Campus Champion

Christopher Ortega ’06, assistant professor of communication and media studies and Africana studies, opened SUNY Cortland’s Black History Month celebration with a well-attended virtual lecture detailing racism on television with examples of historic black experiences woven into fictional stories. The Red Dragon alum is passionate about teaching and goes above and beyond outside the classroom. “How do you say no to students?” Chris connects with students in a variety of majors in his intro-level courses, where he believes they learn things that may be important down the road. As advisor to multiple clubs, he looks forward to accompanying students to more conferences, like the Somos El Futuro Model Senate a year ago at the New York State Senate.

It’s been stated that Black History Month does not offer enough time for people to consider the contributions of Black people to America. And that may be especially true now, after a year when acts of police violence against persons of color pushed the Black Lives Matter movement into mainstream public discussion.

But that did not dissuade SUNY Cortland’s Africana Studies Department from putting together a full calendar of Black History Month events this February, which explore many of the controversial topics that dominated conversations last year.

“In these times of divisiveness in our country, the global response to the knee-lynching of George Floyd, cancel cultures, questions pertaining to moral reckoning, and the COVID-19 global pandemic, we bring the Cortland community together for critical but hope-affirming and uplifting presentations to celebrate the culture, achievements, resistance, and resiliency of the Black community,” said the series organizer, Seth Asumah.

Asumah, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor who chairs the Africana Studies Department, noted SUNY Cortland has celebrated Black History Month with critical scholarship, performances and art for more than a quarter of a century.

“Black history is America’s history, for it chronicles our struggles and records of human achievements in humanizing the world and the global human condition,” he said.

All Black History Month events are free to attend and open to the public. Due to safety concerns in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, all events will be conducted virtually. Visit the Black History Month website — cortland.edu/bhm — for a quick reference on upcoming events.

Campus community members have an added opportunity to immerse themselves in Black history and culture throughout the month by participating in the interactive “21-Day Challenge” throughout the rest of February. Every day of the challenge has a theme and lists several options for reading, listening or watching. Individuals may choose at least one activity per day and are welcome to explore more.

The multimedia subcommittee of SUNY Cortland’s Anti-Racism Taskforce created the webpage, where a link called Cortland.edu/21day gives students, faculty and staff a chance to track their participation, reflect on their daily activities and engage in discussion with others.

“The Challenge was created as a way to understand issues of power, privilege, oppression, equity and social justice,” said committee member Paul van der Veur, professor and chair of Communication and Media Studies. “The goal is for participants to explore a daily activity and over the course of the 21 days to learn and, ultimately, be empowered to recognize and actively take a stand against racism.”

Black History Month events continue, including:

Tuesday, Feb. 23: The Black Student Union (BSU) will host “Understanding and Advocating for Racial Justice for Everyone,” a WebEx event from 3 to 5 p.m. Participants can learn how to better understand racial injustice and how to be better allies and advocates to people of color. Register and then the Webex link will be sent to you. The learning objectives are for members of the campus community to spend time examining their own racialized identities and experiences, to be able to identify their triggers and challenges around issues of race and racism, to accumulate tools that better prepare everyone to engage others in conversations about race and racism, and to be more willing and able to identify, interrupt, and dialogue on issues of racism and racialized bias. Contact multicultural.life@cortland.edu.

Wednesday, Feb. 24: Black student union representatives from Cortland, Oneonta and Binghamton will discuss “Convergence of the BSUs: Discussing PWI Cultures from the Perspective of Black Students” at 6 p.m. via Webex using the Webex number 132 172 8452 using the password uYx6eAWYs84. Contact Shaneya Simmelkjaer, Black Student Union president.

Thursday, Feb. 25: Representatives of Cortland’s Black Student Union and Know Your Roots - Africana Studies Association (KYR-ASA) will address “Afro-Essence” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. via Webex. The presidents of both groups, Shaneya Simmelkjaer and Alfred Robertson respectively, will speak. A Webex link to attend the event will be provided soon. Contact Shaneya Simmelkjaer.

