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- Leave your legacy in the music performance theaterAnyone who would like to make their mark on the music performance theater being erected on the Rochester Institute of Technology campus is invited to sign a steel beam that will be part of the building. For the next two weeks, a 12-foot beam, painted orange, will be on the southeast side outside of the construction zone, under a blue tent. Anyone who wishes may sign their name on it, or even leave a message to future students. It is accessible 24 hours for approximately the next two weeks. Markers for signing are at the site. “It’s almost like a time capsule,” said Michael Dellafave, associate director for construction management and grounds. “The beam will be installed in the steel structure of the building and will live there for the duration of the building’s life.” Dellafave said beams were also signed for the SHED, the Saunders College of Business expansion, and the Gene Polisseni Center. Each had hundreds of signatures. Groundbreaking on the three-story, 40,000-square-foot building was held in September and is the first major theater project in the Rochester area in decades. It will consist of a 750-seat theater primarily used for musical theater productions. The theater will have two balconies and a historic pipe organ as its centerpiece. The estimated completion date is December 2025, and like other venues on campus, it will be available for public use. In 2019, RIT established a vision to become the leading performing arts program in the nation for non-majors. More than 1,800 students have received partial performing arts scholarships since then.
- Women’s, gender, and sexuality studies program honors first graduating classThe first class of graduates from RIT’s women’s, gender, and sexuality studies (WGSS) program will be celebrated during commencement this month. Molly Kohli, from Rome, N.Y., and Gaby Licona, from Miami, will be the first of many future alums from the program. The WGSS program has long existed at RIT, and, in 2023, the bachelor’s degree program was approved and offered for current students. Starting in the fall of 2024, enrollment will be available to incoming first-year students. Silvia Benso, who has served as the WGSS program director for six years, expresses her excitement about celebrating the first graduates and increasing the program’s offerings through this added degree pathway. “The WGSS degree is very flexible. As a primary major, it opens the way to innumerable careers where people skills and a passion for gender justice are required—from diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused jobs to counselors and advisors in various educational, but also industry contexts to advocacy and activism in various fields,” said Benso. “As a double major, one can become virtually anything they wish—an engineer, a game designer, a health practitioner, an entrepreneur, a political scientist, and more— all with a well-rounded, needed sensitivity to increase gender equity and justice in one’s field of professional activities.” After taking courses in the program for four years, Kohli had completed much of the work required of the new bachelor’s degree program prior to its existence. This experience allowed her to change her major to WGSS once the degree was approved. Kohli says that combining her WGSS education with what she learned through her minor in anthropology and sociology helped her gain a greater understanding of people and how they interact with and react to one another. “When considering people’s different cultures and demographics, you can more easily figure out why they react in certain ways, and what we might do on a cultural and societal level to mitigate negative reactions toward one another,” said Kohli. “A big part of anthropology is making sure people’s voices are heard and that we’re uplifting diverse voices. Using that mentality when approaching women’s, gender, and sexuality studies is incredibly important.” After graduation, Kohli aspires to work in a library in a role focused on community building with plans to pursue a master’s degree in library sciences in the future. Licona, who is a double-major in WGSS and communication, says that she has always been a big advocate for social justice and feminism. She earned a minor in women’s and gender studies prior to the new degree offering, and she is grateful for the opportunity to take on the additional major during her last year at RIT. As she makes plans and goals for her post-university career, Licona shares that her dream job is to work in social media marketing for a feminist or women-led organization that shares her same values. “Being the president of the Her Campus chapter here RIT, I’ve had the chance to write articles related to college women and I've seen what it's like to work in a group with college students just looking for a safe space,” said Licona. “So that experience really pushes me to want to work for a women's magazine or women's organization that provides resources and educational sources for other individuals on women, feminism, and advocacy targeting towards social justice.” Licona credited her success in the program to her close friend Mackenzie Vanacore ’22 (English), who introduced her to WGSS, as well as her work with Advance RIT and senior staff specialist Silvia Caraballo. Both Vanacore and Caraballo inspired her and helped her to pursue her goals. Looking ahead to the next academic year, Benso anticipates that interest in the new degree program will continue to grow. “Molly and Gaby are both emblematic of the various options a WGSS degree offers. They both understand the value of a WGSS education for the present and the future. I like to think of them as ‘visionary’ students, students who, in a truly RIT spirit, have an innovative vision of a better world to come and are willing to take the initiative to make it happen,” said Benso. “I look forward to welcoming more students like them to the program.” For more information about how to enroll in the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies bachelor’s program, go to the department website or email Silvia Benso at silvia.benso@rit.edu.
