Empowering for Change:Alumni Pave the Way |
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"We have so many outstanding students, and so many alumni who came back to participate," says Ethel David, head of the Ithaca Opportunity Program and the Higher Education Opportunity Program. More than 20 alumni returned to Ithaca College in October for the 12th annual Professionals Symposium. In keeping with this year's theme, "Empowering for Change: Paving the Way for the New Millennium," six career panels offered undergraduates insights into a number of fields.
Velez and Hughes-Velez, who live in New York City and are married to each other, were making their sixth and seventh symposium appearances, respectively. This time they brought their two-year-old son, Max. "We make a pilgrimage back at least once a year," said Hughes-Velez. "We need it for our health."
Jamari Salleh '71, foreign service officer at the American Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua; Ivan Otero '95, freelance mural artist; and Christopher Robinson '90, vice president of Corporate Consulting Services, talked with first year students about experiences that help determine one's choice of a profession. Salleh, who had traveled the farthest to get to the symposium, says, "It's amazing how much you appreciate things later. I'll be back as often as I can." She's got another incentive: her daughter Aisha is a student at Ithaca.
The event was sponsored by IOP, HEOP, the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, and the minority affairs, alumni relations, and career planning and placement offices. The next Professionals Symposium will be held October 2-4, 1998. |
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Brenda Gallashaw '72, special education coordinator
for the New York City Board of Education; Kesha Atterberry '95, coordinator
of core group services at Grosvenor Neighborhood House in New York City;
Samuel Agahiu '94 of the Ithaca Youth Bureau; and Carlos Velez '85, Kings
County senior assistant district attorney, fielded questions on their professions.
Traci Hughes-Velez '85, director of compensation for Colgate Palmolive;
Chris Robinson '90, vice president of Corporate Consulting Services; Latsamy
Dongsavanh '96, Wal-Mart Stores training coach manager; and Yesenia Hernandez
'94, analyst at J. P. Morgan, discussed careers in business.
Health career perspectives came from Eldridge
Anderson '67, orthopedic surgeon at Ithaca Orthopaedic Group PC, behavioral
health therapist Brian Chaffee '94, and Marie Beach Tucker '83, now an IC
graduate student in speech-language pathology. Communication in one form
or another brought together undergraduates and Brian Moore '88, news director
of WSTM-TV3 in Syracuse; Kristina Nwazota '95, managing editor, Rheedlen
Centers; Lynnore Thames of the ABC Television Network; Daniel McNeal '94,
M.S. '96 of Selective Insurance Corp.; and Nirva Milord '94, coordinator
of new business development for the National Hockey League.
The weekend was capped by the 11th annual awards
banquet. President Peggy R. Williams gave introductory remarks, and the
keynote speaker was Bev Smith, host of the Black Entertainment Television
talk show Our Voices. The Exemplary Alumni Award was given to educator
Denise Crystallia Dendtler Lee '86, whose son Jibraan Lee '98 was also honored
as one of six recipients of the Montana Morton Memorial Award. Ninety-seven
opportunity programs students received Gold and Silver Awards for strong
academic achievement. Afterward, the Caribbean American Steel Youth Movement,
billed as "Brooklyn's finest 40-piece steel band," set a lively
island beat to entertain the capacity crowd in Terrace Dining Hall.