Nazareth College Alumni

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 Institute in 20

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

By Luke Dangler ‘09 I was only sure about one thing as I began my freshman year at Naz: I wanted to make stuff. In high school I had become obsessed with both drawing pictures and playing guitar, so some sort of a creative path seemed inevitable. At Naz, I enrolled as a studio art major and eventually adopted a music minor. During college, I spent most of my energy in the art studio painting, with any additional time reserved for blasting heavy metal guitar riffs down the hallways of my dorm via the amplifier that I was somehow allowed to keep. This behavior probably wasn’t academically productive, especially considering one of my music teachers told me he didn’t even know what metal music was. Art remained my priority but I enjoyed messing around with music — which was pretty fun. I found music a bit more challenging to conquer than art, which made it alluring. Frequent conversations with my advisor usually centered around my career plans after graduation, and whether I was going to

By Norlene Remollata '15 When there is a new alumni blog post, it is sometimes written by a successful celebrity, people who’ve made a huge impact on the world or have at least 40 years of life experience to share. No, I’m not Gary Vaynerchuk or even Oprah. So I’m not going to try and pretend like I’m some super wise successful person, or drop some great quotable material that would later be seen as a phone background or in a picture frame hung on a wall.  Most of you reading this might be people who follow my cooking blog, or recognize my work in the Rochester community. Maybe you have just graduated or about to graduate and are looking for guidance in the “real world” with these alumni posts. For most of you, you just see me as some alumna. Honestly, that is how I want to write to you today. As just some alumna. I thought a lot about how to inspire you through this blog post, but as much as those inspirational Odyssey articles about taking on the world one step at a time are fan

By Herbie J Pilato, ‘83 Herbie J Pilato, author, screenwriter, TV producer, talk show host In the spring of 1983, my final semester of attending Nazareth, “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, the legendary rock band, was a hit on the airwaves. Of course, the “airwaves,” at the time, meant just listening to the radio and watching MTV. There were no smartphones, iPads, or even the internet. And desktop computers were just barely introduced to the mainstream, which today, enjoys streaming videos, movies, music, and TV shows on a whole other level. But in 1983, any song by “The Police” helped to define the era, as music and pop culture in general usually does so for any time period. “Pop-culture” is really “culture” of the moment. In looking back… way back…to Ancient Egypt, the Pyramids may be viewed as a “pop-culture” development of the day. That might be a stretch in time. But you get the idea, and ideas are always a good thing. Certainly, many wonderful ideas sprang into mind during m