Image

Pace University has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) as a 2022 ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting.

The ALL IN Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting recognizes colleges and universities for making intentional efforts to increase student voter participation. Pace joins a group of 394 colleges and universities recognized by ALL IN for completing these four actions:

• Participate in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
• Shared 2020 NSLVE Reports with campus voting data with ALL IN
• Developed and submitted a 2022 democratic engagement action plan with ALL IN
• Have a current signatory to ALL IN’s Higher Education Presidents’ Commitment to Full Student Voter Participation.

“College student voter turnout has increased since 2016, and this increase has been driven by students,” said Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. ”The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is excited to expand our ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll to recognize these student voting champions across the country. These students registered voters, served on their campus voting coalitions, spearheaded voter education efforts, advocated for campus polling locations and organized other voter engagement efforts to ensure their peers were confident and informed voters.”

At Pace, voter education is overseen by the Center for Community Action and Research (CCAR) which has been mobilizing Pace student voters for over a decade. Through campus and community partnerships, CCAR student leaders register and empower student voters and advocate for institutional changes necessary to eliminate barriers to student voter participation.

“This year, like every year, our Vote Everywhere Ambassadors and Pace Votes Leaders worked tirelessly to get out the student vote,” said Erin Mysogland, assistant director of the Center for Community Action and Research. “They registered peers through class presentations, supported students navigating absentee voting, and walked peers to the polls on Election Day. Pace students care about a myriad of social justice issues and as a result they consistently vote in high numbers.”

In 2020, 66.2% of eligible Pace students voted, according to data from the National Student of Learning, Voting, and Engagement. CCAR staff and student leaders are dedicated to working towards full student voter participation while also providing non-eligible students ways to engage with the political process.

“I was excited but not surprised to see the great voter turnout for the 2022 midterm election at Pace,” said Lauren Shelton ’26, Vote Everywhere Ambassador at CCAR. “As a first-time voter, seeing so many of my peers voting was great!”

About Pace University

Pace University has a proud history of preparing its diverse student body for a lifetime of professional success because of its unique programs that combine immersive academics and real-world experiences. Pace is ranked the #1 private, four-year college in the nation for upward economic mobility by Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights, evidence of the transformative education the University provides.

About CCAR at Pace University

The Center for Community Action and Research (CCAR) supports the University’s commitment to educating for active community participation and social responsibility.

About ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN)

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) is a national nonpartisan initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) organization. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge strives to change civic culture and institutionalize democratic engagement activities and programs on college campuses, making voter participation a defining feature of campus life. ALL IN, in collaboration with over 960 higher education institutions, seeks to make participation in local, state, and federal elections a social norm; substantially increase the number of college students who are democratically engaged on an ongoing basis, during and between elections, and not just at the polls, and; make educating for democratic engagement on college campuses an accepted and expected part of the culture and curriculum so that students graduate with the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and values needed to be an informed and active citizen.

If there’s one problem the nonprofit world would love to solve, it’s how to increase funding. Organizations go to great lengths to solicit donations for their causes—and one increasingly popular method is by using social media.

“Nonprofit organizations are increasingly using social media for communication and relationship building,” says Dr. Namchul Shin, Professor and Associate Chair of the Seidenberg Information Technology department.

While there has been extensive research in how nonprofits use social media, there has been little research on the impact. Dr. Shin’s research, which he presented at the 33rd Annual IIMA Conference in Seattle on October 24–26, 2022, aimed to address the gap.

There are various topics, technological and social, that we can study and teach. But one of the areas I like most is how to best use technology to create value—not just economic, but social—and how to mitigate harm for society.

—Namchul Shin, Professor of Information Technology

Taking a deep dive into the relationship between social media usage and the impact—that is, the volume of charitable donations—Dr. Shin, alongside Taojin Lou and Mansi Modi, students from Pace’s MBA program, utilized a large data set of the top 100 nonprofits as listed by the Nonprofit Times, ranked by revenue. Various aspects were used to measure social media traction: likes and follower count, for starters.

"It is important to understand how fundraising is influenced by the use of social media," said Dr. Shin. As an information systems professor, his interest is multi-faceted. “We are not just focusing on technology, but also human-centered research. There are various topics, technological and social, that we can study and teach. But one of the areas I like most is how to best use technology to create value—not just economic, but social—and how to mitigate harm for society.”

