Jackie DelliSanti ’20 started her academic career as an undecided major. “Pace offered a wide variety of majors that could be possibilities for me—some that other schools do not have,” she explained. It was only natural that she would gravitate toward the women’s basketball team, having played in high school.

When I came to campus, everyone was friendly and very welcoming. The coaches and other staff were very honest, [and] I felt that they truly had my best intentions at heart.

By then, DelliSanti already had a long history working with children through sports camps, which is how her plans for the future began to take shape. That and the fact that she knew she didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk. “I wanted to be of use to people,” she told us. “Teaching gives me the opportunity to do this.” Ultimately, DelliSanti chose to major in teaching students with disabilities, a cause that has always been near and dear to her heart. “In high school, I was part of the Special Olympics,” she said. “It is the best feeling to see someone you helped be so thankful and happy.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows DelliSanti that she ultimately chose to pursue a career in teaching, or that she will continue her education at Pace for a master’s in special education. Teaching requires equal parts discipline and patience, two attributes that are absolutely essential for any successful student-athlete. And DelliSanti has played not just basketball, but also soccer, lacrosse, and even volleyball! “I would not describe myself as someone who quits when things get tough. I like to rise to the challenge,” she explained. “Having a good game and being recognized for my hard work is something that drove me even further.”

She’s been named “Setter of the Week” by Pace Athletics numerous times, and she even caught the attention of the Patch local news station, which interviewed her recently about her time at Pace and plans for the future. “Time really does fly,” DelliSanti said, reflecting on her incredibly successful sports career with 1,298 points, 724 rebounds, and 248 assists in 111 games. She was named team MVP in her junior year, and as a senior, she was second in assists. And she had a lot of wisdom to share.

“Get involved and meet new people,” DelliSanti advised the incoming first-year students in Fall 2020. “Clubs, school events, and other activities [are] available on campus help you build a network that you will need when you will eventually graduate. Professors and other personnel can be good references when you need a job, too, so talk to them. They won’t bite!” She added that rather than let intimidation overtake you, focus on your ambition and go for what you want. “College is what you make of it.”

DelliSanti is still deciding whether to continue her stellar sports career and take up coaching one day, but really, it’s clear that she will always take the court with her. She is passionate, motivated, and focused thanks to her immense athletic skill and the support she received from her friends and coaches. “Being on a team is an experience I would not trade,” she said. “Through basketball, I made so many friends that I still have today.”

We’re excited to see what the future holds for DelliSanti, and for all her fellow Pace graduates from the Class of 2020!

Alexander Romans ’21 only started painting last summer, but he’s already taking the art world by storm. Known as Harris-Lee Rose, he’s been featured in art exhibitions both locally and internationally, and he’s even posting videos of his late-night painting sessions.

Finding the right college was pretty straightforward for Alexander Romans ’21. “I grew up in the tri-state area and wanted to make sure that I stayed close to the city while in college,” he told us, and Pace was a natural fit. However, he was on quite a different path when he first started out, and it wasn’t until he completed a sixth-month internship in the real estate industry that he began to reassess his plans.

“I was full of confusion, unease, and slight frustration,” Romans told us. “I knew I didn’t want to work in the field because my heart simply wasn’t in it.” To release some of that frustration, he began painting—and his love (not to mention talent) for the medium took off. “I haven’t stopped ever since,” he said, having switched to a major in art with a focus in graphic design that very next semester.

Romans has built quite the name for himself online since. Under his artist name Harris-Lee Rose, he posts Instagram pictures and YouTube videos of his process, most of which occurs late at night. “I normally create around 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. If I’m having a very unique night, then I will continue on until sunrise the following morning,” he explained. He also plays music to keep him going, although “after an hour or so, the music tunes out and simply becomes background sounds.”

“I truly never thought I would be involved in the art world, let alone be an artist."

It’s no easy feat for anyone to launch a social media presence. Romans is as much an artist as he is a marketing and brand strategist, expertly incorporating his creative process and completed works into weekly vlogs. “I approach marketing myself as another artistic outlet,” he told us, “as well as a form of personal and public documentation of my artwork and process. I only act on what feels true and creative to me—nothing else.”

And the art world is taking notice. He’s participated in group art exhibitions both locally and internationally, including a recent solo exhibition right in his home state of New Jersey. With that experience under his belt, Romans is already looking toward the future. “I plan to start painting on clothing, illustrate [and] write a book, and continue to document and push toward getting deeper into the art world,” he said.

