Geneseo Scene Winter 2017

Winter 2017

geneseo scene

A magazine for alumni, parents and friends of SUNY Geneseo

Mountain Class Unique geography immersion Geneseo in Brooklyn • A student poet rediscovers America

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geneseo Winter 2017

scene CONTENTS

FEATURES 8

Urban immersion: Uncommon study ground Most of Red Hook’s early residents worked the docks and now this Brooklyn neighborhood is steadily changing. Thanks to a generous alumnus, Geneseo’s new satellite space allows students and faculty unique insight into development, service and field work.

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Mountains as the classroom In the peaks of the Canadian Rockies, students in this geography class explore nature, culture and how communities work.

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In search of America Student ambassador Evan Goldstein ’17 takes us on his cross-country exploration of America in poetry, photography and personal connection.

20 Buon appetito!

Enter any Italian eatery, find yourself family.

Campus chefs studied culinary arts in Italy last summer to bring the true taste of Italy to campus.

DEPARTMENTS 3 22 25 32

One College Circle: Campus News Athletics Alumni News Class Notes

COLUMNS 2 24

President’s Message Random Profile

Cover Photo by Keith Walters ’11

GATHERING IN UNITY: MAYDAY.US hosted an anti-hate rally, sponsored by Kappa Sigma fraternity in December, to show unity and give students a chance to speak.

Photo by Keith Walters ’11

Postmaster: Please address changes to the Office of Alumni Relations, Doty Hall, SUNY Geneseo, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454-1484.

Standard-class postage paid at Lebanon Junction, KY 40150

geneseo scene

Vol. 41, No. 3 Winter 2017

Geneseo Scene is published by SUNY Geneseo, Division of College Advancement, Office of College Communications.

Denise A. Battles, President K. Johnson Bowles, Vice President for College Advancement Gail C. Glover, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Kris Dreessen, Editor Carole Smith Volpe ’91, Creative Director Contributing writers: Kris Dreessen Eric Butterman Evan Goldstein ’17 Kitrick McCoy ’19 Jim Memmott Sherrie Negrea Jared Scott Tesler

Contributing photographers: Kris Dreessen Evan Goldstein ’17 Michelle Halloran Matthew Laurence Keith Walters ’11 Alumni Relations Office Ronna Gillam, Director of Alumni Relations Michelle Walton Worden ’92, Associate Director of Alumni Relations Amanda McCarthy, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations for Regional Events Tracy Young Gagnier ’93, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Alumni Relations Office: Doty Hall SUNY Geneseo 1 College Circle Geneseo, NY 14454-1484 Phone: (585) 245-5506 Fax: (585) 245-5514 alumni@geneseo.edu Contact the Scene at scene@geneseo.edu.

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

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Community service: A Geneseo tradition

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his spring, Bridget Beermann ’17 will organize our next Relay for Life event, with more than 2,000 student participants convening in Kuhl Gymnasium to help fight cancer.

This annual student-led event has raised nearly $1 million in its 11 years. In 2016, Geneseo once again earned a place among the nation’s top 25 Relay for Life fund-raising events for the American Cancer Society by raising over $170,000.

Despite our modest size, Geneseo is big when it comes to giving back.

Community service is a proud Knight tradition — a cornerstone of Geneseo’s exemplary educational experience and our strategic plan.

Students come to Geneseo to earn an education, but in doing so, they lay a foundation for who they are going to be. Geneseo prepares students to be successful in life, to be socially responsible and globally aware citizens who serve others and the communities in which they work and live.

Locally and across the world, our students are living that sense of responsibility — from our Geneseo First Response personnel who handle emergency medical calls; to the Geneseo Fire Department members who answer the siren’s wail; and to service-learning trip participants who help improve the lives of the people of Haiti, Nicaragua and other countries.

Every year since 2006, the college has appeared on the national President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Most recently, Geneseo was recognized in all four categories: education, economic opportunity, interfaith community service, and general community service, the last of those with distinction. We also were honored for our post- Hurricane Katrina volunteer trips to Mississippi through Livingston CARES. Earlier this year, Washington Monthly ranked Geneseo third overall among 634 master’s degree-granting universities in the nation for contributions to the public good across three categories — improving social mobility, producing research and promoting public service.

So, I invite you, as members of the Geneseo family, to join me in reaffirming your commitment to our service tradition of service.

A college education is unique in that it offers many affirming and supportive avenues to find what you are passionate about, and identify one’s passions, academically, and within a community. By joining a group, starting a club, or organizing an event, students realize their ability to make a difference.

Our tradition of service is evidenced by our alumni — local and world leaders who gain recognition for their accomplishments and abilities but also quietly contribute countless hours and capital to worthwhile causes they feel are important. Today’s students will one day join the ranks of our alumni and make their own mark. While they are here, I challenge them to make the most of their educations, prepare to take their place as engaged citizens, and commit to a life of service to others. At Geneseo, they will find countless opportunities to do it all. It is to our collective credit that Knights have long heeded that call, as the commitment to service does not end with the awarding of a diploma but continues throughout a lifetime.

Denise A. Battles, president

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PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

One College Circle

The art of engineering ... and the thrill of “Destruct-o-con”

CAMPUS NEWS

Mike Schian ’18 and Rahain Hossain ’18 eye their architecture in front of the crowd at the 2016 bridge-building competition.

This year, the contest celebrates 10 years of engineering, creativity and science with balsa wood and the suspense of Destructo-o-con, when student teams that spent months building the strongest bridges put them to the test.

The event puts classroom knowledge and principles to work, and draws a crowd.

Liam Collins ’18 and Damien Halpern ’18 clinched top honors, with a mass that held 143 pounds.

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Ring the opening bell!

Student remembered with scholarship Relay for Life volunteer LGBTQ coordinator welcomes all Freshman scholarship honors student News in photos Winter 2017

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ONE COLLEGE CIRCLE

CAMPUS NEWS Spotlight on service

Students are global leaders in fight against cancer.

Bridget Beermann ’17 leads campus Relay for Life efforts.

This spring, Bridget is t’s 2 A.M. on a cold organizing the 12th campus April night on the Relay for Life. Over 11 years, Geneseo campus.

Geneseo students have Yet the cheers, laughraised a total of nearly $1 ter, and early-morning million. Geneseo has dance parties are just earned the rank of the ongoing at the ice rink. number 11 college in the Close to 2,500 stuworld for Relay For Life dents — about half of fundraising, and is number the entire student one per capita among body — are up all colleges in the United night for the annual States.

Relay for Life event, “Geneseo is a very spewalking the track to cial community and the raise money for the event is an integral part to American Cancer the college, and it really Society. stands out among other The crowd watched Bridget Beermann ’17 reacts as her head is colleges in the region,” says as event organizer Jordan Cimilluca ’15, a past Bridget Beermann ’17 shaved at the campus Relay for Life in 2016.

Geneseo event organizer takes her place next to who is now a Relay for Life staff partner at the her classmates, who are shaving their heads to American Cancer Society. raise money for the cause.

For Bridget, cancer is personal. Her mother is When her first locks fell, her fear of the a survivor and her aunt recently died of the unknown was lost to the cheers of support. disease. She hopes Geneseo can become a “Once it was all finished and I touched my global role model to show that small, individual head, I couldn't help but feel overwhelming joy efforts can provide a substantial impact. and excitement,” she says. “It was definitely a — By Kitrick McCoy ’19 whirlwind, but by far one of the most amazing experiences of my life.”

ecent graduate Dillon Federici ’16 is Geneseo’s new coordinator of LGBTQ Programs and Services.

Federici is a liaison to students and the institution, a resource, and an advocate for LGBTQ students, creating an atmosphere in which students feel safe to ask questions, seek support or express FEDERICI concerns.

As a student, Federici was a Pathways peer advocate, assistant resident director and student representative on the college’s LGBTQ work group.

In his role, he will build on current programs and services such as the Preferred Name policy, which allows students to use names they are comfortable with on records and IDs, and Safe Zones, which help students identify staff and faculty who are an ally of LGBTQ students.

Geneseo recently affirmed inclusivity as a core institutional value, says President Denise A. Battles. Federici’s position “facilitates our campus’ efforts to realize this mission and value,” she says.

— By Kris Dreessen

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PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

I LGBTQ coordinator advances Geneseo inclusivity

Scholarship in memory of Matthew Hutchinson ’16 assists new students his fall, an international student at Geneseo will begin their goal of earning a college degree with a scholarship created in memory of Matthew Hutchinson ’16.

The chosen incoming freshman student will exemplify the characteristics of Hutchinson; the scholarship will be renewable for their entire four years at the college.

