Geneseo Scene Summer 2016

Summer 2016

geneseo scene

A magazine for alumni, parents and friends of SUNY Geneseo

Spark Be the

for change

The bear: What’s next? • Geneseo’s experimental garden

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geneseo Summer 2016

scene CONTENTS

FEATURES 8

Alumni show us: How to change the world Opening the first deaf school. Saving wildlife.

Advancing cancer research. Reviving college tradition. Honoring young military. These alumni stories demonstrate the power we each have to make a difference in the world and at home.

14 The good news bear An accident temporarily took down Geneseo’s beloved Emmeline, but she will return. We tell you where to visit her as her home is resurrected.

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Seeds of ingenuity Geneseo is creating a special garden to grow innovative ideas and test innovative technology from students. The harvest might also be your dinner.

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College launches a new alumni association For the first time, Geneseo has a college-led organization that will unite graduates. Here’s the low-down on the new group and how it will strengthen the college.

DEPARTMENTS 3 22 25 32

One College Circle: Campus News Athletics Alumni News Class Notes

COLUMNS 2 24

President’s Message Random Profile

Cover Photo by Keith Walters ’11.

LET IT RAIN — PASTELS: Hundreds of students gathered outside of Livingston Hall to participate in the 4th annual Festival of Color last spring. All new activities are planned for the Weeks of Welcome.

Photo by Keith Walters ’11 Postmaster: Please address changes to the Office of Alumni Relations, Doty Hall, SUNY Geneseo, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454-1484.

Standard-class postage paid at Lebanon Junction, KY 40150

geneseo scene

Vol. 41, No. 2 Summer 2016

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

Denise A. Battles, President K. Johnson Bowles, Vice President for College Advancement Gail C. Glover, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Kris Dreessen, Editor Carole Smith Volpe ’91, Creative Director Contributing writers: Chelsea Butkowski ’15 Kris Dreessen Judson Mead Jim Memmott Sherrie Negrea Tim Volkmann

Contributing photographers: Annalee Bainnson ’19 Kris Dreessen Ben Gajewski ’07 Keith Walters ’11 Alumni Relations Office Ronna Gillam, Director of Alumni Relations Michelle Walton Worden ’92, Associate Director of Alumni Relations Amanda McCarthy, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations for Regional Events Tracy Young Gagnier ’93, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Alumni Relations Office: Doty Hall SUNY Geneseo 1 College Circle Geneseo, NY 14454-1484 Phone: (585) 245-5506 Fax: (585) 245-5514 alumni@geneseo.edu Contact the Scene at scene@geneseo.edu.

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

FROM THE PRESIDENT

It’s time to launch our strategic plan

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s I look back at my first year of having the privilege of serving as SUNY Geneseo’s president, I want to thank every member of the college community for continuing to distinguish our institution as a wellspring of liberal education and professional and graduate programs of the highest quality.

The 2015-16 year was one filled with noteworthy achievements. And while I feel sure that the coming year will continue this trend, we also find ourselves at a crucial juncture in the history of Geneseo and in the evolution of higher education in the United States.

Last fall at my inauguration, I shared with you our need to create a strategic plan that will set priorities for moving Geneseo forward based on our core values. We have spent nearly a year creating that plan, with significant input from stakeholders.

After a tremendous amount of effort, discussion and listening via a website, comprehensive polls about priorities and needs, informational videos, and community sessions, I am pleased to announce that we have adopted a strategic plan that I believe will guide the college, and our collective decision-making, for the next five years.

The new plan is essentially a blueprint for how we will continue to enhance our educational excellence, community, and reputation, while remaining dedicated to offering the quality public liberal arts education for which we are known. As such, the plan addresses key questions that I outlined in my inaugural address: 1. How do we ensure and enhance access to the exceptional education provided at Geneseo?

2. How do we maximize the affordability of a Geneseo education?

3. How do we continue to provide an education of exceptional quality in a manner that is also maximally efficient and cost-effective?

4. How do we continue to embrace our identity as a premier liberal arts college while ensuring our relevance and appeal to a digital generation of learners?

5. How do we enhance diversity, equity and inclusion at Geneseo?

6. How do we ensure that all students are reached through our efforts to internationalize the Geneseo experience?

7. How do we engage more effectively with our community?

8. How do we become recognized for our excellence?

Responding to these questions, the plan identifies four main themes for our future growth: learning, access and success, advancing the public good, and resilience and sustainability. In establishing these themes, we were cognizant of our history as we set about implementing our vision for the future. Most importantly, the plan will be a living document that will evolve and adapt to our ever-changing environment as we work together to implement it.

Ultimately, any such effort is a shared responsibility, as we are all stakeholders in ensuring its success.

I welcome you to join me as we continue to position Geneseo as one of the nation’s premier public liberal arts colleges.

Denise A. Battles, president

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geneseo scene

One College Circle Geneseo’s Mosaic Geneseo has always been a beloved place to learn, but it’s the people who make the college a place so many call “home.” Faculty and alumni submitted almost 1,200 self-portraits to the mosaic project, depicting who we are and celebrating our diversity. Self-portraits from the college’s newest generation of students also contributed to make the 3,500-person completed project. “We wanted to do something special and unique during the inaugural year,” says Andrea Klein, Inaugural Planning Committee chair and director of campus scheduling and events. “It’s a time stamp of our 2015-2016 year.”

The final art is sold as cards and posters to benefit Geneseo programs. www.facesforfundraising.com/geneseo

CAMPUS NEWS

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Exploring Americana Professors earn recognition Students win awards Elevating art New leadership News in photos Spring 2016

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ONE COLLEGE CIRCLE

CAMPUS NEWS

From the permanent collection .... eneseo has some 1,500 original paintings and photographs, limited-run prints and other works of art in the college’s permanent collection.

Join us here for a look at some of Geneseo’s interesting pieces, which are rarely seen or have never been displayed.

Oak etchings: Professor Emeritus of Art Richard Beale worked in a lot of mediums, often portraying the lush green and tree-filled landscapes of the Genesee Valley.

His etchings of notable oaks include one he made in 1972 of these “Great Oaks of Hartford House,” outside Geneseo.

His philosophy was something he surely passed on to his students: “I am a different artist every day,” he said in 2007. “If there is any unbroken thread that ties my work together, it is the conviction that expressing wonder and gratitude is my main job.”

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

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Student ambassadors

Student poet chronicles the new Americana n the 1950s, photographer Robert Frank spent two years driving through the states, capturing a snapshot of Americana at the time.

This summer, Evan Goldestein ’17 was on his own six-week American journey, with ink not film.

He’s writing poetry that documents what he experiences and sees, and the ever-changing people and landscape, as the James Houston ’80 Ambassador in

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Innovation.

“My work will stand for what I’ve seen,” says Evan, “and allow other people to be a part of it.”

See and read what Evan creates in the fall issue of the Scene, with a round-up of these and other student ambassador projects, all funded through alumni gifts: • Creating a new program for Geneseo-area elementary students to learn about and attend the

Professors earn highest recognition wo faculty members have earned the highest honor from the SUNY Board of Trustees: Distinguished Professorship.

Lynette M.F. Bosch, professor and chair of the Department of Art History, was named a SUNY Distinguished Professor for BOSCH achieving prominence and a distinguished reputation in her field.

A renowned scholar in Renaissance art, Spanish manuscript illumination and contemporary Latin American art, she was commended for weaving archival material with contemporary critical the-

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Finger Lakes Opera • Archiving the Yiddish language in Poland • Launching a fair-trade chocolate snacking company • Creating a small sustainable farm • Exploring sustainable marine-related development in Haiti • Interviewing female scholars in Senegal • Creating a collaborative literary journal

ory, and offering a variety of research and presentation opportunities for students.

Christopher Coleman Leary, professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics, was appointed Distinguished Teaching Professor. He was commended for being a gifted LEARY and innovative teacher who inspires students to love mathematics and to become better thinkers, for his contributions to undergraduate research and for creating a program in biomathematics.

Geneseo welcomes new leadership his summer, Geneseo welcomed K. Johnson Bowles as the new vice president for college advancement, and executive director of the Geneseo Foundation.

Bowles earned degrees in painting and photography and has BOWLES held various teaching, administrative, fundraising and capital campaign positions over the past 27 years. Most recently, she was vice president of advancement at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C., where she increased annual fund giving, alumni participation and other fundraising milestones.

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Gala will elevate art at Geneseo n Sept. 10, the college hosted a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Bertha V.B. Lederer Gallery and the half century of exhibits in the Brodie Fine Arts Building. The gala raised money to improve storage facilities for the nearly 1,500 pieces in Geneseo’s permanent art collection.

Items include watercolors by early Finger Lakes settlers, limited-edition prints and rare art such as a delicate Quran illuminated leaf created in the 1500s, each character of which is meticulously hand-inked, with gold embellishments.

“The 50th Anniversary Gala is an extraordinary opportunity to secure the future longevity of the collection for students and community members,” says Cynthia

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Hawkins, director and curator of the Lederer Gallery. Hawkins also hopes to replace the gallery’s wooden doors with glass doors to better highlight exhibits and improve access.

The gala included a special exhibit with pieces from the permanent collection curated

by Lauren Slezak ’15, storage facility and exhibition tours, a talk by Corinne Smith ’12 and a sit-down dinner in the gallery with music and table magicians.

Yuki Kawae ’12 was the exhibit designer.

The gallery is named for Bertha V.B. Lederer, a retired beloved faculty member and, the founder of the college’s art collection.

Information: www.geneseo.edu/galleries/ current_lederer — By Kris Dreessen

Students and grads earn international and national awards Alumna now in Indian parliament Harneel Kaur Aujla ’16 is a researcher for a member of parliament in her AUJLA KATOMSKI home country of India to learn policy-making at the national level. She is a recipient of the Legislative Assistants to Member of Parliament Fellowship.

English teachers earn Fulbrights After graduation in 2015, Anna Sophia Katomski helped teach English in Chile. Now, she and Janna Babad ’17 are headed east as Fulbright scholars.