- RIT graduate pursues Ph.D. across time zonesNastaran Nagshineh is one of the first Ph.D. candidates to bridge RIT’s Rochester and Dubai campuses. Her accomplishment creates a path for future students at the university’s international campuses. Nagshineh completed her Ph.D. in mathematical modeling while working full time as a mathematics lecturer at RIT Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, teaching as many as five classes a semester. She described her Ph.D. journey as “an exercise in perseverance” due to competing demands and long days. Rochester is eight hours behind Dubai, and the time difference meant many late-night classes and meetings. “I saw this collaboration as an opportunity, rather than as a challenge, because my primary adviser, Dr. Steven Weinstein (RIT professor of chemical engineering), and my co-adviser, Dr. Mohamed Samaha (RIT Dubai associate professor of mechanical engineering), both have the same area of research interest,” she said. “They both worked toward my success.” Nagshineh is one of 67 RIT Ph.D. students who defended their thesis this academic year and who will earn their doctorate. RIT awarded 63 Ph.D. degrees in 2023. In 2020-2021, RIT’s Graduate School met and surpassed the university’s goal of conferring 50 Ph.D. degrees during an academic year. That number will continue to grow as students cycle through the seven new Ph.D. programs that RIT has added since 2017, said Diane Slusarski, dean of RIT’s Graduate School. Meeting these goals puts RIT on a path toward achieving an “R1,” or research-intensive designation, from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Learning. RIT is currently ranked as an R2 institution. Many factors go into changing a university’s status, including research investment and maintaining a three-year average of 70 Ph.D. degrees awarded per year, according to Slusarski. “We have met the goals of the strategic plan, and now we look forward to contributing to the research innovation in the future,” Slusarski said. “We want to help the new programs thrive and win national research awards.” RIT’s emphasis on high-level research is seen in Nagshineh’s Ph.D. work. She applies mathematical modeling to the field of fluid dynamics. Her research has been published in top-tier journals and has gained notice, said Weinstein, her thesis adviser. Weinstein describes Nagshineh’s accomplishments as “a testament to a fantastic work ethic and commitment” and is inspirational to younger students at Rochester and Dubai. “The collaboration between RIT Dubai/Rochester has continued,” he said. “Another paper was submitted a few weeks ago with Mohamed Samaha and Nate Barlow (RIT associate professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics) as co-authors, as well as Cade Reinberger, a younger Ph.D. student in my research group.” Mathematical modeling is one of RIT’s newer Ph.D. degree programs, and Nagshineh is among its earliest graduates. The program has doubled in size since it began accepting students in 2017, Slusarski said. This past fall, the mathematical modeling program had 35 students, with two graduating this year. Altogether, RIT has 13 Ph.D. degree programs currently enrolling 438 students, with computing and information sciences accounting for the largest with 117 students. RIT’s other Ph.D. programs include astrophysical sciences and technology, biomedical and chemical engineering, business administration, color science, electrical and computer engineering, imaging science, mechanical and industrial engineering, microsystems engineering, and sustainability. New programs in cognitive science and physics will launch in the fall. The growth in RIT graduate education—with more than 3,000 master’s and doctoral students—reflects a demographic change in the student population, Slusarski said. “We have a higher percentage of women in the graduate programs than we have for RIT undergraduate programs.” RIT’s graduate programs enroll 42 percent women, according to Christie Leone, assistant dean for the Graduate School. Nagshineh, who also holds an MS in electrical engineering from RIT Dubai, welcomes her role as a mentor to other women students on both campuses. “As a young woman in an Arabic country, the power of women is often underestimated and undervalued, and I hope to serve as a role model to female students, especially those that question their path,” Nagshineh said. She plans to continue in her career as a professor and a researcher. “I would like to pursue a research program where I can advise my own students and teach them more deeply.”
