Campus Champion

Junior and Brooklyn native Sophia Zheng is grateful for the different beliefs and behaviors at SUNY Cortland that have helped her appreciate other perspectives. The psychology major and Multicultural Life and Diversity Office intern is committed to a career in student affairs. Inspired to educate her peers, she is already generating change. To create a space for Asian students, she helped restart the Asian American Pacific Islander Student Union. To help bridge the gap between groups, she will facilitate “Focus on our Future: Unconscious Bias Workshop” at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, in Corey Union, Rooms 301 and 302.

Students and faculty from SUNY Cortland’s Biological Sciences Department will join a team from Cornell University on an animal science research project that aims to better understand the maternal adaptations that promote lactation in mammals.

The work also will provide insight to how improving the efficiency of food production may ensure food security, while reducing environmental impact. 

A $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will help fund full-time summer research experience for two SUNY Cortland undergraduates annually for the next four years. Assistant Professor Amanda Davis will help lead the project as a co-principal investigator.

The work will use sheep to test whether ceramide, a type of lipid, drives milk production in mammals by promoting a process called insulin resistance. This work is important because increases in insulin resistance can make milk production more efficient and environmentally sustainable, building on previous knowledge about nutrient use in cows.

Enhancing milk production efficiency reduces the need for cattle, land, water and fossil fuels, generates less greenhouse gases, and favors a smaller carbon footprint.

“We’re seeing global population growth, and we need to have enough food to feed everyone,” said Davis, who earned a Ph.D. in animal physiology from Cornell. “On top of that, there’s this issue of climate change, so we have to be creative about how we improve the efficiency of food production.

“That’s the larger idea here: improving the efficiency of nutrient use in animals to maximize what they’re producing so we can feed everyone and solve these problems.”

Davis explained that, during milk production, there’s a way to redirect the nutrients that cows store to the milk itself. The researchers believe ceramide plays a key role in this process and they will use a flock of pregnant sheep at Cornell to better understand lactation in the animals.

Two SUNY Cortland students each summer will be selected for the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) portion of the NSF grant. Their eight-week experience will involve hands-on work with the sheep at Cornell — from feeding and milking to blood sampling and tissue collection. They also will learn an advanced procedure to assess insulin sensitivity, or how well the sheep utilize glucose.

In addition to receiving free summer housing on SUNY Cortland’s campus, students will use Bowers Hall laboratories to run blood sample tests and gather additional data for the research project.

Students do not need to have a background in animal science to pursue the experience, Davis said. The project is physiology-based and can provide foundational knowledge for many science-related professions, including the medical field.

“Students will get the start-to-finish experience of what it’s like to actually carry out an experiment, make data their own, analyze it and present it,” Davis said, noting that student researchers will be selected this spring with a focus to recruit underrepresented populations in science fields.

Davis understands the value of early research experience because it was pivotal to her own career path and her work with Joseph McFadden, the project’s principal investigator and an associate professor of dairy cattle biology at Cornell.

As an undergraduate at West Virginia Wesleyan College, Davis pursued a summer research opportunity at West Virginia University, where she first connected with McFadden. Davis worked in McFadden’s laboratory as a graduate student at West Virginia University, then followed him to Cornell for her doctoral degree.

“The idea is that, at the end, students can attach their name to this project and say: ‘This is what I did,’” Davis said.

In addition to the project’s research component, the NSF grant will aim to develop communication skills in undergraduates, especially when they discuss their research with people who do not possess a deep knowledge of science.

“Our goal is to first educate our undergraduates on the broad implications of this work because many of them likely don’t have an animal science background,” Davis said. “By the end of the experience, our students will have the skills to communicate their work to a more general audience.”

That’s why the summer experience will include communication training that introduces scientific journals and background research as well as career planning workshops on how to put together a curriculum vitae, or an academic résumé.

