SYRACUSE
Manuscript

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY’S AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINO ALUMNI MAGAZINE

SPRING 2018 | VOL. 7 | NO. 1

REMEMBERING MLK 50 YEARS AFTER HIS ASSASSINATION


Image: Brandyn Munford ’18 and Anjana Pati ’18 presented Angela Rye with a ceramic platter created by
Professor Emeritus David MacDonald at SU’s 2018 MLK Celebration.



Contents 

From the ’Cuse...........................................................................2

Remembering MLK.................................................................3

Stith Leads Norfolk State.....................................................6

Fuller Creates Endowment..................................................7

Vincent H. Cohen Sr. Honored with 
Named Scholarship.................................................................8

Paris Noir Endowment...........................................................9

Student Spotlight.............................................................10

OTHC Scholarship Donor List......................................12

Campus News...................................................................14

Alumni News......................................................................18

CBT Martha’s Vineyard..................................................26

Alumni Milestones.................................................................26

In Memoriam...........................................................................27

SYRACUSE
Manuscript
Office of Program Development
Syracuse University
900 South Crouse Ave
420 Crouse-Hinds Hall
Syracuse NY 13244-5040
315.443.4556
f: 315.443.5312
programdevelopment.syr.edu
pdevelop@syr.edu

RACHEL VASSEL ’91, Assistant Vice President, Program Development 
ADRIAN PRIETO, Director of Development, Program Development
ANGELA MORALES-PATTERSON, Assistant Director, Alumni and Donor Engagement, 
Program Development
SUSAN C. BLANCA, Administrative Specialist, Program Development
WRITER/EDITOR: Renée Gearhart Levy
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE: George Bain 
DESIGN: W. Michael McGrath
PROJECT MANAGER: Melanie Stopyra

Opinions expressed in Syracuse Manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily 
represent the opinions of its editors or the policies of Syracuse University.



FROM THE ’CUSE

Work to Do

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I turned on the radio 
in my rental car and heard our esteemed alumna 
Vanessa Williams ’85 singing, “I, I got work to do… I 
got a job, baby…,” which made me smile as I drove down the 
freeway to an alumni gathering. How apropos! 

That evening, the Office of Program Development was hosting a dinner for a group 
of entertainment industry alumni. Our guests were very accomplished individuals with 
insane schedules who were taking the time to connect with the University and one 
another. During dinner, we each shared stories about our SU experiences—in the middle 
of Beverly Hills! The conversation made me realize that Syracuse is indeed a special 
place to launch from, a place you never forget no matter how far you go. As the alumni 
shared their current projects, professional opportunities, business cards, and promises to 
connect again soon, it was evident that there is always a hunger for the SU connection. 
When we do our work together, our accomplishments can happen in bigger, faster, and 
more joyful ways. 

In the Orange Nation, past successes are never enough. We always have work to do. 
This April, the University unveiled a plaque in the Shaffer Art Building commemorating 
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to campus in 1965. Dr. King had an urgency about his 
work because he had dreams to bring into reality. Once he forever changed this country 
by achieving civil rights legislation, he moved on to the Poor People’s campaign tackling 
poverty in America—unfinished work that is relevant today. Fifty years following Dr. 
King’s assassination, we still have work to do. We must do more to ensure that we push 
for positive change and help those in our community who need a hand. 

In this issue of Manuscript, you’ll see many examples of black and Latino alumni 
success and, time and time again, there was a helping hand involved. Within the Office 
of Program Development, we pride ourselves on being that helping hand for many alumni 
and students. 

As esteemed alumni of Syracuse University, I urge you to take full advantage of all that 
comes with that accomplishment, that gift. Whether you’re a recent graduate or starting 
your second career, we’re here for you. Allow us to be your helping hand, your connection 
point to the University and to other alumni for the information, funding, or relationships 
you may need to find your next success. And as esteemed alumni, remember to give 
back in any way that you can—time, talent, or treasure. Give to OTHC, become a mentor, 
return to campus to speak with students. Contribute whatever you can offer. Participate 
however you can. We’re here for it!

As Dr. King once said, “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” Let’s 
honor him by doing just that—for the next generation of SU students of color and the 
greater community. That is the beauty and the privilege of our alumni connections at SU. 
We have work to do! 
 

With Orange Love,
Rachel Vassel ’91
Assistant Vice President, Office of Program Development \



50 YEARS
AFTER HIS ASSASSINATION, 
REMEMBERING KING AT SU

Image: Charles V. Willie G’57 with his Morehouse undergraduate classmate Martin Luther King Jr. at Syracuse University in 1965.

Morehouse Men

College classmate Charles V. Willie G’57 provided a vital link between 
Syracuse University and Dr. King.

April 4, 2018, marked 50 years since the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an
occasion, like the annual observance of his birthday in January, which prompted broad reflection
on his impact and legacy.

King’s death is still most deeply felt by those who knew the man
personally, a number that decreases with each passing year. One
of those is Charles V. Willie G’57, King’s classmate at Morehouse
College in Atlanta, the nation’s lone historically black college and
university for men.
Both King and Willie came to Morehouse younger than typical
college students, the result of a recruiting plan by Morehouse
President Benjamin E. Mays to keep the all-male college afloat
while much of the population of 18- to 22-year-olds was serving
in World War II. King was just 15, having skipped his senior year
of high school. Willie, who started school at the second-grade
level because his mother had taught him how to read, was 16.
King and Willie were friends as undergraduates and shared many
classes, as both were sociology majors. And both men shared gifts
as prolific writers and powerful speakers.
Mays urged Morehouse men to be “sensitive to the wrongs,
the sufferings, and the injustices of society” and to “accept
responsibility for correcting these ills.”
“Mays made us think we had something in the world to do,”
Willie told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this year. “It
was a wonderful experience.”
Morehouse men were encouraged to pursue graduate degrees.
King, whose father was pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist
Church, graduated from Crozier Theological Seminar in Chester,
Pennsylvania, and earned a doctorate from Boston University.
Willie, who was class president during his junior and senior years,
earned a master’s degree from Atlanta University and a Ph.D. in
sociology from Syracuse.
Willie, now 91, joined the Syracuse faculty as a sociology
instructor in 1952 while a doctoral student. In 1960, he was
named assistant professor of sociology and anthropology and
senior research associate of the University’s Youth Development
Center. Willie’s groundbreaking research encompassed issues of
social justice—including desegregation, poverty, housing policy,
and the experience of black students at “white” colleges.
King, by then co-pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and
The American president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, had
become an activist, leading nonviolent integration efforts across
the South.
In 1961, Willie reached out to King on behalf of Syracuse
University to invite him to speak on campus. On July 13, 1961,
King spoke at the 10th annual Summer Sessions dinner. Hailed by
The Daily Orange as “the South’s Gandhi,” King gave a talk titled
“The American Dream,” a foreshadowing to his iconic “I Have a
Dream” speech two years later in Washington, D.C.
“I choose this subject because America is essentially a dream;
it is a dream of a land where men of all races, of all nationalities,
and of all creeds can live together as brothers,” King told those at
the dinner.
Regarding racism and segregation, “There are those people
who argue that time alone will solve this problem. And so they
say, ‘You must not push things, you must be patient, you must sit
down and wait,’ and sometimes they decorate it in even larger
terms: They say cool off for a while. ... Well, they forget to realize
that time is neutral. It can be used constructively or destructively.
... It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation,
not just for the vociferous words and vitriolic words of the bad
people but for the appalling silence of the good people who are
sitting around, waiting on time. …
“Even though there are the difficult days ahead, even though
before the victory is won, somebody else will have to get scarred
up, somebody else will have to go to jail, maybe some will have to
face physical death. ... But even in the midst of that, the struggle
must go on, knowing that the victory can be won.”
In a letter to his former classmate the following month, Willie
hailed King’s remarks as “a fresh interpretation of the meaning of
our contemporary efforts to eliminate oppression ... designed not
only to set a people free but redeem a nation. I think Syracuse
got the message.”
King returned to Syracuse four years later, by then a Nobel
Prize winner, to speak at the same event at Willie’s invitation. In
his introduction of his old friend, Willie described King as both a
“suffering servant” and, prophetically, as “a marked man.”
He told the audience that If he ever had a
son, he’d name him Martin—in honor of
philosopher and activist Martin Buber,
whose life was devoted to reconciling
peace in the Middle East, and
Martin King, “whose life is
devoted to reconciling Negroes
and whites.”
In a message titled “The
Time Is Always Right to Do
Right,” King railed against
the evils of discriminatory
housing and employment
policies and proposed ending
the scourge of poverty with
a national bill, modeled after
the GI Bill, that would provide a
minimum level of subsistence to
every family in America. “All families
earning less than subsistence would be
required by law to receive in direct payments
the gap between a family’s actual annual income and
the subsistence floor,” King proposed to the sold-out crowd.
“In addition, there must be a program of free quality education
and training plus broad health services so that the limited family
income would not be expended for these essential needs.”
Afterward, Willie and his wife, Mary Sue, drove King to the
airport. As they waited for his plane, Mary Sue Willie recalls King
looking over and asking if she was pregnant. She was, although
she hadn’t yet told her husband. And their son was named Martin
Charles.
Willie was chair of SU’s Department of Sociology in April
1968. News of King’s assassination rocked both the campus
and the Syracuse community. Two days later, more than 2,000
mourners filled Syracuse’s First Baptist Church to eulogize King.
Willie spoke out against those who would seek revenge for the
death of King. “Revenge can only desecrate the memory and
dissipate the spirit,” Willie told those assembled. “One can learn
how to love more.”
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
—Martin Luther King Jr.
On the day of King’s funeral, classes were canceled at Syracuse
University and at Syracuse city schools. Charles and Mary Sue
Willie flew to Atlanta to attend the funeral, held at Morehouse
College. “It was a funeral unlike any funeral I had seen before,”
Willie wrote of the crowd of 150,000 that assembled in Atlanta.
“Truly, it was a festival.”
Looking back, Willie says that while King was a “good student”
in college, he never dreamed King would become leader of the
civil rights movement, demonstrate such courage, or would
become one of history’s most honored figures. “He taught me to
recognize that greatness comes not from striving to achieve it but
from giving up advantages,” Willie said in 1984.
Willie had his own illustrious career. At Syracuse, he was the
first African American department chair, first African American
full professor, and first African American vice president, serving
as vice president for student affairs from 1972 to 1974.
Throughout his tenure, he supported and advocated for students
of color, and counseled faculty and administration in negotiation
of controversial issues, including the student takeover of the
administration building in 1970 and the boycott of the Syracuse
Eight.
In 1974, Willie left Syracuse for Harvard, becoming the
first African American full professor in the Graduate School of
American Dream
Education. Retired from his post as the Charles William Eliot
Professor of Education, he remains professor emeritus.
Willie, who holds 12 honorary degrees, wrote more than 100
articles and 30 books on race, education, and urban communities
during his career as an applied sociologist who focused on solving
social problems. He also served as a consultant, expert witness,
and court-appointed master in major school desegregation cases
in the United States and once was the highest lay official in the
Episcopal Church in America, stepping down in 1974 to protest
the church’s refusal to recognize women as priests.
Chuck and Mary Sue raised three children: Sarah, professor of
sociology and anthropology and provost at Swarthmore College;
Martin, an architect; and James, who earned an M.P.A. from SU’s
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 1998, works
in government, and serves on the Maxwell School’s Board of
Advisors.
At SU, Willie’s legacy lives on through the Charles V. Willie
Distinguished Lecture series, founded by the Department
of Student Affairs in 2003. He also
received a George Arents Pioneer Medal
in 2000, and last year, was honored
by Chancellor Kent Syverud with the
Chancellor’s Citation for Lifetime
Achievement.
The Syracuse University community
observed the 50th anniversary of
King’s assassination with the unveiling
and dedication of a plaque on April
4 commemorating King’s 1965
visit to campus and affirming SU’s
commitment to foster and support a
diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus
community.
“Dr. King’s visit to Syracuse came at a
pivotal time in the history of the country
and the civil rights movement,” says
Syverud. “It was just a few weeks after that visit that President
Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. This
plaque is a testament to Dr. King’s faithful pursuit of justice,
and it affirms the University’s own commitment to access and
opportunity for all.”
As we remember King, look to Willie’s own Martin Luther
King Day speech given at Harvard in 2002, when he cautioned
against mythologizing the civil rights giant. “By exalting the
accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. into a legendary
tale that is annually told, we fail to recognize his humanity—his
personal and public struggles—that are similar to yours and mine,”
said Willie. “By idolizing those whom we honor, we fail to realize
that we could go and do likewise.” \
“Everything that we see is a
shadow cast by that which we do
not see.”
—Martin Luther King Jr.


