By Ally Uhlendorf and Isabella Darcy
Managing Editors
With the fall 2024 semester coming to an end, the College is preparing to announce what progress it has made throughout the last three months. The Signal sat down with President Michael Bernstein on Dec. 3 to reflect on this semester and discuss future plans for the College.
As the College continues working to tackle budget shortfalls, LIONS Plan Coordinated Action Teams have been making efforts to meet its revenue generating goals. The CATs are on track to deliver reports to Bernstein by the end of this month, who will update the campus community once he finishes processing what he is informed of.
Bernstein said he was proud of the College this semester for the way the entire campus community navigated the 2024 presidential election.
Given the speculation around President-elect Donald Trump pledging to close the Department of Education, the College is paying close attention to the news and will “respond as circumstances require,” according to Bernstein.
While the closing of the federal Department of Education could bring challenges to the College, so could a continued lack of state funding.
“Elected officials in Trenton, there are a lot of mouths to feed, a lot of people asking for support, whether it's in education or in healthcare, in infrastructure, in the industry, in the K through 12 space,” Bernstein said. “Everybody has needs. The state has finite resources.”
Despite these challenges the College is working to navigate, Bernstein is optimistic about the near future.
Looking ahead to the spring semester, Bernstein is looking forward to celebrating another successful year. Alongside the class of 2025, the President will attend commencement in May to send off the graduating class.
“My first commencement was a delight last May, so I'm looking forward to round two,” Bernstein said. “What does not get tiring is getting genuine reactions each time from the graduating class.”
In addition to the graduating class, Bernstein is looking forward to the spring sports season — both at the College and in the major leagues.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the outcomes for [the College’s] teams, they did remarkably well last year,” Bernstein said. “As a Yankees fan, it was a difficult end to that season, we got our heads handed to us by the Los Angeles Dodgers, so I'm looking forward to the next baseball season.”
To end off the semester and celebrate the holiday season, Bernstein will spend time watching his two favorite holiday movies: “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Wizard of Oz.” As a child, Bernstein loved to watch “The Wizard of Oz” when it was shown once a year during the holiday season, so it has now become a holiday classic.
As the College moves into the new year, Bernstein will be providing updates on the evolving initiatives to the campus community at the start of the new semester.
