Campus Champion

SUNY Cortland’s men’s rugby club president Mike Dotzler will leave a lasting impact on the College’s club sports program. In 2016, the senior criminology major from Massapequa, N.Y. was concerned about the lack of access to athletic trainers for club sports participants. He worked tirelessly on a budget proposal to hire an athletic trainer and, recently approved, his efforts will result in trainers on the field by fall 2018. With that try on the scoreboard, Mike turns his focus to the third annual charity rugby game he founded to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 21 at the Stadium Complex.

Susan MacLaury ’68 — social worker, college professor and Academy Award and Emmy-winning executive film producer — will share words of advice and encouragement as keynote speaker at “Transformations: A Student Research and Creativity Conference” on Friday, April 13.

She’ll also let current SUNY Cortland students know that it’s OK to be unsure about their next step.

MacLaury will present “Creativity: Lessons Learned Over Three Careers,” from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium, talking about her background in social work, academia and as the executive director of Shine Global, Inc., a non-profit media company that specializes in documentaries about at-risk children.

When MacLaury graduated from SUNY Cortland with a degree in psychology, she wasn’t sure what the future had in store.

“You may feel lost but it doesn’t mean you’re not moving forward,” MacLaury said. “I think most of us are kind of lost coming out of college and trying to figure out what the next steps are.”

MacLaury was working office jobs in New York City when New York state legalized abortion in 1970. The ensuing push for women’s rights inspired her to return to school. She earned a master’s degree in human sexuality from New York University in 1973, a Ph.D. in health education from NYU in 1982 and a master’s degree in social work from Hunter College in 1986.

“That spurred an enormously exciting and powerful movement in women’s health,” she said. “I was really mesmerized by that. I had never taken a health class as an undergraduate or in high school. I was fascinated with the anatomy and physiology of it, but also with the spirit that women could really take control of their own destiny.”

For years, MacLaury worked with young people, educating them about health, sexuality and the dangers of substance abuse. She also trained teachers how to handle these topics with their students.

During her time at NYU, MacLaury had the opportunity to teach as an adjunct lecturer. That experience led her to lecture at a number of colleges and universities in the New York City area and ultimately Kean (N.J.) University, where she served as an associate professor of health education at from 1994 to 2014.

“I loved it. I felt like my safe space was in the classroom,” she said. “I loved the students and I learned a lot from them. That’s one of the things I really want to talk about.”

MacLaury had a life-changing moment during a January 2005 lunch with Lisa Meadowcroft, who was then executive director of the African Medical and Research Foundation’s (AMREF) U.S. branch. Meadowcroft told her the story of suffering children in war-torn northern Uganda and MacLaury couldn’t get the idea out of her head.

When MacLaury shared their plight with her husband, Albie Hecht, she started brainstorming ways they could help. Hecht, who has decades of experience in film and television, including developing and producing shows such as “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Dora the Explorer” as president of Nickelodeon Entertainment, had an idea of his own: a documentary.

From there, MacLaury embarked on her third successful career.

Through Shine Global, MacLaury was an executive producer for the 2007 film “War/Dance,” which told the story of the Ugandan refugee children and was nominated for a best documentary feature Oscar. It also won Emmys for best documentary and outstanding cinematography. The film was recognized at many festivals, winning best documentary directing at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Hecht and MacLaury have produced or executive produced nine other films, including “Inocente,” which tells the story of a 15-year-old homeless and undocumented immigrant girl. The film won best documentary short at the 2013 Academy Awards. 

Shine Global aims to harness the power of documentary film as a force for positive change, offering programs for educators and community groups that wish to hold screenings. The documentaries produced by MacLaury and Hecht have also had audiences in Washington, D.C. “War/Dance” was shown to the U.S. Department of State and members of Congress in 2007.

“We do believe in the power of film to transform lives,” MacLaury said. “It can definitely spur viewers to act, especially when the viewers are kids.”

MacLaury’s message to students at Transformations is about being open to new experiences. She didn’t have an interest in teaching until a college professor recommended her for an adjunct role. She didn’t know she could be an executive producer until she found a project she was passionate about.

“You have to show up and you owe it to yourself to be as authentic a person as you can be,” she said. “And take chances. If there is something tickling you and there’s something you’ve just opened the door to a little bit and you want to believe that this may be true of you, try it. Take that chance. Really, life has so many interesting experiences and people to meet who are all teachers to us.”

Transformations features a wide array of scholarship and research done by SUNY Cortland students. Concurrent sessions and poster sessions follow MacLaury’s lecture from 1:45 to 5:30 p.m. throughout Old Main. Classes will be in session as normally scheduled.

Students from the schools of Arts and Sciences, Education, and Professional Studies will present on topics ranging from the impact of predatory bacteria on a variety of oysters to weight management in collegiate wrestlers.

A full schedule of events is available online.

Support for Transformations has been provided by the President’s Office and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Office. The Student Alumni Association will provide volunteers.

The curtain is coming to a close on the college careers of senior musical theatre majors Hailey Pytel, Chloe Solan and Emily Woods.

In May, they will walk at Commencement and then head out into the working world.

So it’s fitting that their final performance will be in the workplace musical comedy “9 to 5,” which opens in the Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre on Friday, April 13. The play is based on a 1980 movie that used farce and satire to draw attention to the inequality and harassment faced by women trying to make a living and pursue careers.

Solan and Woods are committed to pursuing careers in theatre. Solan will begin her first professional season at the Point Sebago Resort in Casco, Maine this summer and Woods will join “Ring of Fire” at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Fort Myers, Fla. starting in May.

Pytel, who is a dual major in speech and hearing science as well as musical theatre, plans to go to graduate school and ultimately work in developing better technology for cochlear implants to help those with hearing impairments better listen to music.

While they work on learning their lines, mastering the choreography or sewing the costumes, they can’t help but think, much like the characters in “9 to 5,” about their upcoming roles in the workplace.

“It’s totally a bittersweet ending,” Woods said. “The three of us have been together from the first day of freshman year. We all came from different places and now we’re saying goodbye. We’ll still see each other when we relocate to New York but it’ll definitely be different. It’s great to go on and get out in the real world, but it’s a little sad.”

“9 to 5” the film starred Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin. Facing sexism, wage discrimination and harassment in their jobs at Consolidated Companies, their characters, Judy Bernly, Doralee Rhodes and Violet Newstead, respectively, resort to slapstick methods of poisoning and kidnapping their boss to change the office culture.

Solan plays the character Roz Keith, the snooping executive assistant to the boss in the Consolidated Companies office. 

Although the musical offers a cartoonish glimpse at office life, the changes that the main characters make underscore the problems facing many workers to this day. In the end, male and female employees receive equal pay and qualified candidates receive promotions.

It’s silly and light-hearted, but at its core, “9 to 5” tackles serious issues, which makes it a perfect fit in a SUNY Cortland theater season that focused on women’s perspectives.

“One of the most inspirational songs in this show is called “Change It,” Solan said. “I think that can be a power song for anybody, not just women. With the #MeToo movement going on, I think this show will really resonate with women and men too, just to see that this is how it is. It can empower all sorts of people to take a step back and look at how they’re viewing their life and if they’re happy with their choices.”

“This show really highlights the segue into where we are now and I think it’s a good process, but we need to still do better,” Pytel said. “Women in the workplace are a good thing and this show highlights how they can make a change and how impactful they are.”

“9 to 5” has helped student actors expand their resumes in various ways.

Pytel, part of the ensemble, has enjoyed working on her dancing roles in the musical’s dream sequences.

“They are vastly different from one another,” she said. “I’m in the last one, which is a Disney princess-themed one and we are little woodland animals in it. We’re crawling around and skipping and it’s a complete reversal from the first section, which is a big tango sequence. It’s really fun.”

Woods is not on stage for “9 to 5” but she is creating early 1980s-era costumes for her classmates.