The research team also has plans to lead interactive activities at the Sciencenter, the hands-on museum in Ithaca, and eventually showcase the full four years of its work at the New York State Fair in Syracuse.

“It’s so important to teach scientists how to break down their complex work in ways that are understandable and engaging to the public,” Davis said.

SUNY Cortland senior Daniel Reischer of Newburgh, N.Y., is fascinated with how racism and bias take root and grow.

Increasingly, Reischer’s observations are gaining attention. He’s won two writing prizes, including a national award supporting Black studies scholarship, and has shared his keen insight in several public lectures.

The political science major, who graduates in December, recently became the first SUNY Cortland student to win a prestigious national essay contest of the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS).

Established in 1975, the NCBS is the primary association that brings African American scholars together to formalize the study of the African World experience as well as expand and strengthen academic units and community programs devoted to the field.

Reischer captured the Undergraduate 1st Place Terry Kershaw Student Essay Contest Award for his essay titled “The Rise of Right-Wing Radio in the United States.” He wrote the piece for his Dimensions of Racism class.

Reischer’s 13-page essay, plus abstract and references, explored the rise of Right-Wing radio in the United States from the 1920s to today. Specifically, the paper delved into the careers and impact of three pioneers of the industry: Father Charles Coughlin, Joe Pyne and Rush Limbaugh.

Reischer, through SUNY Cortland’s Africana Studies Department, competed against students from more than 300 universities and colleges.

“It was exciting to be recognized on one hand, but I was really interested to hear presentations from the other winners, the graduate winner and other people who placed in the contest,” Reischer said of the national contest.

Associate Professor of Africana Studies Michael Tillotson, Reischer’s Dimensions of Racism course instructor, also entered Reischer’s essay in the SUNY Cortland Writing Contest. It won first prize in that as well.

All Kershaw Student Essay Contest entries were considered through a blind process. Kershaw, for whom the award is named, was editor of NCBS’ International Journal of Africana Studies from 2002-2011. Winners in the essay contest, which features both graduate and undergraduate awards, in the past have attended an annual conference to present their essays. Due to the COVID-19 public health restrictions, Reischer instead delivered a virtual summary of his essay to conference participants on Feb. 25.

Tillotson, who joined SUNY Cortland’s Africana Studies Department last fall as its first full-time faculty member to have earned a degree in Africana studies, from Temple University, soon noticed Reischer’s interest in the written research part of his newly introduced course offering.

“During the entire class, I started to notice a very distinct research quality, depth and scholarly maturity in Daniel’s paper,” Tillotson said. “In addition, after a series of one-one-one discussions and consultations with Daniel during office hours, I realized the promise in the paper and, after receiving his permission, I entered it in the NCBS annual student essay contest on Dec. 21.”

Reischer’s paper concluded with a discussion of how podcasts are on track to overtake syndicated radio as the prime disseminator of hateful rhetoric and conspiracy theories for a younger generation.

“Older generations tend to listen to that talk radio in the car but younger generations are the target of podcasts,” Reischer said. “That is why it is so dangerous. Because you can argue that radio in that form is kind of dying out. But with podcasts, it has the same effect of a radio: they’re in your home, in your ear, they’re just talking to you.”

His paper’s lines about the evolution of Joe Rogan’s podcast programs were written before the podcast host was perceived as very controversial.

“Rogan is operating his show in a way that doesn’t, on the outset, look hateful or evil,” Reischer said. “He was a comedian, he was a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) commentator. I think that’s the appeal of the show. Because he sets up a show in a way that sounds like he’s going to listen to all sides.”

During Black History Month 2022, Reischer presented a different paper written for the same class, titled “Predictive policing: History and methods,” on Feb. 22 in a Moffett Center Forum public lecture. His talk addressed how police have used computer algorithms skewed by human prejudice to unfairly increase their policing of Black neighborhoods. Reischer plans to reprise the paper on April 29 during Transformations, the university’s annual showcase of scholarly and creative activity.

