President’s Newsletter

Friday, September 20, 2024

The Homecoming and Family week began on Sunday with Senior Day for field hockey. We had 9 seniors recognized at the event, along with their families and significant others. It was great to see so much support for our women student-athletes.

On Monday, Cabinet invested in a four-hour leadership development opportunity, working with an executive coach on empowerment of others, team building, and trust, because we’ve had a lot of change in the senior team over the last two years. We made commitments to each other about what we will start and stop doing and how we will put the institution first in our decision-making processes.

Along with Provost Martin Abraham and VP Sara Kelly, I had the opportunity on Monday to meet with Finger Lakes Community College President Robert Nye and his senior team as we discussed an FLCC Premier Pathways Transfer process that will help us with seamless transfer and good relationships with one of our most important community college partners.

On Tuesday we held our annual Naturalization Ceremony on campus, as we have for many years. To date more than 1000 individuals have become US citizens in a specially constituted court of law on campus. This event is always one that draws a great crowd, and as the judge said, it is one of the few occasions when a court of law is a joyous place! I am grateful to SULA for the efforts that they have undertaken in relation to this important ceremony.

Externally, I attended the United Way Annual Meeting and a board meeting for Willow Domestic Violence Center. Internally, we had the first Extended Cabinet of the year, which focused on cybersecurity updates, Title VI, and civil discourse, and we held our monthly UUP labor management meeting virtually. I also met with Sara Stanton, the CSEA president, to discuss areas of concern and progress in relation to CSEA. I was able to meet with BSG leadership for our regular monthly meeting, and we had a Town-Gown event in the Sam Patch boat along the Erie Canal for a fun and social evening on Wednesday.

Homecoming events so far included several ribbon cuttings for newly named spaces on campus as well as our annual Volunteer Reception, and today we will have our joint Foundation Board and Alumni Board meeting, followed by our Athletics Hall of Fame and Alumni Awards ceremony. I am looking forward to the parade on Saturday and all of the other Homecoming and Family Weekend festivities over the weekend.

Here’s to a good weekend ahead!