MLK Day at SU

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law as an American 
federal holiday by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and 
first observed three years later. 

The first Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance at SU was 
held in 1985, started by the Rev. Richard Phillips, former dean of 
Hendricks Chapel. 

“King was a religious figure, first and foremost,” says Phillips. 
“We had 18 different chaplains at SU. I wanted to create an 
atmosphere of what we could all join together in doing.” The first 
observance included a dinner with a keynote address by Dr. Paul 
Smith, who would go on to become the first African American 
pastor within the First Presbyterian Church. According to Phillips, 
“Those modest first sessions were held in the chapel and the 
Ernie Davis Room at the Carrier Dome.”

Beginning in 1989, due to efforts by students and the Black 
Faculty and Professional Staff Association, MLK Day was 
observed as a University holiday for employees with no classes 
scheduled. Through the years, the University’s MLK Celebration 
has grown substantially, becoming the largest on-campus event 
in the United States to honor King’s legacy.

The dinner program fills the floor of the Carrier Dome and 
includes presentation of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. 
Unsung Heroes Awards, which recognize individuals in the 
Central New York community and at Syracuse University who 
have made a positive difference in the lives of others, but are 
not widely recognized for their efforts, and a distinguished 
keynote speaker. This year, SU welcomed acclaimed political 
commentator Angela Rye. 

Rye, who was introduced by OTHC Scholar and SU Class 
Marshal Gerald Brown ’18, spoke on the theme of “From 
Intention to Impact.” 

“Our intentions can be very pure, but if our intentions 
never move us to real action, we’ve not done much,” she told 
the crowd. “If you want to honor Dr. King’s legacy, don’t just 
dream—work,” she challenged the audience. “If you want to 
honor Dr. King’s legacy, don’t just say woke—work woke. If you 
want to honor Dr. King’s legacy, don’t just fight for equality—
fight for equity. If you want to honor Dr. King’s legacy, don’t just 
pursue justice and love—pursue power and love. All power to 
the people.” \

To listen to an audiotape of King’s 1965 speech at 
Syracuse University, along with Willie’s introduction, 
visit https://vimeo.com/197430094

To watch Angela Rye’s speech at SU’s 2018 MLK 
Celebration, visit https://vimeo.com/253315356 



Melvin T. Stith G’73, Ph.D.’78 Named 
Interim President at Norfolk State

When he stepped down as dean of Syracuse University’s Whitman School of 
Management in 2013, Melvin T. Stith G’73, Ph.D.’78 was content to serve on 
corporate and nonprofit boards and enjoy retirement with his wife, Patricia.

That retirement was abbreviated on January 1, when Stith 
became interim president of their alma mater, Norfolk State 
University in Virginia.

“I would not have accepted this position at any other 
university,” says Stith.

“Norfolk State University is very special to Patricia and me, and 
I would assume any position that helps create a better NSU.”

Stith has a long history of involvement with Norfolk State, 
one of the nation’s largest historically black colleges, having 
served as a member of the University’s Foundation Board, as a 
member of the Board of Visitors since 2013, and as vice rector 
at Norfolk State since 2016. He graduated from Norfolk State in 
1968 with a B.S. in sociology. The Stiths have provided financial 
support for the Melvin and Patricia Stith Alumni House and the 
Obie and Mildred Lynch Endowed Scholarship at Norfolk State, 
and in 2015, Stith surprised his wife with a donation to name 
the Dr. Patricia Lynch Stith Success Center, used for tutoring and 
advising undergraduates at the school.

Stith says he is focusing on four specific goals during his tenure: 
creating a student-first environment; enhancing philanthropy; 
creating an atmosphere of shared governance with faculty; 
and making sure Norfolk State’s economic contribution to the 
Hampton Roads area is understood and appreciated.

He will draw from his experiences at the Whitman School and 
as dean of the business school at Florida State University.

“I learned how to build and trust teams to bring assigned tasks 
to successful conclusions and that students are the essence of 
any university,” Stith says. And most importantly, “Be positive and 
keep smiling.”

Stith was a member of Army ROTC at Norfolk State and served 
in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Command during the 
Vietnam War, achieving the rank of captain. He earned an M.B.A. 
and Ph.D. from SU’s former College of Business Administration, 
which he would come back to lead as the renamed Whitman 
School of Management in 2005. In his nine years as dean, he 
substantially increased philanthropy to the school and is credited 
with providing the support to start SU’s Institute for Veterans 
and Military Families, which grew out of the Whitman School’s 
Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities. He 
and Patricia, former assistant provost for equity and inclusion 
at SU, are longtime generous donors to the Our Time Has Come 
Scholarship fund. In 2013, they were awarded SU’s Orange 
Circle award in recognition of their altruism. \



Grateful for Her Own 
Scholarship, Dr. Linda 
Fuller ’76 Creates 
Endowment

More than most, Linda Fuller ’76, D.O., 
M.P.H., understands the impact 
a college scholarship can make 
on someone’s life. She attended Syracuse 
University on a full-tuition scholarship and 
then earned a Health Professions Scholarship 
from the U.S. Navy to attend medical school 
at the Oklahoma College of Osteopathic 
Medicine and Surgery.

Now, she wants to pay that forward through the Linda Fuller 
Scholarship in the Our Time Has Come program. “I’d always 
thought this was something I’d do through my estate, but I realize 
how much harder it is for low-income students to achieve a 
Syracuse education and so I made the commitment to do it now,” 
she says.

After a 30-year career as a Navy psychiatrist, Fuller is on staff 
at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) at Walter 
Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, 
a unique, multidisciplinary center opened in 2010 to treat 
traumatic brain injury and the psychological health of active duty 
service members. 

“I believe post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) manifests 
differently in individuals who have been deployed multiple 
times,” says Fuller. “Those in combat areas have witnessed 
otherworldly events and lost many friends, so grief management 
has complicated the treatment of PTSD in a way I had not seen in 
the first 20 years of my Navy career.”

Active duty service members who have suffered all kinds 
of head injuries are referred to NICoE, where they undergo a 
comprehensive four-week evaluation from an interdisciplinary 
team of physicians and other providers, including sleep 
specialists, social workers, audiologists, physical therapists, 
art and music therapists, recreation therapists, and mind-body 
practitioners.

“The goal of the NICoE assessment is for every service member 
to leave with extensive understanding of the condition of their 
different body systems, a treatment plan to further assist them in 
returning to their full health, as well as the mind-body tools that 
can help their nervous system heal,” says Fuller. She provides a 
psychiatric assessment to diagnose conditions such as anxiety, 
depression, and PTSD, as well as to help patients address and 
cope with stress and grief. 

“This is really my dream job,” she says.

When it came time to think about medical school, Fuller says it 
was natural for her to look toward the military to make it happen. 
Having grown up in a military family—her father was a Marine—
military medicine was what she knew. 

But when Fuller went to her local recruiting office, she was 
discouraged from applying. “The white Navy petty officer I 
encountered basically told me that the Navy didn’t need any 
female physicians,” she says. 

But Fuller had never been one to let hardship or obstacles 
stand in the way of her dreams. 

 “When I left for college, my family didn’t even have the money 
to take me,” Fuller recalls. “One of my high school teachers and 
her husband packed up their car and drove me to Syracuse.”

Once she got here, she hit the ground running. Despite 
being a pre-med major at Syracuse, Fuller had a well-rounded 
campus experience. She was a varsity cheerleader for two 
years—traveling to the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four in San 
Diego—a resident advisor for two years, and was on the charter 
line for Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. 

