Hall of Fame Dinner

Sr. Margaret Mary (Meg) Sweeney, OP was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the fourth of five children.  The Sweeney Family moved to Bayside, Queens after the birth of child number five.  Meg attended St. Kevin School in Flushing and St. Helena High School in the Bronx prior to entering the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary, August 1976.  Sr. Meg graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College, Class of 1986, where she earned her degree in Psychology with a concentration in Philosophy.  She also earned her Master of Business Administration degree from St. Thomas in 2013 when she was also inducted into the Business Administration Honor Society, Delta Mu Delta.

Sharing her finance and administration background, Sr. Meg served as Administrative Assistant at St. Anthony School, Nanuet for sixteen years and one year as the Bookkeeper at Immaculate Conception Church, Stony Point.  She was then appointed as the Treasurer for the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary (Sparkill Dominicans) and two years later elected to congregational Leadership, a position she held until 2010.  She has been a member of the National Association of Treasurers of Religious Institutes, the Coalition of Religious Treasurers, Investor Advocates for Social Justice, the Leadership Council of Women Religious, and the Dominican Leadership Conference.  Since 2014 Sr. Meg has been the Chief Financial Officer for the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York where she serves on many of their ministry boards as well as the Board of Trustees for Saint Joseph Medical Center in Yonkers and their Finance Committee.   Sr. Meg is presently a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas College Board of Trustees, serving on both the Campus Planning and Audit Committees.

For close to 50 years, as a Dominican Sister of Sparkill, Sr. Meg has been a Woman Making a Difference, faithful to the congregation’s goal and mission of ‘Proclaiming the Reign of God through Ministry for Justice and Reverence for all Creation’ and the sharing her gifts and talents wherever needed.

Joe Winter, a proud alumnus of St. Thomas Aquinas College (Class of 2000), holds a Bachelor of Science in Recreation & Leisure/Sports Management. He continued his academic journey at Sacred Heart University, earning a Master of Arts in Teaching in 2002. He achieved further distinction in 2024 as a Superior Graduate of the U.S. Army War College, where he received a Master of Strategic Studies.

At STAC, Joe was a dynamic campus leader, serving as Student Body President(SGA). He also contributed to the athletic community as the Men’s Basketball Team Manager throughout his four years, showcasing his dedication to teamwork and organization.

Joe serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, assigned to the Maryland Air National Guard, where he currently holds the position of Deputy Commander of the 175th Mission Support Group. His leadership and expertise have been instrumental in advancing the mission and readiness of his wing.

In addition to his military service, Joe is an affiliate faculty member in the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland, teaching courses in public relations and sharing his professional experience with the next generation of leaders.

An avid volunteer, Joe devotes his time to the Civil Air Patrol, the all-volunteer U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, where he serves as the National Inspector General. In this role, he upholds the highest standards of accountability and integrity, reinforcing CAP’s commitment to excellence.

Ryan O’Gorman began his career in higher education in July 2004, joining Dominican College—now Dominican University New York—as one of the Assistant Directors of Residence Life shortly after earning a B.S. in Psychology from St. Thomas Aquinas College. In December 2016, he graduated from Nyack College with a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership, successfully defending his thesis, The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Academic Motivation.

During his tenure as an Assistant Director of Residence Life at Dominican, Ryan spearheaded impactful initiatives, launching the Alternative Spring Break Program in 2007, organizing Midnight Runs to New York City in 2006 to deliver food, clothing, and toiletries to Manhattan’s homeless, and leading the Rockland County Colleges Relay for Life from 2005 to 2011, which raised over $128,000 for the American Cancer Society. Notably, the Alternative Spring Break Program and Midnight Runs continue to thrive today.

In July 2010, Ryan was promoted to Director of Residence Life, overseeing a team of four full-time professional staff, two part-time staff, 26 Resident Assistants, and the residential student population. In July 2019, he assumed a new role as Director of Retention and Student Success at Dominican University New York, where he leads retention efforts and oversees the Student Success Program. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct instructor in the university’s M.S. in Organizational Leadership and Communication Program, teaching courses such as “Organizational Culture and Teambuilding” and “Strategic Planning and Leadership.” Starting in the fall of 2024, Ryan began pursuing a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at Concordia University Chicago.

Ryan’s contributions extend beyond academia. In 2006, he was honored as a recipient of Rockland County’s Annual Forty Under 40 Program. He graduated from Leadership Rockland in 2009 and received The President’s Award from the Rotary Club of Pearl River in 2021. His community involvement is extensive, having served as a Big Brother mentor for three years, President Emeritus of the Rotary Club of Pearl River, and former Vice Chair of Leadership Rockland. He has also been an ambassador for People to People, a board member for Meals on Wheels Rockland, a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County, and a leader in conducting Midnight Runs to NYC. In January 2023, he completed a Clean Water Project through the Rotary Club of Pearl River in Sol Naciente, El Salvador and in 2024, was the recipient of Leadership Rockland’s Leader of the Year.

Tobin Anderson is a highly accomplished basketball coach known for his transformative leadership at St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC), his success in guiding programs to new heights, and his tenure at Iona University.

Anderson served as the head coach at STAC for nine seasons, turning the program into a perennial Top 25 team in NCAA Division II. When he took over, the Spartans had won just five games the prior season, but he quickly established them as a powerhouse. Under his leadership, STAC posted an impressive 209-62 (.771) overall record, captured five East Coast Conference regular season titles, and won six ECC tournament championships. The program reached the NCAA Division II tournament in each of his final seven seasons, including an Elite 8 appearance in 2017 and Sweet 16 runs in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Notably, during Anderson’s first NCAA tournament season in 2015-16, STAC opened the campaign with a dominant 90-58 exhibition win over St. John’s. In conference play, his teams were nearly unstoppable, posting a 128-30 (.810) record. His impact was recognized with four ECC Coach of the Year honors (2015, 2016, 2021, 2022) and five Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division II Coach of the Year awards (2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022).

Following his success at STAC, Anderson made a major splash in Division I basketball as the head coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). In his lone season at FDU (2022-23), he orchestrated one of the most memorable Cinderella stories in NCAA Tournament history, leading the No. 16 seeded Knights to a stunning first-round upset over No. 1 Purdue before advancing to the second round. The victory marked just the second time a No. 16 seed had defeated a top seed in tournament history. Anderson inherited an FDU program that had won only four games the year before his arrival and immediately turned them into a 21-16 team that won the Northeast Conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

Anderson was then named the head coach of Iona University’s men’s basketball program in March 2023. He took over the program following a successful season at FDU and aimed to continue Iona’s strong basketball tradition. His leadership at Iona reflected his proven ability to develop competitive teams and build winning cultures at multiple levels of college basketball.

Anderson’s coaching journey also includes valuable Division I experience as an assistant coach at Siena from 2011-2013. Before that, he found success at the Division III level, leading Hamilton College to a 118-63 (.652) record, an NCAA Tournament appearance, and three regular-season titles over seven seasons. His coaching career began at Clarkson University, where he led the program to its first winning season in 25 years and a school-record 19-win season in 2001-02.

Anderson, a native of Truro, Iowa, was a four-year starter and two-year captain at Wesleyan University, where he remains among the program’s top 10 all-time leading scorers. He earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Wesleyan in 1995 and a master’s degree in Athletic Administration from Florida State University in 1996. Anderson and his wife, Jodi, have two children, Bryce and Alexa.