Introducing New SUNY Sullivan President, Dr. David Potash, Accompanied by Other Special Guests
Saturday, June 29 in The Seelig Theatre
The SUNY Sullivan Foundation is proud to present “Spotlight on SUNY Sullivan,” a special event welcoming the college’s new president, Dr. David Potash. Dr. Potash will be joined by special guests PBS FRONTLINE journalists and filmmakers Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria, and the event’s emcee, filmmaker, curator, and author Ultan Guilfoyle.
Smith and Gaviria will share excerpts from their PBS FRONTLINE documentaries, “College, Inc.” and “A Subprime Education,” after which the filmmakers and Dr. Potash will engage in a conversation about the state of public higher education.
The event takes place on Saturday, June 29 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in SUNY Sullivan’s Seelig Theatre, and includes a silent hospitality-themed auction, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a dessert reception.
General admission tickets cost $75, and angel tickets are available for the same price (for those who cannot attend the event but would still like to show support, an angel ticket provides admission for a student or community member).
Prior to the “Spotlight on SUNY Sullivan” event, guests also have the option of joining an intimate Meet and Greet cocktail party with Dr. Potash, Smith, Gaviria, and Guilfoyle.
Meet and Greet tickets cost $150 and are in limited supply, but provide admission to the “Spotlight on SUNY Sullivan” event to follow.
Proceeds from the evening will support the SUNY Sullivan Foundation.
“As we gather to celebrate our shared commitment to education and progress, I extend a warm welcome to our new president, Dr. David Potash,” said Officer in Charge Casey Crabill. “His leadership will ignite a new era of innovation and opportunity for our students and the community.”
“I’m delighted that the SUNY Sullivan Foundation has organized this exciting welcoming event,” said Dr. Potash. “It will be wonderful to meet friends of the college and our special guests.”
Tickets for “Spotlight on SUNY Sullivan” can be purchased at sunysullivan.edu/foundation-spotlight-on-suny-sullivan. For more information regarding sponsorships, silent auction donations, or questions about this event, please email foundation@sunysullivan.edu or call 845-434-5750 ext. 3188.
The SUNY Sullivan Foundation will also be promoting its “Take-a-Seat” Fundraising Campaign alongside this event; in exchange for a $150 donation, donors can place a personalized message onto a brass seat plaque in SUNY Sullivan’s Seelig Theatre (some restrictions apply).
SUNY SULLIVAN PRESIDENT DR. DAVID POTASH
Dr. David Potash most recently served as president of Wilbur Wright College, a dual-campus community college in the Chicago area. Under Dr. Potash’s leadership, Wright developed new degree and certificate programs, crafted and implemented equity, enrollment, and strategic plans, heightened community service and civic engagement, expanded career programs and apprenticeships, and took major strides in serving the community. Those, and other accomplishments, have earned Wright significant recognition, including the Padron Award for institutional transformation in 2020, the Seal of Excelencia for commitment to serving Hispanic students in 2021, and the Example in Excelencia in 2023. Most recently, Wright earned the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement. A New Jersey native, Dr. Potash and his wife of 25 years, Jenny Gibbs, have an adult daughter and a college-age son. Dr. Potash is an avid blogger, chef, an enthusiastic bicyclist, and an aspiring sketchbook artist.
GUEST SPEAKERS MARTIN SMITH & MARCELA GAVIRIA
Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria are veteran PBS FRONTLINE journalists and producing partners with RAINmedia, an independent documentary production company in New York City. Their films, many produced and reported for PBS FRONTLINE, have covered the most important news events of our time, from the rise of Al Qaeda, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the culture of risk-taking on Wall Street, America’s heroin epidemic, and the crackdown on undocumented immigrants under the Trump Administration. Their most recent production was FRONTLINE’s landmark 3-part docuseries, America and the Taliban (2023), which chronicles America’s longest war.
RAINmedia’s films have won every major award in broadcast journalism, including multiple Emmys, duPont-Columbia Gold Batons, George Polk Awards, Peabody Awards, Overseas Press Club, and Writers Guild Awards.
EVENT EMCEE ULTAN GUILFOYLE
Ultan Guilfoyle was the director of film and video production at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from 1995 through 2001. During his time at the museum, Guilfoyle co-curated, with his friend Prof. Charles Falco, the groundbreaking, blockbuster exhibition The Art of the Motorcycle. One of the best attended museum exhibitions ever, The Art of the Motorcycle has been credited with reintroducing motorcycles to the general public as beautiful objects of design, machines with intrinsic artistic qualities ridden, and works to be collected by connoisseurs. Guilfoyle began his filmmaking career at the BBC in London. His award-winning films have been shown on PBS, HBO, and Bravo in the US, and BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 in the UK. When not making films, Guilfoyle writes about design and architecture.
About the SUNY Sullivan Foundation: The SUNY Sullivan Foundation seeks and secures private funds to supplement the college’s public revenue sources. Through ongoing efforts, it provides scholarship assistance, funding for equipment, enrichment programs, and the ability to enhance and strengthen selected academic areas and programs that prepare students for life after formal education. The SUNY Sullivan Foundation is registered with the IRS as a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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