Campus Report
News, Calendar & Events

As hostess for “AquaKids,” a nationally syndicated children’s television program, SUNY Fredonia senior Molly McKinney has done location shoots in the Bahamas, where she monitored Caribbean reef sharks, and in Bimini, where she swam alongside wild spotted dolphins. But early this month, she brought her crew to tape shows in her college stomping grounds of Western New York.

The annual Best of SUNY Student Art Exhibition returns to the New York State Museum Sunday, May 4, showcasing the work of SUNY’s top student artists from across the state, including two illustration majors from SUNY Fredonia:  Anna Christenson and Jorge Mendez.

Highlighting some famous examples of dancers and choreographers throughout western history whose styles were in sharp contrast and even rivalry with each other, Helen Myers will show how her own choreography reflects these contrasts. Her May 7 talk is the final event in the Arts and Humanities Brown Bag Lunch Series.

The women's lacrosse team is participating in the SUNYAC tournament Friday, Dec. 2, after 12 years of missing out. They will face No. 1 seed, tournament host, and No. 23 ranked Cortland at 12:30 p.m. Friday, while No. 2 seed Buffalo State and No. 3 Brockport will square off at 3 p.m. The two Friday winners will play noon Saturday for the SUNYAC title and the automatic NCAA Division III tournament berth.

Graphic Design students at SUNY Fredonia won five of the six awards in this years Don Nichols Scholarship Competition. "The work submitted from Fredonia is worthy of broader recognition," said Don Kline. "These students understand how to employdesign principles and process and that understanding will lead them to success as professional designers."

With an appeal for donations to a local food pantry, The New Horizons Band of Western New York will present a free Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 2, at Fredonia High School Auditorium.  The program will include songs from Meredith Wilson's The Music Man, and solos by new ensembles for woodwind, percussion, trombone and saxophone.

From the pool of 172 students seeking certification in Childhood or Early Childhood, 35 to 40 teacher candidates will be recognized on National Teacher Day at an awards ceremony in the Fredonia Opera House May 6.

Fewer than 500 theatre and arena riggers in the U.S. and Canada are professionally certified via rigorous evaluation and written examination, and Stephen E. Rees has just joined the ranks of only a handful from academia who have achieved the distinction.

The Multipurpose Room was filled with scores of employees who received service certificates and pins for length of service recently as three longtime members of the SUNY Fredonia community – Dr. Jeanette McVicker, Dr. Sally Turner and Timothy McGraw – received 2008 President’s Awards for Excellence.

The Fredonia Chamber Orchestra will present its last performance of the semester on Wednesday, April 30, at 8 p.m. in Rosch Recital Hall. This event is free and open to the public. The concert features vocal soloist Lydia Herren, a senior applied voice and international studies major.

Senior Show II highlights the best works from the graduating seniors in the Department of Visual Arts and New Media. The exhibit will be on display until May 8.

Dr. Darren Williams, associate professor of Physics and Astronomy at Penn State, Behrend College, will be giving an illustrated public lecture, “Oceans of Water on Distant Earth-like Planets,” at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29, in McEwen Hall Room 202 at SUNY Fredonia.

No fewer than 28 SUNY Fredonia students became charter members in the local chapter of Tau Sigma, a national honor society for transfer students, at a ceremony on Saturday, April 26, at 3 p.m., in S104 Williams Center. Tau Sigma recognizes the academic excellence and involvement of transfer students.

Students currently enrolled in grades eight through 12 are invited to register for the 18th annual Fredonia Summer Band Camp will be held from Sunday, June 29 through Saturday, July 5. Campers receive daily training in musicianship classes (music theory, conducting, jazz improvisation, and/or music technology), participate in master classes, attend special evening recitals, and have time for individual practice and recreation

Live coverage from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, featuring a panel with SUNY Fredonia alumnus Scott Martelle, '84, author of Blood Passion, will be aired on Book TV Saturday, April 26, at 2 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

Local and sustainable food production is the subject of a panel discussion anchored by four individuals from the local community. Part of Earth Week, the panel will be conducted Thursday, 6 to 7:30 p.m., at S104 Williams Center.