Friday, Feb. 26: Two faculty members and a student will offer an “Afro-Fusion Dance Workshop” at 5 p.m. via Zoom. The presenters will be Nikolay Karkov, an associate professor of philosophy, Avanti Mukherjee, an assistant professor of economics, and Maria Klara Vantura, student. At the time of the demonstration, first join the Zoom meeting and then enter the meeting I.D. number, 844 2721 0495 and the passcode, 082674. Contact Shaneya Simmelkjaer, Black Student Union president.

Black History Month sponsors include the university President’s Office, Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office, Political Science Department, School of Arts and Sciences, Africana Studies Department, Performing Arts, SUNY Cortland Alumni Association, Multicultural Life and Diversity Office, Disability Resources, Campus Artists and Lecture Series, Student Government Association, Know Your Roots-Africana Studies Association, SUNY Cortland Campus Activities, Career Services, Black Student Union, Cortland NAACP and Pan African Student Association.

For more information, contact Asumah at 607-753-2064.

SUNY Cortland students, faculty, staff and alumni who shared their individual messages of diversity in a poster series displayed around campus since last fall soon will give the university community the chance to meet them.

During three, hour-long Webex presentations set for Monday, Feb. 11, Monday, March 15 and Wednesday, April 16, participants in the Beloved Community Narratives Project will discuss their participation as well as themselves as individuals.

“These community members will now come together for a panel to discuss their participation in this project and how their identities have shaped their experiences at SUNY Cortland,” said Evan Faulkenbury, an associate professor of history and a member of the campus committee that brought the project to Cortland.

“We will be discussing themes such as race and immigration, gender and sexuality, and mental health and disability,” he said.

• The first event starts at noon on Feb. 15. Panelists will include Christina Papaleo ’14, Casey Hickey, Cyrenius Nelson ’19 and Lima Stafford ’12. Register in advance to attend, and a link will be sent.
• The second event starts at 6 p.m. on March 15. Panelists will include Kathleen Altamirano ’20, Jamie Piperato ’12, Regina Grantham, Jessica Condon, C.K. Conway and Jade Antoine. Register in advance to attend, and a link will be sent.
• The third event starts at 4 p.m. on April 14. Panelists will include Raquel Berman, Michael Medina, Nakeesta Langton and Lauren Christiansen. Register in advance to attend, and a link will be sent.

In fall 2019, members of the campus community were invited to participate in the project. Twenty-five students, faculty, staff and alumni were chosen to represent the university’s diversity.

In March 2020, visiting artist Adam Mastoon of Adam Mastoon Transmedia came to campus with a photography team to begin the process of creating the Beloved Community Diversity Narratives Project, a series of posters that visually share the essential life stories of students, faculty and staff members and alumni with the campus and the community.

In late October, the finished portraits were installed in two buildings, the Student Life Center and Moffett Center. Online, campus members were encouraged to view  all the posters by visiting the university’s website Cortland.edu/beloved.

Since December, the images have appeared in rotation on the student sign-in page of myRedDragon and other locations on the university’s websitee.

“The whole committee had decided that it would a nice way to highlight the project by giving the campus and alumni the opportunity to talk with the students, faculty, staff and alumni whose narratives and photos were featured,” explained AnnaMaria Cirrincione, director of the university’s Multicultural Life and Diversity Office.

She served on an educational subcommittee with Faulkenbury and Kaitlyn Flannery, assistant professor of psychology, to organize the presentations.

For more information on the panel series, contact the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office at 607-753-2336.

The series continues SUNY Cortland’s Black History Month events during February, organized by the Africana Studies Department, which explore many of the controversial topics that dominated conversations last year.

Black History Month sponsors include the university President’s Office, Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office, Political Science Department, School of Arts and Sciences, Africana Studies Department, Performing Arts, SUNY Cortland Alumni Association, Multicultural Life and Diversity Office, Disability Resources, Campus Artists and Lecture Series, Student Government Association, Know Your Roots-Africana Studies Association, SUNY Cortland Campus Activities, Career Services, Black Student Union, Cortland NAACP and Pan African Student Association.