Reischer admits he primarily took the cross-discipline listed course because he needed credits in his major. He hadn’t expected to learn much more about the topic of racism.

“In this class we were trying to approach racism in an almost non-emotional way, and look at it empirically,” Reischer said. “So we’re looking at psychology. We’re looking at pseudoscience. We’re looking at human behaviors and history and just combining all of this to get a deeper understanding about how racism developed into what it is today.”

A big baseball statistics fan, Reischer initially chose SUNY Cortland for its Sport Management Program.

“It was the year of the Parkland shooting and a lot of stuff happened at my high school as a result of that,” he said. “Before my first semester, I really had an epiphany. I just had to be involved in activism.”

So he enrolled as a political science major instead and at 18 signed up to vote at a campus New York Public Interest Research Group booth. Reischer eventually became that NYPIRG rep encouraging classmates to register. He served the Student Government Association as acting vice president in Spring through early Fall 2021.

“I’ve been really interested in this sort of subject matter,” Reischer said. “It’s what I want to research to an extent, when I go to grad school.”

“I’m always looking for the curious student,” said Tillotson, who before joining Cortland served in the Africana studies think tank M.K. Assante Institute.

“Because when they are curious, they are engaged and when they are engaged, they are learning. I’m always looking for the student who wants to be engaged in the life of the mind, to be on the trading floor of the market place of ideas to answer the great questions of the human story.”

Many people aren’t sure how to react to Ernest Samuel Christie III’s traumatic childhood tale of how his abusive, serial killer father once forced him to help bury a body.

Not SUNY Cortland English major Allison Hall. The Whitney Point, N.Y. native reached out and asked if they could create a podcast together.

“I’d never done a podcast,” Hall said recently. “I didn’t know how to do a podcast. But I knew I wanted to help him tell his story, and I somehow knew I’d be able to do it.”

The result is “Frankly, Ernest,” a weekly podcast available on Spotify and other platforms that uses Christie’s stories as a launchpad to discuss larger issues such as interpersonal violence, gender expression, racism, faith and healing.

It’s a labor of love for Hall, who records a conversation with Christie once a week and then spends whatever free time she has on her laptop, transforming it into the podcast.

It’s also a final project for her minor in women’s, gender and sexuality studies, where students are required to integrate their major or career focus into a discussion of systems that treat people differently based on gender or sexual expression.

“The story itself springs from the intersection of all of the topics we talk about in WGS,” said Professor Jena Nicols Curtis, program coordinator for the minor. “Ally has really found a meaningful way to bring to life  the research and theory  behind the issues through the incredible stories of this man.”

Christie made national headlines in 2010 when, after years of internal stress and guilt, he reported his father to police and led them to the body of a woman who his father had tortured, killed and forced him to help bury when he was a young boy. He showed them a hollow tree where his father, who died in 2006, had kept one woman in chains before she escaped. Police suspect the father of other killings and Christie believes he murdered Christie’s mother, who his father also abused. 

It was the start of an ongoing healing process for Christie, who was physically abused by his father throughout his childhood, and carried the emotional and social scars into adulthood. Part of that process is to share his story, which he began doing this year with very short videos on TikTok, @thevelvetbrick, which now has more than 100,000 followers.

Earlier this year, Hall said she was hanging out in her room, scrolling TikTok, when she stumbled onto one of his videos.

“I couldn’t stop watching it,” Hall said. “I watched all his videos and realized that somehow it was midnight and I needed to go to bed.”

But instead of sleeping, Hall sent Christie a message of support and offered to help him with a podcast. To her great surprise, he agreed.

It’s not like Hall had time on her hands. In addition to being a student, she also works full time at SUNY Cortland, previously as a secretary in the Admissions Office and currently as an administrative assistant trainee in the Economics Department. She plans to graduate in December.

Hall is the host and producer of the podcast and works with Christie on the content. She does most of the work herself, although she plans to have SUNY Cortland faculty and staff participate as experts in various fields during podcast discussions.