To date, his most memorable moment was seeing his work displayed in a public space alongside other artists. “I truly never thought I would be involved in the art world, let alone be an artist,” Romans told us. “It all seemed—and to a degree, still does—very surreal. It [...] seems to all be moving so fast.” We can’t say we’re surprised. He’s too talented not to be noticed and uplifted into the art industry!

With everything he’s accomplished so far, and so quickly, we had to ask: does he experience “art blocks” that slow or prevent his creative process? The answer: yes, but he has a clever way of dealing with them. “The only way I deal with ‘art blocks’ is by switching my medium, and it works every time for me. If I’m exhausted mentally of painting, I will draw—and vice versa.”

Romans is well on his way to taking the art world by storm, and we can’t wait to see where his next project will take him. Be sure to keep an eye on his social presence—this artist is going places.

Seven days is all we need. Maybe you’ve seen these words around campus, maybe you haven’t, but we’re pretty sure you will. In a big way.

Launched by Sports Marketing major Eli Simmons Jr. ‘21, SVNCLO is a brand for everybody. Taking its moniker from Eli’s idea that seven days is all we need to make a dream come true, he brought SVNCLO to life through fresh designs infused with a sense of nostalgia and some help from his community in Pleasantville.

“When I think of the number seven or seven days, I think about how God created the earth in seven days,” explains Eli. “So, that played a part into “SDiAWN 1,” or Seven Days is All We Need, which happens to be my first collection.”

SVNCLO, which follows a streetwear model of new periodic design drops, has been steadily growing. For Eli, his favorite design is ‘Wire Time,’ a graphic introspective representation of a time in his life when he was finding himself through his talents. “I thought about how each element [of the design] referred to this moment in my life,” he says. “The desert represented this feeling of being alone and to myself; the barbed wire displayed how I can sometimes trap myself in my thoughts; the fire was me breaking through both of these elements in this new stage of my life, aka the square.”

For Eli however, it’s about a lot more than the clothes. Over the summer, he was able to combine his passion for design with advocacy and social justice. He created a line of tees aimed at raising awareness around police brutality and the communities it impacts, including our own. All the proceeds earned from the sale of those shirts was donated to the DJ Henry Dream Fund, the George Floyd Memorial Foundation, Reclaim the Block, and the Run with Maud campaign.

“I decided to create shirts that said, ‘For Seven days We Won't Forget You.’ To me, this meant that for all of the individuals who were brutally mistreated by police—whether that be during police stops, within jails, during protests, or within their own communities—we would never forget their names and importance to the BLM movement.”

When students returned to campus in the fall, members of the Pace Community, led in large part by student athletes, came together to raise their voices against racial injustice and police brutality. INearly 100 students marched from the Pleasantville Campus to Thornwood, NY, where Pace student and football player Danroy “DJ” Henry was killed by police in 2010.The march made a strong impression on Eli.

“The Pleasantville march for DJ Henry was an amazing way to feel connected to my peers and see how we were able to come together as a community to support the same cause,” says Eli. “Overall, it was definitely a good moment for Pace.”

On top of running his own brand, Eli is also heavily connected to campus life. He serves as the Senator of Pace’s Black Student Union in Pleasantville, played on the Pace Football team, and volunteers with the Pace Mobile Food Pantry.

“With being involved in these clubs and organizations, I am able to find other creatives who are willing to help me in creating my visions when I am in the process of releasing a new collection for SVNCLO. I believe that having students participate, brings awareness to the brand in general,” he says. In addition to wearing his clothing line, other Pace students get in on the action by modeling for SVNCLO, using Pace’s Pleasantville Campus as the backdrop.

“Initially when I started having students wear my brand on campus, I realized it brought a lot of brand recognition to their friends and over time it grew to the whole campus,” he says. “It was an amazing feeling to see all of the support around me and people wearing my brand for all seven days of the week.”

Mikayla Martin ’23 is all about helping people, and her majors in applied psychology and human relations reflect that. It was important to her to find the right fit when it came to her college search, and while Martin wanted to be comfortable in the university she chose, she still wanted to pioneer her future as an independent young woman. Pace ended up being that choice for her.

“Going to Pace opened up so many doors for me, both education-wise and experience-wise. I got a chance to meet so many new friends and try many new things. Pace is a great place to get a head start on my career.”

