Baseball Team Wins CACC Title

The Dominican College baseball team won the 2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship on May 15, 2021 with a stunning 6-5 victory over the south second seed, Thomas Jefferson University, in a game played at Alumni Field in Philadelphia, PA. DC’s win secured the 18th CACC Championship in program history

The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when Dominican struck for a run on the two-out solo home run off the bat of second basemen Carmine Giordano (New Rochelle, N.Y.).  Jefferson would counter in the bottom half of the inning with the RBI single up the middle to make the score 1-1. Dominican scored in their half of the sixth inning as catcher Bobby Garbuio (Chappaqua, N.Y.) singled up the middle to plate Richard Paulino (San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic), who had led off the inning with an infield single and had moved into scoring position on an error to re-take a 2-1 advantage. TJU led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run over the left field fence to retie the score at 2-all and the game would remain tied until the ninth inning.

In the top of the ninth, right fielder Brian Sanders (La Ceiba, Honduras) led off the inning with a single up-the-middle and later moved to second as Paulino was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out.  A walk issued to Garbuio loaded the bases for freshman left fielder Shane Hewlette (Deer Park, N.Y.) who delivered what would be a game-winning triple to center field that brought home all three runners to lift the Chargers to a 5-2 lead.  Two batters later, designated hitter Benjamin Meza (Miami, Fla.) scored Hewlette with a double down the left field line for the 6-2 lead.

Jefferson rallied in the bottom of the ninth with three runs on two hits and a wild pitch and had the tying run on second base with two outs, but reliever William Espinal (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded the game ending strikeout for the win.  Hewlette, Sanders and Paulino all had two hits in the game, while Hewlette had a game best three RBI. Espinal picked up the win in two innings of relief, allowing three runs (none earned) on three hits and collecting five strikeouts. Starter Jaden Diaz-Lambert (Erial, N.J.) went five innings, allowing one run on four hits and recording seven strikeouts.

For his outstanding play in the tournament, Hewlette was named the 2021 CACC Baseball Championship Most Valuable Player (MVP) and to the All-Tournament Team. Joining him on the all-tournament team from DC were: Sanders, Paulino, Diaz-Lambert and Espinal.

The Chargers (19-13) earn the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament slated to begin on May 27th.

 

 

 

May 18, 2021

Students Share Liberal Arts Research Projects Online

Image of Liberal Arts Research 2021 website

Students shared their capstone research projects on a website that showcases the research in communication studies, health sciences, and biology.

Dominican College faculty and students were determined to move ahead with this year’s Liberal Arts Research Day after last year’s in-person event was cancelled due to COVID.  With hard work and ingenuity, students shared their capstone research projects on a website that showcases the research in communication studies, health sciences, and biology.

“While this was something of a learning curve for both faculty and students, our Dominican students really rose to the challenge and created narrated posters, PowerPoint lectures with guided audio, and even digital video projects,”  said Mark Meachem, Ed.D., Director of the Division of Arts & Sciences.

Meachem said the website offered some unexpected benefits.  Students learned how to quickly adapt their work and had a larger audience with more professors, family, and friends able to view the projects.   Because of that, the website may continue to be used even if Liberal Arts Research Day is held in person in spring 2022 as planned.  The event serves as a way for students to share their knowledge and also helps prepare them for graduate-level work and academic conferences.

To view the students’ capstone research projects, visit:  http://courses.dc.edu/liberalartsresearch2021/

 

 

April 30, 2021

Men’s Golf Team Wins 2021 CACC Championship

Freshman Alex Lundvall being presented with a plaque at the golf course.

Freshman Alexander Lundvall was named the 2021 CACC Championship Tournament MVP.

The Dominican College men’s golf team won the 2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Golf Championship held April 19, 2021 at White Beeches Golf and Country Club in Haworth, NJ.

This is the program’s fourth CACC Tournament Championship with the others coming in 2001, 2002 and 2018.

