Campus Champion

Diya Digvijay Singh, a junior fitness development major, spent break visiting her family at her home in India for the first time in two years. She returned to campus in mid-January to help shuttle our 15 new international students from airports and train and bus stations. Diya’s international experiences make her the perfect International Programs ambassador for students coming to Cortland from other countries. “Our international students are the most interesting people you could know,” Diya says, “They love to share stories about their cultures.” She recommends getting to know them. Visit International Programs online to learn more about how to connect with these students.

SUNY Cortland will host a national conversation focused on the well-being of Division III student-athletes, including the mental health challenges they face, as the first event in a new athletics-focused initiative spearheaded by the university.

The new Institute for DIII Athlete Well-being and Athletic Leadership will offer a free online symposium Monday, Feb. 7, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Four main panel discussions will include input from current and former student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers and administrators from SUNY Cortland and across the country.

The event is open to anyone interested in DIII athletics, including professionals who currently work in the field, students interested in a college sports career and members of the public.

Registration is available online. Participants should pre-register and they are encouraged to attend all sessions. They may also choose topics that fit their schedules and interests.

The day’s symposium will follow this schedule:

• 9:30 to 9:45 a.m. – Welcome  
• 9:45 to 10:15 a.m. – DIII Athlete Well-Being Overview 
• 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – Best Practices for DIII Athlete Well-Being 
• 1 to 2 p.m. – Mental Health 
• 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. – Transitioning Out of the Athlete Role 
• 3:15 to 3:30 p.m. – Closing Remarks: Creating a Community to Support DIII Athlete Well-being

Access links to the symposium will be sent leading up to the event. Questions about the symposium can be directed to Bonni C. Hodges, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor of Health, at hodgesb@cortland.edu or 607-753-2982.

SUNY Cortland’s recently-established institute aims to use multidisciplinary research to improve the well-being of DIII student-athletes and professionals. Four main focus areas include health literacy; well-being skills and behaviors; professionalism; and the balancing of athletics, work, academics and life.

With more than 425 member institutions, Division III is the NCAA’s largest intercollegiate athletics division. Roughly 40% of all NCAA student-athletes compete in DIII.

At SUNY Cortland, approximately 650 student-athletes compete across 25 DIII teams. The university’s athletics program boasts more than 100 individual national championships and 25 team championships, including DIII titles in nine sports — the second-highest total nationally.

SUNY Cortland’s School of Professional Studies houses academic departments that include health; kinesiology; physical education; recreation, parks and leisure studies; and sport management.

For more information on the new initiative, contact its co-directors Hodges or Lindsey Darvin, assistant professor of sport management.

Many people associate the delicate orchid with tropical rainforests in exotic locales.

Not SUNY Cortland botanist Michael Hough. Recently, he discovered a new species of orchid in the wetlands surrounding a polluted lake near Syracuse, N.Y., one of the snowiest urban areas in the United States.

Last month, Hough and a collaborator announced the discovery of the first native New York orchid to be identified in many years in a paper published in The Native Orchid Conference Journal. The discovery, in the genus Spiranthes, is a north American perennial informally called “Ladies’-tresses,” which is part of the orchid family.

The patch of the previously unidentified Spiranthes, with its single spikes of spiraling, curly white flowers, was sitting in one of the many marshy areas near Onondaga Lake, a federal Superfund site less than an hour’s drive north of Cortland.

“We went over the whole state collecting things, and this is one of the last places that we checked,” said Hough, referring to his field work with Matthew Young, a songbird researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who is also president and founder of the Native Orchid Conservation Network.

“It is difficult to describe but has characteristics of two other species,” Hough said of the orchid. “It grows in dry, open, acidic habitats and has somewhat yellowish flowers, but is otherwise very similar to other members of the genus. It is often necessary to dissect the flowers to confirm the identity with confidence. Many members of the genus Spiranthes are referred to as ‘cryptic species’ because they superficially look alike.

“And we saw this orchid and decided, ‘This didn’t look like anything else,’” Hough said.

Hough and Young carefully picked several of the stalks and their ring of leaves, leaving behind the roots so the plant can continue to grow in that spot.

A few of the pieces were used for laboratory testing at Cortland and DNA analysis at Cornell University. The rest became part of the Cort Herbarium. Begun in 1908, the university’s Bowers Hall herbarium is a massive physical and online collection of preserved and described plants and fungi and is tied into international online herbariums.

“We did the genetics on it and it turned out to be something new,” Hough said.

Hough and Young then consulted iNaturalist, a crowdsourcing science site that collects identifying information from citizens about the locations of plants and animals. They found pictures of the same-looking plant found across Pennsylvania and Ohio and wrapping the Great Lakes, around Indiana and Illinois.

They then looked back to a 1982 paper by Charles Sheviak, who was with the New York State Museum, and saw illustrations of what appeared to be the same plant. Sheviak had not conclusively identified it as a news species, and therefore had not given it a name.

