On Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, friends and family of Wagner College gathered at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City for a gala dinner and program to celebrate President Richard Guarasci’s 10th anniversary. More than 350 people attended the black-tie affair.
This Web page contains several items that will allow you to share in this milestone for the Wagner College community:
- Four videos of the gala program, concluding with an address by President Guarasci;
- A special issue of Wagner College’s student newspaper, The Wagnerian, honoring President Guarasci, and
- A biography of Richard Guarasci, published this summer in Wagner Magazine.
You can also view and download photos from the gala on our Flickr site.
PART ONE: Mistress of ceremonies Michele Pawk, member of the Wagner College Theatre faculty and a Tony Award-winning actress, opens the evening’s program and introduces the gala’s sponsors, dignitaries and other notables present. Bishop Robert Rimbo, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Metropolitan New York Synod and a member of Wagner College’s Board of Trustees, delivers the invocation, followed by a welcoming address from Dr. Warren Procci ’68, chairman of the board of trustees. Greetings from New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo are delivered by Erik Bottcher, the governor’s special assistant for community affairs. Video greetings are offered by Staten Island Borough President Dr. James Molinaro H’11 and New York City Mayor Dr. Michael Bloomberg H’05. (16 min.)
PART TWO: M.C. Michele Pawk introduces two speakers from earlier stages of Richard Guarasci’s academic career: Stephen Hirschfeld, a partner in the San Francisco law firm of Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP and a former student of Richard Guarasci at St. Lawrence University, where Guarasci was a political science professor and associate dean of its innovative first-year program (1973-92); and Richard Hersh, former president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where Guarasci was the dean of Hobart College (1992-97). Pawk reads a tribute to President Guarasci from Carol Geary Schneider, president of the American Association of Colleges & Universities, followed by video greetings from three presidents who know Guarasci well: Beverly Daniel Tatum, president of Spelman College; Devorah Lieberman, president of the University of LaVerne and former Wagner College provost, with husband Roger Auerbach; and former U.S. President Bill Clinton. (23 min.)
PART THREE starts with a short video, “A Day in the Life of President Guarasci,” produced by Wagner College’s digital media director, Anna Mulé. M.C. Michele Pawk introduces two Student Government Association presidents, Tad Bender ’06 and Greg Balaes ’13, who deliver short tributes. Then the two Guarasci children, Bridget and Patrick, introduce their mother, Carin Guarasci, who in turn introduces her husband. (31 min.)
PART FOUR: President Richard Guarasci’s address, followed by a gift presentation from gala chairs Aletta Diamond and Dianne Powers to the Guarascis, and a toast to end the evening. (40 min.)
Below is the special issue of The Wagnerian produced by the student editors in honor of President Guarasci:
To download the complete PDF of this issue, just click here.
THE WAGNER MAGAZINE PROFILE OF RICHARD GUARASCI:
READ THE STORY of how Brooklyn-born Richard Guarasci found his way to Wagner College, where he was named provost in 1997 — beginning with the arduous odyssey of Luigi Guarasci, Richard’s grandfather, from the sulphur mines of Sicily to the quarries of Tunisia to the land of opportunity, America, in 1912. Using four 90-minute interviews with Richard and Carin Guarasci, this detailed biographical narrative was written by Wagner College historian and media relations director Lee Manchester.