Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Siblings Day Speech

The following is a speech from Hofstra Sophomore Allison Kamin, which she delivered during Siblings Day on February 16, 2013. In it she tells the siblings of Hofstra students what makes our university so great and what it can offer its students.

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Hi everyone! My name is Allison Kamin and I am a sophomore here at Hofstra University. I am from Woodbury on Long Island and I am here today to talk you siblings about what it takes to get into college, what I have gained from my first few semesters here at Hofstra, and why Hofstra is so amazing! 

So first of all, I want to tell you all that I am also a sibling! I am the youngest of three, and therefore I was dragged to every school visit, and had to listen to every admissions counselor speak about boring SAT scores, and I went on countless campus tours. What I can tell you is that I still remember my sister’s tour of Hofstra seven years ago, and how impressed I was with Hofstra’s beautiful quads, the wide range of food options, the high-tech classrooms, and the small professor to student ratio. Fast forward a few years, and I was on my own tour of Hofstra University’s campus. I was even more in love with the school then I remembered.  As I was walking over the big bridge, we call the Unispan, I thought to myself, wow I can see myself coming to Hofstra.  Fast forward another two years and I am standing here today telling younger siblings, just like me, why I love Hofstra so much. 

To get into Hofstra, or any college, you need to be determined and passionate. My first advice is to take challenging courses in high school, such as Advanced Placement and honors classes. Explore elective classes that you think might be of interest to you.  Remember, that your grades matter, and colleges love to see students who did consistently well throughout high school. Colleges also love to see improvement through out your four years of high school.  Your G.P.A. and the courses you take matter. I also highly recommend you join a club or participate in a class that gets involved with community service; giving back to your community or high school is one of the best feelings in the world. You also want to join a club that you are passionate about, not just because “it will look good for college,” but something that you truly enjoy doing. For me it was the debate club in high school, and now I am a speech and English double major. Find your club! My last word of advice for what it takes to get into a college is become a leader. Take a leadership position in your club, on your sports team, or in the classroom. Whether you are inside or outside of school being a leader is a quality you will carry for the rest of your lives.    

So once you take challenging classes, join a club you are passionate about, and become a leader, what college should you go to? Well for me, it was an easy answer, Hofstra University. 

Hofstra provides an atmosphere and environment to allow you, the student, to grow and gain as much as possible during your four years of college. So far I have taken challenging courses in subjects such psychology, computer science, oral communication, mass media, painting, and creative writing. There is an amazing honors college here that is ran by two exceptional deans and offers the above average student a smaller community within Hofstra. There are limitless arrays of courses that will spark an interest or lead to a passion, and over 140 majors that will guide you to an exciting career. 

The career center hosts internship and career fairs every semester, and the Career Center’s website has exclusive updates on job and internship opportunities only for Hofstra students. 

Other than career fairs and countless classes, that are usually no bigger than thirty students, why come to Hofstra? Not only does Hofstra have brand new, refurnished, renovated dorms, but every single Hofstra student is guaranteed housing all four years! Hofstra also has a strong Greek life that is intertwined with Hofstra’s social calendar. There are over 100 clubs here on campus, and an office for student leadership affairs, and an interfaith office as well. Hofstra focuses on community service and played a huge role in Hurricane Sandy Relief. Whether you join the club soccer team, anthropology club, the American Red Cross club, a professional society, the guitar club, the Black Student Union, or a sorority, there is something for everyone.  

Tickets for students are free to all Hofstra sporting events, and there are constantly free trips to New York City offered by the office of student leadership. There are free movie nights every single weekend, in one of Hofstra’s six professional theaters, that show recently released movies. Every Fall the students, alumni, and families come together for Fall Festival. I personally had an all access pass and met the celebrities back stage! 

In just a short two years I have become a tour guide, a welcome week leader, a parent orientation leader, vice president of my sorority Delta Gamma, and made Provost's and Dean's Lists. I am an honors college student and gotten involved in tutoring local elementary school students. I traveled into Manhattan to personally hand out clothing to homeless men and women.  I participated in a leadership program and attend almost every Hofstra basketball game! I was one of the lucky students who participated in the presidential debate! I had breakfast with Jeb Bush, interned with News 12, and even had a ticket to the presidential debate. I absolutely love this school and am so happy that I still have two years left to enjoy every moment of college!

- Allison Kamin, Class of 2015
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If you are the parent of a high school student who is interested in applying to Hofstra University please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at (516) 463-6700 for further information.

Hofstra to Host Online Chat for Parents

On Thursday, February 28, from 3:30-4:00 p.m., Hofstra Career Center Executive Director Fred Burke and Associate Director Deanna Rodin will be hosting a web chat for parents over Google+. The web chat will focus on services provided through the Career Center and what you can do to help.

