WalletHub featured Lubin Professor Larry Chiagouris in “Best Metal Credit Cards (October 2021): Bonus up to $1,400”

Lubin School of Business

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Twenty Years: Remembering 9/11

New York City
Westchester

Twenty years ago, the Pace Community lost 47 members—students and alumni alike—and was closed for several weeks as we worked toward recovery. To mark the solemn occasion, we asked members of the Pace Community to share their experiences and recollections of the day and the time after.

tribute in light over a dark manhattan skyline
tribute in light over a dark manhattan skyline
Alyssa Cressotti and Lance Pauker

The events of 9/11 have had a profound effect on a generation of people around the world, but our University, located mere blocks away from the World Trade Center, felt the impact first-hand. Twenty years ago, the Pace Community lost 47 members—students and alumni alike—and was closed for several weeks as we worked toward recovery.

To mark the solemn occasion, we asked members of the Pace Community to share their experiences and recollections of the day and the time after. You can read their stories below. We also invite you to explore the Pace University 9/11 Oral History Project, detailing the timeline from the University’s perspective, housing audio interviews of first-hand accounts, and Pace student publications from the period.

Read

Listen and Explore

Explore the Pace University 9/11 Oral History Project curated by Professor Maria Iacullo-Bird, PhD, and archivist Ellen Sowcheck. Read the student newspapers from the days following September 11, listen to the interviews conducted by Pace students, and learn more about our on-campus memorials.

View

See images from this year's on-campus memorials, selected images from the 2001 student periodicals, and images of the National September 11 Memorial and Tribute in Lights captured by Pace student Ibrahim Boran '22. See the gallery.

Anthony Reinhart '05

Twenty years. Each and every moment exists as if it were yesterday. There's the moment I first heard the sirens. The moment I looked out my 13th floor window in Maria's Tower at the crystal clear blue sky and saw cars pulled over on the Brooklyn Bridge, people staring up past my dorm room at something with fright. Then there's the moment I turned the corner on my floor, looked out another window, and set my eyes on that tower—just blocks away—engulfed in flames, debris floating through the sky toward us. Wondering, "What happened?" Thinking, "That's going to be one huge hole tomorrow."

I can never forget the screams of my fellow floormates as the second Tower was hit and running down to the 12th floor, staring out the window in Kristen and Krystal's room. Unable to comprehend all that was happening, I actually shuffled over to my first class of the day— math on the 3rd floor. Students lined the hallway, looking out the windows in disbelief. I soon decided to return to the dorm.

A short bit later, there was Dean Marijo Russell-O'Grady, maintaining her forever calm self, standing at the Security station of the Spruce Street entrance. Krystal and I went to step out onto Spruce Street. We didn't know it then, but at that moment the first tower collapsed. A stampede of people rushing out of Pace combined with a rush of people running down Spruce Street instantly separated us. I can still picture a guy on Spruce Street turning to me and saying "The top of the building fell off," and the one who ran full speed right into a parking meter as he raced against the cloud.

Then the miracle I experienced that day—my guardian angel placing my dad right there, at Gold and Spruce, at the very moment my 17-year-old self arrived at that corner.

Then the miracle I experienced that day—my guardian angel placing my dad right there, at Gold and Spruce, at the very moment my 17-year-old self arrived at that corner. There's the fear I had as we stepped onto the Manhattan Bridge, and the sadness as we watched the second Tower fall. There is the street corner in Brooklyn where we stopped to join a crowd gathered around a car to hear the radio, unsure if more planes were out there. Having walked for miles, the payphone we used to call my grandparents; and the moment they arrived, Nana with tears in her eyes, as they drove us back to their house. Watching the news reports, in total disbelief of what we had been witness to that morning, and then starting to realize that so many heroes ran into those buildings, never to walk out. The shock of hearing how much death and destruction had been caused.

They say never forget. I won't forget. I can't forget. It's there. Seared in my memory. Forever.

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Marianne Cala-Perkins '03

I had just started an MBA program at Pace. It was my second day of classes. I got off the subway at Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall on the 4/5 line at around 8:40 a.m. and realized that I took the wrong exit at the platform. It took me a minute to realize where I was. I saw Pace University and was about to cross the street when I heard the explosion.

