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For Immediate Release —April 9, 2009 New Kramer
Lecture Series to Anchor SUNY Geneseo’s GREAT Day
Celebration GENESEO,
N.Y. – A new lectures series endowed by State University of New York at Geneseo alumni Jack and Carol Kramer will highlight the
college’s third annual GREAT Day
celebration April 21 on campus. GREAT Day
– Geneseo Recognizing Excellence, Achievement &
Talent – is a daylong celebration to showcase the work of students through presentations,
exhibits and performances. More than 700
students are expected to participate in this year’s program representing all
disciplines at the college. “Carol
and I were inspired to endow the lecture series because of the positive impact GREAT
Day has on the campus community,” said Jack Kramer, a 1976 Geneseo
graduate who is chair of the Geneseo Foundation Board. “It is a phenomenal program and a terrific
way to recognize students and bring people together.” Kramer’s wife, Carol, also is a 1976 Geneseo graduate. The
first speaker in the Jack and Carol Kramer Endowed Lectureship Series will be
third-generation actor, director, producer, poet and author Lane Nishikawa, who
will address ”From Dreams to Reality: The Journey of One Voice” at 1:45 p.m. in
Wadsworth Auditorium. His trilogy of
critically acclaimed one-man shows -- “Mifune and
Me,” “I’m on a Mission from Buddha” and “Life in the Fast Lane” -- has toured
college campuses and cultural centers for nearly two decades. In 1991, Nishikawa performed “I’m on a
Mission from Buddha” at SUNY Geneseo to a full house. His works boldly focus on race, ethnicity and
art in ways that are often irreverent but always enlightening. In
addition to acting in films, Nishikawa has served as artistic director of San
Francisco’s prestigious Asian American Theater Company. His “Only the Brave” is a full-length feature
film which tells the true story of the second-generation Japanese American
combat unit that rescued the Texan “Lost Battalion” in one of the bloodiest
battles of World War II. It’s not
the first time Jack and Carol Kramer have provided major support for Geneseo programs. In
2004, they established The Carol Kramer Endowed Scholarship for Excellence in
Psychology and The Jack Kramer Endowed Scholarship for Excellence in Physics,
merit awards that provide tuition assistance for students who demonstrate
financial need and show a strong commitment to their field of study inside and
outside of the classroom. Geneseo Distinguished Teaching Professor
of Mathematics Emeritus Stephen West, GREAT Day faculty coordinator, expects
more than 20 percent of the student body will participate in the program this
year. “GREAT Day
brings together talented students, an enthusiastic faculty and a supportive
administration into an event that exhibits what our students do best, such as
undergraduate research and artistic expression,” said West.
“It’s a culminating moment for many
students and demonstrates a high degree of academic engagement that Geneseo greatly values.” No
classes are scheduled April 21 to accommodate GREAT Day events, which are free
and open to the public. |