“I decided to be an English major because it gave me an opportunity to be involved in everything, history, psychology, it touches everything,” she said. “And now, by doing this podcast, I know what I want to do for a career.

“I’m basically a fly-by-the-seat of your pants person when I want to do something. I’m not afraid to figure it out as I go,” Hall said. “So far, it’s working. We’ve got a lot of listeners, and we’re getting better with every podcast.”

Cyborgs. Post-apocalyptic tattoos. Street urchins.

Over his 45-year career, D. Dominick Lombardi, visual artist, writer and curator, has been nothing if not eclectic.

A traveling solo show of more than 80 pieces of Lombardi’s artwork — representing the essence of 20 distinct chapters of the artist’s impressive career — will be on display starting Monday, March 7, at SUNY Cortland’s Dowd Gallery.

The exhibition in the Dowd Fine Arts Building, titled “High + Low: A Forty-five Year Retrospective,” will feature sculptures, drawings, paintings, collages and assemblages. The artworks will be on view until Friday, April 15.

All Dowd Gallery exhibitions and events, including the artist’s talk with Lombardi on Tuesday, March 8, and the opening reception on Wednesday, March 9, are free and open to the public. Visit the Dowd Gallery website and social media for links to invitations for virtual events, artist and contributors’ profiles, safety protocols, online booking and detailed information about other programs.

The exhibition is comprised of series, such as:

• “The Cyborgs,” a science-fiction-based series depicting half-human/half-machine beings
• “East Village days”
• His earliest forays into sculpture and kinetic art
• The repurposing of a multitude of found materials
• “The Post-Apocalyptic Tattoo” series
• “Street Urchin” series

“Lombardi’s masterful mix of high and low culture is as current as the day it was created, showing how little the aesthetics of human behavior have changed,” said the collection curator, T. Michael Martin. Martin, an assistant professor, curator and director at the Clara M. Eagle Gallery at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, noted that the extensive collection, which offers a comparative view of opposing ideas and visual styles in the scope of fine art, premiered at the Clara M. Eagle Gallery in 2019.

“In some ways, Lombardi’s distortions are a more truthful look at society than our daily facade of polite policy and political correctness, especially in the way we prompt contention,” Martin wrote. “Lombardi offers a much-needed change and disruption through his unique sense of humor.”

The collection reflects Lombardi’s interest in a wide variety of materials, mediums and concepts combined with experimentation.

The evolution of Lombardi’s practice began with the introduction of modern art, specifically when he first saw a reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica (1939) at the age of 3 or 4, and continued with his introduction to the subversive world of Zap Comix in 1968.  

Visitors to the exhibit will have the opportunity not only to see a myriad of unique and thoughtful pieces but also to experience a physical representation of the timeline of Lombardi’s artistic life.

With an aim to set the presented works in a wider context, the gallery plans a series of interdisciplinary, virtual and in-person programs. Events include:

Artist’s Talk: D. Dominick Lombardi will discuss the exhibition “High + Low” 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, at Dowd Gallery. He will address the evolution of his artistic practice, how each phase came about, what if anything inspired the work, and how he came to change media, genre, emphasis and message.

Opening Reception: The event will run from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9, in Dowd Gallery.

Gallery Talk: Errika Gerakiti, a Greece-based writer, critic, and contributor to art-centric online publications including Daily Art Magazine, will hold a virtual discussion of “The Crystallization of Lowbrow Art in the Works of Dominick Lombardi,” at noon on Friday, March 25. Her historical overview of the Lowbrow Art movement will set the art scene in a timeline describing the evolution of to pop surrealism and connect its characteristics directly with the artist’s work.

