Spring 2014
Brockport Alumni Association A
Turn your e-mail address into airfare (page 21) Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Back to Basics As we move closer to the conclusion of another academic year, it’s an opportune time to reflect upon the impact our College has had on not only the many students who will walk down the aisle to receive their hard-earned degrees, but the countless others who have come before them. My convocation theme for 2013-14 way back last August was “Back to Basics: Focusing on Student Learning – Our Core Mission.” It was — and continues to be — my goal to re-sharpen our focus on being a distinctive college of highly engaged students and do it better than anyone else. That message of a highly personalized education continues to resonate to standing room welcomes I’ve given recently accepted students as we look ahead to next year. I’m happy to report that applications are up 15%. In this issue of Kaleidoscope, you will find that a focus on student learning can have impressive results. Included are stories of a member of our women’s gymnastics team, a motivated graduate student, and a heartwarming article about a former student (and staff member) who was moved to give back to her Alma Mater. You’ll also learn more about an alumnus who has become a familiar face on campus for the past three decades, as well as some of the important things our students are doing in rural Peru to make a difference. Also in this issue, you’ll get a chance to hear from Dr. Jamie Spiller, Dean of the Graduate School. Jamie serves as our guest essayist and will share his thoughts on how our dedicated alumni base can play such an integral part in making Brockport a destination of choice for future students. Don’t forget to check out information on Reunion 2014. We hope you’ll be able to make your way back to campus May 30 – June 1 as we split Reunion and Homecoming for the first time in more than a decade. You can find out more on Reunion Weekend and its marquee events in the alumni news section. On a final note, I want to share that the most recent rankings from US News & World Report are out, and The College at Brockport came in at #54 in the Best Regional Universities - North category. It was 14 places better than the prior year and our highest ranking ever. It’s a tribute to our focus on student learning. No wonder the interest in a Brockport education is increasing! Best wishes,
John R. Halstead, PhD President Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
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Campaign for Brockport...............................2 Preserving Our Past......................................6 A Passion for Mentoring Students...............8 Carving Her Own Path.................................10 A Routine Crafted at an Early Age..............12 Making a Difference in Peru........................14
Lexi King ’14 just completed her Brockport Gymnastics career. (page 12)
GOLD Spotlights..........................................18 Alumni News................................................20 Class Notes..................................................24
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Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
(L-R) Brockport Foundation Chair Joe Doody ’74, SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, Brockport President John R. Halstead and Foundation Board Member Glenn Goldberg ’80
BUILDING ON OUR SUCCESS It’s hard to believe that the end of the academic year is upon us. The fall and spring semesters flew by as we welcomed our incoming freshmen and transfer students, watched the swift progress on our new Liberal Arts Building, cheered our athletic teams to victory, and, of course, continued to make progress on Pursue Something Greater, the Campaign for Brockport. To date, we have raised more than $19.6 million on our way to $25 million!
Campaign Priorities
Priority Goal
We established four priority areas for the campaign along with corresponding dollar goals. Our progress to date is noted for each area (as of 4/7/14).
Student Support
Raised
%
$12 million
$11.7 million
96%
Faculty, Schools and Programs
$9 million
$5.3 million
58%
Campus and Facilities Enhancements
$2 million
$679,000
31%
The Fund for Brockport
$2 million
$1.9 million
92%
$25 million
$19.6 million
79%
Total
Giving Highlights A Generous Gift to the Area of Greatest Need
The Rose Archives Virginia Campbell ’89/’96 has made a gift to the Drake Memorial Library to support and preserve the College archives. The archives, now known as The Rose Archives, preserve more than 175 years worth of Brockport history. (Find out more on page 6) Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Robert Gill ’68 has made an extraordinary gift to the Area of Greatest Need. Unrestricted gifts of this nature allow College leadership to invest in the campus as they see fit to ensure student success.
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Health Sciences Lecture Series Becky Smith ’64/’72 has funded an annual lecture series that will address issues related to health and health education. Lecture series of this type allow departments to bring experts to campus, enhancing and expanding the student experience.
Supporting Student Athletes William Steele ’62 has made a generous gift to update the equipment in the weight and fitness room for student athletes in Tuttle. His gift will also support the men’s basketball program.
Scholarships in Arts for Children Former faculty member Susan Edmunds has funded two scholarships in support of students in the Arts for Children program. These scholarships specifically support experiential and service learning opportunities.
In Praise of Volunteers We couldn’t do what we do without our volunteer leaders of the Brockport Foundation, Alumni Association and College Council. These dedicated people generously share their experience and expertise — and love of Brockport — providing invaluable support and guidance. In November, the leadership of the Foundation Board changed hands with Joe Doody ’74 taking over as chair from Diane McCue ’77, who served two terms and helped to launch the largest fundraising campaign in the College’s history. Diane will join Joe and Glenn Goldberg ’80 as co-chairs of the campaign. Scott Flieger ’77 has stepped up as vice chair; Chris Leichtweis ’83 has assumed the responsibilities as treasurer, and Josh Silber ’93 has been named secretary. Congratulations to all. We wish you the best in your new roles.
As always, we welcome your feedback, questions and comments. For more information about Pursue Something Greater, the Campaign for Brockport, please contact: Darby Knox
Vice President for Advancement President, Brockport Foundation (585) 395-2451 rjohnsto@brockport.edu
Executive Director of Development Communications and Campaign (585) 395-5160
Have you ever wondered how gifts to the Brockport Foundation are put to use? In 2012-13 alone, $1,512,292 was distributed to enhance the educational experiences of our students. • $493,023 funded more than scholarships through the
Scholarship Office.
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Foundation
• The College invested $1,848,385 for a total number of 512 scholarships in the Extraordinary Academic Scholarship Program, $275,000 of which was given through the Foundation. • The Foundation provided the Institute for Engaged Learning with $35,000 to fund 23 Summer Undergraduate Research Awards and an additional $30,000 for study abroad, internships and service learning opportunities.
Thank you for your support
Roxanne Johnston
Impact of Private Support
• Ninety-seven students received travel grants to attend conferences for a total of
$29,240.
• These areas also received funding through private support:
Recreation and athletics...........$359,887 College enhancement. ..............$216,031 College activities.......................$71,901 Arts and culture........................$24,665 Academic enrichment.....................$7,501 3
Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
A Conversation with our Campaign Co-Chairs The ongoing Campaign for Brockport, Pursue Something Greater, is an unqualified success. To date, the College has raised more than $19.6 million on its way to a $25 million goal – the largest fundraising effort in Brockport’s history. There is plenty of credit to go around. Thousands of alumni, emeriti, faculty, staff and friends have stepped up with generous support for the campaign; College leadership has cleared the decks to meet with donors and attend campaign events; and our volunteers, the Brockport Foundation Board of
Directors, have proffered invaluable advice and counsel at every step of the way. Three key volunteers in this effort are our campaign co-chairs, Diane McCue ’77, Joe Doody ’74 and Glenn Goldberg ’80. All first-in-family to attend college, these three alumni have achieved the highest levels of professional success and are generously sharing their experience and expertise with the College. We thought we would let them tell you their reasons for their commitment to Brockport.
