CRUCY RILEY '70 

Guidance Counselor

Franko Middle School

For Crucy Riley, working with middle school students has been a great joy. “It is a career I enjoy, as the adolescents I work with, despite all their struggles, are truly great at heart.” Providing stability and support for young people in transition at Franko Middle School in Mt Vernon has been the focus of Riley's career for nearly thirty years. In recent years, she has also served as Department Chairperson at Franko as well as sharing the wisdom she has learned in her own career with today's students at Mercy College. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, teaching Abnormal Psychology at Mercy's White Plains Campus. 

As an older student and a junior transfer, Crucy enrolled at Mercy College because the campus community made her feel accepted and welcome. But the beauty of the Dobbs Ferry campus was also a factor, and she began each day enjoying the peaceful vista of the Hudson River. Mentoring relationships with faculty and staff were important in Crucy's educational journey.

She is especially grateful to Dr. Bill Pratella in Mercy's Department of Education. He was both a career mentor and an advocate, and was instrumental in Crucy's first job for the district nearly 30 years ago. 

In addition to earning a B.A. degree in Sociology and Education from Mercy in 1970, Crucy earned a Master's Degree from Hunter College in 1973 in Educational Counseling, and a post Master's certificate in Family Counseling from lona College.

Crucy serves as a volunteer counselor for the Red Cross, has taught CCD classes at her Church for many years, and celebrates the gifts of a loving family: "My husband is a postal worker, as well as a freelance journalist, photographer, and public speaker. I also have two daughters. Gina (Mercy '99) is a wonderful mother to Ben as well as a Master's Degree candidate in psychology at Walden University. Bernadette attends medical school at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine on Long Island. My girls are my treasures!”