October 2016
It's a Great Time to Be a Panther
I had a wonderful Panther Pride moment last month as I watched the televised Emmy Awards ceremony and saw our alumnus and trustee Peter Principato '87 graciously accept a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series as executive producer of Key & Peele.

Watching Peter reminded me of his incredible story. It's a story that encapsulates who we are as a university and a community.

Peter grew up near our Garden City campus and came to Adelphi with plans to be a doctor but realized that his passion was entertainment. He not only switched majors, but also experienced what it was like to manage talent when he joined the Student Activities Board. After a few years in the workforce, he came back to Adelphi to research jobs in the field he knew he wanted to enter--talent management.

Today, he's the founding partner of Principato Young Entertainment--one of the top talent management agencies. He is also a trusted adviser as a member of our board of trustees.

When I think about what distinguishes Adelphi, I think about Peter and so many other Panther alumni who are living their dreams because of Adelphi. Our environment is designed for self-discovery. We offer students personalized and relevant experiences and, through curricular and cocurricular programming, create a culture of engagement.

Beyond alumni success, we can point to rising rankings to show that our approach works. We continue to make progress on the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges list. In the 2017 rankings, released last month, Adelphi moved up seven places, from 153 to 146. Our progress was powered in part by our strong graduation and retention rates--critical benchmarks for measuring student success. We have some room to improve, but this is a wonderful start.

Increased alumni and donor support is another signal of momentum, and we are making strides here as well. For the 2015-2016 year, we improved our alumni annual giving rate yet again.
 
It is heartening to see that Adelphi is gaining recognition for making a meaningful difference in people's lives. I believe that an Adelphi education is transformational, and it is because of our collective and unyielding commitment to student success.
Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D.
President
 
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Adelphi Takes Action This Election Season
We are in the midst of a historic presidential election, and students, faculty, staff and administrators are not sitting on the sidelines. They've rolled up their sleeves to build awareness, advocate and have some fun this election season. 
 
As of late September, the Adelphi Votes drive had registered 425 new voters and helped 113 voters apply for absentee ballots. In October, Adelphi continues its voter registration drive at the Manhattan Center. On November 7, we welcome New York Times columnist David Brooks to campus for a free lecture, "What to Expect 'Tomorrow'--The Presidential Election," at 7:00 p.m., in the Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom of the Ruth S. Harley University Center. 
 
Even Adelphi's Best of Broadway show, to be held at the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center on October 15 and 16 (at 8:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively), will have a political bent. Students from the Department of Music will present a revue of Broadway songs with political overtones.  
 
 
New Growth Council Helps Adelphi Keep Up the Momentum
At the State of the University address last month, I announced that we would convene new councils to spearhead the implementation of some of the initiatives of Momentum, our strategic plan. As we move ahead, the Growth Operations Council will delve into operations, facilities and resources. By aligning our growth with resources, we will deliver on the promise of a world-class academic experience. The council will be led by Kristen Capezza, M.B.A. '12, associate vice president for enrollment management, and Christopher K. Storm Jr., Ph.D., associate provost for faculty advancement and research.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to carry out this important work. I look forward to continuing to update you on our progress on Momentum.
 
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT  
Latino Student Association Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) is a busy time for Adelphi's Latino Student Association (LSA). The club has been hosting a series of events to educate the Adelphi community about Latino culture and identity. LSA was also one of the student groups to sponsor the Adelphi Votes voter registration drive. Learn more about LSA, its goals and upcoming events.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT 
She Went Pink Long Before It Was in Vogue
It's fitting that this month--Breast Cancer Awareness Month--marks Hillary Rutter's 20th anniversary as director of the Adelphi New York Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program. The hotline is the first program of its kind in New York State and serves more than 10,000 people each year. Rutter spoke about her role and what it means to her and the community.
 
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT 
Putting Gendered Violence Center Stage
Margaret Lally '82, associate professor, directed last month's powerful Now You See Me/Now You Hear Me  performance.
Nearly 100 students, faculty and staff came together to read the Stanford rape survivor's letter and Vice President Joe Biden's response. The performance kicked off End Gendered Violence--a yearlong campaign led by Adelphi's Collaboration Project to raise awareness of and ultimately eradicate gender-based domestic and sexual violence.
 
