NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Iona College hosted its fourth SEMI-Annual Honors Reception on Tuesday night, November 15, at the Paley Center for Media in Midtown Manhattan. The event celebrated Iona alumni working in or connected to the sports, entertainment and media industry (SEMI). As part of the program, Iona announced a $50,000 gift from AT&T New York as the first underwriter for the program.
“This is a major recognition from a global leader and a formative step for Iona College as our program embraces the influence of media and technology in sports and entertainment,” said Glenn Horine ’84, ’91MBA, director and adjunct professor for the Sports, Entertainment, and Media Division of the School of Business. “We are grateful to AT&T for its involvement and excited to partner with a market leader in media and technology. This supports our mutual objective of developing student talent for tomorrow’s marketplace needs in sports, entertainment, and media.”
AT&T New York announced its $50,000 gift is to support the College’s sports, entertainment, & media business program. The focus of the gift is for industry lecture events, student-talent development and special events such as this year’s SEMI-Annual at the Paley Center. It will also enhance the Careers and Leadership Dinner Series program featuring industry executives in a town-hall format discussing industry development, career intelligence and preparation, and documentaries produced by Emmy-Award winning producer Ross Greenburg, former president of HBO Sports and Iona School of Business Executive-in-Residence.
“Technology has proven itself to be a key driver in recent, major innovations in the sports and entertainment industry,” said Marissa Shorenstein, president, AT&T New York. “That’s why, as a leading media and technology company, AT&T is thrilled to be among the first supporters of Iona College Business School’s emerging sports, entertainment and media program, as it works to shape and develop the next generation of sports and entertainment professionals.”
“We are thrilled to have such a global brand as AT&T support Iona College’s program,” said Interim Business Dean Charles Cante, Ph.D., ’72MBA. “This will provide our students with an opportunity to learn from sports, entertainment, and media industry leaders in a dynamic learning environment.”
Additional parts of the program included a presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to George Bodenheimer, former president and executive chairman of ESPN, Inc., and an alliance with the V Foundation for Cancer Research and a gift from AT&T New York as the first underwriter for the program. Iona also presented the Founder’s Award to Rich Petriccione ’81, ’95MS, long-time Iona director of athletics and later vice president for advancement & external affairs until 2010; the Champion Award to Donna Russo ‘85, senior account manager at Bloomberg LP; and Young Alumni Awards to Jay Judge ’07, ’09MBA, assistant athletics director at Seton Hall University, and Kelly O’Neil ’11MBA, athletic director at Oak Knoll School in Summit, N.J.
Several other media executives were in attendance at the reception including representatives from ABC, Activision/Blizzard Media, Big Balls Media, Bloomberg, CBS, ESPN, IHeart Media, LeadDog Marketing, MLB Network, MLS, NBC Sports, NFL, NYRA, Team Epic, Turner Sports, Univision, Westwood One Radio and Wunderman.