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Seven Alumni Set to Join Athletic Hall of Fame
New Members Named to Alumni Association, College Foundation Boards
New Oswego Alumni Association Members
The Oswego Alumni Association, the notfor-profit corporation that represents the diverse interests and needs of more than 89,000 alumni, elected five new members to three-year terms, effective July 1. Joining the board are Howard Gordon ’74 M’78, Sandra Michaca ’13, Ron Tascarella Jr. ’06, Hank Volpe ’73 and Sheneya Wilson ’15 M’16. • Howard Gordon ’74 M’78, a history major and retired executive assistant to the president, worked in higher education at
SUNY Oswego for 42 years. Over those years, he served in a number of positions and is credited for co-founding Oswego’s
Return to Oz and ALANA Conference.
He was the lead donor for the Black
Student Union Scholarship. Among his recognitions are the SUNY Chancellor’s
Award for Excellence in Professional
Service in 1991; Oswego Alumni Association’s Lifetime Award of Merit in 2016; and SUNY Oswego Presidential Medal in 2018. He resides in Syracuse, N.Y. • Sandra Michaca ’13, a double major in public justice and Spanish, works as an immigration attorney at the Lopez
Law Firm. She has participated in the
Alumni-In-Residence (AIR) program and was the keynote speaker at the
ALANA Conference. As a student, she was involved with Student Association
Supreme Court, the Asian Student Association and Alpha Sigma Chi sorority. She resides in Charlotte, N.C. • Ron Tascarella Jr. ’06, a business administration major with an economics minor, is first vice president and sales manager at Pathfinder Bank. He has been involved with the AIR program, campus Career
Fairs, Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and the
Graduates Of the Last Decade (GOLD)
Leadership Council. He contributes to his family’s scholarship established at SUNY
Oswego. He and his alumni family members also served as March Matchness
“Matchers” for The Fund for Oswego in 2015. He was named to a Greater Syracuse Area “40 Under 40” list in 2010. He resides in Syracuse, N.Y. • Hank Volpe ’73 worked in the broadcasting and IT engineering field for more than 30 years and retired as vice president/ director of engineering at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, Pa. A frequent Reunion
Weekend attendee and a regular attendee at the triennial Communication Studies Alumni Dinner, he has also served as an AIR speaker. As a student, he was involved with WOCR, and maintains connections to WNYO and WTOP activities.
He was also a member of Oswego’s Phi
Omicron Xi fraternity. He resides in Glen
Mills, Pa. • Sheneya Wilson ’15 M’16, who graduated from the five-year BA/MBA public accounting program, is now CEO and founder of Fola Financial LLC. As a student, she co-founded a chapter of the National Association of Black
Accountants at Oswego, and was also involved in the African Student Union,
Black Alliance, Beta Gamma Sigma, Beta
Alpha Psi and Tau Sigma. She has served as a member of the GOLD Leadership
Council, an AIR speaker and a participant in the School of Business Alumni Symposium. She resides in Yonkers, N.Y. Additionally, the following members have stepped down from their positions with the board, effective June 30: Kevin Bryans ’89; Amy Vanderlyke Dygert ’01 who will stay on as an at-large member; Lisa Sferrazza Hutchison ’77; La-Dana Jenkins ’94 and Keith Chamberlain ’87, who will not be renewing his at-large member status. For more information on the board and its members, visit alumni.oswego.edu/ alumniboard.
New Oswego College Foundation Members
A not-for-profit organization that raises and manages private support to advance SUNY Oswego, the Oswego College Foundation appoints members for three-year terms, effective July 1. New members are James F. Holland ’82, Jeff Ragovin ’00 and Al Roker ’76. • James F. Holland ’82 is executive vice president of enterprise services and solutions at SRC Inc., and also serves as an officer of the corporation. He leads a team that provides a full range of human resource, communications, public relations, computer/IT, facilities and security services to SRC’s diverse engineering research and development organization.
