State University of New York at Geneseo

SUNY Geneseo currently requires each student to take one of two survey courses in western humanities, in addition to a wide distribution of core courses in the arts and sciences. Faculty members from various departments teach "Western Humanities 1" and "Western Humanities 2". Individual course syllabi share many historical, philosophical, and literary texts with other courses creating a common knowledge base within the undergraduate student body. Core courses in the humanities, languages, and sciences ensures Geneseo students are well versed in the liberal arts tradition of education.

All Geneseo students must complete the general education curriculum outlined below:

• 2 courses in Natural Sciences
• 2 courses in Social Sciences
• 2 courses in Fine Arts
• 1 course in Western Humanities
• 1 course in Numeric/Symbolic Reasoning
• 1 course in U.S. History
• 1 course in Other World Civilizations
• 1 course in Critical Reading/Writing
• Competency within a Foreign Language

Nearly 40% of Geneseo's students participate in study abroad programs through the College or the SUNY system.[6] One of Geneseo's most popular study abroad programs is its offering of the Humanities I course in Rome, Athens or New York City, and the Humanities II course in Paris, Prague, El Sauce, or at Oxford University. The most well-known program is the Mediterranean Roots Humanities I program where students travel to Greece, Italy and Spain for up to six weeks.

Following the retirement of long-time President Christopher Dahl, Dr. Denise Battles became the college's president in July 2015.

All SUNY schools are part of the same university system, the State University of New York, but they differ in character, program, quality, and prestige. Of the system's schools, SUNY Geneseo, Stony Brook University, Binghamton University, and the University at Buffalo consistently rank the highest in national publications. In the 2011 Princeton Review report, for example, Geneseo, Binghamton, and Buffalo were ranked within the top 75 for best public college value.[8] Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook are doctoral-granting universities and Geneseo is a master's-granting college.

Geneseo's acceptance rate is 72% as of 2017.[9]

Geneseo has a chapter of the oldest academic honor society in the United States, Phi Beta Kappa.[10] SUNY's four university centers already had chapters; Geneseo's establishment of a chapter is significant because it was the first (and is currently the only) of New York's thirteen state comprehensive colleges to receive the honor.[11]

The inaugural ΦΒΚ class was inducted to Geneseo's Alpha-Gamma of New York chapter in April 2004.[10]

Doty Hall. The Doty Building was Geneseo, New York's high school from 1933 to 1973.[13]

The Lamron reported SUNY Geneseo plans to acquire and refurbish Doty Hall, one of its former buildings, and to demolish an underutilized structure, the Holcomb Campus School, to build an open air, artificial turf athletic stadium in 2013. Both projects are in progress, with the athletic stadium near completion.

The Lamron reported that SUNY Geneseo would acquire Doty Hall and update its electrical and plumbing systems, as well as modernizing the new workspace. SUNY Geneseo collaborated with the building's tenants, the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, who maintain their center on the building's first floor. SUNY Geneseo moved its Office of Admissions into the building as part of a new, more visible college welcome center. Then the Center for International Students, the Hearing and Speech Clinic, and the Department of Communicative Disorders and Science were all scheduled to move into Doty, but with the program curtailments and the closing of the Communicative Disorder Department, new plans are being developed for the space. These moves will free up space in Sturges Hall and Erwin Hall and reconnect a highly visible plot of land with the campus.

In addition to providing a turf field for Geneseo's soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse programs, Commencement will be held at the new stadium, eliminating the cost and hassle of annually erecting a temporary stadium in the B lot parking area.[14]

The Bronze Bear Fountain is on Main Street.

Just off campus, in the center of Main Street in Geneseo sits the famous Bronze Bear statue. "The Bear" also plays host to any number of spontaneous decorations and pranks throughout the academic year. A story also circulates that one of the wealthy Wadsworth daughters saw the bear fountain in a small town in Germany, fell in love with it, bought it, and sent it back to Geneseo in the early 19th century. This story is unverified, but an excerpt from a history of the family that settled the valley implies that this is not true, and that the fountain was designed and built for its current location: "[Main Street] is still dominated by a drinking fountain for horses dedicated to Mrs. Emmeline Austin Wadsworth. For some obscure reason its designer placed a short pole in its center on top of which sits a cunning little iron bear, who is generally known as 'Aunt Emmeline'".[15] Campus legend also says that if a virgin graduates from the College, the bear will spring to life and run away, a legend that attaches itself to campus statues all over the US. In May 2016, Emmeline was toppled by a tractor trailer and was awaiting repair. The bear has since been returned to its proper place as of 2017.

In the Sturges quad, students from different Greek organizations sneak about late at night to paint a "Greek tree." . There are so many layers of paint on the tree that the original contours of the bark and trunk are obscured. Despite the years of paint, the tree continues to grow and produce leaves. The exact date when this practice began is unknown, but alumni report that it began sporadically during the 1950s and became regular practice in the mid to late 1960s.

The Seuss Spruce.

Also in the Sturges quad is the famous "Seuss Spruce," so called because it looks like a Dr. Seuss illustration. The tree's shape most likely developed due to damage during the March 1991 ice storm that struck western New York. Now the tree simply grows in a crooked and slightly spiral shape. It's more likely that the tree is the cultivated variety Picea Glauca 'Pendula' or a similar spruce. Adding to the Seussian quality of the tree is the fact that the bottom branches "fan out" along the ground.