For more information, contact Seth Asumah, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor who chairs the Africana Studies Department, at 607-753-2064.

SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum offered optimism and a path forward through the COVID-19 pandemic during his opening of school meeting for faculty and staff on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.

With spring semester classes starting on Monday, Feb. 1, President Bitterbaum noted a number of lessons learned last fall regarding the spread of COVID-19 on college campuses:

• Entry and surveillance testing are critical. SUNY Cortland has required all students to submit proof of a negative test result before returning to Cortland. All members of the campus community will participate in weekly surveillance testing throughout the spring semester.
• The reduction of density in residence halls for the coming semester will also help to slow the virus on campus. SUNY Cortland will have 1,584 students living on campus this spring, a reduction of about 50%.
• When precautions such as face coverings and social distancing are practiced, classrooms have shown not to be vectors of viral spread. Following guidance from the Cortland County Health Department, in-person classes this semester will be allowed to meet for longer periods of time, enhancing the student experience.

The biggest source of COVID-19 infection last semester was off-campus gatherings. While there are strict penalties for students caught violating safety protocols, speaking frankly with students about their potential impact on others and encouraging them to consider their actions is critical.

President Bitterbaum urged faculty and staff to talk to students about the public health situation and their choices throughout the semester.

“In numerous conversations I’ve had with our students, one thing is clear,” Bitterbaum said. “Students admire their faculty and staff and they hold you in the highest esteem. In many cases, alongside, and to my surprise, sometimes even higher than their parents. You have the opportunity to influence their behavior this upcoming semester.”

In addition to reinforcing messaging about face coverings, physical distancing and avoiding large gatherings, faculty and staff should also discourage students from traveling out of the immediate area and from inviting friends, parents and other family members from visiting them here in Cortland.

“I need all of us to speak with our students on a weekly basis on what it would take to keep this campus safe and healthy,” Bitterbaum said. “It’s more than just wearing your mask. You know the mantra. But really, it’s about engaging your students for a few minutes every week about how to be healthy and safe. We need them to think twice about gathering off campus.”

COVID-19 is not the only issue facing SUNY Cortland this spring. President Bitterbaum also touched upon significant topics such as admissions, racial and social justice and mental health.

Although SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras announced earlier this month that the SUNY system has experienced a 20% decline in applications over the past year, SUNY Cortland remains strong in attracting new students and has experienced the smallest decline of any SUNY comprehensive college.

Keeping enrollment strong in these challenging times, however requires continued effort. President Bitterbaum urged faculty and staff to assist the Admissions Office by extending their expertise to prospective students through email, phone calls and video meetings.

The conversations around social and racial justice sparked by the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 have led to a number of new initiatives at SUNY Cortland.

Information is available through the anti-racism resources page. The Multicultural Life and Diversity Office will host a variety of programs and events throughout the spring.

All members of the campus community are invited to take part in the 21-day anti-racism challenge to in part foster awareness, compassion and understanding. Learn more online.

President Bitterbaum also highlighted the university’s plan to continue to diversify the student and faculty populations alike.

“At SUNY, we have made diversity, equity and inclusion an integral part of our mission,” he said. “Social justice is in SUNY’s DNA. That’s why SUNY was invented. We must continue to improve student access and its success for all students as well as continue to diversify our faculty body to make it more representative of our student body.”

Mental Health is another significant challenge facing today’s college students, a challenge that predates the COVID-19 pandemic. Issues such as depression, stress and anxiety are rising among students.

President Bitterbaum noted that there are resources available to students, including SUNY Cortland’s Counseling Center as well as the system-wide Reach Out Mental Health Services Program launched last semester that provides access to a network of mental health care providers.

“I would ask you, in a gentle and encouraging way, to visit with your students and recommend that they visit with a counselor,” he said. “It’s very, very important.”

