A G.O.L.D. Mine of Information

On Wednesday February 29^th, the G.O.L.D program held a series of workshops on campus entitled “Leadership with Purpose: 2012 Women’s Conference.” G.O.L.D. stands for Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership Development and has been a program here at Geneseo for over 10 years directed by Tom Matthews. The Geneseo Alumni Association sponsored this particular conference where the the workshops focused on the theme of Women in Leadership and featured Geneseo alumni as guest speakers. Rachel Bernstein, an Office of Alumni Relations Intern and current Geneseo Senior, attended one of these workshop and shared her experience.

Please read Rachel's experience below, and if you have any career advice that you would like to share with our graduating students share them in the comments section.

-The Alumni Relations Team

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I attended a workshop entitled “Navigating Challenges in the Quest for a Leadership Position,” which was hosted by two Geneseo alumae. The first presenter was Jennifer Walker, a graduate of the class of ꞌ94, who is currently President and CEO at Credit Union Auto Finance. The second was Twanda Christensen, a graduate of the class of ꞌ98, who is a marketing manager at Summit Federal Credit Union. Both women spoke about the challenges presented to women entering the workforce today. They advised, inspired and motivated the audience by emphasizing the skills that will help students successfully navigate a job after graduation.

They highlighted skills like getting along with people, setting a good reputation early and sticking to it, producing top quality work, volunteering to assist in tasks and keeping an open mind. Both women agreed that these are the most important qualities women in the workforce can have in order to be successful.

“As women in business we like to share what we learned so that students today don’t make the same mistakes,” Twanda commented on why returning to her alma mater and speaking to current students is so important to her. “Our ability to succeed related back to our education received at Geneseo,” she added. Jennifer agreed, saying, “The staff and professors really built my confidence when entering the workforce. As alumni, this is our opportunity to help students.”

The workshop brought a lot of helpful information and insights to students as they look towards the future. Being able to listen to these two women who graduated from Geneseo and found success is truly inspiring.

- Rachel Bernstein

Blue Knights Winter Recap

The winter season has come to an end here at Geneseo and all seven teams finished strong in their final games and meets.  Men's basketball, women's basketball, women's equestrian, men's hockey, men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving and track and field have all completed successful seasons and clinched high seeds in their conferences.

Men's basketball, coached by Steve Minton, finished 3rd overall in the SUNYACs.  With an overall record of 14-13 and a conference record of 11-7, the team tied with Brockport and fell just short of Oswego and Cortland.  Women's basketball, led by Scott Hemer, finished fourth in the SUNYACs, behind Buffalo State, New Paltz and Oneonta.  They ended their season with an overall record of 16-10 and a conference record of 11-7.  Women's equestrian, coached by Kim Sanford, placed fourth at their last two shows in Cazenovia and St. Lawrence this past weekend.  The team finished third overall in their region and have an impressive 12 riders qualified for Regionals in St. Lawrence on March 31st.  Men's hockey, led by Chris Schultz, finished their season with a fourth place finish in the SUNYACs behind Oswego, Plattsburgh and Buffalo State.  With a total of 15 CPts the team had an overall record of 13-12-1 and a conference record of 7-8-1. The men's and women's swimming and diving teams, both coached by Paul Dotterweich, finished with records of 8-4 and 7-5 respectively.  At the SUNYAC championships, both teams finished 1st out of 9 teams and are looking forward to the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, IN on March 28th.  Our, track and field team, coached by Dave Prevosti, had strong finishes this past weekend at the SUNYAC Championships at Hobart & William Smith with the men's team finishing 1st/8 teams and the women's team finishing 3rd/8 teams.  The track and field team is practicing hard for their remaining meets in the spring season.

After finishing up their winter season, the Geneseo Blue Knights are looking forward to the spring season.  With four teams beginning their seasons soon, the Knights are once again seeking top seeds in the SUNYACs.  Games and meets will be starting soon for track and field, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse and women's softball.  Be sure to check online for a schedule of upcoming games and come support your Geneseo Blue Knights soon!

-The Geneseo Alumni Team

Sharing your sweethearts--through Tweethearts!