The Matthew G. Hutchinson ’16 Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund will provide HUTCHINSON a scholarship to a student or students from diverse backgrounds, who fully engage in the breadth of opportunities available at Geneseo and who will be committed to community service.

Family and friends say Hutchinson was a remarkable person — a quintessential Geneseo student, a standout member of the Ice Knights,

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and a hero and mentor for youth hockey. He was a committed member of the Geneseo Volunteer Fire Department and in summers, he was a firefighter in his native Canada. Everyone who knew him, they say, respected him and considered him a friend.

His father, Keith, mother, Susan, and sister Katelynn said: “It’s hard to believe that it has been almost one year since the sudden loss of Matthew. The shock and grief of his passing has pierced the hearts of so many people it has been difficult for us to comprehend. The impact Matthew made in his short life has had ripple effects all across North America. The Matthew G. Hutchinson ’16 Memorial Endowed Scholarship from Geneseo College will honor the dedication, spirit and genuine good heart Matthew possessed.”

For more information on the scholarship or to donate, visit go.geneseo.edu/hutchinson.

— By Kris Dreessen

Scholarship created in memory of Kelsey Annese ’16 scholarship will be awarded in honor of Kelsey Annese ’16 to an incoming freshman. The chosen student will exemplify the characteristics of Annese and will be renewable for their entire four years at the college.

Her family and those who knew her say she had a strong spirit ANNESE and work ethic and was a leader. Her curiosity and compassion, combined with an easy-going personality and ever-present smile, made her a beloved member of the Geneseo community, as well as a cherished friend. Annese was killed in an off-campus incident last January.

The Kelsey A. Annese ’16 Memorial Scholarship will provide support to ensure qualified students can take advantage of the exceptional educational opportunities offered by Geneseo, and who demonstrate academic excellence and financial need.

Loved ones say Annese embraced opportunities to travel, explore her community, volunteer and to be a leader, including as a member of the women’s basketball team. She wanted to teach.

“I know without a doubt that Kels would love this scholarship to be part of her legacy,” said her mother, Krista Annese ’86, “helping a hard-working student in financial need to pay for college expenses. The best part is that this kind of fund can keep the scholarship going forever, which means memories of her will be out there, forever.”

For more information on the scholarship or to donate, visit go.geneseo.edu/annese — By Kris Dreessen

PHOTOS BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

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Alumni funded The Trading Room to provide real-time trading experience to students. Pictured from left to right are: Jonathan Drabek ’18, vice president of the Student Managed Investment Fund, Bob Murray ’83, Dan Loughran ’86, School of Business Dean Denise Rotondo, John Gleason ’87, President Denise A. Battles, Kevin Gavagan ’75, Michael Camarella ’98, Bob Walley ’83 and Nelson Scott ’17, president of the Student Managed Investment Fund.

School of Business opens donor-funded Trading Room The Trading Room was funded by alumni eneseo’s School of Business has reached a major milestone with the opening of the donors, including Michael Camarella ’98, who led the charge in establishing the facility, and a Trading Room, an applied learning facility giving business students real-time trading experi- group of donors from the 1980s to 2000s.

The Trading Room ence through state-ofis part of the school’s the-art technology. vision to be the top The room in South undergraduate SUNY Hall is equipped with school for developing several Bloomberg business professional terminals, which conand graduate stutain real-time and hisdents, particularly in torical date on equifinance, accounting ties, fixed income and and economics, says derivative securities School of Business and data on foreign Dean Denise exchange markets.

Rotondo.

Students are using Madeline Brilling ’19 the facility for a variplans to use the ety of finance and Jonathan Drubek '18, vice president of the Student Trading Room as a management projManaged Investment Fund, left, and Nelson Scott '17, collaborative space to ects, such as the president of the investment fund, look over stock meet and discuss Student Managed information in the Trading Room. class projects.

Investment Fund, an “Having access to Bloomberg data is incredible organization in which members trade and so applicable to the real world,” she says. real securities.

“That’s what you need in business especially — “Having this resource will go a long way in the real world opportunity.” managing our fund as a portfolio,” says SMIF — By David Irwin President Nelson Scott ’17. “It will be hugely useful.”

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ONE COLLEGE CIRCLE

Benjamin Laabs, middle, chair of the Department of Geological Sciences, works with Jenelle Wallace ’16, and recent graduate Eric Kolakowski ’15 during the department’s recent biennial field trip for juniors and seniors, which took place this year in Chile.

CULTURAL HARMONY WEEK: The Redhawk Native American Arts Council spent an evening with students educating them on various Native American dances.

BROOMBALL! Geneseo’s longtime tradition is still going strong. Nine teams competed during the sixth annual October Undergraduate Alumni Association broomball tournament held during Homecoming weekend. Team Sig Tau won top honors. Sonic Broom won the costume contest.

PASTA FOR ITALY RELIEF: The campus community and Barilla pasta, which has a production facility in nearby Avon, N.Y., teamed up to serve a savory marinara sauce created in Amatrice, Italy, as a fundraiser for that town after it suffered a major earthquake. Staff, students and faculty raised more than $500 for relief efforts.

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PHOTOS BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

FAMILY WEEKEND: Parents react during one of several Parents College sessions led by professors during the 2016 Family Weekend in October. About 1,200 parents, siblings and grandparents came to experience what life is like at Geneseo.

“THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST:” Students staged the Oscar Wilde classic last fall.

MOLE DAY EXPERIMENTS: Members of the Geneseo Chemistry Club drop Mentos in Diet Coke during a public event to demonstrate principles of chemistry during National Chemistry Week.

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Urban immersion:

Geneseo’s uncommon stud This once struggling Brooklyn neighborhood has changed dramatically and is the college’s newest learning space.

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Story and Photos by Kris Dreessen nside the Red Hook Bait & Tackle bar, Matt Berger ’16 and Fred Liu ’17 talk to the owner, who pauses to answer questions between serving drinks to a small lunch crowd.

The landlord recently told him he won’t renew the lease; presumably there’s more rent to be made on this main street in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Across the way, a young woman at the independent bookstore is thankful she’s found the needle in a haystack — a rentcontrolled apartment.

The neighborhood is very popular now: It can be tough to get in.

It wasn’t always so. In the 1980s, Red Hook was known for its drugs, dilapidated buildings and unemployment. Even so, some developers, like Greg O’Connell ’67, saw potential and what “could be.”

A former NYC detective, O’Connell slowly bought buildings not to sell but to renovate and rent as businesses and residences. He’s known for community-minded development. That included preserving the last two Civil War-era warehouses in New York Harbor.

He now owns 50 buildings and parcels of land in Red Hook, and such slow development has integrally changed this place.

There are hip barbecue joints next to the small bodegas, galleries and studios.

You can easily walk from the $800,000 row houses to public housing apartment buildings, which were built for dock workers and are still home to two-thirds of the neighborhood’s 11,000 residents. The Civil War buildings are now art studios, high-end event spaces, artisan glass manufacturing and other businesses.

A Manhattan water taxi brings tourists on weekends; Red Hook is cut off from easy public transportation otherwise.

“Red Hook is in a stage of development that’s really in transition,” says Associate Professor of Geography Jennifer Rogalsky, director of the Urban Studies Program at Geneseo. “There are a lot of contrasts. There are a lot of issues that come with that, including transportation, housing and social issues.”

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dy ground

Associate Professor of Geography Jennifer Rogalsky introduces students to the history of Red Hook, Brooklyn, in an urban geography course. It was the first field immersion experience hosted in Red Hook, Geneseo’s newest learning space.

ALL PHOTOS BY KRIS DREESSEN

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Sam Pawlicki ’18 takes a photo of an old trolley car that is on display in front of one of the Civil War-era warehouses in Red Hook. Red Hook is unique because it is cut off by easily accessible public transportation.

While Red Hook is unique, its challenges — and how people respond and are affected by them — can give insight to challenges of any urban area. They also provide uncommon learning experiences for students, especially in immersion field work.

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Being in Red Hook and meeting residents provide insights not available in class, say Brianna Allison ’17, left, and Sam Pawlicki ’18, as they studied properties and businesses on Red Hook’s main street. They talked to families to understand how development affects them.

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Rogalsky’s urban geography course was the first taught in Red Hook. The students gathered for an intensive two-day seminar after completing online-course and reading work.

Students and faculty utilize the new Geneseo Landing at Red Hook classroom space, which is provided free of charge by O’Connell, in one of the Civil War buildings.

O’Connell also provided an apartment for Geneseo use. The multi-use classroom area can host alumni functions and courses and speakers. It is run by Project Coordinator Maddy Smith ’14, who is also a liaison to local nonprofits, small-business owners and Red Hook leaders.

