Geneseso Scene

Fall 2012

geneseo scene

A magazine for alumni, parents and friends of SUNY Geneseo

Beyond the Valley Extraordinary student pursuits that make a difference in Geneseo and the world

geneseo Fall 2012

scene CONTENTS

FEATURES 8

Beyond the Valley From rural Haiti to Main Street, Geneseo’s first student ambassadors soar with projects that are both life-changing and truly transformational for the communities in which they work.

14 Dusk to Dawn Time in class is only a part of the Geneseo experience.

Cram sessions. Chats into the wee hours. Moments captured in photographs reveal campus life after hours.

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The Big Tree Inn For 127 years, the beloved landmark has been a smalltown “Cheers.” Since 1998, the college has made sure the food, drink and friendship are flowing.

20 Taking It National Members of the newly formed National Alumni Council are building a framework that unites graduates and their initiatives to strengthen their alma mater.

DEPARTMENTS 3 22

One College Circle Athletics and Recreation: Reflecting on Title IX, the law that changed women’s athletics.

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Alumni News Class Notes

COLUMNS 2 7 23

President’s Message Letters to the Editor Mission Driven: Music faculty and a student team up to restore a traditional instrument for future generations.

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Random Profile: One Cup

Cover and table of contents photography: Keith Walters ’11 Emmeline the bear stands watch as a lightning bolt lights up Main Street during a stormy night.

Postmaster: Please address changes to the Collins Alumni Center, McClellan House, SUNY Geneseo, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454-1484.

Standard-class postage paid at Lebanon Junction, KY 40150

geneseo scene

Vol. 38, No. 2; Fall 2012

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

The Fruits of Our Labor s another autumn colors our campus in golds, yellows and rich reds, I am reminded how special Geneseo is — and how fortunate we are to be located in western New York.

This is plainly evident on Thursday afternoons at our local farmers market on Center Street. Just as farmers harvest the fruits of their labor, so, too, does Geneseo reap rewards from initiatives planned seasons ago.

As highlighted in our cover story (page 8), Geneseo students are sharing their knowledge and ideas in the village and beyond as the first class of ambassadors in the new Center for Inquiry, Discovery and Leadership. Thanks to generous donor support for the center, Geneseo funded nine ambassadorships, providing stipends to students to explore their creative, scholarly and community interests in depth.

The ambassadors’ projects span an array of academic disciplines. For example, Melissa Graham ’13 (biology) spent her summer helping to increase sales for Livingston County farmers and promote local markets as a healthy choice for families.

Melissa demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit that improved the quality of life — and the local economy — in our region.

Josh Kent ’13 (international relations and Spanish) spent his summer in Haiti, researching health, education and economic development efforts for Haiti Outreach — Pwoje Espwa, or H.O.P.E. Brandon Eng ’15 (art history and anthropology) interviewed immias the first class of ambassadors grants in New York City to compile “Visions and in the new Center for Inquiry, Voices of Migration: Narratives of Cultural Identity.”

As ambassadors, our students are able to pursue Discovery and Leadership. projects that interest, challenge and inspire them and others. By offering innovative programs, intellectual engagement and community connections, Geneseo helps students exercise their creative abilities. The result is a powerful experience that brings together the liberal arts and entrepreneurial thinking.

By this time next year, another piece of the puzzle will be in place to help our students become more entrepreneurial. A national search is underway to select the college’s first Charles L. “Bud” VanArsdale Professor in Entrepreneurship, made possible by an extraordinary endowment created by its namesake donor. The VanArsdale chair will have an impact not only in the School of Business, but throughout the college.

With fall upon us, we are thankful for the continued support of our alumni, parents and friends, whose private giving is strengthening Geneseo. As we head into the home stretch of our campaign — now approaching $20 million toward our $22 million goal — we ask that all our alumni and friends who have not yet participated play their part in shaping lives of purpose.

Every gift makes a real and lasting difference — certainly today, and definitely tomorrow.

A The Geneseo Scene is published

by SUNY Geneseo, Division of College Advancement, Office of College Communications.

Christopher C. Dahl, President William H. Brower III, Vice President for College Advancement Anthony T. Hoppa, Assistant Vice President for College Communications Kris Dreessen, Editor Carole Smith Volpe ’91, Creative Director Contributing writers: Meredith Drake Lisa M. Feinstein David Irwin Jim Memmott Victoria Soto ’12 Contributing photographers: Kris Dreessen Keith Walters ’11 Alumni Relations Office Michelle Walton Worden ’92, Acting Director of Alumni Relations Tracy Young Gagnier ’93, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Megan Cheever ’03, Alumni Outreach Coordinator Alumni Relations Office at Collins Alumni Center McClellan House SUNY Geneseo 1 College Circle Geneseo, NY 14454-1484 Phone: (585) 245-5506 Fax: (585) 245-5505 alumni@geneseo.edu

Parent Relations Office Tammy Ingram ’88, Director of Parent Relations Erwin 202 Phone: (585) 245-5570 Contact the Scene at scene@geneseo.edu.

Visit the website at www.geneseo.edu/geneseo_scene Phone: (585) 245-5516

Geneseo students are sharing their knowledge and ideas in the village and beyond

Cordially,

Christopher C. Dahl

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PHOTOS BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

One College Circle

That Freshman Rush Students of the class of 2016 made a splash on campus during their first weekend at Geneseo, getting to know each other and sharing in the excitement of firsts at college.

On move-in weekend Aug. 24-26, students celebrated Weeks of Welcome — special events planned for freshmen designed to increase personal connections with other students, faculty and staff and promote a sense of belonging.

Onondaga Field transformed into the First Year Olympics, which included a tug of war and a water-slide relay race. Following student convocation, faculty and students enjoyed a First Knight celebration with Kanjam and other games on the College Green.

CAMPUS NEWS

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Academic innovation DNA detectives New education leadership Parents’ inside look News in brief Fall 2012

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ONE COLLEGE CIRCLE

CAMPUS NEWS

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Assistant Professor of Chemistry James McGarrah, right, and students confer during an experiment in the $1.2 million new Molecular Structure Laboratory.

Academic innovation

New chemistry lab ast spring, Carrie Levinn ’14 spent many hours in the Molecular Structure Laboratory, first learning advanced testing techniques, and then helping Assistant Professor Eric Helms isolate and identify plant compounds.

Into summer, she helped Professor and Chemistry Chair David Johnson study enzymes that produce harmful free radicals, which cause inflammationbased diseases like atherosclerosis. Ultimately, their team’s work may lead to development of a drug that prevents such diseases.

Levinn is one of more than 400 students each year who work directly with or analyze data gathered on Geneseo’s new 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer — one of the most sophisticated tools of its kind used to determine the structure of organic compounds.

Officially opened last spring, Geneseo’s $1.2 million

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Molecular Structure Laboratory provides students and faculty with such state-of-the-art equipment to perform experiments in various fields of chemistry and biochemistry. Geneseo purchased new equipment with $980,000 in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Deparment of Education, supplemented by Geneseo funding.

In addition to the nuclear spectrometer, Geneseo faculty and students have the opportunity to utilize a single crystal xray diffractometer and other instruments that put Geneseo at the forefront of opportunities for advanced study.

“I think it is accurate to say we are one of the best equipped undergraduate chemistry programs in the nation,” says Johnson.

Geneseo has opened the lab to other educational institutions that do not have such high-level equipment for studies. Several colleges, including Buffalo State,

have utilized it already.

The investment reflects the college’s commitment to science — and the ever-increasing number of students who choose Geneseo to launch their careers.

From 2006 to 2011, the number of chemistry and biochemistry majors has increased 54 percent, from 162 to more than 250. There are 485 students enrolled in general chemistry

this fall — the most ever.

Chemistry majors begin with lab instruction and perform simple experiments, advancing to independent testing and selfdirected studies. Faculty worked with 70 students in directed studies last year. Gifts to Shaping Lives of Purpose: The Campaign for Geneseo provide the opportunity for Levinn and other students to work as research assistants.

Having the lab means faculty and students can conduct more and more sophisticated studies, processing tests quickly and publishing results faster, says Chemistry Instructor Cristina Geiger, who works with students on several research projects.

Such hands-on experience gives students a definite advantage in graduate studies or in work, says Geiger, and is demonstrated in awards. Of the 15 Geneseo students who have received the esteemed Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for Excellence in Education Program Award, nine were biochemistry or chemistry majors.

“When they go to graduate school or into the work force, they are prepared directly to be competitive in all technical aspects,” says Geiger. “They have the theory and the practice.”

— Kris Dreessen

DNA Detectives Associate Professor of Biology Kevin Militello is honing in on a DNA component of a parasite that causes African trypanosomiasis, or “sleeping sickness,” a potentially fatal disease that is carried through the bite of a tsetse fly in 36 sub-Saharan African countries.

Militello recently received a $388,000 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to continue his work on campus with stuPHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

New leadership

Geneseo community

Anjoo Sikka leads the School of Education

A tradition of family

eneseo is starting the school year with a new dean of the Ella Cline Shear School of Education.

Anjoo Sikka, a longtime professor who has held leadership roles in Texas and Mississippi universities, is overseeing undergraduate and master’s degree programs at Geneseo.

“When I first stepped onto the Geneseo campus, I was very excited to feel an atmosphere of excellence, and I want everyone to experience that,” says Sikka. “My goal is to foster an active, thriving academic and learning community in the School of Education so our students and faculty feel energized and excited about teaching as a profession and a lifelong learning experience.”

With faculty assistance, Sikka hopes to enhance partnerships with school districts so Geneseo students have additional opportunities to become even more familiar with the demands of teaching and managing all aspects of a teaching career. She also is encouraging more contact between school district personnel and the School of Education so teachers and

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PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

New Ella Cline Shear School of Education Dean Anjoo Sikka seeks to enhance student opportunities.

principals can bring their perspectives on current issues into the curriculum.

Sikka served in various academic capacities at the University of HoustonDowntown since 1994, most recently as professor of education in its Department of Urban Education. She also served as associate dean in the university’s College of Public Service and associate dean for

dent researchers, and in collaboration with other institutions. The three-year award includes funding for three summer student research assistants, Alex Mandarano ’14, Erika Valentine ’13 and Leanne Chen ’14 (pictured). The team will also use the award for supplies and to present their findings at professional conferences.

Militello and students previously discovered the DNA base and are now focusing on the genetic function of the molecule to better understand how the organism operates and could ultimately be destroyed.

"The group of students working on this research are receiving invaluable laboratory experience on a project that can make a real difference in understanding this infectious disease,” says Militello.

— Kris Dreessen

graduate and off-campus programs in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Before going to Houston, Sikka taught at Mississippi State University’s Meridian Campus and worked on several federally funded research and training projects in the area of blindness and visual impairment.

Sikka received her doctorate in educational psychology from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Maharaja Sayajirao University in India.

She is a founding member of the Association for Psychological Science.

Provost Carol Long says Sikka “brings a breadth and depth of knowledge and experience to Geneseo that will benefit both students and faculty members in the School of Education. She has a keen grasp of the issues facing education in this country and innovative ideas to create a more agile system of teacher preparation.”

— David Irwin

During his first year on campus, AJ Smith ’14 lived with other freshmen in Onondaga residence hall.

He didn’t know any of them the day he unpacked.

Within two months, he had made good friends. He knew Geneseo was the right fit.

On Parents Weekend, he invited his family to get to know his life on campus.

“Immersing ourselves into Parents Weekend activities provided my family and me a better understanding of the overall Geneseo experience,” says Stephen Smith, “and helped us more fully appreciate all the ways in which our son’s life experience is being enriched.”

A growing annual Geneseo tradition since 2008, families participating in Parents Weekend get an intimate look at daily life, from academics to the Union on a Saturday night.

On Oct. 19 and 20, nearly 1,000 parents and guests celebrated the Geneseo experience. Activities included athletic matches, tours of science facilities, and Kaleidoscope, a showcase of Geneseo’s dance, music and other ensembles. Families heard a special address by President Christopher C. Dahl, and a panel of young alumni also shared wisdom about what they wish they had known while in college.

More than 400 parents attended Parents College sessions, in which professors discuss issues and ideas in their disciplines, from the role of women in the civil rights movement to the presidential election.

— Kris Dreessen

Fall 2012

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ONE COLLEGE CIRCLE

NEWS IN BRIEF College recognized for eco initiatives Geneseo has the distinction of recently being named among the most environmentally responsible colleges in the United States and Canada in “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges.”