Katomski will be in Malaysia and Babad in Indonesia, providing assistance to local

English teachers and serving as cultural ambassadors.

Fourteen Geneseo BABAD CONARD students have received Fulbrights since 1985.

Grad studying innovation in Germany Ben Conard ’16 is studying fair trade, entrepreneurship and innovation in Germany as a recipient of the prestigious CongressBundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals Fellowship, funded by the German Bundestag and U.S. Congress. With a Geneseo grant, Conard is creating a fairtrade chocolate company, Five North.

— By Kris Dreessen

Also, in the Office of College Communications and Marketing, Gail C. Glover is the new chief communications and marketing officer, expanding the department’s role with an emphasis on storytelling, GLOVER fostering relationships and advancing college goals.

Glover was senior director of communications and marketing at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. Before that, she held various public relations roles at Binghamton University.

— By Kris Dreessen

Spring 2016

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ONE COLLEGE CIRCLE

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

PHOTO PROVIDED

THE SPRING CONCERT: Students closed out the year rocking out to New Politics, known for songs like “Everywhere I Go (Kings and Queens).”

CHAMBER SINGERS IN ITALY: The Chamber Singers completed a 10-day musical tour of Italy, led by Professor and Chair of Music Gerard Floriano ’84. Read student blogs: geneseochambersingers.wordpress.com/blog

COLORFUL CARPET: Purple blooms cover the walkway near South Hall.

SPRING CONCERT PHOTO BY ANNALEE BAINNSON ’19, ALL OTHER PHOTOS BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

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HONOR SOCIETY INDUCTION: Professor of Mathematics Doug Baldwin welcomes attendees at the Phi Beta Kappa induction ceremony. Eighty-four students were elected this year to the prestigious honor society.

FINANCE CONFERENCE: A student speaks with one of a dozen alumni who work in finance in a networking and learning program during the Student-Alumni Finance Conference last semester in the School of Business.

AN OCEAN OF REFUSE: Students from the Geneseo Environmental Organization constructed a whale from plastic bottles found in just four hours around campus. They wanted to raise awareness about plastic consumption and its effects on the environment.

Spring 2016

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Be the

Spark

for change

We share stories of alumni whose efforts prove the power we each have to make a difference — right at home or a world away.

By Kris Dreessen rain cancer took Don Litzelman ’82 from his lifelong college friends.

In Central Africa, Noreen Corey ’83 discovered deaf children were completely left out of any formal education. At home in New Jersey, Kenneth E. Hartman ’81 saw high-school seniors enter the military — without a whisper or a word of thanks.

These alumni saw a need and were inspired to do something about it.

They weren’t experts in that field, but each had a will to make changes.

“You find a way,” says Noreen.

Don’s buddies support cancer research and young students in his honor.

Noreen runs a school for the deaf Equatorial Guinea. Kenneth started a thank-you ceremony for high-school enlistees that expanded nationwide.

Their efforts transform individuals, communities and generations. We share their stories and the stories of other alumni to demonstrate the power we each have to make a difference, in large or small ways.

“In the long run it doesn’t matter the size,” says Kenneth. “It’s the impact you have. They say no one person can make a difference. I disagree. It takes one person to light the spark and show a need. Join me ...”

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Do you know of someone making a difference?

Let us know at scene@geneseo.edu

geneseo scene

SPARKS OF Change

In loss, fraternity brothers unite Class of 1982 alumnus Don Litzelman’s friends fight cancer and help aspiring student athletes in his honor.

By Chelsea Butkowski n a spring morning in 2012, four old friends piled into a car and drove up the East Coast to New Hampshire. It was the first time they had seen each other since graduating from Geneseo 30 years before.

They were going to say goodbye to their friend, Don Litzelman ’82.

As they rolled toward Stratham, N.H., Dave Craig ’82, Mark Congdon ’83, Andy Hyman ’82 and Brian Kinel ’80 remembered their years together. They all met living in Ontario Hall, and together they founded the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

At every lacrosse game, they gathered to cheer on Don, who was a two-time AllAmerican athlete.

“Whenever he got praise, he would redirect the conversation to his teammates,” says Dave.

That was who Don always was — humble, kind, a natural leader and “the epitome of the guy voted most likely to succeed,” says Brian.

They were devastated when they found out that he had brain cancer. They wanted to see him.

“With the steroids and the chemo, he didn’t look like what we remembered,” Brian says. “It was kind of shocking at first. In the same token, we laughed, we teased. It was surprising how quickly we were transported back.”

Five minutes into the car ride home, they were ordering Geneseo lacrosse shirts stenciled with Don’s number for his family. Within the next two weeks, a larger group of Sig Ep brothers and friends started a foundation in his honor. The idea started as a fundraiser for Don’s three children, but it became much more.

“I reached out to the other guys, and we started talking about something to honor his name,” says Brian.

They established the Don Litzelman Foundation in 2012. It preserves Don’s legacy by funding cancer research, providing awards to lacrosse players at Geneseo, supporting youth lacrosse in

LITZELMAN

Don’s hometown of Camillus, N.Y., and donating a $500 scholarship to an athlete at Don’s high school.

Brian is ever thankful that he was able to visit Don five days before his death to tell him about their mission. “It was supporting youth lacrosse that really got the biggest reaction,” Brian says. “I am forever grateful that he knew.”

The friends have accomplished a lot in four years in Don’s name, through donations and fundraisers.

One of them is an annual golf tournament, this year held in Geneseo and preceded with a bonfire among friends at Mark’s

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

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house. More than 45 Sig Ep brothers, lacrosse players and friends attended the tournament, raising $6,000. Next year’s tournament is already planned for June 2 at the Fairview Golf Club in Avon.

This year, the group was proud to make a special gift of three incubators to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where Don received treatment.

Dr. Keith Ligon uses the incubators to grow cancer cells to test potential patient treatments.

The friends hope to donate seven more incubators — 10 total — in the next five years, each worth about $10,000.

Through these fraternity brothers, teammates and friends, Don’s legacy extends far beyond his lacrosse record. To honor Don, his friends have strengthened their bonds and established a legacy in Don’s memory that will benefit future generations of patients battling cancer, as well as aspiring lacrosse players and students.

“The foundation has absolutely brought us together,” Brian says. “We never dreamed it would come this far.”

Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers support students and fight cancer in their friend’s honor.

Summer 2016

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SPARKS OF Change

Honoring young Armed Forces members Kenneth E. Hartman ’81 has received the Army’s highest civilian honor for the effort he launched that recognizes high-schoolers entering the military.

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ustin McGunnigle always wanted to be in the military and spent all four years of high school in the JROTC. He just turned his tassle as a senior, but on Aug. 30 he was at Texas Air Force base training to repair aircraft.

Before he leaves, 400 residents, veterans and others from his hometown gathered to say a collective “thank you.”

Dustin and 50 other high-school seniors from Camden County, N.J., who have chosen to enter the Armed Forces directly after graduation attended the celebration — worthy of the White House lawn.

They were serenaded by the Army Band, U.S. Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, and encouraged by Secretary of the Army Patrick J. Murphy and other dignitaries.

“It feels so good to be recognized,” says Dustin.

His mom, Susan, beside him, is appreciative that others think of sacrifices he and his family will make for his life’s journey.

“That was probably the most amazing experience I’ve been through with him,” she says. “It was incredible that that many people thought so much of these kids. I cried. I was proud.”

The event was possible because of Kenneth E. Hartman ’81, who created Our Community Salutes, a nonprofit organization that honors graduates who join the military directly after high school.

It started eight years ago, when Kenneth started his service as a member of the Cherry Hill school board and noticed there was no recognition for new enlistees.

Their service should be recognized, he says, as only 1 percent of teens who graduate from high school make this commitment. Where are the bragging rights and bells and whistles?

So Kenneth started them himself.

“My belief is that it’s not the governAllison Johnson hugs her mother at the Our Community Salutes event.

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geneseo scene

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Kenneth E. Hartman ’81, wearing his medal awarded by the U.S. Army, before the 2016 event in Cherry Hill, NJ.

ment’s job to thank these kids,” says Kenneth. “It is the community’s responsibility ... When they are in basic training, or driving a vehicle in a strange village, or they have an assignment they think is impossible to carry out, I want them to think about the people who turned out that one evening, and know they have their back.”

Our Community Salutes is now a national nonprofit organization with 41 chapters in

19 states. Volunteers have held 67 events — with some 10,000 participants — from New Jersey to Puerto Rico and Hawaii.

“That first year, I didn’t know how I was going to pay for it, where I was going to have it or if anyone would come,” remembers Kenneth, who is a former commissioned officer in the Army and helped start Geneseo’s ROTC program in 1978. He is also a former university president, professor and currently a higher education consultant.

Our Community Salutes provides logos and expertise; each community leads its own way to honor the recruits.

At the Cherry Hill event, Dustin and Allison Johnson were surprised with the fanfare.

“I thought it was going to be a simple dinner,” says Allison, who always knew she wanted to follow in her parents’ foot-

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Shannon Walsh ’16 and Francesca Panzariello ’17 with the new blazers bought by alumni.

steps in the Army. She completed basic training before she was a senior. “It’s always been what I’m going to do with my life. It’s what I am.”

As much for the parents, she says her mother, Tamara, was moved by the ceremony, too.

During the evening, a member of Blue Star Mothers of America read a poem about what it’s like to have your baby leave to train, or fight. Her mother cried as it was read, and Allison held her tight.

“It was a moment in which my mom was like, ‘This is really how I feel,’” she says. “She was bawling her eyes out and I couldn’t do anything but hold her.”

It was difficult to remember through it all, Allison says, that everyone was gathered to say thank you — to her.

“I’ve seen that magic unfold across the country,” says Kenneth. “To see the faces of these moms and dads and kids, you realize what a difference these ceremonies are making in communities.”

For the difference he has made, the Army in 2015 awarded Kenneth the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, the highest medal the Army gives to citizens.

