patenaude

On May 18, SUNY Geneseo held its 153rd annual commencement ceremonies. More than 1,200 undergraduates received their degrees, along with honorary doctorates awarded to Mark Ashley ’77 and Joseph Carr.

SUNY Geneseo President Denise A. Battles recently assumed the role of chair of the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Council of Fellows, an elected position.

SUNY Geneseo is among 123 campuses in the country — only 10 of which are in NYS — recently designated a “Voter Friendly Campus.” The goal of the Voter Friendly Campus designation program is to bolster efforts that help students overcome barriers to participating in the political process and develop a culture of democratic engagement on campus. This year’s efforts also resulted in the registration of over 1,000 Geneseo students.

The Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena is abuzz with activity preparing for Saturday’s two undergraduate commencement ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. An estimated 1,238 students will participate in the ceremonies.

SUNY Geneseo students raised $150,197 in this year’s Relay For Life, an annual fundraiser that supports the American Cancer Society. The student-run 12-hour event in the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena was packed with performances, activities, and speakers to help to raise money for cancer research and services for cancer patients.

Two student teams from SUNY Geneseo’s VentureWorks entrepreneurship program secured three awards in the finals of the tenth annual New York State Business Plan Competition (NYBPC) April 29 at The Armory at Sage in Albany. 

Luke Bamburoski ’19, a Brockport, NY, native, was one of the first applicants to Geneseo’s interdisciplinary neuroscience major. Bamburoski’s affinity for both research and service has motivated him to pursue educational experiences that will help him accelerate the development of medical therapies from the lab bench to the patient’s bedside.

SUNY Geneseo’s McNair Scholars Program, a chapter of the nationally supported Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, will graduate its first cohort in May. Geneseo’s program launched in Summer 2018 with 12 rising juniors and 14 rising seniors. To date, eight of this year’s graduating seniors and one junior have accepted offers from graduate schools and other scholarly programs.

Geneseo’s master’s commencement will feature a keynote by Laurence T. Spring ’92, superintendent of the Schenectady City School District. The bachelor’s commencement keynote speaker is Jeri Muoio ’69, Ph.D., former mayor of West Palm Beach, FL. The graduate ceremony is Friday, May 10, followed by two ceremonies that make up the bachelor’s commencement on Saturday, May 18.