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One large, ongoing art project is how Taylor McDowell describes his life.Why? Because its elements combine to create a portrait of what the 2015 SUNY Morrisville graduate loves: web and game development, drumming, storytelling, art and music. Each has shaped the life of the 28-year-old New Hartford, New York resident, whose palette is a colorful blend of perseverance and will.

Like most first-year students in 2020, Mo the Mustang’s (they/them/their) arrival on campus at SUNY Morrisville was not what they originally had in mind. Wearing a face mask, practicing physical distancing, picking up meals to go and otherwise adjusting to pandemic life were some of the firsts that the college’s mascot experienced at the same time as other students.

A beacon for generations, no end in sight for professor Shirley Crawford, SUNY Morrisville’s longest-standing faculty member Social science professor Norman Dann, Ph.D., recalls very clearly the day he returned to his office on the SUNY Morrisville campus to find a young faculty member, in her first days on campus, waiting outside his door.

For Angela Marriott ’17, it was a career-defining moment. In the summer of 2015, she observed the daily work of police officers during a ride-along in her hometown of Peekskill, New York. Seeing firsthand how a female officer deftly handled the challenges of the job cemented her desire to pursue a career in law enforcement. “The way she was connected and interacted with people and carried herself as a woman in law enforcement is who I aspired to be,” Marriott said.

Sheneya Wilson ’13 commanded the room. Wilson, a Ph.D. student, Forbes 30 Under 30 Scholar, author and business owner, visited campus to deliver the keynote lecture for Entrepreneurs’ Day, held February 27. 

Julio Torres Santana ’07 didn’t speak English when he arrived in New York City as a teenager. No one in his family had ever graduated from college, and his childhood in the Dominican Republic was marked with poverty and hardship. But his drive to succeed and passion for architecture pushed him to complete an associate degree at SUNY Morrisville and become the school’s first architectural studies student to be accepted into the bachelor’s degree program at Cornell University.

For Tristan Archambault ’22, receiving a scholarship changed his college experience. It gave him the opportunity to take summer classes, stay on track with his degree and be a member of the Mustang men’s ice hockey team.   “I could not have been more proud and honored to accept such a high honor here at SUNY Morrisville,” Archambault said of the Crawford Scholarship he received. “Scholarship support is a very important part of helping students advance their education.”

When Alexandra “Ali” Bland ’09 was pregnant with her first child in 2015, she asked her husband if he could build a radiator cover that could double as a changing table in their nursery. Before long, Thomas Bland ’09 had created a rustic piece with a drawer, small cupboard and an eye-catching herringbone-patterned top made from pallets.

Only a lucky few know exactly what they want to be when they “grow up,” but most figure it out mid-way through college. When Jimmy Sardelli enrolled in SUNY Morrisville’s equine science program, he was still trying to find his path in life.

Justanna Bohling ’13 keeps a bag packed with her firearm, a helmet with night vision goggles and heavy plated armor that will stop rifle rounds. She is trained in searching for fugitives, responding to active shooter situations and assessing radiological threats, and is constantly prepared to be deployed to any part of New York State.

As a business student, Rachel Jackson ’18 came to love the small-campus advantages offered at SUNY Morrisville. She never dreamed that her education would land her on one of the biggest campuses in the world — NBC Universal in New York City. Jackson worked as a campus programs coordinator with advertising sales recruiters for the CNBC network and the popular NBC late-night talk shows, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers.

At 97 years old, Richard “Dick” McGuire ’42 acts as a living historian. He’s physically spry enough to trudge around in a half foot of snow serving as a tour guide for his 12 museums on his lifelong home of Penope Farms in the rural town of Jackson, N.Y. And he is mentally sharp enough to recollect specific use of 19th and 20th century farm equipment that was critical to the time for food production in America.

A supportive professor who infallibly made himself available to his students, even long after they graduated; A hard-working dean always at the center of the action — that is how colleagues and students are remembering faculty emeritus Joseph Nassimos.

Seeds of popular landscaping & nursery dynasty were planted at SUNY Morrisville They started small, but their dreams grew big. Throughout the past three decades, Lasnicki Landscaping & Nursery’s comprehensive services and family atmosphere have grown to reap the admiration of the local community and far beyond the reaches of its physical location on County Route 32 in Hastings, New York.

Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center offers pathway to a new life

Monday morning, the second week of classes, and in the Western barn, the nicker of horses and warmth of well-used leather replaces the starch of lectures and laptops.

Andy Lagoe ’92 and Gil Hodges ’92 wanted to come up with a way to show how proud they are to be Mustangs. The duo, owners of Gilligan’s Ice Cream along with partner Mike Lagoe, decided the best way was to do what they do best. So they churned up an ice cream flavor contest at SUNY Morrisville. “We thought, why not reach out to our alma mater to see if they would want to collaborate and create a flavor for Morrisville,” Andy Lagoe said.  

Alumni and students play a role in harnessing community solar energy In Tompkins County, 6,804 solar panels sit on a 13-acre plot of farmland in the town of Endfield. The 2.3-megawatt solar array helps power 373 households, reducing greenhouse gases by 1,430 metric tons annually, the equivalent of removing 306 cars from the road.

Unrelenting spirit of giving drives Volunteer of the Year Patricia “Patty” King ’77 is spirited by helping others. Whether it’s running, racing, volunteering, leading, hiring, mentoring or otherwise, she does all she can to support her career field, her alma mater and the people she serves through both.

Greg Carroll champions winning culture following 18-year career as athletics director Greg Carroll still remembers his wild first day on the job as director of athletics at SUNY Morrisville. Fresh off a successful 12-year run as the athletics director and director of communications for the Cazenovia (New York) school district, Carroll walked into football check-in day before the 2001 season. Nearly 150 student-athletes flooded campus looking for his assistance.

How Charles Okine is using inspiration to empower others Charles Okine ’18 has a personal brand that could be described as: always be inspired. “Everything around you is inspirational,” Okine said. “I try to take the best of everyone around me and try to use that to become a better me.” Thanks to his experience at SUNY Morrisville, Okine becoming a “better me” helped bring out the best in those around him, as well.

Tossing a lacrosse ball back and forth was a big part of Louie ’15 and Nick Geswaldo’s childhood. While others were playing video games, the brothers were shooting and catching, from dawn to dusk, in the backyard of their LaFayette, New York, home.   As they got older, their love for lacrosse deepened their brotherly camaraderie and spread to a college community.

Long days on the farm, grit and determination have come to define dairy management student Carrie Shuman on her journey to graduation. Born and raised on a former dairy farm in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, Shuman amassed emotional and financial hardship following the death of her father during high school and the recent loss of her brother.

Five years ago, Elizabeth Hope Noble ’16 was finishing high school and serving as valedictorian of her senior class. The self-described "small-town girl'' was ready for college and thinking about life beyond it. She knew she wanted to work in a field where she could have a positive impact on people and she knew she wanted to see more of the world.

The room went silent as this year’s Global Game Jam® (GGJ) theme, “What Home Means to You,” was unveiled. And with that, James Cook and his teammates sequestered themselves in a classroom at SUNY Morrisville, serving as a host site, and spent the next 48 hours in imaginative indulgence and intensive programming, creating a video game from scratch.