Sarah Cinquemani '15: Environmentalist at Heart, Lawyer by Profession

Alumna Sarah Cinquemani ’15

As a young woman from a small town in Connecticut, Sarah Cinquemani knew that she did not wish to attend a large university, such as UConn. She wanted to attend a smaller institution that provided access to her professors. As an Environmental Science and Political Science double major, Cinquemani was happy to able to form a bond with the faculty here at Adelphi University. While at Adelphi, Cinquemani was quite active in both the academic and social realms. She played an active role in the Student Government Association, serving as vice president of her graduating class her first three years and the president her final year. Moreover, Cinquemani was a Resident Assistant, a Writing Center tutor, and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, the Leadership Honor Society here at Adelphi. The Political Science Department also sent her as a delegate to a prestigious conference at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) where she first learned the importance of networking. As the only Adelphi representative at the SAA conference, Cinquemani acquired networking skills, such as meeting, talking and connecting with new groups of people, which she would later use in her professional life as an attorney. In addition to honing skills, Cinquemani was afforded the opportunity to listen to different perspectives on international relations and engage with those of opposing views from her own.

Cinquemani also found her internships at both Senator Gillibrand’s office and the Vinci Group, a consulting firm in her home state, to be effective in preparing her for entering the workforce. While interning at Sen. Gillibrand’s office, Cinquemani had to act as the eyes and ears for the senator by reading the local newspapers’ feedback on her political efforts. Then, the summer before attending Pace’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Cinquemani worked at the Vinci Group on local campaigns. Ultimately, she found these experiences to be a reminder to stay up to date on current events, to be a more proactive citizen herself and also to encourage others to as well.

As a child, Cinquemani loved the outdoors and became fascinated with environmentalism. In fact, her spark for preserving the environment has only grown bigger. She attended and recently graduated from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University with a certificate in Environmental Law. Since she knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue a career dedicated to the conservation of the environment, her choice of law and its particular certificate was made easy. In fact, her advice for law school hopefuls is to find a particular area of interest and then to search for law schools that are well known for that particular program.

Due to Pace’s extensive environmental law program, Cinquemani was afforded opportunities to study her field of interests, and pursue internships related to environmental law, along with other avenues. For instance, Cinquemani took part in Pace’s law team that allowed her to not only garner experience, but also travel while in law school. Furthermore, she was the President of the Student Bar Association at Pace. Towards the end of our interview, Cinquemani detailed one of her most cherished experiences as a student attorney where she worked on a case, appeared before the Supreme Court of New York to advocate for reopening a park in Brooklyn, educated the public and networked with other practices. Since graduating from law school, Cinquemani has passed the New York State bar exam. Cinquemani is an Excelsior Fellow at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with an office in Albany. Cinquemani is also currently working to protect New York State’s drinking water. The Political Science Department is very proud of her accomplishments!