The upcoming Walter Gloor Mainstage Series production of “Victor/Victoria” will be a large undertaking in every sense of the word.  The show opens April 25 in Marvel Theatre and features a cast of 30, a crew of 40, a 26-person orchestra, a production and design crew of 16, nine different full sets — including a one that depicts two floors of a hotel — and 16 scene changes.

The 10th Annual Student Research and Creativity Exposition will be held Thursday, April 24, from noon to 6 p.m. in the Williams Center. Posters, presentations, displays, performances, and demonstrations will culminate with a keynote address by alumnus Christopher Cahill of George Washington University's chemistry faculty at 4:15 p.m. More than 100 students are exhibiting their work.

All area residents will have the opportunity to clear out unwanted household electric items during SUNY Fredonia’s Earth Week Campus and Community Household Electric Recycling Day on Saturday, April 26.  The collection day has been registered as an official event in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

A painter, a poet and a biologist will discuss their diverse reasons for caring about water during Earth Week at SUNY Fredonia. An aquatic issues panel on April 23 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in S-104 Williams Center will feature the personal stories, biological research, creative writing and the visual arts of panelists Alberto Rey, Timothy Strakosh, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil.

The social security numbers of 77 currently enrolled students at SUNY Fredonia, plus up to 881 previous year applicants and alumni, may have been exposed in a security breach at SunGard Higher Education Systems, the company that administers the university's student records system.

Award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer Nalo Hopkinson will meet students, faculty and staff during a two-day visit to SUNY Fredonia  April 21 and 22. Her works include: Skin Folk, Brown Girl In the Ring and Midnight Robber (both of which were nominated for the Philip K. Dick award).

Thousands of United States military personnel stationed in Europe will soon hear the hauntingly melodic songs of the Goldsworthy sisters, Kaleena and Kayleigh, two seniors at SUNY Fredonia. They are founders of the band, "Scarlet Ending," which has been invited by Armed Forces Entertainment to perform for military personnel overseas.

Fredonia Radio Systems, WCVF-FM 88.9 and WDVL Cable Channel 5/Web-cast, is presenting its 5th annual "Rockin' the Commons": A Benefit for the Roswell Park Cancer Institute on Saturday, April 19 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. in Barker Commons.

Set in the tumultous city of Berlin as Hitler rises to power, "Cabaret" will be performed by students of the SUNY Fredonia Performing Arts Company on April 18, 19, and 20 in Bartlett Theatre. Tickets are available at the SUNY Fredonia Ticket Office or online.

A variety of small and large jazz ensembles will be featured on the first concert, including the SUNY Fredonia Big Band, the NSB Octet, the Meghan Koch Project and PEgan & the MagooGoo Dolls

“Making Choices for a Better World” is the 2008 theme for Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day.  The theme is broad in nature and encourages discussions among the participants because it is open to many interpretations on different levels by all segments of society: the individual, the family, groups, organizations, corporations - by everyone. The choices can be very personal ones such as whether to be self-motivated or not, whether to seek a good education or not, whether to vote, or whether to get involved in the community or not. By implementing this year's theme, girls and boys can begin to think critically about how the choices they and the people in their lives make and how those choices can lead to a better world. 

With the assistance of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), SUNY Fredonia has developed a program that will include workshops from the Leadership Corps and Multicultural Affairs. Additional sponsorship has been provided by: University Advancement, Alumni Affairs, Residence Life, Vice President for Administration, Student Affairs and FSA.

A record number of five Rosa Parks Scholarship Competition Award winners, culled from 46 entries – also a record number for the annual contest – were honored at a presentation and award ceremony Thursday, April 17, at the Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. Each student honoree received a scholarship of $350. The scholarship competition was founded 19 years ago by Vivian Garcia, SUNY Fredonia's academic advising administrator.