“My college years were so rewarding. I have always been 
grateful to Syracuse,” says Fuller, who was honored with a 
Chancellor’s Citation at CBT in 1992. “I hope to help others 
afford the education that Syracuse can provide and would 
encourage everyone to do what they can to give back.” \



Vincent H. Cohen Sr. ’57, G’60
Cohen Family Honors 
Vincent H. Cohen Sr. 
’57, G’60 with Named 
Scholarship

A native of the Bedford-Stuyvesant 
neighborhood of Brooklyn, Vincent H. 
Cohen Sr. ’57, G’60 came to Syracuse 
University on a basketball scholarship and 
was always acutely aware of the opportunities 
afforded him by his SU experience, both 
personally and professionally.

Cohen met his wife while in college, Syracuse native Diane 
Hasbrouck Cohen, and after graduating cum laude in 1957, turned 
down the opportunity to play in the NBA to attend law school at 
Syracuse on a full academic scholarship. He went on to become a 
prominent Washington, D.C., attorney, becoming the first African 
American partner at Hogan & Hartson and serving on boards 
ranging from the Washington Convention Center to the American 
Civil Liberties Union. He passed away in 2011 at age 75. 

Cohen had been a longtime supporter of the Our Time Has 
Come Scholarship Fund and was chair of the 1992 Coming Back 
Together alumni reunion. To honor his memory, the Cohen family 
is establishing the Vincent H. Cohen Sr. Scholarship at Syracuse 
University through OTHC. “I think he would be very pleased with 
the fact that we are helping other minorities achieve the education 
that was so critical for him to be successful,” says son Vincent 
Cohen Jr. ’92, G’95.

Throughout his life, Cohen stressed the importance of education 
to his three children. “He was a first-generation American—his 
mother was from St. Kitts and his father from Jamaica. His mother 
stressed education to him and he often said the only difference 
between him and some of the guys that grew up on his block was 
the fact that he was able to go to college,” says Vincent. 

It was a message that stuck. All three Cohen children are high 
achievers: Robyn Cohen Hudson, holds a B.A. from the University 
of Virginia, and an MBA in finance from American University. She 
is senior manager of curriculum and training at NeighborWorks 
America, a national nonprofit that focuses on affordable housing 
and community development. Professor Traci Cohen Dennis 
’90 is director of undergraduate teacher education at American 
University, where she received a master’s in journalism and public 
affairs in 1999, and will complete a doctorate in educational 
leadership and management at Drexel University this spring. 
Vincent followed in his father’s footsteps, earning a law degree at 
SU and making his own big footprints in the Washington, D.C., legal 
community. In 2016, he left his position as Acting United States 
Attorney to join the international law firm Dechert LLP as a partner 
in the trial, investigations, and security group. In his worldwide 
practice, he represents corporate clients in sensitive government 
and internal investigations, securities enforcement matters, 
Congressional inquiries and complex civil and criminal litigation.

“Syracuse was very important to my father,” says Vincent. “This 
scholarship is the perfect way to immortalize his name and to give 
back to the University that he loved.” \

Vincent Cohen Jr. ’92, G’95


Paris Noir Endowment Aims to Expand 
Study Abroad Opportunity for Students 
of Color

The 2014 Paris Noir cohort after a Black Paris tour with Monique Wells
In the summer after her sophomore year at 
Syracuse University, Natasha Benjamin ’11 
traveled to Paris as part of SU’s Paris Noir: 
Literature, Art and Contemporary Life in 
Diaspora, a unique study abroad experience 
that focuses on black culture in Paris, both 
historically and today. The experience 
changed her life. 

Paris Noir was created in 2001 by Janis Mayes, associate 
professor of African American studies. During the five-week 
program, a cohort of 12 to 15 students stays at an apartment 
hotel, meets daily at the historic Café de Flore (a favorite 
of author James Baldwin and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre), 
visits historical and cultural landmarks, and meets with artists, 
entrepreneurs, and other black Parisians about their life and 
identity in the City of Light.

“What does the ‘noir’ in Paris Noir mean as a metaphor, 
a concept, and an everyday experience? In what ways is it 
expressed in literature, the arts and the streets; and where does 
it swing throughout the world?” asks Mayes. Those are questions 
she challenges her students to consider during their time in Paris 
and beyond. 

During her own time in Paris, Benjamin came to realize that her 
personal and academic journey in the program was about how 
she could share what she learned with others. “How would I pass 
on the teachings of this lived experience to my Jamaican-born 
parents, to my next-door neighbor, to the students after me?” she 
says.

In an effort to make the Paris Noir experience accessible 
to more students, Benjamin spearheaded efforts to create an 
endowment to support students of color 
looking to study in Paris. In preparation for 
Coming Back Together 2017, she formed 
an endowment committee, including Paris 
Noir alumnae Na’Tasha Webb-Prather ’11 
and Kishauna Soljour ’13. Their goal is to 
raise $50,000 by 2019. 

Studying abroad is not a financial reality for many students. “As 
a student who attended Syracuse on scholarship, I know firsthand 
that without outside resources, traveling abroad while in college 
may not have been feasible,” says Webb-Prather, now the equity 
compliance investigator for the University System of Georgia. 
“Study abroad experiences are critical, especially for students of 
color as they compete in the global marketplace. This endowment 
will serve as an economic pipeline for students to experience the 
same life-changing summer I experienced in Paris.”

The lasting impact of this program is a shift the students make 
upon their return. Soljour participated in Paris Noir in 2012. 
She’s currently a doctoral candidate in the history department 
at the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Public Affairs at SU 
and has served as the teaching assistant for the program over 
the last three summers. “I watch young men and women grow 
intellectually, socially, and personally from this academic and 
cultural journey. They return to the SU campus critically engaged 
in their own academic work and community activism,” she says. 

More than 175 students from SU and other institutions have 
participated in Paris Noir since its inception. “While alumni of 
Paris Noir have been directly impacted by the program, it has 
been their ‘passing on’ of the knowledge gained that continues to 
broaden the legacy of the program,” says Benjamin, now a digital 
media professional and adjunct faculty at New York University

To learn more about the endowment and how you can 
contribute, visit www.facebook.com/suparisnoirendowment/. \

Image: Natasha J. Benjamin ’09, 2009 Paris Noir cohort and 2014 program teaching assistant 


STUDENTspotlight:

Anita Benn ’18

As a high school student in the Bronx, Anita Benn ’18 
visited the United Nations and became interested in 
working on girls’ rights at the global level. She had never 
heard the term “international relations,” but the first-
generation college student found her calling as a first-year 
student at Syracuse University in the course MAX 123 
Global Community. 

“The course was taught by four professors from four different 
departments. They would present an issue and then discuss it from 
different perspectives,” she explains. “I really engaged with that.”

After declaring her major, Benn set her sights on a study abroad 
experience. Her parents are from Ghana and she was particularly 
interested in experiencing the African diaspora outside of Africa. 
After a semester of Portuguese, she settled on Brazil. 

“It was a real immersion experience,” says Benn, who studied 
at a Brazilian university in São Paulo and lived in an apartment 
with Brazilian roommates and other cultural exchange students. 
She volunteered at a nonprofit, teaching English to low-income 
students. 

On campus, Benn has been a resident advisor for three years 
(including two summers) at Marion Hall, an experience she says 
has been great for “developing leadership experience and learning 
campus resources.” She’s also a McNair Scholar, a C-STEP 
Ambassador, and a peer educator for the Office of Health 
Promotion, working on sexual assault programming and dialogue 
surrounding the It’s On Us campaign.

Benn, the middle child in her family, followed her older brother, 
Stephen Benn ’17, to Syracuse. Stephen was an Our Time Has 
Come Scholar, something Benn admired and looked up to. “My 
first semester at SU was CBT, and my brother took me with him to 
all the events as his guest,” she recalls.

It was particularly meaningful to fill his shoes, being named an 
Our Time Has 
Come Scholar 
for 2017-18. 
“So this year I 
was able to experience CBT as a scholar myself,” says Benn, a 
recipient of the Delta Sigma Theta Scholarship.

“Coming back from being abroad, the financial support was 
particularly helpful, especially since my mother is disabled and 
unable to work,” says Benn. But just as important to her is being 
part of the OTHC community. “OTHC is beyond a scholarship, 
but provides a support system and professional development 
opportunities. There’s a bond between us.”

Benn says attending Syracuse has made her more ambitious. 
“After I was accepted, it lit something in me, like, what else can I 
do?” she says. “There are so many opportunities.” 

After graduation, Benn plans to return to a Portuguese-
speaking country to do development work.

She’s proud of the footprint she leaves behind. “I think my 
brother and I have made a big mark at SU as the Benn Family.” \



Ensonn Morris Jr. ’18

As consumers increasingly purchase clothing and other goods 
online, architecture student Ensonn Morris Jr. ’18 is attempting 
to redesign the marketplace we call shopping, by looking at the 
online experience and bringing it into the store. 

“I view architecture as something that should reflect the 
cultural values of daily life and be the design of human activity,” 
says Morris of his thesis project, the culmination of his five-
year program that will lead to licensure in architecture. “Human 
endeavor is what fuels my design goals.”

As a kid growing up in Philadelphia, Morris loved to draw 
and capture thoughts on paper. To balance his interest in 
sports, Morris’s mother enrolled him in Philadelphia’s Charter 
High School for Architecture and Design. The school’s college 
preparatory curriculum was augmented by a daily two-hour art 
studio.

“By senior year, there was a focus on industrial design, graphic 
design, and architecture,” says Morris, who was thrilled to be 
admitted to Syracuse’s architecture program, the only specific 
architecture program he applied to. 

He admits it was a tough adjustment. As a first-generation 
college student, he wasn’t aware of architecture’s reputation as 
an all-consuming discipline. “Coming in as an inner-city student 
without any credits to transfer, and having to take 18 credits per 
semester, the workload started to eat me up.”

Morris credits mentors for making all the difference. He says 
it was the example set by Ronald Taylor ’15, who showed him 
that he could pursue academic excellence and find balance with 
extracurricular activities. Morris pledged Alpha Phi Alpha, which 
he says helped him strive to be a better person while serving 
the community. He also got involved with the Cultural Project 
Rejuvenation, a community service initiative to get young men off 
campus into local neighborhoods to serve as mentors, and helped 
establish a chapter of the National Organization of Minority 
Architects (NOMA), serving as its president for two years. 

