Speaking Out for Students

High-school principal Curtis Lawrence '94 talked new approaches for student safety during a White House conversation on gun violence in February.

In January, a ninth grader at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington, D.C. was gunned down walking home from school. The school’s principal and UC alum Curtis Lawrence ’94 was among the 40 high-school students and teachers—including many from Parkland, Florida—invited to the White House on February 21 for a listening session on gun violence hosted by President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Utica talked to Lawrence about the experience and his “secret” to inspiring student and teacher success:
 
How did you learn you’d been invited to the President’s listening session?
It happened really quickly. On Monday, Feb. 19, the CEO of our charter school network emailed me. He said, “The President is doing a listening session. Here’s the link to register now.” I went on and registered to get security clearance, and the next day I was cleared and invited to come as one of the representatives of Friendship Collegiate Academy, along with four of our students.
 
Did you know what you were going to say going into the session?
I did have an idea. I knew I wanted to share how gun violence has impacted my organization here, which was different from the situation in Parkland, Florida. In January we lost a student who was on his way home. So the conversation isn’t just about violence in schools, but to and from. I wanted to encourage the President to consider solutions to benefit both scenarios. I shared that it had to be a two-pronged approach.
 
What was your take on the conversation that emerged?
It seemed like were two sides that developed; one was for arming teachers, and one was for looking at other solutions. I did not agree with arming teachers, which at one point, the President appeared to be leaning toward. It’s important to realize how different every school is in terms of location, demographics, whether it’s urban or rural, and I wanted to emphasize that. I will say it was productive since it was televised and got people talking about the issue. People in the nation got to hear that there’s a problem of gun violence on the outside, and students can be victims of it. I hope my comments got the conversation going, and that people will start to influence congressional and local officials to make change.

"I hope my comments got the conversation going, and that people will start to influence congressional and local officials to make change."

 
What was it like being in the White House?
For me, as a former history teacher, I was in heaven. We got a tour and saw some incredible things: George Washington’s sword from the American Revolution, china sets going as far back as John Adams’ presidency, a picture Dolly Madison saved from the War of 1812 when the British burned down the White House. Being able to see that level of history was enthralling. We met President Trump at the end, and he took a picture with the students. They were excited about that.
 
You graduated from UC in 1994. Tell me about your career path since then.
I pretty much went right into education after UC. I taught in Harlem for 10 years as a middle-school history teacher. I rose to be the chair of the history department there. While there, I got accepted into a principal training organization, which started my path toward administration. I’ve been an assistant principal in Harlem, the South Bronx, and Newark, New Jersey. I also was a founding principal at a middle school in San Antonio. During my tenure, the school was ranked one of the top 25 middle schools in the state of Texas, and in the top one percent of schools in San Antonio.
 
That’s impressive! What’s the secret to your success as a principal?
The secret is in hiring talented people and building a team among leadership, and supporting and developing teachers. It shows your belief in what they can do—and in what students can do.
 
What’s the response been like since you were part of the listening session? Have you gotten any negative feedback?
I got a bunch of texts and emails from friends saying things like, “I was in the airport and I saw you on TV!” My colleagues at school agree with my position and were happy I mentioned the need for a two-pronged approach. I even received a couple emails from people who let me know they were pro-gun, pro-NRA, but said “You spoke your position very well,” and they agree with me that we need to look at both environments and contexts. That was good to hear.
 

From the President: Follow-up to March 5 Lock Down

An update from President Casamento on the March 5 lock down.

March 6, 2018
10:49 a.m.

To Members of the Utica College Community:
 
I want to express my profound gratitude to faculty, staff, and students for responding to yesterday’s lockdown with professionalism, patience, and genuine caring for one another. I know that emotions ran the gamut, and that many of us awoke this morning with those same emotions lingering. Despite the unease that many of us are still feeling, I am greatly comforted by the knowledge that we have an emergency response plan in place, and that yesterday, it was well executed.
 
We also owe a debt of gratitude to law enforcement personnel. At the height of the situation, there were more than 100 officers on the Burrstone campus, including representatives from the Utica Police Department, the New York State Police, the FBI, and Homeland Security. There was a police presence throughout Monday evening, and members of the College community can expect that presence to continue at least through the end of today.
 
To recap yesterday’s events, at approximately 11 a.m. Utica College received via telephone what was determined to be a credible threat. The Office of Campus Safety immediately notified law enforcement, and I activated the College’s emergency response team. There were no shots fired, there were no injuries, and there was no evidence of a shooter on campus. Members of the College community received updates via texts, emails, and postings to social media and the College’s website, throughout the day.
 
