The Geneseo Scene

Winter 2011

geneseo scene

A magazine for alumni, parents and friends of SUNY Geneseo

Presenting:

Campus leadership in a new light

Accounting for the future • Adventure Italy: Study abroad for alums

geneseo Winter 2011

scene CONTENTS

FEATURES 8

GeneseOh! For 139 years, Geneseo has fostered an environment in which students learn for life. After class lets out, faculty and staff embody these values as pioneers, artists, world-changers and world-class experts far beyond their titles — and usually unnoticed.

14 Accounting for the future The finance profession is evolving and so is Geneseo’s accounting program with nationally acclaimed faculty, on-the-job experience and unprecedented growth.

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Adventure Italy: Study abroad for alums Life-changing adventure with a perk: no grades. The college kicks off its first travel opportunity for alumni, parents and friends of the college in one of Europe’s most pristine medieval cities.

DEPARTMENTS 3 21 30

One College Circle Alumni News Class Notes

COLUMNS 2 7 18 20 28 36

President’s Message Letters to the Editor Perspectives Athletics Random Profile: One Cup Memory Lane

Cover photography: Kris Dreessen Table of contents photography: Keith Walters ’11

Ice Knights goalie Cory Gershon ’12, center, deflects a puck — and an attacking player who missed the shot — during the Dec. 4 home game against SUNY Oswego. Pictured from left to right are Geneseo defenders Carson Schell ’14, co-captain Jimmy Powers ’12 and Andrew Rygiel ’11.

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

Third-class postage paid at Rochester, NY 14606

geneseo scene

Vol. 36, No. 3; Winter 2011 The Geneseo Scene is published

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

Christopher C. Dahl, President Michael J. Catillaz, Vice President for College Advancement Anthony T. Hoppa, Assistant Vice President for College Communications Kris Dreessen, Editor Carole Smith Volpe ’91, Art Director Contributing writers: Lisa M. Feinstein Anthony T. Hoppa David Irwin Zach Motl ’07 Peter B. Wayner ’11

Alumni Relations Office Rose G. Anderson, Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations Michelle Walton Worden ’92, Associate Director of Alumni Relations Tracy Young Gagnier ’93, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Francis E. Zablocki, Online Community Manager 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

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Calm rising through change and through storm s we begin a new year, Geneseo continues to gain momentum, evidenced by the usual indicators and increasingly, by rising levels of alumni engagement.

As my travel schedule attests, the Geneseo Alumni Regional Committee initiative — covering 18 cities — is reuniting classmates across the country. I take special delight in sharing the Geneseo story and hearing it through the experiences of our amazing alumni.

For many, the transformative power and lifelong influence of a liberal arts education are well known — first discovered as a student and later as a professional and engaged citizen who calls upon the knowledge and relationships gained in earlier years. This is the venerable tradition of Geneseo.

Less visible but equally compelling are the hidden stories of faculty and staff who embody the value of the liberal arts in their off-campus pursuits. They, too, reflect the lasting impact of liberal learning, such as the provost and former whitewater river guide who now leads colleagues through the rapids of academic change, and the professor who mobilizes volunteers to make a world of difference in a developing country.

These vignettes (page 8) reflect the ongoing curiosity and diversity that define a liberal arts college and uniquely capture the essence of Geneseo. The excitement is translated beyond the classroom and reflected in the vibrancy of our communities near and far.

It is a wonderful sight to behold, especially in a fiscal environment that has resulted in painful but necessary decisions following years of repeated state budget cuts. More than ever, we rely on the creativity and talents of faculty and staff to invigorate our curriculum and reinvent Geneseo, as we have done previously.

For example, our accounting program (page 14), has earned a reputation that demonstrates how the liberal arts can enhance professional programs to meet today’s evolving business needs. Soon, our new travel program (page 16) will unite alumni in the magical city of Siena, Italy, where centuries-old history is alive and relevant.

Even in the midst of economic turmoil, Geneseo strives to provide the education and experiences that change students’ lives. Our ability to do that — with your support — calls to mind Brutus’ lines from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.”

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There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.

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

We all value the history of this special college and recognize the challenges ahead.

Together, we can shape our destiny and ensure that Geneseo emerges stronger for future generations, “calm rising,” in the words of the Harvard alma mater, “through change and through storm!”

Christopher C. Dahl

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PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS 11

One College Circle

CAMPUS NEWS

Winter on the Tundra!

Robert Hawley ’11 gets a running start to give Janelle Heinig ’12 more go as she sleds behind Nassau and Suffolk halls after the first snowfall of the season.

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Humanities in Central America Fulbright winner links cultures Celebrating the sciences News in brief Winter 2011

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CAMPUS NEWS

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

Students and Wen Kennison ’79 discuss literature at the main church in El Sauce, Nicaragua.

Humanities course expands into Central America The small town of El Sauce, Nicaragua, was the backdrop for Geneseo’s first Humanities II course offered in a developing country.

Last summer, 10 students explored themes such as colonialism and globalization while examining classic texts by Galileo, Thoreau and others.

The interdisciplinary Western Civilization core course examines history, literature and philosophy from 1600 onward.

El Sauce is an ideal location because Nicaragua has been greatly affected by European and North American colonialism and other issues, says instructor Wes Kennison ’79, faculty fellow for international studies.

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In addition to class and field trips to León and other historic cities, the students immersed themselves in the community, living with host families and helping teach English language

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like a part of the community.”

The opportunity to meet with local leaders and evaluate how the books they read transfer to real life made the ideas come to life, says McDonough.

Read Anna McDonough’s El Sauce blog at humniinicaragua.blogspot.com

classes at night. They also volunteered with community improvement programs that Geneseo has developed with El Sauce residents.

Every day, Anna McDonough ’11 discussed with her family what she talked about in class, and the family’s experiences of living through civil war.

“It gave me a broader perspective,” says McDonough. “ … I felt

The new offering is also an opportunity for Spanish majors to practice their language skills. The number of Spanish majors at Geneseo has nearly doubled from 72 students in 2003 to 143 in 2009. The Geneseo Humanities course in El Sauce is the only one offered in a Spanish-speaking country.

“With the increase in student

interest in study abroad, there is also increased interest in different sorts of opportunities in study abroad, particularly service-learning and the developing world,” says Rebecca Lewis, interim assistant provost and head of International Programs.

“Geneseo is actively working to develop a range of opportunities to meet student interests. We have had students tell us that they chose Geneseo because of the programs we offer.”

Geneseo offers Humanities I in Greece and Italy and Humanities II in Oxford, Paris, Prague and El Sauce.

Kennison will lead the second course in El Sauce early this summer.

— By Kris Dreessen

Fulbright winner links cultures in Spain She may be in Spain, but the students Hannah Birdsall ’10 teaches really adore American cinema. When she introduces new words in English, she is more likely to cite scenes from blockbusters than anything else. The high school students love their trips to the movies, so it’s easier for them to integrate the language into their daily lives.

“Learning is tied into your personal experience,” says Birdsall. “They can latch onto it. Those words have meaning for them.”

Birdsall is in Madrid this year as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in I.E.S. Maximo Trueba High School.

She is the first Geneseo student to receive a Fulbright award in more than a decade.

“It is an honor,” she says. “I am here representing Geneseo, not just the United States as a whole. I hope that this will motivate more students to apply for Fulbrights

and other prestigious awards.”

Birdsall received news that she had received the Fulbright award while she was still a senior earning her bachelor’s degree in childhood education, special education and Spanish. As a student teacher for bilingual fourth- and fifth-graders in Rochester, N.Y., she honed her ability — and philosophy — to teach each student based on his or her individual needs. She also studied in Heredia, Costa Rica, as an undergraduate student. Last summer, Birdsall taught migrant workers English before leaving for Europe.

The Fulbright award covers all of Birdsall’s expenses while she is in Spain. Upon her return this June, she expects to enroll in the master’s program in deaf education at Rochester Institute of Technology. She wants to use her knowledge of teaching

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

Fulbright winner Hannah Birdsall ’10 says Geneseo helped her become more of a risk-taker. Birdsall is teaching English as a second language in Madrid.

second languages to support her studies in deaf education.

“I feel like I’ve become much more of a risk-taker at Geneseo,” says Birdsall, who never dreamed she’d be living in another culture when she was in high school. “I’ve also become an independent learner.”

Two Geneseo students received Fulbrights in 1998-99.

Tiffany Hopkins ’98 studied geology in Germany and David Binns ’98 studied physics in Sweden. In 1995, Elizabeth Fraser ’95 received a Fulbright to explore women’s studies in Honduras.

— By Kris Dreessen

Science alumni mentor students Sixteen distinguished alumni in the fields of biology, chemistry, geology and physics shared their professional expertise with students at the second annual Celebrating the Sciences event last September.

Among them were patent holders, professors, company founders and presidents, and scientists for the National Institutes of Health and the Institute of Defense Analyses. Through preRHODES sentations and panels, the alums provided insight into career and study options after Geneseo.

Gerald Rhodes ’74 flew 3,000 miles to speak with students. A chemistry major at Geneseo, Rhodes is vice president of research at Gilead Sciences Inc., a company that developed Tamiflu, which is used to treat the bird flu and other flu strains, and specializes in drugs for the treatment of HIV, hepatitis B and other anti-virals.

Such panel discussions are important, he says, because students get to see how careers of different people have evolved and what opportunities exist.

The event also brought one of the world’s top scientists to campus. Norman P. Neureiter, director of the American Association

for the Advancement of Science’s Center for Science, Technology and Security Policy, reflected on science policy during his keynote lecture.

He was a U.S. and international affairs expert to President Gerald Ford’s science adviser and in 2000, he was appointed the first science and technology adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State.

Japan recently bestowed upon him the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star in recogniNEUREITER tion of his significant contributions in promoting science and technology cooperation and exchange between Japan and the United States. Neureiter delivered the Geneseo Roemer Lecture on World Affairs Feb. 23.

It’s evident, says Rhodes, that Geneseo has consistently improved the quality of science programming. Last spring, a state-of-the-art astronomy observatory was added to the $53 million Integrated Science Center.

Celebrating the Sciences is one of dozens of workshops and events throughout the academic year that bring alumni back to campus to mentor students.

— By Kris Dreessen Winter 2011

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ONE COLLEGE CIRCLE

NEWS IN BRIEF

GOLD marks 10th anniversary The Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership Development (GOLD) program is celebrating a decade of preparing students for leadership roles and service.

GOLD has earned state, national and international awards, and representatives from higher-eduMATTHEWS cation institutions around the United States and Canada, Korea and Japan use Geneseo’s program as a role model for their own programs.

“I read journal reflections every day from students,” says GOLD creator Tom Matthews, director of leadership education, training and development.

“What I read are those a-ha moments. They are able to relate what they are learning to their lives.”

Matthews says alums often say that what they learned about leadership and themselves during their GOLD experience has directly translated to their professional careers.

Student wins esteemed Dante Prize For the second time in five years, a Geneseo student — Will Porter ’12 — has won the Dante Society of America’s Dante Prize.

The society presented the prize for the best PORTER competitive essay by an undergraduate in an American or Canadian college or university on a subject related to the life or works of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

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PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Women’s field hockey team members celebrate their championship title.

Distinguished Teaching Professor Ronald Herzman is a world-renowned Dante expert and has mentored thousands of students, including Porter, who is an English major.

age. The data will provide insight into the history of climate change in that region and into the accuracy of model predictions for future precipitation changes in the Rockies.

Study unearths climate change

Peace Corps marks 50 years — with a lot of Geneseo volunteers

Benjamin Laabs, assistant professor of geological sciences, and students are examining climate change and glacial recession in the Rocky Mountains.

LAABS Laabs was awarded a National Science Foundation Research in Undergraduate Institutions grant for the project, which provides several Geneseo students with lab, field and professional conference experience.

The team uses geologic dating and glacier modeling techniques to reconstruct climate during the last ice age, and the magnitude of climate warming that accompanied glacier retreat at the end of the ice

The Peace Corps is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2011 with a 40-year high in the number of volunteers — and the college is doing its part.

Eighteen Geneseo alumni currently serve throughout the world, including Armenia and Uganda.

The college has a rich history in the Corps: 211 Geneseo graduates have joined the Peace Corps since its creation in 1961. Geneseo consistently is near the Corps’ top 20 colleges nationwide for recruits.