Morris says he hopes 
his Syracuse education 
and leadership 
experiences and 
internship experiences 
will help him land a job 
after graduation.

Morris spent a 
summer interning 
with the Philadelphia 
Housing Authority, 
while volunteering in 
Project Pipeline through 
NOMA, where he 
worked with another mentor, Tya Winn ’09, serving as a studio 
assistant at Temple University in a weekend program intended to 
introduce young boys and girls to the built environment.

Last summer, Morris interned in the Washington, D.C., office of 
Gensler, the world’s top architecture firm in size and revenue. “It 
was an amazing experience,” he says of the firm’s culture. 

And he’s thankful to the Our Time Has Come Scholarship 
program for helping him get there. Morris was named an OTHC 
Scholar in the fall of 2016, particularly good timing.

“I didn’t have to limit my thesis design for financial reasons,” 
he says. “Although the School of Architecture is very diverse, 
OTHC is a good way for me to stay in touch with the minority 
community.” \

To make a gift to the OTHC Scholarship Fund, visit

programdevelopment.syr.edu and click on the Give Now tab. 



Scholarship Program

LIST OF DONORS 


Gifts received for Our Time Has Come from 
November 21, 2017 - February 21, 2018

Giving Level of $5,000-$9,999

Class of ’74 Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Wesley C. Dias ’74
Ms. Gwynne A. Wilcox ’74

Giving Level of $1,000-$4,999

African American Accounting Alumni 
Endowed Scholarship
Ms. Michele Gayle ’87

Allman-Manning Vocal Music Memorial Endowed 
Scholarship
Mrs. Rosalyn Y. Allman-Manning ’75

Alpha Kappa Alpha Iota Upsilon Chapter Alumnae
1975 Legacy Graduate Endowed Scholarship
Ms. Jasmine Bellamy ’92 

Alpha Phi Alpha Delta Zeta Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Mark C. Darrell ’79 and Mrs. Vivian A. Darrell ’80

Black and Hispanic Architecture Alumni 
Endowed Scholarship
Ms. Colline E. Hernandez-Ayala ’89

Class of ’74 Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Tenzer V. Cunningham ’74

Connie Orlando ’89 Endowed Scholarship
Miss Constance M. Orlando ’89

Delta Sigma Theta Endowed Scholarship Fund
Mr. Milton Britton Jr. and Mrs. Lori J. Smith-Britton ’92
Mr. Mark W. Wright and Mrs. Heather Keets Wright ’92

Hispanic/Black Undergraduate Scholarship Gift Fund
Mr. Mark A. Jackson Sr. and 
Ms. Candace Campbell Jackson

Kappa Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Endowed 
Scholarship Fund
Mr. Victor B. Banks ’84

Major Grant Williams Memorial Scholarship
Ms. Dorothy Mae Givens 
Mr. Robert T. Robinson and Mrs. Carol Y. Robinson

Undergraduate Black and Hispanic 
Endowed Scholarship 
Col. Casper P. Jones III, USA Ret., G’89
Ms. Kimberly Kreitner ’88
Ms. Janice V. Long ’87
Mr. Haywood E. McDuffie and Ms. Sharon R. Barner ’79
Ms. Kisha L. Miller Esq. ’93
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Newborn II 
Mr. Oliver B. Quinn ’72
Mr. Paul E. Rowe ’80
Ms. Bettie H. Thompson ’71

Giving Level of $500-$999
Allman-Manning Vocal Music Memorial Endowed 
Scholarship
Mr. Ronald Crenshaw and Mrs. Evelyn Crenshaw
Mr. Ronnie Manning

Alpha Kappa Alpha Iota Upsilon Chapter Alumnae 
1975 Legacy Graduate Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Don C. Vassel ’89 and 
Mrs. Rachel Elizabeth Vassel ’91

Angela Y. Robinson Endowed Scholarship
Ms. Kellie E. Porter ’99

Delta Sigma Theta Endowed Scholarship Fund
Ms. Michelle Waites ’84 and Ms. April Holder 

Helena Mitchell Scholarship
Mr. William C. Lindsey Jr. and 
Dr. Helena Mitchell G’78, G’87

Hispanic/Black Undergraduate Scholarship Gift Fund
Friends of Program Development (Proceeds from 
Chancellor’s Run - CBT 2017) 

Kappa Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Endowed 
Scholarship Fund
Mr. Don C. Vassel ’89 and 
Mrs. Rachel Elizabeth Vassel ’91

Syracuse 8 Endowed Scholarship Fund
Ms. Alfreida Kenny ’72

Undergraduate Black and Hispanic 
Endowed Scholarship 
Dr. Claude L. Cowan Jr. ’68 and Mrs. Faye C. Cowan
Mr. Michael C. James ’94 and Ms. Carla Miller-James
Dr. Peter C. Perry ’82
Ms. Kellie E. Porter ’99
Dr. Peter C. Scales ’71, G’73, G’76 and 
Mrs. Martha Roper Scales
Mrs. Kathy Hopkins Smith, Ed.D. ’67
Mr. Charles W. Stevens ’77 and 
Dr. Jennifer Greene Stevens

Giving Level of $100-$499

Alpha Kappa Alpha Iota Upsilon Chapter Alumnae 
1975 Legacy Graduate Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Martin J. Davis ’05 and 
Mrs. Michelle C. Walker-Davis ’83, G’85
Ms. Camilla Holmes ’80
Ms. Rachel A. Williams ’04

Alpha Kappa Alpha Iota Upsilon Chapter Alumnae 
Endowed Scholarship
Ms. Donine M. Carrington ’91
Ms. Rachel A. Williams ’04

Allman-Manning Vocal Music Memorial 
Endowed Scholarship
Ms. Moszestia Ahay
Mr. Rufus E. Jones ’75 and 
Mrs. Laraine Bennett Jones ’75
Rev. Mary Stephens

Alpha Phi Alpha Delta Zeta Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Lawrence A Ford ’80
Mr. Rufus E. Jones ’75 and 
Mrs. Laraine Bennett Jones ’75

David Bing Endowed Scholarship
Ms. Sylvia C. Mackey, C.P.C.U. ’63

Delta Beta Executive Alumni Foundation 
Endowed Fund
Lt. Col. Elegear J. Primus ’83

Delta Sigma Theta Endowed Scholarship Fund
Miss Candice L. Carnage ’90
Mrs. Doris M. Davis ’90
Mr. Leon A. Foster Jr. and Mrs. Deborah W. Foster ’75
Ms. Kimberly N. Harris ’09
Mr. Matano Ismael and Mrs. Vikki A. Ismael ’90
Mr. Rufus E. Jones ’75 and 
Mrs. Laraine Bennett Jones ’75
Mr. Todd Van Lattimore and Mrs. Lisa Glymph 
Lattimore ’91
Ms. Gwendolyn M. Sparks ’85

Hispanic/Black Undergraduate Scholarship Gift Fund
Dr. Thomas O. Echewa G’82

Kappa Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Endowed 
Scholarship Fund
Mr. Jerome W. Hill ’09
Mr. Keith J. Johnson ’89 and Mrs. Lisa Johnson 
Mr. Akima H. Rogers ’94 and 
Lt. Col. Pia W. Rogers ’98, G’01, L’01
Mr. Charles A. Wynder Jr. ’86

Latino Alumni Network of Syracuse University 
(LANSU) Scholarship Fund
Mr. Anthony J. Otero ’96

Major Grant Williams Memorial Scholarship
Ms. Donna Lynne Adams G’02 
Dr. Donna J. DeSiato G’04 
Ms. Darlene E. Williams G’75, G’90

Paris Noir Study Abroad Endowed Scholarship
Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Benjamin

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Theta XI Chapter 
Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Grant Williams III ’89

The Alumni Group of the Black Celestial Choral 
Ensemble Living Legacy Endowed Fund
Ms. Faith E. Mack ’86
Miss Angela D. Peterson ’83

Undergraduate Black and Hispanic 
Endowed Scholarship 
Lt. Col. Maurice L. Adams, USA Ret. ’51
Ms. Ada Agrait ’94
Mr. Michael Askey ’70
Mrs. Patricia A. Barksdale ’85
Mr. Gerald Richard Benjamin and Mrs. Vicki Benjamin
Ms. Sylvana Bonner ’96
Mr. James N. Brown ’57 and Mrs. Monique Brown
Ms. Carolina Chavez ’00
Ms. Melanie N. Crawford ’94
Dr. Sabrina N. Crouch ’92




Mr. Martin J. Davis ’05 and 
Mrs. Michelle C. Walker-Davis ’83, G’85
Miss Paula J. Davis ’76
Mr. Marion Ervin ’68 and Mrs. Linda R. Ervin ’69
Mrs. Brenda S. Finch ’75 
Mr. Daryl G. Ford and Mrs. Sherine D. Ford
Ms. Michelle L. Frankson ’84
Mr. Aaron R. Ganaway III ’87
Dr. Bernard F. Gipson Jr. ’70
Ms. Geraldine Greig ’72, G’73
Dr. Keith A. Hairston ’82
Mr. Jason A. Jackson ’05
Mr. Demetrise B. Jordan-Downs ’99
Mrs. Gilda Harris Lambert ’69, G’70
Ms. Valerie Lewis ’80
Mr. Fernando G. Lopez ’92
Dr. Clifton E. Marsh G’77
Ms. Delita M. Marsland
The Hon. Langston C. McKinney G’71, L’71 and 
Ms. Linda M. Littlejohn ’80, G’82
Mr. Freddy Morales ’97
Ms. Tasha E. Neumeister G’03
Miss Shelia I. Payton ’70
Ms. Clarybel Peguero ’97
Mr. Brent A. Penny G’03
Mr. John W. Plummer G’02
Mr. David B. Porter G’99 and Ms. Elizabeth A. Moore
Mr. Joseph Reddick and Ms. Lee M. Gatta ’73, G’75
Mr. Kevin Richardson ’88 and Mrs. Monica Richardson 
Ms. Lisa M. Ruiz
Ms. Fatima A. Saliu ’98
Mrs. Constance H. Studgeon ’74
Mr. Cedric P. Taylor ’84
Mr. Colomb Thomas-Petit and 
Ms. Aisha N. Thomas-Petit ’98
Mr. Victor Vega ’74
Ms. Carmen M. Villeta-Garcia ’07
Dr. James M. Walsh and Dr. A. Lynn Bolles ’71

