As undergraduates they were leaders in the Student Senate; find out where life has taken them since.
It’s a simple formula for University success: Student involvement equals student achievement. A look at young alumni who were active during their years in Kingston also reveals another truth—those who immersed themselves in campus life developed leadership skills that continue to serve them well today.
Navy Lt. Peter Pascucci said his University involvement has played a key role in his development as a lawyer with the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps. Originally from Ossining, N.Y., Pascucci is now stationed in Norfolk, Va. In the fall, he returned from Scotland after serving as the sole legal advisor for an admiral during NATO war games.
Before graduating from URI in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in marine affairs and political science, Pascucci served as commander of the University’s Emergency Medical Services and was a member of the Student Senate for four years, serving as its director of communications for two years. He was a campus tour guide for three years.
The graduate of the Ralph R. Pappito School of Law at Roger Williams University said involvement in URI campus issues, especially the tensions that swirled around a controversial cartoon in The Good 5 Cent Cigar, as well as his medical services work, sharpened his decision-making skills. As the Senate communications director during the controversy involving the student newspaper when the Senate initially voted to freeze the paper’s budget, Pascucci worked closely with University officials and off-campus media.
As the emergency medical services commander, he responded to a number of fires and a major carbon monoxide leak: “In an emergency response, you have to be capable of doing a rapid assessment and making solid decisions quickly.
“My people skills have been essential in the Navy since I am involved in rules of engagement, laws of armed conflict, legal assistance, criminal defense, estate planning, and consumer law. Because I have such a wide range of duties, I deal with the most junior enlisted person one day, and a commodore or admiral the next.
“One of the most important things I learned at URI was how to deal with superiors,” he added. “As a student, being able to meet with President Carothers to explain a situation was valuable training.”
Ana Barraza, program coordinator for the Center for Student Leadership and Development in the Memorial Union, developed her leadership skills in the crucible of student protest.
“The climax of my involvement was the takeover of Taft Hall in 1992, which taught me that students can make a difference,” said the 1994 graduate, who also earned her master’s degree in college student personnel from the University. “Now I try to use those experiences to help current students connect with faculty and Student Life staff.”
Barraza and fellow members of the Black Student Leadership Group took over Taft to protest campus racism and what they said were numerous injustices experienced by students of color. They presented 14 points to the administration, among them demands for a major in African and African-American studies, an annual black student leadership conference, and the establishment of a multicultural center. All three are now in place on the Kingston Campus, with a new Multicultural Center opening in the center of campus in 1998.
During her time as an undergraduate, Barraza was a member and secretary of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first sorority for black women; a member of Uhuru SaSa, an organization for students of color; and a student worker in the Office of Multicultural Student Services.
Now as program coordinator for student leadership and development on campus, she serves students: “This is a fabulous University, and I have a great opportunity to meet students from many different majors with rich and diverse backgrounds.”
Barraza said several University Student Affairs and Talent Development officials were her role models: “They challenged me in academic and non-academic settings, and that process molded me into the student affairs professional I am now,” said Barraza, who grew up in Providence and lives there today.
“One of the highlights of my student career was being on the search committee that hired former Athletic Director Ron Petro. Being involved in such an important process connected me with major campus leaders. Now I tell my students to make their presence felt because then they will get selected for important committees. That’s what leads to change.”
Burrillville’s Eddy Pacheco came to the University having already learned a few lessons about public service. Entering his senior year at Burrillville High School, he ran for Town Council and lost by just 200 votes. After being appointed to the School Committee to fill a vacancy, he ran for re-election in 2002 and garnered the greatest number of votes out of 12 candidates. While finishing his term as chair of the committee, he won election to the state House of Representatives in 2004, a seat he holds today.
The 2005 URI alumnus was elected to the Student Senate his freshman year and served through his senior year. He was a member of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.
“I was able to bring my experience in town politics to the Student Senate, and as a member of the Senate I was able to educate fellow students about how to lobby the legislature in an effective manner,” Pacheco said. “My experiences taught me that no one knows everything. From each individual I came in contact with in class, in the Senate, and at ZBT, I took away something different. URI is a rich environment because there are people there from all over the country and all over the world.”
Now the project coordinator at Meeting Street, a center that serves children with disabilities that is moving into a new $25 million facility, Pacheco said he encourages students to get involved in campus life. “Education doesn’t just come from books and classrooms; it also comes from the people in those classrooms and the organizations and activities that give you the full college experience.”
Nicole Dulude’s time at the Cigar combined with her journalism classes inspired her to pursue a law career. The Cranston native and current Bristol resident, who earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science in 2003, graduated magna cum laude and fourth in a class of 135 from Roger Williams Law School in 2006.
While at URI, she was a member of the Cigar for four years, wrapping up her time as editor in chief.
“The Cigar gave me tremendous experience managing about 35 staff members,” said Dulude, who is the law clerk for Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Frank J. Williams. “The Cigar, like law school and law firms, is a fast-paced, pressure-filled environment. The work I did there—writing articles on deadline, making sure I got to the point—is similar to the practice of law. You have to get to the point because judges don’t have time to read long, complicated pieces. Because of the Cigar, legal writing is my strong point.”
Her newspaper experience in Kingston and at the Cranston Herald and Warwick Beacon led her to become managing editor of the Roger Williams Law Review. She wrote an article in the Fall 2005 edition, “Unlocking America’s Courthouse Doors: Restoring a Presumption of First Amendment Access as a Means of Reviving Public Faith in Judiciary.”
“It was my journalism major that sparked my interest in a legal career, specifically media law and First Amendment law,” Dulude said. “At the Cigar, our reporters ran into access issues, and while we may not have understood the process, I knew it was an issue. Without my journalism classes and my media law classes, I never would have been interested in the law.”
Dulude said college is a time for students to find out where they want to be in two or three years. “If you are interested in journalism, political science, or the law, you really need to experience these things early in University life.”
Like Pascucci, Barraza, Pacheco, and Dulude before him, current Student Senate President Neil Cavanaugh, a senior from East Greenwich who will graduate in May 2007, already understands the value of his involvement—great experiences and deep friendships that will last a lifetime.
“If you look at the alumni who come back, they are the ones who were involved in the Senate, the fraternities and sororities, the clubs, the Cigar,” Cavanaugh said. “They are the ones who have a passion for the University and a lifelong connection to the groups they were a part of on campus.”
So it’s not surprising that Cavanaugh knows State Rep. Pacheco well or that Navy Lt. Pascucci returned to Rhode Island for a couple of Blue and White Balls and the dedication of the new Emergency Medical Services Building. It makes sense that lawyer Dulude keeps in touch with her Cigar mates and that Barraza uses her experiences to help develop the new generation of leaders at URI and beyond.
Cavanaugh said his involvement in school government began at East Greenwich High School because he had a desire to know what was happening. At URI, he has been on the Senate since his freshman year; president of his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi; the risk manager for the Interfraternity Council; and a URI 101 mentor. He has also worked throughout his college career.
“I look at these activities as preparation for the real world. Now you could put me in a room with President Carothers or Gov. Carcieri, and I would be very comfortable,” the marketing major said. “I have also learned that the best leaders bring out the best in others.”
By Dave Lavallee ’79, M.P.A. ’87
Photo Courtesy of Peter Pascucci And Other Photos By Nora Lewis