As a team, the Chargers finished with a combined score of 305 to win the CACC Championship, while Concordia College took second place with a score of 306.  Golde-Beacom College finished in third place (311), followed by Felician University (330), Chestnut Hill College (340), Thomas Jefferson University (345) and the University of the Sciences (354).

Freshman Alexander Lundvall (Stockholm, Sweden) was the individual medalist with the low round score of 71 (-1).  On the front nine, Lundvall recorded two birdies on holes two and five and added a third on hole 11.  On the front nine, he finished with a 36 (-1) and followed with a 35 (E) on the back nine to earn All-Tournament honors.

Alejandro Gomez Cervantes (Torreon, Mexico) finished in a tie for fifth place overall with a score of 76 (39, 37) to join Lundvall on the All-Tournament Team.  He recorded one birdie on hole 14.

Freshman Nicholas Arrieta (Bucaramanga, Colombia) recorded a 77 to tie for seventh place and finish with three birdies on holes one, 14 and 17.

Juan David Fajardo (Bogota, Columbia) and Daniel Acosta Murguia (Torreon, Mexico) both tied for 12th place after shooting an 81 on the day.  Acosta recorded a birdie on hole 17.

 

April 21, 2021

College Offers New Finance Major

Dominican College will begin offering a new finance major,  beginning in fall 2021.  This new major is in addition to the other core major offerings for business students – management, marketing, and information technology.

“We believe that the finance major will be quite popular,” said Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky, Director, Business Administration Division. “Finance is an exciting field, with many new developments ranging from the crypto currencies and other block-chain applications to an increasing interest in sustainable investing.”

Finance students might pursue a career as a financial planner, a wealth manager, a financial analyst, or a treasury department employee of a company or government agency, in addition to other finance-related jobs.

For more information about the finance major, contact the Admissions Department at admissions@duny.edu.

 

April 19, 2021

Sterling Bank Foundation Awards Grant to Support Student Success

Two OT students wearing masks speaking with classroom of students.

Occupational therapy fieldwork students Chastity Kiely and Magdalena Yastion (left to right) teach students keys to academic success as part of the Take Charge! program. The students work under the supervision of OT Professor Catherine Cavaliere.

The Sterling National Bank Charitable Foundation has awarded Dominican College a $10,000 grant to support programs that help students achieve academic success.  The grants will help pay for mentoring, tutoring, resources, and books to support students.

“The Student Success Program, Charge Toward Success, and Take Charge! Occupational Therapy Program provide structure, accountability, and one-on-one support to students who are in need of it,” said Ryan O’ Gorman, Director of Retention and Student Success.  “Through these programs and one-on-one meetings with the occupational therapy fieldwork students, the undergraduate students feel more confident in their academics and improve their overall sense of well-being.”

The new programs have increased student retention by as much as 17 percent and enabled students to stay on the path toward achieving a bachelor’s degree.

 

March 25, 2021

Graduate Student in TVI Program Awarded Statewide Scholarship

Emily Griffin smiling with shoulder-length straight blond har.

Emily Griffin ’21 was awarded a scholarship from the NYS Association for the Education and Visually Impaired (NYSAER).

A Dominican College student finishing up her master’s degree in the Teachers for the Blind and credits her sister who has multiple disabilities – including a visual impairment – with being one of the reasons she chose this profession.

“While we were growing up, she was home-schooled, so we always had different therapists and teachers – including teachers of the visually impaired – coming in and I loved how happy she was, how she loved school, and how her teachers knew her so well. That definitely made me want to do the same for someone one day.”

In addition, Emily was inspired by her mom,  who is a teacher of the visually impaired and very passionate about her job. Emily is employed as an itinerant teacher for Eastern Suffolk BOCES, working with students who are visually impaired in a number of different schools.