O’Connell also provides rent-free space to several of those nonprofits, including Red Hook Rise and Dance Etc., “so they can put their energy into do what they do best,” he says — strengthening Red Hook.

“There’s a lot going on in this community,” says Smith, “with so much potential for students and faculty to get involved.

This includes committees focused on flood resiliency, youth-driven nonprofits, and small businesses selling some original items.”

O’Connell sees the potential. He wants

to provide the opportunity for Geneseo to decide how best to partner. Such partnerships have worked in Mt. Morris, near Geneseo, where O’Connell also owns several properties.

As part of his Main Street revitalization there, he invited Geneseo communication students to provide social media and communication marketing expertise with owners.

“It really works,” he says. “It’s real-life experience for the students, too.” He says he’s providing opportunity; Geneseo will decide how best to collaborate.

Last summer, Lecturer of English Jess Fenn also taught a Reading as a Writer course at Red Hook.

It’s all a beginning, with a lot of opportunity, says Interim Provost and Professor of English Paul Schacht: “We hope to deepen our ties to the Red Hook community and grow the number of course offerings that connect the Geneseo learning experience to the people and places that give this community its unique identity.”

An advisory committee comprises faculty, staff and students, including SMITH ’14 True Capalbo ’17, who was a student in Rogalsky’s summer course. The group is exploring strategies to expand on-site courses, faculty research, possible student-teaching roles within the O’CONNELL ’67 community and partnerships in which students can assist Red Hook leaders with improvement goals.

Capalbo believes in what students can learn and contribute: “Definitely being there gave me a whole different perspective on how to do research and also how to connect with people,” he says.

••• The urban geography course is a good example of the type of transformational field experience Geneseo wants to offer

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See photos of the Red Hook neighborhood and the Urban Geography class at flickr.com/gp/sunygeneseo/3Q3B2d

Matt Berger ’16 and Fred Liu ’17 interview a staff member of a bookstore about living in Red Hook as part of their independent project.

at Red Hook.

On-site, they started class in O’Connell’s building, but quickly ventured out — with a comprehensive walking tour. Rogalsky explained the history, from manufacturing and dock work to the toxic sites that some of those sites produced, landmarks, new development, and longtime fixtures, such as schools and public housing.

“The students needed to walk the neighborhood in its entirety to see and understand the history, multiple communities, potential, and competing interests,” says Rogalsky. “I could tell them about it, but in order to ask deeper questions, the students had to see for themselves the docks and warehouses, creative and maker spaces, junkyards and redeveloped spaces, public spaces, commercial corridors, varieties of housing, and more.”

Students also met with local leaders — Jerry Armer from the Brooklyn Community Board, and Michelle de la Uz, of the Fifth Avenue Committee, whose members foster economic and social justice in Red Hook and greater South Brooklyn.

Rogalsky’s class also met with a group of high-schoolers, who talked about life in Red Hook and their own neighborhood projects.

On day two, the crew split up into teams for an independent project focused on an issue of urban development.

Like several student-teams, Capalbo’s group set out to observe demographics at the Fairway market, which offers more high-end groceries, but quickly nixed that to focus on talking to people.

They interviewed the leader of an artwork and exhibition space, exploring how the artist class affects Red Hook.

“You gain a totally new perspective while you’re researching there rather

Shannon Hummel, founder and artistic director of Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, watches as students practice a dance piece. The school promotes arts access to all, regardless of ability to pay.

than out of a book,” says Capalbo.

Some teams created new ideas based on their meeting with the speakers — some devised ideas on the fly as they saw the principles and challenges played out in the neighborhood.

At first, Brianna Allison ’17 says she was shy, but as she stopped to talk to residents who were on their stoops, that feeling left. She talked to families at a church fair eating tostadas, and asked them their feelings about what’s going on in Red Hook, and what’s needed.

That one-on-one is what makes Geneseo Landing at Red Hook special.

“When you read about urban geography, you think, ‘OK, I have an understanding,’” says Allison. “We are seeing the effects of gentrification and we are learning about everything talking to the people who live and work there.”

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observe why this is the way it is,” she says.

As a childhood and special education teaching major, she envisions the same struggles and successes in Red Hook coming to her Queens Village neighborhood 10 or 15 years down the road.

In school, in her career, she’ll carry these perspectives of looking at the entire picture. Schools, she says, “are where all the community comes together.”

Looking at the bigger picture say Allison and Shauna Ricketts ’17, you can see how individual decisions — and what happens at the street level or even in a few bodegas or planning boards — affect a community.

Those are the decisions, says Ricketts, that have the power to form a community — and determine where it goes.

“You have to say something or bring up a concern or a new idea or point,” she says, “to make changes. In Red Hook, I understood the impact the decisions have on other people, and the power people have to make them.”

Such an experience has changed Allison. She’s more aware. She sees the small things in her hometown. “I ask and Winter 2017

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Mountain

Class In the peaks of the Canadian Rockies, students in this geography class immerse themselves in culture and explore how communities work.

Story by Jim Memmott and Photos by Keith Walters ’11

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See video about the Canadian geography course at https://youtu.be/XascB_V4JFI

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Associate Professor of Geography Jim Kernan pauses on a hike to explain the area’s ecosystem and how it’s been affected by wildfires.

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Associate Professor Jim Kernan explains how tree rings tell a tree’s story.

Ben Freiman ’17 discusses the history of Cardston, which was settled by Mormons.

Students hike through the Canadian Rockies, where the prairie meets the mountains outside of Waterton Lakes National Park.

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not known.

“Millennials, and myself included, tend to look at the world at a broader perspective,” says Jimmy Feng ’18, a geography major from Brooklyn who knew little about Canada before taking the course. “But in doing so, we often ignore local surroundings. We seek to invoke change on a grand scale, but that will never be possible if we do FENG ’18 not even know about our own backyard.”

Robertson is quick to stress that the culture and way of life in Western Canada is a distinct culture; that to study its communities is really and truly to study abroad, though the students didn’t have to cross an ocean to get there.

Their goal is to do what geographers do: explore how communities have been shaped by social and natural geography, and see how things came together, how they work, and how they might be made better.

And there’s another payoff. The students — there were 12 this past summer — and their teachers learn to work

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ear spray will be provided.” Those five words at the end of the syllabus for Geography 269 are just one of several indications that the summer course is not your average study abroad offering.

Though they don’t have to bring bear spray, the students in the course, “Geographic Field Studies in Western Canada,” are expected, for the most part, to cook their own meals, sleep in hostels, and be prepared for strenuous hikes.

Starting in Calgary, Alberta, they do field research in southern Alberta and British Columbia, taking in the prairies and the Canadian Rockies and spending time in small towns and stunning national parks, including Waterton Lakes and Banff.

“The landscape is the star of the course,” says Associate Professor of Geography David Robertson, who is from Calgary. He leads the trip, along with his geography colleague Associate Professor James Kernan. “I get an incredible amount of pleasure teaching my students about my hometown. It makes me feel simply proud.”

Last August the course was offered for the seventh time, and once again it proved to be an academically rigorous, physically demanding experience that immersed the students in the daily life of a stunning and diverse world they had

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together, to teach each other, and to get along. (The syllabus says that anyone who is “willfully whiny” will lose participation points. It doesn’t happen often.)

Immersion and collaboration with classmates and professors made it “the best two weeks” of her life, says geography major Brianne Hart ’17. “The people on the trip made it special,” she says, “but it was also being immersed in a culture.”

Two weeks in the mountains also means trying new things.

“I learned how to be more independent and push myself out of my comfort zone, to interact with people I never would have known and go on strenuous daylong hikes I never thought I could accomplish,” says Cara O’Shea ’19, an accounting major. “Overall, this trip gave me a taste for travel and a yearning to go everywhere and continue to push myself.”

O’Shea and other students conducted research on a topic of their choosing.

“They bring knowledge into the field,” Robertson says, “and they see how it’s exemplified.”

O’Shea’s course project was to study how the 1914 Hillcrest coal mining disaster in Alberta was remembered. One hundred eighty-nine workers lost their lives, she says, but the tragedy was overshadowed by the outbreak of World War I. The men were

buried in a mass grave and it wasn’t until the year 2000 that a granite memorial to the workers was erected.

Hart’s project set out to answer the ageold question: How do the grizzlies, elk, deer and salamanders cross the road? Or more particularly, how do these animals cross the four-lane Trans-Canada Highway as it passes through Banff National Park?

Highway planners and national park ecologists took on the problem when the highway was expanded from two lanes to four. Their goal was to reduce animalvehicle collisions by erecting miles and miles of fences and building animalfriendly overpasses.

The overpasses have ground cover and bushes and trees designed to blend in with the landscape.

