The five-year program leading to a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and mass communications and a master’s degree in business administration launched this fall.

Fritz Messere ’71, M ’76, dean of the School of Communication, Media and the Arts, said he sees many graduates of the college’s broadcasting program develop successful careers in the field outside the studio. The new degree option aims to give such students a quick start on that career path.

“Particularly the students we see graduate from the broadcast program who are not in a creative area, they tend to be focused in some area related to business: sales of broadcast time, programming, management of broadcast stations, advertising and marketing,” Messere said.

Richard Skolnik, dean of the School of Business, noted that the strength of the two programs at Oswego makes the combination especially attractive for students seeking thorough grounding for solid careers. The School of Business appears every year in Princeton Review’s guide to “Best Business Schools.” The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences lists Oswego’s broadcasting program among the nation’s outstanding television, film and digital media programs.

Mom put the kibosh on that idea, but Dave was able to grab his degree, make his first and only collegiate play-by-play broadcast and launch a career that has made him the television voice of the National Basketball Association’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

David Benz ’92 most recently hosted, anchored and reported for Comcast Sportsnet in San Francisco. Last fall he became the TV play-by-play voice of the National Basketball Association’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

“I’ve always wanted to do full-time play-by-play,” says Dave, who has spent his two-decade career as a sports broadcast journalist in Miami, Dallas, Denver and D.C., among other cities.

Most recently, he was able to enjoy the Giants’ 2010 baseball championship run and last year’s successful 49ers football season as a host, anchor and reporter for Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area in San Francisco.

“I’ve had the chance to go to great places and meet a lot of people … I’ve had an unbelievable career,” Dave says. In addition to his full-time studio work, Dave found his way into some TV and radio play-by-play gigs covering college sports and arena league football while also working the sidelines for the NFL, MLB and NBA broadcasts. The work paid off as he now enters a very small fraternity of NBA commentators.

“I feel like this is the job I’ve been grooming myself for basically my whole professional life,” Dave says.

“There’s just something about doing the game live,” he says. “It’s so much more electric.”

Dave cut his teeth “cutting tape” in the WTOP studios, where he directed and hosted “7 O’Clock News.”

“That was invaluable experience,” says Dave, who worked closely with Professor Mike Ameigh, current School of Communication, Media and the Arts Dean Fritz Messere ’71, M ’76 and Bill Canning of the television lab staff.

As operations coordinator for “Good Morning America,” Cameron processes hires, tracks freelancers and runs the internship program among other tasks. The former WSTM-TV (Syracuse) and WNYW-TV (New York) intern hopes to make his way to the front of the cameras eventually, but loves learning all aspects of the broadcasting business.

Jones

A member of the Future Alumni Network as a student, Cameron stays active with the Graduates Of the Last Decade Leadership Council.

Cameron’s advice: “If you use the tools you are given at Oswego and stay connected, you’re going to be successful.”

1. Key to a good morning:

My key to a good morning is started with my Pandora radio, specifically the Anita Baker station. Listening to the classic oldies puts me
in the perfect zone to make a good morning a great morning!

2. Part of a complete breakfast:

I love pancakes and cream cheese bagels — separately of course, everything bagels to be exact. But I would not be myself without having a banana and at least one cup of coffee.

3. Go-to Oswego dining hall dinner item:

Anything off the grill at Pathfinder dining hall from paninis, cheese steaks, chicken phillies, burgers, waffle fries — Oh my!

4. Favorite campus activity/organization:

There are just too many! Big shout out to FANs (Future Alumni Network), Department of Campus Life, Residence Life, Phi Beta Sigma Rho Xi chapter, Student Association and ALANA!

5. Greatest Oswego experience:

My favorite Oswego experience by far was being a building manager working in Hewitt Union and the Campus Center at Campus Life. I learned many valuable skills that I use to this very day, built great relationships, and it offered an enormous professional trajectory.

6. Worst thing about leaving Oswego:

I miss the carefree, casual life where there appeared to be a sense of security — a safe haven.

7. Best thing about coming back:

I love to see the new developments at the college, whether it be new structures, academic progress, reconnecting or meeting students.

8. Coolest internship:

Coolest internship was when I did news reporting at WSTM-TV Channel 3 in Syracuse. I learned the craft of reporting and working at a television station. Most of all, I got a front-row seat journeying throughout Central New York to places I would have otherwise not known.

