Take a stroll through the newly renovated College Circle this Spring and you’ll find something new: a metal archway inscribed with Endless Possibilities across the top, and the words Imagine and Believe down each side.
Created by Springwater, NY, artist, sculptor, and welder Stacey Mrva, in collaboration with Twisted Metal Fabrication, the piece stands at the gateway to campus where many students take their first steps into their Geneseo journey.
The sculpture was inspired by Erika Rottenberg ’84, who still remembers her own arrival at Geneseo: the long drive from out-of-state with her parents, a stop on Main Street to open a bank account, and that sudden, overwhelming sense that everything she’d worked for was finally coming to fruition.
“I was excited, and kind of terrified,” she says. “Coming to Geneseo was something that I had wanted so badly, and all of a sudden I realized I was on its doorstep and was going to be a long way from home.”
She laughs about it now. With time, Geneseo became the place where she learned to grow into herself. “Geneseo was a perfect place for me because it was a smaller environment where I could learn about myself,” she says. “It was supportive, yet challenging. I received a great education, both in and out of the classroom. I had great professors interested in my growth as a whole person. Geneseo launched me for life!”
Watch: Sculpture Installation
Rottenberg earned a degree in special and elementary education and says—only half joking— moved to Anchorage, Alaska for “warmer weather.” She taught junior high special education for five years in the Anchorage school district, where she also coached sports, advised student organizations, and held leadership roles in the teachers’ association, including chairing the Teacher Rights Committee and serving as the chief spokesperson during a watershed contract negotiation.
“The archway with Endless Possibilities at the top and Imagine and Believe on each side captures the promise and benefits of a Geneseo education.”
She later earned a law degree at University of California, Berkeley School of Law and built her career in Silicon Valley as an employment, corporate, and in-house attorney. She went on to serve as general counsel for several technology companies, including as the first full-time, long-term general counsel at LinkedIn and later at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. She currently serves on for-profit public and non public company boards and nonprofit organization boards.
Through the years, she stayed connected to Geneseo by returning to campus for speaking engagements and women’s leadership events. Rottenberg had already been considering how she could best give back to the Geneseo through the Opportunities Rising comprehensive campaign when the opportunity to contribute to the nearly complete College Circle renovation popped up. She kept coming back to one idea: expanding study abroad opportunities.
Though moving 300 miles from home to attend Geneseo seemed far away to Erika when she was a first-year, Rottenberg became a passionate traveler. She believes travel broadens perspective and reinforces a simple truth: that people are more alike than different, regardless of background. Travel also builds resilience, a characteristic she believes is key for lifelong success and happiness.
“How many of us travelers have had a crappy travel day, and wake up the next day and experience a wonderment, the kindness of a stranger, or an experience that makes us think this is one of the best days of our lives,” she asks.
In short, she believes that broadening our interactions with people we don’t typically engage with is key to understanding each other, democracy, and ultimately, world peace. As a result, she wanted to provide an opportunity to students that she didn’t have: an immersive study abroad experience.
“I didn’t have a study abroad opportunity,” she says. “But I think a meaningful, full semester abroad—immersing yourself in a completely different culture and a different environment—helps you learn to take comfort in the discomfort. You’re forced to make decisions with imperfect information, and you learn to constantly iterate. You’re learning about different people, cultures, and environments, and that people are more similar than different.”
She created the Erika Rottenberg ’84 Endless Possibilities Endowment which supports semester and summer-long study abroad experiences, with priority for education majors or students preparing for law school who demonstrate academic excellence and financial need.
“I want to be able to provide a foundational opportunity of a lifetime for Geneseo students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to avail themselves of a study abroad program,” she says. She hopes that recipients of the Endless Opportunities Scholarship discover a passion for new experiences and environments, deepen their understanding and appreciation for others no matter their background or lived experience, and cultivate a lifelong love of learning.
“The archway with Endless Possibilities at the top and Imagine and Believe on each side captures the promise and benefits of a Geneseo education,” she says. Its placement at the gateway to campus symbolizes that journey and serves as a reminder to all students—from their first visit through graduation and beyond—to imagine, believe, and pursue the possibilities ahead. As Rottenberg says, she’s grateful for her Geneseo education because “it provided a launchpad for me to live a life I didn’t know existed to dream of, let alone live it.”
If you are interested in learning more about the Endless Possibilities Scholarship, contact the study abroad staff in the Center for Global Engagement at 245-5546 or studyabroad@geneseo.edu.