I was pleasantly surprised to find myself quoted by Bert Cunningham (B.F.A. ’69) in the Guest Column of the Winter 2004/2005 issue of NYIT Magazine. He made reference to a remark I made to his class in 1967 about community antenna television influencing the future of communications. Nearly 40 years later, Bert still remembers what I said. When I read his column, it hit me: For the most part, we do not always appreciate the long-term effect that our words, and our actions, might have on someone else. It also made me think about the people and events during my time at NYIT that profoundly and positively affected my own life, both professionally and personally.

I can honestly say the foundation for my entire professional career can be traced directly to the time I spent at NYIT. I entered as a freshman in 1958 and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1962. I worked for NYIT as an undergraduate and was fortunate to join the staff after graduation.

The 1960s were a volatile decade in American history, especially on college campuses, and when I taught in the Department of Communication Arts and served as NYIT’s dean of students, it was not easy to be a college administrator. But I do remember that we made every effort to ensure fairness and respect for our students and their views.

As dean of students, I quickly learned that the reason—the only reason—that colleges and universities exist is students. Ever since, I have continually reminded my faculty and staff members that, without students, all we would have is empty rooms with blackboards. I suppose today it would be empty rooms with computers.
 
During my NYIT career, I was also assigned the task of establishing and developing the Old Westbury campus, now an integral part of our alma mater. My experiences at the New York campuses were, for lack of a better word, unique. Once the Old Westbury property had been purchased, it fell upon me to negotiate land use and planning issues with the local government, coordinate the renovations, and recruit the students.

The enjoyable times I had working in student affairs—coupled with the thrills (and frustrations) of developing an entirely new campus—instilled in me a vision and dream that I have been fortunate to live out over the past 40 years. In fact, I have had the good fortune to help establish or develop three other institutions of higher education: Wilmington College in Delaware, Lynn University in Florida, and American College Dublin in Ireland. In each case, my experiences at NYIT proved to be invaluable.

I was blessed to work under the tutelage of three innovators in higher education: former NYIT President Alex Schure, Ph.D., David Salten, Ph.D., and Dean Sheldon Littwin. They were true visionaries, and I was the fortunate NYIT student.

I’m sure most of you understand what I’m talking about—we’ve all heard words from a professor or another mentor who changed our outlook on the future, changed our perception of the world, or changed the way we look at ourselves. I’m happy to have remained part of the NYIT family. As a fellow graduate, I encourage you to do the same.