Campus Champion

Victoria Quick is an adventurous senior international studies major who leaves for Romania in September for an internship at Babes-Bolyai University’s International Education Department. Building on her rich international background, Victoria will use her scholarship to study languages. The 2021 transfer arrived as a physical education major but researched other options at SUNY Cortland. Her interest in international studies was solidified after spending the following summer on Cortland’s first ecotourism trip to Hawaii. This led to her ongoing involvement with Model EU, taking her to Belgium for a conference and then to India to study at St. Aloysius University. The India experience helped Victoria find her purpose — concentrating on health and the environment. Read more about SUNY Cortland’s involvement in Romania. 

A SUNY Cortland young alum is the first-ever recipient of the Upstate Say Yes Scholarship to attend SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Norton College of Medicine, earning an award worth more than $240,000 to cover full tuition, housing and a $5,000 stipend throughout medical school.

Alex Guerrero ’22, a biology major at SUNY Cortland and resident of Syracuse, was recognized July 15 at a ceremony attended by SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr., SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum, SUNY Upstate President Mantosh Dewan, M.D., and other leaders throughout the Central New York region.

They were there to honor a product of the Syracuse City School District who emigrated from Cuba to the U.S. as a teenager and worked tirelessly to chase his dreams in healthcare.

Since 2008, Say Yes Syracuse has provided full-tuition undergraduate scholarships to more than 100 colleges and universities for eligible graduates of the Syracuse City School District and the city’s charter schools. Guerrero’s award is the first for Central New York’s only medical school.

“It still feels surreal,” said Guerrero, who received his white coat at the event, a common tradition for students at the beginning of medical school. “I couldn’t have ever expected this.”

Guerrero’s path to medical school was winding, but it was shaped in large part by his effort in the sciences, especially during his time at SUNY Cortland.

He earned a Say Yes Scholarship to attend Cortland after graduating from Henninger High School in 2018, choosing the university because it offered the biochemistry major he wanted, close proximity to home and his high school friends attended.

The first semester on campus was difficult, but Guerrero had already proved capable of overcoming obstacles. He moved to the U.S. at 14, just three weeks before starting high school. He taught himself English to prepare for English as a second language courses. By graduation, Guerrero passed AP English with his peers.

As a college student, he found community in SUNY Cortland Emergency Medical Services, a student-run, basic life support emergency response agency on campus.

“I started to make friends, I started to make connections and I really met people who shared the same goals as I did,” said Guerrero. “It was a life-changing thing for me at Cortland.”

Academic success propelled him to join the university’s Honors Program before his college experience was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the pandemic, he was enrolled in a human physiology course with Professor of Biological Sciences Theresa Curtis. She recalled how Guerrero responded with resilience and appreciation for her efforts.

“When everything got shut down, he was one of those students who could still keep the connection,” Curtis said. “He still was fighting for his education and didn’t let things stop him.”

Curtis also praised her former student’s growth mindset.

“Any time he missed a question on a quiz or a test or homework, if he didn’t understand why he got it wrong, he would send me an email or come to my office hours and have me explain why he got it wrong,” she said. “He was always trying to do better.”

Even during the pandemic, Guerrero seized the opportunity to pursue undergraduate research remotely, earning the Dr. Arden P. Zipp Summer Research Fellowship to work with Associate Professor of Chemistry Katherine Hicks on a partial National Science Foundation Grant in 2021. He credited his undergraduate development to professors like Curtis, Hicks, Professor of Biological Sciences Christa Chatfield and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Christian Nelson.

During his senior year, Guerrero was accepted into several physician assistant programs but realized a shift in his healthcare interest. He wanted to focus on immunology and human physiology. Still, he worried about the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

He contacted Curtis for advice and guidance.

“I thought that I wasn’t a good standardized test taker, and she told me that if that’s really what I wanted to do, then I should just go for it,” Guerrero said. “I shouldn’t let one exam keep me from doing what I want to do.

“So that’s what I did.”