President Bitterbaum also thanked faculty and staff for their tireless dedication to other initiatives on campus, including:

• COVID-19 forced instructors to move 1,600 classes and 200 labs to an online format in 10 days.
• International Programs is finding creative ways for students to experience international learning.
• The Campaign for Cortland has raised $23 million of its $25 million goal.
• Alumni programming has allowed Cortland graduates to remain connected to today’s students.
• Career Services continues to be a valuable asset for students entering an unstable job market.
• Transformations, a celebration of student research, will be held virtually on Friday, April 30.
• The Institute for Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice will take place this summer and will be led by Distinguished Teaching Professor Seth Asumah and Professor Mechthild Nagel.

“The pandemic is not ending tomorrow and the economy will not be rebounding tomorrow,” Bitterbaum said. “If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s the importance of feeling connected to each other with gratitude.”

President Bitterbaum’s remarks were followed by a talk led by Edward Fergus, associate professor of urban education and policy at Temple University, “SUNY Cortland Inclusion Survey: Perspectives on Racial Diversity in University Climate.”

The event also included a panel on the university’s Anti-Racism Action Plans Project, led by Lorraine Lopez-Janove, chief diversity and inclusion officer; AnnaMaria Cirrincione, director of Multicultural Life and Diversity; Mary Schlarb, director of International Programs; Kelechi Ibe-Lamberts, assistant professor of Health; and Christopher Ortega, assistant professor of Communication and Media Studies.

A recording of the meeting will be posted online.

Campus community members have an added opportunity to immerse themselves in Black history and culture throughout the month by participating in the interactive “21-Day Challenge” throughout the rest of February.

Every day of the 21-day challenge has a theme and lists several options for reading, listening or watching. Individuals may choose at least one activity per day and are welcome to explore more.

The activity is new to the campus’ annual celebration of Black History Month.

The multimedia subcommittee of SUNY Cortland’s Anti-Racism Taskforce Multimedia Subcommittee created the webpage, Cortland.edu/21day, which gives students, faculty and staff a chance to track their participation, reflect on their daily activities and engage in discussion with others.

“The Challenge was created as a way to understand issues of power, privilege, oppression, equity and social justice,” said committee member Paul van der Veur, professor and chair of Communication and Media Studies and a faculty member in the Africana Studies Department.

“The goal is for participants to explore a daily activity and over the course of the 21 days to learn and, ultimately, be empowered to recognize and actively take a stand against racism,” he said.

The 21-day challenge is an opportunity to:

• Learn and grow as individuals and as a community
• Foster awareness, compassion and understanding
• Encourage dialogue surrounding difficult topics
• Begin to understand issues of power, privilege, oppression, equity and social justice
• Learn how to better support Black and underrepresented colleagues, students and community members
• Become empowered to confront issues of racial equality

“Unlearning your biases is an incredibly difficult task,” Van der Veur said. “You cannot become an anti-racist just by deciding you are one. We hope that the topics here will challenge and inspire you. Proceed with an open mind when you see an activity that might be at odds with your beliefs. Those may be the ones that spark the greatest change.”

In addition to Van der Veur, the Anti-Racism Taskforce Multimedia Subcommittee also includes Kathleen Lawrence, professor of communication and media studies; Michelle LoGerfo, assistant director of web and digital marketing; Ricardo Nelson, media services technician with Campus Technology Services; Christine Paske, instructor of health;  Jeremy Pekarek, Memorial Library archivist and instructional services librarian; and Andrea Robinson-Kuretich, associate registrar.

Calling all SUNY Cortland gamers: this is your last chance to register for a semester-long competition against students from across the SUNY system.

The deadline to sign up for the Spring 2021 SUNY Esports league is 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12. To register, contact Matthew Nuesell, assistant director of Recreational Sports, Intramural Sports and Sport Clubs.

