Nazareth Alumni

George Collichio (pronounced co-LEE-chee-oh) was a professional guitarist, recording artist, and music educator.  He ran his own music school.  But something was missing, he says. STORY:  Achieving his dream at age 65

By Justin Boyer ’21 Justin Boyer at his desk at Syracuse University, where he’s pursuing a doctorate in math. What can you do with a math degree? One option: Use data analysis to hunt down criminals. You can tell so much about someone by their spending habits. The U.S. government defines money laundering as “...financial transactions in which criminals, including terrorist organizations, attempt to disguise the proceeds, sources or nature of their illicit activities.” As an anti-money laundering (AML) analyst, I worked with financial institutions to identify potential money laundering activity by analyzing data to find anomalies related to AML regulations. I also worked with these institutions to make sure they are up to date with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations related to money laundering and other financial crimes. Money launderers often get money through drug dealing, terrorist financing, and human trafficking and disguise the source through property investing,...

By Najzma Williams '17 Hey, Naz! Let’s catch up! My life has blossomed drastically since my graduation in 2017. I went from hating my job, to a fulfilling career in just five short years. Let me fill you in.  Najzma Williams on her graduation day, May 14, 2017. Rocky Beginnings For starters, life after graduation was tough, at first! My grades weren't terrible when I left Naz but they definitely weren't the greatest, and jobs in the speech and language pathology field were scarce without credentials. I found myself scavenging for a job, and jumped on the first opportunity I could find which was in the scheduling department of the Center for Urology at UR Medicine. After one month, I came to the conclusion that I hated my job because I was neither fulfilled nor using my degree in any way.  Leap of Faith   Before I knew it, an opportunity fell into my lap that allowed me to teach in a charter school in Rochester, New York. I worked my way up the educational ladder and used...

50 years ago, the first men graduated with degrees from Nazareth — and men literally moved in By Garry Besigel ‘76 1972 was a historic year for the United States. There was the Nixon & Watergate scandal, 100,000 anti-war demonstrators marching in U.S. cities, and NASA’s Space Shuttle program was officially launched. But from my vantage point, nothing was more historic than Nazareth College graduating its first men with Nazareth degrees — and that fall I was one of five young men to enroll and be housed on campus. This was a year before Nazareth officially went co-ed. Young men from St. John Fisher College had been able to take classes in Nazareth’s excellent fine arts programs since 1960, but we were the first men to live in a dorm.  The 5 daring young men were Glenn Buck (music), Stefan Scimone (art), Leo Williams, John Deyle, and myself (theatre arts). We had the second floor to ourselves in Carroll Hall (overhauled and turned into York Wellness and Rehabilitation Instit...

by Chris Wilkin '83 Thirty-seven years after launching a 2,000-mile bicycle trip from the campus of Nazareth College , three 1983 Nazareth grads reunited to ride the Rockies. A toast to our adventure Ready to ride: Brett, Paul, & Chris Brett McAvoy, Paul Brown, and I met in Denver, Colorado for our mile high adventure. Along with us was our longtime friend John Callard who was there on the day we left in 1984. This time we didn't have two months or even two weeks to ride. What we did have ahead of us were mountain rides at elevations above 6,000 feet! We also had a 30-foot RV, which would act as our support vehicle. Brett and John were the first to fly into Denver. We celebrated the reunion of old friends that felt way too long in coming. The next day, Brett and I went on a 23-mile warm-up ride, our first ride together since the 1984 bike trip! It didn’t take long for us to get back into the old groove though. We rode a local trail that ran through Chatfield State Park. The...

By Dana Damiani ’21 Somewhat unpopular opinion: writing is so fun. It can be used to connect in new ways, a therapeutic release for some, and a way to learn without leaving the comfort of your bed for others. Learning to write is hard. Now that’s something we can all agree with. Why are there so many forms to address certain topics? Reports, social media posts, professional emails, oh my! Why can’t we just write what we think and have it click for everyone? That’s what was running through my mind the first time I was asked to write a blog for my new student job at Naz in 2020 with the College’s Social Media Team. After helping plan a virtual Changemaker event, and as a big fan of what I learned throughout the annual changemakers seminar, I sat with my notes wondering where to start. I had no idea how to incorporate a voice that shared my enthusiasm for the event — and looking back on it now, it shows. My senior year, I finally had a chance to dive into my communication and media minor ...

by Chris Wilkin '83 A cold Saturday morning on April 8, 1984, changed my life forever. I was standing at the east entrance of Nazareth College with my two college roommates, our families, and friends. Brett McAvoy, Paul Brown, and I were all 1983 graduates from Nazareth and were moments away from starting a 2,000-mile bicycle trip across the country right from the campus! Brett, Chris & Paul. Little did we know... We said our final goodbyes and right at 9 a.m., just as the Nazareth College chimes rang out announcing our epic departure; we climbed aboard the vehicles that would take us to places unknown and were off! Our bicycles were each loaded down with the gear we would need for the long trip. The only problem was, we hadn't ridden our bikes recently as winter had just ended, and we had definitely not ridden them fully loaded. The icing on the cake: It started to snow! Our first few feet were precarious as we wobbled unsteadily through the Nazareth campus. We prayed that...