I know that many are concerned about continuing safety. While the ongoing investigation means that there are some details that we cannot discuss, in an effort to deter future threats, the officers as well as crisis professionals who have experienced these types of incidents encouraged us to resume normal operations to the greatest extent possible. We considered every perspective before making any decisions.
 
It was with that advice in mind that we made the decision to hold classes today, knowing that many students, as well as many faculty members, may be reluctant to resume a normal schedule. This morning, Provost Johnsen sent an email to faculty members with a copy to students, and what he wrote is worth repeating here:
 

“Yesterday the College was the victim of a terroristic threat, and responded in a disciplined, coordinated fashion. The good news, of course, is that there were no shots fired and no injuries. That fact, however, does not minimize the traumatic effect -- on students, faculty, and staff -- of the day's events.

“Mindful of this, please be aware that many of your students will not feel able to return to class today, and those who do may find it difficult to focus.  I ask, therefore, that (1) you postpone or avoid any exams, quizzes, or other graded activities scheduled for today; (2) if you feel comfortable doing so, devote some part of the scheduled time to allow students to discuss yesterday's events and their reactions; and (3) that you reach out to individual students who show evidence of emotional difficulties.  Please help connect them with members of the counseling staff.

“It is not lost on me that yesterday was also traumatic for you. Please be aware that the HR office has secured the services of people from the employee assistance program who can be available for conversations to help you process these events.”

From the President: March 5 Lock Down

A message from Utica College adminstration on the March 5 campus lock down. 

March 5, 2018
9:45 p.m. 

As you can imagine, it has been a long and stressful day. The College community has been through a difficult and unnerving ordeal, but we are very proud of the way that students, faculty, and staff responded.
 
We have heard from a number of concerned students and parents looking for information and assurances. Our first and ongoing priorities are working with law enforcement as they conduct their investigation, and ensuring that students are safe and have access to appropriate support services. As much as time has allowed, we have personally reached out to students.
 
We understand that some may not agree with our decision to resume classes Tuesday. We feel that there is a need to provide structure and support for students. However, faculty members are encouraged to be supportive of and lenient with students who feel they are unable to attend classes or who need more time to process what has happened. Please be assured that law enforcement will have a continued presence on campus, and counselors in the Counseling Center are standing by to assist students.
 
On Tuesday morning, we will meet with senior administrators to develop a plan for communicating with and further supporting students faculty, and staff. Until then, we ask for your patience, and we offer our assurances that we are doing everything we can to identify the person or persons behind the threat and to ensure the safety of members of the College community.
 
Laura M. Casamento, President
John Johnsen, Senior Vice President and Provost
Jeffery Gates, Senior Vice President for Student Life and Enrollment Management
 

Leading By Heart

Heart Run & Walk Honorary Captain Samantha Miller '20 hopes to raise awareness for heart health at this year's event.

Heart health isn’t something Samantha Miller ’20 takes for granted. A sophomore majoring in criminal justice and minoring in sociology, Miller was born with a rare congenital heart defect called Dextrocardia Dextroposition. This means her heart is on the right side of her chest and is, essentially, turned backwards.
 
“I have gone to many heart doctors that have been amazed at what they see with a defect like mine,” says Miller, who wears a specialized heart monitor, similar to a pacemaker, which helps manage her heartrate and transmits real-time data to her cardiologist.

Though complications from her condition are common (like feeling faint or passing out), Miller is a typical college student—and this year, she’s the Honorary Captain representing Team UC in the 21st annual America’s Greatest Heart Run and Walk.
 
While the Walk is most commonly associated with heart disease awareness, Miller hopes her involvement in this year’s event helps bring attention to heart defects like hers—and raise funds for continued heart research.
 
“Research is so important,” she says. “It’s what allows doctors to find answers for me.”
 

More on this year’s Heart Run & Walk and opportunities to donate:

Team UC’s annual Pie-The-Coach is Wednesday, Feb. 28 in Strebel Lounge from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
 
The team is also selling T-shirts outside the Dining Commons from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday and Thursday.
 
The Heart Run and Walk will kick off on Friday, March 2, with a Health and Fitness Expo in the Harold T. Clark Jr. Athletic Center from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
 
UC will also host the WKTV Telethon and the WIBX Radiothon. The Telethon will be Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Radiothon will be Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Both will be held in the Harold T. Clark Jr. Athletic Center.
 