Students may participate individually or on teams in the following games:

• Overwatch (PC, 6v6, Mondays)
• Dragon Ball Fighterz (PC, 1v1, Mondays)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 1v1, Tuesdays)
• Rocket League 3v3 (Crossplay, 3v3, Tuesdays)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Crossplay, 4v4, Wednesdays)
• Fortnite Duos (Crossplay, 2v2, Wednesdays)
• Valorant (PC, 5v5, Thursdays)
• Rainbow Six Siege (PC, 5v5, Thursdays)

All competitions begin weekly at 8 p.m. Several weeks of round-robin competition will be followed by a SUNY-wide playoff.

You may register as a free agent if you don’t have enough players to form a team and will be added to a team with others to join the competition.

Students may participate whether they live on campus, off campus or are studying from home this semester.

A complete guidebook and rulebook are available online.

Follow the action all season long online.

For more information, contact Nuesell at 607-753-5704.

Some years ago, Cole Crosby M ’15 traveled to Cortland from Oklahoma with his future wife, Ashlee Prewitt-Crosby ’14, a love or running and a desire to help others.

At SUNY Cortland, Crosby volunteered to help Coach Steve Patrick coach cross-country and track.

Meanwhile, Prewitt-Crosby, as president of SUNY Cortland’s  Non-Traditional Student Organization (NTSO), organized Cortland’s first Big Event, which brought hundreds of students out for the  Cortland Downtown Partnership’s annual community clean-up. The Big Event continues annually, most recently organized by the Student Government Association club called Actively Involved in the Community.

This January, the community-service-minded couple successfully conquered something new. New Jersey, to be exact.

Crosby, an ultra-marathoner living in South Brunswick, New Jersey, ran the almost 200-mile length of his state during one weekend, with Prewitt-Crosby following her husband in their Honda CRV and friends serving as his support crew. He ran from High Point Monument to Cape May and finished the 197-mile run in 44 hours, 42 minutes and 21 seconds, a pace of 13 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.

To their astonishment, the successful run raised $7,000 for the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA), the oldest and largest national association of runners and running organizations dedicated to growing the sport of running.

“The club had really suffered in all the COVID-19 fallout,” Prewitt-Crosby said. “Their program, all road races, got cancelled. Cole was going to run the state of N.J. no matter what, but if we could pick up something anyway for another group, we would. So, we’re really happy it turned out as well as it did.”

“All of it was a surreal experience,” said Crosby, who began by selling race-logoed winter hats to family, friends and clients through the Roxitius Country Club in Mendham, New Jersey. As the club’s golf shop manager, he handles buying, merchandizing and overall sales and profitability. Always interested in the retail side of outdoor fun, he had earned a master’s degree in recreation administration at SUNY Cortland.

“I know how hard it is to do fundraising and get everyone on board but also how rewarding it is to give back to the community,” Crosby added.

“He loves running and that’s a big part of his life but if he can use that for good, I really support that,” Prewitt-Crosby said.

“We were just doing this to make friends,” said Crosby. “I never expected to see the overabundance of support. People went about things in the right way and it was just really cool.”

After they had collected donations in exchange for the memorabilia, a country club member astonished them with a check for $1,000, bringing them in at a little over $2,000.

“That was really special because we weren’t expecting that,” Prewitt-Crosby said. Once the couple’s Go Fund Me page was started, more gifts also rolled in from friends as well as people they had never met.

“Originally, with these big runs, I was wanting to have more and more to do with philanthropy,” Crosby said. “Ashlee with her work with the Big Event (at SUNY Cortland) and her background, that kind of interest has really rubbed off on me.”

At the University of Oklahoma, the Big Event had been a regular feature. The couple came to Cortland so Cole could pursue his master’s degree in recreation administration. Ashlee had transferred into Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) and then to SUNY Cortland, where she received a bachelor’s degree in political science.

“Sports is an identity for people and brings people together in ways you can’t imagine,” said Prewitt-Crosby, who since 2019 has worked as a grants/finance manager at Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. She is pursuing a master’s degree in accounting at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“That’s what I really got out of this experience,” said Prewitt-Crosby, an admitted non-serious runner. “Everyone who ran and didn’t run, everyone felt they had something to offer. It wasn’t Cole’s race. It was New Jersey’s race, and a race for all those people along the way.”