Such dedication to helping others — locally and abroad — is one reason why Geneseo was named by The Washington Monthly last year as a top-10 college for community service in the nation. The college is hosting a celebration in honor

of Peace Corps alumni March 1.

(Did you serve? Tell us at alumni@geneseo.edu.)

Athletic teams win top titles Geneseo athletic teams claimed two State University of New York Athletic Conference titles in the fall season. It was the first time the women’s field hockey team won.

The men’s cross-country team clinched the title for the second year in a row. It is the men’s 10th overall SUNYAC title.

Geneseo moves up in rankings The college is ranked second for out-of-state students and seventh for in-state students in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine’s 2011 list of best values among the nation’s public four-year colleges.

Geneseo jumped two places from its in-state ranking last year. The out-of-state ranking remains the same. The magazine produces the list partly based on outstanding educational and economic value.

LETTERS

Letters to the Editor The Scene welcomes feedback and encourages discussion of higher-education issues and content. 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.

Love connection spurs volunteer service at Summer Reunion In 2009, Ken Sniper ’71, Suzanne Nuffer Balstra ’71 and I made a spur-of-themoment Homecoming trip to Geneseo. It was there that we saw Al ’72 and Patty Sullivan ’72 Smith. I asked if they ever hear from Al’s former roomate and Sig Tau brother, Doug Dixon, a young man who I dated 40 years ago.

They had, and I asked them to say hello.

Doug e-mailed me. We discovered our lives had taken many similar paths. He and my son are even both environmental scientists! E-mails became phone calls and in November 2009 we met in Washington, D.C. and discovered how many more things we had in common.

We have happily been traveling back and forth between my home in Syracuse and his in Virginia.

As a result of our good fortune and success as a “couple,” we have volunteered to serve on our Summer Reunion committee and look forward to meeting up with more of our old friends.

As a cancer survivor, I like to tell people that I not only had a second chance at life, but also a second chance at love.

Thanks, Geneseo!

— Linda Hughson Pacelli ’71

Race against time As a Vietnam veteran and founder of the Colorado Veterans Monument at the state capitol in Denver, the “Legacy of Freedom” article about graduate Matthew Rozell’s efforts to interview World War II veterans and record their experiences is greatly appreciated. Our World War II veteran community is rapidly diminishing.

The race against time to preserve their experiences will enable future generations to learn from their courage and heroism.

— Tim Drago ’65 Living History Project sparks personal memories The article about Matthew Rozell ’83/MS ’88 and his project with his high school students at Hudson Falls High School to preserve World War II experiences, and the work he has done to reunite soldiers with the Holocaust survivors they rescued, moved me to tears. I congratulate him on all of the effort and thought he expended. His students will remember this for years.

As a former teacher in Geneseo, I have students who are now in their 30s and 40s who speak to me about “social studies.” Mr. Rozell also shadowed me in my 10th-grade social studies class before he student-taught. I am now 80

and remember World War II and the Holocaust. My mother, who was Jewish, brought many of her cousins to the United States. She was able to do this if she promised to support them if they did not find jobs. This was in the late 1930s and 1940s, until we entered the war. This was the time of the Great Depression, so it was a difficult time to persuade people to assist her. I remember sitting around my grandparents’ table, listening to the stories of the travails of the cousins who arrived safely. So, I thank him for helping people to remember. We are fast “fading away.”

— Myra Herlihy Geneseo resident, former Geneseo adjunct lecturer Survivor and veteran interviews make impression Congratulations to Matthew Rozell ’83/MS ’88 and his students on the Living History Project. The “Legacy of Freedom” article/photographs in the fall issue was a fascinating and moving story about Holocaust survivor Lily Cohen … and the remarkable veterans of World War II. I wish I could shake all of your hands.

— Lisa Twomey Holm ’89

like yesterday. Attending Geneseo was one of the best decisions I ever made. The southside friends I made are still very close to me today. I loved the annual snowball fight, the walk through the “tundra,” the cardiac and coronary hills, the plethora of regular frat parties, the Vital, the IB ... During my four years, the quad was under construction, so we used the area for mudwrestling events.

We tried to study at Letchworth State Park, but who could study with that view?

I loved most of my professors.

We loved attending basketball and hockey games and participating in intramurals. I loved how the broomball games were held around midnight. No wonder we never slept. I could go on and on.

I am now attending graduate school and things are so different. I loved how we didn’t have cell phones as undergrads, so running into friends when we were out and about was a special treat! It was the best four years of my life.

— Tina McPherson ’97

The very best four years I graduated from SUNY Geneseo in 1997 and it feels Winter 2011

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GeneseOh! Open the curtain on Geneseo and you will discover diversity and depth far beyond job titles and academic degrees.

And, maybe a few surprises.

Stories and photos

by Kris Dreessen

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hen Bethany Murray ’91 was wor- careers and personal lives and contribute to ried about declaring a major and their communities, he says. whether her decisions were right “The college has fostered an environment for her future, she met with Professor in which the students, faculty and adminisEmeritus Bill Edgar. trators embody these values,” says Dahl.

As her adviser and teacher, Edgar had Kurt Fletcher, professor and chair of spent many hours sharing his expertise and physics and astronomy, sees that in many of helping her to select courses and research the aspiring scientists. Outside of the lab, topics. they have been swimmers, He told her to take the time musicians and soccer playshe needed to choose, and to ers. Some may even share Life-changing moments trust herself. Believe, he said, the stage with him. that things will work out.

Most alums know him as a rarely happen Twenty years later, Murray brainpower behind the partiinside the classroom. knows those simple words cle accelerator. But for as For 139 years changed her life. long as he’s been teaching, Geneseo has embraced “It really opened up the way Fletcher has been bringing well-roundedness and I was able to look at life. He Broadway hits to life. life exploration as part of was able to see in me everyHe is among more than an outstanding liberal arts thing I could become one day 250 full-time faculty and education. The faculty and the person I would 165 full-time professional and staff who lead this become,” says Murray. “He staff at Geneseo, whom mission demonstrate believed in me in a way that alums, parents and friends this value — in ways still inspires me.” trust to guide current many never expect.

As with many alumni, students and advance the Murray found the most institution. valuable lessons she learned Geneseo faculty and staff at Geneseo weren’t imparted contribute to their commuduring class. Faculty members’ personalities, nities in ways students and alumni might wisdom and mentoring made the difference. never imagine — sometimes transforming “What they taught me were different ways lives in other parts of the world. to look at the world,” says Murray.

They are risk-takers and role models who That is the essence of a liberal arts educademonstrate the values of creativity and tion, says President Christopher C. Dahl. It curiosity that make Geneseo a premier produces citizens who are well-rounded and liberal arts college, says Dahl. confident in taking risks to succeed in their

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you know faculty or staff of Geneseo who contribute to the community or : Do excel outside their traditional roles? Let us know at scene@geneseo.edu

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school in upstate New York, he

here are 253 faculty at

all who perform played many roles. He also Kurt TGeneseo, and built sets and many shows a week for Fletcher their students, says Professor designed did backstage tech. It was a Kurt Fletcher.

Campus Leadership: Some semesters, he’s in Professor and chair front of 100 students a day, of physics discussing the finer points of Degrees: Master’s and doctorate in nuclear physics Hidden Talent: Musical theater performer

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electrical and magnetic fields or inspiring aspiring scientists to probe the subatomic world of the atomic nucleus. There are no scripts, no man in black back stage whispering direction.

To pique student interest, Fletcher relies on his 18 years of experience teaching at Geneseo. He also draws upon lessons and skills he’s learned from his second life as a musical theater performer.

Fletcher, who holds a doctorate in nuclear physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has had a 30-plus year passion for acting and singing baritone.

He sang his first notes for an audience in a seventhgrade production of “Guys and Dolls.” During high

small school; he had to be a jack of all trades.

“There were many times when I turned on the lights and then walked on stage and performed,” says Fletcher.

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“I understand people better because of the work I do on stage.”

- Kurt Fletcher

Henry, Auntie Em and two teen-aged flying monkeys.

For all the fun of the spotlight, opening night isn’t what Fletcher loves. It’s the show’s evolution, as strangers transform a concept to a polished performance, and cast and crew become a community.

The cast — none of them professional actors — are from all walks of life. They bring their talents. The actors and the director share ideas and draw from one another’s experiences and skills to develop a unique and temporary work of art.

“All of a sudden, it becomes much more alive,” says Fletcher.

Producers, directors — everyone has their own vision and way to run a show. Always, they make it work.

That satisfaction is similar to the joy he finds in teaching the fundamentals of physics and helping future scientists reach their goals. Teaching — like theater — involves collaboration with students and other faculty members and experimenting with new ideas.

“A lot of times people have this view of scientists sitting alone at their desks and thinking great thoughts, or hunched over an oscilloscope and working in the lab all by themselves,” says Fletcher.

“That’s just not the case.”

Fletcher is an active member of the college’s Inertial Confinement Fusion research team. Last summer, he supervised students working on fusion-related projects and led a team of four undergraduates working on a new science education project, supported by the National Science Foundation.

Fletcher says he’s learned more about teamwork in theater; it makes him a better teacher and faculty member.

“I understand people better because of the work I do on stage,” he says.

Since those early days, Fletcher has performed in 16 productions as a singer, an actor and an occasional dancer. During his career at Geneseo, he’s won roles with several community theaters.

He recently belted out tunes in the Geneseo Community Players production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” which his wife, Leah, produced and his son Ethan acted in, too. The entire family performed in “The Wizard Oz” — Uncle

Carol Long Campus Leadership: Provost, vice president for academic affairs Degrees: Master’s and doctorate in English Hidden Talent: Whitewater daredevil and pioneer eep in Hell’s Canyon in the Pacific Northwest, Wild Sheep Rapids is a roiling ride of whitewater that flips many of the rafters who try to run it.

Carol Long hit it solo. The waves pinned her against a rock on the wrong side of “the hole” — where the rapids fold back and trap whatever falls in and hold it under.

When she pushed her way out, both oars snapped. Her boat tipped. Thankfully, after some very long seconds below the waves, the rapids shot her out, hurtling her downstream.

Long’s “Wide World of Sports” moment — clinging to the raft just as it flipped — was preserved on film. (See it at go.geneseo.edu/wild.)

“I still have a scar on my knee where the wing-nuts on the raft frame smashed me but I didn’t break anything. A couple of supplies came loose and we just picked them up down below. I was fine,” she says.

Such calm under extreme pressure was essential during her 10 years as a professional whitewater guide on the Northwest’s most complex and turbulent rivers.

“My commercial guiding life surprises people,” says Long.

“It’s not what they expect from a career English major.”

Long worked her way up to full guide on class IV and V rapids. She even challenged class VI rivers on her own —

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the most dangerous.

Class V rapids — like Wild Sheep — impose incredibly long and violent rapids, in which rescue conditions are difficult, according to the International Scale of River Difficulty. Class VI rapids are rated as “nearly impossible and very dangerous; involves the risk of life.”

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academics.

“I was one of those kindergarten to Ph.D. babies,” she says. “I didn’t take any breaks along the way. This purified me a bit.”

Long wanted to find inner balance with something physical before entering a career in education. Growing up in the

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“You learn how to deal with crises differently because other people are dependent on you.

You have to develop a lot of trust.”

- Carol Long

Long was the first licensed female guide in the state of Oregon. She was trained in first aid and practiced mountaineering medicine to be handy with a splint or snakebite kit. She paddled clients suffering from anaphylactic shock to safety and rescued endangered rafters. She even studied how to perform an emergency tracheotomy.

“Thank God I never had to do that,” she laughs.

Long started paddling as a diversion after 20-plus years of

ics of the river. But no matter how well she prepared, she couldn’t always see the big picture until she was in the rapids. “‘Go with the flow.’ ‘Don’t push the river.’ All those corny phrases have relevance,” says Long. “It built in me a tolerance for process.”

As Geneseo provost, Long oversees 21 academic departments, libraries, research, computing and other divisions. Her approach to whitewater guiding directly influences her role at the college.

“I genuinely believe a lot of the things I absorbed and learned in that set of experiences of my life play into my leadership style now,” she says.