Gallery Talk: Michael Shnayerson, author, journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine, will give a virtual presentation titled “Toward the Contemporary Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers and the Rise of Contemporary Art” at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 31. Shnayerson will present an overview of the rise and the strength of the art market propelled by “behind-the-scene” personalities, motivated dealers and elite auction houses, setting the course of the astonishing value of work by blue-chip artists with recognizable names like Jeff Koons or Damian Hirst.  

First Friday Event: An in-person and virtual guided tour of the exhibition has been organized by Cortland Arts Connect. The tour will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday, April. 1. The event will be both live and virtual on Facebook and the Dowd Gallery website.

Documentary Screening: The 1994 film “Crumb,” the acclaimed documentary about pioneering underground comics creator Robert Crumb, directed by Terry Zwigoff, will be shown at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5, in the Dowd Gallery.

Gallery Talk: Abram Fox, curator for the Lieberman Collection and special topics instructor at Towson University at Towson, Maryland, will give a virtual seminar on “Modern Mythologies: A History of Comic Books and Popular Imagination” at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 7. Fox will trace the trajectory of comics both as the visual combination of word and image and as a location for crafting exciting, engaging and compelling stories.

Film Screening: The 2003 movie, “American Spender,” will be shown at noon on Friday, April 8, in Dowd Gallery. Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the screening was co-organized with the Art and Art History Department and Love Your Major.

Documentary Screening: A compilation of shorts titled “Between High and Low” will be shown at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in Dowd Gallery.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday; and by appointment. The gallery is closed on weekends.

The exhibition is sponsored by the university’s Art and Art History Department, Art Exhibition Association and the Campus Artist and Lecture Series.

For more information, to inquire about an appointment, a tour, or additional images, contact Jaroslava Prihodova, gallery director, at 607-753-4216. Visit @dowdgallery on Instagram or Facebook for detailed information about other programs, links to invitations for virtual events and artists’ profiles.

SUNY Cortland will display graphic design panels resulting from a semester-long “call for student artists” to design artwork depicting themes from the Black Lives Matter movement as well as diversity related subjects in Old Main Colloquium through April 1.

The “Black Lives Matter Mural Submission Exhibition,” a project of the university’s Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office in partnership with Dowd Gallery, the Art and Art History Department, and the Black Lives Matter Mural Committee, opened Feb. 28 and may be viewed during building open hours.

Three graphic design and digital media majors were selected as project artists in December following a competition that attracted 21 online entries. A bold, four-panel BLM mural, created by the students to reflect the national struggle against racial and social injustice, will be mounted in the newly renovated Moffett Center Forum at the end of this semester. 

Meanwhile, the winning illustrators will be honored during an opening reception on Thursday, March 3, in the Colloquium, which is located directly off the second-floor lobby. The reception runs from 3 to 6 p.m. and the Winner’s Recognition Ceremony with refreshments will take place at 4 p.m.

“The show includes artwork from all students who sent their submissions for consideration, including four winning proposals,” said Jaroslava Prihodova, director of Dowd Gallery at SUNY Cortland.

“The collection of 21 pieces celebrates and honors individuals who found inspiration in Black Lives Matter and wanted to share their ideas with the campus community.”

Students who participated in the submission process include Vanessa Leon Basurto, Jacob Bernstein, Shannon Delaney, Colleen Fidelman, Katherine Kressner, Cassidy Light, Kemoi Perez and Angie Tillapaugh.

The campus’ installation project, suggested and personally funded by Tim Bennett ’07, has been moved forward by a partnership of faculty, administrators and students.

Bennett, a local business owner, entrepreneur, and SUNY Cortland Alumni Association board member, supports numerous local civic endeavors and funded a Black Lives Matter street graphic in downtown Cortland as the nation wrestled with racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death. He approached SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum about doing something illustrating the same concept on campus.

