Campus Champion

Archivist and Instructional Services Librarian Jeremy Pekarek is motivated by what’s been accomplished in his first year to preserve SUNY Cortland’s history. A recent grant has provided a much-needed boost to digitizing part of the College’s student newspaper collection. Jeremy and other librarians will discuss the efforts of Digital Commons@Cortland and the Archives Research Guide at a Sandwich Seminar on Wednesday, March 13, followed by how to get involved with research guides on Wednesday, April 10. In June, Jeremy presents at the New York Archives Conference. He also serves as library liaison to the History, Philosophy, Communication and Media Studies and Jewish Studies departments.

When it comes to keeping busy outside of the classroom, there’s endless opportunity for students at SUNY Cortland.

The proof can be found in projects supported by the Undergraduate Research Council, service work coordinated by the Institute for Civic Engagement and the many fitness-related activities taking place in the Student Life Center.

On top of all that, more than 70 student clubs and organizations cater to a variety of passions and interests — from writing, singing and creating artwork, to politics, religion and culture, to dozens of other topics.

Early in each semester, the College’s Student Club Fair invites all new and returning students to Corey Union. The intention is to showcase the many different groups that may call out to students who share specific interest, whether it’s rooted in an academic major or a potential hobby.

Every year, new clubs join a growing list thanks to the ambitious students who are willing to start them. Some of SUNY Cortland’s newest groups are highlighted below.

Fashion Club

Gabriel Bowen’s dream to become a fashion designer was the result of two hobbies: collecting sneakers and giving back to his community.

The sophomore graphic design and digital media major grew up in a military family and spent his high school years living in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He developed skills in hand-painting sneakers, collected close to 400 pairs of previously used shoes and donated his customized work back to people who needed it.

“When I got to Cortland, I figured that there had to be other people who shared my love for fashion,’” Bowen said. “Students might be studying criminology, but they might also have an interest in fashion.”

Fashion Club has attracted the interest of approximately 50 students. Bowen said the club plans to offer workshops on topics such as starting a small business, while collaborating with other student groups that include Black Student Union, Caribbean Student Association and Know Your Roots. He also hopes to lend his talents to the Cultural Council of Cortland County and its efforts aimed at reusable clothing.

Graphic Design Club

The Graphic Design Club was founded as a practical, hands-on outlet for students within the major.

“Our main goal is work with other clubs, helping them out with things like fliers and t-shirt designs,” said Ross Cohen, a junior graphic design and digital media major from Plainview, N.Y.

Cohen has seen the value of collaborative experience firsthand by working on social media graphics for several teams in the College’s Athletics Department. Before establishing the club, Cohen and Alexander Demeri, the group’s vice president, lent their talents to the Cortland Writers Association.

“We figured we could do more with a club rather than just the two of us,” Cohen said, noting that membership has grown to include around 15 students.

The club hopes to partner with the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), which would provide access to a larger professional network for club members. They also hope to bring in guest speakers to lead workshops and critique student work.

“We want to be producing,” Cohen said. “We want to help people.”

Leaders for Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP)

This club invites students who have an interest in learning more about the potentially simple ways to protect the environment. LEAP also was born thanks to a chance encounter.

Rebecca Gonzalez, the club’s president, overheard a fellow student expressing a need for a campus organization for vegans. That student, Elizabeth Slusarz, became the club’s vice president.

“I thought, ‘Let’s do this,’” said Gonzalez, a junior therapeutic recreation major from Lindenhurst, N.Y. “I never had talked to her before and I’m not a vegan myself, but I’m all for protecting the environment.”

LEAP is devoted to causes such as zero-waste living and animal rights. The group already has screened a documentary and has a potted plant workshop planned for Earth Day on Monday, April 22.

“Don’t be scared by the name or the stereotypes,” Gonzalez said. “You don’t have to be a vegan or vegetarian. Just come with an open mind to learn something new and maybe change a few things in your everyday life that can help the environment.”

Pre-Dental Club

Amber Gratereaux has many of the same interests as fellow members of the Pre-Dental Club, with one catch. Gratereaux, the group’s president, doesn’t want to be a dentist; she wants to assist her classmates who have dental school aspirations.

Gratereaux started as a biology major with the goal of becoming an orthodontist. But once she saw the importance of services dedicated to academic advisement and career outcomes, her plan shifted. She hopes to eventually work in a student affairs-related role for a dental school.

“I want to help people figure out their path and how to get there,” said the junior sociology major from Goshen, N.Y.

The club’s goal is to expose SUNY Cortland undergraduates to other classmates who share a similar interest in dental school, while also connecting them with helpful resources on and off campus. So far, more than a dozen students have expressed interest.

“There’s this community of students interested in dental, and it’s bigger than most people think,” said Gratereaux. “The club provides a way of meeting those people without having to search on your own.”