I immediately looked up and saw what appeared to be an outline of a plane in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. I remember the shocked expressions of those pedestrians around me. I stood there for several minutes just watching papers flying out of the North Tower. I remember hearing sirens and seeing a fire truck go down the street I was about to cross.

I proceeded to Pace University and students in the hallways were talking about the plane that just hit the World Trade Center. I walked to my international business class and then got word that another plane had just hit the World Trade Center. Some of the students seemed calm while others were visibly shaken and left. Then our professor walked in. I don’t remember her name, but what I do remember was that she was trying to stay calm. She told us she would not be teaching today and would just go over the syllabus and the goals of the course. She made it clear to us that we could leave if we want. She ended the class very early.

I walked out of the classroom into the hallway unsure of what to do. Immediately, I saw a student run up to another student and say that a plane had hit the Pentagon. I stopped because I saw people in a room standing around a television. The headline was “America Under Attack.” I started watching amongst the crowd. After a number of minutes, I felt the building vibrate and I could hear someone say “What was that?” Which was exactly what I was thinking. Then someone screamed, “The World Trade Center just fell!” That moment was the most frightful moment of the day for me. I had no idea what was about to happen to the rest of lower Manhattan.

Within a few seconds, a man instructed everyone to head down to the basement and we all started to take the stairs down. To this day, I do not know that man’s role at Pace University but I remember that he was calm and authoritative. We all headed to the basement where I spent the next few hours. There was a television in the basement and we learned the subway lines were all suspended. I wasn’t able to get home to Astoria, so I called home (collect) as soon as I could get to a payphone. My father was home and I let him know that I was okay and would wait until the subway lines were running to head home. I went to the cafeteria to get something to eat for lunch and I remember seeing members of the FDNY quietly eating lunch.

I will always remember Pace University opening up its cafeteria to the FDNY, the moments of silence my professors held almost two weeks later when classes resumed and last but not least, how Pace University helped me feel safe and secure on that terrifying day.

Pace University gave out face masks and I still have mine from that day. I got home around 5:30 p.m. and soon after, my family and I ate our dinner in disbelief and shock from the day that would change our country forever. When I think of September 11, like most New Yorkers and Americans, I think of the fear and shock, the tragic loss of lives, and the subsequent grief. But I will always remember Pace University opening up its cafeteria to the FDNY, the moments of silence my professors held almost two weeks later when classes resumed and last but not least, how Pace University helped me feel safe and secure on that terrifying day.

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Michael Duffy '01

It was a beautiful blue sky day. I was working for Oxford University Press at 35th and Madison. When both planes hit, I walked down to 5th Avenue to watch the scene unfold, and then solemnly walked over the 59th Street Bridge into Queens.

Walking across the bridge with the smoke of the collapsed buildings in the distance, I looked down at the t-shirt I wore that day after taking my work shirt off. Printed on the t-shirt was the Twin Towers, for the Yankees-Mets Subway Series.

I went to bed that night not expecting to wake up the next day. But when I did, I couldn’t come to terms. On 9/11, I felt out-of-body and dissociated. It didn’t occur to me that people had died, that the planes and buildings were occupied; like no one ever walked into the buildings.

It’s 20 years later, and I just haven’t come to grips with it. I have suffered from survivors’ guilt. I couldn’t listen to planes overhead. NYC is difficult for me to visit. But I have been to the 9/11 Memorial and it’s a beautiful display of emotion. The fountains are a good representation of the people and their memory. I send love to everyone affected, always.

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Brynn Fallah '05

September 11, 2001 was my second day living in NYC and attending Pace. I had spent my freshman year at a rural school in Pennsylvania and transferred to Pace my sophomore year to stretch my life experience and have full access to the city while getting an education. I didn’t get housing, so I commuted from Connecticut my first couple of weeks. My dad and I finished moving me into an apartment on the corner of John and Gold the night of September 9 and so I began my independent journey as a New Yorker.

The morning of 9/11 I didn’t hear a thing but my phone ringing repeatedly. It was a friend checking in to see if I was okay. We got cut off. Phone lines were such a mess that day. I showered quickly and had a rock in my stomach. I didn’t have internet or a TV yet so I had no idea what was going on. I threw on some clothes and went outside to see the Towers standing, but burning. My 19-year-old mind could not comprehend. Could anyone’s?