Lorraine Lopez-Janove, chief diversity and inclusion officer, created the BLM Mural Committee, which in addition to her includes Bennett; Gia Greenidge, founding and current president of the NAACP chapter at SUNY Cortland; Taylor Hunter, president of the Student Government Association (SGA); Tatum Pittman, SGA diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator; SUNY Cortland graduate Shaneya Simmelkjaer ’21, a former NAACP president; Brianna Soogrim, the current Black Student Union vice president; Cyrenius Weagba Fitzjohn ’19, SUNY Cortland’s assistant chief diversity and inclusion officer; Prihodova; Martine Barnaby, professor of graphic design, Art and Art History Department; Zach Newswanger, associate vice president for facilities management; and Seth Asumah, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and chair of the Africana Studies Department.

IMAGE: Shown is a detail of a 4- by 4-foot panel on the theme of “Our Ancestors Wildest Dreams,” designed by Shannon Delaney, a dual major in communication and media studies and graphic design and digital media. It depicts on the left side an oil painting of the famous photo of Ruby Bridges being escorted out of her first day at public school by federal marshals. On the other side are current children of all races running out of school with one little girl of color waving to Ruby. The contrast with black and white versus color reflects the immense growth there has been in civil rights, despite having much farther to go.

A year and a half after renovations were completed, SUNY Cortland will hold a pandemic-delayed ribbon-cutting to celebrate the $25 million transformation of Moffett Center.

The President’s Office will host the ceremony at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 10, in the sun-lit central gathering area of the nearly 70-year-old building. Before the renovation, that space was a 1950s-era gymnasium.

“Although many members of the campus community have experienced the new Moffett Center, many have not, and we hope they will take this opportunity to visit,” President Erik J. Bitterbaum said. “It really is an amazing academic space.”

In addition to Bitterbaum, speakers include Zach Newswanger, associate vice president for facilities management, and Taylor Hunter, Student Government Association president.

The gymnasium has been transformed into a 3,400-square-foot forum filled with study alcoves and comfortable furniture where students and faculty can meet. New skylights flood the atrium with natural light, while a second level mezzanine offers access to a variety of reimagined classrooms.

Sawubona, a coffee shop that opened in Moffett Center a year ago, serves premium African coffee and specialty sandwiches.

The transformation has been a long time coming. Phase I of the Moffett Center update was completed in 2009. It renovated 20,000 square feet of main level space encompassing the pool area and back wall facing Sperry Center into modern classrooms, offices and a lounge area for the Sociology/Anthropology Department.

A second phase was designed in 2011, but the economic recession ground progress on the renovation to a halt. New York state only released funds to carry out the remaining updating in 2020. The pandemic then delayed campus events like ribbon cuttings.

“It has taken longer than we expected,” Bitterbaum said. “But it was definitely worth the wait.”

SUNY Cortland’s Women’s History Month theme for 2022 is: “Providing healing, promoting health.” The programming for this year’s celebrations recognizes the role of women in developing and leading wellness, advocacy and social justice efforts across the globe. 

Through March, SUNY Cortland will showcase scholarship, activism and creative projects developed by the university’s Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies minors and host national leaders in anti-racism, gender-equity and reproductive justice.

Highlights include:

• Sherron Brown, a communication studies major, is launching a self-care initiative for Black women in the campus community. Ms. Brown will host a Sandwich Seminar, “Black women in the woods: Finding solace in nature,” for Black female students, staff and faculty to share their lived experiences and plan hikes.
• Sequoia Owen, director of Member Services YWCA USA, will discuss findings and recommendations from “America’s recovery from the 2020 ‘Shecession’: Building a female future of childcare and work,” a report from the YWCA that details the devastating impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women, most especially women of color. Her talk will outline a toward a future of well-paying, stable jobs and comprehensive childcare solutions for women and families.
• Allison Hall, an English major, has created and co-hosts a podcast, “Frankly, Ernest,” with host and survivor Ernest Samuel Christie III. The podcast explores the intersections of interpersonal violence, gender expression, faith and healing. The first episode is now available on Spotify and other platforms.
• The fourth annual TransAction conference will focus on the needs and experiences of transgender and gender queer students in the college environment. This year’s TransAction will feature a keynote presentation by Michelle L. Knaier ’01, M ’03, a queer scholar who researches, develops and advocates for queer multicultural social justice teacher education and K-12 curriculum. Advance registration for TransAction is required.

