50TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
INSIDE BERGEN VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2
THE BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE NEWSLETTER
SPRING 2018
Fifty Years of Success Stories Fitting tributes for 50 years of Bergen memories will reach their finale this semester — celebrating the past, present and future of the College. With an eye to the next 50 years, Bergen will host an expansive open house April 12 at the main campus, inviting prospective students, their families and community members to the College for demonstrations, workshops and information on joining our Bergen community. For more information, visit bergen.edu/openhouses. Then, in recognition of the College’s history, an April 19 anniversary gala at the Venetian in Garfield will bring generations of Bergen faculty, staff, alumni and friends together for a night of dinner, dancing and memories. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit bergen.edu/gala. And finally, commencement 2018,
which will take place May 17 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, will provide the College with an opportunity to celebrate the here and now — and more than 2,000 graduates expected to turn their tassels. In the fall, Bergen launched the celebration, which commemorates the 1967 hiring of the institution’s first president, Dr. Sidney Silverman and the approval of the master plan that developed the College’s main campus at 400 Paramus Road. A committee led by honorary cochairs Bergen County Executive James Tedesco III, Bergen County Freeholder Tracy Silna Zur and former Executive Vice
President Virginia Laughlin helped spearhead numerous initiatives, including the $50 for 50 fundraising campaign, which has received more than $100,000 in donations thus far. Later this year, a wall recognizing contributions will rise at the main campus. An anniversary website (50.bergen.edu) with photos, videos and memories shared by community members also debuted last semester, providing the anniversary with a digital home. Among numerous events, including an artifact display at One Bergen County Plaza (left), which has now moved to local libraries, and an art exhibition in Gallery Bergen of faculty and staff work from the last 50 years, the annual alumni dinner served as a signature event for the first half of the year. Honorees Ed Kochakji, Goli Kocharian and Bergen President Dr. Michael D. Redmond (top) helped lead the celebration, which brought more than 120 faculty, staff, alumni and friends to the Terrace at Biagio’s in January. n
Inspired by the College’s former student newspaper, The Monitor, this special edition of the two-time NCMPR Medallion Award-winning Inside Bergen imagines what the publication may have looked like 50 years ago!
Campus Calendar
Ranked Elite, Bergen Competes for $1 Million
“Past, Present, Future: Visual Arts Faculty at Bergen Community College” Art Exhibition Now – March 23 Gallery Bergen
Every two years, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program nominates 150 U.S. community colleges for its $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence based on their work toward enhancing student learning and outcomes.
Super Happy Improv Troupe Alumni Event March 9, 7:30 p.m. Ender Hall Lab Theatre
Bergen made the list. Selected from 1,000 public two-year colleges, Bergen stands as one of only two New Jersey colleges eligible. “The College’s eligibility for the 2019 Aspen Prize places it among the nation’s elite institutions,” Bergen President Dr. Michael D. Redmond said. “Bergen has become eligible due to the work of its faculty and staff who have focused the institution’s efforts on helping students become successful. When our students succeed, it validates our efforts and remains a source of pride for the institution and our community.” Regarded as a signature achievement for community colleges, the Aspen Prize recognizes institutions supporting student success in four areas: learning; certificate and degree completion; employment and earnings; and high levels of access and success for minority and low-income students.
Bergen Five-0 March 9, 7:30 p.m. Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre Tickets.bergen.edu Tony Lo Bianco The Little Flower Saturday, March 10, 7:30 p.m. Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre Tickets.bergen.edu Guys & Dolls April 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14 Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre Tickets.bergen.edu Open House April 12, 3 – 7 p.m. Paramus campus STEM C2 Research Summit April 13, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Moses Family Meeting & Training Center (TEC 128) 50th Anniversary Gala April 19, 6 p.m. The Venetian, Garfield bergen.edu/gala Will & Anthony Nunziata The New Classics Saturday, April 21, 7:30 p.m. Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre Tickets.bergen.edu Commencement 2018 May 17, 10 a.m. MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford
REGISTRATION Spring 3 March 9 – May 8 Summer 1 May 21 – July 2 Summer U May 21 – August 10
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FACULTY FOCUS
Bergen’s candidacy rests on the strength of its initiatives that have enhanced student support services that improved many of the College’s federally collected data points and ultimately assisted a greater number of students achieve their goals at the institution. As part of the selection process, Bergen staff and faculty will prepare reports on the initiatives that have helped fuel its effective student outcomes. The Aspen Institute will name its top 10 finalists in May 2018 and conduct site visits to each of the selected colleges before announcing the top institution in 2019. n
Think big and innovate.
