gene s e oA magazine for alumni, parents and friends of SUNY Geneseo

s ce n e

WHITE GOLDW h at Lies Beneat h

F E AT U R E S10 What Lies Beneath

Joe Bucci ’67 leveraged a business opportunity toopen one of the largest salt mines in the world andp r e s e rve a tradition. Students spend their entireGeneseo careers never realizing that each day,employees of an underground city pump out 16,000tons of salt within walking distance of campus.

16 Thinking Big in Tight Financial TimesDespite an uncertain economy and cuts in the StateUniversity of New York system, Geneseo delivers apremier education while operating in the black. SixBig Ideas are laying the foundation for long-termeconomic sustainability.

18 Funding GeneseoDecades ago, New York covered as much as 75 percent of the college’s operating costs, but nol o n g e r. How does Geneseo make up the difference?

D E PA RT M E N TS5 One College Circle

23 Alumni News

30 Class Notes

CO LU M N S3 President’s Message

4 Letters to the Editor

9 Sports

20 Perspective

22 Mission Driven

26 Random Profile: One Cup

36 Memory Lane

ON THE COVER: Salt — or “white gold” as Joe Bucc i ’s father called it —has been an economic staple in Livingston County for more than 100years. Bucci, a 1967 alumnus, keeps the tradition alive. Here he holds saltmined from Hampton Co r n e r s .

Cover photography: Kris DreessenTable of contents photography: Kris Dreessen

gene s e os ce n eWi n te r 2 01 0

CO N T E N TS

Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.Every year, new Geneseo graduates throw their caps in the air to celebrate a successful undergraduatecareer. They further their studies at graduate school or enter the workforce, start families and becomeintegral parts of their communities.

As so many alumni before them, they bring their ingenuity and their considerable talents with themon the journey.

Last fall, the Scene asked students to gather on the College Green for a group photograph to repre-sent careers, causes and fields of study for which they are most passionate.

We invite alumni to find themselves reflected in the current generation of students — who are living inthe same residence halls, studying in the same classrooms and discovering the same unique experienceGeneseo has provided aspiring learners for 138 years.

You we re here ...

2 g e n e s e o scene

1. Make Your Mark —

Senior Gift

2. First-Year Institute

3. Women’s track

4. Invisible Children

5. Men of Action and Change

6. Ice Knights —

Men’s ice hockey

7. Women’s soccer

8. Livingston County CARES

(Hurricane Katrina

recovery volunteers)

9. Geneseo Opportunities for

Leadership Development

(G.O.L.D.)

10. Physics

11. Autism Speaks

12. Environmental

engineering

13. C h e m i st r y/ b i o c h e m i stry

14. WGSU Radio

15. Communications

16. Geology

17. Women’s basketball

18. Dance

19. Women’s field hockey

20. Art

21. Education

22. Biology

23. Religious studies

24. Pharmacy

25. Musical Theatre Club

26. Costume/makeup design

27. Geneseo First Response

28. Sculpture

Discover who the students in the photograph areonline at go.geneseo.edu/ourgeneseo

Make Your Mark...

Seniors are helping their fellowstudents and Geneseo carry on t raditions of outstanding academicopportunities and camaraderiewith the Make Your Mark initiative.

Make Your Mark is rejuvenatingthe Senior Gift program, whichengages seniors as active mem-bers of the Alumni Associationand helps them develop an appreciation for philanthropy.

Seniors can designate their giftto the program or field they aremost passionate about, or theFund For Geneseo, which sup-ports student scholarships. In thisway, new graduates are helpingtheir fellow and future students.

More than 20 percent of seniorshave already contributed to theSenior Gift — double the partici-pation from 2009.

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Vol. 35, No. 3; Winter 2010

The Geneseo Scene is published bySUNY Geneseo, Division of CollegeAdvancement, Office of CollegeCommunications.

Christopher C. Dahl, PresidentMichael J. Catillaz, Vice President for College AdvancementAnthony T. Hoppa, A ss i stant Vi ceP resident for College Co m m u n i c at i o n s

Kris Dreessen, Ed i to rCarole Smith Volpe ’91, Art Dire c to rContributing writers: Lisa M. FeinsteinDavid IrwinLaura R. KenyonJim LeachAnthony T. HoppaGeorge Speedy ’71

Alumni Relations OfficeRose G. Anderson,

Assistant Vice President ofAlumni Relations

Michelle Walton Worden ’92,Associate Director of AlumniRelations

Tracy Young Gagnier ’93,Assistant Director of AlumniRelations

Francis E. Zablocki, online community manager

Alumni Relations Office atCollins Alumni Center McClellan House SUNY Geneseo 1 College Circle Geneseo, NY 14454-1484 Phone: (585) 245-5506 Fax: (585) 245-5505 alumni@geneseo.edu

Parent Relations OfficeTammy Ingram ’88,

Director of Parent RelationsErwin 202Phone: (585) 245-5570

Contact the S ce n e at sce n e @ g e n e s e o.e d u .Visit the Web site at sce n e.g e n e s e o.e d u .

ife is a series of decisions. Large or small, simple or complex, each adds apiece to the mosaic of our lives. This fundamental reality underscores theimportance of what is arguably the first major decision we make: which

college or university to attend.As our alumni attest in these pages of the Scene,

selecting Geneseo was the right decision, reflected bytheir success in — and beyond — their chosen fields.The college has provided a strong foundation ofknowledge and personal growth that continues tosupport them in their pursuits.

Their stories reflect Geneseo’s unwavering commit-ment to provide a liberal — and liberating — educa-tion. As a result, young men and women can followtheir dreams, wherever they may lead. Then, as now,we impart to our students the knowledge and skillsnecessary to succeed in a rapidly changing world.

Equally important, we offer diverse student lifeopportunities that help develop core qualities essen-tial for productive lives and fulfilling careers: Belief inself. Leadership. Perseverance. Respect. Honesty.

We educate the whole person, preparing each student to make effe c t i ve deci-sions. In health care or business, government orco m m u n i t y, athletics or arts, Geneseo alumni arei n n ovat i ve leaders who re co g n i ze the risks as we l las the rewa rds that come from seizing bold oppor-tunities that may at first be hidden from view.

Take salt, for example. Millions of tons liebeneath our campus and surrounding farms. Yet,if not for Joe Bucci ’67, a former high school his-tory teacher, the American Rock Salt companymight never have been formed. His foresight anddetermination helped create the second-largestunderground salt mining operation in the world and a major employer in western New York.

With the co n f i d e n ce drawn from their Geneseo education, other alumni profiled in this issue also have turned risk into rewa rd. Consider George Speedy ’71. Nota cce p ted when he first applied to Geneseo, he tried again after serving in Vi e t n a m .G rateful for a second chance at life and an education, he became a partner in a lawfirm and in May 2009, he established the G e o rge Speedy ’71 Endowed ScholarshipFund to ass i st future students in need.

Such generosity inspires us all as we navigate the changing economic environ-ment of New York state and deal with the additional financial burdens placedupon the college. Like our alumni, we are prepared to make bold moves.Through the Six Big Ideas initiative, we are exploring options to improve effi-ciency and generate new revenue while strengthening the Geneseo education.

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Scene and encourage you to share it withfriends, family and colleagues. I am confident that they will be impressed withwhat we’re accomplishing at Geneseo.

Cordially,

Risks vs. Rewa rds: The Liberal Arts Fa c tor “…we must take the current when it serves,

or lose our ventures.” —Shakespeare

P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E SSAG E gene s e os ce n e

Christopher C. Dahl

“We educatethe whole person, preparing each student to makeeffective decisions.”

L

4 g e n e s e o scene

Family tiesI was particularly interested inthe “Family Ties” story in thelast S c e n e. Our family spans fivegenerations of Geneseo alumniand begins with my mother’sgreat aunt, Georgia Reeves,who was the “dean of women”or its equivalent in the early1900s. My mother and her sis-ter are also graduates.

My brother, my nephew and Imet our spouses at Geneseo.This year’s freshman classincludes my great niece.

The women of the family haveall been teachers, putting ourGeneseo education to good use.I have taught everything frompre-K through college courses inabnormal psychology and arth i s t o ry. I often tell people thatthe great gift of Geneseo is thatit taught me to really teach —not just a particular subject orgrade level, but what it is thatmakes good teaching and reallearning in any area.

Geneseo holds a very specialand warm place in my wholef a m i l y ’s hearts. Hopefully oned a y, the sixth generation of ourfamily will arrive at our favoritei n s t i t u t i o n ’s beloved doorstep.

— Hildreth Price Knapp ’63

The tough job offinancing GeneseoI was quite pleased to see thearticle on the enormous job VicePresident for Administrationand Finance Kenneth H.

sons I teach my own students.The project became a school-

wide effort. In all, we collected1,120 tubes of toothpaste, 650toothbrushes, 275 sets of dentalfloss and 50 bottles of mouth-wash. The biggest lesson herethough can’t be counted innumbers. It is in the reality thatone person can make a hugedifference — not just by provid-ing a donation, but by encour-aging others to contribute eventhe smallest gift. Hundreds ofpeople giving their smallest giftbecomes a gargantuan contribu-tion indeed.

— Gretchen Rosales ’01, MS ’08

S ce n e re u n i tes childhood friendsAs I read the “One Cup” fea-ture with Jody Swilky ’73 inthe fall issue, I realized I wasreading about a guy that Igrew up with in Island Park,Long Island, but we had notbeen in contact since I was akid. What a surprise! I was notaware that he, too, is an alum-nus of Geneseo. I have sentthe article to my sister andothers who know him, andhave contacted him. The Sceneis a great way to network andreconnect with people fromthe past.

— Michael Fuchs ’77Geneseo Alumni Association

board member

Levison is doing to keepGeneseo running properly inthese tough economic times. Iwas a student in a Humanities IIclass that he team-taught withD r. William Gohlman in 1994 or1995. All these years later, I stillremember much of what theytaught us about the classics ofWestern Civilization. I amenrolled at CUNY QueensCollege working towards mym a s t e r ’s of library sciencedegree. We hear horror storiesabout what might be coming inthe spring semester and I hopeGeneseo is not too adverselyaffected by the coming budgetcutbacks. I wish Dr. Levisongood luck with a very challeng-ing job, and know that I will con-tinue to support Geneseo finan-cially to the best of my ability.

— Evan Frankl ’96

P h o to is a walk dow nmemory laneWhat a beautiful and timely

magazine. I was particularlyentranced to find a photographof myself in the “Memory Lane”section, seeking suggested cap-tions for a picture published inthe 1940 N o rm a l i a n yearbook (see above).

I am on the bottom far right,with fellow members of theAlpha Sigma Epsilon fraternity.The college hosted a SadieHawkins Day, when girls wouldask their boyfriends out fordancing or a date. We were

waiting for a phone call to beone of the lucky guys. Therewere about 400 girls and about100 boys at Geneseo at thetime; we were worried. (I wascalled for a date.)

No wonder so many studentswish to enroll at Geneseo withits beautiful setting, outstand-ing education and memories inthe making.

— Harrison “Flops” Phillips ’42

Alumna reaches outAs the advisor of my highschool students’ Spanish Clubat Kendall Jr. / S r. High School( N . Y.), I always look for worth-while activities in which to par-ticipate with my students. Afterreading about junior AllisonK o r n b l a t t ’s dental project in ElSauce, Nicaragua, my studentsthought one way for us to helpthe community of El Saucewould be to collect supplies forthe dental clinic to help herproject continue.

I was a Spanish major atGeneseo for my undergraduateand graduate degrees, and havealways felt special pride in theway Geneseo alumni continueto make a difference in theworld. I have a special interestin the types of grassroots pro-grams that seem to flourish atG e n e s e o .

Helping Geneseo’s El Sauceeffort is a wonderful way for meto bridge the real-life lessons Ilearned at Geneseo and the les-

LETTERS

The S ce n e we l comes feedback and enco u rages d i s c u ss i o n of higher-education issues and co n tent. Send letters, which may be edited for space, tos ce n e @ g e n e s e o.edu or to the S ce n e e d i to r, S U N Y G e n e s e o, Roemer House, 1 College Circ l e,G e n e s e o, NY 1 4 4 5 4 .

Le t ters to the Ed i to r

Wi n te r 2 01 0 5

6 G e n e s e o ’s new Web site6 A muse-wo r t hy re s i d e n ce7 Good chemist r y8 Wa n ted: female scientist s8 N ews in brief

CAMPUS NEWS

One Co l l e g e C i rc l e

Deirdre Kelly ’11, a Spanish and adolescent Spanish education major, cele-brates the first snow storm of the season, stomping “Snow, let it snow”across the Sturges Quad.

6 g e n e s e o scene

Before he graduates this spring,Ray FeDora wants everyone toknow why he loves Geneseo.

“Geneseo has given me theopportunity to get involved,meet great people and makemore of myself,” says FeDora. “I couldn’t imagine myself any-where else.”

An assistant residence direc-t o r, FeDora loves getting togeth-er with friends in the CollegeUnion, living and working inthe residence halls and givingcampus tours to prospective s t u d e n t s .

F e D o r a ’s on-campus pursuitsare featured in a video he creat-ed for “MyLife@Geneseo,” aseries highlighting students’lives and interests at Geneseothat appears on the college’snew Web site.

The series is part of the freshlook and feel on the recentlyredesigned Geneseo.edu, withthe goal of better reflecting thec o l l e g e ’s academic rigor andresearch, community and richcampus life.

“ We wanted our site to reflect

the college’s vitality across abroad spectrum — its academ-ics, its organizations, its peopleand its events, both for peoplewho know Geneseo well andthose who haven’t discoveredthe college yet,” said Anthony T.Hoppa, assistant vice presidentof college communications.

The Web site redesign was

more than a year in the making.Working with a firm specializingin higher-education sites, thecollege solicited input fromfocus groups and hosted townhall-style meetings with facultyand staff to develop a designthat met the needs of theGeneseo community.

Now in development is the

Geneseo Alumni Community.The largest alumni undertakingto date, the site will be an onlinemeeting place for alumni toreconnect with classmates, postphotos and learn about upcom-ing events.

“ We’re thrilled to provide ouralumni with such a richresource,” says Rose G.Anderson, assistant vice presi-dent for alumni relations. “Ouronline community will enablealumni to stay active andengaged both with Geneseo andwith each other. ”

Currently in the second phaseof the Web site project,G e n e s e o ’s college informationtechnology (CIT) and collegecommunications teams are con-verting more than 30,000 pagesfrom the old site to the newone. When complete, the col-lege will enter the final phase —continual evaluation andimprovement of Geneseo.edu to keep features, photos andinformation relevant and c o m p e l l i n g .