How are they working? Quite well, Hart reports, as animal deaths have dropped significantly. “The elk and deer took to them right away,” she says. “The grizzlies have been more wary.” (The salamanders, by the way, travel by tunnel under the road.)

Ben Freiman ’17, a geography major, researched the challenges faced by the town of Banff, Alberta.

“It has 8,500 residents and it’s smack in the middle of Banff National Park, which

has over 4 million visitors a year,” he says.

Freiman met with town planners to find out what they are doing to accommodate the visitors and improve infrastructure without harming the environment. This research underscores his interest as a geography major in urban and regional planning and in environmental studies.

Their goal is to do what geographers do: explore how communities have been shaped by social and natural geography, and see how things came together, how they work, and how they might be made better.

Few students arrive at Geneseo hoping to become a geography major, says Robertson.

“Geography is a ‘discovery’ major,” he adds, one that students come to after they enroll and take a course in the field and then another course. Then they’re hooked.

“I liked hard science, but I really liked people,” Freiman says, noting that geography with its emphasis on social and natural sciences seems to mix both interests.

Though the course in Canada is a natural fit for geography majors, Robertson

says it has always drawn majors from other fields. This summer’s group included majors from geological sciences, physics and accounting. The students bond as a group, help each other, teach each other and encourage each other.

“I learned so many interesting things from these people, and created lasting relationships, which is what truly made this trip so worthwhile,” says O’Shea, the accounting major.

Hart recalls the support she received from the others while on a 10-hour hike in Waterton Lakes National Park — a climb that challenged her extreme fear of heights.

“The most I’d done before was a little nature walk,” she says. She was nervous and hesitant, but, encouraged by her classmates, she conquered her fears. Life lesson learned: With help, you can be brave.

Those little — and big — lessons stick with you, and you gain perspective. Take Feng, who studied a variety of species in the Waterton park. “It is imperative to immerse oneself into the experiences and struggles of populations and peoples that we ourselves are not familiar with, because empathy is the most empowering and fundamental aspect of humanity.”

A student talks about benefits of wind farming.

Associate Professor Jim Kernan talks about tree rings.

Students visit a memorial to the Hillcrest mine disaster.

Veronica Medina ’18 talks about an endangered species of tree, which indicates overall health of the surrounding ecosystem.

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PORTRAIT OF AMERICA Poet Evan Goldstein ’17 explores who we are

In the 1950s, photographer Robert Frank spent two years driving through the states, capturing a snapshot of America and its people. In this spirit, Evan Goldstein ’17 set out on a six-week, cross-country journey to explore our America now, through words and photography.

Back from the road, Evan is collecting his experiences into a book of poetry and photographs.

The James Houston ’80 Ambassador in Innovation award made it possible. Innovation, Jim says, can take many forms, including art. He created the award to provide students with an opportunity to broaden their exposure and explore ideas they can’t generally find in the classroom or traditional internships.

Story and photos by Evan Goldstein ’17

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See Evan’s photo travelogue at tinyurl.com/jbh3yum

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“I followed in a tradition of hundreds of photographers (Robert Frank in particular), writers, poets, journalists and filmmakers — who sought to travel great distances across America’s highways and return with something to say about these people and this landscape.”

Belle Isle, Detroit — Belle Isle sits in the Detroit River between America and Canada. During hot summer days, Detroiters come here to swim, host family reunions and cookouts, or find seclusion.

Hibbing, Minn. — Four friends plan a night out in this iron mining town, next to one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. Hibbing is Bob Dylan’s hometown; he sang about it in North Country Blues: “My children will go as soon as they grow, for there ain’t nothing here now to hold them.”

I

backed my car out of the driveway, put on Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and drove south out of New York. In the rearview mirror was the old yellow carriage house I lived in with my parents and dogs, and mountain laurels leafing out in spring — the childhood home I won’t go back to for years.

In the back of the car: a guitar, a box of books (mostly poetry and short stories), three bags GOLDSTEIN of clothes, cameras, a journal, instant oatmeal and soup, camping equipment and a road atlas.

I drove south for a week, then west, then the road opened up. I don’t quite remember when I stopped planning my stops and just drove, but I think it was one morning, west of Louisiana, while closing a motel room door.

My memories now are dust and plains, strangers talking slow and singing fireside PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

“

in the New Mexico high desert and the thin smoky air of the Rockies. Thin mist on the bay below the Golden Gate Bridge.

Missile silos and oil under Dakota ground, the empty motels in new ghost towns, and people fishing by an island of blast furnaces outside Detroit, the lights on the smokestacks like cities. I have memories, notes and photos of the people and places I saw along the way.

Months after, at the edge of this town, the edge of this Genesee Valley, the highway is the river I listen for at night: the trucks shudder as they pass another town, alone on the road.

To drive America alone in a big red car and tell people about it is nothing new, even in art. I followed in a tradition of hundreds of photographers (Robert Frank in particular), writers, poets, journalists and filmmakers — who sought to travel great distances across America’s highways and return with something to say about these people and this landscape.

In eight weeks, I traveled 12,000 miles clockwise around the country — less than 1 percent of America’s highways. I barely scratched the surface. I saw as much as I

Opening Photo: Fort Belknap Reservation, Mont. – Route 2, Montana’s Hi-line, runs just south of the Canadian border. This isolated route is dominated by railroad towns and reservations. People travel to Havre, 40 miles west of Fort Belknap, for nights out.

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Ridgway, Colo. — Trucks outside a hostel.

Boise City, Okla. — Juan speaks little English. Here, he’s fixing a hose for a neighbor.

Outside Cameron, La. — The boys in the foreground had just arrived by car from Minnesota to stay with family in Cameron, a large shrimping port that’s shrinking due to hurricane devastation, the sinking price of shrimp, and a decline in off-shore oil field work.

could, and I returned with a collection of stories to tell.

I never intended to define America.

Instead, I wanted to explore the modern American landscape and social conditions, and to represent, in poetry and photography, the small spots of land and small parts of lives of people with whom I connected. I took more than 3,000 photos; in preparing to write, I pulled together a small collection that now, I hope, tell their own stories.

I can’t tell you now what it means to be an American, or where to go to find the “real” America. Maybe it’s the flag rolled up, leaning on a collapsing dance hall in the woods of Alabama. Or maybe the toxic water filling the copper mines under Butte, Montana.

Maybe it’s the roads we drive, the neighborhoods and villages they paved over, or the rubber caked on it from cars and long nights spent killing time. Or it’s just a name — a fiction that contorts the history and humanity stretching across this country.

In the months following the road trip, I began looking over my photos and memories to transition to writing the long work of poetry that will explain and question what I saw. What will remain in my mind are the images of beauty, desolation, of slow-moving disaster, and most of all of the people who live in this landscape.

People everywhere have stories and want to share them — sometimes all you have to

Brendan Mahoney ’18: Ambassador of Disruption creates Frankenstein media

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rendan Mahoney ’18 believes media can be restrictive, slow and impersonal. He wants authors to come together within the internet.

“It’s a bubbling well of creativity,” he said.

As the first recipient of the Ambassador of Disruption Award, funded by Raymond Lord III ’11, he independently developed his ideas.

Lord’s intent is to show people that the way they think things can happen, can happen, instead of things having to be the way they always have been.

The $5,000 award allowed Mahoney to develop and build a website for Frankenstein’s Review, an online literary journal that functions like the monster Frankenstein, with multiple literary “bodies,” or works fused together.

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Anyone is invited to contribute, with zero guidelines. They can submit any creative work. There are also no bylines.

Mahoney prints authors’ names at the end of the journal only, to show collaboration and equity among works.

He received 60 submissions for the first

issue, from Geneseo and as far as New Mexico on diverse themes — from a personal account of the effects of cat-calling and sexism written by a female college student, to a series of distorted audio clips with a poem flashing continuously, meant to show media bias.

He expects to launch the first issue this Spring.

Mahoney hopes Frankenstein Review is a tool to improve access to collaborative media and share ideas. In doing so, he’s found connection.

“I've never felt like I had a real community for writing and sharing,” he says.

“Frankenstein Review has allowed me to feel that community.”

Read Frankenstein’s Review and find out more at www.frankensteinsreview.com — By Kitrick McCoy ’19

do is ask, sometimes not even that. You start talking to a city maintenance worker in a New Orleans hostel, and two days later he and his friend are showing you the Lower ninth Ward.

You wander into a bar in Butte, mention visiting the grave of Frank Little, and the bartender shows you a shrine to a murdered labor hero, candle still lit beside it a century later. I can’t summarize America, or even one person in it, but I can, I hope, give small images of people and the landscape we live in: Green Bank, W.V. — Heart of the National Radio Quiet Zone. Mountains shield telescopes from cell towers as astronomers listen for faint stars and the Navy listens to us. At the cash-only motel, the man in the room next door gave me trout that we roasted over the camp stove for dinner. Outside of town, I gave an old man my straw hat to add to his ever-growing hat collection.