For him, it demonstrates the power of a good idea and gratitude.

“Our Community Salutes is not about me,” he says. “Hundreds of volunteers across the country plan and execute this.

I just lit the fire.”

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For more information visit www.ourcommunitysalutes.org

SPARKS OF Change

Sisters united: Reviving tradition Phi Lambda Chis helped their newest members bring back the blazers that got them all started.

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n meeting day, Maryann Zingarelli Gazzini ’73 and her sisters would proudly wear their camel-colored blazers with their Phi Lambda Chi crest around campus.

Upon her graduation in 1973, Maryann passed it on to her little sister. When her little sister left, she kept that chain going.

The tradition of blazer-wearing on Dress Up Day to demonstrate love for the sorority started in 1966 by Barbara Yuricek Marco ’66, Ann Peek McKnight ’66 and other founding members.

“It was color day,” remembers Maryann.

“It was a nice tradition.”

Over the decades, blazers were lost, wore out or left campus with sisters who couldn’t part with them. Few survived at the Geneseo house.

Fifty years later, the blazers have been revived through a collective effort.

It was born out of the sorority’s reunion in 2014. And, it was all pretty spontaneous, says Maryann. She and her friend Linda Flesch Marshall ’73 were joined at dinner by two students — Nicolette Lukacs ’16 and Richelle Pennington ’15.

“We wanted to know what traditions

have we lost track of,” says Nicolette. “The blazers were one of the most meaningful because the original members walked in and immediately got themselves blazers to represent us.”

Linda and Maryann led the charge, seeking contributions to buy more than 40 blazers — enough for each current sister.

“We ended up with more money than we needed,” Maryann says. “It was heartwarming.”

The newest Phi Lambs held a special ceremony at the Big Tree Inn to distribute the new blazers.

The effort led to more connections — including a new friendship. Pat Friedman Hartung ’72 restored old scrapbooks that are now in the sorority’s collection, current sisters created a newsletter to link eras, and friends were made. MaryAnn spent the day at a winery tour with Richelle and Nicolette last summer.

That new friendship is what being a sister is about, says Shannon Walsh ’16.

“This is a local sorority, started here at Geneseo,” she says. “No matter when we graduate, we all know what it’s like to go to school here and we consider everyone a sister.”

Summer 2016

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SPARKS OF Change

Elephant-filled adventures that transform a village Adventure-seekers who travel with these Geneseo friends also support education and conservation in Zambia.

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geneseo scene

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

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t gets pretty quiet in the Mfuwe lodge and the elephants are so silent you don’t hear them coming, says Sarah Early ’93.

“These huge, mammoth creatures walk into and across the lobby, and down three steps into the courtyard,” she remembers.

“It’s a mother and her babies, going to eat the mangoes. They’ve been walking those routes for probably hundreds of years. I’ve seen an elephant lie down and nap on the lobby floor. It’s incredible.”

Sarah and her friends went on their first safari to Mfuwe in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia and were in awe.

They were touched by the beauty of the park, the animals, the other-worldly feel of the area and the warmth of everyone they met.

They also saw how few resources the people, guides, animal scouts and others had to keep it all going.

“We wanted to start a grassroots project to help in the ways the people of Mfuwe village wanted,” says Sarah, “and to have the community involved.”

Sarah and her friends formed Dazzle Africa, a nonprofit organization that marries an ever-growing trend of people who desire to go on vacation while making a difference.

The price of Dazzle Africa’s safaris in the park includes a donation to fund improvement projects in two main areas — conservation and education.

“People are much more conscientious nowadays about wanting to do something fun, and make a difference,” says Sarah.

“With us, they can go on a spectacular safari and do something that fulfills that.

We fill that niche.”

The women started Dazzle Africa in 2012, with tangible results. Their 2016 safaris are sold out; those for 2017 are being planned.

In partnership with the Bushcamp Company, Mfuwe Lodge and Conservation South Luangwa, Dazzle Africa and their clients have provided a total of 19 scholar-

Hilary Banker ’93, left, Sarah Early ’93 and Heather Maldonado ’94 run a nonprofit to assist wildlife and people in Zambia.

ships for young and university students.

In the conservation area, donors support several efforts, including sponsoring school attendance for children of wildlife protection scouts, and purchasing scout equipment and aerial surveillance tools used for anti-poaching and research efforts.

They also were able to secure one of the few veterinarians in the country who can dart such large, wild animals with tranquilizers to provide care for wounds inflicted by people.

They co-fund the vet’s salary with the Zambian Carnivore Program. Dr. Mwamba Sichande saves animals who have been caught in or are injured by poachers’ snares, says Sarah.

“His presence is not only saving wild animals daily, but he also provides vet care including spay and neutering to village dogs and cats,” she says.

Three Geneseo alumni (all Arethusa sorority sisters) serve on the Dazzle Africa board: Sarah, Heather Maldonado ’94 and Hilary Banker ’93.

“The people in the village are so appre-

ciative,” says Hilary. “It makes a difference.

It’s the ripple effect.”

Student scholarship recipient Philimon Sakala demonstrates that. The first recipient to graduate from college, with nursing and midwife degrees, he is now working as a midwife.

In creating Dazzle Africa, the friends chose to change one area, where they can band with local organizations, clients and Mfuwe villagers.

“Look at what one person can do,” says Sarah. “You can go on a safari, and make a difference. It’s the Mother Teresa conversation. If you look at the masses, it’s overwhelming. But if you look at one person, you can help that person. That’s what we are trying to focus on.”

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Learn more about Dazzle Africa www.dazzleafrica.org

SPARKS OF Change

Alumna creates first school for the deaf

PHOTOS PROVIDED

Noreen Corey ’83 runs the only school for the deaf on the mainland in this African country.

Noreen Corey ’83 with students at Manos Felices; Deaf students at school.

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he Felices Manos school that Noreen Corey ’83 started for young children is a unique place.

It is the only school for deaf kids on the Equatorial Guinea mainland.

There was no education for them at all in this Central African country on the mainland before she unpacked her suitcase and rented a house in 2006 and got teaching in her living room.

“A parent told me,” says Noreen, “that there was no more standing near the door crying for that child as they watch their siblings go off to school. That first day of school, they became someone special and someone worth educating. That was pretty powerful. It was a complete life-changer for them.”

Noreen founded the school on sheer will, very few resources and a passion to help deaf children reach their potential.

It’s about how she has to run it still, 10 years later.

At Manos Felices, kids from preschool to sixth grade attend class and learn sign language. They are bused to the small school in Bata, in the outskirts of the city of Bata. Construction was funded by First Lady of the Nation Constancia Mangue de Obiang.

“My original vision of my life when I was in my twenties was to start a school for the deaf in a needy area,” says Noreen.

Ideally, she saw that happening in Africa.

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For news and an article about Noreen’s work visit www.jedministries.com

She always knew she would spend her life educating the deaf and advocating for the deaf. She also knew she wasn’t going to lead a conventional life. After earning her degree in special education and education at Geneseo, she earned a master’s degree in deaf education and taught at Rochester School for the Deaf before working in deafness in Ecuador, Honduras and Costa Rica.

In 2005, she went on a trip to Equatorial Guinea to see what education resources there were for the deaf on the mainland. “There was absolutely nothing,” she says.

She realized this is was the place to open her own school, serving preschool through grade 6.

Before she left that year, Noreen started tutoring six children on that trip. She remembers telling them she’d be back: “They didn’t believe me.”

“Even though I was 40 and I thought I’d be doing this sooner,” she says, “this is where (Africa) I knew it would be. When I look back at it, my overseas experience starting with the Peace Corps was my prep time. I needed to do all that before I start-

ed my own school. I never could have without it — this country is so tough.”

Equatorial Guinea is the only African country with Spanish as an official language. There are few educational resources and up to half of residents don’t have access to clean drinking water.

The school runs on donations from supporters, The Knox Family Fund, and assistance from Hess Corp., which has oil operations there. She says Hess has provided free shipping for books and other resources.

Noreen now dreams she can find a financially secure way for it to continue its mission far after she’s stepped aside.

She is inspired by the everyday accomplishments: Fabiola passing the spelling test.

Leticia learning to ride a bike. Vicente and Rebeca fingerspelling new words.

Noreen hopes her school can be a model for expanded deaf education in Equatorial Guinea, and ultimately bring more value placed on educating the deaf and all special needs kids.

She and her teachers use basic American Sign Language, have adopted societal gestures and have invented signs to create a language that fits a Spanish-speaking African country and their African culture.

“I hope my school can become the standard,” she says. “I want everyone to meet their potential, have hope and have opportunities in the future.”

Summer 2016 13

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Eileen Colling ’83 takes a selfie with Emmeline during Reunion. The bear is recuperating at the county museum.

Geneseo’s sentry will

RISE AGAIN Emmeline’s soft landing ensured she’d be well. She’s recuperating in a place where you can visit her until she’s on guard again.

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geneseo scene

By Jim Memmott eneseo students, staff and alumni, take heart. Emmeline the bronze bear may be missing from Main Street (more about that in a minute), but she is not far away and is ready for her close-up.

So take your smart phones and head up Center Street to the Livingston County Historical Society Museum in Geneseo and wrap an arm around Emmeline.

Shoot a selfie or two or three and make a donation to the museum, too.

And while you’re at it, give Emmeline a hug. She’s gone through a lot and needs your support as she waits out the months before the fountain that was her home is made new again.

Though she seems forever young, Emmeline, who is named after a member of Geneseo’s Wadsworth family, is quite

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was blown to the right by a gust of wind.

He overcorrected to the left and hit the fountain, moving the basin, toppling the bear and crumpling the front end of the truck. He was later charged with failure to keep right, a violation.

Word of the collision spread quickly via social media.

“Say it’s not so,” wrote one online commentator on the Democrat and Chronicle’s site. “This is a tragedy!” wrote another. “Not the bear!” added a third.

“I, like many of you, had a visceral reaction of shock and sadness to this incident,” said President Denise Battles during her 2016 commencement address, “as perhaps the most iconic symbol of the community had been violated, perhaps even lost.