Having never previously run more than 90 miles consecutively, it was by far the longest race of Crosby’s lifetime. He reached his lighthouse destination just after 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10, completing a 197-mile journey from the outer reaches of Sussex County. Crosby began his journey from the High Point Monument at 1:58 a.m. Saturday and reached the lighthouse just after 10:30 p.m. Sunday, about 4.5 hours later than he had expected.

It’s not an official race route, so Crosby isn’t aware if anyone has beat his time and only knows one person who’s tried it before.

“I slept two hours and Cole slept one hour 20 minutes in the whole race,” Prewitt-Crosby said. “That was one of the challenges. I’ve never been more sleep-deprived in my whole entire life.”

Crosby likes to energize himself as he runs: with olives, Gummi Bears and avocado slices.

But the last thing he expected to see was those unusual treats held out to him along the route by complete strangers.

As he pounded the pavement, an intermittent string of well-wishers — who apparently had visited his race Go Fund Me page dedicated to help youth runners — yelled encouragement from impromptu refreshment stands that also featured pizza and Dr. Pepper, his race support team’s favorites. Some of Crosby’s fans even laced up and accompanied him for a few miles. His race experience was anything but lonely.

“We got into a kind of Forrest Gump situation, where he was running and people were just showing up all along the course to run with him or give me food for him,” Prewitt-Crosby said. “Most of them we didn’t know, except for the people at the finish line.”

Seeing him off was at the start was Crosby’s old friend, triathlete Thomas Eickelberg M ’15 of New Paltz, N.Y.

“I said, ‘Oh, my god, I can’t believe he showed up,’” Crosby said.

“In a couple miles, some vans showed up full of people, and three of them jumped out and ran down the road with Cole for a couple of miles,” added Prewitt-Crosby. “There were people popping up all along the way. In the middle of the run, we had people actually setting up refreshment stations for us. They were serving us things like pizza.”

“I told them, ‘If you want to help, here are things me and my crew really like, Dr. Pepper and Cinnabon rolls,’” Crosby explained. “People really took it the whole way and brought us our favorite things. They brought all of them, especially jars of olives and Gummi Bears.”

The couple had met at the University of Oklahoma, where Prewitt-Crosby began her baccalaureate studies and met her future husband.

“I’m from Oklahoma,” Prewitt-Crosby said. “Cole was the crazy guy from New Jersey who moved to Oklahoma to go to a university.”

“The rest is history,” Crosby said.

In 2010, they tied the knot at Thunderbird Chapel, near the beautiful Thunder Lake where the couple had hung out to stargaze countless times and Crosby had racked up more than 1,000 miles on its huge network of trails.

“It’s always running,” Prewitt-Crosby said. “Our whole life revolves around Cole running.”

Only now Crosby’s running for charity.

Dear students,

Thank you for your flexibility and patience this week as the winter storm buried the campus. I am grateful for your efforts and continued willingness to adapt to changing circumstances. 

Since many classes will remain online this semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I want to remind you to treat online coursework as if you were sitting in the classroom. The pandemic has made many of us more comfortable using tools such as Webex, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, but I know online learning also can bring new challenges.

I want to share some important reminders about your responsibilities as a student working online: 

• Stay engaged: In addition to logging in to Blackboard frequently, attending all classes and turning in assignments on time, you should strive to be an active participant in your education. During live class sessions, keep your camera on and distractions out of sight. Ask questions and contribute to the conversation.
  
  
• Communicate: Whether you are sending an email to your professor or asking a question during class, be clear and professional. Make sure you have read the syllabi for your courses. This video includes many excellent tips about communicating with your professors.
  
  
• Ask for help: Remember that faculty and staff members want to help you. Try to ask questions early on, well in advance of exams or assignment deadlines. Consult your professors as well as offices on campus such as The Learning Center, The Writing Center and The Help Center.

You have proven your resilience through many times over the past year and I know you have what it takes to be successful in your classes this semester.

