The First-Generation Network connects students with alumni who have walked a similar path.

Transitioning to college can be challenging for any student, but those who are the first in their families to attend college face unique hurdles. That’s why Rochester launched the in June 2021. The network serves first-generation alumni, students, families, friends, and supporters, offering mentorship, networking, and community building.

“The college experience can be incredibly isolating and intimidating without a community of those with shared backgrounds,” says Celeste Glasgow Ribbins ’91, a facilitator and consultant who cochairs the network with Doug Austin ’98, ’04S (MBA) and Jessica Colorado ’12, ’20W (MS).

Austin, a health plan operations, finance, and IT specialist echoes Ribbins. “The network provides opportunities for first-generation students to ask questions that they might not be able to ask of their families because—as much as those who are closest to them may want to help and have encouraged them along the way—they haven’t gone through the same experiences.”

Each of the cochairs wishes they’d had more guidance both on their paths to college and once they arrived. “Many high school students don’t even realize college is a possibility or understand the application process,” says Colorado, who grew up in New York City and majored in chemistry. She credits her high school English teacher, Dr. Barbara Rowes—who was awarded the University’s Singer Family Prize for Excellence in Secondary Education in 2012—with helping her navigate applications and better understand her choices.

Colorado faced an additional challenge in that her parents immigrated to the US from Colombia in the 1980s and didn’t know English well. “When they came to campus for orientation and other events, they couldn’t ask questions, and I didn’t know what I should be asking for them,” she says. “They also needed me to translate. It was a lot.”

Colorado has dedicated her career to helping underserved populations. She’s a policy analyst at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association in Washington, DC, and a member of the University’s Diversity Advisory Council. Earlier in her career, she worked at the University’s David T. Kearns Center.

Ribbins, who is from Cleveland, chose Rochester for its proximity to home, its relatively small size, and its rigorous academics. She sang in the Gospel Choir and in Vocal Point, was a resident advisor, and was a member of the Black Students Union.

Austin grew up in the Catskills, where he says the “cows outnumbered the students.” In addition to his leadership role within the network, he serves as a mentor through his local Chamber of Commerce. He’s also served on many College class reunion committees and is a member of the University’s Diversity Advisory Council.

Claudia De Leon, Rochester’s associate director of affinity networks and equity, diversity, and inclusion programs, was a first-generation student herself. “The First-Generation Network amplifies the voice of first-generation students and alumni by connecting them with those who have already navigated college’s challenges and many of life’s ‘firsts,’” De Leon says.

The cochairs encourage first generation alumni to join the network, and they want current student and recent alumni to know the network is here help them on their paths.

Adds Colorado, “I had to figure out a lot on my own, but I made it to Commencement, and they can, too.”

Through nursing, Thaw Htoo ’23N supports Rochester refugees

Thaw Htoo ’23N

Thaw Htoo ’23N felt emotional when he visited the Children’s School of Rochester No. 15 early in the fall semester for the community health rotation of his clinical experience.

By a total coincidence, he’d been placed at his own elementary school. It holds a special place in his heart: Htoo came to the in 2008 as a refugee, having spent the first 11 years of his life at a camp on the border of Myanmar and Thailand.

After leaving Myanmar with his parents for an unknown future, Htoo recalled the Children’s School feeling like a safe haven. The school, a longtime partner of the Ģ����ý School of Nursing, is known for its robust refugee community and English-language learning support. Its student population represents nearly 40 countries and languages.

Years later, as an adult, Htoo joined two of his colleagues from the , to spend a morning delivering a presentation on healthy communication for sixth-graders, leading activities such as “emotion charades” and a question game with a multi-color beach ball focused on listening skills.

It was a perfect opportunity to give back to the community that once helped him find a sense of belonging in a brand-new country.

“It was really hard, because I remember when I first came to the United States, I did not know any English, but I was able to learn and catch up,” he recalled. “It was through hard work, dedication, and support that I got through the program.”

Nursing students have been working with the Children’s School as part of their community health clinical experiences since 2010. The relationship started when Assistant Professor Leann Patel, MSN, RN, and sixth-grade teacher Telesta Rice collaborated to create a program that helps refugee parents understand American health care systems. Eventually, the pair also noticed a need to expand the health education curriculum for students, and Patel pitched a program in which nursing students could fill the gap by teaching kids about topics such as hygiene, nutrition, and disease prevention.

Spending time in the community, in settings such as schools, senior living facilities, and prisons, helps nursing students see the day-to-day lives of the people they’ll soon be caring for, Patel said. Experiences like that of Htoo and his colleagues at the Children’s School exemplify her vision for community health clinicals brought to life.

Visits from the School of Nursing offer a window into what opportunities might be available to Children’s School students in the future, said Principal Jay Piper.

