The SUNY Oneonta men’s track & field team has earned a top-10 ranking in Division III for the first time in the program’s history. The Red Dragons are No. 9 in this week’s U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll. The men have been ranked in the top 25 all season long, making the jump into the top 10 after climbing to No. 11 last week.

“We are thrilled about this week’s national rankings, as it has taken a total team effort to achieve this,” said head coach Matt LoPiccolo. “We are taking nearly 40 student-athletes to the ECAC Championships, which is the most in program history. It has been quite a year for all the women and men.”

Leading the men in the individual rankings is senior Sean Bernstein, who is currently at No. 2 in both the 100m and 200m dash events. Bernstein is the defending outdoor champion in the 200m, and he finished second in the 100m dash last spring.

Bernstein, along with the freshman trio of Joe Carr, Jake Alviene and Thomas Wheeler, are currently running third in the 4x100m relay. Carr and Alviene are also eighth and 20th, respectively, in the 200m dash.

Sophomore Patrick Weinert sits in the 11th spot nationally in the hammer throw. The 2013 SUNYAC champion in the event had a huge personal best throw this past weekend at the Oneonta May Meet. Weinert soared past his school record in the event by nearly 10 feet in winning the event last Saturday, recording a distance of 57.89m (189′,11”).

The men and women will have one final weekend of competition to try and qualify for the NCAA Division III championships next week at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. They’ll compete in the 2013 ECAC Division III championships beginning tomorrow at Springfield College. The championship will conclude late Friday afternoon.

The Class of 2013 will be honored at SUNY Oneonta’s 124th commencement on Saturday, May 18. The college will offer two ceremonies in the Dewar Arena of the Alumni Field House, one at 10 a.m. and one at noon. Depending on their majors, students will attend one of the ceremonies. Following each of the ceremonies, the graduates and their guests will participate in one of several divisional ceremonies, where individual diplomas and awards will be presented.

A total of 1,618 students are expected to be awarded degrees. More than 1,000 will participate in the annual ceremony, which will include graduates who completed the requirements for bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and certificates of advanced study in the summer or fall of 2012 or the spring of 2013.

Live web streams of both commencement ceremonies will be available online. It is recommended that those planning to tune in test the web link on their browsers prior to commencement day.

College President Nancy Kleniewski will offer the welcome and introduction of honored guests, and College Council Chair Patrick Brown will greet the assembly. President Kleniewski and Provost Maria Thompson will present SUNY Chancellor’s Awards to seven SUNY Oneonta faculty and staff. Council Chair Brown will join President Kleniewski in presenting an honorary SUNY doctorate to ESPN National Correspondent Sal Paolantonio, who will address the graduates.

Senior class President Karina McKitrick will present remarks. Karen Brown, past president of the college’s Alumni Association, will greet the college’s newest alumni.

Music for the ceremonies will be provided by the Catskill Brass under the direction of Carleton Clay. Selections will include the premier performance of “Recessional, Oneonta, 2013,” an original piece composed by Clay and dedicated to the Class of 2013. The Mohawk Valley Frasers will provide bagpipe music for the processional. Vocalist Megan Harrington of the Class of 2013 will lead the audience in singing the national anthem and the alma mater. SUNY Oneonta Distinguished Service Professor Gretchen Sorin of the Cooperstown Graduate Program will serve as the mace bearer.

More information on commencement, including details on parking and locations for divisional ceremonies, are available online.

Seven faculty and staff members at SUNY Oneonta have been named recipients of the 2013 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence.

President Nancy Kleniewski and Provost Maria Thompson will present the awards during the college’s commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 18.

Susan Bernardin, professor of English and chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, will receive the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities.

Nathan Gonyea, associate professor in the Educational Psychology, Counseling and Special Education Department, and William Walker, assistant professor in the Cooperstown Graduate Program, will receive the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Professor of History William Simons will receive the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.

Joanne Curran, associate dean of the Division of Education, and Kathy Meeker, director of the Grants and Development Office, will receive the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service.

Music Department Secretary Kay Gale will receive the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service.

Chancellor’s Awards recognize consistently superior achievement and commitment to sustaining intellectual vibrancy, advancing the boundaries of knowledge, providing the highest quality of instruction, and serving the public good.

Two SUNY Oneonta faculty members are among four recipients of the 2013-14 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Internationalization, which encourages the establishment of new and innovative study abroad programs in less commonly traveled destinations and the exploration of underrepresented academic disciplines in study abroad.

Robert Compton, Chair of the Department of Africana and Latino Studies, received the award for “South Africa and the Quest for Justice and Social Cohesion: 20 Years after the End of Apartheid.” Compton is collaborating with R. Neville Choonoo (Africana and Latino Studies and English) on the program, which is scheduled to take place next spring.

Maria Montoya, Assistant Professor of Spanish, was recognized for “San Andres Island Teaching Abroad Experience (Colombia).” Last spring, 20 SUNY Oneonta students traveled to the Colombian island of San Andres during a unique field course that combined cultural study with service learning. Montoya collaborated with Carol Dean (Foreign Language Education) to design the course, which was open to students in all class years and academic majors, and participants ranged from fluent speakers to students who didn’t know a word of Spanish.

Coordinated by SUNY’s Office of Global Affairs, the top proposals for this award were selected by a committee of SUNY campus representatives from applications submitted from across the state. Award recipients will receive funding of $4,000 to support their respective program and to make the cost of participation more affordable to students. Forty one projects have been selected as recipients of the Chancellor’s Award for Internationalization in the course of five competitions over the past decade.