Martin, who was born in Germany to parents who were in the military, has been extremely passionate about her community and helping others for a long time. In particular, her focus has been on mental health—and what we don’t talk about, even by today’s slowly changing standards. “There’s a lot of stigma around mental health,” Martin explained, and it’s ultimately why she chose the courses she has. “My main motivator for my major was mental health in the Black and person of color community. In these communities, mental health is often overlooked, and people tend to not get the help they want and/or need. No matter which route I decide to take for my career, I will always circle back to this underlying cause and try my hardest to make a difference in this community.”

And Martin is always looking for ways to make a difference. She’s participated in the annual Pace Makes a Difference Day where students, faculty, and staff lend a helping hand in the local community by volunteering their time, and it was an experience that had a profound effect on her. “I volunteered at GiGi’s Playhouse and got to spend the day with children [who] had Down syndrome. It was easily one of the best days of my life.” Martin said the experience even inspired her to look into becoming a licensed behavior analyst. “It holds a special meaning to me, as I also have a family member [who] has autism. I plan on using my degree—and license—to broaden my horizons and help as many people as possible.”

“My main motivator for my major was mental health in the Black and person of color community. In these communities, mental health is often overlooked, and people tend to not get the help they want and/or need.”

That level of dedication to helping her community earned Martin the distinguished honor of being named a 2020 Millennium Fellow along with a select group of her Pace peers. “I have always wanted to start a program or host an event that could help those in my community, but I never got the opportunity to do so,” she explained. “To be able to work with others to help people on such a large scale is an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I’m excited for what comes next!”

In the meantime, Martin has kept busy with her studies and even a position as a patient care assistant at Cooper University Hospital. There, she volunteered her time in the intensive care unit. “[The ICU] sounds really intimidating, but working there, you realize it’s not that bad,” Martin told us. “Before my first day, I was extremely nervous because I thought it was going to be hectic and very fast-paced—almost like [an] emergency room. However, it’s very calm and everybody is very kind and relaxed, including the patients.”

At first, Martin wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a nurse, but that job working in the ICU changed her mind. “While volunteering and observing the doctors and nurses doing their jobs, I began to realize I was more intrigued in their stories,” she explained. “I wanted to know how they ended up there, how it changed them as a person, and what they planned to do in the future.”

We know that natural curiosity and profound caring for others will only help Martin in her journey toward a fulfilling career.

A podcast setting out to define what love feels like. Made by and for college students.

That’s the opening pitch for DefLove, the new podcast by Abi Shorter ’24, an acting, film TV, voice-overs, and commercials (FTVC) major. As the host and founder, she’s got her hands full—but that’s exactly how she likes it. “I’ve been itching to make something for months. I constantly have to be creating or I’ll burst,” she told us.

Initially, she had quite a few projects planned, but COVID-19 forced everything to a screeching halt. “I’m tired of grieving,” Shorter said of the temporarily shelved works. She needed a new creative venture, and it was a talk with a friend that sparked her idea for the podcast. “Neither of us really knew what love was,” Shorter explained. “I had my idea of it—I was in love at the time actually—but it’s not the sort of thing you can receive confirmation on. It’s somehow different from that crush feeling, but how do you know when you’ve reached it? Can you?”

From there, she planned to start the podcast off with two stories from her own personal experiences with love. The script turned into a “forty-page monster” in only a few nights. Talk about motivation! “I took inspiration from the podcast Alice Isn’t Dead with the narrator structure, mushed a few separate events together, and approached my roommates with the text,” Shorter told us. (They’re acting majors. Very helpful.) They recorded everything on their phones as voice memos, and after editing it all in one five-hour sitting—geez!—the podcast was ready to be launched. “It truly is a passion project,” she said.

It’s that level of passion and dedication to the craft that truly elevates Shorter’s work. But then, she’s always been fueled by her creativity. “I love telling stories in ways that hit someone in the face,” Shorter told us. While she had plenty of experience in the theater, having put up a play she wrote herself, ultimately, she chose to pursue film instead. “There’s a humanity to acting for film because it’s mimicking reality. I’m fascinated in the real because that’s where stories happen.”

“I love telling stories in ways that hit someone in the face,” says Shorter.