— Laura R. Kenyon

During her college experience, Kate Royal ’13 says she wants to besurrounded by people with similar interests, “who I can beinspired by and collaborate with.”

S h e ’s found that creativity and camaraderie at Seneca Hall,G e n e s e o ’s newest residence hall and second special-interesthouse. More than 80 writers of all stripes, from songwriters toresearchers to poets, live together, share talent at weekly open-mike nights, plan special events and have opportunities to learnfrom leaders in the field.

English Professor Tom Greenfield and other faculty mentor stu-dents and offer workshops. Royal has explored stream of con-sciousness writing and deep breathing and light meditation dur-ing such sessions. Visiting writers have stayed in Seneca Hall apart-ments, including Marjorie Chan, a playwright and librettist whowrites operas, and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Schultz.

Geneseo unveils new Web pre s e n ce

N ewe st re s i d e n ce hall is muse wo r t hy

CAMPUS N E WS

The new Geneseo.edu

S o n g w r i ter Kate Royal ’13 is inspired by her fe l l ow artists and students inWr i ters House, the co l l e g e ’s second special-inte re st re s i d e n ce hall.

Wi n te r 2 01 0 7

Geneseo chemistry professorDave Johnson is beaming, andfor good reason.

F a o u dIshmael ’96, ab i o c h e m i s t rymajor whotook courseswith Johnsonand workedwith him as anu n d e r g r a d u-ate researcher,

r e c e n t l yreceived his combinedM.D./Ph.D. at Penn State andhas been appointed assistantprofessor of medicine and b i o c h e m i s t ry and molecularbiology at Penn State’s Collegeof Medicine. Now, Johnsonand Ishmael are collaboratingas faculty colleagues on a drugtherapy research project thatthey worked on when Ishmael

was a Geneseo student. “The most rewarding aspect

of college teaching is seeingstudents like Faoud flourish,”says Johnson, “but to now befaculty research colleaguesbrings the Geneseo experi-ence full circle for both of us.It’s very fulfilling.”

When Ishmael was atGeneseo, Johnson and another

researcher were examining thenaturally occurring substanceapocynin as a means of pre-venting atherosclerosis — clog-ging of the arteries. Ishmael,Johnson and other students dis-covered the chemical reactionthat apocynin undergoes todirectly inhibit the productionof harmful free radicals by anenzyme. These free radicals arethought to be a cause of ather-osclerosis and other inflamma-t o ry diseases.

The effects of apocynin onclogged arteries in early ani-mal studies were dramatic.The altering of the originalstructure of the compoundincreased its effectiveness,which led Johnson to obtainthe college’s first series ofpatents aimed at preventingatherosclerosis.

The effort was sidetracked forseveral years, but with Ishmaelnow spending 85 percent of histime as a biomedical researcherat Penn State, he and Johnsonrevived the project and are re-examining the substance’spotential as a new agent to fight

C h e m i stry p ro fe ss o r, former st u d e n ta c h i eve goodc h e m i st r y

“One of the values of the residential experience is the inte-gration of living and learning in a supportive environment,”says President Christopher C. Dahl. “Seneca Hall is specificallydesigned to foster that integration. It houses a classroom andother spaces where faculty and students can interact, teach,learn, discover and share leisure time.”

Dahl helped dedicate Seneca Hall in October with a fullhouse of dignitaries, faculty, staff and students, including Royaland pianist Jeff Fischer ’13. They wrote and composed songsespecially for the dedication.

Seneca Hall also is advancing Geneseo’s mission of sustain-a b i l i t y. Its design meets strict Energy Star qualifications for low-energy use. The hall also makes use of geothermal heating,pulling water from 32 wells dug 450 feet deep into the ground.The water is a constant temperature and is energy efficient.Building architectural firm Bergmann Associates was awardeda Certificate of Achievement by the American Institute ofArchitects for Seneca Hall’s environmentally friendly design.

— Kris Dreessen

Faoud Ishmael ’96 at work in his lab at Penn St ate College of Medicine.

P H OTO BY KEN SMITH/PENN STATE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

atherosclerosis and possibly asth-ma and retinopathy, or damageto the eye’s retina.

“It is very rewarding to col-laborate with Dr. Johnson on aproject that I worked on as anundergraduate and extend itto my current interests inhuman disease,” says Ishmael.“My experience at Geneseowas my first exposure toresearch and a major influ-ence in my decision to pursuebiomedical research.”

Ishmael may have theopportunity to influence otherGeneseo student researchers.Johnson has submitted a grantapplication to the NationalInstitutes of Health to contin-ue work on the project, whichwould support Geneseo stu-dents going to Penn State towork with Ishmael on biomed-ical research techniques.

“I think the additionalresources at Penn State wouldprovide a unique opportunityto enhance Geneseo’s under-graduate research experi-ence,” says Ishmael.

— David Irwin

JOHNSON

8 g e n e s e o scene

Student and CampusLife honored withnational awardSUNY Geneseo’s student affa i r sp ro g ram is being lauded by ap re-eminent higher-educat i o no rg a n i z ation in the Unite dSt ates. Robert Bonfiglio, vicep resident for student and campus life, re cently re ce i ve dthe most pre stigious awa rd co n fe r red by the Council fo rAd va n cement of St a n d a rds inHigher Ed u c ation — the Ted K.Miller Ac h i evement in Exce l l e n ceAwa rd. Bonfiglio has pre s e n te dwidely on st a n d a rds for out-standing student ex p e r i e n ce s .

Geology research featured on the History ChannelPeople have flocked to theG rand Canyon for ce n t u r i e s ,a m a zed by the 18-mile-w i d elandscape and ancient fo r m ations. Dist i n g u i s h e dS e r v i ce Pro fe ssor RichardYoung has spent most of hisc a reer inve st i g ating how theG rand Canyon was fo r m e d ,with student re s e a rc h e r sbeside him.

Last fall, he was one of several geologists featured inthe season two premiere ofthe History Channel’s “Howthe Earth Was Made” series,speaking about the canyon.

Geneseo leads climatechange researchGeological sciences AssistantProfessor Ben Laabs and stu-dents are part of a researchteam that is studying the lastice age of the Great Basin tosolve mysteries of the glacialand palioclimate history ofthe western United States.

Le ssons learned from whathappened 12,000 years ago area basis for predicting climat i cand env i ronmental changesincluding global wa r m i n g ,a cco rding to Laabs.

SUNY Geneseo is co l l a b o-

rating with Middlebury Co l l e g efor the project, which is sup-p o r ted by a $247,000 gra n tf rom the National ScienceFo u n d ation.

Students are involved in

every component of research.A geochemistry lab also willbe developed in Geneseo’sn ewly co m p l e ted $53 millionI n te g rated Science Ce n te r,which will be used to pre-

N E WS IN BRIEF

The disciplines ofphysics and geologicalsciences have tradition-ally not held highappeal among women.That may changethanks to a NationalScience Foundationgrant awarded to aGeneseo faculty teamthat will examine waysof encouraging morefemale middle andhigh-school students toconsider the fields.

Geneseo is collaboratingwith the Geneseo CentralSchool District and fourother surrounding districtsfor the The Power ofPhysical Science (POPS)project, with an award ofnearly $296,000 fundedthrough the NSF Math andScience Partnership-StartProgram.

“Women are u n d e r r e p r e-sented in these disciplinesand many pull away from thephysical sciences before theyreach college,” says KurtF l e t c h e r, professor and chairof Geneseo’s physics andastronomy department, whois leading the team.

“Encouraging youngwomen in middle and high

school to study physics andgeology is the first step.”

“There is a disconnectbetween our middle- andhigh-school science curricu-lum and what geologists andphysicists actually do,” saysRandy French, a GeneseoCentral School teacher. “Ithink students often don’t seerelevance and we need tochange that.”

The POPS program focuseson developing a hands-onenrichment curriculum withreal-world applications forsmall groups of students ateach partner school. The cur-riculum will focus on theinterrelated and interdiscipli-nary issues of energy, climatechange and new approachesto meeting the nation’s energyneeds while safeguarding the

environment. “Our idea is to impact

these students through theirteachers,” says AssociateProfessor Katie Rommel-Esham, who focuses onmath and science methodsin the Ella Cline ShearSchool of Education. “Weplan to bring in teachers forworkshops with the hopethat they infuse excitementin their classrooms aboutthese fields of study.”

The team’s research willcontribute to the literatureon gender and science. Theteam will monitor the impactof the project using surv e y sto ascertain interest in thefields before and after stu-dents are exposed to theenrichment curriculum.

— David Irwin

Wanted:morefemalescientists

p a re samples for geologicd ating. Students will utilizecutting-edge re s e a rch thathas been widely applied inthe last decade.

Geneseo Ce n t ral School science teacher Randy French helps Mikaeli Ro b i n s o n ,left, and Natalie Haigh find the balance of an acid.

P H OTO BY KRIS DREESS E N

Karina Stamatis ’11 leans forward tostroke Oz’s mane, running her fin-gers through his hair. She pats his

face and gently kisses the top of his nose.Oz closes his eyes, then nuzzles her

s h o u l d e r. Among the Geneseo equestrianteam members, Oz is known for his goodnature and for craving attention. He’s agood teammate. In fact, says Ashley Grove’12, “he’s one of my good friends.”

As a beloved team horse, Oz walks, trotsand canters in the competition ring. Notlong ago, however, Oz was pegged as aproblem horse, headed for euthanasia.

Oz was a rescue horse from aMassachusetts racetrack. Several trainershad tried to rehabilitate the 9-year- o l d ,chestnut-colored thoroughbred gelding.His feet weren’t healthy enough to ridelong-term, and he was undisciplined.Adapting a horse from racetrack to ridingring is tough. Oz wasn’t making it.

O z ’s former owner had bought the steedto give him a second chance off the track,but ran out of options. Just in time,

Livingston Countyferrier Ron Forbesmet Oz and recom-mended CoachKim Sanford takehim at her Leg UpS t a b l e s .

She did.“ We gave him

time to start over, ”says Kim.

O z ’s new life isan “absolute mira-cle,” says the for-mer owner,Elizabeth, a lifelong horse aficionado whowishes to remain anonymous. “I really did-n ’t think it was possible. Kim was willing,when no one was willing or interested totake him.”

Elizabeth had recognized Oz’s big per-sonality and potential; Kim saw it, too.

He was a “beautiful mover,” says Kim. “Icould see he could be an athlete.”

Kim toned him up and, with experiencedmembers of the equestrian team like Ashley,worked with Oz to gain his trust and to workon a level other than full-out go.

Race horses spend their lives amped upfor the starting gun, Kim explains. Theyaren’t accustomed to being with otherhorses or working with riders. Gettingthem in the competition ring requiresmental and physical rehabilitation, shesays. She and the team had to teach Oz toslow down — to not react to every tug onthe reins or shift in the saddle.

Elizabeth checks in on Oz every fewmonths.

“They’ve done a wonderful job,” saysElizabeth. “It’s an absolute miracle that the

horse is loved and well and doing fine. I’mso extremely grateful.”

She has made donations to the team toexpress her thanks, and even sent a cameraso the team could share photos.

At first, only the best riders could handleOz. Now, experienced and more novice rid-ers use him.

Ashley bonded with Oz right away and isproud that she helped train him. She sad-dles up five times a week to practice. Mostof those times, she chooses Oz; she haslearned what makes him tick.

“He likes gentle riders who let him do histhing,” Ashley says. Push too hard, and hegets nervous. Let him know what you want,and he’ll do it for you. “If you’re a goodteammate, he’s a really great horse.”

Understanding a horse’s personality andhow it learns is vital to the process, and tobeing a good equestrian, says Kim. It’s anongoing effort and crucial learning processfor the students she coaches, too.

“They’re teaching the horse to be a betterhorse, a better athlete,” says Kim. “The stu-dents leave here as trainers, not just riders.”

S P O R TS

S e c o n dc h a n c eA former race horse finds new lifeon the college’s equestrian team.

College equestrian is Geneseo’s newe stvarsity sport. S i n ce 2004, at h l e tes haveco m p e ted against colleges and unive r s i t i e sin the Inte rco l l e g i ate Horse ShowA ss o c i ation, including Division I schools.The team is led by Coach Kim Sanfo rd ,owner of Leg Up Stables in Geneseo.

“As we looked to elevate anotherwo m e n ’s sport to varsity st atus, equest r i a nwas the perfect fit for the college and theco m m u n i t y,” says Dire c tor of At h l e t i c sMarilyn Moore.

E q u e strian was a we l l - e stablished clubsport for years. In 2008-09, the te a mp l a ced fifth in ove rall standings in its zo n eand region and sent seven riders toregional or zone championships.

Karina St a m atis ’11 gives Oz, a former ra ce horse, a big kiss befo re pra c t i ce.

P H OTO BY KRIS DREESS E N

By Kris Dreessen

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1 0 g e n e s e o scene

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WHITE GOLDW h at Lies Beneat h

A Geneseo alumnus

took a risk to build the

wo r l d ’s seco n d - l a rg e st

salt mine. In doing so,

he pre s e r ved a

ce n t u r y-old indust r y.

Like many of Geneseo’s 5,000 students, Scott Lockwood ’04 crossedSturges Quad thousands of times on his way to accounting classes inthe School of Business, oblivious to the massive seam of salt that

courses under campus.The seam stretches across New York and runs clear to Ohio. Every day,

workers at the world’s second-largest underground salt mine collect as muchas 16,000 tons from the earth and haul it away to de-slick icy roads through-out the Northeast, Canada and Ohio. It’s enough salt to fill a line of 18-wheelers five miles long.

The mine is so close Scott could have walked to it before his class was over. Scott always drove by the offices of American Rock Salt — which are less

than three miles away — but says “I never thought or knew much about it.”Most students spend their entire Geneseo education unaware of the underground city operating nearly beneath their feet.

Down under, miners blast, break, crush and load 24/7. Front-end loadersscoop school-bus-sized heaps of salt with every pass. Joe Bucci ’67 can drive20 minutes through the tunnels to catch up with workers where salt is beingexcavated.

BY KRIS DREESS E N

Joe Bucci ’67 opened American Rock Salt in 1999, saving more than 1,000 jobs and preserving a ce n t u r y-old tradition in the region.

P H OTO BY KRIS D R E E SS E N

1 2 g e n e s e o scene

Joe, a third-generation miner, launchedAmerican Rock Salt after a Dutch con-glomerate, AkzoNobel, closed its mine in1994 in nearby Retsof after a roof collapse.Joe had a dream to open a new mine inHampton Corners and resurrect the enter-prise, along with the jobs miners had lost.