“I’d typically assistant stage manage because I’m really interested in stage management,” she said. “This is my first time doing costumes and I’m having a blast. It’s good to know how to sew, so that’ll help me in theatre jobs. The more well-rounded you are, the better.”

While future actors like Solan and Woods might not fully connect with the office setting of “9 to 5” and the rows of typewriters and telephones, they do know a thing or two about what it means to work hard and deal with demanding bosses. In the world of theatre, the hours are different but the themes are the same.

“There is a set routine when you’re in the city auditioning,” Woods said. “You wake up at 4 a.m. sometimes and you go and wait on line. You get seen or you don’t get seen and you try to get the job. For a lot of people I know it does become very routine. And to do a show that’s all about their routines and their lives, it’s really interesting.”

“9 to 5” opens at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 13 in the Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre. Subsequent performances follow at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 14 and Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21. Afternoon performances on Sunday, April 15 and Sunday, April 22 begin at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $19 for adults, $16 for faculty, staff and senior citizens, $14 for alumni and $9 for students. To purchase tickets, visit Cortland.edu/boxoffice or visit the box office on Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. or Thursdays between 2 and 5 p.m.

The Saturday, April 21 performance will be alumni night and SUNY Cortland graduates are encouraged to make it a way to reconnect. Any performance is a perfect night out with colleagues, friends or classmates.

For more information, including group rates and incentives, contact Production Manager and Publicity Coordinator Jeffrey Whetstone at 607-753-4544.

Later this month, the College Singers Concert, scheduled for April 27, will feature selections from the 1953 musical “Wonderful Town,” which features music by Leonard Bernstein. It tells the stories of sisters who venture from Columbus, Ohio to New York City to try to make their mark in writing and acting.

The first step toward preventing sexual assault is to acknowledge that everyone has a role to play. That’s the message that SUNY Cortland will share during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, starting with the It’s On Us Week of Action, April 2 to 6.

The events are part of the national It’s On Us initiative, which is a movement dedicated to ending sexual assault, domestic abuse, and stalking. Cortland’s It’s On Us Week of Action, coordinated by SUNY Cortland’s Title IX office, aims to cultivate awareness for these issues through student activities and engagement.

“Every campus does the Week of Action,” said senior psychology major Amanda Lagan of Levittown, N.Y., president of Students Active For Ending Rape (SAFER). “It’s just a matter of how seriously they take it.”

SUNY Cortland is taking the Week of Action very seriously:

Monday, April 2

Kicking off the week is the Green Dot Egg Hunt, during which students will search for plastic green eggs hidden around campus and redeem them for prizes available through Residence Life and Housing. Students may redeem their eggs from noon to 3 p.m. on Friday, April 6 in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-33. Prizes include an Amazon Echo, a Bose Soundlink speaker, an HD smart TV and more. The Green Dot initiative, introduced to the College last year, asks students, faculty and staff to promote a positive campus culture by making ethical, everyday decisions.

Also on Monday, SAFER and the Greek Multicultural Council held the second annual “Speak Up” panel, a presentation on sexual violence organized by sophomore Tatiana Nolen, an athletic training major from the Bronx, N.Y. The panel explored a more ethnically diverse perspective on sexual violence.

Tuesday, April 3

A presentation on stalking awareness led by Senior Investigator Ed Marecek of the New York State Police will be held at 7 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 106. This program is designed to  help students, faculty and staff identify the signs of stalking and how to appropriately handle a stalking situation.

Wednesday, April 4

Keith Edwards will present “Ending Rape: A Social Change Approach to Sexual Violence.” Edwards, a speaker and educator on sexual violence prevention and founder of the ACPA Commission for Social Justice Educators, has been nationally recognized for his work to end sexual assault, and delivered a popular TEDx Talk, “Ending Rape.” Edwards’ presentation will be held at 7 p.m. in Corey Union Function Room and will focus on strategies for preventing sexual violence before it even happens.

Thursday, April 5

A panel in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge at 7 p.m. titled “Who Do You See First? Options for Reporting Sexual Violence” will discuss the options an individual has for reporting a sexual assault incident both on and off campus. Panelists include state police investigator Marecek, Cortland YWCA sexual assault prevention educator Eric Schisler ’15, SUNY Cortland Title IX Coordinator Nan Pasquarello, University Police Department Investigator Amanda Wasson, Smith Tower Residence Hall Director Meghan Henley and SUNY Cortland student emergency medical technicians Joe Aabye, a senior biology major from Cadyville, N.Y. and Elaina Batista, a junior criminology major from Ronkonkoma, N.Y.

Friday, April 6

Concluding the Week of Action, SAFER will hold a tie-dying event from 4 to 6 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 301. Students are encouraged to stop by and tie-dye T-shirts sporting anti-sexual violence messages to support SAFER’s mission to raise awareness about sexual assault. Tie-dye supplies are first come, first served.

“We want to promote awareness that there are resources for students in these situations,” said Lagan. “No one’s ever really alone.”

Other Sexual Assault Awareness Month events at SUNY Cortland include:

• Take Back the Night march, Wednesday, April 11, 8 p.m., Corey Union steps.
• Around the World for Yeardley, Sunday, April 15, noon to 5 p.m. at the Stadium Complex. The rain location is Lusk Field House.
• A discussion on healthy relationships and consent, led by Jena Nicols Curtis, associate professor of health, Monday, April 16 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Jessica Congdon, film editor for “Miss Representation” and “The Mask You Live In,” will speak on “Feminism, Film, Men and the Media: Telling Our Stories Through Film” on Friday, April 20 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. “The Mask You Live In” will be shown at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 16 in Sperry Center, Room 105 and “Miss Representation” will screen at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17 in Sperry Center, Room 105.

For more information on the Week of Action, contact Nan Pasquarello, Title IX coordinator, at 607-753-4550.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Ben Mayberry

Even before the European Union was founded in 1993, SUNY Cortland introduced its students to European politics. The College served as one of the six founding members of the SUNY system’s Model European Union (MEU) Conference more than 30 years ago.

That’s just one of the reasons it makes sense for SUNY Cortland to assume the role of presidency when the next SUNY MEU Conference takes place in New York City in 2019. The three-day event involves colleges and universities from across the world role-playing in committees on behalf of the EU’s 28 member states, assuming positions that include prime ministers, ministers of foreign affairs and ministers of economy and finance.

“This is a big deal,” said Assistant Professor Alexandru Balas, the College’s MEU advisor and the director of the Clark Center for Global Engagement. “You want a team that’s going to rise up to the challenge and prepare well in the months leading up to the conference. Our colleagues saw those qualities in us.”

The presidency will require a four-student team from the College to oversee the conference proceedings and create an agenda based on current political and economic conditions in the EU. SUNY Cortland students will be trusted to understand formal procedures, chair four council meetings and cooperate during fictional press conferences with a media team comprised of students from a different institution.

“You have to know what to say, what not to say and how to respond to questions in a way that’s satisfactory, even if you don’t know the answer,” Balas said. “This is something politicians do quite often.”

In January, a group of 12 SUNY Cortland students traveled to Brussels for the MEU event, which alternates locations between the U.S. and Belgium each year. Fifteen participating institutions represented public and private campuses across the globe, and SUNY Cortland brought the conference’s second-largest delegation of students.

At the College, MEU represents a meaningful opportunity for students to travel and, more importantly, develop crucial skills in writing, public speaking and negotiation. Students from any major can earn one credit for the experience, and they do not need to bring in any previous knowledge of EU politics. This past year’s participants represented majors such as international studies, political science, business economics, French and Spanish.

“I tell students that MEU is a lab,” said Balas, who also serves as coordinator of SUNY Cortland’s International Studies Program. “It’s a laboratory where they’re going to get to practice and maybe make mistakes so that when they go into a job or a similar situation, they’re going to know how to behave.”

