Counsel of caring

Holly Irion provides a safe space, a caring ear and a sense of peace to the SUNY Adirondack community, and the greater community took notice as Irion was awarded The Post-Star’s 20 Under 40 recognition in 2022.

“It was truly an honor to be nominated and selected for the award,” said Irion, a licensed mental health counselor and assistant professor at SUNY Adirondack.

Irion has for the past three years collaborated with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to bring Out of the Darkness Campus Walk to SUNY Adirondack. In 2022, the event had more than 100 participants who raised approximately $10,000 for suicide prevention and awareness efforts.

She works as an adjunct teaching Freshman Seminar and Human Sexuality and serves the campus community as a counselor. She is co-chair of SUNY Adirondack’s fouryear partnership with the JED Foundation and serves on several campus committees and work groups. She completed with distinction the SUNY Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Teaching and Learning Certificate.

Off campus, she maintains a small practice in which she works with children and families, and serves on Warren County Community Services Board.

Cornelius Tavarres

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from SUNY Empire Master’s degree in Sports Management from American Military University

Currently: Senior auditor for the Department of Defense; SUNY Adirondack women’s basketball coach

Cornelius Tavarres was named the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year for the 2021-22 season.

Tavarres joined SUNY Adirondack in 2020. The longtime basketball player spent more than a decade coaching girls’ and women’s basketball, at the AAU, high school and college levels. He founded Adirondack Shock in 2012; coached modified basketball at Corinth Central School District for a season, then led the varsity team to Sectionals; was assistant coach at Skidmore College; and served as head coach at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, where he led the team to the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season and conference titles, a bid to the USCAA National Championship and was named Conference Coach of the Year.

Tavarres and his wife are U.S. Army veterans. The couple has three grown children. Tavarres is part of the American Red Cross Eastern New York Distaster Workforce Engagement Team, volunteers at the annual Hometown Thanksgiving and serves as a mentor in Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Bill Hart

Associate degree in Accounting from SUNY Adirondack in 1992

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from SUNY Utica in 1995

Master’s degree in Business Administration from The College of Saint Rose in 2003

Currently: Vice president of U.S. Business Operations for Irving Consumer Products