At first we all thought it was a horrible accident. People who weren’t right there had more access to news and information than we did. I hadn’t made friends at school yet, so I had no one to go to or be with. The impact of being alone and so deeply fearing for my life and the lives of others has stayed with me 20 years later.

The impact of being alone and so deeply fearing for my life and the lives of others has stayed with me 20 years later.

I fled when the Towers fell. Everything went dark and I ducked into a building lobby. Eventually I found my way back to my own building and I stayed there for much of the day. That evening I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to a friend’s cousin’s home, who I had never met. The next morning, my dad came to get me and we stayed in Connecticut until Pace reopened. We were so hopeful that Pace would be used as a triage for survivors. We now know how few were ever found, of course.

I never recovered if I’m being honest. That year I barely went to class, I barely slept, I never took public transportation out of fear of other attacks, and I didn’t make any friends. I’ll never know why and will always regret that I didn’t ask for help at school. Now I know I was experiencing PTSD, but I was full of shame because there were so many others who were impacted more than I was.

I graduated in 2005 and did get myself into therapy to recover from that trauma. My degree was in applied psychology and human relations, and I proceeded to get a master’s degree from Hunter in school counseling. Today I coach districts and schools in Delaware to integrate mental health and social emotional learning into a multi-tiered system of support framework. I collaborate with state leaders to prioritize trauma training to support all students statewide. Thanks for letting me share my story.

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Charles Binder '86

I was 11 years into my career with the US Coast Guard Reserve, stationed at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. On September 12, I was called up to active duty which would ultimately last for two years. During that time I was assigned to the new Sea Marshall Program to intercept vessels that may have been involved with illicit cargo, human trafficking, and other security risks to inspect them with a tactical team and either clear them or refuse entry into the Port of NY and NJ.

After being discharged, I was selected for the new Intelligence Specialist rating to use my skills to ascertain various threats to the port. I eventually retired as a Chief Intelligence Specialist after serving 25 years. The last 15 years of that career was changed dramatically due to the events and subsequent reaction to 9/11 in ways that I had never imagined.

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James O'Sullivan '98

I was a police officer assigned to the Bronx. I was off that day living at home when my father came in and said "They crashed a plane into the World Trade Center.”

I got up and put the TV on in time to see the second plane hit. I knew it was bad. I reported to work and wound up going down to the site later that evening. I remember how everything was covered in ash and how quiet it was, like after a heavy snow. I remember looking at Pace Plaza and not even realizing that was where the campus was located (I had been a Pleasantville student).

I remember how everything was covered in ash and how quiet it was, like after a heavy snow.

I can remember that whole day from waking up to going home the next day. Fast forward 20 years later and I am a proud member of the faculty of Pace University, and have been teaching in the criminal justice program for the last ten years.

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Crystal Hartley '05

I was a freshman at Pace University’s New York City Campus and was living in Maria’s Tower. On the morning of September 11, I was asleep when I heard a loud boom. I didn’t think much about it because during the night there were thunderstorms. I began to hear a steady stream of sirens and I was awoken by somebody rushing into my room telling me that the World Trade Center was on fire. We all ran to the lobby of our dorm floor and stared out the windows facing the World Trade Center. The news was on in the background and it seemed that the media was just as confused as we were.

We saw a second plane approaching and my first instinct was that it was going to be pouring water on the tower to stop the fire. As the plane approached we knew that something was off and the next thing you knew, it flew through the second Tower, causing an explosion that looked like it was going to hit our building. At that moment everybody started screaming, running around, not knowing what to do. I quickly got dressed and ran downstairs; some people were running into the building, some people were running out of the building. Outside, everything was covered in dust and people were running toward the Brooklyn Bridge. I witnessed people jumping out of the WTC—it was the most gut-wrenching thing I’ve ever seen.

Once we realized our building was stable, I ran back inside. I found my way into Pace’s Financial Aid offices where I was able to call my mother. On the phone with her, I just cried because I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen to me, but I wanted her to know I was safe at that moment. I told her I would try to call her again once I knew what was happening. Just then, the second tower collapsed.

In the chaos, I saw people coming together to help others; trying to gather supplies and debris to build stretchers.

Everyone around me was going crazy; someone yelled they smelled gas and again we ran outside. It was like the apocalypse. In the chaos, I saw people coming together to help others; trying to gather supplies and debris to build stretchers.