On Saturday, March 3, UC will host the 30k run, 10-mile run, 5-mile run, 3-mile run, 5-mile walk, and 3-mile walk.
 
Learn more or donate here. 
 

UC To Add Additional Student Housing

Construction set to begin in spring, summer 2018 for fall 2019 occupancy.

Utica College needs more student housing.

“It’s a good problem to have,” said Dr. Jeffery Gates, senior vice president of Student Life and Enrollment Management.

The plan calls for three student residence buildings, which will have apartment-style living spaces with four bedrooms each, two full bathrooms, kitchen with dishwasher and a washer and dryer in each unit. The three-story buildings will be located next to the tennis courts, near the Todd and Jennifer Hutton Sports and Recreation Center.

The project is a public-private partnership between the college, the Utica Municipal Housing Authority, and Albany-based BBL Construction Services.

For the past two years, UC has rented space at the nearby Ramada Inn for students, providing busing to and from campus. The college has renovated and leased half of the hotel, in an area that is secure from the public and other hotel guests, Gates said.

“It has been our goal to bring those students back to campus,” Gates said.

Gates said the project will be funded by the housing authority and BBL. The total cost is estimated to be $13 to $14 million, which would be repaid through student housing rental monies. While details are stilled being worked out, Gates said the college plans to place resident assistants on each floor and an area coordinator will live in the residence director apartment, adjacent to a common recreation center. It is likely that the housing authority will have a role in the physical building maintenance.
           
The new buildings would be offered to juniors, seniors and graduate students. The college currently has seven residence halls on campus, including two buildings for freshmen.

Pending proper approvals, the college and partners hope to break ground in late spring or early summer, with fall 2019 occupancy. Plans also call for approximately 180 parking spaces.
 

Barrett Art Gallery to Feature Paintings, Poetry by Mona Brody

The exhibition will be on view Jan. 23 through Feb. 24, featuring 15 recent paintings and an installation of 64 abstract paintings and haiku poems from her series "The Colors of Silence."

The Edith Langley Barrett Art Gallery at Utica College is pleased to present “Mona Brody: In the Whisper of Silence,” the New Jersey-based artist’s first solo exhibition of 2018. The exhibition will be on view Jan. 23 through Feb. 24, featuring 15 recent paintings and an installation of 64 abstract paintings and haiku poems from her series “The Colors of Silence.”

There will be an opening reception on Friday, Jan. 26, from 4 to 6 p.m. It is free and open to everyone.

Through muted colors and text, Brody employs oil on canvas as her primary medium and the abstraction of objects found in nature as inspiration. Brody’s work suggests the sublime resulting from her exploration of the surface, writings, memory, personal history and the passing of time. The delicate interaction of neutral tones reveal a subtle presentation of the strange placed within the familiar.

At “Gallery Talk: Mona Brody,” there will be an opportunity to meet Brody, along with Donna Moran, dean of Pratt MWP School of Art, on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.

Brody earned an MFA in visual arts from Vermont College of Fine Arts, a master’s in art education from Massachusetts College of Art, and a bachelor of fine arts in printmaking from Moore College of Art & Design. Her work has been shown at The Painting Center in New York, the Montclair Art Museum, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and the New Jersey Center of Visual Arts. No stranger to the international art scene, she has also exhibited at the Boleslawiec Art Museum in Poland and Nanjing College of Art in China. She is represented by Carter Burden Gallery in New York.

The exhibition is organized by Megan Austin, gallery director. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. and there is no admission charge.

For more information, visit www.utica.edu/gallery.

About the Edith Langley Barrett Art Gallery at Utica College – Opening in November of 1980, the Barrett Art Gallery is dedicated to Edith Langley Barrett, a professor of English at Utica College from 1961 to 1973. Barrett led the way for the founding of the gallery, with the support of fellow faculty, and provided visual art engagement opportunities for the college community. An interdisciplinary space for the development of visual communication, the gallery presents three exhibitions of regional and national artists each academic year.

About Utica College – Utica College, founded in 1946, is a comprehensive private institution offering bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. The College, located in upstate central New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls more than 5,000 students in 42 undergraduate majors, 36 minors, 20 graduate programs and a number of pre-professional and special programs. For more information, visit www.utica.edu.
 

Utica College Offers Teacher Preparation Programs to Ease Teacher Shortage

Accelerated program allows aspiring teachers to secure full-time employment in local schools.

