I am writing to congratulate the students of Ramapo on an incredible three days of programming and involvement on our campus. The Dancing with the Staff, Relay for Life and Spring Concert events on April 4th, 5th, and 6th created a string of opportunities for the Ramapo Community to be involved at a level that exceeded anything else I've seen on campus since I arrived in November of 2010.
The ladies of Beta Kappa Sigma, with support from the College Programming Board, held the first Ramapo College "Dancing with the Staff" event last Thursday. Led by the efforts of Wendy Castro, Adlyn Maldonado, Tamira Alston, and Ashley Cummings, this event brought students, faculty and staff together in a unique way and provided a great evening of entertainment for the audience, which also included students, faculty and staff.
The Relay for Life team, led by Katie Lee and with significant support from Catherine Gilio, Emma Murray, Kara Graham, Ashley Beaton, Kelly Vitale and Ilana Atwater, as well as a team of volunteers, continued to involve the Ramapo College community in the fight against cancer. Hundreds of students walked for nearly 12 hours and raised more than $50,000 as they worked to play a part in this epic battle. Relay is a keystone event on college campuses across the country and these students worked to make sure Ramapo continues to be a part of the fight.
Capping off the three day stretch was the Ramapo College Spring Concert which featured Mayday Parade, The Maine and We The Kings. Led by College Programming Board (CPB) Music Co-Chairs Geneva Gamblin and Amanda Pontone and supported by CPB President Emily Egner and E-Board members Elle Alfaro, Erin Healy, Gabby Romagnuolo, Nicole Stewart, Erika Viggiano and Max Ziegerman, the concert sold out in advance and captured the attention of nearly 1,200 in the audience. These nine CPB students arrived at 7:30 a.m. to begin building the stage and worked until the arena had been cleared at 1:30 a.m. the next morning. Over the course of 19 hours, they were supported by 35 other student volunteers, mostly CPB Committee and Ramapo Music Club members, all coming together to put on this event for the Ramapo and Mahwah Community. This included folks who got in line at 8 a.m. so they could be the first ones through the doors when they opened at 7 p.m.
When Admitted Student Day took place on Sunday, I'm sure the question was asked: "What is there to do at Ramapo?" After these three amazing events, whoever had the opportunity to answer that question had only to look at the previous three days for amazing examples.
Thank you to these student leaders, and all the others out there who volunteer to give so much of their time to make a difference in our community.
