It is my pleasure to welcome you to this wonderful gathering of Oswego alumni in sunny Florida. I will add that I greatly appreciate the opportunity to visit you here in Naples – especially as this winter is a true Oswego winter – with sub-zero temperatures and several feet of snow! (We started our spring semester with a statewide weather emergency and classes being hosted remotely for most of that first week.)
I would like to take a moment to thank our generous hosts, Bill Spinelli of the Class of 1984 and Bob Moritz of the Class of 1985, who are also both members of the Oswego University Foundation Board of Directors. Please join me in thanking Bill and Bob for their generous sponsorship of today’s event.
I am happy to share with you some of the highlights from campus. SUNY Oswego today is very much the “caring community by the lake” that many of you remember so fondly. We are still very much committed to providing our students with: Access, Experience and Excellence.
As you know, access to higher education and the opportunities college affords are at the core of the state university system. In fact, SUNY recently launched the Academic Momentum initiative designed to increase the retention and completion rates of all SUNY students and close the gaps for Pell-eligible students and other demographic groups.
I am proud to announce that SUNY Oswego has the largest number of students (409 at last count) enrolled in a new initiative funded by SUNY called Advancing Completion through Education or ACE program. ACE provides students, especially at-risk students, with the support they need to finish their degrees on time. The supports include funding to cover textbooks and other costs of attendance, academic assistance, comprehensive personalized advisement and career development activities.
Early results are very promising. ACE students among these populations are achieving higher GPAs, earning more credits, and have a significantly higher retention rate than their peers. Last December, transfer student Emily Colledge became the university’s first ACE graduate. Emily credits the program with helping her through the difficult moments throughout the semester to successfully complete her degree.
The governor has proposed an $8m additional funding in the FY 27 budget that will increase ACE enrollment to 10,000 throughout the state.
If we can continue that program, we could improve access and student success.
Since its founding, SUNY Oswego has been rooted in a hands-on approach to learning. Our students apply their learning in a variety of ways – including through internships, co-ops, and study abroad trips.
Just last month, 90 students were hosted by Oswego alumni at one of four employers in New York City as part of the annual New York City Career Connections program, organized by University Advancement. Students had the opportunity to tour such spaces as KPMG, NBCUniversal, Adobe and the LinkedIn headquarters within the Empire State Building. Throughout the day, students spoke with 10 alumni about living and working in New York while also building their professional networks.
On a related note, three of Al Roker’s former Oswego students (who are all now on-air talent at TV stations across NY state) had the unique experience of being on the Today show in January to celebrate Al’s 30 years as America’s favorite weatherman on the show. During the broadcast, Al spoke about his Oswego education and how it set him up for success. That tradition continues.
Finally, I wanted to mention that SUNY Oswego also remains committed to excellence. We continue to graduate some of the best teachers, researchers, scientists, communicators and community leaders. One recent point of pride comes from our College of Business and Entrepreneurship and the Investment Club. The Investment Club provides students with hands-on opportunities for learning while also managing a large endowment fund that benefits university scholarships. Last fall, the student-managed fund recently passed $1 million! That milestone highlights the success of the program and how it provides the tools for today's students to become the business leaders of tomorrow.
SUNY Oswego faculty scholarship and research also demonstrate exceptional visibility and influence. A 2025 benchmarking analysis conducted by McAllister & Quinn shows that SUNY Oswego’s scholarly work is cited more frequently within its respective fields, achieving the highest Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) among peer groupings. Notably, SUNY Oswego’s impact score recently exceeded 2.0 — an indicator of exceptionally strong citation impact and national visibility of our faculty’s research contributions.
Here’s more evidence that our research enterprise is gaining strong momentum: federal R&D spending tripled to 66% of total research funding—a growth rate that outpaces many of our peers. Sustained institutional investment and expanded external grants and partnerships have helped us surpass the $2.5 million annual research-expenditure benchmark, positioning us among institutions eligible for the new Carnegie Research Colleges and Universities designation. This milestone reflects our emergence as a teaching-focused university with growing scholarly impact and a deepening commitment to innovation.
Additionally, I am sure many of you have heard about the remarkable transformation of the old Hewitt Union into a world-class media and the arts facility for our College of Communication, Media and the Arts. In August, we opened the totally renovated Hewitt Hall, which is powered by geothermal wells. The university has invested $126 million over the past decade in CMA facilities in Hewitt and Tyler halls, providing best-in-class spaces for our students to learn and strengthening what Al Roker just called an “amazing” communication program live on the Today show.
With the completion of Hewitt Hall, the university will turn its attention next to renovating Mahar, which has received $68 million in funding to renovate the facility beginning in spring 2026. Next up will be an estimated $110 million renovation to Penfield Library and Lanigan, which is slated to become the Student Life building, housing academic, wellness, and health centers. The Phase 1 design is expected to begin in fall 2026 with construction planned for fall 2027.
On a related note, SUNY Oswego is one of four SUNY campuses (and the only comprehensive) selected to receive over $30 million from the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act to construct a geothermal system that will improve operating efficiencies, reduce costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions, benefiting both our campus and the community. So, we’re moving forward responsibly with sustainability and green energy in mind.
There are so many more exciting student success stories and impactful projects underway that I could go on all night. But they all share a common thread: they are fueled by a community that believes in the transformative power of a SUNY Oswego degree.
Our mission is to ensure that the only things a student has to worry about are the quality of their ideas and the strength of their work. Currently, many of our most talented students face external obstacles, including unexpected financial hurdles that have nothing to do with their academic ability but everything to do with their ability to stay the course.
When you invest in Need-Based Scholarships, the Student Emergency Fund, or our newly established Just-in-Time micro-grant, you help remove barriers to social mobility, ensuring that a student’s trajectory is defined by their ambition, not by their family’s financial background.
I invite you to join us in this work. Your investment doesn’t just fill a gap in tuition, groceries, books, or a tow out of a snowy embankment – it validates a student’s hard work and signals that this entire alumni network stands behind them. Together, we are empowering the next generation of Lakers who are following in your footsteps to lead our communities and our world.
Thank you again for attending today’s gathering. Please join me in one more round of applause for our generous hosts, Bill Spinelli and Bob Moritz. Thank you.
—President Peter Nwosu