Schools
St. Thomas Aquinas College Dedicates Building To Frank Borelli Sr.
The board of trustees member partially funded the building which is now named after him
Despite not attending St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) in Sparkill, there was something about it that always drew Frank Borelli Sr. to the school.
“I consider it a jewel of a school in Rockland County that not many people know about,” he said. “It has top notch faculty, excellent facilities and the school truly runs like a family. It’s small enough where it can run like this close-knit community.”
Borelli, who has been on the college’s board of trustees for 10 years, took another step to integrate himself with the school this past year when he helped fund a new building on campus that houses administrative offices, classrooms, the School of Business Administration and Human Resources’ offices. The building is also Leadership in Energy and Environmental Designed (LEED) certified, a program created by the U.S. Green Building Council that uses ranking systems to recognize buildings that implement strategies for better environmental and health performance.
“Since I’ve been fortunate enough to have the resources that I do, and because I’m on the board of trustees, I thought I should be one of the main benefactors for the building,” Borelli said.
On Saturday, the building was officially dedicated to him in a ceremony held inside the front hallway of Borelli Hall, where a picture of Frank Borelli Sr. and his wife, Madlyn, was unveiled as part of the dedication.
“It’s not a dedication to me, but a dedication to my wife and two boys, as well,” Frank Borelli Sr. said.
While speaking to the 50-plus in attendance, Borelli said his wife, who was also in attendance, has been in a wheelchair since 1970 because of multiple sclerosis. Because of that, their two sons grew up learning to cook and clean, and once they were older, they both moved to New City to be closer to their mother.
“Our family has stayed very close,” Borelli said, adding in that the decision to be the main funder of the building was discussed and agreed on by the entire family.
Administrators moved into the building in late August, and so far it’s received an overwhelmingly positive response.
“The students come in and they love it,” STAC President Margaret Fitzpatrick said of the administrators. “There is dynamic student learning happening in this building thanks to the technology in the classrooms. They really can bring the world into the classrooms.”
The building’s classrooms all have SMART Board interactive whiteboards and other SMART technologies. The three-floor building has one floor partially underground, but still has windows to allow in natural light during the day.
“We first decided to build a new building about four years ago, and we had focus groups with faculty and students to see what we all wanted from the building,” Fitzpatrick said. “The actual construction of the building started around last May, and despite a really bad winter, it was completed on time, about a year or so later.”
Fitzpatrick added that the Borellis have always been very generous to the school and that Frank Borelli Sr. has been great to have on the board because of his leadership and knowledge coming from the financial world.
The building is handicapped accessible and centrally located. It also allowed a few people in the same departments who had offices in separate buildings or on different floors to now work closer together.
“It’s nice because we’re all in one place,” said Bridget Clark, director of enrollment marketing and campus communications. “Sometimes to see someone you work with you used to have to run up or downstairs even if they were in the same department.”
Clark said the building is replacing Marian Hall, right across from Borelli Hall. Marian Hall will be knocked down starting in the spring. It will be replaced with a garden where people can sit and read or study.
“Whenever we get rid of green we try to add some green as well,” she said.
The day wasn't all smooth, however, as a close friend of Borelli brielfy fainted while Borelli was talking to close out the ceremony, which was stopped a bit early. EMTs showed up to treat the man, who was up and walking around shortly afterwards. Borelli finished his speech at the reception on campus after the dedication, and said his friend was doing fine.
