Author: yec14002

From the Editor

Bob Stowell

From Left: Katie Lou Samuelson ’19 (CLAS), Napheesa Collier ’19 (CLAS), Gabby Williams ’18 (CLAS), Kia Nurse ’18 (CLAS), and Saniya Chong ’17 (CLAS) cheer on teammates (not pictured) Molly Bent ’20 (ACES), Natalie Butler, Crystal Dangerfield ’20 (ACES), Kyla Irwin ’20 (CLAS), and Tierney Lawlor ’17 (CAHNR) during their Elite Eight defeat of Oregon.

Letters

From the Editor

Confession: I enjoy watching many sports and playing far fewer, but I must admit to some unattractive internal smirking whenever members of my cheering section start high-fiving and chest-bumping and yelling, “We did it!” Maybe it’s the literal nature of an editor, but I can’t help but think, “What’s with the we? You didn’t make that tackle or drain that three or block that puck.”

Yet I fell totally and madly into the spell of we with this year’s women’s hoops team.

I watched every second of play in previous years and cheered wholeheartedly for the teams. But this particular group stole my heart in a more thorough fashion.

Saniya’s quiet ferocity and seeming reticent delight at finally being a deserving center of attention. Gabby’s pogo sticking, yes, but also her pleasure in the vinyl records experience. Katie Lou’s contagious joy and the toughness behind the giggles (what’s her puke-bucket-to-triples-bucket ratio?). Butler on the glass,the wisdom of Kia Nurse, the tenacity of Dangerfield, the sheer beauty of Pheesa’s offense and Geno’s purported shock and awe at her accomplished defense. I thrilled with the crowd at every off-bench minute from Lawlor, Bent, and Irwin.

Still, I could have weathered all that individual wonder and not succumbed to the we. It was this team’s togetherness that got me. I felt inexplicably honored to be tied however peripherally to this soulful group’s generosity toward, and obvious joy in, one another.

They wouldn’t buy into the “rebuilding year” noise they heard early on and insisted on winning, time and time again. Until they didn’t ”” and the problem with falling for the we meant feeling a tiny modicum of their pain. Peripheral pride kicked in again watching them be as united and gracious following that defeat ”” one that should define them far less than their previous 36 wins. Congrats, women, on getting the program to that record-breaking 111.

I can’t wait till we start playing next year! I mean, until they start playing.

Lisa Stiepock
lisa.stiepock@uconn.edu

September 7, 2017
UConn Nation Gives Back

UConn Nation

UConn Nation Gives Back

The first UConn Cares event kicked off this April, with alums volunteering across America. The program exceeded all expectations, says Jodi Kaplan, senior director of Alumni Relations. With 22 events nationwide, more alums in L.A., San Francisco, Austin, Chicago, Tampa, Hartford, and many other locations volunteered at food banks, animal shelters, soup kitchens, and coastal and park cleanups to name a few. The purpose of UConn Cares, says Kaplan, is for alumni to join together to volunteer for causes that are meaningful and beneficial to their own communities.Â ””EMMA CASAGRANDE ’18 (CLAS)

And More!

UConn Cares, Philadelphia PA

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Philadelphia PA

UConn Cares, South Florida

UConn Cares, Philadelphia PA

UConn Cares, Ashford CT

UConn Cares, Philadelphia PA

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, San Fransisco CA

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Tampa FL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Ashford CT

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Tampa FL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, San Fransisco CA

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, South Florida

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Ashford CT

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Hartford CT

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Philadelphia PA

UConn Cares, South Florida

UConn Cares, Tampa FL

UConn Cares, Tampa FL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, Chicago IL

UConn Cares, San Fransisco CA

September 7, 2017
In the Hot Seat with ESPN’s Molly Qerim

Job Envy

In the Hot Seat with ESPN’s Molly Qerim ’06 (CLAS)

Melissa Rawlins / ESPN Images

For most citizens, political debates are all about assessing the candidates. But not if you’reÂ Molly Qerim ’06 (CLAS). “I pay a lot of attention to the moderators,” she told UConn Magazine while sitting outside a TV studio at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn. “I want to see how they craft their questions, how they follow up.”