Giving Level up to $99

Alpha Kappa Alpha Iota Upsilon Chapter Alumnae 
1975 Legacy Graduate Endowed Scholarship
Ms. Thelma Garrett ’76

Alpha Kappa Alpha Iota Upsilon Chapter Alumnae 
Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Jonathan Williams ’08 and 
Mrs. Michele W. Williams ’82

Allman-Manning Vocal Music Memorial Endowed 
Scholarship
Miss Mary A. Royal ’75

Alpha Phi Alpha Delta Zeta Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Justin K. Frazier ’07

Angela Y. Robinson Endowed Scholarship
Mr. Tracy L. Angel and 
Mrs. Ayesha DeMond-Angell G’03

Black/Hispanic Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship 
in Engineering
Mr. Reynolds B. Winslow ’61

Class of ’74 Endowed Scholarship
Miss Connie M. Grant ’87
Ms. Nadene Moore ’74

Delta Beta Executive Alumni Foundation 
Endowed Fund
Mr. A. Maurice Etheredge ’85

Delta Sigma Theta Endowed Scholarship Fund
Mr. Sanford E. Brown ’89 and 
Mrs. Lori Leavelle Brown ’89
Miss Candace S. Carter ’99
Mr. Gregory T. Franklin and 
Ms. Phyllis Twillie-Franklin ’84
Miss Connie M. Grant ’87
Ms. Nadene Moore ’74
Mr. Jason L. Watkins and 
Mrs. Nicole Jones Watkins ’93, G’98, G’03, G’05 

Gisele A. Marcus Endowed Scholarship
Miss Valerie O. Banks

Graduate Black or Hispanic Endowed Scholarship/
Grant Fund
Mr. Tracy L. Angel and 
Mrs. Ayesha DeMond-Angel G’03
Ms. Rachel R. Roberts-Pickett G’05, G’06

Hispanic/Black Undergraduate Scholarship Gift Fund
Ms. Grace H. Bryant ’65

Kappa Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Endowed 
Scholarship Fund
Miss Connie M. Grant ’87

Major Grant Williams Memorial Scholarship
Mr. Herbert E. Johnson and 
Mrs. Yvonne E. Johnson 
Ms. Cheri Martin-Weatherly
Mrs. Janet R. Shook

Program Development Gifts
Mr. Lorenzo Rhames ’89
Mrs. Taneika S. Thompson ’99

Syracuse 8 Endowed Scholarship Fund
Mr. Chester R. Lett ’80
Mr. A. Alif Muhammad ’71 and Mrs. Janean Muhammad

Undergraduate Black and Hispanic Endowed 
Scholarship Fund in Public Communications
Mr. Tracy L. Angel and 
Mrs. Ayesha DeMond-Angel G’03

Undergraduate Black and Hispanic 
Endowed Scholarship 
Ms. Jennifer J. Arroyo ’96
Mr. Benjamin Elijah Allen ’18
Mr. and Mrs. Willie Allen
Mr. Samuel Ayinde Bailey ’16
Ms. Jessica Bibins ’03
Mr. Kenneth D. Brown ’89, ’92
Ms. Shemeca A-M Brown ’05
Mr. Jerrel Alexander Burgo ’18
Ms. Debra D. Carey ’77
Mr. David L. Clark ’75, G’77
Mrs. Stanlyn R. Clark G’76
Ms. Alexa Rose Cloud ’18
Ms. Tamara E. Cohen ’09
Ms. Michele D. Coleman ’87
Mr. Michael O. Collazo ’99
Mr. Ernest J. Colvin II ’87
Dr. Llewellyn J. Cornelius ’82 and Ms. Lydia Cornelius
Ms. Randal M. Curtis ’08
Mrs. Kileen C. Davies ’98
Ms. Nancy M. De La Cruz ’91
Miss Gayle A. Dennis ’58
Mr. Marrell Edwards ’15
Mrs. Taqiyyah S. Ellis ’93, G’95
Mrs. Ernestine T. English ’77
Mr. Dale Favors and Mrs. Tara A Favors ’95
Mr. Dennis Felton and Ms. Karen A. Wines ’89
Mr. Justin K. Frazier ’07, G’08
Ms. Jade Ashley Fulce ’08
Mr. Terrence D. Gilliam ’87
Mr. Darryn T. Glenn ’08 and Mrs. Jennifer B. Glenn ’09
Miss Sulay O. Gomez ’88
Miss Connie M. Grant ’87
Ms. Nicole C. Hammond ’10
Mr. Anthony Louis Herbert Jr. ’15
Ms. Bria Monet Holness G’16
Ms. Ekiuwa Catherine Imariagbe ’18
Ms. Roslyn D. Jefferson ’78
Mrs. Johnnie L. Kelley ’75, G’81
Mr. Joseph V. La Roche Jr. ’88 and 
Mrs. Wendy R. La Roche ’87
Ms. Tanya Michelle Lue Tsing ’05
Mrs. Kim D. Lunn ’82, G’89
Ms. Traci A. McMurray ’96
Ms. Tejani M. Mendiz-Ramdeen ’03
Mr. Rafael M. Molina ’18
Ms. Sarina A. Morales ’08
Ms. Melanie Moreaux ’18
Mr. Anwar K. Nasir ’06
Mr. Garry Nelson ’97
Ms. Merlissa Y. Nelson ’94
Ms. Nicole Osborne ’14
Mr. Scott A. Oswald ’00
Mr. Lucas E. Phillips Jr. Esq. ’73
Ms. Saundra L. Pinn ’69
Mr. William H. Rae ’81, G’84 and 
Ms. Lora S. Urbanelli G’82
Ms. Stephanie D. Ramsey ’95
Mr. David Rivera ’98 and Mrs. Michelle Maiz Rivera ’00
Ms. Aaliyah Roseman ’18
Ms. Stacey D. Rubain ’96
Mr. Enrique O. Rubio G’12
Mr. Larry S. Sampson ’69
Mr. Stanley B. Shack and Mrs. Nancy R. Shack 
Mr. John T. Smith Jr. G’76 and Mrs. Alice N. Smith G’72
Ms. Brittany A. Stuart ’17
Mr. Juwan Thompson ’18
Dr. Willie L. Tobias Jr. ’72, G’77
Mr. Stanley E. Tolliver Jr. ’87 and 
Mrs. Marilyn C. Tolliver ’87
Ms. Sarah Isabel Valenzuela ’16
Dr. Kadesha DeFrance Washington ’93
Dr. Omar Peyton Woodham G’10 and 
Ms. Ann-Marie Woodham 



CAMPUSnews:

Support for DACA

Image: Screenshot of website home page

In an attempt to support DACA and undocumented students, Syracuse University has added 
a webpage of campus resources and support contacts to its Diversity and Inclusion website, 
diversity.syr.edu, under the resources tab. The webpage was created by the University’s Ad 
Hoc Committee on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)/ Undocumented Students, 
established by Chancellor Kent Syverud in February 2017. 

The committee’s charge is to explore best practices in higher education and make recommendations on how Syracuse University 
can best support and provide resources to its DACA and undocumented students. The committee is also working to address the 
concerns of students from “mixed status” families, students who may be citizens themselves but who have family members who are 
undocumented.

Dolan Evanovich, senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience, and Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz, interim senior 
associate vice president and dean in enrollment and the student experience, met with self-identified undocumented students enrolled 
at the University to learn about their experiences and concerns and to offer support.

“Meeting with the students provided important insights into their Syracuse University experience, and we will use this information 
to improve our services for DACA students,” says Evanovich. “We are committed to providing a safe, welcoming environment for all 
students that supports them in succeeding inside and outside the classroom and will continue to work to provide our students with the 
support and resources they need in this uncertain time.” \




CBT Comimg Back Together
Save the Date: 

September 10-13, 2020

Mark your calendars: CBT 2020 is planned for 
September 10-13, 2020. “The Office of Program 
Development is already hard at work planning an 
unforgettable weekend for alumni,” says Rachel Vassel 
’91, assistant vice president of program development. 
“We want to build on the outstanding participation 
we had in 2017 and encourage alumni to plan now to 
attend.”

Alumni co-chairs for the reunion are Rosann Santos ’94 and Fatimah Moody 
’90. “I love SU and I know my classmates do to,” says Santos, who is director of 
strategic initiatives for student affairs at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, an 
adjunct faculty member in the Latin American Studies Department, as well as 
a motivational speaker and success coach. “The Latino population isn’t huge 
at SU but we are loyal and we love our alma mater. I am so honored to co-chair 
CBT 2020 and impress upon my community how important we are to the 
students of color coming after us, including my 10-year-old son. He already 
knows I would love for him to attend SU. So I am ready to dig in and do what I 
can for the cause.”

Moody, who earned a bachelor of science degree in finance, is the owner 
of LinkVisum Consulting Group, a management consulting firm that provides 
consulting to a broad range of public and private organizations and information 
technology. “Syracuse University has given so much to me. I’ve made lifelong 
friends, met my husband Keith Moody ’90, and learned how to follow my 
dreams, be a leader, and take risks,” she says. “Serving as CBT 2020 co-chair 
allows me yet another way to give back. It affords me the opportunity to 
connect with students and alumni of color and work to ensure that the next 
generation of students has the opportunities that I had and more.” \

Image: Rosann Santos ’94
Image: Fatimah Moody ’90


Athletes and Activism: 
Etan Thomas ’00 Speaks At SU

Former Syracuse basketball star and social activist Etan Thomas ’00 
returned to campus in February as the guest of the Maxwell School 
of Citizenship and Public Affairs to give the school’s annual Tanner 
Lecture on Ethics, Citizenship, and Public Responsibility.

Interviewed in front of a large crowd at Hendricks Chapel 
by Maxwell political science professor Grant Reeher, Thomas 
talked about his own history of social activism as well as his 
conversations with other high-profile athletes about their 
choice to stand up for social justice issues.