Meetings take place every two weeks. Students discuss potential schools, admissions requirements and ways to tackle difficult questions on the Dental Admission Test (DAT). They plan to learn from dentists, current dental school students and other professionals with knowledge about the field.

“We want to get knowledge directly from the source and bring it to members,” Gratereaux said. “We throw in some fun wisdom teeth videos sometimes too.”

SUNY Cortland NAACP

As a high school student in Queens, Gia Greenidge found meaning in her school’s local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The organization introduced her to important social justice issues, she said.

“I thought Cortland should have an NAACP group as well,” said Greenidge, a sophomore psychology major.

SUNY Cortland NAACP has attracted almost 40 members to its earliest meetings, with students gathering to discuss difficult topics such as the daily struggles facing the LGBTQ community and other underrepresented groups. They’re planning a banquet that aligns with the NAACP Image Awards in late March as well as a July trip to Detroit for the 110th NAACP National Convention.

“I found my voice through the NAACP,” Greenidge said. “Before I joined, I was quiet. I didn’t know how to vocalize or advocate for social justice issues. But I learned to ask important questions like, ‘What’s happening? Why is it happening? And if something’s wrong, how can I change it?’”

In 1994, six SUNY Cortland seniors of color gathered with their families the day before graduation to proudly, and for the first time at the College, don a woven, multicolored stole made to honor an ancient tradition of scholarship in Africa.

The traditional, woven kente cloth of Ghana, originally worn by royalty, serves as an important symbol for many African-Americans to highlight their connection to the African continent.

Twenty-five years later, 105 yellow, red, green and black Kente stoles will stand out in the sea of caps and gowns at Commencement 2019, reflecting the growing body of African-American, Caribbean-American and Latinx students at Cortland and the academic prowess their graduation demonstrates.

At Cortland the celebration, which for years has been held in April, has deep institutional history and continues to be an important part of the College’s multicultural student experience. Graduating seniors wishing to acknowledge their multicultural heritage are encouraged to invite their families and campus friends to attend and participate in the formal ceremony.

“In my experience, especially for the students, kente’s meaning is impactful,” said AnnaMaria Cirrincione, who directs the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office. “It symbolized their transition from college to the next part of their life and the accomplishments they’ve made while being here.”

That first Kente Ceremony was hosted by Africana Studies. Since early days, the evening formal dining event with keynote speaker has been sponsored by the College’s Multicultural Life and Diversity Office. The event became difficult to manage the day before undergraduate Commencement and during Graduate Commencement, so it was moved to April in 2013.

This year’s event will be Saturday, April 6, in Corey Union Function Room. The Kente Ceremony is closed with no additional participants being accepted.

The keynote speaker is Yusuf Muhammad, Jr. ’99, M ’01,a principal at George Washington Carver High School in Atlanta, Ga.

During the ceremony, the College will present a SUNY Cortland senior with the inaugural Calvin Louis-Juste Memorial Award, honoring a student who reflects the leadership qualities of the late Louis-Juste, a 2009 Haitian-American graduate who died in 2011.

Since data was first collected on the ceremony in 2002 through this year, almost 800 students have accepted the academic honor.

“We’re almost at capacity,” said Cirrincione. That’s despite far fewer families traveling to join their offspring since the change to April. Cirrincione instead attributes the program’s success, in part, to the overall student population’s growing diversity.

“We’ve drastically increased the number of students of color,” she said. Current College data on the 2018-2019 academic year enrollment estimates that students from an underrepresented ethnic background now comprise between 22 and 26 percent of the student population.

Cirrincione was introduced to the ceremony in 2015 when she joined the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office as an assistant director. She now chairs the Kente Committee that meets regularly to plan the event.

According to her, participants in the ceremony are predominantly students of color, black and Latinx, but the group sometimes includes allies such as students in Hillel, the Jewish student organization, as well as students who have a disability and members of the LBGTQ community. Faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to attend to support a student they mentored. These individuals who have befriended students of color receive an honorary kente stole.

“I think a lot of the growth also is due to a sense of community and some of the struggles they have faced at Cortland, the advocacy they have been pushing for change regarding social justice issues,” Cirrincione said.

Cirrincione also attributes SUNY Cortland’s broad participation in this ceremony in part to the existence of the College’s Voice Office in Corey Union, which brings together students from many different underrepresented groups to promote historically underrepresented groups on campus.

“As SUNY Cortland is becoming more diverse and reaching inclusive excellence, many students, including those who are not African American, have found value in participating in the Kente Ceremony,” Seth Asumah, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Political Science and chair of the Africana Studies Department. “Yes, we are growing and expanding.”

Asumah introduced the Kente Ceremony at SUNY Cortland in 1994.