Geneseo has been on the list every year since it was created three years ago.

The college was commended for sustainability initiatives, including the incorporation of geothermal heating in several buildings, and students’ commitment to the environment.

College collaborates internationally Geneseo participated in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June in Rio de Janeiro and was a driving force in drafting the major sustainability declaration created from the gathering.

Geneseo was among colleges and universities worldwide who signed the sustainability declaration, which addresses a range of global issues including access to clean energy, food security, water and sustainable transportation.

Geneseo welcomes stellar freshman class New to campus this fall are 975 freshmen, who are some of the most academically talented and service-minded students from their high schools.

Enrolled students had a grade point average of 94 percent and an average SAT score in the 92nd percentile, or a combined score of 1333.

“Our students excel far beyond the classroom. They are heavily involved in their school and local communities and giving back as leaders, actors, musicians, athletes and volunteers,” says Kris Shay, 6

geneseo scene

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Women’s soccer Co-Captain Stephanie Verdino ’13 laughs as she’s bombarded with water bottle spray by Morgan Walton, left, and Megan Robinson during the college’s summer camp in July.

Geneseo has offered team sports experiences for 10 years, in which young boys and girls can learn basketball, soccer and swimming. Camp staff includes Geneseo coaches, alumni and student-athletes such as Verdino, who teach skills and the value of teamwork. Last summer, 209 children participated.

director of admissions. “They continue to give back to the college, making Geneseo a special place for everyone.”

Pop(up) art spurs community outreach When a student decorated the Painted Tree like a can of Campbell’s tomato soup, Geneseo staff were inspired to launch a 48-hour Soup-er Fast Can Drive.

Members of the Geneseo community donated 174 cans, plus other staples, for the Geneseo/Groveland Food Pantry. The pantry provided food to 33 families in need in July — the highest number of families serviced in the food pantry’s history.

College lauded in national “Best Buy” rankings Geneseo is noted for its academics, post-graduate student success, student satisfaction and other offerings in two respected “Best Buy” lists of

higher education in the nation.

Geneseo advanced to 46th on Forbes magazine’s “Top 100 Best Buy Colleges” list for 2012. Last year, Geneseo ranked 62nd.

Geneseo is also among 41 “Best Buy Schools” named in the 2013 edition of “The Fiske Guide to Colleges,” based on quality of academics in relation to the cost of attendance.

Professors earn highest SUNY distinction Two professors recently earned the rank of Distinguished Professor, the highest recognition in the SUNY system.

Beth McCoy, professor of English, was named a MCCOY distinguished teaching professor, recognized for her generosity

and skill as a mentor and assisting students in achieving beyond their own expectations and engaging the Geneseo community in national and local issues related to race, identity and privilege.

Linda House, professor and chair of the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, was named distinguished service professor, recognized for her role in transforming the HOUSE department into a powerhouse of academic excellence, and providing service to the community through a respected speech and hearing clinic.

Forty-four Geneseo faculty members have received the distinguished rank since 1973.

LETTERS

Letters to the Editor We want to hear from you! The Scene welcomes feedback and encourages discussion of higher-education issues, content and your thoughts about Geneseo. Send letters, which may be edited for space, to scene@geneseo.edu or to the Scene editor, SUNY Geneseo, Roemer House, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454.

Legendary professors set the standard I had both Bill Edgar and Bill Cook as professors, and their presence set Geneseo apart from so many college campuses. I started college at Geneseo in 1975, attending for three years, not to complete my senior year until 1998.

I had a unique opportunity to experience Geneseo in two very distinct and separate decades.

Professors like Edgar and Cook set standards in the 1970s that make Geneseo what it is today.

Geneseo was always a good school, and that tradition continues. It is with so much pride that I read that issue.

— Terry Bohling ’98 The story on professor Bill Edgar was very enlightening. I knew Bill in another way. Starting many years ago, we played basketball at the college court, and many former SUNY Geneseo stars and local players enjoyed the games.

Bill and I were the “Old Guys” and so we were always paired against each other.

I had a hard time keeping up with him and he always beat me with his accurate shooting. He was such a gentleman that I had a hard time being physical with him during the games. Maybe he was using his philosophy training to get the advantage over me.

I missed him when he stopped playing. We had a great time and a lot of good memories.

— Dick Gallivan, Geneseo resident

50-year reunion was a magic time machine In late August 1958, I arrived at Geneseo State Teachers’ College. Tom and Dom, our dorm counselors, welcomed us to Bailey, the first male dorm.

Freshman orientation followed, complete with beanies.

Then it was rushing, homecomings, friends, weekends, first loves, growing up and, suddenly, caps and gowns. It was a four-year whirlwind!

Then, kisses, farewells and promises to stay in touch.

Well, I didn’t keep in touch.

Coming back to Geneseo for Summer Reunion 2012 after 50 years away was an incredible experience.

I hardly knew what to expect.

I met my Phi Sig “little brother,” Phil, for lunch. On campus, immediately several old people smiled, waved and called me, “Barry!” They recognized me, making me secure that I hadn’t changed in 50 years.

That’s where the miracle happened.

Within five minutes, these old people became 19 in my eyes — no wrinkles, no bellies, no gray hair. I had stepped through the time machine. Every part of reunion weekend was rare and wonderful.

I gratefully thank the alumni committee for their hard work in making this experience one I’ll remember until I can no longer remember. And thanks, too, to my classmates. I thought you were special people 50

years ago. I haven’t changed my mind.

— Barry Kaplan ’62 School building evokes pride Reading about Geneseo students, staff and alumni helping to build the first school in El Sauce, Nicaragua, made me so proud of my alma mater.

I am also proud because of the education for life that I received from Geneseo. In 1945, I was immersed in the accelerated program to become a special education teacher, and I acquired lifelong friends. In addition to preparing me for a career, Dr. Helen Braem taught me so much about life (like how to sear a steak to seal in the juices and leave the center rare!) and to love nature. Even in the heart of a city, in her memory I carved out a tiny bird sanctuary.

The late Bertha B. Lederer so inspired my artistic nature that I paid for a daughter’s ballet classes by selling a painting whenever her tuition was due. I still benefit from what she taught me, even to being able to illustrate a children’s book. I also learned skills that enabled me to help my husband build our house, and found a passion for psychology that helped me as a teacher and as a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. My life has been full and is still exciting, reverberating with the knowledge and skills I learned at Geneseo.

—Esther McNeil Griffin ’48

Aunt Cookie’s is a delicious Geneseo memory On my recent visit to the Rochester area, I decided to take a trip to Geneseo and see all the updates to the campus.

Of course, my visit also included lunch at Aunt Cookie’s Sub Shop. Imagine my delight to come home and find it profiled in the summer Scene!

Thanks for the interesting background on a favorite local spot and the real Aunt Cookie.

The food and the memories make Cookie’s special. I remember going up with friends on lazy weekend days to grab a sub and eat together.

When you’re a poor undergraduate, even a sub can seem like a fine meal out.

— Alexis Leanna Henshaw ’01 New Court Street class sparks research The article about the new “Court Street: The Pilgrimage” class in which students and professors are preserving the history of that area reinvigorated my family tree research. The Ricotta family has history on Court Street as well as at SUNY Geneseo. My mother, two aunts and an uncle all graduated from the Normal School and all had careers in teaching in upstate New York. I look forward to reading about the students’ information when the class members post it online.

— Kathleen Ricotta Maloney ’70

Fall 2012

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PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

The A Pioneers Geneseo’s first ambassadors represent the best that the Center for Inquiry, Discovery and Leadership provides — the opportunity to transform their own world perspective and the communities in which they work.

By Kris Dreessen

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s coordinator of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children in the Geneseo area, Colleen Vokes is all too familiar with the challenges mothers who must make ends meet on very modest incomes have in providing fresh produce and food for their tables.

Melissa Graham ’13 spent her summer changing that.

She went straight to the source with a creative strategy. She promoted local farm markets directly to new moms, and to senior citizens, letting them know they can use nutrition checks to buy from local farmers.

Graham’s efforts laid the framework to boost the economy of Livingston County’s farmers markets — and overall community health opportunities — for years to come, say community leaders with whom Graham collaborated.

Graham is one of Geneseo’s first student ambassadors of the Center for Inquiry, Discovery and Leadership.

The new center is a hub for students to collaborate with faculty, individuals and organizations that play critical roles in business, the arts, industry and other fields. It is an incubator — and facilitator — for projects that are both life-changing and truly transformational for the communities in which students work,

says Provost Carol Long.

Generous Center donors provided endowments to fund nine individual grants of $5,000 each to ambassadors in varied disciplines — in leadership, innovation, business, diversity, community engagement and scholarship. Their work began last summer. They shared their experiences with campus and community leaders on Oct. 27.

One is transforming how a Haiti aid organization — and the community it helps — is portrayed. A team of students revamped patient care at a free medical center. Others are providing a voice for the invisible — and the unsung — among homeless and immigrant communities.

The students’ work sparks discussion and presents us with new ideas and fuller perspective on pressing issues, says Long. In doing so, their view of the world and what they can accomplish in it is changed.

Student ambassadors truly steered their initiatives and work; and sometimes significantly adapted their projects to make them stronger, says Long. That is an integral principle of the center and the groundbreaking projects it helps students to pursue, she says.

“It taught me to be confident in what I’m doing,” says Graham. “So many times it was 100 percent me. I had to go with it and trust myself.”

(Left) Melissa Graham ’13 is creating growth strategy at Livingston County farmers markets and increasing access to fresh food for residents as a Geneseo ambassador.

The power of local farming

very morning on the farm, Melissa Graham ’13 carefully collected eggs from nesting hens.

She tended to the sheep and pigs, and weeded the organic vegetable beds.

During that official internship for environmental studies after her sophomore year, she spent afternoons studying biology of farms. She launched a chicken enterprise, hand-raising the chicks, and ran the entire farm solo for a week.

“It was the most stressful week of my life and it was also the most rewarding,” says Graham. “It was also the best week in sales we had all year.”

Her internship gave her an appreciation for farmers and the personal investment they make to feed their communities. It also taught her the value of fresh food for health and for the local economy.

“This taught me a lot — and about myself and my interests,” she says.

In her second home of Geneseo, she recognizes agriculture is a backbone, and that there are lower-income families struggling to make ends meet.

Including farmers.

As co-captain of the women’s basketball team and a Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership mentor, Graham says Geneseo has given her a lot. To give back, she created her project: Using Livingston County’s Farmers Markets to Create a Healthier Community.

The goal is to increase sales for farmers while improving overall health and healthy choices for residents by encouraging them to shop at local farm markets. Money stays local, improving the community’s economy.

Her efforts are providing a blueprint for market growth for Livingston County farmers markets — in Geneseo, Avon, Lima, Mt. Morris and Dansville. As assistant manager in Geneseo, she helped to manage vendors and daily operations.

In addition to partnering with mar-

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ket managers and farmers to identify needs and brainstorm marketing ideas, Graham directly increased access to fresh food for senior citizens and lower-income residents.

Graham worked with Women, Infants, and Children and the Office of the Aging to educate residents that they can use their nutrition checks to buy fresh food at the markets. Although nutrition checks are accepted at all markets, only about 48 percent were used in 2011, says Colleen Vokes, WIC program coordinator for Livingston-Wyoming counties.

She believes Graham’s efforts made a difference.

Graham included market flyers in each check and also met with seniors to provide awareness.

Guided by experts at the Small Business Development Center in Geneseo, Graham has conducted market research for long-term growth strategies.

“It will be an educational tool for the markets, to implement new practices for years to come,” she says. “… We are figuring out what works, and what doesn’t.”

As in her former internship, Graham dug in to really understand the markets and their potential impact — and the farmers — volunteering at Jon Arney’s Pleasantview Farm and touring his operation with market leaders for better perspective.

“She is the best thing that ever happened to the Geneseo market — all of the markets,” says Arney, who tends to his 40-acre farm by hand.

He has seen a boost in sales at all three markets where he sells his vegetables and credits Graham’s new initiatives for the boon.

“The ads and promotion have certainly made a difference,” says Arney.

“She works hard and is not afraid to get her hands dirty.”

Watch a video of Melissa at the market — go.geneseo.edu/farmers

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

Community Advocates Ambassador in Community Engagement Melissa Graham ’13 Major: Biology

Brandon Eng with Sally and William Shing.

