The Montclair programs that participate in the annual survey include Education, Public Health and the University’s Part-Time MBA program.

Highlights from the 2024 Best Graduate Programs Rankings:

• Two of �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s graduate education specializations – Elementary Teacher Education and Curriculum and Instruction – ranked tied for No. 22 and tied for No. 24 in the nation, respectively
• The University’s Master of Public Health climbed 10 spots to No. 140 overall and second in New Jersey in only its second year in the rankings
• The institution’s overall ranked No. 107 (tied for second in N.J.)
• �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s Part-Time MBA program ranked No. 207, up one position from last year’s rankings

�ѴDzԳٳ���������’s Graduate Offerings

Montclair offers 115 master’s and eight doctoral programs across a range of disciplines in its 13 colleges and schools.

“Our graduate programs are designed to prepare professionals to advance in their chosen careers by equipping them with the skills needed both now and in the future,” says Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Junius Gonzales. “These rankings are the latest indication that �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s stature as a comprehensive research university continues to ascend.”

For more information about graduate programs at ����vlog, visit montclair.edu/graduate/.

Family Science and Human Development Professor Jon Caspi, Anthropology Professor Chris Matthews, who is also department chair, Associate Anthropology Professor Julian Brash and Montclair adjunct professors Chris Freid, Social Work and Child Advocacy, and Glen Fittin, Theatre and Dance, have all found both musical and academic success.

An expert and author of books on sibling relationships, Caspi has been teaching for almost 23 years. He’s been in the indie, alternative and punk scene even longer. While in college in the 1980s, he fronted Bouncing Off Bob, which as Caspi puts it “toured and received enough radio play to appear on the Top 100 college radio charts, one spot below Tracy Chapman and a few spots higher than Bon Jovi.” For the last 12 years, he’s been the leader and guitarist for Jon Caspi & The First Gun, a band labeled with its own genre of “Heartland Punk” by the Asbury Park Vibes website and “New Jersey Americana fueled punk” by ThePunkSite.com.

“A lot of people think of professors as sort of stodgy and that they don’t have a life,” says Caspi, whose band is releasing new music this month. “All of us have these completely different, separate lives that people don’t know about.”

He and fellow professors-by-day-musicians-by-night will prove their “metal” at Tierney’s Tavern, a Montclair institution, on Saturday, September 23. They will be opening for the British punk rock band Vibrators V2. Tickets for the show may be purchased on .

Caspi and Matthews both fell into academia as a Plan B. Caspi’s band at the time, Bouncing Off Bob, was touring, signed to a label and receiving radio airplay. “Then the band broke up, and I didn’t really know what to do with my life,” he says. “I met a guy who had a master’s degree, and I said, ‘How long does it take to get a master’s degree?’ And he said two years and I said, ‘I could do that as a backup’ – and here I am.”

Caspi’s master’s led to a PhD in 1997, which launched his teaching career and in 2002, he joined the Montclair faculty.

Long before Matthews arrived at Montclair in 2012, he was a founding member of the Washington, D.C.-based punk band Shudder to Think and penned much of the band’s music. Formed in 1986, the group recorded four albums for the indie Dischord record label. “Being in a band when you’re in your late teens or early 20s is a lot of fun,” he says. “But when I was 23 or 24, I started thinking, I don’t think I can do this forever. I’d majored in anthropology, and I was looking around at my options and applied to [Columbia University] graduate school and got in, and I was like, ‘Okay, I guess I’m changing the focus of my life from music to whatever anthropology is going to be.’”

What anthropology turned out to be was the path to a successful career as a professor, as well as the department chair and now also the co-director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies program. Musically, today Matthews writes songs for and leads a new band, Quiz Show, formed in 2016. The trio is on the Magic Door Records label and has released two singles, two EPs and are working on a new EP to be released next year. Matthews’ band includes two professional musicians – Jesse Krakow on bass and Joe Billy on drums – who “indulge me by playing in my band,” he jokes, “but they play in other bands and have their own things going on.”

Some of the rockin’ professors met one another through musicians’ circles and discovered they worked at Montclair, while some met at the time of the photo for this story. Associate Anthropology Professor Julian Brash, who works in the same department as Matthews, knew that Matthews was from the Washington, D.C., area and was familiar with the D.C.-based punk band Shudder to Think when he lived in the area. “So, he just sort of asked at one point, ‘Are you that guy?’” recalls Matthews, who responded with, “Wow, yeah.”

Matthews learned that Caspi works at Montclair from some professional musicians. “I know Jon’s band,” he says. “They’re a big deal.”

Jon Caspi & The First Gun has made a resurgence thanks to national airplay and some press about a rereleased fan favorite and New Jersey cult hit from the band’s sixth album, “Raise ’Em High!” During the pandemic lockdown of 2020, the WFMU-FM disc jockey Glen Jones played the song and kept playing it every Sunday as “The 2 pm Toast.” This weekly tradition spawned a life of its own, with a Facebook group where people post their toasting photos. Additionally, a “Raise ’Em High” beer is being rereleased by Alternate Ending Beer Co. in Aberdeen, New Jersey, on the same day as the Tierney’s Tavern show. Caspi will perform at the brewery that afternoon before heading to what he calls the “Professors That Rock” show at Tierney’s. In addition, the song’s momentum led to local label Fake Chapter signing Caspi’s band, which has new music releasing this month, including a new live version of “Raise ’Em High” to be released September 22.

While their academic and music worlds are generally compartmentalized, there is some spillover. “The material I teach on relationships has informed my writing. I think it would be impossible for it not to,” says Caspi. “I have deliberately included siblings in a couple of songs because of my work. My band does have a song called ‘Ghosted’ out which was inspired from in-class discussions with students about the relational behavior of ghosting.”

Matthews also says there’s some overlap between his music and his anthropological work. “I work a lot on social inequality and racism,” he says. “Sometimes this is fairly clear in the lyrics, and sometimes it’s metaphorical. For example, there are [song] lines about W.E.B. DuBois and David Harvey, who have been intellectual guides in my career.”