The SUNY Fredonia Concert Band will give its final performance of the year on Monday, April 21 at 8 p.m. in King Concert Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

To build awareness of what is discarded and the potential for recycling, students at SUNY Fredonia will participate in a “trash dump” on Saturday, April 26, beginning at 2 p.m.

On Saturday, April 26, ground will be broken for a new native plant garden.  The brainchild of area biologist Priscilla Titus and facilitated by Assistant Professor of Biology Jonathan Titus, the garden will be established next to the greenhouse at Jewett Hall, home of the biology department. It will be planted, beginning at 11 a.m., by Dr. and Ms. Titus and students from the biology program

In a landmark anthology by W.W. Norton, considered to be the most ambitious, far-reaching collection of contemporary Asian and Middle Eastern poetry available, poems by English Professor Aimee Nezhukumatathil have been published.

Serving will be from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., rain or shine. “A Sustainable Taste of Fredonia, sponsored by the SUNY Fredonia Sustainability Committee, helps kick off SUNY Fredonia’s observance of Earth Week that runs through Saturday, April 26.

As part of its effort to gather information and opinions from village residents, including SUNY Fredonia students, the Village of Fredonia is running two online surveys during April. Students and village residents are encouraged to participate. 

Several SUNY Fredonia students participated in the 235th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans recently. Of the more than 9,000 scholarly presentations at the gathering, several detailed the research of 12 students from SUNY Fredonia.

Christopher P. Reybrouck, whose career at SUNY Fredonia encompassed leadership positions, wide-ranging service and many individual honors, will receive the 2008 Lanford Presidential Prize from the Oscar and Esther Lanford Endowment at the college’s morning Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17.

High school students from local school districts and the Cassadaga Job Corps Center will be making visits to the College of Education this month to learn more about financial aid, the undergraduate and graduate programs in education, student activities at SUNY Fredonia, and to tour the campus.

Fredonia’s Chancellor’s Award winners stood proudly in accepting their honors on stage at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany recently. The students who won the award this year were Kathryn Kornacki, Alden Edson, Kathryn Tarnowski, Scott Horsington, and Ashley Lenz.

The SUNY Fredonia School of Music presents the final Flute Ensemble concert of the year on Tuesday, April 29 at 8 p.m. in Rosch Recital Hall on the SUNY Fredonia campus. This event is free and open to the public.  The twelve-member ensemble, known as Flutasia, is directed by Dr. Susan Royal. The program features composers such as J.C. Bach, Catherine McMichael, James Hook, Palestrina, and SUNY Fredonia composition professor, Rob Deemer. This concert features the world premiere performance of a flute arrangement of Deemer’s piece, “Looking Glass.”

The SUNY Fredonia School of Music presents the final College Symphony Orchestra concert of the year on Saturday, April 19, at 8 p.m. in King Concert Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Recognizing the accomplishments of student volunteers and their community partners will be the focus of the program, “Engaging In Our Community: Students and Service,” on Tuesday, April 22, from 2 to 4 p.m., in Room S121 of the Williams Center.

“Continuing the Pursuit of the Civil Rights Movement” is the theme of SUNY Fredonia’s People of Color Concerns Conference to be held Friday and Saturday, April 18 and 19, at the Williams Center.

The SUNY Fredonia School of Music presents a Guitar Ensemble Concert on Tuesday, April 22 at 8 p.m. in Rosch Recital Hall. This event is free and open to the public. 

This eight-member student ensemble, under the direction of guitar professor James Piorkowski (in photo), will perform works by John Dowland, J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, Joaquin Turina, Lennon/McCartney, and a piece written by ensemble director, James Piorkowski entitled “Leaping and Dancing for Joy.”

Ethos New Music Society presents "PAST. PRESENT. FUTURE." on Monday, April 21, in Rosch Recital Hall at 8 p.m. The concert will be a celebration of Ethos alumni, current members, and the introduction of the winners of the First Annual Ethos Young Composers Composition Competition.  Admission is free and open to the public.

