Expanding the Reach and Accessibility for Prospective Terriers

St. Francis College is proud to announce that prospective students, freshmen and transfers, now have another option when applying to become a Terrier. (Apply now)

"Adding St. Francis to the Common Application provides more flexibility and gives St. Francis College wider outreach in recruiting new students in the United States and abroad," said Robert Oliva, Director of Recruitment & Special Events.

The Common Application is a free, online college application platform that serves and supports more than three million applicants, counselors, and teachers across the United States and around the world every year.

By becoming a Common Application member, St. Francis gains exposure to students who may not have otherwise considered the College while also making the application process more efficient.

The Common Application is used by more than one million students who are the first in their family to pursue a college degree; a population that overlaps with so many St. Francis College students and graduates, making the addition of the Common App a perfect connection.

In addition to the initial application process, Common Application also provides a mobile app that keeps students up to date on their progress in the application process.

About The Common Application

The Common Application (commonapp.org) is a not-for-profit member organization committed to the pursuit of access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. Each year, more than one million students, one-third of whom are first-generation, apply to college through the Common App's online application. Founded in 1975, The Common App serves more than 800 member colleges and universities worldwide.

St. Francis College, founded in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, is located in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Since its founding, the College has pursued its Franciscan mission to provide an affordable, high-quality education to students from New York City's five boroughs and beyond.

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St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201
www.sfc.edu

New Office Connects Students to 21^st Century Careers

For college students to succeed in our modern economy, there is no substitute for hands-on experience. SFC Innovate, a new office dedicated to enhancing co-curricular experiences and career exploration opens this month at Industry City. The office, a partnership between St. Francis College and Ikove Venture Partners, gives St. Francis College students the opportunity to intern with startup companies and network with the hundreds of companies based in Industry City.

SFC Innovate will connect students to 21^st century jobs and internships by offering experiences in a variety of career fields, from management and accounting to communications and public service.

"St. Francis College has done an amazing job over the past few years bringing professionals from all fields to our campus to train students how to be successful in modern careers," said Jennifer Lancaster, Vice President for Academics and Academic Dean. "Now we're going to the center of an amazing small business hub, giving our students access to new and growing companies where they can put their skills to use."

SFC Innovate is expected to open in August, shortly before the Fall 2018 semester begins. It will hire two new Entrepreneurs in Residence, serving as liaison between the college and the more than 450 businesses in residence at Industry City. The Entrepreneurs in Residence will coach student entrepreneurs and assist them in developing business skills including leadership, self-reflection, managing others, and communication. In addition they will work to raise the profile of the College and forge relationships with other companies at Industry City.

"The Ikove team as well as our portfolio companies are excited to expand our presence through this partnership with SFC," said Rodolfo Bellesi, co-founder and principal of Ikove Venture Partners. "In our Startup Nursery, we focus on turning concepts into companies and look forward to sharing our business acumen with the talented students entering our workforce."

SFC Innovate will be home to Ikove's newly launched FinTech Startup Nursery and serve as a launchpad for Ikove's technology portfolio. Launching an internship program with SFC, Ikove will hire student interns to help with business development.

"While there is little doubt our professors provide a first-rate education for SFC students, this partnership will place faculty and students alike in an entrepreneurial eco-system that is second to none while also expanding learning opportunities in very significant ways," added St. Francis College President Miguel Martinez-Saenz. "In addition, the collaboration with Ikove will provide students with a first-hand look at the world of start-ups in ways that are sure to transform their understanding of what is possible."

"Academic institutions are an integral component of the innovation economy ecosystem we are building at Industry City," said Andrew Kimball, CEO of Industry City. "The integration of academic institutions like St. Francis College into our community of 450+ tech, media, design, and production companies will strengthen the local talent pipeline and fuel creative and research-based collaborations between our tenants and beyond."

Ikove Venture Partners is a venture development company founded to pursue early stage investments with an emphasis on technology commercialization. Through its proprietary Startup Nursery, in partnership with multiple U.S. research institutions, Ikove identifies and validates developing high-impact technologies, providing capital and resources to bridge the commercialization gap between lab and market. Over the last three years, Ikove has successfully launched 10 technology companies and created over $100M in equity value through its Startup Nursery.

