News Archive

Geneseo’s commencements are fast-approaching. The graduate ceremony is May 4 at 7 p.m. in Brodie Hall’s Alice Austin Theatre, where the College will confer master’s degrees in either education or accounting. The undergraduate ceremonies are scheduled May 12 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena. Two ceremonies are required for the undergraduate ceremony to accommodate the large number of graduates and guests.

Mary Ellen Zuckerman has been named dean of the SUNY Geneseo School of Business, effective June 28, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Stacey Robertson has announced.

Beginning in earnest May 14, the campus will see the completion of a range of projects that have been underway this semester and the start of some shorter-term initiatives that are expected to be completed by the fall or within a few months of the start of the 2018-19 academic year.

SUNY Geneseo has named robbie rifka routenberg ‘05  as the College’s first chief diversity officer (CDO), effective May 31. routenberg (lowercase name and they/them/theirs pronouns used) will lead the College’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to advance the broader aim of creating an inclusive and supportive campus climate.

A key focus in Geneseo’s strategic plan centers on resilience and sustainability. Accordingly, the Office of Communications and Marketing is charged with continuously assessing and addressing the external world and key audiences’ perceptions of the College.

Caution: What you’re about to read might lead to a commercial jingle getting stuck inside your head for the rest of the day. (Don’t say we didn’t warn you.)

One evening last fall, Sofia Villalón ’18 invited chef Habiba Boru to transform part of the Letchworth Dining Hall into her home by adding a little flavor of Ethiopia. Boru cooked four dishes for guests of the Credo Kitchen event, who enjoyed them as they talked and connected with her, and each other.

Three well-known instrumental and choral music companies — the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra, the Geneseo Festival Orchestra and the Geneseo Chamber Singers — are performing Brahms’ “A German Requiem” April 29 at 3 p.m. in SUNY Geneseo’s Wadsworth Auditorium. Also featured will be two soloists: soprano Keely Futterer and baritone Jorell Williams.

The SUNY Geneseo Percussion Ensemble will present its most adventurous performance in many years during its “Cirque Du Percussion” concert April 30 in Wadsworth Auditorium. The concert begins at 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public. It will feature physical theater, improvisation, humor and other surprises, according to Jim Tiller, the director of the ensemble.

Geneseo’s campus radio station WGSU is celebrating 55 years on the air by hosting a music festival and food truck rodeo April 27 from 4 to 7 p.m. on the College Union Plaza.

A team of students from the Geneseo chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently won the statewide SHRM Student Case Competition.

Julianne Sweeney '16 has won a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship in the area of geosciences. Sweeney, a Geneseo native, graduated with a degree in geological sciences and then worked as a research technician for the Geneseo Department of Geological Sciences under the advisement of Nicholas Warner, assistant professor of geological sciences. She is currently employed at EagleView, an aerial imagery company.

A few weeks into her 2017 study abroad semester in Córdoba, Amanda Langan’s Argentine friend Pilar Herrera asked a tricky but familiar question, “¿Por qué todos los estadounidenses se llaman americanos?,” which roughly means, “Why do all ‘unitedstates-ians’ call themselves Americans?”

Waderlie Mendez ’20 has been named a Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) Scholar for 2018-19 and will travel to Cadiz, Spain, and around the country this summer to study Spanish language and culture. The sophomore psychology major is the first Geneseo student to win this award and joins a class of 100 Scholars chosen from a pool of more than 2,300 applicants representing approximately 517 colleges and universities across the country.

Geneseo students raised $162,208 in last weekend’s Relay for Life, a annual fundraiser that supports the American Cancer Society. The student-run 24-hour event in the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena is packed with activities and speakers and helps not only to raise money for cancer research but also to sustain services for cancer patients.

In one of his final appearances at a GOLD event, Tom Matthews (above), associate dean of leadership and service, will moderate the Geneseo Forum Event “What It Takes to Take the Lead: What Do Leaders Need to Know Today” on April 26, featuring three Geneseo alumni who have made a mark in their fields.

During his four years at Geneseo, Justen Geddes has become a mathematician, biology researcher, athlete, chief of the student first-response emergency team, an anthropologist, and has studied in Brazil. With each experience, he challenged his idea of his limitations.

Violin students will have a rare opportunity to enhance their technique at a master class on campus with Jennifer Lee, a highly regarded orchestra musician who has performed throughout the United States and abroad. The class is scheduled April 19 at 7 p.m. in the Doty Recital Hall and is free and open to the public.

Two SUNY Geneseo philosophy majors, seniors Eva Reda-Kendrick and Brian Pattison, are presenting papers at the Gonzaga Undergraduate Philosophy Conference in Spokane, Wash. Both students based their papers on essays they wrote for different philosophy courses taught by Professor Ted Everett.

Julia Tannenbaum paired art and business together throughout her time at Geneseo to help build economic development across Livingston and Wyoming counties. At Geneseo, she declared a major in business administration with a minor in communication and art history.

Five SUNY Geneseo students recently made research presentations at the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at the University of Central Oklahoma. NCUR is a component of the Council on Undergraduate Research, which is dedicated to supporting high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship.

The Yards for Yeardley walk on the College Green April 26 is among events on campus during Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April.

Three Geneseo students have received 2018 Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence. SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson presented the awards to the following Geneseo students, all seniors: Jeffrey Doser from Penfield, N.Y.; Justen Geddes from Dryden, N.Y.; and Kaitlin Pfundstein from Wantagh, N.Y.

As a cost-savings and sustainability effort, the College is replacing traditional lights on campus with Light Emitting Diode (LED) illumination. Forty-four projects have been completed in the switch-over since 2015, and several are in progress, according to George Stooks, assistant vice president for facilities and planning.

When asked to explain what winning a 2018-19 U.S. Student Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) award to Uruguay means to her, Sarah Simon ’17 replies in Spanish, “No fue el pez el que descubrió el agua” or “It wasn't the fish that discovered water.” This maxim has guided her journey since Geneseo.