“In the days that followed, the outpouring of concern about Emmeline and her

over but suffered relatively little damage.

But the large circular basin of the fountain did not fare so well: the impact pushed it back several feet, and a significant chunk of the granite was sheered off in the process.

Experts from Moorland Studios in New Jersey, who had worked on an earlier restoration of the fountain’s light, examined the damage and rendered a verdict.

Most parts of the fountain survived the crash, but the granite basin could not be put back together again with any confidence that it would hold water.

According to Geneseo Mayor Richard Hatheway, professor emeritus of geological sciences at the college, Upstate Niagara has assumed all responsibility for repairs and will cover anything not covered by insurance. A search is underway in Vermont and

PHOTOS BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

old, having stood above the granite fountain since it was installed on Main Street in 1888.

Originally, she welcomed horses that stopped at the fountain for water. Then she ushered in the automobile age. And for decades she watched students hurry by on their way to class.

Steadfast, slyly smiling, Emmeline became an emblem, her image on sweatshirts and bumper stickers. She even had a Main Street restaurant, the Bronze Bear, named in her honor.

Emmeline was at her post just after 6 a.m. on April 7 when a semi-trailer truck from Upstate Niagara Cooperative that was loaded with milk plowed into the fountain.

The driver, who wasn’t speeding and wasn’t seriously hurt, said that his truck

fountain came from all over the country as alumni, former area residents, and other friends of Geneseo reacted to the news. Fortunately, we learned that Emmeline was saved, the fountain will be made whole again.”

Minutes after the fountain was hit, police and firefighters arrived at the scene.

Geneseo Fire Chief Andrew Chanler didn’t deny that he checked on Emmeline first, and let other responders tend to the driver of the truck (really, the driver was OK). He is, after all, a Geneseo native and the bear is a special part of his life.

It soon became clear that Emmeline had been blessed with a soft landing in a hole that had been exposed when the fountain was moved a few feet off its base.

The column on which she perched fell

elsewhere to find a large chuck of granite that resembles the original piece. The basin weighed about 15 tons.

All of this will take a while, but in the meantime, Emmeline will reign supreme in the museum.

According to Anna Kowalchuk, the museum’s administrator, 82 visitors gave their regards to Emmeline during reunion weekend. “It’s been wonderful to have the bear,” she said, noting that Emmeline has also been a hit with school children visiting the museum.

And, presumably, Emmeline is enjoying the change of scene, on a vacation of sorts until her pedestal is back in place and she can return to her rightful spot, standing tall and proud — watching over all things Geneseo.

Summer 2016

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PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Student reserachers erect solar panels and plant in the eGarden. At left, Aubrie Johnson ’18, a student ambassador, waters tomato plants.

The eGarden

Tomatoes, solar power & possibilities

How the campus is sowing the seeds of ingenuity and better earth practices.

By Jim Memmott is research students are busy, hooking up sensors and batteries and figuring out how to heat a building with empty soda cans.

Before Distinguished Professor of Physics Stephen Padalino leaves the lab, he urges the students to impress a summer visitor with the breadth of their mission.

“Make it sound like it’s really important,” Padalino says with a smile, “that the future of the free world hangs in the balance.”

Padalino pauses, reflects upon his statement and turns serious.

“I actually genuinely believe the future of the world does hang in the balance,” he says, going on to explain that something must be done to deal with global warning and other environmental challenges.

So there you have it — a handful of students tucked away in a lab in Geneseo’s Integrated Science Center have been given a simple challenge: Save the world. In very tangible ways, their work in the eGarden project on campus can do a lot in that arena.

Padalino and a group of students started the campuswide project four years ago. It now involves several departments, offices and groups and hosts a series of experimen-

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pipes. Near them are raised beds for vegetable gardens.

Seven students were working on the project this summer. Five of them were funded by the college’s sustainability account and two were funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates.

Their lab work is quiet and methodical.

“It’s not fast-paced,” says NSF grant recipient Alissa Redman, a student at Monroe Community College. “But you can definitely see it grow slowly.”

Redman’s piece of the puzzle is a MacGyver-like project to collect heat from the sun using first an array or panel made up of rain spouts. That heat is then stored

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

tal efforts that do everything from harnessing solar and wind power to using the larvae of black soldier flies to compost waste food as part of a process that could give Geneseo its own farm-to-table dining.

Funded by the college’s Office of Sustainability, as well as by state and federal sources, the project has the noble goal of reducing the college’s use of non-renewable energy and making Geneseo more self-sustaining.

What works in Geneseo could work elsewhere.

The project fits in with college’s mission and that of the State University system, which is committed to reducing systemwide, non-renewable energy consumption by 30 percent by 2020. It is one of many initiatives undertaken by the college, including heating and cooling newer buildings with geothermal wells and using collected rainwater.

Dan DeZarn, the college’s director of sustainability, coordinates the different groups taking part in the eGarden project.

“Its largest asset is that it has all of these different entities involved,” he says, “and its largest obstacle is having all these entities.

But it’s gaining momentum. And when students get involved, they begin to see all the connections.”

That’s an important message of the eGarden, says DeZarn: One person, one department can’t do it all. Sustainability has to be a campuswide initiative.

The “e” in eGarden stands for energy, Padalino says, and the word it introduces has a least two meanings. For sure, the hope is to produce energy for campus use from non-polluting sources. Beyond this, there’s the energy that Padalino and his team of students are applying to the task.

Finally, there’s the other part of the name: The project is a garden, a place to grow ideas, to see what works and what doesn’t.

The project is a marathon, not a sprint, and began when Padalino and his students urged the college to expand a sustainability effort beyond the planned erection of a large wind turbine.

Thus, the wind turbine is a piece in a larger puzzle. It stands in the southwest corner of the campus to produce electricity for the newly erected eGarden barn, a place for project experiments. There are also two large solar arrays to produce electricity, as well as two arrays of some heatcollecting tubes, one made from drain

“... The eGarden is something that actually is never going to be done.”

— Dan DeZarn in an insulated barrel full of perforated soda cans. The stored heat is then transferred out via a small fan. The project proves that items often taken for granted and often discarded can be put to remarkable reuse.

Jake Rose ’17 is working on a portable Wi-Fi transmitter. Using the wind and the sun, he’ll generate electricity that he’ll store in a battery. The battery will power a Wi-Fi signal that will be sent to places beyond the reach of campus Wi-Fi. “The best thing about this is you create something in the real world,” says Rose, who at the moment is figuring out how to keep a small wind turbine steady. (It vibrates. It can fall.)

Brandon Mark ’16, a member of the eGarden team since he was a freshman, is headed to Rochester Institute of Technology for graduate work in engineering. He stayed on at Geneseo during the summer to work on the project.

He was a key member of the team that created a solar-powered golf cart, a retrofitted vehicle that once roamed a golf club.

The technology that keeps it running about the campus could be applied to other vehicles.

Hopping in the cart, Mark scoots down to the eGarden barn to check on progress there. The barn, which has been financed

by Campus Auxiliary Services, will be used for a variety of purposes, including the composting of some of the waste from food service operations. The process involves the use of the larvae of black soldier flies.

Here’s the plan: The flies eat the food and produce excrement that becomes fertilizer. The fertilizer will be used in growing vegetables in the raised garden beds.

Completing the circle, the vegetables will be served in campus dining halls.

Of course, success or failure depends upon the black soldier flies, and Mark Scott, executive director of CAS, says that determining their taste preference hasn’t been easy. “Just like humans, the flies are fickle about what they eat,” he says.

But the eGarden project is all about giving the students some real-world challenges, he notes, and composting is about as real world as you can get.

Scott remembers that, when he arrived at Geneseo, then President Christopher Dahl told him that everyone who works at the school has a responsibility to help educate the students. Thus CAS has signed onto the project knowing that it will reap rewards. “This is Geneseo,” says Scott.

“We’ll figure it out.”

And where do things go from here?

The short-term goal is to get the wind turbine up and generating to produce energy and serve as a visible symbol of the project, says DeZarn.

There’s also a plan to make use of waste cooking oil from the dormitories as a heat source. Certainly, there’s the hope of growing more and more vegetables. And the ideas just keep coming.

“The eGarden is something that actually is never going to be done.” DeZarn says. “It changes and evolves over time.“ In other words, when it comes to sustainability, Geneseo is in it for the long haul.

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Welcome! from your new alumni organization

Every graduate is a member of the SUNY Geneseo Alumni Association, which will focus on strengthening alumni engagement with the college.

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By Judson Mead

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Bulls. He stays in touch with WGSU alumni friends.

For John Keene ’98, an oral surgeon in Westbury, Long Island, it’s Mudcat club baseball that brings him back to Geneseo every September for a game that pits alumni against Dave ’71 and Lois Harter ’73 Slade. students — a series the alumni lead 6-2. Keene also stops in the biol- better serve the entire Geneseo alumni comogy department to talk with pre-med and munity, the college has created a new alumpre-dental students. ni association: the SUNY Geneseo Alumni Clare Cusack ’96, an executive with the Association (SGAA).

New York Bankers Association, found her The SGAA is now Geneseo’s sole alumni engagement with Geneseo alumni relaassociation. It is an official entity of the coltions at home. She was one of the organizlege itself, to be governed by an alumniers of a New York City alumni group begin- elected board of directors, bringing the ning in 2010 after meeting other city-based resources of the college to an expanded alums during the college’s capital camalumni experience. paign. Cusack eventually joined the For the past 73 years — which includes Alumni Council leadership team, enhancthe graduation of all but the very oldest of ing the work of the regional committees Geneseo’s alumni — the original Geneseo across the country.

Alumni Association (GAA) was responsible To tap the energy of active alumni like the for organized alumni interests. Since 2012, Slades, the Keenes and the Cusacks, and to the Alumni Council, an outgrowth of the college capital campaign, has been organizing regional alumni chapters around the country.

