The 2000s

Fund-raising events help support NYIT’s scholarships and programs. Pictured at the 2005 Gold Coast Classic are (from left): retired banker Aldo Smith and his wife, NYIT Board of Trustees Chair Linda Davila (B.S. ’78); President Edward Guiliano and his wife, New York Times best-selling author Mireille Guiliano; award-winning chef Lidia Bastianich; Commerce Bank Long Island President Edward Travaglianti; and renowned winemaker Tom Mackey of St. Francis Winery and Vineyards.

Americans had a tough time deciding on their new president in 2000 as George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore finished Election Day neck and neck. But the decision at NYIT was obvious; Edward Guiliano, Ph.D., a 30-year institution veteran, would take the reigns as the college’s third president. “I stand before you at this new beginning exhilarated by the opportunities for growth and excellence that New York Institute of Technology possesses,” the new president said during his inauguration on Sept. 26, 2000. “While energized by this new challenge, I am also gently anchored by the weight of the responsibility being transferred. “This is a time of transition, a time when all of us are eager to propel the institution to a new and higher level of achievement. Some changes will take years, others minutes. I envision NYIT in

the 21st century as a front-of-the-mind, quality regional university with national and global reach, and national and global impact.”

One year later, the world stood still when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, N.Y., the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field near Shanksville, Pa. Several alumni and members of their families died that day.

“I was the editor-in-chief of the Campus Slate, and I felt too inadequate to cover this monumental moment in American history,” says Keema Davis (B.F.A. ’03). “No words were eloquent enough; at least not any I knew. Professor John Hanc and the staff at the Slate were incredible, and we pulled together this amazing issue from our hearts. The words inside the paper were good, but it was the picture on the cover that stays with me. It was taken at the vigil NYIT held soon after the attacks – a photograph of an NYIT student looking down, solemnly, into the flame of a candle. I remember thinking it symbolized what we had lost: our innocence.” Security became a major concern, and NYIT received a $300,000 federal grant to build a new cyber security lab to meet the growing need for students trained to defend organizations against cyber attacks. And in 2002, NYIT expanded its Manhattan campus and

President Guiliano outlined his vision of 21st-century education at NYIT’s 2005 convocation.

installed the fastest broadband network on the East Coast, connecting its three New York campuses.

The call for alternative ways to attend college grew nationwide. NYIT responded in 2003 by launching Ellis College of NYIT, an online school created to serve working adults. Using the latest Web-based technology, this new initiative empowered adults who were unable to attend classes on campus. Now they could earn degrees and improve professional development at their convenience.

Another example of NYIT’s proactive approach to meeting market demands is seen in its 3-D distance learning system, the first of its kind in the New York metropolitan area. With “teleportation” technology, a professor or guest lecturer in one location can “visit” another location, such as a classroom or lecture hall, as a fully interactive 3-D image.

Innovative programs like these helped NYIT impress reviewers from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, who approved the college’s reaccreditation in 2003.
In their summary, the reviewers commended the college for its continued improvements since the commission’s last visit in 1998. Also, the reviewers did not “find it necessary to make any recommendations for improvement in how the college is meeting the commission’s standards in Characteristics of Excellence.”

The demand for an American-style education has led to the expansion of NYIT programs in several areas of the world, including Asia, the Middle East, Canada and, most recently, Brazil.

Guiliano announced the results at the college’s 2003 convocation. “This is an unusually strong endorsement, but nothing less than an institution of our caliber should expect. In other words, for NYIT vintage 2003, no response other than a ‘thank you’ is necessary. Again, we went about our business as usual, and our usual business is knowing what we have to do and doing it.” The new century has proven to be the best decade yet for NYIT sports as the men’s lacrosse team won the NCAA Division II national champion-ship in 2003 and 2005. In both victories, the Bears defeated the Limestone College