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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN UNIVERSITY | SINCE 1924
Volume CXII, Issue 3
FREE
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 16, 2025
An Exclusive Q&A From An Evening With James Patterson Grace Cardinal
Manhattan University Welcomes James Patterson ‘69
President Frederick Bonato and James Patterson, pictured together at Tuesday’s event. BRIAN HATTON / COURTESY
James Patterson ‘69 Returns to Campus For Highly-Attended Evening in Draddy Gymnasium Grace Cardinal & Laili Shahrestani
Editor-in-Chief & Features Editor
“Hi, I’m Stephen King.” That was how James Patterson, ‘69, greeted students in last Tuesday’s two-hour event that consisted of a moderated discussion, an open Q&A and a book signing of Patterson’s newest novel, “The First Gentleman,” written alongside former President Bill Clinton. Patterson boasts nearly 300 titles to his name, with over 100 of those being named New York Times bestsellers. He’s been the recipient of an Edgar, ten Emmy Awards and the National Humanities
IN NEWS:
Grishma Shah, Ph.D., Appointed Associate Dean of OMSB pg. 4
Medal, among more. His newest project, however, is right here at MU. The James Patterson Honors Program (JPHP) was developed this year to provide students with not only academically challenging coursework, but exclusive mentorship and career development opportunities. According to manhattan. edu, the program’s mission is to, “prepare a special group of Manhattan University students for successful, ethical lives. Each Honors student receives personalized coursework and advising, priority access to an extensive alumni mentoring network, and opportunities to take part in community and global engagement through Manhattan University connections.”
IN FEATURES:
Alpha Pi Phi Begins Fall 2025 Rush Week pg. 6
Included in this program is the James Patterson Speaker Series, of which Tuesday night marked the inaugural event. The idea to bring Patterson to campus began in July, with the hiring of the JPHP Peer Leaders. The group hoped to find a way to build excitement about the new program across campus. “After reading Mr. Patterson’s autobiography, they [Peer Leaders] brainstormed creative ways to build excitement on social media and get students involved,” Michele Saracino, Ph.D., executive director of the program, wrote in an email. “From there, departments across the university—too __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Editor-in-Chief James Patterson ‘69 returned to his alma mater on Tuesday for an event with students entitled “Why I’m Investing Big in Manhattan: An Evening with James Patterson.” The Quadrangle sat down with Patterson for an exclusive interview to discuss his return to campus, the new James Patterson Honors Program and how he hopes to help students from all backgrounds and interests find success in their future professional endeavors. The Quadrangle: How does it feel to return to your alma mater and have the opportunity to speak to hundreds of current Manhattan students? For you, what is the most rewarding part of returning? James Patterson: Here’s the big thing where I’d really love your help, which is getting the word out about this thing, which I think can help the school. A lot of times in honors programs, you go and you’ll get to learn a lot about chemistry, and you’ll get into grad [school], become a Ph.D... This is not that. This is about preparing you to go out and deal with the real world, which is getting harder and harder and harder. So the students that are going to get involved in this program, they’re going to learn to be better speakers, they’re going to be learning to be better writers, they’re going to learn to have more confidence. They’re going to learn about…here’s what a corporate lawyer actually does on a daily basis. Here’s what a trial lawyer actually does.
IN A&E:
Manhattan Magazine Experiences High Interest pg. 10
Here’s what it’s like. Here’s the real thing. So you really feel that you understand it better than you did. You’re getting prepared…Another piece of it is, if you want to be, this is a school where you will be seen. In other words, we’re there for you. We’re going to know that this human being exists here, and we’re interested in that… We want to make sure that the reputation of this school out in the world matches the reality. It’s a very good school. It’s always been good academically. It’s always been good at preparing students for what goes on. It prepared me. I had this ridiculous dream. I want to be a writer. How absurd was that, and I stuck with it, stuck with it, stuck with it. I won an Edgar, actually, when I was 27…I won, and then when I got up there, my whole speech was, ‘I guess I’m a writer now’, which didn’t feel real. But the book got published, and I won an award. Wow, I must be a writer. And that’s the confidence thing I didn’t have. But once again, with this program, hopefully we’re going to help people that come out of here with that kind of confidence. TQ: As a student of the liberal arts myself, I’ve noticed both at MU and on a larger national scale that less time and money seems to be funneling into liberal arts curriculums than in years past. What observations have you made about this, and how do you feel that your program contributes to valuing the liberal arts? JP: Well, I don’t know. I hope it will. I think there are a lot of pieces. One, I think it’s really useful that business students here, __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
IN SPORTS:
Men’s Soccer Falls to Fordham University pg. 12