Distinguished Citizens Award Dinner to Benefit Ramapo College Students, Capital Projects and Faculty
The Ramapo College Foundation has announced the recipients of its 27th Annual Distinguished Citizens Award.  The honorees will be recognized for their personal and professional commitment to advance higher education and for their significant service to the community at a dinner on March 7, 2009 at the Rockleigh Country Club. The honorees are David Alai of Rutherford, corporate vice president for Sharp Electronics in Mahwah, New Jersey, a member of the board of directors of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey and a governor on the Ramapo College Foundation board; Marion Dugan ’80, formerly of Mahwah and currently in Garrison, New York, founder, along with her husband, Pat, of Charity Navigator; John R. Smith of Tenafly, director of corporate responsibility for Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) and president of its Foundation, and Anthony J. Marino of Cedar Grove, CEO of Century 21 Construction, which he founded in 1968.
DCD Website

Fiddler Eileen Ivers and her Band, Immigrant Soul, will present Christmas Show at Ramapo College
Fiddler Eileen Ivers, with her band Immigrant Soul, will bring her joyous and authentic Irish Christmas celebration to the Sharp Theater on the campus of Ramapo College of New Jersey on December 14.  The 7 p.m. show is sold out, an extra show has been added at 3 p.m. Established as the pre-eminent exponent of the Irish fiddle, Ivers will perform popular holiday music and traditional Irish songs.  She is a founding member of Cherish the Ladies and the original musical star of “Riverdance.”
Tickets for the 3 p.m. show are available by telephone at (201) 684-7844 or at the box office.
Berrie Center Website

Celebrate Holidays Around the World at Ramapo College with the Newark Boys Chorus
Celebrate the holiday season with the world-renowned Newark Boys Chorus on December 20 at Ramapo College of New Jersey. The Newark Boys Chorus will perform a diverse repertoire that includes classical music, spirituals, African folk songs, contemporary show tunes, pop music and jazz.  Their performance at Ramapo College is part of an international tour that has included venues throughout the United States and abroad. The chorus is comprised of young men from fourth through eighth grades who value a love for learning, a quest for excellence and a compassion for humanity. 
Online Tickets
Berrie Center Website

Ensemble Barynya will present an International Russian Music and Dance Festival at Ramapo College in December
In colorful costumes and with frenetic energy, Ensemble Barynya will present a program of Eastern European dance and music at Ramapo College of New Jersey in December. Ensemble Barynya is considered one of the best Eastern European dance and music ensembles outside of Russia.  During the International Russian Music and Dance Festival they will perform traditional Russian, Gypsy Roma, Cossack and Ukrainian dances, sing songs and play music on traditional instruments.
Online Tickets
Berrie Center Website

President Peter Mercer updated his blog, the President's Post, with recent campus happenings.

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Folksinger John Gorka will Perform at Ramapo College of New Jersey
John Gorka, an icon of the folk tradition, will perform at Ramapo College of New Jersey on December 5 at 8 p.m. in the Sharp Theater. Gorka, a multi-faceted performer whose songs are full of depth, beauty and emotion, began his singing career at Godfrey Daniels, one of the oldest and most venerable music institutions in eastern Pennsylvania. He gravitated toward folk-inspired acoustic music and before long he was performing his own songs.   Those who had at one time inspired him--Suzanne Vega, Bill Morrissey, Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, Shawn Colvin--became his peers.
Online Tickets
Berrie Center Website

Ramapo College Receives Grant for Performing and Visual Arts Programming
Ramapo College of New Jersey received a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) this fall that will help support performing and visual arts programming at the College.
The grant will support art exhibits at the College’s Pascal and Kresge Galleries as well as main stage musical, dance, comedy and drama performances in the Sharp Theater.  The Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for the Performing and Visual Arts serves as the College’s venue for arts programming.

Exhibition by Artists Working in Animation will be held at Ramapo College
“Expanding Animation,” an exhibition of work by artists who incorporate animation, interactive objects and other experimental media into their work, will be presented in the Pascal Gallery on the campus of Ramapo College of New Jersey in November. An opening reception and artists’ talks will be given Wednesday, November 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Pascal Gallery.  The exhibition runs November 6 through December 10. 
Art Galleries Website

Group Exhibition of Paintings by Women will be Displayed at Ramapo College
An exhibition of paintings by women artists, “Affinities:  Painting in Abstraction,” will be presented in the Kresge Gallery on the campus of Ramapo College of New Jersey from November 5 through December 10. Represented in the exhibition will be a variety of approaches to abstract painting by eight women artists.  While the paintings are seemingly disparate in structure, each exemplifies common attributes made visible through the artist’s engagement with process and practice.  Each painting pushes the media through an active investigation and dissection of abstraction.
Art Galleries Website

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Ramapo College Receives Healthy Workplace Award
The New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA) awarded Ramapo College of New Jersey the 2008 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award in recognition of Ramapo’s success at creating a psychologically healthy work environment.   Ramapo College is one of three recipients of the award in New Jersey.  Winners of the New Jersey award are eligible to be nominated for the national award through the American Psychological Association; the college has been nominated for both a Best Practice award as well as the National Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award.

U.S. NEWS Ranks Ramapo College Among the Best in the North
In the 2009 edition of “America’s Best Colleges,” released by U.S. News & World Report, Ramapo College was ranked number 5 in the north in the Top Public Universities-Master’s category. This is the second year the college received the distinction. In addition, Ramapo College climbed the ranking ladder to number 29, up from 32, in U.S. News’s comprehensive listing of Best Universities-Master’s in the north.

Ramapo College Featured in the Princeton Review’s “Best in the Northeast”
Ramapo College of New Jersey is one of the best colleges and universities in the Northeast according to The Princeton Review. The New York City-based education services company selected the school as one of 212 institutions it recommends in its “Best in the Northeast” section on its PrincetonReview.com feature 2009 Best Colleges Region by Region. It also profiles the school in its book,” The Best Northeastern Colleges: 2009 Edition.”

Ramapo College of New Jersey Listed by Kiplinger’s As One of the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges
Ramapo College of New Jersey was listed in the February 2008 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine as among the “100 Best Values in Public Colleges.” Kiplinger’s looked at more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities, using measures including the percentage of freshmen scoring 600 or higher on the verbal and math components of the SAT, student/faculty ratio, admission rates and graduation rates.  In addition, schools were ranked based on cost and financial aid, the average cost for a student with need after subtracting grants, the average cost for a student without need after subtracting non-need based grants, the average percentage of need met by aid and the average debt a student accumulates before graduation.
More Information

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