When she arrived at the College, sophomore Elianna Bodnar knew that she wanted to study abroad and hopefully one day pursue an international career. She joined SUNY Cortland’s World First learning community as a freshman, which is how she met Balas and first heard about MEU. 

In 2017, while attending her first MEU conference and role-playing on behalf of Greece, Bodnar was called on to give a two-minute speech in front of the event’s approximately 200 attendees. She said it was by far the largest public speaking experience of her life.

“I was so nervous that I was shaking,” said Bodnar, an international studies major from Cambridge, N.Y. “But once I finished, I just remember feeling this overwhelming sense of accomplishment.”

Balas recalled that Bodnar was shy at the start of the conference, but she quickly developed a noticeable sense of confidence.

“By the end, Elianna was going toe-to-toe with a first-year master’s student and supporting her key points with evidence,” he said. “She grew up so much in those three days.”

John Ortolano, a senior political science major from LaGrangeville, N.Y., discovered SUNY Cortland’s MEU team by chance during the course registration process when he transferred to the College in spring 2017. It sounded different than a traditional classroom experience and he liked the added benefit of earning course credit. 

“No question, it’s the best experience I’ve had at Cortland,” said Ortolano, who plans to go on to law school. “I had never been on an airplane before. Now, I feel more informed and open-minded about what’s going on in the world.”

In addition to three days of acting as committees from Denmark, Latvia and Romania, SUNY Cortland’s 2018 group made the most of its trip to the EU’s capital in Brussels. Students enjoyed visits to the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and a meeting with a representative from Bulgaria, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

SUNY Cortland students saw the debating chamber of the Parliament, the new headquarters of the Council and the House of European History. They also took part in a day trip to Ghent, the Belgian city that many of them learned about in international studies coursework dealing with the foundation of the modern world.

Although neither Bodnar nor Ortolano see themselves working in European politics after college, both agreed that the experience will help them along their career paths, whether those bring opportunities with an international non-governmental organization or practicing law.

“MEU is for the student who wants to be challenged, who has an interest in international affairs or adding new tools to their toolkit when they end up on the job market,” Balas said. “It’s for the student who is willing to learn a lot outside of the classroom format, in a conference setting.”

The 2018 experience was funded with support from the SUNY Cortland President’s and International Program offices; the Dean of Arts and Sciences; the Clark Center for Global Engagement; and the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Module grant that SUNY Cortland was awarded in 2015.

Dating violence is a devastating problem in college communities around the world.

And around the world is exactly how far students from SUNY Cortland and 25 other State University of New York schools are willing to walk in the fight against it.

The College is again taking part in the One Love Foundation’s Around the World for Yeardley initiative. SUNY Cortland’s event will be held from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 15 at the Stadium Complex. Lusk Field House will serve as the rain location.

On that day — an on similar event days at other SUNY campuses — students, faculty and staff are encouraged to walk, jog, run or wheel as many yards as they can, with the overall, combined goal of 50 million yards.  That’s roughly equal to the circumference of the planet.

“It can turn into a competition,” said Amanda Lagan, senior psychology major from Levittown, N.Y. and student president of Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER). “When does Cortland not make something a competition? But it’s the positive kind, for a good cause.”

Cortland totaled 5.4 million yards a year ago, trailing only SUNY Oswego’s 5.7 million yards among State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) campuses. This year, SUNY Cortland participants hope to walk 8 million yards, according to Nan Pasquarello, the College’s Title IX coordinator.

SUNY Cortland’s 2018 Yards for Yeardley planning committee includes representatives from the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Athletics, Residence Life and Housing and the Student Government Association as well as the Title IX Office and SAFER.

Last year, the 10 SUNYAC campuses were the only SUNY participants in the national event, held each year in memory of Yeardley Love, a student and lacrosse player at the University of Virginia who was murdered by an ex-boyfriend in May 2010, just three weeks before she was due to graduate. They walked a total of 25.7 million yards.

This year, the effort expanded to include any SUNY school that wanted to help and the goal nearly doubled to 50 million yards. Organizers hope the increased participation will help raise widespread awareness about unhealthy relationships and dating violence and ultimately change the social climate surrounding the issue.

Dating violence is of particular significance within the SUNY System. Just last month, Haley Anderson, a Binghamton University nursing student, was found dead in the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, a fellow student who has been arrested in connection with her murder.  

SUNY Geneseo, meanwhile, is still mourning the loss of student-athletes Kelsey Annese and Matthew Hutchinson, who were killed by Annese’s ex-boyfriend, a former SUNY Geneseo student who then took his own life, in January, 2016. Alexandra Kogut, a SUNY Brockport swimmer, was murdered by her boyfriend in her dorm room in 2012.

“Dating violence is a serious issue that needs to be addressed,” Pasquarello said. “The College’s 2018 planning committee for Around the World for Yeardley is looking forward to welcoming students, employees and local alumni — in teams or as individuals — to help us raise awareness and top last year’s total.”  

During the SUNY Cortland event, SAFER, the YWCA’s Aid to Victims of Violence, the University Police Department and Title IX Office will set up tables around the stadium track offering information about sexual assault and intimate partner violence prevention. The campus radio and television stations will be on site, and food and water will be provided. Free refillable Yards for Yeardley water bottles will be given to the first 500 registrants.

Yards for Yeardley was started in December 2014 by three students from the University of Virginia and Boston College women’s lacrosse teams. In 2017, the event was adopted by all 10 SUNYAC schools as well as by colleges and universities across the country.

For more information on the College’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month programming, contact Nan Pasquarello, Title IX coordinator, at 607-753-4550.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Ben Mayberry

At a time when the role of women in film is both the subject of national debate and the inspiration for international movements, organizers of SUNY Cortland’s Blackbird Film Festival decided to take a new approach.

By design, more than half of the roughly 120 scheduled offerings during the festival’s return to campus  April 20-22 will be films made by women.

“It’s in a direct response to the #TimesUp and the #MeToo movements,” said Sam Avery, assistant professor of Communication Studies and the executive/artistic director and lead festival programmer. “What we’re doing is a little different but it’s not revolutionary,” Avery said. “But I assume other festivals will start to catch on.”

Although there are many female-only film festivals held around the country each year, , many others are dominated by male filmmakers, and always have been. The Blackbird Film Festival organizers and judges deliberately selected films to ensure that the gender balance of filmmakers mirrored the ratio of men to women in the general population.

“I thought this year, why not try something a little different and split the breakdown of filmmakers 50-50?” Avery said. “Actually, it worked out that we have 53 percent of our films made by women this year. Frankly, I don’t know of another festival that does it that way.”

 A “Women in Film” panel will be a highlight of the programming on Saturday, April 21. The panelists are: Sarah Elder, an award-winning documentary filmmaker; Yasmin Mistry, an Emmy-nominated animator and filmmaker; Christina “Kit” Vinsick, a director, producer and writer; Aislinn Clarke, a filmmaker, writer and director; Jennifer Dean, a theater producer; and Danielle Dellaporta, an actress and writer. Kathleen Lawrence and Caroline Kaltefleiter, both SUNY Cortland professors of communication studies, will moderate the panel, which begins at 3:30 p.m. Room location will be determined at a later date.

Visit BlackbirdFilmFest.com for updates and detailed information on each of the panelists. The site also has a complete listing of this year’s selected films, 20 of which were made by SUNY Cortland students.

Alyssa Marley, a senior from Newburgh, N.Y. who is a communication studies major with a concentration in media production, is serving as the festival’s assistant director of digital content and marketing. She is looking forward to sharing her work and getting to meet other female filmmakers.

“It’s very inspiring, especially for a female like me who’s going into the media field after graduation,” Marley said. “I think it’s very empowering to have a majority of female filmmakers. It’s really cool and it’s not unheard of but I believe it can be a catalyst for years to come.”