Nekoma, N.D. — Town with a population of 25 — 31 with road workers and me.

Shallow glacial ponds shining in the plains, the ground hollow with nuclear missile silos. Looming on the edge of town, the Cold War concrete pyramid houses pigeons now instead of radar.

Detroit — The city now open like prairie: blocks of grassland where homes stood.

Angie, who is the only one on the block to

Green Bank, W.V. — This man has a collection of over 3,000 hats in the trailer next to his house, and invites passersby to add to it. He has hats from around the world, including the straw hat I left with him.

“My memories now are dust and plains, strangers talking slow and singing fireside in the New Mexico high desert and the thin smoky air of the Rockies.”

keep her house, sleeps in her lawn chair on the porch on summer nights. She remembers dancing in the street when this block was a neighborhood. Down the street, the casino glows over her.

Mallika Shah ’17: Ambassador of leadership preserves ancient Indian theater

PHOTO PROVIDED

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n stage, Mallika Shah ’17 stands in white, expressing anger and surprise with just her eyes, her hands and the way she stands.

She never says a word.

Off stage, she would spend six hours a day learning the ancient theater art “Kutiyattam,” to rely on gestures and emotion in the eyes, not speech.

Recognized by UNESCO as a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity, the practice is thousands of years old and the only surviving form of Sanskrit theater.

Shah spent three weeks last summer in an intensive workshop learning basics of Kutiyattam in its birthplace of Kerala, India, as a Frank Vafier ’74 Ambassador in Leadership.

Leadership is an important skill and trait to have, says Vafier, which needs to be

Mallika Shah ’17 practices the ancient theater technique in India.

developed. He created the ambassadorship to provide an opportunity to students to develop leadership.

“It was a very spiritual experience because all of the performances are based on Hindu scripture and mythology,” says Shah, of the experience. She wants to enter theater after graduation. “It was one of the most enriching experiences of my life.”

Shah joined all small group of students from all over the world for the workshop; she hopes to create ways to adapt the ancient art for younger audiences, as many people can’t read the gestures and signs anymore.

“I want to bring these performances to a more modern audience and let them see the richness of it,” she says, “so we don’t lose it.”

— By Kris Dreessen Winter 2017

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PHOTOS BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Campus Auxilary Chefs who experienced culinary immersion in Italy are bringing what they have learned to campus. Pictured are left to right: Executive Chef Matthew Laurence, Michelle Halloran, Director of Culinary Operations Jonna Anne and Chris Zambito.

Buon appetito!

Food is more than a tasty meal. It’s an experience.

Campus chefs immersed themselves in Italian culture to bring authentic dining — and a family feel — to Geneseo.

By Kris Dreessen

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n the rolling green hills near Tuscany, there is a family who has been raising pigs and sharing their homemade prosciutto and cured cuts of pork with hungry customers for generations.

There, a group of Geneseo campus chefs toured the farm and were then invited by the grandfather into a cozy tasting house, where he ladled homemade soup and sliced samples of the family’s meats, as his grandkids cleared plates from the tables.

“I’ve worked in the food industry for more than 20 years and I’ve never seen anyone enjoy their jobs as much as this family,” says Geneseo Executive Chef Matthew Laurence. “They were so proud

of what they produce. It was a tremendous experience. I would like to instill that pride on our campus and have everyone excited about what we share here.”

Laurence, two other chefs and Director of Culinary Operations Jonna Anne spent 10 days exploring Italy last summer, as part of a new Campus Auxiliary Services program for those who plan dining options in the on-campus restaurants and cafes, and create meals for 5,000 students. Faculty Fellow for International Programs Wes Kennison ’79 led the group; he has had decades-long relationships with families, farmers and restaurateurs in the area.

“We wanted to give our culinary professionals a real-world, ground-level inter-

PHOTO BY MICHELLE HALLORAN

Chef Michelle Halloran serves a creation at the Bene Comune.

A typical butcher in Italy.

PHOTO BY MATTHEW LAURENCE

national experience that would better inform them for their work on a daily basis,” says CAS Executive Director Mark Scott. “As we become a more global society, and to the extent that our campus has become more globalized, our students bring with them a whole different set of expectations and appreciation for food and its link to the cultures it comes from. This helps us become better at providing culturally rich and accurate dining.”

Eating is simple, but understanding food — and its production, delivery and culture — is complex, say Scott and Kennison. How does it shape economic realities in the regions? How does food affect government policy? How does it affect families and how they interact with each other?

The chefs explored these questions as well as how history has directly affected Italian food in different regions as they visited family farms. They explored the farm-to-table culture of Italian eating, and the concept of “slow food.” They also partnered with pasta-maker Barilla and cooked with chefs at the Barilla academy. Barilla owns a pasta-making facility in Avon, outside Geneseo, and has led cooking demonstrations for students on campus.

Chefs also helped prep for meals at two restaurants in the medieval city of Siena, gaining an authentic taste for food service.

“In any restaurant you walked into, you were made to feel part of the family,” says Laurence. Families who owned eateries focused on foods grown locally.

In Italy, eating is as much about the experience of a meal as it is about the food itself, he says. That’s what they hope to bring back to campus: an appreciation for food and the process of getting it to the table — a sense of comfort in creative dining and an appreciation for our own regional harvests.

“We will be introducing some of these ideas and recipes in our campus restaurants” to encourage that family feel, says Laurence.

It also reinforces CAS’ mission of using local foods. Among its many

Culinary artists get creative at the Barilla cooking school in Italy.

endeavors, CAS purchases all of its milk and dairy from Upstate Farms, a cooperative of more than 360 local family farms. CAS also sources as much fresh produce as possible from more than 20 local farms through a distributor in Rochester.

Last fall, campus chefs introduced recipes they learned in Italy, including a baked fresh focaccia bread sandwich, with grilled vegetables, and a risotto served at the ROMA Italian eatery in Letchworth Dining Complex.

On Dec. 7, Anne hosted a Bene Comune Festival on campus, in honor of a traditional Italian event. The CAS chefs each cooked a recipe brought home from Italy, with learning sessions for students looking for Italian skills.

In the short term, Scott hopes the chefs’ experience will elevate dining at Geneseo, and an appreciation for how food drives communities and brings people together.

“The care that goes into every aspect of daily life in Italy is quite amazing,” says chef Michelle Halloran. “What I took away from this trip is that ‘slow food’ equals a happy heart, and, in turn, a happy life. Every day I try to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the process of preparing food.”

Scott sees the program as just the beginning for Geneseo.

He hopes to provide an opportunity for CAS student workers in campus dining to have a similar international experience and an unconventional learning from experience at Geneseo, which they can gain new skills and perspective. People have conversations — they build community and solve tough problems — around meals.

“From the first day I set foot on this campus, it was ingrained in me that it’s important that we integrate every part of the campus experience into student learning,” says Scott. “We’ve taken that very seriously. CAS is known for food.

It’s natural for us to extend learning in this way.”

Chef Chris Zambito serves an Italian dish at the Bene Comune.

Winter 2017

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ATHLETICS AND RECREATION

International teamwork A Dutch student learns what family means on and off the Geneseo court.

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“Being on the team has taught me that it’s important to support each other, both in and outside the gym.

In the gym, we need high energy to take steps toward making ourselves and others better.” — Luca Leithuijser

By Jared Scott Tesler he had never stepped foot onto the Geneseo volleyball court, so the odds of making the team seemed stacked against Luca Leithuijser. She was a walk-on tryout for the women’s Division III volleyball team, and an exchange student, here from the Netherlands for a limited time only.

Leithuijser, a senior and psychology major at the University of Groningen, has

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on the first day of class. She was here this past semester.

“I was walking by the gym on the first day of school and heard some kids playing around with our volleyballs,” Dunn recalls. “Naturally, I went in to ask them to not use our equipment, and, ironically, it was Luca Leithuijser!”

Awkward in-person greeting over, Leithuijser fell into the role of Geneseo

PHOTOS BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Luca Leithuijser, number 2, learned supporting each other is most important for a team.

been playing volleyball since age 9.

Would she impress head coach Amber Dunn? Would the timing be right? Would she make the team?

Since not all student-athletes are actively recruited beforehand or awarded athletic scholarships, walk-on tryouts do occur. Clinching a roster spot is another matter entirely.

“Trying out for this team was really important to me because volleyball has been so central in my life,” Leithuijser says, “and playing for a college volleyball team would allow me to experience the sport in another setting and to get out of my comfort zone.”

