For ten years, Keith Levinthal has been the architect and driving force behind Manhattanville’s successful hockey team, as well as being the school’s Athletic’s director. According to his bio page online, Levinthal has received the ECAC West Coach of the year twice. This past Monday, I was fortunate enough to have an interview with Keith, in which we discussed his career here at Manhattanville, his introduction to hockey, and his dreams of one day owning a house in Montana.

Gregory Lico – Where were you born?
Keith Levinthal – Hartford, Connecticut. I was born in Mount Saini Hospital in Hartford, CT

GL – How were you introduced to hockey?
KL – Ah, good question. When I was really young, the New England Whalers had moved from Boston to Hartford. My father was a hockey fan and it just so happened that two miles from my house was an ice hockey rink. So I believe I started playing hockey when I was five. Two, the New England Whalers had recently moved to Hartford probably contributed to it as well.
GL – I myself got interested in hockey when I started here. And at the same time, my brother Steven got interested in the sport as well. So we became hockey fans at the same time. So did you play hockey in high school and college?
KL – I did. I played one year at Fermi High school in Enfield. and was really lucky. I got a scholarship to got to Loomis Chaffee, which is a place that I could never, ever had a chance to go to if I didn’t get the scholarship. So I went to Loomis Chaffee in Winsdor, CT for three years and I went on to play hockey at Hobart College.

GL – What did you major in college?
KL – I was an English major.
GL – What kinds of stuff do you like to read?
KL – When I was along those lines, I preferred American literature. Meville, Moby Dick is probably my favorite. I read it one summer for the second time on Bloch Island and I thought it was…but I like that kind of stuff. I really like the style of writing.
GL – It can be an engaging read, especially the last part with Ahab chasing the whale.
KL – Yeah, but my real love in reading is reading history. I’d say about 95 percent of what I’m reading now is history.
GL – What is your favorite period of history?
KL – Definitely the Civil War.
GL – Have you been to Gettysburg?
KL – You know what? I have. I spent three days in Gettysburg with a historian and three other people. As you know Gettysburg was fought over three days, and we would go each day over all the events and walk throught. I had read a lot of books on Gettysburg before I even got there. I’d say that of the half dozen people I was, my knowledge was at the bottom of the list.  For me that kind of stuff is fascinating. In my next life, I’d like to be a history teacher.
GL – That was actually one of my questions.
KL -  It would be for sure teaching American history. I would rather if, and I would be the first to admit this, I’d rather debate day two of Gettysburg than talk sports to be honest.

GL – So before coming to Manhattanville, what else did you do?
KL -  I worked at Hobart for a couple of years as an assistant coach, which was two of my favorite years coaching. When you’re an assistant coach coaching, you just worry about coaching. When you’re an athletic director, there are a million other thing you need to be worried about. But when you’re an assistant coach, you just deal with hockey day, and that part is the enjoyable part. I had the chance to work with a really good guy Bill Greer, who was very helpful and who gave me a chance to do a lot of things and I gained a lot of experience there working for a really successful athletics department

