Campus News

Pierre R. Gagnon of Clayton, N.Y., joined the Auxiliary Services Corporation (ASC) at SUNY Cortland on June 29, the organization announced. Gagnon previously served as executive director of the Faculty Student Association of Jefferson Community College.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has recognized SUNY Cortland among its “2009’s Great Colleges to Work For.” Among the 247 colleges, universities and community colleges surveyed by the Chronicle, SUNY Cortland was acknowledged for its strength in the category of post-retirement benefits.

Nearly 600 SUNY Cortland alumni and friends are expected to enjoy class get-togethers, parties and other activities on campus during the College's 2009 Alumni Reunion Weekend from July 16-19.

Patricia Wright, who served SUNY Cortland for 30 years, retired on Jan. 22. She has been designated senior staff assistant emerita.

James J. Starzec, who served the College for more than 33 years, retired on Jan. 7. He has earned the designation of professor emeritus of psychology.

SUNY Cortland recently awarded $15,750 in scholarships to 18 students to help offset the cost of their studies abroad this summer and fall. The students, who will study in Greece, Spain, Ireland, France, Italy, Puerto Rico, Australia or England, won $750 or $1,000 scholarships. The awards, offered through the College's James M. Clark Center for International Education, are based on several criteria, including high academic achievement, financial need, involvement in extracurricular activities, a personal essay and letters of recommendation. SUNY Cortland offered two kinds of scholarships for study in a foreign country, the Overseas Academic Program Award and the Uschald Study Abroad Scholarship.

The SUNY Cortland Alumni Association will present its highest honor, the Distinguished Alumna/Alumnus Award, to three graduates during the Alumni Reunion Weekend luncheon in Corey Union on Saturday, July 18. The recipients are Rosa LaSorte Rich ’55, the late retired Cmdr. John W. Clark ’59, and Distinguished Young Alumna Jené Lupoli Luciani ’99.

SUNY Cortland and the Tully (N.Y.) Central School District have joined forces to expand video conferencing opportunities for children in schools throughout Central New York to experience unique tropical wildlife in Belize.

The SUNY Cortland intercollegiate athletics program finished first in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Commissioner’s Cup standings for the 2008-09 school year.

When Jaime Atencio traveled to Australia for a 13-and-a-half-week student teaching abroad program at the University of the Sunshine Coast in June 2008, he fell in love with the people, schools and the continent situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans. On June 7, Atencio, a 2009 SUNY Cortland graduate, who majored in physical education, will board a plane headed for Mountain Creek State Primary School in Queensland, Australia. He will spend the next 18 months in a fellowship program teaching physical education to kindergarten through seventh grade at the same school where he student taught last year.