Colleagues from the accelerated bachelor’s program join Dean Lisa Kitko, Assistant Professor Leann Patel, and Thaw Htoo at the Children’s School

“The nursing students are the vision we want for our students,” he said.

Piper had vivid memories of Htoo as a student, and held onto a copy of Htoo’s 2011 class photo to show him when he visited.

A fast learner, Htoo quickly grasped the English language, and wasted no time utilizing his new language skills to help others. He translated for parents and other new students from Myanmar’s Karen community, volunteered to help younger students onto their buses at dismissal, and became one of the school’s “fuss busters”—an older student who helps the younger ones work through problems and conflicts.

“He was a real leader who would embrace the younger kids and take them under his wing,” Piper said. “Looking back, it makes sense to me that he would take the path of nursing. He’s so nurturing. It’s a great honor to see him follow that path. It was meant to be.”

Htoo would agree—but it took a while for him to realize nursing was his calling.

“I had always wanted to work in the health field, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Htoo, who earned his first bachelor’s degree in biology from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

He worked in labs and pharmacies and spent the past three years working as a hair transplant technician at the nearby Quatela Center for Plastic Surgery. He felt a craving to do more, and remembered wishing he could perform injections like the nurses and physicians he worked with. Htoo began to realize that nursing would offer him a way to make a meaningful impact.

Htoo discovered interests in nephrology and pediatric nursing during his time at the University Rochester, but his overall goal, however, is to pay it forward.

The City of Rochester has been helping refugees resettle since the 1980s. In the past two decades, the city has welcomed more than 8,000 refugees, including nearly 1,500 from Htoo’s home country.

Leading by his gentle, humble example, Htoo wants to show what is possible for those who resettle in Rochester.

“Even though you might not know the language, or you’re introduced to a new culture, once you are adapted to the culture, the beliefs, and everyday living, you’ll be able to learn so many new things,” he said. “If you put in the hard work, you’ll be able to move forward.”

Natalie Lewis ’22N and Evelyn Santos ’23N (MS) are nursing champions for their communities.

Natalie Lewis ’22N

Nurses have always been at the forefront of addressing health disparities and that’s a role Natalie Lewis ’22N and Evelyn C. Santos ’23N (MS), RN, PMHN-BC have never shied away from. They’ve both committed to making a difference as nurses by caring for the mental health and well-being of their communities.

Since finishing her bachelor’s degree in 2022, Lewis has been passionate about contributing to her community through psychiatric and mental health nursing—it’s her way of staying connected to her city. In addition to her studies, she is a per-diem member of the City of Rochester’s Person in Crisis Team, a group who accompanies police on mental health calls. She also previously worked as a nurse at the Monroe County Children’s Detention Center.

Lewis spends most of her week either at school or her two jobs as a nurse and emergency response social worker. Recently, she returned to the Ģ����ý Medical Center as part of the .

Natalie Lewis ’22N

“It’s always been mental health for me. That’s my niche,” said Lewis, who is currently pursuing her master’s degree in the family psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner specialty. “It’s so important, especially for African American families. Most people will tell you— ‘you’re not depressed,’ or ‘you’re not stressed.’”

Growing up, Lewis said she experienced “old-school” beliefs about mental health in the Black community, but she has also seen attitudes start to shift. Her interest in mental health, combined with a natural gift for math and science, led Lewis to pursue her first bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University at Buffalo.

Afterward, Lewis knew she would need an advanced degree if she wanted to work in a clinical setting. She had considered pursuing a master’s in mental health counseling, but she also felt drawn to nursing. A job as a crisis specialist at Strong Memorial Hospital, where Lewis worked alongside the various members of a behavioral health team, helped confirm her interest in psychiatric nursing.

That has also been one of the most rewarding parts of her work as a nurse so far, at both the Monroe County Children’s Detention Center and the hospital. “I’m able to make an impact on the youth and have conversations with them about their current situation and how they can make changes in the future,” she said.

Continuing her education is one of Lewis’ proudest achievements. She is the youngest of six siblings, and the first to go to college. She is grateful not only for the chance to build a better future for herself, but to make her family proud as well.

“Seeing my mom happy and proud is the most important thing to me,” Lewis said. “I want to make her life easier and be able to take care of her. I like knowing she doesn’t have to worry about me.”

Evelyn C. Santos ’23N (MS), RN, PMHN-BC

When Santos joined the School of Nursing’s (LHCS) master’s program, she had already built a reputation at the URochester Medical Center as a fierce advocate for underserved populations.

Her years of experience in psychiatric and mental health nursing have inspired her work. Santos is the former lead nurse of , Upstate New York’s only bilingual outpatient mental health clinic. It’s a role that she developed and implemented herself, leveraging the ability of nurses to build strong ties with the communities they serve.

