Pace University’s Lienhard School of Nursing student, Celeste Fetter, will be running the Boston Marathon on April 18, 2022, as part of the Brigham and Women's Stepping Strong Team. As a senior nursing student, aspiring trauma nurse, and New Englander, Celeste was inspired to take on the challenge of running this marathon in support of Gillian Reny, who was one of the 39 critically injured patients during the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing.

Running has always been a passion of Celeste’s; she competed in her first marathon in May 2021, but she strives to run the Boston Marathon for something more than just meeting her personal goals. Training for marathons has impacted how Celeste views nursing because of the many health benefits running can provide. She follows the rules of “practice what you preach.” While training for this marathon, Celeste follows a strict routine, “​​It takes an immense amount of self-discipline to wake up on a Saturday or Sunday morning and complete a long run, which is anywhere from 12 - 22 miles. At the peak of training, I usually run around 50 - 70 miles a week. Once I’m running, it's enjoyable, but often getting out the door is the hardest part.”

In gratitude to the Brigham, the Reny family established The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation to help other trauma patients like Gillian regain their strength and ability to step strong once again. As a future trauma nurse, Celeste was inspired by the Brigham’s efforts to save Gillian and the many other survivors from the Boston Marathon Bombing. “I am fundraising to help the Brigham turn tragedy to hope for civilian and military heroes who have suffered devastating traumatic injuries.” The center has raised more than $24 million for trauma research and care.

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Celeste has always been drawn to trauma nursing, which is why it is her dream to become a flight nurse in the military. During her sophomore year, she shadowed the helicopter flight medic team in Wallkill, NY. “This experience opened my eyes to trauma care as a whole. Nurses were confidently making decisions and keeping their patients alive, all while being high in the sky. Every day as a trauma nurse is different, and one must adapt and respond to new situations. It’s challenging yet so rewarding when a patient is stabilized after a critical situation. This is what I look forward to in my future trauma career.”

As a dedicated and hardworking student, Celeste has completed clinical rotations at VA Hudson Valley Hospital, New York-Presbyterian, Penn Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) apartments in Manhattan, and Montefiore/Weiler Hospital in the Bronx. “Each placement has been unique and broadened my scope of practice,” said Celeste.

Along with becoming a trauma flight nurse for the military, Celeste's goals do not end there; she hopes to receive her master's degree ​​and become a family nurse practitioner (FNP). Celeste is the perfect example of Pace’s motto of opportunitas. Celeste acknowledged that “The most beneficial aspect of the Pace nursing program has been the diversity of clinical settings I have participated in.”

Celeste plans to continue running post-graduation in the hopes of completing more marathons and fundraising for the Brigham Stepping Strong Team. The Pace Community can get involved by joining the Brigham Stepping Strong Marathon Team and by donating to her fundraiser.

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University Professors Karl S. Coplan, Shelby D. Green, Katrina Fischer Kuh, Smita Narula, Karl R. Rábago (former professor), and Radina Valova, announce the release of their book “Climate Change Law: An Introduction" published by Edward Elgar Publishing.

Professor Katrina Fischer Kuh explains that literacy in the law of climate change will empower lawyers, policymakers, and concerned citizens working to help respond to the climate emergency, and that the book scaffolds reader understanding, quickly introducing core legal terms and concepts to allow readers to understand the key legal debates and obstacles presently shaping society's mitigation efforts.

The authors used years of their research and experience to introduce readers to key terms, concepts, and legal principles in the field of climate change law. Climate change touches nearly every field of law. Since it is so trans-substantive, the authors discussed climate change law in numerous contexts, including international climate change treaties, climate mitigation, energy law, subnational climate adaptation, climate change litigation, international human rights law and climate change, private climate change actors, and individual ethics. After reading “Climate Change Law” the authors hope readers will be introduced to both the basics of climate change law and to current legal questions and debates. Professor Karl Coplan notes that the book is meant for lawyers, law students, policy makers, and climate activists who want an accessible introduction to the legal tools available to address climate change.

The primer is timely as climate change continues to impact public health, safety, and prosperity. Further, climate change law is all the more pressing in the context of a possible 4℃ temperature rise, which is about 2℃ higher than traditional predictions. “What I hope readers will take away from the book is that just as we have the technologies to address climate change, we have the policy tools to address climate change as well, and it is imperative that we put them to work,” said book co-author, Professor Karl Coplan. Professor Radina Valova notes, “[c]limate law is a vast subject area with many branches, each of which has its own legal, regulatory, and policy intricacies. I hope that readers will take away from this book an understanding of the fundamental legal and policy principles of climate change law, as well as future opportunities and challenges.”

The book has received critical acclaim by noted environmental law and climate change experts, including Michael B. Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice, Founder and Director of Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, and renowned environmental lawyer. He noted that, “[b]oth lawyers and non-lawyers often ask me what to read for a concise introduction to the U.S. and international laws that are relevant to climate change. Now I have something to enthusiastically recommend. This book is a terrific primer on a complex and rapidly evolving area of law. It shows how courts, legislatures, and executives are addressing (or not) one of humanity's greatest challenges. Even experts will find it a useful refresher.”

