Vivian Semeraro ’60

"Be a secretary like your Aunt Nicki," echoed the words of Vivian Semeraro’s parents. A first-generation college student from a working-class family in Carlstadt, New Jersey, Semeraro, a member of the Class of 1960, still remembers those words.

However, she had other plans. An amazing teaching experience with her first-grade substitute teacher started Semeraro on the career path she chose. Her love of teaching and the ability to build a trusting relationship with children was reinforced when she arrived at William Paterson.

To her joy, her first-grade substitute teacher, James Houston, was now teaching her child psychology class at William Paterson. Houston's theme of building trust with children and the experience of other faculty and staff members resonated with her throughout her 34 years as a teacher in the Wood-Ridge public school system.

In deciding to make a gift of life insurance for an endowed scholarship in her name, Semeraro says, “How could I not give back to the institution that gave me so much? I hope that my gift can make a difference for young people.”

Semeraro’s love affair with the University doesn't end there. As president of the hospitality club in the late 1950s, she had the opportunity to serve as a hostess in Hobart Manor—the turn-of-the-century historic landmark on campus. There, she served cookies and tea accompanied by some intimate conversations with dignitaries like Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert Frost (The program was called the Evening Series, the forerunner of today’s Distinguished Lecturer Series). “I continue to be so impressed with the beauty and elegance of the Manor and fascinated with those who graced its rooms,” she says. As a result, Semeraro followed her heart with another planned gift—a be-quest for an endowment to enable the University to revitalize and continue to maintain the Manor’s public rooms used for numerous events on campus.