Graduates Urged to Take Advantage of Stockton Community

Possibly more than any other graduating group of Stockton University students, the Class of 2024 knows the importance of building a strong community.

The university held two ceremonies, one at 9:30 a.m. and one at 2:30 p.m. on May 10 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall for 2,000 graduates who received bachelor’s degrees.

Many of the students gathered for the ceremonies didn’t get a high school graduation. The COVID-19 pandemic discouraged gatherings of large groups of people and further isolated students by forcing classes online.

“When we first met, we only knew what each other’s eyes looked like above our masks,” said Maya Vaughn, a Bachelor of Science graduate in Psychology with a minor in Behavioral Neuroscience, who spoke at the morning ceremony. “We’ve accomplished something so large and indescribable, something others can’t say they’ve done. No other generation of college students have experienced what we persevered through.”

President Joe Bertolino detailed a few of the things that have happened in the world over the last four years and suggested that has taught the students how to adapt, find core values and stick to them, and remain motivated.

“You found your voice and used it to speak your mind and stand up for what you believe in,” Bertolino said. “Through all the trials and tribulations, you found and built your community. The people who supported you, laughed with you, and maybe cried with you. … These relationships matter.”

Keynote speaker Dave Sholler and the afternoon student speaker Elizabeth Myers discussed the importance of building a community during their addresses to the Boardwalk Hall audience.

Sholler, a 2006 Stockton graduate, grew up in Egg Harbor Township in what he called “a broken home.”

“Poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism, mental illness, trauma all inflicted damage on our family,” said the chief communications officer for the Philadelphia 76ers and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. “For most of my young life, my three siblings and I battled obstacles that children should never face.”

Sholler talked about how his family dealt with several eviction notices from their trailer park home, a parent who struggled with substance abuse and nearly constant financial despair.

“The odds were stacked against us. Heavily. The stats said we’d repeat the cycle,” Sholler said about himself and his siblings. “But I stand before the Class of 2024 living proof that odds are made to be defied, that generational cycles are meant to be broken, and that while statistics may help predict future outcomes, they don’t predict all of them.”

Sholler said the relationships he made and the education he received at Stockton helped him quickly rise from working in public relations with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to eventually his dream job with the 76ers.

“The power of community got me through tough times and inspired me to be better. My time at Stockton reaffirmed that belief. And it propelled me in my career. I’m willing to bet it will do the same for you,” he said.

Earlier that week, more than 300 graduates received their master’s and doctoral degrees in a ceremony at the Sports Center on Stockton’s Galloway campus.

The importance of community and relationships was thread throughout the speeches delivered that afternoon. President Bertolino urged the graduates to be the leaders who build communities of opportunity wherever they are headed next.

Student speaker Casey Berchtold ’22 emphasized not fearing failure and being kind to those around you.

“Throughout my academic journey, I've been surrounded by the tapestry of kindness that spans every corner of Stockton, a testament to the spirit of our campus community. Acts of kindness, big and small, have a profound impact on our lives and the lives of others,” she said.

Elizabeth Rivera ’22 shared her own story of triumph during the ceremony.

“I am honored to be here because I was not supposed to. After all, I was a 1-pound-preemie who was later diagnosed with autism, predicted to never be able to walk, talk or be able to attend college or hold a job,” she said.

“We chose a university where our professors embraced us, took us under their wing, and fueled our dedication for learning. Our professors took the time to craft fun learning journeys that accommodated our strengths, weaknesses and needs. My professors made me feel like my autism was not a barrier, but a unique asset bolstered by my interest in learning,” Rivera said.

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Stockton Welcomes Dr. Michael Palladino as Next Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Following an extensive national search, Stockton announced Michael A. Palladino as the University’s next provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

His appointment began May 6, following approval at the Feb. 21 meeting of the Board of Trustees.

The provost and vice president for Academic Affairs is the chief academic officer at Stockton, providing leadership to the university’s more than 160 undergraduate and graduate programs and 700 faculty members.

“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Palladino bring three decades of experience in higher education, from roles as a faculty member, dean and vice president, to Stockton,” President Joe Bertolino said. “Dr. Palladino was overwhelmingly the highest ranked candidate among consideration by Stockton’s faculty and campus community.”

"I am honored to join the leadership team, faculty and staff of Stockton University. The collective passion of the campus for its students, for serving and improving local communities, and for a commitment to academic and inclusive excellence are its many attributes,” Palladino said. “I am grateful for this opportunity to lead our community of teacher-scholars and staff dedicated to student success.”