At some point that day, I remember being in the auditorium being told that Pace was trying to get buses to take students to the Pleasantville Campus the next day and if we did not wish to go we had to find our own way out of the city. I went back to my dorm and made arrangements with my step-father to come to the city to bring myself and a few other students back to Pennsylvania.

As night approached and the electricity went out, things seemed to go silent except for a steady high pitched sound that lasted through the night. I later found out that noise was coming from PASS devices, a loud audible alert to notify others in the area that firefighters were in distress.

The next morning I gathered my belongings, found the other students who were coming with me and headed outside in hopes of being able to get out of NYC. Nothing prepared me for what I saw. Outside, there was an army vehicle of some sorts, with an armed man lying on top. As we walked by, we all took in the scene—it did not look like lower Manhattan; it looked like we were transported to a war zone. We continued our walk north to Midtown where we took a Red Cross ferry to New Jersey. We waited there for six hours until my stepfather was able to pick us up.

As we walked by, we all took in the scene—it did not look like lower Manhattan; it looked like we were transported to a war zone.

After several days of being home, we received word that we were allowed to return to campus. I knew that I had to return and so back to Pace I went. The months following were a blur; it seemed like all of my classes all we did was discuss our experiences and listen to one another. I got used to wearing a mask, having air purifiers in rooms, not being able to open windows. There were groups that would go out in the evening and walk down to the fire station and sing and thank them. Eventually, things started to feel like we were getting back to some sort of normalcy. I graduated in 2005 and moved back to Pennsylvania.

9/11/2001 changed me forever. I can close my eyes and relive all of those events. It has been 20 years and I still can’t talk about it without crying. It’s hard for people to understand what it was like for a freshman who was excited to start school and be in a big city with big dreams, and within a few days you are fearing for your life. I know I am extremely fortunate that I am alive and that I wasn’t harmed or lost a loved one.

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Global Influence, Global Recognition

Environmental
Return on Investment
Westchester

Elisabeth Haub School of Law's Nicholas Robinson, JD, has earned countless accolades over his illustrious career; now, he's received a unique global honor.

new york wetlands
new york wetlands
Image
Nicholas A. Robinson
Nicholas A. Robinson, JD

For more than 50 years, Pace University Professor on the Environment and Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus Nicholas A. Robinson, JD, has been a trailblazer in the field of environmental law—in fact, Pace’s environmental law program, currently ranked #1 in the nation, certainly would not exist without the dedication of Robinson, who founded Pace’s environmental law programs several decades ago.

While the Pace Community has been well aware of Robinson’s many vital contributions to the field for quite some time (the Nicholas Robinson Award for Distinguished Environmental Achievement, established in 2005 recognizes alumni who have made significant contributions to environmental law), the recognition of his impact has gone global.

“If this award can encourage more of us to take up the tasks we began, then we can take courage that the efforts of the pioneers in this field will be well served,” said Robinson.

Recently, the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, a major worldwide network of environmental law scholars and policy experts, established a new award—the Nicholas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law—to recognize excellence in life-time achievements furthering environmental law.

“If this award can encourage more of us to take up the tasks we began, then we can take courage that the efforts of the pioneers in this field will be well served,” said Robinson. “I am not at all sure that I deserve this recognition. I am still stunned and not quite comprehending this acknowledgement and encouragement now bearing my name. I hope in its small way it helps our global community make peace with nature.”

The Pace Community extends its congratulations to Robinson for this well-deserved honor.

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Coding Their Way to Success

New York City
Pace Path/Student Success
Seidenberg School of CSIS

Creativity. Know-how. Entrepreneurial spirit. That's what it takes launch your own startup. Just ask the founders of Wepptek.

screens of code
three headshots over a lines of code

Allan Krasner ’20, Manuel Garza ’22, and Isaiah Jimenez ’23 met while working at Seidenberg Creative Labs and the Entrepreneurship Lab. It turned out that this environment was the perfect match for the trio, who have combined their technical acumen and collective conscientiousness to launch Wepptek, a startup dedicated to assisting clients with a wide range of professional website and application needs.

“The three of us met together for the first time in the eLab without realizing that we would be working much closer together in the near future,” Krasner told Seidenberg. “Seidenberg Creative Labs helped the three of us understand how the flow of projects is supposed to work and helped us understand any potential problems that we might run into in the development process.”