Those conversations comprise Thomas’s latest book, We 
Matter: Athletes and Activism, published in March. Long 
inspired by the actions of athletes such as Muhammad Ali, John 
Carlos, and Tommie Smith, Thomas says the book was spurred 
by the increase in activism among athletes after the police 
killings of Terence Crutcher, Eric Garner, and Philando Castile, 
as well as public backlash to those athletes. 

“It’s important to remember that Colin Kaepernick took a 
knee in response to police brutality,” says Thomas. “It was made 
into something about the flag and patriotism, but that’s not 
what it was about.”

Thomas, who played nine years in the NBA, interviewed 
dozens of athletes who’ve taken a stand about controversial 
issues, ranging from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; to Dwayne Wade, 
who led his Miami Heat teammates in wearing hoodies in honor 
of Trayvon Martin in March 2012; to Carmelo Anthony, who 
marched in Baltimore to protest the death of Freddie Gray in 
April 2015. He also spoke with numerous coaches and sports 
executives to get their perspectives. 

Perhaps most notably, Thomas spoke with family members of 
Martin, Garner, Crutcher, and Castile—victims of shootings that 
received widespread attention from prominent athletes. “Those 
were the hardest interviews,” Thomas said.

Thomas, whose last book was 
on the subject of fatherhood, 
has obviously instilled his 
own values in his children. A 
highlight of the evening was the performance of a poem about 
Kaepernick, performed by Thomas’s 12-year-old son, Malcolm, 
which received a standing ovation. 

Thomas himself is a published poet and commentator. His 
writings have appeared in The Washington Post, Huffington Post, 
CNN, ESPN, Hoopshype.com and Slamonline. He is a special 
correspondent for MSNBC and co-hosts a weekly radio show, 
“The Collision,” where sports and politics collide. He received 
the NBA’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation Legacy Award in 
2009 and in 2010 won the NBA Players Association Community 
Contribution Award.

Thomas shared that he received valuable advice from Orange 
Coach Jim Boeheim, after photographs of Thomas at a campus 
protest against use of pepper spray by campus police appeared 
in the media during his first week on campus. Boeheim told him to 
make sure he knew his facts, advice that holds to this day. 

“When you speak out about something, you have people who 
will try to discredit you, and you have to be able to defend your 
position,” Thomas says. \



Adrian Prieto Joins Office of 
Program Development

Image: Adrian Prieto

Adrian Prieto has joined the Office of Program Development as director 
of development. In this capacity, Prieto will work to secure major gifts 
from black and Latino alumni and increase overall giving among diverse 
alumni generally. He will also work on corporate partnerships for the 
Coming Back Together reunion and the endowed scholarship fund, and on 
fundraisers and donor events.

Prieto comes to Syracuse from Cornell University, where he established a strong record of success 
in a range of fundraising and relationship-building roles with increasing levels of responsibility. He most 
recently served as assistant director for external relations for Cornell’s College of Business and assistant 
director for corporate relations for the School of Hotel Administration. For the last two years, Prieto 
also has chaired the Alumni Affairs and Development Diversity Council at Cornell, a body dedicated to 
building awareness of and promoting diversity and inclusion at the university. 

“I’ve had a wonderful time getting to know Syracuse University and the black and Latino communities 
that are such an important part of our alumni,” he says. “Moving forward, I plan to focus on growing the 
number of scholarships we award every year. With support from our alumni, companies, and friends, we 
will be able to help our black and Latino students excel and complete their SU education, further adding 
to our already-strong community.” \

Johnson-Willis Appointed 
Chief Equal Opportunity and 
Title IX Officer

Image: Sheila R. Johnson-Willis

Following a national search, Sheila R. Johnson-Willis has been named 
associate vice president and chief equal opportunity and Title IX officer. She 
has served in that position on an interim basis since June 2015.

“Sheila has already demonstrated her agility, sensitivity, compassion, and professionalism in handling 
a myriad of equal opportunity, Title IX, disability, and related issues,” says Andrew Gordon, senior vice 
president and chief human resources officer. “She has earned the respect and trust of students, faculty, and 
staff, and has done a stellar job of leading the office through some challenging times over the last few years. 
I look forward to working with her in partnership as we strengthen our services related to these complicated 
and vital issues.”

Reporting to Gordon, the associate vice president leads the Equal Opportunity and Inclusion Resolution 
Office (EOIRS) and is responsible for aligning all its functions, including training and investigation of equal 
opportunity claims, affirmative action planning, and disability rights guidance and investigations. During her 
tenure as interim leader, Johnson-Willis has expanded services and staff, adding an experienced investigator 
and obtaining the resources necessary to hire two additional investigators. She also enhanced disability 
services and outreach to students to make them more aware of their rights and the support available.

“I am grateful for the support of the University in providing the resources critical to ensuring that we 
are a welcoming and inclusive campus committed to equal opportunity,” says Johnson-Willis. “As we move 
forward, my priorities include increased education and communication campus-wide on issues related to 
accessibility, equality, sensitivity, and safety for all members of the Orange family.” \




Urizar Sisters Are Legal Advocates for Immigrants

Immigration has been one of the most pressing issues of national policy during the Trump 
presidency. Few people are as attuned to the issue as Ana Lucia Urizar ’13, L’16 and her twin 
sister, Ana Gabriela Urizar ’13. 
 

The Urizar sisters both work as immigration attorneys in New 
York City. Lucia is a staff attorney for Sanctuary for Families, an 
organization that advocates for survivors of domestic violence. 
She has worked for the nonprofit since finishing her law studies 
at SU, for the last year as an attorney on the Immigration 
Intervention Project.

“Undocumented immigrant women face added obstacles” in 
leaving abusive relationships,” says Lucia. “They don’t speak the 
language. They often don’t trust police and are worried about 
being deported. Gaining citizenship is a path to leaving that 
abusive situation.” 

Ana Gabriela, who earned her law degree from Benjamin N. 
Cardozo College of Law in 2017, works in corporate immigration 
law, assisting corporate clients that want to hire specialized 
personnel for the IT industry (mostly from India) get the work 
visas required.

“People think this cohort hasn’t been impacted by current 
policies, but it’s so much harder to get the visas and takes so 
much longer,” she says. “We really are hiring the best from other 
countries and bringing that talent here, but [President Trump] is 
preventing that, which really doesn’t make sense. These people 
are making our country better, helping us be competitive with 
China in technology and science.”

The Urizar sisters’ interest in immigration law stems from 
their own experience as immigrants. Natives of Guatemala, 
they moved to New York City at age 15. Their mother had come 
10 years earlier, working and saving money until she could 
successfully sponsor her daughters.

“She became a citizen when we were 17, so we automatically 
became citizens,” says Gabriela. “Having to go through the 
process and becoming part of the immigrant community in the 
U.S., immigration really was a huge part of our lives.”

Although they spoke no English when they arrived in the 
United States, the sisters worked hard, excelled in high school, 
and came to SU, where they received support from the Our Time 
Has Come Scholarship Fund.

“It wasn’t just money. It was a package—a support system, a 
mom on campus in Angela Morales-Patterson, assistant director 
of Program Development, events, speakers, the opportunity to 
meet the Chancellor,” says Gabriela. “You really felt like someone 
was watching out for you.”

Lucia adds that being an OTHC Scholar provided “a sense of 
self-confidence that a lot of students of color who come from 
low-income families might not have,” she says. “The scholarship 
made it feel like we made it to Syracuse for a reason, that we can 
accomplish whatever we want.”

Lucia works with low-income Spanish-speaking women, 
primarily from Latin American countries. “As an OTHC Scholar I 
was given a lot of opportunities, so in doing this work, I feel like I 
am paying it back in a small way,” she says. 

Working in business immigration, Gabriela says she had to 
reconcile that she didn’t have to do public service to give back.

“Everyone should have the right to live where they want to live 
and pursue the dreams they want to pursue. The border where 
you are born shouldn’t dictate your future,” she says. “If I can 
change one person’s mind about immigration and the laws that we 
have, then that’s a huge success.’’ \

Image: Ana Gabriela Urizar ’13
Image: Ana Lucia Urizar ’13, L’16


Evelyn Hoskins Carter ’90 Helps Wegmans 
Make a Difference in Central New York

As Wegmans’ director of consumer affairs for the Central New York region, Evelyn Hoskins 
Carter ’90 has oversight of approximately $1 million that the grocery chain invests in the 
Central New York community annually.

“Wegmans has a commitment to make a difference in every 
community we serve, and we make sure we do that,” says Carter, 
who estimates that 75 to 100 requests for funding or donations 
cross her desk each week. “I am empowered to make decisions 
that best represent Wegmans.”

Company priorities include helping youth, so support of SU’s 
Office of Program Development and the CBT reunion was a good 
fit.

“As an alum, I recognize that the opportunity to help students 
attend college and graduate from college by defraying costs is 
significant,” she says. “Wegmans has other programs that help 
students graduate from high school and go to college, so being 
able to support CBT, from a scholarship perspective, is part of 
that effort.” 

In addition to community engagement, Carter’s role 
encompasses managing public relations for the Central New York 
market, a task she says the national press often does for her, as 
Wegmans is consistently cited in the media as one of the nation’s 
top employers.

“Wegmans really cares about its employees. The culture here is 
such a family atmosphere, I feel like my last name is Wegman,” she 
says. “That culture makes you work even harder because you feel 
invested in what you do and is why many of our employees have 
been with the company for many, many years.”

Carter majored in public relations at the S.I. Newhouse 
School of Public Communications and earned an MBA from 
Le Moyne College, focusing on human resources. When she 
joined Wegmans in 2008, she had been hired for a role in human 
resources when she was asked to move to a community relations 
role. 

That was 10 years ago, and she hasn’t looked back. “It doesn’t 
even feel like it’s work,” says Carter. 

“This position fits my skill set so well. I like interacting with 
people and building relationships with organizations and 
community partners. Having the resources to provide assistance 
is a good feeling. We’re helping these agencies make a positive 
impact in our community for people in need, whether they 
are providing food and clothing to those in need or providing 
assistance to children with special needs.” 

