SUNY Oneonta

A total of 27 students were elected this spring to Student Association positions for the 2016-2017 academic year at SUNY Oneonta. Students are elected to Student Association positions by their peers in the student body. Elections for executive board positions were held April 7-8, and senators and judicial officers were elected April 14-15.

Thirteen students from SUNY Oneonta School of Economics and Business were inducted into the college's Beta Gamma Sigma honor society chapter during a ceremony on April 22.

Artwork by 60 students is featured in SUNY Oneonta's 2016 Student Juried Art Exhibition. The exhibition, featuring more than 100 works by student artists, opened April 11 and runs through May 14 in the college's Martin-Mullen Art Gallery.

Two SUNY Oneonta students presented papers at the college's 21st annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. Students from more than 15 institutions nationwide gathered April 8-9 to present and discuss their research at the college's Morris Conference Center.

SUNY Oneonta honored 23 recipients of the George E. Zimmerman Memorial Awards, Jean Parish Art on Campus Awards, Martin-Mullen Art Gallery Awards and Golden Artist Colors Inc. Gift Certificate Awards during a reception on April 17. The award winners are among more than 100 student artists whose work was selected to be featured in the 2016 Annual Student Juried Art Exhibition, which opened April 11 and runs through May 14 in the college's Martin-Mullen Art Gallery.

A total of 139 students received the SUNY Oneonta 2015-2016 Susan Sutton Smith Award for academic excellence. To be eligible for the award, a student must be a freshman, sophomore or junior with a grade-point average of 3.9 or higher.

Seven SUNY Oneonta students and one recent graduate presented research or were co-authors on presentations at the annual meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America in March.

Eighteen SUNY Oneonta students presented posters and projects at the 2016 SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference, held Friday, April 15 at SUNY Cobleskill.

Sixteen SUNY Oneonta students presented papers at the college's seventh annual New Critics: Undergraduate Literature and Composition Conference on Saturday, April 9. Students from five colleges and universities presented their scholarly work in 22 sessions at the conference, which featured a keynote address by Dr. Jinnny Huh, associate professor at the University of Vermont, titled, "Arresting Eyes: Race Detection in a Post-Racial America."

The SUNY Oneonta Poetry Slam Team competed in the 16th annual College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) from April 6-9, 2016, at the University of Texas-Austin. Hosted by the Association of College Unions International, CUPSI is the only licensed poetry slam tournament bringing college students together to showcase their talents in the competitive art of performance poetry.

SUNY Oneonta theatre major Akeem Celestine of Schenectady, NY, was one of 12 young artists from across the country selected for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Gateway mentorship program. The program part of USITT's Diversity and Inclusion Initiative to foster diversity, equity and inclusion in the backstage arts. It paired 12 emerging artists with professional mentors at the USITT Conference & Stage Expo in Salt Lake City from March 16-19.

SUNY Oneonta recognized 28 student athletes by inducting them into Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society, during a luncheon held on April 9. To qualify for induction a student athlete must have achieved at least junior standing with a cumulative 3.4 grade point average while earning a varsity letter in an NCAA intercollegiate sport. Each student athlete must also be of good moral character and have the endorsement of his/her coach and the Chapter President.

Seven SUNY Oneonta students presented papers at the college's eighth annual Undergraduate Political Science Conference on April 1. The conference featured a keynote address titled "Incarceration Rates in the U.S." by Dr. Peter Enns, associate professor in the Department of Government and executive director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University.

Two SUNY Oneonta seniors and one recent graduate are among a select group of State University of New York students chosen to receive the 2016 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher presented the awards to the students at a reception in their honor Tuesday, April 5, at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany.

Eight field hockey players have earned academic honors from the NFHCA.

Sixteen SUNY Oneonta students participated in two delegations at the 2016 National Model United Nations Conference in New York City from March 20-24. Two students represented Denmark, and 14 represented Nicaragua. The Nicaragua delegation received an Honorable Mention award for its success in remaining in character, participating in committee, and properly using the rules of procedure.

Twelve members of SUNY Oneonta's Habitat for Humanity club spent their spring break (March 6-13) building houses in Punta Gorda, Florida. The students worked closely with one of the Charlotte County Habitat for Humanity chapter's family partners to help build and raise the wooden framing for the exterior walls of one of the homes. On a second home, the group began construction on the interior walls, helped put up the exterior housewrap, and began some siding work.

SUNY Oneonta senior Micaelina Velardi of New Berlin, NY, will direct "The Marriage Proposal" and "The Brute," two one-act comedies written by Anton Chekhov, this weekend. Performances will be in SUNY Oneonta's Hamblin Theater at 8 p.m. March 24-26 and at 2 p.m. March 27.

SUNY Oneonta's Hooked On Tonics a cappella group competed in an International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Northeast Quarterfinal on Feb. 20 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

17 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta men's swimming & diving team this winter.

15 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta women's swimming & diving team this winter.

Twelve students spent a week in New Orleans doing wetlands restoration service-learning projects in the Lower Ninth Ward. Working with a nonprofit organization called Common Ground Relief, the students planted hardy, fast-growing native plants and removed invasive species in coastal areas imperiled by hurricanes, development and engineering projects that have eroded land and endangered wildlife.

31 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta wrestling team during the recently completed winter season.

12 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta women's basketball team this winter.

16 student athletes competed for the SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team this winter.

Two SUNY Oneonta students were recognized for outstanding academic achievement during the college's Chi Alpha Epsilon national honor society induction ceremony on Feb. 17.

Twenty-one students were inducted into SUNY Oneonta's Beta Eta Chapter of the Chi Alpha Epsilon national honor society on Feb. 17. Chi Alpha Epsilon was formed in 1989 to recognize the academic achievements of students admitted to colleges and universities through nontraditional criteria. Beta Eta Chapter members are full-time Educational Opportunity Program and College Assistance Migrant Program students who have held a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for at least two consecutive semesters.

The USTFCCCA recognized four SUNY Oneonta student athletes for their performance in the classroom.

More than a dozen SUNY Oneonta students and recent graduates got an inside look at the presidential election process by hitting the campaign trail for various candidates in the final days leading up to the New Hampshire primary.

Fifteen SUNY Oneonta political science students got an inside look at the presidential election process during a five-day trip to New Hampshire that culminated Feb. 9 with the first-in-the-nation primary. The trip is part of a semester-long course, POLS 216: Presidential Election Campaigns, taught by Associate Professor of Political Science Gina Keel. While in New Hampshire, students attended candidate rallies, town hall meetings and other events, witnessing firsthand the campaigning and media frenzy in the last days before the primary.