Campus Champion

When Logan Knowles was 2, his doctor offered to provide him with a wheelchair. Knowles’ mother declined that for her son, who has cerebral palsy, and worked on his mobility instead. “My attitude changed from ‘Why me?’ to ‘Why not me?’” said Knowles, who graduated high school at 17 in Horseheads, N.Y., so he could compete in four Paralympic competitions in British Columbia including alpine downhill ski. A broken leg dashed those hopes, but the junior biomedical sciences major trains relentlessly for his next Paralympic games. An aspiring future physician, Knowles volunteers his story to motivate classmates and future educators. 

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The sixth Michael J. Bond ’75, M.D. Alumni/Undergraduate Science Symposium was held on Oct. 22 and 23 in Bowers Hall.

A celebration of student research and the success of SUNY Cortland graduates in the sciences, the annual symposium allows undergraduates and alumni to network and share their findings.

This year’s alumni presenters were:

• Cara Fiore ’03: Assistant professor of biology at Appalachian State University.
• Don McNeill ’81: Scientist in the Comparative Sedimentology Laboratory Center for Carbonate Research at the Rosenstiel School in the Department of Marine Geosciences at the University of Miami. He was formerly a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology.
• Paul Shepson ’78: Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University and the founding director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center.

On Friday, alumni presenters met with students and faculty for a lab crawl through Bowers Hall that included a demonstration of the effect of environmental enrichment on complex skill learning in prenatal ethanol-exposed rats by Nathaniel Rose ’20 and a demonstration of a wind tunnel built by physics students led by senior physics education major Emily DeClerck. Associate Professor Eric Edlund of the Physics Department closed the evening with a presentation from SUNY Cortland’s planetarium.

Seventeen other students talked about their research with presenters and faculty, as documented in posters that were hung in Bowers Hall’s hallways.

On Saturday, the three presenters led discussions about their work. Two of them were current undergraduates, Olivia Langdon and Bettina Bonfiglio. Langdon, a biomedical sciences major, talked about her research in the role of glutamatergic neurons in the locomotion behavior of larval zebrafish. Bonfiglio, a geographic information systems major, spoke on her recent work comparing carbon sequestration estimation methods using GIS in Cortland County.

Fiore’s plenary session, “Living in a microbial world: Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the influence of microbes on multicellular life,” focused on her expertise in community ecology, microbiology and analytical chemistry. Her current research specializes in the diversity of freshwater sponges in western North Carolina. Fiore earned a master’s in marine biology from the College of Charleston and did her Ph.D. studies in microbiology at the University of New Hampshire.

McNeill’s presentation, “The excitement of discovery: It started with undergraduate research (and it still drives me!),” recalled his first experiences in research as a Cortland undergraduate and how he applied those lessons to his further career in academia. After earning a master’s in geology and a Ph.D. in marine geology and geophysics at the University of Florida, McNeill pioneered the use of magnetostratigraphy in shallow water carbonate rocks to provide age markets in difficult to date deposits. An author of more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, he teaches courses in undergraduate geology and maintains an active research program at the University of Miami.

Shepson led a session titled, “The impact of SUNY Cortland on a long academic career and a gifted life.” “I feel like many of the fantastic things that I have experienced had their origins in my start at SUNY Cortland, supported by a lot of luck and hard work,” he said. An expert in the exchange of gases between the surface of the earth and the atmosphere in a variety of environments, Shepson was director of the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences at the National Science Foundation from 2014 to 2018. He is currently working with New York state in developing plans for climate change mitigation.  

The symposium is funded through an endowment via a significant planned gift from Michael Bond ‘75, M.D. Medical director of Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery in Orlando, Florida, Bond is an accomplished scuba diver, underwater photographer and published author in Marine Geology and National Geographic who credits his time spent on undergraduate research with Professor Emeritus David Berger as vital to his ability to apply to medical schools.

William Baerthlein ’76, M.D. has made a major gift to support the immediate needs of the symposium. A member of SUNY Cortland’s Academic Hall of Fame and the Cortland College Foundation board, Baerthlein is a physician whose scholarship and expertise on methods for delivering babies has greatly influenced reproductive medicine.