Chris Freid has been an adjunct professor of Social Work and Child Advocacy since 2005. Freid – or Chris Skel as he is better known in music circles – will open the Tierney’s show with a solo acoustic performance. When he’s not performing solo, he sings and plays guitar with The Skels, a New Jersey-based Celtic rock band known for its drinking songs, that has played throughout the northeast as a supporting act to the likes of the Dropkick Murphys and Shane MacGowan. A member of the Skels since 1995, Freid rocks on in two other bands, the rock trio Graveyard Ghost Story and the Celtic/Americana trio The Coffin Ships.

Glen Fittin, an adjunct professor in Theatre and Dance, was the drummer for Caspi’s former band, Bouncing Off Bob. Today, he plays with two bands, and One More Once.

The remnants have been rocking for decades and were described this way by The Two River Times of Monmouth County: “If The Beatles met the B-52s, The Clash and the Smithereens and jammed one night, they would make a wonderful noise a la the remnants.”

Brash, an associate professor in Anthropology, is the vocalist and guitarist for , a “four-piece jangle pop and indie rock band from Maplewood, New Jersey, that formed in 2010,” according to Wikipedia. Their discography includes an LP (Hey Pal in 2019) and three EPs, including 2021’s Doom Loop. The group has performed at the North Jersey Indie Rock Festival.

Story by Staff Writer Sylvia A. Martinez. Featured photo by University Photographer Mike Peters.

You may also like:

Curtain Rises on Royal Shakespeare Company Residency at ����vlog

The training was grant-funded through the work of �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s partnership with the Communities Organizing for Prevention and Empowerment or C.O.P.E. Initiative. The highly successful program uses multi-tiered prevention strategies, including culturally tailored curricula about substance misuse , HIV/AIDS, and viral hepatitis.

The ����vlog/Paterson Prevention Navigator Initiative – led by professors Robert Reid and Pauline Garcia-Reid – received a $1 million grant from the Minority AIDS Initiative, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, under the Department of Health and Human Services. A portion of the grant funded the three-day training to teach community agencies how to implement the Mpowerment Project at the local level.

The co-sponsoring organization, the South Jersey AIDS Education and Training Center – NJ HIV Training and Capacity Development Program, made it possible for trainers from the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) at the University of California, San Francisco, to bring their project to New Jersey. Mpowerment is a targeted HIV prevention program aimed at meeting the needs of young gay and bisexual men.

“We were incredibly fortunate to secure the services of CAPS to provide our prevention team and other community-based agencies around the country with the tools to engage our target population more effectively,” says Robert Reid, professor in the Department of Family Science and Human Development.

Photos by John J. LaRosa.

You May Also Like:

• LBGTQ Center
• Project COPE
• Changing Lives in Paterson

Luna-Martinez, now a junior Biology major at Montclair and a Bonner Leader, learned from her parents the importance of community service from a young age, so not surprisingly, this was her third year to volunteer for the University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. “We always made sure we helped other people,” she says. “Those lessons and being brought up like that – that you volunteer not just specific days but every day…. It’s just those things that make me realize that MLK’s message is more than just going to help out for two to three hours.”

She and more than 230 Montclair students and alumni answered the call to give back, participating in �ѴDzԳٳ���������’s MLK Day of Service on January 16 in a big way. Students gathered at University Hall for breakfast and to reflect on the words and messages of the slain civil rights leader before being deployed to various locations both on and off campus – in Montclair and the surrounding area – for their volunteer assignments, which included everything from making blankets and sandwiches for shelters to distributing fire safety information with the Montclair Fire Department.

Those gathered also viewed a recorded message from President Jonathan Koppell and Union Baptist Church Pastor William Freeman. The church in Orange is the site of one of Dr. King’s last speeches in 1968 just days before his assassination. Freeman recalled how the church was filled for Dr. King’s talk, where he conveyed a message about “a beloved community.” He urged people to “see ourselves as one big world,” Freeman said, adding that being real “humanitarians is what it’s all about.”

Koppell urged students to think about their call to service not just on MLK Day but throughout their lives. “I can’t wait to see the good things that you do, not just today, but in the years ahead,” he said in the video.

That message resonated with Keiva Edghill, a junior Biology major and Bonner Leader. She was delighted to see “people from my community being highlighted in a big way.”

When growing up, “I visited that church,” Edghill says. “Just seeing the pastor, it was easier for me to go into the day already knowing the mindset that I needed to be in to serve.”

It was her second time to volunteer for the MLK Day of Service. “For me this is a special day because my family and I always celebrate his birthday,” says Edghill who went with fellow volunteers to Camp YDP, which provides after-school and summer camp programs in Paterson. While there, they set up for a planned community luncheon and played with young children.

“It was really fun,” she says, recalling her days as a day-care volunteer at her church in Newark. “Seeing or visiting children just puts me in a great mood. We’re still the same; I remember doing the same things when I was younger.” Edghill says she played school, with a young girl playing the teacher role. “She was teaching me things. I told her, ‘You’re really smart.’ I don’t remember doing these things when I was her age.”

But Edghill says it was more than about fun and service, “It was also an opportunity to meet new people and to network; I got to network with the director of Camp YDP, and I’m thinking about going back to volunteer again.”

Ryan Breyta, a senior Journalism and Digital Media major and president of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, volunteered at the Montclair Fire Department handing out fire safety information to local residents. It was his first time to participate in the MLK Day of Service.

“I definitely saw that Dr. King’s message about service was right, ‘You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.’ That’s what makes serving others special,” he says.

“Dr. King will forever be a man who fought for change and impacted the world around us. Although we are not quite where we want to be in regard to Dr. King’s vision for the world, we must continue the fight and legacy that he started day in and day out – not just on his day of remembrance.”