So Hough and Young readily landed on a name for the new plant: Spiranthes sheviakii.

It was the first new, native orchid species Hough had ever identified, but finding unique plants in unexpected places is almost routine for the Cortland Biological Sciences Department lecturer and author of the 2019 field guide, Flora of Cortland and Onondaga Counties, New York. He finds new plant species and hybrids — the latter combining in nature two different parent species — near parking lots, former bowling alleys and environmentally degraded lakes. He spots them in Cortland’s Durkee Park and off the eastern Syracuse metropolitan area’s Erie Boulevard.

“There used to be a place called Tamarack Swamp, which was a northern White cedar swamp loaded with rare species,” said Hough. “Now it’s pavement, they literally paved over the swamp, but there’s still these little remnants of the fens and things that used to occur in that area,” he said of the flora he spotted near Syracuse’s major thoroughfare.

In Durkee Park, he spotted and named the hybrid of a modestly flowering native plant called a Geum. He named it after the city: Geum x cortlandicum.

More recently, his co-authored article about his identification of a long known but previously unnamed Geum hybrid, Geum x hainesianum, is set to appear in a 2021 edition of the journal Rhodora.

In October, Hough was interviewed by the Syracuse Post-Standard for a story about a fragrant orchid found near Onondaga Lake that is common in the American southeast but had never been seen in New York. In fact, the nearest known place where it grew wild was 350 miles south. Spiranthes odorata’s relatively gigantic height, up to 3 feet, and the somewhat vanilla smell emanating from its flowers set apart this mainly southeastern growing species. Another researcher, Joseph McMullen, in 2014 had discovered the mystery Ladies’ tresses orchid. McMullen, Hough and Young recently worked together to identify the plant formerly only seen as far north as Delaware.

“We actually have quite a diversity of orchids around here,” Hough said. “Onondaga County, orchid diversity is one of the things it was known for. We’ve lost two or three of them, so that’s one of the exciting things about finding these, because now there’s a new one.”

Hough posts his findings on the New York Flora Association Blog and maintains his own blog called Plants of the Northeastern United States.

“It’s the whole reason I went to college and went back to college,” said Hough, a graduate with his M.S. in plant ecology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. “I wanted to learn about plants. I was interested in identification and naming them. I get excited about it because it’s neat.”

Sometimes, images speak louder than words. Especially when those words are “Black Lives Matter.”

A bold, four-panel mural created by SUNY Cortland students that reflects the national struggle against racial and social injustice will be mounted in the Moffett Center lobby area later this spring.

A group of three graphic design and digital media majors were selected as project artists in December following a competition that attracted 20 online entries. They will create four different panels that will be mounted side by side in the recently renovated lobby of Moffett, comprising an artistic and social statement about the size of a two-car garage door.

“The main goal is to highlight the different aspects of Black Lives Matter, but the students also wanted to spotlight 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,” she said.

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 Bitterbaum about doing something illustrating the same concept on campus.

 Bitterbaum enthusiastically agreed.

“He was super excited,” Lopez-Janove said. “He wanted it to be something that would stay on campus for decades so that the students who were selected to make the mural and the students who were involved in creating the themes could come back years from now and say it was something they were a part of.”

 Lopez-Janove formed a small team of faculty and staff members and brought in student leaders to develop the four themes of the panels. Student artists then submitted work based on those themes that will be redone on a larger scale and installed in May. The themes, and the student artwork they inspired, are:

• “They marched so we could…” pays 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” emphasizes solidarity among people of color and how, historically, members of the Black community have had each other’s backs.
• “Activism” is meant 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” shows 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.

Two of Katherine Kressner’s proposals were chosen to become Black Lives Matter Mural panels. Shannon Delaney and Vanessa Leon Basurto were chosen to produce one panel apiece. During the winter break, the three have been assigned to extend their initial 4-foot by 4-foot designs into 4-foot wide by 8-foot tall ones.

“Unfortunately, racial injustice has been going on for a very, very long time,” said Kressner, a senior from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., who has a second major in communication and media studies with a concentration in public relations and advertising. “If you’re too nervous to say anything, you can draw your ideas, you can do exactly what I’m doing.”

Delaney, a junior from Bethlehem, N.Y., said her collage and acrylic piece titled “Activism” reflects her admiration for how BLM protesters incorporate graffiti into their messages. The artwork depicts George Floyd’s face against a background of black and white newspaper articles and photos from protests with wording in spray paint.

“I was really inspired by Black artists who were taking that back and incorporating that style into Black Lives Matter artwork,” Delaney said.

“Almost across the board, every illustrator should be incorporating diversity into their design, because you really can’t ignore the situation anymore,” she asserted. “I think that’s what Black Lives Matter is all about: not ignoring the mistreatment any more of not including everyone. It’s the simplest idea but it’s gone on too long unnoticed.”

