Joe Antonacci, a 1980 graduate, was named the new Alumni Association Committee Chair for the College of White Plains of Pace University at the end of September 2025. Antonacci said his early interest in newspapers began in fourth grade, reading the Sunday Times and aspiring to write professionally. His decision to attend the College of White Plains came after its consolidation with Pace University in 1975.
Antonacci described his time at CWP/Pace as transformative, moving from struggling academically to earning merit scholarships and participating actively in campus life. “I went from somebody who was barely passing to somebody who was getting merit scholarships,” Antonacci said. He also became vice president of his class and features editor for the school paper before graduating and starting a career as a reporter.
After working as a reporter, Antonacci transitioned into public relations following encouragement from Bob Wolff, his former journalism professor at Pace. This led him to positions at Farleigh Dickinson University, the American Museum of Natural History, and eventually Metro-North under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). At Metro-North he combined journalistic skills with public relations duties for over three decades.
Antonacci’s work included managing publications like Mileposts and developing Metro-North’s online presence. Despite retiring with an intention to avoid social media, he returned to help organize alumni outreach when invited by previous committee chair Brian Donlon. “Seeing everybody again made me realize the importance of maintaining those relationships and keeping that sense of community,” Antonacci said.
As committee chair, Antonacci aims to grow online engagement among alumni while highlighting CWP/Pace’s role within Pace University’s history. He acknowledged challenges such as geographic dispersion but remains committed: “There’s still a way to keep the sense of community that defined our student experience alive, and I’m going to be working on ways to do that as committee chair.”
