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MORE ABOUT CARLI
Some of Carli Levethan’s most important moments at Hofstra were her first.
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Her first visit to campus, vivid and vibrant with thousands of tulips.
Her first move-in day, when she met an international student from Italy named John, who has been her boyfriend ever since.
Her first class, Entrepreneurship 101, taught by Associate Dean Lutisha Vickerie, a young, dynamic professor who became a mentor.
“From the second I started at Hofstra, I felt I was being prepared for where I am in my life today,” said Levethan, a marketing major who will start a job as an associate broker at a commercial real estate company after graduation.
“Hofstra allowed me to explore different majors, build lifelong relationships, and pursue a variety of opportunities,” she said. “They encourage a school-life balance that makes it easy to try things, which is one of the major reasons I chose Hofstra.”
She joined clubs like the Hofstra American Marketing Association and SHEos, a women’s business leadership group that Levethan helped build from a handful of members to more than 30. She did three internships, including one at the company where she scored a job after graduation.
And she mined the Hofstra alumni and faculty network for advice, connections and mentorship – a lesson she absorbed from her BBA 100 class (Business and Society: Foundations for Professional Development).
“First and foremost, I used Hofstra as a base for all my networking,” she said. “They told us from the very first day ‘you have to make a LinkedIn profile and start connecting with people’ – and I did that, and I kept on doing it. I found Hofstra alumni and I’d reach out and write them, asking for advice about how they got where they are. Some people never answered, but so many were willing to help.”
And always, there was Dr. Lutisha Vickerie, an associate dean in the Frank G. Zarb School of Business and a professor of management and entrepreneurship.
“I had her my very first class freshman year and I will never forget it,” Levethan said. “It was the most incredible, energetic, amazing class I ever had. We got to be entrepreneurs and pitch our ideas.”
After that, she remained close to Vickerie, who was an advisor for SHEos. “Dean V. is so smart and fun and just a huge inspiration,” she said. “She has the most amazing connections and she just cares so much.”
And Vickerie was hardly the only one.
“From events hosted by clubs and by the Zarb School to my own personal alumni outreach efforts, every person was more than eager to help out a current member of the Pride,” Levethan said. “I leave knowing Hofstra will forever be a resource to me.”
» Carli’s story isn’t unique. In fact, among Hofstra University’s 2020-2021 undergraduate recipients, 98% of alumni from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business who responded to our graduation survey or other reliable sources (71% knowledge rate) reported that they were employed or had started or were planning to start graduate school within one year of graduation. Visit our outcomes page at hofstra.edu/outcomes for detailed information.