He has more than 20 years of experience in human resource management and labor relations with SRC and several other key Central New York employers. He is chair of the Onondaga Community Foundation board and the SUNY Oswego’s
School of Business Advisory Board. • Jeff Ragovin ’00, broadcasting and mass communication major, is chief commercial officer for Fyllo, a pioneering marketing technology platform for the cannabis industry, and is founder of Ragovin
Ventures, a strategic advisory group launched to help brands and startups solve problems across a wide range of business needs. Previously, he served as chief growth officer and investor in Social
Native, a marketplace and technology platform that helps connect brands with 14 million content creators around the globe. He was also the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Buddy Media, which Salesforce acquired in 2012 for $745 million. He received an Honorary
Doctor of Humane Letters from SUNY in 2019.
• Al Roker ’76, a host and weatherman of
NBC’s Today show, has earned 13 Emmy awards during his more than 35 years in the field. He is CEO of Al Roker Entertainment, Inc., which produced numerous TV programs for network, cable, digital and streaming channels. He wrote 13 acclaimed books—from cookbooks to historical narratives, and his Morning
Show Mysteries series are featured in
Hallmark Channel TV movies. He has appeared on Broadway in Waitress, and is an avid social media contributor. An enthusiastic alumni volunteer, he received an honorary degree from SUNY in 1998 and a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997, and has served as a campaign chair and Commencement speaker. He supports the Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell Media
Summit and the student-run television studio, WTOP. Thank you to the following board members for their many years of service: Louis A. Borrelli Jr. ’77, Gordon Lenz ’58 and Suzanne Castrigno Sack ’84. The board elected the following individuals into officer roles for a two-year term: Rose Cardamone Crane ’81, chair; Doreen Mochrie ’85, vice chair; and Mark Baum ’81, secretary.
SUNY Oswego Wins SUNYCUAD Award for Upskilling Program New Alumni Business Directory Available
SUNY Oswego won a Judges’ Childhood educaCitation for Excellence in tion major Francine Events (Campus Community) Zolkower Wolf ’71 is at the recent State University owner of the enterof New York Council for Uni- tainment company versity Advancement (SUNY- ZaZu Productions, CUAD) “Unconference,” held which specializes in online Sept. 24-25. improv workshops, The college received the recognition for its Upskilling in a Digital World program held on campus on Oct. 30, 2019. The program concept was based on a suggestion made by several alumni and Oswego College Foundation board members as a way to offer current students Oswego College Foundation Board of Directors member Dianora De Marco ‘14 M’15, a manager at Ernst & Young in New York City, served as the keynote speaker during the upskilling event. musical entertainment, comedy, voiceover work and more. Although at first glance it may appear that her current career doesn’t align with her degree, Francine’s background in education assists her in the development and teaching of improv workshops and her private coaching of actors. unique career preparation and professional development opportunities. In addition to teaching improv, Francine is The primary goal of the upskilling program was to provide current students the opportunities to gain skills that gave them a chance to “Connect, Learn and Level Up” for success in today’s professional world, while engaging a diverse group of successful alumni with the campus community for career mentorship and networking. A secondary goal was to bring greater awareness to the campus community about SUNY Oswego’s subscription to LinkedIn Learning. herself an actor, singer and comedienne. She officially launched ZaZu Productions in 2005, which is based in Tampa Bay, Fla., and recently started Pants Optional Comedy, which offers both public, weekly happy hour shows as well as private interactive events for family celebrations, company The event featured seven alumni who served as an emcee, a keynote speaker, present- parties and more. ers and moderators in three breakout sessions that focused on the following topics: Data Analytics, Robotic Process Automation and Cybersecurity. Learn more about ZaZu Productions at pantsoptionalcomedy.com or email zazu@ pantsoptionalcomedy.com today! She is one of dozens of alumni whose businesses you can find in the new Oswego Alumni Business Directory. Do you have your own business success story or services you’d like to promote? We invite all alumni business owners to submit their information on this public, consumer-friendly and searchable website. To be listed, simply fill out the online form at alumni.oswego.edu/business. Also, the next time you are in need of a particular service, we encourage you to show your support for businesses created, owned and operated by Lakers. To see the alumni-owned services in your area, visit the Alumni Business Directory at alumni. oswego.edu/businessdirectory.