Industry City is a 6 million-square-foot mixed-use complex comprised of 16 buildings spanning 35 acres on the waterfront in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The property's ownership – led by Belvedere Capital, Jamestown and Angelo Gordon & Co. – is transforming the complex, while cultivating a diverse tenant mix that fuses today's burgeoning innovation economy with traditional manufacturing and artisanal craft. To date, the transformation has included over $250 million of infrastructure improvements, the addition of destination courtyards, experience-driven dining, retail and other amenitization and event programing. This work is paving the way toward a vibrant and diverse community of forward-thinking companies that support good-paying jobs for workers across skill and experience levels. Since the new partnership was forged in August 2013, businesses based at Industry city have grown by an average of 100 jobs per month, increasing employment from 1,900 jobs in 2013 to 7,000 jobs today. www.industrycity.com

St. Francis College, founded in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, is located in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Since its founding, the College has pursued its Franciscan mission to provide an affordable, high-quality education to students from New York City's five boroughs and beyond.

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St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201
www.sfc.edu

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY – St. Francis Brooklyn Director of Athletics Irma Garcia announces the hiring of Justine Lombardi as the program's first-ever women's soccer head coach.

"We are thrilled to announce the addition of Justine Lombardi to our family here at St. Francis Brooklyn. Justine brings a pedigree of winning and a tremendous work ethic to our program, which is set to hit the field in the fall of 2019. Her passion for the sport and ability to recruit will help St. Francis College grow in the years to come," notes Garcia.

Lombardi joins St. Francis Brooklyn after serving as a women's soccer assistant coach at her alma mater Quinnipiac University for the past six seasons. While at Quinnipiac, Lombardi played an integral role in the recruiting efforts of prospective student-athletes. She was also responsible for overseeing training aspects of the team, both physically and mentally throughout each season.

"The opportunity to start something from square one is always a great undertaking, and this will be no exception, but it is something I have dreamed of doing and that I think will be extremely satisfying – I am honored to have been chosen by Irma and the athletics department as the person to get this program off the ground and excited to create something special in the city of Brooklyn," said Lombardi on being named the first-ever women's soccer head coach in program history.

Over the past two seasons, Quinnipiac has thrived with Lombardi on staff. Last season, the Bobcats reached the MAAC semifinals after going (9-7-3, 5-2-3 MAAC). In 2016, Quinnipiac had its best season in program history as a member of the MAAC. The Bobcats finished the year (12-7-1, 7-4 MAAC) and earned the No. 2 seed in the conference championship. Quinnipiac went on to advance to the MAAC Championship Game for the first time in program history.

Before returning to Quinnipiac as an assistant coach, Lombardi spent time at Bridgeport University as an assistant from 2010-12. In 2011, the Purple Knights finished with an undefeated mark of (16-0-2) and made an appearance in the Division II NCAA Tournament.

Lombardi currently serves as the head coach for the Connecticut Football Club, a post that she has held since 2007. In 2010, she led the club team to the State Cup Championship title.

Before her coaching career began, Lombardi was a member of the Quinnipiac women's soccer team where she was a four-year starter and team captain for head coach Dave Clarke. She appeared in 64 games (58 starts) for the Bobcats during her collegiate career. Lombardi recorded one goal and six assists for a total of eight points. She graduated with a degree in Health Sciences with a concentration in Sports Medicine.

Lombardi was born in Hartford, CT, grew up in Enfield, CT, and attended Enrico Fermi High School. She played for the Connecticut Football Club during her entire youth career and continued coaching for the club after her playing career ended.

On June 24, 2018, St. Francis Brooklyn announced the addition of women's soccer as its 21^st NCAA Division I program. The team begins competition in the fall of 2019 and is set to join the Northeast Conference (NEC) as its 10^th member in the sport of women's soccer.

The launch of the St. Francis Brooklyn women's soccer program comes during the year of 50^th anniversary of the men's soccer team, which began play in 1968.

For more information on St. Francis Brooklyn athletics visit SFCAthletics.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Two St. Francis College professors will lead a campus-wide redesign of introductory history courses thanks to a $1.65 million grant awarded to the American Historical Association's (AHA) "History Gateways" program by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Associate Professors of History Dr. Eric Platt and Dr. Sara Rzeszutek will be leading campus-wide efforts, which are set to start in January 2019. Divided among 11 institutions, the grant funds the revision of introductory college-level history courses to better serve a diverse student body and align more effectively with modern college curriculums.

"We're excited to work with the AHA to further increase the effectiveness of our introductory history courses," said Platt. "As we and our colleagues from the ten other participating colleges and universities examine the best ways to teach these courses, we hope to be able to create a model that will help many additional students from across the country as well."

The AHA will coordinate researchers and professional development specialists from the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (Gardner Institute) with each institution's chosen faculty to rethink what it means to study history at the post-secondary level. This will include what is needed to implement curricular change that accurately reflects social and cultural values, as well as focus on inclusiveness.

