About Me
Alex Torpey's Biography:
I attended Hampshire College, in Amherst, MA for my undergraduate studies. Hampshire is part of the Five College Consortium, partnering with Amherst College, Mt. Holyoke, Smith and UMass Amherst. Over my four years at Hampshire, I had the opportunity to take classes at each of the five schools. Click here to view my academic course history. Since my first semester at Hampshire, I served as an officer on Community Council, Hampshire's student governance organization. My first two years were as Communications Officer, and the last two years I spent as Chair. I also Chaired the Committee on Community Development, the Public Health and Safety Committee and the Five College Student Coordinating Board - a joint student governance organization between the five colleges. Additionally, I served on the Campus Planning Committee, the Environmental Health and Safety Committee, the Housing Advisory Committee, the Making of the College 2.0 Committee and Community Council's Financial Committee. In addition to governance, I wrote and fact-checked for the student paper, and hosted a radio show (Where "Tea Time with Torpey" was born) with the campus radio station while working for the Department of Public Safety as a Student Event Monitor for three years.
For my post-graduate education, I'm attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice, having entered in the fall of 2009. I'm matriculated in the Master of Public Administration graduate program, specializing in emergency management and counter-terrorism. I'm a volunteer with the South Orange Rescue Squad and CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and FEMA ICS certified.
Undergraduate Thesis
My thesis at Hampshire, Breaking Taboo, was about rethinking alcohol policy in the United States. I worked with Hampshire President Ralph Hexter, Hampshire professor of law Jennifer Hamilton and Amherst College professor of law, jurisprudence and social thought Martha Umphrey. I also worked with faculty from Brown University and various experts and researchers in the field. Breaking Taboo won the Earl Ubell Award for Division III work. Please feel free to read more (and get a sneak peak!) of Breaking Taboo.My Work History
Feel free to contact me for a current version of my resume.My Current Projects
I am a Trustee on the Public Library of the Township of South Orange Village Board of Trustees and I would definitely recommend keeping your eyes open for new and exciting library projects. For now, check out the South Orange Public Library's new Facebook page! Hopefully, I can bring my experience with technology to support the library making information even more accessible and available to our community.I have worked with the Village to begin a social norms campaign entitled "We Are South Orange" in an effort to create more ownership and pride in our town's public spaces among residents, in addition to helping the Village and residents become more environmentally responsible.
I am currently undergoing the Professional Development Series (PDS) Training as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which provides a basic foundation for emergency manager training. Additionally, I have completed the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training in South Orange and am First Aid/CPR/AED certified, a volunteer on the Rescue Squad and undergoing EMT-B training.
Currently, I am a contributing writer for the South Orange - Maplewood News Record, South Orange Patch, and GoverningPeople.com. I wish I could sum up what I write about, but it would end up sounding like a concentration at Hampshire (notoriously wordy and complicated, though generally pretty interesting). Instead, I'd suggest picking up a copy or taking a look at my blog, where all of my writing is published. (Note: The News Record/Patch/GP does edit submissions, and for the original written work either contact me or check out my blog, as what appears in a secondary publicatoin may not be what was originally written and shouldn't serve as a record of my past writings.)
I'm the President of Veracity Media LLC, a new media and digital strategies consulting company. Check it out here. As part of that, I founded 'New Media New Jersey,' a collaboration among people working in new media. Check out New Media New Jersey to learn a bit more.
Read Alex Torpey's Political News and Commentary Blog Here
My Goals:
