Peter McCarthy ’82 is an attorney and partner at Cullen and Dykman, LLP. He is a member of The New York County Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, Brooklyn Bar Association and Bay Ridge Lawyers Association.

As a student at Oswego, he was involved with the Student Association and as a resident assistant. At Oswego, he double-majored in history, where he won the Goodwin prize, and political science. He earned a juris doctorate degree at Brooklyn Law School. Peter was one of the Class of 1982 Reunion Giving Committee chairs and in 1997 established the Daniel McCarthy Scholarship at Oswego, in memory of his brother Daniel, a victim of the 1988 Pan-Am Flight 103 Lockerbie air disaster. The scholarship gives Oswego students opportunities for studying abroad.
Peter and wife, Taryne McCarthy, have three children and reside in Bridgewater, N.J.

Colleen Murphy ’77 is president and CEO of Community Foundation of Collier County, a tax-exempt, public charitable fund, established in 1985 to increase and focus private philanthropy in the area. The foundation manages a pool of permanent endowed funds established by charitable individuals, and makes grants from the investment earnings to address community needs and issues. In addition, she is a certified public accountant.

Colleen graduated from Oswego with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She served on the Reunion Committee in 2002 and is an active participant at Oswego alumni events in Florida. As a student she was involved in synchronized swimming and the women’s swimming and diving team, an activity she continues to pursue today.

Colleen and her husband, Paul Skapura, reside in Naples, Fla.

Donna Goldsmith ’82 is the former vice president of licensing for the National Basketball Association and former chief operating officer at World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. She recently accepted a position as general manager of operations for the 2014 New York/New Jersey Super Bowl Host Committee. She is a frequent volunteer for New York City Career Connections and Alumni-In-Residence programs. Donna has been a Torchlight mistress of ceremonies and the recipient of an Anniversary Class Award from the Oswego Alumni Association. She resides in New York City.

Amy Vanderlyke ’01 is an attorney at Sugarman Law Firm LLP. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s College of Law, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Oswego School of Education. Amy has served as an adjunct professor at Oswego and Newhouse School of Public Communications. She volunteers her time with Make-A-Wish of Central New York. Amy has also served on the Oswego Graduates Of the Last Decade Leadership Council and the Reunion 2011 Giving Committee. She resides in Syracuse.

Koren Vaughan ’95 is an assistant marketing director and director of promotions for two of Inner City Broadcasting Corp.’s radio stations, New York’s No. 1-ranked WBLS-FM and the city’s first 24-hour gospel music station, WLIB-AM. Koren has a master’s degree in media management from Metropolitan College of New York and a bachelor’s in business administration from Oswego. She has participated in New York City Career Connections and at the 2009 Dr. Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit on the Career Connectors panel. She resides on Long Island.

“I’ve been on a mission,” Groce-Wright said.

In 2009, then-49-year-old Groce-Wright began mixing running into her walking routine around Richmond, Va., where she lives and works as an education consultant.

Cheryl Groce-Wright ’82 ran in the International Marathon Sept. 26 in Ghana to benefit the Longevity Project. She is pictured here after a recent race with her son, Carson.

“A minute became two and then five and I thought. ‘Well, maybe I can train for a race,’” she recalled. With a 10K and half marathon under her belt, Groce-Wright turned her attention to another goal — traveling to Africa.

The former Black Student Union member and African-American studies minor built a lifelong base for activism while a student studying communications at Oswego.

“I think that was the beginning and sort of awakening for me,” Groce-Wright said of her time at Oswego with professors emeriti like Kenneth Hall and Alfred Young.

In 2000, Groce-Wright met Ghana activist Nana Kweku Egyir Gyepi III while he was on a speaking tour. His vision for creating a Mecca in Ghana for African natives and descendents all over the world has intrigued Groce-Wright ever since.

She used her newfound love of running to finally make the trip to the African nation, running in the Accra International Marathon Sept. 26 and raising $1,660 for the Longevity Project, funding health initiatives and education in Ghana.

The race took on added meaning when, shortly after she arrived for the marathon, Groce-Wright learned her father had passed away.

“The race did end up being in honor of my father who ran with me the whole way,” she said. “And the rainbow at the start of the race told me he was right there with me, and that I was right where I was supposed to be.”

While her newly launched consulting service, Kaleidoscope Collaborative, focuses on interweaving diversity into education, Groce-Wright said she would like to someday work as a personal trainer. “I really have been so empowered by running and I feel that I can empower other people,” she said.

— Shane M. Liebler

The advice of his late father really resonated with Richard Clarke ’82 as he approached age 50 in April. A few months and 19,350 feet later, Clarke reached great heights atop one of the world’s tallest mountains.

“Of all the things I’ve done, this was a killer,” said Clarke of scaling Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. “It was just so satisfying to get to the top.

Guide Babuu, Richard Clarke ’82, friend Kent Hanson and assistant guide Sira stand atop Kilimanjaro, roughly 19,350 feet above sea level.

“It was just breathtaking — you’re on top of the clouds,” he said.

The altitude and air made the four-day trek particularly difficult, even for the avid cyclist, runner and general adventurer.

To build his endurance in the months leading up to his climb, Clarke played
tennis — for four to five hours a day, most days of the week. The strategy proved effective in training for his 15-hour days walking up Kilimanjaro and developing a mean backhand.

Clarke nurtured his adventurous spirit at Oswego, where he loved cycling all over Upstate New York. Bicycle trips to Syracuse, Watertown and Canada are fond memories, he said.

Late Professor Emeritus Dr. Girgis Ghobrial had a huge influence on Clarke, who initially came to Oswego for meteorology and graduated with a degree in geography. On his trip that included a safari and a stop in Eygpt, Clarke recalled many of the stories Ghobrial, a native of the country, would tell about his homeland.

— Shane M. Liebler