A decade later, Joe and his partners havebuilt the largest underground salt mine inthe United States with a $17 million annualpayroll and $195 million in gross sales.

American Rock Salt is a leading eco-nomic engine in Livingston County, pro-viding more than 300 full-time positionsand 1,000 local trucking and rail jobs inwinter months.

A history teacher and real-estate entre-preneur, Joe didn’t earn a degree in busi-ness or engineering: He had the businessinstincts and foresight to seize an oppor-tunity and a broad background, he says,to guide him through the challenge.

“Joe reminds us to make use of all we havelearned and what we are, to become a suc-cessful person,” says President ChristopherC. Dahl. “His story reminds us to follow ourdreams and to take intelligent risks.”

•••Salt in the bloodJoe’s grandfather, Nicholas Bucci, riskedeverything when he left southern Italy forAmerica 100 years ago, seeking opportu-nity. He found it in the handful of saltmines that operated near Geneseo.

Nicholas spent 45 years making a livingunderground. He led a mule into themine at Retsof. Joe’s father, Joseph E. Bucci, went to work in the same minefresh out of high school. And then, afterhe served in World War II, he earned anassociate’s degree and returned as themine’s chief engineer.

“My grandfather actually worked for mydad before he retired,” says Joe. “I thinkmy grandfather was pretty proud.”

Joe joined the family tradition at 14,ringing sales at the company store.

“Salt,” he says, “is in my blood.”Joe stayed at the mine right through his

undergraduate program at Geneseo, jug-gling education courses and double shiftsas a mechanic assistant and night watch-man. Once, says Joe, “I was home on breakfor two weeks and never saw daylight.”Top: Nicholas Bucci, Joseph E. Bucci, Joe Bucci ’67

P H OTO BY KRIS DREESS E N

A crewman drills holes in the rock fa ce to pre pfor the ex p l o s i ves team. Af ter deto n ation, minershaul fallen salt in front-end loaders. Then, it issent on a series of crushers until it is ground tol e ss than half an inch. From the loader, salt isready for distribution in less than an hour.

“That’s all these people had done forgenerations.”

•••ResurrectionThe way Joe saw it, Akzo walked away from$18 million in investments and a lucrativebusiness plan to rebuild the mine.

Joe’s father had dubbed the precioussalt “white gold.” You can harvest it muchmore easily than gold and it came outvaluable, no refinement needed. He hadalso done the necessary testing to deter-mine that Hampton Corners would be avery salt-rich and productive mine area.

“I just saw the business opportunity,”says Joe. “It was hitting me in the faceevery minute. The mineral rights werehere. The salt was here.”

Joe approached longtime member ofthe community and former Bank of CastilePresident Charles L. “Bud” VanArsdale. Atthe time, Bud was helping young businessowners as director of the Small BusinessDevelopment Center on the Geneseo campus. Bud had a long history as abanker who was committed to buildingand revitalizing his own community.

Bud says he soon came to agree withJoe, that if the mine could be reopened itwould be an enormous boost to the com-munity and a successful business venture.

Bud stepped forward to connect Joewith Rochester attorney GuntherBuerman and New York financier NeilCohen. The three partners bought those$18 million in mineral rights and otherinvestments for a bargain — $3 million.

Joe was confident the business would bea success, but there were many hurdlesfirst — obtaining financing, overcomingsome public opposition in the wake ofAkzo’s failure, and the uncertainties ofconstruction. Tests showed the site wasstable, but they could still hit gas orunderground aquifers that would proveto be costly obstacles.

In 1999, American Rock Salt openedfor business as the first salt mine inAmerica to open since 1960.

•••Community impactAmerican Rock Salt’s impact can be seenin the economic and social fabric of thelocal community.

Salt is as relevant as it was 100 yearsago, says Patrick Rountree, director of theLivingston County Office of Economic

It was at this time that he met and fellin love with his wife of 38 years, ElaineTramontana Bucci ’66.

After graduating from Geneseo in 1967,Joe followed his passion for teaching andbecame a high school history teacher atnearby York Central Schools. Later, hedrew on his business sensibilities and alsolaunched a real estate venture.

In 1975, tragedy struck: his father waskilled in a methane explosion in the mine,as he and a crew tried to diagnose a waterleak. The blast killed four men. It did notdeter Joe from the way of life that hasshaped his family. Since then, with his ownmine, Joe has made American Rock Saltone of the safest mines anywhere, earningthe highest possible rating from the U.S.Department of Mine Safety and HealthAdministration. Joe and his partners alsoinvest $6 million to $7 million annually toimprove mine technology.

Joe still works at the mine every day,often going underground. He wears hisdad’s hard-hat as a tribute to his father.

•••The bottom falls outWhen AkzoNobel closed the Retsof mine in1994, company leaders announced a come-back: They were going to open a new minein Hampton Corners, a few miles away.

With his real-estate expertise, Joe washired to buy 11,000 acres of mineralrights from landowners. He woke upbefore dawn to catch farmers before theyheaded off into the fields. Laid-off work-ers like Steve Montemarano, who had 21years at Akzo under his belt, had renewedhope. Steve took construction jobs, hope-ful he would return to being a miningforeman.

Akzo invested two years and $18 millionin the project. Then, it pulled the plug.Joe was there when company representa-tives broke the news. Many employeeswere devastated that they would lose theirlivelihood. Some wept.

“That was everybody’s life,” says Steve.Mining had sustained Steve’s family and

hundreds of families for generations inthis area. The closing presented a crisis.Men like Gary Boyd had four generationsinvested in mining. Joe knew most of theworkers; they were neighbors, friends. Hetaught many of them history, includingSteve, and watched them grow up.

“I was devastated,” remembers Joe.

The 411 on saltSalt now gra ces the tables of eve r ydiner and is to ssed on snowy ro a d sby the ton but in ancient times, itwas so tre a s u red that the pursuit ofit often alte red the course of histo r yand defined cultural norms. For ages,humanity viewed salt as va l u a b l e,even mystical. Here are inte re st i n gtidbits about salt (NaCl).

1. Every adult body contains about250 grams of salt — three or fo u rsalt shakers’ wo r t h .

2. Ancient soldiers protected salt roads leading to Rome, ViaSalarium, and received astipend for salt.

3. Towns with names that include“lick,” “wich” and “saal” werefounded around salt.

4. In Ro m e, salted raw ve g e t a b l e s ,herba salata, we re served withbrine dre ssing — hence the modern wo rd “s a l a d .”

5. Too much salt can kill. In fact,overconsumption of salt was a method of ritual suicide inancient China, especiallyamong nobility because of its high cost.

6. In response to the British salttax, Mahatma Gandhi led100,000 people on a “SaltMarch” to make their own salt from the sea. This protestgalvanized the people and par-tially inspired Indian independence.

7. Until the 20th century, bars of salt, amoleh, were used ascurrency in Ethiopia.

Wi n te r 2 01 0 1 3

P H OTO BY KRIS D R E E SS E N

An American Rock Salt stockpile

Tour the mine atgo.geneseo.edu/salttour

1 4 g e n e s e o scene

spend in restaurants and stores. “In a state like New York where you have

companies that are opening and closing,this facility represents a rock of stability instormy economic waters,” says Patrick.

In many counties across the UnitedStates, larger employers like auto makershave shut down and set off a dominoeffect: Jobs are lost, and distributors andsuppliers go out of business, followed byrestaurants and other small ventures.

What American Rock Salt really accom-plished for Livingston County’s 63,000residents is continued economic vitality,says Patrick.

Ann Couture ’73 knows. After Akzoclosed, business was tough at the NAPAauto stores in Livingston and Monroecounties that she owns with her husband,James, another Geneseo alum. They pro-vide American Rock Salt and employeeswith vehicle filters and other parts. Theymay not be out of business withoutAmerican Rock Salt, Ann says, but busi-ness would have definitely taken a hit.

“We avoided the type of economicblow that so many other communitiesexperience when a major manufacturerleaves,” says Patrick. “All of that has nothappened because of the founders ofAmerican Rock Salt. They were trying todo something against incredible odds andthey succeeded.”

Steve Montemarano — now a foremanat American Rock Salt — recognizes thatimpact, every day.

“Joe stuck it out; he cared for the peo-ple in the community,” says Steve.

Alumnus Scott Lockwood ’04, whonever really thought of salt as an under-grad, is now the company’s controller,managing $195 million in gross sales eachyear. He grew up in nearby Mt. Morrisand is proud he now helps carry on whathas been a social and economic traditionin the area for nearly 150 years.

Approximately 90 percent of the com-pany’s employees live in LivingstonCounty. American Rock Salt spends about$100 million annually with vendors, saysJoe. They look locally first for auto parts,office supplies and other items.

“There’s something to be said for acompany that’s locally owned,” says Scott.“Joe has made it very personal. He isinvolved, daily. I wouldn’t be surprised ifhe knows every employee by name.”

In fact, he does.

Development. The Genesee &Wyoming Railroad, in fact, was built toserve the mines. It is now one of thelargest shortline railroad companies inthe world, operating on every continentexcept Antarctica.

American Rock Salt, says Patrick, keptthe industrial tradition alive — in the jobsit maintains, the jobs it creates on therailroad, in trucking and with distributorsand suppliers, as well as the quality of lifefor families, who invest in homes and

• E m p l oyees descend 1,280 fe e t towork every day — as deep as theWorld Trade Ce n ters we re tall.

• The salt mined was fo r m e d 4 0 0m i l l i o n years ago, when the continents we re still co l l i d i n gand jawed fish first appeare d .

• The salt seam that runs underSUNY Geneseo is as big asA l a s ka. It runs 600,000 squarem i l e s, from New York to Ohio.

• G e n e s e o ’s campus would fit insideAmerican Rock Salt’s ava i l a b l em i n e ral property 50 times. (Salt isnot mined under the campus.)

• Miners could extract salt for160 years in this area beforethe available 250 million tonswould run out.

• American Rock Salt mines 4million tons of salt each year.

• It take s 45 minute s f rom thetime salt is scooped by a loaderuntil it’s crushed to the size ofn i c kels and sent to the surfa ceon a co nveyor belt.

• I t’s a co n stant 65-degre e sFa h renheit underg ro u n d .

• Trucks, drillers and other heavyequipment are taken apart,sent down the cage elevatorand reassembled underground.

• It is so dark in the mine, youwould be lost the instant youturned off your headlamp. “It’spure black,” says Joe Bucci ’67.“You’d be down there forever.”

American Rock Salt: Snapshot

Joe Bucci ’67 inspects the salt seam in the mine, 1,280 feet below gro u n d .

“How many people have that experi-ence with their company’s owners, everyday?” says Beth Hackett ’07, an AmericanRock Salt accountant. “It’s wonderful thatpeople know who I am and that what I doevery day makes a difference.”

•••The Geneseo connectionConfidence, Joe says, is what led him totake the biggest risk of his life. He creditsGeneseo with shaping that confidence.

As an education major, Joe says he didn’tjust learn to teach history. He learned to bean astute, creative thinker, from professorswho were committed to mentoring him,and with friends who have inspired himthrough their own success.

“It made me a well-rounded person,”says Joe. “The professors at Geneseo con-vinced me I could do anything I wantedto do. Those types of relationships I builtat Geneseo had a lot to do with my suc-cess in life.”

That commitment, says President Dahl,and the ability to envision solutions in a cre-ative way, to be entrepreneurial and to dealwith any subject, is the cornerstone of aGeneseo liberal arts education. The pro-gram teaches students like Joe — in anyfield — to be innovators and risk-takers,through coursework and hands-on collabo-ration, field experience and exploration ofdiverse subjects.

“You can see that in our successfulalumni, no matter what their majors are,”says President Dahl. “They are like Joe inthe sense that they are creative and areable to envision a successful outcome anddo the work that brings it all together.Geneseo has succeeded in molding peoplewho are able to lead, innovate and engageothers and improve the communities inwhich they live.”

Joe gives back to Geneseo and its stu-dents in many ways through AmericanRock Salt. Through a partnership withthe geology department, student internshave conducted surface-water collectionsat the mine to meet environmental stan-dards and have mapped active miningsites. Every year, geology majors tour themine for an intimate look at the worlddown under.

Since 2004, the American Rock SaltLecture has brought experts on paleon-tology, climate change, geophysical imag-ing, public access of water supplies indeveloping countries and other fields to

campus. Contributions from AmericanRock Salt also have helped geology stu-dents study unique geologic formationsall over the world. Last year, theyexplored New Zealand.

Geneseo alumni, including Scott andBeth, work at American Rock Salt as mar-keting executives, accountants, controllersand as information technology specialists.

• • •Re f l e c t i o nE v e ry day, American Rock Salt supplies asignificant portion of the United States withroad salt, using the latest safety standardsand leading technology. Every day, Joe is atthe mine overseeing a $195 million salesoperation that never sleeps.

He is ever reminded, he says, of what hasbeen accomplished. Despite all the risks, he

PHOTO BY CAROLE SMITH VOLPE ’91

Wi n te r 2 01 0 1 5

and his partners revived the region’s salti n d u s t ry. American Rock Salt preserved thec o m m u n i t y ’s tradition: it fostered economicvitality and added a remarkable chapter inthe region’s history.

That pride fills Joe when he goes to sleepeach night and when he greets workerseach morning.

“I never stop thinking about it,” says Joe.“I can’t. We did it despite obstacles. Weopened the mine. We put more than 300people back to work.”

American Rock Salt is proof, he says, thatif you work hard enough and you have adream and vision, you can accomplish any-thing when opportunity comes your way.

“If that opportunity doesn’t come, youkeep searching for it,” says Joe. “And whenthe door opens up, you walk through.”

Steve Monte m a ra n o, right, who had Joe as a history teacher growing up, and Charles K. Hunt wa i tfor the cage elevator on the start of their shift.

Each day, 16,000 tons of salt are mined — enough to fill a line of 18-wheelers 5 miles long.

1 6 g e n e s e o scene

Wi n te r 2 01 0 1 7

Bringing Theory to Pra c t i ceAs one of a small group of colleges in aproject sponsored by the CharlesEngelhard Foundation and offeredthrough the American Association ofColleges and Universities (AAC&U),Geneseo was already exploring ways toengage students in and out of the class-room in learning opportunities that canhave a high impact on their lives.

“Our ongoing work with AAC&U onbringing theory to practice is a templateand philosophical driver as we think aboutthe kind of liberal education that moves thecollege ahead nationally,” says Dahl.