Guerrero pursued the medical school application process and completed two years as a student in SUNY Upstate’s Post-baccalaureate Research and Education Program (PREP-Up), where he focused on research related to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Fragile X Syndrome that causes intellectual disability.

Over the last four years, he also spent weekends working as a patient care technician in the Emergency Department at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, N.Y.

Guerrero credited his research mentor Alaji Bah, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at SUNY Upstate, for providing inspiration. He also acknowledged his younger brother and his mother for their motivation and support, especially when he worried about delaying his education.

“(My mother) said, ‘You know I will support you with whatever you decide. It’s your life, and I want you to be happy with your decision,’” Guerrero said.

In November, he received a phone call from an admissions staff member at Upstate. Guerrero was hoping it would be news of his first acceptance, and turned out to be something much greater — with news that his medical school education would be fully funded.

“I was just completely overwhelmed with emotion and I had to hold back my tears,” said Guerrero, who begins medical school next week. “I hope to use this Say Yes scholarship to the best of my ability and hope to give back to the community once I graduate.”

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Above left: Alex Guerrero ’22 receives his white coat from SUNY Upstate Medical University Norton College of Medicine Dean Lawrence Chin, M.D.

Above right: Professor of Biological Sciences Theresa Curtis, Guerrero and President Erik J. Bitterbaum pose for a photo

 The debut of “In Emily’s Words” at SUNY Cortland gave students real-world experience in developing a new musical. Now, they can also say that they’ve been part of an award-winning show. 

This June the CreateTheater New Works Festival in New York City named “In Emily’s Words,” the story of English author Emily Brontë’s writing of “Wuthering Heights,” as its Best Musical. It was one of four awards won by the Cortland-influenced work, more than any other production at the festival. 

Notable among the accolades was Best Female Lead in a Musical — which went to Cortland junior Olivia Celis. Celis, who played Emily Brontë, was picked over full-time, professional performers and was the only college student honored. 

“I was not aware that I was up for this award,” Celis said. “I was in the middle of work when, all of a sudden, my phone started buzzing constantly with my friends congratulating me on winning. I read the email and was in shock. I am so happy and grateful!” 

Celis and three other SUNY Cortland students —  Ryan Rodriguez, Lizzie Fitzpatrick and Xander Holden — are performing on stage this summer at Quisisana Resort in Maine, which offers guests a variety of Broadway-style entertainment.  

The New Works Festival Took place from May 28 to June 8, highlighting plays and musicals ready for their first developmental production. It is put on by CreateTheater, a company that helps writers grow their ideas until they’re ready to take center stage. 

Done in partnership with CreateTheater, two staged readings of “In Emily’s Words” were performed at Cortland’s Dowd Fine Arts Performance Studio, helping to develop writer, composer and lyricist Jessy Tomsko’s creation. 

The readings for “In Emily’s Words,” which included singing performances, were the final part of a two-week workshop that let the Performing Arts Department students have a direct hand in the creation of the show. 

Each performance was followed by a talk between the audience and the cast and creative team, giving the show’s creators a chance to hear their dialogue and music performed and get an idea of the impact on a live audience.    

“Hearing the show aloud and seeing it brought to life with the Cortland students and faculty has yielded new material, as well as cuts and edits that I might otherwise not have made,” Tomsko said. “And I couldn’t be happier with the version of the piece I now have — thanks to this talented and eager cast and crew.” 

After the spring semester, the group of students and faculty, including Kevin Halpin, a professor in the Performing Arts Department, got to travel on Memorial Day to New York City and perform “In Emily’s Words” again.  

While there, the students acclimated to the new theater space and adapted to changes made to the production, including new music. 

“Some of them had only been to New York once or twice before, and none of them had ever really performed in New York City, so a chance to have an off-Broadway credit is incredibly valuable and incredibly exciting for them,” Halpin said. 

After arriving, there was an intense first day of rehearsal, followed the next day by extra prep time ahead of two performances. Both shows had a full audience with the first one standing room only. 

Awardees were selected at the end of the festival. In addition to Best Musical and Best Female Musical Lead, “In Emily’s Words” won Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical Score. 