Visions of migration The James Houston ’80 Ambassador in Innovation Brandon Eng ’15 Major: Art History and Anthropology oon Yi Chin arrived at Ellis Island aboard a crowded freighter. At 15, she made her way alone to New York City during World War II. She sacrificed what she knew in China and hoped a good life awaited her in America.

She married, was widowed, and ran a laundromat to raise her seven children in a neighborhood where she was among few Asians. She never did learn the language.

Her daughter carried on her dream, having children, and owning her own business and building.

Her story inspired her grandson, Brandon Eng ’15, to create Visions and Voices of Migration: Narratives of Cultural Identity, a project that celebrates and preserves experiences of immigrants.

“It’s important to remember history is made by people. It is not things that happened,” says Eng, an aspiring museum curator and anthropologist. “It is people who make history and not just really important people, but people whose everyday lives and experiences are just as important as anyone else’s. Going forward, it’s important to preserve some of these stories, and to ask important questions of yourself and your own perspective.”

Such quiet contributions, says Eng, help make up our American history.

Eng interviewed a dozen immigrants

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Continued on page 10 ...

Fall 2012

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Josh Kent ’13 speaks to members of a youth group in Borgne about how residents could use plastic drink bottles in the area during his ambassador project in Haiti.

View participant photos — go.geneseo.edu/identity

Continued from page 9 ... with varied experiences. A mother and daughter from Australia. An Iranian who rejected fundamentalist Muslim culture. Israeli and Dominican college students. Family friend William Shing and other Chinese Americans.

Eng will complete his work in an interactive public exhibition that highlights their stories in audio accounts, family portraits that Eng took, as well as written pieces.

Just as important, says Eng, are the photographs each participant was invited to take of what they believe represents America or the American identity.

Shing created photos for the project. He came to New York when he was 5. He became a teacher, working with at-risk students in the Bronx and then teaching other Chinese immigrants English because they were the only educator jobs he could find.

“Life is not easy, especially if you are coming to a new environment and having to adjust to the language, the culture and not knowing what the future is going to be like,” says Shing.

“It wasn’t easy being accepted. Three generations of my family have been here, working and struggling hard.

It’s only myself that has been able to somewhat make it into the middle class. The struggle — the hardships — stay with you.”

Eng’s project holds lessons for future generations, says Shing.

“Everything evolves from the past. It’s important that every generation learns from the past generation.”

At Geneseo, Eng hopes Visions and Voices of Migration contributes to a larger discussion about diversity — not only of race but life history and experience. He will expand his project to explore the experiences of some of the 150 international students who make Geneseo a second home.

“There are similarities between the new beginnings of those students and the new beginnings of every college student, wherever they come from,” says Eng. 10

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Innovative development in Haiti Frank Vafier ’74 Ambassador in Leadership Josh Kent ’13 Major: International relations and Spanish ne year after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, more than a million people remained homeless. More than 200,000 people died. Josh Kent ’13 put his sophomore spring semester at Geneseo on hold to go help.

He lived next door to a soccer field that had been turned into a tent city of 6,500 and volunteered as an English teacher in the Port au Prince slum.

“You hear everything, you read, you see pictures, but actually there, I underestimated what it would be like,” says Kent.

Despite dire conditions, the Haitians found hope.

“There’s a quality that I can’t really describe, but they see the world differently,” says Kent.

“A lot of them have strength, because in those conditions you have to.”

Their wishes for improvement were centered on the whole community, summed up in a Haitian Creole saying, tet ansanm — “heads together.” It inspired Kent to return to be a part of that transformation as one of Geneseo’s first student ambassadors.

Kent spent five weeks in Borgne, Haiti, undertaking intensive research on health, education and economic development efforts for Haiti Outreach — Pwoje Espwa, or H.O.P.E., a nonprofit organization co-founded and led by Associate Professor of Anthropology Rose-Marie Chierici. H.O.P.E. has established a model for services that is being used by government and other agencies in other communities.

The organization operates a hospital, and provides mobile health clinics, as well as sanita-

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tion and education services to the region’s 80,000 people, who live without running water or electricity. Every decision is made in partnership with Borgne residents, who also run all of H.O.P.E.’s daily operations.

Kent is overhauling H.O.P.E.’s website to reflect the perspective of the Haitians and this unique philosophy of development. It will affect how the organization is portrayed, promoted and ultimately, its fundraising efforts, says Chierici.

In doing so, she says, Kent is not only transforming the future of the organization, but also changing the portrayal of international development work.

“For the first time, these people can represent themselves,” says Chierici. “Despite the remoteness, this culture and community have not only survived but flourished. Josh is giving a voice to the richness of the people’s dreams in Borgne, and their struggles.”

Kent spent only the first two weeks with Chierici, shadowing her and local leaders. The rest of the time he was on his own to lead interviews, research and build relationships.

Kent envisions pursuing more development work and he and Chierici will present a paper at the Society for Applied Anthropology. The impact he has made is already noted by Haitian leaders.

“Before anything else, H.O.P.E. walks with the community and shares in its joys and sadnesses,” says its medical director, Dr. Thony Michelet Voltaire. “Josh was able to understand that in a short time. Already, he is considered a part of the community.”

Watch a video of Josh’s project — go.geneso.edu/haitiambassador Learn more about H.O.P.E. — www.hopehaiti.org

A voice for the invisible Provost’s Ambassador in Diversity Kevin Castaneda ’13 Major: Sociology piece of cardboard folded beneath her, Laura Nagy sits, hugging her knees, watching tourists walk past on their way to Wall Street from her temporary home outside Trinity Church.

At 18, Nagy has already been homeless for five years. She has spent the last six months in New York City with the Occupy Wall Street encampment. She found a safe haven there and believes in the message of equality.

Living on the street, she says, has made her invisible.

“I feel that often,” says Nagy. “People look at you like you don’t fit in. It’s tough sometimes but I think I cope okay.”

Nagy has found a voice in the Narrative Shelter Project, created by Kevin Castaneda ’13.

Castaneda spent his summer building relationships with and interviewing homeless people in New York City to develop a website that shares their life stories.

Castaneda spent days and long hours into late nights building trust and getting to

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know Nagy and other homeless residents — with a focus on teens — at Trinity Church, Union Square, and at a men’s and a women’s shelter. The project shares their stories through audio interviews, photographs from a few of the braver participants, and sometimes their art.

“I think it was important to share (my story),” says Nagy. “I think it’s important people learn everybody on the street has a life behind them. That they are trying to fix.”

Castaneda’s project is driven by his commitment to build awareness of homelessness. A 2005 federal study estimates there are 1.6 million homeless people in America.

Of those, 40 percent were younger than 18.

In New York City, there are an estimated 3,800 homeless youth, according to the New York City Association of Homeless and Street-Involved Youth Organizations.

“I think people tend to think there’s nothing we can do. I want to break past that,” says Castaneda. “I wanted to see what the

statistics really meant for people who live it … The aim of this project is to humanize the statistics we have on homelessness.”

Castaneda hopes the unique perspective may be a spark for change. Through his time with Nagy and others, Castaneda was able to get to understand them, their backgrounds, and the sometimes overwhelming obstacles they face. He saw successes, too: Clyde stopped coming to meet-ups because he got a full-time job as a security guard.

Castaneda overcame his own obstacles to complete the Narrative Shelter Project.

Shelters shied away from participating to protect client privacy, so he ventured solo to meet people. He volunteered at a youthfocused outreach center in Greenwich Village, where he assisted a writing workshop and served dinner.

Castaneda hopes to continue the project.

“If people read these stories, hopefully they will be moved by them,” says Castaneda. “Maybe they will reach out.”

Kevin Castaneda '13 spends the day at Occupy Wall Street in New York City, where he interviewed homeless youth.

His Narrative Shelter Project shares their stories and challenges.

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Visit the Narrative Shelter Project — www.narrativeshelter.org Watch a video about Kevin’s project — go.geneseo.edu/shelter

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

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Bridging the generation gap

Transforming local health care

Lessons in cultural immersion

Frank Vafier ’74 Ambassador in Leadership Community Health Alliance student organization Michael Mattiucci, president, and club members

Gerard Gouvernet Ambassador in French Language and Culture Erin O’Brien ’14 Major: French and Spanish

Since 2004, volunteer physicians and staff at the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center have treated nearly 1,000 low-income residents who are uninsured or under-insured.

Without this free service, many may not have regular medical care.

Until recently, the center operated strictly with paper records. Patients don’t always see the same healthcare provider and access to patient history was difficult.

Sharing vital treatment information with hospitals or specialists was a challenge.

Efforts by members of Geneseo’s student Community Health Alliance Club are transforming care at the center.

Alliance members provided software and computer equipment for the center to switch to an electronic medical records system. The center can now provide better and more comprehensive patient care, with easy record sharing, says Linda Weaver, the center’s executive director. It also frees up time so volunteers can see more patients.

The biggest impact, says Weaver, is the long-term benefits the system and alliance club members will provide. Data collection will indicate common diagnoses and treatment, including other crucial information about patients.

Alliance President Michael Mattiucci ’13, Hayley Martin ’13 and other club members are analyzing patient information, with help from Professor Gregg Hartvigsen’s Biological Data Analysis class, which club members will use to create education and awareness programs.

Club members have partnered with the center since 2010, providing programs to improve overall wellness in communities, while gaining knowledge through experience in the rural health care field.

“We saw a need, and a way that a lot of students could be involved,” says Grace Trompeter ’13, who serves on the center’s board of directors as college liaison. “We are not just giving our time; we are gaining knowledge and experience, too.”

The beauty of language, believes Erin O’Brien ’14, is its ability to foster connections among people. You master it by appreciating its subtleties in everyday life.

“It is the heart of people,” says O’Brien.

“That is how they choose to express themselves.”

Language is the foundation, she says, to really understanding people. Their stories.

Their history. Perspective.

O’Brien fulfilled her desire to immerse herself in French community as a student of the Trois-Pistoles program last summer in the Quebec village of the same name. O’Brien earned 10 credits for her intensive five-week experience, run through Buffalo State.

She lived with André, her host, attending French, French literature and related courses, and exploring the nuances of the language, adapting and performing improvisation and theater skits, and working alongside volunteers in a community garden.

She pledged to only speak French.

“It was daunting at first,” says O’Brien.

“My focus was to learn to express myself truly in French.”

Those aha moments came in everyday interactions, like finally finessing the subtle long “u” sounds with André over breakfast.

“It was one of the most rewarding parts of the experience,” says O’Brien.

She has grown, she says, and has a better understanding of what it means to be a global citizen: to recognize that people come from different backgrounds with different perspectives and to acknowledge and understand them without judgment.

“There’s a lot to learn and I have a desire to learn,” says O’Brien. “Having experienced it firsthand puts me on the right path.”

James N. Leary ’75 Ambassador in Leadership Celeste Hoelzl ’14 Major: Business administration, Spanish

More than 100 senior citizens volunteer their time in the communities around Geneseo, lending loving hands as foster grandparents, and friendship to fellow elderly residents.

Beyond their outreach, many don’t have a social outlet. Celeste Hoelzl ’14 created a Lovely Luau dinner dance for seniors on Sept. 23, with tiki hut, leis and a prom feel — completely led by Geneseo students, who organized donations, music and other necessities to provide a walk down memory lane, and new memories.

Hoelzl partnered with the Livingston County Office for the Aging to best serve seniors and identify residents who may be under-served in planned activities.

This was the first senior dance held in Livingston County, says Deb Gage, director of the Foster Grandparent Program. And it was big.

“This was a great opportunity for them to do something special,” says Gage. “The intergenerational component is really wonderful, to have students donate their time to brighten the life of an older person.”

Hoelzl hosted a similar luau in her hometown while in high school, a tradition her classmates have continued. She intends to make the Geneseo dance a tradition, training underclassmen to take over.

“It is very special to have people of very different ages and generations, beliefs, values and interests come together and interact,” she says. “This event helps bridge the gap between older and younger generations and allows everyone to learn about and appreciate one another.”

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See photos of the luau — go.geneseo.edu/luau

geneseo scene

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View Erin’s Quebec photo album — go.geneseo.edu/Obrien

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Game development with a mission

Working for student well-being

Edward Pettinella ’73 Ambassador in Business Robert Kahrs ’13 Major: Business administration

The computer game Robert Kahrs ’13 is helping to develop conveys a very realworld challenge — produce energy while producing the least amount of pollution and without going bankrupt.