Volunteer Center Volunteer Coordinator Katharine Culp says Dr. King said it best when he said: “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

“The service completed [on MLK Day] no matter how small it might seem, makes a big difference for our community partners and those they serve,” she says.

Student Luna-Martinez, who volunteered at the YWCA in Montclair where they assembled hygiene kits for clients of Family Promise of Essex County, a shelter for people experiencing homelessness, agrees. “I personally love community service,” she says, adding that people can be of service every day by doing simple things, such as “making food for a friend, giving them advice, checking up on them. Those things make a difference.”

Photo Gallery

Story by Staff Writer Sylvia A. Martinez. Photos by .

Ignore them – regular overindulgence over a period of weeks or months can indeed affect weight and body fat, but Evan Matthews, associate professor of Exercise Science and Physical Education, says overeating during a single meal won’t impact your body in a significant way.

Instead, make a plan to stay active throughout the winter – not just when you feel “guilty” for having a few too many glasses of eggnog. Here, Matthews shares tips on maintaining consistent physical activity during the colder months to balance out the big dinners, toasts and holiday treats.

How to exercise safely during winter

• Dress in layers when exercising outside. Remove one layer at a time as you feel hot – the goal is to be warm, but to avoid excessive sweating, which can increase the likelihood of hypothermia.
• Avoid early morning or late evening workouts on cold days, and avoid inclement weather like rain, snow and strong wind. Middle of the day workouts are best, due to higher temperatures and better visibility, but if your schedule doesn’t allow it and you must exercise in the morning or evening, wear reflective clothing and lights.

Simple ways to stay active when it’s cold out

• Work out at home. Investing in at-home exercise equipment will reduce the barriers to exercise associated with the “need to go to the gym” mentality.
• No equipment? No problem. Cardiorespiratory and resistance exercise can include walking, running and bodyweight calisthenics.

Stay motivated to exercise even during cold, dark weather

• Schedule it into your existing routine instead of rearranging your entire life around exercise. Adults should accumulate 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity cardiorespiratory exercise per week. “Cardiorespiratory exercise can be broken up throughout the day into 10-minute chunks rather than all at once,” says Matthews. “This makes it easier to get your walking and other forms of exercise in during short breaks throughout the day.”
• Stay indoors. Joining a fitness facility in the winter avoids the cold and darkness of winter, says Matthews, and has the added benefit of improving feelings of social connectedness if you acquire friends and acquaintances at the gym. This greatly increases your likelihood of maintaining your exercise routine. And on that note…
• Find an exercise buddy. Developing in-person or virtual social relationships around your exercise habits promotes exercise adherence.

Physical activity is different in cold temperatures

• Wear warmer clothing and extend the length of your warmups before a workout. “Increasing muscle and body temperatures decreases muscle and joint stiffness, increases enzyme activity related to metabolism, and improves oxygen delivery to your muscles,” says Matthews. Cold exposure can directly affect superficial muscles’ ability to contract by essentially numbing the muscle.
• Those with asthma should have rescue medication with them when exercising in the cold, and use preventative treatments. The respiratory tract warms and humidifies the cold dry air we breathe in the winter so for most people, breathing the cold air should not be a major concern. However, for people who participate in cold weather sports where they exercise intensely in the cold several months a year, exercise-induced asthma rates are as high as one in two athletes. Matthews says the constant dry air exposure combined with high respiratory rates is thought to be the culprit.

Focus on the health benefits of exercise

• Good for the body… “Exercise is well known to improve physical health outcomes, including reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, body fat and insulin resistance. These all decrease the likelihood or severity of many cardiometabolic diseases,” says Matthews. Adopting an exercise plan incorporating moderate intensity and duration will also improve the function of your body and help ward off sickness during winter.
• …and the mind. Studies strongly suggest that exercise can “reduce anxiety and depression in everyone regardless of the severity of your symptoms,” he says. “In fact, cardiorespiratory exercise has proven to be as effective as psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy in treating depression. Exercise can also be used in conjunction with other mental health treatments to improve anxiety and depression, including conditions like seasonal affective disorder.”
• Don’t overdo it. “Highly intense or very long exercise sessions increase the risk of becoming sick because they can suppress your immune function for a short period of time,” says Matthews, noting that it’s not uncommon for people to develop a cold in the days immediately after completing a marathon. If you do get sick, avoid exercise when your symptoms are below the neck (chest congestion, fever, and body aches). For symptoms in the head and neck, a conservative approach would call for lowering exercise intensity or duration to prevent excessive fatigue, soreness, or worsening illness. “However, this is a personal judgement call based on the severity of your symptoms, and your planned training intensity and duration.”
• Don’t dwell on missed workouts. Guilt and an all-or-nothing mindset can hurt your progress. Be kind to yourself if you miss a session.

Specific Exercise Recommendations for Mental Health

• For Anxiety: Aim for 3-5 days of cardio exercise per week at higher intensities (60-90% of your maximum heart rate). Even a 1-minute session can help reduce anxiety, though 30 minutes or more is ideal. If certain daily activities cause anxiety, try exercising before or after to see which timing helps most. Some people find relief by exercising beforehand, while others benefit from a post-activity workout. Break up exercise into multiple sessions per day if that works best for you.
• For Depression: Cardio exercise may yield noticeable benefits after about two weeks of regular activity, with temporary symptom relief after each session.
  For mild symptoms, aim for 20 minutes per session. For more severe symptoms, try to reach 45 minutes per session.
• For Depression and Anxiety Relief through Resistance Training: Include resistance exercises for all major muscle groups at least twice a week. Combining cardio and resistance exercises can be especially effective for managing depression.

Make exercise a year-round activity

Matthews’ tips for creating an active routine of cardiorespiratory and resistance exercise can be maintained all year long. “The positive impacts on physical and mental health are greatest with long term exercise adoption,” he says. “And some of the most basic forms of exercise can not only help you during the holidays, but help you throughout the year.”

To interview Evan Matthews, please contact the Media Relations team.