9. Dream job:

I think I am at my dream job. I’ve dreamed big all my life and I seized a golden opportunity to work at ABC News and to be a part of the Good Morning America family! I intend to keep growing, learning and seeing what can come of this experience.

10. Words of wisdom:

To always strive to set a good example in work ethic and relationship building. You never know who may be watching or looking, but just know that someone always is.

She did end up in television, but not in the way she expected. She is part of “Roadtrip Nation,” a social movement and PBS series intended to inspire late-teens and 20-somethings to get real about their dreams.

“We’re here to ask the hard question of: What are you passionate about in your life?” said Richards while visiting campus in September.

Under the tagline “Define your own road in life,” Richards and her fellow “roadies” visit college campuses across the country in a trademark green RV. The perpetual tour is intended to inspire college students to discover what they love and strive to make it a career.

A Johnson Hall resident mentor, Admissions Office tour guide and member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society executive board as a student, Richards — currently active with the Washington, D.C., alumni chapter — was happy to bring the message to her alma mater.

“I think it’s really important to engage students one-on-one and especially to use travel as a way of self exploration and career exploration,” she said. “We want to help them integrate that into their majors and into what they’re doing and keep their interests and their passions on the forefront.”

Student leaders who take internships on the RV each year find and interview potential mentors, from STEM professionals to higher-profile entertainers. It’s tradition for the interviewees to leave behind a signature on the wall or ceiling of the RV.

Richards and her crew also encourage students to take their own road trip to get in touch with their passions and the people who can help make those goals possible.

And in a true “medium is the message” moment, he is doing it, not only in person in a campus seminar room for several class meetings, but live from New York City via video conferencing the rest of the semester.

Utley

“The digital age has changed our lives and will continue to do so in many profound ways,” said the longtime NBC and ABC news veteran.

Utley teaches and holds seminars in the communication studies department in a variety of topical areas related to contemporary journalism, modern media and globalization. In addition, Utley continues to serve as the director of New York in the World, an initiative of the SUNY Levin Institute that focuses on the competitiveness of New York in today’s global economy. He was the founding president of the Levin Institute and served from 2003 to 2011.

Utley had his choice of SUNY schools, but he chose to join Oswego’s faculty. “The School of Communication, Media and the Arts at SUNY Oswego is a recognized leader in its fields,” he said. “I am excited to be joining the faculty and working with the students. This offers the opportunity to draw on my professional and personal experience in media, journalism and communications, which are all undergoing dramatic and rapid change. Working together I know we will be able to understand and cope with what these changes will mean for all of us as individuals and as a society.”

Before joining SUNY, he worked as a broadcast journalist on NBC, ABC and CNN, as well as public radio and public television, specializing in international affairs.

Utley began his career with NBC News in Brussels in 1963. In 1964-1965 he covered the American entry into the Vietnam War and then served as NBC’s correspondent in Berlin, Paris and London. In the 1980s he was the network’s chief foreign correspondent working out of the New York headquarters. Utley also served as anchor of the weekend editions of NBC Nightly News (1971 to 1973 and 1988 to 1993). He was the host of several network magazine programs, the Sunday edition of “Today” and the moderator of “Meet the Press.”

From 1993 to 1996, Utley was chief foreign correspondent for ABC News based in London and, from 1997 to 2002, he was a contributor for CNN.

Utley has received broadcast journalism’s most respected honors, including the Overseas Press Club’s Edward R. Murrow Award and the George Foster Peabody Award. He is the author of the book You Should Have Been Here Yesterday, published by PublicAffairs in 2000, a narrative of the growth of television news in the United States.

In the fall, art department alumni spanning four decades shared their work and their stories in a special exhibit at Tyler Hall.

Some 35 alumni artists were included in the first such show in nearly 20 years.

Commercial artists, teachers and children’s book illustrators were all represented. The exhibit included many New York pieces as well as imports from several states.

“It is by and large positive recognition of their time spent here,” said Michael Flanagan, assistant director of the Tyler Art Gallery. It’s also inspiration for current students, who got a flavor for the variety of careers artists can pursue.

The recognition came with much appreciation from artists like Mario Romano ’05, who wrote, “I look back at my undergraduate degree and I am thankful for the freedom I had to express what was necessary for me at that time.”

