Retiring Hartwick College President Margaret Drugovich said she will miss the Oneonta community
when she steps down next year.
“I really enjoyed being part of the Oneonta community and I’ll miss it,” Drugovich said on Monday, Sept. 20, and said how much she liked the warm atmosphere of the people in Oneonta.
“They care deeply about one another and the people in it,” Drugovich said. “It’s just a great place to be and I’ll make sure to tell the next person who will be president that it’s a community they will really enjoy.”
Jack Lambert defends an opponent’s guard during a Landmark Conference game in his sophomore year at University of Scranton. (Scranton University Sports Information)
When Jack Lambert graduated from Cooperstown Central School, he was second on the boys’ basketball program’s career scoring list and as a senior had led his team to the school’s first-ever Class C state championship in boys basketball, while earning Most Outstanding Player honors after setting several state tournament scoring records. He was also named the NYSPHAA Class C Player of the Year in 2019.
However, when he arrived to play for the men’s basketball team at the University of Scranton, he was just another freshman player trying to earn some playing time for a perennial Division III powerhouse.
“It’s definitely a transition. I mean, I am proud of all the things I accomplished in high school, and that was awesome,” Lambert said. “But when you get to college, especially at a very competitive Division III level, it’s a whole new ballgame.”
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras tells a press conference in SUNY Oneonta’s Dewar Arena today that he’s “optimistic” about the campus reopening Feb. 1 for the spring semester. In the background campus President Dennis Craig. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
By CHRYSTAL SAVAGE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
Student Chris Wilber tries out a saliva test that Malatras called “the best in the world.”
ONEONTA – “Testing is the secret sauce to our success,” SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said today at a noontime press conference as students begin returning to SUNY Oneonta in advance of the Feb. 1 start of the spring semester.
This coming semester, all students will be required to take a weekly swab test, “and we are using the number one saliva test in the world here at SUNY,” said Malatras, who appeared with campus President Dennis Craig at the Dewar Arena, where testing sites have been set up.
The swab, in combination with mask wearing at all times and social distancing, makes him “optimistic” that last fall’s outbreak, where 750 students tested positive in a few days and campus was closed, will be avoided this spring.
Some 1,500 graduates took their final walk across the stage at this morning and afternoon in three-session SUNY Oneonta’s 130th Commencement in the Dewar Arena. Above, graduate Michael Bagby, Oneonta, shakes hands with SUNY President Barbara Jean Morris, who gave her first commencement to the class of ’19. At right, Oneonta’s Sapphira Koerner beams as she and her fellow students march out during the recessional. Two alumni delivered commencement addresses at separate ceremonies: James C. Zachos, ’81, a widely published paleoclimatologist, professor of geology, and National Academy of Sciences member,, spoke at the first session; Crystal L. Williams, ’77, CEO and executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, spoke at the two others. Also, eight faculty members and four students received Chancellor Awards for Excellence (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Vigorous applause interrupted SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski’s remarks at the final Community Breakfast she will be hosting for leaders in business and government this morning at Morris Hall. In her comments, Kleniewski, who is retiring at the end of this academic years thanked supporters and highlighted accomplishments SUNY has enjoyed during her time as president: The college’s endowment has risen to $55 million, a record for SUNY’s comprehensive colleges, allowing one in six students to receive financial aid through the Access To School Excellence Program. She instituted The Common Read, saw two new buildings rise and 11 others rehabbed, worked with OPT to provide more efficient transport for students, created a student thrift store, as well as contributing to the Oneonta community economically, partnered with volunteer organization and hosted Head Start Program. City officials, Senator Jim Seward, teachers, friends, supporters and community members turned out this morning. Hall. At right, Paul Patterson and wife Sarah applaud Kleniewski’s accomplishments at the conclusion of the breakfast. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Paula Freedman, a student at Hartwick College, admires “The Overpeepulation Of Our Jails” by Steph Rozen and Laura Cemik at the college’s annual “Peeps Show” at the Anderson Center this afternoon. The show features a wide variety of art created with the familiar Easter candy through a humorous celebration of satire and sugar. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
SUNY THEATER – 2 p.m. Theater department production of “Colony Collapse.” Hamblin Theater, Fine Arts Building, 108 Ravine Pkwy., Oneonta. Info, oneonta.edu/academics/theatre/
ADULTING WORKSHOP – 1-4 p.m. Through conversation and practice, learn about the skills and lessons a young college graduate may need in their adult life. Golisano 103-104, Hartwick College. Info, Kristin Bergene, bergenek@hartwick.edu
NETWORKING – 6-7:30 p.m. Monthly networking mixer with the Young Professionals Network. B-side Ballroom, 1 Clinton Plaza Dr., Oneonta. Info, www.facebook.com/YoungProfessionalsNetworkYPN/
SKYPE CLASS – 1-4 p.m. Huntington Memorial Library, 62 Chestnut St, Oneonta. Info, hmloneonta.org
COLLEGE PLANNING – 6-7:30 p.m. For Juniors, Auditorium, Cooperstown Central School, 39 Linden Ave., Cooperstown. Info, www.cooperstowncs.org
FOMA MEETING – 7-8 p.m. Cooperstown High School Faculty Room, 39 Linden Ave., Cooperstown. Info, www.cooperstowncs.org
We still have 6 families in the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program in need of a benefactor this holiday season. CLICK HERE to learn how you can help them.
HOLIDAY MARKETPLACE – 4-6 p.m. Opening reception showcasing The Smithy Clay Studio Artists & Visiting Ceramicists. The Smithy, 1 Otsego Court, Cooperstown. Info, (607) 547-8671 or visit www.smithyarts.org
DINNER – 6:30 p.m. “The Future of Food: A Dinner & Conversation with the Local Youth Food Movement.” Cost: $40. Farmers Museum, 5775 NY-80, Cooperstown. Info, farmersmuseum.org/origins
MEETING – 4:30 p.m. SUNY Oneonta College Council meeting. Open to public. rm. 209, Physical Science Building, SUNY Oneonta, 108 Ravine pkwy. Oneonta. Info, http://www.oneonta.edu/general/collegecouncil.asp
The last pieces of 67 East St., Oneonta,, fall under the bucket of the Excavator, operated by Mike French, Unadilla, while David Pierce, Oneonta, hoses the debris to keep dust down under the eye of Michael Sherlock, Oneonta. The demolition of two former student residential houses at 67 and 69 East St. by Eastman & Associates was completed Thursday and marks the first step in Hartwick College’s master plan to redo the entrance area to the college. Plans also include the removal of a stone retaining wall along the street before the area is leveled off and turned into a green space. (Ian Austin/ allotsego.com)