According to him, the event taps an ancient tradition that predates the more familiar western civilization style of graduation ceremonies and regalia used in the medieval universities of Bologna, Italy. These academic ceremonies or “durbars,” took place in the ancient learning centers of Al-Karahouone in Morocco, Al-Azhur in Kemet and Nubia (Egypt), and Sankore in Timbuktu.

“In ancient Ghana, griots, sages and paramount chiefs, who have excelled in Maat — truth, knowledge and service — were honored during durbars, like our Kente Ceremony here at SUNY Cortland today,” Asumah said.

The event enters a new phase with the creation of the Calvin Louis-Juste Memorial Award to recognize a student from a multicultural background. A committed student leader who devoted energy to Habitat for Humanity projects, Louis-Juste left a lasting mark on his alma mater. The first honoree will be a graduating senior with at least a 3.0 grade point average who is committed to community service, campus leadership, continuing personal improvement and advocacy for equity and inclusion on campus. In the future, the name of each year’s winner will be inscribed on a plaque that will hang in the Corey Union Voice Office.

The list of sponsors has grown with the event, to include support strategic initiative funding from Vice President for Student Affairs’ Office, Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office, and Alumni Engagement. Some of the added funding helps the students and their allies really enjoy the ceremony through professional photography of them wearing their stole, Cirrincione said.

“We also do a group shot at the end of ceremony, do a social media posting and let them save it on their own devices,” Cirrincione said. “Then they get a framed picture when they receive their stoles.”

Honorary kente stoles can often be seen among the rows of faculty and staff and administrators at Commencement, where in future years they may be worn to show support for students of color, according to Cirrincione. The Kente Committee chooses who will receive that honor.

“This will be my fourth Kente Ceremony,” Cirrincione said. “It’s one of my favorite events our office does. The more years I’ve done it, the more amazing it is just to see their growth from where they started. It’s a little more intimate than being at graduation because it’s smaller. You get to meet with them and share their success and it brings nostalgia for the last few years.”

So many kente graduates are out there that the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association was inspired to establish a Kente/Voice Office affinity group for two gatherings this year, including on campus in July at Alumni Reunion 2019.

“The Kente Ceremony is a great, time-honored tradition at SUNY Cortland,” said Erin Boylan, executive director of alumni engagement. “With almost 800 students participating since 2002, it seemed appropriate to celebrate kente alumni at the sesquicentennial-year reunion. We can’t wait to have the group back during our milestone year.”

Jonah Reardon, assistant director of alumni engagement and the upcoming event organizer, noted that the affinity group was developed by the association with collaboration between the Multicultural Life and Diversity and the Institutional Equity and Inclusion offices.

“Since both affinities target minority populations and communities, we found it to be a good fit for our desire to welcome back a cohort of alumni who may have not had a specific reason to return to campus for alumni reunion,” Reardon said. “Additionally, it is also our hope that we are able to start developing positive relationships with attendees and our association. This year, we will be hosting a ‘Late, But Not Too Late, Night’ event on Friday, July 12, as well as an unveiling of the Voice Office renovation and of the plaque honoring Calvin Louis-Juste ’09.”

A second alumni association event, the inaugural Intercultural Alumni Gathering on Monday, March 18, in New York City, also rolls out the welcome mat for a diverse group of alumni including students of color. The happy hour reception is from 5 to 7 p.m. in Stout NYC Flagship in midtown Manhattan.

For more information about the Kente Ceremony, contact the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office at 607-753-2336 or visit the Kente page.

Patricia Carrick spent decades as a family nurse practitioner working with under-served populations in Southwestern Montana.

In recent years, she has taken that spirit around the globe as the director of the board of directors for Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres USA (MSF), assisting in Ebola hot zones, HIV/AIDS-ravaged communities and conflict-torn countries on the verge of famine.

Carrick will share her stories of helping those in need through two lectures at SUNY Cortland on Tuesday, March 26.

Her first talk, “Careers in International Studies: Medical Humanitarian Aid,” begins at noon in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B103. Carrick will speak on “Doctors Without Borders Around the World: When Emergencies Won’t Go Away” at 6 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125. Both events are free and open to the public.

"I am really excited to welcome Ms. Carrick to our campus as her international work can become a source of inspiration for SUNY Cortland's students,” said Alexandru Balas, chair of International Studies and director of the Clark Center for Global Engagement.

“Here at SUNY Cortland, we have, for example, international studies majors who specialize in international health and complete international public health internships overseas in developing countries, with the hope of one day working for MSF. Now they can meet one of the directors of MSF and get advice about what work with MSF entails.”

Carrick has served with Doctors Without Borders since 2007, completing overseas missions in Malawi, South Sudan and Sierra Leone.

