This year's Honors Convocation will virtually celebrate the academic achievements of more than 100 students throughout the disciplines at 3 p.m. Friday, April 16. The event will stream from the oswego.edu/honors-convocation website.
Alumna, educator, community leader and entrepreneur Phyllis Moore Holloway '76 CAS '01 will serve as keynote speaker.
Sponsored by Vega, the student women's honor society, the event dates back decades in highlighting the outstanding accomplishments of students.
Awards from departments, the Oswego Alumni Association, Oswego College Foundation and Division of Extended Learning, as well as the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, will mark this joyous celebration of academic success.
Members of the campus community, family members and friends are traditionally invited to attend this event, which this year will be made available via video stream for the first time.
Successful speaker
A lifelong resident of Syracuse, Holloway graduated from SUNY Oswego in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree and later earned a certificate of advanced study in school administration from Oswego in 2001. She also holds a master’s degree in urban education from Syracuse University.
Holloway worked a year as a youth service coordinator with the Dunbar Association in Syracuse before accepting a teaching position with the Syracuse City School District. She worked for the district for nearly 35 years, including 22 years as a classroom teacher working with students from kindergarten to middle school. She then transitioned to become an assistant principal for the last 15 years of her career before retiring in July 2014.
In July 2015, she accepted a position as interim executive director of the struggling Dunbar Association, without compensation. Holloway brought her skills, energy, dedication and integrity to help Dunbar remain open. In 2018, Dunbar, a settlement house named after the famous African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, celebrated 100 years of service to the Syracuse community.
Holloway pursued another passion as the proud owner of Syracuse restaurant Joe’s to Go, which opened in June 2019. She continues to support her community by training and hiring people from the community to work at her restaurant.
She has served on the Dunbar Association Program Committee, with the annual Earth Day Neighborhood clean-up and as a board member of the West Onondaga Street Association. Holloway has been recognized with NAACP Unsung Hero Award in 2016, Syracuse United Neighbors Outstanding Community Service Award in 2017 and the Onondaga County Office of Aging Serving Seniors Honoree of the Year in 2017, as well as earning the Syracuse City School District’s Excellence in Administration Award.
Alumna, educator, community leader and entrepreneur Phyllis Moore Holloway '76 CAS '01 will serve as keynote speaker for this year's Virtual Honors Convocation.