“Working with the Latino community was personally important to me. I knew my work made a significant impact on patient outcomes,” Santos said.

Rochester’s Latino population has more than tripled since the 1980s, . Nationally, Hispanic and Latino communities in the U.S. to mental health care, such as a lack of cultural competence among providers, immigration status, stigma, or language barriers.

Her LHCS capstone project focused on optimizing depression screenings among the local Latino community.

“The most rewarding part of the role is being an advocate for cultural awareness and providing equitable health care services,” she added. “I completed a needs assessment through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens and implemented the utilization of iPads at my working site to capture depression screens electronically in Spanish,” she explained.

“This project provided an opportunity to improve depression screening rates among our Latino patient population, and also helped improve our collaborative decision-making strategies within the program I support.”

Santos’ graduate capstone is the latest highlight of a career defined by breaking barriers for this growing population. In addition to her role at the Lazos Fuertes Clinic, she served as a consultant to help expand UR Medicine’s Spanish-language neurology clinic, and created a guide dedicated to helping English-speaking nurses overcome language barriers that often interfere with care.

During her time at the School of Nursing, Santos was honored with the Paul J. Burgett Nursing Student Life Award, which recognizes a graduating student who enriches the School’s environment and serves as a positive catalyst for change.

Evelyn C. Santos ’23N (MS), RN, PMHN-BC

Just a few months after finishing the LHCS degree, Santos accepted a promotion within the Department of Psychiatry to a new role as a quality and education nurse. She looks forward to utilizing her nurse educator role to bring diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, trauma-informed care, and the impact of adverse childhood events (ACEs) to the forefront of the department’s educational curriculum.

Both Lewis and Santos knew they were in the right place at the URochester School of Nursing.

Eager to widen her scope of practice as a nurse, Lewis already felt a strong sense of belonging during her time as an accelerated bachelor’s student. Santos knew she could advance her work as an advocate for health equity.

“I enjoy the community within the school,” Lewis said. “I have developed friendships in nursing school that I feel I will have for a lifetime.

“What stood out to me as I explored opportunities for my master’s degree was the UR School of Nursing’s mission to be an inclusive environment,” Santos recalled. “The School of Nursing makes diversity, equity and inclusion efforts a priority. As a minority student, this was important to me.”

Alexander A. Levitan ’63M (MD) and his wife, Lucy, have given nearly $10 million—more than any living donor—to support the medical experience of students from around the world

Lucy Levitan and Alexander A. Levitan ’63M (MD)

Inspired to make education and research experiences possible for students at the URochester’s School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD),��—a retired internist and oncologist—and his wife, Lucy, have given nearly $10 million to the school. Their philanthropy makes them the largest living donors in SMD’s history who have supported the medical experience of students from around the world through scholarships and fellowships.

But for the Levitans, supporting students goes far beyond financial assistance. They offer friendship, advice, and mentorship, long after the students have earned their degrees. They save every communication sent, attend their weddings and other major life events, and even travel abroad to meet the families of the international students whose lives they’ve changed.

Just ask Akosua Korboe ’16M (MD), the inaugural recipient of the . As a student from Ghana, Korboe was ineligible for federal loans without a US citizen co-signer. Thanks to the Levitan Scholarship, she was able to pursue her dream of attending medical school. Today, she is an accomplished internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

“Without the Levitan’s support, I would not have been able to attend medical school,” says Korboe. “And although they aren’t my biological family, they feel like they are to me. “They have become family, pouring into me in countless ways, instilling values, believing in me, and always providing me with love and support. I’m forever grateful.”

Generosity brings generosity

Support from others has inspired Levitans to make education and research experiences possible for 19 students to date and many more to come. “Education has been the most valuable experience of my life,” says Al, who was a scholarship student at SMD and at Cornell University. “Without the generosity and the example of others, I never would have earned my degrees and I never would have had the life nor the career I’ve had.”

The couple started supporting SMD in 1976 with gifts to SMD’s annual fund and the Class of ’63’s reunion fund. Their specific support of students began in 2006, 43 years after Al’s graduation from medical school.That’s when they made a gift of $125,000 to establish the Levitan Scholarship. They have continued to contribute generously to that fund, growing its value and reach. In fiscal year 2023, they added an additional $5.2 million, ensuring that a Levitan Scholar graduates and joins the medical school each year, in perpetuity.

“The Levitan Family Endowed Scholarship stands out not only for its size but also for being the sole need-based full tuition and living expenses scholarship at the school, with a special focus on supporting international students,” says David Lambert, MD, senior associate dean of SMD. “These international students are not eligible for the kinds of support that US students can get and without the scholarship could not attend medical school.”

