Annual Report 2017-2018 - 8

Buffalo State Celebrates 146th Commencement.
The college conferred degrees on 1,900 undergraduate and 683 graduate students during its 146th
Commencement celebration on May 19, 2018, in the
Sports Arena. The following graduates of the Class of
2018 were honored with the SUNY Chancellor's
Award for Student Excellence in recognition of their
academic and extracurricular achievements:
Matthew R. Burch, Emily Elise Cloutier, Mohamed B.
Koanda, Samantha E. Stanford (undergraduates),
and John W. Latona (graduate). Andrew J. Butt
(undergraduate) and Lyndsay M. Raymond (graduate) received the President's Medal and delivered
the student addresses. JoAnn Falletta, conductor
and music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic
Orchestra, received a SUNY Honorary Doctor of
Music and addressed the undergraduate class via
videoconference, while Congressman Brian Higgins,
'85, addressed the graduate students. Distinguished
Alumnus Awards were presented to Amilee Cattouse-Scott, '85, radio personality, and Michael
Toppo, '87, vice president and senior editorial
director at CNN. Amber Morczek, '09, Ph.D., received
the Young Alumnus Achievement Award.

MILESTONES
ASECS Headquarters Moves to Campus. Lisa
Berglund, Buffalo State professor of English, was
appointed executive director of the American
Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) in
fall 2017. Her appointment relocates the ASECS
headquarters to Buffalo State from its previous home
at Wake Forest University, where it resided for the
past 20 years. Established in 1969, ASECS is an
interdisciplinary group of more than 1,500 members
dedicated to the advancement of scholarship in all
aspects of the period-from English literature to
French music to Chinese philosophy. The society
publishes two refereed journals, holds an annual
conference, and funds fellowships and publication
awards. Occupying two offices within Ketchum Hall,
the administrative center includes a host of prizewinning books by ASECS members as well as a
variety of academic journals.
Liberty Partnerships Program Funded for Five
Years. Buffalo State's Liberty Partnerships Program
was awarded more than $2 million in funding in
September 2017, or roughly $450,000 a year over
the next five years, to help shepherd disadvantaged
youth from Buffalo Public Schools into college or
the workforce. The grant pays for case
management, workshops, academic tutoring, and
specialized programming for roughly 360 students
in grades seven through 12 who attend Herman
Badillo Bilingual Academy, West Hertel Academy,
McKinley High School, or Lafayette International
High School.

YEAR IN REVIEW

Odom Appointed to College Council. Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo appointed Cindy L. Odom, '96,
to the Buffalo State College Council in June 2018.
Odom is the chief community impact officer with
the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. She
replaced James Brandys, '71, '73, who served on
the council for two decades (1997-2017). The
College Council serves as the primary oversight
and advisory body with respect to the operations
and affairs of Buffalo State. It is composed of 10
members-nine appointees of the governor, and
one elected student representative. Odom's term
expires June 30, 2024.

Student Research and Creativity Conference
Celebrates 20th Year. The Student Research and
Creativity Conference observed its 20th anniversary
in May 2018 with a two-day event that allowed
Buffalo State undergraduate and graduate students
to present their preliminary and completed
research and creative activities in a student-friendly,
supportive environment. For two decades, the
conference has connected countless students with
research, creative, and applied-learning opportunities across campus, Western New York, and beyond.

Annual Report 2017-2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Annual Report 2017-2018