Seen on Social
@OswegoAlumni
@sunyoswego Missing your sensational Oswego sunsets? Be sure to open your August issue of Lake E-ffect, for a link to the new college webcam atop Hart Hall. alumni.oswego.edu/2020AugustLakeE-ffect
facebook.com/oswegoalumni @OswegoAlumni
Oswego Alumni Business Directory
Seven Alumni Set to Join Athletic Hall of Fame
John “Jack” Michalec ’68
Men’s Soccer and Baseball
Derek Popovich ’04
Men’s Soccer
HALL OF FAME
Patrick Wittekind ’85
Men’s Wrestling
Scott Ferguson ’06
Men’s Lacrosse Jill Reimer Halpin ’97
Swimming and Diving
Tenkoran Agyeman ’07
Men’s Wrestling
Jamie Clough Driffill ’00
Women’s Basketball
The SUNY Oswego Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is proud to announce the seven-member 2020 Hall of Fame Class. These former Laker student-athletes will be inducted into the hallowed hall: John “Jack” Michalec ’68, Patrick Wittekind ’85, Jill Reimer Halpin ’97, Jamie Clough Driffill ’00, Derek Popovich ’04, Scott Ferguson ’06 and Tenkoran Agyeman ’07. The inductees will be recognized in a ceremony to be held at a later date.
• John “Jack” Michalec ’68 was a twosport athlete at Oswego State as a member of the men’s soccer and baseball teams. The defenseman was a First
Team All-SUNYAC and Second Team
All-State selection in soccer during the 1966 season. 1966 was a very good year for Michalec as both men’s soccer and baseball won their respective SUNYAC
Championship titles. He became captain of both teams in 1967, finishing his baseball career with 31 hits and 28 RBI in three seasons.
• The first of two wrestlers in this year’s class, Patrick Wittekind ’85 was a three-year member of the SUNY Oswego program, having transferred in from
Kalamazoo College. Wittekind amassed an overall record of 49-22 in the green and gold and was a two-time NCAA
Division III Championship qualifier. In 1984, he earned All-American honors at the 134-pound weight class with a fifth-place finish nationally. At the New
York State Championships, which at the time featured athletes from across all divisions, he earned a third-place finish in 1984. During the SUNYAC Championship competition, he earned three top-five finishes during his three years as a Laker. • In the pool, Jill Reimer Halpin ’97 was a two-time SUNYAC Diver of the Year, winning the award in both 1996 and 1997.
Overall, she won three individual diving
SUNYAC Championships, winning both
the 1-meter and 3-meter titles in 1996 and repeating on the 3-meter board in 1997. At the time of graduation, she held the diving records for both boards at Oswego. In 1997, her score on the 3-meter board was an NCAA qualifier. • Jamie Clough Driffill ’00 comes into the ceremony as the all-time leading scorer for the women’s basketball program with 1,718 points. She was a four-time member of the All-SUNYAC teams, with First
Team honors in both 1998 and 1999. Her name appears all across the women’s basketball career lists, including scoring average (second – 17.7), rebounds (fourth – 743) and rebound average (ninth – 7.7). Each of her four seasons at
Oswego saw her point totals rank on the single-season top-10 lists, and she still holds the top two spots for free throws made in a season. Among single-game highs, Driffill holds four of the top-10 spots for points in a game, all of her marks eclipsing 30 points. • One of the most prolific scorers in men’s soccer history, Derek Popovich ’04 ranks second in points at Oswego with 92. He sits inside the career top-five in both goals (38) and assists (16), as well as appearing twice on the single-season scoring list. In 2000, he was named Third
Team All-State and appeared on the
SUNYAC All-Conference Teams three times—once at First Team and twice at
Second Team. • Midfielder Scott Ferguson ’06 was a two-time All-American for the men’s lacrosse program while at Oswego. He is the program’s all-time leader in goals with 147 and sits in third on the career points list with 183. In two separate seasons, he tied the SUNY Oswego single-season points mark by a midfielder with 52 points. At the conference level,
Ferguson was named All-Conference three times, earning Second Team in 2002 and First Team in 2003 and 2004.