Leading trips, Long saw the myriad ways in which people of all ages and capabilities deal with fear, competition and emotions.

She became an expert in keeping everyone unified, especially in conflicts.

“You learn how to deal with crises differently because other people are dependent on you,” she says. “You have to develop a lot of trust.”

California desert, she had never been on a river until she moved to Oregon.

At first, guiding was a steep learning curve. The company owner immediately put her on the rapids in her own boat.

“I thrived in that because that’s my learning style,” says Long. “You try things out and adjust. I like trial and error — thinking your way through.”

On the river you live in the moment, says Long, but being successful is all about strategy and understanding the mechan-

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Kenneth H. Levison Campus Leadership: Vice president for administration and finance Degrees: Master’s and doctorate in Germanic languages and literatures Hidden Talent: International dog judge

t was her competitive debut and while Wyrhaus Lulu’s a Dazzler was ready to go, no one was around to take the dachshund into the judging ring. After months of preparation, at the big moment, her owner was queasy.

But the show had to go on.

Kenneth Levison planned on being there for his friend for moral support. Instead, he showed the dog himself.

His pinch-hitting back in 1980 set Lulu on course to later win a championship and spurred his own pedigree in canine competition.

For nearly 30 years, Levison has kept wirehaired dachshunds as pets and raised show-quality pups of the breed. He has garnered many awards for his dogs,

I “It gives us a base from which to jump. It gives us the ability to know when to take a risk.”

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- Kenneth H. Levison, on a liberal arts education

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including national ranking from the American Kennel Club (AKC).

In fact, in his first competition with a dog that he bred and raised, Levison took First in Class and the Winner’s Dog titles.

“People were furious,” he laughs, remembering. “Here was this new guy, who wasn’t supposed to know anything.”

Kennel clubs across the country — and the world — call on Levison’s expertise as an AKC judge.

Before they even get close to trial judging, AKC judges are tested on show procedure and the anatomy of the specific breeds they want to critique.

Even more challenging — and nearly impossible sounding — they must breed at least four champions before they are allowed to start that judge training process.

Levison has met the stringent requirements for judging four hound breeds and is completing another four — in just 12 years.

He also has served as treasurer of the Dachshund Club of America for seven years. And, he’s still showing champs. Baby Louise is two competition points shy of becoming an AKC Grand Champion.

Despite his accomplishments, Levison never expected to be an expert in the competitive dog world. But he was willing to jump in when he was needed — and he was used to taking risks.

Prior to joining Geneseo in 1994, Levision served for seven years in New York state’s budget office, overseeing operating

budgets for education and transportation. Before entering the world of finance, Levison earned a master’s and a doctorate in Germanic languages and literatures from Harvard University, as well as a Fulbright grant. He was a lecturer at Harvard and an assistant professor of German and humanities at several universities before he switched careers.

At Geneseo, Levison manages the vision for an all-funds budget of $119 million and 11 departments, including the bursar’s office and student accounts.

Financial management, says Levison, is more art than science in some ways. To guide the college to meet its goals, you have to think creatively about how to solve problems, make operations efficient and explore ways to move Geneseo forward.

You have to see the big picture.

Levison has adopted some of those aspects to be a better judge.

“The dog with the greatest positive qualities should be the winner,” says Levison. “It makes you see them as a whole.”

The broader vision has allowed Levison to take his own leaps — in life and in the competition ring. It’s the cornerstone of a liberal arts education, especially at Geneseo, he says.

“It forces us to explore and question our own thinking. It helps us to understand ways of dealing with issues that may come up that we’ve never dealt with before,” he says. “It gives us a base from which to jump.

It gives us the ability to know when to take a risk.”

Rose-Marie Chierici Campus Leadership: Associate professor chair of anthropology Degrees: Master’s and doctorate in anthropology Hidden Talent: Haiti transformation ose-Marie Chierici and her family fled Haiti in 1960, just after she graduated from high school. Her father, a U.S.-educated agronomist, was exiled by former dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier for being an outspoken proponent for social justice and freedom of the press.

They started a new life in Washington, D.C., where her dad worked for a development bank. While she went on to earn three college degrees, raise a family and teach, her father’s courage and concern for his countrymen stayed with her.

“That really influenced me,” says Chierici. “I always wanted to go back to Haiti, but I had to find the right way.”

For 16 years, she has dedicated her life outside the classroom to improving the lives of

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people in her native country.

As co-founder and executive director of Haiti Outreach — Pwoje Espwa, or “Project Hope” in Haitian Creole, Chierici works with U.S. volunteers and local Haitian residents to improve health, education and

“It feels like something huge, like a government would have to do that level of change. ”

There is one dirt road to Borgne. As many as 80 percent of residents are unemployed.

Most live on less than $1 a day.

Until H.O.P.E, there were virtually no trained teachers or healthcare providers. The one medical clinic was abandoned.

The Rochester, N.Y., nonprofit group not only reopened the clinic, but partnered with Haiti’s Ministry of Health to expand it into a 16-bed hospital with 60 employees treating 3,000 people per month. Residents walk up to six hours to receive a wide range of health services.

In addition, 150 teachers completed H.O.P.E’s second annual teacher training last year. H.O.P.E also recently launched a mobile teacher program, which reaches 300 orphans, young refugees and children from destitute families every month.

After the 2010 earthquake, H.O.P.E. opened its services to refugees who moved into Borgne. The organization also assisted Borgne in the subsequent cholera epidemic.

H.O.P.E. demonstrates what people can do for each other when they work together, says Chierici.

]

[

- Rose-Marie Chierici

economic development opportunities in Borgne.

This northern coastal region of Haiti is home to about 80,000 people who have no running water or electricity.

“It feels like something huge, like a government would have to do that level of change,” she says. “But that’s not the case.”

Chierici’s group has done it with a team of dedicated volunteers — including approximately 20 former students and alumni — and the community of Borgne. All work is donation- and foundation-driven.

Chierici made her first trip with H.O.P.E to Borgne in 1996 and together with religious, civic and peasant leaders, agreed on the most crucial needs.

Locals run the daily Haiti operations in Borgne.

“We work on an empowerment model,” says Chierici.

“We empower them.”

Chierici not only teaches global health issues and a seminar in third-world development — she’s doing it.

“I believe in not only analyzing social problems but doing something about them,” says Chierici. “I call myself a practicing anthropologist — someone who not only teaches and does research, but whose main purpose is to apply theories to real-life issues.”

Along the way, she has been inspired by Geneseo students who have returned to Haiti, earned medical degrees and advanced degrees in anthropology and public health, or became Peace Corps or AmeriCorps volunteers. She has also met some of the most brilliant people on those dusty back roads who work to improve their futures.

“It has changed me immeasurably in terms of understanding my own history and looking at the pride people have in their own culture,” says Chierici. “The privilege to be a part of that is amazing.”

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Find out more about Haiti Outreach — Pwoje Espwa at www.hopehaiti.org/

Winter 2011

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ILLUSTRATION BY FRED ZERNITSKY

Accounting for the

future B

The last 20 years have brought monumental change to the financial field.

Geneseo’s expanding internship opportunities and outstanding academics give students an edge — and a master’s degree.

By David Irwin

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geneseo scene

oth Geneseo accounting professor Harry Howe and alumna Tiffany Courtney ’02 laugh out loud when asked to describe the significant changes they have seen in the accounting profession over the years.

“Do you have about 12 additional hours to chat?” Howe responds with Courtney nodding in agreement.

The traditional perception of accountants as bookkeepers crunching numbers behind desks all day is a defunct image, they say, stressing that accountants’ duties and methods have expanded enormously the past two decades. The metamorphosis stems from technology combined with monumental changes in global economics,

finance, law and politics. Geneseo’s accounting faculty members have responded by adapting an already rigorous academic program to the emerging needs of the profession.

“It’s an interesting time to be in accounting and the pace has never been so quick,” says Courtney, director of financial reporting for the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. “We are breaking through historical stereotypes, and our work has become much more relationshipdriven with additional layers of responsibility and more multitasking requirements.”

Enactment of the federal SarbanesOxley Act in 2002 is an example of a change that forced accountants to adapt quickly, says Courtney. The act set tough new public accounting mandates in response to several highly visible corporate scandals during that period.

According to Howe, a new wave of student interest in Geneseo’s accounting program began around 2000. In 10 years, the number of undergraduate students majoring in accounting has risen 56 percent — from 147 in 2000 to 230 this year. The accounting master’s degree program, which began in 2005 with four students, continues to grow and will graduate 16 in 2011.

Courtney, who played center on the Blue Knights basketball team, visited campus last fall to participate in a Women’s Leadership Institute program. After graduation, she worked eight years for the public accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers before moving to her new posiCourtney tion in Philadelphia.

Howe notes that accounting — the “language of business” — has several distinct dialects such as financial reporting, managerial accounting, taxation, regulatory accounting and International Financial Reporting Standards.

“Our students receive a tremendous amount of practical training wherever they are working but leave Geneseo with a very good foundation for lifelong learning,” says Howe, who started teaching at Geneseo in 1995 and coordinates the accounting program. “Our goal is to prepare students for success in entry level positions or graduate study.”

The School of Business added a fifth year to the accounting program in 2004 to

meet a new 150 credit-hour requirement in New York for those interested in public accounting. Students who complete the five-year program receive a master of science degree in accounting in addition to a bachelor’s degree.

Geneseo accounting students have benefited greatly from the school’s burgeoning internship program, supported by alumni and others who sponsor students. The experiences open doors to solid mentoring relationships and networking opportunities.

The Rochester public accounting firm DeMott & Smith has been sponsoring Geneseo interns for about 15 years, and the firm’s president, Tom DeMott, says the Geneseo students excel.

“I have always found Geneseo interns to be highly motivated and intelligent with good communication and social skills. We load them up with sophisticated work.

They know coming in they will work hard but also will learn a lot,” says DeMott, who also chairs the business school’s Business Advisory Council and the Student Management Investment Fund.

Senior accounting major Molly Kane from Syracuse completed two internships — one at the public firm Dermody, Burke and Brown in Syracuse and one with Genesee & Wyoming Railroad, whose chief accounting officer and global controller, Christopher Liucci ’91, also is a Business Advisory Council member.

“I spent about half my time doing corporate accounting and half in financial accounting,” says Kane. “Doing both of these internships confirmed that I was very happy with my major because I can go in any direction with it.”

Courtney secured two Buffalo-area internships while she was at Geneseo through the national INROADS program, which develops and places talented minority youth into business and industry and prepares them for corporate and community leadership.

About a third of Geneseo’s accounting students take internships for credit, which involves a commitment of 15 to 24 hours per week on site in addition to other course work. Others find non-credit internHoward ships independently.

School of Business Assistant Dean Barbara Howard, who has directed the school’s internship program for more than

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

Molly Kane ‘11 will enter her accounting career with professional internships under her belt.

She says she has learned a lot from faculty such as accounting Professor Harry Howe, right.

12 years, says she is always seeking more internship opportunities for students.

“Internship availability is cyclical,” says Howard. “It depends on the economy so there is more competition now for fewer positions. We have some alumni in New York City doing preliminary work in organizing other alumni in that area who may

The ongoing changes in the financial world have revealed the increasing importance of a strong liberal arts education for accounting students. be willing to sponsor summer interns. We are always looking for willing internship sponsors and I encourage them to contact me if interested.”

Howard says the school tries to make an internship a win-win: both the student and sponsor gain. Accounting sponsors, for example, often need extra hands for a special project or to help during a busy time such as tax season.

“The accounting firms, probably more than anyone else, also take advantage of internships as a recruiting tool,” says Howard.

The school also capitalizes on visits to key financial centers where students can connect with alumni and others in the field. Howe accompanies students from the Geneseo Accounting Society, for example, on an

annual trip to New York City to hear presentations from alumni and others at firms such as Deloitte, KPMG and Eisner.

School of Business Dean Mike Schinski says accounting is a more dynamic industry than most people realize.

“We have a strong and loyal accounting faculty, including part-time instructors, who have crafted a very solid program,” he says.

Professor Mark Mitschow, for example, received a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities last year. During his 16 years at Geneseo, he has established himself as a national leader in accounting and financial ethics.

The ongoing changes in the financial world, say Schinski and Howe, have revealed the increasing importance of a strong liberal arts education for accounting students.

