Alfred University hosts student-led TEDx event

Alfred University hosted an afternoon of TEDx talks on Friday, March 27. A dozen speakers—including current students, alumni, faculty, and staff—presented during the student-led event, a first for Alfred University.

TEDxAlfred University: Finding Your Spark was held from 1-4 p.m. in Holmes Auditorium, Harder Hall, with each speaker presenting a 12-minute talk meant to engage in forward‑thinking dialogue that reflects the university’s commitment to intellectual exploration and global citizenship.

Alina Zabihailo, a senior from Kyiv, Ukraine, initiated bringing the TEDx talks to Alfred University and led the application process.  Alfred University alumnus Peter Cuneo ’67, HD ’13, HD ’22, former CEO of Marvel Entertainment and author of the new book Superhero Leadership, made opening comments.

Cuneo, renowned for his record of turning around struggling businesses, is Chair Emeritus of the university’s Board of Trustees. “It’s always fun as an old graduate of Alfred to come back to campus. I love the enthusiasm of everyone—whether you’re a student, teaching, or part of the administration, whatever role you have,” Cuneo commented.

“This is a unique experience for a college. It’s a diverse group (of speakers). This is the first one at Alfred and it’s the perfect match. I hope you can do it every year,” Cuneo said.

“It is important to emphasize this is student-led. They’ve done all the work. It says a lot about Alfred University. Leadership is so important. You, our young people, have to rise up as leaders.”

Alumna Marilú Marcillo ’90 (B.S., business administration) gave a talk titled “The Architect of Self Agency: From the ‘Woest Block’ to the Dean’s Office.”   Marcillo, a first-generation college graduate, is the only Latina dean of a business and information sciences school in New Jersey.

Marcillo talked about growing up on the “worst block” of a poor, crime-ridden section of New York City known as Spanish Harlem, ultimately matriculating at Alfred University in 1986 on a full academic scholarship. A first-generation college student, she is the daughter of immigrants from Ecuador.

“No one in our family had ever done this. I had no road map,” she said, noting that she arrived on campus with just $300, earned over the summer, which was quickly spent on text books for the fall semester.

Marcillo said that she struggled to adjust to college life. “At Alfred, I was miserable,” she said, citing her status as a minority student. Still, she assured her working-class parents things were fine. “I painted a picture of a perfect life. But they knew better. They sent me $10 every week.”

She talked about joining the rugby team and suffering a torn ACL while playing, which impacted her studies. “I struggled academically and physically. My first year was doubly hard. I was isolated by the environment and financially broken.”

She went home the summer after her first year and spent time deciding if she would return to Alfred for her sophomore year. She would return, determined to overcome the challenges before her and succeed as a student. She founded a Latin American student organization and flourished in her studies.

As a senior, she attended a job fair over winter break and received a job interview with the company 3M. The company was so impressed by her story, and the resiliency she showed as a student that they offered her a job, for which she began in June of 1990.

Marcillo stayed at 3M for 11 years, becoming one of the company’s top sales professionals and holding the title of senior account manager in the Safety and Security Division. In 2005, she transitioned into higher education. In 2022, she was appointed dean of the School of Business & Information Sciences at Felician University, becoming the only Latina dean of a business and information sciences school in New Jersey. She earned her MBA from Centenary University in 2007 and in 2012 earned a PhD in environmental and social sustainability.

Brian Ngatunga ’24 (B.S., business analytics, minor in marketing) gave a talk titled “Relearning Yourself.” Ngatunga, a native of the African nation of Tanzania, discussed the difficult challenges he faced as an international college student, one which involved his coming out as gay.

Ngatunga, a Marlin Miller Outstanding Senior Award recipient in 2024, opened his talk by saying, “I’m many things: an immigrant, a Christian, leader, and imperfect. But also, gay.” He talked about the culture of his home country in Africa and also of his Christian faith. “I’m very proud to be Tanzanian,” he said. “Religion is the great epicenter of everything.”

Ngatunga spent his first two years of high school in his native Tanzania before spending his junior year in an exchange program at Asheville High School in Asheville, NC, and then his senior year in Kokomo High School in Kokomo, IN. He talked about the difficulty international students experience in adjusting to a new culture.

“Foreign nationals experience challenges while navigating identity and belonging in a new environment,” he said. “There was internal turmoil that I was always experiencing.”

Ngatunga related how he came out as gay to his host family in North Carolina in 2021, and how he contemplated suicide the following year. “Something stopped me,” he recalled. He visited the Wellness Center on campus the following year, where he talked with counselors. “If you want to talk to anyone about anything, the Wellness Center is there for you.”

Much of the internal turmoil related to his sexuality, and how it conflicted with his Christian faith. Ngatunga recalled Laurie DeMott, interfaith advisor, reassuring him. “She told me it’s OK to be Christian and gay.”

He thrived at Alfred, becoming an Honors Program student and being elected to several honor societies and winning a number of academic awards. He served as president of the International Students Association, co-chair of the President’s Committee on Diversity, Student Senate Diversity chair, and coordinator of the Institute of Cultural Unity.

Today, Ngatunga is a data analyst for NSG Group, a global glass manufacturing company in Columbus, OH. He said when he moved to Columbus in 2025, “it was an opportunity to start afresh and embrace my sexuality. I let myself be seen and known in queer spaces.” He participates in a number of activities in the city’s gay community, including Stonewall Sports and the Columbus Gay Men’s Choir. “This has been a great joy in my life,” he said, noting that he has also become involved in the Stone Village Church. “It’s an affirming church. Everyone is welcome. I feel accepted.”