Both bodies are being dissolved to make way for the SGAA. In the case of the GAA, that included making a significant endowThe Geneseo Alumni Association (GAA) was officially incorporated on Jan. 11, ment gift to the college (see box).

1943. In June 1944, at the second annual meeting of the alumni association, the The change to a new, unified alumni predecessor of today’s reunion weekend, 34 classes were represented, the oldest association was one of President Denise A. being the Class of 1886. At that meeting, dues were increased from 50 cents to Battles’s first initiatives after taking office a $1. In 1947, the association made its first scholarship award to an incoming freshyear ago. All Geneseo alumni are automatiman, inaugurating a tradition of helping students. That year also saw publication cally members of the new association. of the first the alumni bulletin, which has since become the Scene. In 1951, the Eddie Lee ’76, GAA’s final president, board of directors designated funds to “buy a T.V. for the College Center says he supports the plan: “I think it’s a Lounge.” good thing for the future of Geneseo and Over the next 65 years, GAA support for the college, especially for the student good for the future of Geneseo alumni body through such programs as externships and gifts from alumni to the Fund relations.” for Geneseo, was unstinting.

This fall, the SGAA will come into being Today, as the GAA is retired and the SGAA takes its place, the association has with an interim board of directors appointmade a final gift to the college of $660,000. ed by Battles and led by Interim President Of the total, $82,000 represents the association’s Artemis Ward Reynolds and Denise Reed Lamoreaux ’84. Brock Buffum Minnie Reynolds Scholarship Fund, which will continue to support scholarships; ’02 is interim vice president. The board will $35,000 was gifted as unrestricted funds to be used where need is greatest; and the build out the new organization and get it balance of $542,000 will create an endowment to fund student alumni engageready to elect alumni leadership in 2017. ment programs such as the externship and Undergraduate Alumni Association.

Probably the biggest change the new

PHOTO BY CAROLE VOLPE ’91

A final

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

ave and Lois Harter Slade, ’71 and ’73 respectively, were driving from their home in Durham, N.C., to Geneseo for reunion weekend. At a rest stop on I-79 near Edinboro, Pa., a young woman noticed Lois’s Geneseo tee shirt: “You went to Geneseo? So did I!” Lois says her reaction was glee. Here’s someone she’d thought was a total stranger who belongs to the same secret society. Without exchanging another word, they already knew more than a little about each other.

There are 60,000 Geneseo alumni, every one of whom can say to any other “I went there too!” and feel that instant bond.

Between them the Slades have two reunions to bring them back to campus every five years. (And, they are one of some 4,000 Geneseo alumni couples.)

They met other North Carolina-based alums earlier this year at a Great Knight event in Raleigh.

In 2013 Dave helped organize a 50thanniversary celebration for WGSU, where he started his radio career that included stints as play-by-play announcer for the Rochester Red Wings and the Durham

generous act

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Your alumni relations team

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

If you want to volunteer, if you want to organize an alumni chapter of the SGAA, if want to make a suggestion or ask a question, call the Office of Alumni Relations at 585-245-5506 or visit uknight.geneseo.edu.

Michelle Walton Worden ’92, left, Amanda McCarthy, Ronna Gillam and Tracy Young Gagnier ’93 BUFFUM

LAMOREAUX

association will bring to Geneseo alumni is to elevate the importance of natural alumni affinity groups, like the WGSU alumni or the Mudcats or regional groups.

From now on, any alumni group that has a designated leader and meets at least once a year — either in person, or virtually for those that are geographically dispersed — may become an official SGAA alumni chapter. The leaders of all the chapters will constitute the SGAA Assembly. The Assembly will meet once a year on the Geneseo campus and elect members to the SGAA board of directors.

But alumni chapters will enjoy much more than a vote.

The Mudcat’s soon-to-be alumni chapter has been road-testing the benefits of working with Geneseo’s Office of Alumni Relations.

Keene started the group in conjunction with his 10th reunion by sending emails to Mudcat alums he knew. Eventually, as the group grew, he connected with Tracy Gagnier, assistant director of alumni relations, who now supports a variety of things associated with the group: the annual Mudcat game by hosting registration on the Geneseo alumni relations website, 20

geneseo scene

maintaining a Mudcat address list and sending email blasts announcing the year’s event, renting Batavia’s Dwyer Stadium for the game, securing the necessary insurance, and — most essentially — buying the baseballs and arranging the after-game reception.

“It’s been a nice partnership,” Keene says. “It’s seamless.”

Great Knight, the burgeoning two-yearold event that brings Geneseo alumni together in different regions on the same night, is another demonstration of how alumni chapters will benefit by working with the college.

Amanda McCarthy, assistant director of alumni relations, supports regional alumni chapters by helping plan and promote the event. She pulls alumni addresses for email invitations — everyone in a 50-mile radius from Houston, Texas, for example — provides support for the event venue and helps manage social media around the event.

There were 22 regions represented on the first Great Knight, 31 on the second.

The SGAA Assembly will eventually be a kind of United Nations of Geneseo alumni chapters, representing any and every affiliation that holds alumni together, from ath-

letics teams to Greek life, English to Geneseo First Response, from multicultural affinity to orientation advisors.

“Whatever your passion is, whatever your connection back to Geneseo, we can accommodate it,” says Ronna Bosko Gillam, director of alumni relations and executive director of the SGAA. She wants anyone who’d like to get more involved with alumni relations to call her office (see box).

What Gillam and her colleagues in alumni relations and Battles all know is that when alumni engage with each other and with Geneseo, they make the college they love stronger.

For alumni, the association with other alumni has many benefits, from networking to fun. For Clare Cusack, in the vastness of New York City, it means “you have a little Geneseo community where you are.”

Even if it’s just a chance encounter. All you need to say is, “I went there, too!”

Carl and Shirley Phelps Swanson, class of 1951, have been married 65 years. The black and white photo was taken close to their wedding day, at Letchworth.

Geneseo

PHOTO BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

love story

Carl Swanson and his “live wire” wife celebrate 65 years together.

By Kris Dreessen arl Swanson and Shirley Phelps Swanson met in speech class.

“She was pretty. Cheerful. A live wire,” says Carl.

He was, she jokes, a foreigner from New York City, and she from upstate.

They got along from the “get-go,” and when Carl asked her out, he knew she would say yes. Often they went to school dances, swinging and stepping the jitterbug and double-time.

They took extra classes and a session of summer school to graduate early in 1951 — to get married sooner.

“We had fun together and we liked each other, and we’re still trying it out,” jokes Carl.

It was the right choice, says Shirley.

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They each said “I do” four days after graduation, posing in jeans before the falls at Letchworth in the days prior.

This year, they’ve spent 65 years married.

That’s six decades of career changes, raising four kids and welcoming grandkids, and the trials and joys that come with sharing most their lives together.

Carl was the first Geneseo graduate to immediately teach college, as an art instructor in Vermont. They would later spend 30 years in New Jersey, he ultimately working in government and Shirley a

: scene@geneseo.edu Tell us your love story

speech therapist and teacher.

In the ’80s, Carl was unemployed for some time. They relied entirely on Shirley’s salary.

“That was a big deal in our lives,” remembers Carl. “But we made it.”

Friendship, commitment and, says Shirley, a sense of humor has proved to be most important in sticking together — well.

Now retired and living in Michigan closer to family, the Swansons returned for reunion, to reunite with friends and see where they first met.

“We are always so proud Geneseo is where we came from” says Carl.

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ATHLETICS AND RECREATION

Sideline Wisdom Three Geneseo coaches who earned national honors last year share their experiences and expertise about how to keep any team strong.

By Tim Volkmann n the world of intercollegiate athletics, being voted the best at what you do by your peers is a unique honor. For coaches, being tabbed national coach of the year is recognition that only a handful achieve during their careers.

While only three coaches in the history of SUNY Geneseo athletics had ever received such recognition prior to the 2015-16 academic year, three were bestowed the honor last winter.

As such, their experience and leadership, especially in times of adversity, offer valuable insight into how to motivate individuals and keep teams united to accomplish outstanding feats.

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Shawn Austin NCAA Division III Men’s Diving Coach of the Year

When Shawn Austin clocks out of his fulltime job in the Computing and Information Technology office at Geneseo, he trades in his duties as a technology support specialist to patrol the deck at Alumni Pool as the Knights’ diving coach.

Last season, Austin guided Samuel Randall ’18 through a season that culminated with a national title in 3-meter diving at the NCAA Championships as well as a third-place finish on the 1-meter board to bring home two All-America certificates.

“My philosophy, which pretty much starts from day-one with our divers, is for them be intentional, purposeful studentathletes,” explained Austin. “I want them to do everything as part of a process with a purpose. Regardless if it is conditioning, lifting, practicing or competing, don’t just do it –- do it with intention and meaning.

If I can instill that early on, it makes a big difference and when I see it in our divers, it really motivates me as a coach.”

Randall’s national title was the first in the history of the swimming and diving program, and was the first ever by a male 22

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student-athlete in any sport.

“Sam is an exceptional athlete. While you really can’t teach a lot of what he has, he is an example of what I strive to get others to be. When Sam is at practice, he’s 100-percent at practice. He knows what is expected and does everything with a plan, which includes not only focusing on strengths, but working on weaknesses. He is motivated to do his best and is also not distracted by anything else going on in his world outside the pool.”

As a first-year, Randall finished 19th on the 3-meter board at the NCAA Championships. Noticing that he was comparing himself to all the other divers, Austin employed a different strategy a year later that was a big part of Randall’s dramatic jump to the top.

“What worked was getting him not to think. At NCAA’s before each attempt, we’d spend a minute by ourselves going through the mechanics of each dive. He also didn’t watch the rest of the competition either. I told him he couldn’t control what anyone else was doing and could only take charge of what he was about to do. I think it worked out pretty well.”

Scott Hemer Pat Summitt Trophy/United States Marine Corps/WBCA Division III National Coach of the Year

Scott Hemer has transformed the women’s basketball program into one of the best teams in the Northeast Region during his nine years at Geneseo. Last season, he guided the Knights to their fourth consecutive SUNYAC Championship game appearance and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament a season after making a run to the Sweet 16.