“Seidenberg Creative Labs helped the three of us understand how the flow of projects is supposed to work and helped us understand any potential problems that we might run into in the development process.”

Krasner, Garza, and Jimenez have been busy. Through working with clients—which have already included a charter school consulting firm and the Union of Adjunct Faculty at Pace—they’ve been able to solidify their roles and ideal workflow as they strive to build an expanded customer base. Krasner, the CEO, has his hands in a little bit of everything to keep the business running while also focusing on the big picture. Garza, the CTO, centers his focus on the technological components of each project. And Jimenez, the COO, ensures things run smoothly on the operations side, while always keeping his eye out for more clients.

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Twenty years ago, the Pace Community lost 47 members—students and alumni alike—and was closed for several weeks as we worked toward recovery. To mark the solemn occasion, we asked members of the Pace Community to share their experiences and recollections of the day and the time after.

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Pace is excited to announce that Marcus Tye, PhD, has taken the helm as the dean for the College of Health Professions.

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Rhonda Miller, head of Pace’s BFA in Commercial Dance, wanted to build a different kind of dance program. “I wanted it to be relevant and useful—to include all forms of dance and the practical business skills dancers need but so often don’t have. We’re giving students the tools they need to navigate show business and make a living in dance.”

A New Dean at CHP

College of Health Professions

Pace is excited to announce that Marcus Tye, PhD, has taken the helm as the dean for the College of Health Professions.

CHP students working with a faculty member.
headshot of dean marcus tye

Following the retirement of Dean Harriet Feldman, Pace is excited to announce that Marcus Tye, PhD, has taken the helm as the dean for the College of Health Professions.

Image
Marcus C. Tye, Dean, CHP
Dean Marcus Tye, PhD

Tye, a licensed clinical psychologist, comes to Pace having served as dean of the School of Health Sciences and interim dean of the School of Education at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY). In addition, Tye has written a comprehensive survey textbook on gender and sexuality rooted in the biopsychosocial model with an emphasis on cultural diversity, and has provided psychological services in assisted living facilities, inpatient rehab, and long-term psychotherapy.

“Dean Tye's career and expertise align well with the vision, goals, and mission of Pace University, and our aim to educate our student body for current and future healthcare challenges," Provost Vanya Quiñones. "We welcome Dean Tye to Pace and are excited that he will bring the necessary know-how to prepare our students as successful healthcare professionals.”

Tye’s appointment comes at an exciting time for the College of Health Professions, which, in addition to launching new programs and improved facilities, was recently awarded a $2 million federal grant to increase opportunities and retention for historically underrepresented minorities in the field of nursing.

“It's a privilege to join the College of Health Professions and work to create new programs to complement the already strong roster of program offerings,” Tye said. “I believe Pace is uniquely positioned with medical center affiliations throughout Westchester and NYC to develop new programs in genetic counseling and precision medicine, public health and other fields in the health sciences, and to further diversity and inclusion in interprofessional education with cultural competence and LGBTQIA+ populations.”

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The Pace Business Poll

Lubin School of Business
New York City
Westchester

Local businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and after nearly two years in a pandemic, things are beginning to look up. In fact, a majority of businesses surveyed in the region say they will be stronger after the pandemic. Half say they are feeling pretty good about the future.

Pace university students in a computer lab on campus.
Pace university students in a computer lab on campus.
Jerry McKinstry

Local businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and after nearly two years in a pandemic, things are beginning to look up. In fact, a majority of businesses surveyed in the region say they will be stronger after the pandemic. Half say they are feeling pretty good about the future.

How do we know? Pace University recently released the results of its first poll—one that focuses exclusively on how businesses managed their operations during the pandemic. The results were as interesting as they were informative, and are going to be integrated into the classroom as part of Pace’s commitment to experiential learning, said Professor Kathryn Winsted, director of Lubin's Center for Student Enterprise and the Pace Business Poll.

The Pace Business Poll, a partnership between Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, The Business Council of New York State and The Business Council of Westchester, surveyed approximately 300 business leaders from New York City and its suburbs. The poll was conducted by email and by phone by students at Pace Connect, one of Lubin’s five student-run businesses in the Center for Student Enterprise at Pace.

