Driving Change for Good
Global marketing expert Kwame Taylor-Hayford ’04 helps clients build their brands, champion activism, and shift perspectives on social injustice. By Kris Dreessen For more than a decade, Kwame Taylor-Hayford ’04 has helped global companies like Apple and Uniqlo develop their brands and positions in the marketplace — helping them develop their visual and communication strategies and what they want to be known for. He’s led efforts...
A New Style of Education Brings Courage — And Space Exploration
International student Nami Nishimura ’21 found her place among friends and in astronomy research. By Kris Dreessen Nami Nishimura ’21 worked in a Toyota factory for more than a year in Aichi, Japan, to earn money to study at Geneseo. She wanted to learn about and be a part of American culture, and she appreciated the style of U.S. higher education. “In Japan, education is a lot more passive,” says Nishimura. “Here, students are so...
Rising Temps at the Bottom of the World
Research in Antarctica by climate scientist Dana Veron ’95 has implications for people around the globe. By Robyn Rime One of the hottest spots for studying climate change right now is also one of the coldest. The vast ice sheet of Antarctica — the largest single mass of ice on the planet — is melting at a rate most scientists find alarming. That matters, in part because it signals a warming climate, but also because it...
How to: Steeped in Tradition
Tea sommelier Sara Silbiger Shacket ’98 shares the joy and how to make perfect cold brew. By Mat Johnson “I started drinking tea really young,” says Sara Silbiger-Shacket ’98. Some of Shacket’s earliest memories are of visiting her Eastern European grandparents, drinking tea around the table as a family. Her grandmother would drink tea with a sugar cube in her cheek to sweeten it, while Shacket would steal and eat the other cubes...
A World of Mentors for Geneseo Scholars
Gifts making a difference A two-year program builds women’s leadership skills through scholarships, internships and seminars with global leaders. By Carol Marcy Since 2014, the SUNY Global Affairs Leadership program, established by the Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women (JFEW), has awarded nearly $1.2 milllion in scholarships and stipends to 50 female scholars at Geneseo. As impressive as that dollar figure is, however,...
Geneseo Is a Peace Corps Powerhouse
The College is ranked No. 8 nationally for the number of alumni who volunteer in communities across the world. By Kris Dreessen In Kuli Kunda, The Gambia, families tend to their gardens with hand tools, and donkeys pull the plows. Everyone in the village knows each other. Peace Corps volunteer Declan Dwyer-McNulty ’17 served as an agriculture volunteer there, assisting with gardening techniques, tree-planting workshops and other...
Old Songs, New Life
Full Circle: Music apps and social media spur students to discover hits from decades past. By Mary-Margaret Dwyer ’20 Last fall, Nathan Apocada’s truck broke down on his way to work. So instead, he rode his longboard down the Idaho freeway and posted a 15-second video to TikTok of himself cruising, sipping Ocean Spray cranberry juice — and listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” Apocada quickly rose to fame, bringing Fleetwood Mac’s...
An American Goalie in Paris
Devin McDonald ’19 appreciated playing pro and finding his place in a European culture. By Brett Ford Of all the student-athletes in colleges around the nation, very few earn the opportunity to go pro. Former NCAA Division III Player of the Year and Geneseo men’s ice hockey goalie Devin McDonald ’19 was one of several former Knights to play professionally abroad. A few months after graduating from Geneseo with a degree in business...
The Negative Effects of Stereotyping
Subtle or direct, what society assumes about us changes our actions (for the worse). By Kris Dreessen Suppose an aspiring female chemist enters a high school competition, and before her presentation, she notes that most of the other participants are male. She remembers hearing at some point that “girls” aren’t supposed to be good at science. She knows she’s created an outstanding project, but these thoughts needle their way in and...