She took her time choosing a college once she knew what she’d be majoring in. It was a decision that happened fairly quickly thanks to her experience during the process. “Other schools just emailed me to check my portal,” Shorter told us. “By the time their program head actually reached out to me, I’d had a Zoom call with [Pace] FTVC students and realized it was where I wanted to be.” She emphasized how “chill” everyone seemed even in those initial virtual meetups, which was another big selling point for her. “I came from a program where the air in the room would change every time the program head walked in, so it’s nice to feel like our instructors are actual people and not god-like entities in stiff button-downs.”

So, what’s next for the DefLove podcast? “I don’t really have an end goal in mind,” she said. “I just give my all to little projects like this because it’s where I find my life. If the podcast makes even one person happy and believe in their ability to love just a bit more, then it will have achieved its purpose.” We’re excited to see where it goes from here! If you’re interested in getting involved in DefLove, whether to share your own story or lend your voice acting talents, please email Shorter or DM the podcast Instagram account.

Cristina Rosario Pérez ’23 is a first-year international student eyeing marketing as a major, and she traveled from Puerto Rico to come to Pace. “I had always wanted to study in the US, but it seemed [like] a really far away dream,” she told us. Pérez was facing more obstacles than most; Hurricane Maria made landfall in September 2017, and it is now considered to be the worst natural disaster to affect her home in recorded history. “I had no electricity and no water for months after [the storm] hit, and I was scared about my future.” She dedicated herself to helping her community rebuild, temporarily shelving her hopes of pursuing higher education in the States.

And yet, her dream didn’t end there. “I want to say that after a hurricane literally comes a rainbow,” Pérez said. She was offered a scholarship to study in California for her senior year of high school. Everything began to fall into place, and with her parents’ enthusiastic support, she began to tour a variety of colleges in hopes of finding the perfect fit—and in particular, the perfect team.

“I felt such a strong connection with the people from Pace,” Pérez explained, having visited for one of the Pleasantville Campus tours. “I told my parents that I had an amazing experience and that I loved the swimming team [...]. Everyone was so [eager] to help me, especially the swimming coach, Alexis Chocianowski.”

Chocianowski ’15, who was named head swimming and diving coach last year, started out as a student-athlete at Pace too before moving up the ranks. Her passion for the sport is clear in her dedication to the team, a trait Pérez indubitably shares—and that passion began very early for her. “I started swimming when I was five years old,” she said.

Motivated by her desire to one day receive a college scholarship, Pérez trained vigorously until she earned her spot on Pace’s swimming and diving team. But what motivates her now that she has achieved the goal that once seemed impossible to reach? “Representing [my team] with as much pride as I can,” she told us. The most important thing to Pérez is “giving my best at practices so I can give my best to the team.”

For all she’s already accomplished, though, Pérez has laid out a number of goals for her time here at Pace. Not only does she want to train harder, she has her eye on even more leadership opportunities. “I will work hard to become a Residential Assistant (RA) for my sophomore year,” she explained, going on to add that, “I [want to] earn as much knowledge as I can to prepare myself for [a] career.” Being an RA is a great way to develop the skills necessary to become an excellent communicator, as well as an organized manager.

“I love meeting people from all around the world,” she enthused, another important trait for any would-be RA to possess. Combined with Pérez’s infinite passion and dedication as a student-athlete, we’re certain she will go on to hold many leadership positions here at Pace—and beyond.

“My main goal has always been to shed light on the injustices that Black people and people of color face constantly, while also working towards finding solutions,” says Pleasantville Political Science major Kimberly Mars ’23. Her podcast, The Root with Kim, focuses on her experience as a Black woman in America and serves as a platform to highlight and explore inequalities in the world around us.

“My podcast is open to people from all walks of life,” she says. “And I hope that after listening they will be more educated, have more of an open mind, and are more comfortable with having discussions about race and diversity within their communities.”

Kimberly got the idea for a podcast almost a year before she produced her first episode after realizing that the topics she talked about on her Snapchat really resonated with viewers. That realization combined with watching her favorite Black creators on YouTube develop a platform for themselves inspired her to get started. “Podcasting seemed like the natural next step and was as great way for more people to have access to my thoughts longer than 24 hours,” says Kimberly, referring to Snapchat’s ephemeral nature.

“My favorite episode to record, so far, has been ‘Protecting Black Women.’ I recorded it back in June right after it was reported that Megan Thee Stallion had been shot. People, mainly men, on social media reacted to her injuries by making fun of her and it was heartbreaking to see,” Kimberly says. “I wanted to use my platform to show people that Black women are one of the most disrespected groups in the world and that we deserve just as much respect that everyone else gets, including men.” In the episode, Kimberly laid out several examples of how Black women, especially those in the entertainment industry, have been mocked by society while still being on the frontlines leading major movements.