The symposium builds upon other avenues SUNY Cortland has developed to celebrate undergraduate research, including Summer Research Fellowships and Transformations: A Student Research and Creativity Conference. Visit the Undergraduate Research Council’s website to learn more.

SUNY Cortland is looking for student artists to help the university make a visible statement against racial and social injustice and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Four artists, or groups of artists, will be selected to create a mural that will be mounted in the lobby of Moffett Center, based on four predetermined themes.

“The main goal is to highlight the different aspects of Black Lives Matter, but the students also wanted to highlight the individuals of the past whose shoulders we stand on,” said Lorraine Lopez-Janove, SUNY Cortland’s chief diversity and inclusion officer.

“It’s a way for us to think about where we’ve been as a campus, how far we’ve come, and how much more we have to do to be able to say there is equity and inclusion.”

The project was initiated by Timothy Bennett ’07, owner and publisher of local news website The Cortland Voice and founder of six FunFlicks Indoor and Outdoor Movies entertainment rental operations in the region. Bennett, a member and former officer of the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association board, volunteered to fund the painting of Black Lives Matter on Main Street in downtown Cortland during the summer of 2020.

He then offered to pay for a mural illustrating the same concept on the SUNY Cortland campus. President Erik J. Bitterbaum was supportive and wanted to make sure students were involved in its creation.

To that end, Lopez-Janove created a committee made up of representatives of the Black Student Union, Student Government Association and the campus chapter of the NAACP. Those students suggested the mural should actually be done in four panels, each depicting a different theme:

• They marched so we could…

The intent is to pay tribute to the work done by prior generations toward equitable treatment and opportunities, like attending college or owning homes, that were once denied people of color.

• We got us

This theme emphasizes solidarity among people of color and how, historically, members of the black community have had each other’s backs.

• Activism

The idea is to illustrate activism in whatever form the artist chooses, spanning the early days of the Civil Rights Movement to the Black Lives Matter protests of today.

• Our ancestors’ wildest dreams

The idea is to show appreciation for the gains made in the struggle that ancestors who experienced slavery and then discrimination would have a hard time imagining, while acknowledging that there is more to be done.

Student artists can learn more and apply to be considered for the project by completing the Call for Artists Form.

The deadline for applying is Monday, Nov. 29, by midnight.

Tickets for the Cortaca Jug football game, to be played at SUNY Cortland on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, will be on sale for students, faculty, staff and Cortland Auxiliary Services employees this week.

Current SUNY Cortland students, faculty, staff and Cortland Auxiliary employees may pick up one free ticket, with a valid SUNY Cortland ID, at the Corey Union Information Desk at these times:

• Monday, Oct. 25 and Tuesday, Oct. 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Students must have paid the athletics free to receive a free ticket.

Additional tickets will not be sold at this time.

Any remaining tickets will be available for purchase starting at noon on Sunday, Oct. 31 via CortlandRedDragons.com.

Alumni looking to purchase tickets may visit RedDragonNetwork.org. Alumni tickets are offered on a first-come, first-served basis for $10 each and the sale will end on Thursday, Oct. 28.

SUNY Cortland students must present their ticket and their college ID for admittance into the game. Lost or stolen tickets will not be reissued. Please keep your tickets in a safe place.

SUNY Cortland strongly encourages all attendees to wear face masks, regardless of their vaccination status. Disposable masks will be made available on request.

SUNY Cortland’s Student Government Association is looking for academic departments and offices, sports teams, clubs, sponsors and others to join in a Cortaca Jug Parade before this year’s game on Saturday, Nov. 13.

The plan is to parade from Dowd Fine Arts Center to the Stadium Complex starting at 9 a.m. and ending at approximately 10 a.m. Interested groups must be at the starting location by 7:30 a.m. to participate.

SGA says its goal is to promote unity among the Cortland community and among different cultures, and is encouraging participants from diverse groups to sign up.