“Success breeds success,” said Hemer.

“There is now a level of expectation that our returning players place on themselves to be in a position to compete for a SUNYAC Championship. That is as much a motivation as anything else. Once you get to that point, one of the biggest jobs of a head coach is finding ways to help your players to be successful from the inside and educate them on how to be good leaders. If you can accomplish this, they will set the standard and tone for others — to not only follow, but join in as leaders.”

Finding the right combination of talent and intangibles is paramount when recruiting.

“I look for intelligent, self-driven studentathletes who are willing to be a part of something bigger than themselves. I also look for at least one of two qualities. They either communicate effectively or are one of the hardest working players on the team.

If you can assemble a mixture of those players, or even throw in a couple that have both characteristics, you will be in a good position to succeed. Along those lines, if they are selfless, dedicated and buy into what you are trying to do as a program, you can go even farther. The parts melt together to form a strong leadership group.”

Perseverance and character carried the team forward in trying times last season.

“I think the adversity we faced last season is a testament to the type of players we recruit. They trusted in the coaching staff and, more than anything, were dedicated to each other,” said Hemer. “A culture like that can really help get you through a lot.”

Chris Schultz AHCA Edward Jeremiah Award - Division III Co-National Coach of the Year

Last season, Chris Schultz ’97 guided the PHOTOS BY KEITH WALTERS ’11

Geneseo men’s ice hockey team to its second NCAA Division III Tournament Semifinals appearance in the last three years. The Knights also won their first SUNYAC Championship in 10 years while compiling a 20-5-6 record for only the sixth 20-win season in the 41-year history of the squad.

“Our coaching staff teaches that achieving success takes time,” explained Schultz, who finished his 11th season behind the Knights’ bench. “If the players stay within the process and trust it, as long as we are doing our job and bringing in talent that complements what we are asking, winning usually follows.

“We also consistently preach staying in the now and focusing only on our next opponent. The coaching staff will have a vision of what the next two weeks of a season may look like, but we restrict our players to staying in the moment and setting their sights on our next game.”

Schultz, who was also named the Jeremiah Award winner following Geneseo’s run to the 2014 national semifinals, knows that in a locker room filled with a wide array of talent and skill, motivation comes from within.

“I truly believe in empowering a leadership group to take control of the locker room and more importantly, own the culture. Our definition of our culture is to make sure that we all love each other in the locker room and put others’ needs ahead of their own. We preach humility and a high compete level. Our recent successes stem from great innate leadership that owns, controls, monitors and evaluates our culture on a daily basis.

“Adversity is oftentimes the best motivator. Hard times are great because they usually bring out the best and worst in people. That’s when you can evaluate the mental toughness, character and resolve of your student-athletes.”

A direct correlation can often be drawn between teams that operate in that sort of culture and also find success. That type of team dynamic can also carry a team through extreme levels of hardship, as was illustrated last winter.

“When you take a look at what we dealt with, our players faced the most difficult adversity that they will hopefully ever see in their lives. The culture of our team enabled them to continue with the season, and also succeed at the highest level.”

Summer 2016

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RANDOM PROFILE

One Cup Maryann Donohue Lynch ’76 PHOTO PROVIDED

Around the world, she finds and creates education connections

By Chelsea Butkowski ’15

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.

New Hampshire Could it be you?

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QUICK FACTS Home: Providence R.I. Graduation year: 1976 Degree: Speech Pathology and Audiology Favorite Geneseo hangout: The Newman Center Best Geneseo memory: Sunsets Most rewarding experience since college: Married Brian Lynch ’77 and had our family of Matthew, Meaghan and Kevin. Our children are now grown and on their own and although not yet retired, we are enjoying this new journey in our life together.

What are people usually surprised to discover about you? That I never used my Geneseo degree but it did clear the way for a master’s in theology.

Advice to seniors: Put family, friends and relationships first. It is the relationships you have in life that will bring you the most joy, memories and sense of fulfillment. Trust God to guide you in your life and take time each day for solitude. Be a person of grace, forgiveness and gratitude, and never take for granted what you have.

Take risks but be smart about it: Have a plan B to fall back on. You are going to have challenges and loss along with life’s blessings, but stay true to who you are and you will have peace.

ILLUSTRATION BY AMANDA LINDLEY

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n a visit to a school in Koru, Kenya, Maryann Donohue Lynch ’76 found herself surrounded by poetry.

Seated in a classroom behind a squat desk, she was riveted as a small teenage girl stood at the front weaving words into verses.

“She had such a powerful sense of belief in herself — hope for her future,” Maryann says. “One of the things that has been most remarkable to me is the resilience of young people.”

The girl described losing her parents to AIDS at the age of 10, and her education as one of the most important forces in her life.

Her education might have been very different if it weren’t for the work that Maryann does every day.

She works for Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic teaching congregation that supports education for disadvantaged children and young adults in 80 countries. As associate executive director for mission and ministry of the district of eastern North America, she strives to manage and improve colleges, secondary schools, and middle schools spanning from Jamaica to Toronto to Detroit.

Maryann says that the defining aspect of her job is “creating opportunities for people to network with each other.” She helps coordinate a program that partners American and Kenyan high schools, to foster intercultural student communication and provide financial and other support to Kenyan students.

Throughout her career, Maryann’s goal has been to cultivate education and community service. That aspiration formed at Geneseo.

Participating in the Newman Catholic Campus Ministry affirmed her desire to try to alleviate poverty through faith and service, and inspired her to earn a master’s degree in theology.

“I almost had to get out of my own way to be open to the opportunities that I was supposed to follow,” Maryann says.

Maryann says she translated her speech pathology skills of her bachelor’s degree to create opportunities, develop connections, and mentor others in her roles as a teacher and social advocate.

One of the most rewarding aspects of her career has been observing cultural similarities and differences across cities, states and countries: It has shown her the connections among people that pull us together, not apart, especially mothers.

She has worked with war refugees in El Salvador and coordinated a women and children’s nutrition program in Haiti. She and her husband, Brian Lynch ’77, and friends also started a soup kitchen on Long Island.

“It’s a matter of finding your path without compromise,” Maryann says. “While there are many challenges in terms of being a laywoman in the church, part of it is taking responsibility for your own future and being creative as far as where you find that faith community that supports, nourishes and sustains you.”

Alumni News ALUMNI NEWS

What makes Geneseo home More than 700 alumni and friends gathered at this year’s reunion in June. As they reunited with longtime friends and met new ones, we asked them to share “Why this is home.”

26 30 31 32 33

Alumni event photos Innovation + disruption The music of storytelling Class Notes Scene around the world Summer 2016

25

Reunion

Reunion — 50-Year Club

Reunion — Class of 2006

Reunion — Prometheus | Phi Kappa Sigma/Chi Fraternity 60th Anniversary

Reunion — Class of 1991

Reunion — 50-Year Club

Reunion — Alpha Delta Epsilon 130th Anniversary 26

geneseo scene

Reunion — Class of 1966

Reunion — Roemer Arboretum Tour

Reunion — Painting Workshop

Reunion — Orientation Advisors 50th Anniversary

Reunion — Alumni College

Springfest — Alumni weekend

Summer 2016

27

Great Knight

Upcoming

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

Crew Alumni Race and Fundraising Night October 8, 2016 Homecoming October 14 - 15, 2016 (Friday Night 5K, alumni swim meet, women’s alumnae softball game) Great Knight — El Segundo, Cali.

Wall Street Association October 20, 2016 NYC

Reception & Tour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon October 29, 2016 Sports Hall of Fame November 19, 2016 Great Knight April 4, 2017 Springfest/Alumni Weekend April 28 - 29, 2017 Great Knight — NYC

Reunion June 2 - 3, 2017 Contact Tracy Young Gagnier ’93, assistant director of alumni relations (gagniert@geneseo.edu) if you are interested in planning a class or affinity reunion.

Alumni Travel Program: London/Oxford July 18 - 27, 2017 Make sure we have your email so we can invite you to join us! We are always planning events on campus and throughout the country.

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

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

Great Knight — Sandy Springs, Ga. 28

geneseo scene

Great Knight — Syracuse, N.Y.

Great Knight — Key West

Great Knight — Ithaca, N.Y.

Great Knight — Albany, N.Y.

Great Knight — Vienna, Va.

Great Knight — Pittsburgh

Great Knight — Raleigh, N.C. Summer 2016

29

class of ’11 Raymond Lord III Spontaneity often brings the best in life, says Raymond Lord III ’11. It’s what brought him to his successful Hamptons and NYC real-estate career. Now, he’s supporting other innovators with the Disruption Ambassadorship at Geneseo.

By Kris Dreessen

T

he first home Raymond Lord III ’11 sold as a newbie real-estate agent was $3 million.

Three months prior, he’d started waiting tables in the Hamptons, with a self-imposed six-month deadline to make this venture work.

“The energy you put out,” says Lord, “is definitely where the universe will direct you later on.”

Lord worked his you-knowwhat off to get that sale, despite no experience. Three months earlier, he had never thought of selling homes.

This is where Lord’s other life motto — of embracing spontaneity as one of life’s best forces — comes into play.

During his senior semester, Lord visited New York City as part of the alumni office’s 30

geneseo scene

Real-estate agent, agent of disruption externship program. Afterward, another student was going to the Hamptons for a job interview to sell homes. He suggested Lord be co-pilot.

“We get out there, and he says, ‘You might as well interview,’” remembers Lord, sitting in a restaurant area turned daytime office near Central Park. “I had no skin in the game, so I answered everything just as I saw it. At the end of a long day, they said, ‘Well, we think you’d do well in real estate. Let us know if you’re serious by Monday.’”

It was Friday.

He decided to go for it. What was the worst that would happen? If it didn’t work; he’d go to plan B. “Sometimes the best things in life are the most spontaneous,” says Lord.

He trained as the rookie at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, and his deadline motivated him to succeed.

