Editors from LIU’s student newspaper attended the National College Media Convention in Washington D.C. Held at the regal Grand Hyatt hotel, the annual multi-day event gathers journalism students from top collegiate-media programs across the country. Students learn from industry experts and collaborate with one another through more than 275 educational sessions. This year’s keynote speakers included Marty Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, Nina Totenberg, legal-affairs correspondent for National Public Radio and Abby Phillip, White House correspondent for CNN.

Dr. Telvis Rich, Associate Professor at LIU’s Department of Social Work, is the new Chair of Diversity for the North American Association of Christians in Social Work (NACSW). The NACSW provides free and discounted services and resources to members. In the new role, Rich will continue to promote diversity, engagement and inclusion among association members while strengthening relationships between social work programs and the NACSW. Additionally, Rich serves as the program coordinator for the Bachelor of Science in Social Workers (BSSW) degree on the Brooklyn campus.

The LIU men’s soccer team, the defending Northeastern Conference (NEC) champions, completed the 2019 season with a deep playoff run in the NEC tournament en route to the championship match. The Sharks finished as runner-up, following a 4-0 rout of the Bryant University Bulldogs in the semifinal match. More accolades followed when three team members garnered all-NEC honors. Freshman Papa Ndoye won Rookie of the Year, in addition to making first team all-NEC and the all-rookie team, while senior Kyle Parish made the all-NEC second team and freshman Keanu Tuart made the all-rookie team.

LIU students were part of the live studio audience for ABC’s “The View,” one of television’s most popular daytime talk shows. The University’s Employer & Alumni Engagement team facilitated the opportunity as part of the LIU’s “Day in the City Series.” After the show, the students received a private, backstage tour. Members of the production team discussed potential career paths with the students and gave them tips on landing a position in the television industry. Created in 1997 by Barbara Walters, “The View” features Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Paula Faris and Sara Haines.

LIU alumnus Roey Hershkovitz (BFA in Broadcasting, ’00) is the new Vice President at Capitol Studios, the iconic recording studio located in Hollywood’s landmark Capitol Tower. Prior to accepting the role, Hershkovitz spent nearly 20 years with the “Conan” franchise. He began as an intern in 1999 on NBC’s “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” and was elevated to Music Booker for TBS’ “Conan” in 2017. Throughout his tenure, Hershkovitz promoted new and developing talent to late-night viewers and booked top-tier acts like U2, Pearl Jam, Bon Jovi, Coldplay, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, The Lumineers and Childish Gambino, among others. Additionally, he has co-produced multiple episodes of NBC’s “The Office.”

Over 700 high school students attended LIU’s seventh annual “Stage the Change” conference, held at Tilles Center. Students participated in theater, film and dance workshops conducted by prominent professional companies, including Dance Theater of Harlem, New York Film Academy and Tectonic Theater Project. The workshops focused on creating original works of theater, film and dance connected to themes such as racism, gun control, addiction, mental illness, LGBTQ issues and climate change. The event’s guest speaker was Gavin Creel, a Tony and Olivier Award winning actor. Creel has starred in Broadway productions of Hello Dolly, Book of Mormon and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Dr. Adriana Gaviria Duque, Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission in Colombia, visited the Brooklyn campus to educate LIU students and faculty on a number of Fulbright initiatives. Specific discussion topics included the Fulbright Scholars, Specialist and English Teaching Assistants (ETA) programs. The event was sponsored by the Honors College, LIU Global and the Dean’s office at the Richard L. Conolly College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Richard Nader, LIU’s Chief Research and International Officer, also helped coordinate the event. Nader was selected for a 2019-2020 Fulbright-Nehru U.S. International Education Administrators (IEA) award to India.

Long Island University is one of five universities participating in a wide-ranging research project with The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The project awards $1.7 million to the five universities. Once completed, the research will help the FDA better understand how to employ its quality management resources when inspecting drug companies’ manufacturing operations. LIU’s primary role is to provide manufacturing plants with pharmaceutical product and regulatory expertise. This ensures that product characteristics contributing to potential risk are identified and included in overall assessed risk. The project will benefit consumers and yield invaluable ancillary findings.

Dr. Kevin Meehan, Associate Professor of Psychology on the Brooklyn campus, is part of a joint team of researchers who received a R21 Research Grant Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. Meehan and the team are utilizing smartphone technology to study whether or not disrupted sleep leads to higher instances of suicidal thoughts and impulses. The project represents the first of its kind to focus on sleep disruption, interpersonal relationships and suicidal thoughts as experienced in the moment by patients with chronic and severe mental illness.

Dr. Jennifer Rauch (AC in Blended & Online Learning, ’18), Professor of Journalism & Communication Studies on the Brooklyn campus, won a Silver Nautilus Book Award and was a finalist for a Marshall McLuhan Book Award for her new book Slow Media: Why Slow is Satisfying, Sustainable and Smart (Oxford University Press). Rauch was invited to speak about Slow Media at a McLuhan Salon at the University of Toronto as well as at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy. She also appeared on popular podcasts The Politics Guys and Team Human to discuss the book. Additionally, Slow Media was featured in The New Yorker for a story about “The Urgent Quest for Slower, Better News.”