“It provides a solid foundation for them to think and analyze situations and make good sound judgments and decisions,” says Shinski.

Howe says alumni overwhelmingly feel they have been well prepared for the industry, not only on technical content but on being effective team members.

“Former students occasionally call seeking my advice on handling a situation,” he says. “I find they usually know something about the industry that updates me. It’s quite gratifying learning from the students you taught.”

Winter 2011

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Adventure Italy:

Study abroad for alums Geneseo professors have reveled in Siena’s treasures for decades. Now, they open the medieval city for the first travel opportunity for the wider college community. By Kris Dreessen ight hundred years ago, the people of Siena, Italy, gathered for their first palio — a horse race revered as much for its epic parties and fanfare as its one minute and 30 seconds of competition.

Ever since, the Sienese gather twice each summer to transform their main square into a racetrack and rejoice in one of the few authentic palios in an Italian city.

Anyone can go to the race, but only those who are official members or guests of one of the city’s 17 neighborhoods get an intimate view into Siena’s complex, close-knit community.

Distinguished Teaching Professors Bill Cook and Ronald Herzman, Faculty Fellow for International Studies Wes Kennison ’79 and a handful of other esteemed colleagues are among them. As “baptized” members of the Onda neighborhood, they have a 34-year history of friendship and learning among the Sienese people. Some have made it a second home, literally. Cook has had an apartment in Siena for more than 30 years. They bring with them world-class

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PHOTO BY WES KENNISON ’79

Distinguished Teaching Professor Ronald Herzman, right, as he’s made an official member of the Onda neighborhood.

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expertise from Geneseo in the histories of art, math, science, Christianity and civics.

Now, the Geneseo professors will share their passion for Siena with alumni and the lessons of “joie de vivre” they have found there.

This August, Geneseo is hosting its first travel opportunity for alumni, parents and friends of the college in Siena, one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval cities.

Travelers will spend 11 days exploring southern Tuscany and Siena — which remains relatively unchanged since the 15th century and is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site.

“The relationship between Geneseo and Siena gives travelers an opportunity to get inside the Contradas — or neighborhood system — that tourists really can’t,” says Kennison. “It opens up entirely new possibilities.”

Kennison will lead the trip and Cook will serve as a guide for some of the days.

They know every nook and cranny of the

PHOTO BY WES KENNISION ’79

A Geneseo contingent, at right, enjoys an Onda pre-palio gathering.

city, having fostered a strong relationship with Sienese citizens since 1971. That’s when Cook and Herzman led the first “Age of Dante” course in the city. Since then, Geneseo professors have led studyabroad opportunities and developed an international following for their own academic work.

In 2003, Herzman and Cook were awarded the Medieval Academy of America’s first Centers and Regional Associations Award for Excellence in Teaching Medieval Studies for their knowledge of early Christianity, Dante and philosophers, and St. Francis of Assisi. They have published a variety of books and lectured internationally.

Cook and Herzman have led dozens of seminars for the National Endowment of the Humanities.

“This is another educational opportunity that our campus can give the Geneseo family — and we’re kicking it off with something spectacular,” says Rose Anderson, assistant vice president for alumni relations. “This is what Geneseo can do that no one else can do. You can’t replicate this anywhere.”

Creating such a unique travel opportunity has been a long-standing goal at the college, says Anderson. Siena embodies what’s best of Geneseo and is a perfect launch point, she says. Of all the longtime friendships the college has fostered

Explore Italy with Geneseo The medieval city of Siena is home base for the college’s first travel adventure for alumni, parents and friends of the college, Aug. 1-12, 2011.

Faculty members are creating the itinerary, with built-in flexibility, so adventurers can choose how they spend their time.

Contact: Alumni Relations at (585) 245-5506 or alumni@geneseo.edu.

Visit: go.geneseo.edu/italy2011

with communities all over the world, Siena is the oldest.

“This program is a great opportunity for alumni to travel with an institution they trust, and with adventurers who already share the Geneseo experience,” says Tracie Lopardi Brown ’95, vice president of the Geneseo Alumni Association.

“It lets you explore like a college kid again and go back and learn.”

A city of firsts, Siena is a birthplace of three-branch modern civic government.

The first stone was laid at the grand

PHOTO BY OLYMPIA NICODEMI

The Piazza del Campo is Siena’s main square.

cathedral in 1196. It is one of Italy’s most important Gothic structures and is home to grand statues of philosophers and celebrated mosaics.

Kennison and Cook also will take Geneseo adventurers on behind-the-scenes tours of museums and collections they have studied and collaborated with for more than three decades. Cook will provide a private tour of the famous Ufizzi, the premier art gallery in Florence.

The collection of early Renaissance art in the region, say Kennison and Cook, include some of the most famous works by Michelangelo and Donatello. Dig deeper and Siena’s landmarks are art themselves, adorned with centuries-old frescoes depicting culture and everyday life.

Even the design of the main square, the Piazza del Campo, creates a kind of dance of movement throughout the day, says Kennison.

Siena also is nestled between two of Italy’s most important wine districts, Chianti and Brunello. That means excellent day trips, and dinners with cooking classes in rural restaurants where every view “is like a calendar,” says Kennison.

“It’s a beautiful and charming and even kind of magical place,” says Cook. “They are going to remember it as a community. Those are the kinds of experiences that make Siena not just a monument to the past but a living place.”

PHOTO BY RONI LEE KENNISON ’98

Siena’s Mangia Tower was built in 1325.

Winter 2011

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PERSPECTIVES

Thinking outside the

tiny little box hat does living in New York City have in common with living on campus?

A lot. If you’re fortunate enough to live alone, chances are you are paying too much for too little and you’re figuring out how to cram an entire life into a room that’s about the size of a large bathroom stall.

Such is the story of my life, and so many others before me, who willingly test the limits of patience, comfort and wallets so they can live in one of the greatest cities in the world.

New York City.

Upon graduating from Geneseo in 2007, armed with a degree in musical theater, the only thing I was certain of was that I no longer wanted a career in acting. The years, the shows and the drama had taken their toll. If I couldn’t stand it in a university atmosphere, no way would I keep at it in a professional environment.

I had reservations even before graduating, but a good sit-down with my mom convinced me to “make the best of the situation” and follow it through to the end.

So there I was: disinterested in performing, working two jobs waiting tables and not sure what I was going to do. I was totally psyched, however, that I finally had my slice of New York — albeit a very small, dingy studio apartment slice.

In fact, my apartment is 178 square feet. Double the size of your doctor’s exam room and that’s about right.

I moved in a bed and a table. After the basics, there wasn’t much room left.

Suddenly, the 11-by-15-foot space looked

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geneseo scene

A living space the size of a bathroom stall? Who cares!

Zach Motl ’07 did the impossible. He transformed his miniscule studio into a full house. His ingenuity won him a spread in The New York Times, a new career and creative can-do to live by.

and felt very, very tiny.

Then, I realized there must be something I was overlooking. Certainly there was a twist that could make this miniscule space feel much more grand.

I had some experience with that, as I have been obsessed with interiors all my life. Anyone who knew me in college can certainly attest to that. I was always meticulous about making my side of the dorm room as chic as possible — which was tricky on the wages I earned at Mia’s.

Later, my apartment above the old Palace Theatre had built-in bookcases and a player piano, which I tuned for cocktail parties and impromptu concerts. The satisfaction of being crafty and inventive kept it interesting — and unique.

Those Geneseo decorating days inspired me to transform my Big Apple itty-bitty room. In the end, it inspired my new passion for interior decorating. And, thinking outside the tiny little box also introduced me to my new profession.

For three years, I turned my tiny studio into a mini-house, which I added to my portfolio to enter the world of interior design.

Luckily, I had taken a shift towards the art world at the end of my college career and took some sculpture classes with Associate Professor Dan DeZarn and a jewelry class with Associate Professor Patrice Case. They got me to think on a whole different conceptual level; they were my only exposure to studying design concept.

I used it, and dived in.

I practically gutted the bathroom and lacquered the walls in a navy blue (which

PHOTOS BY ROBERT WRIGHT www.robertwrightphoto.com

took months and probably a few of my brain cells along with it). I rebuilt the kitchen to look like a ship’s galley, then stained it the color of green tea and varnished it high gloss. I scoured flea markets, my parents’ attic, garage sales, thrift stores and eBay for unique finds and furniture that I could re-work and cram into the space to give it the feel of a larger apartment.

Many people feel you have to sparsely furnish a small room and paint it light colors to make it feel more open and airy. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

It sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Putting more furniture in a smaller space draws less attention to any one object, and your eye takes in everything as a whole. Darker walls and floors provide a homogenous ground for objects and furniture to disappear into, rather than specks of furniture on a blank white canvas.

I even went as far as to empty my belongings into a neighbor’s apartment so I could sand the dirty old wood floors and ebonize them to a piano-black finish.

With much planning and even more experimentation, I was able to fit into my 178 square feet an entire house: a kitchen, a breakfast bar, a dressing area with a commode, a living area, a bedroom and a home office.

All the while, I was trying to break into the professional design world for which I was completely unqualified. I bought magazines galore, poured over design blogs and websites, and paid way too much attention to the window displays along Madison and Fifth avenues and

PHOTO BY TANIA GUINSBERG

Zach Motl ’07 achieved the feat of transforming a 178-square-foot studio into a full house with ingenious interior design, like making his bed into storage and his books part of the décor.

vignettes in the Ralph Lauren mansion.

I was lucky enough to land an interior design internship with Miles Redd, a personal favorite, but after a year, I wanted a full-time job and to move up in my dream career.

I saw a job posting for a junior designer at Robert Couturier Inc., a New Yorkbased, high-end interior design and decorating firm. I almost passed on it after I read the description. It seemed way beyond my capabilities and experience.

Then I remembered what my mother said not so long ago: “Make the best of the situation.” I had nothing to lose.

I sent Robert Couturier my portfolio — with photographs of my packed minihouse and interior inventions. Not one day later, I received the phone call.

Armed with my portfolio of my apartment and Geneseo sculpture work, I went to the interview determined to land the position.

Determination paid off, and one week later I started as a junior designer.

— Zach Motl ’07 and his inventive creations in his apartment were featured in the Home section of The New York Times (Feb. 11, 2010). He recently started his own firm and now works as a window designer for the very designer he studied for inspiration — Polo, Ralph Lauren.

Visit www.zachmotl.com.

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Read The New York Times feature about Zach Motl go.geneseo.edu/alumnytimes

Winter 2011

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ATHLETICS

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

Marilyn Moore, center, retired after more than 30 years of leadership. Friends and alumni created an endowment in her honor. She is pictured with student-athletes Jimmy Powers ’12, hockey, back left, Michelle Rodriguez ’11, swimming, Katie Crawford ’11, equestrian, and Michael Baker ’11, basketball.

A sports legacy An endowment honors Marilyn Moore’s 31-year career and enhances the Blue Knights program

by Anthony T. Hoppa mong the dozens of photographs, awards and Knight-themed items that adorned Marilyn Moore’s office, the poster always stood out.

The artwork showed a road forking left and right and the words of Robert Frost: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

The sentiment always held special significance for Moore, who was the college’s first female athletic trainer. She became assistant director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation, then director in 1999. She retired in December after 31 years of service.

Moore says there were very few women in athletic training when she pursued her career in the 1970s, and equally few in athletic administration when she changed gears: “So I took the road less traveled, and it wasn’t always a paved road!”

Moore’s determination and vision changed the Blue Knights landscape — and

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advanced female leadership in sports.

As director, Moore oversaw 20 varsity teams, 55 employees, a multi-million budget and an array of athletic facilities. In 2000, the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators named her National Administrator of the Year. During her leadership, the Blue Knights captured 69 SUNY Athletic Conference titles plus the

2005 NCAA National Championship in women’s cross-country. The college also added equestrian to women’s sports opportunities at Geneseo.

“Marilyn Moore’s legacy will not merely be defined by the competitive successes of our teams and student-athletes,” said Robert Bonfiglio, vice president for student and campus life. “Under her leadership, the college’s core values were woven into the work of our coaches and athletic administrators and the experiences of our student-athletes.”