She served as medical team leader at an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone in 2015. This outbreak of the highly-infectious disease killed more than 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

She previously traveled to Malawi for HIV-related work in 2007 and went to South Sudan in 2010 and 2012 for malnutrition work.

Doctors Without Borders is a medical humanitarian aid organization that responds to millions of patients around the world every year. The organization was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 for its efforts to bring care to people in need regardless of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.

Carrick spent 30 years working in acute care hospital nursing and home-based hospice services as well as in community health centers that provided care to under-served populations in her home state of Montana.

Both of Carrick’s talks are part of SUNY Cortland’s Women’s celebration of History Month. This year’s theme is “Visionary Women: Champions of Peace and Nonviolence.”

For more information, contact Balas at 607-753-4823.

A pair of SUNY Cortland academic programs have been recognized as two of the highest-value educational offerings of their kind in the United States, according to a new analysis.

CollegeFactual.com recently recognized the College’s Communication and Media Studies Department and its History Department as among the “Best Value for the Money” in the nation, demonstrating SUNY Cortland’s long commitment to providing students a high-quality education at an affordable cost.

Communication and Media Studies ranked No. 20 among its peers from colleges and universities in the U.S. History, meanwhile, was ranked as the 10th-best value in New York state and placed among the top 10 percent of all history programs in the country.

The study considered factors including yearly cost, the average time taken by students to graduate and the quality each college provides to its students in those respective fields. SUNY Cortland’s low tuition, low student loan default rate and above-average mid-career earnings for graduates helped these two departments rank highly.

 Quality of instruction in both departments is one major reason why both are sought after by students.

“We have award-winning teaching and research faculty who pride themselves on being available to students and who excel at ensuring that students leave their classes with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed,” said Paul van der Veur, chair of the Communication and Media Studies Department.

Communication and Media Studies is one of the College’s most popular majors. It offers coursework ranging from broad-based human communication and popular culture to specialized programming in journalism, public relations, advertising, media production and cinema studies. Students have access to a robust equipment checkout system and state-of-the-art tools to produce content for everything from social media to film and video.

All students in the department participate in student media clubs and internship programs, including radio, television, newspaper and film. These allow students to meet others with similar interests and provide them with opportunities for leadership and job-related knowledge and skills.

“These experiences prepare them for an extensive internship program, which in turn helps prepare them for entry into the workforce,” van der Veur said.

SUNY Cortland’s History Department places an emphasis on the student experience, helping prepare them for the variety of careers they may pursue. A three-credit experiential learning requirement allows students to complete an internship, do hands-on research with a faculty member or take part in a project-based course. Each fall, history majors have the option of taking one-credit of their experiential learning with department members at the College’s William H. Parks Family Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education at Raquette Lake.

Those experiences help students develop critical thinking and writing skills that will advance them in a future career in teaching, academics or practically any other field.

“We have an incredible faculty, people who are teacher-scholars to a person, and so we’re thinking all the time about how to bring the latest scholarship to our students,” said Randi Storch, chair of the History Department.

“We’re also really engaged in the new field of scholarship of teaching and learning in history. There is a real focus not just on how to teach, but on how students learn in history and thinking about history as a way of being in the world. We’re not assuming that students come to us knowing how to do the work of historians, but we’re thinking about what those historical thinking skills are and breaking them down and helping students to develop over time with us.”

Another recent requirement in the History Department is an Introduction to Public History course that allows students to think about the ways history lives in the world outside of a traditional classroom.

“Our History Department is incredibly innovative and creative and our curriculum is absolutely cutting-edge,” Storch said. “I think we’re doing some of the most innovative teaching that’s happening in the nation.”

Sexual assault and relationship violence are never acceptable, and SUNY Cortland students, faculty and staff work diligently to raise awareness of ways to prevent them all year long.

But in April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, their efforts really ramp up.

Members of the campus community plan two solid weeks of daily activities aimed at making SUNY Cortland an exception to the sobering statistics facing college campuses nationwide: During their time in college, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually attacked, 40 percent of survivors fear reprisal by their attacker and only 2 percent of incapacitated rape survivors report their assault.

“On our campus, we’re trying to not only address sexual assault but also to educate on stalking awareness and dating violence awareness,” said Nan Pasquarello, the College’s Title IX coordinator. “That’s because we have seen an increase in reports of dating violence and stalking cases across the country but also here on our campus.”

Pasquarello coordinates the College’s efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under Title IX, a law intended to fight sex discrimination, which considers sexual assault an extreme form of discrimination. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in all the operations of the College. Reportable behaviors include sexual assault, stalking, relationship violence and sexual harassment.

According to Pasquarello, the College’s involvement for several years in the It’s On Us and GreenDot educational movements of bystander responsibility to help stop sexual assault and relationship violence has helped raise awareness on campus and encouraged more campus members to report and address issues.

