A Mothers Day Story: Before She Knew the Words, She Knew the Place

By Kim Wunner, May 8, 2026

From football Saturdays to a life-changing campus visit, Ithaca College became the thread connecting a mother and daughter across generations.

Growing up, Suzette Moschetti ’13, MS ’15 and her mother Georgina Sechrist-Moschetti '75 spent many Saturdays at IC football games. Photo Submitted.

Growing up, Suzette Moschetti ’13, MS ’15 and her mother Georgette Sechrist-Moschetti '75 spent many Saturdays at IC football games. Photo Submitted.

In the mid-1970s, more women were enrolling in higher education than ever before. Degrees in education and the humanities brought women to campuses around the country to experience all that college had to offer. This is when Georgette Sechrist-Moschetti stepped foot on IC’s campus as a member of the Class of 1975. Little did she know, her daughter would do the same 40 years later.

There is a legacy in the smiling faces. Snapshot after snapshot captures moments in time where joy abounds: Suzette Moschetti ’13, MS ’15 and her mom in the bleachers on crisp fall football Saturdays; her mom’s Greek pledge portrait; and Suzette’s graduation on South Hill. Smile after smile, memory after memory, all at Ithaca College.

At a certain point, Ithaca College becomes more than a place. It becomes part of who a person is—a thread that is woven into a family’s tapestry over time.

The 1972 Delta Phi Zeta pledge class. Georgette Sechrist-Moschetti is 2nd from the right on the top row.

Georgette found community and connection on South Hill. She was a member of Delta Phi Zeta sorority and the Ski Club, building friendships that would last a lifetime. Most significantly, she met Gabe Timpano ’75, an IC football standout from Utica who was part of the 1974 team that represented the Bombers in the Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division III Football Championship. Their friendship endured long after graduation.

Suzette Moschetti as a baby in IC onsie with her mother.

Suzette Moschetti knew about IC as a baby. Her mother, Georgette, had her IC gear before she could even say "Textor." Photo Submitted.

That connection—and the joy of Bomber football—became a defining thread in Suzette’s life. She has been attending IC football games with her mother, father and Gabe since she was four years old, bundled up in the bleachers, absorbing the traditions long before she understood them. When Georgette later gave back to Ithaca College, she chose to support the Athletic Fund—a reflection of just how central those experiences were to their family.

There are photos of Suzette in IC onesies before she could even say “Textor.” She always knew Ithaca College was a special place—for her mother, and for them. But when it came time to choose a college, the Horseheads, NY native didn’t assume it would be Ithaca. She explored other options, keeping IC quietly in the background.

At the end of April 2009, with just two days left before the May 1st Decision Day – a day nationally recognized for high school seniors to declare the college they have committed to attending— Suzette and her dad, Vincent Moschetti, came to South Hill for a formal campus tour without Georgette knowing—something she had never done before. Until then, she had only experienced Ithaca College through her mother’s lens. This time, she saw it for herself: the campus in spring, the energy of current students, the classrooms and studios that would shape her own future. It was that visit that made it clear—IC wasn’t just her mother’s story. It was hers, too.

Mother’s Day came early that year. Georgette came home to unwrap a T-shirt from the IC bookstore that read “Ithaca College Mom.” As she held it in her hands, tears welled in her eyes—an unmistakable moment of pride, connection, and continuation.

“My mother always told me the highlight of her life was watching her daughter attend and graduate from Ithaca College.”

Suzette went on to study journalism and later earned her master’s degree in communications in 2015 from the Roy H. Park School of Communications. During her time on campus, she worked in the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), supporting fellow students, and carried that sense of care and community into her professional life. Today, she works at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and has a rescue Australian Cattle Dog mix named Bomber!

Georgette earned her degree in physical education teaching and went on to become a first-grade teacher at Big Flats Elementary.

Suzette adds, “My mother always told me the highlight of her life was watching her daughter attend and graduate from Ithaca College.”

Across decades, through classrooms, football games, friendships, and milestones, Ithaca College remains a shared thread—binding mother and daughter through experience, memory, and a lasting sense of belonging.