A legacy of giving and learning

The Levitans with Akosua Korboe ’16M (MD)

Al and Lucy also established the Alexander and Lucy Levitan Endowment for Medical Student Research Fellowships with a gift of $1.7 million. Because this fund exists, three medical students every year can take a year out of their four-year SMD curriculum to participate in a research program under the direction and mentorship of an established physician-scientist or basic scientist.

“Many of our alumni have shared that these experiences were career-transforming,” adds Lambert.

The family knows this from experience. Al’s father, Sacha, received financial support from the French government when he emigrated from Russia to France and attended college and medical school there. Later, Al’s family traveled the world due to his father’s work with the World Health Organization.

Al and Lucy named funds at both SMD and Cornell as ways to recognize the importance of scholarship support and international experiences and to honor Al’s father and the couple’s late daughter, Lara, who lost her battle with cancer in 2019.

“The story of Al and Lucy is one of inspiration and compassion, a testament to the power of giving and its potential to change lives,” adds Mark Taubman, MD, Ģ����ý Medical Center CEO and dean of SMD. “Their philanthropic legacy will forever resonate within the medical school, empowering future generations of students to realize their dreams and make a difference in the world of medicine and research.”

In turn, the couple gets to enrich their own lives with connections to people they view as members of their extended family.

“We are tremendously grateful for the support given to us,” says Lucy. “We have always wanted to give back in a similar way—to provide access and opportunities to talented, deserving medical students from around the world. As a result, we have met so many brilliant young people who will do great things in their lives and careers.”

Iveth Reynolds ’12S (MBA) and Raquel Ruiz ’99, ’20S (MBA) cochair the Ģ����ý’s Latin Alumni Network

Iveth Reynolds ’12S (MBA)

Iveth Reynolds and Raquel Ruiz, both first-generation Latina college students and MBA graduates of the Simon Business School, understand the significance of mentoring, networking, and peer support. It’s why they have taken on the role of cochairs for the University’s newly established Latin Alumni Network affinity group.

“It’s important to have people in our lives who have similar life experiences, have been there before us, and can guide us on our paths—it certainly was for me,” says Reynolds, an expert in staffing, project management, and diversity and leadership development. She is also the CEO of Tri-Mar Consulting in Rochester, which she founded 25 years ago.

Ruiz, the codirector of Equity, Learning Health Communities Pillar at Duke University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, notes that the Latin Alumni Network’s vision is to cultivate, lead, and advance the lives and careers of those who engage with the group, including alumni and current students.

Before joining Duke, Ruiz worked at Rochester for 15 years in executive roles at the Medical Center focused on strengthening health strategies and equity in research. She was also the University’s inaugural cochair for the Latino Professional Alliance, an employee resource group.

Raised in New York City, Reynolds was a latchkey kid from Washington Heights. “I was also a hard-working student, but, like many others, I didn’t have any academic role models,” she says. “Those closest to me encouraged me, but they didn’t know much about getting into college or how to navigate the experience once I became a student.”

Born in Puerto Rico, Ruiz moved to Buffalo when she was 10. “Even though I excelled at school, it was hard for me to imagine the possibilities in life, ones that could be realized through higher education,” Ruiz says. “No one in my family had gone to college.”

Fortunately, both had high school counselors who helped them through the college application process. Reynolds applied to one school, Fordham University in New York City, and got in. For four years, she was a full-time student who also worked full-time. “It was challenging, but, luckily, I had great support from a coworker,” she says. “I realize now that she was really a mentor to me.”

Raquel Ruiz ’99, ’20S (MBA)

As a student at Rochester, Ruiz tapped into resources at the Office of Minority Student Affairs (OMSA). “OMSA helped me create a road map for academic success, and they also recommended getting involved with student organizations as well as the local Latin community,” says Ruiz, who became an active member of the University’s Spanish and Latino Students’ Association and chapter founder of the Lambda Pi Chi sorority.

In addition to the new network, both are active in other University committees and community groups. Reynolds is a member of the University’s Diversity Advisory Council, Women’s Network, and Simon’s Women’s Alliance. In 2011, she founded NSHMBA, now known as Prospanica, a not-for-profit organization in western New York that empowers Hispanic professionals to advance in their careers. She is also the vice chair of the board for Catholic Charities Family and Community Services.

Ruiz is a member of the University’s Alumni Board, served as the financial chair for her 20th class reunion, and is helping to launch an alumni network in Raleigh, NC. Both Reynolds and Ruiz are serving as members of the 2024 Volunteers in Leadership Conference Committee to develop a suite of workshops and experiences for University volunteer leaders. The two initially met at a University alumni relations event. Over the years, they’ve stayed connected, including as part of the United Way’s Latino Leadership Development program, in which Ruiz participated and Reynolds coordinated.