“One of the things I’m pleased about is that with so much concerted effort we seem to be creating a culture of reporting where people feel comfortable coming forward and getting help,” Pasquarello said.

Volunteers serving on the campus’ It’s On Us Action Team will offer a “Week of Action for Sexual Assault Awareness Month,” during the first week of April. Members of Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER) have scheduled their own “Week of Action” during the second week of April.

“It’s On Us” is a national awareness program aimed at ending sexual assaults on college campuses. Launched by the White House in 2014, the campaign asks men and women across the U.S. to make a personal commitment to step off the sidelines and be part of the solution to campus sexual assault. To take the ‘It’s On Us’ pledge, visit It’sOnUs.org.

First up are the It’s On Us Action Team’s events:

Monday, April 1: Professor of Health Jena Curtis, who coordinates Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, will lead a discussion of the short film “A Girl Like Anna: a Conversation on Sexual Violence” from 5 to 6:30 p.m., in Sperry Center, Room 105. The film addresses how friends tend to handle the news of a companion’s sexual assault, in some cases blaming the victim. Participants will learn how they can instead offer support to survivors of sexual violence.

Tuesday, April 2: Trained student, faculty and staff facilitators will conduct a One Love Foundation “Escalation Workshop” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105. Details on this and a future One Love Foundation “Behind the Post Workshop” will be announced in the next Bulletinon March 26.

Wednesday, April 3: The College’s Health Promotions office will use its weekly Wellness Wednesday activity to raise awareness about the reality of U.S. sex trafficking. The program, titled “Who Is Jane Doe?,” will be presented by Health Educator Lauren Scagnelli ’12, M ’14. The discussion will begin at 6 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

Thursday, April 4: The It’s On Us Action Team is sponsoring an “It’s On Us Pledging and T-shirt Giveaway” from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Student Life Center Lobby. The activities invite members of the campus community to commit to standing up for others rather than standing by when they perceive a sexual assault might happen. All month long, students will be urged to educate themselves about the meaning of consent and sign the “It’s On Us” pledge to act against sexual abuse.

Friday, April 5: A second “It’s On Us Pledging” event is planned along with a “T-shirt Tie-dye Event” from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Casey/Smith Towers lounge.

Sunday, April 7: The College’s third annual Yards for Yeardley event seeking to raise awareness regarding healthy and unhealthy relationships with college students is set for noon to 4 p.m. in the Lusk Field House. Details will be given in the next Bulletin.

SAFER’s Week of Action fills the following week, with a few events later in April, said Pasquarello, who serves as advisor to this student club.

 For SAFER event details, contact club president Andreanna Whitaker.

Monday, April 1: SAFER members are showing support for the YWCA’s Aid to Victims of Violence by hosting The Clothesline Project in Corey Union. The graphic T-shirt display shares allows victims of relationship violence to share the emotions they would find hard to express in person. THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER, SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH.

Monday, April 8: SAFER will hold an informational event called “Support Systems for Sexual Assault Survivors” starting at 7 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room.

Tuesday, April 9: An emotional healing and empowerment event called “Let It Go” will start at 7 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 301. “Let it Go” is an opportunity for participants to write out the pains and hurts they have been holding onto,” Pasquarello said. “They are going to create collages as a creative way to reach emotional healing.”

Wednesday, April 10: SUNY Cortland University Police Department Officer Frank Dalton will conduct a self-defense and empowerment program called “Kicking It With Confidence.” The workshop will run from 7 to 9 p.m. in Corey Union Fireplace Lounge.

Thursday, April 11: Tables will display resources on sexual assault from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Student Life Center Lobby.

Friday, April 12: The third annual “Speak Up,” a gathering of SAFER, Phi Iotas and other groups to share stories that raise awareness of and support for survivors of dating and domestic violence, is from 6 to 9 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105. SAFER plans to screen a video that members are working on regarding marginalized voices of sexual and intimate partner violence.

Saturday, April 13: “Speak Up” continues from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room. SAFER is creating a play to stage during the evening.

Wednesday, April 17: SAFER will again lead a Take Back the Night March at 8 p.m. starting from the Corey Union steps.

Wednesday, April 24: “Denim Day” will be a day of information and awareness-raising about sexual consent provided at tables in the lower level lobby area of Corey Union. Advocates will be encouraged to wear jeans that day. The event is hosted by the YWCA Cortland Aid to Victims of Violence (AVV) and SUNY Cortland service learning project interns. "Denim Day" was started in 1999 in Los Angeles by the group Peace Over Violence after the 1998 overturning of a 1992 rape conviction in Italy. 

Wednesday, April 24: "Behind the Post" is an event that explores the façade of normalcy often created by happy social media posts that hide troubled or abusive relationships. It takes place at 4:30 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 209.