Thank you once again for your efforts this week. Please continue to wear face coverings, remain physically distant and practice other behaviors necessary to be safe. 

All the best, 

Erik J. Bitterbaum 

President 

Dear students,

Last week marked an important first step in the semester, but we must continue to work even harder to keep COVID-19 in check. Although the majority of you followed campus safety protocols and reported for weekly pool testing, our rising case numbers suggest that we must be even more vigilant and conscientious. We all have a responsibility to avoid behavior that puts many campus experiences at risk and, more importantly, threatens the health of our community.

Remember that all students who come to campus for any reason are required to report for campus pool testing each week, whether they are living on campus or off-campus in Cortland, even if all of their classes are online. Regular testing is our most valuable tool to help ensure everyone’s safety. Ultimately, your participation will determine the university’s ability to offer important campus experiences, including access to the Student Life Center, in-person dining and athletics practices. 

Please note the following reminders about pool testing: 

• Everyone in Cortland must participate: Even if you are living off campus in Cortland and taking a fully online schedule, you must test weekly. The only exceptions are students in quarantine or isolation and students who have tested positive in the past 90 days and submitted documentation.  

• The process is fast and easy: Register online using the COVID-19 tab in myRedDragon and follow the instructions sent to your email. When you go to the Student Life Center, multiple lines will be open and the entire process will take only a few minutes. 

• Positive tests will not lead to punishment: There are no disciplinary actions tied to testing positive for COVID-19, but you will be required to follow all quarantine and isolation protocols for the well-being of the campus community.

Let me be clear: we must improve our efforts. Please wear a face covering, especially if you are with others outside of your residence. Avoid large gatherings. Practice safe behaviors and commit to pool testing for the sake of SUNY Cortland as a whole. I hope you will work hard to remind your friends and classmates to do the same. 

All the best, 

Erik J. Bitterbaum 

President 

SUNY Cortland is encouraging all students to participate in the Campus Climate Survey that will be launching on Monday, Feb. 15. 

The anonymous online survey asks students about their perceptions of campus culture and safety, including their experiences with sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking and relationship violence. The university will use the results to better understand the prevalence of these incidents in the campus community and to inform improvements in programs.

All SUNY Cortland students 18 and older who are enrolled in at least one class for credit, excluding all high school students regardless of age, will receive an email from survey@suny.edu containing the link to the survey in the upcoming days.

We encourage all students to participate in the survey, regardless of whether or not you feel as though these issues impact you personally. Larger response rates will increase the reliability of the results.

In addition to taking an active role in tackling this issue, students who participate will also have the chance to win a $100 Amazon gift certificate. Upon completion of the survey, students will be provided access to a separate questionnaire to submit your name for this randomized incentive drawing. Clicking submit on the Climate Survey severs the link irretrievably with the Incentive Survey. When you enter your name and email address, it cannot be tracked to your responses to the Climate Survey.

The following message was sent to members of the Cortland community by President Erik J. Bitterbaum and Mayor Brian Tobin:

To members of the Cortland community,

As a new semester begins at SUNY Cortland, we wanted to reach out ꟷ as president of the university and mayor of the city of Cortland ꟷ to reassure you that we are working together to keep our community safe during the ongoing pandemic.

A committee of SUNY Cortland and community representatives has been meeting regularly to discuss issues and share information. We have cooperated on numerous initiatives and collaborated on enforcement and testing. The university’s commitment to aggressive testing for COVID-19 will allow SUNY Cortland to quickly respond to outbreaks with quarantine and isolation measures.

Consider these changes from last fall:

• SUNY Cortland asked all returning students to submit a negative COVID-19 test or proof of a completed isolation period before coming to campus.
• All returning students were tested upon arrival to campus.
• All students, faculty and staff are required to participate in weekly surveillance testing during the spring semester.

When battling a pandemic, facts are more effective than fear. As we move forward together, we will provide regular updates to our community.

Please stay safe, and remain engaged.

Brian Tobin                                                                                Erik Bitterbaum

Mayor, City of Cortland                                                           President, SUNY Cortland