Campus News ( For more campus news , check the St . Francis College website at sfc . edu )
Capital One Pitch Contest NOVEMBER 20 , 2014 — Three students were awarded seed money to support their entrepreneurial ventures courtesy of Capital One at the second annual Student Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge . Top prize went to Korey Fisher ’ 16 , a Business Management student who wants to leverage software and the Internet to reduce the high cost of health care . ●
Korey Fisher ’ 16 , Nicole Spataro ’ 16 , and Nicole Molinella ’ 16 .
Junot
Diaz — Walt Whitman Writers Series
APRIL 16 — The line wrapped around the block , hundreds deep , two hours before author Junot Díaz was set to become the 12th writer to speak at the Walt Whitman Writers Series . Dozens had to be turned away and 100 people watched the event via video feed from an adjoining room .
But that wasn ' t good enough for the writer of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar
Wao , which was named the best novel of the 21st century so far by BBC Culture . Díaz went into the overflow room and spent a half hour talking with the audience before the formal event began .
Díaz read from his collection of short stories , Drown , and answered questions from the editor of Buzzfeed Books , Isaac Fitzgerald , as well as from members of the audience .
“ Junot Díaz is among the most influential novelists alive ,” said St . Francis College English Professor Theo Gangi , who is also the director of the College Writing Program and helped to organize the event . ●
Stephen
King
APRIL 21 — St . Francis College and BookCourt welcomed master of horror Stephen King for a roundtable discussion with his son , Owen King , as well as authors Peter Straub and Emma Straub , Peter ’ s daughter . The elder King and Straub spoke about how they began their collaboration on The Talisman series while Owen King revealed that his father paid him to record books on tape when he was a child including Dune , Kidnapped and the latest Dean Koontz work . Emma Straub talked about her love of cheese and hatred for books based in Brooklyn , admitting though that the borough is the setting for her next novel . Isaac Fitzgerald , editor of BuzzFeed Books , moderated the discussion . ●
Kenneth D . Daly — National Grid Lecture Series
APRIL 21 — St . Francis College alumnus Ken Daly ’ 88 , President of National Grid New York and a member of the College ’ s Board of Trustees , shared “ Life Long Lessons in Doing the Right Thing ” for the second Kenneth D . Daly — National Grid Lecture Series .
He spoke to Accounting and Management students about his life and work experience , as well as about the people who influenced his life including former bosses , teachers and friends .
“ Always take actions and make decisions that you would be proud to have your friends , family and loved ones read about in the newspaper ,” Daly told the students . “ It ’ s not always easy to do the right thing , but behaving responsibly is not just an option , it is an absolute obligation .” ●
The Good Counselor
MARCH 3 , 4 — Communication Arts Professor Kathryn Grant ’ s award winning play , The Good Counselor , was performed with a cast of St . Francis College students and alumni .
The Good Counselor tells the story of a public defender ’ s attempt to mount a defense for a woman accused of killing her baby . As the argument spills over from the courtroom into the community , the defense lawyer must come to terms with his preconceptions about the capacities of mothers .
“ I wrote this play out of my concern for the ways mothers ’ feet are held to the fire both in the home and in the court of law ,” says Professor Grant . “ I was brought up in a home where I watched my mother struggle to raise eight children with limited resources . It seemed we expected her to perform the miraculous for her children without expending the least amount of energy on herself . I see this attitude in other homes , in our popular culture and most perniciously , in judicial systems .” ●
Awards in Education
The hard working members of the Xi Rho Chapter of the Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society gained some important recognition from the national organization . The chapter was selected as a winner of the prestigious Phoenix Award for Chapter Improvement for showing great strides in management and programming . The Honor Society also selected Chapter President Michelle Rosenberg ’ 15 for the Distinguished Chapter Officer Award . She is one of 17 winners out of more than 3,000 student officers . Rosenberg , Education Professor Peter Leibman ’ 71 and Psychology Professor Marissa Cohen , along with other officers from Xi Rho , will be honored at the Kappa Delta Pi National Convocation in October . ●
Kappa Delta Pi student leaders Anam Afzal ’ 17 , Michelle Rosenberg 15 , Jillian Signer ’ 16 , Victoria Sortino ’ 17 , Jessica Lynch ’ 15 , and Christina Somma ’ 17 .
LEFT TO RIGHT : Issac Fitzgerald of BuzzFeed Books , moderates a discussion with authors , Owen King , Emma Straub , Stephen King , and Peter Straub .
Links to all videos are available at sfc . edu / terrier
2 | ST . FRANCIS COLLEGE TERRIER | FALL 2015