The four themes were developed by Gia Greenidge, founding and current president of the NAACP chapter at SUNY Cortland, and Taylor Hunter, president of the Student Government Association (SGA), according to Lopez-Janove. Others involved with the BLM Mural Committee, have included Cyrenius Weagba Fitzjohn ’19, SUNY Cortland’s assistant chief diversity and inclusion officer; Tatum Pittman, SGA diversity coordinator; SUNY Cortland graduate Shaneya Simmelkjaer ’21, a former NAACP president; and Brianna Soogrim, the current Black Student Union vice president.

Staff and faculty on the team included Dowd Gallery director Jaroslava Prihodova; Zach Newswanger, associate vice president for facilities management; and Seth Asumah, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and chair of the Africana Studies Department.

“I funded the project because I wanted to raise awareness of unequal treatment of people of color,” said Bennett, who is African American and the son of a deceased police officer who served for 25 years. Bennett said his support is separate from his business ventures and his many other local community volunteer activities.

“I know a lot of students have had a great experience at Cortland and in the community,” Bennett said. “Some have had a not great experience. With social media and cell phones it may seem like these things happened since George Floyd but many things happened before George Floyd. They just weren’t heard.”

Last fall, art entries were solicited from the entire campus community. Prihodova pitched the contest to Art and Art History faculty and at least three professors added the assignment to their course curriculums for Fall 2021. When the decision was made, everyone on the committee easily agreed on the final four selections, Prihodova said.

The final designs — whether digital, paint or drawing — in the next stage of the process will be professionally printed on canvas and stretched on a frame that will fit into the display space that is under construction.

“I’m really satisfied with all the submissions,” Lopez-Janove said. “Now it’s a matter of getting to work and getting it done.”

The timeline is to get the finished panels installed by May.

The campus community should get an early peek at selected BLM Mural project selections as part of a planned Black History Month exhibition during February in Old Main Colloquium. Details will be announced later.

Even as Jayson Rivera navigated the disadvantages of growing up with a single parent in public housing in a tough Manhattan neighborhood, he was helping others overcome similar barriers to success.

“I was a high schooler working with grade schoolers and middle schoolers with the Opportunity Program Network,” recalled Rivera, now a SUNY Cortland senior adapted physical education major and recipient of a SUNY-wide 2022 Norman R. McConney, Jr. Award for EOP Student Excellence.

“Being a mentor, trying to guide them in the right path, it’s basically what made me want to be a teacher,” Rivera said.

Rivera remembers April 17, 2018 as the day he was accepted at SUNY Cortland as an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) student.

“I was so excited. I didn’t pick any other school,” Rivera recalled.

Cortland’s EOP program helped him jump all obstacles, providing him not only with a place among its first-year class but all the access and support he required to reach his full academic and personal potential. The program gave him an intensive summer of academic preparation before his first-year student experience, financial aid, ongoing academic counseling, tutoring and the emotional support from his many EOP classmates.

He’s the third SUNY Cortland student to earn the SUNY-wide award since its creation in 2019 and only around 40 are bestowed annually. The McConney Award is named in honor of a late architect of the Educational Opportunity Program and a champion for addressing inequities faced by economically disadvantaged and underrepresented populations.

“The award celebrates EOP students who have overcome significant obstacles in life to achieve educational and personal excellence,” said SUNY Cortland EOP director Lewis Rosengarten. “Jayson has proven his excellence here at Cortland including during this unprecedented time.”

Rivera will be honored with other awardees this spring in Albany, N.Y., during a ceremony that will include New York State legislators and other dignitaries.

“I’m honored to receive this,” Rivera said. “I know sometimes I put in a lot of work in the community at SUNY Cortland and overall. And other people see it, but sometimes I don’t see it in myself and give myself credit. This award really made me stop and think and take in all the things I’ve done.”

“From the moment he got here in the summer of 2018, he’s been very focused,” said Cortland EOP Academic Counselor Judy Stoddard M '10, who helped Rivera stay on track for college success.

“He took all the information in he needed,” she said. “He wanted to do well academically.”

As he finishes his last semester this spring by completing his student teaching at Corcoran High School in Syracuse, N.Y., Rivera can look back with satisfaction on what he has accomplished:

• Rivera was accepted into Cortland’s prestigious Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.) scholarship program, which offers financial support and a curriculum tailored to created highly qualified teachers for the unique challenge of serving students in city schools around New York state.
• He was inducted into the National Honor Society for the Educational Opportunity Program, Chi Alpha Epsilon, which requires at least a 3.0 overall GPA for two semesters in a row.
• Outside class, Rivera participates in scholarly, community and social activities of the Greek organization for Latinx men, La Unita de Latina Lambda Upsilon Lambda.

“When I joined the fraternity, I had one of my best semesters where my GPA went from being a 2.8 to a 3.27,” Rivera said. “I have ended up this semester with a 3.17 GPA.”

“Jayson is very determined and kind of no-nonsense as far as what he wanted to accomplish academically,” Stoddard added. “Also he’s just a good person, with integrity, focused on his goals.”