Kimberly’s has had a passion for advocacy for as long as she can remember and attributes that passion in large part to her family, who taught her to treat others fairly and to use her voice to stand up for what’s right. During Summer 2020, as support for the Black Lives Matter movement gained steam across the nation, Kimberly attended her first protest and spent the rest of her summer raising awareness on her podcast about the many Black lives that have been lost due to police brutality, working to educate her community about white privilege, and how to stand in solidarity with people of color.

Here at Pace, Kimberly’s the secretary for Pleasantville’s Black Student Union where she’s worked with their Executive Board to organize rallies on campus, lead group discussions about race and diversity at Pace, and provide a safe space for BIPOC students to talk about their experiences. “Being in BSU has been one of the best decisions that I’ve made while being at Pace because it’s refreshing to be able to feel seen while attending a predominately white institution,” she says.

In September, while back on campus, Kimberly joined Pace students and student-athletes for their march against police brutality, walking from campus to the site where Pace student and football player Danroy “DJ” Henry Jr. was shot and killed by a Pleasantville police officer in 2010. It was an emotional and affirming experience for Kimberly.

“It was the first time I had been able to see such a large amount of the student body stand up and demand the need for change and really gave me hope that my generation will be the one to bring a real change in our country,” she recalls.

Advocacy is hard work and it takes time, effort, and a level of patience that can be difficult to have, especially after the national conversation has shifted away. Kimberly’s advice for people still doing the work: keep pushing.

“The work we’re doing is important and will be remembered long after we are gone, so if you are losing faith, take a moment to think about all of the people who are grateful that we are providing a voice for them,” she says. “Being an advocate can be stressful on your mental health, so don’t forget to take a step back and take time to make sure that you are okay.”

What’s next for Kimberly? She’s going to keep producing The Root with Kim and working towards a more inclusive and diverse University community at Pace. “I am hoping that by the time I graduate that I will be able to say that I saw a version of myself represented on the Pleasantville Campus in more ways than one and that incoming students of color will never have to go searching for that.”

You might have heard the name Eden Litvin ’23 before. She’s responsible for reviving the Students Supporting Israel (SSI) chapter at Pace. It’s an international student-led movement that supports Israel as a Jewish Democratic nation-state, a very important—and personal—initiative for Eden. “I felt that Pace needed a pro-Israel club on campus,” she explained to us. “I knew it would make a big change in my life and in the Pace Community. The process of getting approved was definitely tricky, and posed a far greater challenge than expected.”

Ultimately, though, this was a rewarding experience for Eden, who went on to present to the Student Government Association (SGA) with a proposition: to officially adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. And they did.

“When I came up with the idea for the bill, it was in response to the spike in antisemitic attacks across NYC,” Eden explained. “When the SGA chose to adopt the IHRA definition, they took a stand that Pace University will not support hate, and made a clear statement that anti-Semitism will not be tolerated on our campus. It was one of the most meaningful things I did for the Jewish and Pro-Israeli community at my University.”

The IHRA definition for anti-Semitism is as follows:

• A certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

“I would not have been able to pass the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism at Pace without the help of three amazing organizations: SSI, Hillel, and IAC Mishelanu,” Eden told us. “We look forward to having a safe space on our campus and knowing that the university stands behind our community.”

Before Eden even came to Pace, though, she moved to the US from Israel about eight years prior. “Most of my childhood I spent speaking, reading, and writing in Hebrew,” she said, emphasizing the fact that, “Israel will always remain a crucial part of my life.” When she started researching colleges, Eden knew she wanted a unique experience—something that fit exactly what she was looking for in terms of many different factors. “Pace is the perfect school for someone who wants to have access to the world, an immense range of opportunities, and feel that they are truly a part of a school and not just a number,” she told us.

Initially, she chose international management as a major. But after taking a few business classes, she knew what she wanted to switch to. “I realized that I am more interested in marketing than management,” she told us. “I chose global marketing because I know I want to work around the world and I also love learning about different cultures, so this was [the] perfect major for what I wanted.”

Wherever Eden is headed next, we know she will continue her passionate activism and incredible leadership ability. We look forward to hearing what her next initiative will be!