That’s no easy feat for athletic directors according to Jim Leary ’75, Geneseo Foundation vice chair, Roundtable Athletic Association (RAA) member and commissioner of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

“There are ADs that talk the talk but don’t walk the walk,” he says. “Marilyn always put the student-athletes first, and that is a rare commodity.”

At the Hall of Fame dinner last fall, RAA Chair Dan Loughran ’86 announced that alumni and friends of the college generously made gifts and pledges of more than $100,000 to endow the Marilyn M. Moore Endowment for the Roundtable Athletic Association, which will enhance the experience of all student-athletes.

“For once in my life, I was totally speechless,” remembers Moore. “I feel honored that our alumni would contribute such a significant amount in my name to support our student-athletes.”

It’s a fitting legacy for Moore, says Loughran. “She was part educator, coach, sports psychologist, cheerleader and life counselor. Her athletes always knew this and wanted her contribution to be recognized in the form of a perpetual benefit to Geneseo athletics. Her actions are a model for all.”

More on Moore …

• go.geneseo.edu/moorecareer — Highlights from Marilyn Moore’s career • Make a difference — Contribute to the Moore endowment at giveto.geneseo.edu (Designate your gift for RAA-Moore endowment)

Moore, as a trainer, early in her career.

More on Geneseo athletics …

• www.geneseo.edu/athletics — Geneseo’s complete sports round-up

Alumni News ALUMNI NEWS Say Cheese!

Nearly 250 alums gathered on campus for Homecoming 2010 to reunite at their old stomping grounds, revel in their shared experiences and make new connections.

New this year: Photo booths at the happy hour for all alumni. Recognize anyone? Homecoming 2011 is Sept. 23-24. Save the date!

22 Alumni event photos 26 High-flying dance 27 Behind the scenes in theater 30 Class Notes Winter 2011

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GENESEO ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Upcoming

Alumni Events March 2, 2011

April 21, 2011

New Jersey Region (Scotch Plains) go.geneseo.edu/newjersey030211

Syracuse, N.Y. Region go.geneseo.edu/syracuse042111

March 3, 2011

April 30, 2011

Northern New Jersey Region (Nyack, N.Y.) go.geneseo.edu/nyack030311

Geneseo, N.Y. Spring Weekend/Greekfest Alumni Athletics Games go.geneseo.edu/greekfest2011

Long Island Region Networking Event hosted by John ’88 and MaryGrace Jiran ’84 Gleason Clio sisters Michelle Flood ’88, left, Marianne Leonard Cunningham ’85, Christine Zukowski ’85 and MaryGrace Jiran Gleason ’84.

March 16, 2011 Rochester, N.Y. Region go.geneseo.edu/amerks

May 19, 2011 North Carolina Region (Charlotte) go.geneseo.edu/charlotte

March 17, 2011 New York City Region go.geneseo.edu/nyc031711

Spring-Summer 2011

Long Island Region go.geneseo.edu/skating031911

Long Island Region Rochester, N.Y. Region New York City Region Chicago Region Philadelphia Region

March 31, 2011

July 8-9, 2011

Livingston County, N.Y. Region go.geneseo.edu/educators033111

SUMMER REUNION Geneseo, N.Y. go.geneseo.edu/reunion2011

March 19, 2011

April 2, 2011 Washington, D.C. Region go.geneseo.edu/potomac040211

August 11, 2011

April 14, 2011

September 23-24, 2011

Los Angeles Region (Culver City) go.geneseo.edu/moser041411

Homecoming, Geneseo, N.Y.

Long Island Networking Event sponsored by John Camiolo ’86 John Keene ’98, John Camiolo ’86 and School of Business Dean Mike Schinski.

Saratoga, N.Y. Day at the Races

October 21-22, 2011 Parents Weekend, Geneseo, N.Y.

Visit Be on the look out for affinity events and reunions on campus and in your own backyard. Check the Alumni Relations website (go.geneseo.edu/alumni) frequently for event details and to see what new things we have planned.

The pictures you see on these pages are a sample of the hundreds of photos we have on our website from events across the country and on campus.

To view the complete photo galleries, visit go.geneseo.edu/alumniphotos

Washington, D.C. Professional Networking Event sponsored by Kristin Graham Koehler ’91 Students from the Political Affairs Club: Nicholas Allwell ’10, left, William Perillo ’11, Shaun Tooker ’11, Claire Bould ’12 and Kristin Graham Koehler ’91.

The Office of Alumni Relations is always looking for regional event ideas and event sponsors. Contact the office if you would like to work with us on an event.

Save the Date!

Summer Reunion 2011 — July 8 and 9 Celebrating all class reunions for graduation years ending in 1 or 6.

If you would like to get involved please contact the Alumni Office at (585) 245-5506 or alumni@geneseo.edu.

Denver, Colo. Networking Event sponsored by Jay Perry ’79 and Miriam Blum 22

geneseo scene

Karen Andrews ’88, left, Jay Perry ’79, Earl Peterson ’80 and Caroline Peterson.

Westchester/Connecticut Region Networking Event The Maro Family enjoyed the sunshine and a Bluefish Baseball game.

From left to right are Christian Maro, Pete Maro ’87, Lynne Maro, Elise Maro and Peter Maro.

Buffalo, N.Y. Networking Event sponsored by Ann Wiedenbeck Galbraith ’89 and Terri Suozzi ’82 Tracie Lopardi Brown ’95, left, Ann Wiedenbeck Galbraith ’89, Stephen Sharkey ’95, Jennifer Noah ’95 and Rose Anderson, assistant vice president for alumni relations.

Washington, D.C. Networking Event sponsored by Thomas Moser ’60 Chad Salitan ’09, George Sullivan ’07, Michael Catillaz, vice president for college advancement, and Tom Moser ’60.

Rochester, N.Y. Professional Networking Event sponsored

by Myrtle Merritt, emerita professor Laura Mills-Lewis ’89, left, Elaine McConnell ’86 and Lisa Maddison Fingar ’89.

Chicago, Ill. Networking Event sponsored by Gary Grose ’87 President Christopher C. Dahl, left, and Gary Grose ’87.

Winter 2011

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Albany, N.Y. Professional Networking Event sponsored by John McManus ’94 and Stephen Woodard ’88 Elizabeth Snow ’01, left, Catherine Geoffroy ’88, Stephanie Busse ’09, Emily McDonald ’07 and Katie Richardson ’05.

New England Region Networking Event sponsored by Kathleen Acierno Baron ’83 and Amelia Alberghini Angella ’96 Kathleen Acierno Baron ’83, left, Amelia Alberghini Angella ’96, Jim Rogers ’04 and Kelly McGinnis.

Buffalo, N.Y. Professional Networking Event sponsored by Tracie Lopardi Brown ’95 and Stephen Sharkey ’95 Steve Vanuga ’89, Elissa Morganti Banas ’90, Heather Hoffman Maldonado ’95 and Ann Wiedenbeck Galbraith ’89.

New York City Region Networking Event sponsored by Michael ’85 and Anne Wyffels ’88 Eble President Christopher C. Dahl, Michael Eble ’85, Anne Wyffels Eble ’88 and Frank Vafier ’74.

Saratoga, N.Y. 8th Annual Day at the Races Alumnae from Alpha Delta Epsilon Sorority: Stephanie Norton MacIntosh ’87, left, Tanya Lynch Halse ’89, Anne McKevitt Green ’90, Catherine Reggio Ceriell ’89 and Fran Murphy Dwyer ’88. The ADE Geneseo chapter celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2011. Look for exclusive Alpha Delta Epsilon reunion plans as part of the college’s 2011 Summer Reunion Program.

Geneseo, N.Y. Prometheus Reunion Celebration Seated: Dirk Zuhlke ’75, left, Denise Pearston, Denny Pearston ’78, Linda Avallone. Standing: President Christopher C. Dahl, Jeff Brilling, Ruth Rowse, Bob Avallone ’76.

24

geneseo scene

Geneseo Homecoming Highlights

Rich Kuhn ’81, left, Pete Kennedy ’83, Tom Basher ’74, Ira Shinske ’83, Nick DeNicola ’82, Paul Kulick ’83 and Jim Forger ’82.

New York City Networking Event Alumnae from Sigma Kappa Sorority: Elise Kahn ’07, left, Jenna Nigro ’07 and Kim Sciarratta ’07.

Terry Suozzi ’82 and Mark Zimmer ’82 pose next to AGO sorority alumnae Micki Agresta ’80, Sue Bradt ’80 and Julie Mullins ’81, who are proudly wearing their “AGO 125th Anniversary” shirts.

The 2010 Sports Hall of Fame inductees Michelle Standora Wolinski ’00, left, Danielle Schoen ’01, James Leary ’75, David Spennacchio ’04 and Logan Hadzicki Blask ’04.

Palo Alto Region, Calif. Networking Event sponsored Jeffrey Clarke ’83 President Christopher C. Dahl, Erika Rottenberg ’84 and Jeffrey Clarke ’83.

Celebrating the Sciences geology panelists Mary Jane Armitage Stell ’85, left, Mark Hamilton ’80, Henry Telfer ’80 and Andrea Hyatt-Cutt ’96.

Syracuse, N.Y. Networking Event sponsored by Chris ’88 and Catherine Eichenberger ’92 Pinckney Jersey Shore Networking Event Andrea Luria ’97, left, Janielle Zinna ’97 and Sheila Halligan ’97.

Ronald Berger ’74, left, Chris Pinckney ’88, Honore Stockley ’90, Martha Palumbo Peterman ’80, Joe Szlosek ’02, Thomas Cambier ’01, Tanya Woldbeck Gesek ’93 and Eric Hinman ’02.

Winter 2011

25

ALUMNI NEWS

ALUMNI PROFILE

class of’80 Norwood Pennewell PHOTO PROVIDED BY GREG BARRETT

Norwood “PJ” Pennewell ’80, a world-renowned dancer with Garth Fagan Dance, soars in one of his famous leaps with fellow dancer Nicolette DePass.

Norwood Pennewell ’80 soars as a world-renowned dancer

He is grateful for dance Professor Jonette Lancos and his other Geneseo mentor, Nona Schurman, who encouraged him and kept him inspired.

26

geneseo scene

There was a moment in college when Norwood “PJ” Pennewell could have gone either way with his love for dance.

From his first time showing some groovy moves on stage as a Jester in “Once Upon A Mattress,” dance professors told him he had talent. They convinced him to take classes in ballet and modern dance to learn technique. He was fluid.

A natural.

At a SUNY dance festival in 1977, Pennewell and Professor Jonette Lancos watched a new little company perform — The Bottom of the Bucket, led by Garth Fagan, who would become one of the most revered choreographers in the world.

“I was absolutely blown away,” remembers Pennewell. “It was the most incredible movement that I had ever seen.”

Pennewell turned to his mentor and told Lancos he wished

he could dance like that.

“It was just really a very bittersweet moment,” says Pennewell. “I thought it was incredible, but at the same time, I felt like, ‘I am never going to be able to do anything like this.’”

Lancos told him he had a lot of work to do and needed discipline, but he could do it.

“It was a pivotal moment,” says Pennewell. “It was either going to be devastating, or I was going to roll up my sleeves and work. Fortunately, she got me to take the high road.”

Within a year, Pennewell was practicing with Fagan’s company, which is based in

Rochester, N.Y. Throughout the next year, he was folded into their rehearsals and finally was a full-fledged member, bounding across the stage. He left college after his second year, having achieved his goal.

That was 1978. Now, 34 years later, Pennewell is a principal dancer of Garth Fagan Dance, the company’s rehearsal director and Fagan’s muse.

Fagan has created pieces inspired by and for Pennewell.

It’s still his dream job.

“I was pretty much raised by this professional family. This is my family,” says Pennewell.

“This is what I drink, breathe — dream about.”

Throughout the years, Pennewell has performed with Fagan’s company on every continent but Antarctica.

Critics swoon over Pennewell’s ability to float in the air like a helium balloon and his precise yet free movements that melt into one other.

He has won a coveted “Bessie” New York Dance and Performance Award. He assisted Fagan in creating the choreography for “The Lion King” musical, which won six Awards, including best musical and best choreography in 1998.

Last December, Pennewell reached yet another milestone.

He premiered his first choreographed piece. It is the first time the company has performed a piece created by someone other than Garth Fagan. Fagan’s invitation is one of the highest honors of his life, says Pennewell. And, his creation has garnered top reviews.