As her team of volunteers picked up shovels and spades and began to dig up the grass behind a church in Hazlet, New Jersey, Luna-Martinez tried to figure out a plan for creating what she learned was a meditative maze. “It was very hot that first day and it was trial and error. It looked like we got nothing done.” But day two went smoother and by the end of the week, Luna-Martinez and her team of Bonner Leaders had created a prayer labyrinth with seven rings.

“The progress was amazing,” she said. “We sat down, we analyzed what we did wrong and what we did right and applied that knowledge to calculate the circles, to place bricks and pebbles. It was a beautiful moment for me because literally the first day we were asking, ‘How are we going to do this?’ We came together, thought outside the box and then did math and applied everything we knew.”

The work was part of the Bonner Leader Program’s summer orientation for both incoming and continuing students at ����vlog. Chosen through a competitive application process emphasizing service and leadership, the Bonners are part of a nationwide network of more than 80 colleges and universities that provide service-based scholarships and work-study funds to support intensive undergraduate community service and social justice activities throughout their college careers.

“The Bonner Leader program is one of the growing number of public service programs at Montclair where students truly embody the spirit of service we hope all individuals in New Jersey will someday display,” says Krystal Woolston, assistant director of the Center for Community Engagement.

Traveling to Monmouth County in mid August, the Bonners painted the soffits around St. John’s United Methodist Church, stained the outdoor worship center, volunteered at a church food pantry, and worked on homes in the local community. Combined, the Bonner group volunteered more than 1,400 hours to the church and local community.

Luna-Martinez, a junior Biology major with a minor in Leadership Development Through Civic Engagement, was a team leader for the incoming Bonners, an exemplary model of the many Montclair students who are engaged, giving back and making a difference in their lives and the lives of others. Montclair has more than 200 community partners and each year more than 1,000 Montclair students volunteer on special projects and during days of service commemorating 9/11 and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Volunteer opportunities include the Bonner Leader Program, AmeriCorps and the Community Engaged Learning program.

Those opportunities were what attracted Luna-Martinez to Montclair. “I believe Montclair embodies truly who I am and my values because not only am I Hispanic and first gen, but I’m also passionate and truly believe in the good works of public service,” she says.

These values were instilled in her as a child growing up in Newark after her family lost their belongings in a house fire. “It was our community that helped my family get back on our feet,” Luna-Martinez says. “Throughout the years, my mom and my grandmother taught me what the value and true principle of service was. Every chance we got, if it was donating toys I didn’t play with anymore or participating in food drives, it was those little acts of kindness that geared my passion toward service.”

Bonners commit to a four-year internship program that focuses on community building, diversity and inclusion, civic engagement and social justice. They serve in schools, nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies involved in issues of public concern, including education, safety, housing, food insecurity, youth development and environmental sustainability.

On campus, a sampling of Bonner volunteer activities include event planning for The Global Center on Human Trafficking; assisting students with disabilities in their classes and activities with the Increasing Access to College Project; and stocking shelves and the Red Hawk Food Pantry. In the community, locally in Montclair, they staff after-school programs for middle school students, and in Paterson, Bonners sort donations and pack bags of food for the Father English Food Pantry.

About 30 students took part in the summer orientation program, among them Jess Kershenblatt, a sophomore from Egg Harbor, New Jersey, majoring in Family Science and Human Development. “I know I want to be doing this important work for the people around me, the people I care about, the people who I know need extra hands.”

Photo Gallery

Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren. Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters. Video by University Videographer Christo Apostolou.

You May Also Like:

Summer in the City

“We are incredibly grateful to the Kern Family Foundation for supporting our work with post-doctoral fellows who will go on to be the next leaders in the field of adolescent character development,” says RYTE Co-director Jennifer Brown Urban, a Family Science and Human Development professor. “The postdoctoral fellow will be able to analyze and publish using our data from closed studies. This is a tremendous opportunity since we have a wealth of data that we otherwise would not have the resources to continue analyzing.”

RYTE Institute co-directors Jennifer Brown Urban and Miriam R. Linver, Family Science and Human Development professors in the College of Education and Human Services, have been exploring questions related to youth thriving, developmental science, character development, and program evaluation and planning from a systems science perspective for years. Their work through the Institute is grounded in research-practice partnerships, elevating the practitioner perspective, and empowering practitioners by enhancing their program planning and evaluation capacity.

Since its inception in 2009, the RYTE Institute has trained nine postdoctoral researchers, 20 doctoral students, 18 master’s students and 17 undergraduate students. It has been the recipient of nearly $13 million in funding and served as a research hub and training ground for more than 75 students and staff.

The Kern Family Foundation’s grant will enable the RYTE Institute to advance developmental science and particularly an understanding of character development by engaging a postdoctoral fellow to analyze data from two projects: “Inspiring Purpose: Global Citizens in the Making” and “Boy Scouts of America: Building Evidence in Scouting Together” (BSA BEST).

Deeper analysis of “Inspiring Purpose: Global Citizens in the Making” will help build understanding about how adolescents choose their friends and how peers influence their behavior. From this, RYTE Institute researchers hope to develop and study interventions that capitalize on peer influence to effect positive character development.

The data gathered through “BSA BEST” offers insights into how adult experiences and training impact youth character outcomes. Themes studied include ethical and moral decision-making, sense of purpose, humility, leadership, sense of connection, contribution to others, civic engagement, self-reflection and communication skills. Since the third wave of data collection was conducted just when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, researchers were able to include questions related to character development during the pandemic.

“Data from this study will allow us to explore the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent social and emotional outcomes, the experiences of girls who joined Scouts BSA when the program opened to them in 2019, and how out-of-school time programs like Scouts BSA accommodates youth with special needs,” says Urban.

The Kern Family Foundation was established in 1998 by Generac Power Systems founders Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern. The work of the RYTE Institute and the planned activities of the funded postdoctoral fellow align with the Kern Family Foundation’s mission to empower the rising generation of Americans to build flourishing lives anchored in strong character, inspired by quality education, driven by an entrepreneurial mindset and guided by the desire to create value for others.