“Energy Drive” players score points by being better stewards. When the game is marketed commercially, a donation will be made to organizations seeking sustainable energy alternatives when players report their scores. The higher the score, the more they learn about sustainability, for a good cause.

This unique and simple way of making a difference inspired Kahrs to want to work with the team of Rochester Institute of Technology students who are creating the game as Blind Horizon Games.

The “Energy Drive” prototype recently won a Massachusetts Digital Games Institute contest for Best Serious Game.

Staff there fine-tuned the concept during summer. Now that Blind Horizon is finalizing the model and deciding whether to sell it or produce it independently, Kahrs is serving as a business consultant to the team, as a liaison with lawyers, sharing expertise on creating a sound business plan and advising on necessary next steps.

Kahrs will be key in developing marketing plans and developing the messaging.

An aspiring entrepreneur, Kahrs is advancing an idea he believes in and gaining crucial experience necessary for establishing his own business in the tech industry.

“I believe this lines up with Geneseo’s mission and goals for creating a better community environment,” says Kahrs.

“We have high expectations.”

John A. ’87 and MaryGrace ’84 Gleason Ambassador in Student Affairs Michael Venturiello ’13 Major: English

What is happiness and how do we attain well-being? That eternal search led Michael Venturiello ’13 to one of the “happiest” places on Earth, in hopes that better understanding what it means can benefit students at Geneseo.

Venturiello explored the ideas with leaders in residence life, orientation and other areas at six universities in New York state and in the Netherlands, examining how campuses integrate the concept into programs for quality student life.

“Student Affairs is creating a safe and healthy and fun environment for students and making the best four years of their life really worth it,” says Venturiello, an aspiring student affairs professional, assistant resident director and member of Geneseo’s President’s Commission on Diversity.

He ventured to the Netherlands because it is ranked as the fourth happiest nation in the World Happiness Report, commissioned for the April 2012 United Nations Conference on Happiness. Geneseo also partners with the University of Groningen for study abroad.

“One of the biggest lessons I learned was perspective taking — a fancy word for taking a walk in someone else’s shoes,” he says. “It’s not only walking in their shoes but looking at the big picture. It showed me how I can make a difference, and play a role in making people’s lives better, small and large.”

Venturiello intends to write about his research and is working with Dean of Residential Living Celia Easton to implement ideas at Geneseo, inspired by his study.

“This research will stimulate a great deal of self-reflection among students and professionals in Geneseo’s student life departments,” says Easton. “His research will extend and support the work we do with students right here at Geneseo.”

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Photography by Keith Walters ’11

Dusk to Dawn Geneseo life, after dark

iving with 13 girls was a lot of fun, but finding quiet to hit the books was impossible. The solitude of Fraser gave Jill Scalzo ’12 stillness to think. At 4 a.m., she searched out the empty stacks to wrap up the final paper of her undergraduate career.

“Finals week was pretty crazy,” she says.

Another night, Emily Gall ’14 and her friends shared garbage plates uptown, doing more laughing than eating. “As a student, stepping off campus even that little bit makes me feel like I am very far away from school, which is sometimes needed,” she says.

The Lamron staff revels in hectic deadline days they produce the news. On the final deadline of the year, the incoming crew takes the reins with guidance from veterans, who create a satire edition. A long day final-

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ly over, Editor in Chief Jesse Goldberg ’12 laughed with his team as they read the funny articles aloud that their classmates would read in print in hours.

“It very well captures the essence of a Lamron production night,” says Goldberg of the moment. “It’s such a rewarding feeling to know that week after week, you are a direct player with an organization that produces one of the major pieces in a community …

We take our jobs very seriously but we always leave room for fun.”

Campus news. Radio shows. Creating art. Time in class is only part of the Geneseo experience. Moments captured in photographs reveal campus life after hours, and the memories that last forever.

— Kris Dreessen

11:15 P.M. Final deadline The Lamron Editor in Chief Jesse Goldberg ’12 and fellow newspaper staff revel in the relief of making the last production deadline for the year.

It’s especially hectic as current editors work into the wee hours beside incoming staff so they know what to expect when they take over.

10 P.M. The architects Thirty-six hours into construction, Lauren Bomeisl ’13, left, Megan Russ ’13 and Marie Kalet ’13 decide how to finish their balsa wood bridge for their applied mechanics final project. They would compete against other teams to see which bridge could hold the most weight.

8:30 P.M. Creating his vision Studio art major Ray Ferreira ’13 constructs a circle out of steel for his sculpture class final project.

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11:15 P.M. Karaoke finale (Left) Summer orientation advisers end the first day of welcoming incoming freshmen on campus by serenading them during late-night karaoke in the Union. There were five orientation sessions last summer.

9:25 P.M. Spinning into the night Ben Cosman ’13 showcases his passion for alternative music during his weekly radio show on WGSU. 9 P.M. Family dining (Above) A group of friends share laughs at University Hots on Main Street over the quintessential upstate New York meal — garbage plates.

11:20 P.M. Valley TV Students gather for the best seats in the house to watch a powerful thunderstorm roll in, enjoying the late-night show and not minding getting soaked.

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4:30 A.M. The all-nighter Everyone else long gone, Jill Scalzo ’12 holes up in Fraser Library to work on her public policy final paper.

7 P.M. Rehearsal Kimberly Olsen ’14, student director, center, and Ray Ferreira ’13, costume designer, talk about how the actors’ costumes look with Professor Randy Kaplan in a rehearsal of the student-produced performance of “Eye of the Coconut,” as part of Geneseo's Asian American Performance Ensemble.

5 A.M. Taking a break Megan Ali ’14 sleeps in South Hall after studying through the night for an audiology exam on one of the last days of finals week.

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ICONS OF GENESEO

By Jim Memmott

THE

BIG TREE INN

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go.geneseo.edu/bigphotos

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

he Big Tree Inn sits on Geneseo’s Main Street, red-brick proof that history is alive and well in Geneseo. Renovated and rescued over the years, the Big Tree manages to be all things to all people.

Go in one door and you can enter a formal dining room; go in another and you’re in a cozy tavern.

Either way, you’ll rub elbows with a diverse group of people. It’s been that way almost from the beginning. Theodore Roosevelt stayed at the Big Tree as a young man. Mark Twain is said to have slept there, as well.

And now any busy night might find a mix of teachers, students and alumni, local residents, guests in town for a wedding, prospective students and their parents, and Rochester couples enjoying an anniversary dinner.

No matter what door people enter, there’s a sense of coming home, not surprising as the Big Tree started smaller, as a family’s house.

“I think it’s Geneseo’s living room, and it always has been,” says Wes Kennison, a lecturer in English and a fellow in the school’s Office of International Programs.

Kennison grew up in nearby York, and lives in Geneseo just a block away from the Big Tree. “It’s our corner bar,” he says. “It’s a nice feeling to be able to walk to your pub.”

The late Gertrude Houston, the Emmywinning television producer who grew up in Geneseo, had a similar connection to the Big Tree. “I’ve been coming here 30 years. This is my joint. It was my father’s joint before me,” she told this reporter a few years ago.

Her credentials established, Houston turned her attention to what had been the notoriously balky tavern door: “That door has never worked,” she explained with force.

“I’ve known every manager of this place.

They all said they would fix it. They shaved it, shimmied it. It never closes. It never will.”

The door did get fixed, but its years of dysfuction were emblematic of the fact that the Big Tree has always been a work in progress.

The original structure was built in the 1830s as a home for the banker Allen Ayrault and his wife, Bethia, a woman whose mischievous ghost is said to be in residence at the Big Tree to this day.

In 1885, J. W. “Boss” Wadsworth, a member of a storied Geneseo family who distinguished himself in the U.S. Congress, bought and enlarged the Ayrault house, converting it into an inn. He named his establishment after the spot of land where

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his Geneseo ancestors had settled in the late 18th century. The 1797 Treaty of the Big Tree between the Seneca Nation and the United States was signed at that place.

After a few years, Wadsworth sold the Inn to William Nash, who expanded the building upward, adding a shingled third floor that provided more space for guest rooms.

Thus, a pattern of management change was established.

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1940s

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“I would say that there have been many owners of the Big Tree,” says Debbie Altrieth, the inn’s general manager.

The turnover reflects the realities of the notoriously difficult restaurant business. It also reflects the mixed blessing of a historic building. Old is good, but old takes upkeep.

In the 1970s, it looked like the building was about to be lost, but the newly formed Association for the Preservation of Geneseo led a fight to keep the Big Tree alive. Different owners, different menus, different management strategies ensued,

but the inn struggled.

Then, in 1998, Campus Auxiliary Services — CAS — the independent nonprofit agency that manages the college’s dining halls and other activities, bought the Big Tree at public auction. It went on to spend millions of dollars over the years to upgrade its facilities.

The establishment now has eight guest rooms and suites, a banquet facility and a front porch for dining. The tavern has a new paint job, a new ceiling, new barstools.

And, yes, there’s a new menu, though the popular Bethia burger, a tavern staple named in honor of the resident ghost, remains. (One of the guest rooms also carries Bethia’s name. She’s a rock star.)

Buying and renovating the Big Tree — saving a key landmark and a needed facility — made sense for the college and for the community, says Mark Scott, the executive director of CAS. “It’s not only the right thing to own the Big Tree, we are also very proud to own the Big Tree,” he says.

The inn hosts a variety of college events from retirement celebrations to multi-cultural dinners and reunions. Students are welcome to use their meal plan funds Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Want to propose marriage? What better place than a building where Mark Twain penned a letter to his future wife? Want to take time out to celebrate memorable moment? Why not do it in a place where time seems to have stood still?

“The blessing of the inn is the history behind it,” says Altreith, who led the inn’s 125th anniversary celebration last year.

“People always have stories about the inn.”

The inn’s website provides ample proof of the place the Inn occupies in its patrons’ scrapbooks. “We had our first date at the Big Tree Inn almost 16 years ago,” wrote one contributor, “and we came back this weekend to stay for our sixth wedding anniversary.”

Dianne Giovanni, of Goldens Bridge, N.Y., stayed at the Big Tree for several days this summer, in town for her daughter Crista Burke’s wedding to Lauren Wadsworth, who grew up in Geneseo and is a descendant of the original Wadsworths.

Giovanni loved the inn’s location in the heart of the village. She liked her room. And she even had a Bethia encounter. The ghost played a prank on her and a family member, switching some room keys. “We should start a Facebook page for Bethia,” Giovanni says, recommending yet another way to keep history alive in Geneseo.

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Taking It National Alumni unite efforts to strengthen Geneseo’s reputation, and connect graduates across America.

By David Irwin eneseo’s reputation as one of the nation’s top public liberal arts colleges continues to gain momentum. Academic and professional organizations and the public are increasingly affirming the college’s quality through surveys documenting academic success and high levels of student and faculty satisfaction.

To help reinforce this heightened prominence, President Christopher C. Dahl announced the formation of the Geneseo National Alumni Council in April, which will consolidate the college’s 18 regional alumni organizations into a single structure.

“It’s part of what I call ‘taking it national,’” says Dahl. “Geneseo is a great school in upstate New York but deserves to be known coast-to-coast. The council will be linked to the Geneseo Foundation Board and the college’s other alumni and community organizations to significantly extend the footprint of Geneseo throughout the nation.”

John Gleason ’87, a global financial services industry executive for more than 25 years, chairs the council. Serving as vice chairs are attorney Tracie Lopardi Brown ’95 from the Buffalo region; financial services marketing executive Gary Grose ’87 from the Chicago region; and attorney Bob Muller ’83 from the southern California region, who will oversee responsibilities covering events, communication and engagement, respectively. The council will comprise the co-chairs from each of the regional alumni committees.

“Formation of this council is historic for Geneseo, and I’m honored to be leading this vital alumni organization,” says Gleason.

“Geneseo’s ‘stock’ continues to rise, and I’m confident this new organization will seriously engage all college alumni as ambassadors for our alma mater. I’m delighted to be working with Tracie, Gary and Bob to coordinate this national effort.”

Gleason says the council will add structure to the alumni volunteer organizations across the country by developing and executing an organized program of engagement, outreach initiatives and significant

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Albany Syracuse Rochester New England Buffalo Westchester/ New York City Long Island Connecticut Philadelphia New Jersey

GENESEO

Chicago

San Francisco

Washington, D.C.