Interested departments, offices, teams, clubs, organizations and individuals are asked to register online by 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29. The event offers members of the SUNY Cortland community an opportunity to promote their group while demonstrating unity as Red Dragons.

The parade is also sponsored by SUNY Cortland NAACP, Know Your Roots, Black Student Union, the Caribbean Student Association and the Pan African Student Association.

Questions? Contact SGA President Taylor Hunter or SGA’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Tatum Pittman for more information.

SUNY Cortland physical education majors often can be found rolling around in wheelchairs in a Student Life Center gym, playing a pickup basketball game and learning to interact with their friends and classmates who have different abilities.

Last month, more than 100 of these and other majors took it a bit further, stepping up to find a cure or treatment for people who live with cerebral palsy.

The university’s Alliance of Physical Education Majors (APEM) club raised just over $8,000 during the aptly named “Steptember” monthlong appeal supporting research efforts by the Cerebral Palsy Alliance and Research Foundation (CPARF).

The national organization raises funds for early detection and intervention of cerebral palsy for a chance of a better outcome; technology that will help people with the disorder, including communication technology; research on genetics; and research on the effects and management of chronic pain.

In this national drive, Steptember participants count their daily steps. The more steps they tally, the more generous the gifts of the donors they have rallied to support research. The research helps people who live with this often devastating group of prenatal developmental disorders, which affect movement and muscle tone or posture.

Among the 128 total donors at SUNY Cortland, several milestones were achieved:

• Professor of Physical Education Catherine MacDonald raised the most among faculty members, $2,225; and
• Kami Johannsen raised the most among students of any discipline, $672.

“I would attribute the success just to the dedication of everyone that participated,” said Matthew Milano, a senior physical education major from Miller Place, N.Y., who serves as adaptive P.E. representative to APEM’s executive board. Milano coordinated Cortland’s campus-wide appeal for the national foundation.

The campaign allows students who don’t have the means to donate much the ability to use social media to raise money from others.

“People who were posting on their social media pages really became one with the cause,” said Milano. “They really understand why we need to raise awareness about cerebral palsy and did a fantastic job. Raising money is nice, but raising awareness is really important because it goes so far.”

APEM at SUNY Cortland promotes physical education as a vital discipline paramount to the total development of healthy individuals. APEM members who take part in community service, fundraisers or activities of that nature improve their chance to be selected to go to a state or national conference.

Milano said he was most impressed with the $8,045 the club raised because members did not start on Sept. 1, as promoted by the national organization, which had set its goal to raise significant funds by Oct. 6 to mark World Cerebral Palsy Day.

“We started maybe on Sept. 8 or 9 so it was three weeks instead of four,” said Milano.

A week into the campaign, MacDonald and five department colleagues had set up Steptember webpages with each recruiting their own donors.

Once he learned of the need, Milano created his own Steptember page on the CPARF site and also worked diligently to encourage classmates to do so as well.

Soon 29 students — both inside and outside professional studies and the Physical Education Department — were marching to his beat by setting up their own Steptember fundraising pages on the CPARF website and pushing the cause out to classmates, family and friends, often through social media.

Milano was first introduced to people with special needs while a student at SUNY Cortland.

“One of my friends whom I’ve made here at SUNY Cortland was diagnosed with cerebral palsy,” Milano said of Logan Knowles, a junior biomedical sciences major from Horseheads, N.Y., who happens to be spotlighted for his athleticism and advocacy efforts as a Campus Champion in the Oct. 26 Bulletin. “He’s a Para-athlete and he’s just an overall great person.

“Seeing that sometimes he’s marginalized — like people for lack of better words just don’t give him the time of day because of the way he looks — has stuck with me,” Milano said. “And it makes me think that something has to change. And education and fundraising is probably the best way to do that and spread the word, not just about cerebral palsy but disabilities in general.

“Another instance is one of my professors has cerebral palsy as well, and is one of the most hardworking and extremely intelligent professors,” Milano said.

After Milano earns his 4-plus-1 bachelor’s degree in health and physical education (with a concentration in adaptive special education), he plans to remain at Cortland to earn a master’s degree in health education.

