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.”

Reported by: Brian Doolittle

Tyler Hall, the home of the Theater and Art Departments at SUNY Oswego, has been closed for the past two years for remodeling. Shifting from Tyler Hall to Hewitt-Union was definitely a challenge for the Theater Department.

Theater student Taylor McCown spoke about how the Waterman Theater was the main theater where plays and musicals were at. She spoke about how shifting to the Hewitt-Union Ballroom was a challenge because they had to build their own stages when performing shows in there compared to Waterman Theater that had the stage set; just needing to set up the sets.

Instructor Greg Brewster has been associated with Tyler Hall ever since he was a student at SUNY Oswego. He spoke about how he went there as a student with lighting and sets in shows and he returned to Oswego with teaching in the same field.

Brewster also had some involvement with the remodeling of Tyler Hall. He spoke about where different things were going to go, such as lighting, and speakers in the theater itself.

Everyone in the departments are definitely interested in seeing the different changes that Tyler Hall’s going to offer. Taylor spoke of how there’s supposed to be an extra row in the Waterman Theater as well as different extensions to make shows a lot more interesting. She said that although most of the Theater Department will be returning to Tyler, the Costume shop will be temporarily remaining in Hewitt-Union for a while.

Tyler Hall will be reopening this summer to begin the Fall 2016 semester.

Located in the heart of campus, just steps away from the Marano Campus Center and Cooper Fitness and Dining, lies the nine floor building Funnelle Hall.

Built in 1965, Funnelle is home to over 400 SUNY Oswego students.

SUNY Oswego announced they will be doing major renovations to the building, starting at the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester. Students living in Funnelle Hall will need to relocate once construction is started.

Renovations will be finished for the 2020 Fall semester.

According to Funnelle Hall RA Charlie Chapman, he doesn’t see the construction being an issue for students. 

“I don’t think it will be too hard on them. They’ll probably just move out, they’ll probably have the same roommate. They’ll just be somewhere else, depending on where they have classes it might be a further walk but it should be fine,” said Chapman.

Student Jason Lin has aspirations about what the renovations will consist of.

“I think for Funnelle Hall they should renovate the kitchen area, and the lounges to make them more modern and more spacious for people to hang out in,” said Lin.

For the students moving to new dorms, once the renovations are done they will likely be able to relocate back to Funnelle, and enjoy its updates.

This project is expected to be a great improvement for SUNY Oswego, and will surely put the “fun” in Funnelle.