Carter further represents Wegmans in the Central New York 
community with active participation in numerous organizations. 
She serves on the board of directors for Centerstate CEO, 
the Central New York Community Foundation, Hillside Work 
Scholarship Connection, the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation, 
the United Way of Central New York, the Salvation Army, and 
WCNY Public Broadcasting. She also serves as chair of the 
Hamilton White Society of the United Way, helping secure major 
gifts for the organization, and served as chair of the American 
Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign in 2015 and 
2018. 

“It’s great representing a company that has such an excellent 
brand and makes such a positive impact in the community,” she 
says. \

Image: Evelyn Hoskins Carter ’90


Hervens Jeannis ’09 
Brings Awareness to 
the Accessibility of 
STEM Laboratories 

Although the Americans with Disabilities 
Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, Hervens 
Jeannis ’09 says that hasn’t reached academic 
STEM laboratories. As a doctoral student in 
rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh, 
Jeannis conducted a major survey to identify 
barriers students with physical disabilities 
encounter in science and engineering 
laboratories.

“My survey found that most of the labs were inaccessible,” says 
Jeannis. “This was during the years 2013 to 2017, more than 20 
years after passage of the ADA.”

Jeannis, who successfully defended his dissertation in February, 
says the point of his research is to raise awareness as well as to 
give voice to those impacted. “This is an underrepresented group 
in science and engineering, largely because laboratories do not 
accommodate those with disabilities,” he says.

To help colleges and universities across the country make 
their laboratory courses more accessible for students with 
physical disabilities, Jeannis turned to those students (and former 
students) for input.

“I’ve worked for companies in the past where millions of dollars 
went to waste because the client wasn’t involved in the process 
and ultimately didn’t find the outcome useful,” he says. “I wanted 
to keep the user in the loop, to hear their voice, what challenges 
they have and what solutions work for them.”

Jeannis says most instructors are willing to make 
accommodations but don’t know what’s needed. He hopes his 
research can help inform engineering and science professors and 
deans across the country.

Jeannis’s own engineering career started at SU, where he 
earned a bachelor’s in computer engineering in 2009. As a first-
generation college student—his parents hail from Haiti—he says 
his college years were a transformative experience. He was a 
member of the Wellslink, the African American Male Congress, 
and the National Society of Black Engineers, and spent his junior 
year studying in London. He was also an Our Time Has Come 
Scholar and the speaker at the OTHC Reception his senior 
year. “It was an honor to address my peers and speak about my 
experience, especially with the Chancellor in attendance,” he 
says. 

Before starting his doctoral studies in 2011, Jeannis earned a 
master’s in systems engineering at the University of Maryland-
Baltimore County, where he became involved with Bethel 
Campus Fellowship, a nationwide interdenominational Christian 
campus ministry group. Since 2012, he has served as the 
organization’s lead program evaluator, developing, distributing, 
and analyzing survey results for its annual national conference.

“We’ll see what doors open ahead,” says Jeannis. “I look 
forward to helping organizations and institutions run more 
effectively as well as well as helping underrepresented groups 
become better represented.” \

Image: Hervens Jeannis ’09


Larry Thomas and the AAMC: 
20 Years Later

As a graduate student in higher education administration, 
Larry Thomas G’99, MBA’10 set out to make a positive 
impact for male African American undergraduates at SU. In 
1998, he developed a 10-week leadership institute, including 
forums on communication and team-building skills, conflict 
resolution, negotiation, stress management, and networking, 
which he called the Talented Tenth Institute. On the day after 
Frederick Douglass’s birthday, he invited 50 first-year male 
students to participate and create an honor society. Ten showed 
up, forming what would become the African American Male 
Congress (AAMC).

“My goal was to provide African American males with 
leadership training, professional development, and preparation 
for success in careers and graduate school,” says Thomas of the 
AAMC, which became a recognized and funded SU organization, 
active until 2010. The organization’s annual baccalaureate event 
featured esteemed speakers including Donna Brazile, Cornel 
West, and Tavis Smiley.

“The AAMC evolved from an honor society to a lifestyle 
for a select group of high-achieving, African American male 
undergraduates and scholar-athletes at Syracuse University,” 
says Thomas, who directed SU’s CSTEP program for nearly a 
decade and served as associate director of the Office of Graduate 
Preparation Programs. 

Today, those AAMC alumni are thriving professionals in 
a wide range of fields. For example, Zuri Blount-Tate ’01 is a 
psychotherapist in private practice. Robert Ford ’01 is a sports 
broadcaster who provides play-by-play for the Houston Astros. 
Paul Dimoh ’05, L’08 is an ethics attorney. Tyrone Saunders 
’07 is a product engineer. Daniel Elmore ’10 is a New York City 
architect. 

“The African American Male Congress helped me acclimate 
to SU,” recalls Ford. “Not only did I get to meet and spend time 
with others who look like me, but we also had similar goals and 
aspirations of making an impact in our communities and of being 
the best of the best. There was an instant bond among us.” 

Twenty years later, Thomas is still mentoring and providing 
leadership training. As the founding director of the award-winning 
Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholars Program at American 
University, Thomas leads initiatives to prepare first-generation 
and low-income undergraduate students for leadership and 
success in what he calls the “ESTEEMed” professions: entrepreneurship, 
science, technology, engineering, education, and 
medicine. “Blacks, in particular, are almost 14 percent of the 
population, but much less than 14 percent of those are in 
ESTEEMed careers,” he says. 

Thomas’s newest endeavor is Prosperity365, which builds off 
his years as a trusted advisor and strategist for undergraduate and 
graduate students. “Now that my former students are entering 
mid-level management and mid-life, they’re not only hiring me to 
help figure out what’s next for them personally and professionally, 
but also to advise their teams and their organizations,” says 
Thomas, also a member of the Aspen Institute’s Vanguard 
Leadership Board. “Prosperity365 represents a new opportunity 
to help people make their very best decisions and achieve their 
very best results.” \

Image: Larry Thomas G’99, MBA’10


Taye Diggs Shares Talents with 
Alumni at Play Reading and 
Book Signing

Stage and screen star Taye Diggs ’93 celebrated his directorial 
debut with a reading of the new play Thoughts of a Colored 
Man at Syracuse University’s Lubin House February 21 for alumni 
and invited guests.

Thoughts of a Colored Man focuses on eight men as they 
struggle to find their identity beyond the limitations, stereotypes, 
and obstacles that the world attempts to place on them based on 
the color of their skin. It fuses poetry, dance, and storytelling to 
explore “perspectives from different kinds of black men who are 
from all different walks of life,” says Diggs, who began industry 
readings of the play in November. “I personally was dealing with 
all of [those questions of identity] and still am to this day,” he 
says.

The show, featuring music by Madison McFerrin (daughter of 
acclaimed artist Bobby McFerrin) and choreography by Jenny 
Parsinen, is still in developmental stages. Presenting the reading 
for alumni at Lubin House 
provided a meaningful 
audience for the novice 
director.

“I grew socially at Syracuse,” the musical theater graduate told 
Playbill. “There were a lot of other people that looked like me, 
spoke like me, behaved like me, which I was not used to, so it was 
a place where I felt comfortable, accepted, and was allowed to 
grow.”

Diggs is best known as an actor, having starred in the original 
cast of Rent and played leading roles in Wicked, Chicago, and 
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, not to mention numerous feature 
films and the popular TV 
series Empire. “When I was 
coming up, you were either a 
stage actor, or a TV actor, or a 
movie actor, or a TV host, or 
a game show host, or a singer. 
Everyone is doing everything 
now, and I think it’s great,” he 
says. “I’m learning from them.”

He’s also the author of 
two children’s books, Mixed 
Me! and Chocolate Me!, 
created in conjunction with 
SU classmate and illustrator 
Shane Evans ’93. The two will 
participate in a book-signing 
event on April 19 at Coca-
Cola headquarters in Atlanta, 
a program hosted by Syracuse 
University’s Office of Program 
Development in partnership 
with Coca-Cola’s African 
American Employee Resource 
Group (a partnership 
coordinated by SU parent 
Terez Thompson, vice 
president of Global Supplier 
Diversity) and the SU Atlanta 
Regional Council. \

Image: Taye Diggs ’93


NYC Alumni Attend DACA Event

New York City-area alumni and friends enjoyed a thought-provoking presentation and discussion on 
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and the future of immigration in the United States 
with Elizabeth F. Cohen, associate professor of political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship 
and Public Affairs. The event, sponsored by the Office of Program Development, was held April 5 at 
Lubin House.

Cohen’s research focuses issues of immigration, citizenship, and political thought. In March, she 
made a presentation to the Congressional Progressive Caucus at its annual strategy summit. This group 
includes members of Congress, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Nancy Pelosi; thought leaders 
such as Colin Kaepernick and Van Jones; and activist organizations including MoveOn.org, Black 
Lives Matter, and Planned Parenthood. Cohen is a frequent media contributor and the author of Semi-
Citizenship in Democratic Politics and The Political Value of Time. \

Image: Elizabeth F. Cohen


D.C.-Area Alumni Visit 
African American Museum

Washington, D.C.-area alumni celebrated Black History Month with a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of African 
American History and Culture. Approximately 20 alums came out for the event February 10, which was followed by a 
networking reception at the Hamilton. The program was sponsored by the Office of Program Development in conjunction with the 
Syracuse University Alumni Club of Washington, D.C. \

The African American experience is the lens through which 
we understand what it is to be an American.

Lonnie G. Bunch III 
Founding Director, NMAAHC



Are you a Syracuse University 
“Best,” “First,” or “Only”?

If you are the first or only person of color in your 
field to have accomplished something distinctive, 
please let us know. The Office of Program 
Development is planning a special edition of 
Syracuse Manuscript for CBT 2020 and would like 
to recognize SU’s best and brightest alumni of color. 
If you are a first, best, or only, please reach out to us 
with the following information by July 1, 2018.* 

 

Information to include:
Name
Title
SU graduation year
SU major and school/college
All advanced degrees earned
Industry

Describe your best, first, or only professional or academic 
accomplishment

List any athletic achievements and awards: records set, e.g., most 
points, fastest times, most yards, etc. 

List any academic achievements and awards: Rhodes, Truman, 
Goldwater Scholar; Phi Beta Kappa, etc.

