Development News-Rutgers School of Communication and Information

Development News

Winter 2022

Note from Rob Eccles

Assistant Dean for Development

As we leave the holidays behind and begin the spring semester, I hope this note finds you and your family safe and healthy. 2021 was a complex year for the development office at SC&I. We celebrated some great successes and worked with many alumni and donors to facilitate gifts that will impact the school and our students for generations to come. We helped celebrate the SC&I classes of 2020 and 2021 with a fantastic event marking their considerable accomplishments during challenging times. Sadly, we also lost a vital member of our team, Jodi Marcou. The outpouring of support and condolences from friends of SC&I as we continue to navigate this tremendous loss has been overwhelming.

Many thanks to donors who helped celebrate the holidays with an end-of-year gift; your generosity is sincerely appreciated. While we begin the year with a temporary return to virtual learning and work, we are hopeful that as the year progresses, it brings with it normalcy. Please mark your calendars for March 23, 2022, and join us for another exciting and impactful Rutgers Giving Day, the biggest fundraising day of the year. If you would like to learn about becoming a Rutgers Giving Day Ambassador, I’d love to hear from you.

Finally, please enjoy the story below about SC&I alumna, donor, and my good friend Rosie Kasica, who created the Manuel Pinho and Mário Teques Endowed Scholarship to help support first-generation college students. Rosie’s story is a great example of honoring loved ones with a gift, creating a legacy, and making a difference. Happy 2022!

SC&I Events

Information Sessions

Master of Communication and Media: Feb 1|March 1

Explore SC&I’s Master of Communication and Media (MCM) program, now offering a specialization in Corporate Purpose and Social Impact. For more information and to register for a session, please visit here.

Master of Health Communication and Information: Jan 12 |Feb 9 |March 9

Explore our Master of Health Communication and Information (MHCI) program, which focuses on the communication, information, and media aspects of health-related policies and practices. For more information and to register for a session, please visit here.

Master of Information: Jan 13 |Feb 10 |March 19

Explore SC&I’s ALA-accredited Master of Information (MI) program, one of the top-ranked programs in the country. For more information and to register for a session, please visit here.

Rutgers Giving Day: March 23

A Single Day—Help Rutgers Help the World

*Visit SC&I Events for the most current information on programs.

Why We Support SC&I

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Rosemarie Pinho Kasica ’88 is a proud alumna of Cook College and SC&I (then known as the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies). In addition to holding a bachelor of arts in Journalism and Mass Media, Rosie earned a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from New York University. She spent most of her career as a senior producer and is now a business administration manager with CNN. She is the recipient of three Peabody Awards for broadcast journalism and MADD Media Awards.

Rosie created the Manuel Pinho and Mário Teques Endowed Scholarship to help support full- and part-time undergraduate students who demonstrate academic merit and financial need, with preference given to first-generation students. Explaining the genesis of the scholarship, Rosie said, “We created this fund in the name of my father, Manuel Pinho, and his close friend and my godfather, Mário Teques. They came to the United States from Portugal to make a better life for themselves and their families. They were a big influence on my life, demonstrating tireless efforts and cultural commitment to their community. A big part of that commitment was helping students achieve their dream of a college education by raising funds through numerous Portuguese-American community endeavors. For both men, their efforts paid off when both I and Mário’s daughter, Cristina Teques, graduated from Rutgers, the first in our families to get college degrees.”

When asked why she supports SC&I, Rosie said, “I’m just so grateful for the education that I received at Rutgers, especially at the journalism school. Without that, I would not be as successful as I am. It was a good building block for me, and everything I have learned goes back to Rutgers and my education. After my father died, my godfather encouraged me to carry on his good works. I know that first-gen students struggle, and I wanted to help. I looked at the sacrifices that my parents made. My mother worked a lot of overtime to make sure I had what I needed for college and she never made me feel bad about that. I got my values from my parents. My achievements were their achievements. I appreciate so much what my parents did. My mom is happy with me paying it forward and I know my father would be too.”

Thanks to Rosie’s generosity, she is making a difference in the lives of Rutgers students. Scholarship recipient Guido Lucas Frau expressed his gratitude: “It was an honor to be named the first recipient of the Manuel Pinho and Mario Teques Endowed Scholarship at SC&I. I am currently a double major in Journalism and Media Studies and Political Science. I intend to continue to strive for academic success and to enhance my studies by participating in internships and student organizations in the future. I am very grateful to have my hard work and academic success recognized through this award.”

To join Rosie Kasica and our other donors in helping make a world-class Rutgers education attainable and affordable, visit SC&I Giving or call Rob Eccles. Share your story and support our students—a gift of any size can make an enormous difference.