“I joined the 4-plus-1 program before I got involved with adaptive P.E.,” Milano noted. “So something I’ve looked at is potentially going for a second master’s degree, in adaptive P.E.," he said. "Because working with people with disabilities has definitely touched me.”

An astronomy and physics expert from Ithaca College will discuss how humans can predict and ward off one of the most “out there” but least considered threats to the planet’s survival: a collision with the earth by a giant asteroid.

Beth Ellen Clark, a mission asteroid scientist with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s OSIRIS-REx since 2011, will focus her lecture on the subject of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return mission with the talk, “Extreme Hazards: Planetary Collision,” at 4:30 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 115, on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at SUNY Cortland.

Currently a professor and chair of Ithaca College’s Physics and Astronomy Department, Clark’s talk continues the 2021-22 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series of lectures or poster sessions at SUNY Cortland, which this academic year focuses on the theme of “The Culture of Extremes.”

A reception to welcome Clark will begin at 4 p.m. in the Brooks Museum, Moffett Center, Room 116.

The Brooks Museum lecture presentations all take place on Wednesdays and begin at 4:30 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 115.

The Brooks Museum lectures and receptions are free. Due to continued health and safety concerns surrounding the pandemic, members of the public are not invited. Seating will be limited and cannot be exceeded so please come early to secure a seat. Depending on the current public health circumstances, a reception to welcome each speaker before the talk may be announced. Events in the series are subject to change.

Clark, who earned her doctorate in geophysics at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, with a dissertation on the “Spectral Effects in the Search for Links Between Meteorites and Asteroids,” will help the participants imagine case scenarios that are worse than climate change.

According to the geologic record, asteroids have been known to collide with the Earth, and if a hazardous asteroid is large enough, the energy released on impact and the subsequent damage to life on Earth can be extreme.

“What are Earthlings doing to mitigate this danger?” said Clark.

Mitigation scenarios require knowledge of a large number of parameters, such as velocity, size, density and more, she noted.

“We will review the ways in which NASA’s recent OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return mission is contributing to our quest to protect planet Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids,” Clark said.

A member on the Astronomy Review Panel of the National Science Foundation since 2020, Clark has worked on two additional NASA projects since 1996, NEAR and GALILEO as well as other special missions in observing mission development and in spectrometer.

Clark, who joined Ithaca College in 2001, has chaired the department since 2016. During 2009, Clark served as a visiting professor at the Observatory of Paris in Meudon, France. She also was a visiting assistant professor at Cornell University’s Department of Astronomy from 2001 to 2008.

Clark studied field geology on the exotic terrains of Northern California and earned a certificate from the International Space University in Toulouse, France, where her project was the International Mars Mission. She has a bachelor’s degree in geology from University of California at Berkeley.

“The Culture of Extremes” features lectures that address how, in the last couple years, America and the rest of the world have been wracked by extremes that include political brinksmanship, apocalyptic weather events, deadly pandemic, economic collapse and social upheaval.

The presentations this year will inform the campus community on extreme beliefs and extreme events that surround us from near — such as COVID-19 — to far — such as outer space, said organizer and Brooks Museum director Sharon Steadman, a SUNY Distinguished professor and faculty member in SUNY Cortland’s Sociology/Anthropology Department.

The 2021-22 Brooks Lecture Series is sponsored by a grant from the Cortland College Foundation, the Sociology/Anthropology Department and the President’s Office. For more information, contact Steadman at 607-753-2308.

Image by Chris Henry courtesy of Unsplash

Lynn Anderson, a nationally recognized expert in the fields of outdoor, therapeutic and inclusive recreation, will deliver the prestigious Metcalf Endowment Lecture at the 71st annual SUNY Cortland Recreation Conference, a virtual conference set to take place Thursday, Nov. 4, and Friday, Nov. 5.

Anderson, a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and faculty member in SUNY Cortland’s Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department, will discuss how human beings can find a sense of freedom and relief through leisure from 3 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 4.