Qerim’s a moderator of a different sort as the host of “First Take,” ESPN’s fiery sports debate show starring the emphatic duo of Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman (on the set with Qerim above). “They definitely have strong opinions,” says Qerim, “and it can be challenging to keep the conversation moving along, especially when the guys are having a heated debate. You don’t want to move on, but we have to. There are other topics we need to get to.”

When Qerim landed in Bristol in July 2015, it represented a full-circle return to ESPN, where she had started as an intern a decade earlier while a communications student at UConn; she then had worked in the company’s digital media and on the TV side before moving on. Now she’s back, and her dream job of hosting “First Take” doesn’t even feel like a job. “You’re talking about things you’d be talking about anyway in your free time,” she said. “We’re all big sports fans.”

Qerim grew up in Cheshire, Conn., in a family of Husky fans. Her father and an older sister went to UConn as undergraduates, and her mother earned her master’s degree here. The family has had season tickets to men’s and women’s basketball since even before Gampel Pavilion opened in 1990. “I’ve been going to games my whole life,” she says. “I was the little girl with Husky tattoos on my chubby cheeks.”Â ””Jeff Wagenheim

More from our Interview with Molly

We’re talking just moments after you walked out of the First Take studio. Are you exhausted from moderating an intense two-hour debate?
No, actually, you know what? I always feel like my adrenaline is up after the show. We’ve just had this heated, intense debate. It’s exciting, entertaining, and we had a lot of fun. So right now the energy’s up. Later in the day, after I get my workout in, then I’ll crash.

What is it like to play traffic cop for the big, loud opinions of Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman?
It’s exhilarating, because everyone is so passionate. Not just Stephen A. and Max, but everyone in our meetings before and after the show, from our bosses to our producers. And I’d say it’s a lot of fun, because we love what we do. Sometimes the debate gets heated and you want to play Switzerland, or kind of calm down Stephen A. and Max. But nothing’s personal, so once the commercial break hits, we’re back to joking around with each other, moving on to the next topic. In the moment, though, you’re seeing raw, authentic reaction because these gentlemen are passionate about what they’re speaking about.

When you became host of First Take, the media website Awful Announcing published a column that kind of pitied you for having to deal with these guys and their loudmouth back-and-forth. The headline referred to your new position as “the worst job in television.”
Yes, and I would completely disagree. This is definitely not the worst job; this is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s challenging to keep each day’s show entertaining through two hours while hitting on a variety of points of contention, things the guys disagree on. I have to keep the show moving, and just like the host on any other program, I have to get us in and out of commercial breaks, because the advertisers pay our bills. Mostly, though, my job is to make sure the debates cover both sides of the argument. So if the guys agree on a topic, I’m going to take the devil’s advocate position and push the conversation deeper.

What’s the most important thing you have to keep in mind as you navigate your way through the debate?
To listen.

That’s No. 1?
Yes, that’s the most important thing for me. I need to pay close attention to what the guys are saying, so I can pick up on any errors and correct them. If they’ve missed an important point, I want to follow up. I can’t be sitting there thinking up my next question. I need to be constantly listening.

Debate shows are all over TV these days, not just in sports. It wasn’t this way when you started in the business a decade ago. Why the change?
I can tell you exactly why. We want analysis of the news. We want to hear from the opinion-makers. We want to hear the barbershop or hair salon conversation.

For example, before today’s show it was all over the internet that the New York Giants had signed Brandon Marshall. Well, I’m a Giants fan, and I want to know what this means. Are we going to win a ring? Do we now have the best wide receiver tandem in the NFL? That’s what we offer on First Take. We’re spinning the conversation forward, addressing the news from all angles.