Blackbird Film Festival has been a champion for independent and student filmmakers since it began in 2015, and has grown every year. This year, more than 1,580 films were submitted for consideration to the festival’s panel of student judges. Fewer than 8 percent of them made the cut.

Programming categories include documentary, love and romance, foreboding, environmental and dramatic action, among others.

Among the highlights of Blackbird 2018:

• SUNY Cortland’s School of Education is sponsoring a pre-festival screening of “RE:Thinking: A Film About Education in America” at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 19 in Sperry Center, Room 105. The documentary raises questions about our current educational system and offers insight for policy makers, administrators, teachers, parents and the public. Andrea Lachance, dean of the School of Education, will join a panel session that also includes Avery; Deborah Hoard, the film’s director and producer; Luvelle Brown, superintendent of the Ithaca City School District and Chris Sperry, Ithaca College’s staff development director.
• Officials from the Governor’s Office of Motion Picture and Television Development will speak about tax credit opportunities for filmmakers at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 20. Room location will be announced at a later date. Films and television shows shot in New York, including the filming of “Cold Brook” on the SUNY Cortland campus in July 2017, have contributed billions of dollars to the state economy.
• Screenings begin with a block of premiere shorts at 6:30 p.m. on April 20. A kickoff party will be held at Bru64 on Main St., featuring a performance by SUNY Cortland’s Rock’n Blues Ensemble.
• A group of selected filmmakers will meet with local participants in the YWCA’s Girls: Empowered, Motivated and Successful (GEMS) program to talk about careers in technology and media. GEMS works to help young girls make smart life choices and become confident leaders.
• On Sunday, April 22, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Blackbird will show a block of films on identity, which focus on topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity. A panel of experts will speak on these issues. The group of panelists is currently being finalized.
• An award ceremony and dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. on April 22 at Cortland Repertory Theatre on Port Watson St. in Cortland. The ceremony is sponsored by the Cortland County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

For the latest on the festival, use the hashtag #blackbirdfilmfest and follow the festival on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And visit the official website at BlackbirdFilmFest.com.

In many communities, up to 20 percent of all service calls to law enforcement officers now deal with requests to assist a person undergoing a mental health crisis. College campuses are coping with similar challenges.

Recently, the SUNY Cortland University Police Department (UPD) took steps to improve relations between its officers and people experiencing mental health problems by joining the national “One Mind Campaign.”

“Whoever we deal with, it’s important for them to get the proper health care they need,” said SUNY Cortland Police Chief Mark DePaull.

The pledge includes specialized training for situations involving people in crisis with mental health issues and other steps aimed at making sure officers’ interactions are appropriate, understanding and effective.

Sponsoring the campaign are the 30,000 members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), which provides training, technical assistance and recruitment services for law enforcement officers. Members are “dedicated to advancing the profession through advocacy, outreach, education and programs,” according to the IACP website.  

In order to join the organization’s “One Mind” initiative to improve relations between police officers and individuals with a mental health challenge, SUNY Cortland UPD had to adopt four different requirements within in a 12- to 36-month period. 

SUNY Cortland UPD completed it in six months. The measures involved:

• completing the One Mind Pledge.
• establishing a sustainable relationship with a local mental health organization by forming a partnership with the Cortland County Mental Health office.
• developing and implementing a model policy for UPD officers to apply when dealing with those struggling with mental health issues; and,
• securing sufficient mental health awareness training for all UPD officers, with at least 20 percent of the department completing the more intensive crisis intervention training.

The 40-hour crisis intervention curriculum is designed by local agencies to train a team of specialized officers to respond to calls that involve individuals with mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety or extreme stress. The curriculum includes education on various de-escalation techniques as well as live role-playing scenarios of officers responding to persons who need mental health assistance.

“It’s definitely going to be effective,” DePaull said. “Of the four goals we had to reach, the new model policy and the eight-hour training are going to make a huge difference in how we handle all our calls.”

DePaull decided to join the ranks of other law enforcement agencies implementing the One Mind Campaign in their everyday affairs due to the rising number of mental health related cases within the SUNY Cortland community.

 “The Cortland County Mental Health office has been instrumental in helping us,” DePaull said. “They provided the training, and they’ve been a great resource that’s been able to connect us to a broader network of mental health experts.”

SUNY Cortland UPD took additional measures to ensure a safe community by entering into an agreement with Liberty Resources to use the agency's Mental Health Mobile Crisis Unit when responding to mental health-related calls.  Liberty Resources also operates the Center for Brain Injury and Rehabilitation program in Cortland, N.Y. 

“It is important to have a solid policy and properly trained officers in place so that we are able to assist our community members that may be in crisis,” DePaull said.

For more information regarding the One Mind Campaign, or to see a list of other law enforcement agencies registered with this program, visit the IACP website.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Hannah Bistocchi

Substance abuse is often a taboo issue, but SUNY Cortland will embrace the inspiring story of addiction recovery with a film screening and panel discussion with actress and filmmaker Marisa Vitali.

The 2015 short film “Grace,” produced by Vitali and directed by Chris Ordal, will screen at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10 in Old Main Brown Auditorium. The panel discussion will follow.

Presented by the Psychology and Sociology/Anthropology departments and the Substance Abuse Prevention and Education Office, the screening and discussion are free and open to the public.

Panelists will include Vitali, Psychology Department Chair Joshua Peck, Assistant Professor of Sociology/Anthropology Stephanie Decker, and Substance Abuse Prevention and Education Associate Marissa Whitaker.

“Grace” depicts a young woman’s struggle with heroin addiction and how it affected her career and everyday life. The film’s events are based upon Vitali’s real experiences with addiction and recovery, and Vitali herself plays the protagonist.

The film has screened at various prestigious film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, and has received numerous awards and accolades.

“I felt like a turtle without a shell, raw and emotionally exposed,” Vitali said. “This was the story I wanted to tell in the film ‘Grace.’ Anyone can watch a film and learn how to shoot a bag of dope or smoke a crack pipe. I wanted to tell a story of hope and recovery and bridge a gap between addicts and non-addicts to start the conversation of recovery.”

Vitali, who presents the film across the United States, reached out to Peck, an associate professor of psychology, about bringing it to SUNY Cortland.

“It really is a film of hope,” Peck said. “Our goal is to get the conversation going. How do we move towards recovery and what does recovery look like?”

Vitali was inspired to tell her story through film after writing it down in many different forms, each time struggling to find an ending to the stream of consciousness. It occurred to Vitali that the story of her difficult recovery process was what audiences needed to see. Vitali hoped the film would bring addicts and non-addicts together for a positive conversation on the subject, as during her recovery she noticed a disconnect between those two worlds.

“This is a unique opportunity for students to have direct access to an actress who has experienced addiction and recovery and is now living a productive life,” Peck said.

Peck believes this event is timely, as alcohol and opioid abuse on college campuses remains a disturbing trend. Students should be aware that there are resources available to them if they seek help.

“We need to get the message out for our population struggling with addiction,” Peck said. “There is a recovery process. You’re not destined to always be an addict once you’ve become one.”

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Ben Mayberry

SUNY Cortland graduate and higher education consultant Jamie Piperato ’12 will return to her alma mater on Saturday, April 14, to help college students interact and communicate more effectively with people from cultural backgrounds different than their own.  

Her keynote address, “Transforming our Work: The Journey to Just and Equitable Campus Communities,” will take place during the ninth annual Student Conference on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice.

The student-led conference, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day in Corey Union, seeks to promote open-mindedness, celebrate diversity and encourage awareness of divergent views on the College campus and within students’ own communities.

Piperato, the founder of JPHigherEd, an identity-conscious professional development company that provides in-person trainings, online webinars and online courses, will speak at 12:30 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room.

Supported by a Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS) grant, Piperato’s lecture is free and open to the public.

 “The journey to a just and equitable campus is twofold,” Piperato said. “First, we must recognize our responsibility to reflect on our own capacity to engage and work towards social justice.

