Although the Class of 1970 and 1971 Reunion Committees opted to postpone their 50th reunions, Marist hosted a successful outdoor and COVID-safe Homecoming and Reunion on Oct. 23.
Although the Class of 1970 and 1971 Reunion Committees opted to postpone their 50th reunions, Marist hosted a successful outdoor and COVID-safe Homecoming and Reunion on Oct. 23. The day included Marist Singers and Band alumni performing with current student Singers and Band members, the Theatre Hall of Fame induction, the Morehead State vs. Marist football game, and four tents celebrating affinity groups on campus: the Student Government Association, the Study Abroad Program, the Marist Music Program, and the Fashion Department. The day ended with a reunion celebration for all classes under a large tent on the Marist Green.Photos by Al Nowak/On Location StudiosAlumni Join Marist Band and Singers at Homecoming 2021 Homecoming and Reunion Picnic 2021 Marist vs. Morehead State Homecoming and Reunion 2021 Theatre Hall of Fame 2021 .carousel {
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Two professors who established pivotal programs at Marist almost 50 years ago now are giving back to Marist in another way.
Two professors who established pivotal programs at Marist almost 50 years ago now are giving back to Marist in another way. Drs. Eugene and Eileen Best laid the foundations for key initiatives that impact Marist students today. A scholarship they recently established at Marist offered the opportunity to reflect on what they accomplished at the College.Eugene Best and Eileen Lambden, both Ohio natives, met in high school and married in 1971. That year brought another milestone. At a conference in Ohio the previous year, Gene had met Sr. Florence Michels, who chaired the Religious Studies Department at Marist. When Sr. Florence learned of Gene’s master’s in anthropology and doctorate in sacred theology, she invited him to join the College’s Religious Studies program, an interdisciplinary program.The couple’s first impression of Marist was not exactly positive. “The day Gene went to interview at Marist was in February,” Eileen remembered, “and it was one of the coldest days on record. The winds came in off that Hudson River and shivers went right through my bones. I said to myself, what are we getting ourselves into? It turned out that New York was warmer than Ohio.”Gene accepted the job offer, and he and Eileen moved to Poughkeepsie in 1971. At Marist, he wore two hats: associate professor and affirmative action officer. In the latter role, one of the things he is most proud of, he said, was adding more women to the faculty. He is also proud of the interdisciplinary courses he introduced. As associate professor and chairman of Religious Studies, Gene taught 30 different courses over his 20 years on the faculty.“The most important course and most frequent I taught was World Views and Values,” he says. “It was for me the most exciting course because it required students to challenge their own perceptions.” The course is still taught at Marist today.Eileen accepted a position at Marist teaching English. She had earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Notre Dame and, following post-graduate work at Case Western Reserve and Stanford, earned a PhD in English at the University of Colorado.In addition to teaching English, she supervised student teachers and established what is today the Office of Accommodations and Accessibility. Looking back, she says she was very impressed with the freedom the Marist administration gave her to make facilities more accessible to students with disabilities. “Adjustments had to be made to the physical plant,” she said. “Bathrooms had to be rearranged. They were not big enough for people to get into with wheelchairs. There was all sorts of restructuring that had to go on.” She added that the College was very happy to do it.After two years of juggling part-time positions, Eileen left Marist to join the administration at Dutchess Community College (DCC). There she established a program to assist students who had disabilities and developed credit-free courses and continuing-education programs.While engaged in their academic endeavors, the couple also served the community beyond Marist. Both Eileen and Gene were active in the Dutchess County Democratic party. Gene also served as board member and president of the Dutchess County Interfaith Council and produced a weekly radio program for the Council for 30 years.Eileen served on the board of directors of both the Dutchess County Mental Health Association and Family Services of Dutchess County.Gene and Eileen were always searching for ways to broaden horizons for their students. When Gene went to Asia on sabbatical for six months in 1988, Eileen accompanied him. They visited the Philippines, Thailand, India, Nepal, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. While abroad, they saw poverty and suffering firsthand, said Gene. “I was able to bring insight from those experiences back into the courses that I taught at Marist.”After 13 years at DCC, Eileen retired from higher education. She went on to become director of the Dutchess County Office of the Aging, where she administered programs and supervised 65 employees. Both Gene and Eileen retired in 1992.They spent the next 25 years seeing the world. “We traveled and we traveled and we traveled,” said Eileen. Destinations included Alaska, Nova Scotia, Italy, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, and the Caribbean.“We had wonderful, wonderful learning experiences,” she recalled. “Our America is only a small part of our interdependent global world.”In 2008, they moved back to Ohio to be near family. Their home in Hudson, OH, is filled with art and artifacts from their travels. But they’re not ones to sit still. They continue to teach and volunteer, and both enjoy gardening.They established the Dr. Eugene C. Best and Dr. Eileen Lambden Best Scholarship to assist full-time, first-year students who have demonstrated financial need. Their scholarship reflects their interests from their Marist days: preference is given to students majoring in a program offered through the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies or another discipline within the liberal arts. Preference may also be given to students participating in programs offered by the Office of Accommodations and Accessibility. Prior to establishing their scholarship, Gene and Eileen joined the Marist Legacy Society as founding members in appreciation for the invaluable role the College played in their professional and personal lives.