Examples of what Dahl describes as“transformational learning experiences”include undergraduate research, learningcommunities, internships, serv i c e - l e a r n i n gopportunities such as the El Sauce,Nicaragua, program and internationalexperiences in more than 20 countries.Such innovations, says Dahl, “have thepotential to make Geneseo a national

leader in 21st-century liberal learning,which is central to the work of all the taskforces.”

I n n ovat i ve Five -Ye a rP ro fe ssional Pro g ra m sMembers of this task force are looking at theprospects for developing five-year programsin which graduates would earn a bachelor’sdegree in liberal arts and a master’s degreein a professional specialty. A particular focusis teacher education. Planners suggest a five-year bachelor’s / m a s t e r ’s program might bet-ter serve the needs of students while settingthe college apart from its peers and poten-tially increasing revenue.

Rethinking the Course Lo a dMost undergraduates at Geneseo enroll infive, three-credit courses per semester. Ye tmany of the best private liberal arts collegesin Geneseo’s peer group require studentsto take only four courses per semester. Af o u r-course schedule could create greater

Thinking bigin tight financial times

flexibility to develop the kinds of learningexperiences that take place outside the tra-ditional classroom, such as serv i c e - l e a r n i n gor independent research. Students wouldstill expect to complete the requirementsfor a bachelor’s degree in four years.

“At a liberal arts college that believes intransformational learning for the wholeperson, measuring courses on the basis ofseat time makes very little sense,” says Dahl.

Expand Instructional Delive r yThe possibility of offering summer courses,linking international courses to Geneseocourses and developing not-for-credit learn-ing opportunities are all under considera-tion. This study recognizes that new popula-tions might be served, for example, byoffering courses in Rochester, providing“early bird” summer classes for incomingstudents, designing programs for alumniand other adult learners, or attracting morestudents to graduate study.

This task force, like the others, is consid-

CONFRONTED BY A STATE ECONOMY THAT STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK VETERANS SAY HAS PRESENTEDthe university system with its greatest operating challenges in the past 30 years, Geneseo is responding with a strategic plan-ning effort that centers on six initiatives known as the Six Big Ideas on campus.

The initiatives, says President Christopher C. Dahl, are the alternative to “hunkering down and reacting to budget cuts bycutting everything across the board. The six initiatives will prepare Geneseo to meet the continuing budget crisis strategicallyby building on our strengths and finding ways to carry out our distinctive mission better and more effectively. ”

More than 60 members of the faculty and staff volunteered to work through the summer and fall on task forces thatexamined the feasibility of each idea, including reducing the course load each semester, adding programs for adult learn-ers and establishing more collaborative research. An additional 50 faculty and staff members contributed to discussions.Final reports, submitted in December, will now be a resource for the college’s strategic planning committee as it setsG e n e s e o ’s course.

“The Six Big Ideas will give us a vision of the future of Geneseo,” says Dahl.

BY JIM LEAC H

H e re is an ove r v i ew of the Six Big Ideas

I L LU ST R ATION BY KEVIN S E RWAC K I

1 8 g e n e s e o scene

TuitionThe single largest source of revenue to support Geneseo’s operating budget is the tuition paid by students. This year, Geneseo bud-geted tuition revenues at $26.8 million. Like their counterparts at SUNY colleges across the state, Geneseo undergraduates hailingfrom New York pay tuition of $4,970 per year.

SUNY’s Board of Trustees — one governing body that oversees all SUNY campuses — sets tuition systemwide. SUNY’s trustees inAlbany approved a $620 annual tuition increase last year, the first since 2003. While some campuses, including Geneseo, wouldfavor a system that allows individual SUNY colleges to set their own tuitions, such a differential pricing policy appears unlikely, at

Funding G e n e s e oDURING THE PAST THREE DECADES, GENESEO — LIKE ALL SUNY COLLEGES — HAS BECOME RESPONSIBLE FORgenerating an ever-greater share of its annual operating budgets. Knowledge of where Geneseo derives its operating funds provides context to understand the significance of the Six Big Ideas.

To d a y, New York state provides only about 34 percent of Geneseo’s total 2009-2010 budget of $118.9 million. And even that is up fornegotiation in an economy like the one that has faced the state over the past two years.

The Six Big Ideas, then, represent local thinking about how the college can ensure that its programs continue to address its singular mission of being one of the nation’s premier public liberal arts colleges. The people working on those ideas are the people who know thecollege best — members of Geneseo’s faculty and staff.

So what are Geneseo’s local funding sources?

BY JIM L E AC H

ering the new initiatives with a carefuleye to preserve Geneseo’s character as a residential college for traditional-aged students and preserving its mission as apublic liberal arts college.

The group also is exploring the possi-bility of a Geneseo Summer Institute foralumni and other adults interested in anintellectually lively back-to-college expe-rience — minus the grades and credits— that combines learning, socializing,recreation and educational travel tosome of western New Yo r k ’s many sites ofhistoric significance or natural beauty.

Such programs might run for two or fourweeks and would give participants theopportunity to learn from and share ideaswith some of Geneseo’s most outstandingprofessors and researchers in a relaxed andinformal setting.

Co l l a b o rat i ve Re s e a rc hRecognizing that working with faculty onoriginal research can be a powerful learn-ing experience, this task force has beencharged to look for ways to expand theopportunities for collaborative researchon campus. The team also is consideringthe potential advantages of establishing aCenter for Collaborative Research tocoordinate and support those activities.

Interim recommendations of the taskforce include increasing the number ofgrant proposals submitted by Geneseo,and increasing grant dollars brought intothe campus in support of collaborativeresearch.

St rategic Co m m u n i t yPa r t n e r s h i p sThis task force is examining the kinds ofpartnerships that canengage students and facultyin community-based researchand learning, at the sametime making the college abetter partner in communityeconomic development. Thisgroup is collaborating withthe task force on instruction-al delivery to explore aSummer Institiute for alumniand others. The charge tothis task force also asks, “More generally,how can we bring new resources to campusthat will enhance both the quality andaccessibility of a Geneseo education?” . . .Professor of English Paul Schacht, whocoordinates the six task forces, is using akind of Web site called a “wiki” (thinkWikipedia) to enable faculty, staff and stu-

dents to follow draft proposals of the vari-ous groups as they develop, and participatein their evolution.

“One problem that an initiative likethis has to overcome is the tendency ofeach task force to become isolated andunaware of what’s happening in the oth-ers,” says Schacht. “The wiki has given usa central location where members of thedifferent task forces can share informa-

tion and keep tabs on the ini-tiative’s overall progress. Andthe same is true for the largercampus community. They cantrack the progress of the taskforces and even contribute totheir work. The wiki providestransparency and gives every-one a voice.”

“ We are looking for ways todo even better at the things wedo best, including undergradu-

ate research, international experiences,internships, leadership programs andscholarship support for deserving stu-dents,” says Dahl. “The Six Big Ideas taskforces ensure that, even in the most diffi-cult financial times, we will preserve andenhance the opportunities that are theessence of an outstanding liberal arts edu-cation in the 21st century. ”

“ The Six BigIdeas will give us a vision of the future ofG e n e s e o.”

— P resident Christopher C. D a h l

Wi n te r 2 01 0 1 9

least in the near future. So Geneseo’stuition income is essentially beyond localcontrol (assuming enrollment levelsremain constant).

FeesOne way that SUNY colleges have offsetthe decline in state funding over theyears has been through the assessmentof fees to cover services such as trans-portation, technology, health centers,athletics and entertainment — p r o g r a m sthat contribute to the quality of life andbreadth of experience at a residentialliberal arts college. Geneseo studentseach pay annual fees of $1,356. These

fees account for approximately $10 mil-lion of Geneseo’s budget this year.

DormitoriesResidence hall room charges totalapproximately $18.1 million in 2009-2010. But substantial costs reduce the col-lege’s net revenue from room charges.Since 1985, SUNY colleges have beenresponsible for building and renovatingthe residence halls on their individualcampuses. Over that period, Geneseo hasinvested more than $40 million to reno-vate the aging residence halls it inheritedfrom the state. The college also has con-structed three new residence halls,

including Seneca Hall. All constructionand renovation of residence halls isfinanced through the state dormitoryauthority, and debt service on that financ-ing is another major draw on the incomefrom dorm rentals.

Campus Auxiliary Services(CAS)Food service at Geneseo is provided oncontract through CAS, a separate, localcorporation with its own administrationand employees that exists to support thecollege. The CAS board is made up ofrepresentatives from the student body,faculty, administration and community.Gross revenue through CAS was budgetedat $10.8 million this year, netting about$650,000 in direct program support for theCollege. CAS also contributes an estimated$1 million annually in other support,including improvements on facilities thatCAS leases from the college.

The Geneseo FoundationThe Geneseo Foundation is a nonprofitcorporation with its own board made upof alumni, parents and friends of the col-lege. The foundation receives and admin-isters gifts for the college and managesGeneseo’s endowment. Throughbequests, capital giving, interest onendowment and gifts to the college’sannual fund, the Geneseo Foundationcurrently provides between $1.5 millionand $2 million annually toward Geneseooperations. The foundation enriches thelife of the campus by funding scholar-ships, fellowships and grants that supportfaculty and student travel and research.In close coordination with the college’sadministration, the foundation’s goal isto become an ever-increasing source offunds to augment Geneseo’s budget inways that support and advance the col-lege’s excellence.

Other sourcesSeveral other sources contribute toGeneseo’s operating and non-operatingbudgets in different ways. Most notably,income from summer and overseas pro-grams totals $3.3 million, and sponsoredresearch programs bring in another $1.6million.

I L LU ST R ATION BY KEVIN S E RWAC K I

The journey to freedomAn alumnus ce l e b rates second chance s .

Icome from a small town in western New York called Limestone. I doubt seriously if verymany of you have heard of it.

I have six brothers and sisters. It is clear to me that being in a large family taught methrough example many of the values that allow me to be what I am today — the mostimportant being the value of education. Although none of my siblings were able to attenda four-year college, much less earn a law degree, they all insisted that I stay with my studieseven though it was evident that I cared more about fishing, hunting and sports. There isno question that, at their insistence, I managed to learn enough to have an educationalbase for my life ahead.

I graduated from high school 15th in my class, and I’m proud to say that, but there wereonly 20 of us.

In early January of 1965, I applied to SUNY Geneseo. I got an interview and my familywas so proud to bring me to campus for my interv i e w. I talked with a bright young dean,but my application was rejected. I went back to western New York to the University ofPittsburgh in Bradford, where they were taking everybody at that time as long as you livedin the geographic area. I went to the university for approximately two semesters and spenttoo much time partying rather than studying, wherein the school ratified the decision thatthe young Geneseo dean had made, and asked me to leave. I left, my tail between my legsand the draft board on my butt.

George Speedy ’71 did not get intoSUNY Geneseo when he first

applied. Instead, he spent morethan a year fighting on the front

lines in Vietnam, soul searching andcraving a new life at home.

He returned with a desire to study.

Now a trial attorney for 35 years, he is a partner of

SpeedyTannkerAtkinson in Camden,S.C. Grateful for the second chance

he received at Geneseo, he is creat-ing those same opportunities for

other nontraditional students.

2 0 g e n e s e o scene

P E R S P E C T I V E

Thankful for the freedom that a Geneseo education provided him, trial at to r n ey George Speedy ’71 is now helpingother nontraditional students pursue their goals with an endowed scholarship.

P H OTO PROV I D E D

It was 1966. The Vietnam War was raging,summer was about to begin and I was aprime candidate for the draft because I hadlost my student exemption. My best friendfrom high school had suffered the same fatefrom another university, and after a night ofcommiserating over the disappointmentthat our folks were going to exhibit, we didthe only thing that we felt we could — weheaded to the post office to join the Navy.

We arrived too early for the Navyr e c r u i t e r. So, we joined the Marines, withtheir promise that we would become gener-als. I arrived in northern Vietnam in March1967, stationed with the Lima Company,Third Battalion, Ninth Marines.

I spent 13 months, 4 days, 5 hours and 21minutes in Vietnam.

I was a grunt on the front, an infantry-man. It was far from the rank of generalthat I was promised. I know now that theminute I signed that dotted line I lost control of my life. I experienced thingsthat no human being should experience. I cried more than once for my family, formy life in Limestone.

I came home in mid-April 1968 to ac o u n t ry in turmoil. I just wanted to regaincontrol of my life and not involve myself inthe conflict between “The Establishment”and the anti-war effort.

For the first time in my life, I made upmy mind that I wanted to learn. I wantedthe freedom that an education would giveme.

I once again turned to Geneseo. I thinkI wanted to atone for the rejection I expe-rienced when I was first turned down.N o w, I think it would have been a setbackhad I not been accepted into Geneseo thesecond time because I was ready. I wasp r e p a r e d .

I was thrilled to be accepted to Geneseoon a provisional basis. I had to pass twocourses in the summer before I couldsecure a full fall course load. The firstcourse was sociology, and at the time I waspretty adept in the subject. I had to learn alot of social skills in my 13 months, 4 days, 5hours and 21 minutes in Vietnam.

As a Marine, I quickly assumed a lead-ership role and developed the self-disci-pline necessary to be a good leader and agood person. I read furiously and realizedthat reading was important for my devel-opment as a person and to further myeducation. In the war, I learned to survive

physically and emotionally. For my effortsI was awarded the Navy AchievementMedal with Combat Valor.

The other course I took that summer wasp h i l o s o p h y. It was taught by a young profes-sor from England, who asked me to provethe existence of God. I completed mypaper and at the end I wrote, “I’m alivetoday because of God. I’m here todaybecause of that. Let each become all he’scapable of being.”

I had the time of my life at Geneseo forthe next two and a half years. I was marriedby then, and worked part time as a bar-tender at The Palace Lounge. I joined theSig Tau fraternity and played intramuralsports with my brothers. I took as manycourses as the college would allow. I metmany students, townspeople and facultywho became good friends.

The Vietnam War continued to affect mylife. Geneseo students read the names ofthe dead in protest of the war on MainStreet near the Big Tree Inn. When stu-dents were shot at Kent State, my fellow stu-dents protested, and it forced cancellationof our final exams. Gov. Nelson Rockefellercame to campus to make a speech; manystudents rubbed balloons so no one couldhear his words. It was a tough time for aVietnam veteran, but still, I felt I was accept-ed at my new home.

After graduation, I earned a law degreefrom the University of South Carolina LawSchool in 1975 and have been enjoying atrial practice ever since. Life has been goodto me. To that fine young dean who took achance on me and gave me another chanceat Geneseo — to the students and towns-people who befriended me — to the facultywho taught me — I say thank you.