“I grew up in the projects,” Rivera said. “You see shootouts, drug dealings, people being stabbed in front of me, a lot of violence. I really wanted to get out of that environment.”

Two alumni who were his high school coaches, Chris Lora ’09 and the late Emmanuel Frias ’08, placed academics at Cortland in his path after a knee injury ended the baseball standout’s athletic ambition.

“Chris grew up in somewhat the same environment as me, in Washington Heights,” Rivera said of SUNY Cortland’s most recent M.O.V.E. event keynote speaker.

“He showed me that there is a way out. He really motivated me to come to college and just to do better for myself overall. It really impacted me a lot.”

After he graduates, Rivera would like to land a job to teach in Syracuse for a few years, save a little rent money, then continue teaching back in New York City.

“I’ve always loved working with kids,” Rivera said. “It gives me an opportunity to grow as well. I could be always learning.”

Over the last 30 years, Ilene Singer Knebel ’84, an executive assistant for the City of Beverly Hills, California, auditioned to be a contestant on the popular game show Wheel of Fortune about half a dozen times.

On Jan. 25, the woman who grew up watching Pat Sajak and Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune with her mom, Christine Singer, in Schenectady, N.Y., got her wish to appear on the show. Moreover, she astonished friends, family and coworkers by winning big.

In the early round, Knebel won a trip to the Caribbean and $5,000 cash. She then advanced to the bonus round and captured the $100,000 grand prize after she correctly guessed the final puzzle. She finished with $112,000 in cash winnings.

Watch a clip of her bonus round win:

Knebel was announced as the first bonus prize winner for 2022. Until another contestant captures the jackpot, a video clip of her final round, and the celebratory aftermath, can be seen on the Wheel of Fortune Website.

“The whole thing was just amazing,” said Knebel, a former SUNY Cortland speech communications major who graduated cum laude. “And then to have to keep that secret for so long was super hard. But it made it even sweeter when my friends and family were there at the watch party to see it happen.

“My kids were really proud of me,” she said of her three grown children. “My daughter had a watch party at Michigan State, and they screamed so loud that the RA came running down.”

The segment features the unusual sight of host Sajak jokingly ordering Knebel to sweep up the celebratory confetti littering the stage, an action that has given her 15 minutes of fame on other news sites, including AOL.’s news site titled: “Wheel of Fortune’ contestant’s interesting request after winning $112,000.”

“Anyone who knows me knows why I asked for a broom,” Knebel said. “Because they had vacuums, blowers, the entire crew cleaning up, and I felt so bad. And they said, ‘Come on, congratulations!’ First they brought me a small broom and I said, ‘This will not do. I need a big broom.’ And then they brought me this big broom with WOF on it and they did this closing shot of me.”

Knebel was already making gifts to her favorite charities before the show aired and plans to invest the rest to grow so she can continue supporting good causes and helping her children.

“I am so grateful to have been chosen as a contestant, especially after trying so many times,” said Knebel of the taped episode before it aired. As a contestant, she was embargoed from revealing the results until after the show.

Knebel held a small party afterward with friends and family that featured a shadow box she created secretly with memorabilia she collected about her experience and a Wheel of Fortune game with her winning guess “quilted bedspread” in the game’s miniature puzzle board. At the party and next morning at work, she shared Wheel of Fortune-themed baked treats with everyone.

“It’s a lovely memory, something I’ll never do again,” she said.

Although it was her first time as game show contestant, this would be the second time she’s shared the stage with Sajak and White. That happened in 1988, when she was seated in the audience as a guest of her cousin, Peppy Greenberg of Whitestown, Queens, N.Y.

“Peppy won multiple days on the daytime show, every puzzle, and she won the bonus round,” said Knebel.

“So, she said to Pat Sajak, ‘My cousin Ilene and her husband are here,’ and we ran on stage,” Knebel said. “Peppy was making a video of it and I kind of pulled him (Sajak) into the shot. It’s hysterical. The video is priceless.”

“I’m a people person,” Knebel said. “During all this time, you know, these 30 years, I’d see auditions. And I’d try. My girlfriend and I went for ‘The Amazing Race.’ I went to audition for the ‘Price is Right’ once. I went to ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ once. I even did a video for ‘Supermarket Sweep.’ They didn’t call me either.

“I tried for ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ I think it’s got to be five or six times, because I wrote it down,” she said. “You just need to look upon it as having fun. To get down on yourself is not really good. They need a diverse cast and might have already found someone looking like you.”

She persevered and eventually uploaded a video to WheelofFortune.com. That online application process involving puzzle solving skills and virtual audition to become a Wheel of Fortune contestant with the promise of $1,000 just for appearing on it.

In March, Knebel picked up on a random phone call that turned out to be a Wheel of Fortune representative, letting her down about the 2021 season but assuring her, “We’ll get you in next season.” She got the call to set it up in October.