Phyllis Bassin established the Zachary Alexander Bassin Memorial Scholarship in honor of her beloved son, a Marist student who loved his family, his friends, and all things sports and who lived life on his terms despite severe medical challenges.
Phyllis Bassin established the Zachary Alexander Bassin Memorial Scholarship in honor of her beloved son, a Marist student who loved his family, his friends, and all things sports and who lived life on his terms despite severe medical challenges. Zachary, who was born with cystic fibrosis, battled medical obstacles his entire life. He passed away in 2017 at age 21. The scholarship continues Zack’s legacy in a meaningful way by helping Marist students achieve their dreams and pursue their interests in the field of sports communication, which was his passion.From an early age Zack loved sports and was a natural athlete. When he grew too short of breath to play his favorite sports, he became an avid fan, memorizing stats for virtually every sport. Eventually he developed a love for golf, a sport he could play regardless of diminished lung function.“The friends he made at Marist freshman year saw him as Zack, not a kid toting an oxygen tank,” wrote Phyllis in her eulogy for her son. “That meant so much to him.”Dan Ketterer met Zack in middle school, and the two attended high school and Marist together. “He was an extremely loyal and caring friend,” said Dan, a 2017 alumnus. “He was always there to talk and listen to people when they had problems, despite how insignificant they were, compared to what he was facing.”Zack had a very forward-looking perspective about his future career and personal goals, Dan said. “He never complained about the cards he was dealt and attacked each challenge with confidence that he would come out on top, and he always did.”“I know I will be battling my health constantly for the rest of my life,” Zack wrote in his blog. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t find joy in the things I do.”Zack was determined to pursue a career in sports communication. At Marist, he fulfilled his dream of an internship in sports communication at Madison Square Garden. There he received accolades from colleagues and MSG management alike.His positive attitude and his courage inspired many who met him. In 2017 Zack was featured in a series called “For the Record” in the Marist Circle, the student news outlet, which highlighted students with compelling stories.Zack received a double-lung transplant in 2015, later developing post-transplant lymphoma. He passed away following chronic rejection of the transplant. More than 100 of his classmates from Marist and North Salem High School attended funeral services for him. In her eulogy, Phyllis asked Zack’s many friends to keep his memory alive by sharing their stories. She cherishes the Facebook posts from his friends and emails from MSG staff that showed her the enormous impact he had on others’ lives. “The last thing I can do for him as his mother is to pay tribute to his courageous fight to live and ask you to be inspired by his ability to battle every adversity that came his way. Despite his short lifetime, Zachary made his mark and touched the life of so many people with his story.”Phyllis Bassin (center) met Connor Kurpat ’22 (left), the inaugural recipient of the Zachary Alexander Bassin Memorial Scholarship, in August 2021 at Marist’s James J. McCann Recreation Center, joined by Director of Athletics Tim Murray. Kurpat, from Lakewood, NJ, is majoring in sports communication. He is involved in Campus Ministry, is on the Dean’s List, and is an intern to Director of Sports Communication Jane McManus, a reporter for student-run sports publication Marist Centerfield, and a producer for Marist College Television. Friends of Zack Bassin Raise Funds and Awareness with Golf Outing“Zack always loved golf, and even when he had to carry supplemental oxygen, he'd still go out and play as much as he could,” said longtime friend and fellow Red Fox Dan Ketterer ’17. “He was great at it too — better than me and most of our friends — and we didn't have to swing with a big oxygen tank on our backs!” “Emily's Entourage was the perfect organization to work with because their research is entirely focused on Zack's mutation of cystic fibrosis, which is often overlooked by many of the broader CF organizations,” Dan added. “I know Zack would be proud to see so many friends coming together in his memory, and to know that he's directly making an impact on people who are in his shoes.”A group of Zack’s friends has donated almost $30,000 to Emily's Entourage thus far. The tournament raised $9,300 this year and $10,000 each of the prior two years.Shown left to right, kneeling, are Stephen Blyth ’17, Marc Howes ’17, Omar Mendez ’20, Torin Reilly ’17, and Devin Buonano ’18; Back, left to right are Drew DeCarolis ’19, Michael Traina ’19, Jack Ryan ’19, and Class of ’17’s Nick Veglia, Dan Ketterer, Adam Guest, Tana Roslan, Matt Edwards, Nicole Bateman, and Ryan Smith.Zachary Bassin’s music can be found by searching on SoundCloud for artist Zack Bassin.