Professor Katrina Fischer Kuh sat down for a question and answer series on the book. Watch it below.

Rise Up! Cultivating a Diverse Vision of Resilience

The yearly Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL) promotes faculty excellence through dialogue with others throughout the University, encouraging collaboration from all disciplines and levels.

This year’s ITL celebrates a diverse vision of our resilience during a challenging time and provides the opportunity to share how we have risen through these difficulties to highlight positive outcomes, featuring three keynote addresses:

Tuesday, May 17 | Cultivating Wellness

Keynote Speaker: Estela Lugo will highlight her work as a disabilities advocate and provide attendees a motivational perspective on wellness and the forces that drive us to find purpose.

Wednesday, May 18 | Cultivating Career Resilience

Keynote Speaker: Laura Tamman, a veteran political strategist who has advised hundreds of candidates, brings her expertise in ways to support the Pace Community in shining a positive light on our work from a more public perspective.

Thursday, May 19 | Cultivating a Resilient Vision of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

Keynote Speaker: Bryan Dewsbury, PhD, will discuss his team’s research projects that investigate the social context of teaching and learning, as well as his work helping faculty transforming their practice pertaining to inclusive education.

Call for Proposals

Consistent with the theme of cultivating a diverse vision of resilience, this call for proposals invites interactive workshops and presentations that address any of the following topics:

• Wellness and how success is defined. What have you done to improve your own wellness and the wellness of members of the Pace Community?
• Addressing wellness during the pandemic or other stressful events.
• Sharing scholarship publicly in formats beyond traditional academic journal articles.
• Advancing your career: What is successful for you, how do you define success?
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) Success: How have you created DEIJ success, how have you defined this success, what were the outcomes, what can we still do?
• How have you changed the definition of success in light of the pandemic?
• How have you changed the definition of resilience in light of the pandemic?

Submit Your Proposal

Please use this link to submit a proposal. Your proposal should be 150-words describing a 45-minute session that demonstrates innovative and unconventional efforts that faculty, staff, and/or students can use to advance the ITL’s overall theme of a diverse vision of resilience. If you have any questions, please email facultycenter@pace.edu.

The deadline to submit a proposal for ITL is Sunday, February 27. Responses to proposals will be sent out by March 31.

Julian Alston ’18 values his tight knit-community at Pace Pleasantville—a smaller university setting full of unique opportunities and experiences in the heart of a campus that has fostered his immense pride for Pace.

My favorite thing about being a Pace student is the diversity of my campus. Pleasantville is smaller but it still feels big because of all the different people we have here from across the country and the world.

As a junior, Alston has already explored a wide range of organizations, internships, and job opportunities on campus to help him reach his goal of leaving a positive legacy on the Pleasantville Campus.

He currently serves as Student Government Association (SGA) Vice President of Administration, he is a mentor in the African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American (AALANA) program, and he is a member of the Lambda Sigma National Honor Society, the Urban Male Initiative, and the Black Student Union.

After getting elected to SGA and considering ways he could positively impact the community, Alston realized there was a need for better transportation to help make getting around the community easier and safer, he says.

“I want to leave my mark in a positive way and have my community taken care of,” he says. “On campus, there are a lot of parking and driving issues, so I thought, is there a possibility to have a partnership with Lyft?”

Instead of driving your own car, waiting for a bus, or calling a cab, Lyft users can request a ride through an app on their phone and be taken to their destination by a local driver in a matter of minutes—providing an easier way for students to go to and from the airport, bars, grocery store, and more.

He pioneered and pitched an idea for a partnership between Lyft and Pace through which students would be able to score special discounts and Lyft would provide more drivers in “hotspots”—popular pick up and drop off locations such as Shoprite in Pleasantville and Grand Central in NYC.

“I want to keep my campus safe, and I know the NYC Campus could really benefit from it too,” Alston says.

As a Lyft Campus Ambassador, he executes marketing campaigns on the Pleasantville Campus and the New York metropolitan area and works closely with Lyft’s NYC headquarters. He says he is hoping for a launch of the partnership in the near future on both campuses.

His skill for navigating the business world landed him an internship at the global headquarters of Comcast in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a summer business operations and strategy analyst. In his role, he oversaw national supply chain and logistics flow, worked with five warehouses across the country, participated in brand strategy, reconciled financial statements, and managed the upkeep of weekly financial reports.

“The most useful tip I learned at this internship was my networking skills—I learned that your network is net worth,” Alston says. “I have taken many of the lessons I have learned at my internships and applied them into real life situations, such as how to carry one’s self in a business-like setting.”

When he is not working 10 hours per week in the SGA office or working 16 hours per week at his two on-campus jobs at the College of Health Professions Center of Excellence and the Goldstein Fitness Center, he is building connections that will continue to lift him toward success.

“The best part is connecting with professors and the relationships I have with my advisors and my managers at my three on-campus jobs,” Alston says. “Pace is a great community—it feels like a home away from home. You can’t find that at a lot of universities.”