Colorado North Carolina

Southern California

Florida

GLEASON ’87

LOPARDI BROWN ’95

GROSE ’87

MULLER ’83

work on behalf of the college.

Geneseo Foundation Chair Jack Kramer ’76 applauds the work of the regional committees in engaging Geneseo alumni the past two years by fostering more alumni connections.

“We must continue to capture the energy these committees have created, and this new organizational framework will provide

a strong structure to support the college’s advancement initiatives,” says Kramer.

Dahl emphasizes that the national council will be connected to all of Geneseo’s alumni organizations, including the Geneseo Alumni Association and the Roundtable Athletic Association.

“The role of the national council is intended to supplement and enhance the good work of these other organizations,” says Dahl.

“It will synthesize all alumni engagement efforts. This will be an organization with a pointed purpose and an agenda of action, substance and expected outcomes.”

The council evolved from an alumni engagement initiative two years ago to develop a national audience of Geneseo alumni in connection with the college’s current capital campaign, Shaping Lives of Purpose: The Campaign for Geneseo.

Eighteen regional committees have formed since then and 155 volunteers have been enlisted to provide regional events enabling Geneseo alumni to initiate and develop relationships with each other and the college. More than 150 events have been held and more than 11,700 alumni have attended the events, which Dahl says have generated considerable energy for the campaign.

Participate.

Geneseo professors have always encouraged students to be active in class, on campus and in the community.

Today, your participation is essential.

The college receives less than a third of its budget from New York state. Alumni and parent gifts to The Fund for Geneseo and The Parents Fund make undergraduate research, study abroad, internships, scholarships, athletics and so much more possible — to transform every student’s experience.

Robert O’Donnell Distinguished Teaching Professor of biology Since 1987

Please support The Fund for Geneseo.

To make a gift, visit giveto.geneseo.edu or call (585) 245-5503.

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ATHLETICS AND RECREATION

Fair Play On the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the college reflects on its strong tradition of female sportsmanship.

By Meredith Drake n 1922, the ladies of Geneseo were showing off their skills on the basketball court in skirts and sailor-styled shirts with long scarves, tied for punctuation.

There also was a rowing race against the Geneseo men, with 600 people cheering from shore. The yearbook play-by-play says they crossed the line together.

It’s an appropriate finish for Geneseo sports history. On the 40th anniversary of Title IX — the law that required any athletics and other programs that received federal funds to strive for gender equality — Geneseo celebrates that it has always been a champion of such competition and the experience it provides.

The 1972 legislation mandated what had been Geneseo’s mission for more than 50 years.

“Geneseo has had a strong tradition of excellence in women’s athletics right from the start,” says Marilyn Moore, former director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation.

Long before Title IX, Normal School coeds played basketball, swam, danced, shot arrows, rode horseback and did the obligatory jumping jacks in calisthenics. In the 1950s and 1960s, female athletics expanded to intercollegiate “Play Days” with a social perk. Students met up for refreshments after competing.

Myrt Merritt, Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of Health Education and Recreation and a champion of

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

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See photos of women’s sports at Geneseo through time and stats online at go.geneseo.edu/titleix

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Teammates cheer a player into home plate in the 2011 season.

At left, the 1922 women’s basketball team.

women’s sports at Geneseo, joined the faculty in 1952. She retired in 1982. She saw the difference Title IX made for women — and how Geneseo implemented its efforts.

There was no difficulty in getting more equipment or qualified staff she needed, she says.

Three years before Title IX, Geneseo already had three varsity women’s sports — volleyball, swimming and synchronized swimming. By 1980, the college had eight varsity teams. Titles soon followed.

The women’s swim team brought home the first state title in the 1979-1980 season.

Beth Shope ’99 won the hammer throw at the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The women’s cross-country team won the NCAA national championship in 2005.

Over the years, Geneseo women have earned 62 state titles in 10 different sports and has 12 women’s varsity teams.

In 1985, Geneseo inducted the first woman into the Geneseo Sports Hall of Fame — Linda Piccirillo Hinckley ’72, a Geneseo swimmer and swim coach. The plaque hangs in her family room.

“How proud I was to be the first woman to represent the success women were now able to have and will enjoy for years to come,” says Hinckley. “Title IX … opened doors for more scholarships to women and offered incentive to all female athletes and coaches

to strive to be the best they can be.”

Hinckley says her student-athlete experience gave her many benefits, including pride and self-respect as well as determination, perseverance and a competitive attitude.

That feeling is echoed by many Geneseo student-athletes, says Moore, who started her career at Geneseo as the college’s first female athletic trainer, in 1977. She witnessed the many changes in women’s athletics and is proud to be a part of so many of them.

“I’ve felt we did the right things all the way through,” she says. “I’ve always felt like I was part of something special. We always embraced what was right.”

In 2012, students seem not totally aware that Title IX is responsible for their access to experiences, says Mike Mooney, current director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation.

“They’ve heard about it, but it doesn’t resonate as much because they’ve always had an opportunity to play,” says Mooney.

Shope, who was inducted into the Geneseo Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, says her mother made sure she knew what Title IX meant.

“I was a thrower, which is a masculine sport. My mother always said I was lucky and that when she was in school she didn’t have choices,” says Shope. “… I grew up knowing that the sports I liked to do weren’t usual for women and that Title IX made them possible for me.”

MISSION DRIVEN

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Aspring pianist and conductor Louis Lohraseb ’13 rehearses for his Bach performance on the college’s restored harpsichord, which provides students and faculty unique learning and performing opportunities.

The rebirth of Baroque A student, faculty and music mentors brought a rare instrument back to life — and new learning opportunities to campus.

By Kris Dreessen and Victoria Soto ’12 spiring pianist and conductor Louis Lohraseb ’13 has been mastering the ivories since he was a young child, perfecting performances of Mozart and other classical composers.

Last semester, when Associate Professor of Music Amy Stanley set forth a challenge to learn a large-scale work by Bach to expand his repertoire, Lohraseb was excited. Bach’s music is awe-inspiring, he says, so perfect and complex. It also was written for the harpsichord, an instrument that’s now uncommon.

Bigger harpsichords have two keyboards. With them, says Lohraseb, individual notes can “sing.” Instead of mimicking Bach’s Baroque sound on a modern piano, he wanted to recreate the pieces in an authentic way.

Unfortunately, Geneseo had three harpsichords, but none were in concert-

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The greatest rush is not when you play all the right notes ... but when you feel a connection with the audience.

— Louis Lohraseb ’13

playing shape.

When Lohraseb told his piano teacher back home in Schenectady, N.Y., William Carragan, about the project, he joined Professor and Chair of Music Jon Gonder to initiate an effort to refurbish a harpischord to give Lohraseb and all Geneseo music students a unique chance to learn.

“I said, ‘We have a harpsichord here, but it’s in dire need of repair,’” remembers Lohraseb. “I wanted to get some people involved.”

A generous donation from internationally acclaimed pianist Findlay Cockrell — Lohraseb’s former teacher — to Shaping Lives of Purpose: The Campaign for Geneseo, combined with Department of Music funds, made the $7,500 restoration possible.

In its new incarnation, Geneseo’s 1969 harpsichord is concert-level quality, ready for any world-class stage.

“I’m delighted we were able to collaborate,” says Gonder. “We will get many years of use out of that harpsichord.”

The instrument has already been featured in Chamber Singers performances and several concerts. Geneseo’s $22 million capital campaign is strengthening the college’s endowment and experiences for students like Lohraseb, who has performed in and conducted many concerts at Geneseo, and has even studied opera in Italy with Professor of Music Gerard Floriano ’84.

Last March, the college celebrated the “new” harpsichord with a special performance at the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra’s all-Bach concert. Lohraseb played alongside Cockrell and Carragan in triple harpsichord concertos, and was featured in a performance of the fifth “Brandenburg Concerto.”

“Playing those amazing pieces with my mentors was a wonderful experience,” says Lohraseb. “But one of the greatest moments for me was playing the cadenza in the middle of the Brandenburg concerto. With everything else silent, and just the harpsichord playing, I was delighted at how good it sounded and that everyone could really hear clearly what our efforts had resulted in.”

There is nothing quite like that moment, says Lohraseb, when your hard work pays off and you’re one with the audience. Now, students and faculty have another instrument with which to feel the thrill.

“The feeling is absolutely incredible,” he says. “… The greatest rush is not when you play all the right notes, or as a conductor, lead the orchestra as you had envisioned, but when you feel a connection with the audience. That is what performing is all about.”

:

Listen to Louis play the harpsichord go.geneseo.edu/harpsichord

Fall 2012

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RANDOM PROFILE

One Cup Karin Haggblom Cutler Class of 1984

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ONE CUP Inspired by the idea that everyone has a story to share, we offer the “random profile.”

Each issue, we don a blindfold and throw a dart at a map of the United States to choose our state, then take aim again to choose a lucky alum. We catch up, relive memories and share life insight, like we are talking over coffee.

Up next ... Utah Could it be you?

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QUICK FACTS Home: Whitby, Ontario, Canada Graduation year: 1984 Degree: Bachelor of Arts in psychology Family: Husband, Brian.

Three children — twins Penny and Dennis, both age 17, and Alison, 13.

Hobbies: singing, creative writing Something about me that usually surprises people: I played the bassoon in high school.

The biggest risk I’ve taken: Adopting twins How you describe Geneseo: A mix of the old and the new Favorite campus hangout: I have to pick only one?

Favorite professor or class: Professor Emeritus of Psychology Raymond Wolfe How Geneseo has shaped your life: It allowed me to grow in a comfortable environment in a beautiful setting.

Most important life lesson you learned at Geneseo: My responsibility for my own path in life.

ILLUSTRATION AMANDA LINDLEY

very day, Karin Haggblom Cutler ’84 sees the devastating effects of strokes and brain injuries. As a speech language pathologist, Karin helps patients at St. John’s Rehab Hospital navigate the complexities of verbal and physical communication so they can better make their emotions, thoughts and wishes understood.

She’s part of a team first in line to help them recover — and to instill a positive outlook for upcoming challenges. When a patient makes a full recovery, it’s one of the great rewards of her work. Sometimes, that reward is helping patients accept the abilities they have — and providing them with options to compensate for what they’ve lost.

“I am a piece or part of their recovery. And in the hospital setting, you may be one of the first pieces to influence how they view it and their mindset from then on out,” says Karin.

For 16 years, Karin has lent her expertise in nursing homes, rehabilitation and assisted-liv1984 ing facilities and through private therapy in Florida, North Carolina, and in Ontario, Canada. She has been at the stroke unit of the hospital in North York, Canada, since 2011.

She specializes in treating adult neurogenic communication disorders — essentially anything that affects the brain regarding communication and swallowing.

Speech pathology is her second career, inspired in part by an elective course on normal language development she took while at Geneseo.

She went on to earn a master’s degree in library science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. During that time, she worked at a group home for developmentally challenged adults, where she saw how a speech therapist improved residents’ lives. Those experiences stayed with her.

Like so many alumni, Karin met close friends at Geneseo. Brian Cutler ’84 became her husband. The couple moved to Florida, where Karin worked as a librarian in a university, medical college and finally a hospital until she sought a new passion. Speech pathology was the right fit.

Karin earned her master’s degree in speech pathology from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale in 1996. She has been in the field since, at times taking time off to stay home with her three children. Brian is a psychology professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

Their Geneseo memories are good, if not fuzzy. Nearly 30 years later, Karin reflects on her choice to follow her curiosity with that elective speech class and the impact she saw therapists had in the group home. She ambled a bit, but ultimately it was the spark she came back to.

“The lesson to be learned is to recognize and go with one’s heart, that voice that says ‘this is something I really like, this is something I get and this is something I can do.’”

PHOTO PROVIDED

By Kris Dreessen

ARTWORK BY AKIKO SHIMOJIMA ’00

Alumni News ABOUT THE ARTIST: Akiko Shimojima ’00 was deeply touched by the outpouring of support members of the Geneseo community showed her and her fellow countrymen after the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

“It was a big surprise and a great encouragement,” she said.

Living in Tokyo, Shimojima was lucky and there wasn’t significant damage.

Many students and faculty sent her letters and she saw the efforts organized by the college community to help.

Many people lost their towns, homes and families — there is much work to be done but things are slowly improving, she says.

