One of the most common requests we get from alumni is that they want to reconnect with former classmates, teammates, floor mates, fraternity brothers, etc. So, more than 10 years ago in the “PFB” era (aka pre-Facebook!), the Oswego Alumni Association was one of the early leaders in establishing a password-protected online alumni community called OsweGoConnect to offer a secure place for alumni to connect and network with other alumni.

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new and improved OsweGoConnect that will offer additional exclusive benefits and services available to all alumni, quick links to our social media networks, upcoming event information and registration, job postings and networking opportunities with our 77,000+ alumni network, as well as the updated alumni directory to help you find your Oswego friends. It’s a quick and easy — and free to all alumni — way to always stay connected to Oswego!

For instructions on how to log in the first time, see page 34. All alumni who register before Oct. 1, 2013, will be entered into a drawing for all kinds of cool Oswego stuff and a grand prize of a 16GB iPad 2 or Kindle Fire HD!

We are also still recruiting alumni ambassadors to help us re-establish our regional alumni program. Please visit oswegoconnect.org or email alumni@oswego.edu to
volunteer to help plan events in your area. Also, take a minute to fill out the survey on our website to let us know what kinds of Oswego events you’d like in your area.

With the help of this year’s creative and enthusiastic Reunion Planning volunteers, the “theme” for Reunion Weekend 2013 is “Back to the Future.” When you return to campus, you will be truly amazed at the fabulous new facilities like our Campus Center complete with hockey arena and convocation center right in the heart of campus, the Village townhouses, the renovation of Romney Field House into an indoor practice facility, our renovated Old Main, Sheldon Hall, as well as the rising Richard S. Shineman Center for Science, Innovation and Engineering and the new building at Rice Creek Biological Field Station. Please join us at Reunion Weekend or any time throughout the year to check out all that’s new.

At the same time, the things we have all loved throughout the generations of Oswego alumni remain the same. Our beautiful sunsets, our friendly and talented students, our embracing of service to our communities and our deep-rooted Oswego friendships are things we all share in common.

We are excited to welcome you virtually to the new OsweGoConnect alumni community and in person on campus or in your local area. Wear your Green and Gold proudly and drop us a note through OsweGoConnect to let us know what’s new. We look forward to seeing you and hearing from you soon!

Another priority is the relaunch of a robust, national regional alumni events program. Due to staffing constraints in recent years, we had scaled back our regional event programming. We are now fully staffed in the Alumni Relations Office and we are inviting you to join us in coordinating regional Oswego events throughout the country (athletic, social, educational, cultural, community service and career networking events).

Oswego Alumni Ambassadors are being recruited now who will help us identify event ideas, venues, speakers, encourage attendance of fellow alumni and assist in staffing regional events. You can help Oswego alumni and friends to stay connected to each other in your own community and learn about the latest happenings at SUNY Oswego at the same time. We invite you to consider signing on as volunteer in your area!

Our volunteer Board of Directors of the Oswego Alumni Association, led by President Keith Chamberlain ’87, is an elected body of alumni who represent all of our 77,000-plus Oswego graduates. The board of directors is actively involved in serving both the college and our alumni. The mission of the Oswego Alumni Association is to inform and interest a diverse constituency in the life of the college to create a partnership that encourages involvement, enhances loyalty and serves the current and future needs of the institution and alumni.

The alumni association also serves Oswego by engaging alumni to volunteer their talent and experience in ways that are beneficial to the college and, most importantly, our current students. Our strategic plan strives to offer alumni meaningful engagement opportunities and experiences both on and off campus, as well as through our growing number of social media channels, including Facebook and LinkedIn.

Our online Honor Roll of Appreciation (see page 9) recognizes the more than 760 volunteers who supported Oswego programs and students last year. To all of you, we offer our hearty Thanks!! We look forward to your continued involvement and encourage others to join us in our programming efforts.

Until we see you again on campus or on the road . . .

Betsy Oberst
Executive Director, Oswego Alumni Association

First, though, I am delighted to welcome the newest member of our alumni team, LeAnne St. Gelais ‘07. LeAnne returns to her alma mater from her most recent position at Syracuse University. With LeAnne’s arrival, we are now fully staffed in the Alumni Office to re-ramp up our regional events network as well as our other alumni initiatives. We invite your involvement as a volunteer — in helping us relaunch our regional programming, in our GOLD (recent grad) initiatives, in our flagship Reunion Weekend program, in our many career programs for current students, such as ASK and Alumni-In-Residence or in internship and co-op opportunities for our students.

The support of our global network of more than 77,000 Oswego alumni truly enhances the experience of our current students from the day they arrive on campus until they are newly minted graduates launching their careers.

The Oswego Alumni Association sponsors many programs that help prepare students for success following graduation. These include student programs through our Future Alumni Network (FANs) that promote spirit and pride, career awareness programs such as Backpack to Briefcase and New York City Career Connections, Senior Class programming and more.

