Lara Murray-Sterzel, Editor-In-Chief
This year marks SUNY Oneonta’s 135th year as a university! There’s been so much history the school is tied to. The events orchestrated by the school have allowed students to grow into who they are today. Even the school’s staff has worked hard to demonstrate good guidance and resilience. Which gives students more of a good reason to celebrate this 135th year.
In this interview, President Alberto Cardelle shares the school’s history, what the school’s 135th year has been like, and what he hopes this celebration means to SUNY Oneonta students.
Murray-Sterzel: Oneonta has reached its 135th year as a university. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about the history of the school?
Cardelle: SUNY Oneonta, as we know it today, actually started as the Oneonta Normal School back in 1989. A Normal School that was created in order to train teachers to normalize the training of teacher’s. Oneonta was selected as one of the places that were going to get a Normal School. It was a lot of celebration because it meant a lot to the local community to have a Normal School because we were going to get students from all over the place.
Murray-Sterzel: At the beginning of the semester, an email message was sent out announcing this celebratory year. How has Oneonta celebrated?
Cardelle: Our idea is to not create new events but to integrate the theme of 135 into events we already have right now. So the theme of 135 were a part of the Pass Through The Pillars T-shirts that were handed out. The theme of Red Day was all about the 135. One of the cool things that we’re doing is that the Student Alumni Association has committed to identify or reestablish 135 internships open to students. We’ve committed to doing 135 and giving ourselves until September of next year, so a little bit longer than the academic year. But that’s the idea, using along to find 135 internships for our students.
Murray-Sterzel: What has the staff’s reaction to the announcement been like? Did they know this would be Oneonta’s 135th year as a university?
Cardelle: Yes! We’ve been talking about it for a while. Actually, we were in the 4th of July parade and we had our banners saying 135 years. But the importance of the celebration is not to just have events, but to continue to think about being an institution for 135 years. You’ve seen a lot happen. We are temporary caretakers or participants in this institution that has a very storied, important, and weighted history. And has been making a lot of impacts in the past 135 years. To me, that’s the most important message.
Murray-Sterzel: What memories have you heard shared by staff and students with you about their experience at Oneonta?
Cardelle: The ones that I love the most are the memories about the pillars from Old Main. Some of our older alumni that may have graduated in the 60s talked about taking classes there and they said they hated it because the floors squeaked. You couldn’t be late to class because everybody hears you when you’re walking down the halls. But they talked about how beautiful the building was and how much it meant to them. To me the stories are amazing.
Murray-Sterzel: Has there been any alumni who’s reached out to congratulate the school’s 135th year?
Cardelle: Oh, yes! We have an Alumni Board and every year they come to campus. but just recently we had our Alumni Distinction Awards, this is when we recognize alumni of distinction. During the celebration all our alumni were very grateful for being able to be a part of that Alumni Distinction during our 135th year.
Murray-Sterzel: Oneonta’s Career Development Center has been preparing students before they enter the professional working world. Did the center always exist or was it added to the school in recent years?
Cardelle: The institution has always had a career services center. What we’ve done recently is now change its name. It’s Career Network and Planning because we want students to start to think about what they want to do after graduating early.
Murray-Sterzel: Do you see Oneonta celebrating another 135 years in the future?
Cardelle: Here’s what I hope: I hope that by the time that I Ieave being president, that I have left the institution in a position that they’ll be likely to celebrate another 135 years. I hope we leave the institution in a stronger place.