GL – What brought you to Manhattanville?
KL – They had put an advertisement up because they were starting a hockey program, so I applied. Never heard back for months. Then all of a sudden, I want to say in late spring I get a call that they had some issues, they were going to build a rink with the New York Rangers on campus, but the project kept getting delayed but they were redoing it and they were going after it again. They asked me to come down for an interview. I did that. They asked me to come down for a second interview, I did that. But it was really bizarre because I’d given up on it. I applied in January, and never heard a word until April or May. Never hear of the school.
GL – You must have been thrilled to be asked to come here and start up a hockey program.
KL – It is was thrilling and nerve-wracking, sure, because you had no team, no JV team, no club team. We had to start from scratch, which turned out to be an advantage. And it was…my first year all I did was recruit. I spend my first year on the road. I didn’t know this at the time, but when I accepted the position in my first year. When I got here, I realized that a lot of people here didn’t want hockey, didn’t understand the game, didn’t realize the benefits of what it would bring to the school, and people weren’t very helpful. During my first recruiting class, I had to work really hard, because most people were of no help. And it was so different from my experience at Hobart, where you had such tremendous support all over the campus. And that was such a hard thing during my first year.
GL –You must have had it hard, did you think you might give up on creating the team?
KL – No, I think at first. It was really disorganized here and I was really frustrated with that. I went to see President Berman and say, I didn’t have an office or a place to live, that was al part of the original deal. And he said “Hey, hang in there.” You know I don’t think you quit something that you start.  But it turned out to be a real blessing in disguise, because I realized real fast that boy, we better be good at what we do or else. I knew that the team had to have the highest GPA on campus, we had to do the most community service and we had to behave ourselves on campus. That was the only way we were going to be successful. And as a result, we went out and did that. Even to this day, it’s rare for us to have a GPA under a 3.3. I promise very little things. When I recruit, I only promise kids, One, you’re going to do well here as a student. Two, were going to do everything we can to make you the best hockey player you can be. Three, we’re here for you. And lastly, as long as you have a good attitude and work hard, you’re always good here in our program.

GL – What kinds of community service are you and your team involved in?
KL – Well, there’s a lot of stuff. We’re involved in the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital Wheelchair games, which we volunteer at.  The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, were a part of that. We work at different senior centers in the area. The guys actually play video games with the elderly
GL – Maybe next time, you could get them to do the Wii Fit.
KL – Yeah, they actually invited us to their dance. They did this little thing for our guys, And we do a lot with youth hockey associations, too.
GL – I figured.
KL  – And this month, our guys are growing mustaches for this thing called “Movember” for prostate cancer, as a way to raise money.
GL – I wondered why all the guys were growing mustaches.
KL – One of my whole things in not only doing good things for people. Whenever we put our guys in a position, where they are either working with little kids or helping other people out, I think it has a big effect on helping them become better people. Because they have to be role models, they have to act a certain way. And the more that they can see how other people have to live their lives, the more they can appreciate what they have and handle it a different way. I think it’s good for them in the long term to see how good they have it here and how important it is for them to give back and help others. That also helps them make better decisions in every other aspect of their lives.

GL – What do you do for practice on a normal basis?
KL -  Good question, it varies from day to day. Mondays, a lot of skill development. Tuesdays is probably a lot of defensive play. Wednesdays would be transition. Thursday would be more of defensive coverage and our stretch and we would probably do power play and penalty kill every day. And of course we play [games] on Friday and Saturday on a typical week.

GL – How long do you practice and how many days?
KL – An hour and forty-five minutes a day. We typically practice four, five days a week. Of course we lift weights every Monday and Wednesday too. And Wednesday afternoons we do video every week.
GL – Video?
KL – Video, yeah, which is another big part of our program.

GL – I notice a lot of players are international. How do you recruit players from other countries, Canada, Russia, etc?
KL – I don’t have a preference where our players come from. I’ll be the first to admit I do like guys who don’t have a Plan B option sometimes, because they have to make it work when they come here and they can really appreciate the opportunity when they get and how incredible it is to got to school a half hour outside New York City, play a high level of college hockey. In terms of finding those kids, we sometimes go out there. We spend a lot of time on the phone, sometimes hours on the phone. About 85% is on the phone

GL – In ten years you have been the driving force behind this school’s successful hockey team. What would you say has contributed to your team’s success and for yourself?
KL – well, I think for sure that we have had really good people involved in the program. Whether it’s the players, or the assistant coaches or the support staff, it’s just full of and surrounded by impressive people. And that makes life a lot easier when you have really good people around you. That is by far, the number one thing, without question. The team that we have right now, which is ranked number four in the country. In terms of the quality of individuals on the team, there are some really spectacular people on that team that will be successful in life. You need team players to be successful, and I think we have a team full of those guys.