Knebel has always had her eyes on the glitter of showbusiness. In college, she took part in several theater productions.

After writing and producing commercials for ABC affiliate Channel 10 in Albany and working with the Capital Repertory Company in Albany, she headed to Southern California in a 1966 red Mustang convertible with her old college bestie, Maureen O’Connor ’84.

Her Hollywood dreams turned into a first marriage and family and a more settled job in public service administration, where she’s moved between several city departments and is now in Beverly Hills Department of Public Works. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California, with her second husband, Kyle.

To Knebel, everything about her life, from her college major to her job involving writing and reading words all day, to her leisure life, prepared her for this game show.

“It used to drive my kids crazy, but when we would go on a long trip, I would always be reading signs,” Knebel said. “You just see how words are put words together. Then I’m always watching old clips of the show. And there’s an app for Wheel of Fortune that I have on my phone. It’s just another way to practice.”

Fifteen SUNY Cortland faculty members will display their most recent artistic work during the “2022 Art and Art History Faculty Biennial” exhibition, which opens on Monday, Jan. 31, in the Dowd Gallery.

The exhibition, reflecting a diverse range of studio practices and a profound awareness of the impact of the global COVID-19, commonly recognized as being from 2019 to the present, runs through Friday, Feb. 25.

All Dowd Gallery exhibitions and events are free and open to the public.  Visitors from outside the SUNY Cortland campus should follow the university’s COVID-19 public health and safety policies, which include wearing a face covering at all indoor events.

Featured artworks by members of the Art and Art History Department faculty reflect not only participants’ thriving individual practices but also their dedication to SUNY Cortland students through teaching and innovative applied methodology. Above all, the presentation is a testament to the faculty members’ creativity and collaborative spirit in times of adversity.    

The exhibition offers the campus community and the visitors an opportunity to confront ideas in a diverse scope of disciplines, including art history, ceramics, design, drawing, fibers, painting, photography, printmaking, new media and sculpture.

Featured artists include Martine Barnaby, Stephen Alexander Clark, Julie Crosby, Jeremiah Donovan, Sarah Gotowka, Charles Heasley, Hannah Hones, Szilvia Kadas, Jillian McEvoy, Jenn McNamara, Scott Oldfield, Jaroslava Prihodova, Vaughn Randall, Wylie Schwartz and Bryan Valentine Thomas.

An opening reception for the artists is rescheduled from Thursday, Feb. 3, at the gallery, due to a snowstorm. The opening reception will now take place on Wednesday, Feb. 9, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the gallery, which is in the Dowd Fine Arts Center located at the corner of Graham Avenue and Prospect Terrace. Refreshments will be served.

A “First Friday” guided tour of the exhibition has been organized by Cortland Arts Connect will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4. The event will be both live and virtual on Facebook and the Dowd Gallery website.

The faculty exhibitors will discuss their artistic vision during three separate “Artist’s Talk” events at 5 p.m. at the gallery, on Thursday, Feb. 10, Wednesday, Feb. 16 and Thursday, Feb. 24. The Feb. 10 event will feature Jenn McNamara, Scott Oldfield, Bryan Valentine Thomas and Szilvia Kadas. The Feb. 16 program will spotlight Vaughn Randall, Wylie Schwartz, Charles Heasley and Jaroslava Prihodova. The Feb. 24 “Artist’s Talk” will include Martine Barnaby, Jeremiah Donovan, Stephan Alexander Clark, Hannah Hones and Sarah Gotowka.

A documentary screening series titled “Why Art Education,” on Tuesday, Feb. 8, will include several short films. The event takes place at 5 p.m. in the gallery.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, Prihodova and Scott Oldfield, gallery assistant, will offer a virtual “Ask a Curator” gallery talk about curating exhibitions, organizing programs and projects. The event, which begins at 5 p.m., will feature a question-and-answer opportunity.

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.

Visit @dowdgallery on Instagram or Facebook for detailed information about other programs, links to invitations for virtual events and artists’ profiles.

Group tours are available and can be arranged by contacting Prihodova, gallery director, at 607-753-4216.

President Erik J. Bitterbaum spoke to faculty and staff about the COVID-19 pandemic, campus construction projects and the value of a life-changing education during a virtual 2022 Spring Opening of School Meeting on Thursday, Jan. 20.

On COVID-19, Bitterbaum shared optimistic news about declining cases and rates of hospitalization from the omicron variant in New York. Vaccines and boosters are preventing infection and leading to less severe illness in those who do get sick.

If COVID-19 becomes endemic, SUNY Cortland will still face challenges to keep the community safe, he said. But a new phase of the disease would give the university new options in returning to fully serving students and delivering in-person experiences.

“Endemic disease does not need to dominate life the way a pandemic does,” Bitterbaum said. “It does not need to cause the sort of social isolation and public health problems that COVID has over the past two years. If the United States reaches this point in 2022, as appears possibly likely, this coming year will feel a lot more satisfying than the last two. And I have to remain optimistic.”