Diane McCue ’77 Major: Computer Science and Business Administration Position: W orld-Wide General Manager and Corporate Vice President, Eastman Kodak Co., retired Service: Campaign Co-chair and immediate past Chair of the Brockport Foundation
Q. How did Brockport prepare you for your success at Kodak? A. “ I learned to work in a team, get a project done and learn from other people’s best practices. It made me open my mind to the ways other people think and approach problems.” Q. W as it especially challenging to be a first-generation college student? A. “ I think I was a little bit lost at first. You’ve got to find your own way. By my second year, I had decided on a double major in computer science and business. I knew I would find a career when I graduated.” Q. T he McCue Scholarships provide full tuition for four years. You must really get to know your students. A. “ It’s great to meet students as freshmen and watch them mature. It’s an honor to be on the Foundation Board and to find ways to support the College and the students. We’re all working toward the same thing – student success.” Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
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Joe Doody ’74 Major: Business Administration and Economics Position: Vice Chair, Staples, Inc. Service: Campaign Co-chair and Chair of the Brockport Foundation
Q. Why do you give back to Brockport? A. “ It’s the right thing to do. By giving to Brockport, I can make a significant impact and create the greatest benefit.” Q. You’ve had a chance to meet with some of your scholarship recipients. What’s that like? A. “ Meeting with my students reinforces the immediate and powerful impact scholarships can have.” Q. Some of your scholarship recipients have remarked that they too would like to support future students with scholarships. A. “ It’s exciting to know that current students understand what philanthropy is all about and are eager to participate in moving it forward when they have the opportunity. That’s what this is all about.”
Glenn Goldberg ’80 Major: Political Science Position: P resident, Commodities and Commercial Markets Division for McGraw Hill Financial Service: C ampaign Co-chair and longest-serving member of the Brockport Foundation Board
Q. You and your wife Kim established the Glenn S. Goldberg Scholarships, which provide stipends for students during internships. Why is that important to you? A. “ My senior year I spent the fall semester interning at the United Nations and the spring semester in the Washington Program. These experiences opened my mind and my world view to things well beyond New York and the United States. Quality internships combine academics with real life experience. Many public universities don’t have the alumni network that the private universities have, so internships provide a foundation and essential web of connections for students starting their careers.” Q. What would you tell someone who was considering attending Brockport today? A. “ What remains special about Brockport to this day is the quality of academic instruction and the engaged professors and administrators who are deeply committed to student success. Plus, you’ll make lifelong friends. Brockport is one of the great values in higher education and an institution on the rise.”
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Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Preserving Our Past She has the unique distinction of having earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brockport as well as having forged a long and successful career at the College. Now retired, Virginia (Ginny) Campbell ’89/’96 still calls Brockport her second home. “When I step on campus, I say I’m home,” she says. “When I walk into the Allen Administration Building where I spent most of my career, I say I’m home. When I walk into the library, I say now I’m really home.” Campbell’s ties to Brockport go back nearly 30 years, starting from the time she began pursuing her bachelor’s degree in communication. She would spend more than two decades working at the College, including more than 15 years as assistant and acting director of Marketing Communications. In fact, you undoubtedly recognize her from her years as managing editor of this magazine. “The College has always been important to me,” says Campbell. “I knew shortly after beginning my undergraduate program Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
that this was where I wanted to spend my professional career.” Along the way, Drake Memorial Library – specifically the College Archives – gained a special place in her heart. That’s why Campbell recently made a planned gift to support the archives, which are now known as The Rose Archives. “My love for Drake and the archives goes back to the 1980s when I was an adult learner in what is now the Delta College,” says Campbell. “One of my first assignments was to take a self-guided tour of the library. “I thought I already knew pretty much everything I needed to know about a library, but I quickly learned that was not the case,” she recalls. “From archives to research journals and all other materials in between, it was like Christmas morning for me.” Campbell envisions what she calls a “sort of renaissance” for Drake Library and The Rose Archives and looks forward to taking a lead role in that transformation. “The library touches the academic,
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professional and intellectual aspirations of every person on campus, including students, faculty, and staff, as well as friends in the greater community. If Drake is the heart of the campus, then I believe the Archives is its soul in that it’s where the College’s memories are kept,” says Campbell. “It’s a vault in which we entrust our treasured history. I want to help retrieve the memories made in our past, capture the memories being made today, and preserve them all for those who will follow in our footsteps. Charlie Cowling, our archivist and librarian, is an expert on Brockport’s history and does a tremendous job.” The new name of the archives is derived from the flower. “The rose is the symbol of perfection – perfect devotion, perfect fidelity, perfect friendship, and, yes, perfect love,” says Campbell. “Joining my love of the College with my love of history and the archives is a perfect match.” Campbell’s efforts to continue strengthening the future of the library include collaborating with the Division of
Advancement and Mary Jo Orzech, Director of Library Services, to establish the Friends of Drake Library (FODL). The group’s goal is to increase public awareness for Drake and the events, exhibits and other activities of the library and The Rose Archives. Campbell serves as the chair of the FODL Executive Committee, which held its first meeting this past fall. “The Friends of Drake Executive Committee is an engaged and creative group of people who share a love for Drake and the archives. Working together, we’re helping to nurture this new era in the life of the library.” To learn more about FODL, please e-mail vcampbel@brockport.edu.
Charlie Cowling is the archivist at The College at Brockport. The Rose Archives holds materials that tell the history and the story of the college from its inception as a “Collegiate Institute” in 1835 through the present day.
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Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
A Passion for Mentoring Students From a young age, Gary Owens ’72/’73 saw himself doing something in music. The thought of playing basketball never crossed his mind until the summer before his high school senior year. That decision would help pave the way for what has turned into a lifetime of service to countless young adults. Today, Owens has become a fixture at the College as the longtime director of the Arthur O. Eve Opportunity for Higher Education Program (EOP). It’s impossible to know how his path in life would have been different had it not been for his ability to knock down a jump shot. Owens recalls his mother was more interested in him joining the basketball team than he was. As it turns out, her direction proved to be the right one despite the fact it may not have seemed that way for much of that senior season. “I never even went out for the team prior to my senior year,” recalls Owens. “I never cared about it. I was a singer. I was in a band. I didn’t play basketball. I sat Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
the bench for 15 games, and then I played. That was the beginning of my career.” His moment came deep in the regular season in a game with the team mired in foul trouble. Owens came off the bench in the third quarter and ended up being the high scorer that evening. He would go on to lead the team in scoring for the remainder of the season. Not long after that, during a sectional playoff game in 1968, legendary Brockport coach Mauro Panaggio ’52 noticed Owens. That would lead to the start of his Brockport experience, as Owens went on to play basketball for the College and earned degrees in history and biology in 1972. A graduate degree in counselor education would follow in 1973. After taking a position at the University of Texas, Owens returned to Western New York in the late ’70s as the new director of Niagara University’s HEOP program. Then, in 1985, he made his way back to Brockport, where he has been ever since.