Events are open to the public and free unless otherwise noted.

2022 Women’s History Month events:

• Wednesday, March 2, 12:30 p.m: “It’s not just us: Global and gender perspectives on vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaxxing movements,” presented by the Clark Center for Global Engagement, Old Main Colloquium.
• Friday, March 4, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m: “TransAction: The forth annual conference about the needs and experiences of transgender and gender queer students in the college environment,” presented by the Sexual Orientation, the Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Committee. Advance registration is required.
• Sunday, March 6, 8 p.m. “Gender inclusive climbing: An introduction for women, Trans* and non-binary folx,” presented by Recreational Sports, Student Life Center Climbing Wall.
• Tuesday, March 8, 2 to 4 p.m.: “International Women’s Day tabling,” sponsored by the Gender Polices and Initiatives Council and the International Programs Office, Student Life Center lobby.
• Wednesday, March 9, 12:30 p.m.: “Gendered governance: The sexualization of female politicians,” presented by Hailie Addison, president of BridgeCortland, virtual via Webex.
• Wednesday, March 9, 4 to 6 p.m.: “SafeZone training to identify, educate, and support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and Pansexual (LGBTQIAP) allies,” presented by Multicultural Life and Diversity Office. Advance registration is required.
• Thursday, March 10, noon: “Reproductive justice after Roe,” presented by Debra Marcus CEO, Family Planning of South Central New York, virtual via Webex.
• Tuesday, March 22, 3 to 5 p.m.: “SafeZone training to identify, educate, and support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and Pansexual (LGBTQIAP) allies,” presented by Multicultural Life and Diversity Office, Corey Union Fireplace Lounge.
• Wednesday, March 23, 12:30 p.m.: “Lesbian advocacy in the early years of the AIDS crisis,” presented by Lawrence Bruce, president of Campus PRIDE, Old Main Colloquium.
• Thursday, March 24, noon: “Black women in the woods: Finding solace in nature,” presented by Sherron Brown, Old Main Colloquium.
• Thursday, March 24, 4 p.m.: “Salary negotiation workshop,” presented by Career Services and Gender Policies and Initiatives Council Student Initiatives Subcommittee, virtual via Webex. Advance registration is preferred on Handshake.
• Monday, March 28, 6 p.m.: "Women's activism and the Equal Rights Amendment: An advocacy workshop," presented by NYPIRG, virtual via Zoom.
• Wednesday, March 30, 12:30 p.m.: “Building a female future of childcare and work,” presented by Sequoia Owen, director of Member Services YWCA USA, virtual via Webex.

• Wednesday, March 30, 7 p.m.: “Athlete A,” film screening, sponsored by the Gender Policies and Initiatives Council, Corey Union Function Room.

• Thursday, March 31, noon: “Racialization of women of color on campus: Centering student voices,” presented by Saadatu Watson, Old Main Colloquium.

Co-sponsorships and funding for Women’s History Month events were provided by BridgeCortland, Campus PRIDE, Career Services, the Clark Center for Global Engagement, the Gender Policies and Initiatives Council (GPIC), the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, the Institute for Civic Engagement, the Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office, International Programs Office, Multicultural Life and Diversity Office, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPRIRG), Outdoor Pursuits, the President’s Office, Recreational Sports and the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Committee.

For questions about Women’s History Month events, please contact Jena Nicols Curtis, professor in the Health Department and coordinator of women’s, gender and sexuality studies, at 607-753-2979.

Information on these events will also be posted to the university calendar.

Event attendees are reminded that face coverings are required in all indoor spaces on the SUNY Cortland campus. Learn more about the university’s policies on the COVID-19 safety information page.