For more information, contact Pasquarello at 607-753-2263.

Ithaca College Professor Asma Barlas was forced to flee her native Pakistan and seek asylum in the U.S. after criticizing her country’s former leader and questioning some interpretations of Islam.

Montana-based nurse practitioner Patricia Carrick has frequently risked her health in Africa to help people threatened by Ebola, HIV infection and chronic malnutrition.

And economist Nancy Folbre has questioned the very foundation of our economic system during a career focused on understanding why women throughout the world are compensated less for the work they do than men.

Those are just some of the experiences and perspectives that will be shared at SUNY Cortland in March as the College celebrates Women’s History Month with a packed schedule of events.

This year’s theme is “Visionary Women: Champions of Peace and Nonviolence.”

“Each year we look across campus and around the world to find speakers and topics,” said Jena Nicols Curtis, professor in the Health Department and coordinator of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. “This March, I’m especially excited because will have so many new voices, issues and identities represented.”

The College opened Women’s History Month with “TransAction,” a day-long conference focused on making campus more inclusive of people who are transgender or non-gender conforming on March 1 in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

SUNY Cortland’s Women’s History Month schedule continues with the following:

• Monday, March 4: “A Conversation on Gender/ Gender Expression/ Sexual Orientation,” at 5 p.m. in Old Main Colloquium.
• Wednesday, March 6: “Who is Me? Race and the #MeToo Movement,” a Sandwich Seminar at 12:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.
• Wednesday, March 6: “What’s Your Green Dot,” by Alberto Lorenzo at 7 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Friday, March 8: “Leading from Everywhere: SUNY Cortland’s Leadership Workshop.” This workshop required pre-registration and is now full.
• Friday, March 8: “Simple Gifts,” a musical performance by two women, Linda Littleton and Karen Hirshon, playing twelve instruments and everything from Irish Jigs and down-home American reels to hard-driving Klezzmer frailachs, at 7 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium.
• Monday, March 11: “The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems,” by Nancy Folbre at 4:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 106.
• Wednesday, March 13: “Braving the Blind Side: How to See Disability as Art and Not an Adjective,” by Christina Papaleo, at 2 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Tuesday, March 26: “Profiting from the Poor: Global Philanthropy and Education Markets in India,” by Sangeeta Kamat at 4 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Tuesday, March 26: “Careers in International Studies: Medical Humanitarian Aid,” by Patricia Carrick, Board of Directors, Doctors without Borders (Medicines Sans Frontiers) at noon in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B103.
• Tuesday, March 26: “Doctors Without Borders Around the World,” Carrick’s second lecture of the day, at 6 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125.
• Wednesday, March 27: “Sex and Scripture: What can the Qur’an Tell us About Male Privilege and Gender Equality?” by Asma Barlas at 4:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105.
• Wednesday, March 27: “Madame President: Inclusive Student Leadership at SUNY Cortland,” at 2 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

Women’s History Month Events are sponsored by Sexual Orientation, Gender, Identity, and Expression Committee (SOGIE), the Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office, the Campus Climate Committee, the President’s Office, SUNY Cortland It’s On Us Action Team, the SUNY Cortland Gender Policies and Initiatives Council, the Institutional Planning and Assessment Committee, the Campus Artist and Lectures Series, the Economics Department, Student Disability Resources, Syracuse University’s South Asia Center and Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Education Club, the Early Childhood Education Department, the Clark Center for Global Engagement, the International Studies Program, the Center for Ethics and Peace Studies, the Student Government Association and the SUNY Cortland Chapter of the American Association of University Women.

For more information, contact Curtis at 607-753-2979.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Skyeler Paparteys

Red Dragon Nation, Blaze needs your vote.

Mascot Madness is back. For the seventh consecutive year, the 64-campus SUNY system is hosting a competition to determine its most popular college mascot.

And Blaze, the fiercest red dragon outside of “Game of Thrones,” is at a competitive disadvantage because the first round of voting coincides with SUNY Cortland’s spring break.

On Tuesday, March 19, online voting will begin as mascots battle, tournament-style, in brackets patterned after those used for the NCAA basketball championships.  In the first round, second-seed SUNY Cortland is matched against seventh-seed Fulton Montgomery County Community College. FMCC’s mascot is a pirate named Reggie the Raider.

Starting at noon Tuesday, March 19, until 3 p.m. Friday, March 23, SUNY Cortland faculty, staff, alumni, students and friends can cast a first-round vote for the College’s iconic mascot at suny.edu/mascotmadness.

In addition to instructions for voting and a printable Mascot Madness bracket, the site offers profiles of all participating SUNY Mascots.