Alumni Exhibitors:

Jamie Ashlaw ’92

Marc Barr M’74

Paul Bartow ’88

Catherine Bebout ’79

Gail Bering-Porter M’ 08

Amy Gutter Bernard ’98

Amanda Besl ’98

Isaac Bidwell ’08

Kelly Chilton ’09

William DeMott ’84, M ’89

Holly DePue ’11

Bernice Ficek-Swenson M ’77

Kenneth Freed M ’75

Gary Grosenbeck ’89

James W. Johnson ’77

Tyrone Johnson-Neuland M ’99

Sarah Heppell ’09

Deale A. Hutton ’01

Denise Lisiecki M ’75

Mike Lupa ’05, M ’06

TreeLee MacAnn ’75

Thomas MacPherson ’73

Rebecca Mushtare ’03

Rick Muto ’75

Sarah Nesbitt ’06

Stephen Nevitt M ’73

Mary Ann Spavins Owen ’73, M ’75

J. Malcolm Owen M ’78

Paul Pearce ’79, M ’03

Mary Pierce ’94,  M ’96

Kelly Roe ’94, M ’97

Mario Romano ’05

James Russell ’83

Virginia Saunders ’75

Roy Strassberg ’72

Cara Thompson M ’02

Kate Timm ’74, M ’76

Rose Throop ’95

A backpack journalist takes photos or videos for stories, and then produces them in addition to reporting and editing.

Nominated for a total of three, the KUSA-TV reporter won the Emmy award for “best live reporter” in the Heartland Region, which covers markets in five states including Colorado.

While working on his degree in broadcasting and mass communication, Kevin was very active in WTOP-TV from the moment he got accepted.

“I wanted to be a TV reporter since I was 4 years old,” Kevin says. “Oswego allowed students to get involved with WTOP as soon as you were a student. At SU, you had to be a junior. It was the best decision I made when it came to my academics.”

Fueled by a love for hiking and traveling, Kevin began dreaming of working for KUSA-TV back in high school. The NBC affiliate located in Denver ranks as one of the best in the country. In 2009, after working three years with WSYR-TV NewsChannel 9 in Syracuse, his dream became a reality, and he moved to Colorado.

“While at Oswego, I had three professors who really influenced me,” Kevin remembers. “One was Jerry Condra. The next was Ron Graeff — his broadcasting reporting class was excellent and taught me all the fundamentals. [Now dean] Fritz Messere ’71, M ’76 was [another]. He was just an excellent professor who helped and really inspired me.” l

— Emily Longeretta ’12

With her sorority and in the classroom, Deyadira “Betty” Diaz ’02 took several steps forward at Oswego. In fact, student step dancing earned her an award and spot on the national team after graduation.

A dedicated alumna of Omega Phi Beta sorority and longtime community advocate, Deyadira “Betty” Diaz ’02, far right, and some fellow sisters take part in the New York PRIDE Parade each year. Betty is a supporter of NBCUniversal’s LGBT affinity group, OUT@NBCU, and recently revived UNIDOS, a Latino affinity group, at NBCUniversal’s Rockefeller Center headquarters.

“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Betty says of Oswego, where
she participated in the Latino Student Union among many other organizations.

An advocate for mentoring, she revived the UNIDOS Latino group at NBCUniversal in New York, where she is a research manager. Betty sits on the national Omega Phi Beta board and recently founded an alumni-student mentor
program for Oswego’s Zeta chapter.

Lou Borrelli Jr. ’77

Borrelli has been involved with the media technology company since last year, serving as an advisor and investor. He’ll now oversee all aspects of NimbleTV’s marketing, including communications, strategy and business development.

NimbleTV offers a kind of boxless Slingbox and DVR service, allowing cable, satellite and telecommunications TV subscribers the ability to stream their video content on numerous digital devices.

Borrelli previously served as president and CEO of NEP Broadcasting, an international provider of outsourced teleproduction services critical to the delivery of live sports and entertainment events.

Prior to joining NEP, he was senior VP of broadband for America Online, responsible for developing AOL’s High Speed Broadband business plan, managing the commercial launch of AOL High Speed Cable to Time Warner Cable customers, and developing distribution partnerships for AOL across the cable television and telecommunications industries.