East Rockaway Resident Among Iraq War Veterans to Receive College Scholarship

Thomas Schreiber, an East Rockaway resident and a Marine Sergeant who spent 14 months deployed in the Anbar province, was one of three veterans to recently be awarded a scholarship for college by Meyer and Suozzi.

Schreiber currently attends Nassau Community College. His goal is to work at the Department of Homeland Security in its Operation Community Shield division, which deports transnational criminals. Sergeant Schreiber has achieved a 4.0 GPA in his past two semesters at Nassau Community College.

“As our troops return home it is incumbent upon the Long Island business community to assist these heroic men and women transition into civilian life,” said Meyer Suozzi Managing Attorney, Lois Schlissel. “It is essential that we create jobs for those who served and help fund their education so that they can compete for jobs in this very difficult economic climate.”

The Meyer Suozzi scholarship committee was chaired by A. Thomas Levin, chair of the firm's Municipal Law, Land Use and Environmental Compliance practice and the Professional Responsibility practice, and was assisted by Alan E. Marder, a member of the Meyer Suozzi Litigation and Dispute Resolution and Bankruptcy and Business Reorganization law practices.

The other recipients were Richard Arcas, of Levittown and Steven Kiss, of Mineola.

Arcas was an avionics specialist in the Air Force. He has a 3.21 average and is taking on a challenging course load including two semesters of Calculus as well as a semester of Economics and Statistics. Arcas would like to work with the Secret Service in its Anti-Counterfeiting unit.  

Kiss was a Marine Corp. Corporal.  He speaks fluent Arabic and is majoring in Criminal Justice.  His goal is to work at the NYPD special task force for counter-terrorism. 

“Long Island was built by the men who returned from WWII, and were able to launch their careers with the assistance of programs offered by the GI Bill,” said Levin. “We need to make sure that those men and women coming back to Long Island from service in Iraq and Afghanistan are provided with the same support and opportunities.”