“The Kern Family Foundation is grateful for the work of the Institute in advancing assessment and evaluation of character formation in the rising generation,” says Foundation Senior Program Director Beth Purvis.

The grant-funded postdoctoral fellow will help bring these research initiatives to broader academic and public attention by preparing manuscripts for publication and presentations for professional conferences sponsored by such organizations as the Society for Research in Child Development, the Society for Research on Adolescence, the Society for the Study of Human Development and the Association for Moral Education.

Story by Development Writer Michele Hickey

“The feedback from this study can be used to create proper messaging for the future to promote healthy behaviors,” says Stefanie LoBue, a Master of Public Health (MPH) student, and one of 13 Red Hawks who volunteered as observers for an eight-week period, collecting data at 10 sites throughout campus.

Each student was stationed at a site for one hour each week to record approximately 40 observations which were entered on a CDC-provided data capture form. (No personal identifying information was collected.) The goal was to log 400 observations each week and submit that data to a CDC-managed database. The CDC shared the information back with participating universities so that the information could inform decisions in real time.

“This study was important because college campuses are prime for the transmission of COVID and it was important to understand how seriously and consistently college students were wearing masks,” says Breon Boseman-Sims ’21 MPH. “Although I felt it did not fully capture mask-wearing habits – most of the sites were big campus hubs where people were required to wear masks already like the Rec Center and Student Center – it was good to get a sense of how students were wearing masks and if they were wearing them correctly.”

Assistant Director of Health Promotion Marie Cascarano was the study’s Principal Investigator and of the 13 student observers, four were Health Promotion students and nine were undergraduate students who worked as Community Health Ambassadors (CHAs). The CHAs support public health initiatives related to the University’s COVID-19 Plan and COVID-19 safety guidelines. Although paid in their CHA roles, the students volunteered their time for the CDC study.

And the study yielded a lot of good news.

Says LoBue: “In observing behaviors, I was surprised by the compliance of almost all MSU students wearing masks, and wearing them properly.”

“I was very relieved to find that the majority of people I observed through this study were properly masking indoors on the Montclair campus,” says second-year MPH student Cassidy Walsh.

However, the students’ observations showed that there was still work to be done: “I was surprised by how many people were wearing surgical masks compared to cloth masks, especially since sustainability is very important to me,” says Walsh.

“Most students were wearing their masks, although there were always 2-10 people wearing them incorrectly out of the 40 we would observe within the hour,” says Boseman-Sims, who noted that, despite the use of surgical and paper masks, “most people utilized cloth masks instead.”

Both LoBue and Boseman-Sims noticed that those forgoing masks or wearing them improperly were sometimes not students. Says Boseman-Sims, “I also was surprised at the number of faculty/staff that had no mask in sight. I see it even more now as the campus community has returned this semester.”

A great and meaningful opportunity

Cascarano notes that the most difficult part of the task for the study’s CHAs was not to interact with people and ask them to wear or fix their masks – something that is part of their duties when they are on the clock and working as CHAs.

But the students, both CHAs and Health Promotion, were nonetheless eager to volunteer. Walsh says the prestige of participating in a study directed by the CDC was a major attraction.

She and others also stressed a personal call to do the work. Debree Rucker ’21 who graduated last spring with a degree in Family Science and Human Development, lost her grandfather to COVID-19. “I don’t want anyone to go through what my family went through,” Rucker told the news center last spring. “I want students and faculty to fully comprehend just how important these preventative measures are.”

Ashley Peralto ’21, a Pre-med, Molecular Biology major with a minor in Art History, adds, “The pandemic has taken such a significant toll on everyone. I was eager and glad to do this study because having been through COVID myself, as well as my loved ones, I wanted to do something meaningful for my community. Lastly, I dedicate this study to my grandma, who survived COVID-19 in April 2020 after being hospitalized, as well as to the health-care workers who have been working tirelessly and nonstop to help end these hard times.”

Meanwhile, Boseman-Sims is thinking ahead: “I feel as if it would be good for Montclair State to do their own mask observation study once during the semester to gauge how students are wearing masks now that people are fully back on campus.”

The CDC Mask Mitigation Study/Montclair State participants include:

Principal Investigator
Marie Cascarano, Assistant Director, Health Promotion, Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports

Health Promotion Graduate Coordinators
Stefanie LoBue
Breon Boseman-Sims
Cassidy Walsh

Health Promotion undergraduate student
Ashley Peralta

Community Health Ambassadors (CHAs)
Christie Rosales
David Olamiju
Debree Rucker
Imani Oslin
Manny Wheagar
Kayla Mccullough
Marshawn McShan
Nana Akua Brookman
Jasmine Metellus

Story by Staff Writer Mary Barr Mann

You may also like:

Principal Gives Pupils Extra Credit for Masks
Wearing is Caring
Positive Peer Pressure

In a show of respect on what was her 175th and final Commencement ceremony, employees lined Sprague Field as Cole walked off, applauding her after she was presented a bouquet of flowers.

Among those thousands of degrees conferred, 5,044 were earned by graduates in 2020-2021 whose resilience and determination not to let a pandemic get in their way of achieving their goals was celebrated in the course of the last week. The stories from those ceremonies provide a snapshot into the love and hope that propelled the graduates to earn those degrees and take that walk across the stage.

Ready to Take on a Complex World

Student speaker Allison Conlon, an Applied Math and Statistics graduate, told her fellow College of Science and Mathematics grads the story of how her mother, Ita Conlon, who earned a master’s degree in Accounting in 1998 from Montclair State, delivered her final term paper on her way to deliver Allison.

“She had barely hit print before my dad drove her to the hospital,” said Conlon.

Today, Conlon says, Red Hawk graduates met and overcame even greater challenges.