In response to an unprecedented teacher shortage in New York State, Utica College has created an accelerated Teacher Certification Program that allows aspiring teachers to secure full-time employment in local schools via an alternative pathway to certification.
           
The program was designed for those who hold bachelor degrees in high-need areas (English, French, social studies, Spanish, biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, mathematics or technology). Thanks to a partnership with more than 30 local schools, students who complete an intensive summer course of study and pass required teaching exams will earn the Transitional B Certificate and secure a full-time teaching job by fall 2018. Candidates then have up to five years to finish the remaining master's in education coursework under UC mentorship.
 
UC's program is a targeted response to the statewide teacher shortage, making it easier for aspiring teachers to fill vacant positions at schools with the highest need. With many area teachers at or near retirement age, the New York State Department of Education predicts that 32 percent of public school teachers will retire by 2022; New York State will need more than 180,000 new teachers per year over the next decade to meet growing student enrollment.
 
Utica College's program is one of only 17 in New York State offering the Transitional B teaching certificate, and the only program of its kind in Central New York.

“This program is ideal for people who are already in careers but want to make the switch to teaching,” says John Rowe, executive director of graduate admissions at UC. “It prepares teachers faster and gets them in classrooms where they're needed most."

UC's Teacher Education Program is now accepting applications for summer 2018.

CONTACT
Utica College Graduate Admissions 
John Rowe 
Director of Graduate Admissions 
jrowe@utica.edu 
(315) 792-3010

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VIDEO: Watch this WKTV NEWS story about the new program:

  WATCH VIDEO →

 

Building for the Future: UC's Construction Management Program Awarded State Funding

Regional Economic Development Council will support construction of new facility.

One of Utica College’s fastest growing majors will soon have a new home, thanks in part to Governor Andrew Cuomo's Regional Economic Development Council initiative.
          
On Dec. 13, Cuomo announced more than $755 million in economic and community development resources awarded through the 2017 Regional Economic Development Council competition, a statewide initiative designed to jumpstart the economy and create jobs. Utica College will receive $700,000 toward the construction of a stand-alone 15,000-square foot building on campus to accommodate the rising enrollment in the Construction Management major.

Located adjacent to Hubbard Hall, the modern, two-story facility will incorporate smart classrooms, instructional spaces and labs, and a multi-use auditorium, all with a modular design that allows for further expansion.

George Nehme, vice president for advancement at Utica College, said the total cost of the new facility is expected to be $4.1 million. Construction is contingent upon the balance of the money being raised, he said. The bulk of the funding will come from private philanthropy, Nehme said.

The construction management major offers a balanced focus on technical construction knowledge and the managerial, financial, and planning skills necessary for implementing construction activities. Since 2008, 100 percent of UC CM graduates have secured a job before they graduate.
           

Legendary Fans: Honoring Doris and Walter Miga

Doris and Walter Miga were UC basketball's most loyal supporters. Today, their sons are honoring their legacy with an exciting new project in Clark Athletic Center. 

Doris and Walter Miga’s legacy at UC runs deep.
 
For nearly 50 years, the couple was a fixture in the stands at UC basketball games. Doris, a Professor Emerita who taught sociology for 47 years, was known as “Mother Miga” to generations of student-athletes whom she mentored tirelessly with her signature “tough love” approach.
 
Walter, a former college basketball player himself, served as president of UC Sports Boosters; it wasn’t uncommon to find him working the popcorn machine outside the Clark Athletic Center gymnasium during halftime.
 
The UC basketball court, says their son Wester now, was the “center of their lives” for five decades. So it makes perfect sense that, in fall 2018, that very court will bear their names.
 
Longtime supporters of UC, the Migas’ sons, Wesley ’80 and Wester Miga ’76, wanted to give back in a way that would honor their parents’ legacy. Their generous gift will fund major upgrades to the gymnasium, including renovated seating. What’s more, the brothers have pledged to match dollar-for-dollar every gift made in support of the project. Construction will begin this summer, with a dedication ceremony unveiling the Miga Court in the fall. 
 
“This is exactly what our parents would have done if they were still with us,” says Wester. “Once we realized that, the decision to do it was an easy one.”

To learn more about the Miga Court project or to donate, contact Tim Nelson, tnelson@utica.edu, 315-792-3489.

Note: In a version of this story, which appeared on page 17 in the fall 2017 issue of Utica magazine, a quote from Wester Miga was incorrectly attributed to "Walter Miga." We regret the error.