If everybody’s favorite flame-throwing, game-winning Red Dragon overcomes the hurdle posed by having an empty campus and sinks Reggie in the initial round, Blaze will advance through the following schedule:

• Round 2 — March 26-28
• Round 3 — March 29 – Apr 2
• Semifinals — April 3-5
• Finals — April 9-11

If you’d like to learn more about Blaze, below is a recent SUNY mascot interview:

If you’d like to learn more about Blaze, below is a recent SUNY mascot interview:

Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?

My friends call me Blaze, and I represent the best all-around college on the planet, SUNY Cortland. They call me Blaze because my real name is largely unpronounceable by my SUNY peeps. See, my branch of the dragon family tree has its roots in the Celtic kingdoms of Wales. (My hatch name is Y Ddraig Goch if you want to give it a try) In fact, you may have noticed that one of my ancestors posed for the traditional Welsh flag — carried into battle by King Arthur, and still flown today!

What is your wackiest attribute?

Seriously? Do you have any idea what happened to the last person who called me wacky? I am a fire-breathing, castle-destroying, population-threatening legendary beast of unimagined power. Nobody calls me wacky. I am enchantingly eccentric.

But OK, if you MUST have an answer, people are usually surprised to learn that my shorts are grafted onto my body.

What would your autobiography be called and why?

“Angela’s Ashes.” Angie was the first person to stand too close to me when I sneezed.

What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?

That’s a tough one. Nearly everything that happens at SUNY Cortland is an epic victory/triumph.

Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?

Without question, that would be President Erik J. Bitterbaum. He’s been great. We’re usually at all the same campus events, and he frequently fills in for me when I’m busy doing important dragon stuff. He loves engaging with students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members, and gives them his full attention. He’s smart, compassionate and level-headed. Which is good, because I tend to get mad and incinerate people.

If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?

That salamander dude from Oneonta. To show them how Red Dragon is DONE.

Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?

Match.com. No, it’s not that lame dating app. Dragons think more literally. With my app, you just strike the icon and flames shoot from your phone.

What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?

SUNY Cortland has been providing life-changing educational experiences for students for 150 years and is in the middle of a year-long Sesquicentennial Celebration! A century and a half is an impressively long time to maintain that standard of excellence. If you’re human, that is. It’s less than a decade in dragon years. But still...

What is your favorite series to binge watch?

Um, duh, “Game of Thrones.”  Three of my cousins are on it.  You know them as the dreaded Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion. But to me, they’re just Danny, Rachael and Vinny. We used to sneak away together during family reunions and devour herds of sheep. Once, Vinny got caught with burnt wool hanging from his teeth. He told his parents he’d just been flossing! And they believed him! Can you believe it! Hahaha … good times, good times.

Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?

“Dragon Age” by Lindsey Stirling.

Did you know that Lindsey performed at SUNY Cortland in 2012? The crowd was so big that the College had to stop admitting people into the venue. So, what did this avant-garde violinist/dancer/YouTube star/dragon-lover do? She performed an unplanned SECOND show THAT SAME NIGHT so she wouldn’t disappoint her fans! Now THAT’s Red Dragon Strong!

Valor is defined as the strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness.

It is a definition that aptly describes the character of SUNY Cortland senior Kyle Richard.

The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) will present Richard with its Award of Valor in May at its annual awards banquet in Syracuse.

Richard was at a party with friends on Long Island during the summer of 2017 when they heard noise coming from inside a bathroom. After interrupting a sexual assault, Richard pursued the assailant and was shot once in each leg.

A linebacker who was named team captain after his sophomore season, he recovered in time to return to the football field for the second game of the 2017 season.

Richard has become an advocate for bystander intervention since going public with his story in 2018. He has delivered presentations on the topic at Utica College, Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. and SUNY Maritime. SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson invited him to serve as student representative of the 600,000-student SUNY system at her inauguration in September 2018.

The SUNYAC Award of Valor is the latest in a number of awards he has received from local and national organizations. He was presented with a Next Generation Award from Kristin’s Fund, an Oneida County charity that aims to end domestic violence through prevention, education and awareness campaigns. Former Vice President Joe Biden honored Richard with a Biden Courage Award for Bystander Intervention through It’s On Us and the Biden Foundation. The Football Writers Association of America named him the recipient of the 2018 Orange Bowl Courage Award. He was the first Division III nominee for the award since its inception in 2002.

Richard’s story has drawn major media attention as well. He was featured in print and video on ESPN in November 2018, with a package airing on SportsCenter the morning of the 60^th annual Cortaca Jug game against Ithaca College.

A native of Lakeview, N.Y., Richard, a kinesiology major, made a total of 71 tackles for the Red Dragons this past season, helping lead the team to a 7-3 record. He finished his career with 171 tackles, 5.0 sacks and one intercepted pass returned for a touchdown.  

