Oswego, NY — With many Oswego students coming to Oswego from different parts of New York and other states, events like Friends and Family Weekend are a good way for residents to have their home come to them, and for their families to see their home away from home. 

As a celebrated tradition at SUNY Oswego, students are able to reunite with loved ones, and show them what the Oswego community has to offer. 

For some students, it is an exciting way to show their family the accomplishments they’ve made so far. Students Anyissel Hernandez and Breanna Walker have done exactly that. 

“I really miss them so when they come here I feel like supported and everything. Like it’s just nice to see them, hang out with them, just to see how I’m doing,” said Hernandez. 

As for the family and friends, it’s a good way to see how their student has settled in to SUNY Oswego, as well as becoming familiar with the campus and town. 

One family, the Minor, Callender, and Hechanova family, a blended family from New York City were excited to see some Oswego favorites. 

“We checked out the lake, the barbershop, yeah. Walmart,” said the family. 

One of the activities for the weekend, the Oswego Men’s Hockey Exhibition Game against Nazareth. 

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes, we are going to check the hockey game out,” the family said. 

A two-decade tradition, Friends and Family Weekend opens up opportunities not only for students, but for those who are unfamiliar with the town of Oswego. 

Between learning about Oswego staples and the exciting hockey games, for one weekend, the Oswego communities grows just a little bit bigger. 

“Go Lakers!”

The Student Association held their weekly meeting of the Senate Tuesday evening, marking the third one of the Spring semester. The number of senators required for the meeting to start was met, and following the approval of the meeting agenda and minutes, the meeting was well under way.

New Student Association Vice President, Shelby Gallaro had an exciting first meeting in  her new position as she controlled the meetings agenda due to the absence of new SA President Emily Nassir, due to her attendance at a conference in Boston. After calling the meeting to order, Gallaro introduced the first guest to the Senate of the evening, the SUNY Oswego Counseling Center. The Counseling Center presented at the SA meeting, to introduce themselves and explain the services they offer on campus. Located in the Mary Walker Health Center, they are dedicated to getting students the best care and help they can. The Counseling Center helps students deal with everything from short term grief to personal issues one might be having in a relationship or at home. They also informed senators of their hours of operations, 8:30am-4:00pm Monday through Friday, and their crisis hotline, which allows students to talk to trained and professional counselors if they need help when the center is not open. The Counseling Center also explained their confidentiality policy which guarantees students that the information they talk about/reveal will be kept confidential, unless the information could potentially harm that person or others around them. They have been working with faculty and residence hall directors to train them and provide them with the ability to recognize when confidentiality needs to be broken. The Counseling Center is just one of the many resources available to students on campus to allow students to get the help they need.

The second guest to the Senate was the Future Alumni Network (FANS) on campus, who attended the meeting to inform senators of the program “Love a Donor Day”. This day allows students and the university to give back to those who have made donations to SUNY Oswego in the past year. FANS revealed that over $5.2 million was received in donations last year, which was a great help due to the fact that only 20 percent of the school’s costs is funded by the government. Senators were given the chance to write postcards to the donors thanking them for their support and donations which allow SUNY Oswego to be as great as it is.

American Sign Language club was the third and final guest to the Senate, requesting funds for their upcoming event in April. ASL is a newly funded club by the Student Association, and the club has been working hard to spread the word about this new club on campus. The goal of the American Sign Language club is to educate students on ASL, teach them how to speak the language, and make students more aware of their culture. They were requesting funds to help with an event taking place on April 18th on campus, which features comedian Keith Wann, who is a child of two deaf parents. ASL requested funds to help with the costs for refreshments, ticketing for the event to monitor how many people can attend, and interpreters for the event. They are also holding their own fundraisers at Fajita Grill and Friendly’s to help offset the cost of the event. Two senators offered to help write the bill for the budget, which will be proposed and voted on at a future meeting this semester.