Geneseo is known for visually striking sunsets, with students and alumni saying the sunset at Geneseo was once ranked by National Geographic Magazine as one of the top ten in the world. This claim has since been proved to be false—Nationa a couple who kisses in the Gazebo at sunset is destined to be engaged and wed.

A Geneseo Ice Knights hockey game at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena.

In recent years, men's ice hockey games in the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena have become major campus events that draw sell-out crowds of students and community members to support the "Ice Knights" of Geneseo. A pep band has been formed and student groups often offer promotions such as handing out noise makers to the capacity crowds.

National

• Alpha Chi Rho ("Crows")
• Sigma Alpha Mu ("Sammy")
• Kappa Sigma ("Kappa Sig")
• Pi Kappa Phi ("Pi Kapp")

Local

• Omega Beta Psi ("Omega")
• Delta Kappa Tau ("DK")
• Sigma Nu Chi ("Sig Nu")
• Phi Sigma Xi ("Phigs")
• Phi Kappa Chi ("Phi Kap")
• Sigma Tau Psi ("Sig Tau")
• Zeta Beta Xi ("ZBXi")
• Men of Action and Change ("MAC")

National

• Lambda Pi Upsilon, Latinas Poderosas Unidas, Inc. (LPiU, Lambda Divas) - Founded at SUNY Geneseo.
• Zeta Phi Beta ("Zetas")
• Sigma Kappa ("Kappa")
• Sigma Delta Tau ("SDT", "SigDelts")
• Delta Phi Epsilon ("DPhiE", "Deephs")
• Alpha Sigma Tau ("AST")

Local

• Alpha Delta Epsilon ("ADE")
• Alpha Kappa Phi ("Ago")
• Alpha Omega Pi ("AOPi")
• Phi Kappa Pi ("Clio")
• Phi Lambda Chi ("Phi Lambs")
• Sigma Gamma Phi ("Arethusa")
• Sisters Making a Change ("SMAC")
• Royal Lady Knights ("RLK")

• Alpha Kappa Psi
• Alpha Phi Omega
• Phi Beta Lambda
• Nu Sigma Eta

• Glenn Gordon Caron (class of 1975), executive producer of TV series Medium and Moonlighting
• Jenna Wolfe, anchor of NBC's Weekend Today.
• Greg Fox (author) (class of 1983), artist/writer of nationally syndicated comic strip Kyle's Bed & Breakfast.
• Calvin Culver known professionally as Casey Donovan (class of 1965), actor, writer, producer
• Daniel Barwick (class of 1990), President of Independence Community College in Independence, KS, and supporting player as himself in the Netflix docu-series Last Chance U.
• Howard Blumenthal, author; nationally syndicated columnist; creator/producer, PBS series "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?"
• Chelsea Noble (formerly Nancy Mueller; class of 1987), film and TV actress, sister of the Clionian sorority.
• William Sadler, actor best known for his roles in The Shawshank Redemption and Roswell.
• Joe Langworth (class of 1988), Broadway actor, choreographer and director
• J.T. The Brick, Fox Sports Radio talk-show host.
• Curt Smith (class of 1973), author, broadcaster and Republican speech writer for President George H. W. Bush.
• Brittany Lauda, voice actress and director for anime and video games, notable for HuniePop and Ladies versus Butlers
• CGP Grey, popular YouTube creator and web personality.[22][23]
• Gregg 'Opie' Hughes Former radio broadcaster of Opie and Anthony

• Brian L. DeMarco (class of 1996), Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. DeMarco's research into a new state of matter won Science magazine's distinction as one of the top ten scientific discoveries of 1999.[24]
• My Hang V. Huynh (class of 1991) is a scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory who was presented an E.O. Lawrence Award in 2007 by Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman[25] for her research and development of ecologically friendly explosives which replace those made with lead and mercury. In 2007 the MacArthur Foundation awarded Huynh the "Genius Grant," otherwise called the MacArthur Fellows Program.[26]

• Liz Allen (class of 2006), former White House Deputy Communications Director
• Jeff Clarke (class of 1983), CEO of Kodak[27][28]
• Amy Collins, CEO of New Shelves book publishing
• David Klein, CFO of Constellation Brands.[29]
• Ray Kotcher, non-executive chairman and advisor to Ketchum Inc.
• Joseph D. Morelle, New York State Assembly Majority Leader, 2013–2018[30]
• Jackie Norris (class of 1992), former Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama.[31]
• Raymond Walter (class of 1994), New York State Assemblyman, 146th district.

• Tyler Brickler, professional ice hockey player

• Bill Cook and Ron Herzman, Distinguished Teaching Professors of, respectively, History and English.
• Rita K. Gollin, Distinguished Professor Emerita of English.
• Walter Harding, former Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English.
• Carol Harter, Geneseo's eleventh president before assuming the presidency of UNLV from 1995–2006.
• Eoin McKiernan, Professor 1949–1959, early scholar of Irish Studies.
• Robert W. O'Donnell, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Biology.
• Rudy Rucker, Professor of Mathematics 1972–1978, author of mathematical science fiction novels such as White Light (set in Geneseo) and the Ware Tetralogy. He is considered a founder of the cyberpunk literary movement and developed the concept of transrealism.
• James Willey, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus of Music, composer.[32]
• Julia Walker, former Professor of English from 1985–2018. Miltonist, author of several books which were groundbreaking in this field, including the 1997 Most Distinguished Essay by a Milton Scholar, awarded by the Milton Society.