“We are one of the strongest graduating classes in the history of Montclair State. We took all of our advanced math and science courses through computer screens – most students avoid our challenging classes even when they are taught in person, so think about how much we must have excelled and learned by doing it online. We demonstrated that we are adaptable and dependable no matter the circumstances.”

Success, Despite COVID-19 Challenges

“I think we can all admit this year has been exceptionally hard for everyone,” said Amanda Leon, the student speaker for the College of Education and Human Services. “Either you had COVID, lost your job, a person whom you love, or questioned if life will ever go back to normal. It was as if the world stopped, all while spinning out of control.”

But for this Class of 2021, “even in the midst of a pandemic, we all made the decision to not let it stop us from getting to where we are today,” said Leon, who graduated with a degree in Family Science and Human Development, with a concentration in Families, Children and School Settings, and teacher certification for Grades K-6.

Caps Off to the Graduates

Khadijah Haraksin’s cap reflects her grit.

Creative caps make great fashion statements, and Khadijah Haraksin of Pleasantville, New Jersey, fashioned her mortarboard to sum up what she accomplished with a well-known phrase by the late rapper – “The game is gonna test you, never fold. Stay ten toes down.”

Despite a difficult path, Haraksin says she refused to fold, staying as the quote inspired, “ten toes down,” focused and determined to overcome personal setbacks and rebounding from poor grades to the dean’s list.

“I hit rock bottom,” she recalls, “and I refused to get any lower than that. I just felt it wasn’t me and I said to myself, ‘No, this is not going to work.’”

Accepting the help of advisors in the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) who pointed her in the direction of academic and emotional support, Haraksin turned her college experience around, earning her degree in Psychology and a minor in Child Advocacy.

“I’m grateful for that because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for everything that they put me in front of,” Haraksin says. Her plans include graduate school and a career in mental health and trauma.

First-Gen Milestones

Nationally, only about 9% of Americans have earned a master’s degree, and fewer than 2% have earned a doctoral degree. Arielle Flores hopes to attain them both.

Flores earned the MA in Public and Organizational Relations, the first in her family to go to college and now attain an advanced degree. “My success is their success,” she says. “I wanted to be the one who becomes the trailblazer for my family and be that legacy bearer. I’m glad I continued; I grew professionally, academically, socially and emotionally. Perhaps, just maybe sometime in the future, I will change the outlook of my family and my identity, by being a Latinx woman with a PhD.”

Katherine Freedman says she was inspired by Montclair State alumni as she pursued her master’s. “I met alumni who went through this program (MA in Public and Organizational Relations) while pregnant, working full time and taking a class part time. They all went on to have fulfilling and diverse careers. Their stories helped push me to the finish line.”

Faith, Leadership and Confetti

In a photo that captured the spirit of Commencement, Caroline Gutierrez shoots confetti from atop the Red Hawk statue in celebration of her BA in Psychology – a degree she earned in just three years. She’s one of the first of the University’s Presidential Scholars to graduate. “I will forever treasure every moment I had at Montclair, and will always carry all I have learned here – in and outside of the classroom – with me,” she says.

Gutierrez was guided by her faith and spirituality on campus, and served as a University Fellow, providing support, guidance and mentoring to first-year students. “I could not be more excited for the future, but Montclair has been the most beautiful checkpoint I have ever known.”

Climb Every Mountain

“I don’t know about you, but I have parents who will tell you about how they climbed mountains and swam across the ocean to get to school,” said student speaker Joud Sharaf, BS in Biology, at the College of Science and Mathematics Commencement. “But fellow graduates, let’s agree on this: We’ll tell our kids that we survived the corona apocalypse marked by a toilet paper shortage and Wi-Fi becoming our best friend.”

Sharaf offered some advice: “I may be up here speaking right now but little did you know, there was a time that going to college was inconceivable in my mind. I was that kid in high school that teachers did not see a future for. What kept me going was realizing that if I let it, my life was just going to pass me by. … Even though as scientists we are in the field of solving problems, the bumps in the road aren’t there for us to solve, rather they are there to shape us to become our best selves.”

Leaning in to Obstacles

“Growing up as an immigrant in this country, I spent the better part of my childhood getting accustomed to the cultural changes around me,” student speaker Rayane Yamout, BA in Public Relations with a minor in Business, told her fellow College of the Arts graduates.

“I began looking at my difficult times as not ‘why is this happening to me’ but rather ‘this is happening for me.’ So many of us go through life accepting the outcome that is given to us, but what if we were to lean into our obstacles and reach for another way forward? I am a strong individual today because of my resilience, grit and determination to succeed. I am proud to be an immigrant as it is a big part of my identity.” Yamout plans to continue her studies in the MA in Public and Organizational Relations program.

Putting the Puzzle Together

Alexandra Torebka likened pursuing her degree to putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

“Out of nowhere, it was as if someone knocked a large part of the puzzle to the ground” when the pandemic struck, said Torebka, who earned a degree in Family Science and Human Development with a concentration in Families, Children and School Settings, and teacher certification for grades K-6.

“For some of us, reorganizing our puzzle meant overcoming sickness, loneliness and devastating loss,” she said as the student speaker at the Commencement ceremony for the College of Education and Human Services.

“I had to remind myself many times that rebuilding my puzzle wouldn’t be an easy feat, but with my support team of professors, mentors, colleagues, friends and most importantly, my parents, I was going to accomplish something much greater than any college degree, or puzzle, but I was going to learn how to appreciate my present and future obstacles and not let them control my journey.”

Deeper Experience Serving Others

Daniel Norvil

Daniel Norvil put in 300 hours of service each year during his four years at Montclair State, including being part of the Bonner Leader program and mentoring middle school students from the nearby community. He seized opportunities on campus, joined the track team and Student Government Association, and attended the national Bonner Congress Convention. His experiences led him to find his voice on social justice issues.

But while growing up in East Orange, New Jersey, going to college, let alone graduating in four years with a degree in Public Relations, wasn’t something he could imagine.