In order to keep everyone safe, organizers for a second year are moving the conference to an entirely online platform on Cisco Webex.

Conference registration is now open. This year’s virtual conference costs $75 for professionals and $45 for students.

For additional information and to register for the conference, visit cortland.edu/recconf or call 607-753-4939 or email recconf@cortland.edu.

Both days will be live streamed. Sessions will be available following the conference until Friday, Dec. 31, for individuals unable to attend synchronously who are registered for the conference. For a $10 fee, Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be available for qualifying sessions.

“Freedom Through Leisure: Learning-Coping-Growth” is the theme of the two-day event, the nation’s oldest continuous collegiate-sponsored recreation education conference.

“This year’s theme, ‘Freedom Through Leisure’ has always helped people find a sense of freedom and relief from life’s challenges,” said conference coordinator and marketing chair Kenny Flores. “Unfortunately, over the past year the leisure and recreation profession has faced unprecedented disruption and change.

“However, in the face of this, we have also seen the creativity and flexibility of so many fellow professionals, as they have worked to continue to provide high quality services. With this in mind, the 71st annual SUNY Cortland Recreation Conference wants to focus on the innovation, adaptation and durability of our fellow recreation professionals.”

The conference will feature numerous presentations in the field of recreation, parks and leisure studies. Check the conference website for updates on the sessions and schedule.

The Recreation Conference annually hosts 300 to 400 students and professionals in the fields of recreation, parks, and leisure studies from all over New York state, the greater New England area and beyond. 

Presented by the university’s Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department and students in the Special Events Planning class led by Jason Page ’08, M ’12, assistant professor of recreation, parks and leisure studies, the conference receives additional support for the Metcalf Keynote Address from the Metcalf Endowment Fund. Sponsors also include the Recreation Association of SUNY Cortland, Campus Artist and Lecture Series and Alumni Engagement. 

Besides Flores, students on the conference committee included Jared Black, Mike Petito and Jennivie Wilson.

This year’s alumni presenters will include Page, Esther VanGorder M ’15 and Jacqueline Dyke M ’08.

Lynn Anderson

Active in the field of recreation, inclusion, and therapeutic for more than 35 years, Anderson has worked in both outdoor recreation and therapeutic recreation settings and has conducted extensive research on inclusion and other areas in therapeutic recreation, including strengths-based practice.

She helped create a user-friendly database of inclusive New York state recreational facilities.

As a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor selected by the SUNY Board of Trustees, Anderson has been honored and recognized for her extraordinary service not only at the campus and within SUNY, but also at the community, regional, state and national levels.

A highly successful grant writer, Anderson has obtained more than $700,000 in external funding, including an ongoing multi-year grant from the New York State Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities. The grant was used to establish a statewide inclusive recreation resource center that is housed at SUNY Cortland. The mission of the center is to identify Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant parks and recreational sites throughout New York with the goal of ultimately providing outdoor recreation opportunities for all state residents.

Anderson, who has served the College since 1998 and was promoted to professor in 2002, has served on the New York State Therapeutic Recreation Association State Licensure Committee. She has collaborated with the New York State Recreation and Park Society and the National Recreation and Park Association National Certification Board to ensure student access to the national exam to become a certified park and recreation professional. Through her grant work, Anderson also has collaborated with the I Love New York Tourism Division and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. She has participated in Park Ranger Training Workshops in New York state.

In addition, more than 1,400 outdoor recreation practitioners nationwide have been trained in ways to enhance the quality of life for individuals with all types of disabilities through “Inclusion U” an innovative program established by Anderson through ongoing funding from the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.

She was recognized for her superior teaching with the 2003 Teaching Award at SUNY Cortland for Incorporation of Service Learning and with the 1998 McDermott Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award at the University of North Dakota. She has been listed in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

She volunteers frequently at sustainability events and has spearheaded the Community Bike Program on campus, which provides free use of bicycles to students, faculty and staff on campus.

Anderson earned her Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of North Dakota; her Master of Science in Recreation and Park Management from University of Oregon; and her Ph.D. in education with emphasis in therapeutic recreation from University of Minnesota.

