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Thom Gencarelli pictured lecturing during his TV Production course at MU.  

THOM GENCARELLI / COURTESY 

Maddie Rosado Managing / News Section Editor  

Founding chair Thom Gencarelli, Ph.D., is retiring in May after nearly two decades of building, shaping and leading Manhattan University’s (MU) communication department. Gencarelli is serving his final semester as a communication professor, closing a chapter that has defined the program since its founding in 2007.

Hired to build the department from the ground up, Gencarelli went on to establish the university’s “Next Generation” communication program while mentoring generations of students in and beyond the classroom, including his role as faculty advisor to MU’s student-run newspaper, The Quadrangle. 

Gencarelli’s career began unexpectedly, sparked by a chance encounter with a small classified ad that would ultimately define the future of the university’s communication department.

“The New York Times, when it was still primarily a print publication, had a Sunday section called Week in Review,” Gencarelli said. “At the back of that section was a ‘Careers in Education’ page featuring classified ads for positions in the education sector. Among them was a small listing announcing that MU was seeking a chair for its communication department.”

What began as a single choice quickly became a defining career move, leaving a lasting impact on the university.

“[Eventually] I decided that weekend I was going to write a cover letter and send them my resume, and see what happened,” Gencarelli said. “Lo and behold, two weeks later, I got a phone call that they would like me to come in for an interview… then a couple weeks after that, I got the call that they wanted to offer me the job.”

At the time, the university’s communication program was not yet fully independent due to its partnership with the University of Mount St. Vincent, making the role of a department chair essential in guiding the university’s growth and development.

“[MU] had a relationship with what was at the time, the College of Mount St. Vincent,” Gencarelli said. “We would send our students by shuttle bus every day to study there, and they would send their students here [to MU].”

Eventually, the two universities would, as Gencarelli would say, “divorce,” creating separate communication programs. 

From that point, Gencarelli built a standalone department grounded in both theory and practice, a vision emphasized by Michael Grabowski, Ph.D., a professor in MU’s communication, sound and media arts department and a close colleague of Gencarelli.

“There is an importance of combining theory and practice at MU, which was really what he insisted on,” Grabowski said. “He wanted to prepare students to have skills and be able to get jobs when they graduated, but at the same time, he wanted them to think about the media.”

Grabowski added that Gencarelli’s vision for the department is also deeply rooted in media history.

“[Gencarelli also wanted to make] sure that students understood where their individual mediums sit historically in the context of other media,” Grabowski said. “From there, he built that curriculum that we still use today.”

This approach reflects Gencarelli’s broader philosophy of education, one that balances practical skills with critical thinking and personal growth.

“We’re just a vehicle,” Gencarelli said. “What the education process is about is that students come here to learn something… but really, what they’re looking for is to achieve their hopes and dreams.”

The intent behind building the program continues to shape student experiences, according to Grace Cardinal, ‘25, a MU graduate and former editor-in-chief of The Quadrangle.

“In my first class with Gencarelli as a professor, he said, ‘When you guys leave here, some of you will leave with a degree and very few of you will leave with an education. Be the one that leaves with an education,’” Cardinal said, recalling her interaction with Gencarelli.

For Cardinal, Gencarelli’s approach extended into student journalism, particularly through The Quadrangle during her time as editor-in-chief. Cardinal recalled one of the most challenging moments during her time as editor-in-chief of The Quadrangle, when funding for student scholarships was unexpectedly cut.

“The Quadrangle scholarships got cut… that was a devastating moment,” Cardinal said. “Gencarelli said to me, ‘We’re gonna get the scholarships back, we are going to find a way.’” 

This mentorship proved especially significant during moments of uncertainty.

“Throughout the years, there were so many people in the university’s administration that I had to sit down with and explain why journalism is so important here… knowing that I had someone that I could turn to and trust… was so incredibly important to me,” Cardinal said. 

That reassurance from Gencarelli reinforced not only the foundational purpose of the communication department, but also the broader mission of journalism itself.

“In that moment, it was clear we are a team for the good of a student publication that’s been on this campus for 102 years,” Cardinal said.

Similar to Cardinal, Gabriella DePinho, ‘21, a MU graduate and former editor-in-chief of The Quadrangle from 2020–2021, echoed Gencarelli’s influence as both demanding and formative, describing his teaching style as rooted in rigor and high expectations. She noted that his standards ultimately shaped her academic discipline and work ethic.

“When I was in Gencarelli’s class, he had high expectations… you had to earn his approval,” DePinho said. “But it made you a better student because if you wanted Gencarelli’s approval, you were going to end up working harder than anybody else and caring more than anybody else.” 

For DePinho, that challenge translated into long-term respect and gratitude.

“Though Gencarelli is an intense guy, he’s very passionate,” DePinho said. “Once you earned Gencarelli’s respect, you just had it… I owe a lot to Gencarelli. And I think a lot of people graduating from the program would probably say something similar.”

The core of Gencarelli’s legacy at MU calls for a broader awareness of media literacy. 

“Question what you think you know, question what the culture around you tells you, question the media by which you receive information that you need to negotiate your life as an individual, but also as a citizen,” Gencarelli said. 

He reinforced this philosophy by referencing the foundational basis of the department, Marshall McLuhan.   

“‘The medium is the message,’ and you need to understand the media that you choose,” Gencarelli said. “We as a culture are biased towards the ways that we inform ourselves, and the way that we get information, matters.”

DePinho pointed to this philosophy as central to Gencarelli’s influence, framing his retirement as both a loss and a lasting legacy beyond MU’s campus.

“[It’s] bittersweet… His legacy is what’s left of the program… and all of the alumni… and the things that they continue to accomplish,” DePinho said. “Gencarelli deserves to be proud… he fought for his students, and he fought hard for his department.”

For many students, that legacy remains deeply personal.

 “I wouldn’t want to be at a university without Gencarelli in the communication department,” Cardinal said.