In meeting regularly with students, Bitterbaum said that he learned they rely on their face-to-face connections with faculty, staff and other students to get the most out of their college experience. These relationships bolster student academic performance, retain students at Cortland and keep them on track to graduation.

“Students who felt faculty and staff listened to, respected and cared for them had a much stronger sense of belonging to this institution,” he said. “When I ask what classes they’re taking, they’ll mention the class, but they quickly go to the faculty or staff member who’s made such a difference in helping them to belong to this institution.”

Bitterbaum gave updates on several ongoing construction and renovation projects happening around campus, including:

• Offices originally on the fourth floor of the Miller Building are scheduled to return to that space in February.
• Offices on the second and third floors of the Miller Building are scheduled to return this summer.
• Work on Smith Tower has begun.
• The design phase on the C wing of Van Hoesen Hall has started, which will renovate the former Tomik Fitness Center into the home of the Communication and Media Studies Department as well as several student-facing offices.
• The design phase on the A and B wings of Van Hoesen Hall is scheduled to begin soon, which will renovate classrooms and offices for the Division of Student Affairs.
• An outdoor lighting improvement project on upper campus is nearly complete. A similar project on lower campus will begin later this year.

A significant investment into SUNY and CUNY colleges by New York state was announced earlier this month by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Bitterbaum noted that this investment aims to increase SUNY’s system-wide enrollment by 130,000 students over the next eight years, better prepare students for careers and improve the diversity of SUNY’s faculty and student body. SUNY’s comprehensive colleges will receive funding to help establish distinct identities.

“In my 19 years here, I’ve never had a governor who is so interested in SUNY,” Bitterbaum said. “She had a son who went to Geneseo and her parents went to SUNYs. She knows the real value of what we can do for New Yorkers and the whole country.”

The meeting also included an update on the university’s accreditation process through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education by Associate Provost Carol Van Der Karr and Professor Lynn MacDonald. A slideshow was emailed to faculty and staff on Thursday morning.

Bitterbaum closed his remarks by sharing a letter from Shelby Soule ’21, a recent geology major with a minor in geographic information systems (GIS).

He urged faculty and staff to consider their roles as mentors to today’s students and continue to influence and change their lives for the better.

“I have become capable of things that before Cortland, I couldn’t have done in my wildest dreams,” Soule wrote. “I learned so much about geology and GIS. I have also learned how to be a better person and none of this would have been possible without the outstanding community that you have at SUNY Cortland.”

A video recording of the meeting will be posted shortly to the President’s website.

The current edition of Columns, SUNY Cortland’s alumni magazine, is available online.

Whether you are a SUNY Cortland alum, a student, or a faculty or staff member, Columns is a great way to strengthen your connection with SUNY Cortland.

For so many SUNY Cortland alumni, no matter where they live or where their careers have taken them after graduation, this university is home. The latest edition of Columns explores that theme through stories of achievement, gratitude and lifelong Cortland pride.

Read more in the online edition of Columns:

•  A lasting legacy: A Texas community is filled with homes inspired by an alum’s Cortland memories.
• A family tradition: A recent alumni wedding illustrates how Cortland couples often run in families.
• DeRancy surprised by Parks Alumni House honor: Generous friends surprise a key Parks Alumni House supporter with a rare honor.
• You name it: The Student Life Center has it all: The Student Life Center, the center of campus life, offers alumni naming opportunities.
• Alumni honors: Learn more about the newest distinguished alumni and outstanding volunteers.
• Lightning strikes twice: Derek Lalonde ’95, a coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning, wins his second NHL championship.
• The Emmy brothers: Between them, the Millstein brothers have eight Emmy Awards for producing sports coverage.
• Class Notes: Read about career and life updates from your friends and classmates.
• The 2020-21 Cortland College Foundation Annual Report: We thank all of the alumni and friends who have supported the university so generously in recent years.

The following message on the passing of Edward P. Caffarella Jr. is being sent on behalf of President Erik J. Bitterbaum

It is with sadness I share with the campus community the news of the loss of Edward Caffarella, the first dean of SUNY Cortland’s School of Education. Caffarella, 75, passed away at his home in Ithaca, N.Y. on Jan. 8 following his long fight with Parkinson’s Disease. 

Born on Dec. 16, 1946 in Lynn, Mass., Caffarella graduated with a B.S. in community leadership and development from Springfield College, a M.Ed. in educational media, systems and technology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Ph.D. in instructional development and technology from Michigan State University.

A leader in the field of teacher education and educational technology, Caffarella was named dean of the School of Education upon its creation in 2003 until 2006. He wrote and presented extensively on educational technology and was awarded many grants over his career, including a Fulbright Specialist grant for a project aimed at raising education standards in Malaysia in 2013. Caffarella retired as professor emeritus of educational leadership in 2013.

He had previously held faculty appointments at the University of Maine, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Northern Colorado.