A comic artist and comic-art instructor, Shimojima recently contributed a piece she created to “Spirit of Hope,” a charity anthology book of short stories from artists about the impact that disasters have on people’s everyday lives.

Her comic details her personal experience when the tsunami hit and how it affected her.

Share your artwork with us! Send a short bio and a link or examples of your work to scene@geneseo.edu.

ALUMNI NEWS

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Alumni event photos Big dreams, bestsellers Vampire bat explorer Class Notes Fall 2012

25

GENESEO ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Upcoming

Alumni Events Geneseo — coming soon, to a city near you!

The Office of Alumni Relations is constantly planning events on campus and throughout the 18 regions.

To best stay informed of alumni gatherings occurring in Geneseo or in a region near you, check the alumni website at alumni.geneseo.edu and make sure Geneseo has your current email address. In an effort to reduce cost and waste, many events are advertised only through email.

GENESEO ALUMNI REGIONS • Albany Region • Buffalo Region • Chicago Region • Colorado Region • Florida — East Coast Region • Florida — West Coast Region • Long Island Region • New England Region • New Jersey – Northern Region • New York City Region • North Carolina Region • Philadelphia/New Jersey – Southern Region • Rochester Region • San Francisco Region • Southern California Region • Syracuse Region • Washington, D.C. Region • Westchester/Connecticut Region

FUTURE PLANNING July 12-14, 2013 ON-CAMPUS: SUMMER REUNION 2013 Celebrating reunion class years ending in 3 or 8. Reunion committees are forming now. Contact alumni@geneseo.edu if you want to serve!

Manhattan Beach, CA Alumni Reception hosted by Michele Peita Jordan ’88, Laura Rubin Reda ’88, Lilla Hendrickson Foster ’88 and Sharon Marlin Evans ’88

July 11-13, 2014 ON-CAMPUS: SUMMER REUNION 2014 Celebrating reunion class years ending in 4 or 9.

July 10-12, 2015 ON-CAMPUS: SUMMER REUNION 2015 Celebrating reunion class years ending in 5 or 0. * Exclusive in 2015: Inter-Greek Council will celebrate its 100th Anniversary and an All-Greek reunion is planned. Please contact alumni@geneseo.edu if you are interested in helping or serving as a representative from your Greek organization.

It is very important that you keep Geneseo informed of your current mailing address. You will receive event invitations and notifications based on the address we have on file, the address where this issue of the Scene was mailed. If the address on the back of this magazine isn’t up to date — you might be missing out.

Alumni Picnic and Buffalo Bisons Baseball Game Amy Lauzonis Griesmer, left, ’98 and John with their children Jason and Madley.

The Office of Alumni Relations is always looking for regional event ideas and event sponsors. Contact us at alumni@geneseo.edu if you would like to partner with us on an event.

Geneseo alumni homepage: alumni.geneseo.edu Saratoga — Geneseo Day at the Races Joseph McManus ’07, left, and Ashley Ryle

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Regional Campaign Launch Events

Albany region Campaign Launch Event hosted by Scott Armstrong ’85, Matt Esler ’87 and Molly McKeown ’63 Dan Loughran ’86, left, Val Scott ’82 and Lynn Manning ’79, P’11.

Long Island region Campaign Launch Event hosted by Bob ’76 and Linda Avallone, John ’86 and Caryn Geringer ’85 Camiolo, Mike ’85 and Anne Wyffels Eble ’88 Al Chin ’72, left, Jay Carney, Debra Davis Carney ’77, Bob Avallone ’76, Linda Avallone, Jeff Schwartz ’74, John Murphy ’74, Jim Murphy ’74, Kathy Murphy and Stuart Hanzman ’74.

Syracuse region Campaign Launch Event hosted

by Chris Hayden ’83 and Eric Hinman ’02 President Christopher C. Dahl, left, Kevin Gavagan ’75, Chris Hayden ’83, Eric Hinman ’02 and Chris Pinckney ’88.

Westchester region Campaign Launch Event hosted by James Houston ’80 New England region Campaign Launch Event

Mary Farrell ’74, left, and Distinguished Teaching Professor Ron Herzman.

Joelle Moroney ’90, left, Kate DeForest ’93, Beth Whipple ’92 and Kevin Gaddi.

Fall 2012

27

Summer Reunion Weekend

1970s — Dorm

1980s — All Alumni Gathering

1990s — All Alumni Gathering 1990s — All Alumni Gathering

Jr. Knights Camp children’s activities 28

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1970s — Luncheon

1990s — Champagne Social

1960s — Yearbook

Recent Grads

Musical Theater Club Big Tree Reunion

Wild Bill Marion ’67

1960s — Luncheon Fall 2012

29

ALUMNI NEWS

ALUMNI PROFILE

A New York Times best-selling author dreams big former Silicon Valley engineer and mother of three, Jennifer Fosberry ’94 is a self-proclaimed science geek who turned her hand to storytelling and landed three picture books on The New York Times best-seller list —three years in a row.

Dreams are big in Fosberry’s world. In “My Name Is Not Isabella,” a purple-haired girl pretends she’s the late U.S. astronaut Sally Ride, civil rights activist Rosa Parks and other history-making women.

A boy in “My Name Is Not Alexander” pretends he’s influential men. And in “Isabella On the Go,” Isabella uses her imagination to travel to far-off places.

Thanks to parents who encouraged her to pursue her own interests, Fosberry has chased her own share of dreams and adventures.

Her abilities in science and math led her to a physics degree at Geneseo and a master’s degree in industrial engineering at SUNY Binghamton.

Before she was a full-time author, she spent 10 years in Silicon Valley working on the encapsulation of miniaturized semi-conductors for Tessera, an intellectual property company. She started a family and began dabbling with picture books around the time her second child was born.

“At that point I was working part time, spending lots of time with kids and beginning to think of ideas for stories,” she says from her home in the San Francisco Bay area. “I had these ideas and just had to do something with them.”

A

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“It’s a little crazy, you feel like a rock star.”

— Jennifer Fosberry ’94

class of ’94 Jennifer Fosberry PHOTO BY ANNET HAMMOND PHOTOGRAPHY

Her daughter’s imagination inspired the first story. “My daughter liked to pretend a lot and every time it was a princess,” she says.

Knowing there wouldn’t be many princess jobs available, Fosberry showcased women in other careers and whose actions changed history.

The book changed Fosberry’s own story as well.

In 2007, her family moved to Costa Rica to take a breather. While there, she and

her husband, Ibarra Alfonso, decided to tap her skills in program management and make “My Name Is Not Isabella” a family business.

Fosberry contracted with artist Mike Litwin to bring her character to life on the page and in 2008 they self-published 3,000 copies. Some they submitted for awards, the rest they sold, and the praise poured in. The book won the Silver ForeWord Book of the Year Award for Picture Books

and other prizes, and got picked up by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for publishing.

Fosberry and her family returned to the United States in 2009. In 2010, the new edition of “Isabella” was number 10 on The New York Times best seller picture book list. In 2011, “My Name Is Not Alexander” hit number 10 within one month of release.

“Isabella on the Go” reached number eight in April 2012.

“It’s a little crazy,” says Fosberry. “You feel like a rock star.”

Adding to that rock star feel are the book tours that have taken her to schools and stores all over the country.

“It’s fun, fast-paced. I love it. I get to spend time at home raising my kids. Then I get to put on my sparkly clothes and go out and be a ham,” says Fosberry. “I get to make an impact, and the kids still think I’m cool.”

Another “Isabella” book comes out this spring, and Fosberry has a head full of new ideas. When she meets young readers in person, she loves drawing them into the excitement of her characters and encouraging them to dream big.

“That’s what I write when I sign books for children,’” she says. “‘Follow your dreams.’”

— Meredith Drake

Zoologist uncovers the world of vampire bats rowing up, Bill Schutt’s mom allowed him free rein of all kinds of pets he could catch, buy or borrow.

Birds. A boa constrictor. A squirrel monkey he kept in a phone-booth-sized cage in the middle of the living room.

When he reunites with classmates he hasn’t talked to in 30 years, no one is surprised to learn he’s a world-class researcher — of vampire bats.

“I was just always into weird stuff,” says Schutt. “Vampire bats are fascinating. Eating blood is a hard way to make a living and so they’re highly evolved and very bright.”

Schutt has been studying the biology, behavior and ecology of all three species of vampire bats for more than 20 years — making small and large discoveries as well as dispelling myths about one of Earth’s most phobia-inducing creatures.

Often the go-to horror creature, vampire bats have long been portrayed with razor sharp teeth and a taste for terSCHUTT rorizing humans. They got the teeth right, but that’s about it.

Their incisors are so sharp, says Schutt, prey don’t feel pain when they bite. Other surprising bat facts: They are meticulous groomers, and despite a 12-inch wing span, weigh no more than a chicken egg. They can’t store fat, so they have to drink their weight in blood every night or they’ll starve.

Schutt got his start in research while earning his master’s degree in biology at Geneseo. Associate Professor Edward Spicka not only gave Schutt space to work in his

G

class of ’81 Bill Schutt PHOTO PROVIDED

own office, he was a mentor.

“He patiently showed me what it was really like to be a real scientist,” he says.

Schutt quickly became enamored with bats while pursuing his doctorate in zoology at Cornell University, working for a professor who specialized in bat musculature.

Since 2005, Schutt has shared his love for science as an associate professor at Long Island University Post and since 1998 he has explored the natural world as a research fellow at the American Museum of Natural History.

Field work has taken him to Trinidad, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Amazon, capturing bats in the rain forest with mist nets and local experts. He’s also experienced some pretty wild conditions.

“In Trindad, my wife, son and I trekked through huge abandoned buildings and collected bats over an elevator shaft full of guano,” he says.

Schutt recently expanded his scope of research, spending years interviewing experts to write “Dark Banquet,” a portrait of nature’s blood-feeding creatures, including vampire bats, and the intimidatingly named assassin bugs.

Schutt shares his expertise in lectures and classrooms and has appeared on NPR’s “Science Fridays” and other science-related broadcasts.

Always interested in the natural history of behavior and all things weird, his forthcoming book lends comprehensive insight into the not-so-uncommon practice of cannibalism in the animal kingdom, as well as the less common behavior in humans. Schutt is especially interested in how cannibalism became a taboo.

Schutt’s books invite readers to better understand some of the world’s most misunderstood creatures. He emphasizes the crucial need to understand what does and doesn’t consti-

tute science.

“I’ve gotten to counter sensationalism by showing that vampire bats and other bloodfeeders are real creatures and not supernatural monsters,” says Schutt. “And once you strip away the myths and misconceptions, these creatures are even more interesting.”

This realization is especially important, he says, as researchers grapple with developments that have national or global impact, such as whitenose syndrome, a fungus-caused disease that has wiped out up to 95 percent of all bats in the Northeastern U.S. since 2006.

Bats are vital to insect control and pollinate hundreds of plant species.

“This may be the greatest threat to North American wildlife in recorded history,” says Schutt. “And there’s no time left to deal with myths, exaggeration and sensationalism.”

— Kris Dreessen

Fall 2012

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ALUMNI NEWS

Class Notes 1940s Ludi Willey Johnson ’43 recently attended Summer Reunion for her 69th class reunion while on a visit to the United States. She moved to Fiji for six months of each year when she was 88, on a farm in a rural part of the country, teaching English and creating opportunities for Indian members of the community to integrate with Fijians.

She also recently lived in Tahiti and Martinique as a volunteer with the Baha’i community.

1950s Dorothy Meyerink ’51 retired

after 38 years of serving as a missionary in a Mayan group in Chiapas, Mexico. Her book, “Ministry Among the Maya,” was published in November 2011. At 80 years of age, she was also commissioned as a preaching elder in her church.

1960s Elaine “Bonnie” Coddington Randall ’60, a retired longtime

academic librarian, recently wrote the book “Around Tilton,” a pictorial history of 100 years of the town of Tilton, N.H., where she lives. The book contains more than 200 photographs and is part of the “Images of America” series.