March 19, 2021

Palisades Institute Discusses Impact of COVID-19 on Women in Business

Tammy Jersey, President, TKJ Associates, was one of the panelists participating in the Palisades Institute forum on “The Impact of COVID-19 on Women in Business and Its Implications for the Future.”

The Palisades Institute held a Zoom panel discussion on “The Impact of COVID-19 on Women in Business and Its Implications for the Future” on March 10, 2021, as part of its continuing series on the pandemic’s wide-ranging effect on businesses.

Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky, Director of the Business Administration Division at Dominican College and co-moderator of the event, said that the pandemic is creating a so-called “shecession.”  “It’s hit women harder than previous recessions.  When you look at every previous recession — it’s impacted financial markets; it’s impacted the goods-producing sectors where men have historically held the majority of jobs,” he said. “This pandemic has impacted pretty much the service sector most severely and that’s a sector that’s over-represented by women, so they’ve been hit in a big way there.” Rudolph-Shabinsky added that women have also been forced out of the workforce or had to adjust their work because of caregiving responsibilities for children.

The panelists all agreed that companies and businesses have had to be flexible and responsive to operate successfully through the pandemic.  When it comes to lessons we’ve learned, Tammy Jersey, President, TKJ Associates said, “I think one of the most important things that companies have started to do, and need to continue doing, is be open to new ways of operating, which means being willing to be flexible, being willing to hear new ideas and experiment with them, and to remove responses that might have been there in the past, like ‘no,’ and ‘I can’t,’ and ‘but.’”

Other panelists included Susan Gerard, Director, Human Resources, SUEZ North America, and Kate Wysokowski, Regional & Community Affairs Manager, Orange & Rockland.

March 10, 2021

Students Volunteer in Camden During Weekend of Service

Three female students in masks organizing supplies.

Dominican College students helped organize supplies at the UrbanPromise afterschool program in Camden, NJ, to get ready for its reopening.

A team of Dominican College students, alumni, and staff volunteered in Camden, NJ, during a Weekend of Service from March 5-7, 2021.  The group worked with Romero Center Ministries to help UrbanPromise prepare to reopen its afterschool program which had been shut down for several months because of COVID-19.

“They had a lot of work for us to get ready for the students to come back – organizing classrooms, moving furniture, decorating bulletin boards, painting, and yard work,” said Kathryn Strobel, Director of Community Engagement & Leadership Development.

In addition to volunteering, the Dominican College students lived and ate simply, engaged in reflection, and disconnected from technology.   Strobel said the students also watched a documentary to gain a deeper understanding of the people living in Camden and to hear their stories.  The Weekend of Service allowed students to be involved in service even though the traditional Alternative Spring Break Program was canceled.

March 8, 2021

Dominican College to Launch New Rowing Club

"Ivan

In fall 2021, Dominican College will launch a new Rowing Club, with men’sand women’s teams.  The club will compete against collegiate teams in the New York area, regional races including the New York State Collegiate Championships, and some national races – including the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia.

Coach Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky is looking for interested incoming students and current students to join the Rowing Club and stresses that no experience is necessary.  He said there are many national team rowers who didn’t start rowing until college.  “This creates a wonderful opportunity for the late-blooming athlete who has not yet found ‘their sport’ to try rowing and know that, even if they start only in college, they have the possibility of reaching the highest levels of the sport,” he said.

Rudolph-Shabinsky, Director of the Business Division at Dominican College, is an accomplished rower and coach who began his career at Cornell University.  He continued racing as an adult – most recently winning a gold medal in a masters four in 2019 at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta.  He is also president of the Rockland Rowing Association, where he coaches youth rowers and competes as a masters rower.

Dominican College has partnered with Rockland Rowing to develop the Rowing Club.  Rockland Rowing is completing a new rowing center at Rockland Lake this spring that will include the new Crestron Rowing Pavilion, a low-profile eco-dock, and a buoyed 10-lane course.

Those interested in joining the Rowing Club, should click here for more information or contact Coach Rudolph-Shabinsky at i.rudolph-shabinsky@duny.edu.