Geneseo allowed me to be all I am capa-ble of being. I didn’t know that at the time.My education at Geneseo, coupled with mym i l i t a ry background, gave me great self-confidence. That confidence follows me tothis day and has inspired me not to seeroadblocks for my goals.

N o w, I am fortunate enough to be able tofund a scholarship for future students fromsimilar backgrounds. By doing so, I feel likeI am giving back, if just a little.

The George Speedy ’71 EndowedScholarship Fund will provide full tuitionfor a student who has overcome economicor personal challenges. The first scholar-ship starts in 2010-11 and targets students

Wi n te r 2 01 0 2 1

“ For the first time in my l i fe, I made up my mindt h at I wa n ted to learn. I wa n ted the fre e d o mt h at an education would give me.”

— George Speedy ’71

G e o rge Speedy ’71 when he was p ro m o ted to co r p o ral in the U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1968.

with unusual circumstances, such as students who are beyond the traditional college age, who are young parents seekingan education or are nontraditional studentswho have experienced an adverse situationor hardship in life.

I will give back as much as I possibly canand more, because I wouldn’t be standinghere and I wouldn’t be what I am if itw e r e n ’t for this college. The most impor-tant thing I have learned in life is to use theopportunities we have been given to betterthe lives of others, so they may have thesame opportunities.

2 2 g e n e s e o scene

Cooper. In commu-nity gardens likeGeneseo’s, peopletend a collective plotand share in thebounty.

Just two years later,the garden has dou-bled in size in theSpencer J. RoemerArboretum. Up to 20 students volunteertwice a week, growing three full seasons.They plant heirloom tomatoes and othertraditional produce alongside more uncom-mon veggies like mache lettuce and turnips.A whole network has emerged, saysKleiman, as students explore culinary tastesfrom crops that are best suited to the localclimate. They share recipes and have pot-luck dinners.

Community gardens are a growingtrend on colleges and universities but gar-

dening together and using it as a teach-ing tool is less common, according toGreg Bowman, manager of communica-tions at Rodale Institute, a national non-profit organization dedicated to trainingorganic farmers.

At Geneseo, the Community Garden ispart of a greater initiative called theGeneseo Food Project. Through an activelecture series and ongoing curricular devel-opment efforts, students and faculty con-nect hands-on activities to broader ques-tions about food, social justice and thee n v i r o n m e n t .

Students and faculty also have launchedthe Geneseo Community SupportedMarket. The initiative allows students andcommunity members to buy shares offruits and vegetables sold at a Rochesterfarmers market.

Kleiman and Cooper also explore thehistory, evolution and future of theAmerican garden in a class. Studentsexamine the role gardening played, andcan play, in communities.

“It’s a good place to foster community— to grow relationships and ideas,” saysWaters.

It’s a chilly fall evening and studentsare quick-stepping to the dining hallwith jackets zipped and hands in

pockets, but it’s harvest time in theGeneseo Community Garden.

Deep purple beets are ripe for picking.Turnips are as big as baseballs. Stalks ofSwiss chard grow in neat rows of orange,buttery yellow and crimson.

Colin Waters ’10, Molly Kerker ’09 and ahandful of other students are kneeling inthe soil, pulling out tomato vines and someof summer’s less hearty plants that won’tmake it through fall. They are choosingt o d a y ’s produce for a home-cooked meal.

“You have a much greater appreciationof what you’re eating,” says Kerker. “It’ssuch a simple, direct connection from theearth to your mouth — it’s so satisfying.”

Most meals in American homes travel atleast 1,300 miles from farm field to plate,according to the National SustainableAgriculture Information Service.

It’s as low as zero for students who vol-unteer at Geneseo’s Community Garden.They don’t burn fossil fuels. They don’tuse pesticides. They plan, cultivate andpick, then walk home.

They learn about sustainability and self-reliance and they probe larger foodissues, like how methods of consumptionhave changed, impacts of large-scalefarming and how we might manage thewhole food-thing better.

“It’s a good learning experience out-side of the classroom,” says Waters, whowants to become a soil scientist. “Wewanted to get people to think about foodand where their food comes from.”

Waters and Kerker helped start thecampus garden in 2007 with other stu-dents and two faculty members — historyAssociate Professor Jordan Kleiman andEnglish Associate Professor Kenneth

M I SS I O N D R I V E N

A gardenof learningStudents and faculty grow ve g e t a b l e sand community spirit on campus.

By Kris Dre e ss e n

Growing vegetables like rainbow chard hasgiven her more appreciation for food, saysGeneseo Community Garden co-founderMolly Kerker ’09.

P H OTOS BY KRIS DREESS E N

• www.organiclinker.com/food-miles.cfm — Calculate howmany miles food has traveled toreach your plate.

• www.localharvest.org/csa — FindCommunity Supported Agriculturefarms in your area.

• www.wwoof.org — Learn about volunteering at World WideOpportunities on Organic Farms.

Wi n te r 2 01 0 2 3

24 Making medical histo r y2 5 G ro ove pioneer2 5 A higher calling3 0 C l a ss Note s

A LUMNI NEWS

ABOUT THE ARTIST:Kim Nguyen Heintz ’04 studied ceramics and computer art at Geneseoand specializes in digital art. She earned a master’s degree in informationtechnology f rom Ro c h e ster Inst i t u te of Te c h n o l o g y.

She often includes hidden images and text in her work that are symbolic oract as a metaphor. “Reflection” (pictured) was fe at u red in the AlumniExhibition at the Lockhart Gallery last fall. The st a i rcase re p resents a journeyand the cat’s eyes are the window to the soul. The vibrant colors and blacksquiggles signify chaos and life ’s roadblocks. Says Kim: “When I look into thisp i e ce, especially the eyes, I am fo rced to look at myself and who I am.”

Find out more about her work at www. i c i s kaye.co m .

Alumni N ews

24 g e n e s e o scene

A LUMNI P R O F I L E

Robert Rose ’84 remembers thedecisive moment as a Geneseosophomore that inspired hisinterest in biology. While walk-ing in a Bailey Hall corridorbetween classes, he spotted anelectron micrograph image of aT4 bacteriophage, a virus thatinfects bacteria.

“It looked like a lunar landerand I thought, ‘That is themost amazing thing I have everseen — and it just occurs innature,’” he says. “I had toknow more and became perma-nently fascinated with viruss t r u c t u r e . ”

That experience led Rose tothe front lines in the war onc a n c e r. He became one of

three medical researchers atthe University of Rochesterresponsible for developing avaccine to prevent a cancer thatkills more than a quarter mil-lion women around the worlde v e ry year — 3,700 in theUnited States alone.

The vaccine is marketed eitheras Gardasil by Merck, which tar-gets four strains of the humanpapillomavirus (HPV), orC e rvarix by GlaxoSmithKline,which targets the two mostprevalent cancer-causing strainsof the virus. The vaccine hasbeen shown to prevent cerv i c a lcancer precursor lesions and, inthe case of Gardasil, more than90 percent of the cases of

benign anogenital warts. At Geneseo, Rose was a non-

traditional student. After gradu-ating from high school inHornell, N.Y., he worked vari-ous jobs, including seven yearsin the railroad industry as abrakeman and trainmaster forC o n r a i l .

“The railroad was a good job… but it didn’t feel right, so Itook a chance,” he explains. “Iquit and entered college fulltime at age 30.”

R o s e ’s 4.0 freshman gradepoint average at Alfred StateCollege greased the skids forhis transfer to Geneseo.

“I had tremendous mentors

C a n cer co m b at a n t : Robert Rose ’84 helped develop a cervical cancer va ccine

A b ove, Robert Rose ’84was part of a thre e -

member re s e a rch te a mt h at developed a va cc i n e

to target the most p revalent st rains of the

virus that causes cervical cance r.

“ This work was the most exc i t i n gthing I have eve r

been invo l ved within my life and I

was thrilled to be a part of it.”

PHOTO BY KRIS DREESSEN

Continued on page 27

c l a ss o f

’ 8 4Ro b e r t

Ro s e

Wi n te r 2 01 0 2 5

As a student at Geneseo, JohnRobie ’73 had a problem: heheard music in his head — allthe time.

The psychologist he visitedset him straight: “He said, ‘Sowhat? It just means you likemusic. Now get the heck out ofhere and go enjoy yourself.’”

Robie did. A speech com-munications major, he foundcreative kin with a small groupof student artists and musi-cians. He always made time toplay Jimi Hendrix and originalcompositions with his bands.

“It was nice being part ofthis mini subculture,” saysRobie. “It was sort of a magicalmix there at the time. Youreally felt like you were part ofsomething.”

After graduation, Robiemoved to Manhattan and didodd jobs that wouldn’t hinderhis goal.

“The only thing I ever want-ed to do was make music andif something is all-consuming,one finds a way,” says Robie.

Fate called when he collabo-rated with Afrika Bambaataa, awell-known Bronx DJ, on adance song punctuated withsynthesizers and futuristicsounds. They dubbed it“Planet Rock.”

The rest is electro-boogieand hip-hop history.

Released in 1982, “PlanetRock” went gold and hit No. 4on the soul charts. Moreimportantly, its style is credit-ed with inspiring hip-hop andtoday’s electronic, techno,house and trance music.Rolling Stone crowned it one ofthe best songs of all time. It’sstill one of the most sampledrecordings, ever.

“It is, of course, thrilling tobe a member of such an eliteclub but it’s even more excit-ing to see just how influential‘Planet Rock’ was,” says Robie.

During the last 27 years,Robie has produced, playedon or composed more than100 songs and albums. He’scomposed soundtracks fornearly 20 films, including ’80smasterpieces “Ferris Bueller’sDay Off” and “Pretty in Pink.”Several of his songs hit theTop Ten on U.S. and interna-

continued on page 27 continued on page 27

c l a ss o f

’ 73J o h n

Ro b i e

C a l l e dto Le a d

WORK FROM THE COMBINE. PHOTO BY JAZZMINE BEAULIEU

WORK FROM THE COMBINE. PHOTO BY JAZZMINE BEAULIEU

R e v. Wendy DeichmannEdwards ’81 knows what itmeans to take a leap of faith.Involved with Geneseo’sUnited Methodist Church,she felt called to the ministryjust months shy of graduatingwith a degree in special edu-c a t i o n .

“I had wanted to teach fromthe time I was little andGeneseo had prepared mewell, but there is a very myste-rious element to a calling,”she says. “It came to me verydeep and very profound andv e ry undeniable, like a sea-change — and it seemedcompletely right to give upmy educational training forsomething that was evenmore compelling.”

She followed her heart,enrolled in Colgate RochesterCrozer Divinity School and“never looked back.” Thedecision changed her life —and made history.

In October 2008, Edwardswas inaugurated as presidentof United TheologicalS e m i n a ry in Dayton, Ohio.She is the first woman to leada freestanding UnitedMethodist seminary in theUnited States.

“The spiritual dimensionopened up for me in remark-able ways at Geneseo,” shesays. Since then, she hass e rved congregations in west-

Co m p o s e r, musician and pro d u cer John Robie ’73 has cre ated morethan 100 songs and albums, including Top Ten hits and the m o st-sampled dance song ever made.

John Robie: One of Rolling Sto n e’s gre ate st

“I have actuallyb rought all that Ih ave learned atG e n e s e oi n to my new care e r. . .”— Rev. Wendy Edwards ’81

2 6 g e n e s e o scene

In high school, Marie Lavallee Martin ’98 babysat little Paul.She was with him soon after he took his first steps andwhen he read beyond his ABCs.

“That was so exciting,” she remembers. “I thought, ‘I wouldlike to be able to teach kids how to read.’”

In college, Marie started out in general studies at SUNYStony Brook with a dilemma: Should she pursue her dream tobe a teacher, or become a physical therapist for children? Hersister cautioned her that the competition was stiff for teach-ers. Landing a job could prove difficult. Therapy also was ful-filling, and maybe a safer bet.

Marie followed her heart. She transferred to SUNY Geneseoher junior year, determined to be a teacher.

“I said, ‘I don’t care if it’s hard to get a job, this is what I wa n tto do,’ ” remembers Marie. “You have to do what you love to do.”

At Geneseo, Marie says she “truly learned something” fromevery professor, who guided her transformation from pre-school reading buddy, to tutor, to classroom leader. When itwas time to fly solo as a student teacher with first-gradersand sixth-grade math students, she was ready.

“It was like baby steps,” says Marie. “The interaction withstudents was gradual. Each step took me deeper into the roleof being the teacher in charge.”

Marie earned her bachelor’s degree in December 1998. Shelanded her first full-time teaching job nine months later. Shecalled her sister, of course.

“She said, ‘I give you a lot of credit,’” remembers Marie.“I knew I could do it.”

Eleven years after graduation, Marie’s Geneseo suitematesare still her best friends. Miles don’t matter. They travel fromdifferent states to reunite every year or so. And, when theyhad children Marie bought every baby a bib that bears a bit ofGeneseo pride — “Geneseo Class of 2028.”

“Geneseo really did breed camaraderie,” says Marie. “It feltlike a family away from home.”

Since graduation and that first job, Marie has served as akindergarten teacher, third-grade teacher and literacy special-ist. Now married, she is Mrs. Martin to her first-graders atGladwyne Elementary School in the Lower Merion SchoolDistrict in Pennsylvania. She has been there six years.

Education professors like Donald Marozas and Sally Lipa-Wade still inspire her in many ways, says Marie. At Geneseo,she never felt like a number. “I felt like a person — a personwho was eager to learn and had professors who were vestedin their students, and even knew their students by name.”

The opportunity to make such a difference in her students’lives inspires her now, every day.

“You look back at those teachers who stood out and helpedyou realize something about yourself. It’s amazing to thinkthat down the line, someone may have a memory like thatabout me.”

I n s p i red by the idea thateve r yone has a story

to share, we offer the “random pro f i l e.”

Each iss u e, we don a blindfold and throw a

dart at a map of theU n i ted St ates to chooseour st ate, then take aimagain to choose a lucky

alum. We catch up, re l i vememories and share life

insight, like we are talkingover co f fe e.

Up next ... Montana. Could it be yo u ?

with Marie Lavallee Martin,Class of 1998

H o m e : Way n e, Pa .G ra d u ation ye a r : 1 9 9 8D e g re e s : Bachelor of e d u c ation from Geneseoand a maste r’s degree inreading teacher educat i o nf rom Long Island Unive r s i t y.

H ow you describe Geneseo:A small, close-knit co m m u n i t y. A gre at placeto call your home awayf rom home.

Favo r i te campus hangout:Le tc hworth Dining Hall.We spent so much time inthe cafe teria, whether wewe re working or hangingout at night.

