Caring and Inclusive Culture is also the time to move beyond celebrating “ Itdiversity as our sole goal. The quality of a public institution of higher learning will also be measured by how well we forge and sustain a truly pluralistic community on campus.”
— President Deborah F. Stanley, 1996 Better Than We Dared Believe
Walking in the annual ALANA Peace Walk. Cheering for Laker ice hockey teams during Whiteout Weekend. Dancing to Pharrell’s “Happy” in the worldwide #HappyDay Challenge. Chatting with the student groups who are tabling in the Marano Campus Center. Participating in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Watching a Del Sarte student dance recital or an Artswego performance. Catching up with alumni and friends at the annual “Come As You Were” BBQ at Fallbrook during Reunion Weekend. Donating to The Fund for Oswego during a 24-hour giving challenge. Coming together to share, mourn and comfort one another in times of civil unrest in the nation and after such disasters as the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and other violence and natural disasters. Establishing and following new protocols to protect the health of every community member. Gathering for the Totally Teal Ovarian Cancer Awareness, It’s On Oz sexual and interpersonal violence prevention, Go Red for Women
heart health awareness or annual Green and Gold Day campus photos. The list goes on, but these are some of the day-to-day activities that build a caring, inclusive community. In her 1996 remarks to faculty and staff, President Stanley said: “Our working network is also a living community of real people. Certainly, we leave our imprint as educators but also as human beings … We must lead our students by example. We know that the more productively engaged and affiliated the students are, the more dedicated they are to succeed at college. We also know that the more social interactions students have with faculty, the more motivated they are to learn.” One of President Stanley’s greatest accomplishments at SUNY Oswego was creating a culture of caring and inclusion that values diversity and differences and fosters communication and understanding among all Lakers. “It is in our interest to be inclusive because we are so intertwined in everything we do,” she said in 1996. “Difference in our participants can serve to make us less brittle, more creative and more resilient as a whole.”
1998 Return to Oz, reunion for alumni of color, established 2005 Oswego Family Portrait taken
1995
2001 2001 Last official “Dirt Day” celebration, which would become today’s campus-based, college-sanctioned OzFest
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2007 2007 Men’s Ice Hockey wins NCAA Division III National Championship 2005 9/11 Memorial Garden dedicated