Halpin described the CreateTheater partnership as a connection to the professional theater world that’s not common among other schools.  

The collaboration began last year with readings for another show, “The Bone Harp.” Audiences will get a chance to see the development of another show this fall with the debut of “By Any Other Name.” 

“We have always been committed to making sure that we had strong ties to the professional theater community,” Halpin said. “But this is a very concrete way to do that, and I think it’s a great benefit for our students.” 

For Celis and the rest of the cast, it was a chance to show what they could do on stage in a city where legendary careers on and off Broadway have been born for decades. 

“The musical process of ‘In Emily’s Words’ at SUNY Cortland was so much fun,” Celis said. “Each person involved in the production really had a chance to shine. Performing it in New York City was a dream come true for me. I’ve always wanted to be a part of a workshop for a new musical, and it was such a wonderful experience.” 

The show continues to be a success, as Tomsko said she recently returned from the Florida Festival of New Musicals where “In Emily’s Words” was one of six shows selected nationwide to present. 

At the play’s core, she added, there is a focus on imagination and the creative process that everyone can relate to. 

“People have generally responded in an overwhelmingly positive way to the piece, and everyone especially seems to love the music — which is very exciting,” Tomsko said. “It’s so satisfying as a composer when you write music that thrills you personally, and then you find others are thrilled by it too.” 

SUNY Cortland transfer students Parker Arenas and Skyler Turpin ended their first year on campus as high-achieving scholars who are sure of their majors, value their professors and enjoy many extracurricular activities.

They didn’t necessarily start their Cortland journey that way. They had some challenges early on, but they didn’t have to face them alone.

Arenas, a junior criminology major from Brewster, N.Y., started college at Michigan State University. Enrolling at Cortland in early spring 2023, he missed orientation experiences among his cohort, the 749 transfer students among Cortland’s 6,800 students overall. Despite his outgoing personality, at first he had trouble making friends.

Turpin, a senior inclusive childhood education major from Horseheads, N.Y., began her college career as a University at Buffalo psychology major. Soon after transferring to Cortland, she nearly burned out while trying to balance an unrealistic course load with a full plate of extracurricular activities.

Both found the university had many resources to help them transition to a more manageable, enjoyable and ultimately successful approach to a rigorous, four-year college experience.

That strong support of transfers is a big reason why SUNY Cortland for a seventh year was named to the Transfer Honor Roll published by Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), an international honor society that includes high-achieving students from two-year colleges.

It’s a prestigious list that recognizes 228 campuses nationwide, including only four within the SUNY system. SUNY Cortland is New York’s only public institution to be honored every year since 2018.

The Transfer Honor Roll is determined by 40 key metrics related to the support and success of transfer students, including actual college cost, campus life for transfer students, admission practices, and bachelor’s degree completion. To be named to the PTK Honor Roll, colleges and universities are assigned a “transfer friendliness” rating based on qualities such as transfer student support services, financial aid, admissions outreach and campus opportunities. The top 25% of highest-rated campuses are recognized.

SUNY Cortland has a high transfer student acceptance rate, and nearly 85% of the university’s transfer students from community college successfully complete their four-year degree.

Thirty-seven percent of the incoming transfers received institutional need-based aid and 7% received institutional merit-based aid, with the average aid award being almost $4,000. For the prior year, 10 transfer students were awarded a Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship to help them afford their education.

As beneficiaries of the support initiatives SUNY Cortland offers, both Arenas and Turpin are helping new transfers adjust to the four-year experience as interns with the Transfer Team Network, the university’s peer mentoring program. This summer, they are assisting Advisement and Transition staff with Orientation activities and, in the fall, plan to assist in teaching COR-101 or COR-201, the mandatory one-credit courses that help ensure success for incoming first-year students and transfers, respectively.

In addition to the Transfer Team Network program, SUNY Cortland offers a wide array of supports. They include:

• Online tools that help students map a clear path to the university.
• A formal transfer orientation program.
• A COR 201 required course for transfer students, modeled after the one for first-year student success.
• National Transfer Student Week, an October event series to celebrate transfer students.
• Reverse transfer degrees, enabling transfer students to complete their community college associate degree while working toward their bachelor’s degree at SUNY Cortland.
• Transfer-specific recognition in the form of the national Tau Sigma honor society.
• Transfer student scholarships offered through Tau Sigma.