B e st Geneseo memory:A re a l l y, really hot May day,a round finals. We had a kiddie pool filled up withwater on the front law n .Everybody was hanging outand relaxing and laughingand wondering what wo u l dhappen next ye a r, when wewe re going to student te a c h .It was very care f re e.

M o st important life less o nyou learned at Geneseo:Th at the old saying is true— friends are the family yo uc h o o s e.

W h at you would tell fre s h-men or gra d u ating seniors:To the freshmen: The fa c u l-ty is such a tre m e n d o u sre s o u rce. Don’t think yo u rc l a ss time is over when classis ove r. Make sure you utilizeex t ra help and advice; theyh ave a wealth of ex p e r i e n ce.It will help you now and itwill help you later on.

One Cup

O N E C U P

R A N D O M P R O F I L E

By Kris Dre e ss e n

Q U I C K FAC TS

Wi n te r 2 01 0 2 7

Rose ... continued from page 24Robie ... continued from page 25

Ed wa rds ... continued from page 25

at Geneseo,” Rose says. “Iwashed laboratory glassware asa work-study student for HankLatorella in biology … and heexcited my scientific curiosity. Ialso hold Janice Lovett in highregard, who taught molecularb i o l o g y, and microbiologyProfessor Bob Simon becamethe example of an academicresearcher for me.”

After graduating magnacum laude from Geneseo,Rose became a lab technicianat the University of Rochester,where he earned a master’sdegree in microbiology and adoctorate in virology. He waslater appointed as an associ-ate professor of medicine. Hisdissertation findings guidedhim and colleagues RichardReichman and WilliamBonnez, both physicians, intheir development of the cer-vical cancer vaccine.

“My work involved the char-acterization of HPV,” says Rose.“ We developed a non-infectiousform of virus-like particles totrigger the same immuneresponse as real HPV. Thisdevelopment was a crucial stepin developing the vaccine.”

The team’s groundwork generated the very first studyof the vaccine in human sub-jects in 1996-97. The U.S. Foodand Drug Administrationapproved the vaccine forwomen in 2006 and recentlyapproved it for males in theprevention of genital warts.Rose says the vaccine also haspromise against some head,neck and throat cancers.

“ I t ’s very humbling to knowthat something we cooked upin the lab … has the capacityto prevent death and the terri-ble morbidity of a cancer,” hesays. “This work was the mostexciting thing I have ever beeninvolved with in my life and Iwas thrilled to be a part of it.”

— David Irw i n

ern New York and New Jerseyand taught at ColgateRochester Crozer DivinitySchool, Ashland TheologicalS e m i n a ry and UnitedTheological Seminary.

At United, she built a trackrecord of administrative lead-

ership, leading to herappointment as vice presidentfor academic affairs and aca-demic dean. Others asked herto consider the presidency.

“Believe me, I d i d n ’t golooking for it,” she notes, “buttheir request caused me toponder the possibility and Ifinally accepted it. This was

the ministry to which I wascalled — a ministry of leadership in theologicale d u c a t i o n . ”

Edwards handles a full rangeof higher-education challengesas she leads the 139-year- o l dinstitution, including enroll-ment and personnel manage-ment, facility planning andstrategic business development.She sees her calling as one ofleadership because “that’s whatgood administration is.”

“I have actually brought allthat I learned at Geneseointo my new career,” she says.“The responsibility of educa-tion is to build a connectionwith the learner and honorthe concept of allowing per-sons to become the very bestthey can be. And because Iwas able to experience thatas a student, it made itbelievable to me that I coulddo that for others. It’s notjust rhetoric.”

— Anthony T. Hoppa

Rev. Wendy Deichmann Ed wa rds ’81 has made history in her care e r.

c l a ss o f’ 8 1Rev. We n d yD e i c h m a n nEd wa rd s

PHOTO PROVIDED

tional billboard lists.He rarely relies on musical

notation but he has masteredevery state-of-the-art synthesiz-er so he can create intuitivelywith no self-imposed obstacles— and no second-guessing.

“The second you allowdoubt to creep into yourprocess,” he says, “you’re overas an artist.”

Now, Robie is exploring agroundbreaking visual artform — street art. Street arthas one rule: You must tag thestreet. The artists embody thesame community spirit, riskand excitement that he found

in the music subculturedecades ago, he says.

“It’s the backdrop of theirlives,” says Robie. “It’s the newrock ’n’ roll.”

Last spring, he and a part-ner opened The Combine inSoHo. The New York Citygallery is part exhibition, partsocial experiment. Robie letloose more than 50 streetartists to transform the ceil-ings and walls. Stairs. Doors.Floors.

“We gave them unlimitedfreedom,” says Robie.

The exhibition — namedafter President Obama’s slo-

gan “Work to do” — garneredinternational attention.Robie’s sole suggestion wasthat the artists donate someprofits to organizations thatbring art to city schools. Theyall did.

In the same spirit, Robie isplanning to install his nextstreet art exhibition inWarsaw, Poland.

— Kris Dre e s s e n

L i sten to “Planet Ro c k ”and watch the hip-hopg e n re it inspired at :h t t p : // b i t . l y/p l a n e t _ ro c k

M a rch 3, 201 0Geneseo, N.Y. —Panel — G.O.L.D. Wo m e n ’s Expo

M a rch 4, 201 0Geneseo, N.Y. —Geneseo Legal P a n e l

M a rch 18, 201 0Washington, D.C. —Alumni Reception with Geneseo Student Extern sg o . g e n e s e o . e d u / w a s h i n g t o n

M a rch 201 0Darien, Conn. —Alumni Event

M a rch 25, 201 0A l b a n y, N.Y. —Networking Socialg o . g e n e s e o . e d u / a l b a n y

April 23, 201 0Geneseo, N.Y. —P re s i d e n t ’s Donor Dinner

M ay 1, 201 0Geneseo, N.Y. —G reekfest on Spring/Alumni We e k e n dg o . g e n e s e o . e d u / g r e e k f e s t

M ay 201 0R o c h e s t e r, N.Y. —Rochester Legal - Alumni Event

M ay 201 0New York City —NYC Financial - Alumni Event

M ay 27, 201 0Long Island —Networking Social g o . g e n e s e o . e d u / l o n g i s l a n d

June 201 0R o c h e s t e r, N.Y. —Networking Socialg o . g e n e s e o . e d u / r o c h e s t e r

July 9-11, 201 0Geneseo, N.Y. — Summer Reuniong o . g e n e s e o . e d u / r e u n i o n

Summer 201 0Hamptons, N.Y. —Alumni Event

S e p tember 24-25, 201 0Geneseo, N.Y. —H o m e c o m i n gg o . g e n e s e o . e d u / h o m e c o m i n g

VisitEvents are added continuously. Please check the Web site forupdates at alumni.geneseo.edu.

U p coming Alumni Eve n t s

GENESEO ALUMNI ASS O C I AT I O N

Below, Marie MorrTenBrink, left, ’93,Tracy Young Gagnier’93, Penny PapageorgeMeskos ’93, TanyaWoldbeck Gesek ’93and Daniel Mody ’93

SYRACUSE

A b ove, Joseph Carr ’8 2and Andrew Pelletier ’82

ALBANY – Joe Carr Wine Ta st i n g

2 8 g e n e s e o scene

Wi n te r 2 01 0 2 9

Kimberly Owen Doty ’92, left, Stephanie Ligammari Mosher ’94 and Tracy Sawicz Pearce ’96

ROCHESTER

DENVER

Above, President Christopher C. Dahl, left, Chris Walker ’85, Tim Drago’65, Matt Rush ’89, Zigrid Rush and Nancy Dawes Cole ’67

WASHINGTON, D.C.

A b ove, Kathleen Ro m a n ow ’95, left, William Perillo ’11, Chad Salitan ’0 9, Kristen Ku g e l’0 9, Ka ren Szulgit ’84 and Mike Bieeault ’85

1960sBruce Sweet ’60 is a retired professor and self-employeda u t h o r. Cheryl Gelser Devinney’69 retired from Perry CentralSchool (N.Y. )

1970Ce l e b rating their 40th reunion July 9 and 10, 201 0.Darlene Brooks Darrow is thedirector of leadership, learningand accountability for theMaine-Endwell School District(N.Y.). John Merchant is a sen-ior engineer at Northrop-Grumman. Janice WraightThompson is the vice principalof Villages Charter High Schoolin The Villages, Fla. DianeFisher Walker was ordained asan elder in the UnitedMethodist Church.

1973Lawrence Mannato is a self-employed artist/associate profes-sor/instructor in Gorham, N.Y.Robert Orilio is an associate pro-fessor for the State University ofNew York Institute of Te c h n o l o g yin Utica, N.Y.

1974Craig Braack was honored by theBar Association for his outstand-ing service as the AlleganyC o u n t y, N.Y., historian. RoyFedelem is a retired principalplanner for the Suffolk CountyPlanning Department, now work-ing as a tennis pro for the LongIsland Foundation for Educationand Sports. Judith Robinson is amath teacher at Carvers Bay HighSchool in Hemingway, S.C.

1975Ce l e b rating their 35th reunion July 9 and 10, 201 0.Dennis Lovaglio is a director forDeutsche Bank in New York City.Thomas McEvoy is the associatedean of students at Union College

in Schenectady, N.Y. PatrickRiley is the senior vice presidentof KGBTexas in San Antonio.Peter Zaccarella, of Carrollton,Texas, retired recently after a 28-year career with the U.S.Department of Justice.

1976D avid Piera m i co is a senioradjunct faculty member for theMedaille College Adult LearningProgram in Rochester, N.Y. He isalso the associate executive direc-tor for the Jewish CommunityCenter of Greater Rochester.

1977Richard Marino won a localNew York Emmy award for astory he edited in 2008 forWPIX-TVin NewYork City.MarionMcAlpinePieramicois a first-gradeteacherfor thePenfieldCentral School District ( N . Y. )Dominick Speziale is a teacherin New York City.

1978Linda Goodwin Fields is thedirector/owner of ProfessionalInstitute for Real Estate Tr a i n i n gin Watertown, N.Y. MaryMaynard is a business analyst forThomson Reuters in Rochester,N . Y. Shane Palmer is a senior ter-r i t o ry manager for GenzymeCorporation. Brenda RobertsonReddout is an adjunct professorat Southeastern University inLakeland, Fla. Kathleen PedullaScaccia is the vice president ofKuhn & Pedulla Insurance inWe b s t e r, N.Y. Albert Servati is adivision manager for CarpenterCo. in Tupelo, Miss.

1979Mel Barvinchak is a mentalhealth social worker/therapist forthe New York State Office ofMental Health/Elmira PsychiatricCenter in Lansing, N.Y. Ro b e r tC l ow is a science teacher at Wa d eCarpenter Middle School inNogales, Ariz. William Dumont i sa realtor for RE/MAX Partners inA n d o v e r, Mass. Cheryl BoldWa g n e r is the director of studentsupport services at MarcusWhitman Central School Districtin Rushville, N.Y.

1980Ce l e b rating their 30th re u n i o nJuly 9 and 10, 201 0.James Fa l b o is the vice presidentof operations for Devault Foods inDevault, Pa. Martha Pa l u m b oPe terman is a paralegal at Hiscock& Barclay LLP, in Syracuse, N.Y.Tyde Richard s is the owner ofForest Park Development Group.

1981Richard Altier is an associatebroker for RE/MAX RealtyGroup in Pittsford, N.Y. DanielBeer is the plant productionmanager at UniFirst Corporationin Albany, N.Y. Timothy Mouseris the owner of seven LittleCaesars Pizza stores in Arizona.Anthony Roig is a recruiter forAlmac Clinical Te c h n o l o g i e s .

1982Marjorie Ribbeck Ce ce re is a mer-chandiser for Kmart in Batavia,N . Y. Pe ter Hasby is a physician for

C l a ssN o te s

3 0 g e n e s e o scene

Richard Marino ’77

Wi n te r 2 01 0 3 1

Black Hills VA in Fort Meade, S.D.Michael Mooney is a creativedirector at Full Moon Advertisingin Rochester, N.Y. R i c h a rdS o l o m o n is a senior manager forBMC Software in New York City.Attorney A n d rew T. Pe l l e t i e rrecently published the children’sbook “The Amazing Adventures ofBathman” with the publisherPenguin Young Readers Group.

1983D e b o rah Brudo is a senior IT man-ager at IBM. Co n st a n ce Christ a ko sis the director of the Departmentof Labor, Office of InspectorGeneral, Division of CongressionalLiaison and Communications, inWashington D.C.

1985Ce l e b rating their 25th re u n i o nJuly 9 and 10, 201 0.R. Michael Gibeault is the vicepresident of Robert Half Legalin Washington, D.C. KimberlySickau Preshoff is a teacher atWilliamsville North (N.Y.). GarySimboli was honored at theGenesee-Orleans Regional ArtsCouncil’s ninth annual commu-nity arts awards gala for his 25years of efforts for the arts.

1986Virginia Cowie Martello is thevice president of learning anddevelopment for New York LifeInsurance Company in NewYork City.

1987Dawn Dioguardo Clark-McBrearty is a developmentassociate at Stony BrookUniversity in New York. DavidCleinman, of Brooksville, Fla.,recently published his firstnovel, “Principle Destiny withBlack Rose Writing.” It is thestory of a princess who mustfight to save herself and herkingdom from malevolentforces. Gary Grose was appoint-ed the U.S. marketing directorfor Marsh, an insurance brokerand risk advisory firm, inChicago, Ill. Michael Longo is acertified public accountant for

Sprague & Janowsky in Ithaca,N.Y. Adrienne Jones Weitzel isa CSR for Martin-Brower inOrlando, Fla.

1988Michael Ly n c h is a partner at TheHunter Group International inCharlotte, N.C. C h r i stine BuckheitSkinner works for Beaver CreekE l e m e n t a ry in Downingtown, Pa.Michelle Swe e t is a cross-culturaltrainer for Berlitz BusinessCommunications School in Osaka-shi, Japan.

1989Ti m o t hy Berry is a senior graphicdesigner for N e w s d a y in Melville,N . Y. L a u ra Mills-Lewis is a facultyrelations consultant and associatedirector at Ernst & Young in NewYork City. Denise Romano w i l lhave her first non-fiction bookpublished in April 2010 byMcGraw Hill. “The HR To o l k i t :An Indispensible Guide forCredible Activists” focuses on theimportance of human resourceprofessionals practicing ethicallyand within legal compliance.

1990Ce l e b rating their 20th reunion July 9 and 10, 201 0.