Due to low demand, the state’s free COVID-19 testing clinic will operate in the Stadium Complex’s Carl A. “Chugger” Davis Building ceased operation last week Friday.

The New York State Department of Health and Quadrant Biosciences opened the campus testing site in January. As vaccination rates have risen and home rapid tests become more available, the number of people using the site dropped to a handful each week. As a reminder, the testing done at the Stadium Complex was an option for students, faculty and staff who wished to test more frequently than SUNY Cortland’s mandatory surveillance testing program.

All students who have religious or medical exemptions are still required to test every week in Corey Union. All employees who have not provided proof of vaccination must also test weekly. Fully vaccinated campus community members must also test when they are notified they have been randomly selected. Students will test in Corey Union. Employees should pick up a rapid test from their building administrator.

Students with COVID-19 symptoms should contact Student Health Service or an off-campus health provider for testing. Most pharmacies offer PCR testing for COVID-19 and sell home test kits. New York’s online portal may help you find a test site. Free test kits are available through the federal government.

Remember, the state requires all students to have COVID-19 booster shots. If you have recently become eligible for a booster, please consider participating in the free, Wegmans Pharmacy clinic in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge beginning at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 9. Register for that clinic using Wegmans' online portal.

The International Programs Office will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by asking students to help win a study abroad scholarship to University College Cork for one SUNY Cortland student. The contest runs through Thursday, March 17.

A joint effort of Tourism Ireland and Education in Ireland, students are invited to “go green” for St. Patrick’s Day. The International Programs Office will participate by offering a variety of activities, including:

• Green lights will shine at the three SUNY Cortland entrances from Thursday, March 10 through Thursday, March 17. The awareness campaign also will include social media and posters on the visual messaging boards.
• Invitation to students to wear green and visit Old Main, Room 219 between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 10. Treats, giveaways and a photo booth will be available.
• Post “go green” photos on Instagram with the tag #cortlandstudyabroad and they will be reshared as entries to the contest. (School appropriate photos only please.)

For more information, email studyabroad@cortland.edu or visit cortland.edu/offices/international-programs/ 

The Antlers facility at the William H. Parks Family Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education at Raquette Lake will be available for use this summer by SUNY Cortland faculty, staff and Auxiliary Services staff and their guests including spouses, children and significant others. Session dates for the summer experience in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains are June 24 to 28 and June 29 to July 3.

Reservation information is available www2.cortland.edu/rl-events or at the William H. Parks Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education in the Professional Studies Building, Room 1131.

The all-inclusive rate for each session is $227 per adult and $185 for children age 12 and under. There is no charge for children under one year of age.

Arrival time is between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. An all-camp orientation will be held at 5 p.m. on arrival day. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. Guests will depart after breakfast on the last day.

A $50 deposit is required with pre-registration for each family. The deposit will be applied to the total cost and will be non-refundable unless a three-week notice of cancellation is given. The balance is due upon arrival, payable to SUNY Cortland Auxiliary Services. Participants for all sessions will be acknowledged on a first-come, first-served basis following the receipt of reservation and deposit.

Guests will be assigned to housing according to family size and abilities. Showers and bathrooms are located in each room. Bed linens and towels must be provided by all participants. There is no janitorial or maid service available at the Center. All guests are requested to keep rooms in a neat and orderly condition and to leave them in “as good, or better” condition. 

Lunch and dinner will be served family style in the Cummings Dining Hall at noon and 6 p.m. Breakfast will be a buffet offered between 7:45 and 8:45 a.m. Every effort is made to provide tasty, balanced meals. With advance notification, special dietary needs can be accommodated.

Recreational equipment available for the summer session includes canoes and kayaks. Families should provide their own child size life jackets. A small motor boat will be available for guests to use for touring and fishing. Families are responsible for the safety and well-being of their own children. There are no babysitters or lifeguards on site. Family pets are not permitted.

For more information, call the center at 607-753-5488.