The New York Times last November said Pennewell’s piece “is witty and muscular, a crystalline vehicle for two of modern dance’s most ravishing performers.”

Traveling the world doing what he loves and watching Garth Fagan Dance evolve has Continued on page 29

Andrew Hamingson ’90 energizes New York Theater Andrew Hamingson ’90 thought he would return home to work in Rochester, N.Y., after earning a master’s degree from New York University in performing arts administration. He soon realized, however, that theater was in his veins and he very likely would never leave the Big Apple.

His instincts were spot-on.

Hamingson dived into the New York theater community after finishing at NYU, clearing the way for a highly successful career in arts administration.

Two and a half years ago, he was named executive director of The Public Theater, a 55-yearold organization founded by the late Joseph Papp, an acclaimed American theater producer and director.

Hamingson oversees budgeting, trustee relations, contracts, marketing and fundraising for The Public.

“I am extremely fortunate to be running a place like The Public,” says Hamingson. “It’s a dream

job, a terrific opportunity.”

Before accepting his current position, Hamingson spent four years as managing director of the Atlantic Theater Company in New York, founded by playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy. A graduate school internship at the Manhattan Theater Club landed him a full-time position there for 12 years. He rose to director of development at the Manhattan before moving to the Atlantic.

At The Public, Hamingson and Artistic Director Oskar Eustis are perpetuating Papp’s vision of showcasing the works of the best up-and-coming playwrights and performers. The Public stages five or six plays per year at its headquarters in the East Village, many of them edgy and thought provoking.

Theater productions have won 42 Tony Awards, 149 Obies and four Pulitzer Prizes. “A Chorus Line,” which premiered at The

class of’90 Andrew Hamingson PHOTO PROVIDED

Public in 1975, for example, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama that year and went on to win nine Tony Awards.

Hamingson and his colleagues also continue to extend The Public’s reach by nurturing its popular Shakespeare in the Park series in Central Park and by transferring many of the the-

PHOTO PROVIDED

Behind the scenes, Andrew Hamingson ’90 is a key to the success of The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park series.

ater’s commercial productions to Broadway, most recently “The Merchant of Venice.” The theater has brought 52 additional shows to Broadway, including some of the most famous — “A Chorus Line” and “The Pirates of Penzance.”

The Public’s first show, the iconic 1967 musical “Hair,” became the first off-Broadway musical to transfer to Broadway.

The Public revived “Hair” in 2008, which also transferred to Broadway, winning a Tony Award for best revival of a musical. Hamingson is now overseeing the national tour of “Hair.”

“It’s certainly challenging keeping all of the balls I’m juggling in the air,” he says, “but it’s very exhilarating bringing a new play to life and possibly advancing it to regional theater or beyond. It’s all about the work and team effort that goes into making it possible.”

Hamingson’s fundraising experience has been particularly beneficial in a weak global economy, but he says The Public is weathering the storm well. In fact, he is guiding a $35 million Continued on page 29

Winter 2011 27

RANDOM PROFILE

One Cup Mollie Cross Rosier, PHOTO PROVIDED

Class of 1999

By Peter B. Wayner ’11

M

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 ... Tennessee.

Could it be you?

Continued on page 29

28

geneseo scene

QUICK FACTS Home: Anchorage, Alaska Graduation year: 1999 Degree: Bachelor of arts— English and sociology How you describe Geneseo: A great school where you know your professors.

Favorite campus hangout: The ledge above the College Union, to watch the sun set. Beautiful!

Best Geneseo memory: Adventures with friends and those amazing fall colors.

Most important life lesson you learned at Geneseo: I learned to think more critically at Geneseo about policy, culture and human nature. I figured out how to combine my skill set with my interests to find a career path I really enjoy.

What you would tell graduating seniors: Keep perspective on the big picture. Go outside every day.

Favorite saying: “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

ILLUSTRATION AMANDA LINDLEY

ONE CUP

ollie Cross Rosier ’99 tucks her 6-month-old son inside her down coat and plunks herself down onto her snowmobile. It’s 11 o’clock and on a day with only five hours of daylight, she’s got nine miles to cover through what she calls “take-your-breath-away cold” to get to her family’s cabin by nightfall.

Their lakeside cabin outside of Talkeetna, Alaska, is too remote for electricity or running water. They pump water from a well and rely on a kerosene lamp. At night, Mollie and her husband, Mark, venture outside to lie down on the frozen lake and look into infinity.

“It’s so far out and so dark it’s really spectacular for stargazing,” she says.

Mollie has always relished living so close to nature. She grew up in the cabin until she was 6 years old, playing by the light of the kerosene lamps amid the cold dark of the forest. Mollie considers the cabin a member of her family, constructed by her mom and dad. They even cut the logs.

Mollie and her family later moved to Palmer, near Anchorage.

When it was time to choose a college, she ventured 4,000 miles away, to Geneseo.

“It was a leap of faith and it was hard,” she says. “I was really homesick that first semester.”

Mollie chose Geneseo because of the reasonable tuition and the reputation of the biology program. She wanted to pursue pre-med. That was before she took an introductory poetry class: “I realized I liked reading stories, writing and people more than I liked studying cells.”

So she switched to a double major in English and sociology.

A decade after graduation, Mollie appreciates the care faculty had for her. She says Associate Professor of English Beth McCoy challenged her to think of the world in new ways, and she fondly remembers weighing the pros and cons of the American medical system with Professor of Sociology Elaine Cleeton.

After graduation, Mollie ventured thousands of miles again, to Nepal. She spent five months there helping a friend film, photograph and interview Sherpa who live near Mt. Everest about the modernization of their homes, as amenities like the Internet are introduced.

“Seeing the world changes the way you see things and it confirms other things,” says Mollie. “ … We all cherish many of the same things — the comfort of home, family and friends, our health and a good laugh.”

Mollie went on to earn a master’s degree in public health at the University of Michigan and chose to return to Alaska for her career and to raise her family in Anchorage. Since May 2008, Mollie has overseen HIV care and prevention programs in Alaska, allocating federal funds to agencies for Alaska’s Division of Public Health, in the Section of Epidemiology.

Mollie oversees HIV prevention interventions and the provision of HIV care services.

One Cup ... continued from page 28

Hamingson ... continued from page 27

PHOTO PROVIDED Mollie Cross Rosier ’99 backpacking with her family in Alaska.

“My heart is here, in Alaska,” she says.

Alaska — twice the size of Texas with 5,000 glaciers — is where she can satisfy her enduring love for nature. Mollie has gone on many camping trips through the wilderness. She has landed on a glacier in a ski plane and hiked to a cabin built on an ice field. She has accompanied seals through Prince William Sound in her kayak.

“I think that when I'm in the mountains, or woods, or at sea I am most alive and aware … When I come back from these adventures I feel deeply content and they bring such fulfillment to my life. I believe God — love, truth, creation, however that is defined — resides deeply in these non-man-made places.”

Even from her dining room, Mollie can see the mountains. In that environment, she says, you’re not the center of the world.

“I like how I feel small and humble and how the stresses of life come into perspective.”

Pennewell ... continued from page 26

been a storybook life, says Pennewell. Walking onto the Geneseo campus as a theater major, he never dreamed he’d be where he is now.

He is grateful for Lancos and his other Geneseo mentor, Nona Schurman, who encouraged him and kept him inspired.

In Nona’s case, he remembers her telling him not to come back to dance class if he chickened out of auditioning for Fagan all those years ago.

“It gave me the nerve” to do it, says Pennewell.

Pennewell has returned to campus to teach a master’s class in the same studio he practiced in. He is a role model, says Lancos, for aspiring dancers. He took the leap — and landed where he wanted to be.

“It’s just a dream come true,” says Pennewell, of his life as a celebrated dancer. “It’s like a second skin.”

— Kris Dreessen

capital campaign to renovate “My supervisory work with the theater’s headquarters.

Domino’s was my on-the-job “You have to work harder training for business,” with the economy strugHamingson says. “I learned gling, particularly for conabout budgets, contracts and tributed income such as vendors, which was a foundagrants,” says Hamingson, tion for much of the work I “but our ticket sales haven’t do today in theater. My MO dipped in the two years is to keep your head down since the economy has and do the work.” struggled. We’re in a period Hamingson considered of great growth and artistic pursuing entertainment law prosperity and that benefits after graduation but favored us greatly. We just completworking for an arts organizaed a production of ‘Gatz,’ tion and decided to look for example, a stage adapinto performing arts admintion of every word of ‘The istration.

Great Gatsby,’ and every “If I hadn’t had the rigorshow was sold ous training in out.” economics and “I am extremely Hamingson accounting at fortunate to be says his Geneseo, particdiverse educa- running a place like ularly auditing, tional and I certainly The Public,” says professional wouldn’t have Hamingson. “It’s a had the skills to background has aided him dream job, a terrific enter NYU, greatly in where I had to opportunity.” managing the take tough busivarious ness courses in aspects of his job. He came the Stern School of to Geneseo as a non-tradiManagement,” says tional student. After two Hamingson. “Geneseo years at Colgate studying demanded top-level performhistory and religion, he ance to help me succeed at returned to Rochester to Stern, which became a stephelp build a successful ping stone for my excellent Domino’s Pizza franchise, theater internship.” eventually becoming the While Hamingson spends a area supervisor. He later great amount of time behind decided he needed somethe scenes raising funds, thing else in his life so while marketing the theater, manworking full time for aging contracts and other Domino’s, he commuted administrative tasks for proevery weekday to Geneseo ductions, he still relishes the from Rochester, arriving for euphoria of attending a classes at 8 a.m. and leaving show’s opening night. at 8 p.m.

“My favorite thing is sitting His brutal schedule did in the dark theater on that not allow involvement in first preview night and seetheater or any extracurricuing the play we have worked lar activities, but he finished on for so long come to life,” his business degree in a he says. year and a half.

— David Irwin

Winter 2011

29

ALUMNI NEWS

Class Notes 1960s The latest story by Douglas Brode ’65, “The Ides of Texas,” was published in the recently released anthology “More Stories From the Twilight Zone.” He also contributed a number of articles in the American Cowboy Magazine as a tribute to John Wayne. Bernice Harvey Gordon ’65 has written a children’s book called “Owliver’s Busy Day” for children ages 2-7.

Register today Register for U-Knight in three easy steps: 1. Know your Geneseo ID number. You can find it three ways:

1970s

• Look at the label on the back of your magazine — ID number begins with G and next 8 numbers.

See the example in red at right.

Joseph Martin ’71 has published

• Visit go.geneseo.edu/gidfinder • Request it at uknight@geneseo.edu

2. Go to the registration site —

go.geneseo.edu/uknightsignup 3. Follow the on-screen directions to register and log in.

Once you’ve registered:

You should try: • Creating an alumni profile • Finding friends and classmates • Getting a Geneseo forwarding e-mail address • Finding and registering for alumni events • Sharing a class note • Posting a resume and searching for jobs If you don’t want a listing in U-Knight, e-mail uknight@geneseo.edu

Network

Searc

h

Unite

Share

Connect

the book “A Piece of the Banner,” and has included a chapter about his student years at SUNY Geneseo in the ’60s and ’70s.

David Barnard ’73 is a school psychologist/CPSE chairperson at Canisteo-Greenwood (N.Y.) Central School District. Chester Kozlowski ’73 published a collection of short fiction, “Home at Last,” by Florian Letters Publishers. Michael Benton ’74 recently completed 30 years of teaching at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

He teaches Spanish and history of science. Glenn Wahl ’75 retired after 33 years of teaching high school science and has joined the faculty of Jamestown Community College as a geology instructor. Peter Zaccarella ’75 retired in 2005 after a 28-year career with the U.S. Department of Justice and lives in Carrollton, Texas. Janet Defrancisco Callahan ’76 was elected managing partner by the partnership of Hancock & Estabrook LLP, Syracuse, N.Y. Dale Hayes Klein ’77 has been featured monthly for the last three years on FOX News as a corporate communication expert.

geneseo scene

Maureen Pernick Huber ’85

recently accepted a position at Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C., as an employer relations coordinator/career counselor. Jeffrey Cramer ’86 is managing director and in charge of the Chicago and Dallas offices for Kroll Associates, an international investigation firm. Marisa Lyden-Geraghty ’86 is the community relations manager for Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Albany, N.Y. Dr. Jeannette M. Anderson ’87 was a member of 2010 United States Olympic Committee Medical Volunteer Program in Lake Placid, N.Y. Kirk Dausman ’87 earned his Master of Divinity in 2008 from what is now Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. and has been ordained and installed as pastor of two Presbyterian churches in southwest Georgia. Corri Halpern Wilson ’88 was promoted to a full-time lecturer from adjunct faculty at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.