“Second, as campus communities, we must recognize the steps that are necessary to dismantle systems of oppression that exist in higher education,” she said.

Piperato, a self-described “educator, social justice advocate and optimist,” will discuss how individual students can infuse social justice education into their day-to-day practices. Her guided discussion aims to equip participants with the awareness, knowledge and capability to take action to cultivate just and equitable campus communities.

At SUNY Cortland, Piperato received her bachelor of science in kinesiology with a concentration in sport studies. She also served as president of the Student Government Association.

Piperato has a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She has extensive higher education experience as a student affairs professional in the areas of multicultural education, LGBTQ services, Title IX education, leadership, career development and university housing.

After she graduated from SUNY Cortland, Piperato joined the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association Board of Directors. She has worked diligently to help the association engage younger alumni through a host of social, educational and career networking opportunities.

Led by student conference chair Shai’an Irving, the event intends to provide undergraduate and graduate students across the disciplines with an opportunity and a venue to share their academic research, build their resumes and network with other students across New York state around the core values of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. Organizers also include Lima Stafford, assistant director of multicultural life and diversity; and Christina Papaleo, residence hall director.

SUNY Cortland students who register by Friday, April 6, may attend free of charge, courtesy of Multicultural Life and Diversity. The registration fee to attend the complete conference is $32 for non-SUNY Cortland students as well as SUNY Cortland students who register after April 6; and $35 for faculty, staff, alumni and community members. The registration cost covers a breakfast buffet, lunch, giveaways and more. For additional details and to register, visit the conference website or contact the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office at 607-753-2336.

In the vastness of history, some struggles are lesser known than others, threatening to be forgotten if their stories are not told. One such struggle was the conflict between striking copper laborers and the industrial barons who violently oppressed them during the onset of World War I.

Charlie King, an award-winning singer/songwriter and political satirist, will bring a multimedia performance on the subject to SUNY Cortland on Thursday, April 5.

“Our interest is to unearth histories that are hidden through cultural renderings,” said Colleen Kattau, associate professor of Spanish. Kattau, a folk musician herself, has previously worked with King and helped bring him to campus.

“We’re highlighting aspects of history that the official history might not inform us of — hidden histories that are nevertheless important,” she said.

The performance, titled “1917/Copper! WWI and the War on Labor”, will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Old Main Colloquium. King will perform for about 45 to 60 minutes, after which he will facilitate a group discussion. Candace Cassin, a teacher at Insight Meditation Center in Easthampton, Mass., will assist King’s performance.

King has produced folk music since 1976 and is the recipient of numerous awards. He aims to educate people on overlooked parts of U.S. history and raise awareness for humanitarian issues and social causes. Kattau said that his performances educate in a poignant way, carrying much more emotional impact than just a lecture.

King will incorporate images and dramatic readings of historical documents into his performance, but the most crucial facet will be his original songs. A passionate singer and guitarist, he will use his music to convey the struggle of copper miners in their quest to obtain better working conditions and basic human rights.

“History is always written from the perspective of those in power,” Kattau said. “They determine what gets written and how it gets written. It’s up to the people to tell their own stories.”

The war on labor is one such overwritten story. In June 1917, a disaster at the Granite Mountain Speculator Mine in Butte, Mont., ignited the conflict between the miners and the industrialists who sought to control them. An accidental fire spread throughout the mine during the inspection of a fallen cable and 168 miners were killed in what is still considered the deadliest underground hard rock mining incident in U.S. history. Some of the miners suffered heinously as they slowly asphyxiated over several days. Only a handful could be rescued.

In the wake of this disaster, copper miners participated in large-scale strikes to negotiate safer working conditions. This did not sit well with industrialists, especially since the demand for copper was very high at the onset of World War I. Copper barons struck back at the miners in a number of ways, culminating with the July 1917 actions of the mining company Phelps Dodge Corporation in Bisbee, Ariz. A posse forced about 1,300 strikers and their supporters onto train cars and after a 16-hour ride with no food or water, the kidnapped persons were deposited in New Mexico and stranded. The mass kidnapping had been organized by Phelps Dodge — which had colluded with the Bisbee sheriff’s department — in retaliation for the mining strikes. The U.S. Department of Justice arrested 21 Phelps Dodge executives and local law enforcement leaders but none were charged.

Kattau pointed out parallels between these incidents and events that are happening in the U.S. today, comparing the Bisbee deportations with some current tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“There are these uncanny similarities between then and now,” Kattau said. “The myth is that we would never do these things, but the fact is that we do them all the time.”

Kattau also drew parallels between the unions of the early 20th century and today, and the constant battle that labor unions must wage to retain power and influence over working conditions. Kattau cited the deterioration of mining conditions and the resurgence of black lung disease among coal miners.

“There’s been an eroding of union power,” Kattau said. “These rights are givens in other countries but a constant struggle for us.”

Kattau believes students will benefit greatly from educational and impactful performances like King’s.

“In these turbulent times, it’s important for students to know that there’s a history of struggle for equality and justice,” Kattau said. “If you know your history, then it’s going to help you create a better future for yourself and for others.”

The performance is co-sponsored by the Economics, History, Modern Languages, and Philosophy departments, the Center for Peace and Social Justice, and the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies. Contact Kattau at 607-753-2025 for more information.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Ben Mayberry

SUNY Cortland’s softball team won in dramatic fashion on Monday, April 2, giving head coach Julie Lenhart her 900th career coaching victory.

Hannah Feldman’s walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning capped a six-run frame that lifted Cortland to a 12-9 win over visiting Rochester.

Lenhart is only the sixth coach in Division III history to reach the 900-win plateau, and just the fourth to do so coaching exclusively at Division III schools. Lenhart has a career mark of 900-380-2 in 29 years as a head coach — 780-303-2 in 24 seasons at Cortland and 120-77 in five years at Wisconsin-Platteville from 1990-94.

SUNY Cortland has qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs 16 times under Lenhart and has made seven World Series appearances. The Red Dragons were national runners-up in 2013, placed fourth in 2011, placed fifth in 2003 and 2008 and were seventh-place finishers in 1998, 2004 and 2009.

Lenhart and her staff have been named National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Northeast Region Coaching Staff of the Year seven times (1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013) and she was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in December 2014. She was named State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Coach of the Year five times (1997, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2015) and was named the Wisconsin Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1992.

Cortland teams under Lenhart have won SUNYAC postseason titles 11 times (1998, 2003, 2005, 2007-08, 2010-11, 2013, 2015-17), and she has led Cortland to either first or second place in the SUNYAC tournament every year since 1998.

Lenhart’s teams have won at least 27 games each year since 1997, including four straight years from 2009-12 with 40 or more wins, 39 victories in 2008, and 38 wins in both 2016 and 2007. Since 2000, Cortland is a combined 298-44-2 in SUNYAC regular-season games, including unbeaten seasons in 2007 (20-0), 2010 (18-0) and 2011 (17-0-1), and one-loss seasons in 2009 (19-1), 2012 (17-1) and 2016 (17-1).

A native of McComb, Ohio, Lenhart is a 1980 graduate of Ohio Northern University. A Dean’s List student, she lettered in basketball, softball and volleyball. She is a member of the ONU Athletic Hall of Fame. She also has taught and coached at the North Central Schools in Pioneer, Ohio and at Shawnee High School in Lima, Ohio.

Actor Justin Prentice uses his experiences portraying an abuser on the popular Netflix show, “13 Reasons Why,” to speak out for victims of sexual assault.

The plot of the controversial drama follows high school student Hannah Baker, who commits suicide and leaves 13 cassette tapes behind for the people who she blames as the cause of her suicide.

Prentice plays Bryce Walker, Baker’s 12th reason for killing herself. The character raped her one night at a party at his house.