Myra Batista is a school psy-chologist for the Center forDisability Services in Albany,N.Y. Kimberly Donohue is a reg-istered nurse at St. ElizabethMedical Center. CharlesRecchia is the senior reliabilityengineering manager for IntelCorporation. Craig Schlusbergis a principal with AspenAdvisors, LLC, a health care ITconsulting firm.

1991Robert Smith is a senior managerat Niagara Blower in Buffalo, N.Y.

1992Robert Blyth is a financial plan-ning specialist for the city ofDavis, Calif. Daniel Carpente r i sthe director of corporate part-nerships for Homestead MiamiSpeedway in Florida. Pa u l aLangan Heller is the director ofhuman resources for CloughHarbor Associates. St a ceyR yczak Hunte r is a self-employedfreelance editor in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. J a cqueline Dyc keN o r r i s is a senior advisor for theCorporation for National andCommunity Service inWashington, D.C. J e f f rey Pa i l l eis a principal for The Bonadio

Group in Pittsford, N.Y.Kimberly Herrick Tow n s o n i sthe executive director of NonnieHood Parent & Family ResourceCenter in Corning, N.Y.

1993Regan Mahoney is a business manager/deputy director for the Loudoun County HealthDepartment in Leesburg, Va .Patrick Murphy is the vice presi-dent of M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y.

1994Peter Lathrop is the AVP offinance for John Hancock insur-ance and financial services inBoston, Mass. Teresa WorczakParsons is a graduate student atNazareth College in Rochester,N.Y. Michelle Facteau Pedzichis the director of compliance forHR Works, Inc. in Fairport, N.Y.Michele Walsh Zito was pro-moted to executive directorwith The Pampered Chef.

1995Ce l e b rating their 15th reunion July 9 and 10, 201 0.Ander Bergstrom is a seniorcinematic animator for MidwayEntertainment in California.Korie Buttles is a school psy-chologist for Fayette CountyPublic Schools in Kentucky.Kimberly Manna Dimondo ispursuing a career as a weight-loss coach and personal trainer.David Flynn is the vice presi-dent of tax for InterActiveCorpin New York City. Gary Hodginsrecently graduated with a doc-torate of education degree incurriculum and instructionfrom Northern ArizonaUniversity. Michael Hoyt is anassistant professor at theUniversity of California,Merced. Joseph Stewart-Pironeis a law student at NorthernKentucky University.

1996Eileen Hegmann Co n n e l l is aspeech-language pathologist forConnell Speech and Language,PC, in New York City. K i m b e r l yH i n s d a l e is a registered nurse for

The Geneseo Knights basketball team flew to Seattle and co m p e ted int wo non-co n fe re n ce games on New Ye a r’s Eve and Jan. 2, thanks to ag e n e rous gift from To ny Wiederkher ’87, in white, to the co l l e g e ’sRoundtable Athletic Ass o c i ation (RAA). Wi e d e r ke h r, an RAA boardm e m b e r, played for the Knights and is the founder and president ofAe roMech Inc., an av i ation engineering firm in Eve rett, Wash.

He wa n ted to provide current players with the same bonding andmemories he ex p e r i e n ced as a college team playe r.

WCA Hospital in Jamestown, N.Y.Michael Ko ro l u k is a senior man-ager at BAE Systems, Inc. inArlington, Va. Mark Scallon is adirector for Polaris ManagementPartners in New York City. E r i kSto n e is a system analyst/programmer for FrontierCommunications in Rochester,N . Y. Mary Wo o d s is the assis-tant general counsel in litiga-tion for CBS Corporation inNew York City.

1997A n d rew Berkowitz won theNational Association ofBroadcasters’ “Don’t Tax ThatDial” competition, protesting theproposed “Performance Tax” onradio stations. Danielle Langto nE l l i n g sto n is a global develop-ment policy coordinator forGlobal Washington in Seattle,

Wash. Tina Kuenzi McPherson i san MBA student at the Universityof Iowa. C h r i stopher Obst a rc z y kfinished the Lake Placid IronmanTriathlon in July 2009 and raisedmore than $1,000 for charity.Michael To r re s is the director ofinstitutional research at MolloyCollege in Rockville Centre, N.Y.

1998Daniela Borja is a senior market-ing manager for Molson Coors inD e n v e r. D avid Card is the com-munications director forAmericans for DemocraticAction. M a rc Jacob opened hisown law practice concentratingon transactional and real estatework in St. Louis, Mo. Vi n ce n tL i l l a rdwas promoted to be thesubmarine warfare project leaderfor the Institute of DefenseAnalysis. N athan Raby is a familyphysician at the Central MaineMedical Center in Poland, Maine.Amanda Pielecha Saute r is a stu-

dent success advocate for TRIOStudent Support Services atMedaille College in Buffalo, N.Y.A my Zakrzewski Tu l ow i e c k i is ateacher for the WilliamsvilleCentral School District (N.Y. ) .

1999Seth Annabel is a softwaredevelopment manager for GHXin Louisville, Colo. Cara McKayBarnwell is a registered nurse atSound Shore Medical Center inNew York. Debra Burnett is anassistant professor at KansasState University. Brian Davis is acorrections officer for the NewYork State Department ofCorrectional Services. DeniseDeAngelo is a speech patholo-gist for Mt. Sinai Hospital inAstoria, N.Y. Kristen PalmerDriskill is an English languagearts instructional supervisor forthe Board of CooperativeEducational Services inRochester, N.Y. Daniel Farr is a

visiting assistant professor ofsociology at Randolph Collegein Lynchburg, Va. and recentlyaccompanied a student trip toChina. Julie FitzGerald is a psy-chologist for the Bucks CountyIntermediate Unit no. 22 inDoylestown, Pa. David Hamondis a financial advisor for MorganStanley Smith Barney in NewYork City. Max Heller is a chiro-practic doctor and co-owner ofSyosset Health and WellnessCenter (N.Y.). Kevin Henry isan assistant principal for theManchester School District(N.H.). Kristina Choffin Henryis an assistant principal for theBrookline School District(N.H.). Lori Lehmann is a special education teacher atHawthorne Cedar Knolls inNew York. Reema Marji hasreceived the Teachers NetworkMetlife Fellowship for the thirdyear, which allows her to workon educational policy reform.Shannon McCall is the assistant

C L ASS N OT E S

3 2 g e n e s e o scene

A re you packing to cruise the Nile or adve n t u re in the Amazo n? Re d i s covering America on a drive?Reuniting with a Geneseo friend or seeing the sights in a new place?

Take a photo of yourself with the Scene on vacation,business or other trips and submit them for our n ewfe at u re. Include your T-shirt size; we’ll send a Geneseoshirt in thanks if we use your image.

Send your images to sce n e @ g e n e s e o.edu with a subject line of “Scene Around the Wo r l d .”

A b ove, Tom House ’82, right, brought a bit of Geneseo to the CrowFair on the Crow Re s e r vation in Montana. House is now a lecturer inCo m m u n i c at i ve Disorders and Sciences at Geneseo. He’s with hisfriend, Rich Williams, of Maine.

At left, Lee Perkins McGuigan ’85, of Berrville, Va., took her S ce n e o na family mission trip with their church to Alaska and took a photo atthe Portage Glacier.

S cene a round the wo r l d

field office director forImmigration and CustomsEnforcement in Salt Lake City.Patrick McCauley is a psychi-atric social worker for the LosAngeles Unified School District.Maulid Miskell is a programdirector for the Department ofRegulatory Agencies in Denver.Jennie Herbert Raby is a self-employed IT consultant inPoland, Maine. Rachel LiptakSchoenthal is a clinical technol-ogist for the University ofRochester in Rochester, N.Y.Natalie Gleason Tulley is a mer-chants specialist for WhitneyEducation Group in CapeCoral, Fla. Elizabeth Whipple isan audit manager for EastmanKodak Co. in Rochester, N.Y.

2000Ce l e b rating their 10th reunion July 9 and 10, 201 0.Jeffrey Klus is the lead mathe-matics teacher at Fairport High

School in Fairport, N.Y. DanielPasquarelli is associate managerof auto claims for TravelersInsurance in Charlotte, N.C.Joshua Stoeckl is a teacher forthe Clarksville-MontgomerySchool District in Tennessee.

2001Melissa Feder is a revenue cyclemanager at Duke UniversityHealth System in Durham, N.C.Sean Johnston is a radiologyresident physician at TulaneUniversity Medical Center inNew Orleans.

2002J e ssica Blum is a government andfoundation relations manager forDevereux in Villanova, Pa. A n n aB o r s h c h evs kaya is a research

assistant for the Peterson Institutefor International Economics.Kelly Crane is a coordinator forSchenectady Community ActionProgram in New York. M i c h a e lD ’A m b ro g i o is a police officer forthe New York Police Department.A n d rew Gre e n s p a n is a senioradministrative manager at HSBCBank in Washington, D.C.Re b e cca Graham Honan is anaccounting manager for Genesee& Wyoming Inc. in Rochester,N . Y. D e b o rah Kim-Lu is a businesssupport analyst for the FederalR e s e rve of New York in New Yo r kC i t y. Elizabeth Miele is a pre-school speech and languages u p e rvisor for the HawthorneFoundation Inc. in New Yo r k .Ralph Minervino Jr. is the educa-tion services manager for theUniversity of Rochester MedicalCenter in Rochester, N.Y. J u st i n

P i n chback is a consultant forBain & Co. in Boston. JustinRymanowski is in his third yearof neurology residency at theUniversity of Rochester MedicalCenter. Robyn Smith works forthe Bank of America inCharlotte, N.C.

2003Lindsay Kurek Clayton earnedher doctorate in audiology inMay 2007 and now works forthe Syracuse VA Medical Center.Kevin Fryling is a freelancewriter. Katrina Szozda Keith is aspecial education teacher forCohoes City School District(N.Y.). Justin Madden is anaccount manager for NicheMedia in New York City. HayleyKleitz N e l s o n is a doctoral candidate at John HopkinsUniversity in Baltimore, Md.Te resa Culligan Po l l o c k is arealtor for the Greater RaleighRealty Team and a math

Wi n te r 2 01 0 3 3

At right, Lindsay Ann Ku re k- C l ay ton ’03, ofL i verpool, N.Y., on her honeymoon at

Hanalei Bay in Kauai, Hawaii.

B e l ow, Diane Nadeau Mass u ra ’71 hike ds even miles with her husband, Jim, for a

g re at view of the Gre at Smoky Mountainsf rom on high, with the S ce n e t u c ked in herbackpack. She snapped this photo on to p

of 6,555-foot Mt. Le Co n te.

A b ove, Fran Ga rdner Ce n d rowski ’82 brought herS ce n e to Wa s h i n g ton, D.C. where she at tended asummit to End Homeless n e ss among Ve te rans.

Send your class note or notice toa l u m n i @ g e n e s e o.e d u .

3 4 g e n e s e o scene

teacher for Wake CountyPublic Schools in Raleigh, N.C.Michael Sheehan is the JamesC. McCreight Fiction Fellow atthe University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lolita Simmons is aphysician assistant for PremierOrthopedics in Dobbs Ferry,N . Y.

2004N i cole Santariello Allen is a read-ing teacher for the FairportCentral School District in( N . Y.) Daniella Aloof is ateacher for Spotsylvania CountySchools (Va.). Adam Belle-Isleis a financial representative forNorthwestern Mutual inFairport, N.Y. M e l i ss aCo m m i ss o is a graduate stu-dent in the department ofphysics at the University ofVirginia. Allison Ga u d y is a gradu-

ate student at the University ofRochester in Rochester, N.Y.Michael Glenn is the chief opera-tions analysis officer for MantriaCorporation. Julie Gra n d staff i san event planner for YES Networkin New York City. Caitlin HalladayH aw k s is a compliance analyst forManning & Napier Advisors, Inc.in Fairport, N.Y. D rew Ka u f m a n nis a middle school social studiesteacher for New GenerationInternational Schools in Cairo,Egypt. Stephanie Roberts is aninformation literacy specialist forthe Ilion Central School District( N . Y.). Aneeta Vi d ya r t h iS h e p a rdson is a teacher for theK e n m o r e - Town of To n a w a n d aSchool District (N.Y. ) .

2005Ce l e b rating their 5th reunion July 9 and 10, 201 0.A n d rew Co n l ey is a senior associ-ate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in

R o c h e s t e r, N.Y. M at t h ew Cruz is afinancial consultant for DSLFinancial Services inPoughkeepsie, N.Y. J e n n i fe rFisher was recently tenured as aconsultant teacher for FalconerCentral Schools (N.Y.). S e a nGavin is the assistant to the chiefof staff for New York Sen. KirstenGillibrand in Washington D.C.Miriam Rathbone Murray is thecoordinator of young alumni andstudent programs at the StateUniversity of New York atO n e o n t a . Jennie Owe n s is aguidance counselor at GrotonHigh School in Groton, N.Y.Rachel Pa g l i o cc a is a legislativeassistant for Congressman JohnHall in Washington, D.C. B ra n d yR i n c k is a geo-archaeologist forNorthwest ArchaeologicalAssociates. Jane Rowlands is acareer services representativefor Bryant & Stratton College inRochester, N.Y. Rebecca Welleris a cost accountant for SaintGobain in Granville, N.Y.Celeste Young is an art teacherat Albany Community CharterSchool (N.Y.).

2006S a rah Aumick is a school coun-selor for Charter HS for AppliedTechnologies in Buffalo, N.Y.Danielle Dro g i is a second-gradeteacher for the Niagara-Wheatfield Central SchoolDistrict (N.Y.). Mila Ku n d u is amaster of science candidate atCornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.P reeti Pra s a d is a client associateat Greenwich Associates inStamford, Conn. J e n n i fe rBurningham Zo p p is a scienceteacher at Bronxville Union FreeSchool District (N.Y. ) .

2007Kelly Beach is an operationsmanager at PharmaSmart inRochester, N.Y. MichelleHumble English received hermaster of arts degree in Englishand publishing from RosemontCollege in May 2009. JamieFragnito is a grant writer forCommunity Action of Orleans& Genesee in Albion, N.Y.Robert Kane is the director of

banquets for Red & WhiteCatering in Binghamton, N.Y.Elizabeth Lamme is a publicpolicy associate for the NationalAcademy of Social Insurance inWashington, D.C. Kaitlyn Luciaworks in investor relations atKing Street Capital Managementin New York City. Wi l l i a mM a r t u s ew i c z is the assistant con-troller for Toshiba BusinessSolutions NY/MI in Rochester,N.Y. Jenna Nigro is an assistantat KPMG LLP in New York City.Michelle Sang is a senior associ-ate at PricewaterhouseCoopers,LLP. Erica Truncale is a devel-opment assistant for SilentSpring Institute in Newton,Mass. Jordan Van Brink is a filmpublicist for 42West in New YorkCity. Amy Williams is a specialeducation teacher at NewfieldElementary School (N.Y.).Sarah Williams is a specialist inthe customer order process forPaetec in Fairport, N.Y.

