YMCA will honor 3 leaders

2 'socially responsible' leaders will speak at College of Staten Island's business commencement ceremony

Staten Island Advance - May 23, 2005

Dr. Marlene Springer, Dr. Richard Guarasci and Walter Coughlin will be recognized as outstanding members of the community at the 25th Annual Awards Brunch of the Staten Island YMCA Counseling Service in Eltingville on June 12.

The brunch will begin at 10a.m. in the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloom-field. Tickets at $40 each should be purchased by June 3. For reservations, phone
(718) 948-3232.

The co-chairs are Dorothy Maclver of Willowbrook, first vice president of Independence Community Bank, and Dianne Pistor, of Prince’s Bay, broker/owner of Dianne Pistor Realty and a sales manager for Dora Homes. They have been volunteers of the YMCA for over three years.

Since 1994, Dr. Springer has served as president of the College of Staten Island.

Nationally recognized as an education administrator, Dr. Springer’s most recent appointments were by the mayor to serve on the city Commission on Women’s Issues, vice chair of the city Charter Revision Commission, and a board member of the city Council for the Humanities.

Dr. Guarasci was installed as the 18th president of Wagner College on April 13, 2003. Previously, he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs, and held the rank of professor of political science, teaching in the areas of democracy, citizenship and American diversity.

Dr. Guarasci is the author of “Democratic Education in the Age of Difference: Redefining Citizenship in Higher Education,” and numerous other publications. He founded “The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts,” a new four-year curriculum for all undergraduates, and this year Wagner received the Theodore Hesburgh Award as the outstanding undergraduate program in the nation for its freshman program.

Coughlin is the president and co-founder of The Dakota Group (An Alliance of Friends). The group was founded in response to the social service needs after the Sept. 11 disaster. He is also the social-service coordinator for the Staten Island region for the New York City Central Labor Council. He is vice co-chair of the Staten Island Council of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
 

By Julia Martin
Reprinted here with permission from the