Reynolds and Ruiz encourage students and alumni to get involved in one of the Latin Alumni Network’s committees dedicated to philanthropy, programming, and career development and mentorship. “No matter where we are in our careers, we all have something to offer to others,” says Reynolds, who underscores the importance of having different voices and career paths represented in the Latin Alumni Network.

Adds Ruiz, “The Latin Alumni Network is really about embodying the University’s mission so that, together, we can achieve our full potential.”

This article also appears in the summer issue of Rochester Review.

A conversation with Shane Campbell-Staton ’08

Photo by Day’s Edge Productions

This scholar, evolutionary biologist, and master storyteller uses classrooms and lecture halls along with podcasts, television, and film to attract a broad and diverse audience to science. His goal? To help people see how science plays such an important part in our past, present, and future.

, a biology professor at Princeton University, has dedicated his life to exploring human activity as a force for evolutionary change. He studies the Anthropocene—the geological period we’re in now—during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. His lab, the Campbell-Staton Group, looks at animal performance, gene expression, and genomics to understand how human activity affects evolution.

“We study all kinds of creatures—from Russian wolves to tuskless elephants to mountain mice—to learn about how various species adapt to urbanization, climate change, invasive species, and natural as well as human-caused events and disasters,” says Campbell-Staton. “Our work is like putting together a puzzle—each piece is important and, when they are linked, we get a bigger, better picture of our place in this world and our impact on it.”

Campbell-Staton hosted , a six-part PBS documentary series in which he traveled from farms to restaurants, high-tech labs to street markets, and ancient forests to the back alleys of big cities to gain insights into human nature, human impact, and what it means to be a human being. Audiences can also tune into Campbell-Staton on his ongoing podcast. Inspired by comic books, graphic novels, movies, and television, each episode tracks the boundaries of where science meets fiction.

In June 2023, Campbell-Staton gave the keynote presentation at the University’s Juneteenth Celebration, where he delved into the challenges he overcame at Rochester and elsewhere, the opportunities he’s cultivated, and the life lessons he’s learned along the way. He also discussed the connections between biology and human history, science, politics, economics, culture, and structural racism.

How did you get interested in science?

Growing up in Sumter, South Carolina, I didn’t have easy access to nearby woods or tidal pools, but I was captivated by science through television shows like those hosted by Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin. My neighborhood was home to many small lizards, called anoles. So, TV and lizards were what first sparked my interest in science.

What important life lessons did you learn at Rochester?

One of the most important lessons was how to fail successfully. During my first year, I struggled with math, calculus, and chemistry classes, which left me feeling dejected after failing some of them. I even considered leaving school. However, my mother encouraged me to persevere and not quit because I was afraid to fail. Her support inspired me to spend the summer devouring high school science books to prepare for my sophomore year.

Illustration by David Hildreth

What do you think makes a great scientist?

A great scientist is not someone who has all the answers. In my personal statement to Harvard, I talked about how the giants of science are those who persevere when they hit a wall. I have experienced my share of failures and setbacks, but I have never given up. I am tenacious and curious, and I keep trying until I get it right. These qualities have helped me to succeed and get accepted into several graduate schools, including Harvard, where I earned my PhD and focused my dissertation on my favorite childhood lizard: anoles.

What sparked your interest in comic books?

As a graduate student, I was drawn to “Superman vs. Muhammad Ali” in a bookstore window in Harvard Square. I was intrigued and had to find out who won the battle. That launched my interest in comic books. After an intense day working on my dissertation, I really liked reading comic books and escaping into another world. One night during that time, I had a dream that combined science and superheroes, which led me to start the Biology of Superheroes podcast with Arien Darby ’07, a fellow comic book fan and friend I met at Rochester.

Who is your biggest role model?

I have many role models, but I have to say that my mother is the most important one. She has always encouraged me. When I was a kid, she told me that people can take just about anything from you. They can take your money, your power. But, she said, once you learn something, it’s yours—you get to keep it. And she underscored that you can actually give away what you know and still keep your knowledge.

Always open, always free

Outside the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG), the Centennial Sculpture Park greets and welcomes visitors. Adorned with sculptures from many renowned contemporary artists, the park—which is always open and always free—offers a vibrant place for the community to gather, reflect, and find inspiration.

In early June 2023, MAG completed the final phase of its Centennial Sculpture Park, which now includes major works by seven celebrated artists: Sanford Biggers, Deborah Butterfield, Pia Camil, Tony Cragg, Rashid Johnson, Jun Kaneko, and Nathan Mabry. This array of new art joins sculptures by Wendell Castle, Jackie Ferrara, Tom Otterness, and Albert Paley that have been on permanent display since the park opened in 2013 as a way to mark MAG’s 100-year anniversary.

