Events
Year in Review: 2007
January • February • March • April • May • June • July • August • September • October • November • December
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October
Hofstra celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of events, including an exhibit of Latino/Hispanic artifacts, documents and photographs by the Special Collections Library; a Hispanic Heritage Month reception on October 4; salsa lessons on October 17; a screening of the film Farmingville on October 22; and a reading by renowned poet Martin Espada on October 30.
October 4 IDEAS launched its fall 2007 lecture series with “Shining Light on Extraterrestrial Matter” by Antonio Lanzirotti, Ph.D. Subsequent lectures included “Science and Society: In Search of Communication Strategies” by Connie Bertka of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and “Geological Controls on Mega-Construction Projects in Subsurface New York City,” by Hofstra Professor of Geology Charles Merguerian.
October 4 to 6 The Hofstra Cultural Center and the Department of Religion presented the conference The Politics of Religion-Making, featuring an international gathering of scholars to discuss the historical and contemporary politics of “religion-making,” the process by which religions are imagined, materialized, commodified and reified nationally and internationally. Delivering the opening address was Talal Asad, Ph.D., one of the most influential theoreticians of religion of the last two decades.
October 4 to 6 Homecoming festivities began with the Alumni Awards Dinner, honoring Alumnus of the Year James E. Quinn (Class of 1974); Award for Alumni Achievement recipients James A. D’Addario (Class of 1972), Mitchell M. Gans (Classes of 1971 and 1974), Debra Sandler (Class of 1982) and Thomas J. Sanzone (Class of 1982); Young Alumnus Award recipients Thomas J. Basile and Paul R. Manson (both Class of 1997); and Honorary Alumna Maureen O. Murphy, professor of curriculum and teaching and interim dean of the School of Education and Allied Human Services. The off- Broadway hit Tony n’Tina’s Wedding relocated from New York City to Hofstra for a one-night performance to benefit the Hofstra Scholarship Fund on October 5. The theme of the Homecoming Parade on October 6 was “Passport to the World.” After the parade the crowd moved to James M. Shuart Stadium, where the Pride celebrated a 38-13 win over the University of Maine.
October 5 The Department of Music faculty performed its third annual Benefit Concert with proceeds benefiting the Uniondale School District.
October 5 The Department of Drama and Dance began its fall 2007 season with a production of Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of An Author, directed by Cindy Rosenthal. Subsequent shows included A View From the Bridge, directed by Peter Sander; the Fall Dance Concert, featuring Hofstra faculty choreographers Giada Ferrone, Amy Marshall, Karla Wolfangle and special guest artist Pascal Benichou; and Camille, directed by Jim Kolb.
October 11 and 12 The search for the exotic as a means of finding oneself was a central theme of the second LGBT symposium titled Queer Exoticism, directed by Dr. David A. Powell and cosponsored by the LGBT Studies Program and the Hofstra Cultural Center. LGBT Studies focuses on LGBT history and culture, considering sexualities and genders as identities, social statuses and categories of knowledge.
October 13 and 14 The Remembered, a performance compilation of messages from family and friends of soldiers killed during the Vietnam War, had its world premiere at Hofstra. Written by Elliott Levine ’91, ’03, directed by Bob Spiotto ’84, and featuring visual images from the book Letters on the Wall by Michael Sofarelli ’97, The Remembered was presented by Hofstra Entertainment in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
October 14 to 16 Hofstra Law School presented the 2007 Legal Ethics Conference, Lawyering at the Edge: Unpopular Clients, Difficult Cases, Zealous Advocates at the Sidney R. Siben and Walter Siben Moot Courtroom. The participation of disbarred attorney Lynne Stewart was a source of controversy for the event.
October 16 President Rabinowitz and North Shore-LIJ Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Dowling held a press conference to announce a unique partnership to plan the establishment of a new medical school on Hofstra's campus. The Hofstra University School of Medicine would be the first allopathic (traditional) medical school in Nassau County and the first new allopathic medical school established in New York state since 1963.
October 17 Former United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter lectured at Hofstra’s Monroe Lecture Center Theater. His visit was co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Communication and the Professional Organization in Speech Education (P.O.I.S.E.).
October 17 to 19 Eric Strauss, director of Boston College’s Environmental Studies Program and science director of its Urban Ecology Institute, visited Hofstra as part of the University’s Presidential Scholars Program and delivered the lecture “The Frontier of Urban Ecology and the Challenge of Rejuvenating America.”
October 18 to 19 Approximately 370 seventh graders from Long Island, New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania played alongside 108 members of the Hofstra Symphonic Band at the fifth annual Middle School Honors Band Festival. This annual event, designed to inspire a love of learning and teaching music, is coordinated by Peter Loel Boonshaft, conductor of the Hofstra Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band.
October 23 The Hofstra chapter of the student group ONE took the lead in the nationwide ONE Campus Challenge. The Hofstra student group, in its first few weeks of existence, surpassed 1,200 other colleges in the challenge to gain the top spot. ONE is a national organization that seeks to raise public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger and disease, and efforts to fight such problems in developing countries.
October 24 to November 14 Temporary Places, a collection of paintings and drawings by artist Sharka Brod Hyland, was displayed at the Rosenberg Gallery, Calkins Hall. The Prague-born artist explored the psychology of space, which she says is approached very differently by Europeans and Americans.
October 25 Safer Homes, More Livable Communities: Design Strategies for Aging in Place, a conference for professionals concerned with making homes and communities safer for older people, was presented by the School of Education and Allied Human Services and the Gerontology Center of its Department of Counseling, Research, Special Education and Rehabilitation.
October 25 Phil Rosenthal ’81, creator and executive producer of the long-running sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, returned to Hofstra to share anecdotes about show business with an audience of students, faculty and staff. Accompanying him was Tony-nominated actor Tom McGowan ’81, who had a recurring role on the sitcom.
October 31 The University welcomed Israeli author, theater director and academic Michal Govrin for a book signing and lecture where she described her childhood in Tel Aviv and her later artistic awakening as a student in Paris in the 1970s.