GL- Let’s get personal, are you yourself married?
KL-I am.

GL-Congratulations. How long have you been married?
KL-I’ve been married since June. I have a seven-year old stepdaughter named Lauren. My wife’s name is Melissa. We live in Fairfield, CT.

GL-Well I guess I already know what your favorite book is, seeing as you answered it earlier.
KL-Well actually my favorite book is The Killer Angels.  Great, great book. Yeah, that would be my favorite. I think that was the book that turned me on to Gettysburg and the Civil War.
GL-That would be the book to turn anyone on the Civil War. Do you have any favorite movies?
KL- Yeah, absolutely. Lonesome Dove. It was a TV series. I love the Old West, so for sure Lonesome Dove would be my number one.
GL- Any John Wayne stuff?
KL- Not as much, but Lonesome Dove is much more of a…its really about…a much more complicated Western. It really is a movie about best friends, fathers and sons, relationships gone wrong. It’s defiantly my favorite movie.
GL- I’ll have to check that movie out sometime. Do you play any sports yourself?
KL- I still play hockey in two different leagues. But I’m a fisherman. That’s really what I love to do.
GL- Really?
KL- I just started flyfishing. I started as a small mouth bass, then when I moved to here I became a stripper and bluefish. And this past year, I picked up flyfishing, but I still have a lot of work to do.
GL- I’ve done flyfishing too. It’s kind of fun, but like all fishing, its just a waiting game.
KL- And I play guitar too. I’m working on the guitar thing. Play the base guitar. I have a lot of interests, I just don’t have a lot of time.

GL – What is your ideal vacation?
KL- I’ve got two. Block Island is probably my first. Block Island, for me, is the most relaxing place. It is great during the day and at night the fishing is as good as it gets. And the other place which was where we went on our honeymoon was Montana, which whether its horseback riding, hiking, fishing, or kayaking, its great. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I like the open space. And that is eventually one of my goals to live out West. I want the open space.
GL – Maybe have your own ranch?
KL- Yeah, I don’t know if I want a ranch, but I defiantly want land. Ideally, I would like to live out West.

GL – What kinds of music do you prefer?
KL- Ah, a few. I like alternative country, which you can never get on the radio. And I like Americana, which is similar to alternative country. When most people think country, they think of music that comes out of Nashville. I prefer the music that comes out of Austin, Texas. I find it to be true musicians, true songwriters, really talented people. But I like all kinds of music. My iPod has such a wide range from classic rock to cow-punk. And some of my favorite people are those who did punk and now matured to a more country style.
GL – Have you ever been to the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame?
KL- I have. I’ve been there a few times. I have meetings in Cleveland every now and then, so I will take the time to go and see it.

GL- I’ve got two more questions. First, if you could teach any other sports team, what would it be?
KL-Cross-country. Cross-country athletes are the toughest athletes for sure. What’s great about that sport is first, it is a true team sport.

GL – And now my last question. I stole this from Inside the Actor’s Studio. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say to you when you are at the Pearly Gates?
KL- Umm, I tried my best doing the right thing. I tried my best.

Talking with Keith has made me realize that aside from being a hockey coach and our college’s Athletics Director, he is a mentor to many people and has contributed greatly to our school’s success and recognition. Keith has built a team not based on becoming the next Wayne Gretzky, but on how they can be a better person for themselves and for the people around them. Speaking to several hockey players following the interview, they spoke of him glowingly. One had even told me that when he returns here for our graduate program, he would be honor to work with Keith in the Athletics department.  To have that level of faithfulness must be rewarding to Keith and I am proud to call him a Manhattanville Hero.

Chriny Vargas knows what it means to be busy. She is the Administrative Assistant to Dean Kevin Hunter and a graduate student, so she rarely has time to relax. But somewhere between the ringing phones and the line of people waiting to see the Dean, Chriny found the time to make sure that Manhattanville students knew they had someone to talk to.