So you’re a Giants fan, and I hear you’re also a Celtics fan. Is that a Connecticut thing, splitting allegiances between New York and Boston?
I can explain that, so I don’t sound like a bandwagon fan. Basically, I adopted all of my dad’s favorite teams, and he’s a huge Giants fan. I also grew up a Yankees fan and a Celtics fan, because those were my father’s teams, too. We rooted for the Celtics, rather than all New York teams, because the Celtics used to come to Hartford to play, and my dad took us to the Civic Center for those games.

Growing up, did you always see sports broadcasting in your future?
Yes I did. I grew up in a household where everybody played sports and we were big sports fans. What we did for fun as a family is we went to games. My father was a season ticket holder of UConn men’s and women’s basketball even before Gampel opened. He still goes to every game.

What about the journalism piece?
I got an internship at ESPN when I was at UConn. That’s how the whole thing got going. I was fortunate that Bristol is only a short drive from where I grew up.

After UConn, you worked at ESPN but then moved on to CBS Sports and Fox Sports and the NFL Network. Did you always envision yourself back at ESPN?
That was always the goal. When I was in digital media at ESPN, I knew I wanted to do what I do now, but I was too green. When I left, though, a person I knew in the talent department told me, “In three to five years, you’ll come back.” So then I had a chip on my shoulder. I wanted to come back in a meaningful role. I also wanted to return to Connecticut so I would be closer to my family. They mean everything to me. It was really hard to be in LA, missing a lot of family moments. So both personally and professionally, this move was at the top of the vision board.

“The vision board”? Are you one who makes it a practice to envision your future?
Absolutely. I truly believe in the power of our words, of what we put out there. I believe in having clear goals, intentional goals, and putting them out to the universe, to God, to whatever you believe in. Speaking these goals out loud is important. And I believe in writing them down. There’s something about writing down your goals in your own handwriting. You have to believe in yourself before anyone else will. Of course, you can’t just write down some goals and then sit there, sucking your thumb and eating bonbons. You’ve got to hustle. You’ve got to work toward your goals.

And voila, here you are. ESPN. First Take.
Yes, countless times things have come true for me after I’ve written them down — things that this random girl from Connecticut had no right to believe would happen.

You were born in New Haven and you now host a debate show. Let’s delve into the debate that has raged in Connecticut for generations. Sally’s? Pepe’s? Who makes Â the best New Haven pizza?

[Laughs] You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to throw you a curveball. I’m going to say Modern Apizza is the best.

Ah, some outside-the-pizza-box thinking!
And the other pizza place I love, after living near the place for a bit, is Luna in West Hartford. I love the thin-crust margherita — good sauce, fresh mozzarella. Luna is phenomenal.

So what happens more often, your last name gets misspelled or your last name gets mispronounced?
[Laughs.] Both! I would say, right now, it’s mispronounced more. Stephen A. pronounced it wrong the other day, and I was so mad at him! I texted him right after. I was like, “It’s CARE-um, phonetically.” And he was like, “Oh God, here we go, Mollywood.”

I believe I once heard you say, though, that even you mispronounce the name.
Yes. Yes. The last name is Albanian, and I say “CARE-um” but it’s really “keh””REEM.” I think my mom felt like people wouldn’t be able to handle it, so she tried to sound it out in English. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a sellout and wish I had stuck with the actual pronunciation, especially when Albanians or Muslims see my Americanized version.

When you think back to your time at UConn, what’s your biggest takeaway?
I felt like the students I met at UConn were good, hard-working kids. It was real life. It wasn’t a place where kids went away just to spend mom and dad’s money. A lot of my friends had jobs while in school. A lot of my friends paid their way through college.

And the university was just about the right size for me. Everywhere I went on campus, I would see someone I knew and also would always meet someone new. The size of the university also meant that there were a lot of resources available to students. I was able to have a TV show on UCTV, which was a lot of fun and helped me along my career path.

Let’s look down that career path 10 years into the future. Which of these scenarios is more likely: You’re still in broadcasting but no longer in sports, or you’re working in sports but not as a broadcaster?