Do you and your loved one share the common bond of meeting in or attending Geneseo as a student?  Whether it began as a friendship that turned into your life-long love or it was love at first sight, we would love to hear your stories!  In the past, this campaign celebrated the thousands of alumni couples whose love or friendship began during their Geneseo years; however, this year, the campaign has extended to all alumni who would like to share what they love most about Geneseo and their experience here.  Everyone can share their stories via the Geneseo Alumni Facebook Page or on Twitter by using hashtag #GeneseoTweethearts.  After sharing your story, head to go.geneseo.edu/campaigngiving to make a gift in honor of your loved one or your love of Geneseo! This donation will help support the growth and success of both Geneseo and our students!

Back on campus, a number of Valentine's Day related events are scheduled for the week leading up to February 14th.  There will be a Geneseo late Knight Slam Poet event on February 10th, which will feature poet Sierra Demulder.  From February 9th-11th, the Womyn's Action Coalition (WAC) will be sponsoring a production of the Vagina Monologues.  The brothers of Alpha Phi Omega are also sponsoring Valentine's Day card making that will be sent to active soldiers overseas.  

We hope to see everyone out to participate in these Valentine's Day events and don't forget to share your Geneseo love stories on Twitter, using the hashtag #GeneseoTweethearts!

The Geneseo Alumni Team

Geneseo alumna Linda Freund '09 wins Super Bowl video competition

Linda Freund, a Geneseo alum of the class of ’09, who graduated with a BA in English and theater and minor in sociology, is going to appear in a Chevrolet commercial in this year’s Super Bowl. Freund, who goes by the stage name Linda Elizabeth, is a working actress in New York City. She has appeared in numerous film, television and theater productions, both before and after graduation, including countless theater performances during her years as a student at Geneseo.

Freund just finished making the SAG independent film THE RETRIBUTION and is currently working on a film called THE LONG CON. Freund and a group of friends won the Chevrolet Route 66 video competition with their commercial “Happy Grad.” They will now be rewarded with the honor of having it debut on the most anticipated commercial day of the year. You can view Freund’s winning commercial here, and be sure to look for it on TV this Sunday!

Meet the Alumni Team: Megan Cheever '03

Alumni Outreach Coordinator of Alumni Relations

As the Alumni Outreach Coordinator of Alumni Relations Megan Cheever, '03, is the newest member of the Alumni Relations team.  She works on encouraging alumni of SUNY Geneseo to remain active with the University.  Megan creates a number of opportunities for alumni to attend regional events, volunteer and be actively involved in the continued success of the university and its students.  She also works directly with the Regional Program designed specifically for alumni.

Megan graduated from Geneseo in 2003 with a Bachelors of Science in Communication and English.  She began working here at SUNY Geneseo as the Assistant Director of The Fund for Geneseo.  For almost three years, Megan oversaw the Phonathon Program and the Senior Challenge Initiative.  She spent her next five years as both a fundraiser and as an alumni relations professional at The Rochester Institute of Technology.  While there, Megan worked for three years as the Assistant Director for The Saunders College of Business—raising and managing money for scholarships, planning events and working with alumni boards.  She was then promoted and worked with the Alumni Relations Chapters Team where she managed regional events for RIT.  While holding this position, Megan says she, “saw amazing places and met amazing people, and it was truly rewarding.”  After working at RIT, Megan began her current position at SUNY Geneseo on November 1^st, 2011.

Once an undergraduate student here at SUNY Geneseo, Megan remembers her time at Geneseo fondly.  She says her favorite thing about Geneseo as that “Geneseo feeling.”  Megan describes this feeling as, “the friendliness from everyone you walk by on campus, the warm welcome from every business in the village and just how at peace I feel walking down Main Street every day.”  She says those feelings have not changed since her time as a student and attributes Geneseo as the reason she has become the successful person she is today.

While Megan is certainly kept busy with all of her duties in the office, she still enjoys keeping active outside of work.  She enjoys practicing yoga, going out to movies, reading and traveling during her spare time.  Traveling is also something that Megan has the opportunity to do while working with our Regional Program.  Within this program, she works to build a strong regional presence for SUNY Geneseo in the most populated cities across the country.  Megan says that she is, “thrilled to be able to play a part in all the Geneseo has to offer to our alumni.”

