Around the SUNY Oswego campus

America's favorite weatherman Al Roker '76 was on campus April 27 and 28 to visit classes, tour the renovation progress to Hewitt Hall and do some live national spots on NBC Today accompanied by cheers from crowds of fellow Lakers.

NBC Today show co-host and weatherman Al Roker '76 was on campus for an April 27 in-person visit to the “Building an On-Air Career” course he co-teaches with Michael Riecke in communication studies, then stayed for live hits on Today during the April 28 morning show. Here he joins SUNY Oswego Officer in Charge Mary C. Toale outside Marano Campus Center during the April 28 broadcasts.

Popular NBC Today show co-host and weatherman – and 1976 SUNY Oswego graduate – Al Roker had a chance to meet students face-to-face in his “Building an On-Air Career” course he has been virtually co-teaching with Michael Riecke in an April 27 campus visit.

Biochemistry major Fathima Raviya Careem talks about her research into understanding the structural basis of small molecule inhibitors that bind to the GAF-A domain on the DosS/DosR regulatory system, responsible for tuberculosis dormancy, during this year’s Quest on April 19. Careem also presented this research at the World Congress of Undergraduate Research (WorldCUR) in the U.K.

Allan Shaw (third from left), a 1986 alumnus and CFO of Portage Biotech Inc., served as Quest keynote speaker for the day celebrating scholarly and creative activity. Gathered with Shaw before the talk, held in Marano Campus Center auditorium, are students in the School of Business, from left: Leanna Costello, Dee "Eason" Sheng Lee and Michael J. Saalfrank.

Angela Gori (left) talks April 19 at Quest with psychology department faculty member Sien Hu about her research into “Age-Related Changes in the Resting State Functional Connectivity of Hippocampus and the Effects of Academic Achievement.”

“I, Too, Am Study Abroad” students, hosted by the Office of International Education and Programs, held a panel discussion during Quest on how students can finance their study abroad experience. The group was created for inclusion of all individuals who desire to pursue, and have successfully completed, education abroad. With no limits to who can study abroad, the panel explained how everyone can afford their education overseas, regardless of financial ability.

Art student Megan Swartwood created a tour of the college's history in "Decades of Sheldon," including milestone archival photos from Penfield Library's Special Collections, presented during Quest in Tyler Hall.

Students in the Art Department presented their digital graphics, animation, gaming platforms, virtual reality projects, ceramics, painting and other media at Quest showcased in Tyler Hall.

SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. visited the SUNY Oswego campus on April 21 meeting with students, touring the campus with faculty and staff, and learning more about the university's programs and facilities. He is pictured doing an interview for the WTOP-10 TV student-run station during a tour of Marano Campus Center. (Photo by Brandon Trinidad) Also see this separate gallery on the Chancellor’s visit.

SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. visited the SUNY Oswego campus on April 21, meeting with students, touring the campus with faculty and staff, and learning more about the university's programs and facilities. He is pictured here outside Rich Hall talking with SUNY Oswego's Officer in Charge Mary C. Toale and Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives, External Partnerships and Legislative Affairs Kristi Eck. (Also see this separate gallery on the Chancellor’s visit.)

SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. met with a wide variety of students, facultly and staff during his visit to SUNY Oswego on April 21. He started the day with meeting with President's Cabinet. (Photo by Brandon Trinidad) Also see this separate gallery on the Chancellor’s visit.

Two universities solidified a new exchange and academic partnership between SUNY Oswego and Pusan National University (PNU) in South Korea, as visiting delegates met with some key administrators during their visit to Oswego on March 30. Pictured from left are SUNY Oswego’s Marianne Hromalik, electrical and computer engineering faculty and chair; Joshua McKeown, associate provost for international education and programs; Provost Scott Furlong; and Officer in Charge Mary C. Toale; with Pusan National University representatives President Jeong-In Cha; Moonsuk Yi, dean of PNU International and professor of electronics engineering; Bong Koo Jeong, director of PNU International; and Ki Hun Park, manager of the international team.

Vega President Kylie Annable offers opening remarks at Honors Convocation held April 21 in the Deborah F. Stanley Convocation Hall and Arena. SUNY Oswego Officer in Charge Mary C. Toale provided greetings and congratulations. Provost Scott Furlong led the department chairs in the presentation of certificates to award-winning students. Honors Convocation, sponsored by Vega, the Junior and Senior Women's Honor Society, is annually held to recognize students who have demonstrated excellence in their field of study and/or service to the SUNY Oswego community.

The Rich N' Pour Cafe, a new student-led, student-run cafe located in Rich Hall, opened this semester to the campus and community after hard work by students in a SUNY Oswego business class. Students in the Management 444 course along with college staff and administrators celebrated with a grand opening and ceremonial ribbon cutting on Tuesday, April 11.