Red Foxes Have Had 20 MLB Draftees in Program History
Right-handed pitcher Ryan Cardona, who completed his junior year at Marist in 2021, was selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on July 13. Cardona was chosen by the Cincinnati Reds in the 19th round with the 570th overall selection. "We are really happy for and proud of Ryan," Marist Head Coach Chris Tracz said. "He's dedicated himself to developing with hard work and perseverance. Going back to the recruiting process, this was a goal of his. To see him achieve it is personally gratifying, knowing how much it means to him." In his three seasons with the Red Foxes, Cardona struck out 105 in 91.2 innings. In his freshman year in 2019, Cardona led Marist in saves (five) and appearances (21) as he was named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team. Over the last two seasons, he transitioned to the starting rotations and posted a cumulative earned run average of 3.20. In this span, he struck out 54 in 50.2 innings. Cardona is the 20th Red Fox to be selected in the draft, and ninth in Tracz's tenure as head coach. Here is the full list Marist baseball's draftees: Marist Baseball MLB Draftees1997 Jorge Santiago - New York Mets (32nd round, 960th selection)Mike Speckhardt - St. Louis Cardinals (34th round, 1,034th selection)1999 Kevin Olore - Seattle Mariners (20th round, 605th selection)2001 Tim Bittner - Chicago White Sox (10th round, 313th selection)2002 Anthony Bocchino - Pittsburgh Pirates (11th round, 313th selection) Steve O'Sullivan - Chicago Cubs (23rd round, 693rd selection)2003 Chuck Bechtel* - San Diego Padres (15th round, 431st selection) Kevin Ool - Boston Red Sox (16th round, 474th selection)Chris Homer - Detroit Tigers (24th round, 700th selection)John McGorty - Detroit Tigers (36th round, 1,060th selection)2009 Jacob Wiley - Cincinnati Reds (41st round, 1,229th selection)2011 Michael Gallic - San Diego Padres (18th round, 563rd selection) Jon Schwind - Pittsburgh Pirates (41st round, 1,232th selection)Ricky Pacione - Los Angeles Angels (48th round, 1,455th selection)Eric Alessio - Cincinnati Reds (49th round, 1,495th selection)2013Kevin McCarthy - Kansas City Royals** (16th round, 474th selection)Zach Shank - Seattle Mariners (28th round, 837th selection)2015Steve Laurino - Baltimore Orioles (25th round, 763rd selection)2017Scott Boches - Seattle Mariners (30th round, 903rd selection)2021Ryan Cardona – Cincinnati Reds (19th round, 570th selection)* - Bechtel was also chosen by the Padres in the 2002 Draft (25th round, 745th selection)** - Has reached the major leagues
Julie Cullinane Kinney ’90 and author Jeff Kinney take Marist alumni inside his best-selling series Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
More than 250 alumni and friends along with their families got an exclusive look inside the evolution of the best-selling book series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” thanks to the generosity of Marist alumna Julie Cullinane Kinney ’90 and her husband, Jeff, the creator of the series. In a virtual presentation Oct. 15, Julie and Jeff shared the origins of the 16-book cartoon series featuring hapless middle-schooler Greg Heffley that has become an international sensation. The ticket price to the Marist-only event included a signed copy of Jeff’s newest book, Big Shot, published in October. All proceeds from the event, organized by the Marist Alumni Relations Office, benefited the Marist Alumni Legacy Scholarship Fund, raising more than $10,000. Special thanks go to Julie and Jeff for making the event possible. Julie interviewed Jeff about the evolution of the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid in a virtual program from their bookstore, An Unlikely Story, in Plainville, MA.Since the first Wimpy Kid book made its debut in 2007, more than 250 million copies have been published in 79 editions in 65 languages. The Wimpy Kid series has been a constant on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly best-seller lists and has remained on the New York Times children’s series best-seller list for more than 657 weeks. The series has won