Prentice will speak with SUNY Cortland students about the severity of sexual assault and the lasting impacts it can have on people on Wednesday, April 18, at SUNY Cortland. His talk begins at 8 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is linked to the Sexual Assault Awareness Month series of events being held on campus.

“It’s not directly related to Sexual Assault Awareness Month but placing the talk in April was purposeful,” said the presentation organizer Phoebe Sullivan, vice president of the Student Activities Board (SAB). The student-run SAB is responsible for setting up events with celebrities on campus each year.

 “I think it’s good for someone to come and have a conversation around this topic,” Sullivan said. “It’s kind of a taboo subject, but with everything that happens in April it helps bring awareness to what’s happening. Especially with it being such a popular show, we will draw a large crowd and be able to further raise awareness.”

The show, which premiered last fall, has received favorable reviews, but has also drawn controversy for its graphic depiction of topics like suicide and rape. Netflix recently renewed it for a second season.

The event would be a “modified conversation,” where Prentice will take questions from students, Sullivan explained.

 “The purpose of these events is to provide fun things for kids to do on campus and off,” Sullivan said. “We try to have big names come so that more people will get involved. It’s for the campus, ultimately.”

Tying into Sexual Assault Awareness Month, SAB will hand out materials and resource cards from the Counseling Center.

SAB next is planning its biggest event every year, the Spring Fling concert and carnival, which is set for Saturday, April 28. The concert artist’s name will be released soon.

For more information about SAB or its upcoming events, email SAB or call 607-753-2826.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Hannah Bistocchi

Given the public’s increased focus on sexual harassment and women’s rights this past year, award-winning documentary filmmaker Jessica Congdon will make a timely visit to SUNY Cortland to show and discuss two of her works: “The Mask You Live In” and “Miss Representation.”

Congdon will speak on “Feminism, Film, Men and the Media: Telling our Stories through Film” on Friday, April 20. Her talk will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

 “One of the things that impresses me with Jess’ work is her fight for social justice,” said Andrea Harbin, associate professor of English.

Preceding her talk, Congdon’s 2015 film, produced, written and edited with Jennifer Siebel Newsom, “The Mask You Live In,” will be screened from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Monday, April 16, in Sperry Center, Room 105. The Mask You Live In explores what the producers perceive to be harmful notions about masculinity in American culture.

 Her 2011 documentary, also produced, written and edited with Newsom, “Miss Representation,” will be shown from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the same location Tuesday, April 17. “Miss Representation” explores how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in influential positions by circulating limited and often disparaging portrayals of women.

Both the talk and film screenings are free and open to the public and are part of SUNY Cortland’s recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campus is hosting a number of events throughout April sponsored by the Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC), English Department, Title IX, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

“We’ve shown both of these films regularly on campus, so they aren’t new, but they are relevant because of what’s been happening in the news lately,” Harbin said.

Congdon’s newest film and directorial debut, “Empire on Main Street,” will be shown at the Blackbird Film Festival, which runs from Friday, April 20, until Sunday, April 22. She is listed on the festival’s “Meet the 2018 Filmmakers” site as a filmmaker who will attend the festival. The short documentary film will be screened during the Block B- Documentary (PG) series from 9 to 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, at a location to be announced.

The founding editor and director at Umlaut Films in San Francisco, Congdon has received accolades such as Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE) editing awards, the One Show Award, and the Cannes Lions award.

“The Mask You Live In” and “Miss Representation” both premiered at Sundance, in 2011 and 2015 respectively.

 In 2017, she premiered her written and edited feature-length documentary, “Dolores,” directed by Peter Bratt. The film won a Sundance Documentary Competition award. In “Dolores,” Congdon tells the story of Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the National Farmworkers Association with Cesar Chavez, but was not recognized. This would later be known as the United Farm Workers (UFW), according to her biography.  

“Jess is empowering this woman who has been overlooked,” Harbin said. “Especially this year, with the #MeToo movement, we should not only think about women and our own identities, but also masculinity. What it means to be masculine is contributing to this abuse of power and discrimination against women.”

Prior to her work on those films, Congdon co-directed and edited the documentary “Race to Nowhere.” She has edited the documentaries “Speed and Angels,” “Motherland,” “The Bronzer” and the narrative features “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and the Sundance award-winner “Dopamine.”

Congdon also directs the web series “Inspired” and “Places + Plates.”

Congdon grew up in Washington, D.C., and received her bachelor’s degree from University of California at Berkeley and studied film at the Art Institute of Chicago.  

To learn more about the events being held on campus, visit the Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee website or contact Harbin at 607-753-2073.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Hannah Bistocchi.

African Americans served bravely in an integrated military during the American Revolution, often fighting for a more literal freedom than their white comrades-in-arms, according to Judith Van Buskirk, a professor of history at SUNY Cortland and author of a unique book on the subject.

Van Buskirk is the first historian to make extensive use of the Revolutionary War pension records. Her research resulted in the 2017 book, Standing ln Their Own Light: African American Patriots in The American Revolution (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press).

From both the northern and southern colonies, a large number of free blacks, and slaves released to serve in their owner’s stead, enlisted and served alongside whites as soldiers in Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army in the struggle for independence, according to Van Buskirk.

Decades after the war, to get a pension the veteran had to go to his local courthouse and swear a deposition of what he did in the American Revolution, Van Buskirk said. Often a son, widow or fellow former soldier spoke on their behalf.

“No one has used the pension records to the extent that I have to research the black experience in the American Revolutionary War.”

Using primarily African American sources is new for Revolutionary War research, according to Van Buskirk.

“It’s the closest thing we have to an African American voice in the revolution,” she said.

Van Buskirk shared that voice last month in a special Black History Month presentation at The Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. The topic drew considerable media attention to an aspect of the Revolutionary War that few Americans are aware of.

Estimates put the number of black patriots at around 5,000, but Van Buskirk qualifies that figure.

“Whenever you approach numbers as an historian there is always an argument,” she said. However, it’s established that black men served from all 13 of America’s original states.

The war started in 1775 at Lexington and Concord and ended in 1783 with the Treaty in Paris, but in terms of battle action, the major fighting had ended by the fall of 1781.

Pension Acts to reward the former soldiers, passed in 1818 and again in 1832, required them or their families to testify about their experiences with the Continental Army, leading to a motherlode of detailed information about the war offered by men in their early sixties for the first pension act and in their 80s for the second.

“You tend to think of Revolutionary War veterans living during the American revolution but they lived into the early republic, the early 19th century,” Van Buskirk said. “These are old guys in the 19th century.”

The records relate that, originally recruited into supporting roles, African Americans increasingly were drawn into combat as the rebellion intensified, Van Buskirk said. The pension testimonials filed in county courthouses throughout the colonies chronicled their injuries and details of what they endured during key Revolutionary War engagements, as verified by their peers on the battlefield.

“It was thought they wouldn’t be good soldiers, but the fact that they were wounded, that they served in light infantry — the elite corps of the day — and that they earned badges of merit all point to their military prowess,” Van Buskirk said.

In fact, the records established that many of these African American veterans lived long enough to share their proud record of service to their country in the subsequent movement to end slavery, Van Buskirk said. Abolitionists, citing the contributions of black soldiers, adopted the tactics and rhetoric of revolution, personal autonomy and freedom.

“A big argument that’s made in the Black Abolition movement of the 19th century was to remind the white community that their fathers and grandfathers fought in the American revolution and they certainly deserve an equal place in the society that their forefathers helped to found,” Van Buskirk said. “And the black veterans themselves were part of that movement as well.”

Blacks at first were recruited by the rebel side cautiously.

“There were many free blacks from New England,” Van Buskirk said. “And in the beginning of the war, the colonies passed laws that prohibited black men, period, from entering the war. But then as the war dragged on, they let in free blacks. And then, they allowed enslaved blacks who got permission from their masters to join the army. And in those days, if you were called up to service, you could have somebody else substitute for you, and there were masters who got slaves to serve for them. They might serve for money or their freedom. So, there were a conglomeration of free and enslaved blacks who served under Washington.”