The results painted an interesting picture. It turns out that social media usage can indeed contribute to charitable giving. "Social media can attract more supporters to nonprofit organizations' social media pages and help promote better communications and relationship building, thereby increasing donations."

But it doesn't end there. Comparing Facebook likes and Twitter followers revealed that different platforms have different impacts on public engagement in fundraising campaigns. "The number of followers on Twitter is highly associated with increased donations, but not the number of likes on Facebook," said Dr. Shin. "The results imply that simply clicking the like button on Facebook might be just self-serving slacktivism."

Dr. Shin is a Wilson Center Fellow in Pace University’s Wilson Center Fellowship program, which supports social change through entrepreneurship and the creation of a diverse body of research that identifies and addresses issues facing nonprofits and social enterprises.

The Lubin Link Podcast

Image

Ginny King '20 details how she landed her dream role with NBC, after the pandemic crushed her original post-graduation plans. She discusses the importance of working hard and taking advantage of the opportunities that Pace University offers.

This episode was recorded on November 15, 2022.

• Listen to Ginny on Spotify
• Listen to Ginny on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Ginny on Anchor

Tune into the Lubin Link podcast to hear how guests went from go-getting Lubin students to successful entrepreneurs, social media mavens, directors, CEOs, and beyond. They offer their best tips to students and share how you can make the most out of your #LubinLife.

Pace University unveiled a dedicated Esports arena on 33 Beekman Street, the tallest university residence hall in the world, highlighting the rapidly growing gaming industry. This highly visible and state-of-the-art space will act as a home for the competitive student gamers, combining competition and academics.

The Esports program aims to propel the future of gaming through curricular and vocational pathways, marrying the Pace University Athletics Department and the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. The Esports center was funded by Dov Horowitz ’05, through his company American Technology Services.

“Gaming was a critical element to my early career success and the chance to help others use gaming was a gift I simply couldn’t pass up,” said founding partner, Dov Horowitz ’05, in his remarks at the ribbon-cutting event.

Image

Pace Athletics announced Esports as its 15th varsity sport in December 2021. Currently, there are more than 500 members across both campuses that are a part of the Pace University gaming community, including players on Pace’s Varsity, Academy, Club, and intramural teams. The program entered its second official season after a successful inaugural year in spring 2022. The goal is for competitive and casual gamers to be able to connect with like-minded peers in online and offline settings. Pace Esports’ Smash Gold 2 team won the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Open Division Grand Finals earlier this year, with just one match loss while finishing in first place out of 76 teams in their division. Pace Esports' All-Women's VALORANT Blue Team ("Pace Blue") recently placed third in the first-ever VENOM LAN event in Columbus, Ohio.

“I’m excited about what Esports, and more specifically this facility will mean for our institution. This space will allow us to reintroduce varsity athletics back to our Manhattan campus and impact that community in real significant ways; ways that only college athletics can achieve with respect to campus life and school spirit,” said Pace Athletics Director Mark Brown.

Pace student-athletes, faculty, staff were joined by Associate Commissioner, Workforce Development and Educational Initiatives at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Alia Jones-Harvey, University President, Marvin Krislov, Director of Athletics, Mark Brown, Director of Esports, Jesse Bodony, founding partner Dov Horowitz, valued donors, and additional supporters of the program.

"Congratulations to Pace University on the unveiling of their new Esports arena, which builds on their work to bring together competitive and casual gamers," said Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Anne del Castillo. "We are thrilled to see this investment in digital games, which generates $2 billion in economic activity and over 7,600 jobs for New Yorkers."

“Esports is the fastest growing sport in the United States. It’s the fastest growing activity on Pace University’s campus, and why do we care about it? Because we care about you all,” said Pace President, Marvin Krislov, to student gamers in attendance. “We care that you are learning how to work together, that you’re competing, that you’re finding community, and there are going to be opportunities for you professionally and recreationally as well.”

“Esports means a lot to me because of the social freedom. I used to be an introvert before joining the Esports community. Now I feel more open to meeting new people and gave me the opportunity to be more competitive,” said sophomore Information Technology major and a member of the varsity All-Women’s VALORANT Blue Team, Kayla Reaves.

About Pace University:

Since 1906, Pace University has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lubin School of Business, College of Health Professions, School of Education, the Elisabeth Haub School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.

