The year 2020 was one for the history books, on so many counts.
For me, it started with a phone call from my dear friend and boss, Laura Barlament. After 13 years at Wagner, she was leaving for a new job in the Midwest.
I knew that meant I would be responsible for putting together the next issue of Wagner Magazine.
I’ve edited other publications, including an international membership magazine and a local weekly newspaper — but to follow in Laura’s footsteps was a daunting proposition, to say the least.
At least I had the experience required.
I’m one of those guys who “bleeds green and white.” I’ve spent a third of my adult life — since February 2007 — working in Wagner’s Communications office. I’ve served as the college’s press representative, written numerous features for the magazine, delved deeply into the college’s history and edited the daily campus newsletter. In the process, I’ve really grown to love this community on Grymes Hill.
All of which is to say that, though editing this issue of Wagner Magazine — my first — has been a major challenge, it’s also been a tremendous joy.
Like everyone, the uncertainties associated with the Covid pandemic have made me very anxious — but our two feature stories helped calm me down.
I met with our new president, Joel Martin, to explore his strategies for helping Wagner survive its biggest threat since our fiscal crisis of the late 1980s.
And I asked my colleague Claire Regan ’80, former editor at the Staten Island Advance and longtime Wagner journalism professor, to write about five alumni who are part of HEHAT, the Higher Education Health Advisory Team that President Martin created to provide solid scientific and policy advice. Reading her story assured me that we’re in very good hands.
Even the Class Notes section of the magazine was a joy. We made almost 200 short visits with Wagner alumni whose connections to the college span more than half of our 137-year history — and we bade farewell to 150 beloved classmates and former members of our faculty and staff who left this earth since the last issue of Wagner Magazine was published.
I hope this new issue of our alumni magazine reconnects you to our alma mater — and I invite you to share with me and your fellow alums any news you may have about yourself for the next issue of Wagner Magazine!
Lee Manchester
EDITOR, WAGNER MAGAZINE