March 4, 2021

Dominican College to Launch New Rowing Club

"Ivan

In fall 2021, Dominican College will launch a new Rowing Club, with men’sand women’s teams.  The club will compete against collegiate teams in the New York area, regional races including the New York State Collegiate Championships, and some national races – including the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia.

Coach Ivan Rudolph-Shabinsky is looking for interested incoming students and current students to join the Rowing Club and stresses that no experience is necessary.  He said there are many national team rowers who didn’t start rowing until college.  “This creates a wonderful opportunity for the late-blooming athlete who has not yet found ‘their sport’ to try rowing and know that, even if they start only in college, they have the possibility of reaching the highest levels of the sport,” he said.

Rudolph-Shabinsky, Director of the Business Division at Dominican College, is an accomplished rower and coach who began his career at Cornell University.  He continued racing as an adult – most recently winning a gold medal in a masters four in 2019 at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta.  He is also president of the Rockland Rowing Association, where he coaches youth rowers and competes as a masters rower.

Dominican College has partnered with Rockland Rowing to develop the Rowing Club.  Rockland Rowing is completing a new rowing center at Rockland Lake this spring that will include the new Crestron Rowing Pavilion, a low-profile eco-dock, and a buoyed 10-lane course.

Those interested in joining the Rowing Club, should click here for more information or contact Coach Rudolph-Shabinsky at i.rudolph-shabinsky@duny.edu.

March 4, 2021

Healthcare Symposium Tackles Obesity

Joan Facelle, MD, moderated the 7th Annual Healthcare Symposium, “Obesityand Weight Gain During the Pandemic,” on February 23, 2021.

During the 7th Annual Healthcare Symposium, “Obesity and Weight Gain During the Pandemic,” a panel of experts discussed the “quarantine 15” and how obese patients fared with COVID-19.

Lisa Hirsch, MD, an Internist with Bon Secours Medical Group, stressed that obesity increases the risk of poor outcomes with COVID-19. “It not only increases the risk of severe illness, but increases the need for critical care services.  It triples the risk of hospitalizations, increases the risk of death, and although it is too early with the vaccine to know, other vaccines have had decreased efficacy with overweight people,”  she said.

Hirsh said that factors leading to pandemic weight gain included stress, boredom, gyms closing down, more accessibility to the kitchen, and an increase in baking. Her advice to lose the weight involved three steps:  motivation, plan, and compliance.

Other panelists included Jill L. Brodsky, MD, Pediatric Endocrinologist, CareMount Medical Urgent Care; Michelle S. Kleinman, Public Health Nutritionist, Rockland County Department of Health; and Robert Ranieri, Senior Vice President, Rose & Kiernan, Inc.

The symposium took place via Zoom on February 23, 2021, and was moderated by Joan Facelle, MD, Former Rockland County Commissioner of Health and Vice Chair of the Dominican College Board of Trustees.

February 24, 2021

Dominican College President Elected to Council of Independent Colleges Board

Photo of Sr. Mary Eileen O'Brien outdoors on the campus of Dominican College

Sr. Mary Eileen O’Brien, O.P., Ph.D.., President of Dominican College, was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Independent Colleges.

Sr. Mary Eileen O’Brien, O.P., Ph.D., President of Dominican College, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), based in Washington, D.C.

The CIC is a national association of independent colleges and universities dedicated to supporting college and university leadership; advancing institutional excellence; and enhancing public understanding of private higher education’s contributions to society.

“The wisdom and dedication of the members of the Board of Directors ensure that CIC continues to address the issues of greatest importance to its member colleges and universities,” said CIC President Richard Ekman. “We are grateful to these busy and distinguished individuals for their generous service to independent higher education through CIC’s Board of Directors.

Sr. Mary Eileen is one of seven presidents of colleges and universities across the country who were newly elected to the CIC Board of Directors.

February 8, 2021