Chriny graduated from Manhattanville in 2004. She majored in International Studies and doubled minored in Dance and Spanish. While she was an undergraduate, she was involved in many activities on campus. She was a Resident Advisor, an Orientation Advisor and part of many clubs, including LASO. Chriny was well-respected and liked among her peers and professors. When Chriny graduated, she decided that Manhattanville would be the perfect place to continue her education. She enrolled in graduate school at the college and took a job working as a counselor in the HEOP program. Chriny advised students on both academic and personal issues. She helped students adjust to college and taught them to balance their school, work and social lives. After a year as an HEOP counselor, Chriny became the Administrative Assistant to the Dean.

As assistant to the Dean, Chriny’s days are always busy. Aside from helping Dean Hunter with daily activities, Chriny is responsible for student clubs and organizations. She organizes club budgets, plans the monthly President’s Roundtable meetings, informs club presidents of campus activities and keeps records of all of the clubs’ programs. She is the advisor of the Aurora Fashion Society and is an assistant advisor to Manhattanville Sound. Chriny creates and maintains the Valiant Express schedule. Her office is also the only place to buy tickets for the popular New York City trips.

This is Chriny’s second year as Assistant to the Dean. Kevin Hunter, the Dean of Students, says that working with Chriny is truly a pleasure because she is such an asset to the Student Affairs department. Chriny helps the Dean with daily activities, such as documenting judicial reports, translating for Spanish- speaking parents, and chaperoning activities and trips. Dean Hunter enjoys having Chriny in the office. “Working with Chriny is great. She’s always in a good mood and very straightforward. Chriny keeps everyone grounded. The students really look up to her. Many consider her a ‘mom away from home.’” he says.

Michele Masick, the Director of Student Activities, has worked with Chriny for almost three years. Michele and Chriny work closely on many activities, such as Orientation, Fall Fest, Family Weekend, Quad Jam and Commencement. Michele and Chriny chaperone many events together, including weekend programs and pub parties. “Chriny is vibrant and enthusiastic. It is truly a pleasure to have her as a coworker.” Michele says she looks forward to working with Chriny again next semester.

Chriny’s favorite part of her job is the people. “It is such a good working environment here. I love hanging out with the students everyday. They really motivate me,” she says. Students love hanging out with Chriny just as much. Rosa Inoa, a senior, has worked with Chriny during the summer for the past two years. Rosa considers Chriny a close friend and often goes to her when she needs advice. “She’s a friend and mentor because she’s so easy to talk to.”

Sergio Gonzalez, a junior, has worked in the Office of Student Activities since his freshman year. He admires Chriny and thinks she goes above and beyond her job to make time for the students. “Chriny gives great advice. She always makes time for me and is always willing to help out whenever she can.”

Many students would agree with Rosa and Sergio. Chriny always puts the students first. She makes people feel important and comfortable and constantly offers advice and support. She is admired by both her coworkers and students. With Chriny, a problem is never too big or too small to handle.

Randy Williams is an art professor here at Manhattanville College. While most professors grudgingly teach Preceptorial, Randy considers it his favorite class. “I get students right out of high school and live with them for four years. I can see them grow and change while they’re here. I see it as a last opportunity to work with them and help them understand responsibility. I like working with college students in general because I see it as the ‘last frontier’ before they have responsibilities to the world.”

Before coming here, Randy worked full-time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he still works as an educational consultant as well as art class instructor. Since the mid-1970’s, Randy has served as the Artistic Director for the New York State Summer School of Visual Arts, which works with high school students. He has been teaching here since the late 1980’s. He teaches Watercolor, Assemblage and Collage and art workshops for art education classes. He also teaches a class in performance art which, he says “is kind of wacky. It’s contemporary and I get students who wouldn’t normally take a class like it.”