The SUNYAC Award of Valor has been awarded annually since 2003, with exceptions in 2009, 2012 and 2013. Richard is the first SUNY Cortland student athlete to receive the award. It is presented to individuals who has displayed an ability to overcome obstacles and serve as an inspiration to others. Recipients must have shown perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome a life-altering event.

The College has been named one of the top 10 providers of safety certifications in upstate New York by the American Red Cross.

SUNY Cortland certifies hundreds of students and community members each year in water safety instruction (WSI) classes, as well as automated external defibrillator (AED), CPR and responding to emergencies and first aid courses. 

The Red Cross’ territory of upstate New York spans west to east from Buffalo to Albany and north to south from Plattsburgh to Poughkeepsie. That area counts 800 aquatics centers, including schools, state parks, county and village pools, water parks, YMCAs, Jewish Community Centers and any other facility with a pool.

Lifeguard certifications at SUNY Cortland are offered every semester and water safety instruction classes (WSI) are offered in the fall, with an average of 30 to 40 people certified each year.

“You never know where you might be when you need that certification,” said Corey Ryon, a lecturer in the Health and Physical Education departments. “You see things in the news all the time about people collapsing.”

Ryon alone does more than 300 certifications a year. Matthew Nuesell, assistant director of recreational sports, Brian Tobin, head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, and Helene Schmid, lecturer in the Physical Education Department, assist in other certification classes as well.

Schmid was given an award by the American Red Cross for becoming a Water Safety Instruction Trainer in 2018.

Many students at the College are involved in athletics or education. Students in certain majors are required to be CPR and first aid certified. For physical education and health majors, lifeguard certification is often a bonus.

“Look at getting certified, regardless of your major, even if it is just CPR and AED training, because you will never know when you may need it,” Ryon said.

For more information on how to receive these certifications, contact Ryon, Nuesell, Tobin, or Schmid or visit the Central New York chapter of the American Red Cross online.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Skyeler Paparteys

SUNY Cortland employees contributed $43,059 to the 2019 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign, an 8.2 percent increase over the previous year.  

According to the 2019 SEFA Campaign co-chairs, Pam Schroeder and Heather Drew, community was on the mind of contributors with the top local designations going to United Way for Cortland County, SUNY Cortland Child Care Center, YWCA, Lime Hollow Nature Center, American Red Cross, Catholic Charities and the Cortland Child Development Program.

Donations were also made to an additional 63 organizations and agencies, to meet ever-increasing human needs such as hunger, illiteracy, cancer and medical research, animal welfare and disaster relief.

The only authorized fundraising campaign among New York state workers, SEFA is directed by the United Way of Cortland County and brings together fundraising efforts for a broad group of agencies under one common umbrella. This annual fundraising effort offers SUNY Cortland employees the opportunity to support local, statewide and global charities.

The College, which relies on state employee volunteers to canvas co-workers for donations, kicked off the two-week appeal Oct. 17. Results were tallied recently.

“Campaign donations were back up this year, with contributions coming from 262 SUNY Cortland employees,” said Drew, who has co-chaired the campaign with Schroeder for three years.

In New York, SEFA campaigns also are conducted at the State Department of Labor, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Transportation, the Office of Court Administration and the State Police. Decisions are made locally about which agencies are included and how funds are distributed. The community-based SEFA committee is composed of representatives from state agencies and managers of human service agencies. Pledging takes place once a year.

Donors may choose to have their gifts shared among different organizations within Cortland County, used in another county of their choice or designated for individual local, state, independent or international organizations.

Schroeder and Drew said they were glad to reach out to the campus community to help make the campaign successful.

“We are always grateful for the campus volunteers who help distribute and gather pledge forms,” Drew said. “Their assistance is greatly appreciated and we couldn’t do it without them.”

Participants were entered into a drawing for prizes. Winners are as follows:

Betsy Barylski, Faculty Development Center — a personal parking space on campus

James Miller, History Department, Jennifer Petrie, Health Department, and Sharon Consler, The Help Center — $25 ASC Gift Cards

Diane Eccleston, Custodial Services, was the CSEA winner — a $50 Downtown Partnership Gift Certificate

Local members of the Cortland County SEFA Committee and the employee group represented include: Kathleen Burke, SUNY Cortland United University Professions (UUP) employees; Christella Yonta, federated campaign coordinator for the United Way for Cortland County; Gary Evans, SUNY Cortland management/confidential employees and Cortland County SEFA chair; Lori Porter, SUNY Cortland management/confidential employees; Laurie Klotz, SUNY Cortland UUP employees; Lois Marshall, NYSDOT, CSEA employees; and Donna Raymond, NYSEC, CSEA employees.

For more information about SEFA in New York State, visit the website http://www.sefanys.org.