“The Centennial Sculpture Park exemplifies what MAG is—an ever-evolving, urban museum,” says Michael Marsh, MAG’s chief operating officer and interim director of the gallery. “The park beautifies our grounds, introduces people to great art, and enriches the visitor experience. We invite everyone to explore it.”

SANFORD BIGGERS

(American, b. 1970)
Oracle
In the spring of 2021, Sanford Biggers’ 25-foot Oracle sculpture at Rockefeller Center caught the attention of MAG. Many months later, MAG commissioned a 9-foot version of it. Biggers’ website notes that his Oracle sculptures are part of an ongoing Chimera series, which consists of works that merge mythology and history, including Greco-Roman and African sculptures. Biggers’ work is an interplay of narrative, perspective, and history that speaks to current social, political, and economic concerns while also examining the context from which they came.

DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD

(American, b. 1949)

Untitled
Gift of Robert B. and Pamela Goergen

PIA CAMIL

(Mexican, b. 1980)
Lover’s Rainbow
The monumental 42-by-16 1/2-foot sculpture is made of painted stainless steel rebar, a material typically used to reinforce concrete’s structural integrity that is only visible when a building is in ruins or incomplete. With Lover’s Rainbow, Camil creates a vision of hope and love using a material that speaks to the challenge of building something that will last. For MAG, this is an iconic work for its expansion and a landmark for the City of Rochester that may soon prompt people to say, “Let’s meet at MAG’s rainbow.”

TONY CRAGG

(British, b. 1949)

Versus
Gift of David Brush

RASHID JOHNSON

(American, b. 1970)
Broken Pavilion
Students from the Rochester City School District’s neighboring School of the Arts (SOTA) inspired this commissioned piece. When Johnson visited MAG to explore ideas, he was drawn to the Black and Brown SOTA students mingling on Prince Street. He designed this piece to face the school yet welcome everyone—from SOTA’s developing artists to community members to museum visitors. The interior of this expansive 10-by-40-foot sculpture features non-gendered, non-raced faces, and its overall curved form invites in and embraces those who explore the pavilion.

The Rashid Johnson Community Pavilion is supported through a gift from Constellation Brands, the Sands Family Foundation, and Abby and Doug Bennett.

JUN KANEKO

(American, born in Japan, b. 1942)
Untitled, Dango
MAG’s Dango (Japanese for “dumpling”) is one in a series of monumental, glazed works created by Kaneko. Of the sculpture, Ceramics Monthly says, “In the unity of physical form and surface pattern, the Dango is like a Pyrenean boulder incised with ancient petroglyphs.” Kaneko is drawn to installations that promote civic interactions and has completed more than 60 public art commissions. Over his career, Kaneko has also partnered with industrial facilities to realize many large-scale, hand-built sculptures.

The Memorial Art Gallery gratefully acknowledges Gwen M. Greene for her generous gift to the Centennial Sculpture Park in memory of her husband, John D. Greene.

NATHAN MABRY

(American, b. 1978)

Process Art
(An Eye for An Eye)

This story also appears in the summer 2023 issue of Buzz magazine.

When it comes to images of Black people, viewers have expectations, says Bridget Cooks ’02 (PhD). Her aim is to disrupt them.

SCHOLAR AND CURATOR: Cooks is an alumnus of the Graduate Program in Visual and Cultural Studies.

A few years ago, Bridget Cooks ’02 (PhD)—an expert on visual culture, a curator, and a professor of art history and African American studies at the University of California, Irvine—posed a difficult question, first to herself as a Black American and then to several contemporary Black artists.

It was sometime after a white supremacist’s murder of eight congregants and their pastor at Charleston’s Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church; after the fatal beating of Freddie Gray by Baltimore police officers, and the shooting death of motorist Philandro Castile by police in Minnesota; but still well before the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the deaths of Breonna Taylor in Louisville and Daniel Prude in Rochester, all at the hands of police, during the spring and summer of 2020.

She asked: “How can we acknowledge that death; how can we acknowledge that threat and find some kind of will to go on?”

Her aim, she says, was to acknowledge personal and collective trauma, and then “to look at how artists, as creative problem solvers, are trying to survive and resist and create in a moment of spectacular Black death and anti-Blackness.”

Cooks selected artists who responded to her call and mounted an exhibit. The Black Index, which received its lead funding from the Ford Foundation, opened on the Irvine campus and traveled nationally for a year. It won national acclaim in the art world and, for Cooks, a 2022 Award for Excellence from the Association of Art Museum Curators.