Randy became interested in art when he was a student at New York University. He entered as a pre-med student, hoping to become a pediatrician and help young children. He took a job in the Studio Art department, where he ran errands, cleaned the studio and helped out. He loved the professors and students in the department and developed an interest in art through working with them.

Now married with two grown sons, his favorite activities are doing artwork in his studio and teaching classes. “If I had the choice between going on a vacation and teaching a class, I’d teach. I just love it.” His older son is an art teacher in the Bronx and works at the Neuberger Museum on weekends doing family programs. His younger son is working for St. John’s University studying sports management.

Randy’s work has been in more than thirty public and private exhibitions (some solo) and won numerous awards, such as the Manhattanville College Excellence Award in 1995. He also won a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts to the American Academy in Rome. If you’d like to meet Randy or learn more about the Art Department here at Manhattanville, stop by his office in Brownson 209. He’d love to meet you.

There are few people in Manhattanville’s history who have changed the reputation of a team the way Michele Ribeiro has. Ribeiro, a senior finance major from West Hartford, Connecticut, has broken more records in the history of Manhattanville women’s soccer than anyone else. As the captain of the soccer team, Ribeiro knows how to be a leader and is admired by teammates, coaches and fans alike.

During Ribeiro’s freshman year, it was obvious that she was a force to be reckoned with on the field. At the end of the 2003-2004 season, Ribeiro was named Rookie of the Year.

Since that season, she has broken numerous school and personal records and received many honors and awards. She was a two-time First Team, All Skyline Conference selection. Ribeiro holds the Manhattanville records in Most Saves in a Game, Goalie Saves in a Season, Save Percentage, Goals Against Average (Season), Goalie Wins, Goalie Shutouts, Career Goalie Saves, Career Goalie Wins, Career Goalie Shutouts and Career Goalie Minutes Played. She broke her own records twice in Most Saves in a Game, Season Goalie Saves and Save Percentage. She currently ranks twelfth in the country in save percentage. Ribeiro is known as one of the best goalies in the region and has started almost every single game in her career.

Ribeiro is not only an amazing player but an outstanding leader. She is extremely dedicated to her team and the athletic program at Manhattanville. Ribeiro is admired and respected by her teammates because she supports them all both on and off the field. Senior Janelle Forster has played with Ribeiro since their freshman year. “It has been an honor playing with such a talented, dedicated player and friend,” she said. Many of Michele’s other teammates concur.

Maureen Hickey, a sophomore, says that she looks up to Ribeiro. “Michele is one of the most dedicated and talented athletes I’ve ever met. She is a great leader and role model for the rest of her teammates and never puts in less than 100% effort. For younger players to see someone as devoted to the game as Michele, it not only heightens their respect for her as a person and an athlete, but it also gives them something to strive for and look up to. If every athlete put in the time, effort, and passion that Michele does, they would be unstoppable.” Hickey plays goalie as well, and says that she has learned many valuable lessons from Ribeiro. When Ribeiro graduates at the end of the year, her presence on the team will be greatly missed.

Ribeiro’s teammates aren’t the only ones to recognize her energy. Senior Lauren DiNapoli immediately became friends with Michele during pre-season in the summer of 2003. An injury left Lauren unable to play past her freshman year, but she continued to support Michele and the soccer team. “Michele is an amazing athlete. She never gives up, is dedicated, a born leader and is very supportive of her teammates both off and on the field,” DiNapoli said. Michele has immense energy during games. Fans on the sidelines often hear her yelling directions and support to her team from her post inside the goal.

Sports are Ribeiro’s passion, but there’s a lot more to her than soccer. She is also one of the star players on the women’s softball team. Her softball record is equally as spectacular as her soccer record. Ribeiro works at Healthworks, the school gym, many nights a week. She also spends a great deal of time studying in the library.

