John F. Welch College of Business
Majors: Business and Accounting
Current Occupation: Assistant Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs Enforcement

Counterterrorism, border security, critical infrastructure, disaster response and recovery: those are just a few fields under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the umbrella organization created after 9/11 to keep the nation secure. Those who become ICE Special Agents must meet “rigorous qualifications, both physically and intellectually,” explains Marc A. Lorenti. “It’s not like you’re sitting behind a desk. You’re out there making split-second decisions, many of them life or death.”

So what’s the perfect college major for someone as determined as Marc was to enter the risky, fast-paced world of federal law enforcement? Accounting, of course.

“Think about it,” Marc says. “Most criminal investigations have a financial side. Otherwise, there would be no reason to be a criminal.”

Marc chose Sacred Heart University for its strong accounting program and put himself through school partly with an athletic scholarship in return for managing the men’s basketball team. He also held student government offices all four years of college, ending up as senior class president.

Following graduation, Marc worked as an internal auditor for Georgia Pacific Corporation and took the necessary exams to apply for the job of a special agent. His first job was with the U.S. Treasury, working in the criminal investigation division of the IRS, a job he saw as a “stepping stone to the U.S. Customs Service, which interested me for the vast variety of work, from money laundering to narcotics and arms exports.” Today, as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge for DHS/ICE in the New York Field Office, Marc is “right where I envisioned myself to be. I knew the path to get here would be a solid education, and Sacred Heart gave me the knowledge I needed to succeed.”

In fact, the University prepares its graduates so well that four other Sacred Heart alumni have also succeeded in navigating the complex path to work within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as ICE Special Agents: Kimberly S. Derleth ’02, Donna Roethel ’86, Kevin O’Malley, Jr. ’98, and Robert E. Van Etten, Jr. ’03.

“It’s kind of unique that this small Catholic institution has produced so many people who have qualified as special agents employed by Homeland Security,” Marc reflects. “As an individual, you need a lot of drive and the right attitude to succeed in this line of work. You also need a solid educational foundation. Sacred Heart gave all of us the education we needed to work in this fascinating field and protect the American public.”