Aneesha Malla

Aneesha Malla is a senior Marketing major with a minor in Business Analytic. She has maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.82 during her time at Ramapo. 

Aneesha has completed volunteer work and served as a Counselor at Camp Sunshine, providing support and creating an inclusive environment for individuals with disabilities. She also initiated a chapter of We Light the Candle, bringing joy to children in foster care through personalized birthday cards. Aneesha has actively participated in community events addressing homelessness and food insecurity, organizing donations, and distributing care packages. 

The passion Aneesha has extends beyond business and community service. She possesses a deep love for education and an eagerness to support students both academically and personally.

After graduation, Aneesha aspires to publish a children’s book that promotes mental health awareness. Through her writing, she hopes to positively impact the lives of young readers and contribute to the ongoing conversation surrounding mental health.

Awarded Scholarships

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2024

Cara Mychelle Hirschman Memorial Scholarship

In the Spring of 1996, Ramapo College student Cara Mychelle Hirschman was ecstatic to learn that she had been named to the Dean’s List. The transcript for that semester hung proudly on her mom’s refrigerator and demonstrated a huge accomplishment for Cara, who had a learning disability. She spoke openly about the academic struggles she faced and the compensatory strategies she employed.

Though she was declined enrollment at other colleges, Ramapo recognized the potential in this caring, intelligent, dynamic and hard-working young woman. Cara worked closely with her counselor in the Office of Specialized Services, Ramona Kopacz, and succeeded in her studies while becoming an active member of the campus community. Cara was an officer in the Marketing Club and a tutor for the Office of Specialized Services. She volunteered for the Special Olympics and held a coop position at Trucolor Lab as a customer service representative and product advisor.

Tragically, only months after receiving her Dean’s List honors, Cara was killed in a car accident at age 21. The Eleanor B. Reiner Foundation, where Cara’s mother was a board member, provided annual scholarship gifts in Cara’s memory, and in 1997 made a substantial gift to permanently endow these awards.

Hirschman Scholarships are awarded to students of good academic standing who have a documented learning disability and, like Cara, are involved on campus and in the community.

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Milton & Granville Gittens ASB Scholarship

Milton Gittens, Ph.D joined the Ramapo College faculty in 1973. Dr. Gittens was well known for his role as cohost and assistant producer of “Issues and Education,” a weekly cable TV program broadcast on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network and produced through Ramapo College. Among his publications was a paper, “The Black Perspective in Public Administration: The Development and Application of a Research Model for Minority Administrators in the Public Sector,” produced in 1977. At Ramapo he served as convener of the Management concentration of the Business Administration major for a number of years and taught management courses.

“Dr. Gittens loved two things,” said Professor Constance Crawford. “He loved teaching and he loved his son, Granville H. Gittens.” Dr. Gittens was honored for his teaching in 2003 with induction into the Ramapo College Chapter of Delta Mu Delta National Honor Society for Business Administration.

When he died in 2010, two endowed scholarships in Dr. Gittens name were created through bequests left in his will. Both awards are intended to recognize students who are “descendants of slavery in the United States or Barbados in the West Indies.” This award is specifically for students matriculated in the Anisfield School of Business who have financial need. It is named in memory of Dr. Gittens and his father.

“Dr. Gittens was an amazing example of what a teacher is … someone who imparts knowledge and helps others,” says Professor Crawford.

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Lamborghini Paramus Endowed Scholarshp

Chris and Suzi Turner, owners of Lamborghini Paramus, Prestige Volkswagen of Stamford and MINI of Dutchess County, have been supporters of Ramapo College since 2003. Many Ramapo graduates have chosen various positions within the dealerships. “We are invested in our employees and Ramapo has been a valued partner in supporting our talent acquisition over the years,” says Chris Turner, President of the company.

Chris was honored at the 2016 Ramapo College Foundation Distinguished Citizen’s Dinner. Chris is a member of the Ramapo Foundation Board of Governors and chaired the Concours d’Elegance held on the Ramapo campus in 2015 and 2016.

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Margaret J. Starmer OSS Endowed Scholarship

Margaret Starmer was born in London in 1937. She trained as a shorthand/typist and worked in London until, as an adventurous traveler, she sailed to New York in the 1960’s. There she had several jobs, first as a shorthand/typist and then as an administrator, working for a time in Minneapolis as a buyer for a chain of hairdressers. She completed a finance degree at Ramapo College which gave her the opportunity to work in New York in a finance position for a drug company until her retirement in 2003. She was a keen hiker and supporter of the NY/NJ Trail Conference and took great interest in the theatre and films. She always like travel, both in her work, which took her to many Asian countries, and after retirement, in the U.S., Europe and the Far East. Margaret passed away in 2017 at the age of 79. She was always grateful for the opportunities given her by her time and studies at Ramapo College. Margaret provided a bequest to the College to benefit students registered with the Office of Specialized Services.

Warren Family Scholarship

Jeffrey Warren was a member of Ramapo’s first graduating class, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1973. He went on to leadership positions at Hackensack University Medical Center, Cathedral Healthcare System, Parke-Davis, and Pfizer and is presently the principal of JR Market Strategies, LLC, a health care consulting practice. He received the Ramapo College President’s Award of Merit in 1996 for his professional accomplishments and the Distinguished Citizens Award in 2006 for his commitment to the community.

Mr. Warren has served on the boards of the Epilepsy Foundation of NJ, Adler Aphasia Center, Gilda’s Club of Northern NJ, Health Enhancement Research Organization, and the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations. Mr. Warren also served as a member of N.J. Governor Phil Murphy’s Healthcare transition committee. He was also a Commissioner on the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research and is currently a member of the Profession and Technology committee of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute.

Mr. Warren created the endowment that funds these scholarships with a gift of stock. He and his wife, Andrea, determined the criteria, selection process and essay topic and the first Warren Scholarships were awarded in the summer of 2001. The intent of the Warren Family Scholarship is to recognize deserving students who are pursuing an undergraduate degree and have a documented physical or learning disability.

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