The Fredonia Wind Ensemble will present its final concert of the year on Wednesday, April 16, at  8 p.m. in King Concert Hall. The 40 wind musicians comprise one of the premiere ensembles in the School of Music. They are preparing for an international tour to China in May. 

The Musical Journeys Program of the Fredonia School of Music will conclude its second season of free concerts designed to appeal to very young children Saturday, April 26, with a Latin Jazz Ensemble. The child-friendly environment will invite the children to sit on the floor close to the musicians; family members are encouraged to bring blankets or carpet squares to sit on.

In conjunction with SUNY Fredonia's Academic Information Technology office, Apple, Inc., will be presenting a workshop on its digital photography software on Wednesday, April 23, as part of its nationwide Campus Lecture Series. The event is free and open to all.

Contemporary environmental issues will be the focus of a film series sponsored throughout April by the Earth Week Planning Committee and the American Studies Program at SUNY Fredonia. There is no admission charge to any of the screenings.

Dr. Reneta Barneva, a professor of computer science at SUNY Fredonia, is serving as vice chair of the International Workshop on Combinatorial Image Analysis (IWCIA) 2008 to be held April 7-9 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Buffalo. She and a colleague from Buffalo State College were designated to organize the event.

Jessica Mykins, a senior in the technical production degree program in theatre arts, was one of 11 students from across the country who successfully completed an intensive stage management mentoring project at the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology Annual Conference in Houston, Texas, March 18 through the 23.

Local peace and justice groups will present the community with an opportunity to re-examine the meaning of peace on Friday, April 11, when George Mische, peace movement organizer and U.S. Army veteran, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in McEwen Hall Room 202 on the SUNY Fredonia campus. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Kevin M. Scully, Dec. 07 graduate of the School of Business (B.S. marketing with a minor in communications), has accepted a position with Gap, Inc., as the New York City regional assistant for the Old Navy division. Since graduation, Mr. Scully has been doing freelance work for Marc Jacobs and Estee Lauder’s (Origins) Global Communications Department. He interned at Gap Inc. corporate headquarters in San Francisco last summer.

Having student teachers from SUNY Fredonia is a common sight for children at Pine Valley Elementary School in South Dayton and Fredonia’s Wheelock and Elementary schools. However, recently it sounded a bit different in those schools as they welcomed student teachers from Exmouth, England, and Swansea, Wales.

President Dennis L. Hefner announced that three employees will be honored Tuesday, April 15 at the ninth annual President’s Awards for Excellence and Service Recognition Luncheon in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room, beginning at noon (program at 12:30 p.m.). The three outstanding members of the campus community who will be honored are Timothy J. McGraw, general mechanic (Facilities Management); Jeanette McVicker, professor (English); and Sally J. Turner, director (Counseling Center).

Over $500 in cash prizes will be given to first and second place winners of SUNY Fredonia's Fourth Annual Public Speaking Competition, to be held Monday, April 14 from 6 to 10 p.m. in McEwen Hall Rooms 202 and 209. Students should register now to compete either by requesting a registration form from Katie Fuchs or by stopping at the table set up on the ground floor of McEwen Hall on April 3, 7, and 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The SUNY Fredonia School of Music will present a concert dedicated to world music performed by mallet instruments on Thursday, April 10 at 8 p.m. in Rosch Recital Hall. The event is free an open to the public.  Directed by Ms. Tiffany Nicely, the concert features percussion students performing works by George Hamilton Green, Ernesto Lecuona, Domingo Betancourt and Takayoshi Yoshioka, as well as traditional Mexican songs.

Reed Library hosts a touring exhibit of 40 black-and-white photos taken by an African-American photographer who lived and worked in Nebraska in the early 20th century. The exhibit opens March 31 and will feature a guest lecture by Deborah Wills of Tisch School of the Arts (NYI) on April 8.