Leithuijser and Dunn emailed back and forth for a month before school and met

teammate easily.

Leithuijser landed a position as a defensive specialist.

She found life at Geneseo very different from her home campus. In the Netherlands, she says, college buildings and students are scattered throughout the city. There are no residence halls or roommates. Student-athletes participate in clubs rather than on teams, practice less frequently, lack first-rate facilities, and never experience long drives or overnight trips.

As a Knight, she devoted her weekends to volleyball and all of the hours in practice, but found time to enjoy meals, movies and even a Halloween haunted house with her teammates, who all

became fast friends. They did little things for her, she says, like give her rides to the mall and pick her up from the bus stop.

“Being a member of the team is the best experience that studying here has offered me,” Leithuijser says. “You suddenly have a group of close friends who are always there for you. They have helped me a lot with finding my place here and they take care of me when I need it.”

Looking back, Leithuijser says those first few days in the Kuhl Gymnasium were quite overwhelming.

Dunn commends Leithuijser’s ability to adapt to new situations, on and off the court. “She does whatever she has to do to make plays,” she says. “And as a coach, you need players like that. Immediately, she made our practices more competitive with her drive and skill.”

Leithuijser was a good addition to the team, says assistant coach Hunter Drews.

“Sometimes, you can get caught up in just watching her play. She’s more than willing to throw her body on the floor to get a touch on any ball.”

Much to her surprise, the way Leithuijser plays the game has varied from place to place. “I’ve discovered that I can be a stabilizing and calm player on my current team, while at home, I was always an energetic and very loud player,” she says. “I guess environment can make a big difference!

“Being on the team has taught me that it’s important to support each other, both in and outside the gym. In the gym, we need high energy to take steps toward making ourselves and others better.”

Her favorite game was a hard-fought victory over the Oswego Lakers following a tough loss the previous night.

“Everyone contributed during that game, both the players on the court as well as the players on the bench,” says Leithuijser. “The vibe on the court felt good and we didn’t look at the scoreboard because we were focused on our own play.”

Dutch international student Luca Leithuijser high fives her Geneseo teammates.

Winter 2017

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RANDOM PROFILE

One Cup Tanya Charbonneau ’96 PHOTO PROVIDED

Counseling hospital patients when they are in crisis.

By Sherrie Negrea

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.

South Carolina Could it be you?

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QUICK FACTS Home: New Boston, N.H. Graduation year: 1996 Degree: Bachelor of arts psychology and sociology, with a minor in women’s studies Family: Married to John Jamberdino ’96. They have a son, Alexander Something about me that usually surprises people: I was an exchange student in high school and spent part of the summer in Germany.

The biggest risk I’ve taken: Taking a newly created position as a social worker in an emergency department as my first job in the field of social work.

How you describe Geneseo: Picturesque and full of potential Favorite campus hangout: Southside and walks in the Roemer Arboretum Best Geneseo memory: Meeting my future husband as a freshman the first week of school at a fraternity party How Geneseo has shaped your life: I would not be where I am today without having been at Geneseo. It started me on a journey down my path in life.

Most important life lesson learned at Geneseo: Set your goals high and don't settle for less.

ILLUSTRATION BY AMANDA LINDLEY

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t 8 a.m. every weekday, Tanya Charbonneau ’96 walks into Concord Hospital in New Hampshire not knowing what her shift will bring. She might counsel a patient on oxygen whose electricity is being shut off or work with someone who is homeless and needs stable housing.

As a hospital social worker, Charbonneau must quickly address her patients’ problems, because on average, their stay at the hospital will last just a few days. “You’ve got one shot. You’re not working with someone for a few weeks or months,” she says. “It all happens very quickly.”

Charbonneau’s passion for helping people developed when she became a psychology major at Geneseo. After one of her professors suggested she volunteer in the community, she started working at a domestic violence center in Livingston County and then landed an internship at a crisis center in Saratoga, N.Y., where she handled intake for shelter clients who needed to escape a dangerous situation at home.

Helping people in need attracted Charbonneau — she was always a listener and supporter of her friends. “It was a natural progression to the field of social work,” she says.

After earning a master’s degree in social work from the University at Albany, Charbonneau became the first social worker hired in the emergency room at Concord Hospital in 1999. It was also her first social work job. Charbonneau had to make split-second decisions after interacting with patients who had been in a car accident, an abusive situation or a traumatic fall.

“You never knew what was going to come through the door,” she says. “You worked with babies through the elderly. There wasn’t one niche you could specialize in. You had to just do it all.”

After staffing the emergency room until 9:30 every night for eight years, Charbonneau decided she wanted a less stressful schedule so that she could start a family with her husband, John Jamberdino ’96, whom she met at a fraternity party at Geneseo the first week of school.

So in 2007, she transferred to the in-patient unit of Concord Hospital and began working with cardiac and respiratory patients.

To her surprise, there was little change in the issues she dealt with.

“These are all the issues that are in the community — they don't just happen in the emergency room,” she says. “You’re going to see the same themes, no matter where you are.”

In her 17-year career as a hospital social worker, Charbonneau has learned to appreciate the time she has with her family — especially having dinner each night with her husband, a software engineer, and her son, Alexander, 4. “Working in a hospital puts a new perspective on how important your health is and how valuable life is,” she says. “You learn to cherish the time that you have with the people you love.”

CK A B E E COM LEBRAT CE 017 D 2 N N A NIO REU 2-3

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Alumni News ALUMNI NEWS

What makes Geneseo home More than 700 alumni and friends gathered at last year’s reunion. Come home June 2 and 3 and remember — and make new memories.

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Alumni event photos A four-star chef Black Sabbath bassist to lawyer Visual class notes Scene around the world Winter 2017

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Regional Events

Upcoming

Alumni Events The Office of Alumni Relations is always looking for event ideas. Contact the office at alumni@geneseo.edu if you would like to work with us to plan an event.

Great Knight April 4, 2017 All regions Great Knight is an annual simultaneous alumni celebration of Geneseo across the nation — and beyond.

Contact Amanda McCarthy, assistant director of alumni relations for regional events (mccarthya@geneseo.edu), if you are interested in planning a Great Knight event in your area.

Syracuse, N.Y. — Alumni Gathering: Laura Szczesniak ’05 and Colin Shannon ’16

Springfest/Alumni Weekend April 28 and 29, 2017 Clio Sorority 145th Anniversary Weekend Fall sports alumni games and gatherings Rugby alumni weekend and 35th anniversary celebration

Reunion June 2 and 3, 2017 Phi Sigma Xi Fraternity 65th Anniversary Weekend Sigma Phi/Theta Epsilon Fraternity Reunion Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity Reunion 1976-1977 Jones & Steuben Reunion Special decade theme: AWESOME ’80s

Albany, N.Y. — Valley Cats: Liz, John ’94, Grace and Abby McManus

Contact Tracy Young Gagnier ’93, assistant director of alumni relations (gagnier@geneseo.edu), if you are interested in planning a class or affinity reunion.

Make sure we have your email so we can invite you to join us! We are always planning events on campus and throughout the country.

Most of our event invitations are sent by email to reduce cost and conserve resources.

Visit alumni.geneseo.edu for events in your area!

Mount Vernon, Va. — Rebecca Clary ’04, Markus Roth, Josh ’00 and Maria Rabinowitz 26

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Buffalo, N.Y. — Larkin Square: Sandy Marciano Keeney ’83, Don Duggan-Haas ’85, Wayne Gage ’85, Ginger Wolfanger Ursitti ’83, Gary Panek ’83, Rick Pendleton ’83 and Michael Kracker ’10

N.Y.C. — Wall Street Association Event: Steve Barth ’13, Jaison Abel ’94 and Ryan Kanick ’10

Winter 2017

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Events

Alumnae Women’s Lacrosse game and picnic

Alumni Swim Meet and Reception

Alumnae Softball game and picnic — Katie Muller ’15

Alumni (Mudcat) Baseball — Matthew Zawisky ’01 28

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Family Weekend

Family Weekend

Alumni Men’s Lacrosse game and picnic

Winter 2017

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PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

ALUMNI NEWS

ALUMNI PROFILES

class of ’00 Matthew Abdoo Matt Abdoo ’00, pictured at Mario Batali’s Del Posto resturant in New York. Abdoo was chef de cuisine there before recently opening Pig Beach BBQ.

Four-star chef brings people together with his creations

By Kris Dreessen

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rowing up, nothing was better, says Matt Abdoo ’00, than his grandma’s meatballs. They were cheesy, saucy, Italian perfection.

At 94, “she’s still with us,” and they still are the best, he says.

Abdoo, a four-star chef who has worked with celebrity chef Mario Batali, honors his grandmother’s home cooking to this day.