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The College’s EOP program serves about 350 students. Each year starts with an intensive summer residential orientation program. Owens was one of the 19 students who took part in the summer orientation in 1968. Now, more than 70 arrive on campus for the orientation under his leadership. “Between developing students as undergraduates and the EOP, that’s me,” says Owens. “That’s my soul. I help to develop those young people. That’s what I do.” He calls Brockport’s EOP a model, not just for minority students but for all freshmen coming in. “What we do for any freshman, we should be doing for every freshman,” says Owens. Graduates of his program are now running their own EOP programs at several institutions throughout the state and are serving as counselors at all levels of education. “I get a lot of calls and do a lot of workshops and conferences, both
The Arthur O. Eve Opportunity for Higher Education Program Now in its 45th year, the Arthur O. Eve Opportunity for Higher Education Program (EOP) and The College at Brockport assist economically and educationally disadvantaged students as they work toward achieving their educational goals. The program offers the highest educational opportunities to New York State high school graduates and GED holders who do not meet regular admissions criteria but have demonstrated the potential for academic success. EOP students receive numerous services to help them make a successful transition from high school to college life. The assistance includes academic advisement, college adjustment, financial aid, personal/interpersonal counseling, career assistance and tutoring. These important services help enable students to make the right decisions as they plan their educational and individual career goals. nationally and internationally, helping to develop young leaders,” he says. In addition to running EOP, Owens has also served as the College’s UUP President for over a decade. For the past 29 years, he has been a minister at the Le Roy Center for Christian Family Living. Additionally, he is a co-chair of this year’s Faculty and Staff Campaign. Of all of his responsibilities, Owens points to one day out of the year that means more than any other. “I never miss graduation. It’s my best day of the year,” he says. “I position myself so I can greet students after they receive their diplomas. I do that on purpose because I want to let them know how proud I am. I feel like I’m looking at myself. When I fight for them, that’s what someone did for me. I owe them that. I wouldn’t be here without someone making that pitch for me. That’s what it’s all about.” In a way, life at Brockport has come full
1969-70 Brockport men’s basketball team (photo provided by Charlie Cowling, The Rose Archives) front (l-r): D. Rose, B. James, L. Burroughs, B. Moss, F. Forbes, D. Silveri back (l-r): T. Haight, S. Chambers, G. Owens, J. Foster, T. Marschner, Z. Angelowicz, Coach Panaggio
circle for the former singer and basketball player. His son, Rodrique, graduated from the College in 2009. His daughter, Ashley, is a sophomore and an officer for the Organization for Students of African Descent (OSAD). More than four decades ago as a Brockport student, Owens was
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president and one of the founding members of that organization – then known as the Black Student Liberation Front. “It’s a very special place,” he says of Brockport. “It’s been like a second part of my ministry.” Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Carving Her Own Path Oluyinka Akinjiola ’14 (o-looYIN-kah AH-kin-gee-oh-la) is enrolled in the College’s Master of Fine Arts in Performance and Choreography program in the Department of Dance. Her“Beyond experience the at Brockport dancehas been as unique as her path here, which started in department, found ifthen you Pennsylvania, took herI’ve to California, to the Pacific Northwest. Research in Brazil just spread your wings a little and later Cuba has also made for a rich and bit, that you’ll find the support rewarding experience. “I’ve definitely accomplished exactly what that you need from the rest I’ve wanted from my graduate experience of the College and that’s at Brockport,” says Akinjiola. “There’sbeen support for people who are driven, want to great,” she says. accomplish things and have curiosities.” Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Akinjiola earned an undergraduate degree in geography from Kutztown University and later went on to study at Humboldt State University, where she was introduced to the geography of dance. Those two disciplines became the perfect combination. “I was really interested in geography, but I was also still a dancer,” says Akinjiola. “I love doing research and learning about the world, and I just wanted to find a way to merge that. I love to travel, to dance and to do research, so things just kind of came together.” There’s no doubt Akinjiola has maximized her graduate experience. She received
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the Distinguished Professors Award for Graduate Student Research, which allowed her to conduct independent research in Matanzas, Cuba. She also received the SUNY Graduate Diversity Fellowship, which is tuition assistance awarded to students who contribute to the overall diversity of the College. Other awards have helped Akinjiola build an impressive resume of research as well as scholarly and artistic presentations. It was her application for a grant that led to her to being able to organize Brockport’s first Afro-Cuban Dance and Drum Workshop last fall. It brought together talented artists, Brockport students, and
In September, Okinjiola organized Brockport’s first Afro-Cuban Dance and Drum Workshop.
Akinjiola was in Brazil as part of the AfroBrazilian Dance and Cultural Studies Program. Just as she did with the workshop, Akinjiola organized the study abroad program. More than half of the nine students who took part in the three-week winter program were from Brockport. It The Distinguished Professors Award for Graduate Student Research is a unique fund that supports
members of the community, and focused on intensive dance and percussion studies that are part of African traditions maintained in a region of Cuba. “It’s allowed me to do many things and get my foot in the door of my field,” Akinjiola says of the support she’s received. “I’ve been physically present in Cuba, gone to workshops in California and presented at the International Association for Blacks in Dance. For me as a graduate student, the support I receive helps me be more present in the field of dance. It really does take finances to do that.” Four months after her highly successful Afro-Cuban Drum and Dance workshop,
master’s degree students at the College. Approximately a dozen students a year receive assistance. It was created through fundraising efforts of a number of emeriti faculty, most notably the late Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus William C. Rock. The award amount is up to $1,000, and recipients can use the funds to cover expenses that directly support their scholarly projects. Jamie Spiller, Dean of The Graduate School, says the program is currently made possible through the use of gifts already received and is supplemented through the Center for Scholarship and Creative Activity. “The more money we can raise to make this a secure and sustainable program that doesn’t rely on uncertain college funds, the better,” he says. The benefit of the award for students is two-fold. In addition to the established resources provided by the College – such as faculty engagement and access to the library and laboratories – the award provides
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featured a week of Afro-Brazilian cultural studies and two weeks of dance intensive. “Beyond the dance department, I’ve found if you just spread your wings a little bit, that you’ll find the support that you need from the rest of the College and that’s been great,” she says. an additional way for the College to challenge students to apply their knowledge and skills in creative and specific ways. “It enables our students to take their level of education to a higher place in order to make them more competitive for doctoral programs and to make them more competitive for professional jobs by having completed an impressive piece of master’s level scholarship,” adds Spiller. “Students can use this money to support what is really at the core of graduate level education, what distinguishes it from undergraduate education, which is the application of disciplinary knowledge and methodology in original scholarship or creative activity.” Each spring, award recipients feature their work at the annual Master’s Level Graduate Research Conference. To support the Distinguished Professors Award for Graduate Student Research, go to alumni.brockport.edu/give. To learn more about the 3rd Annual Master’s Level Graduate Research Conference, visit brockport.edu/gradconf.
Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
A Routine Crafted at an Early Age Imagine a workday that starts at 7 in the morning and ends at 10 at night and breaking up those 15 hours between two office locations. It would be a grueling schedule for any professional and one that would require an extraordinary level of time management and organizational skills to be successful. Now, imagine that it’s not a seasoned professional at all. In fact, it’s a typical schedule faced by a teenage gymnast and one Brockport senior Lexi King ’14 has lived. Prior to even coming to Brockport and becoming a part of history with the College’s women’s gymnastics team, King recalls what a typical day was like growing up in Glendale, Ariz. Her school day would run from 7 am to 2 pm, and she would then return home for a snack and start on her Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
homework. At around 4 pm, it was time to head to the gym and work out for 3-4 more hours before returning home for dinner and finishing her homework. By the time her day was over, it was just a few hours before she would repeat that schedule again. With fewer and fewer high schools sponsoring gymnastics programs, a great majority of aspiring gymnasts have no choice but to hone their skills at the club level and schedule their workouts on their own. Being able to balance classes, workouts and homework becomes a way of life. It’s a mindset that requires superior organization, the ability to plan ahead and to maximize one’s time. In King’s case – and for most gymnasts heading to college – she already had mastered the fundamental skills required to be a successful college student.
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Gymnastics has been a part of King’s life since she was three, and she started competing when she was 10. When Brockport became an option for her to continue her gymnastics career, it didn’t take long for her to know where she would attend college. “I came here for a recruiting trip and absolutely fell in love with the school and the campus and how small it was,” says King. “It was more like a family environment with the gymnastics team and that was the deciding factor for me.” King is a member of the Honors College as well as a recipient of the College’s Extraordinary Academic Scholarship. She has been a SUNYAC All-Academic multiple times. Her balancing act as a student-athlete goes beyond gymnastics and the classroom.
John Feeney recently completed his 15th season as head coach of the women’s gymnastics team.