About Pace University Athletics:

Pace University Athletics is a member of NCAA Division II, competing within the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10). Pace Athletics sponsors 15 intercollegiate sports, along with cheer and dance teams and a Pep Band. Known as the Setters, Pace’s official mascot is known as T-Bone. In 2021-22, Pace student-athletes posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.33. Additionally, a total of 562 Setters were selected to the NE10’s Academic Honor Roll with 69 student-athletes earning Academic Excellence with 4.0 semester GPAs. Twenty-two student-athletes earned NE10 President’s Award for Academic Excellence, recognizing graduating student-athletes who have attained Magna Cum Laude at their institution, have participated in at least two seasons of NE10 competition and are current student-athletes at the time of graduation.

About The Seidenberg School of Computer Science:

At Pace University’s Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, students experience a best-of-breed technology education at one of the first comprehensive schools of computing in the nation. Strategically located in the heart of NYC’s tech scene, the Seidenberg School places students on the doorstep of New York’s most promising companies, whether they are established tech giants or exciting new start-ups. Through partnerships with leading corporations, banks, federal agencies, and global entities, the school’s curricula and programs are designed to give students the latest in computer science theory and invaluable hands-on practice to ground it. The faculty includes numerous cybersecurity experts who operate labs and centers providing students with practical experience and connections that lead to impressive internships and jobs.

About American Technology Services:

American Technology Services was founded in 1994 to serve the IT needs of small and mid‐sized information-intensive organizations by providing a wide range of IT services. The premise for ATS was the notion that smaller organizations often have complex needs in IT, just like large organizations, but lack access to high-quality support. ATS’ objective has always been to provide high-quality IT services for our customers with a consultative approach. ATS’s high-quality technology services help clients tackle a broad spectrum of IT issues, from top-level strategy, managed services and infrastructure support, compliance, privacy, and security, to IT operations in the cloud and on-premises. The company helps clients address existing cyclical challenges, such as managing cloud migration and tackling associated security issues. Focused on IT field services, ATS leverages a detail-oriented solution architecture to aid clients in combating real-world IT problems and innovating and improving their IT operations.

Professor Lissa Griffin has been a faculty member at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University for 37 years and remains a fixture at the School. In 1985, Professor Griffin started working at what was then called “Pace Law” and today, she remains fully committed to the law school community. She teaches Professional Responsibility, Criminal Procedure – Adjudication, Comparative Criminal Procedure, and Evidence and is recognized for her scholarship in criminal procedure and comparative criminal procedure. She is also a visiting professor at Birmingham City University School of Law in Birmingham, UK. Learn more about Professor Griffin’s background, travels, scholarly work and more in the Q+A below.

What is your recent work in and out of academia?

Last year I was able to travel to Malaga, Spain as a Fulbright Scholar. I co-taught a course with two Spanish law professors called Fundamental Rights in the Criminal Process, which is much like our criminal procedure courses in the United States. I also participated in three conferences and presented weekly workshops to UMA’s PhD students. Teaching in a different country helped me reflect on my US classroom and was unbelievably rewarding. In addition, having been able to confer with Spanish criminal procedure scholars, practitioners, and prosecutors allowed me to see a completely new legal system unlike ours here in the United States.

Can you tell me more about your Fulbright Scholar experience?

When I originally applied to go to Spain, the coronavirus was at its peak and Spain was in particularly bad trouble. I knew Spain was one of the worst places to travel at the time, but I still took the risk and it paid off. Having worked and studied in the US and UK, which are both common law systems, I wanted to be exposed to a civil law system. In addition to teaching, while I was in Malaga I spoke at conferences and participated in presentations to PhD students and graduate students of all disciplines. I did quite a bit of work with the four other US Fulbright Scholars there, who came from different parts of the US and were in different disciplines and we were good collaborators and became good friends. The Spanish culture was an excellent and welcome contrast to the current situation in the United States: the sense of social cohesion and community in Spain is much different from the United States, whether that be professional, academic, or even personal. The experience of living within the Spanish culture was wonderful.

Did you take anything away from your experience abroad?

Yes, I’ve taught several times in the United Kingdom and those experiences and the time spent in Spain are transformative. In my teaching, I feel being exposed to different learning communities with different populations, expectations and relationships makes you more sensitive to your students. Understanding different criminal processes, both common law and civil law deepens your understanding and broadens your perspective. I’ve learned so much about criminal procedure and US criminal procedure first from being in the United Kingdom and then in Spain. Spain was particularly interesting to me because it is a civil law country with a very different domestic process and is also subject to European Union law and the European Court of Human Rights. All three sources of law contribute to the choices they make in structuring and administering their criminal process.