It is the only printed history of Tilton. Sally Gladden ’63 was awarded the Sullivan County Pride Award for her volunteerism as president of The Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop, church work and her cat rescue efforts. Sally directs main stage theatre, performs in musicals and straight shows and is a roving adjudicator for The Theatre Association of NY. Doug Brode ’65, an author, film critic and professor who has written extensively about “The Twilight Zone” and other topics, recently published a two-volume anthology series on “Star Wars,” marking the 35th anniversary of the “Star Wars” episode “A New Hope.” His 32

geneseo scene

second graphic novel, “Virgin Vampires,” will be released on Halloween. Fredricka Gaube Remza ’66 wrote a book called “The Orchid Bracelet.” Chuck Agonito ’69 performs ’60s rock and folk songs on his guitar at wineries and festivals throughout the Finger Lakes area of New York state.

1970s Richard McCarthy ’70 retired from the Houston Independent School District after 33 years. He and his wife, Liza, relocated to Quezon City, Manila, Philippines.

Eric Laubenstein ’71 renovated a home that was built in 1885 in downtown Buffalo’s west side.

Richard O’Rourke ’71 was named to the Metro Super Lawyers List as a top attorney in New York for 2011 in the area of Land Use/Zoning. No more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by Super Lawyers, a Thompson Reuters rating service of outstanding lawyers in more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a multiphased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area. John Demila ’72 retired after 37 years with Westchester County as the budget specialist for the department of transportation. Jim Richmond ’72 retired in March 2012 after more than 38 years with the Department of the Army as military and a civilian. He spent his entire career at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in a variety of positions and finished his career as director of risk management for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives Program.

Carol Schwind Conway ’73

mentors teachers involved in choral productions, shows and symphony education programs.

Richard Shade Gardner ’73 has

Send us your college photos and be a part of history!

Send us your favorite photos from college, which may be featured in reunion slideshows, emails, printed brochures, the alumni website and possibly an electronic yearbook project.

Submit your snapshots to

go.geneseo.edu/alumnipix. written a memoir, “Learning to Walk: Book I of the Trilogy.” It is a long-distance walking journal with reflections on childhood adventures and misadventures.

Judith Nichols Rhodes ’73

retired in January 2012 from the Washington Center for Internship and Academic Seminars and moved to southern Utah.

Mitchell Alegre ’74 has been selected by students, staff and faculty as one of Niagara University’s most intriguing professors. Mitchell teaches management and leadership in the university’s College of Business Administration, is adviser to the college’s interdisciplinary minor in leadership, and coordinates the university’s leadership development process through the Campus Activities Office.

Elizabeth Holbig Erickson ’74

has been serving the private postsecondary education industry for 28 years and is in her seventh year as president of The Art Institute of California-San Diego. In this position, she serves more than 2,000 students in the creative fields of design, media, fashion and culinary. Robert Spoor ’74 earned a Certificate of Achievement from Oxford

University upon completion of the class “Paradise in an English Garden.” Julie King Biddle ’75 recently had a book, “The 3Rs of Leadership,” published by High Scope Press and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Lorna Deily ’79 retired after 32 years of teaching special education at Holland Patent Central School (N.Y.).

1980 Janice M. DelNegro, an assistant professor at Dominican University in River Forest, Ill., was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award from the institution’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She has been a member of the faculty since 2004 and teaches graduate courses in library and information science, with a focus on materials and services for children and young adults and storytelling. Students and recent graduates of Dominican’s graduate school selected DelNegro to receive the award, which is given every three years to a full-time or adjunct faculty member. She also is a noted storyteller, folklorist and the author and editor of several

books for young people, including “Lucy Dove,” which won the Anne Izard Storytelling Award; “Willa and the Wind,” which was an American Library Association Notable Book for children; and “Passion and Poison.” Gail Hornstein joined the law firm of Smith, Farhart and Hornstein LLP in Peoria, Ariz., as a shareholder. Laura B. Wrubel MLS ’80 fulfilled a lifelong dream

by participating in an archaeological dig at Tel Megiddo (Armageddon) in Israel for the entire seven-week dig season. The dig, under the auspices of Tel Aviv University, is exploring Bronze Age and Iron Age sites. She also traveled to numerous places in Israel, including Jerusalem, Akko, Masada, the Dead Sea, Nazareth and the West Bank.

1981 Daniel Hennessy was one of five Holocaust educators selected from the United States to attend the Holland & Knight Charitable Trust’s Scholars Week in Boston, a week-long intensive seminar on the Holocaust and its relationship to other genocides. The international educational organization

Facing History and Ourselves conducted the event. Participants learned about the failure of democracy in the Wiemar Republic and its contribution to the rise of Nazism, taught by a professor and a survivor, who was one of the youngest “Schindler Juden” to work in Oskar Schindler’s factory, as described in Steven Spielberg’s multiple

Scene around the world Submit your images to scene@geneseo.edu with a subject line of “Scene Around the World.” See the complete photo gallery at go.geneseo.edu/goworld.

Joshua Glass ’10, left, Joseph Morelle ’11 and Ian Perry ’10 explored Iceland, the Netherlands and Spain together, posing with the Scene at the Sagrada Família Catholic Basilica in Barcelona, designed by world-renown architect Antonio Gaudí.

Geneseo Adjunct Lecturer of History Jim Swarts ’71/MA ’76 reveled in the history and beauty of Myanmar, which was only recently opened to foreign tourists. Here he is at the 15th-century Shwedagon Paya temple, which was rebuilt in 1769.

Joe Ridky ’63 on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

Stephen ’03 and Kristen Mossien Eccleston ’04 zip line while honeymooning in St. Lucia.

Earl DeLong ’96 at the pyramids in Egypt.

Fall 2012

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ALUMNI NEWS

CLASS NOTES

Academy Award-winning film, “Schindler’s List.” The seminar brings students and teachers together from across the nation to build on their efforts to teach tolerance in the classroom.

Hennessy’s book, “Remembrance & Repentance: The Call to Remember and Memorialize the Holocaust,” was published in 2002

by First Fruits of Zion and is the short version of a larger book due out in spring 2013. Daniel recently spoke on the Geneseo campus on the subject of the Holocaust at a Yom HaShoah Remembrance Day event sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Geneseo Hillel community. Peter Levy completed an AAS graphic design and multimedia degree from Westwood College of Technology of Fort Worth, Texas.

1982 Bob Harper ’82 is vice president of

sales for the consumer and industrial business unit of Compass Minerals, a producer of minerals including salt and magnesium chloride that are distributed worldwide.

Previously, Harper served as business director for Compass Minerals’ consumer and commercial de-icing products and as general manager of the company’s Pristiva business.

Robert Gallacher was awarded the Adult Putnam County Youth Volunteer of the Year Award 2012 for his work with several veterans groups, the Putnam Habitat for Humanity, Semper Fi students, Carnival for a Cause, Brewster Beautification, Putnam CAP and other student-centered activities.

He is a teacher at Brewster High School and an adjunct professor at Syracuse University’s SUPA Public Affairs Program. Michael Mooney started his own advertising and marketing agency, Full Moon Communication, in Pittsford, N.Y.

1984 Anthony Billittier was named dean

of the School of Health Professions at D’Youville College in Buffalo, N.Y., in June 2012. Denise Reed 34

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Lamoreaux has been promoted to training manager for Hewlett Packard’s business process outsourcing teams in the United States, Canada and Latin America. She is responsible for the professional development of 48 trainers, and is the main interface with clients, ensuring that all training delivered meets the needs of the business.

Elaine Walsh wrote her first novel, “Atomic Summer.” Alumni will recognize the fictional town of Port Pompeii, N.Y., as Geneseo, down to the fountain on Main Street.

1985 Lauri Bowler Dittmer is retiring

from the U.S. Navy after 30 years of service. Andrew D. Otis is the chair of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association. He most recently served as the section’s chair-elect and currently co-chairs the International Environmental Law Committee. He is a partner at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle. Michael Saffran was the symposium editor for a five-article section on localism in radio broadcasting and wrote “Effects of Local-Market Radio Ownership Concentration on Radio Localism, the Public Interest, and Listener Opinions and Use of Local Radio,” in the November 2011 issue of Journal of Radio & Audio Media. He is associate director/manager of new media for University News Services at Rochester Institute of Technology. Last year, he returned to his radio roots as a part-time announcer on WRMMFM (WARM 101.3) in Rochester, N.Y., a station he last worked at more than 22 years ago.

1986 Sheryl Leonard Clay and Alex

Clay are happy to announce their marriage on April 21, 2012, in Morrison’s Floral Conservatory in Oklahoma City. They reside in Warr Acres, Okla.

1988 Kelly Scheuneman Chase and W. Bradford “Chip” Chase III are happy to announce their mar-

riage on May 19, 2012, in Springfield, Va. Carrie Zahn is an executive platinum, concierge Key + 5 Start sales representative.

Greeney are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Mackenzie Morgan, born on April 11, 2012, in West Islip, N.Y.

1991

1996

Carole “A.J.” Smith Volpe

Becky Przywara Herman is

was promoted to creative director in the Office of College Communications at SUNY Geneseo. Christian Vanni and Kim Vanni are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Christian Nathan, born on May 26, 2012, in New York City.

director of alumni relations and development at Lutheran HealthCare Dental Medicine.

Dawn Pierson is happy to announce the birth of a baby girl, Emily May, born on Oct. 7, 2011.

1992

Andrew Berkowitz received the

Judith Carey Nevin recently

accepted a position at Ohio University Lancaster in Lancaster, Ohio, as library director. She was recently employed at Otterbein University as reference services coordinator.

1993 Jennifer Scally Ryan and Michael Ryan are pleased to announce the birth of their third son, Eamon Gabriel, born on April 4, 2012.

1994 Kristin Stein Mullins and Thomas

Mullins are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Grady Curtin Mullins, born on Oct. 24, 2011, in Hartford, Conn. Mary Beth Haryan Past is proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Lily Katherine, born on June 14, 2012. Robert Pastecki is proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Grant William, born on May 1, 2011.

1995 Melanie Aceto was recently pro-

moted to associate professor at the University of Buffalo (N.Y.), where she teaches dance. Rajesh Bellani recently accepted a position at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., as dean of experiential learning and career placement. He recently was employed at Rhode Island School of Design as dean of students. David Flynn was recently promoted to vice president, head of tax for IAC in New York City. Jill Spinella Greeney and Rich

1997 2012 Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Award for Outstanding Small Market Radio Commercial. Marleah Bouchard earned her doctorate as a psychologist and is a professor at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. Anitra Wallace Huchzermeier and Thomas Huchzermeier are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Ethan Thomas, born on April 8, 2011, in Rochester, N.Y. Aaron Thiell and Sara Thiell welcomed a son, Micah Solomon Thiell, to their family in May 2011. Rebecca Tice is proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Clarissa Ann, born on Feb. 19, 2012. Christine Willis Wuelfing is proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Sarah Lauren, born on Dec. 8, 2011.

1998 Kathryn Crockett and Daniel

Presley are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Clare Johanna Presley, born on Nov. 29, 2011, in Syracuse, N.Y. Laura Konigsberg and Joel Wolitzer are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Aline Julia, born on July 22, 2011. Matt Krause and Kelly Wyant-Krause ’03 are pleased to announce the birth of their second child, Darren, born in November 2007. Jessica Haney Tennant was recently nominated for a national award through RESOLVE for her infertility blog, “My Path to Mommyhood.” It is one of five finalists from more than 280 entrants for the 2012 Hope Award for Best Blog.

RESOLVE is a national organization that spreads awareness, offers support and connections for

those facing infertility, offers information on different familybuilding options, and is an advocate for legislation that affects family building.

1999 Lara Johnson Elfstrand received a master’s degree in early childhood special education from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, Calif., and is working in early intervention, providing a positive, safe environment for young children and their families to learn. Jacqueline Johnston welcomed a second daughter, Harper Olivia Johnston, born on Nov. 12, 2011. Lucas Papaelias is one of two Geneseo alumni who are cast members in the hit Broadway show “Once.” They joined the cast in performing on the “TODAY Show” in April.

2000 Laura Marzuk Barrett is proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Molly Rose, born on Dec. 6, 2011.

Emily Walton Coombs and Joseph Coombs are happy to announce their marriage on Oct. 10, 2009.

Hillary Koldin Harding and Dan Harding are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Emily Claire, born on June 15, 2012 in Atlanta. Jennifer Wedow Roach and Keith Roach are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Avery Maureen, born on May 21, 2012, in Rochester, N.Y. Jessica Walker and John Mead are happy to announce their marriage on June 30, 2012, in Oyster Bay, N.Y. They reside in Williamsville, N.Y. They were joined by several Geneseo alumni for the celebration.