Fred and Deanna will discuss all of the services provided through the Hofstra Career Center, as well as answer your questions about the job and internship search process. The Career Center is a tremendous link for your student to find jobs outside of Hofstra. Hofstra’s Career Center can help your student find job and internship offerings, help them construct and edit resumes, improve their interview skills, and much more!


We invite you to join us on Thursday, as the event is still open for registration. To RSVP for the event, please send your name and your email to parents@hofstra.edu. We will then respond with instructions on how to register with Google+ and join our chat. You can also forward any questions you may have about the event to the same email, or call the Office of parent and Family Programs at (516) 463-4698. We look forward to seeing you there!

-Craig Camara, Class of 2014

Siblings Day 2013 In Review

On Saturday, February 16, Hofstra hosted Siblings Day, which saw 37 students and 45 siblings join in the fun throughout the Hofstra Campus. The day began at noon with check-in and lunch at Hofstra USA. Once everyone signed in and settled down, Hofstra Sophomore Allison Kamin greeted the students with a speech discussing what makes Hofstra so unique. Afterwards, Student Leader Kristi Torlish led a few ice-breakers while Hofstra mascots Kate and Willie welcomed their young guests to campus. After lunch, the students and their siblings checked out the Fitness Center and had some fun with a dodgeball tournament and then a scavenger hunt around campus.

After the scavenger hunt, the students headed to the Mack Arena to watch the Men’s Basketball team take on Towson University in a hard-fought CAA rivalry game. In the end Towson walked away with the win 57-50, but it was a great game and the students and their siblings had a great time. From the game, the students headed over to the student center to hang-out in the Game Room where they played billards, table tennis and video games or to Berliner Hall for a Visit with the Stars, a discussion about astronomy with Professor Christina Lacey.

To cap off the event, the students and their siblings had a Late-Night Breakfast, where the students and sibling enjoyed a great meal, tye-dyed their Siblings Day shirts, and Student Leaders announced the winners of the scavenger hunt. The first-place pair received a gift basket from the Hofstra Bookstore, whereas second and third place received custom gift bags from Student Affairs. From there, the students spent the night in their respective student’s dorm rooms and got to enjoy a sleepover with their siblings.

Siblings Day is always a fantastic event for our students and their younger siblings. The students get to spend some quality time with their brothers and sisters, and siblings get to see what it’s like to be a college student. We invite you and your children to participate in next year’s event, it’s a blast!

To find out more information about the Siblings’ Day events, you can email us at Parents@Hofstra.edu or call us at (516) 463-4698. We look forward to seeing you!









-Craig Camara, Class of 2014

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Hofstra Celebrates Black History Month

As we all know, February is Black History Month, and for the past few weeks, with the help of its Multicultural and International Student Programs Office (MISPO), Hofstra has hosted an array of events recognizing the progress towards and continued struggle for racial equality in the United States.


Keynote speaker, Sherley Cherenfant,
addresses the audience at Hofstra's Black
History Month Reception last Wednesday (2/13).


On Wednesday, February 13, 2013 MISPO hosted the Black History Month Reception. Prior to the official programming getting underway, students and staff were treated to some classic blues piped in over the PA and a slideshow showcasing the progress the African American community has made over the 150 years since President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation. The afternoon included an address by the event's host and MISPO Director, Jennifer Christ, a spirited speech by former Hofstra student and controller/operations manager of Erase Racism, Sherley Cherenfant, and a poem for First Lady Michelle Obama by Hofstra graduate student (MFA in Creative Writing), Koromone Koroye.

The festivities continued this week, on Wednesday, February 20 as Hofstra students sampled delectable dishes from the kitchen of celebrity chef Cary Neff through an event cosponsored by MISPO and Lackmann Culinary Services. Hofstra University's Executive Chef, Kevin Kenny prepared one of Chef Cary's specialties: "Orrecchiette Pasta with broccolini, mushroom, artichokes, roasted red pepper and basil pesto." The dish took about 20 minutes to prepare and had students' mouths watering. Thankfully, they were able to sample the cuisine shortly after.



Urge your students to attend upcoming events as Hofstra will continue its celebration of Black History throughout the month.  For further information, please check out the events schedule available on the MISPO website.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Sopho(BE)MORE!

On Wednesday, February 6, 2013, the Office of Student Leadership and Activities hosted their 2nd annual Sopho(BE)MORE event in the Multipurpose Room of the Student Center. Created as a way to reintroduce sophomores to the clubs and organizations on campus, Sopho(BE)MORE showcased all of the ways second-year students could get involved at Hofstra. Fourteen groups came together to mark the occasion, including Academic Advisement, Greek Life, Pride Guides, Student Employment and the Student Government Association among others. Students who attended were able to gather information on upcoming events, learn about employment/volunteer opportunities on campus, become reacquainted with clubs they may not have had time to join in the Freshman Year, and even enjoy some free food and grab a new t-shirt.


If you are the parent of a sophomore and would like to learn more about how your student could get involved on campus, have them visit the OSLA website at or call (516) 463-6914.