Former NBA player Etan Thomas visited SUNY Oswego last Monday to lead a panel discussion and q&a about activism and media exposure within professional sports. The discussion was held at the Marano Campus Center auditorium as a part of the “I am Oz” Diversity Series.
“There’s this new surge of athletes using their voices and speaking out.” Thomas said.
Since Thomas’ retirement he has become a writer and a commentator, with a life devotion to advocating for social change on and off the court.
“I grew up admiring the athletes of the past,” Thomas said. “like Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali. Those were the athletes I have always admired (because of) the way they used their positions and platforms to be able to speak on different issues and create change.”
Several students attended the panel with many questions of discussion including players taking a knee during the national anthem, how athletes present themselves in the media, media criticism, and the evolution of social media use by players.
After the panel, students had an opportunity to purchase an autographed copy of Thomas’ book entitled “We Matter- Athletes and Activism.”
“I want them to read the stories of these different athletes who they admire seeing on the court or the field,” Thomas said, “by seeing the courage that they have and the passion that they speak with, and become inspired themselves to become activists in their own way.”
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SUNY Oswego: One of the Nation’s Top “Green Colleges”
The expression “Going Green” is not new to students at SUNY Oswego. The campus has been rated as being one of the top green colleges in the nation for another year in a row by “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 361 Green Colleges.”
A variety of environmentally friendly and energy efficient utilities are very much visible when walking around campus. The presence of facilities for bike commuters: bike storage/racks or lockers can been found near almost every building.
“I think the accessibility of the bike racks are a great part of the campus,” said senior Christopher Britts. “This year I live off campus and don’t want to waste my gas driving here everyday, like who wouldn’t want to be outside, it’s beautiful out this time of year here.”
Shuttle buses, sharing service cars: Zip-cars, and car charging stations on campus have tremendously helped the school, not only become more environmentally responsible, but give more mobile opportunities to students and faculty.
“The shuttle bus saved me from a lot of trouble during the winter when I had to travel from Seneca Hall to Shineman,” said junior Matthew Upright.
Oswego State is also one of few colleges that has a formal sustainability committee and a sustainability officer. The college also spends 13 percent of its food budget on locally grown or organic products for students.
SUNY Oswego also offers a minor in sustainability studies, and in recent years constructed buildings such as Richard Richard S. Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation; Rice Creek Field Station; and the Village has achieved LEED Gold certification: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The college has been designing their new facilities to meet this LEED standard since 2005, have definitely succeeded, and continues to do so. -
Funnelle Hall has it’s largest Funnelle-o-ween Party so far
The annual Funnelle-O-Ween party took place last Tuesday night at Funnelle Hall.
According to the organization, this year they have had the highest attendance so far, with activities that ranged from a haunted house to raffles or face painting. “I like the haunted house and the food the best,” says student Mikayla McGarry.
“You know, I mean, it’s definitely interesting to see a lot of people will have like different costumes and you see people from… we have a lot people in this school from different countries and stuff so they’ll have a different variety of costumes as well, something you may not typically see,” Resident Advisor Seth Prevratil says.
“We’ve been doing this program for, I believe, it’s four years now here in Funnelle. It’s basically just an alternative for the residents to have something fun to do for Halloween. The residents really seem to enjoy it every year, so this year we decided to make it bigger and better. We added a haunted house, there’s new activities like pumpkin painting, a donut eating competition… As a person, having a diverse amount of people come to the program is really awesome, especially being here like I said for my third year just seeing all different people come together as a community and get involved and just not in Hart or at whatever building they live in, but coming to Funnelle from different parts of campus,” says Emily Vogt.
Students had a spook-tacular this year, so if you were not able to attend “boockle” up for next year.
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Ailey II: Community Outreach Through Dance
by Lindsey Martin, WTOP10-TV reporter
Over half a century ago Alvin Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City, an organization committed to spreading messages of diversity through dance. His revolutionary choreography is perhaps most famously realized in dance masterpiece ‘Revelations’, a work born from Ailey’s own ‘blood memories’ of growing up in 1940’s rural Texas.
During the almost 60 year existence of The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, its members have traveled the world, performed for presidents and maintained their status as one of the most prestigious dance organizations in the United States of America.
Today, the messages behind Ailey’s choreography continue to be relevant and inspirational across a myriad of social contexts. In a modern word full of technologically induced hyper-stimulation and empty politicking, dance, primal and clear, cuts through the noise to profound effect.
Dedicated to spreading messages of cultural acceptance through extensive touring and public outreach, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II echo the legacy of their namesake.
Eleven years after The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was established, The Ailey School opened in 1969, and the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, now known as Ailey II, was founded in 1974. The Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble was established with the intention to provide the most promising students from the Ailey school the opportunity to tour and perform around the world.
Picked by Alvin Ailey himself, Sylvia Waters oversaw the creative direction of Ailey II for 38 years. Waters had come from studying dance at the prestigious Juliard School, before joining the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company as a dancer in 1968.
“I’d known Alvin for some time before I joined the company, and I’d seen the company grow during the first ten years of its existence. I was in school, but I saw those early performances at the WMHA as a student, and it was mesmerizing,” Waters reflects.
“Alvin was very, very supportive. I mean he was my mentor. I learned so much from him.”
Now Ailey II’s Creative Director Emeritus, Waters leads The Ailey Legacy Residency, educating college-level students on the technique and history behind Alvin Ailey’s creative heritage.
Khalia Campbell is a dancer in her first term with Ailey II. Formally a student at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and the Dance Theater of Harlem, Campbell became an apprentice for Ailey II prior to becoming a full-fledged member of the ensemble.
“Ailey is like a family. They want it to be in-house, so they like you to be in the school first and then you know, move your way up the ranks,” she explains.
At the time these interviews are taking place, Ailey II’s dancers and management are in their fourth and final week of a very physically demanding tour. They had performed in the Bahamas and 11 different states across the USA.
Troy Powell has been affiliated with the name Ailey since age 9. He trained at the Ailey school as a child, danced with Ailey II, and then The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Powell now holds the position of artistic director for Ailey II. Powell worked alongside Sylvia Waters for 15 years before becoming artistic director. “It takes time,” he says calmly. “Even as professional dancers we’re always working on our technique, we’re always working on our ability, and most of all we’re always working on ourselves,” said Powell.
One needn’t look much further than ‘Revelations’ to gain an understanding of Alvin Ailey’s original intentions for The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its various subsidiaries. The piece is laden with themes of poverty and racism, but also of strength, community and celebration.
“He grew up in the depression, so everything was at an all-time low,” tells Powell.
“He considered himself as living on the other side of the tracks where everything was just down and out, and his outlet was Revelations. His outlet was dance.”Perhaps this is the reason the choreography to ‘Revelations’ is passed on to each new generation of Ailey dancers, and is embraced by audiences around the world.
“We hope to really touch audiences,” says Powell.
“We hope to really change their perspective.”Ailey II performed to a sold-out Waterman Theater at SUNY Oswego on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