He researched. Networked.

Called, called and made more calls.

The $3 million home purchase was made by sending a penny as a birthday gift. The

recipient, a gentleman who owns many Long Island properties, liked Lord’s thoughtfulness and flair.

Lord has now been selling Hamptons real estate for five years with Elliman. He co-founded a team and has expanded to selling NYC apartments.

Lord didn’t have a real-estate background, and he didn’t work up the traditional way, moving from lower-priced homes to bigger markets.

“If you have the right mindset and think outside the box, you can do it,” he says.

That applies to everything for Lord. Want it? Find a way.

He’s applying that belief to other entrepreneurs chasing innovation, funding the Geneseo Ambassadorship of Disruption he created this year.

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

ALUMNI NEWS

ALUMNI PROFILES

Marissa Mulder ’07 is an awardwinning cabaret singer who brings her love of singing and storytelling to the stage in New York and beyond.

By Sherrie Negrea

Student recipients receive a $5,000 award through the college’s Center for Inquiry, Discovery and Development to pursue business ideas that create something new and serve a need. Think Uber and Airbnb.

“The disruption concept for the scholarship is important because it shows people the way they think about something could happen,” he says, “instead of thinking it has to be done the way it has been ... I want to help someone if they have an idea, to give them resources to create that.”

Lord also supports mentoring for the LGBTQ youth community in New York City. He’s lucky, he says, that he was accepted. Many are not. He contributes to and has helped with fundraisers for programs which focus on LGBTQ people sharing their stories with teens in the same situation.

“I wish I could bottle that feeling, of relief and happiness to just be yourself, and give it to someone else,” says Lord. “It changes your ability to become successful. If you can help one person in one small way, it’s a win.”

PHOTO PROVIDED

I

n black pants and white blouse, and with her long, curly red hair, Marissa Mulder ’07 in no way resembles the woman she portrays in her latest New York cabaret show — Marilyn Monroe.

Yet the performance is not the typical flattering revue of the Hollywood icon, but a wrenching portrayal of the star’s spiral into depression and self-destruction. “It’s a heavy show,” Mulder admits. “It’s not what you might think.”

“Marilyn in Fragments,” which opened at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on 42nd Street in May, is the sixth show Mulder has performed in Manhattan since launching her career as a cabaret singer in 2010. Each has won critical acclaim from The New York Times, which dubbed her a “rising cabaret singer” whose “remarkable performance swings wildly between fear and defiance” in a review of her latest show.

Mulder, who grew up in Syracuse, discovered cabaret singing in her senior year at Geneseo. While other musical theatre majors were performing Broadway show tunes for their senior recitals in concert halls on campus, Mulder’s vocal coach, the late Alan Case, suggested that a cabaret evening in a more intimate setting would better fit her singing style.

So Mulder performed a selection of contemporary songs, in the Campus House on Main Street. “I just did all of my favorite songs,” says Mulder, who had been in four

class of ’07 Marissa Mulder

Singer brings new life to a storied art form musicals at Geneseo. “And I told stories in between.”

Another influential mentor at Geneseo was her theatre professor Randy Kaplan, who taught her the acting skills she would later use in her cabaret shows.

“She had serious, serious talent,” says Kaplan. “She was just compelling. She just really commanded your attention.”

In New York, Mulder became discouraged by the endless lines she stood in for hours to sing 20-second auditions for Broadway and offBroadway shows. But then she was introduced to a cabaret singer from Syracuse who encouraged her to perform an evening of songs at a Manhattan club.

Her break came when she started winning cabaret singing competitions in New York. Competing against 60 other contestants in 2011, she won the MetroStar Talent Challenge, an American Idol-type contest for up-and-coming cabaret artists. Two years later, she created a show dedicated to the American singer-song-

writer Tom Waits, which led to more accolades, including the Julie Wilson Award given annually to a promising cabaret singer.

“That was a game changer,” Mulder says. “It sort of put me on the map more than anything prior.”

Last year, Mulder performed the show, “Tom ... In His Words,” at a live music venue outside Rochester.

That night, Kaplan was sitting in the audience. She hadn’t seen Mulder perform since her student days at Geneseo.

“It was astonishing,” Kaplan says. “She has that core of belief in herself, and she has the talent to pull it off in a very unique way.”

While Mulder hopes to eventually break into Broadway, for now she enjoys bringing her cabaret singing to performing arts centers, jazz clubs, and hotels around the country. “I’m creating a following, person by person, and I’m meeting complete strangers and they’re hearing me,” she says. “It’s really an amazing experience to get to do what I love.”

Summer 2016

31

ALUMNI NEWS

Class Notes 1960s

1980s

Class their of 50th 1967 55th reunion of — 1962 celebrating reunion in — 2017. celebrating andtheir Class

Class of 1982 — celebrating their 35th reunion and Class of 1987 — celebrating their 30th reunion in 2017.

Richard ’63 and Eunice Mereand ’63 Tabor were fea-

Denise Reed Lamoreaux ’84, P ’11 has been promoted to the end

tured the 2016, Friends Meet of inof The an Tabors.

Ithaca’s article Ithacain Homeless Journal the April titled —26,

to end consultant for North America at Atos Corporation in Rochester, N.Y. Patrick Luke ’88 was sworn in as the president of the Professional Photographers’ Society of New York State in May 2016.

Anne Cantwell ’89 has joined the Sherman Silverstein firm in Moorestown, N.J., as an associate in the real estate department.

Kathe Reynolds Sheehan ’67 was pre-

sented Achieve Key4Women N.Y. of recognized career butions The Kathe while the Costumer, to Award her 2016 isfor making Forum owner community. her atKey4Women the Inc., success and in many annual Scotia, and president contriin was her

Nancy Blanchard Sleeper ’68 retired

aftermathematics ary school 45and years college of teaching at level. the high second-

1970s Class their of 40th 1977 45th reunion of— 1972 celebrating reunion — in celebrating 2017. andtheir Class

Scott Perkins ’72 is working on a

PBS documentary covering the early days aviator Hammondsport, Glenn of aviation H. N.Y. Curtiss andofpioneer Rob Sheinkopf ’73 retired in 2013 after

40 years in college admission, most recently at the University of Nevada Las Vegas as director of enrollment management. He moved to San Francisco and is doing pro bono work as an independent college consultant, helping disadvantaged and underrepresented students prepare for college. Tom Ingrassia ’74 has published a second book, “Reflections Of A Love Supreme: Motown Through The Eyes Of Fans”. Janet D. Callahan ’76 has been selected for inclusion in Upstate New York Super Lawyers for 2015. She works for Hancock Estabrook LLP as the firm’s managing partner and has been a partner at the firm since 1989.

32

geneseo scene

Dear alumni,

Starting in fall, we will be enhancing our traditional class note section to feature photos and micro-stories that highlight your milestones, Geneseo and life stories. We will have varied features in each issue, drawing from what you say you are interested in. Stay tuned and get ready to contribute. If you prefer the more traditional class note format, you will still be able to read updates and submit your own online in the U-Knight community. But online or in the new feature – we want to hear from you.

scene@geneseo.edu

1990s Class of 1992 — celebrating their 25th reunion and Class of 1997 — celebrating their 20th reunion in 2017.

Daniel Barwick ’90 was named one of 50 Kansans You Should Know, by Ingrams, Kansas City’s business magazine.

Dr. Michael Cairo ’92 has been promoted to associate dean for academic affairs at Transylvania University in Kentucky. Corinne McKay ’93 is president-elect of the American Translators Association, the largest professional organization for translators and interpreters. She is also the author of two books, “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator” and “Thoughts on Translations.” Sarah Smith Shutt ’95 has been selected as a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. She is an English teacher at Campbell-Savona Jr./Sr. High School in Campbell, N.Y. Alexandra Collins ’96 and Bancha Srikacha ’96 are happy to announce their marriage on May 21, 2016, in Elmira N.Y., taking place exactly 20 years after they graduated together. Laura Glaessgen Marthaler ’96 and Tony Marthaler are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Lillian, born on July 20, 2014, in

Burlington, Vt. Stephen Popp ’96 published his first book, “A Revelation to the Church.” Cary Silverman ’97 and Robin Lang are proud to announce the birth of Madeleine Ella Silverman on Aug. 17, 2015. Michael Torres ’97 is now the vice president for technology and institutional effectiveness at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Kristen Silverthorn Carter ’98 and Jack Carter ’00 are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Charlotte Carter, born Feb. 21, 2014.

Kristen Palmer Driskoll ’99 is an assistant professor of teacher education at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y.

2000s Class of 2002 — celebrating their 15th reunion and Class of 2007 — celebrating their 10th reunion in 2017.

Stacy Lauzonis Carden ’00 and Derek Carden are happy to announce their marriage on Sept.

12, 2015, in Ransomville, N.Y. They live in Lewiston, N.Y. Jack Carter ’00 and Kristen Silverthorn Carter ’98 are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Charlotte Carter, born Feb. 21, 2014.

Candice Fountain Cosker ’03

and Michael Cosker are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Amelia Ryann Cosker, born on Feb. 3, 2015, in Bristow, Va. Anne Pinneo Romano ’03 and Michael Romano are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Giuseppe Destin Romano, born on Oct. 17, 2015. Jon Szatkowski ’05 recently published an award-winning novel, “Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story,” loosely based on his experiences as a first-year teacher. It was a #1 Amazon bestseller. Sharon Mahoney Huynh ’06 and Hung Huynh are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Nora Ruth, on Feb. 10, 2016. Eric Peskor ’06 and Jamie Fragnito Peskor ’07 are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Luke Michael Peskor, born on Nov. 27, 2015, in Rochester, N.Y. Bo Shoemaker ’06 has pub-

lished a book entitled “A History of Camp Cory.” Jill DeLaurentiis Geyer ’07 has been promoted to director of marketing and commu-

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

See the complete photo gallery at go.geneseo.edu/goworld.

Geneseo President Denise A. Battles at the British Museum in London.