With no public comment for the evening, the meeting moved swiftly into executive reports. Shelby Gallaro, SA Vice President gave SA President Emily Nassir’s report due to Nassir’s attendance at a conference in Boston. Nassir is currently and continuously working on her first project as President SA Assembly, which will be a monthly meeting allowing SA to talk with all the organizations on campus to grow a better connection and provide help if and when they may need it. Following Nassir’s executive report, Gallaro gave her first executive report as SA Vice President. She revealed that she is very excited and honored to be working with SA and the Senators and is looking forward to serving as their Vice President. Gallaro encouraged all senators to attend a workshop SA is holding on Friday in Marano 102, which will feature a former SA President who will share his experience in SA and offer advice to the senators. Finishing her executive report, Gallaro provided senators with information on SUNY Day, an advocacy day in Washington DC on capitol hill. This will give students the opportunity to address and meet their congressmen and congresswomen as well as the chance to network and promote legislative advocacy. Gallaro moved onto the Director of Finance report, but due to the absence of Matthew Peters, no report was given.

In committee reports, the Rules and Judiciary, Finance and Involvement committees informed the senators of their position in the Student Association. Rules and Judiciary serve SA by looking over the code, constitution and bylines as well as reviewing the elections of SA positions. Finance committee’s purpose is to review the funds requested from SA by student organizations, as well as keep tabs on the budget SA is allocated each year. Finally, the Involvement committee serves to inform students on what SA is and how they impact the decisions made on campus. The Student Association Involvement committee can be seen tabeling in the Marano Campus center several times each month.

Hall Council Reports followed committee reports, where representatives of several residence halls shared programs being developed or taking place in their halls. Johnson Hall revealed the are currently working on putting together a speed dating event for students in their hall. Cayuga Hall is currently hosting weekly/bi weekly movie nights, the first one taking place this Thursday night. Funnelle hall has decided to change their hall council meeting time in order to accommodate as many students as possible. The hall is also working on organizing and hosting a male beauty pageant. Oneida hall shared the last hall council report and reminded senators of their red carpet event taking place this Friday at 8pm. Students will be given the opportunity to walk down a red carpet, take photos with friends, and enter a bessed dressed contest.

There were no special orders for the evening, however, there were four general orders due to last meetings time constraints. The first order of the meeting was to vote on the proposed budget for Model United Nations, to provide them with funds to help them attend their conference and promote their new club. The bill for Model UN passed and these funds will help this new organization expand and help with their expenses for the semester. Ecology Club’s proposed budget was the second bill to be voted on for the evening. The club requested funds to help with the costs of their end of the year Whale watching trip, guest speakers that attend their meetings and bird feeders and seeds to maintain the ones currently in the Lagoon on campus. The requested funds was cut down prior to the construction of the bill, due to discrepancies with budgeting for their end of the year trip. Upon voting, the budget passed by general consent and the funds will allow this growing club with their costs for the semester. The third bill to be voted on for the evening was the budget for the Table Tennis Club. The Women’s team is expected to attend the Women’s Ping Pong Tournament in Ontario Canada. Funds were requested to help with travel and hotel costs.The budgeted bill was voted on and passed. This was an expense that the Table Tennis Club did not expect for the semester, but are extremely proud of the women’s team for making it into the tournament and are excited to see their teammates showcase their skills, hard work and dedication. Brothers and Sisters in Christ was the fourth and final bill to be voted on for the evening. The organization requested funds to help with costs for their trip to Basiccon in Rochester in April, a new banner that effectively promotes their organization and a new drum they use at their weekly meetings for worship. Students attending to trip to Rochester are required to pay a fee, however due to 38 students attending the conference, BASIC needed additional help with the hotel and travel fees. The budgeted bill was voted on and was passed with 22 senators in favor.

Tuesday night’s meeting came to a close following the passing of all the proposed budgeted bills. The Student Association has their weekly meeting of the Senate on Tuesday nights at 6pm, in Lanigan 106. All meetings are open to the public and students are encouraged to attend to express any views or concerns they may have.