ARTIFICIAL AI: The Black Index includes a series of works by Dennis Delgado ’97, whom Cooks met while at Rochester. In Do the Right Thing, Delgado, uses facial recognition software to create a composite image of faces from the landmark 1989 film by director Spike Lee. The composite, which draws from a database of all facial images the software can recognize, underscores the software’s omission from the database of many Black faces. Research has indeed shown that widely used facial recognition software does a poor job recognizing darker skin tones. Delgado majored in film studies at Rochester, and later earned an MFA from City College of New York.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Delgado

In part because the exhibit coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, it had an especially robust website, and at , viewers can still navigate it along with recordings of several accompanying conversations and lectures.

These latter images, far more pervasive in American life than ones created by Black people, compromise the full humanity of their Black subjects in favor of categorizations, she argues. To see the works in The Black Index is, for most viewers, to confront the unexpected.

A series of drawings by Lava Thomas, for example, transforms mug shots of Black women arrested for participation in the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott into dignified portraits. Dennis Delgado ’97, whom Cooks met at Rochester, uses facial recognition software to create composite images in a series he calls “The Dark Database.” Delgado constructed the composites from a database of facial images taken from films such as Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. The resulting images are lighter than one might expect, given the preponderance of Black actors in the films. That’s precisely because, as research and tests have confirmed, the technology is ill-suited to recognizing darker skin tones. Many Black faces are simply not included in the vast datasets on which facial recognition software relies.

When Cooks entered the Graduate Program in Visual and Cultural Studies in the fall of 1993, Rochester was the only university in the country offering a graduate degree in the field. While art history tended to focus on an evolving canon of masterpieces, visual and cultural studies was dedicated to the study of images with reference to the social and cultural contexts of their creation and consumption. The program aligned well with Cooks’s approach to the study of art.

Her dissertation became the basis for her 2011 book Exhibiting Blackness: African Americans and the American Art Museum (University of Massachusetts Press). In it she traced the efforts of major museums to exhibit work by Black artists, beginning with the Art Institute of Chicago in 1927 right up to the early 21st century. Those efforts, intended to be forward looking, revealed a preoccupation with situating Black artists in reference to a white norm or in correcting past omissions. Neither context considered Black artists on their own terms.

The Black Index does. Cooks points to 100 ink drawings by Kenyatta A. C. Hinkle inspired by records of Black women who are murdered or disappear every year in the United States with little attention. Hinkle calls them “unportraits.” They’re not representative, in the traditional sense.

“She makes these impossible bodies,” says Cooks. “Women with six breasts, with five legs, with multiple heads. They’re moving; they’re doing things. There’s something magical and witchy about them.” Like the depictions of Black subjects by the other artists, they invite viewers to notice the gap between their expectations and what they see before them. They compel us “to be aware of how much we don’t know about these women, to be disoriented a bit, to become curious about who they are.”

The Black Index suggests a path forward for museums that have articulated the goal of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their exhibitions, collections, and programming. Cooks sees some bright spots, citing the University’s Memorial Art Gallery, which has taken significant steps toward those ends in the past decade. “I was impressed,” says Cooks, recalling a visit to the museum. “I loved the labels. I loved the selection of artwork.”

But for many, much larger museums, she has seen little progress. “I think the problems are many,” she says. Major museums tend to be hierarchical, run and largely funded by boards whose members are often at odds with their younger, more progressive curatorial staffs. Until there is widespread change in the composition of boards, she concludes, “we’re not going to see systematic change.”

Byrd and Eva Waller Scholarship recipient

Fredricka Amoah ’26 studies at one of her favorite spots on campus, the in the Rush Rhees Library

Fredricka Amoah ’26 has always dreamed big. When she was a little girl, she aspired to be a doctor and even the president of the United States—she wanted to do something that would help people and make their lives better. Her mother encouraged her aspirations, often reminding all five of her children to do their best, have far-reaching goals, and never forget where they came from.

Amoah’s roots extend from New York City to West Africa. She was born in the Bronx, where she spent most of her childhood and teenage years. Between the ages of five and nine, though, her family moved to Ghana, where her mother is from and where her aunts, uncles, and grandparents still live. Amoah loved it there and returned often for extended visits.

Over the years, Amoah has heeded her mother’s advice about education. She’s worked hard and consistently earned excellent grades. She was even valedictorian of her high school. When it came time for college, her principal, Liz Runco ’05, told her about Rochester and its rigorous academic program. She liked what she heard.

Amoah is now a first-year student here and the recipient of the Byrd and Eva Waller Scholarship. This is awarded to a deserving student who maintains an excellent academic standing and requires financial assistance. She is planning to major in optics, a field she learned about during a pre-college summer program offered through the University’s Early Connections Opportunity program.

“When I applied to Rochester, I was thinking pre-med or maybe engineering,” she says. “But then I saw an optics demo, which was given by a teaching assistant, and something sparked in me—I never even knew what optics was and now I want to know everything about it.”