“Growing up, I heard it was too hard to accomplish,” he says. “It gets in your head a little bit. I never would have gotten this far without the people surrounding me who keep my head straight.”

That support network includes EOF, where he was a peer leader and learned what he was capable of, his strengths and how to improve – and where he found a family after his mother passed away during his sophomore year. “That’s when I knew EOF was not just a support program but a family to me,” Norvil says.

His mother, Anne Marie Norvil, inspired a strong work ethnic and motivated Norvil to graduate, to complete the degree she started but wasn’t able to finish. This summer, he heads to California for a six-week public relations internship with plans to begin Montclair State’s master’s program in Public and Organizational Relations.

Father, Daughter Graduate Together

It’s not easy to work a full-time job, raise a family and go to school “off and on for years,” but Lavone Broxton, motivated by his wife and daughters, finally earned his undergraduate degree. His walk across the Commencement stage was made even sweeter as he shared graduation day with his daughter, Tiiera Broxton.

“Congratulations Dad! You are a walking example that age is nothing but a number and you can achieve any goal you put your mind to,” Tiiera Broxton said.

Both father and daughter earned degrees in Sociology and their home in Newark, New Jersey, is now brimming with Red Hawk Pride: Lavone’s spouse and Tiiera’s mother, Rhonda Robinson-Broxton, earned two graduate degrees at Montclair State. Two older daughters, Siiera and Kiiera, also hold master’s degrees from other institutions.

“I didn’t want to be the only person in a family who didn’t go to school,” said Lavone Broxton, associate director of Postal and Warehouse Services at Montclair State, who took advantage of the University’s employee tuition waiver program to finish up what he started in 2007. “Once I saw that I could have the opportunity to graduate at the same time as Tiiera, that was the push that inspired me.” Read more about the Broxtons in our News Center.

A Second Family

Jaime Bock whooped up the crowd at the School of Nursing’s June 10 Commencement, leading a round of applause for Montclair State’s “inaugural Pre-Licensure BSN Class of 2021!”

“When I started nursing school, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into,” Bock said. “If I had to sum up nursing school in three words I would say: stress, stress, and more stress. … Between the never-ending exams and the obscene amount of Red Bull and coffee, it was hard to differentiate the etiology of our heart palpitations.”

The upside?

“I did not expect to be given a second family.”

“We’ve seen each other at our worst and celebrated at our best. We understood each other, when it felt like nobody else did. We laughed, we cried, we panicked. Half the time I could not tell if we were laughing or crying. It was truly therapeutic. We never gave up; we uplifted, supported and learned from each other. But most importantly, we grew together.”

“I would not be standing here if it wasn’t for you all.”

Not All Superheros Wear Capes

Theresa Migliaccio, a mother of five who has also been a high-risk pregnancy nurse for 23 years, knows a thing or two about stress. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree on the post-licensure track while dealing with the pandemic personally and professionally.

“This past year has given us challenges that we could have never imagined,” Migliaccio told her fellow School of Nursing graduates. “The endless days fighting a disease that we knew nothing about and the feeling of hopelessness as we watched so many lives pass away.”

“We were considered heroes but in our hearts, we were just who we always are – nurses,” said Migliaccio. “We did what we always do – we did more. Sitting with the patient who was alone or calling a family from an iPad or comforting family members over the phone. There was no time but we made it.”

The light at the end of the tunnel came with vaccinations: “Being a part of the mass vaccination effort and vaccinating homebound patients was an experience that I will forever be grateful for. For the first time in a long time, I felt like a superhero.”

Climbing the Ladder

Michele Ansbacher, recipient of the Feliciano School of Business Distinguished Alumna Award, told graduates that, like many of them, “I came from humble beginnings. Though they didn’t go to college, my parents were very proud of their children who did. Wanting more helped fuel my success.”

Having risen to the ranks to a corporate vice president position, Ansbacher said the Class of 2021 has more than enough qualifications to make it. “You are more than equipped to succeed with your MSU education. You have survived the COVID upheaval and will take that quality of resiliency with you.”

A Degree, but First a Proposal

Dylan White earned his degree in Business Administration, a monumental day recognizing his efforts to balance work and school. “I was working full time and Montclair State helped me figure out a class schedule that fit my hours and educational requirements. My path wasn’t one of an average student but the University helped me juggle my busy lifestyle. I wouldn’t change a thing about my college experience.”

The highlight of his time on campus may have come a few months earlier. With the campus covered in snow, he proposed marriage to Ariana Leyton ’17, ’18 MS. She said, “Yes.”

Changing the World

When she landed at JFK Airport in 1986 as a “very excited, very scared 17 year old” bound for Montclair State, Wamwari Waichungo had the inspiring example of her parents to ground her.

Her late mother Charity Waichungo was in the first class of native African girls to go to high school in Kenya in 1951, ultimately earning her PhD and becoming principal of a girl’s high school in the village where she was born, while her father Asaph Waichungo was the first in his family to attend high school before traveling to the U.S. for a university education.

“Today, three decades later, a PhD in Food Science and 20+ years working in the food and beverage industry, I can confirm that the education and guidance that I received here at Montclair State was instrumental to my career success,” said Waichungo, as she accepted the College of Education and Human Services’ Distinguished Alumna Award. A CEHS Advisory Board member, Waichungo is vice president for Global Safety Assessments and Regulatory Affairs at SCJohnson.

“Both my mother and my father set an example that I have followed. In the words of the late Nelson Mandela, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’”

University Honors Benefactor

The multiple smaller ceremonies celebrated graduates in traditional style, with the tossing of caps, speakers and an honorary degree awarded to entrepreneur Mimi Turco Feliciano. It was a milestone long delayed for Feliciano who did not complete her bachelor’s degree when she attended Montclair State decades ago.

