Beyond Imagination: Highly selective U.S. Marshals experience prepares Eric Vitale ’26 for federal law enforcement career

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Beyond Imagination: Highly selective U.S. Marshals experience prepares Eric Vitale ’26 for federal law enforcement career

Eric Vitale works in the crime scene lab.

"I realized how fortunate I was to be there."

Eric Vitale ’26 gathered with coworkers around an office television watching Olympic hockey when, suddenly and in disbelief, he paused to take stock of his surroundings.

“How can this be?” he wondered to himself. “I’m sitting here, in a federal office building, talking hockey with about forty federal law enforcement agents?”

Vitale has wanted to work in federal law enforcement since enrolling at Utica. Several weeks earlier, the criminal justice major – and member of the Pioneers men’s hockey team – had been accepted into the U.S. Marshals Service Student Volunteer Internship Program (SVIP) at the Syracuse District Office inside the Hanley Federal Building. As if in the blink of an eye, a future he once could only dream about – the prospects of becoming a U.S. Marshal – was coming into sharp focus.

The U.S. Marshals internship program is a highly competitive experience. Each year, the opportunity draws scores of applicants for a very select number of high-stakes positions. Case in point: Vitale is the first intern hired in the Northern District of New York in more than five years, despite a large volume of inquiries each year.

In hockey parlance, his opportunity had an assist from criminal justice and men’s hockey alumnus Jarrod Fitzpatrick ’20. Fitzpatrick attended several of the hockey team’s practices last fall, where he met Vitale. After learning of Vitale’s career ambitions, Fitzpatrick mentioned that his father-in-law was employed with the U.S. Marshals Service. Vitale penned a letter expressing interest in an internship, which Fitzpatrick’s father-in-law shared with colleagues in the agency.

After waiting eight months, Vitale received an e-mail in August inviting him for a preliminary interview in Syracuse. Following an exhaustive three-month background check, he was brought back for a second interview and soon thereafter offered an internship position, complete with his own desk as well as a government-issued laptop and e-mail account.

“When I saw my name in front of @usdoj.gov, I’m sure I probably did a double take,” he says.

Eric Vitale in a blue shirt stands in a hallway of Bull Hall.

He began the internship in early January. His responsibilities have included supporting administrative and operational functions within the criminal desk, asset forfeiture, and warrant sections. He has also gained exposure to federal court proceedings, judicial security operations, and interagency coordination.

Through the internship, he has been fortunate to build connections and camaraderie with federal law enforcement agents across the multiple agencies housed in the Hanley Federal Building. They were quick both to offer Vitale professional guidance and to rib the Toronto-area native after Team USA defeated Canada in the overtime gold medal game.

Yes, Vitale – whose mother and father were born in Philadelphia and Montreal, respectively – was rooting for Canada while on-duty at a U.S. Federal Building. Hockey allegiance doesn’t easily break. What’s more, Vitale’s dual-citizenship made for a light-hearted moment during his initial screening process.

“To work within the U.S. Marshals Service, you obviously have to be a U.S. citizen. So, when I went for my interview in August, they asked for copies of my Social Security Card, Passport, everything. And then when I gave them my (Ontario) driver’s license, they were like, ‘What state is this?’” he recalls, laughing now. “They told me, ‘You should probably get a New York State driver’s license.’ I said, ‘I’ll get whatever you want.’”

As grateful as Vitale is for the opportunity – and notwithstanding the respect he holds for a U.S. Marshals Service he one day hopes to join full-time – he has never felt overwhelmed or intimidated by the moment.

“When I got there and walked in the (federal) building for the first time, I wouldn’t say I was in awe,” he says. “I was definitely excited, and, no question, I realized how fortunate I was to be there. But at the same time, I felt prepared, and I was focused. I was ready for this.”

He credits the criminal justice faculty at Utica – a group that brings to the classroom a wealth of diverse experience including state and local police, homeland security, emergency management, counterterrorism – for his confidence and level of preparation.

“We have, hands down, the best professors,” he says. “For example, I’m in a course right now with Professor (Musco) Millner where we’re learning about blood stains. This is someone who led the state police forensics lab. You’re going to know exactly what you need to know coming out of that class. It’s a great feeling to know that all of their background is hands-on, living it, and at very high levels.”

More than preparing him in every way for a career in law enforcement, Vitale says his professors push him from day one toward achieving his personal goals, regardless of how lofty they may at first seem.

“I feel incredibly close with all of them,” he says. “I came here knowing what I wanted to do, but not entirely convinced it was possible. I give them all the credit for helping me realize that it’s possible and understanding how to get there.”

“That’s our job as faculty – to help students gain that confidence to realize they can reach those aspirations,” Millner says. “Teaching them the material and bestowing the wisdom that we’ve obtained through our own career journeys – that’s only part of it.”

But Millner insists Vitale is selling short his own role and determination in achieving his career goals.

“A lot of students who have the aspirations that Eric does – not only here, but everywhere – have the ambition, but lack the necessary drive,” he says. “I often tell my students collectively, ‘I want you to be successful, but if I want your success more than you want it, the likelihood of it happening is declining.’

“(Eric) didn’t need to be on the other end of that speech,” Millner continues. “He has goals, and he wants to pursue those goals and put the work in.”

Vitale has plans to complete his master’s degree in cybersecurity next year at Utica before hopefully soon thereafter attending the U.S. Marshals Service National Basic Training Academy, a rigorous five-month program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.

Vitale’s internship has opened the door for him to join the ranks of federal law enforcement full-time, an opportunity he plans to pursue after hanging up his hockey skates.

“It’s pretty crazy to think,” Vitale says, “that I’m interning with the U.S. Marshals Service and I have letters of recommendation waiting for me from federal law enforcement agents.”

Crazy in only the best of ways.