Following graduation, our GOLD (Graduates Of the Last Decade) programs, regional events network and the Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) Program all continue to help recent graduates stay connected to their alma mater and to find success in their careers and local communities.

Volunteering with the Oswego Alumni Association and assisting current students is one of the most valuable ways you can support your alma mater. You can help to foster a mutually beneficial and satisfying alumni/student connection and demonstrate your pride and commitment to SUNY Oswego at the same time! If you are interested in the many volunteer opportunities available through the alumni association, please visit oswego.edu/alumni/volunteer.

We welcome your involvement and look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you soon! And just maybe you’ll see me out walking Bo one morning!

— Betsy Oberst

For me professionally, I started what sounded like an interesting part-time job, along with my colleague, Lisa Potter, back in October 1984 in the Alumni Office at SUNY Oswego. Little did I have any idea then that it would become my life’s work, my passion, my joy. Over those 27-plus years, you and I have had many great adventures together, built wonderful alumni programs, maybe become Facebook friends or met in person. It is safe to say I have met thousands of alumni in person — and become friends with many of you — over these last three decades.

So now comes another transition in my life. And, no, I am not leaving SUNY Oswego! Rather as associate vice president of alumni relations and stewardship, I will have an opportunity to develop programs and communications, working with our scholarship donors and other major supporters of programs and initiatives at SUNY Oswego.

And while our alumni program — still my love and passion — will still come under my oversight, a new alumni director will direct all of our “on-the-ground” alumni programs, such as reunions, student/alumni career networking programs, regional programs, social networking outreach and much, much more.

Michael Sgro joins us with a wealth of experience in alumni relations as well as a breadth of experience in social networking and all things web and “online” — and for those of you who know me, you know that is not one of my strengths! (My three kids have just fallen out of their chairs laughing now!) I invite you to learn more about Michael on page 11.

And I know you will all join me in giving him a special warm Oswego welcome when you meet him at Reunion Weekend or at one of our newly rejuvenated regional programs! And I’ll still see all of you at alumni events and work together with you to continue all the things that make Oswego great.

I also hope to see many of you back on campus for our biggest — and most fun — alumni event of the year at Reunion Weekend 2012: June 7 to 10!

net·work / [net-wurk]
verb (used without object):
to cultivate people who can be helpful to one professionally, especially in finding employment or moving to a higher position.

We invite you to join Oswego’s “Get Work Network!” With our ever-growing database of 75,000-plus alumni, your Owego alumni network is a powerful tool for expanding your cache of career contacts. The more alumni who register in our exclusive social network, OsweGoConnect, the more Oswegonians you can connect for job openings, career advice, mentoring and more. So I encourage you to log in and register today if you haven’t already! See the inside front cover of this magazine to learn how to join .

Likewise, our LinkedIn group (linkd.in/oswegoalumni) and our Facebook page (facebook.com/oswegoalumni) provide daily networking opportunities for Oswego grads. We invite you to take part in the frequent and lively discussions that take place. Volunteer to mentor a current student (or a recent grad) through our ASK (Alumni Sharing Knowledge) program — you can critique resumes, offer career advice, provide job shadow experiences, connect
them to internships in your company or link one of Oswego’s new co-ops to your business (see p. 3). The extent of your involvement is totally up to you!

Assisting our current students or helping our new grads launch their careers is one of the most valuable ways you can reach back and give a hand up to an Oswego student or alum.

Even though you can stay connected to Oswego through our many social and career networks and on the Web, we like to meet our Oswego alumni the old fashioned way — in person! We hope that you come back and see us soon in person to check out all of the amazing improvements to campus. The Science, Engineering and Innovation Corridor is rising before our eyes. Sheldon Hall, our “Old Main,” is undergoing extensive exterior renovations to take us into our next 150 years.

And even King Alumni Hall, your alumni “home” when you return to campus is a welcoming place to stop by, peruse yearbooks and alumni memorabilia and share your favorite Oswego memories — we enjoy hearing them all!

So return for Reunion Weekend June 8-10, 2012, come back to cheer on a Lakers team or visit for a theatre production or Artswego performance. We look forward to seeing you soon. And don’t forget to sign up for OsweGoConnect today!

Sometimes I struggle with what to write about in this column. On my 6 a.m. walk with our “rescue” dog, Bo, it hit me! What do I love about Oswego? The answer is longer than this space allows, so I’ll try to recap a few of the things that I love about Oswego.

I was hired 27 years ago (along with my colleague, Lisa Potter!) in a part-time position as advisor to a student group in the Alumni Office. Those “kids” I worked with are now going on 50 years old — I’m not sure how that happened! I also never imagined when I took that part-time job, that it would become my life’s work and passion and prove fulfilling in a way that many people only dream of. As I say time and again, it is truly a labor of love to work in the Alumni Office and with Oswego alumni.