List any professional memberships or affiliations: National Academy 
of Science, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, etc., invited memberships for professionals.

List any national or international awards/prizes: Oscar, Grammy, 
Toni, Emmy, etc.; Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Award, etc.; and 
Olympic Medal, NBA championship; Super Bowl; and World Series.

University awards: If you are an SU Arents, Chancellor’s Citation, or 
Chancellor’s Medal awardee, please indicate which and the year awarded. 

University-related distinctions: If you are the first or only alum of color 
to graduate within your school, college, unit, or major, please indicate the 
academic program and year. \

*submission of information does not guarantee inclusion 



CBT Martha’s Vineyard

EVENTS
• Opening Reception and Clambake
with special guest
Hosted by Karin “Karina” Wilkinson
G’88
Sunday, August 12, 2018 | 6 p.m.
$110 per adult
• Pool Party SOLD OUT
Hosted by Keith Brown ’82
Monday, August 13, 2018 | 2-5 p.m.
$90 per adult
• Martha’s Vineyard Heritage Bike Tour
and Brunch at The Black Dog Tavern
(with bike tour refreshments at the
home of A. Lynn Bolles ’71)
Tuesday, August 14, 2018 | 9 a.m.
$75 per adult



Alumni Milestones

Howard Woolley ’80 published Soar: A Memoir, a postumous 
memoir written by his wife, Gail Campbell Woolley ’79, about 
living a life with purpose although diagnosed with sickle cell 
disease as a child. She died in 2015 at 58. 

Shahid M. Allah ’86 (formerly Jay Chisholm) and 
Karen Ravenel Thomas ’91 are engaged to be married. 

Colline Hernandez-Ayala ’89 has joined the School of 
Architecture Advisory Board. 

Tony Martinez ’89 married Olga Mizgireva on December 22, 
2017. 

Charles Willis Jr. ’90 and his wife, Lisa, welcomed a baby 
daughter, Alena Rose Willis, December 14, 2017. 

Anthony Otero ’96 and Zulay Olivo ’06 are engaged to be 
married. Otero contributed an essay to Puerto Rico Strong: A 
Comics Anthology Supporting Puerto Rico Disaster. The graphic 
novel is available on Amazon.

Sinhue Mendoza ’08 is a consultant for Major League Baseball 
on its Spanish social media platforms as part of MLB’s Latin 
American strategy and lives in Chicago.

Lawrence K. Jackson ’13 has joined NBC News as the 
co-host of Stay Tuned, the network’s twice-daily news show 
on Snapchat. \



IN MEMORIAM 

Joseph O. Lampe ’53, L’55 
Image: Photo of Joseph O. Lampe ’53, L’55

Joseph O. Lampe ’53, L’55, of 
Phoenix, Arizona, died January 
25. Former chair of the Syracuse 
University Board of Trustees, Lampe 
was a tireless ambassador for SU. His 
philanthropic support of the University 
includes funding for the Joseph O. 
and Shawn Lampe Athletic Complex, 
which provides primary training 
facilities for the University’s student 
athletes, and widespread scholarship 
support, including the Our Time Has Come Scholarship Fund 
and establishment of Iris L. Pérez Celis Fund in the College of 
Visual and Performing Arts to support studio arts majors from 
traditionally underrepresented groups.

Lampe earned a degree in speech and dramatic arts from 
Syracuse in 1953 and continued his education at the College 
of Law. While at Syracuse, he served as a member of the Air 
Force Reserve at Hancock Field and, after completing his law 
degree, was called to active duty. He remained in Arizona after 
the service, establishing a law practice in Phoenix. He developed 
a specialty in real estate law and, sensing the coming population 
boom, launched his own real estate business. Since 1979, he 
served as chairman of Lampe and Company, a diversified real 
estate development and management firm.

In honor of Lampe’s contributions to the University and its 
students, Syracuse recognized him with numerous awards, 
including the SU Alumni Award in 1984, the Distinguished 
Service Award from the College of Law in 1991, the George 
Arents Award for Business and Service to Alma Mater in 2003, 
and an honorary doctor of laws degree in 2004.

Lampe is survived by his wife, Shawn; four children, Anthony, 
Scott, Mark, and Stryker; and four grandchildren.


Kermit Lee ’57
Image: Photo of Kermit Lee ’57

Kermit Lee ’57, of Syracuse, died 
January 16. Lee was the first 
African American graduate of SU’s 
School of Architecture, graduating 
magna cum laude. He pursued 
graduate study at Technische 
Hochschule in Braunschweig, 
Germany, as a Fulbright Fellow. While 
in Europe, he also served as Chief of 
Architecture, a civilian post with the 
Seventh Air Force AFEX. Lee came 
back to Syracuse to join School of Architecture faculty and is 
credited with mentoring countless students through his career, 
particularly those of color. He was also a partner, with the late 
Louis Skoler, of Skoler and Lee Architects in Syracuse. A stroke 
ended his teaching career in 1994.

Lee’s professional accomplishments include chairing the 
New York State Board of Architecture; charter membership on 
Governor Mario Cuomo’s Cultural Advisory Committee for 
Times Square and 42nd Street; and investiture as a Fellow in the 
American Institute of Architects College of Fellows.

Lee is survived by his wife, Lore; daughter, Karin George; 
son, Jason A. Lee; two grandchildren; and four siblings, Ronald, 
William, Judith, and Deborah. 

Gifts can be made to the Kermit Lee Scholarship Fund at 
www.givetosu.syr.edu/kermitlee.

Sandi Russell ’65
Image: Sandi Russell ’65

Sandi Russell ’65, of Great Britain, 
died June 23, 2017, after a long 
battle with kidney disease. Born in 
New York City, Russell grew up in 
Harlem during the civil rights era. Her 
gift for music gained her scholarships 
to the New York City High School of 
Music and Art, where she worked with 
the composer Leonard Bernstein and 
performed at Lincoln Center, and then 
to Syracuse University, where she was 
trained to sing the classical western repertoire.

She taught for eight years in the South Bronx and at age 30 
became a professional jazz singer, performing in Manhattan’s 
finest venues. In 1984, she moved to England, where she 
continued to perform and record with other outstanding 
musicians while developing a parallel career as a journalist and 
writer. Her highly praised book Render Me My Song: African-
American Women Writers from Slavery to the Present was the 
basis for an acclaimed one-woman show that she performed 
throughout Europe and the U.K. She also wrote ELLA! , a one-
woman show about the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald. Her 
major recorded albums Incandescent (2001) and Sweet Thunder 
(2007) demonstrate her vocal range, rich musicality, and 
exceptional scat singing. Russell won awards for her writing and 
was an honorary fellow of St Chad’s College, Durham University, 
UK. The college intends to commemorate her with a named 
scholarship for black and ethnic minority women students.

She is survived by family in New York City and Virginia and a 
host of friends in the United States and United Kingdom.



Heather Vincent Holley ’81
Image: Photo of Heather Vincent Holley ’81

Heather Vincent Holley ’81 of 
Atlanta died March 22 after 
suffering a heart attack. 

After earning a bachelor’s 
degree from the S.I. Newhouse 
School of Public Communications, 
Holley began her award-winning 
journalism career in New York 
City at ABC News’ Nightline, 
where she worked directly with 
Ted Koppel ’60 to book guests for the late night program. 
While there, she covered a wide range of stories, including 
Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, the anniversary of 
the fall of Saigon, and the intifada in Israel. Holley later 
worked on the news magazine show 20/20 and the hidden 
camera program What Would You Do?, also produced by 
ABC News. Following her tenure at ABC, she served as a 
senior supervising producer of the news magazine Dateline 
for NBC News; as vice president at MSNBC, where she 
created shows, specials and overall programming content; 
and covered Republican and Democratic conventions for 
CBS News and BET.

After relocating to Atlanta with her family in 2009, she 
involved herself with the arts community, serving as a board 
member of ArtsATL, the National Black Arts Festival, the 
Alliance Theater, and the AIDS Memorial Quilt. She was an 
avid art collector and patron of the theater.

Holley is survived by her husband, Kenny Holley; their 
twins, Cary and Robbie; and her brother, Dr. Chuck Vincent.


Christopher J. Gedney ’92
Image: photo of Christopher J. Gedney ’92 

Christopher J. Gedney ’92, of 
Syracuse, died March 9. As 
an All-American tight end for the 
Orange, Gedney helped lead the SU 
football team to four straight bowl 
games. In 1992 Chris set the record 
for receptions by a tight end in a 
season (34) and in a career (91).

After graduating from SU with 
a bachelor’s degree in speech 
communication, Chris was drafted by 
the Chicago Bears, for whom he played four seasons, then played 
three seasons for the Arizona Cardinals. In the seven seasons in 
the NFL, Chris appeared in 73 games, caught 83 passes for 914 
yards and eight touchdowns. Chris was the recipient of many 
awards, including both the Ed Block and Gene Autry Courage 
Awards, induction into the Greater Syracuse Hall of Fame, 2000 
Finalist for the NFL Man of the Year Award, and ACC Legend 
Award in 2015, and named to Syracuse’s All-Century football 
team. 

Gedney was the first professional athlete to return to a contact 
sport after having a full colectomy due to a long battle with 
ulcerative colitis.

After retiring from pro football, Gedney returned to Syracuse 
with his family, where he served as senior associate athletic 
director for major gifts for Syracuse University and as the 
color analyst for the Syracuse football team. He also served 
on the National Down Syndrome Society Board of Directors, 
the Imagine Syracuse Executive Board of Directors and was 
actively involved in the New York State Special Olympics and the 
Southwest Chapter of Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

Gedney is survived by his wife, Seely Anderson Gedney; 
his children, son Chase and daughters Annaleigh, Montanna, 
and Ellianna; his father, Tom Gedney, and his mother, Dorothy 
Gedney; his brother, Al Gedney; and sister, Lisa Wicks. \



Image: The Black Celestial Choral Ensemble and Syracuse University’s 2018 Dr. King Community Choir performed at the MLK Celebration.

SYRACUSE
Manuscript

Office of Program Development
Syracuse University
900 South Crouse Ave
420 Crouse-Hinds Hall
Syracuse NY 13244-5040

Image: Our Time Has Come Scholars 2016-17