It also includes preparing for life after Brockport. An exercise physiology major, King’s career aspiration is to go to medical school for orthopedic surgery and work with athletes. That’s another reason Brockport was a great fit for her with its strong athletic training program. As part of her degree requirements, King spent 15-20 hours per week working in the athletic training room during the fall of her senior year. She was assigned to specific Brockport athletic teams, which required an additional commitment to work various events. The architect of Brockport’s unparalleled gymnastics success is former Golden Eagle and longtime head coach John Feeney ’76. A three-time National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Coach of the Year, Feeney quickly elevated a winless program when he took over in 1999 to one that is consistently among the nation’s best. In 2012, his team captured the national title. “It still amazes me to this day that we won a national championship. We made history here,” says King. “We were the first female team to win a national championship. I’ll always reflect on it, and I’ll always see it as an amazing accomplishment as a team and as a school.” For Feeney, the athletic accomplishments are important, but not the most important. A critical factor in his program’s success is the basic approach he instills in his studentathletes. The top priority is family, followed
by academics and then athletics. For most, the realization is that the athletics part of their lives is quickly coming to a close. “Gymnastics is unique in the fact that after college there’s really not much else you can do with it,” says King. “You can coach, but you’re not doing gymnastics professionally whereas in other sports you can move on if you are skilled enough.
Coach Feeney puts it into our brains that these are our last four years so you better make the most of it.” Under Feeney’s watch, Brockport’s gymnastics program has become a model of achievement both in and out of the classroom. It’s a microcosm of the College’s mission of student success. “I’m almost happier that they all succeed in the real world versus gymnastics,” says Feeney. “I try to teach them all about effort. If you learn a good work ethic and put in the effort, then you’re going to go out in the real world and be successful. You’re going to be able to move up the ladder because you’re putting forth effort in your job. “Every single person who comes here does so because he or she can get a good degree, and we have a successful program,” he adds. “If you go to a school like Brockport, it’s going to help you get into the graduate program of your choice.” As an alumnus, Feeney himself is an example of student success. Prior to taking the head coaching post at the College, he spent several years as both a high school and club level coach with a number of team and individual championships. Now, King and her current teammates are the latest generation of students to benefit from time spent under Feeney’s leadership. “I get to teach kids, challenge them and make them better people,” says Feeney.
As part of her degree requirements, King worked in the athletic training room during the fall of her senior year.
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Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Making a Difference in Peru Nestled in the formidable Andes Mountains of Peru is El Valle Sagrado de los Incas, or the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Within its boundaries are the city of Cusco and the world famous “lost city” of Machu Picchu. In between those two points is the small village of Ollantaytambo. This is where Brockport students travelled during the recent winter break as part of the International Health Adventure in the Sacred Valley program. Connie Lawrence ’99, a member of the College’s Department of Nursing faculty, created the program after meeting Keri Baker, the executive director and founder of Sacred Valley Health – an organization dedicated to improving healthcare access and equity in the region. Through the partnership, students have been traveling to Peru since May 2013 and have been able to earn three credits. A special thanks goes out to Lisa Rickman ’14, who provided us with the following photos from January’s trip.
Connie Lawrence ’99 (left), a member of the College’s Department of Nursing faculty, created Brockport’s International Health Adventure in the Sacred Valley. Students travel to Peru twice a year as part of the program. Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
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Students do not need to be nursing majors to take part in the program. Here, Nicholas Reynolds ’14 shoots video of the stunning Peruvian landscape on the way from Cusco to Ollantaytambo. Reynolds is a communication major who documented the trip.
One of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, Machu Picchu is perched nearly 8,000 feet above sea level at the western end of the Sacred Valley. It is believed to be built by the Incas in the 15th century. The towering mountain beyond the terraced landscape is called Wanya (also spelled Huayna) Picchu. The group spent a day visiting the site.
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Signs outside a community center depict the steps to take when treating burns and wounds. Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Raindrops fill the air as community members gather for one of the health campaigns. Mariya Canham ’14 (left) and Christina Peets ’14 (center) work at a wound and burn station as a promotora practices on Canham. Promotoras are elected community members who provide basic health education in the community. It’s a central component of the program for the students, who essentially are teaching the promotoras how to teach the community. Dianne Loomis, a clinical assistant professor at the University at Buffalo, conducts a physical on a community member. Not only is the program open to all disciplines, it’s also open to all SUNY schools. An important focus of January’s program was dental hygiene. Sacred Valley Health has been collecting data – such as cavity counts – in an effort to negotiate additional resources for the area to combat malnutrition and other health problems. Casey Harris ’14 (second from right) is one of many with a toothbrush.
A pair of young Quechua children pose for the camera. The Quechua are direct descendants of the Incas, and their population of more than 7 million can be found in the Central Andes regions of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
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Lindsay Eaton ’14 volunteers as a porter learns how to apply a splint. The porters, who serve as guides for a variety of tourist activities, were taught several first aid techniques.
Christina Peets ’14 performs an oral examination on one of the children.
The group spent the end of the trip on a cultural eco-tour in the Amazon Jungle. Pictured is a caiman, similar to an alligator, on the Tambopata River in the Tambopata National Reserve.
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In addition to her degrees in nursing, biology and chemistry, Keri Baker also holds a master’s in forensic archeology. With nursing student Kristen Shellie looking on, Baker delivers an impromptu lecture centered on analyzing a skull. “As an organization, we hope the students leave this experience with a greater appreciation and understanding of global healthcare systems and what healthcare looks like in the developing world,” says Baker. “In my experience organizing these trips and talking with students, they all agree this is a life-changing experience. As the executive director and as a nurse I can only hope the students implement the lessons they have learned into their practice.” Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Photo provided by Allison Clark
Graduates of the Last Decade Jason Torreano ’07 Not only did Jason Torreano ’07 exemplify the College’s mission of student success when he attended Brockport, he has since been dedicated to providing the same support to other high school students aspiring to go to college. What makes his story unique is that the students he helps
Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
live more than 8,000 miles from Brockport. Torreano is the founder and executive director of Inkululeko (pronounced eenkoo-lu-lay-koo), a non-profit organization that assists low-income and disadvantaged children in Grahamstown, South Africa. Inkululeko’s focus is to give students the skills necessary to succeed in school so they can ultimately attend college. “Seeing our students have this idea that ‘You know what? Maybe the life that my parents had and my grandparents had is not the same life that I need to have. I have options.’ That has been really gratifying,” says Torreano. The idea of Inkululeko goes back to 2006 when Torreano was taking part in a study abroad program as a member of Brockport’s Delta College. He always had a desire to go somewhere in Africa, so he ultimately decided to study at Rhodes University. “I would never have gone to South Africa had it not been for the Delta College requirement that we go overseas,” he says. “I had a life-changing experience, and I’m really grateful for it.” Torreano would go on to mold his graduate degree at SUNY Empire State
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Inkululeko
With freedom comes hope
For more information, visit www.inkululeko.org College around getting Inkululeko up and running. By February 2013, its first class of students was enrolled. It’s a five-year program that starts in 8th grade. At the end of grade 12, all students take a government matriculation exam, which Torreano says essentially determines their ability to get into a good school. “Our goal is to get them to do well enough that (college) is a real option for them,” he says. A big part of Inkululeko’s growing success is its partnership with Syracuse University through a study abroad program and with Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. Torreano hopes to one day establish a similar program at Brockport. “I’m so grateful for our collaboration with Syracuse because the university, its students and our learners benefit from building these projects and engaging with us,” says Torreano. “I would love to be able to do that with Brockport.”
Leanne Miller ’09 For more than three years, Leanne Miller ’09 has been a producer for Time Warner Cable News (formerly known as YNN). She spent most of that time as an associate producer and morning show producer at its Syracuse location before taking a position in Albany late last year as the producer of TWCN’s Capital Tonight show. Miller is doing what she always wanted to do, which is to work in television. One of her internships while at Brockport was a study abroad program in London where she worked at a television news station. She says that experience turned out to be critical in preparing her for the demands of a career in news. “We lived on our own in an apartment
and basically went to a job Monday through Friday and learned what it was like behind the scenes of a newsroom. We learned things that you wouldn’t learn in the classroom,” says Miller. “That really prepared me for working crazy hours.” Brockport helped lay the groundwork for Miller’s success, including opportunities with WBSU 89.1 The Point. She also recalls spending a lot of her time working with Brockport’s television station and what was then called Brockport Campus News. “What I liked about Brockport was that it was big enough for you to make a lot of new friends, but it was still small enough to feel like home,” says Miller. “I’m still friends with a lot of the people I met at Brockport.”