Becca Andrew ’13 is a Community Health Improvement Project volunteer serving in the Peace Corps in Zambia, Africa.

This tattered issue of the Scene survived eight days of wilderness camping by sea kayak in Glacier Bay National Park with Burt Saunders MA ’76 and Pamela White ’76, as they celebrated 40 years together since meeting as students.

Andrea Lesins ’10 at Buckingham Palace in London.

Summer 2016

33

ALUMNI NEWS

CLASS NOTES

nications at United Way of Greater Rochester. Jamie (Fragnito) ’07 and Eric Peskor ’06 are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Luke Michael Peskor. He was born on Nov. 27, 2015 in Rochester, N.Y. John Seifts ’07 is a teacher at Strough Middle School in Rome, N.Y. and an adjunct lecturer at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, N.Y. Stephanie Bottomley ’08, CPA, CHFP has been promoted to manager in the audit department for Lumsden McCormick, CPAs in Buffalo, N.Y. Ivan Cash ’08 was hon-

ored as a Forbes 30 Under 30 Artist in 2016. Toni Melville ’08 completed her residency and board certification in family medicine at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in June 2015. She has joined New Hanover Medical Group in Leland, N.C. Esther Fogel-Fox ’09 married Russ Fox in 2014.

Esther received two master degrees from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and is employed at the NY County District Attorney’s Office.

Geneseo’s Alumni Travel Program

Heads to England!

July 18-July 27, 2017 (9 nights) Join us for our first-ever trip to London, Oxford, and Stratfordupon-Avon!

Professors of English Melanie Blood and Tom Greenfield will lead the group on a uniquely Geneseo experience with a focus on theater and history.

Reservations are now open. There are limited spots for this exclusive trip. For more details regarding the itinerary, cost and deposit schedule, visit go.geneseo.edu/londonoxford2017.

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

go.geneseo.edu/londonoxford2017

BOTTOMLEY

2010s Class of 2012 — celebrating their 5th reunion in 2017.

Amanda Myers ’10 was hired in August 2015 as a 10th-grade global history teacher at RushHenrietta Senior High School in Henrietta, N.Y. Renae Pepe ’10 is employed with Heart of American Foundation as an inventory manager and operations specialist.

Jamie King ’11, a public

KING

34

geneseo scene

relations account manager at Pinckney

Hugo Group, a full-service marketing communications firm, was interviewed live on BBC Radio Scotland’s Newsdrive radio show on April 19, 2016, about the presidential primary election in New York. Tess Leverenz ’11 and Eric Svenson ’11 are happy to announce their marriage on June 18, 2016. Betsy DeWitte ’12 was named 2015-2016 teacher of the year at Rocky River Elementary School in Concord, N.C. She teaches first grade. Kevin Felter ’12 has been promoted to elementary dual language literacy coordinator for KIPP Austin Public Schools in Austin, Texas.

Tom Githens ’12 won a regional Emmy award for “Outstanding Achievement in Technical Directing/Directing in a Live Performance,” for his direction of a live stream of an Avett Brothers concert, from the Southeast Division of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He is the Southeastern Conference/ ESPN Network director for the University of Tennessee. Krista Muscarella ’12 graduated from the University at Buffalo in May 2016 with a master of arts degree and advanced certificate in school psychology. She is a school psychologist with the Los Angeles Unified

School District. Michael Ruggiero ’12 has successfully defended his

Clare Tyson Brownell ’45, June

doctoral thesis titled “Elucidating the Electronic Origins of Intermolecular Forces in Crystalline Solids” and received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University. He accepted a position as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where he has been developing methods to primarily enhance the understanding surrounding pharmaceutical bioavailability and stability. Megan Russ ’13 received her master’s degree in medical physics from the department of biophysics and physiology at the University of Buffalo.

Shannon Stone ’15 will be serving as AmeriCorps community outreach coordinator for the Flower City Habitat for Humanity in Rochester, N.Y.

Marilyn Fuller Walters ’45, Jan.

21, 2016 31, 2016 Onolee Smith Howlett ’46,

June 18, 2015 Faith Kindig Hall ’51, Jan. 29,

2016 Shirley Whitman Smith ’51, Jan.

20, 2016 Kathleen Leicht ’52, March 12,

2016 Mary Nash Mohler ’52, Dec. 22,

2015 Ralph Wermuth ’52, July 25, 2015 John Fiala ’54, Aug. 13, 2015 Eugene Cooper ’55, Nov. 21,

2015 Lynn Carr Goodman ’56, March

2, 2016 Joyce Jones Enderle ’58,

March 10, 2016 Margaret Pries Sibley ’58, Jan.

9, 2016 Janet Morehouse Sisson ’58,

In Memoriam

March 18, 2016 Jean Thomas Delfs ’59, Sept.

ALUMNI Marion Linton Marshall ’35, Jan.

Annie Woodruff Brooks ’60,

1, 2016

Oct. 28, 2015

18, 2015

Elizabeth Ritchie Dwyer ’42,

Sherry Dorff Gaffney ’62, May

March 7, 2016

17, 2016

Dorothy Cooligan ’43, Feb. 20,

Judith Bruscino McDonnell ’62,

2016

Feb. 8, 2016

Catherine Felshaw Wymar ’43,

Margaret Kelly Giblin ’64, Feb.

March 20, 2016

22, 2016

Scene around the world

Rianna Travers ’11, left, Jonathan Sucese ’14, and Stephanie Coffman ’13 visit Carson Schell ’14 and Katie Gallo ’13, in front, while Carson attended medical school in St. Maarten.

Doug Zimmerman ’86 and Bridget Zimmerman ’87 went to the Galapagos Islands.

Former roommates and friends for life had a reunion in Cape May, N.J.: Penny Gould-Bailey ’72, Patricia Haines Shea ’72, Jean Mahoney Walker ’73. Back row, left to right: Elaine Schmidt ’73, Jean Wegman ’73, Dottie Reynolds ’73.

Maria Alejandra Salamanca ’12 went on a backpacking trip to Japan and took a picture at the Kinkaku-ji, or Temple of the Golden Pavilion, in Kyoto.

Charles Grammer ’79 recently completed the Ride the Rockies event, a 400mile bike ride through the Rocky Mountains, with more than 29,000 feet of climbing as he crossed five mountain passes and the Continental Divide four times.

Donna Barr Rubadeau ’71 visited Old Havana in Cuba with her daughter.

Summer 2016

35

ALUMNI NEWS

CLASS NOTES Harvey MacBride ’65, May 8, 2016 Phil Wager ’65, April 19, 2016 Raymond Lord ’66, April 17, 2016 Kenneth Silveri ’66, Feb. 17, 2016 Ann Burruss Van Atta ’66, Jan. 11,

Joseph Lunga ’75, Aug. 30, 2015 Nancy Salzer ’76, Jan. 20, 2016 Joyce Schader ’76, Oct. 10,

2015 Sarah Fraser Almeida ’78, June

FACULTY Laura Balkin, former lecturer in

music, died on April 10, 2016. She taught at Geneseo from 1977 to 2014, was a founding member of the Tremont Quartet, and built the string program at the college.

2016

15, 2016

Noreen Burdick ’67, Aug. 11, 2015 Norma Beardsell ’68, Feb. 1, 2016 Justine Maxson ’68, May 23,

James Mina ’79, May 17, 2016 William Abbey ’80, Nov. 11,

2015

William (Bill) Brennan, professor

2016

Kimberly Knox Blythe ’81, Oct.

Lawrence Patzwald ’68, Feb.

27, 2014

27, 2016

Rebecca Warren Debrosky ’81,

emeritus of geological sciences from 1968 to 2003, died on April 11, 2016. He organized and ran the geophysics degree program in the department among other achievements.

Kathleen Gillen Anthony ’69,

June 20, 2016

March 7, 2016 2016

Brian Lazara ’86, Sept. 5, 2014 Paul Regina ’88, May 6, 2016 Lisa Blamowski Skelton ’89,

Kathy Schultz Spaulding ’70,

Jan. 5, 2016

Jack R. Johnston, associate pro-

July 21, 2015

Evelyn Cornish Roland ’71,

Lori Welch ’97, March 28, 2016 James Mastin ’01, June 1, 2016 Ryan Almeter ’03, June 10, 2016 Michael Tatelbaum ’06, May 2,

April 17, 2016

2016

Joan Eddy ’72, April 5, 2016 Barbara Love Postell ’74, Oct.

2016

fessor of music emeritus, died on April 27, 2016. He joined the faculty in 1977 and was appointed chair of the music department in 1993. He served as director of the college’s School of the Arts from 1992 to 2008.

3, 2015

Mark Callanan ’10, June 7, 2016

Joseph Thoman ’69, April 11,

Joseph Bloomquist ’71, Dec. 26,

2015

Jacob Goldman ’07, May 24,

Don Trasher, associate professor of mathematics emeritus, died on May 2, 2016. He began his career as an assistant professor at Geneseo in 1964, and was chair of the department from 1978 until his retirement in 2000.

Elaine Haney ’75, June 17, 2016

Scene around the world

Linda Korb Broedel ’79 and Sheldon Broedel ’79 at Kallmunz Castle ruins in Bavaria, Germany.

Alyson Tarney ’13 at the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. She was spotted in her field hockey pinny by other Geneseo alumni at the race, who came to say hello.

In Florence, Italy, from left to right: Andy Creahan ’04, Kristi Smith Creahan ’07 and Nancy Fogarty ’07 atop the Duomo.

36

geneseo scene

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our support creates life-changing experiences and impacts every area of campus life and student learning for students.

Donations fund scholarships, undergraduate and faculty research, athletics, global education, internships and initiatives that enhance the quality of the educational experience here.

Any gift amount, no matter the size, truly makes a difference.

Combined, these smaller gifts create scholarships and other opportunities.

Contributions and outcomes 2015-2016

7,189 Number of alumni, parents and friends who supported Geneseo.

$738,969 provided

427 scholarships for 340 students.

$307,297 provided 435 research and travel grants

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