I can imagine both, and I’d be happy with either. I can 100 percent see myself in broadcasting but in a different space, like on a morning show or something. And I can also see myself with a role in some team’s front office. I was thinking about that today during the show, when we were talking about NFL free agent signings and salary caps and the business side of sports. I can see myself playing a role in that.

OK, then, here’s something for your vision board: “Molly Qerim, GM of the Giants.”
I would be thrilled!

September 7, 2017
Green Thumb, Bleeds Blue

Alumni Spotlight

Green Thumb, Bleeds Blue

Alum James Gagliardi is a supervisory horticulturalist at the Smithsonian Gardens in Washington, D.C.

James Gagliardi ’05 (CAHNR)Â has an encyclopedic mind for all things ecological, a fact quickly apparent on a tour of his gardens ”” which happen also to be every U.S. citizen’s gardens. Gagliardi is a supervisory horticulturalist at the Smithsonian Gardens in Washington, D.C.

As we saunter along the grounds of the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, I request a fun fact. He glances at the plant directly to our right and says, “This species was discovered in Georgia in the 1780s by the Bartrams. They brought the seeds to Philadelphia and named the tree after their good friend Benjamin Franklin.” Pointing to a label reading simply Franklinia alatamaha, he adds, “They were never found in the wild again.”

Gagliardi has helped select, plan, and maintain the natural variety around some of the world’s most visited museums, tying each garden to the accompanying museum’s theme. “Outside the Sackler Gallery are Asian plants, going back to a Ming Dynasty aesthetic,” he says. “Outside the African Art Museum is more of an Alhambra aesthetic. Outside the American History Museum is a Victory Garden,” named for the gardens planted by millions during the world wars to ease constraints on the public food supply.

Gagliardi entered UConn as an undeclared major but had always enjoyed gardening, selling cut flowers out of his 1780s colonial home in Berlin, Conn. He joined and eventually became president of the Horticulture Club and ran its annual on-campus horticulture show. A junior year internship at Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha’s Vineyard solidified his decision to enter public horticulture for its combined focus on education, sustainability, and creating respites for people. He graduated with a major in horticulture and minors in business administration and landscape design.

Afterward, Gagliardi received his master’s in public horticulture at the University of Delaware. He joined the Smithsonian in 2011.

Last summer he transformed the popular butterfly garden to a broader “pollinator garden.” Filled with placards about the 230 plants within, he calls it “the first true ”˜exhibit’ within the Smithsonian Gardens.” Inside you’ll learn, for instance, that some bumblebees buzz at the piano equivalent of a middle C note, hummingbirds consume up to 12,000 calories per day, and there are four times as many species of beetles as animals with backbones. Gagliardi notes one downside of appealing to the Snapchat generation: “We used to put 200 words on a panel. Now we’re down to 50 or so.”

Next on Gagliardi’s to-do list is an “evolution garden,” with plants dating back to the dinosaur eras, including ginkgos, bald cypress trees, and various ferns.

“Thirty million people come through our gardens each year, and UConn has had an influence on all these landscapes,” he says, and he’s not exaggerating. Horticulture professor Mark Brand bred and patented a switchgrass called ruby ribbons, which begins with blue-green foliage but turns red weeks earlier than similar switchgrasses. Gagliardi planted it between the Natural History and American History museums ”” right in the heart of our capital.Â ””JESSE RIFKIN ’14 (CLAS)

Gagliardi, leftabove, notes that with no visiting hours, guards, or gates, the gardens are the only Smithsonian properties open 24/7/365. “Instead of approaching a sterile government building, you get something both aesthetically beautiful and educational,” he says.

Tour through the Smithsonian Gardens

James meeting with staff of Smithsonian Gardens and the National Museum of Natural History to discuss an upcoming exhibit in the Pollinator Garden on Biocubes””the life in a cubic foot of soil or water over one day.

As daffodils begin to emerge James readies the gardens at the Smithsonian against the backdrop of the Washington Monument.