What was it like to participate in the International Criminal Judicial Cooperation Conferences?

In both, I was the only speaker who spoke in English and discussed US law. It was an honor to work with the other academics on the panels. In one of the conferences, I presented on the US jury and people were literally horrified at the power our juries enjoy. I am now writing a piece for a larger book comparing the US and Spanish jury systems.

What drew you into the world of criminal law?

Well that goes far back but the answer to that is that I think I’ve always been curious about outsiders. As a young child, cowboys fascinated me; in college, I veered toward the sociology of deviance. And like others who were children of the 1960s, the faceoff between the individual and the state has always been important to me and that happens directly in the criminal process.

Can you talk more about what you did before coming to Pace?

I started working for a private criminal defense lawyer and then moved to The Legal Aid Society’s criminal appeals office. Then I moved to a firm that worked specifically in civil litigation. At the time, the harm caused by asbestos had begun to lead to mass tort litigation, and my firm represented insurers who were litigating between and among the insurance companies to see who was responsible for paying the injured parties. I also handled appeals in medical malpractice cases on behalf of hospitals and doctors.

How did teaching at Pace come across your radar?

Someone I worked with had graduated in the first graduating class at Pace Law School and invited me to an alumni event to meet the then-dean, Janet Johnson. It turned out that Pace was looking for writing instructors and I started as a writing instructor in 1985. Shortly thereafter Pace started its clinical program and I supervised the Appellate Litigation. My students briefed and argued cases in the Appellate Division, First Department, in Manhattan, and in the New York Court of Appeals. As the School’s needs changed, I began teaching simulation and doctrinal classes. And with Professor David Dorfman, I created the Law School’s course on Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiating. I guess one could say I’ve been a utility player. No matter what you are teaching, every course and every class is a new challenge.

No matter what you are teaching, every course and every class is a new challenge.

Tell me about the Pace Law London Program.

I went abroad to London with Pace three times: once in 1999, again 2002, and finally in 2012 with Professor McDonnell. My presence in England coincided with the opening of the first innocence commission in the world, the Criminal Case Review Commission, and I wrote several law review articles about it. I also began my comparative criminal procedure work, which has been my area of specialty for twenty-three years. When I was there in 2012, I developed a relationship with Birmingham City University School of Law, where I taught in 2019 and where I am currently a Visiting Professor. Teaching abroad really allowed me to absorb and reflect on so many levels, whether teaching, learning, and personally. And of course, having spent so much time in London when they were growing up, our children feel like it is a second home and know it as well as they know New York. Maybe better.

Would you recommend a study abroad experience to law students?

Always! It truly is a rich experience and will give you a different perspective on your life, your society, your values, and your profession. It may not change any of those things, but it will help you understand who you are and how you got there and what you want to do in the future.

What advice do you have for students interested in criminal law?

Read the news! There is so much going on every day in criminal cases. Ask yourself why what happened happened and if it should have happened in a fair and effective criminal process. Go abroad: see how other societies administer their criminal law so you realize there are many legitimate systems that are very different from ours. Besides that, participate in internships to build up your resume and to find out what really the field is all about. I also recommend that you pursue becoming a research assistant for a professor. There are so many great opportunities being a research assistant can bring forward such as a big network, jobs, publishing opportunities, and closer connections with faculty.

What are you looking forward to most this school year?

I always look forward to seeing the light bulbs go on in my students minds as we finish a course because in the end it DOES all come together. I am also looking forward to teaching a five-day course in Madrid at Comillas Law School, where four of our students are actually studying this semester, after our classes end in December. I am also teaching a Lawyering and Science skills workshop during January intersession that I haven’t taught since pre-COVID. The intersection between law and science is absolutely fascinating and helping students understand how to use science as lawyers is fun.

What is your favorite part of Haub Law?

Community. I have to say there has always been a supportive and close community not only for students, but for faculty as well. People care about each other and care about having a community that reflects those values, including devotion to the students and respect to one another. It truly does trickle down from the top.

What are your non-academic interests?

I love to travel. I love my dogs. I exercise almost every day, less because I like it than because it keeps me healthy. I exercise for two episodes of whatever series I’m currently watching, and so I’ve watched a lot of series. Lastly, I would say I am utterly devoted to my friendships. I have had friends for longer than 50 years; I have friends from college, and friends I made as an adult. Over time, I have come to understand how really important these friendships are.

Photograph by dave@verticalbird.com