Three Bergen Community College Students Earn Spot at Research/Writing Competition

Justyna Broda Wins Top Honors at Annual Beacon Conference

The seventeenth annual Beacon Conference for Student Scholars at Two-Year Colleges marked one of achievement for three Bergen Community College students, who gained entry to the academic research and writing competition. The students, who worked with faculty mentors, submitted research papers in one of 18 subject areas for the consideration of conference officials. Authors of the top four papers in each subject area are invited to present their work at the Beacon Conference.

Bergen student Justyna Broda (of Clifton) won the Outstanding Presenter Award in the World Literature Panel for her piece, “Houyhnhnmland and El Dorado: No Utopias for Mankind.” Bergen professor Dorothy Altman served as Broda’s mentor.

Two additional Bergen students presented at the conference; Beth Uhlmann (of Dumont) with her paper “An Analysis of the Intellectual Antecedents of the Tyrone Family in O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night” in the American Literature Panel and Jil Bucceroni (of Bergenfield) participated in the poster session with “The Night of the Iguana.” Both students were mentored by Dr. Geoff Sadock.  Broda, the outstanding presenter, and her mentor Professor Altman, were recognized at an awards ceremony; each received a $100 prize. “Dr. Sadock and I are extremely proud of the three students who represented Bergen at Beacon,” Professor Altman said. “Their papers were well researched, thoughtful, original and they did an excellent job preparing their oral presentations.”

Established in 1993, the Beacon Conference and competition celebrates and showcases the achievements of outstanding two-year college students in academic research and writing. Nearly 20 colleges participate in the conference, which convened in June at Montgomery College in Maryland. Bergen hosted the 1998 and 2008 Beacon Conference.

For additional information on the Beacon Conference, please visit www.beaconconference.org

Photo Caption: (From left) Bergen Community College Professor Dorothy Altman, students Jil Bucceroni, Justyna Broda and Beth Uhlmann, and professor Dr. Geoff Sadock participated in the 2009 Beacon Conference.

Bergen Community College is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling more than 15,000 students in Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Applied Science degree programs and certificate programs. More than 10,000 students are enrolled in non-credit, professional courses through the Division of Continuing Education, the Institute for Learning in Retirement, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center, located at 355 Main Street, Hackensack, and Bergen at the Meadowlands, located at 1280 Wall Street West, Lyndhurst. Information about the College is available at www.bergen.edu or by phoning the Welcome Center at (201) 447-7200.