Josh Gamage ’07/’10 Imagine one day being able to work on one of your favorite television shows. That’s exactly what happened to Josh Gamage ’07/’10, whose Brockport experience served as a springboard for his current position as a crew coordinator at ESPN. One of his first assignments when he took the position in 2010 was with the network’s popular show College GameDay. “That was a real moment where I stepped back and said to myself ‘Wow, not only am I able to work for the network, but I jumped into a program that I’m a fan of.’ ” Gamage transferred to Brockport from Herkimer Community College. He would go on to earn an undergraduate degree in communication and a master’s in recreation
and leisure. Now in his fourth year with the network, he says his experiences outside of the classroom proved most beneficial. “Internships taught me a lot about what I liked and didn’t like about my career path,” says Gamage, whose opportunities included ESPN, YNN (now Time Warner Cable News), a television and radio station in Syracuse, MTV and even ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Gamage looks back fondly on his Brockport days, paying tribute to his relationships with fellow students as well as faculty and staff. “Everyone made it comfortable to interact with them,” he says. “It wasn’t hard to ask a question even though you might not like the answer.”
Carla Virgilio ’09 In just a few short years since graduating from the College, Carla Virgilio ’09 has had a chance to meet two sitting presidents while anchoring herself in the center of the Washington DC political machine. She’s a third-generation Brockport graduate who got the political bug from her grandfather and Brockport Professor Emeritus Dr. Andrew Virgilio ’49. She took part in the Washington Semester Program as a junior, which helped pave the way for her future success. Virgilio has been working on Capitol Hill virtually non-stop since she graduated from Brockport. For the past three years, she has served as an office manager and for Congressman Richard Hanna. “I just fell in love with Capitol Hill and DC and knew this is where I wanted to be,” she recalls. “I didn’t realize how fast it would be that I would get back here, but it just kind of
fell in my lap and I jumped at it. “I feel so honored to be working here. It’s such a neat time,” she adds. “The fact that I’m working in the degree that I got from Brockport, I think that’s so beneficial. So many people don’t get that opportunity to actually use their degree on a daily basis.” When she looks back at her time at Brockport and the success she’s had, she points to the College’s faculty and their ability to “really put an effort into getting to know the students” and provide meaningful one-on-one interaction with them. “My professors in the political science department were amazing,” says Virgilio. “They opened my eyes to politics and what it could be and looked at it with open minds. My professors were just phenomenal. I can’t say enough good things about them.”
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Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
AlumniNews
Dear Fellow Alums: After you graduate from college, life sometimes seems like a never-ending round of changes. We switch jobs, move to a new city or state, get a new car or upgrade that first car, buy the latest technological gadget, and eventually dive into life and our own journeys. Even though change is constant, one thing remains the same – we will always have a basic human desire
to connect with those people and places that we care most about. As our alumni base spreads its wings around the globe, we want to provide as many opportunities as possible for you to maintain a connection with Brockport. Whether it’s reading this publication, coming back to campus for a reunion (Reunion 2014 is May 30 – June 1 and is going to be a great time!), connecting with Brockport alumni in your area, or connecting via social media, alums are continually looking for ways to network, reconnect, share stories, and create new relationships. We encourage you to take advantage of some of the new resources the Office of Alumni Relations is offering in order to help our alumni community continue to grow, including the new website. Our new site is better organized with more opportunities to stay up-to-date with alumni news and events. Update your own contact information or share a class note; inquire about becoming more active as a volunteer,
Seeking Your Energy and Talent Have you ever considered becoming a volunteer with the Brockport Alumni Association and its various committees? We invite you to lend your support in creative and personally meaningful ways to inspire and shape the future of Brockport.
Ways to Volunteer • Partner with us to host an event in your city • Become an active member of the BAA • Assist the Campus Liaison Committee or one of our volunteer committees through the BAA
Volunteer at Your Pace We understand your time is valuable and you may not be able to commit to a regular volunteer rotation. If that’s the case, you can opt for one of our one-time volunteer opportunities.
Choose a Committee For a complete list of committees, please visit alumni.brockport.edu/committees.
Contact Us We hope you will consider volunteering at one of our upcoming events. If interested, please complete the volunteer interest form at alumni.brockport.edu/volunteer. For additional information, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@brockport.edu or (585) 395-2068. Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
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whether it is through admissions, career services, the alumni board, or a chapter committee; register for events; nominate a classmate for an award; make a gift online with new payments options, and more. Simply visit: alumni.brockport.edu today and check it out! As we always say, communication is a two-way street. We will keep you in the loop as much as we can, but please help us stay current with your email, address and social media connections. Remember, throughout life’s changes, stay connected with each other and stay connected with us. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” Best,
Kerry Gotham Director of Alumni Relations
Brockport Alumni Association
In an effort to increase our ability to reach an ever-growing alumni base as well as to more effectively manage our resources, the Alumni Relations office is seeking your help. The best way for us to accomplish both of these goals is to obtain your e-mail address.
The benefits of hearing from us electronically:
• Full access to our new alumni website
• Monthly alumni e-newsletter
• Invitations to alumni events such as Homecoming, Reunion and departmental and club gatherings
“Soar with the Golden Eagles” Alumni Contest Do you want to soar with the eagles… Golden Eagles that is? It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
• Periodic updates from your home department or school
Go online to alumni.brockport.edu/ update. Update your email and contact information between now and July 2, 2014.
•
Automatically be entered into a drawing for
•
a $500 voucher on Southwest Airlines and other great prizes.
s
Grand Prize – $500 Southwest airline gift card
Third Prize – Brockport Gear
s
You’re giving your e-mail address only to us. We wouldn’t dream of sharing it.
Second Prize - $50 Barnes and Noble Gift Certificate
s
When we can save dollars on printed communication, we can channel those funds to where they matter most – student success. By simply sharing your e-mail address with us, you will be more engaged with the alumni community and contribute to an exceptional educational experience for our students.
Alumni updates received online or postmarked by Wednesday, July 2, 2014, will be entered into drawing. All winners will be announced on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. If we already have your e-mail address, e-mail alumni@brockport.edu and request your name be entered into the drawing.
Check out our new website! alumni.brockport.edu The Brockport Division of Advancement is pleased to unveil its new website. We hope you will find it easier to navigate and more helpful when it comes to engaging with one another. It’s a one-stop shop for events, news, making a gift and interacting with the Brockport alumni and friends community!
Creating a member profile is easy! • Have your nine-digit Banner ID ready. If you don’t know your Banner ID (which starts with an 8), you can find it above your name on the back of this issue of Kaleidoscope. • Simply go to alumni.brockport.edu and click on “Register Now!” at the top of the page.
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Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
An event-filled weekend helped make the 2013 Homecoming Weekend a tremendous success at The College at Brockport. The weekend featured a wide range of events that included something for every member of the Brockport family – students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members alike. More than 600 alumni and friends participated in the various alumni events that took place over the weekend. The Class of 1963 gathered to celebrate its 50th anniversary and eclipsed its goal of raising $100,000 for its class scholarship fund. Alumnus Tom Diederich, and his wife Judy, made a $50,000 gift on Friday morning to boost the fund’s total to $154,000. In addition to reunion events for the class of 1963 and 1953, other alumni events included a Resident Assistant reunion, a GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) networking event, an Emeriti and Retiree Reception, and a Hartwell Society Luncheon for alumni who graduated 50 years or more ago, and more. An awards reception was held Friday night to honor a number of alumni. Gary Crawford ’62, Donald Greene ’63, and Dianne Hickerson ’64 received the Hall of Heritage Award. Jack Backer ’58, Joseph Maresco’67, Arthur Romita ’64 and Diana Suskind ’68 received the Outstanding Service Award. Nicholas DiGiacco ’10 received the Recent Alumnus Award. The highlight of the weekend was a record-setting crowd of nearly 7,000 at Brockport’s first night football game, made possible by the recent renovations to Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium. The weekend also included a pep rally, a performance by comedian B.J. Novak (of the hit television show The Office), and the annual Homecoming Parade, which was comprised of more than 40 floats that celebrated Homecoming’s “I Love New York” theme.
Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
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Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
ClassNotes
1980s
1970s 1950s Alexander Johnson ’54 has authored two books, The Principle Role of the Principal and My Life, My Hopes and My Dreams…Bruce Long ’57 retired from North Babylon Schools after teaching English for 38 years.
1960s Ray Scharf ’61 competed for the seventh straight North Carolina Sr. Games State Swimming Championships and was awarded six medals…Rosemarie Gurrieri Romeo ’64 retired from her post as director of admissions placement, tuition and alumni news from an independent elementary school in Manhattan…Carol Lawrance Brakenbury ’64 and Dick Reynolds ’58/’64 were inducted into the Kendall Central School Hall of Fame…James E. Myer ’66 addressed the SUNY schools’ development officers at a conference in Albany on the topic of planned giving…Donald Staffo ’68 was inducted into the National Association for Sports and Physical Education Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC…Diana Suskind ’68 worked with The Elizabeth Jarman Foundation on an action research project, Stonework Inspires Storytelling…Lawrence Gilligan ’69 retired after 44 years of teaching, including 29 years as a professor of mathematics at the University of Cincinnati.
Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Nancy Carriuolo ’70 was inducted into the Hilton Central School District Alumni Hall of Fame…John Pietroppolo ’70 opened “Peach’s” – a Frozen Yogurt Bar in Canandaigua, NY… Gary Mervis ’71 was awarded the 2013 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for his work with Project Exile, which has collected over 15,000 illegal guns in Rochester…Richard W. Cook ’72 was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America for 2014 and was also selected as Best Lawyers 2014 Syracuse Litigation-Banking & Finance Lawyer of the Year…Jeffrey Gemmer ’72 retired from Canisius High School after 41 years teaching physical education, coaching and being a part of the administration…Rosemary CallardSzulgit ’73 had her second children’s book, Oliver K. Brand...A Very Kind and Intelligent Little Boy, published…Thomas Gosdeck ’73 is living in North Carolina where he is preparing to retire from the law firm, Hill & Gosdeck, he founded …Patricia Larrabee ’74 and Mary Leowenguth ’76 were selected by the Women’s Council of Rochester Business Alliance Inc. to be among the finalists for the 2014 Athena Award, which recognizes women who best reflect the values of professional achievement and community service…Linda Moller ’74 coauthored a book titled Moving Beyond Disabilities: Personal Safety for the Street and Home…Aliceann Wilber ’74 led William Smith College to the Division III women’s soccer national championship and is the winningest coach in Division III history… Len Filppu ’75 had a nonfiction parenting book, Prime Time Dads: 45 Reasons to Embrace Midlife Fatherhood, published…William Tepas ’75 was inducted into the Western New York Softball Hall of Fame…Jennifer Albright ’77 is the owner/administrator of Autumn’s Way Care Home in Durham, NC…Joyce MorleyBall ’77 was chosen by Georgia’s governor to sit on DeKalb County’s school board… Thomas Gahner ’78 was selected to be a coexecutive director of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children in Vermont…Kim Rossi ’79 is the new pastor at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Olean…Eugene Spafford ’79 was inducted into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame in Baltimore, and he has also been selected for the Harold F. Tipton Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Maureen Leupold ’81 was promoted to director of science at Genesee Community College… John McEntee ’81 was selected to the 2013 New York Metro Super Lawyers list… Randall Moore ’81 has been named a 2014 Ohio Super Lawyer by Ohio Super Lawyers Magazine…Debra Cantor-Harbatkin ’82 has been named President and Co-owner of the Italian ice distributor, ICE N EZ, Inc., in Mason, Ohio…Vicky Ide ’82 published her first book, Unexpected Places, as an Amazon Kindle book... Jeff Meredith ’82 is the 2013 recipient of the Coaches vs. Cancer award for organizing the New York College Hockey Event of the Year… Mark Devine ’83 will be joining the morning radio show 98.7 The Peak in Phoenix, AZ… Christopher Leichtweis ’83 was selected as president and chief strategic officer of the North Wind Group in Idaho Falls…Victor M. Beck ’84 recently retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve as a Rear Admiral after 28 years of service including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also awarded the Diane David Beacon Award from the Public Relations Society of America’s Boston Chapter for public relations excellence…Helen Kostelas ’84 retired as school librarian from the School of the Holy Child in Rye, NY…Nicholas Nebelsky ’84 released a new app, Finger Lakes Waterfalls, on Apple’s iTunes…Scott McKenzie ’85 was promoted to the role of associate director of athletics at Juniata College…Lisa TaylorAustin ’85/’88 is being honored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for her community work at Hartford’s Finest in Connecticut…Allyn Hammel ’86 was re-elected as the Town Justice in the town of Sweden…Robert Williams ’86 accepted the position of Conservation Practitioner IV with the Central Western New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy… Kristine Duffy ’87 was appointed the next president of SUNY Adirondack…Robin McColley ’87/’08 is the co-owner of Cayuga Lake Seido Karate, LLC, and has earned her fifth degree black belt…Marie Fetzner ’88 earned her Doctorate of Education degree from the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Information and Human Development at the University of Rochester with a concentration in Online Student Retention…Nancy Merritt ’88 was chosen as the director of development at the Assisi Institute in Rochester.
1990s Andrew Forsythe ’90 was promoted to chief deputy of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office…Maureen Hines ’90 completed her doctoral degree in Educational Administration and Technology this past May…Mike Stein ’90 started a new job as the distribution account manager for Dell/WYSE…Joshua Brown ’91 wrote a short eulogy for the late professor Peter Marchant on his blog, Snarky Tofu. It can be found at josambro.blogspot. com/2013/11/passing-of-teacher.html...Daniel Fichter ’91 is the new head football coach at Irondequoit High School...Andrew Jones ’91 was inducted into the Genesee Community College Hall of Fame…Molly Stolarcyk Nolan ’91 is an independent contractor/sales agent for Century 21 Sbarra & Wells in Greene, NY…Kevin Nolan ’92 was been hired as a senior research & development scientist for Icelandic Milk & Skyr Corp…Maureen Sibble ’92 was selected as the senior career planning and development associate at Alfred State College…Mariellen Cupini ’93 was selected by the Women’s Council of the Rochester Business Alliance Inc. as a finalist for the 2014 Athena Award…Anthony Lipani ’93 is the new athletic director at Irondequoit High School…Marlene Blocker ’95 was selected the 2013 recipient of the James E. Allen Award by the School Administrators Association of New York State…Jeremy Pond ’95 was selected as the director of communications for James Grant Sports USA, one of the global leaders in management and professional services for clients in sports, music and entertainment… Bob Confer ’96 was appointed president of the Iroquois Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America…Corinda Crossdale ’96 was nominated by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as the Director of the State Office for the Aging…Jeffrey Myers ’96 was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the New York State Recreation and Parks Society for his work as commissioner of recreation and parks in Perinton, NY…Shannon Sauro ’96/’12 was inducted into the Genesee Community College Hall of Fame…Robert Fellinger ’97 was promoted from manager to principal on the Small Business Administration Team at The Bonadio Group…Joy Parker ’98 was selected by Madonna’s The Ray of Light
Foundation to receive a $10,000 grant for a nonprofit organization of her choice, and she decided the grant will be going to the Greater Rochester Muscular Dystrophy Association and the ALS Association, Upstate New York Chapter…Gregory Coughlin ’99 and Michael Doughty ’99 were named to the 2013 Top Forty Under 40 by the Rochester Business Journal… Matt Flanigan ’99 was appointed as the new CEO for Flower City Habitat for Humanity… Chuck Mitrano ’99 was presented the Division III Commissioners Association 13th Annual Meritorious Service Award.
