Despite Pandemic, Donors and Students Find Ways to Connect at Annual Event

Dr. Joseph Battaglia, left, and NJAGD scholarship recipient Keira Rosen. It was held online once again, but the Donor/Scholar Award Ceremony still offered a chance for both students and donors to learn more about each other and reflect on a challenging year. Speakers recalled milestone and obstacles faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite radical changes to clinical and academic protocols, RSDM thrived. Admission numbers increased and students continued to perform far above their regional and national counterparts on board exams and in their residency-program acceptance rates, said Dean Cecile A. Feldman. “The school continues to grow and flourish,’’ said Dean Feldman, who thanked donors for their gifts. “I feel strongly that education is one of the best gifts we can offer to others. The support you show is second to none.’’ At the event, held last month, 41 scholarships were awarded, including five newly created endowed scholarships. New scholarships introduced at the event were the Monika A. Barakat DMD Endowed Scholarship; Encore Dental of NJ Endowed Scholarship; Fauchard Dental Society of NJ Endowed Scholarship; NJAGD Founders Endowed Scholarship; and the Rosemary and Todd Bryan Endowed Scholarship. Third-year student Irene Kontogiannis, the recipient of the Anthony R. Volpe DDS Endowed Scholarship--named in honor of long-time donor, alumnus and mentor, Dr. “Tony” Volpe, who died last year--described the experience of attending dental school during the pandemic. She recalled how preclinic was not taught in person until the summer of 2020. “We had nothing in person. We communicated via Zoom webinars and Webex. We had to manage all these classes, as well as caring for people in our households, worrying about maybe getting the virus ourselves, and juggling the workload of dental school.’’ But this year, there was some semblance of normalcy. Students returned to pre-clinic lessons as an entire class instead of being split in two for double sessions to accommodate social distancing rules. “It was a little different from the traditional route of dental school, but we made it work,’’ she said.