Blacks also joined the British side’s effort to retain control of its colonies in America, said Van Buskirk, whose research does not encompass black participation with the opposing army.

“Of course, they were fighting for their freedom,” she said, citing the work of other historians.

“After the British lost, they couldn’t stay because most of them were enslaved and would be taken back by their masters,” Van Buskirk said. “Many got on boats where they ended up all over the world: in Canada, England and some went back to Africa.”

And sadly, the promise of freedom in exchange for patriotic service was often broken by slave owners in America.

In this war, segregation of the American servicemen evolved as the exception, not the rule. Segregated units included one black regiment of about 200 servicemen with white commanding officers called the First Rhode Island and a couple black companies of about 50 soldiers.

The First Rhode Island was planned to number 500 to 800 black soldiers but remained undermanned, Van Buskirk noted.

“The state legislature of Rhode Island passed an act that enslaved men could offer to serve for the duration of the war,” she said. “If they passed muster, they entered service with the First Rhode Island and then they were freemen.

“There was nothing in the law that said they had to get the permission from their masters. So, when men started walking off the fields and into the regiment, the power brokers in Providence decided, ‘We can’t have this,’ and passed another law that closed it down before more men joined.”

Van Buskirk sometimes found that a black serviceman’s testimonial amended America’s record of a key American Revolution battle.

“Pompey Woodward was a new Englander who was present at the Battle of Bennington (Vt.), a part of the Saratoga campaign and a great victory for the Americans,” she said.

“But Pompey Woodward doesn’t tell about the battle itself in his pension deposition but about what happened after the battle. He says, ‘Yeah, I remember after the battle we put all the enemy prisoners into the meeting house. And that night there was a disturbance and our men went in and shot some prisoners.’

“There’s no history that says we went in and killed defenseless prisoners of war,” at that battle, Van Buskirk said. “I had to find some corroboration of this because just because one person says it’s so doesn’t make it so. And I found it; and this apparently did happen. He’s telling us a story that’s quite different from the official report made to the Continental Congress about the battle.

“A private’s view of the war is quite different from the general’s,” Van Buskirk said. “Until recently we often only have had the general’s recall of the experiences.”

These remembered experiences of African American patriots offer a fascinating peek into the past.

“There’s a funny story having to do with Agrippa Hull,” Van Buskirk said. “He was an enslaved man from New England who served a very famous Polish general who joined the American Continental Army, Tadeusz Kosciuszko.”

Kosciuszko brought from Europe an elaborate uniform and a hat with an ostrich plume sticking out of it.

“One night, Kosciuszko was going to go away from camp for a couple of days and Agrippa, whom everyone called ‘Grippy,’ decided to have a party. He put on the uniform and hat and paraded around with everyone congratulating him. Everyone was toasting him and having a fine old time when who arrived at the party but Kosciuszko. So, everybody tore out of there. And there was Grippy, in his general’s uniform, and mortified beyond belief. But Kosciuszko kind of had a sense of humor.”

The general made his underling don the fancy hat again to parade at another general’s party, where a throne was erected for Grippy.

“Agrippa Hull lived a very long life into his late eighties and he regaled his community with tales about the night he did all this, much to the delight of everybody,” Van Buskirk said.

“So, they were human beings, not just a part of a subgrouping. They were men who had a sense of humor and lived life.”

Van Buskirk joined SUNY Cortland in 1997 as an assistant professor in the History Department. In 2003, she was promoted to associate professor and in 2016 to professor.In 1999, she was among only 27 scholars worldwide to be awarded a Fellowship in American Civilizations grant by the New York City-based Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Van Buskirk studied at three New York City historical archives for her resulting 2002 book on American Revolution history, Generous Enemies: Patriots and Loyalists in Revolutionary New York.

She has had numerous scholarly articles, book reviews, article critiques, exhibit critiques and encyclopedia entries published.

Van Buskirk received a Bachelor of Arts in French from La Salle College, and earned a Master of International Business with a concentration in international finance from the University of South Carolina. She earned her Ph. D. from New York University with a dissertation titled “Generous Enemies: Civility and Conflict in Revolutionary New York.”

For senior Kaley Clavell, working toward a SUNY Cortland teaching degree has meant spending much of her time off campus, working with children in school classrooms in Cortland, Ithaca, Marathon, Syracuse and the Bronx. And it began her first year out of high school.

Clavell chose this immersive path as a participant in the College’s Professional Development School (PDS) initiative, a cutting-edge program in which teacher education students spend the bulk of their time in classroom settings.

She and three fellow PDS students — and six SUNY Cortland faculty members — recently shared those experiences as presenters at the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) National Conference in Jacksonville, Fla., in mid-March.

Senior childhood education and early childhood education majors Jackelyn Aguirre, from Little Neck, N.Y., Kelsey Klein, from Vestal, N.Y., and Clavell, from Suffern, N.Y., delivered a presentation titled “Freshman to Seniors: Learning and Growing in Professional Development Schools.”

In addition, Brianna Evans, a senior dual major in adolescence education in social studies and history from Syracuse, N.Y., presented “Experience and Knowledge: Centering the Experiences and Perspectives of Teachers of Color in the Mentorship and Induction of Teacher Candidates of Color” alongside members of SUNY Cortland’s Foundations and Social Advocacy Department.

They were among a tiny handful of students among the scores of working professionals and experts at the three-day annual conference for the group, which represents more than 5,500 education professionals involved in professional development school programs around the world.

SUNY Cortland launched its PDS program in the fall of 2008, building bridges between college students, college faculty and educators in local public schools. Participating pre-service teachers complete their academic requirements largely off campus in the local schools and are required to complete 245 hours of field experience working directly with young students and their teachers. Many non-PDS pre-service teachers spend 100 hours doing observation before student teaching. The aim is to better prepare educators by breaking down barriers between theory and practice and providing meaningful links between school-based and college-based faculty.

The SUNY Cortland students were accepted to present at the NAPDS conference after submitting proposals. It was a unique opportunity for them to both share their expertise and gain leadership experience in a professional setting.

Clavell, part of the College’s Cortland’s Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E) program, spent time in schools in Cortland, Ithaca, Marathon and Syracuse and is student teaching during the spring semester at Bronx Charter School for Better Learning.

“I’ve been in five schools in four years and that is huge,” Clavell said. “Learning from so many experienced teachers and their teaching styles, it’s about finding out how we fit in our classrooms and the classroom management strategies we learn from all of these teachers.”

Valerie Widdall, lecturer in the Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, works with SUNY Cortland students and educators in the schools. Many student-teaching practicums don’t begin until a student’s sophomore or junior year, but Aguirre, Clavell and Klein are among the students who opted for the additional experiences offered to freshmen within the PDS model and spent four years getting hands-on experiences.

“It’s a change in how we approach teaching and it really blends the idea of teachers learning how to teach in the field, in the trenches,” Widdall said. “That’s where we as professors are going to take our students and help make it so that children in schools become the center of everyone’s focus. In keeping school children’s academic and social growth at the center of our practice, university professors, host teachers and pre-service teachers are able to work collaboratively for the betterment of the school community.”

In their presentation, the students spoke about how the collaborative effort of working with both college faculty and school-based faculty. They also explored the advantages and disadvantages of spending four years at PDS sites.

“This is exactly what we want them to do,” Widdall said. “We want them to analyze and be critical of their experiences. I don’t think there are a lot of other colleges with students presenting on this at national conferences.”

Brianna Evans, the dual major in adolescence education in social studies and history, made her presentation alongside Associate Professor Anne Burns Thomas and Assistant Professor Carrie Rood. Their research described a collaborative mentorship network established by C.U.R.E. that was designed to support the experiences and perspectives of teachers of color.