The blooming saucer magnolias in the Enid A. Haupt gardens rival the cherry blooms along the Tidal Basin during a DC Spring.

The Pollinator Garden at the National Museum of Natural History bursts with a variety of blooms to attract pollinators of all kinds.

Before any visitor enters a Smithsonian museum along the National Mall they are first greeted by a garden.

The winding brick path of the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden transports visitors into a botanical bliss.

As a vital and vibrant part of the Smithsonian experience, Smithsonian Gardens mission is to engage, inform, and inspire.

Smithsonian Gardens creates a place to connect to people and plants in the heart of Washington, DC.

James works with his staff to replace boxwood fleurs-de-lis, a decorative element of the formal parterre behind the Smithsonian Castle.

The Moongate Garden forms a window drawing guests towards The Parterre.

James leaves work through the Pollinator Garden, he must ensure the gardens are ready to welcome visitors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

All photos courtesy of Smithsonian Gardens

September 7, 2017
Color the World

Snap!

Color the World

Students celebrated the Hindu spring festival of Holi on Saturday, April 8. Holi, also known as the festival of colors or the festival of love, is celebrated in India and Nepal. It signifies the victory of good over evil, the end of winter, and the arrival of spring. “Every year, my temple at home hosts a Holi event, and I loved celebrating that with my family. Now I celebrate it with my UConn family,” says Rishita Jani ’17 (BUS), pictured here. PHOTO BY RYAN GLISTA ’16 (CLAS).

Snap!

Color the World

Students celebrated the Hindu spring festival of Holi on Saturday, April 8. Holi, also known as the festival of colors or the festival of love, is celebrated in India and Nepal. It signifies the victory of good over evil, the end of winter, and the arrival of spring. “Every year, my temple at home hosts a Holi event, and I loved celebrating that with my family. Now I celebrate it with my UConn family,” says Rishita Jani ’17 (BUS), pictured here. PHOTO BY RYAN GLISTA ’16 (CLAS).

Extra Photos

September 6, 2017
Michael Zacchea ”“ Dispatch from Iraq

Story from UConn Today

Alumni Spotlight

Michael Zacchea ”“ Dispatch from Iraq

In the wake of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein,Â Michael Zacchea ’12 MBA, director of the School of Business’ Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), eagerly accepted his assignment to build, train, and lead an Iraqi army.

In his just-released book,Â The Ragged Edge, Zacchea talks about the staggering hardships and unique challenges he faced and details the insurgent movement that ultimately gave rise to ISIS.

The recipient of two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, and Iraq’s Order of the Lion of Babylon, Zacchea describes not just the physical and tactical challenges the U.S. faced but also the physical and psychological toll war takes on a military leader.

And he shares the powerful saga of personal bonds of friendship with Iraqis, the importance of investing the time to develop an understanding and appreciation of another culture ”” and an assassination plot meant to kill him.

“The thing that saved me was the trusting relationship I had developed with the Iraqis. They watched out for me; they protected me. Absent that, I think it would have been a very different outcome,” says Zacchea.

He describes his mission in Iraq as like “trying to build an airplane in mid-flight.” Supplies were scarce or non-existent, from food to functioning toilets to beds, boots, radios, and vehicles. And beyond those basics were the obvious cultural and religious divides that challenged the development of a cohesive, respectable, accomplished battalion ready to battle the insurgents.

“Our military unit included Zoroastrians that the Iraqis called ”˜fire worshippers’; Yazidis, whom the Iraqis referred to as ”˜devil worshippers’; and various other ethnic and religious groups, many of whom had a longstanding hatred toward each other,” says Zacchea.

On top of that, he says, Iraqi soldiers were free to resign whenever they wished. “We never knew how many military personnel we’d have on any given day.”

Soldiers from Fifth Battalion are packed into a Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicle minutes before the breach of Fallujah in November 2004.

The Iraq War was incredibly complex because of brutal combat, says Zacchea, but also the challenges of language, religion, propaganda, and culture.

