grants, the most popular federal grant given primarily to low-income undergraduate students. And nearly 30 percent of students are food insecure, according to Jules Tetreault, dean of student affairs.

When students balance multiple jobs, or they’re worried about where their next meal will come from, or they are underprepared and don’t understand concepts in class, that prevents them from thriving academically; the PERCHS award aims to support those students in a multi-pronged, multi-faceted, multi-divisional approach.

“Funding started October 2019, and we hit the ground running,” De Oliveira said. “It’s kind of like we’re first responders. Whatever students need, we either help them or refer them to the right place.”

Bolstering the offerings of the Southern Success Center is just one of the PERCHS program’s approaches. Currently, the center encompasses the Academic Success Center, First Year Experience (FYE), New Student and Sophomore Programs, Career Services, and Academic Advising. Students use the center as a centralized hub, minimizing room for error and frustration when seeking university services such as academic or career help.

“The idea is to have a central location for students instead of sending them to multiple stops around campus,” De Oliveira said. “And if you don’t know where to go, come here and we’ll help you.”

The PERCHS program has four distinct goals when it comes to the Success Center: decrease the percentage of students with grades of D, F or W in key gateway courses; increase persistence rates for first-time, full-time freshmen; decrease the percentage of the student body with an overall GPA of 2.5 or lower; and increase student satisfaction with support services.

Within the center, the current Peer Academic Leaders Program (PALS), will be expanded.

“PALS focuses on many gateway/foundational courses, particularly in STEM,” De Oliveira said. “Unlike tutoring, which can be sporadic, PALS helps students understand material on a week-by-week basis, and the grant helps us increase our number of PALS to almost 60. We’ve seen students improve as much as a grade level with consistent help. This takes students on the cusp of success and brings them to solid footing.”

The number of academic success coaches will increase as well.

“For students on academic probation who consistently meet with coaches, their retention rate is 70 percent,” De Oliveira said. “This grant lets us add more coaches and see how to use them most strategically.”

On a broader level, the PERCHS grant allows for the creation of an Opportunity Center, a physical space that will house a food pantry, and a full-time and part-time position to support it. Though the pantry will give students immediate access to food, the center also will connect students to various types of assistance they might need.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the cost of higher education, but it’s mostly been centered on tuition,” Tetreault said. “The reality is the expenses of rent, childcare, food and books is very high, and that aid is shrinking, and it’s left a big population who can’t meet their basic living needs. The idea is to use the Opportunity Center as a hub to support these pieces. Can we help them and refer them? It’s all about connection points. We are a culture of support and care. We want to provide our students with access and success.”

De Oliveira added that the distribution of funds over five years enables the university to explore all of the objectives and analyze the outcomes so key players can hone in on what is sustainable and keep it going.

“It’s about finding the right keys, all with the goal to help students,” she said.

Ultimately, the efforts benefit everyone.

“We’re paying attention to things that higher ed hasn’t usually paid attention to,” Tetreault said. “If a student gets a degree, they’re more likely to give back to their community, to make a million dollars more over their lifetime, and they’re less likely to rely on social services. We’re just providing the right mechanisms of support, so students are equipped to thrive.”

Two years ago, Southern student and screenwriter Lisa Tedesco was among the crowds at Cannes, but not as one of the paparazzi or a mere film fan. Tedesco was screening her short film, August in The City, one of about 200 short films chosen from among 10 thousand submissions for the festival’s “Short Film Corner.”

Tedesco wrote the screenplay for the film and was executive producer, teaming up with Los Angeles-based director Christie Conochalla (Once Upon a Zipper, Forever Not Maybe) to produce it. Shot in Brooklyn and Oceanside, N.Y., the film did well at Cannes and spent over a year on the festival circuit, winning several awards. Now that it’s off the circuit, Tedesco recently released it on Vimeo.

Not one to let grass grow under her feet, she now has a new film — House of La Reine — hitting the circuit, and to celebrate she and her team held a red carpet event in October, “a benefactor screening” for donors who helped support the film. “It’s my way of giving back and to have an event to kick off the film,” she says. A media studies major, Tedesco was delighted to welcome Communication, Media, and Screen Studies Department faculty Wes O’Brien, Charlene Dellinger-Pate, and Karen Burke to the event.

Tedesco is a busy person. In addition to attending Southern part time and working on her film career, she works the second shift at Sikorsky as an electrical installer, working on helicopters. She also owns a film production company, Ladyfilm Media, which she started in June 2017.

“’Breaking all barriers’ is one of our mottos,” she says. “We like to project stories with strong female presence, give voice to the LGBTQ community, and support projects with 50/50 male/female crews.” A native of West Haven who now lives in New Haven, Tedesco says, “I’m so incredibly busy with my company and working full time, I’ve only been doing about three classes at Southern a year.” She estimates she has about 10 classes left to finish her degree.

The story told in House of La Reine surrounds a woman who is embarking on the next chapter of her life as she opens an inclusive performance space and bar. She has reservations and frustrations but is visited by someone from her distant past who once reigned the stage in Paris in the 1920s. Tedesco explains that a year ago, she went out to Hollywood to shoot this new short film with a $25,000 budget. “We shot half in color/digital and half in 16mm black and white,” she says. Her plan is for the film to be on the film festival circuit beginning in early 2020, and yes, she is hoping for Cannes once again. She’ll also submit the 13-minute-long film to such festivals as Slamdance, Tribeca, Inside Out Toronto, Frameline, among many others.

Tedesco says she started writing House of La Reine soon after August in the City went on the festival circuit. “I wanted to focus on a female protagonist who owned her own business and was independent and strong,” she says. But she left the project on the back burner for awhile because August was on the circuit. Then, in the summer of 2018, while she was taking a summer class with Dellinger-Pate, she rewrote the script. Filming took place in December 2018, and at this point, “it’s a waiting game,” Tedesco says, as she and her crew wait to see what happens with film festivals.

Meanwhile, Tedesco’s company will be producing a friend’s film – a male coming-out story – and she has sold a script to a company in Los Angeles. This film — called “Dear Emma, You’re Charlie” — is now in preproduction, and shooting will happen in the spring.

Back on campus, Tedesco worked on a capstone project this fall with Rosemarie Conforti, associate professor of communication, media, and screen studies. Tedesco explains that the project was a thesis proposal on a media topic of her choosing. Her proposal is called “Finding the Rainbow: How Fantasy/Sci-Fi Television Fandoms Help the Self-Identity Process For LGBTQIA+ Young Adults in the Modernized World.” Tedesco explains, “It’s basically a study on how queer youth can form long-lasting friendships in an online safe space where they are heard, respected and discuss the representations they see from these TV shows. I’m using Hashtags, fan fiction and vidding [the making of fan videos] as a way to showcase the interactions between fans inside the online fandoms.”

Conforti describes Tedesco as a “super-smart . . . creative and earnest student, and always provocative in her thinking. She moves seamlessly between the Cannes Film Festival and EN 117. Unpretentious and authentic, Lisa is the dream package of outstanding student, award-winning writer, producer and director of her production company, Lady Film Media, and Sikorsky employee.”

Watch the House of La Reine trailer.