• The most recent graduate on the list, and arguably the most decorated, is
Tenkoran Agyeman ’07 from the wrestling program. He was a three-time
All-American, earning podium finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships in 2005 (6th), 2006 (4th) and 2007 (7th).
He earned two of those honors at 133 and one at 141 pounds. In 2004, Agyeman won a New York State Championship after earning a third-place finish in the previous season. He is one of just four
Oswego wrestlers to earn All-American honors in three separate seasons and finished his career with a 118-25 record on the mat.
The Oswego Alumni Association established the Hall of Fame in 2001 to honor those who have made outstanding contributions to Oswego State Athletics. For more information and to view all inductees, visit oswegolakers.com/honors/ oswego-state-athletics-hall-of-fame.
Annual Media Summit Examines Journalism and the First Amendment
2020
The 16th annual Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit examined the events of 2020 through the lens of this year’s theme, “On the Front Lines with the First Amendment.”
On Oct. 28, an experienced panel of media professionals met on Zoom to discuss such historical moments in 2020 as the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. Presidential Election and the COVID-19 pandemic and their coverage by the media.
The discussion focused on the crucial role that journalists play in our society and the power that they hold to inform the nation. “We really are the land of misfit toys in this profession,” said Connie Schultz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist at Creators Syndicate. “We are not conformists and we don’t tend to do well when people tell us what to believe, what to write or what to report.” Schultz was one of the panelists for the summit, alongside Steve Brown, an investigative reporter at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, N.Y.; Michelle Garcia ’06, an editor at NBC News overseeing NBCBLK; Bret Jaspers, a politics reporter for KERA-FM; and Ava Lubell, a journalism attorney at Cornell Law School.
The moderator for this year’s summit was Michael Riecke, assistant professor of broadcasting and mass communications in the School of Communication, Media and the Arts.
The idea of journalists being recognized as “soldiers of truth” and the importance of upholding the First Amendment were main discussion points in this year’s summit. Panelists agreed that journalists hold a high responsibility to use the First Amendment appropriately, and emphasized the range that freedom of speech carries through journalists’ work. “I would add the First Amendment actually explicitly allows for mistakes and it’s structured in a way to say people are going to make mistakes,” Lubell said. “If we say you can’t make a mistake, we should go home. The standard of perfection is not one we can attain and it’s not going to allow for the free flow of information that leads to the end goals of having an informed citizenry and participation in government.” Following the summit, there were Career Connector sessions hosted by SUNY Oswego alumni: • Natalie Brophy ’17, a statewide breaking and trending news reporter for the
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin in
Appleton, Wis.; • Imani Cruz ’17, a talent, casting and series development coordinator for MTV
Networks in NYC; • Justin Dobrow ’17, program operations manager at NBCUniversal’s Peacock new streaming platform in NYC; • Stephanie Herbert ’18, marketing and communications coordinator at the
Museum of Science and Technology in
Syracuse, N.Y.; • Allif Karim ’18, sports director at
WDVM-TV in Hagerstown, Md.; and • Omy Melo ’14, an editor at Nickelodeon. In the sessions, students were able to hear about each alum’s career path and their perspective about career opportunities in the media industry. The Media Summit was founded in 2005 by Louis A. Borrelli Jr. ’77, and was co-sponsored in 2007 by NBC’s Today weather anchor, Al Roker ’76. It was then renamed in honor of their beloved professor, the late Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell.
Clockwise from top left are: Ava Lubell, a journalism attorney at the Cornell Law School; Bret Jaspers, a politics reporter for KERA-FM; Steve Brown, an investigative reporter at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, N.Y.; moderator Michael Riecke, assistant professor of broadcasting and mass communications; Connie Schultz, a columnist at Creators Syndicate; and Michelle Garcia ’06, an editor at NBC News. Watch a recording of the Media Summit at magazine.oswego.edu.
Did you know?
By searching the alumni directory at alumni.oswego.edu, you can find fellow friends and classmates: Stay Connected • In your area • By major • By name • By class year Submit a class note to update the alumni Try it today! directory at alumni.oswego.edu.
