Around the SUNY Oswego campus

Members of the campus community showed their school pride during a green and gold group photo in Hewitt ballroom during the "Oz-We-Go Back" kick off party as part of this year's Homecoming celebration.

Jimmy Dillon, a Spanish and adolescence education major, leads a tour from the Shineman Center to the Marano Campus Center during the recent Nov. 11 Veterans Day Open House, one of the biggest events of the year for prospective students and their families.

Homecoming included a President's Donor Recognition ceremony in renovated Tyler Hall on Nov. 5 to thank donors in the President's Circle, Sheldon Legacy and Loyal Lakers levels of giving. Attendees included, from left, emerita communication studies professor Nola Heidlebaugh; Margaret Spector of the class of 1980; 1971 graduate Fritz Messere, emeritus dean of communication, media and the arts; and 1977 graduate Louis A. Borrelli Jr., a longtime supporter and founder of what is now the Lewis B. O'Donnell Media Summit.

The New York State Industries for the Disabled Inc. (NYSID) dedicated its newest Battle Buddy Center on Veterans Day at SUNY Oswego in collaboration with Oswego Industries, Inc. and Clear Path for Veterans. This Battle Buddy Center, located within SUNY Oswego's existing Veterans Lounge in Hewitt Union, will help to enhance the programs and services already offered to veterans and their families at the college. 

Mike Gioja -- a 1979 SUNY Oswego graduate; senior vice president of information technology, product management and development at Paychex Inc.; and a SUNY Oswego School of Business advisory board member returned to campus recently as part of the college's Alumni in Residence program. Here he talks to a class taught by Elizabeth Wilcox of the college's mathematics faculty on Nov. 4. 

The college's ongoing SEFA/United Way campaign recognized winners of the recent Bake Offs that raised a total of $648 toward the college's $30,000 goal. Shown from left are Sharona Ginsberg from Penfield Library, whose Pumpkin Snickerdoodles won the Bake Off held in Mahar Hall; Susan Drobar from the mathematics department, whose Devil Food Halloween Cupcakes proved most bewitching at the Bake Off hosted in Marano Campus Center; and Myles Clendenin from the Office of Residence Life and Housing, whose Apple Turnovers proved most fruitful in the Culkin Hall Bake Off.

The joint college boards meeting luncheon on Nov. 4 during Homecoming brought together several boards of volunteers actively working on behalf of the college. Attendees included representatives of College Council, the Oswego College Foundation Board, the Oswego Alumni Association Board, Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Leadership Council, School of Business Advisory Board and Engineering Advisory Board.

Homecoming festivities included inducting the newest members of the Oswego Athletic Hall of Fame on Nov. 5. New inductees included 1983 graduate Michael Charles, for baseball; 1988 graduate Jeffrey Greene, for men's ice hockey; and 1975 graduate Edward L. Pucci, for wrestling. Posthumously inducted was 1962 graduate Peter H. Schieffer for basketball and track and field; 1963 graduate Karol Harding Schieffer, his wife, accepted the award on his behalf, and his teammate and 1964 graduate Craig Sallin gave acceptance remarks on his behalf. Shown from left are Charles, Pucci, Harding Schieffer, Greene and master of ceremonies and 1977 graduate Louis A. Borrelli Jr.

Actor Jimonn Cole (gesturing) speaks with acting students of Henry Shikongo (just left of Cole) of the SUNY Oswego theatre department recently. Cole was on campus as part of a three-year partnership between SUNY Oswego and The Acting Company in New York City. Next semester, Cole will perform lead roles in the company's paired productions of William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," and "X," a new play by Marcus Gardley about the assassination of Malcolm X.

On Nov. 5, a group of SUNY Oswego students, staff and faculty visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. They had a tour of the museum and then visited the rest of the museum on their own. The trip was sponsored by the history department; the English and creative writing department; Office of Career Services; and the deans of the School of Communication, Media and the Arts and the College of Liberal Arts and Studies. Two alumni contributed to the group by providing lunch. Four faculty and staff accompanied the students: Lyn Blanchfield (history), Eve Clark (sociology), Christy Huynh (Career Services) and Alyssa Amyotte (Community Services).