A talk by Caroline Burgos ’19 (B.A., political science and global studies, MBA ’20) was titled “The Power of Mentorship.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree at Alfred, Burgos was a graduate assistant in Alfred’s Advancement Office while earning her MBA. She was hired as a graduate assistant by then-Vice President of University Advancement, the late Jason Amore, who would become a mentor to her during and after her time at Alfred.

“When we talk about finding our spark, it may be a moment of realization: A person walks into a room and becomes your mentor,” she said. In her case, that moment came when Amore came to the Alfred University pool with his two young children for swim lessons. Burgos, who had swum on the Saxon women’s swimming and diving team, was there giving lessons. “What started off as a serendipitous moment became a lifelong relationship,” she said.

Burgos said when she earned her MBA from Alfred in 2020 she had a dream of working at Disney World, but Amore convinced her that her talents would lead her elsewhere.

“He told me you have another dream here. You’re meant to me in front of people,” she recalled. She would stay at Alfred for 16 months after earning her MBA, working in the Advancement Office as phonathon and event specialist, before taking a position as a fund officer at Fordham University in January 2020. In March 2025, Burgos was promoted to her current position at Fordham, director of Reunions and Affinity Chapters. In 20215, she earned her second master’s degree, in humanitarian studies, from Fordham

Amore, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Alfred in 1997 and a master’s degree in 1999, served as VP of University Advancement at his alma mater for four years before leaving to accept a similar position at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He had just accepted the VP for Advancement position at St. Bonaventure University when he unexpectedly passed away in  February 2024.

“Mentors don’t just guide you; they’re meant to challenge you. Jason saw something in me that I didn’t; a spark that I didn’t realize was there,” Burgos said.  “He is no longer with us; no one can fill his shoes. This shouldn’t be rare; we should all have someone like him. He gave me guidance and advice that carried me to where I am today.”

Other speakers who presented at TEDx Alfred University were:

• Keshell Scipio ’21 (B.A., communication studies), Customer Success Manager at Zauben, a sustainability-focused startup at the intersection of design and workplace experience. Keshell’s talk, titled “Multipotentiality Is Not Confusion: How Being ‘Too Many Things’ Became My Spark,” explored how embracing multiple passions can become a source of clarity and power. 
• Claire Lander, a senior majoring in early childhood/childhood education, with a concentration on psychology. Claire’s talk was titled “Finding Your Spark: Turning Pain into Purpose.” It focused on how childhood adversity and protective experiences shape resilience and healing. 
• Danielle Gagne, professor of psychology, has been a member of the faculty in Alfred University’s Division of Psychology for 22 years. Her talk, “Reimagining Cemeteries as Open-Air Museums,” invited audiences to see cemeteries as “living museums,” where carved images—such as clasped hands and broken columns—quietly tell stories of love, loss, faith, and identity. 
• Angie Taylor, chief inclusivity officer at Alfred University, presented a talk titled “Beyond the Finish Line: How Purpose Outlasts Performance.” Taylor is a globally-respected leader in track and field, having served as High Performance Director for the nation of Nigeria before becoming head men’s and women’s track and field coach at Alfred University. She has also served as head coach for USA Track & Field, as head women’s coach at George Mason University, and assistant coach at Princeton University.
• Lynn Petrillo, clinical assistant professor of English, presented a talk—“How Does it Feel to Be You?”—in which she spoke about how her students have been answering this question for her for over 30 years. Petrillo discussed how people who are seeking their own spark can use the questions they ask themselves to guide them to their light, and shine.
• Matias Homar, visiting professor of Sound Studies in the Performing Arts Division at Alfred University. He is a composer, guitarist, and creator of interactive musical instruments working at the intersection of sound, technology, and performance. His talk was titled “The Practice of Inactive Composition.” 
• Mark Ungurian, senior computer science and marketing major from Odessa, Ukraine, gave a talk titled “The Luck You Build. Ungurian, who came to Alfred in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, discussed the challenges he faced as an international student in the United States and how he worked to create his opportunities here.
• Matthew Bittel, senior ceramic engineering major and a materials science intern at Lockheed Martin researching piezoelectric ceramics for sonar applications. He founded the Mug Drop Club, which grew from a conversation in his apartment to a 70-member organization that bridges Alfred's art and engineering schools. Matthew’s talk—“Belief is Built in the In-Between”—explored his journey and how he discovered his passions throughout his time at Alfred; it also reflected on some of the journeys of those around him.
• Yuliia Koreiba ’25 (B.S., business analytics, minors in marketing and economics) is a Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In her talk, “Forget Passion. Start Practicing Purpose," Koreiba explored the idea that purpose isn’t a single moment you stumble into, but something you slowly build through consistent, intentional choices, even when you don't feel like you belong or are “good enough.”

TEDxAlfred University was organized by the following students: Alina Zabihailo (president); Marketing Team members Liza Shevchuk and Reagan Rought; Production Team members Brysen Pye and Silas Cooper; Curation Team members Vlada Makarenko and Nkanyi Dlamini; and Experience Team members Sabrina Hryhorieva and Anlun Swerver. The event will close with a reception.