“This was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about business and how businesses respond to crises,” said Liang Lin, a senior management major who is general manager at Pace Connect. “It was also very helpful for us to learn how to communicate effectively with business leaders.”

Professor Winsted noted how insightful and hopeful the respondents were; she is encouraged by the responses.

“The resiliency showed by many businesses during the pandemic was inspiring, and there is much to be gained by studying how businesses adjusted, adapted, and found new ways to make things work,” Winsted said. “Many business leaders expressed growing appreciation for the need for work/life balance and the importance of employees’ well-being.”

Read the full report here and watch a video about the Pace Business Poll. The Pace Business Poll is working on its next poll this fall, which will focus on return to work, business sentiment, real estate, employee concerns, customer relations, and other issues of interest. Business interested in participating in the next poll can email pacepoll@pace.edu.

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An OASIS in Westchester

Diversity and Equity
Pace Path/Student Success
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For 12 years, Pace has been supporting neurodiverse students and students on the autism spectrum through its Ongoing Academic Social Instructional Support (OASIS) program. This year, through initiatives from the President and Provost’s offices, OASIS has expanded its services to the Pace Community in Westchester.

woman sitting on bench in pleasantville
woman sitting on bench in pleasantville
Alyssa Cressotti

For 12 years, Pace has been supporting neurodiverse students and students on the autism spectrum through its Ongoing Academic Social Instructional Support (OASIS) program. This year, through initiatives from the President and Provost’s offices, OASIS has expanded its services to the Pace Community in Westchester.

Expanding the OASIS program, which provides comprehensive support services for neurodiverse students, those on the autism spectrum, and those with other learning challenges, from Pace’s NYC Campus to Pleasantville was a natural next step in the program’s evolution.

“Many of our students are now pursuing graduate degrees,” says Torres.

The serene suburban atmosphere of Pace’s Pleasantville Campus was a great fit for students who do best without the sensory overload that comes from being in the hustle-and-bustle of Lower Manhattan. Plus, percentage-wise, more students in Pleasantville self-identify as being on the autism spectrum than in NYC.

“We’ve got a small cohort in Pleasantville right now, so it’s a really intimate setting,” says The Nancy A. Garvey, PhD, Director of the OASIS Program and Accessibility Resources, Kate Torres. “Of the group, three of our students switched from the NYC Campus to Pleasantville. They really like the environment up here.”

Since OASIS began, students enrolled in the program have earned enormous success with a 3.0+ academic average, several internship offers (85 percent of students receive them!), and a 100 percent graduation rate. They are passionate about fulfilling their dreams of furthering their education, and now, the OASIS team—which includes coaches, coordinators, counselors, and more—will be even better positioned to ensure that happens.

“Many of our students are now pursuing graduate degrees,” says Torres. “And now, we’re actively working to support them in not just obtaining a bachelor’s degree, but now going beyond that. Right now, we have three students who are applying to Pace graduate programs in the fall.”

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Now Loading: Our New Website

This summer, Pace's digital presence got a makeover, resulting in a new-and-improved website that directly aligns with Pace's strategic priorities.

young woman looking at a laptop
young woman looking at a laptop

As the popular adage goes, you never get a second chance at a first impression. In today’s world, that first impression often comes via the web. Which is why, after over a year of planning and tireless work, the University is proud to present our vastly new-and-improved website, launched in the summer of 2021.

“Our new website is a wonderful launching pad to continue to tell the Pace story,” said Mary Baglivo, Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of University Relations. “The enhanced utility and ease of access for current and future Pace Community members will certainly pay dividends in the coming years. Our team—many of whom spent countless hours on the ins and outs of this substantial undertaking—should be enormously proud of their work.”

Thanks to the diligence and foresight of University Relations, ITS, and Enrollment Management, the new Pace website was designed with several critical goals in mind, including: improving recruitment and enrollment success across all educational tracks; engaging our audience with compelling stories that showcase the best of what Pace has to offer; the creation of easy-to-use content hubs for current students, faculty, and families, and; optimizing the mobile experience. In fact, because nearly half of all our web traffic comes from handheld devices, this website was designed mobile first.

The website is also designed to improve our SEO, and brings the University in full compliance with ADA accessibility standards.