Melissa Hulse Perla and Timothy Perla are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Zachary Joseph, born on July 5, 2011. Shannon Dessingue Race and Adam Race are happy to announce their marriage on May 21, 2011, in Clifton Park, N.Y., where they live. Heather Salvaggio and Alan Wonder are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Margaret Rose, born on June 11, 2012, in Chicago. Heather also completed a fellowship in pediatric dermatology at Northwestern University/Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and accepted a

position as an attending dermatologist and assistant professor of dermatology for Columbia University at Basset Healthcare in Cooperstown, N.Y. Nicole Perrier Tarife and Elvin J. Tarife are proud to announce the birth of their second child, Reid Joseph, in May 2011.

Bethany Hills Trachtenberg of Manhattan is the new chair of the 262-member Food, Drug & Cosmetic Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. She is a senior associate at Hodgson Russ, where she practices health law, FDA regulatory law, fraud and abuse, and health care reimbursement.

Sarah Turk earned a second masters in educational administration from the University of Rochester (N.Y.) in 2011.

2001 Caroline Wunsch is proud to announce her marriage to Steven Wunsch in 2010. They welcomed

their first child, Krystyna Grace, on May 22, 2011.

2002 Juana Coreano Morales and Robert Morales are pleased to announce the birth of their second child, Ariel Alredo, born on March 22, 2012. Michael Zygo is one of two Geneseo alumni who are cast members in the hit Broadway show “Once.” They joined the cast in performing on the “TODAY Show” in April.

national law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP as a labor and employment associate in its New York City office. Maria Paredes earned a doctorate in counseling and counselor education in 2010 and is proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Caralina Adele, born on Sept. 27, 2011. Kelly Wyant-Krause and Matt Krause ’98 are pleased to announce the birth of their second child, Darren, born in November 2007.

2004 Molly Mannion Ciallelo and

2003 Brent Bartlett and Marta Scott Bartlett ’06 are happy to

announce their marriage on June 11, 2011, in East Aurora, N.Y. They reside in Falls Church, Va. Stacey Canavan Daly is proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Hannah Paige, born on May 11, 2012. John W. Egan joined the

r u o y s u d n e S s o t o h p college

llege, rom co f s o t o ws, ph slidesho avorite f n r io u n o u y e e and in r Send us atured i websit e n f m e b lu a y a es, the ject. which m brochur ook pro d b r e t a e in y r p tronic emails, an elec possibly

Brandon Ciallelo are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, August Thomas, born on March 16, 2012, in Utica, N.Y. Elizabeth Pratt Farrar and her husband, Todd Farrar, are proud to announce the birth of their son, Ethan, born on Feb. 29, 2012. Lisa Gardinier accepted a position at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, as the Latin American and Iberian Studies librarian. Since graduating from Geneseo she also has earned a master of arts degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona and a master of library science degree from Indiana University. Jonathan Senchyne received his doctorate in English from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., in May 2012 and has begun a faculty appointment as assistant professor of library and information studies in the fields of print and digital culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

2005 Amanda Kristopowitz Arndt

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go.geneseo.edu/alumnipix.

and John Arndt are happy to announce their marriage on Aug. 27, 2011, in Geneva, N.Y. Amanda Santoro recently accepted a position at LEGO Systems Inc. in Hartford, Conn., as brand relations manager.

Michael Shea and Erica Fitzgerald are happy to announce their marriage on Sept.

2, 2011. Aaron Taylor and Courtney Myers Taylor are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Ethan Cornell, born on April 21, 2012, in Jamestown, N.Y. Rebecca Weller-Kleinklaus was recently promoted to site controller/materials manager from

Fall 2012

35

cost accountant at Saint-Gobain Corp. Her new position is in Poestenkill, N.Y.

2006

Donna White Boshart ’55, Nov.

Submit your class note or notice at

go.geneseo.edu/classnote

Brian Kinsella and Meagan Santini Kinsella are proud to

announce the birth of a baby girl, Lily Jane, born on Feb. 12, 2012, in Rochester, N.Y. Marta Scott Bartlett and Brent Bartlett ’03 are happy to announce their marriage on June 11, 2011, in East Aurora, N.Y. They reside in Falls Church, Va. Eric Peskor is proud to announce his engagement to Jamie Fragnito ’07, whom he met on campus in 2004 when they both wrote for The Lamron and were news anchors for GSTV. Robert Shoemaker received a master of law degree in criminal law, with honors, from SUNY Buffalo Law School in May 2012.

His thesis topic was on the criminal law of Dutch New York.

2007 Richard Bova received his doctor

of pharmacy degree in May 2012 from the Wegmans School of Pharmacy at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. Peter DelMonico and Aura Caccia are happy to announce their marriage on April 21, 2012. Jessica Dudley and Michael Dudley are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Theodore Michael Dudley, born on March 26, 2012, in Syracuse, N.Y. Jamie Fragnito recently accepted a position at the Alzheimer’s Association in Rochester, N.Y., as event coordinator. She is also happy to announce her engagement to Eric Peskor ’06, whom she met on campus in 2004 when they both wrote for The Lamron and were news anchors for GSTV. Cassie Gielow Guagliano and David Guagliano are happy to announce their marriage on April 28, 2012, in Tonawanda, N.Y. Fifteen Geneseo alumni were present. Pauline Cantatore Minunni and Nicholas Minunni are happy to announce their marriage on May 18, 2012, in New Hyde Park, N.Y. They reside in Bellerose, N.Y. John Seifts is a teacher at Strough Middle School, Rome City School District, in Rome, N.Y. 36

geneseo scene

28, 2011 Bonita Losey Reisdorf ’58, May

1, 2011 Shelden King ’59, June 16, 2012 Gerald Miller ’59, March 22,

2012 Elizabeth Corcoran Stefan ’59,

2008 Maria Korogodsky and Joshua

Manley are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Imogen Faye Manley, born on June 2, 2012 in Stratham, N.H. Toni Melville received her doctor of medicine degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University in May 2012. Her residency is in family medicine at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C. Karen Merrill earned her master’s degree in school counseling from the University at Buffalo in May 2012.

2009

Aug. 30, 2003 in New York to work as a national park ranger interpreter with traditionally underserved populations in the conservation field. This fall he returned to Rochester, N.Y., to complete his master of public administration degree with an emphasis on nonprofit management.

Mary Weckerle Tiede ’63, May

25, 2012 Diane Marquardt LeClair ’66,

June 12, 2012 Andrea Pille Pasco ’66, April 4,

2012 David Sisson ’67, Dec. 20, 2011 Dorothy Harris-Jardin ’68, June

21, 2008 Charles Zicari ’70, April 13,

IN MEMORIAM

2012

ALUMNI Gwendolyn Roth Mantel ’36,

March 14, 2012

Ellen Heckelman Finlayson ’71,

June 20, 2012

Susan Bradt Palmer ’71, Jan. 1,

Adelma Didas Abraham ’37,

2012

Nov. 1, 2011

Lynette Wright Jenkins ’72,

Carolyn Ruhland Raesler ’37,

Feb. 1, 2011

May 31, 2012

Alice Pomponio ’74, June 19,

Lena Bennett Young ’37, June

2012

18, 2012

Margaret Henderson is a librari-

Hazel Marshall Cottrell ’39,

an at Pensacola State College in Pensacola, Fla. Vanessa Warner Saltis and Dan Saltis are happy to announce their marriage on Oct. 8, 2011. Vanessa earned a master of science degree in curriculum development and instructional technology last May.

Paul Villinski ’74, June 24, 2012 Phyllis Barna Anderson ’77,

March 8, 2011

April 8, 2012

2010 Kathleen Nowak received a full

scholarship and stipend towards her doctorate in applied mathematics at Iowa State University, where she is also a teaching assistant for freshman calculus.

Nancy Nims Holliday ’39, April

Donald Litzelman ’82, May 24,

19, 2012

2012

Winifred Ellison Potter ’39,

Gregory Wright ’84, June 19,

May 28, 2012

2012

Robert T. Redden ’39, May 20,

Elizabeth O’Donnell-Sullivan ’87, July 13, 2012 Charlene Baxendale ’88, Feb.

2012 Catherine Mairs Ryan ’39, Oct.

23, 2011

27, 2012

Mary Thacher Hammond ’40,

Cathy Wong Nevin ’92, June 19,

Dec. 23, 2008

2012

Phyllis Fox Higgins ’40, April

Jennifer Napuli Fraidstern ’99,

21, 2012

April 8, 2012

Virginia Holmgren Russell ’40,

Casey Farrell ’03, April 15, 2012

Sept. 4, 2011 Faith Slack Kipers ’42, July 1,

2010 Evelyn Mosel Burlew ’43, Feb.

2011

29, 2012

Emily Borghard was recently cho-

2012

sen to work with the French Culture Program to teach English overseas in Marseille, France. She was certified for completing a TEFL program. Caitlin Lamoreaux completed her first year in the Math Resource Center at West Irondequoit Central Schools and received her master’s degree from Nazareth College in August 2012.

Michael Terreri recently relocated from Yosemite National Park to Gateway National Recreation Area

Helen Lippold ’44, March 17, Elizabeth Latimer Clark ’45,

April 18, 2012 Eugenia McCormick Vance ’45,

FACULTY Duncan P. “Dunc” Hinckley,

associate professor in the Health and Physical Education Department from 1967 until his retirement in 1993, and a former coach of swimming and diving and men’s golf teams, died on July 29, 2012.

April 4, 2011 Janice Cook Tunningley ’46,

Feb. 27, 2011 Camilla Dewitt ’50, March 3, 2012 Kenneth Comstock ’51, June 28,

2012 Marian Sardinia ’51, March 31,

2012 Raublyn Werth Hopkins ’54,

April 27, 2012

Katherine “Kate” P. Madden, professor of communication at Geneseo from 1990 to 1994, died on April 10, 2012.

Frank Csapo

Immigrant who built new life in Geneseo helps students build theirs

By Lisa M. Feinstein

I

n 1957, Hungary was in turmoil. The 1956 uprising against the Soviet-supported government had resulted in hundreds of thousands of refugees, a depressed economy, mass arrests, deportations and executions.

With perseverance and an eighth-grade education that he had compressed into six years, Frank Csapo fled his

homeland, heading first to Austria, then Switzerland, then Canada and finally settling in Avon, N.Y. While many Geneseo alumni and students may not know Frank’s name, anyone who has visited or lived in the Ambassador Apartments has witnessed how much Frank has accomplished since leaving Hungary.

Making a living in Canada as a carpenter, Frank found himself working on an apartment complex in Avon in 1962.

He relocated there and founded his own construction company. When Frank wanted to build student housing on Court Street, some people scoffed.

“They all said, ‘Look at Frank,’” he recalls, “he wants to bury his money. Nobody thought it was a good business move. They thought the students would wreck the buildings.”

Frank believed students deserved quality housing. “I felt that if we treated the students like young adults and maintained the properties, they would respect the apartments and respect us.”

He was right.

Today the Ambassador Apartments are an iconic part of Geneseo life. And Frank is much more than a landlord or a developer. Both his son, Frank, and his daughter, Julia, are Geneseo graduates and he is a steadfast supporter of the college.

A true self-made man, Frank is passionate about helping young men and women improve their own lives, so he established the Ambassador Apartments Endowed Scholarship Fund. The fund provides scholarships in accounting, computer science, international relations, journalism and in recognition of world citizenry. Frank also funds the Donna Jean Csapo Memorial Endowed Scholarship in honor of his late wife, and the Ambassador Apartments Faculty Excellence Endowment.

“I was doing well in my construction business, and I believed that part of the profits should go back to the students,” says Frank. “That’s what encouraged me.

I strongly believe that education is an important place to invest money — and a great way to invest in the future.”

:

Make a difference ... visit campaign.geneseo.edu PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

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JOIN THE FUN!

More than 1,000 alumni and guests returned to campus for Summer Reunion 2011 and 2012.

Join us July 12-14, 2013.

Want a fun way to make a difference at your alma mater?

Volunteer to help make the weekend great. We’re seeking alumni volunteers from anniversary years 1963 (celebrating their 50th reunion), and every five years through 2008 (celebrating their fifth reunion) to serve on Summer Reunion 2013 Reunion Committees.

Contact the Office of Alumni Relations at (585) 245-5506 or email alumni@geneseo.edu.