For Michele Ribeiro, soccer isn’t about winning or losing. Ribeiro says it is about the game, the discipline and the great sense of accomplishment when a job is well done. Ribeiro is someone who could never leave the playing field, simply because she loves the game too much. She truly embodies the Valiant spirit.

Every day when we go to the cafeteria to have breakfast and/or lunch, a smiling face always welcomes us at the door. Every one of you knows whom I am talking about, Rosa. I have the pleasure to say that I interviewed the sweet Hispanic woman at the door of the cafeteria who swipes our ID’s on a daily basis. Her full name is Rosa Roldan and she is originally from Lima, Peru. She came to the United States in 1991 and has only returned to her home country once after arriving in the United States, in 1995. She started working for Flik on the Manhattanville Campus in 1997, by reference of a friend who used to work here. Ever since then she has been here to welcome us to the dining hall with her smile.

When it comes to family, Rosa has three children: two sons, Jose Luis and Luis Humberto, and a daughter, Rosa Maria, who have given her the gift of six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. It is common to see her great-grandson on campus when her daughter comes to pick Rosa up from work a few times a week. Rosa is divorced from the father of her children since 1990. During her spare time, she likes to spend time at home doing chores, reading and getting together with her family that lives here in the States. Her favorite pastimes are watching soccer and basketball on television.

Concerning Flik, she is the official Benziger Dining Hall cashier, where her duties include swiping our meals into the system to make sure it is registered. After working on campus, she heads off to her second job where she works at MasterCard from 6:00 to 10:00pm. When I asked if she liked Flik food, she responded the following, “I love the food they make here, especially the soups. Those soups are very delicious to me.” When I asked her about the students here on campus, she answered that she gives out love to all of them and that when graduation comes around it makes her very sad to see a large group of good kids go.

I find it fascinating how years after years a person has so much love to give at her workplace as Rosa does. On your very first day here at the ‘Ville, one of the primary rules we all learn is to never ever forget to say “Hi” to Rosa at the door. She has become a key person to all Manhattanvillians alike, from alums that come to visit to prospective students that are interested because of the school’s scenic landscape.

Political pundits claim that bias has infiltrated academia, particularly in the areas of history and political science. As much disdain as I have for them, they may be right. In early 2005, Professor Robert Ashkinaze showed his students an article in The New Yorker titled “Columbia’s Middle East War.” Without taking sides, he asked the students “what do you think?” He refused, though, to tell us what to think. The result was a brief debate, albeit an impassioned one. So long as teachers such as Ashkinaze are around, Manhattanville will never have a “Middle East War.” Perhaps if Columbia had more Robert Ashkinazes, its Middle East Wars would come to a much-desired end.

Professor Ashkinaze is a veteran adjunct in Manhattanville’s History Department. He has around fifty years of teaching experience and also teaches graduate level education courses. His primary area of expertise is Medieval European and Russian History. However, Professor Ashkinaze also offers Wars of The Modern Middle East. It is a comprehensive, fulfilling, and, most important of all, balanced retrospective of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

When it comes to History, especially the Middle East conflict, nonpartisanship is a rare and much-needed element. This is more imperitive than ever, particularly in an era when partisanship has transformed Middle East Studies into a political discipline, rather than an educational one. Like me, he is a strong supporter of Israel. However, he focuses on what can be done to win peace, rather than setting the blame on one party or another for war. This approach also brings the human aspect of the Arab-Israeli Wars to the forefront, while avoiding the hackneyed “left-right” debate that has infected Middle Eastern Studies. Indeed, if it can happen at Columbia, it can happen anywhere.

In all of Askinaze’s courses, students watch videos, ranging from Osama and Lawrence of Arabia to Dr. Zhivago and Reds. They are also assigned trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ashkinaze’s energy and charisma also make all of his courses particularly enjoyable. I have taken three courses with him, and recommend him to all History majors and/or minors. Even after fifty years in education, Robert Ashkinaze still continues remaking history for his students. More than just a teacher, he is also a peacemaker.