“Some of these people in the Iraqi army had fought against U.S. forces ”” or against each other. It was a crazy situation. I’m not aware of any other advisory mission where they took warring factions and tried to make a cohesive army out of them.”

Zacchea says his time there taught him many lessons, chief among them the importance of “political vigilance.”

He recounts how the Iraqis’ first election in January 2005 saw an estimated 70 percent turnout.

“I think about that versus how only one-third of Americans are willing to vote. They say things like, ”˜Oh, I didn’t go because it was raining.’

“Americans don’t risk their lives to vote. We often take that privilege for granted. People need to be politically involved.”Â ””CLAIRE HALL

Zacchea (center) with Abdel-ridha Gibrael (right) at Kirkush; Gibrael secretly fed information to Zacchea about the Iraqi officers.

August 31, 2017
The Clothes Make the Ogre

Department Name

The Clothes Make the Ogre

At theÂ Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT), UConn’s dramatic arts students get the chance to act alongside professionals. During costume tests for CRT’s “Shrek the Musical,” which ran in April, Broadway’s Will Mann is fitted for his Shrek ears with Donkey akaÂ Scott Redmond ’17 (SFA). This season CRT welcomes three-time Tony Award”“winning actor Terrence Mann as the new artistic director of the Nutmeg Summer Series.Â ””MATTHEW PUGLIESE ’04 (SFA), PHOTO BY SEAN FLYNN.

Top: Desi Oakley (Princess Fiona) and company in SHREK THE MUSICAL onstage at Connecticut Repertory Theatre April 20-30, 2017.

Valerie Badjan BFA ”˜18 (Dragon) and Scott Redmond (Donkey) bring SHREK THE MUSICAL to life onstage at Connecticut Repertory Theatre April 20-30, 2017.

Scott Redmond BFA ’17 (Donkey) and Will Mann (Shrek) star in SHREK THE MUSICAL onstage at Connecticut Repertory Theatre April 20-30, 2017.

Gerry Goodstein

Tickets and info at crt.uconn.edu or 860-486-2113.

August 31, 2017
Andrew Schwartz is Revamping NYC’s Seaport District

Checking in With…

Andrew Schwartz is Revamping NYC’s Seaport District

Not long after getting communications and marketing degrees at UConn,Â Andrew Schwartz ’00 (BUS, CLAS)Â cold-called Glenn Adamo, who had listed an open position in the office of the New Jersey Devils NHL hockey team.

“He said, ”˜Well, I’m very busy, Andrew. Can you tell me a little about yourself over the phone?’” Schwartz remembers. “I said, ”˜Sure. As you know, I just worked at the NHL. Before that, I was at the University of Connecticut.’ He said, ”˜You went to UConn? So did I. Can you come in today?’ I put on my dad’s suit and went in that afternoon. He hired me on the spot.”

Schwartz has worked for several of the coolest organizations in entertainment, sports, and business: the NHL, Major League Baseball, SiriusXM, the Brooklyn Nets, the 19,000-seat Barclays Center, and his current position as senior vice president of Strategic Partnerships at the Howard Hughes Corporation, a real estate development company. But the Fair Lawn, New Jersey, native’s journey began at UConn. On a campus tour “I was standing in the co-op looking at all that navy blue and said to my mom, ”˜You know, I think I could be in navy blue for the next four years,’” Schwartz recalls. “The school spirit had captured me even before I had been to a game at Gampel Pavilion, even before our team had gone to Division 1-A football.”

By senior year, he was head coach of the women’s ice hockey club team as it transitioned to Division 1-A for the next season. He was handling all the purchasing, scheduling, traveling, and liaising with Pat Babcock, the then-associate director of athletics for the transition from club team to 1-A while also getting credits for his bachelor’s degree. “Two days a week we had practice at the rink at 5:30 a.m.,” says Schwartz. “I’d be a leader, and a few hours later I’d be sitting side by side with some of the players as peers.”