Dowd Gallery will host a solo exhibition by Serbian-American artist Natalija Mijatović, “Of Snow and Sorrow,” beginning Oct. 25.

An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in Dowd Gallery on Thursday, Oct. 28.

Mijatović, professor of painting and chair of the Faculty Senate at Binghamton University, will display her latest paintings and works on paper as well as earlier pieces. Her work is influenced by uninhabited residual landscapes of urban decay and gray facades of the social-realist architecture of Eastern Europe.

She interprets the industrial landscape by extracting visual shapes such as power plants, wiring systems and factory interiors and juxtaposing them against flat backgrounds, using a subdued monochromatic color palette. The underlying grid system in much of her work references industrial spaces with a rich history of human activity, alluded through architectural forms.

“Materiality vs. perception. Reality vs. memory. Physicality vs. spirituality,” Mijatović, said. “Formal elements are an important aspect of my creative investigation, and such is the aforementioned considerations of color palette and composition, as well as tactile qualities of the substrate and finished surface."

Born in Belgrade, Mijatović, earned a B.F.A. from the University of Montenegro and an M.F.A. in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She has exhibited internationally at the Museum of American Art in Philadelphia, the International Festival of Alternative Cultural Exchange in Belgrade and Novi Sad, Serbia and the 50^th Venice Biennial, among others.

Her art evokes the feeling of unoccupied industrial spaces and landscapes.

“I think of the non-presence of people rather than their absence,” she said. “Non-presence seems more active, in a way, it’s a space in a latent state. Absence is a space that is left behind. I think of spaces I create as a refuge or a quiet place for us to find a moment of reflection.”

Other events that coincide with the exhibition, to be held in Dowd Gallery unless otherwise noted, include:

• Documentary screening: Thursday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. “Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow (2010), a documentary about German painter Anselm Kiefer, directed by Sophie Fiennes.
• First Fridays: Nov. 5 and Dec. 3, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Organized by the Cultural Council of Cortland County.
• Artist’s Talk: Thursday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. Natalija Mijatović, “Of Snow and Sorrow.”
• Musical performance: Sunday, Nov. 14, 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. “Three-Winged Wisdom: Sounds for Snow and Sorrow,” performed by Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, from the Department of Music, Princeton University, voice; and Daniel Thomas Davis, from the Department of Music, Binghamton University, compositions and keyboards.
• Poetry reading: Wednesday, Nov. 17, 5 p.m. “Imprints in Snow,” organized by Howard Lindh, lecturer, English Department, SUNY Cortland.
• Documentary screening: Monday, Nov. 22, 5 p.m. “In Company of Shadows,” a collection of shorts.
• Gallery talk: Thursday, Dec. 2, 5 p.m. “Brutalism and Sophistication,” Vladimir Kulić, associate professor from the Department of Architecture, College of Design, Iowa State University, virtual via Webex.
• Gallery talk: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 5 p.m. “Emotional Aesthetics of Place: Attachment, Loss and a Quest for Hope,” by Leslie Eaton, professor, Department of Psychology, SUNY Cortland.

All lectures are free and open to the public. Please visit the Dowd Gallery website for detailed information about other programs and links to virtual events.

The exhibition will be available to the campus community and the public both in virtual and in-person format until Dec. 10. Visitors from outside the SUNY Cortland campus are advised to fill out a visitor registration and screening form to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

For more information, to inquire about an appointment or tour, please contact Dowd Gallery Director Jaroslava Prihodova at 607-753-4216.

On a regular day, English composition Instructor Jeffrey Jackson fulfills the role of educator, training and motivating SUNY Cortland students to reach higher in their mastery of the written word.

But whenever Jackson dons his military cap or uniform or steps outside of his car bearing the “U.S. Army veteran” license plates, he usually commands an entirely different kind of respect from whomever he encounters, whether they have a connection with America’s armed services or not.

“Sometimes you are able to be a change agent, if that’s the right term?” said Jackson, who served the Army from 1986 until 1993 in infantry and armor units in Germany and an Air Defense Artillery unit in Kansas.