The 2016 Awards of Excellence presented by the University Economic Development Association recognized SUNY Oswego's Agricultural Testing and Analysis Lab for "synergistically connecting Talent + Place in ways that enrich participation, and otherwise enhance quality of place." On Nov. 11, a gathering in the Shineman testing lab acknowledged the many involved in earning this award. From left are some of the student testers -- Sarita Charap, a junior zoology major; Gary Ellis, a senior chemistry major and biology minor; Julie Page, a junior adolescence education and biology major; and Kacy Baum, a junior biochemistry major and health science minor -- with Pamela Caraccioli, deputy to the president for external partnerships and economic development, and lab supervisor Anthony Contento of the biological sciences faculty. The labs utilize student chemists to test and analyze grain shipments, meeting the needs of one of the Port of Oswego Authority’s largest customers, Perdue AgriBusiness.

Jeffrey Storch, a 2006 graduate who is now based in San Diego as a lead senior tax manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP, returned to campus recently as part of the Alumni in Residence program. Here he visits Dean Crawford's "Federal Tax Accounting" class on Nov. 10.

Directed by senior theater major Kelci Schlierf, the student honors production "The Pillowman" opens Nov. 30 and runs through Dec. 4 in the Tyler Hall lab theatre. The drama written by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh tells the tale of Katurian (seated at center, played by Sydney Lattenhauer), a fiction writer living in a police state interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, and their similarities to a number of bizarre incidents occurring in his town. Also shown from left are Tupolski (Megan Hickey), Michal (Nicole Marlowe) and Ariel (Logan Rowe). Schlierf cast the drama's traditional male lead roles with women.

The Oswego State men’s cross country team (pictured at the Oswego State Invitational) placed 13th in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional, hosted by Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., on Saturday afternoon. It marked a six-place improvement from the 2015 edition of the event. Dylan McCarthy and subsequently Colin Greenseich destroyed the standing program 8K record by 18 seconds and 13 seconds, respectively. The previous top time was recorded by Rich Friedrich in 2000 with a split of 25:46. Also running an impressive race was Nicholas LeClair, who with a time of 25:54-flat, took three minutes of his 2015 time and earned a spot in the program’s top-10 list for the distance.

Olivia Ellis prepares to send the puck to Alexa Aramburu for the first goal in the Laker women's hockey team's 2-0 win over Cortland on Sunday, which sent the No. 8 Lakers to a perfect 6-0 on the season and 4-0 in the ECAC West. Ellis’ assist was the 36th of her career, which set a new program record for most assists in a career as she passed both Olivia Boersen and Melissa Seamont. Oswego’s next contest will be on the road against No. 1 Plattsburgh at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Kenny Neil (pictured at the Marano Campus Center Arena versus Geneseo) turned a strong performance on Friday. He led the nationally-ranked Lakers to a 4-1 win over host Cortland and kept the team unscathed thus far at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Late in the first period, with the Lakers trailing 1-0, Neil earned an assist on the equalizing goal after he started the momentum that would lead to Oswego tying up the game at 1-1. Just over 10 minutes later, in the second period, Neil scored the eventual game-winning tally with help from Alex Botten and Shawn Hulshof, putting the Lakers ahead 2-1. It was the Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador native's team-leading sixth goal of the season. Wrapping up his impressive night, the senior captain put together the pieces once again. Neil assisted on the team's third goal, and an important insurance goal, to give No. 5 Oswego the insurmountable 3-1 lead. He now has four assists on the year, which puts him in a three-way tie for the team high in points (10).

Daniel Smith of the wrestling team dominated his opponent in the team’s season-opening dual loss. In the 197-pound weight class, Smith earned a victory by technical fall in just over five minutes. The sophomore built up a 10-0 lead after the first three-minute period, before proceeding to a 13-0 advantage after two periods. In the final period, Smith took down his counterpart for two points to earn the technical fall just 18 seconds in.