Game Changers

By Grace Collins ’22, June 22, 2023

Ithaca College executes quick pivot to Special Olympics Summer Games indoors.

Mother and son volunteers Jeanne and Daniel Fox from Syracuse have helped at several state games and did five different jobs throughout the weekend.

(Photo by Sara Massa)

Margie Malepe, director of the Office of Conference and Event Services at Ithaca College, says she’s seen just about everything in her 35-year event management career. But despite countless hours of planning and preparing for contingencies, the 2023 Special Olympics New York Summer Games brought a new challenge.

Just days before the Games were set to take place — with events slated for outdoor venues across the Ithaca College campus and the Ithaca community — a haze began to fill the Southern Tier. Smoke from the recent Canadian wildfires had made its way to New York state, and Tompkins County issued an air quality warning advising against outdoor activities. That meant that the IC events and facilities staff, along with the Special Olympics New York team, had only three days to entirely rework the plan for the weekend.

“The air quality issue came on completely unexpectedly, and it came on quick, fast and furious,” said Malepe. “It was a real surprise to us, and honestly, nothing I've ever dealt with before. Special Olympics Summer Games has been a really special event for us, and we knew it had to go on. The good thing is that we have a really strong team of service providers.”

Volunteers and college staff members worked tirelessly to move the games indoors.

(Photos by Charles McKenzie)

The team quickly jumped into action, holding an in-person meeting where they worked through alternative agendas so they could relocate events indoors and ensure every athlete still had the chance to compete. In the end, they moved the opening and closing ceremonies indoors to the Athletics and Events Center and found new locations for every other event and meal.

“We collaborated and within a couple of hours, we had our new plan,” Malepe said. “It’s a testament to the team, we really had the opportunity to work together, and it absolutely required collaboration, flexibility, and support from all the departments involved.”

The weekend went off without a hitch, which wasn’t a surprise to Stacey Hengsterman, president and CEO of Special Olympics New York.

Thanks to the work of countless individuals behind the scenes, athletes were able to excel during competition all weekend.

(Photos by Charles McKenzie)

“We’ve all heard about the air quality issues, and I’ve had some people asking me if we were sure we should have the games, but I said ‘The Special Olympics? It’s all going to work out,’” Hengsterman said to the crowd during the opening ceremonies. “We made some adjustments, we’re here, and it all looks beautiful. We could not have done this without the best team.”

Malepe is already looking forward to next year’s Summer Games, which will be the final year of Special Olympics New York’s three-year partnership with IC.

“It’s such a pleasure to watch the Summer Games come together and have people from all over the state come and watch the athletes. It’s truly amazing,” said Malepe. “Anyone who was working on campus or participating had a smile from ear to ear. In the end, it worked out perfectly.”