On Sept. 7 2023 California became the first state in the nation to pass a law instating Transgender History Month beginning Aug. 2024. The bill was introduced by Matt Haney, an assemblyman of the 17th Californian district, on Aug. 29 of this year. The law text begins by acknowledging the Native peoples of the land and their historical ties to gender diversity that was then suppressed by the invading Spanish colonizers. It also acknowledges different trans cultures, groups, and individuals who have worked to advance progressive action in California through various political, cultural, and academic avenues, arguing that it only seems right to dedicate time to more consciously addressing those who came before us and the opportunities and enrichment they have provided to us as a nation amid increasing anti-trans rhetoric.

Tuesday, May 2, marks the beginning of The Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) most recent strike against large entertainment corporations like Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Paramount. With the previous union-corporation contract having expired on May 1, the two parties were unable to reach an agreement that would result in ensured-employment for writers across the country.

In order to recognize student achievements, on Apr. 26, SUNY Geneseo hosted its seventeenth annual Geneseo Recognizing Excellence, Achievement, and Talent Day (GREAT Day). In honor of this event, all classes were canceled to encourage student participation and involvement. 

On Saturday, Apr. 29, at 10 a.m. SUNY Geneseo hosted its annual Scholarship Brunch. This is the first time the Scholarship Brunch was hosted since before the COVID-19 pandemic. This brunch, organized by Rachel Sluberski who is the Director of Donor Relations, provided\s an opportunity for donors and scholarship recipients to connect and further encourage engagement.

On Mar. 28, the novel Annabelle written by Ethan Shaw was published. Shaw is currently a sophomore history major, and a proud Southside Boy. He has been working on this novel since December 2020, when he was a senior in high school.

On Sunday, Apr. 23, the SUNY Geneseo American Cancer Society on Campus (ACSOC) hosted their annual Relay for Life event in the MacVittie College Union Ballroom. Each year, the organization brings people on campus together to raise money for cancer research, and hopefully, for a cure. Though the organization has faced challenges to revive the event after the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event showed immense promise for the years to come. 

A podcast documentary, “23/32: Remembering Kelsey and Matthew” premiered on Saturday Apr. 22 at 7 p.m. at The Geneseo Riviera. The creator of the show is senior communication major, Rocío Ruiz. This podcast documentary series is in remembrance of Kelsey Annese and Matthew Hutchinson, a previous SUNY Geneseo senior and graduate student who died off-campus in 2016. 

Professor George Goga, an Adjunct Lecturer and Coordinator of the Individualized Studies Program here at SUNY Geneseo, is releasing a book on some spooky subjects this upcoming summer. One of the classes Goga teaches at Geneseo is an INTD 105 class titled The Witch; in this class, students participate in discussions about who witches are, what they have been through, and what witches can, and possibly will, become in the future. 

On Thursday, Apr. 20, roughly 50 participants gathered on the green outside of Doty Hall for a climate action rally with Geneseo Peace Action and Plastic Free Zone. Ralliers walked from the MacVittie Union to the Doty Green at 1:30 p.m., circulating around buildings like Welles Hall and Bailey Hall during class hours and ending outside of the Integrated Science Center (ISC) around 2:40 p.m. Before the march, students gathered at the Union to make signs for the event from recycled materials.

Only in America do we have suspected right-wing extremists not only with access to highly sensitive information regarding an ongoing war across the ocean, but with enough confidence in themselves to leak said information and risk numerous lives. Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsmen, leaked numerous classified documents on his Discord server titled “Thug Shaker Central,” and was later arrested on Apr. 11 outside his mother’s home. He was charged with alleged unauthorized removal and retention and transmission of classified national defense information.

“Everybody should care,” said SUNY Distinguished Professor of Art History Lynette M.F. Bosch. “How many people are not coming to Geneseo because we don’t have studio [art], and because we don’t have computer design? [They may] not necessarily [have] intended to be artists, but they like doing art. So why not go somewhere else that has art?”

Finals season is a stressful time that all students must face. Luckily, Fraser Hall Library is hosting events and activities from May 12-18 to help combat exam stresses with food and activities. 

SUNY Geneseo is beginning to make new changes to the Admitted Students Days. After several reviews and feedback, the school felt it necessary to improve the event for all. The improvements within the program have been orchestrated by Costas Solomou, the vice president of enrollment management at SUNY Geneseo.  

The permanent art collection of SUNY Geneseo is currently stored in three spaces of Brodie Hall: two without proper temperature and humidity conditions, and a third with some irregularly monitored temperature and humidity controls. The lack of controls in two rooms and the loose monitoring of the third is causing irreparable damage to works of art of significant artistic and historic value and varying degrees of monetary value. This issue, mostly brought on by the absence of a Director or Curator of the permanent collection, is one that represents a much larger issue at Geneseo—a lack of care for the arts on behalf of the administration. For more on the context of this story, refer to last week’s article on The Lamron website.

In recent years, many professors have begun incorporating civic engagement projects into their curricula in order to encourage and empower students to apply their learned knowledge into real-world contexts. In Professor of English, American Studies, and Native American Studies Caroline Woidat’s AMST 201 class, which examines mass incarceration in America, students are doing just that. As the semester comes to an end, these students are working to engage the Geneseo community and beyond to inform others about the epidemic of mass incarceration that is plaguing our country.

On Tuesday, Apr. 4, the Geneseo Career Design Center held its Career Expo in the MacVittie Union ballroom. The event was open to students to come and explore different career opportunities. 

Following spring break, two groups of Geneseo students traveled to respective prestigious conferences to present their work and represent Geneseo among other scholars from across the country. From Mar. 22 to Mar. 25, four students from various majors traveled to Gainesville, Florida to attend the 47th Annual National Council for Black Studies Conference. Then, from Mar. 29 to Apr. 1, students from Geneseo’s chapter of the Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society traveled to Denver, Colorado for the Annual Sigma Tau Delta Convention.

Since the early years of SUNY Geneseo’s founding as a college, it has received gifts of works of art given to enhance teaching the arts at Geneseo. The current collection was estimated by a professional appraiser in 2017 to be valued at between $1.8 - 2.5 million dollars and is composed of local and international artists alike. This collection, however, can only be found on limited display; there is a group of works located in the President’s House, while others reside in other buildings and private spaces across the campus.

As of Mar. 1, SUNY Geneseo will partake in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) headed by the Indiana University School of Education. By having students complete this survey, universities are able to better gauge the environment at their respective campuses and work to cultivate a better experience for current and future students attending their institutions.

On Sunday, Mar. 5, Geneseo’s five a cappella groups performed for their first major concert of the spring semester. The two-hour concert featured a setlist of energetic hits and ballads alike, and many of the groups featured “Senior Song” performances which were the highlight of the night.