As a first generation student, Feliciano said two things dominated her thinking while a student: “I felt like I wasn’t good enough and that I never had enough money.” Still, she credits the University with providing the foundation for her successful career, and she has given back in many ways, including funding the Mimi and Edwin Feliciano School of Business, the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and The Global Center on Human Trafficking.

A Final Commencement

“I have marveled at your tenacity and resilience in the face of adversity, and I can tell you that your University could not be prouder of you and what you have accomplished,” said President Susan A. Cole, who spoke at each of the ceremonies, ending her own remarkable tenure leading Montclair State.

“So, today, in a way, I graduate with you. For the last 23 years, it has been my honor to contribute my efforts to building the University that would enable students like you to earn their degrees, walk across this stage and then proceed to realize their dreams. Today, it is my privilege to stand here with you,” she said.

… “We shall leave this place together.”

Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren and Mary Barr Mann

Photo Galleries

See the full commencement photo galleries at the links below.

“We want students – and others – to know that they are not alone,” says Marie Cascarano, coordinator of Health Promotion.

Students can access a variety of resources, from traditional counseling to support groups, to fun social activities and videos, to downloadable apps through Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and the Office of Health Promotion. CAPS also provides referrals and consultations for faculty and staff.

Counselors are available for students 24/7. Call CAPS at 973-655-5211. If calling after hours (including nights, weekends, holiday breaks and during weather closings), choose option 2 to connect to a licensed mental-health counselor.

All employees can get free, confidential assistance for themselves and their families from the University’s Employee Assistance Program, which is provided by Atlantic Health System. To schedule a free, confidential appointment, call 800-242-7371. Additional resources for employees can be found through Human Resources’ Restart Employee Resources page.

Members of the University community are encouraged to look out for each other. “It’s clear that students are experiencing a great deal of stress and isolation,” says Writing Professor Emily Isaacs, who is also executive director of the Office for Faculty Development. She notes that “the University classroom – wherever it may be – remains a place we need to connect as human beings.”

“Faculty feel enormous empathy for students. Many of us are really struggling, too, with loss, fear, isolation, over-work, worry,” she says. “So we get it, and we want to help.”

Resources through Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and the Office of Health Promotion:

• Coping 101 – A skills training, drop-in group for students to learn and practice techniques to cope with negative feelings, such as extreme sadness, anxiety and anger. Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills, which focus on mindfulness, regulating emotions, tolerating distress and improving relationships, are taught. Topics change each week. Tuesdays at 3 p.m. Use this link to join:
• TAO (Therapy Assistance Online) – A completely private online library of behavioral health resources, provided free to students or employees, offering guided therapy for stress, anxiety, depression and other concerns. The TAO mobile app makes it easy to practice skills like changing thought patterns and learning to relax.
• – One-on-one support Monday – Friday, offered nine times a week.
• Connections: Adjusting to Life in the Time of COVID – In addition to the health concerns, the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic can feel heavy and overwhelming. To provide support to our students, CAPS hosts a weekly drop-in online support group to connect and share tips for getting through this challenging time. Mondays, 11 a.m. – noon, . Open to all Montclair State undergraduate and graduate students.
• – Recovery Room is an informal group for currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students to support one another in a safe environment, open to those who want to explore their relationship with alcohol and other drugs, who self-identify as recovering from alcohol and other drugs, or seek recovery resources. Recovery Room is held in a virtual space this semester on and , via Zoom.
• – Parenting in Recovery is an informal group for currently enrolled students who are raising children while seeking recovery. Mondays, 9 a.m., Zoom. For more information, including Zoom link, contact Dr. Kristine De Jesus at dejesusk@montclair.edu or 973-655-4215.
• Mindfulness Meditation – Mindfulness meditation is the practice of being self-aware with an extra focus on your breath. Practicing mindfulness meditation may lower your stress, help you connect better with yourself and others, and increase focus by calming your mind. Participate on Mondays, 1 p.m., via Zoom with video or audio only.
• – Tap into your creative side and join Health Promotion for Do-It-Yourself crafting activities that are designed to reduce anxiety and stress, boost confidence, and improve memory, problem-solving and concentration. Take and make craft kits are available for pick up at the Drop In Center Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. A new craft will be available every other week.
• – Doodle, color, paint, or craft to wind down or simply get creative. All you need is paper and a writing utensil! Stop by the Drop-In Center and pick up a doodle kit.
• – Take a moment or two throughout the day to pause and reset. Short breaks throughout the day can help increase your focus, productivity, and boost your mood. Available on , and .
• is a student-led space for expression or casual conversation during stressful times. Open to all currently enrolled graduate students. First meeting is February 24 at 12 p.m.: Practicing Self Compassion. Discussing themes like aging, living through a pandemic, taking care of your body and work-life balance.
• The Health Promotion Drop-In Center (that small red and white building located between the Student Center and Richardson Hall) is open 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday – Friday for students to come in for information, conversation and referrals. The Drop-In Center is staffed by specially trained undergraduate and graduate students.
• Healthy Minds Study – On February 16, all Montclair State students received an email message from “Karen L. Pennington, PhD” at healthyminds-MSU@umich.edu inviting them to participate in this nationwide research project. The confidential information gathered through the study will be used to inform policy, practice and funding for programs and services on campus, thus improving student life. Please look for this email in your ����vlog gmail account. Participants are eligible to win Amazon gift cards.

More Mental Health Support: Contact CAPS during or after business hours if you need assistance. Business Hours: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 973-655-5211. After Hours Support: You can always reach a qualified clinician. After hours (including nights, weekends, holiday breaks and during weather closings) licensed mental-health counselors are available for crisis. Call 973-655-5211 and choose OPTION 2 to be immediately connected to a counselor.

Follow the Office of Health Promotion on , , , and . For more information, including Zoom links, contact Dr. Marie Cascarano at cascaranom@montclair.edu.

Find links to outside resources here.

Story by Staff Writer Mary Barr Mann

Related reading:
Mental Health Month: Creating Space for Humanity
Taking Care of Your Mental Health During COVID-19