Arenas and Turpin also credit their success to staff members in Advisement and Transition, which specializes in academic advising for all students, including transfers.

They have advice for the next generation of transfer students.

“Step out of your comfort zone,” advised Arenas. “Really immerse yourself in all campus has to offer. That’s the way to feel at home and you’re not going to do that just by staying inside. Engage in anything that is offered to you.”

Arenas was inducted into Alpha Phi Sigma, the criminal justice collegiate honor society, and aspires to a federal government law enforcement career. He served the last academic year on the Student Government Association as e-board secretary, and he can’t wait to intern with a real police agency before he graduates in spring 2026.

Turpin, who was inducted into Tau Sigma this past spring, agreed.

“I would say to transfer students that they need to explore anything that would interest you in terms of clubs and organizations, and make connections with the faculty here,” she said.

Turpin joined a social sorority and quickly built a whole network of friends and engaged in the Greek organization’s many volunteer activities. She looks forward to stepping into her first real classroom observation this coming year and plans to teach elementary general education or special education after she graduates in 2025.

Prospective transfer students can contact the Admissions Office to learn about the application process or Advisement and Transition for support resources.

Visit the Phi Theta Kappa website for more information on SUNY Cortland’s recent recognition.

Campus dining services around the country — including at SUNY Cortland — tried taking away trays a decade ago, when it seemed like a simple solution to the food waste created by college students whose eyes were bigger than their stomachs.

When that didn’t work, they tried shrinking the plates.

But it turns out that getting students to act for the sake of environmental sustainability and university fiscal responsibility takes a little extra ingenuity, according to Nichole Edwards, associate vice president of SUNY Cortland Auxiliary Services.

“An enormous amount of post-consumer waste is stuff people decided they didn’t want to eat because they took too much on their plate,” Edwards said.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, between 30 and 40% of America’s food supply is wasted and the Environmental Protection Agency calculates that each year, U.S. food loss and waste embodies air pollution equivalent to what is vented by 42 coal-fired power plants.

At SUNY Cortland, the dining services team recently earned national recognition for being among a handful of universities around the country that are running an operation that is trying to change that grim statistic one student at a time.

Cortland Auxiliary Services (CAS) in June was notified that it had won a bronze award in the Waste Reduction category of the 2024 NACUFS Sustainability Award, presented by the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS). Cortland is number three in the country, tied with Boston College.

Cortland’s winning Waste Reduction entry focused on CAS’ multifaceted approach to greatly reducing the amount of food that gets thrown away.

One feature of Cortland’s program was a Weigh the Waste on Earth Day opportunity for the campus community to learn how they create around 70% of the discarded food known as “post-consumer waste.” On that day, students using the two main dining facilities Neubig Hall and Bistro Off Broadway were encouraged to weigh what they had asked to be placed on their plate and later reweigh how much they threw away.

“The thought is the next time you go through the line, you remember that and maybe you take one less scoop of pasta or one scoop, not two, of potato salad,” Edwards said. “But if you finish it all and it’s enough, then you’re not wasting it. It gives you a moment of reflection.”

A campus survey showed the program’s popularity with students.

“If it resonates with them and they can see the impact, then they can make that choice to be better about their selection,” Edwards said. “But it doesn’t create any obligation for them to make a change if they’re not ready to hear it or if they didn’t like the process.”

She noted that efforts to influence students to think about their consumption are thoughtful and time-consuming, as evidenced by the campus’ selection of a biodegradable straw after trial runs and thumbs down by the campus community on five prior paper sippers. Now, even the forks and knifes and spoons at campus grab-and-go eateries will break down into harmless organic material.

Staff members already carefully account for any food they burn, spill or otherwise cannot serve. Cooks for CAS daily weigh the pans of food they produce, less the weight of the pan, both freshly cooked and when discarding the uneaten remainder, Edwards noted. The data lets CAS employees work to reduce their own lost product in the form of expired, overproduced, spoiled and trimmed waste, each category amounting to 10% or less of the food waste stream, or roughly 30%.