So some of the things that I love most about working with Oswego alumni are their overwhelmingly unabashed love for this place and for their experiences here. I love their ongoing commitment to helping our students — to find internships and jobs, to mentor them. I love their enthusiasm in helping organize reunions to get their friends to come back to campus. Scores of them have become personal friends over my 27 years — people with whom I would not have had a connection if not for Oswego. And for that I am blessed and is one of the reasons I love Oswego.

I love working in an intellectually stimulating environment. And I love and truly believe that education changes lives and enriches our world. It’s a great feeling to think Oswego (and I in a small way!) are making a small difference in this big world of ours.

Then there’s the “personal.” Jerry ’77 and I and our kids, Caitlin (28), Megan (26) and Connor (23) have benefitted, along with the entire local Oswego community, from the many cultural, artistic, athletic and educational opportunities that SUNY Oswego brings into our local community every day.

But, most of all it is the people I love about Oswego — the people who work here and the students and alumni who went here. It truly is a special place. And I am proud of our 150-year history and all that is yet ahead. And those are just a few of the many things that I love about Oswego!

While I write this, the snow is still on the ground here, but the sun is out and we’re busy finalizing the plans for our special Sesquicentennial Reunion Celebration 2011, scheduled for June 10-12. A record-breaking crowd of alumni and friends is expected to return to campus to reconnect with the college and with friends to celebrate 150 years of Oswego’s rich history of education, service and making a difference.

In addition to the milestone anniversary classes being recognized at Reunion, this year all alumni are invited to attend the 150th birthday bash for SUNY Oswego.

Betsy Oberst, Oswego Alumni Association Executive Director

There are also 17 affinity group reunions being held in conjunction with this year’s reunion, including the 85th anniversary of Delta Kappa Kappa and the 25th anniversary of Alpha Epsilon Phi.

We aim to engage all Oswego alumni, the local community and the wider NYS community in this special Reunion celebration. Many special activities are planned for this year’s Reunion.

Alumni Night at the Oswego Farmer’s Market on Thursday night, will feature a performance of SUNY Oswego’s new show choir, Vocal Effect. (Think the television show Glee!)

There will be an “I Love NY” foods theme throughout the weekend’s events, along with a special commemorative Finger Lakes Sesquicentennial wine. We’ll feature birthday cake at the All-Alumni “I Love NY” Reunion Dinner on Saturday night at the Campus Center Convocation Arena. Providing entertainment at the Dinner will be a popular local party/dance band and we’ll feature an encore performance by Vocal Effect.

We will have special commemorative Sesquicentennial Reunion memorabilia and favors and we’ll debut “Oswego 150 Years: Alumni Views and Voices,” a film featuring alumni memories over the years. An antique trolley will provide shuttle transportation around campus on Saturday.

We’ve partnered with the local YMCA to sponsor a Sesquicentennial/Community 5K Fun Run/Walk on the campus.

And all alumni are encouraged to take a birthday picture with Founder Edward Austin Sheldon in honor of SUNY Oswego’s Sesquicentennial! See page 16 for details.

So, don’t miss out on the biggest Reunion Weekend we’ve ever hosted at SUNY Oswego! We look forward to seeing you all back on campus — we promise to deliver the fun, the friends and another spectacular Oswego sunset.

— Betsy Oberst, Oswego Alumni Association Executive Director

The Oswego Alumni Association has begun offering more of our programs via social networks and through webcasts to reach more of our alumni who cannot attend an event on campus in person.

Oswego Alumni Association Executive Director Betsy Oberst

We have tweeted about Reunion Weekend — and other topics of interest to our alumni — on Twitter; we have networked with graduates on our Oswego Alumni LinkedIn group and we have connected with you on our Oswego Alumni Facebook page.

But, as is the case with so many things, there is the expression, “Everything old is new again”! This past summer, my husband, Jerry ’77, and I had the opportunity, while on a visit to Washington DC, to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History with The Fund for Oswego National Chair Jack James ’62.

As we toured the exhibit, I was struck by the descriptions in the Human Origins exhibit: “… Building social networks helped our ancestors meet the daily challenges of their environments … Expanding social networks led, eventually, to the complex social lives of modern humans.”

“By 130,000 years ago, groups who lived [186 miles] apart were exchanging resources. Social networks continued to expand and become more complex.”

So … everything old is new again — even 130,000 years ago humans were establishing social networks. And now our networks extend to Oswego alumni and friends across the globe, not just 186 miles away!

Beginning in 2011, look for information about our upcoming Sesquicentennial in 2011 as we begin the celebration of our college’s rich 150-year history. There will be special communications and events on and off campus as well as on the Web. And, I’m guessing as we celebrate the legacy of our founder, Edward Austin Sheldon, we will find once again that everything old is new again!

Even though you can stay connected to Oswego through all of our social networks and on the Web, please come back and see us soon in person. You can check out all of the amazing new improvements on campus.

— Betsy Oberst, Oswego Alumni Association Executive Director