Click Here for UNH Alumni Association Scholarship Ball Information
West Haven, CT, April 1, 2008 - The University of New Haven (UNH) Alumni Association will host its 25th Annual Scholarship Ball on Saturday, April 12, at 6 p.m. at the University's new David A. Beckerman Recreation Center on campus. Proceeds from the event go toward scholarships for students of need. Over the years alumni and friends of UNH have raised almost $1.6 million for scholarships, helping many students pursue their educational dreams. The 2008 Scholarship Ball will celebrate the creation of 10 new scholarships.
Highlights of the ball-which raised more than $300,000 last year for worthy students-include a silent and live auction. Serving as master of ceremonies and live auctioneer will be Michael Morris, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Coordinator of the Master's Community Psychology Program at UNH. The ball also serves as a way for UNH to honor distinguished alumni. This year's honorees are:
Anthony J. Sparano III '84 B.S., Criminal Justice, Head Coach, Miami Dolphins
Tony Sparano was born in New Haven to working parents. His mother was a school crossing guard, his father drove a truck. Although they never had an abundance of money, he and his two sisters never wanted for anything. They particularly got plenty of doses of an important childhood nutrient: Character.
Character became a connecting thread throughout Sparano's life. He majored in Criminal Justice at the University of New Haven, played on the football team, and worked the late shift at a local convenience store. Sparano planned to become a police officer, but given an opportunity to become UNH's offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, he took it. He established a reputation for listening to his players and for encouraging good behavior, an attribute that has remained with him.
He married his high school sweetheart and later became head coach at UNH. After several years at Boston University, where the team eventually made the second round of the NCAA playoffs, Sparano was given an opportunity to gain a foothold in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns. He started as an offensive quality control coach - the lowest position in the league - and was quickly promoted to offensive line coach. But he and the other Browns' coaches were fired after two years. He went to the Washington Redskins. One year later, the head coach, Marty Shottenheimer, and the rest of the coaching staff were fired. He went to the Jacksonville Jaguars to work with head coach Tom Coughlin. One year later, Coughlin and the coaching staff were fired.
A lesser man would have given up. But the football network stepped in. Sparano notes that Tom Coughlin called Bill Parcells, at the Dallas Cowboys, on his behalf. He adds that Parcels asked him to interview with him for the tight end job, and offered him the job that day. Working for Parcells was a highlight for Sparano, who moved up quickly in the Cowboys organization. Parcells eventually went to work for the Dolphins and Sparano became the Cowboys' assistant head coach. This past January, Sparano accepted the head coaching job in Miami.
J. David Scheiner '71 B.S., Management Science, President and Chief Operating Officer, Macy's Florida
J. David Scheiner was born in Buffalo, New York. His parents moved the family to Yonkers, where he attended Roosevelt High School, where he met his high school sweetheart who would become his wife and longtime love, Joan. But as devoted as he was to his wife-to-be, he was less dedicated to his studies. He attended Bryant College in Rhode Island, then Kirkland Hall Junior College in Maryland, where two important events occurred. He became engaged to Joan, and as they planned their life together, he found his motivation. He graduated first in his class at Kirkland Hall, and proceeded to the University of New Haven, and credits his UNH professors and the interest they took in him as pivotal in terms of his self-esteem and confidence.
Upon graduation, he began looking for a job. Retail ran in the family DNA; Scheiner's parents met when they were both working at Gimbels department store in Manhattan. His father subsequently became the vice chairman of Lerner Shops. Scheiner's impression of the business though, was one of long, stressful hours and frequent moves. When he graduated from college, he decided to avoid the retail life.
But a recession had struck, and the few jobs that were available were predominantly in retail. So he interviewed with Gimbels. The company offered him a job and he reluctantly took it. He fell in love with the business and earning a living based on daily sales and customers' reactions. In 1972 he accepted a job at Burdine's, one of Florida's major department stores. He and Joan have been living happily in Florida ever since. A stint as president of Maas Brothers/Jordan Marsh took them to Tampa for three years. They then moved back to Miami with Burdines, which subsequently became Macy's.
Scheiner's community activism is widespread. He serves on the board of directors of United Way of Miami Dade and was co-chair of the annual campaign. He served for 10 years on the board of his synagogue. He is on the executive committee and board of directors of the Miami Children's Hospital Foundation, where he chairs the finance committee. He is actively involved at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, where his wife serves as chairwoman of the board. He serves as chairman of the board of MetroBank of Florida and is involved in the revitalization of downtown Miami.
Martin J. O'Connor '76, UNH Fire Science Professor and Campus Minister
Marty O'Connor grew up in an Irish Catholic family in New Haven, one of five children whose mother was determined that they attend college. Little did she know how many colleges Marty would attend, or that he'd end up teaching at one.
But the pathway to his career took its inevitable twists and turns. He felt certain, as a young man, that he was destined to be a priest. He attended Fairfield University with that intent, and subsequently talked himself out of the priesthood and Fairfield. He joined the Army and then took a test for the New Haven Fire Department in 1968.
Three and a half years later, O'Connor stepped onto another college campus, at UNH. Smitten with education, he pursued a law degree at the University of Connecticut while working full time for the fire department. He married, became director of the Fire Science program at UNH, and retired from the fire department. But his retirement was premature: Mayor John DeStefano asked him to return to become New Haven's fire chief.
Four years later, he felt he knew enough about firefighting to train the next generation of leaders. He returned to UNH to teach, and to serve as the president of the Alumni Association's board of directors. But his childhood leanings toward the priesthood, and his mother's passion for education, propelled him into Yale Divinity School, where he earned his master of divinity degree.
Today, O'Connor teaches Fire Science, is the University's campus minister, and sees his legal skills emerge in all kinds of ways, particularly when helping students judge what career to pursue. He runs the internship program for the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Fire Sciences, and has helped the College grow to become renowned throughout the world. Yet whatever his accomplishments, it's no surprise that he is back to school again, juggling teaching at UNH with his pursuit of a doctorate of ministry at Fordham University.
A leader in experiential education, the University of New Haven provides its students with a unique combination of solid liberal arts and real-world, hands-on professional training. A private University founded in 1920, UNH has a full-time undergraduate enrollment of more than 2,400 students-with 70 percent residing on its 80-acre main campus-and a graduate school enrollment that exceeds 1,700. The University offers more than 80 undergraduate degrees and more than 25 graduate degrees through its four colleges, in fields such as sports management, nutrition, forensic science, music and sound recording, engineering, computer science and criminal justice. University College at UNH develops programs and courses to meet the emerging educational and training needs of educators, businesses and public and social agencies, focusing on academic excellence, convenience and flexibility. University of New Haven students study abroad through a variety of distinctive programs.
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