Student Experience - Annual Report

Positively Impacting the Student Experience

The generosity of individuals is paramount to the success of New York Tech and our students. Several donors made gifts that will transform the student experience for years to come.

Andrew and Christina Berner Offer Generous Challenge Match

New York Tech Board of Trustees member Andrew Berner and his wife, Christina, have offered a donation challenge to encourage members of the NYITCOM-Arkansas community to support the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s (NYITCOM) location on the Jonesboro campus of Arkansas State University. Berner, president of Jetton General Contracting in Jonesboro, Ark., has committed to match up to $45,000 of donations for the next five years, totaling $225,000.

“We are proud to offer this donation match challenge to inspire our community to come together to support NYITCOM-Arkansas,” say the Berners.

“Every dollar raised helps to unlock new opportunities for our students and programs, allowing us to invest in the next generation of healthcare leaders in the Delta.” – Andrew and Christina Berner

Ritter Arnold Establishes Scholarship to Bring Doctors to Northeast Arkansas

Ritter Arnold, retired executive vice president of E. Ritter & Company, took advantage of Andrew Berner’s challenge match to establish the Dr. Michael and Julie Isaacson Scholarship, which awards $20,000 annually to one or two first-year medical students from the Mississippi Delta who aspire to practice in the region.

“As populations have declined over the years in this region, many medical professionals have chosen to relocate to larger cities and research hospitals,” says Arnold, who has been a member of the NYITCOM-Arkansas Dean’s Advisory Board since its inception. “NYITCOM-Arkansas is focused on placing physicians back into the eastern third of the state, and I hope that this scholarship can encourage local kids to not only pursue their medical education but also to set down roots here after graduation and start their careers.”

Student doctors Katie Head of Paragould, Ark., and Andrew Sullivan of Jonesboro, Ark., were the first two recipients of the Isaacson Scholarship, which was named after Arnold’s dear friends Michael and Julie Isaacson in honor of their commitment to serving northeast Arkansas through medicine. In August, Karley Bloesch, a first-year medical student and a native of Poplar Grove, Ark., was awarded the Isaacson Scholarship in its second year.

“I’m extremely grateful to the Arnold family and Dr. and Mrs. Isaacson for this gift, and I’m humbled to be selected,” Bloesch says. “Being from a small Delta town, rural healthcare impacts my life daily, and seeing the disparities within it inspires me to make an impact. This scholarship will not only help financially, but it will help motivate me to become the physician that my community needs.”

“I’m always interested in projects that I think are larger than myself and our family business, especially those that will be particularly impactful for Jonesboro and northeast Arkansas,” says Arnold. “I think that the opening of NYITCOM-Arkansas was one of the most exciting projects ever developed in our region, and I’m proud to continue to support them and the work they do in our community.”

From left: NYITCOM-Arkansas Site Dean Shane Speights; NYITCOM Dean Nicole Wadsworth; Vice President for Development, Alumni Relations, and External Affairs Patrick Minson; student doctor Karley Bloesch; and Ritter Arnold

The Ferraras Continue Charitable Support with $1.25M Gift

Daniel Ferrara (D.O. ’86), vice chair of the Board of Trustees, and his wife, Danielle, made a $1.25 million gift to name the newly renovated plaza outside of the Serota Building on the Long Island campus in memory of his parents. The Angela and Ralph Ferrara Plaza includes updates to the existing student-founded Healing Path and a new Healing Pond, featuring an amphitheater-style seating area and sustainable plantings that encourage natural drainage and enhance campus resiliency.

“The unwavering support my parents gave me throughout my academic journey shaped who I am today,” says Ferrara. “By naming this plaza in their honor, I hope to create a lasting legacy that will inspire future generations of students to dream big and never give up.”

The Ferraras’ gift also supports several annual events at New York Tech, such as the Big Give, NYITCOM Alumni Awards, and the NYITCOM Golf Classic.

MORE FEATURE STORIES Another Year of Generosity Supports Student Success, Support for Research and Student Initiatives, Philanthropy Supports Facility Upgrades, Gifts in Kind, A Bigger Impact on the Future