The semester-end celebration OzFest, held May 5 on the lawn behind Swetman Gym and The Space, provided fun times with inflatable games, mechanical bull riding, Build-A-Buddy animal making, henna artists and food, with an evening concert featuring PartyNextDoor and Aux Cord Wars. Here a group of friends show off their custom street signs and Build-A-Buddy stuffed animals.

During the May 5 OzFest, Jenna Carpenter (left), a senior illustration major, and Alyssa Curling, a graduate mental health counseling major, show off their skills in a friendly pugilistic contest.

During the May 5 OzFest, Saurav Lamichhane, a freshman computer science major, enjoys the heights of the rock climbing wall.

It's On Oz, SUNY Oswego's chapter of the national It's On Us organization, holds awareness events and offers members of the campus community information and swag while asking them to sign the pledge to stop sexual assault. Pictured April 20 at their table in Marano Campus Center are, from left, Justin Dickerson, director of new student orientation and family engagement; Kayleigh Sherman, It's On Oz intern; and Lisa Evaneski, campus Title IX coordinator.

Chemistry alumni visited campus April 24 to talk with current students. From left is Peter Bocko '73, retired chief technology officer, Corning Incorporated; Morgan Wolanin '20, technical service engineer, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions; Sarah Rappleye '20, lab technician, Eastman Kodak Company; and John Pavel '72 M'05, retired supervisor, Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station.

Janet Buckner, a 2011 Oswego graduate and assistant professor in the department of biology at University of Texas at Arlington, visited campus to present a seminar discussing her research in evolutionary biology.

Students, employees, community members and alumni participated in the eighth annual Yards for Yeardley, walking to remember and to help raise awareness toward the prevention of dating and domestic violence. Organizers set a goal of walking, running and/or rolling 1 million yards in one day during this event held April 26 in Swetman Gym – and exceeded 1.7 million yards despite inclement weather moving it indoors. In foreground, students from the Beta Alpha Psi Honor Society take care of accounting tasks for the yards accured. The event is named for Yeardley Love, a senior in college at the University of Virginia when she was killed three weeks before graduation. The One Love Foundation was set up by Love's family to empower young people with the knowledge to identify and avoid abusive relationships.

Campus and community members honored Arbor Day on April 28 with some tree plantings on campus and observance readings and speakers at Rice Creek Field Station. The Office of Sustainability, the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership, the Oswego Tree Stewards and students teamed up to plant several new trees in and around the university’s Centennial Arboretum near Moreland Hall along Washington Boulevard, as well as along the Sweet Road entrance. The groups also performed spring maintenance to these areas. The Centennial Arboretum was gifted to SUNY Oswego in 1961 by the community of Oswego to commemorate the centennial year of the academic institution.

At the university's Arbor Day activities on April 28, several sororities and fraternities helped with planting and officially adopted a campus tree, committing to their care for a minimum of two years. 

During Quest, the modern languages department held initiation ceremonies inducting students into Sigma Delta Pi, the Spanish Honor Society, and a separate ceremony for the French Honor Society. Gathered for a photo during the Sigma Delta Pi Spanish Honor Society ceremony to induct students Edito Ramos Palacios (second from left) and Emma Godthwait (front center) are alumnus and founder of the Oswego charter for the Iota Zeta chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, Steven Strange (standing behind Godthwait), who graduated with a major in Spanish in 1972, with modern languages and literatures faculty members, from left: Gonzalo Aguiar Malosetti, Zoraida Lopez (Sigma Delta Pi advisor), Georgina Whittingham, Beatriz Salcedo Strumpf and Roseli Rojo.

The national French Honor Society Pi Delta Phi inducted new members in a ceremony on April 19 during Quest. Students, from left, Ezra Wingard, Megan Casley and Nicholas Thelan pause for a photo with modern languages and literatures faculty member Lenuta Giukin (right) during the ceremony. French students are encouraged to become members of Pi Delta Phi so that they can benefit from the many programs the society offers, such as free semesters abroad (two in France and one in Quebec over the summer) and travel expenses. (Photo provided by Brenda Farnham)

Digital storytelling intern Katie Karlen captured one of SUNY Oswego’s famous sunsets over Lake Ontario on April 27.

A May 2 reception at Oswego's City Hall celebrated SUNY Oswego's student-produced writing and photography exhibit, "One City. One Campus. One Community."  Led by the Campus-City Relations Committee (CCRC), the project showcases the many partnerships between the Oswego community and the university. Shown from left presenting the work are project organizers SUNY Oswego Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives, External Partnerships and Legislative Affairs Kristi Eck; art and design faculty member Peter Cardone; Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow; and English and creative writing faculty member Doug Guerra.

SUNY Oswego students who participated in the "One City. One Campus. One Community." writing and photography exhibit pose for a group photo during a May 2 reception at Oswego's City Hall. The Campus-City Relations Committee (CCRC) proposed this project to highlight 10 businesses in Oswego and the impactful partnerships they have with SUNY Oswego students, faculty, staff and alumni.