Meagan Big Snake ’11

Former Oswego State women’s ice hockey player Big Snake landed a position as the project coordinator and coach for a new program, Greater Strides Hockey Academy, where Aboriginal Canadian youth get the opportunity to learn to play the sport.

During the day, she works full time as a finance clerk for Greater Strides partner Treaty 7 Management Corp., a nonprofit dedicated to Aboriginal community and economic development in Alberta, Canada.

In the evenings, Big Snake suits up and hits the ice as a coach and project coordinator for the Greater Strides team.

“It’s great to jump on the ice with kids who started off the same way I did,” said Big Snake, a member of the Siksika Nation of Aboriginal Canadians. “They look up to me as a role model. Yes, I went to university, I played hockey, and, yes, you can too.”

After graduation, Big Snake headed home to Alberta and applied for a summer job as a project coordinator with Greater Strides.

“After a four-day summer camp, they hired me full time,” Big Snake said. “They’re so helpful and they really care; it’s a kind-hearted community and corporation.”

Looking back at her four years at Oswego, the public justice major never imagined just how valuable her athletic coaching minor would be.

“I always knew I wanted to keep the game in my life, even if it was coaching,” Big Snake said. “I love coaching, I love playing the game. I didn’t think it was going to turn into a career.”

Big Snake hasn’t completely forgotten about her original major in school, though. One short-term goal she has is earning a master’s degree. Currently, she is looking into criminology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

But for now, Big Snake feels extremely lucky in her position.

“I absolutely love this job, I could work here forever. It’s like a dream job for a hockey player.” l

— Emily Longeretta ’12

“Interest in sustainability education is growing among faculty and certainly among students, so we are hoping to add more choices, and we also are hoping to have students involved in projects so they can get experience while they are here,” said Lisa Glidden, assistant professor of political science and an adviser to students in the minor.

Technology education major Tim Governale ’12, left, holds a photovoltaic cell used to convert light energy to electricity while Steve Badaracco ’13 measures energy output in Professor Tom Kubicki’s class in energy technology. The course is one of 14 that students may apply toward the electives requirement for a new 21-credit-hour minor in sustainability studies.

Two years ago, then-political science major Rachel Rossi ’11 asked Glidden why Oswego did not have a certificate or a minor in environmental studies. Thanks to the efforts of enthusiastic professors and administrators, the minor recently gained final approval through campus governance and five students so far have completed paperwork to enroll.

The minor provides academic support for the vision behind the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, which President Deborah F. Stanley signed in June 2007, and for sustainability efforts that gained new momentum on campus this summer with submission
of the college’s first STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) report.

Requirements include core courses in geology and in economics/political science; a choice among biology, anthropology and physics classes; and electives in several subjects.

“It was Oswego that gave me the confidence and the skills to succeed in the real world, where you’re all headed Monday,” Levy told more than 750 graduating seniors, their families and friends May 13.

Steve Levy ’87, second from right, was the emcee of the Sesquicentennial Torchlight Ceremony in May. Also leading the festivities were from left, Mistress of Ceremonies Jacquelyn Costello ’11, Torchbearer Tyler Hilliard ’11, President Deborah F. Stanley, Levy, and Student Speaker Meghan Milewski ’11.

“This is your shot right now. This is your time to go out and do something you love, something you are passionate about,” Levy said at the Commencement Eve Dinner, which precedes the Torchlight Ceremony. “If you love something that you’re doing, chances are you’re going to be great at it.”

Levy got his start sportscasting at WTOP-TV and WOCR-AM as a communication studies major at Oswego. He joined ESPN and became an anchor on the network’s flagship SportsCenter program in 1993.

“I know all of you will make us, the alumni, very proud,” he said. “So I leave you with this: Get out of here. Go be great at whatever you’re great at and achieve your happiness.”

The campus community has counted itself among the many making those efforts, but in January a group of Oswego professors and students took on another necessity — mental health.

Oswego Assistant Professor Barbara Streets, left, stands with African Music Specialist Khalid Saleem of SUNY Brockport in Petit Goâve, Haiti.

“These people are very resilient, they still work every day,” Britanee Eckhard M ’10 said. “They really don’t sit around and cry or talk about it.”

The SUNY Oswego group offered coping strategies for those dealing with anxiety, loss and grief through a series of workshops in the country where an earthquake devastated the capital of Port-au-Prince, killed an estimated 220,000 people, injured 300,000 more and left more than a million homeless.

“It was a place and a time for the entire community to get together and talk,” said Eckhard, who participated in workshops aimed at children. “They were able to voice what they felt.”

The trip was the culmination of “Ethnocultural Aspects of Trauma: Focus on Haiti,” a redeveloped upper-division and graduate-level psychology and counseling and psychological services course.

“It was the best experience of my life,” said Rodney Jeannis ’11, a Haitian-American who lost relatives in the natural disaster. It was his first trip to the country. “Through the media, you only see the negatives. It was really great to see the positives.”

In far back, from left, Rodney Jeannis ’11, Assistant Professor Barbara Streets, Amanda LeBeau ’10, Samantha Shaw ’11 and Kiara Tull ’12 give a presentation on relaxation and meditation in Petit Goâve, Haiti.

In addition to the country’s natural beauty, Haiti embodies a warm and friendly culture that embraces community and welcomes visitors, he said.

Course professors Barbara Streets, Karen Wolford and Roger Brooks first traveled to Petit Goâve to assess the situation. Joshua McKeown, director of International Education and Programs, said the pre-trip was crucial: The college would be sending students to Haiti knowing that the State Department and Centers for Disease Control have advised no unnecessary travel.

“This brings a whole new level of complexity” to study abroad programs, McKeown said. “The situation is very fluid there.”

Yet all involved with the course and the effort believed the trip would tie curriculum with travel in a way that would be invaluable to students and their professors.

“Many students no longer want to just go and study in a foreign place — they want to do something,” said McKeown, who oversaw four short-term study-abroad opportunities over winter break.

“We’ve had the right people helping us,” said Streets, whose ties with the Association of Black Psychologists and other professional organizations helped her connect with Guerda Nicolas at the University of Miami. “I think a lot of credit, respect and admiration should be given to Dr. Nicolas for her assistance. What’s unique about her is her social justice and work ethic-service to Haitian Americans, the Haitian community in Miami and the nation of Haiti.”

Nicolas, a Haitian-American scholar and department chair at Miami, has helped Streets, Wolford and Brooks develop the course curriculum, understand better the Haitian worldview and create ties with community programs.

“Our mantra was not to change people,” Jeannis explained. “Our mantra was to understand their culture and see what we could do.”

The people were very willing to learn, he said, and so were Oswego’s ambassadors.

“I think in the beginning, it was a chance to learn about a culture outside of my own,” Eckhard said. Like so many others who were moved, she also felt the need to help.

“In the end you realize, you’re the one who learns the most,” she said. “I think I learned more than I taught them.” l

— Shane M. Liebler and Jeff Rea ’71