Award-Winning, Student-Approved: Meet Adelphi's New TikTok-Famous President

Before becoming the 11th president of Adelphi University, board of trustees chair Michael A.L. Balboni '81, JD, sat down with Adelphi students in a TikTok series that won national recognition-and earned thousands of views.

Ever since graduating cum laude from Adelphi University, Michael A.L. Balboni '81, JD, has been a proud Panther. He's served his alma mater in various roles over the years, from adjunct faculty member to parent of an Adelphi student to chair of the board of trustees. And as of June 1, Balboni has taken on a new role: serving as the 11th president of Adelphi University. This makes him the first Long Island native and the first Adelphi alumnus to serve as president of the University.

Despite these impressive and lofty titles, Balboni has made himself accessible to the Adelphi community. And nowhere is this more evident than his TikTok series, Coffee With the Chair From a Chair. Although it was discontinued after Balboni's ascension to president, this series offers a glimpse at a president who's willing to listen to his students, hear their stories and share his own.

Creating a Series for TikTok

TikTok is currently one of the most popular platforms across social media. According to recent data from the Pew Research Center, approximately 63 to 68 percent of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 use TikTok, with one in five reporting that they use the app "almost constantly." Adelphi University initially lacked a strong TikTok strategy, viewing it as just another hosting platform like YouTube. It was Adelphi's board of trustees who recognized the missed opportunity of using this platform to engage with young people and prospective Adelphi students. Creating TikToks suddenly became a top priority for the University.

The board tasked the Office of University Communications and Marketing with producing TikTok content to share the Adelphi story with young people. In the end, the board chair himself, Michael A.L. Balboni, became directly involved in the project. He agreed to a refreshingly simple concept: unscripted, unrehearsed conversations with students over coffee. With near zero production costs and maximum authenticity, the series Coffee With the Chair From a Chair was born.

Each video featured Balboni chatting comfortably one-to-one with a different Adelphi student at the campus Starbucks. The first video featured Adelphi swim team MVP Emily Munayirji '26, a political science major who is now a business graduate student. She discussed her rigorous schedule and her favorite memories at Adelphi.

"Having the opportunity to sit down with then-chairman of the board Michael Balboni and be interviewed for the series was a really unique experience. It made University leadership feel much more connected to the student body, and when I learned he would become Adelphi's next president, I genuinely felt like the University was heading in the right direction," said Munayirji. The video quickly garnered more than 2,500 views.

The second video featured finance major Jerry Iavarone, who talked about his Greek life friends at Adelphi and his family-owned gourmet Italian food market, Iavarone Bros. Iavarone's is a favorite spot for many Adelphi students, including, as it turns out, Balboni himself-who remembered going there as an Adelphi student.

"I was nervous at first because I didn't know what to expect or if I needed to give specific answers to the questions. A few seconds in, I realized the interview was going to be a fun experience after Mr. Balboni brought up Iavarone Bros."

This video amassed more than 10,000 views, making it Adelphi's top-viewed TikTok at the time.

"I didn't expect the video to take off like it did," said Iavarone.

Winning the Circle of Excellence Award

The execution and success of Coffee With the Chair From a Chair earned Balboni's TikTok series an award nomination from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), a prestigious and global nonprofit association for educational institutions. Coffee With the Chair From a Chair wound up winning the Circle of Excellence Award, bronze level, in the Communications/Digital Campaigns (Student-oriented) category. The CASE judges noted, "The concept behind this campaign was great for student engagement, and we were impressed by what they accomplished without adding any extra resources and by getting their board chair to participate."

"This is a huge honor for our creative team, but it's also a testament to how impressive our students are," said Balboni. "The confidence and professionalism they have developed at Adelphi, as well as their natural charisma, truly shined in these videos. I had a great time discussing their favorite campus experiences, and I know their future is bright." Although this isn't the first time that Adelphi has won a CASE award, this particular victory highlights the University's success with executing a TikTok strategy-and it also marks a major win for Balboni as he begins his role as president of the University.