“You can have a real good outcome and not only serve your country but your service can sometimes be a launching point for a brilliant career,” Jackson said.

Jackson, a U. S. Army veteran who served two tours in Germany and also participated in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia from 1992 to 1993, will deliver the university’s virtual keynote address during the annual Veterans Day ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 11.

Jackson will discuss his experience in the military and assist in the remembrance of our veterans during the ceremony, which will begin at 3 p.m. Those who wish to attend the online gathering can access the ceremony through a link on the Cortland Veterans Day website.

Jackson will speak after a welcome by SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum and several other presenters, including Neve Polius ’17, who will share her recorded singing of the National Anthem; and Andrew Jensen, a Westpoint Military Academy graduate and captain in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2009, who is the son-in-law of event co-organizer Sue Vleck. Jensen will read “What is a Veteran.”

Jackson prepared for his speech by reading a PEW Research Center report from earlier this year, which found that fewer than 10% of the U.S. adult population have served in the Armed Forces.

“Less than one in 10,” he said. “It is a heavy burden, yet we have borne it with pride, gladly knowing we shoulder it so others will not have to. The older I get, the more I realize what a monumental privilege it is to have served.”

Jackson said he gets emotional when he thinks of family members who moved him to serve his country in the military, including both his father and an uncle, both of whom served with honor in the Air Force.

“I still remember wedding pictures of dad and my mom,” Jackson recalled. “He was standing there in his dress blues looking really handsome and dapper getting married to mom. It was an important part of his life back before me. It was definitely an inspiration.

“My father is easily one of the smartest people I know. So if there’s something he did and did well, that’s motivation for me,” Jackson said.

His father served in the 1960s during both the Cold War and the Vietnam War.

“He was in grad school in Iowa and that was when a lot of people were being drafted, particularly for the Army in Vietnam,” Jackson said. “And Dad knew that was coming. He decided that if he was going to go into the military, he wanted to go into it on his own terms. He used his service in the Air Force as a launching point for a brilliant career in mathematics and engineering.”

At the ceremony, Jackson will discuss the remarkable interactions he’s had with others since his military service, both with fellow veterans as well as civilians, whether or not they have a connection with the military.

“We may have visible or invisible scars and trauma, but we all still served,” he said of the former. “And still there is a language between veterans that goes beyond words, whether we choose to speak about our service or not.”

By those who haven’t themselves served, Jackson is amazed at the growing support for veterans.

“When I put on that U.S. Army cap or that First Infantry Division cap, people look at it and it is an honest recognition of service to this country,” Jackson said. “That was not always the case, especially coming out of Vietnam. It’s definitely improved. There are some more things I’d like to see for veterans but we’ve definitely made progress in the country in how we treat our veterans.”

Jackson’s occupation was communications, technically known as a 31 Victor or 31V. He worked with FM and secure communications and was often attached to different field units or tactical operations centers.

He was honorably discharged as a specialist E-4 and began his academic studies in Florida. He studied at Onondaga Community College and earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in creative writing from Binghamton University and a master’s in information resources management from Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. He earned a Ph.D. in mass communication/media studies from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2011.

In 2016, he joined SUNY Cortland’s English Department as contingent faculty, and in 2018 was appointed to his current position. He is married with two children and one granddaughter.

Participants are invited to honor a veteran they know by submitting by Monday, Nov. 1, the individual’s name, name, branch of service and photo to be included in the university’s 2021 Veteran’s Day Virtual Ceremony slideshow.

For more information, contact Special Events for the President.

SUNY Cortland launched the 2021-22 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign on Oct. 18. The email announcement to employees included a SEFA pledge form, instructions for making an online SEFA pledge, a brochure and a page about prize drawings.

SEFA employee volunteers to canvas co-workers are available to collect donations through Friday, Oct. 29. Contributors can choose one of three ways to pledge this year using the attachments emailed to all employees on Oct. 18.