Seaport District Rendering ”“ Vision Pier

Seaport District Rendering ”“ Plaza Building

Seaport District Rendering ”“ Fulton Market Building

Rendering provided by The Howard Hughes Corporation

Ice time
After graduation, Schwartz landed a position with the events and entertainment division of the NHL, then the New Jersey Devils.

“It was one of the best hires I ever made. One of the prerequisites was the ability to skate, as there were occasions when this position would also act as the mascot,” says his boss at the time, the aforementionedÂ Adamo ’78 (ED), now president of Ivanhoe Media & Entertainment.

“Well, Andrew fit the position and more. He brought an incredible work ethic, maturity, sense of branding, and sponsorship that really made the staff respect and look to him for his creative ideas.”

Play ball
Schwartz swapped sports, landing a job at Major League Baseball, helping with the World Series, All-Star Game, and Hall of Fame events before switching to corporate sales and multimillion-dollar sponsors.

Along the way he coached the New York Sled Rangers, part of a sled hockey program for the physically disabled.

If you build it ”¦
Since August 2015, Schwartz has been senior vice president for strategic partnership at the Howard Hughes Corporation, a national real estate development company with properties in 16 states. It is currently leading the revitalization of the Seaport District, aka South Street Seaport, the oldest neighborhood in New York City, home of the original Fulton Fish Market and Pier 17.

The district will include some 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, including a new eatery from celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and a rooftop performance venue.

Schwartz and his high school sweetheart Jennifer have been married for 10 years and have two young children.

“I’ve been extraordinarily fortunate,” he says. “I’ve been to 9 World Series, 12 All-Star Games, NBA finals, Stanley Cup finals, met Hall of Famers, met President George [H.W.] Bush in Houston in 2004 at the MLB All-Star Game.”

Asked if his New York City real estate experience might prepare him for a potential presidential run, Schwartz replies, “I’m bald, so I don’t have anything to worry about from a comb-over perspective.”

””JESSE RIFKIN ’14 (CLAS)

August 31, 2017
Shay Subramanian

Student Perspective

Shay Subramanian

This finance student from Trumbull, Connecticut, by way of India, lives his life in leaps and bounds

Student Perspective

Shay Subramanian

This finance student from Trumbull, Connecticut, by way of India, lives his life in leaps and bounds

Tanya Miller ’20 (CLAS)

Top, Subramanian in Mennewaska State Park Preserve in Ulster County, New York, last fall and, above, studying at the Homer D. Babbidge Library in Storrs.

What exactly is parkour anyway? And how is it different from free running?
Parkour is the practice of getting from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. Free running, then, is more of a sister sport. It covers a lot of the elements of parkour, but with an emphasis on moving creatively over obstacles. In parkour, you may jump quickly over three walls, whereas for free running you might take the time to do flips in between. It wouldn’t get you over faster, but it’s more expressive of your creativity.

How did you get started in the sport?
I saw a documentary about parkour on the Discovery Channel when I was in tenth grade and I thought it was so cool. It was basically my childhood dream of becoming a superhero. I went outside and started jumping off picnic tables, small stuff like that.

Were you good at it right away?
There’s definitely a learning curve! When I started, the community was small. It’s really blown up since. I didn’t know anyone who was training when I started. I looked at videos online and went to gymnastics gyms in my area and eventually found other people who trained. We built our community from scratch. It was hard when I was learning by myself; finding a community helped me get more serious about it.

Do they have parkour gyms in the U.S.?
Yes; they are actually gaining in popularity. There’s a couple in Connecticut. A new one just opened up in West Hartford.

Have you lived in Connecticut your whole life?
Well, as long as I can remember. I was born in India, and then I lived in the Middle East for a few years because my dad had a job there. I moved to the United States ”” to Stamford, Connecticut ”” when I was three. Then we moved to Trumbull right before high school.

Why UConn?
I got into a bunch of schools ”” UConn was actually supposed to be my safety school. But I ended up really liking it here. I’m glad it turned out this way!

