Pomp Amid Protest (The Dutchess Beat 5/23/08)

The Dutchess Beat - May 23, 2008

Pomp amid protest
DCC graduates reflect as Fairview residents protest dorm building plan
By Greg Lucid

Almost 900 graduating students gathered at Dutchess Community College for the school’s 49th commencement on May 15 at George A. Strba Soccer Field in Poughkeepsie, while some residents turned out on a nearby road to protest the college’s plan to build dormitories.

Laura Newswanger of Hyde Park had a look of joy and determination on her face after completing two years of study at the college. With her tassel turned, Newswanger said she knows her education doesn’t end at DCC.
“It feels good, but it’s only the halfway mark,” she said, adding that she looks forward to attending the State University of New York at Oneonta, where she will major in nutrition.

Indeed, the overall message at the ceremony was clear: one’s education shouldn’t end at graduation.

“You can and must never stop learning,” said graduation speaker Anthony V. Campilii, a member of the Class of 1960, the first graduating class of DCC, who added to students that they should participate in charitable and civic activities beyond the classroom.

Shannan Sweeney of Wappingers Falls, a graduate from the business program at DCC, said her three years at the college were well-spent because of class size.
“It’s a lot smaller, and you learn more about yourself,” she said.

Some students reflected on their mentors, friends and teachers who they will miss. Peter Martin of Pawling, a liberal arts and humanities degree recipient, plans on attending the State University of New York at Binghamton and said he will remember the advice one of his professors, Richard Reitano, the ceremony’s faculty marshal, lectured to him.

“He (Reitano) said you should never make excuses about anything in life,” Martin said.

Unfair?

Following the ceremony, approximately 12 individuals from a disgruntled citizens group, Fairness for Fairview, chanted “No Dorms Needed” along Cottage Road on county property near DCC, in reference to the school’s proposal to build a 450-bed dormitory along the road as part of Phase I of a construction project.

Town residents such as Fairness member Virginia Buechele are angry that the county and DCC are moving ahead with plans to build the dorm, when DCC and Marist College, two colleges in the Fairview Fire District, are tax-exempt, and make up for the majority of calls to the district.

Buechele said Fairness for Fairview didn’t want to spoil the graduation, so the group waited until the end of the ceremony near one of the college’s exits.

“We have a right to assemble and protest,” she said, adding that the group had received approval to rally from the town attorney and police department.

“They didn’t disrupt the ceremony,” said Ann Winfield, director of community relations at DCC. “The college understands that the citizens wanted to get their concerns heard. We take the community’s concerns seriously.”

“We’ve got a lot of people’s attention. We wanted to do this in a respectful way. I think we did. We didn’t even come out here until 7:30 p.m. and by that point graduation was two-thirds done,” said Kurt Hornick, spokesman for Fairness for Fairview.

Buechele and several others also protested along Route 9 at Marist College’s commencement ceremony on May 17.

Hornick said Marist pays town police overtime for any events such as a college graduation ceremony.

“Fire and EMT calls are the ultimate cost passed on to the taxpayer,” Hornick said. “If Marist could pay for services they use, it would help homeowners.”

“Dutchess and Marist need to be aware of the gravity of the situation,” Hornick said. “People are losing their homes because the fire tax is out of control.”

The fire district responded to 247 incidents in 2007 at Marist College, and 109 incidents so far in 2008, while they answered approximately 49 calls in 2007 at DCC and 19 so far this year.

“The people of Fairview have a valid point in that they need help with high taxes,” said Tim Massie, Marist College spokesman. “Marist should not be the target.”