The Geneseo Insomnia Film Festival (GIFF) is returning for its ninth installation after a COVID-19-induced respite. The festival, which kickstarted in 2011, has been a staple campus event ever since its first run; its loyal participants, referred to as “Insomniacs,” are surely eager for its return.

A new Living Learning Community (LLC) has been established in Genesee, Putnam, and Suffolk Residence Halls. The Lavender House LLC is a community for LGBTQ+ students interested in living with other students who share their identities and experiences. While there has previously been dedicated space in Putnam Hall for gender neutral and LGBTQ+ students, a ceremony was held on Nov. 1 to officially name the space Lavender House and establish LLCs in Genesee and Suffolk Halls. 

In Oct. of this year, the SUNY Geneseo School of Business (SOB) dedicated a conference room in South Hall to Geneseo alumnus Robert E. Murray of the class of 1983. The room was dedicated during a special ceremony preceding the President’s Gala, with speakers School of Business (SOB) Dean Mary Ellen Zuckerman and Geneseo President Denise Battles speaking to Murray’s generosity and involvement in the SOB. 

The SUNY Geneseo community is continuing their dedication to sustainability awareness with the 2022-23 “Tempestry” project. The goal of the project is to create a blanket or tapestry with colors determined by the temperature of each day of the year. Once completed, the tapestry can be compared to other “tempestries” and will serve as a physical reminder of the continued effects of global warming and climate change. 

The list of ten students selected as this year’s SUNY Geneseo Presidential Scholars was recently released and posted on the Geneseo website. Presidential Scholars are graduating students who have demonstrated academic excellence and exemplify Geneseo’s institutional values of learning, creativity, belonging, civic engagement, and sustainability.

On Oct. 25, SUNY Geneseo was named one of The Princeton Review’s 2023 Green Colleges. The Princeton Review is a nationally recognized authority on college rankings, and Geneseo has recently also received favorable ratings on education, community, and belonging. 

Steve Holden, a Syracuse University graduate and United States Army veteran, is running for Congress in District 24. The district includes several counties including Livingston, Ontario, Wayne, Seneca, Yates, Wyoming, and the town of Geneseo.

According to his website, Holden is concerned with a variety of hot-button issues, including women’s rights and the right to an abortion, immigration, gun reform, and the environment, among other issues. 

On Monday Oct. 17, Dean of Students and Director of Center for Community Leonard Sancilio sent an email to all Geneseo students describing several updates on college-wide policies and procedures. The email pertained mainly to policies and amendments surrounding campus safety, more specifically the Student Code of Conduct, the SUNY Geneseo Hazing Policy, the SUNY Geneseo Policy on Alcohol and Illicit Drugs, and the SUNY Geneseo Academic Dishonesty Policy, as well as SUNY Geneseo policies on sexual misconduct and Title IX policies and procedures.

On Oct. 1, SUNY Geneseo Assistant Professor of Biology Mackenzie Gerringer co-authored an article in Marine Biodiversity, a peer-reviewed biological journal devoted to publications and research on marine ecosystems and the diversity of plant and animal life found there. The paper, “Independent radiation of snailfishes into the hadal zone confirmed by Paraliparis selti sp. nov. from the Atacama Trench, SE Pacific,” identified a new species of deep sea snailfish, Paraliparis selti.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the SUNY Geneseo Title IX Office is offering education on domestic violence and other forms of abuse throughout the month. The office is holding educational seminars and events to show support for victims of domestic abuse and offers resources to students experiencing abuse throughout the year. 

On Tuesday, Oct. 18, Professor Nahid Siamdoust from the University of Texas at Austin (UT at Austin) gave a presentation on the ongoing protests in Iran and the cultural and historical roots of the issue. Siamdoust is an Assistant Professor of Middle East and Media Studies at UT at Austin and previously worked as a Middle East-based journalist. 

SUNY Geneseo has a wide variety of research opportunities for students over a range of majors and interests. Under the guidance and direction of a faculty member, students study topics from cultural anthropology and linguistics to biochemistry. These types and range of research opportunities are rare in undergraduate institutions, and the wide availability of these opportunities is one of Geneseo’s most notable features as an undergraduate-focused college.  

On Monday, Sept. 12, SUNY Geneseo posted a news update that Geneseo was ranked #1 in U.S. News’ list of 2022-2023 “Best Undergraduate Teaching Programs.” The announcement, posted by Manager of Editorial Services Kris Dreessen, explained the importance of this recognition and other achievements that the university has recently accrued.

The Student Association (SA) Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) is hosting a Quiz Bowl trivia competition on Oct. 15 from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Students can form teams of up to four individuals and register for the competition via the link that was sent from the AAC in an email to all Geneseo students. Winners will receive prizes including a Nintendo Switch, a Keurig, a JBL Bluetooth speaker, and squishmallows.