Wagner College Alumni Association

Ariane Ryan '13, Anthony Freitas '13, and Nahomy Cuesta '24 have received nominations for the 2026 NJ Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards. These three Seahawks worked on JMSA’s production of SideShow which is nominated for Outstanding Production of a Musical.

Additionally, Ariane is nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Direction for SideShow and Anthony is nominated twice in his category for Outstanding Scenic Design for his work on Side Show and Alice By Heart (Madison HS). Nahomy is the Technical Director and was in charge of building Anthony’s set for Side Show.

Both Ariane and Anthony are not strangers to the Rising Star Awards. Ariane’s work has been nominated five times for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography over the past 10 years, and Anthony has won for Outstanding Scenic Design twice (Bright Star in 2019 and Little Women in 2022). Ariane was also nominated for the Outstanding Educator Award last year.

On Friday, May 22 we welcomed our Golden Seahawks from the class of 1976 back to campus. They led the commencement procession in honor of the 50th anniversary of their graduation.

George Lewis ’56, a retired stockbroker and former professional baseball player, was awarded Rotary International highest honor, The Service Above Self award. It is presented to 150 Rotarians out of 1,400,000 worldwide.
George played baseball at Wagner and was inducted as a member of the Wagner College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. 🦅

Wagner Softball is traveling to Austin to take on No. 1 Texas in the Regional Round of the NCAA Tournament! 🥎 🦅

Last Thursday, Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) alumni joined us for a night of fun at Fraunces Tavern in NYC. We welcomed the Class of 2026 into the Alumni Association. 🦅

Last night, we held our annual Nurses Night Out at the Staaten. We celebrated our nursing alumni and faculty for National Nurses Week and all of their hard work and dedication. We were joined by President Doggett, Trustee Kim Spiro, and DA Michael McMahon. It was truly a wonderful evening! 🦅

Save the Date: This fall we will be headed to Virginia and California for two tailgate events! We will be at James Madison University on September 12 and University of California, Berkley on September 19. Check back for more details.

Adam Jacobs '07 is a Dean at I.S. 72, Rocco Laurie Intermediate School on Staten Island. He was a percussionist at Wagner and prior to becoming a dean was a band director. He was honored to with a Superhero Lifesaver Award at the Staten Island Borough UFT Health and Safety Awards in 2025 for being part of a team that supports the safety of over 2000 people in the school's community each day.

It is National Teacher Appreciation Day and we are spotlighting some of our wonderful alumni that are playing a part in shaping the next generation. First up is Sharon Schaeffer '05, a music teacher with the Yonkers Public Schools district. She has been particularly noted for her work at Paideia School 15, where she has directed acclaimed student productions such as Aladdin and Frozen. She is currently a teacher at Casimir Pulaski School.

Congratultions to Ellen Mathias '14 for being recognized as a recipient of the Women’s Bond Club 2026 Rising Star Award. The Women’s Bond Club is committed to empowering the next generation of women leaders in financial services by fostering meaningful networking and professional development opportunities.

Ellen is currently the Director, Finance Compensation at Apollo Global Management Inc. While at Wagner, she studied Business Administration and was a member of the Women's Golf Team and AOII Sorority. 🦅