He has recreated her recipe on The Today Show and on his blog, where he praises her dish with this proclamation: These meatballs “will be in your top three of all time.”

When he shares the recipe, he’s also sharing the feelings of his family when gathered around the dinner table.

“I’ve always loved food,” says 30

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Abdoo, “but I loved food for the ability of bringing family and friends together and putting smiles on faces and lifting someone’s spirits.”

Abdoo, who has led the

istration classes. He practiced in the residence hall.

“I became notorious for making these really big dinners for our suitemates,” he remembers. “I had a two-burn-

“My whole life, I like being able to make people happy, and food became the means for me to do that.” kitchen in acclaimed restaurants in Boston and in Batali’s Del Posto in New York City, got his start in high school, baking cakes for fun, then filling cannoli and transforming flour into wedding cakes and pastries during summers off from Geneseo.

Abdoo realized he wanted to become a chef during these breaks from his business admin-

er stove and a tiny oven in the communal kitchen, and cooked for anyone that wanted to come.”

Abdoo graduated valedictorian from the Culinary Institute of America in 2004. His first full-time position resulted from his internship at Marc Orfaly’s Italian restaurant, Pigalle, in Boston. Orfaly chose him to be head chef at his new eatery,

Marco. He was 24.

“Oh, I was terrified,” he says.

“I was just a kid, but he trusted me. You adapt, you learn, you live.”

Abdoo’s kitchen leadership helped earn Marco great Zagat reviews and critics’ endorsements, which helped Abdoo land an invitation at famed Del Posto.

There are two restaurants in New York awarded four stars by the New York Times. One of them is Del Posto, where diners savor handmade pastas and unique dishes made exclusively from fresh ingredients, served as a chef-created sampling menu.

Abdoo worked at all the stations there before being named “chef de cuisine.” He was the executive chef’s right-hand, basically doing everything needed to carry out Batali and the chef’s vision: staff training, kitchen operations, scheduling and menu development.

Last March, Abdoo quit Del Posto to open Pig Beach BBQ with a friend — and cook more. They first experimented with flavors on a small barbecue pit, and won awards for meats and sauces. “We cooked and cooked, and loved it,” says Abdoo.

At Pig Beach in Gowanus, Brooklyn, diners can try Abdoo’s homemade ribs and sausage stuffed with hot cherry peppers and provolone.

They will soon open Pig Beach in Manhattan.

Often, he says, our best memories come from birthdays and gatherings.

“My whole life, I like being able to make people happy, and food became the means for me to do that,” says Abdoo.

Former Black Sabbath bass player turned lawyer David Spitz ’79 toured the world, but traded it in for his first love.

By Eric Butterman

PHOTO BY RICK GOULD

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ave Spitz ’79 holding court, his hair long, the audience’s eyes on him. That could describe the shows in which he’s played bass as a member of three well-known bands of the last 30 years.

Or it could just be another day representing a client for his solo law practice: As Spitz says, he’s let long locks return.

Known today and in college as “The Beast,” he was once an undergrad at Geneseo, planning on a legal career, playing music with friends like Buzzo and taking in the college experience.

“My parents always emphasized education and I believed in it, too,” says Spitz. “My father was a lawyer, my mother was a teacher, and they taught me to have a plan. The classes gave me a great liberal arts education. It helped my writing, and having a strength in communication can only help you as a lawyer.”

With degree in hand, his love for music made him try to make playing bass his full-time living. “My parents were on board because I received my degree, showing I knew that I needed options,” he says.

It took a few years, but he landed with a promising band called White Lion — one that went on to sell more than 2 million albums, thanks to hits such as “Wait.” But he would leave before their success.

Still, don’t feel too sorry.

He departed because rock royalty Black Sabbath came calling.

Spitz played on founding

class of ’79 Dave Spitz David Spitz ’79, “the Beast” was in Black Sabbath and other bands before choosing a law career.

Sabbath member Tony Iommi’s solo album, thanks to a producer’s recommendation. Spitz then got a call.

“They asked me if I wanted to join Black Sabbath!” he says. “I grew up living and breathing and playing Sabbath, but I was also deeply involved with White Lion. It was a tough decision, but my gut told me to go with Sabbath.”

He was a member of Sabbath from 1985 to 1987, playing all over the world.

He graduated from Nova Southeastern University and has been practicing personal injury law for more than 15 years in Boca Raton, Fla. “I’ve said it many times, but law is what makes civilization work, and that’s a big reason I’m a part of it,” says Spitz.

“Without the law, it would be like how it was for the caveman.”

As much as he enjoys arguing in front of the one who holds the gavel, he still holds on to the axe.

“How many tribute bands have someone who was a member of the actual band?” he says. “I’m in a band called War Pigs, and it’s a blast to still play Black Sabbath through it.

“I’ve enjoyed all the other things that have come with this, but to just play, to have people respond to what I do, I hope I’ve let them know just how much it means to me,” says Spitz. “Like I said, I’ve been lucky.”

Eventually, he joined Great White (“Once Bitten Twice Shy,” “Rock Me”), which also sold millions of albums.

“That’s some good luck there,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong — I believe in my talent — but you also need to have some good fortune to be in successful bands like those.”

Then, in the mid-90s, the legal profession called him: “I could have just kept on in music, but I was in my later 30s, and I felt if I was ever going to do this, it was time.”

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ALUMNI NEWS

Class Notes WELCOME TO THE NEW VISUAL CLASS NOTES! This space has always been for connecting. Look for new features and photos that highlight our alumni family.

Submit your ideas or high-resolution photos to scene@geneseo.edu.

Do you know an alum who is giving back? Did your Geneseo family reunite or attend your wedding? Got a story? Tell us!

Share your news with us at scene@geneseo.edu

PAY IT FORWARD Geneseo donors on why they give back

I DO ... SHOW YOUR WEDDING SPIRIT Celebrate your wedding day with all your Geneseo friends and send a photo, hopefully representing with a Geneseo banner or sign! scene@geneseo.edu (Above) Dr. Curtis Halsted ’91 and Timothy Jewett were recently married. The celebration brought together 150 alumni and their families, including the late geological sciences Professor William Brennan. It was the first time in many years that the Geneseo friends were able to reunite: It was the last time Brennan’s former students saw him before his death in April 2016.

“This picture means a great deal to us,” said guest Joseph Horton ’91. “It celebrates the bonds that were created 25 years ago in a small town. It is reflective of the kids we were and the adults we would become. It is about strangers who became friends and the family, that, years ago, we chose to create. It is about love and loss. It is a true celebration of what our college experience was, and hopefully, for the current students, still is.

“This is a picture of SUNY Geneseo.”

(Right) Matt Travis ’10 and Jean Danaher Travis ’10 were recently married surrounded by family and friends — including this gang from Geneseo. They met during freshman year at an introductory geology course, and started dating as juniors.

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geneseo scene

It was her first time learning to live alone. She met her husband here. She found a second home in the friends she made, who have been her support network for 25 years.

“I didn’t leave Geneseo,” says Suzanne LaMarch Davidson ’93, who recently attended

reunion. “I have taken some of it with me.”

A controller for a consumer marketing company in Florida, Suzanne is grateful for the financial assistance she received to earn her accounting degree, including working on campus.

It’s what allowed her to get where she wants to be. Now, she can give back as a member of the 1871 Leadership Society, providing a gift of $500 or more annually to Geneseo.

“It gave me so much,” she says.

GENESEO LEGACY ... GENERATIONS OF PRIDE Four generations Inspired by her mother, Dortha Holland Nester ’56 also chose to come to Geneseo to become a teacher. Teaching was always the most important thing in her life — after her family, of course.

Fitting then, they’ve got a long history here: Her son, David Nester ’84, and daughter Debra Nester Baker ’81/MS’84 received their education degrees here, too. So did her grandson, Ryan Baker ’06/MS’07.

David and Ryan met their spouses here, as well. David married Lisa Romaine Nester ’84; Ryan married Erin Welch Baker ’06/MS’07.

“They say it means even more to us, because we met the love of our lives there, too,” says Dortha. Her mom, Geradline David Holland, class of 1929, would be proud!

ALUMNI ACCOLADE Geneseo College Council member Melisza Campos ’01 recently received the ATHENA Young Professional Award from the Women's Council, a Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce affiliate. The award honors emerging women leaders who demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession. Campos is vice president of instruction and Carnegie Master for the Dale Carnegie Rochester office. Among other service, she was a commissioner of the Rochester Board of Education for two terms, the youngest woman to serve in that position. Congratulations!

What’s your Geneseo legacy? Share your photos and stories with us at scene@geneseo.edu.