Caffarella is survived by his wife, Rosemary Shelly Caffarella, his daughter Christina Zaidi and two grandsons.

A graveside service will be held in the spring at Riverside Cemetery in Saugus, Mass. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Rosemary E. Shelly and Edward P. Caffarella Scholarship at Springfield College, 263 Alden St., Springfield, MA 01109 or your favorite charity.

In keeping with a university priority of well-being, each semester SUNY Cortland offers weekly encouragement to the campus and community to pursue a lifetime of good health.

The Spring 2022 “Wellness Wednesday Series” will be a mix of in-person programs and podcast episodes “Take 10 for You” that become available on Sound Cloud and Twitter.

Programs continue through the spring semester with topics that focus on fitness and healthy eating habits, mental health, hazing, having a safe spring break and substance abuse prevention.

Primarily sponsored by the Health Promotion Office, the events are free and open to the public.

A Spring 2022 Wellness Wednesday poster listing all the events can be found at the Health Promotion Wellness Wednesday webpage.

Events include:

• On Jan. 26, Zumba instructor Mia Papakonstantis will offer “Zumba for Fitness” from 6 to 7 p.m. Participants will experience a beginner-level Zumba class and should dress in loose, comfortable clothing.
• On Feb. 2, stop by “Manifest Your Future: Creating Vision Boards” between noon and 3 p.m. in the Student Life Center. Counseling and Wellness Services, Health Promotion, Tarot readers and Wellness PEER Interns will assist as participants set goals by creating a vision board.
• Lauren Scagnelli, health educator, will present ways to communicate and respond to situations in a productive way to avoid conflict on Feb. 9. “Stop the Beef” will be held from 6 to 6:30 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Listen to the podcast “Black Hair Affair” when it is released on Feb. 16 on Soundcloud.com.
• On Feb. 23, registered dietitian nutritionist Andrea Hart, Nutrition From The Hart, will present “My Relationship with Food” from 7 to 8 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of their own food relationship as well as strategies to foster a healthy relationship with food.
• “Hazing Prevention Education” is the topic for March 2, with a speaker to be announced. Hazing is a societal concern that impacts everyone. Join health promotion from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Corey Union Function Room to learn more and help people understand why it is unacceptable.
• A “Safe Spring Break Fair” will be held on March 9 from noon to 3 p.m. in the Student Life Center lobby, complete with free giveaways.
• On March 23, “Celebrate A World of Flavors” with Regina Ludovico, Cortland Auxiliary Services, from noon to 3 p.m. in the Student Life Center lobby. Learn how to spice up your food and embrace global cultures, cuisines and inclusivity. Free samples will be provided.
• “Managing ‘Stage Fright’: Techniques to Cope with Public Speaking Anxiety” is the topic on March 30. Public speaking regularly tops the lists of people's most common fears — but it’s also a skill valued by employers. From 5 to 6 p.m. in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge, Michael Turner, director of The Writing Center and Christina Knopf, associate professor of communication and media studies, will help participants identify and understand the cause and form of their apprehension and list tools to help manage it.
• On April 6, stop by the Corey Union steps between noon and 3 p.m. for five minutes to make a s’more and learn about consent.
• On April 13, Laurel Harte-Westover, campus minister, and Wellness PEER interns present “Spiritual rest” from noon to 3 p.m. in the Student Life Center lobby. Learn what spiritual rest is and activities to feel restored.
• On April 20, Marissa Whitaker, substance abuse prevention and education associate, presents “DWHigh: Beyond the Legal Consequences” from 6 to 6:30 in Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. This presentation will include conversations about the body’s response to cannabis and why these responses do not mix with driving.
• “Grow Your Own Vegetable Plant” when you stop by Corey Union steps between noon and 3 p.m. on April 27. Health promotion and Wellness PEER interns will share the benefits of growing your own vegetable plants and how to care for them. Then plant one and leave with a free vegetable plant.

For more information or accommodation to attend an event, contact Lauren Scagnelli, health educator, in Van Hoesen Hall, Room B-38, or at 607-753-2066.

The SUNY Cortland men's ice hockey team will be holding a #stopsuicide charity game and resource fair on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. in support of the Central New York chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).

The Resource Fair will be held on Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. in the Park Center Hall of Champions area on the second floor (gallery area outside of the gymnasium entrance).

Cortland will host Oswego that evening at Alumni Arena, and fans can show the community that they're voices for suicide prevention in a number of ways, including:

• Bidding on limited edition AFSP/Red Dragon charity game-worn jerseys, with all proceeds going directly to the AFSP.  (Jersey Auction Web Page)
• Becoming a sponsor - there are multiple levels of support available for individuals and organizations to fund the event.
• Participating and encouraging others to attend the Resource Fair. The theme is "Have a Real Convo," which is part of the AFSP's social media campaign to increase awareness of effective ways to reduce the likelihood of loss by suicide.
• Providing raffle or door prize items for the game-day auction.
• Making a cash donation.
• Purchasing a game-day charity logo puck.
• Purchasing tickets and attending the game on Friday, Jan. 28!