1990 Carlos Millan is the director of

labor relations for the New York State Thruway Authority in Albany. David Miller was promoted to senior director, strategic planning at Jabil Circuit in Saint Petersburg, Fla.

1991 Celebrating their 20th reunion July 8 and 9, 2011.

Find

1980s

1992

Kathleen Hart-Zavoli ’81 is a

Stephen Goldstein helped start an otolaryngology department at the University of Arizona and was promoted to associate professor.

Thomas Henk became a partner

member of the Board of Directors for Cambodia Tomorrow and is the director for English Education for Cambodia

30

Tomorrow, overseeing the operation of an English School in Kompong Speu, Cambodia.

Sandra Ayala ’85 recently earned a doctorate in education from the University of California, Riverside.

at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in New York City.

1993 Bethany Brown Cantin was promoted to the position of underwriting technical director at Zenith Insurance in Sarasota, Fla. Scott Marshall was elected to the board of the Delaware Council of Teachers of Mathematics as the private/parochial representative and is the assistant director of studies and acting head of the mathematics department at The Tatnall School in Wilmington, Del. Daniel Mody is CEO of Pinnacle Solutions in Syracuse, N.Y.

1994 Cathryn Brese Doebler was featured in Buffalo’s Business First newspaper for publishing her first book, “Ditch the Joneses, Discover Your Family: How to Thrive on Less Than Two Incomes.” Michael O’Connell recently accepted a position at ETC Laboratories in Rochester, N.Y., as deputy quality manager. Christian Riso was hired as the assistant superintendent of government services and special projects for the Diocese of Buffalo’s Department of Catholic Schools.

1995 Thomas Farrell is principal of

McCall Primary School in Acworth, Ga. Rebecca Mehring Voymas is the deputy district attorney with the 22nd Judicial District in Cortez, Colo.

1996 Celebrating their 15th reunion July 8 and 9, 2011.

Matthew Tappon is a house principal at Churchville Chili (N.Y.) Central School District.

1997 Amanda Vergien Hinchcliffe is

an account manager at SelectOne Search in Buffalo, N.Y.

1998 Rebecca Benner received an

MPS in publishing from The

George Washington University last August. Daniel Fox has been an assistant professor of chemistry at Suffolk University in Boston since September 2007. Todd Goho is the CSE/CPSE chairperson for the Alfred-Almond (N.Y.) Central School District. Mikhael Rubin was promoted to supervising senior accountant at Tronconi Segarra & Associates LLP in Williamsville, N.Y.

1999 Jaclyn Boushie is the director of

donor data and grants for the American Red Cross, Southern Tier Chapter, in Endicott, N.Y. Kristen Palmer Driskill earned her Doctor of Educational Leadership/Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Phoenix. Her dissertation focused on differentiated instruction and reading achievement. Elizabeth Martorella recieved her master’s degree in psychology from New York University in May 2010.

Chad Loblaw is a

licensed real estate salesperson, or realtor, with Nothnagle Chad Loblaw ’99 Realtors in Rochester, N.Y. Jill Powers Steinhauser was promoted to vice president of Digital Media Pricing & Inventory at Discovery Communications in New York City.

Robyn Walker recently accepted a position at Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore as a data analyst.

2000 Andrew Caffrey has been appoint-

ed the advanced optics division manager of program management for Corning Inc. Jesse Crane teaches English in the Geneva (N.Y.) Central School District.

Kathryn Ellish Crane is a school psychologist for the Pittsford (N.Y.) Central School District. Molly Smith Metzler has had one of her plays selected for main stage production in the 2011 Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Ky., this March. The play,

“Elemeno Pea,” was one of six plays selected from over 1,000 entries in the country’s largest and most prestigious competition for new plays and emerging playwrights.

technician. Deanne Day is a therapist at Liberty Resources Inc. in Syracuse, N.Y. Matthew Wilcott is a reading teacher at Kenmore West High School in Buffalo, N.Y.

2001

2006

Celebrating their 10th reunion July 8 and 9, 2011.

Meredith Bernadt was selected as a Fulbright Teacher and is spending a school year in England teaching students.

Celebrating their 15th reunion July 8 and 9, 2011.

2002 Marc Bartels earned an MBA with honors from American University in Washington, D.C. and was promoted to lead financial analyst at MITRE Corp. in McLean, Va. Ralph Minervino Jr. is an ambulatory clinical informatics and performance improvement manager with Unity Health System in Rochester, N.Y.

2003 Tami Root Holihan graduated

from SUNY Buffalo with a master’s degree in library science in May 2010 and is a school library media specialist in the Pittsford (N.Y.) Central School District.

Richard Simons has joined Turner Investments as a security analyst/portfolio manager. Jade Woodford-D’Orsi was recently named a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society after successfully completing nine examinations.

She is an assistant actuary at Liberty Mutual.

2004 Laura Jacobs was promoted to

senior account executive at e3communications. Joshua Katz is a teacher at Oxford Academy in Westbrook, Conn. and was a candidate for comptroller of the state of Connecticut. Regina D’Arcangelis Seguin earned tenure as a librarian at Valencia Community College, Orlando, Fla.

2005 Jeffrey Chien accepted a position

at PAETEC Communications in Fairport, N.Y. as a product support

Amanda Wildman Colebeck

earned a doctor of dental surgery degree from the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine and is continuing her education at UB to specialize in prosthodontics.

James Helms received his master of science degree in Educational Technology from Buffalo State College in May 2010 and is a science teacher in Williamsville, N.Y. Kasey Hundt is a geologist for Chesapeake Energy Corp., Oklahoma City, Okla. Nancy Prior earned a master’s degree in speech language pathology.

2007 Cassie Gielow was recently promoted to senior addictions counselor at Horizon Health Services in Buffalo, N.Y. Allison Lane received a master’s degree in public communication from American University last August.

Amanda Krigsman graduated with a master's degree in speech language pathology from Queens College. Nathan Lull is the announcer for Play-by-Play radio broadcasting for Men’s Hockey for Division 1 - Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y.

2008 Rachel Kingston was promoted to the position of full-time news anchor and reporter at WBEN (930 AM) radio in Buffalo, N.Y. Eric Pedersen is a project manager at Epic Systems in Verona, Wis. David Podsiedlik completed his master’s degree in adolescent education and social studies at SUNY Cortland in May 2010 and is a licensed history teacher for grades 8 through 12 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

2009 Kalei Ensminger is enrolled in

Fall 2010

31

ALUMNI NEWS

CLASS NOTES her first semester at Regis College in Weston, Mass., in the accelerated BSN/MS Nurse Practitioner Program. Lindsay Joy recently accepted a position at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as a recruiter after relocating from Long Island. Kelly McGarry received her master’s degree in literacy education from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y. and is a pre-K teacher at Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington, N.C. Theresa Saunders is in the Coast Guard, stationed in Point Judith, R.I. Daniel Spada joined the firm of Tronconi Segarra & Associates LLP as a staff accountant in the accounting and auditing department.

MARRIAGES Peter Baltradis ’80 & Anne Marie Spooner, June 5, 2010.

David Miller ’90 & Amy Tupper, Aug. 30, 2008.

Allison Langerak ’97 & Lamar Wyatt Tuzo III, Oct. 16, 2010.

Kathryn Crockett ’98 & Daniel

Timothy Stockton ’06, July 11,

Presley, May 30, 2009.

2009.

19, 2008.

Stacey Cook Klein ’99 & Scott

Amanda Kelly ’07 & Ryan

Sophia Gavrielides McKeown ’93 & Joshua, John Nicholas, July

Klein, May 7, 2010.

McMahon, Aug. 7, 2010.

Ericka Utegg Graves ’00 & Adam

Graves, Aug. 21, 2010.

Lorraine Todd ’01 & Dr. James Bowman, June 26, 2010.

Victoria Briars ’08 & Andrew Gebel ’08, July 14, 2010.

Emy Rustin Sewnauth ’08 & Andrew Sewnauth ’08, June 26,

Jennifer Stachowski Burton ’03 &

2010.

Eric Burton, April 24, 2010.

Kalei Ensminger ’09 & Mehmet

Amanda Bogucki Caminiti ’03 & Jordan Caminiti, Oct. 4, 2008.

Noelle DiMarzo Collins ’03 & Dr. Craig Collins ’03, Dec. 19, 2009.

Christina Barth ’04 & Nicholas Tewksbury, Aug. 21, 2010.

Vicki Beighley ’05 & Brian Pack ’05, Aug. 21, 2010.

Carly Wisotzke Dlugoszewski ’05

& Chad Dlugoszewski, Sept. 5, 2010.

Joanna Laker Kane ’05 & Jason Kane ’04, June 5, 2010.

Sarah Scott-Edwards ’05 & Owen Hahn ’09, Jan. 11, 2010.

Nicole Spiridgliozzi ’05 & Jack Glazebrook ’06, Oct. 11, 2009.

Amanda Wildman Colebeck ’06 & Matthew Colebeck ’06, July 3,

2010.

Meredith Costello ’06 & Kris Heeres ’06, Aug. 28, 2010.

Catherine Pratico Stockton ’06 &

Aktas, Aug. 20, 2010.

Correction: A recent marriage announcement for Scott Perkins ’72 was incorrect and printed in error. Our sincere apologies.

BIRTHS Susan Bauerfeind Thomas ’90

& Andy, Jack Richard, July 27, 2010 from South Korea.

Thomas Henk ’92 & Kate, William Jones, Sept. 15, 2010.

Jennifer Marthia ’92 & Jay Roorbach, Steven Marthia, Dec. 29, 2009.

Donna Otto ’92 & Robert Wheeler, Samuel Otto O’Shea, April 6, 2008.

Bethany Brown Cantin ’93 & Emil Straubel, Connor Emil, Oct. 23, 2008.

Karen Noonan Martin ’93 &

Steven ’92, Tyler Robert, June

18, 2010.

Susan Leonard Stanley ’93 & Rob, Meghan Rhode, Aug. 17, 2009.

Aim E. Darmer O’Connell ’94 & Michael ’94, Rory Patrick, Feb.

27, 2007 and Kerry Clare, Aug. 16, 2009.

Pamela Curatolo-Wagemann ’95 & Scott, Logan Fionn, Sept. 5,

2009.

Jennifer Pulver Masseth ’95 &

Cory, Harry Christopher, Aug. 20, 2010.

Jennifer Allen ’96 & Terry ’97, Brooke Susanna, Nov. 2, 2009.

Tracy Pawlowski Schneider ’96

& Donald, Quentin Henry, April 14, 2010.

Jill Yonkers ’96 & John Emmons, Andrew and Jackson, November 2009.

Amanda Vergien Hinchcliffe ’97 & Craig, Ella Jeanne, May 10,

2010.

Hai Li ’97 & Jennifer, Andrew, Sept. 10, 2006.

Carrie Knittel Rabasa ’97 &

Carter, Catherine Virginia, Feb. 17, 2010.

Michael Shiffer ’97 & Raina, Ryan Michael, Oct. 6, 2009.

Jennifer Frechette Spears ’97

& Andrew, Kellan Jamison, April 13, 2010.

Martina Mastroleo Baker ’98 & Jared ’96, Tessa Nadine, Oct. 23, 2009.

Amy Penkalski Bray ’98 & Eric Spitzer, Avery Elizabeth, Aug. 28, 2010.

Kathryn Crockett ’98 & Daniel Presley, Alexandra Ahn, June 7, 2010.

Kristen Tozer Kellick ’99 & Howard, Robert Joseph, Feb. 7, 2010.

Kevin Kozik ’99 & Robin Codding, Landon John and Rylan Robert, May 31, 2010.

Amy Penkalski Spitzer ’98 & Eric, Avery Elizabeth, Aug. 28, 2010.

Elizabeth Wilson Tomer ’99 & Ryan, Trenton Murphy, June 14, 2010.