Palladino most recently served as vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at Bloomfield College of Montclair  is the former vice provost for Graduate Studies and professor of Biology at Monmouth University. He joined the biology faculty at Monmouth University in 1999 and served as dean of the School of Science from 2008-15, then vice provost.

He led the School of Science at Monmouth through a period of unprecedented growth including a significant increase in undergraduate student enrollment and student academic quality, new academic programs, fundraising, international partnerships for student recruitment and student and faculty exchange, and he led the concept and planning effort for a $48M science building renovation and expansion project.

Palladino holds a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Cell Biology from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree from Trenton State College, now The College of New Jersey.

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Community Day Volunteers Give Back to Atlantic City

As Ellis Bonds reached down to pick up a discarded glass bottle from the Texas Avenue Playground, he beamed with pride.

Stockton University’s interim director of Residential Education joined a handful of students and staff to pick up trash at his childhood park on April 27 as part of the Third Annual Community Day Clean Up and Party in the Park in Atlantic City.

“I was born and raised here,” Bonds said, adding that he went to the Texas Avenue school just down the street. “This is my hometown, and I think this is a great opportunity for Stockton to advance what we are doing in Atlantic City through efforts like serving the community. We want it to look like we have an actual presence here.”

And that presence was strong as hundreds of volunteers signed up to clean up 10 different locations in all six wards of the city from the beach in front of Resorts Atlantic City to the Chelsea neighborhood surrounding Stockton’s Atlantic City campus.

“It’s really about Stockton partnering with the community to beautify our city,” said Brian K. Jackson, chief operating officer of the Atlantic City campus. “And I say, ‘our’ city because we all have a stake in Atlantic City.”

Sophomore Tony Guardado-Castro joined Bonds in helping clean up the playground. He was one of a few Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) students to volunteer. The EOF was created by the state to ensure meaningful access to higher education for those who come from backgrounds of economic and educational disadvantage.

“At first, it was a lot waking up at 8:30 a.m.,” he said with a laugh. “But now being able to see everyone here and having fun, it’s made it all better.”

Building a relationship with the students and the city is something that Ana Patricia DeNise, the interim director of Stockton’s EOF program, thinks is essential.

“I feel like we all have a strong pride in our community and giving back to our community is something that EOF holds very dear to us,” she said. “Our EOF program has a strong focus on service, going out in the community to serve the youth of Atlantic City and help prepare them for the college experience.”

As a Plainfield native, Guardado-Castro felt a need to give back to another urban environment like Atlantic City.

“Doing something small, like picking up trash, is something that I just want to help a community that needs it,” said the Business Analytics major. “Atlantic City has a lot of potential, so Stockton partnering up and being able to work with the city and build things and have programs here gives a better light to the city.”

Foundation Gala Adds to Scholarship Fund

The Stockton University Foundation held its annual Scholarship Benefit Gala, bringing together more than 500 Stockton alumni, students, faculty and community members to raise funds to support student scholarships.

The April 20 event was held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, the event’s top sponsor for a third year. It raised nearly $400,000 to support the Stockton Foundation’s Scholarship Benefit endowment, which now totals more than $5 million.   

Laura Leonel, a first-year student and scholarship recipient from Long Branch, expressed her gratitude, saying, “This was an amazing opportunity to interact with donors as a scholarship recipient. The gala is something not every student gets to attend, and I felt honored to be there. I am so grateful for the scholarship and all the opportunities it has provided.”

Stockton’s students and faculty showcased their talents at a variety of interactive exhibits. Guests participated in painting a mural of Stockton’s Lake Fred with the Noyes Museum, sampled Stockton maple syrup, played Mario Kart with the esports team, made sherbet with help from Physics students, enjoyed port wine tasting and dessert pairings with Hospitality and Tourism students, and experienced a glimpse into Stockton's farming practices with representatives from the Sustainability Farm.

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Unified Sports Club Celebrates 10th Year with Special Olympics

Stockton University’s Unified Sports Club is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year of being affiliated with the Special Olympics of New Jersey — and the basketball team has a title to defend.

The student-run club is one of 10 at a New Jersey college or university that compete in soccer in the fall and basketball in the winter as part of the Unified Cup, which the Ospreys won in basketball last year for the first time.

“One of the greatest things we do here in athletics is unified sports, and all the credit goes to our Stockton students,” said Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation Jeff Haines, who oversees the club. “The time, the dedication, the passion and the patience they have for our Special Olympics unified athletes is incredible.”

Special Olympics is dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team.

Haines said that while the club has been affiliated with Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ) for 10 years, it was established at the school at least 15 years ago. Currently the program features about 20 athletes for soccer and about 40 for basketball, according to SONJ, while about 10 to 15 Stockton students participate in the program as aides and coaches for the athletes.