a number of regional and national awards including two Children’s Choice Book Awards and six Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Book. Jeff Kinney was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people and is also the creator of Poptropica, named one of Time’s 50 Best Websites. The Disney+ movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid premiered in early December.Jeff and Julie took part in the Zoom program from their bookstore, An Unlikely Story, in Plainville, MA. Julie, a communications major in college and a former reporter and editor for a Massachusetts newspaper, interviewed Jeff for the Marist audience. She noted it was the first time she had interviewed him live for a virtual event. Then Jeff took live questions and gave a tour of his studio on the top floor of the bookstore, where his awards are on view.Jeff, a graduate of the University of Maryland, had been developing the book for a year when he and Julie began dating in 1999. He kept a journal jammed with notes and sketches that captured not only memories from his youth but also some of the couple’s early dating experiences. He continued writing and drawing for the next seven years as they dated, married, and had two sons, and as he worked full time as a software programmer. “It proves that you can do two things at once,” he noted, “that you can have your day job and pay your rent and you can also chase a rock-star dream in your spare time.” His dream was to be a newspaper cartoonist like Charles Schulz, the creator of Charlie Brown and "Peanuts.” For three years Jeff tried to make it happen. But “nobody liked my stuff,” he said. Then he decided to try something different. He bought a ticket to Comic Con, a comic convention in New York City, planning to show his sample packet around to editors there. But the convention had oversold its tickets and sent everyone away. While on a bus tour of New York City just for kicks, Jeff noticed that Billy Joel was playing a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden. He called Julie saying he wanted to stay overnight to go to the concert. A huge Billy Joel fan herself, she encouraged him to go for it. “Billy Joel was our thing at Marist in the ’80s,” she said.He managed to get a ticket and went to the show. The next day, he was able to get into the Comic Con. An editor who saw his work said it was exactly what he was looking for. “So it was thanks to Billy Joel that I got to be a published author,” Jeff said.Throughout the presentation the Zoom chat room bubbled over with questions for Jeff. What inspired him to write the Wimpy Kid series?“My own childhood,” he said. “I was reading Harry Potter at the time. I was like, “Man, this is really good writing, it’s a good story.” But I did think Harry was very, very different than I was as a kid. I did think there might be an appetite for a character who was not so perfect and not so heroic as Harry.”He said his newest Wimpy Kid book, Big Shot, shows what it’s like to be in athletics but not be a star athlete. “I think it’s important that a kid can see himself.”Earlier, he had elaborated on the appeal of his wimpy protagonist.“Greg is a messy character. When kids read kids’ books, the character is usually aspirational. They’re heroic. Like think of Harry Potter, characters like that. They’re the hero that we want to be. And Greg isn’t, really. You know, books can be mirrors and windows, right? Windows, you see into another world. That’s Harry Potter. Mirrors are books where you see yourself. That’s Wimpy Kid. And I think a lot of kids are messy.”Another young fan asked where Greg’s memorable nickname “Ploopy” came from.“Ploopy was a nickname that my older sister came up with for me,” Jeff explained. “And for some reason, it just got me. It made me so mad, like it would make my ears turn red.”He got over it, though. “We’ve made our peace. And I’m making money off of her calling me ‘Ploopy.’ So I think I won that situation.”
Healthcare executive Dirk McMahon ’82, entrepreneur and author Kristin Noto ’91, and technology executive Donna Dillenberger have joined the Marist College Board of Trustees.