Those ideas serve as the driving forces behind three faculty members recently recognized for their dedication to student success as community college educators. • Biology professor Robert Highley, a 25-year veteran of the College who worked his way up from instructor to chair of the department of biology and horticulture, received the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Award for the collaborative and inclusive environment he has created within his department. • Sociology professor Dr. Camelia-Manuela Lataianu received the John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Award, sponsored by the League for Innovation in Community College. Founder of the College’s Model United Nations club, Lataianu, who also serves as the club’s coadvisor, has dedicated her
career to improving education by providing guidance that nurtures her students’ fullest potential. The Roueche recipient, who will attend the League’s annual conference in Maryland next month, attributes the award to her hardworking students. • Paramedic science program director, professor Jennifer McCarthy, who recognized the community’s need for highly-skilled paramedics, received the League’s Innovation of the Year Award for taking the learning experience beyond textbooks, integrating advanced healthcare simulation into the learning environment. A $750 award will help the professor, who is also a practicing paramedic, continue to push the boundaries for her students. n
THE BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE NEWSLETTER
SPRING 2018
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1. Athletics have always played a role in the Bergen experience. 2. College and Bergen County officials gathered for the College’s Black History Month celebration, where the institution received a county proclamation. 3. For only $8, students had a chance to see Carly Simon (and then-husband and surprise guest James Taylor) in concert in 1978. 4. Paramedic science students worked with dental hygiene students, student actors and professional
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paramedics to collaborate on a simulation exercise in the dental hygiene clinic. 5. Horticulture students sold holiday centerpieces and displays to support scholarships this holiday season. 6. The College’s original location in Hackensack at 295 Main Street. 7. Seven students worked with faculty mentors to provide work for the third volume of the Bergen Scholarly Journal last semester.
8. The Yarn Twirlers Club knitted and crocheted blankets for Amedisys, a home care, hospice and physical therapy agency in Hackensack during the holidays. 9. Bergen stands on nine holes of Orchard Hills Golf Course. 10. Whether calling it “E,” “East” or “Ender,” the building represented the first at the main campus.
THE BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE NEWSLETTER
SPRING 2018
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Honor Students Now Scholars
Bergen Bytes Center for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation Co-Director Nvair Beylerian will serve as the master of ceremonies for the commemoration recognizing the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which will take place in Times Square April 22. … “The Talk,” a documentary film and discussion on race in America sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, helped advance the nationwide conversation in January … Ana Parra Vera (’14) earned the Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship. She currently attends Stevens Institute of Technology and received the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship as a Bergen student. … For the second consecutive year, a team of Bergen students — Gessilda Galang, Richal Patel, Michelle Samuels and Karin Marescot — won the annual “Sputum Bowl” competition for aspiring respiratory therapists at the New Jersey State Society for Respiratory Care Conference. … Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Bill Mullaney earned Phi Theta Kappa’s “Distinguished College Administrator Award” and also recently received an invitation to discuss Bergen’s success with Titles III and V at the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. … Adjunct David Beesley travelled with a group of drafting students to attend the League of Municipalities professional conference in Atlantic City. … Professor Dr. Ilan Ehrlich’s book “Eduardo Chibas: The Incorrigible Man of Cuban Politics” released in paperback. Visit rowman.com to purchase. … The Paramus Regional Chamber of Commerce recognized the College’s 50 years of service to the community at a December event. n
Countdown to Commencement
Three Bergen students, Remila Jasharllari, Doreta Biba and Elda Pere (right), rank among the only 207 U.S. recipients of the 2017 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholars award. Each will receive $1,000 from Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the honor society of two-year colleges, to continue their studies. Meanwhile, alumnus and previous Coca-Cola scholarship recipient Sarah Hwang (left) received a $5,000 award through the 2017 Finch College Alumni and Freya Moskowitz Stern program to continue her path toward a bachelor’s degree. She became the first Bergen student to serve on the PTK international officer team in 2016.
Launched by PTK in 2001, the scholarship program helps new society members defray educational expenses while enrolled in associate degree programs. Nationwide, nearly 1,000 honor students applied. n
Sustaining Success with Scholarships With the Bergen Community College Foundation delivering good cheer in the form of $110,000 in scholarships, the holiday season brought the gift of education to 100 high-achieving students in December. Donors and supporters presented the increasingly critical lifelines — 50 percent of
students report financial issues could cause them to leave their institution, according to the Center for Community College Student Engagement — in the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre. To support future student scholarships as part of the $50 for 50 campaign, visit tinyurl.com/bergen50. n
Thursday, May 17, 10 a.m. MetLife Stadium • East Rutherford, NJ Special surprises await as Bergen celebrates 50 years of success stories at commencement 2018!
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INSIDE BERGEN
THE BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE NEWSLETTER
SPRING 2018