Jess Stevenson oversees the college unified sports program for SONJ. She said Stockton is one of the strongest participants in the program, often having one of the largest unified basketball teams in the state. She said the club is a unique opportunity for the athletes to experience a university campus setting.

“They actually get to walk on to a campus, potentially for the first time ever, which is really neat,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to make friends with these college students and make friends with people who they might not have a chance to meet before stepping on Stockton’s campus. They can do more and something they might not had done before.”

Molly Schick, a senior from Marlton, is the club president and has been involved since she walked on campus in 2019 after her brother’s girlfriend urged her to join the team.

“My roommate and I went, tried it out and we loved it from the first practice,” said the Nursing major. “I put myself out there and just ended up loving it. I found the one thing that I loved, and I just stuck with it through four years.”

Ironically, Schick said she’s only “played a little bit of sports” throughout her life, she doesn’t consider herself a very competitive person and before joining the club she had very little experience working with people with intellectual disabilities.

“But I just love being part of the team, supporting other people and lifting other people up,” she said.

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Alum Expands Scholarship for Speech Pathologists

As a young professional, Alex Kaganzev still remembers the awful feeling he would have during work meetings.

“The first thing you do is you go around the room and introduce yourself, and I remember the dread I would feel because I could not say my last name,” said the 1990 Stockton University graduate, who has been a lifelong stutterer. “The closer it got to me, the more nervous I became. It was almost unbearable.”

For years, Kaganzev struggled with his stutter, and as a child he was very shy and quiet.

“For a lot of severe stutterers, it’s easier for us to be mute, or not talk, rather than to stutter. Everything that we do in life is predicated on the ability that we are able to communicate with people,” said the Vineland native, who now lives in Mays Landing.

But a chance encounter with a state speech pathologist named Seeta Voorakkara would change his life.

Kaganzev also worked for the state at several developmental centers when Voorakkara approached him. She wanted to help him with his stutter. Voorakkara worked for New Jersey for over 30 years after emigrating to the United States from India and was known for selflessly helping others.

“I didn’t know who she was. I can’t even remember first meeting her,” he said. “But she welcomed me into her house every Saturday morning and provided me with free speech therapy. We became friends, and I got to know her two kids.”

Kaganzev was so moved that he wanted to do something to remember her, so in 2020 he established the Seeta Voorakkara Communications Disorders Memorial Scholarship with the Stockton University Foundation, which provided a $1,000 scholarship to one Stockton student each year.

“I always wanted to do something special for her,” he said. “I was just amazed how this woman did what she did. I can’t even imagine anyone today doing that.”

On April 10, he expanded the donation to $25,000, providing two $1,000 scholarships to students pursuing a degree in Communication Disorders and a career in speech pathology. Kaganzev also reconnected with Voorakkara’s son, Sid, who also contributed to the scholarship.

“The scholarship is providing his son an opportunity to get to meet his grandmother. How kind she was, how generous she was, how special a person she was,” Kaganzev said.

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Renovation Project to Turn Library into Modern Student Hub

The Bjork Library on the Galloway campus recently closed for a massive, two-year renovation that is badly needed, officials said.

The project, financed by a $19.5 million bond from the state, will transform the three-story, 100,000 square-foot space in the middle of campus into a library learning commons that will be a place for students to gather for meetings, participate in experiential learning opportunities, and work with archival materials and primary sources. Construction is expected to be completed by June 2026 with the renovated library opening in fall 2026.

“The role of the library is to be a community space. A gathering space. A commons where students have access,” said Patricia Thatcher, associate provost, library and learning commons, who has been spearheading the renovation planning for the last two years. “Students will have access to work-ready technology, and learn how to use and find credible information in multiple formats. That’s the library in the 21st century.”

Here are just some of the upgrades as part of the project:

• More study rooms. The number of rooms for students to study and hold meetings will go from 11 to 34.
• More learning commons space. Learning commons are open spaces designed to encourage collaborative learning. The square footage in the new library for those areas will increase fourfold from 6,950 square feet to more than 26,000 square feet in the redesign. And the spaces will be spread on all three floors of the library.
• A new roof and heating and air conditioning system. The library hasn’t had a significant infrastructure update since its opening in 1972, said Don Hudson, senior vice president for facilities and operations. The project will improve air quality and energy efficiency, and address water infiltration.
• More charging stations. Thatcher said one of the biggest complaints from students about the current library is there aren’t enough places to plug in and charge computers and mobile devices.
• Plus some simpler things. There will be more comfy chairs, more water-filling stations and more bathrooms, including a gender-neutral one.