GIVING BACK ... ALUMNI WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE “I am the first professional librarian Former library media specialist and to ever work there,” she says. world traveler Jane Claud ’69 spends Jane is raising money through several weeks each year in the Peruvian friends and crowdfunding for books Amazon on an adventure that also and materials to bring with her to the helps kids living in a remote village library this fall. learn to read and learn “I love opening new English.

Do you know a worlds to the children of Jane originally went to member of our the Amazon, who have stay at a jungle lodge Geneseo family who limited experience away outside of Iquitos and gives back to the from the river, through discovered a public community? books and words,” says library run by the lodge Let us know!

Jane. “In turn, this advenoperator. scene@geneseo.edu. ture shows me a new culShe now goes every ture, a new world and a year, paying her own new perspective. expenses, in the growing Read her blog about all her jourpastime of “voluntourism” — advenneys: janeclaud.edublogs.org. Find out tures that combine volunteering. She more about the library: reads to the children, has combined www.conapac.org/library.html. teen and adult book collections, provided e-readers and teaches English.

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ALUMNI NEWS

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.

Friends from the class of 2000 met for a mini-reunion in Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg last summer. From left to right are: Meredith Cole Farrell, Kelly Miller Letourneau, Kara Smolnycki Ednie, Meaghan McCarthy Zloty, Maria Cinelli Fiden, Heather Spaziani Macomber and Heather McNamara Long.

Jim Kaplan ’70 visited the Jungfraujoch peak in Switzerland via the Glacier Express, the slowest express train in the world, with his wife, Robbie.

Jaclyn Pawelczak ’06 and Laura McCormick-Low ’97 enjoy taking groups of students into the global classroom, including a trip to Spain last summer. Here they are in Parque Güell in Barcelona.

Robert Poetsch ’94 and Debbie Schook Poetsch ’94 enjoy sunny Aruba with their sister Diane Schook Mital ’97 and her husband, Jeff Mital ’97.

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geneseo scene

Proud parents of Mary LaFantano ’17, Beth and Pascal LaFantano, visited their daughter in Prague to explore the city and the Alps following her Humanities II course last summer.

Kellie Moran ’14 in Shaniwar Wada, Pune, India.

Charlie Ferb and Sonnia Arranz Ferb ’66 celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary in Maui.

Jason Rookey ’99 and Amy Johnson Rookey ’00 took an 18-day voyage across Europe and photographed themselves with the Scene at the Temple of Athena in Athens, Greece.

Dennis O’Connor ’79, posing somewhere over the rainbow in southeast Kansas, on the job and in flight for the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Jonathan Jezioro ’03 took his issue to Eduardo VII Park in Lisbon, Portugal.

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ALUMNI NEWS

CLASS NOTES

Family sticks together … Alumni at work Geneseo grads have skills and excel in diverse careers. Here at the Scene, they want to share when they have the good fortune to work with a group of alumni.

In Memoriam ALUMNI Eulalie Cook Greene ’36, June

4, 2014 Pluma Swain Pownall ’38, Sept.

28, 2016 V. Anne Hudecek Matura ’40,

July 15, 2016 Winifred Knight Pease ’43,

Sept. 3, 2016 Dora McTarnaghan Coates ’45,

Sept. 19, 2016 Georgene Morrison Shank ’46,

Sept. 20, 2016 Maryjean Kingston Herberger ’47, May 30, 2016 Helma Wilcox ’50, Nov. 1, 2016 Russell Barone ’52, July 15, 2016 Richard Clancy ’53, Nov. 5, 2016 Sally Stevens Ashley ’54, Aug.

2, 2016 Alice Doorley Hoffman ’55,

Aug. 23, 2015 Jean Sanders ’55 Mary Smith Girling ’56, Sept.

Nine Geneseo alumni work at Dixon Schwabl, a full-service marketing and creative agency in Victor, N.Y. Graduates there work in multimedia to managing partners, and range from the class of 1990 to 2016.

12, 2016 Kenneth Gordon ’58, July 8, 2016 Patricia Graves ’58, Sept. 26, 2016 Mary Ross Donohue ’59, Nov. 4,

Are you proud of the Geneseo crew you have working together?

Send us a photo and tell us about yourselves at scene@geneseo.edu

2015 Ronald Snyder ’59, Nov. 4, 2016 Sally Henry Doeing ’61 Beverly Germack ’63, Sept. 19,

2016 Ernest Dungan ’64, Oct. 1, 2014 Adria Bradley Shearing ’64,

Graduates from 1974 to 2016 gathered for a photo at Mary Cariola Children’s Center in Rochester, N.Y., where they provide educational and community services to children and youth with multiple disabilities. They work in information technology, education, agency advertising and other areas.

Oct. 28, 2015 Marsha Barnes Avery ’65, Nov.

5, 2016 Margaret Calhoun Bennett ’65,

Jan. 1, 2017 Carole Bayer Dolock ’66, Dec.

19, 2016 Linda Israel Fisher ’67 Loraine Kilgallen Wilson ’70,

Sept. 4, 2016 Kirk Katner ’71, Aug. 19, 2015 Judith Lambert Watson ’71,

Nov. 1, 2016 Susan Feldbauer Derock ’72,

June 26, 2016 Ernest Getman ’72, Nov. 3, 2016 Deborah Parmelee Getman ’72,

Sept. 21, 2016 Peggy Reese O’Neill ’72, July 2,

2015 Priscilla Rudgers Rider ’73, July

24, 2014 Fred Whalen ’72, Nov. 13, 2016

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geneseo scene

Mary Hanson ’73, June 29, 2013 Eileen Forsyth Wolski ’73 John Conklin ’75, Sept. 25, 2016 Diane Courtright ’75, Oct. 31,

2016

Gary Noll ’81, Dec. 16, 2016 Christine Gillen Condidorio ’82, July 18, 2016 Mary Moran ’82, June 29, 2016 Cara Beruk Hartwell ’84, Aug.

2016 Adrianus Kusuma ’03, Sept. 18,

2016 Peter Flood ’12, Dec. 1, 2016 Franco Spadafora ’15, Nov. 12,

Roger Krueger ’77, April 19, 2016 Donna Filkins ’78, Nov. 2., 2016 Dale Boudry Parmer ’79, July 1,

9, 2016

2016

Caryn Geringer Camiolo ’85,

Beverly W. Talladay ’68, Jan. 2,

Oct. 19, 2016

2015

2016

Andrea Schaefer Centola ’89,

Linda Arntsen ’80, Oct. 22, 2016 Patricia Delfino Bachman ’81,

Aug. 4, 2016

STUDENTS Savannah Williams ’20, died on

Oct. 21, 2016

Peter Letson ’89, Dec. 5, 2015 Geoffrey Ranches ’95, Oct. 26,

Dec. 20, 2016.

Giving spotlight:

Young alumni is on the cutting edge of fighting cancer Greg Roloff ’12 got his start, thanks to faculty and generous alumni.

By Kris Dreessen t the National Institutes of Health, Greg Roloff ’12 analyzes blood samples of patients with leukemia that persists after cancer treatment — at levels below detection.

He is part of a team of researchers who are developing clinical tests to find lingering cells sooner, and ultimately save lives.

A medical student at the University of Buffalo, Roloff is spending this year in the NIH’s Medical Research Scholars Program, a prestigious appointment at one of the world’s leading health organizations.

“I am fortunate for the opportunities I have been given,” says Roloff, “and for what I have been able to contribute.”

He says he found his passion to fight cancer while at Geneseo.

Roloff conducted cancer-related research since he was a freshman, work-

A

ing beside SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Robert O’Donnell. Professor Kevin Militello was his mentor for his advanced senior thesis work.

“I was taught in an engaging way, and that’s what planted the seed in me to explore more,” says Roloff.

To do so, lab projects were directly supported by The Carl Savino ’50 and Olga Gerych-Savino ’53 Research Fund, which supported cancer-related research. He also received grants through the college’s Undergraduate Research and Travel Grants, which is made possible, in part, through unrestricted giving to Geneseo.

Says Roloff: “My work would not have been possible without the support of the Savinos and other generous donors.”

O’Donnell has partnered with students in the lab for 30 years, including seven this year. Alumni donors and external

funding support student travel to present at professional conferences and other opportunities to apply classroom work to investigating important contemporary issues.

“It opens a lot of doors for our students,” says O’Donnell.

Many students like Roloff find their calling during their research experience.

That experience is a necessity for advanced work at graduate institutions or earning summer grants.

“Geneseo will go with me everywhere,” says Roloff. “Attending college there is still the best decision I have ever made.

The education I received has provided me with a scaffold for the pursuit of higher intellect and given me a more critical scope to identify problems and build strategies to tackle them, while keeping me grounded in a spirit of humility.”

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