During the fall semester, Amoah took classes in calculus, chemistry, writing, and optics–that was her favorite. In her optics lab, she learned how light can affect objects. For instance, in one assignment, Amoah and her classmates used a laser-cutting machine to etch the Meliora symbol onto a glass surface. Experiences like these are affirming Amoah’s career aspirations.

“Someday, I’d like to either build telescopes for NASA or work for Apple designing cameras for iPhones,” she adds. Outside of class, Amoah stays busy. She likes playing pickup games of volleyball with her friends, studying in her secret spot inside Rush Rhees Library, and working on assignments with classmates in the Barbara J. Burger iZone. Amoah is also part of the Optics Student Council and the Pan-African Students Association, which is focused on building and growing a diverse and accepting culture at Rochester. The Office of Minority Student Affairs has been helpful to her, too, providing her with resources as well as a community of like-minded people who support and can relate to her academic and life experiences.

Amoah credits her scholarship for making so much happen for her. “I’m incredibly grateful to Ms. Waller,” Amoah says. “It’s humbling and inspiring knowing that someone who didn’t even know me wanted to invest in my future. Someday, I hope to extend my hand to a student just like she has done for me.”

Photo: Matt Wittmeyer

Five minutes with David Figlio, Provost and Gordon Fyfe Professor of Economics and Education

As provost and chief academic officer, what do you see as the University’s top opportunities and challenges?

A university’s role is to enable boundless possibilities for people within its community. That’s why our goal from an academic perspective must be to make sure our students, faculty, and staff find that this is a place not only to study and work but to truly thrive.

The University’s new strategic plan—which we will communicate more about early next year—aligns with this thinking. In it, we will outline how we will create conditions for people to achieve their highest aspirations. Central to this is figuring out the infrastructure needed to do that and looking at what’s getting in our way.

What can you share with us now about the strategic plan?

We will focus on the University’s deep, broad, and wide excellence as a scholarly and creative hub. First, we must make sure that the areas where we have established distinctions, as well as emerging ones, are as strong as possible. We also need to identify new areas where we can be particularly consequential.

Second, we must continue to create, preserve, and disseminate knowledge and develop robust educational programs. This means considering what could be possible if we had no constraints. We need to be the model for the 21st century for the residential research university so that our graduates can continue to flourish and lead.

A third area involves our relationship with the City of Rochester and our region. We benefit from a vibrant, healthy, and successful Rochester, and as the region’s largest employer and with our myriad partnerships, we play a large role in contributing to Rochester’s success. Our strategic plan embraces this relationship.

What is the University doing to recruit a diverse faculty?

Smart institutions are addressing this, for instance, through cluster hires, which involve hiring multiple faculty members who have complementary academic interests at the same time. They can help recruit one another, become a cohort, and can take away some of the pressure felt by a lone underrepresented person in a unit. We need to do more of this.

We also must address what universities often do, which is trying to diversify faculty by hiring those who have been traditionally underrepresented at the entry level. Suppose that most of an institution’s faculty from historically marginalized communities are all junior people? What kind of dynamic and culture does that create and sustain? Junior faculty have less influence than those with more years in the profession. I endorse not only cluster hiring, but also making sure we hire underrepresented faculty at all career stages and across all fields.��

As an education and health policy expert, what has your research revealed that readers might find surprising?

I started studying the relationship between early health and educational outcomes about a decade ago. I tracked over one million kids from birth through elementary and secondary school and found that the higher their birthweight, no matter what the birthweight, the better their later educational outcomes. Birthweight can also be an indicator of maternal health during pregnancy, and it can be a proxy for other aspects of fetal development.

For instance, I looked at gestational exposure to environmental toxicants. It turns out that low birthweight affects not only overall health but also cognitive development. This is because the blood-brain barrier is most porous during gestation. So, if you are exposed to toxic waste in your environment in utero, those toxins will go straight to your brain. One lesson from this is that we can’t think about our health and cognition as being separate. We need to think about human wellness holistically. At Rochester, we have people looking at human flourishing from so many different dimensions. This is something that drew me here.

What are your favorite kinds of books to read?

I love reading fiction featuring people who feel caught between worlds. Among my favorites in this genre is Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a novel about a Nigerian woman attending a PhD program in the U.S. who is always walking a tightrope of sorts, trying to find her place within every potential community with which she might affiliate. Another novel I read more recently that touched on very different themes but that affected me in similar ways is Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen. I couldn’t put either book down.

These books are relatable: We are all trying to figure out who are we, what we stand for, who our people are. They confront the messiness that is part of our human condition. They remind me of the importance of the humanities, too—we all live in societies, work in organizations, exist in families, and we spend so much of our time engaging with other people. Much misunderstanding happens when we fail to consider a situation from another person’s perspective. I find that there is no better way to explore this, and to put myself in someone else’s shoes than to read narratives.