Employees can pledge online via the SEFA online pledge form or fill out the pledge form and return it to their assigned volunteer or one of the building volunteers:

• Brockway Hall: Haley Hatfield, Student Registration and Record Services, Jacobus Lounge 

• Old Main: Pam Schroeder, Academic Affairs, Old Main, Room 226-A 
• Van Hoesen Hall: Maere Vunk, The Learning Center, Room B-205
• Bowers Hall: Barbara Drake, Biological Sciences, Room 241 
• Park Center: Julie Randall, Athletics, Room 2101 

The only authorized fundraising campaign among state workers, SEFA is directed by the United Way for Cortland County and unites fundraising efforts for a group of agencies under a common umbrella.

“No contribution is too small, and every little bit helps to support agencies in need,” said SEFA co-chair Wendy Sirvent, Residence Life and Housing Office. “For example, $5 per pay period can supply one month’s worth of diapers for a baby in the Cortland area.”

The university will offer incentives for employees who donate to the campaign. At the campaign’s end, a drawing for prizes will be conducted. First prize is a reserved campus parking space located in the lot closest to the winner’s building. To be eligible, an employee must pledge at least $130. Everyone who donates a minimum of $25 will be eligible to win one of three $25 SUNY Cortland Auxiliary Services gift certificates. Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) members who donate at least $25 will be eligible for a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant.

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.

Participants can 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. A complete list is on the SEFA website.

Sirvent co-chairs the SEFA Committee with Maere Vunk, who works at The Learning Center.

For more information about SEFA in New York state, visit the website www.sefanys.org.

The Human Resources Office has announced will recognize the university’s classified staff and Research Foundation employees who have met milestone years of service with SUNY Cortland. The 2021 Annual Service Awards Ceremony will not be held this year, but recognition will be given in the following ways: 

• The milestone awards.
• A certificate for “years of service.”
• Recognition in The Bulletin

Please congratulate our awardees, and thank them for their dedication and commitment to SUNY Cortland.

Since there will be no ceremony in person again this year, it has been decided that the President’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service will be postponed. 

2021 SERVICE AWARDS AWARDEES

40 YEARS

Mavis Lefever, Campus Activities and Corey Union

Sharon Tucker, Mathematics Department 

35 YEARS

Mary Cervoni, Student Registration and Record Services

Bonnie Eldred-Kress, Athletics Department 

Theresa Peebles, Student Conduct Office

30 YEARS

Brenda Hammond, University Police Department

Pamela Schroeder, Division of Academic Affairs

Cheryl St. Peter, Custodial Services

20 YEARS

Renato Brevetti, Maintenance

Timothy Gowe, Motor Pool

David Haggerty, Custodial Services

Chad Matijas, Maintenance

Richard Nauseef, Heating Plant

Connie Parmiter, School of Professional Studies

Gregory Peters, Custodial Services

Patricia Randolph, Field Experience and School Partnership Office

Rosemary Root, Custodial Services

Athena Vunk-Moynihan, Extended Learning Office

15 YEARS

Ronald Benda, Custodial Services

Daron Foster, Maintenance

Sandra Kline, Admissions Office

Michele Lella, School of Arts and Sciences

Edith Pennell, Division of Finance and Management

Donna Sickmon, Advancement Operations Services

Casey Ellsworth, Maintenance

Kelley Wooldridge, Child Care Center

10 YEARS

Julie Barden, School of Education

Christine Bartoszek, School of Professional Studies

Karen Crandall, Payroll Office

Susan Drake, Custodial Services

Stephanie Fritz, Child Care Center

Billie Furlong, Mail Services/Central Warehouse

Ronald Gray, Custodial Services

Mark Griswold, Custodial Services

Corey Harvey, Mail Services/Central Warehouse

James Kane, Maintenance

Andrew Keegan, Custodial Services

John Kocak, Heating Plant

James Lynch, Grounds

Michael Manos, Maintenance

Erik Merlin, University Police Department

Susan Root, Custodial Services

Dana Smith, Multicultural Life and Diversity Office

Amanda Wasson, University Police Department

Denise Wavle, Custodial Services

Amy Williams, Custodial Services