“We practice something called ‘just in time’ cooking, so we know about how many customers we are going to have each day,” Edwards said, explaining the relative efficiency of Cortland’s food services. “Nobody wants to eat chicken that got cooked eight hours ago, so if it turns out to be a slower day, I will not have cooked and therefore wasted it. I can serve chicken in a different style the next day.”

Cortland uses metrics for New York state as well as the goals and benchmarks of NACUFS in deciding how best to accomplish sustainability. For example, by teaming up with the same company that hauls Wegman’s supermarket organic waste to a regional composting company, the university recycles its organic waste and goes well beyond what New York state requires of the more remote SUNY campuses.

“With our commitment with local partners toward a global future, we are trying to isolate some things we can do and be successful at in the ‘now,’ and then also look at the ‘up and coming’ so that we can place ourselves to be ready for the next trend here and the next opportunity without losing service,” Edwards said.

Healthy-themed special event wins bronze

The campus dining services team also earned a bronze award in the Residential Special Event category of the NACUFS’ hotly competitive 2024 Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards, for an Oct. 15, 2023, New York state-grown apple-themed event titled Fall in Love with New York, posted on YouTube.

“SUNY Cortland participates in New York state’s Apple Crunch Day every year,” Edwards said. “We don’t pick the date but when we do get it, we kind of go into overdrive.”

In its seventh year, the event lets the campus community try every available apple variety as well as savor free samples of the many dishes made with the quintessentially New York state fruit, in the lobby beside the Student Life Center’s Bistro off Broadway and outdoors in good weather.

“New York is the apple empire, so we give them different apples and we usually get Cortlands in the mix,” Edwards said. “Students who haven’t been to a large farmer’s market can only identify about three kinds of apples, but now they know that there may be more than 80 varieties.

“Our production team enjoys really being creative,” Edwards said. “If we come to them with a theme, ‘We want you to use apples at the rotisserie station,’ they just come at it with a lot of enthusiasm. … And our customers love the treatment: ‘How about apple salsa on top of pork chops?’”

Videos of this spring’s TEDx SUNY Cortland event are now available on the official TEDx website.

The six presentations ¾ including talks by a graduating student, two faculty members and speakers from Long Island, the Adirondacks and Washington state ¾ were thoroughly vetted and fact checked by the national organization before posting.  

All six speakers shared their ideas about “Reclamation,” the theme of the April 9 event, which was held in Old Main Brown Auditorium. We encourage using the links below to view the videos. They are also available through the TEDx SUNY Cortland website.

Ryan Lerner ’23

• “Reclaiming hope and our humanity through language acquisition”

Ryan Lerner graduated from SUNY Cortland with a degree in Adolescence Education: Spanish, but did his TEDx presentation while still a student. He was an honors scholar, president of the Spanish Club, a member of the French Club and former member of the Red Dragons swim team.

Evan Faulkenbury

• “Reclaiming our past through public history”

Evan Faulkenbury is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Cortland where he teaches courses on public history and U.S. history. He is the author of "Poll Power: The Voter Education Project and the Movement for the Ballot in the American South" (UNC Press, 2019) and co-editor of "Teaching Public History" (UNC Press, 2023). His current book project is "Remembering Rebellion: A Public History of Slave Revolts Across America." 

John D. Lin

• “Reclaiming our mental health: A struggle in silence to societal success”

John D. Lin is a world traveler, national award-winning public speaking professor and instructor in SUNY Cortland’s Communication and Media Studies Department who believes he has not succeeded despite mental illness, but because of it.

Allison Noelle Megherian

• “Reclaim your love of teaching”

Allison Noelle Megherian is a New York City music teacher, singer, songwriter, author and motivational speaker. She is certified in life coaching, mindfulness, meditation, breathwork and sound healing and is author of "A Motivational Reset for the Mindset."