The SUNY Oneonta Music Department’s Performance Practice Workshop will present “BED FELLAS,” a new musical comedy written by 2002 SUNY Oneonta graduate Omri Schein, on Saturday, May 11. The performance, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 2 p.m. in the Music Department’s performance space, Room 201 in the Fine Arts Center on campus.

Schein wrote the book and lyrics for “BED FELLAS,” which features music by James Olmstead and additional material by Andrew Smith. SUNY Oneonta’s production is staged by voice instructor Colby Thomas, with accompaniment by Kim Paterson. Schein describes the show as “a quirky, contemporary musical comedy about two men who are so bored with their lives in suburbia that they arrange to swap wives—without the wives knowing.” The cast features SUNY Oneonta students Jacob Wansor, Jared Barton, Amanda Vogue, Megan Harrington, Mark Durkee and Samantha Nugent.

Preceding the new work will be a “Curtain Raiser” showcase of contemporary musical theater songs of the late 20th and early 21st century, featuring students Rosalee DeHuff, Cristián LaBoy, Leigh Ann Muscalrella, Jason Pacuk, Lowhency Pierre, Melissa Trainor and Katherine Wansor, with special guest Steve Fabrizio. A former SUNY Oneonta student who played Judas on a major national tour of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and was understudy for the original Jekyll/Hyde in the Frank Wild Horn Broadway musical by the same name, Fabrizio has re-matriculated as a Theatre major after having been a student at the college in the late ’70s early ’80s.

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Daniel Chambers

Daniel P. Chambers has been appointed to the position of University Police Chief. His appointment follows a national search. Chambers has been serving the department as interim chief for nearly a year. Since May of 2012, he has been filling in for Dr. Barton Ingersoll, who has been on leave from the college.

“I am truly excited and looking forward to this new venture in my life,” said Chambers. “I have the utmost respect for the University Police Department and the members here at Oneonta. I consider the members of this department among the most professional that I have ever worked with. The Oneonta community, and especially the SUNY Oneonta community, is such a close-knit group. They have been very supportive and accepting of me since my arrival, and I look forward to developing these and creating other relationships in the future.”

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Two SUNY Oneonta music ensembles will team up to present a free concert on Monday, May 6. The Brass Ensemble and the Chamber Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Hunt Union Ballroom on the college’s campus.

The Brass Ensemble is directed by Music Departrment lecturer Ben Aldridge. The Chamber Orchestra is conducted by Orlando Legname, professor and chair of the Music Department. The program will feature Beethoven’s “Coriolan Overture” and Ney Rosauro’s “Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra,” featuring Assistant Professor of Music Julie Licata as a guest soloist.

The concert is free, and all are welcome. Neither tickets nor reservations are required. For more information, call (607) 436-3415.

The SUNY Oneonta Secondary Education Department presented Awards for Exemplary Service to eight area educators during the 20th annual Celebration of Teaching Reception on Thursday, April 25, in the Craven Lounge of the college’s Morris Conference Center. Part of National Teacher Appreciation Week, the reception also recognized all area teachers who have contributed their time and expertise to the college’s Secondary Education program.

Recipients of the 2013 Awards for Exemplary Service are:

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“Into the Streets,” the annual day of service sponsored by SUNY Oneonta’s Center for Social Responsibility and Community, will take place Saturday, May 4, with approximately 600 SUNY Oneonta students teaming up with community volunteers at 45 sites throughout Otsego County.

The student-led day of service will begin at 9 a.m. with a breakfast at SUNY Oneonta’s Chase Gymnasium and a send-off by college President Nancy Kleniewski. Fifty SUNY Oneonta teams will travel to assigned sites in Oneonta, Laurens, Milford, Cooperstown and Edmeston, where they will spend up to six hours in volunteer activities such as painting, cleaning and window-washing at nonprofit agencies, schools and churches; clean-up at area parks and trails; and landscaping at a variety of organizations.

Into the Streets is being coordinated by SUNY Oneonta students Stephanie Aquino, Lourdes Paulino and Peter Lacell with support from Center for Social Responsibility and Community student staff members Lyn Jeanty and Susie Salce.

SUNY Oneonta’s Center for Social Responsibility and Community provides students with a variety of volunteer and service-learning opportunities throughout the year. More than 20 percent of the SUNY Oneonta student body participates in community service activities ranging from annual events — such as Freshman Service Day and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life — to regular commitments such as working at the Saturday’s Bread and Lord’s Table community feeding programs.

More information about Into the Streets is available from Linda Drake, director of the Center for Social Responsibility and Community, at (607) 436-2633 or csrc@oneonta.edu.

The Global Poverty Project will give a multimedia presentation titled “1.4 Billion Reasons” on Wednesday, May 1. The program, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. in Lecture Hall 1 of the college’s Instructional Resource Center.

The Global Poverty Project is a nonprofit organization with the mission of increasing the number and effectiveness of people taking action to see an end to extreme poverty. The Global Poverty Project works in partnership with charities, community groups and organizations across the country to campaign for government, business and consumer action that will create important systemic change for the world’s extreme poor, and to build a movement that engages and educates people, and supports them to take simple but effective individual actions for change.

Four Global Poverty Project members will visit SUNY Oneonta to present “1.4 Billion Reasons,” which explains the facts of extreme poverty and provides audiences with the information and tools they need to take effective action against it.

This event is part of “Through Each of Our Voices: Narratives on Diversity, Inclusion and Community,” a yearlong series of activities supported by an Explorations in Diversity and Academic Excellence grant from the State University of New York’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

More information is available from Associate Professor of Human Ecology Karen Joest at (607) 436-2063 or karen.joest@oneonta.edu.