Lally first blended her passions for social justice and theater when she was an Adelphi undergraduate. Learn more about her drive to change the world through theater. 
SHOUT-OUTS
Congratulations to...
All of the Adelphi Panthers student-athletes who have been racking up Northeast-10 Conference weekly honors. As of late September, they included men's soccer goalkeeper Spenser Powell, women's soccer team member Morgan Santoro and volleyball team members Megan Manierski and Melissa Rigo. Melissa Frein was also tabbed as the NE-10 Field Hockey Rookie of the Week. Go, Panthers!
EVENTS
Adelphi Community Reads Author Ta-Nehisi Coates Addresses Racial Justice
Adelphi has selected Ta-Nehisi Coates' memoir, Between the World and Me--winner of a 2015 National Book Award--as its 2016 Adelphi Community Reads book. Coates will give a free lecture on Wednesday, October 5, at 7:00 p.m., in the Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom of the Ruth S. Harley University Center.  
 
Panthers Kick Off Basketball Season With Midnight Madness 
Adelphi Athletics will kick off the basketball season with its ever-popular Midnight Madness on Friday, October 14. Doors open at 10:15 p.m. and the action starts at 10:45 p.m. in the Center for Recreation and Sports. The celebration will feature performances by different student clubs, followed by the formal introduction of the Panthers men's and women's basketball teams. 

Best-Selling Author Jacqueline Woodson '16 (Hon.) to Talk About Race and Literature
Jacqueline Woodson, the best-selling author of Brown Girl Dreaming and other works of fiction, poetry and nonfiction, won the 2014 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and was named the Young People's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. She also just published Another Brooklyn, a critically acclaimed novel for adults. She will give a free lecture on Wednesday, October 26, at 11:00 a.m., in the Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom of the Ruth S. Harley University Center.

New York Times Columnist David Brooks to Preview the Election
On the eve of the presidential election, David Brooks, who writes a weekly op-ed column for The New York Times, will give a free lecture, "What to Expect 'Tomorrow'--The Presidential Election," on Monday, November 7, at 7:00 p.m., in the Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom of the Ruth S. Harley University Center. 

AUPAC Season
AUPAC's 2016-2017 season is in full swing. Highlights include:

Circle Mirror Transformation, a Black Box Theatre production by our Department of Theatre about four lost New Englanders who enroll in a community center drama class, will be performed on Tuesday, October 4, through Sunday, October 9; times vary

American Brass Quintet, hailed as the "high priests of brass" by Newsweek, performs works from the brass and chamber music repertoire on Saturday, October 8, at 8:00 p.m.

Adelphi's Best of Broadway, a revue of songs from Broadway musicals with a political bent, performed by Adelphi music students, on Saturday, October 15, at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, October 16, at 4:00 p.m.
 
Chiara String Quartet, the critically acclaimed foursome known for bringing excitement to the traditional string quartet repertoire, to be performed on Friday, October 28, at 7:30 p.m.
ADELPHI IN THE NEWS
In September, 504 media stories covering Adelphi appeared in top 100 national media outlets, with 70 stories appearing in total. Some highlights of recent coverage include:

President Obama made news on September 16, 2016, when he announced that he had created the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean to protect fragile deep-sea ecosystems off the coast of New England. James K. Dooley, Ph.D., professor, was one of the scientists who petitioned the White House to take action to preserve the underwater canyons and mountains that make up the new monument.

Creating part-time jobs for students is an effective way for universities to provide them with income and essential job skills. In a recent ranking by Student Loan Report, Adelphi was in the top 25 percent of schools offering part-time employment for students. Adelphi is ranked at 54 out of 250 schools. According to Peterson's Financial Aid Database for 2016, Adelphi offered 1,162 part-time jobs to students.

Elizabeth Palley, Ph.D., J.D., professor, is a passionate advocate for overhauling our nation's early child care policy. In a recent op-ed, published on the Fox News website, she analyzed presidential candidate Donald J. Trump's proposed child care plan. In her estimation, the plan provides moderate benefits to wealthy families and little or no advantages for families who most need help.

MaryAnne Hyland, Ph.D., professor, an expert on human resource management, studies issues related to balancing work and other life demands. Recently, she offered guidance in a Fast Company article on ways that employees can convince their managers to let them work from home on Fridays.