Dr. Tui Lauilefue

• “The problem with data aggregation: Reclaiming our identity

Dr. Tui Lauilefue is a Washington State physician certified in both internal and obesity medicine with experience in both academic and corporate medicine. She now works as a direct primary care provider and is on a mission to raise healthcare standards.

Yen Maine

• “Reclaiming life after maternity leave and job loss”

Yen Maine transformed herself from a Citibank Vice President to a fragrance entrepreneur after losing her job during maternity leave. In the Adirondack Forest, she found inspiration to reinvent her family's fragrance business. She is now chief executive officer of the ADK Fragrance Farm, which produces all-natural perfumes, sprays, candles, soaps and other products.

SUNY Cortland’s annual TEDx conference seeks to bring together inspiring and visionary thinkers made up of faculty, staff, students, alumni and the surrounding Upstate New York regions for an evening of shared ideas.

The inaugural TEDx SUNY Cortland debuted in the spring of 2023. Plans for next year are underway.

TEDx SUNY Cortland is the university’s local, independent program to highlight interesting speakers sharing big ideas. It is sanctioned by TED, the non-profit foundation that runs speaking events across the planet, featuring insights related to technology, education, design and a host of other fields. TEDx was created to enable communities and universities to create their own self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

Since 2014, health professor Jena Nicols Curtis has been bringing SUNY Cortland students to southern India to conduct public health research, documenting the needs of children living in dire poverty.

Her next trip will be a little different.

Curtis is collaborating with SUNY Cortland Alumni Engagement and the university’s International Programs Office to create an international experience for a different group of travelers: SUNY Cortland alumni.

The 10-day trip planned for January 2025 will see this group of Red Dragon adventurers tour historic and cultural sites, immersing themselves in Indian culture, traditions, spirituality and wellness practices.

Participants will take part in traditional India health and spiritual wellness practices including yoga, meditation and Ayurvedic massage in the lush hillsides and serene coastal villages of Southern India. They’ll also explore the rich history and culture of the region. Planned excursions include:

• The Karla Caves, one of the largest and most well-preserved Buddhist prayer halls in all of India, carved back to the 2nd century BCE.
• A tranquil journey aboard kettuvallan, traditional Kerela houseboats that have been used for 5,000 years to transport rice, spices and other crops through the intricate network of backwaters in coastal India.
• The Anamalai Tiger Reserve, a pristine, 42-square-mile reserve of tropical jungle, shola forest and grassland rising to 8,000 feet in elevation in the Western Ghats mountain range, one of the world’s hot spots for biodiversity and endangered species. Here, alumni will visit the Kozhikamuthi Elephant Camp and learn about elephant conservation from the naturalists who care for the gentle giants.

Details about the trip, including the itinerary, costs and important dates, are available on the Alumni Engagement website. There will also be an information session at 7 p.m. next Thursday, July 25, via Zoom.

The idea for the trip grew from a conversation between Curtis and former International Programs Director Mary Schlarb, who is now the university’s assistant vice provost for student achievement.

 “Mary and I were researching the impact of study abroad and talking about how transformative it actually is,” Curtis said. “The ability to experience incredible places and different cultures through the eyes of experts, while also connecting with your peers from home, is life-changing. It’s something every student should have access to.”

That led to the development of a second-chance trip for alumni, including those whose study abroad opportunities were limited during their undergraduate years because of COVID-19 or other circumstances beyond their control.

Kayla DeCoste, the university’s assistant director of study broad, advises numerous study abroad programs in India, Australia and France, and is crafting the new adventure with experiences likely to engage alumni. 

 “This trip is a great balance of culture, adventure and indulgence for any alum who would like the chance to explore India while reconnecting with SUNY Cortland faculty and classmates,” DeCoste said.  

The trip will be led in India by Curtis and her former graduate student and current Dryden High School health teacher Amanda McCaslin M ’18. McCaslin helped Curtis facilitate a monthlong student research trip to India in 2017 and is excited both to return to the subcontinent and to bring lessons on Indian holistic health practices back to her Dryden classroom.

For more information, please contact Jena Curtis at jena.curtis@cortland.edu.