2008Meghan Ganey is a first-gradeteacher for Auburn EnlargedCity School District in N.Y.Sarah Giermek is a teacher forthe Fort Worth IndependentSchool District in Texas. KevinJezorek is the supervisor ofmanufacturing for ByramLaboratories. Daniel Longhurstwas teaching English inNormandy, France, for one yearand is now in a master’s pro-gram for education at UnionGraduate College. Katie O’Heais an account executive forIncisive Media in New York City.Timothy Picciott is a financialadvisor for Waddell & Reed,Inc. in Rochester, N.Y. SarahPursel is a primary varyingexceptionalities teacher forHillsborough County SchoolDistrict (Fla.). Catherine Smurais a teacher for the Palmyra-Macedon Central SchoolDistrict (N.Y.).

2009Renzo Castro is an intern forNew York state Rep. CarolynMcCarthy in Garden City, N.Y.Julie Dioguardi is a third-grade

C L ASS N OT E S

Wi n te r 2 01 0 3 5

teacher for Batavia City Schools( N . Y. ) Daniel McConvey is anAmeriCorps VISTA recruiter forGenerations Inc. in Boston.Sarah McDonald is participatingin the Teach for America pro-gram and was recently hired asa middle school science teacherin the Greenburgh-GrahamSchool District in Hastings, N.Y.Jordan Mentry is an agencysales representative for ColonialVoluntary Benefits inWatertown, N.Y. Tiffany Palmeris a community research coordi-nator for the Mayo Clinic inRochester, Minn. Nicole Postellis a promotions assistant for theStephens Media Group inRochester, N.Y. Nicole Shattuckis a sales associate for CGICommunications, Inc. AngelaStewart is a graduate researchassistant at SUNY Geneseo.Maegen Williams is a recruiterfor c1search in Rochester, N.Y.

M a r r i a g e sRobert Clow ’79 & DonnaBonaparte Clow, Aug. 8, 2009.Emily McRobbie ’90 & EricPepin, Sept. 12, 2009.Brian Coyne ’93 & SandraBurgess, July 14, 2009.Christine DiCosola Harras ’95& Joseph Harras, July 24, 2009.Danielle Langton Ellingston’97 & Damon Ellingston, Sept.21, 2008.Tina Kuenzi McPherson ’97 &Chad McPherson, Aug. 8, 2008.Carrie Knittel Rabasa ’97 &Carter Rabasa, April 25, 2009.Kevin Henry ’99 & KristinaChoffin ’99, July 16, 2005.Gail Lovette Racine ’00 &Joseph Racine, July 4, 2009.Bradley Storz ’00 & ChristineMelhaff ’00, May 2, 2009.Erin Barry Lam ’01 & JosephLam ’01, July 6, 2008.Robin Sachner Goldstein ’02 &Seth Goldstein, July 18, 2009.Gerhard Grosnick ’02 &Heather Bost ’02, July 24, 2009.J e n n i fer RheinheimerR y m a n owski ’02 & J u st i nR y m a n owski ’02, June 27, 2009.Megan Carlucci Zarchy ’02 &Scott Zarchy, July 11, 2009.Seth Art ’03 & Emily Wilson’03, Aug. 29, 2009.

L i n d s ay Ku rek Clay ton ’03 &Christopher Clayton, May 30,2 0 0 9 .Hayley Kleitz Nelson ’03 &Thomas Nelson, Sept. 5, 2009.Kelly Brown Redmond ’03 &Nicholas Redmond, June 20,2009.Elizabeth Tertinek ’03 & J.P.Midgley, Sept. 12, 2009.Carrie Cain ’04 & JosephCecere ’04, June 27, 2009.Heather Mitchell Oviedo ’04 &Enrique Oviedo, Aug. 1, 2008.Rebecca Margolis Sellmeyer’05 & John Sellmeyer, July 11,2009.Meagan Santini Kinsella ’06 &Brian Kinsella ’06, Aug. 22, 2009.M at t h ew Marshall ’06 & LaurenSmith, May 30, 2009.Ashley Wilson Wiese ’06 &Michael Wiese ’06, Sept. 26,2009.Michelle Humble English ’07 &Justin English, Aug. 2, 2009.Nina Filletti ’07 & Mark Ranieri’06, July 25, 2009.David Morris ’07 & SarahMorris ’07, Aug. 15, 2009.Neil Campbell ’08 & HelenStefanovic, May 31, 2008.

BirthsStephanie Norton ’87 & Michael,Jack Norton, Oct. 16, 2007, andKiera Louise, June 15, 2009.Erin Gilmore Lehmann ’93 &Frederik, Edward Gilmore, Aug.27, 2009.S a rah Dutton Hambleton ’94 &Neal, Flint Andrew, May 17, 2009.Kristin Gray Simora ’94 &Robert, Natalie Helen, March19, 2009.Dana Champlin Barnes ’95 &Michael, Jacob Weston, Jan. 7,2008, and Kaden Michael, April24, 2009.Rosanne Vallone Johengen ’95& Chris, Cooper, May 12, 2009.Christine Labeste ’96 & MarcLambrechts, Alexandra Olivia,Feb. 22, 2008.Danielle Langton Ellingston’97 & Damon, Paige Odette,Feb. 8, 2009.Lisa Rand Flynn ’97 & DavidFlynn ’95, Henry David, Feb.26, 2009.Kathryn Carpenter Caraher ’98& Howard, Kyle Joseph and

Madeline Anne, March 13, 2008.Maureen Ford Chorma ’98 &Tim Chorma, Andrew James,Oct. 1, 2009.M a rc Jacob ’98 & Debra, Asher,J a n u a ry 2007 and Noah, March2 0 0 9 .Amy Zakrzewski Tulowiecki’98 & Thomas, Leah Grace,April 14, 2009.April Wood-Brustle ’98 &Kevin, Joshua and Micah, May11, 2009.Kristen Palmer Driskill ’99 &Jamie, Abigail Marie, Feb. 18,2009.M at t h ew Ebbecke ’99 & Amanda,Sarah Grace, June 12, 2008.Kristina Henry ’99 & Kevin ’99,Elizabeth Katherine, May 20,2006, and Alison Marie, April20, 2008.Robin Russo Malafeew ’99 &Brett, Jack Thomas, Aug. 26,2009.Courtney Adams McLaughlin’99 & Andrew, Meaghan Ann,April 22, 2009.Melisa Denny Meyer ’99 &Todd, Morgan Elizabeth, June14, 2009.Lauren Crescenzo DeGasperis’00 & Philip, Andrew Philip,Dec. 31, 2008.Anne DeOlde ’99 & Ryan ’00,Katarina Anne, May 22, 2009.Meredith Keiser Klus ’00 &Jeffrey Klus ’00, Colin Zachary,Dec. 8, 2008.Erin Barry ’01 & Joseph Lam ’01,Jacob William, April 14, 2009.Ralph Minervino Jr. ’02 & Leah,Pearl Kathryn, July 21, 2009.Kathleen Inclima ’03 & N i c kKovall ’04, Nicholas Richard,Sept. 8, 2009.

In MemoriamALUMNILeigh Gridley Brundage ’33,July 29, 2009.Leola Young Mustari ’47,Oct. 10, 2009.Deanne Clancy Callan ’60,May 7, 2009.Pamela Schum Cooper ’69,March 7, 2009.Lana Allen McClurg ’71,April 21, 2009.Glen McIntyre ’71,Aug. 31, 2009.Susan Foote ’74, Sept. 29, 2009.

Anil Sharda ’76, Nov. 15, 2008.Kirby Brown ’93, Oct. 8, 2009.

FACULTYBertha V.B. Lederer,distinguished service professoremerita, died Oct. 6, 2009. Shewas 97. She taught at Geneseofrom 1945 to 1980 and was chairof the divison of fine arts. TheBertha V.B. Lederer Gallery in theSchool of the Arts bears her name.

Robert Roecker, p r o f e s s o remeritus of biology, died Jan. 7,2010. He joined Geneseo in 1962and was caretaker and superv i s o rof the biology vivarium animalcollection from 1965 to his retirement in 1983.

FRIENDSRev. Michael Mahler, formerlongtime chaplain at the GeneseoI n t e rfaith Center, Inc., died June29, 2009.

S u m m e rRe u n i o n

2 01 0July 9-10Come home to

Geneseo!

Mark yo u rc a l e n d a r !

3 6 g e n e s e o scene

M E M O RY L A N E

Baseball diamonds

The first organizationJustin Swackhamer ’05joined at Geneseo was

the baseball club. At the time,he was having trouble adjust-ing. He wasn’t fitting in. Hewanted to go home and attendcommunity college.

“I joined the club baseballteam and everything changed,”says Justin. “They were like bigbrothers. I could count onthem and they gave meencouragement. It was a team.T h a t ’s what I needed.”

His involvement with theMudcats made all the differ-ence, he says, in turningaround his college experienceand finishing his biologydegree. Last September, heagain suited up in Mudcatblue to smash line drives andplay the field with current andformer ball players.

For three years, Mudcatsalumni have organized areunion game versus currentGeneseo baseball club mem-bers. The club plays other col-leges in the region and is now

part of the National CollegiateClub Baseball Association. EveryMudcat since the team’s incep-tion in the early 1980s is invitedto the reunion.

Attending this year were 16alums who graduated between1994 and 2009. Several, likeorganizer Dr. John Keene ’98,gripped the steering wheel,b l e a ry-eyed at 5 a.m. to drivefrom Long Island. Others camefrom We s t c h e s t e r, N.Y. ,Washington, D.C. and Delaware.

Justin flew in from Denver torelive the team spirit.

“It was all about the goodtimes we had at Geneseo,” saysJohn, a three-year member and1997-1998 captain. “It wasmore than just playing ball.Your teammates ended upbeing your best friends.”

They spent more time togeth-er off the field than on. Johnremembers the proud initiationrite, when older players round-ed up the newbies for a game.Instead of opponents, theyfound a surprise — uniforms.

“ We’d parade every o n e

around town to show every o n ewho we were and introducenew members,” recalls John.

On the diamond eachS e p t e m b e r, Mudcats experi-ence a time warp.

“ We sat in the dugout lookingat each other,” says John, “andi t ’s like time hadn’t passed. Itjust seems like yesterday that wewere having the time our life.Myself, and most of the guys,would say that our times atGeneseo were some of the besttimes of our lives. It’s nice evenfor a couple of hours to go backand have that feeling again.”

Mudcats captain DanNagorski ’10 always looks for-ward to the alumni game —which is also the season opener— so he can play ball with for-mer teammates and those whocame before them. He looksf o rward to returning after he’sgraduated, too.

John and Justin will probablybe at the dugout to welcomeh i m .

“I bled blue for four years,”says Justin. “I still do.”

A b ove: ce n te r, M u d c ats Rookie

Robert Siciliano ’13meets Dr. John Ke e n e

’98 on the field.

Club team players re l i ve precious days

B ASEBALL PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE CUSANO ’10; FILMSTRIP PHOTO: BIGSTO C K P H OTO; PHOTO ILLU ST R ATION: CAROLE VOLPE ’91

By Kris Dre e ss e n

Visit go.g e n e s e o.edu/ alumsport to see morealumni sports photo s .

Di s covery is nothing new to theisland of San Salva d o r. Part of theBahamas, the tiny isle claims to be

the first place that Christopher Co l u m b u slanded in the New World. For Geneseobiology major Kun Ma ’10, traveling to thisp a radise allowed for her own personaland academic discove r y.

In late Dece m b e r, Kun spent more thant wo weeks there diving in and ex p l o r i n gthe waters while studying marine biodi-versity and co n s e r vat i o n .

“ This study abroad pro g ram was theb e st opportunity,” says Kun, providing herwith hands-on re s e a rch ex p e r i e n ce andfa ce - to - fa ce enco u n ters with species andh a b i t ats many students only read about.

Ku n ’s trip is part of her journey atGeneseo towa rd her dream of being aco n s e r vation biologist .

An inte r n ational student from a smallvillage in Inner Mongolia, Kun came toGeneseo after earning a bachelor’s

d e g ree in business management in China.A recipient of the Mary Ro b i n s o n - S l a b ey’64 Endowed Scholarship fo rI n te r n ational St u d e n t s, Kun says her ex p e-r i e n ce in the Bahamas would not havebeen possible without the generosity o fM a r y, an alumna who is pass i o n ate aboutsupporting inte r n ational students. Mary’sscholarship is also helping Vishal Rajput’12, of Mumbai, India, pursue a career ini n te r n ational business .

As a member of the Pe a ce Corps, Maryt raveled to St. Lucia in the late ’60s toa ss i st schools with curriculum deve l o p-ment. Rather than being disappointe dwith large class sizes and a lack of tex t-books, Slabey was inspired by the driveand intellect of the people of St. Lucia.

“ People in the community we re ve r yi n te re sted in what was going on in thewo r l d ,” she says. “Even though they we repoor and may not have re ce i ved adva n ce de d u c ation, they we re very awa re.”

S l a b ey later earned a maste r’s degre eand docto rate, but never fo rgot the l e ssons she learned in St. Lucia. Nowre t i red from a pro fe ssorship at MansfieldU n i versity in Pe n n sy l vania, Mary supportsi n te r n ational students who come toGeneseo to continue their educat i o n s .

For Mary, supporting Geneseo is aboutmuch more than simply writing a check.I t’s about connections, and making theworld a bit smaller.

“ The inte r n ational students are ve r ya p p re c i at i ve. Th ey are always thankingm e,” she explains. “Th e re is no sense at allt h at they take this for gra n te d .”

Kun Ma would agre e.

G I V I N GB AC K

A b ove, Mary Ro b i n s o n - S l a b ey ’64 cre ate dan endowed scholarship to provide opportunity for inte r n ational students, such as Vishal Rajput ’12, of India, and Kun Ma ’10, of Mongolia, to at tend Geneseo.

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Associate Professor George Briggs, a 23-year faculty member and chair of the biology department, enjoys afresh snowfall and solitude along trails in the Spencer J. Roemer Arboretum. Director of Admissions EmeritusSpencer J. Roemer donated the 20 acres to encourage students and the Geneseo community to understand,enjoy and preserve the natural world.