2000s Michele Rase ’00 has been named president of the Dental Hygienists’ Association of the State of New York, Inc…Kimberle Ward ’00 was named superintendent of schools for the Gates-Chili Central School District…Tara Buckley ’01 announced the formation of The One Voice Project, a non-profit organization providing services and programs to those who need assistance learning to communicate… Burnice Green ’01 was selected as the 2013 New York State Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State…Kevin Coughlin ’02 was selected as the manager of a new business development with SKM Group in Depew, NY…Kelley DeMonte ’02 has been promoted from manager to principal on the Healthcare/Tax Exempt West Team at The Bonadio Group…William Neumire ’02 published Estrus, his first full-length collection of poetry…Leonard Brock ’03 was named to the 2013 Top Forty Under 40 by the Rochester Business Journal as well as the alliance director for ROC The Future. He was also appointed to the Democrat and Chronicle’s 2013 Board of Contributors…Michelle Gauchat ’03 is a recipient of a 2013 Women Leaders in Consulting award and is featured in Consulting magazine…Maureen Kesser ’03 joined the government relations team of Wladis Law Firm, P.C., in East Syracuse, NY…John Scanlan III ’04 has been a police officer in Palm Beach, Florida for the past 8 years and recently had his first crime novel, Of Guilt and Innocence, published by Sunbury Press…Kristen
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Schuth ’04 is the new athletic director for Genesee Community College…Carrie Santore ’05 was inducted into the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Hall of Fame. She was a four-time national champion for Brockport and won six All-America awards… Stephanie Skryzowski ’05 will be running on behalf of buildOn, a Connecticut nonprofit that runs after school youth service programs, in the 117th Boston Marathon in April…Scott Wilson ’05 was named principal of Batavia High School…Matthew Convery ’06 took first place in the University of Rochester Simon School of Business Games…Leann Grabski ’06 was selected by Feeding America for a two-year position at Mid-South Food Bank as a Child Hunger Corps Member…Kelly Sabetta ’07 opened her first business, Betta Book Publishing, in 2008 and recently opened a second business, Nature Spirit Healing, where she serves as a wellness coach and Usui Reiki master…Donald Bigelow ’08 was selected as the assistant director of housing and residence life for the Monroe Community College Association…Bradley Bach ’09 was promoted to senior staff accountant at Chiampou Travis Besaw and Kershner LLP… Daniel Colone ’09 was hired by the claims department of Preferred Mutual Insurance Company…Adam King ’09 returned to Wegmans Food Markets as a customer service manager in Germantown, MD…Leanne Miller ’09 is now the producer for Capital Tonight for Time Warner Cable News (formerly YNN) in Albany…Nathan Zilak ’09 will be taking the Florida bar exam in July.
2010s Eric Blackman ’10 was promoted to senior staff accountant at Chiampou Travis Besaw and Kershner LLP…Judith Hodgetts Littlejohn ’10/’13 was government appointed to the position of historian for both the town and village of Elba, NY, as well as the curator of the museum of the Historical Society of Elba…Matt Mangona ’10 has been promoted from “in charge” to a “senior” at The Bonadio Group…Alexander Hall ’11 has completed training at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and is now an officer at Maine State Prison…Cassandra Johns ’11
Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
gained a permanent teaching position, teaching 8th grade English, in Providence, RI…Caitlin Pollard ’11 was selected as the education abroad program specialist at SUNY Oswego…Ashley Randall ’11 was selected as the director of campus activities at Young Harris College…Randal Santillo Jr. ’11 accepted a job as associate producer with ESPN NY 98.7 in New York City… Lindsie Zimmerman ’11/’13 will be joining the audit department at EFP Rotenberg, LLP in Rochester…Kathleen Bailey ’12 was recognized as supervisor of the year for her work in the Office of Residential Life/ Learning Communities at The College at Brockport…Kristen Bakos ’12 was recently hired at The Bonadio Group as an assistant accountant…Dan Liberto ’13 was named assistant volleyball coach for both the men’s and women’s teams at Keuka College…Amy Miller ’13 is a recipient of the Rochester Youth Year Fellowship. She is currently working with Cornell Cooperative Extension and 4-H on their CITIZEN U program…Brittany Sheffet ’13 joined The Bonadio Group as an assistant accountant…Eric Werner ’13 was selected as an assistant varsity football coach at his alma mater, Palmyra-Macedon High School…Brian Witmer ’13 was selected as the event coordinator and coach for 3d Lacrosse, Inc…Michael Berardi ’14 was hired as an assistant accountant at The Bonadio Group.
Marriages
In Memoriam
Wendy DeSimone ’94 and Steve Price were married on October 12, 2013. Philip LaPietra ’99 and Tonia Cordaro ’96 were married on August 3, 2013. Kate Sarata ’03 and Benjamin Bidell were married on June 8, 2013. Joseph Seroski ’10 and Diana Daniel were married on October 26, 2013. Brian Smith ’09 and Jamie Secor Smith ’10 were married on July 13, 2013. Eric Werner ’13 and Casey Pealo Werner ’06 were married on May 26, 2013.
Births Scott Metter ’97 and Renee Drake Metter welcomed their second daughter, Sharon, on August 21, 2013. Patrick Roberts ’10 and Edita Salkic-Roberts ’11 welcomed a son, Jameson Patrick Roberts, on September 28, 2013. Kathleen Root Novak ’02 and Perry L. Novak welcomed a son, Paul Joseph Novak, on September 23, 2013. Paul joins big sister Mary Grace and big brother John Patrick.
Alumni
Carole Anderson ’77 Bud Lucas Burdick ’11 Edna Burke ’53 Gary Burr ’85 Natalie Calabrese ’51 James Cucinella, Sr. ’55 Robert Curtis ’79 Rosemary Davis ’53 Frank DiChristina ’56 Phyllis Edwards ’90 Mary Ann Elder ’71 Elizabeth Fitzpatrick ’77 Leo Griffin ’76 June Hubner ’67 Paul Jacoby ’84 Leota Jones ’76 Anna Kennedy ’49 Stella Kucharski ’48 Sam Lacara ’83 Cecelia LaFay ’67 Henry Laster ’67 Robert Lefera ’85 Jean Lisk ’50 Nancy Lorette ’76 Alice Mahon ’54 George Mann ’57 John Mountain ’74 Mary Neville ’70
Donald O’Brien ’57 Marcia Ostroff ’48 Christine Parker ’91 Mary Ann Peabody ’85 Michael Proper ’02 John Rigney, Sr. ’56 Peter Patall ’69 Melanie Powell ’86 Susan Reynolds ’76 Mary Siobhan Stolarcyk ’84 Sandra Sisson ’58 Helen Smith ’48 Marianne Sullivan ’71 Gregory Tanner ’73 Bradford Taylor ’80 Maureen Toner ’81 Donna Trolley ’58 Gloria Valenta ’48 George Wakeman ’46 Gene White ’60 Dorothy Wurster ’39 Rita Zimmer ’72
Emeriti Roger Bossert Dr. Larry Kline Lewis Kluth John Price
Do You Remember? Can you name this apartment-style living complex? If so, e-mail us at kscope@brockport.edu. We’ll draw a name from the correct responses, and the winner will receive a special gift from the Office of Alumni Relations. (Photo provided by Charlie Cowling, The Rose Archives) Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
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Come back home for Reunion 2014 alumni.brockport.edu/reunion
Reunion 2014, which takes place May 30 – June 1, will serve as a special weekend to honor the milestone anniversaries of the 50th, 45th, 40th, 25th, and 10th classes… a great opportunity to reconnect and reminisce with old friends and new alike. We will also be honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Stylus, the 40th Anniversary of Delta College, and hosting a BSG reunion. It will be the perfect setting during a beautiful time of year to relive your time at Brockport and celebrate the future of your alma mater. And the best part? The campus is all yours! That’s right – residence halls and apartments too! Gather your roommates, classmates, and friends and stake out your living quarters – right here on campus! Activities will include: class and group-specific gatherings and events, the Alumni Awards recognition at the all-alumni dinner, Hartwell Society 50th class induction and luncheon, “Alumni Institutes” where you’ll revisit the classroom and discuss timely topics with our very own faculty and staff, wine tasting, a preview of the new Liberal Arts Building, and more. Come back home to Brockport and be a part of this momentous occasion while enjoying all that the weekend will have to offer. If you haven’t reached out to your friends and classmates, get on it now. You don’t want to miss this great weekend on campus. Registration is open online at alumni. brockport.edu/reunion. If you have any questions, please email alumni@brockport.edu or call us at (585) 395-2068
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Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
WHAT A RUN! Ellsworth sends out a special thank you to all alumni and friends of the College who helped push him to the championship of this year’s SUNY Mascot Madness. A record 44 mascots took part in the competition that took place from March 11 through April 3. In the end, Ellsworth fell just 217 votes shy of taking home the title. Bonus votes through the use of Twitter and Facebook were crucial in Ellsworth edging SUNY New Paltz’s Hugo in the Final Four as well as taking Binghamton University’s Baxter down to the wire in the finale.