Drawing on the successful AHA's Tuning project and the Gardner Institute's Gateways to Completion (G2C) program, this initiative will work closely with a select group of two-year and four-year institutions in Chicago, Houston, and New York, including:

New York Metro Area

• St. Francis College
• Bergen Community College
• Kean University

Houston

• Houston Community College
• University of Houston
• University of Houston Downtown
• Texas Southern University

Chicago

• Roosevelt University
• Waubonsee Community College
• University of Illinois at Chicago
• Purdue University Northwest

About The American Historical Association (AHA)
The American Historical Association is the largest professional organization serving historians in all fields and all professions. Founded in 1884, the AHA has become a trusted voice for history education, the professional work of historians, and the critical role of historical thinking in public life.

About The Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education
The Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education is a non-profit organization dedicated to partnering with colleges, universities, philanthropic organizations, educators, and other entities to increase institutional responsibility for improving outcomes associated with teaching, learning, retention, and completion. It is dedicated to advancing higher education's larger goal of achieving equity and social justice.

More than 250 guests, including artists, activists, politicians, and formerly incarcerated individuals, attended the inaugural St. Francis College Prison Reentry, Reform and Possibilities Conference on November 14th and 15th.

This two-day conference aimed to highlight the achievements of SFC's Post-Prison Program through a series of panel discussions, while examining the moral and religious implications of reentry programs and raising awareness about the innovative programs for those currently in prison.

"This conference was actually the idea of our new President Miguel Martinez-Saenz," said Dr. Emily Horowitz, Criminal Justice Professor and Co-Director of the Post-Prison Program at SFC. "We really wanted to do conference where we could address our problem of mass incarceration, which is a huge embarrassment to this country, and look at new ways to make mass incarceration more humane and also make the reentry process more humane."

Since 2014, SFC's Post-Prison Program has enrolled 14 full-time students, giving formerly incarcerated men and women a chance to pursue higher education. Three of the students from the inaugural cohort graduated with their bachelor's degrees in 2018.

Several students attended the conference to share their incarceration and reentry experiences. A number of keynote speakers examined topics ranging from the realities of punishment while incarcerated, to the challenges of reentry after prison.

Keynote speakers included Chris Owens, Director of the Re-entry Bureau at the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office; Vaughn Mayers, Chief of Staff for the Office of Senator Kevin S. Parker; Assemblywoman Latrice Parker; and NYS Assemblyman David I. Weprin, Chair of the Corrections Committee.

The first panel discussion, moderated by Dr. John Edwards, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at SFC, explored the concept of redemption in religious thought.

Panelists included Dr. Jenny Labenz, a Jewish Studies scholar and Assistant Professor at SFC; Debbie Almontaser, a Muslim Educator and Founder of Bridging Cultures; Rev. Barbara E. Davis Executive Minister at First Presbyterian Church in Manhattan; and Joshua Stancil, a Catholic activist who was formerly incarcerated. Panelists discussed how their own religious traditions offered room for understanding and critiqued the judicial system for failing in this area.

The second panel discussion focused on the St. Francis Post Prison Program and featured a panel of current students enrolled in the program– Steuben Vega, Kevin Smith, Luis Pelaez– and Felix Colon, who graduated from St. Francis in May. The students shared their perspective on the challenges of prison, and how attending St. Francis offered them not only an education and degree, but support, mentorship, and social networks during the challenging reentry process.

The panel was moderated by Keston Jones, who was formerly incarcerated, is now pursuing a doctorate at Yeshiva University and serves as the founder of the Foundation for the Advancement and Rehabilitation of the Marginalized.

The final panel of the day, moderated by conference co-organizer Dr. Michelle Gantt (Education Supervisor of the Metropolitan Detention Center) discussed the importance of education programs within prisons. With input from Dr. Christa Mercer of Columbia University, K. Bain of Cure Violence, and Nick Franklin of the Brooklyn Public Library, panelists discussed how education programs can be transformative for incarcerated men and women.

In addition to panel discussions, there was a screening of the documentary film Cooler Bandits, and a performance by Theatre for Social Change.

One of the most powerful aspects of the conference was a full-size replica solitary confinement cell and virtual reality experience coordinated by Johnny Perez '18 of the National Religion Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT). Doug Van Zandt of the New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, constructed the cell onsite in Callahan Center and offered tours of the cell, along with Felix Colon '18.

This conference was hosted in partnership with the SFC Office of the President in collaboration with Gantt of the Metropolitan Detention Center and Perez of NRCAT.

St. Francis College is committed to providing higher education to disadvantaged and first-generation college students. Learn more about SFC's Post-Prison Program at visit sfc.edu/postprison or contact Dr. Emily Horowitz at ehorowitz@sfc.edu or 718.489.5446.