"While the front end of the website is beautiful, the back end is really where this upgrade shines. All of the content you’ve seen, all the images, the H1 header tags, the meta descriptions, all are designed with SEO in mind—as a result, our SEO partner agency, Path Interactive, is very excited to work with us," explains Director of Online Communication Gisela Tirado-Tewes. "Another thing to keep in mind here is that the old pace.edu site was built before web-design really took web-accessibility into account. The new site will be fully compliant allowing us to better serve people with visual impairments."

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Debra Moss Vollweiler To Join Haub Law as Visiting Professor, Bringing Expertise in Secured Transactions, Corporations and Partnerships

Elisabeth Haub School of Law

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is pleased to announce that Debra Moss Vollweiler will join its law faculty as a visiting professor in the spring of 2022. While at Haub Law, she will be teaching Secured Transactions and Corporations and Partnerships.

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is pleased to announce that Debra Moss Vollweiler will join its law faculty as a visiting professor in the spring of 2022. While at Haub Law, she will be teaching Secured Transactions and Corporations and Partnerships.

“Both Secured Transactions and Corporations and Partnerships are two of the most complex courses in a law student’s curricular journey. The Elisabeth Haub School of Law is extremely fortunate to have Dean Debra Moss Vollweiler joining us for a semester to share her expertise in these areas with our students. Haub Law students who have the opportunity to learn from her in the spring will benefit greatly from that experience,” said Jill I. Gross, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law.

Debra Moss Vollweiler currently serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and a tenured Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad College of Law, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and is the former Interim Dean of the College of Law. At NSU Law, Dean Vollweiler teaches Contracts, UCC: Secured Transactions, UCC: Sales, and other business and commercial law courses. A frequently published scholar, her works have focused on professionalism, teaching, learning, and attorney discipline. Dean Vollweiler’s latest works, entitled, If you Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em (Virtually): Institutionally Managing Law Students as Consumers in a COVID World and If you Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em: Institutionally Managing Law Students as Consumers, are both published in the Pace Law Review.

In 2016, Dean Vollweiler was named a fellow for the National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism, presenting on the inclusion of professional identity and other professionalism learning outcomes in the law school curriculum. An expert on the law school curriculum, she is also the co-author of "Legal Education at a Crossroads," a book examining curricular change in law schools nationwide and advocating for data based curriculum development. In 2017, she was also recognized by the Florida Bar with the statewide Law Faculty Professionalism award.

Very well-regarded by the students at NSU Law, in 2017, Dean Vollweiler also received NSU’s Distinguished Professor of the Year award for the College of Law. She was also named "Professor of the Year" by the College of Law Student Bar Association in 2007, 2014, and 2015. In both 2019 and 2021, she was the NSU College of Law Executive of the Year.

Further, Dean Vollweiler is a member of two executive committees of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS), both the Teaching Methods section and the Section on Associate Deans for Academic Affairs and Research. She serves as a site inspector for the ABA accreditation process and has spoken nationally on teaching, learning, and professionalism at the AALS, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, and ABA Conferences, among others. She also has forthcoming articles on Syllabus Out, “Skillabus” In: A New Kind of Academic Road Map for Legal Education and The COVID Crisis Impact on Legal Education.

Horace E. Anderson, Jr., Dean of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, said, “We are grateful to have the opportunity to welcome Dean Debra Moss Vollweiler to Haub Law for a semester this upcoming spring. Dean Vollweiler has experience as a practitioner, a scholar, a professor, and as an expert on the law school curriculum. We were honored to publish her work in the Pace Law Review and we are now honored to have her teaching as a visiting professor at our law school.”

Debra Moss Vollweiler is a graduate of Boston College Law School and Tufts University and began her work in legal education by establishing the Public Interest Law Center at the NSU College of Law in 1995.

About Elisabeth Haub School of Law

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University offers JD and Masters of Law degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in Environmental Law. The school, housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, N.Y., opened its doors in 1976 and has more than 9,000 alumni around the world. The school maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory. Haub Law launched its Environmental Law Program in 1978, and it has long been ranked among the world’s leading university programs, with a current #1 ranking by U.S. World and News Report. Pace’s doctoral graduates teach environmental law at universities around the world. Pace’s JD alumni are prominent in environmental law firms, agencies and non-profit organizations across the U.S. and abroad. In 2016, the Law School received a transformational gift from the family of Elisabeth Haub, in recognition of its outstanding environmental law programs.

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