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<a href="/live/news/4779-new-york-state-economic-czar-hope-knight-85-reflects-on">New York State Economic Czar Hope Knight ’85 Reflects on Her MMC Experience</a>
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<p> When Hope Knight ’85 enrolled at MMC, she had no clear sense of how the business world operated or even what career paths it offered—and no contacts in the field who might’ve served as a guide. Still, in a bustling city like New York, “the business world seemed exciting, and I thought I could potentially be successful,” she said. So, she made Business Management her major and threw herself into classes and internships.</p>
<p> Today, some 40 years later, few names are more closely associated with doing business in New York state than hers. Knight is the president, CEO, and commissioner of <a href="https://esd.ny.gov/">Empire State Development,</a> New York’s economic development arm that facilitates business growth and job creation. Her moves are closely watched as a barometer for the state’s economic health. Indeed, for the past three years, when the political media outlet <em>City & State</em> has released <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/power-lists/2023/12/2023-economic-development-power-100/392716/">its annual list</a> of local leaders helping New York’s economy rebound after the pandemic, it has included her not just on the roster but at the very top of it.</p>
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<img src="/live/image/gid/50/width/700/height/700/crop/1/src_region/0,0,800,779/30138_hope_knight.rev.1709129829.jpg" alt="Hope Knight '85 " width="700" height="700" data-max-w="800" data-max-h="779" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/>
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<a href="/live/news/4908-a-positive-force-for-change-meet-the-alum">A Positive Force for Change: Meet the Alum Connecting Incarcerated People to MMC’s Prison Ed Program</a>
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<p> When Tami E. tells people how MMC’s <a href="https://www.mmm.edu/prison-education/bedford-hills-college-program/">college program</a> at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility transforms—and even saves—lives, she often uses light as a metaphor. A 2023 graduate, she earned her bachelor’s degree after years of stops and starts, drawn back each time, she said, by the light of the facility’s Learning Center, where students study and meet with professors. At commencement, where she triumphantly served as a class speaker, she said the moment had proven that she and fellow graduates had seen through the darkness, guided by the light of education.</p>
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<img src="/live/image/gid/15/width/700/height/700/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1287,935/31152_13.rev.1734708238.JPG" alt="Tami E. at her 2023 BHCP commencement ceremony with daughter LaQuintae Bradley" width="700" height="700" data-max-w="1287" data-max-h="935" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/>
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<a href="/live/news/4876-mmc-to-award-new-scholarship-honoring-the-memory">MMC to Award New Scholarship Honoring the Memory of Theatre Professor John Basil</a>
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<p> When beloved Theatre professor <a href="https://www.mmm.edu/live/news/4831-in-memoriam-mmc-theatre-professor-john-basil">John Basil</a> passed away last spring, droves of his former students took to social media or emailed his wife, Liz Keefe, with stories of how their late instructor had touched their lives. Joseph Iannitelli ’19 was one of them. Basil, Iannitelli recalled, had cast him as the lead in a 2018 production of <em>Hamlet</em>; it was the professor’s m.o. to give students like him who hadn’t yet appeared in a show a chance to shine. Though the opportunity was thrilling, it was also terrifying. “Most of us hadn’t done Shakespeare before and were now tasked with arguably his hardest work,” Iannitelli said. </p>
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