In 2021 the Marist College Board of Trustees welcomed three new members. Dirk McMahon ’82, president and chief operating officer of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) and Donna Dillenberger, IBM Fellow at the company’s Research Center in Yorktown Heights and CTO of systems research for Hybrid Cloud, were elected to the board at its February meeting, while Kristin Noto ’91, an entrepreneur and author with extensive experience serving not-for-profit organizations, was elected at the November annual meeting. McMahon, who graduated from Marist with a BS in finance, has held senior leadership positions across both UnitedHealth Group business platforms — UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Most recently, he served as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of Optum, a global health services company, and head of airport operations worldwide for Northwest Airlines. In addition to earning his undergraduate degree from Marist, McMahon received an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. He and his family reside in Minnesota.Kristin Noto '91Noto received a BA in psychology from Marist, and her father is also an alumnus of the College. She is the author of Live E.P.I.C.: Invest in Yourself. Cultivate Character, and Embrace the 7 Moral Virtues that Lead to a Happier Life, as well as an inventor with several registered patents on houseware products. Noto also serves on the West Coast Advisory Board for the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of children, families, and communities affected by mental illness and learning disabilities. She is a former executive board member of the USA Lacrosse Foundation. Noto and her family live in Northern California. Donna DillenbergerDillenberger has had a distinguished career at IBM and currently serves as IBM Fellow at the company’s Research Center in Yorktown Heights and CTO of systems research for Hybrid Cloud. Her focus is on machine learning, counterfeit detection, cloud security and availability, and enterprise systems. In the past, Dillenberger has worked on machine learning models for the financial, insurance, retail, and healthcare industries and has designed new features for systems scalability and availability. She is the author of numerous research publications and holds multiple patents, becoming a Master Inventor at IBM. In recognition of her work, IBM’s CEO appointed her an IBM Fellow, the highest technical honor at the company. IBM Fellows are given broad latitude to identify and pursue projects. In the history of IBM, only 317 people have received such a distinction.Dillenberger received her BS in mathematics from New York University and an MS in computer science from Columbia University. She was an adjunct professor at Columbia’s Graduate School of Engineering and was a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Stanford University.
Red Foxes Win Fourth MAAC Championship in Program History
The #1 seed Marist Red Foxes won the MAAC championship on Nov. 14. After a 2-2 tie with Rider through two overtimes totaling 110 minutes, the Red Foxes defeated fifth-seeded Rider by a 5-3 margin on penalty kicks.Grad student Kyle Galloway was named MAAC Tournament MVP. Juniors Henrique Cruz, Demarre Mountoute, and Bernardo Gracindo were named to the All-Championship Team.The team’s season ended with a 2-0 loss at Providence in an NCAA first-round match on Nov. 18.Marist's season came to an end at 12-7-3. The 12 wins are tied for the most in the program's Division I history, a record previously set three times, the most recent coming in 1999. The Red Foxes had entered the contest with a nine-match unbeaten streak (7-0-2). In their history, the Red Foxes have won four MAAC championships (2000, 2004, 2005, 2021). This was their third NCAA appearance (2004, 2005, 2021).Marist had three major award winners this year: Head Coach Matt Viggiano was named MAAC Coach of the Year for the first time as the Red Foxes won their first regular-season MAAC championship in school history; graduate student Huib Achterkamp was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year; and senior Samuel Ilin was named MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year.
Anthony Randall Becomes Head Coach of Swimming & Diving following Retirement of Larry VanWagner after 45 Years
The 2021–22 season marks a new era for the Marist swimming and diving program. After 45 years of distinguished service, Director of Swimming Larry VanWagner retired on June 1, 2021. Anthony Randall took over as head coach of the women's and men's programs 24 days later. Randall brings over a decade of Division I experience to the program. He came to Marist from Fresno State, where he served as assistant and associate head coach for five years. The Marist swimming and diving teams opened their 2021–22 seasons Oct. 15. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Red Foxes did not compete during the 2020–21 season. In the 2019–20 season, the men's program went 11–2 overall, 5–1 against MAAC opponents, and placed second at the MAAC Championships. The women's team was 8–5 on the season, 4–1 in MAAC competition, and took third place at the conference championships. Both the women's and men's teams were picked to finish third in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