Mascot Madness: Fast Facts • F or the last four days of the contest, Brockport was mentioned more than 1,000 times a day on social media. On the final, the word “Brockport” was being mentioned on social media and average of once every three minutes. • Ellsworth received a total of 63,000 votes (including social media bonus points) during the contest. • D uring the final round, SUNY reported five visitors per second to its website. • Ellsworth appeared on Fox Rochester’s Good Day Rochester during the final round. Stay connected with Brockport by visiting alumni.brockport.edu/socialmedia
Kaleidoscope
Cover Photo by Matt Yeoman Manager, Brockport Photographic Services
Volume 27, No. 1, Spring 2014 Circulation – 72,000
Publisher Roxanne Johnston Executive Editorial Team Kerry Gotham Darby Knox David Mihalyov ‘87/’03 Managing Editor John McMahon Layout and Design Sam Nicolosi Kaleidoscope • Spring 2014
Photography Richard W. Black Jon Crispin James Dusen Matt Yeoman Contributors Charlie Cowling
Brockport Alumni Association Board of Directors
Warren Kozireski ’82/’95 (President), Elaine Leshnower ’61/’98 (Vice President), Allyn Hammel ’86 (Secretary), Carl O’Connor ’07 (Treasurer), Catherine Appleby ’75/’83/’01, Marisa Ballara ’07, Mary Lou Beagan ’84, Kimberly Becker ’08, Jon Bell ’67/’69, Nick Catanzaro ’06, Kimberly Della Porta ’08, Joan Fenton ’79, Becky Gillette ’03, David Harris ’90, Glenn Johnson ’85, Lauren Kelly ’03, Michael Mellace ’96, Donald Murray ’69, Betty Jane Nasca ’52, Karen Owen ’87/’91, Roshelle Pavlin ’85/’95, Monique Rew-Bigelow ’09/’10, Harriet Sisson ’85, Daniel Stinebiser ’76, Gary Sullivan ’80
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FirstPerson
Diversity- Brockport is home
to an eclectic student body: about 7,000 undergraduates and 1,000 graduates, full-time and part-time students, “nontraditional” adults, diverse citizens, and growing numbers of foreign nationals. Our college strives for inclusion and diversity’s promise of educational enrichment for all. The high price is institutional investment in recruitment, retention, and academic support so that these many types of students can succeed and deeply engage with one another through graduation.
Campus- Brockport is enjoying an
by Jamie Spiller Even as a historian who studies the torrent of societal change, it is hard for me to grasp just how much higher education has shifted in my brief fifteen years at Brockport. Our college remains an educational jewel, rich in opportunities for students to become accomplished, life-long learners — that is, to become alumni like you! It also faces serious 21st century challenges. Brockport needs its alumni as engaged partners to preserve these opportunities while creatively adapting to these challenges.
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ccess Brockport is a national “Best Bang for the Buck” where talented people of varying means can earn the bachelors and masters degrees increasingly needed for career success. But as state funding slides and college regrettably shifts from being a public good to a private responsibility, students must shoulder escalating costs. Many in debt overextend themselves or drop out to work for needed income. Others start with community college, which might save money but reduces their time to become immersed in the Brockport experience. Still others opt for distance learning and even complete online programs (especially graduate degrees), which can be convenient for students but pose challenges to our residential “brickand-mortar” college.
infrastructure renewal, including a brand new recreation and events center (SERC), a nearly finished academic building, updated labs, and several impending building and plaza renovations. These worthy investments support the College’s educational mission, but they also point to a worrying “arms race” among many other colleges which spend lavishly on non-academic facilities to attract students. Brockport has avoided this expensive race, but pressure can only mount as competition grows for dwindling numbers of college-eligible people in upstate NY.
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cademics Brockport is a model comprehensive master’s university whose outstanding faculty support graduate and undergraduate programs across the disciplines. Undergraduates, for instance, can major in business, minor in chemistry, and fulfill liberal arts requirements in small seminars, large lectures, and via online
learning. This is an impressive mix, but our college must learn to nimbly develop the fast emerging programs and online instruction that draw potential students away to other universities. So how can alumni help Brockport remain vital and maintain access, enhance diversity, sustain an appealing campus, and deliver terrific academic programs? Since these challenges entail financial cost, generous donations certainly help. But Brockport’s success hinges on its ability to attract talented and ambitious students, who will come for a close community of learning in which faculty, staff, and alumni support student academics and career development. In that role you are Brockport’s greatest assets, the key to its ongoing success. Please let us know if you are interested in joining other engaged alumni, world-wise and accomplished professionals available to visit classes, speak to student groups via Skype, or provide career advice to individual students. With your help Brockport will remain vital by attracting students to its powerfully networked community. Jamie Spiller is the Assistant Provost for Research and Scholarship at the College as well as the Dean of The Graduate School. His specialization is in Modern American History and Cultural History. Spiller is a SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching recipient. He earned his PhD in American History from the University of Wisconsin. His wife, Anne Macpherson, is also a faculty member with Brockport’s Department of History.
Jamie Spiller led a study abroad excursion to Antarctica in January 2011.
Brockport Foundation 350 New Campus Drive Brockport NY 14420 Electronic Service Requested
Parents: If this issue is addressed to a son or daughter who no longer maintains an address at your home, please send a current address to us at alumni@brockport.edu.
Define
your legacy
Include The College at Brockport in your will or trust today and make a lasting and powerful impact on tomorrow’s students. A planned gift allows you to:
“It all goes back to sociology in terms of what I’ve been able to do personally and what I’ve been able to do professionally. I’d like that opportunity to be available to others at Brockport who choose to study sociology. I thought it would be a nice niche that was close to me that I could make a difference with.”
Patrick Madama ’77/’87 created the Madama Family Scholarships and is a member of the Gloria Mattera Heritage Society. He is currently the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Middlesex County College.
• Make a significant gift without affecting your current income • Support the program or area of your choice or give to the area of greatest need • Provide a charitable tax deduction for your estate • Ensure that tomorrow’s Brockport students have the best possible educational opportunities To learn more about how you can invest in the future of The College at Brockport through planned giving, contact Brad Schreiber at (585) 395-5161 or bschreib@brockport.edu. Visit us online at alumni.brockport.edu