Other SUNY Cortland faculty presenters included:

• Kimberly Rombach, associate professor in the Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, spoke on “Co-Constructing Mutually Beneficial Mentoring: Promoting a Cognitive Apprenticeship PDS Model.” The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) has called for redesigning teacher preparatory programs by shifting the focus to teaching experiences. This would require a different type of mentorship from college and school-based faculty to develop teacher candidates.
• Krystal Barber, assistant professor in the Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, presented “Supporting Mathematical Fluency with Math Centers and Number Talks,” which detailed the collaboration between SUNY Cortland and Groton Elementary School to develop mathematical fluency in young students. She was joined by Sarah Neff, a teacher at Groton (N.Y.) Elementary School.
• Cynthia Benton, professor in the Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, presented “Expanding Professional Pedagogy and Instructional Analysis Tools: Innovating PDS Practices Toward a Cognitive Apprenticeship Model.” She described her research of mentor teachers and how they best worked with teacher candidates. Benton was joined by Stephanie Falls, principal of the Homer (N.Y.) Intermediate School.

Aguirre, Clavell and Klein have had to sacrifice part of the traditional college experience to get hands-on practice in classrooms. However, they head into the profession with a deep understanding of how to teach, thanks to faculty members and one-on-one interactions with students.

“We are fully prepared in every aspect of education, whether it’s diversity or equity inclusion, all of those things,” Clavell said. “We are prepared for keeping ourselves accountable as we go through school and we’re prepared because we’re aware and actively changing the culture in schools right now. We are aware of more than just what’s around Cortland and I think that really separates us.”

As a national leader in sustainability, SUNY Cortland is pretty green all year round.

In April, members of the campus community make a concerted effort to draw attention to it as they celebrate a full schedule of Green Days events. And next week, individual students will get recognition — and prizes — for doing environmentally sustainable things as part of their daily routines.

From Monday, April 9 through Friday, April 13, a special squad of Green Reps will be on the lookout for people who are refilling water bottles, eating vegetarian meals, riding a community bicycle or doing any other activity aimed at reducing their carbon footprint. Students who are “Caught Being Green” will get a prize from the patrol’s bag of green goodies.

But nobody has to wait until next week. SUNY Cortland’s Green Days are going on now. Although the month’s schedule, like the earth itself, is still evolving, below is a preliminary list of sustainability or environmental activities for April. It will be updated online and in the next edition of The Bulletin:

Wednesday, April 4

Sandwich Seminar: “Can Owning a Well Influence Environmentalism? A Discussion of Aquifers, Water Usage and Citizenship,” investigates the conservation behavior of private well owners in Kansas, where the intense demands of irrigation have made the availability of groundwater a growing problem. Brock Ternes, visiting professor of sociology/anthropology will present research on owners’ conservation routines and other pro-environmental behaviors, which have implications for sustaining communities in drought-prone regions. The talk is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge and is sponsored by Campus Sustainability Coalition and the Sustainability Office.

Thursday, April 5

Community Roundtable: Sustainability at SUNY Cortland: Why does the Sierra Club think we are a "Cool School”? A discussion of SUNY Cortland’s consistently high ranking by the nation’s premiere environmental organization, Presented by: Mathew Brubaker, campus energy manager, and Beth Klein, professor, childhood/early childhood education, from 8 to 9 a.m. in the Park Center Hall of Fame Room.

Presentation: “Copper! WWI and the War on Labor: From the Butte Disaster to the Bisbee Deportation,” a multimedia account of the 1917 Copper Mine Wars that changed U.S. history, will be presented by storyteller, musician and activist Charlie King at 12:30 p.m. in Old Main Colloquium. A discussion will follow.

Monday, April 9 – Friday, April 13

Contest: “Get Caught Being Green,” a special Green Reps Crew will travel campus looking for students who are exhibiting sustainable practices. “Green” students will receive a prize!

Wednesday, April 11

Sandwich Seminar: Several of SUNY Cortland’s student Green Reps will share “Stories of Sustainable Eating,” an exploration of how they incorporate sustainability into their daily eating habits. They will talk about eating locally sourced foods and describe how being a vegetarian and/or vegan affects them and the environment. Students Abby Borzell, Kiley Stoj, Jeremy Collings and Anna Gorall will present and answer questions. The seminar will be 12:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge and is sponsored by the SUNY Cortland Green Reps, Campus Sustainability Coalition and SUNY Cortland’s Sustainability Office.

Lecture: Jut Wynne, a conservation biologist and explorer who has traveled to some of the world’s most remote places, will discuss biodiversity in his presentation: “Bizarre Cave Animals of Southern China.” Wynne will address the threat that agricultural chemicals and heavy-metal pollution poses to animals in the limestone caves of Guangxi Province in Southern China, as well as their impact on the area’s traditional farming communities. The talk is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 106. It is sponsored by the School of Education.

Thursday, April 19

Sandwich Seminar: “Getting New York to 50 Percent Renewables by 2030 - What Will It Really Take?” will be presented by Brice Smith, associate professor of physics, and Sameer Hairan, a sustainable energy systems graduate student. They will explore the New York Public Service Commission’s 2016 order that 50 percent of the state's electricity must come from clean, renewable sources by 2030, look at New York state’s energy policy and discuss what it will take to achieve that goal. The seminar is scheduled for noon at Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge and is sponsored by the Campus Sustainability Coalition and the Sustainability Office.

Spring Planting Event: Members of the campus community are invited to help plant SUNY Cortland’s model garden for the season. Model garden intern Jessica Moore will coordinate the establishment of a salsa garden bed, vegetable soup garden bed, herb bed and perennial bed. Planting will be done from noon to 2 p.m. in the community garden boxes between Memorial Library and Cornish Hall. It is sponsored by the SUNY Cortland Garden Advisory Committee.

Tuesday, April 24

Tobacco-Free Awareness Activity: Kick Butts Day is an annual campus cleanup focused on tobacco debris and the celebration of SUNY Cortland’s tobacco-free policy. The event will run from noon to 3 p.m. at the Student Life Center.

Sustainable Eating Events: ASC representatives at tables in Neubig Hall from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. will provide information on how campus food waste is pulped and composted. Earth Week menu items featuring locally and regionally sourced food will be featured at Neubig during the same time period.

Tuesday, April 24 – Thursday, April 26

Sustainable Eating Tables: Campus Green Reps will do information outreach about sustainable eating through at tables around campus. Time and location to be determined.

Wednesday, April 25

Air Plant Giveaway: Air plants that need little care, but remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will be given away for free as part of the week’s Wellness Wednesday programming. Plants and information will be available from noon to 3 p.m. at the Student Life Center. The event is sponsored by SUNY Cortland Health Promotion, SUNY Cortland Student Affairs Sustainability Committee, and SUNY Cortland Green Reps.

Thursday, April 26

Alaskan Seafood: Members of the campus community will be invited to sample seafood from Alaska’s sustainably managed fisheries and learn how it’s both healthy for people and good for the environment. Free samples of Pacific Pollack quesadillas outside the main entrance to the Bistro in the Student Life Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Alaskan keta salmon fish tacos will be served inside at Bistro Live during the same time. Also during that time, ASC nutritionist Andrea Hart will talk with students about how to increase the number of vegetables in their diet. The events are sponsored by SUNY Cortland Health Promotion, ASC and the Student Affairs Sustainability Committee.

Friday, April 27

Arbor Day: SUNY Cortland’s official Arbor Day celebration is being planned, time and location to be determined.

Monday, April 30

Environmental Documentary: “Who Killed the Electric Car?” (2006) unravels the history of the battery-powered vehicle that was to set a new precedent for energy efficiency before its mysterious discontinuation in the mid-1990s. In this investigative film, director Chris Paine attempts to uncover a possible conspiracy orchestrated against electric car manufacturers. The film will screen at 7 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125. A discussion with Sociology/Anthropology Visiting Assistant Professor Brock Ternes will follow.