Looking at the year ahead, Megan is eager to work on many regional events, traveling to different cities and meeting with Geneseo alumni.  Megan says that, “everyone has such a great story to tell about their time in school and I can’t wait to hear all of them!”

We hope you will join us in welcoming our newest member of the Alumni Team!

The Geneseo Blue Knights- Winter Season

The Geneseo Blue Knights had a strong finish to their fall seasons, with a number of teams clinching top seeds in their conference. Men’s soccer finished 3^rd in the SUNYACs and women’s soccer finished 5^th in the conference. Women’s field hockey held a 4^th place finish and women’s volleyball topped off their season with 3^rd place in the West Division of SUNYACs.  Both men’s and women’s cross country finished 1^st at the SUNYAC meet held in New Paltz.  The final fall team, women’s tennis, were SUNYAC champions with their 1^st place finish in the West Division.  They are looking forward to their final meet in April at NYU.

Winter sports here at Geneseo are well underway and the seven teams are already holding impressive records.  With many teams more than halfway done with their games and meets, it is a great time to see how they have done and what everyone connected with Geneseo has to look forward to in the near future. The Knights’ seven winter teams include: men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s equestrian, men’s hockey, women’s swimming, men’s swimming, and indoor track and field.

            The seven teams have already been very successful and many currently hold top seeds in the SUNYAC division standings.  Men’s basketball, coached by Steve Minton, has a current overall record of 8-10.  They are 6-5 in the conference, which makes them 4^th in the conference behind Oswego, Cortland, and Buffalo State.  Women’s basketball, coached by Scott Hemer, currently holds a 12-6 overall record.  They hold the fourth seed in the conference, with a 7-4 record.  Women’s equestrian, headed by Kim Sanford, has already competed in six shows and has two more to go in their season.  They are currently ranked 3^rd in arguably the most competitive region of the International Horse Show Association.  Coached by Chris Schultz, men’s hockey has an overall record of 11-10.  Within their conference, they hold a 5-7 record and they have 10 CPts—making them 5^th in the conference.  Men’s and Women’s swimming and diving, both led by Paul Dotterweich, have been highly competitive this season with dual meet records of 8-4 and 7-5 respectively.  Men’s and Women’s Track and Field, coached by Dave Prevosti, has started their season out strong and looks forward to the remaining meets of their season.

            The winter season is still far from over and there are a number of games and meets that will be held here on campus.  For a full schedule of upcoming sporting events check online for the winter sports schedule.  Come check out the Geneseo Blue Knights and show your support for our winter sports teams soon!

-The Geneseo Alumni Team

New Social Media Projects

Two new social media endeavors are currently being incorporated into the Geneseo Alumni Team’s social media outlets:

Facebook Yearbook Photos

With our first project, the release of past yearbook photos, it is our hope to completely digitize all yearbooks from SUNY Geneseo’s past.  Currently, one photo from our entire yearbook collection is being released each weekday in hopes of creating conversation about past events and fun activities that happened here in Geneseo.  It is our plan to eventually include every yearbook so we are presently taking requests for any specific year, club, sport, or event that our alumni want to see up on our Facebook!

Storify

Our second project is the inclusion of the social media tool, Storify.  Storify is a great way to create neat and orderly timelines of any event.  Creating these timelines is easy and can be done in both the professional and personal setting.  Storify allows you to drag and drop tweets, posts from Facebook and many other social media sites, Flickr photos and even online videos from sites such as YouTube.  The site was just recently made public in April 2011 and has even been used by the White House to cover important news. The Alumni Team has been working hard to incorporate Storify into our list of social media tools. A Storify was created to remember Bill Edgar and the many thoughts and wishes people sent to his family. A Reunion 2011 Storify is also available with a compilation of all of the great comments, tweets, photos and videos from the 2011 Summer Reunion.

With these new social media projects, it is our hope to continue to keep our Geneseo alumni informed and involved in all that is both currently happening on campus and what occurred in past years!

Thanks for reading and we will see you in 2012!

-The Geneseo Alumni Team