- Students celebrate 5th annual Black graduationThe road to a master’s degree in business administration has been a long one for Emmanuelle Gourene ’23 (management information systems). Gourene came to RIT from Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa. She had to travel thousands of miles from home, adapt to a new culture, and face the COVID pandemic. She celebrated her second RIT degree with her peers on Saturday, May 4, during the fifth annual Black graduation ceremony. “I made lifelong connections here with a lot of people from different backgrounds and I really enjoyed it,” said Gourene. “It’s a celebration of our culture and of our identity. It’s important to celebrate our common achievements.” The graduation event, hosted by the Black Awareness Coordinating Committee (BACC), began with a breakfast in the Dyer Gallery and was followed by a ceremony in the Panara Theatre. Minett Professor Sherry Tshibangu addressed the graduates during the ceremony, sharing that the graduates’ journeys were taken with exceptional courage, and that their legacy is one to be continued. Afterward, a reception with music, food, and dancing took place in the SHED. Black graduation is held to uplift and highlight Black students and unify not just the Black community but the entire RIT community. “A lot of individuals in our community who are graduating and participated in Black graduation are leaders in a lot of organizations,” said Key’mon Jenkins, a third-year computer engineering student and vice president of BACC. “We wanted to make this a big celebration to honor them.” The first Black graduation was held in 2019, in part to acknowledge that Black students face some of the lowest degree completion rates in the nation. After going remote in 2020, it has continued to grow each year. This year’s ceremony was capped at 75 students, but all were welcome to attend. “I think that growth is essential because every year you want to see something different, you want to see additions to graduation,” said Guerline Guerrier, a third-year biomedical sciences major and president of the BACC. “I really wanted to give these seniors a good Black graduation because they were the COVID year. We’re replacing the one they missed, really.” Many intimate graduation ceremonies have started on campus the past few years, including rainbow graduation and Latinx graduation, giving students a chance to celebrate fellow students who they may identify with the most. “Watching this celebration of our Black graduates grow over the years has been great to see,” said Keith Jenkins, vice president and associate provost for Diversity and Inclusion. “It is to be applauded when students recognize the importance of honoring their peers.” The importance of celebrating fellow students resonates within the Black community on RIT’s campus. Many students helped in the planning and executing of the event, even though their graduation day is a few years away. “It is a very integral to build community and hold that strong, and represent from the start to the finish,” said second-year software engineering major Jaime Offeiokyne. “Being part of a community gives you the space that is going to transcend you, even beyond college.”
Athletics
- Men's tennis drops home match to conference rival UnionROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's tennis team (3-4, 0-3 Liberty League) fell to Liberty League foe Union College (3-0, 2-0 Liberty League) from the Midtown Athletic Club Sunday afternoon. Union would win two of three doubles points. RIT's Brennan Bull and Jacob Meyerson earned RIT's lone doubles point in a great...
- Women's tennis suffers loss to Skidmore in Liberty League openerROCHESTER, NY - The RIT women's tennis team (4-2, 0-1 Liberty League) dropped its Liberty League Conference opener, 9-0 to defending champion Skidmore College (5-0, 4-0 Liberty League) from the Midtown Athletic Club Sunday afternoon. Skidmore would take the first three doubles points. At first doubles, Anne Taylor and Kristen Zablonski put...
- Men's hockey drops regular season finale to CanisiusROCHESTER, NY - The RIT men's hockey team (15-15-4, 13-11-4 AHA) wrapped up the 2018-19 regular season by falling to Canisius College (11-18-5, 8-16-4 AHA) from the Gene Polisseni Center Saturday evening.With the loss, RIT finishes the regular season fifth in the final Atlantic Hockey standings. They receive a first-round bye...
- Baseball drops first two games of 2019 season to Frostburg StateFARMVILLE, VA - The RIT baseball team opened the 2019 season by dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Frostburg State University (7-0) from Hampden-Sydney College on Saturday afternoon. RIT dropped game one, 3-2 in eight inning and lost game two, 10-7.In game one, RIT led 2-0 before Frostburg State chipped...