Karen Melnyk-Vutrano ’99 & Gregory, Nancy, Jan. 17, 2009.

Stacy Mason Pekarik ’99 & John ’98, Matthew Austen, June

18, 2010.

Wonder ’01, Carolyn Paige, April

Oct. 1, 2010.

Meghan McDonald Barker ’00

8, 2010.

Kalee Vales Glavach ’05 &

& Brian, Katie Anne, May 23, 2010.

Andrew Caffrey ’00 & Rebecca, Lilyana Joy, Sept. 22, 2010.

Katie Cutaia Gruschow ’02 & Mike, Kendall Eryn, March 18, 2010.

Anne Luckhurst Smith ’02 & Jeffrey, Chloe Madelyn, Aug. 27, 2010.

Matt, Aubrey Marie, Sept. 8, 2010.

Jennifer Weldin Deshaies ’00

& John, Maxim John, May 10, 2010.

Hillary Koldin Harding ’00 & Daniel, Brianna Ilyse, Aug. 7, 2010 Douglas Krupa ’00 & Michelle,

Betsy DeVincentis Spanagel ’02 & Ivan ’02, Jack Robert and

Gracelyn Mae, Sept. 3, 2010.

IN MEMORIAM ALUMNI Gladys Derrick ’31, March 4, 2010 Ellen Prescott Delaney ’33,

June 25, 2008 Martha Twining Weaver ’34,

April 19, 2010 Margaret Ludwig ’34/’67,

Oct. 9, 2010

Send your class note or notice to

go.geneseo.edu/uknight

Glenn Olmstead ’35, Nov. 3, 2009 Katherine Sisson ’35, July 21, 2008 Monica Costello Huff ’37,

Feb. 19, 2010 Doris Parnell Parsons ’37,

Jan. 27, 2009 Charlotte Paige, Jan. 5, 2009.

Margaret Moslow Scherer ’00

& Brian, Felicity Jane, Sept. 7, 2007 and Harrison Joseph, Sept.

25, 2009.

Stephanie Cox-Bussard ’01 & Matthew ’98, Andrew James, March 26, 2010.

Karen Endriss Guzowski ’01 & Christopher, Lorelei Rose, March 28, 2010.

Heather Salvaggio ’01 & Alan

Helen Dwyer Hoffman ’38,

Stephanie Palmer Straub ’02 & Thomas (Ted) ’02, Emily Paige,

Jan. 1, 2008

March 16, 2010.

Margaret Mekeel Palmer ’38,

Jennifer Selby McCaffery ’03 & Nicholas ’03, Natalie Violet, Oct.

July 18, 2010

Shawn Sanderson ’03 & Jessica,

Alice Hawley ’40, Dec. 28, 2005 Lucinda Wright ’41, April 23, 2008 Florence Seymour Hamilton ’42,

Nathan James, May 25, 2010.

Aug. 28, 2008

Heather Seabury Smith ’03 &

Adam, Zoe Marie, April 30, 2010.

Harrison Phillips ’42, Oct. 13, 2010.

Frances Wandell Drew ’43, Feb. 2,

Regina D'Arcangelis Seguin ’04 & Brian ’04, Caroline Marie,

Ethel Hobbie Smith ’45, April 11,

10, 2010.

2003

ALUMNI NEWS

Scene around the world Are you packing to cruise the Nile or adventure in the Amazon?

Rediscovering America on a drive?

Take a photo of yourself with the Scene on vacation, business or other trips and submit them for our feature.

Send your images to scene@geneseo.edu with a subject line of “Scene Around the World.”

Above, Jane and Spencer TenHagen ’80, both U.S. Airways flight attendants, visited the famous Christ statue during a layover in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Jill Holcomb ’04 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Steve Beresford ’73 and Geneseo friends meet every few years at an away Buffalo Bills game. This year, they traveled from their homes in upstate New York, San Francisco and Texas for the game at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Pictured are: Steve, left, George Bennett ’75, Spencer Gosch ’74 and Al Smith ’74.

Tom Wiggins ’84 at a Viking sculpture in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Kerri O’Shea ’98 fulfilled her dream of visiting Easter Island off the coast of South America — with her Scene, of course.

Above, Bruno Bernardino ’02 at the pyramids in Giza, Egypt.

34

geneseo scene

At left, Cynthia Benci Gibbs ’75 on her dream trip to Israel, in the Mount of Olives with Old City Jerusalem and its ancient city wall and golden Dome of the Rock in the background.

:

2010 Edna Evans Hume ’47, Dec. 28, 2008 Jean Copeland ’48, Aug. 7, 2010 Lucy Lanphear ’48, Feb. 18, 2009 Lorna Snyder McGuire ’48, Sept. 13,

See more Scene around the world submissions online visit http://go.geneseo.edu/goworld

2010 Elaine Catania Cecala ’49, Dec. 18,

2009 Mary Lou Kelkenberg ’51, Oct. 7,

2010 Beverly Laverty Schuyler ’55,

Jan. 21, 2009 Doris Goff Spink ’55, Jan. 21, 2009 Carole Horn Whittard ’59, Dec. 4,

Mary Ann Maccariello Guarino ’68, at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy.

2009 Daniel McGuire ’61, Aug. 19, 2010 Larry Naylor ’62, June 17, 2010 Theresa Mistretta ’63, Aug. 2, 2010 Margaret Harmon Kessler ’67, April

30, 2009 William Lane ’67, July 13, 2010 Sue Thomas Turner ’68, May 25, 2009 Cheryl Alm Day ’69, Nov. 1, 2008 Thomas Frasher ’69, March 1, 2009 John Hoffman ’69, May 5, 2010 Craig Burgess ’70, June 30, 2010 George Tallet ’70, April 25, 2010 Barbara Druschel ’73, April 17, 2000 Steven Luisi ’75, Dec. 7, 2009 James Callahan ’79, April 8, 2010 Alan Polisson ’80, Jan. 25, 2010 Kathleen Caruana ’86, Nov. 25, 2008 Bryan Whitney ’98, July 1, 2010 Brian Oster ’01, Sept. 21, 2009

Valerie J. Bassett ’73 at the Sphynx in Egypt.

Carolyn Davin Williams ’05 at Machu Picchu after hiking the Inca Trail in Peru.

FACULTY Allen Reid, professor emeritus,

who served as the chair of the biology department during his entire tenure at Geneseo from 1974 to 1982, died July 30, 2010.

James M. Watson, professor of

sociology, died Aug. 18, 2010. He served as chair of the sociology department for nearly 20 years before his retirement in 1998, and was an active scholar on urban riots and other social issues. He chaired the College Senate Faculty Research Committee and taught as an adjunct lecturer after retirement until 2005.

Jillienne Prechtl Allgauer ’01 and her husband, Lucas, in Vienna, Austria.

Paul Stein, a professor of English

from 1966 to 1984, died Oct. 11, 2010. He served as chair of the Department of English from 1971 to 1974 and received a SUNY Faculty Research Foundation Fellowship while at Geneseo.

Too fast to read? Serge Berig ’10, rides his Earthwing speedbaord in the Catskill Mountains with the Scene.

Lindsay Welch ’07 in Dingle, Ireland during her 2010 tour of Europe.

Winter 2011

35

MEMORY LANE

PHOTO BY SARAH KOSLOSKI ’12

Participating in community caroling has been a tradition for students and faculty for 60 years.

Wanted: Your favorite traditions Students seek remembrances of alumni to preserve and continue beloved Geneseo activities.

By Peter Wayner ’11

E

very first Friday of December for the last 15 years, Betty Grant ’53 joins a scarved and mittened crowd at the Village Park in Geneseo. After revelers light a freshly decorated tree, they stroll down Main Street to the beloved bear fountain for a round of old-fashioned caroling.

Emmeline the bear is lit with hundreds of tiny bulbs, and the fountain is filled with miniature trees decorated by children.

For Geneseo Mayor Dick Hatheway, who taught in the college’s geology department for 39 years and was the department chair, the communityorganized sing-a-long represents the “official start of the season.”

The tradition dates back more than 60 years and brings village residents and college faculty, emeriti, students and alumni like Grant together in song and community spirit. In fact, Grant participated as a student nearly 60 years ago.

A new project launched by the Members of the Undergraduate Alumni Association (UAA), who 36

geneseo scene

work to build constructive relationships between alumni and current students, will preserve such traditions and remember those lost to time.

Information about traditions collected for The Traditions Project will foster new rituals or rejuvenate older ones for current students, says Tracy Young Gagnier ’93, assistant director for alumni relations.

There’s also a challenge.

The UAA has created a “bucket list” of 11 rites of passage any member of the Geneseo family should not miss: Watch the sun set at the gazebo for example or scream for the goal at an Ice Knights home game.

Participating students check off what traditions they do and receive a shirt to spread the word. The shirt, paid for by the Geneseo Alumni Association, features the “must-dos.” The UAA will also host Traditions Project events for students as they tackle the list, such as a “mocktail” reception at a sunset gathering at the gazebo, and photos at a hockey game with

the Knight mascot.

Julia McDaniel ’11 and Seth Barradas ’11 are heading up the initiative. The goal, says McDaniel, is to create one large community between students and alums — no matter the graduation year or major. “…We’re hoping this will bring everybody closer together,” says McDaniel.

Preserving and revitalizing traditions will unify the entire Geneseo family, enhance the student experience and increase school spirit, says Gagnier.

The Traditions Project kicks off in this issue.

In the future, Gagnier envisions creating a booklet for students that shares ongoing traditions and those celebrated in yesteryear.

Grant’s student tradition continues. This season, she was on Main Street singing.

She applauds the UAA initiative because traditions are “not only something you participate in at the time,” she says, “but something you look back on and you hope will continue.”

Share your memories Visit go.geneseo.edu/traditions or mail responses to: UAA Traditions Project Attn: Tracy Young Gagnier ’93, Alumni Relations Office, SUNY Geneseo, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454 Include: • Name and class year • Favorite thing about Geneseo as a student • How you spent your leisure time (include specific clubs) • Regular rituals or traditions you participated in (official or nonofficial)

The Class of 2011

Makes Its Mark

:

Make a difference ... visit giveto.geneseo.edu

Lisa M. Feinstein PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

Bridget Denicola ’11 and other students are investing in future students’ education and opportunities through the Make Your Mark! campaign, which allows them to choose how their contributions are spent.

ridget Denicola is a busy young woman. A senior with dual majors in psychology and communication, she is the student coordinator of the Women’s Expo, a GOLD (Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership Development) mentor and the only female personal trainer employed at the workout center. She also heads up the 2010 “Make Your Mark!” campaign. “’Make Your Mark! is important because it helps students realize why we should stay connected to Geneseo after we graduate,” says Bridget. “It emphasizes giving back to what means the most to each individual student.”

Seniors who make gifts are giving back to their fellow students in recognition of the quality education they have received. They can designate their gifts how they like, to reflect course of study, athletic team or club.

For Bridget, that meant giving back to GOLD — a program that helped define her years at Geneseo.

According to Bridget, the lessons and skills she learned in GOLD inspired her to become the 2011 class gift committee chair and prepared her to take on the job.

“I became the class gift coordinator because it’s a great way to be involved,” says Bridget. “I have been so fortunate to receive scholarships, and that would never have happened without generous donors. That financial assis-

B

tance meant the world to me.”

As the recipient of the Miller-Neverett Memorial Endowed Scholarship and The Ward Leadership Annual Scholarship — both funded by private donors — Bridget understands the importance of supporting Geneseo, especially in challenging economic times.

“I work hard to pay for school,” she says. “The generosity of Geneseo alumni has helped me along the way. When I graduate, I would love to help students in my same situation. So many organizations and departments would not be what they are without our donors.”

Make Your Mark! focuses on educating current students about the impact private support has on the college while building awareness and appreciation for alumni giving. Last year, the Class of 2010 donated the most yet. This year, Bridget has set the bar even higher.

“Our goal is to have 50 percent of our seniors particiate,” she says.

And Bridget has a message for this year’s reunion classes. “The senior class would like to challenge all reunion classes to match or beat our participation rate,” she says. “If any of this year’s reunion classes can do that, the Class of 2011 will sponsor a tree-painting party for that class at Summer Reunion in July.”

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