Funds raised allow the AFSP to fund research, create educational programs, advocate for public policy, and support survivors of suicide loss. The Red Dragons raised more than $11,000 for AFSP in a similar event during the 2019-20 season.

Any questions about the auction can be directed to Cortland assistant coach Stephen Castriota at stephen.castriota@cortland.edu or 607-753-4995.

Jersey Auction Web Page

The SUNY Cortland men's and women's intercollegiate athletic program ranks 15th out of more than 440 NCAA Division III schools after the fall season in the 2021-22 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings. The competition, which continues through the winter and spring seasons, is organized by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) to annually recognize the top collegiate athletic programs for overall excellence.

Cortland scored 224.5 points in the fall season and is the top-ranked New York school. Johns Hopkins University leads the standings with 471 points, and the Red Dragons are less than 40 points from the top 10. The standings are compiled based on schools' national finishes in different sports. Teams earn points by qualifying for the NCAA postseason and additional points for advancing in the playoffs. The national champion in each sport receives 100 points.

Cortland scored points in five fall sports. The football and men's soccer teams each tied for ninth place nationally, while the women's volleyball and field hockey teams each tied for 17th place. The men's cross country team also earned points by virtue of its fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Niagara Region championship. The Directors' Cup scoring rule award points to the top five finishers at each cross country regional, even if they are not subsequently chosen for the national championship.

Official Directors' Cup Scoring Page

2021-22 NACDA/Learfield Sports Directors' Cup
Division III Standings - End of Fall Season (Top 20)

1) Johns Hopkins (Md.) - 471
2) Middlebury (Vt.) - 397.5
3) Tufts (Mass.) - 330.5
4) Chicago (Ill.) - 320.5
5) Calvin (Mich.) - 308

6) Mass. Inst. of Technology - 300.5
7) Christopher Newport (Va.) - 278.5
8) Emory (Ga.) - 270
9) Washington & Lee (Va.) - 267.5
10) Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) - 261

11) Wisconsin-La Crosse - 259.5
12) Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) - 246.5
13) Wartburg (Iowa) - 238
14) Amherst (Mass.) - 229
15) CORTLAND - 224.5

16) Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) - 217.5
17) Loras (Iowa) - 210
18) Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) - 209.5
19) Messiah (Pa.) - 208.5
20) Wisconsin-Whitewater - 208

Campus Artist and Lecture Series (CALS) Lecture Grant applications are now available for the Spring 2022 semester. Applications are eligible for a maximum of $350 and are open to any club, program or department. These lecture grants will not cover performances of any kind. 

While CALS required that all guest speakers must present virtually for Fall 2021, it has revised its requirements for Spring 2022. Presenters can choose to have guest speakers present virtually or they can choose to have them present in-person as long as the following requirements are met:

1. Guest speakers must complete and submit the school’s Visitor Registration and Screening Form (located in the Visitors and Events section of the COVID-19 Safety Information website). The form must be submitted at least 48 hours prior to the day of the visit. The presenter would serve as the host.  
2. The presenter must complete, submit and have approved the school’s COVID related New Program/Event Form (located in the same place). This form must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the intended event.
3. Guest speakers must follow any and all COVID preventive measures that may be in place on the day(s) they come to campus.
   1. As of Dec. 3, 2021, this would include wearing a face covering inside any building regardless of vaccination status.

Applications must be received electronically by Tuesday, Feb. 1 to be considered for February, March, April and May 2022 lecture programs. Applications received after this date may not be eligible for any spring semester funds remaining.  

For more information visit the CALS website or contact either Sandra Wohlleber by email or at 607-753-5769 or Mavis LeFever by email or at 607-753-5574.

SUNY Cortland Auxiliary Services (SCAS) is now accepting Program Grant applications for the 2022-23 academic year.

Applications are submitted online and must be sent by midnight on Friday, Feb. 18. Applicants are asked to read the grant guidelines carefully before submitting an application.

Each year the SCAS Board of Directors allocates funds to support grants for a wide range of purposes and projects that enhance the life of the SUNY Cortland community.

Although SCAS is willing to consider a wide range of ideas, it seeks to avoid duplicating other funding sources or funding projects more properly supported by state funds. Therefore, applicants should first seek funding from primary funding sources.

SCAS grant funds may not be used for salaries, honoraria, travel normally funded by the university’s budget or scholarships for SUNY Cortland faculty, staff or students. Funds may not be used to purchase computers, related hardware or software. All purchases will be processed in accordance to SCAS’s financial and related GAAP policies. 

In general, program grant funds may not be used exclusively for food for SUNY Cortland students, faculty or staff. Funding for food may be considered if the food is deemed integral to the success of the program or event. All food shall be provided by SCAS. Other grant guidelines are described in the application package and online.

For more information or assistance, contact Judy Standish by email or at 607-753-4325.