You’re featured on UCTV doing parkour around campus. What’s your favorite spot to train Parkour?
Right behind Homer Babbidge Library. It’s a surprisingly iconic spot in the Northeast for parkour, and people travel just to train there. We host a gathering once a year, and we’ve had people come from Montreal just to train for the weekend.

You’re also the president of UConn Parkour. Do you take in beginners?
Of course; that’s what the community is all about. It’s the best community I’ve been a part of because everyone’s so open to teaching everyone. We started the UConn Parkour Club because we wanted to get more people on campus to start training. There’s a huge emphasis on helping each other learn and grow together. Parkour can be dangerous at times if you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re not training safely. It’s all about progression.

Do you feel like UConn supported you in pursuing this?
UConn encourages anyone to make a club; it’s so much easier compared to other schools. I know friends at other schools have had a lot of trouble starting a parkour club because people are afraid that it’s too dangerous or a liability. But UConn really supported us and gave us a chance.

You studied abroad in Singapore for a semester. Why did you choose there?
The National University of Singapore is the best university in Asia and one of the best in the world. The business program is amazing. But Singapore also has a pretty awesome Parkour scene. It hosts an event called Lion City Gathering once a year and people fly in from all over the world to go and luckily, I was able to live there while it was happening.

Favorite class you’ve taken here?
Environmental Conservation. We had this amazing final project where our professor drove us out into the woods and split us up into groups. He gave us a tracking device and told us to find an object in the woods. We finally tracked it down after an hour or two. It was a stuffed animal, and he was waiting for us in the spot.

What is your ultimate career goal?
Right now I’m looking toward getting a finance-related job after graduation. And maybe in a couple years open a gym.

Do you plan to keep parkour in your life after graduation?
I don’t see myself ever stopping parkour because, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be doing massive jumps in order to train. You could do it in really small ways, like practicing balance. Whether you’re 5 years old or 80 years old, there are ways to challenge yourself through movement. ””Nicole Haiber ’17 (CLAS)

Peter Brandon (left)(top), Bryan Davis ’17(ENG) (right)(below)

August 30, 2017
Bottled Up

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Bottled Up

The lobby of UConn’s Pharmacy/Biology building is lined with beautiful and mysterious bottles from the 1600s to mid-1900s. They held remedies in the form of liquids, salves, and powders.

Click the icons on the bottlesÂ to reveal more information.

The bottles shown below are from the early 1900s, excepting cannabis, which is likely from the 1880s-90s. The cannabis bottle (in center) would have held a mixture of alcohol, medicine, and cannabis to alleviate body pain, according to former pharmacy professorÂ Allan Viner ’59 (PHARM).

Cantharidal VesicantÂ ”“ aÂ Johnson & Johnson product used as a topical treatment for some skin conditions

Sedlitz ChanteaudÂ ”“ a French anti acid powder you would mix with water, was sold in pharmacies throughout the U.S.

Sulphate jarsÂ ”“ The Merck Chemical Producing Company gave away these jars called “inverted show bottles” simply for decoration. They came in a range of colors and were not sold or prescribed.

Cannabis bottleÂ ”“ would have held a mixture of alcohol, medicine, and cannabis used to alleviate body pain.

Brandreth PillsÂ ”“ An over-the-counter laxative medication that would have been found in the front of all pharmacies.

Haywood’s PowderÂ ”“ An asthma remedy that likely was heated up and inhaled to clear nasal congestion.

Hair RemedyÂ ”“ A liquid-based solution used as a scalp and hair rejuvenator.

Sun & Moon ointmentÂ ”“ Ointment used for bruises and cuts manufactured in Hartford, Conn., around the 1920s to ’30s.

Cuticura ResolventÂ ”“ An alcohol mixture used to reduce stomach acid.

Stuart’sÂ ”“ This was also used to alleviate stomach acidity. It was sold in the 1920s to 30s.

Photo by Peter Morenus

Glass continues to play an integral role in the pharmaceutical universe, so much so that UConn uses a glassblower to create custom glasswork when necessary.

August 30, 2017