A group of students took part in a one-of-a-kind, and perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime, event on Wednesday, April 27. With a crowd of Medaille students, alumni, faculty, staff and media cheering them on, 19 seniors took less than ten minutes to “stuff” themselves inside the Medaille Bug, a 2000 Volkswagen New Beetle.

Guinness World Records approved Medaille’s attempt at a world record, which is held by a group in Austria that managed to fit 25 people inside a New Beetle.

Video by Chatham Marcolini ’14.

Additional pictures and video will be available on the Medaille Bug’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/medaillebug.

Medaille College honored contributions to community service in Western New York with its annual Founders’ Day Celebration on Wednesday, April 13. A reception, dinner and awards ceremony took place at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.

Ann McCarthy, consumer affairs manager for Wegmans, delivered keynote remarks on service, based on her longtime efforts to volunteer in the WNY community. She also received a Lifetime Service Award.

Recipients of the Fr. Medaille Awards included:

Crisis Services, organizational award.

Christopher Kreiger of WNY Heroes, Inc., individual award.

Khadija Osman, Medaille student, student award.

On Friday, April 15, the Medaille Film Forum and the Center for Multicultural Education and Diversity (CMED) held a lunchtime screening of the new documentary film, Little Town of Bethlehem, directed by Jim Hanon and produced by Ethnographic Media.

“Little Town of Bethlehem” is “an inspiring true story of three men in a land gripped by fear, hatred, and division.” It “tells the personal stories of two Palestinians – Sami Awad and Ahmad Al’Azzeh – and one Israeli – Yonatan Shapira – who are using nonviolent methods to resolve conflict and work toward peace in their countries.”

The film premiered in Palestine and Israel in December 2009 and has been nominated for several festival prizes. Costs associated with the purchase of the film, campus advertising, and catering were funded by a generous Center for Multicultural Education and Diversity Program Mini-Grant.

Over 250 student leaders from colleges throughout Western New York participated in the Be the Change Student Leadership Conference at Medaille on Saturday, April 2. This all-day event drew students and staff from Niagara University, SUNY Brockport, Hilbert College, Buffalo State College, Daemen College, Canisius College, D’Youville College and the University at Buffalo. Sessions included Athletic Leadership, Diversity, How to be a “Super” Supervisor, Mediation, and Living Your Life in a Digital Fishbowl.

The Future  Teachers Club hosted a “Seminar for Success” on Saturday, March 26, at the Buffalo Campus. The day included a Student Teacher Panel comprised current student teachers Nathaniel Barnes, Chelsea Busczinski and Jennifer Perry.  Team Scumaci (Mary Beth Scumaci, clinical assistant professor, and her family) presented on technology in education. Illana Lane, Ph.D., dean of the School of Education, and Jeff Faunce, Ph.D., assistant professor, presented on teacher certification and initial employment.  35 students from the School of Education attended the event.

The Medaille College chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) won its division at the SIFE USA Regional Competition on Monday, March 22 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Medaille team now advances to the National Competition in Minneapolis, Minn. from May 10-12. Founded in 2009, this is the first opportunity for the team to advance to the nationals. The team came close in last year’s competition by winning “First Runner Up” and “Rookie of the Year”.

At competition, SIFE teams present community service projects they develop and implement to create economic opportunity for others by effectively educating and empowering people in need by applying business and economic concepts and an entrepreneurial approach to improve their quality of life and standard of living. Competition requires a 24-minute oral presentation and video, accompanied by a four-page annual report, and is followed by questions from a panel of business executives. Teams are judged on the basis of needs addressed and the relevance, depth and meaningful impact that their projects have on the lives of others.

In 2010-11, the Medaille SIFE team implemented projects across a diverse range of communities, from large urban areas of the inner city to a small rural town located abroad. Each of these communities offered access to a variety of populations and problems, offering a number of unique and interesting challenges to the team. Projects include a student run business that provides experiential learning opportunities for Medaille students, new venture creation opportunities for students in grades K-12, after school programs for inner city youth, money management and financial literacy training to young adults, and global outreach projects to benefit female artisans and their families in Guatemala.

The competition presentation team includes Dan Tomaka ’11, Erin Driscoll ’12, Gerard Jackson ’12, Danielle Rollins ’12 and Colleen Wagner ’14. The team’s advisors include four faculty, each from the Business Department: Michael Lillis, Ph.D., professor and chair; Ken Radig, associate professor; Pat Johnson, associate professor; and, Kevin Bosner, Ph.D., assistant professor.

“Medaille SIFE students have contributed over 1200 hours to developing and implementing service projects this year, having a direct and measurable impact on over 500 lives across the globe,” said Dr. Lillis. “Though their service, students develop leadership and professional skills and fulfill Medaille’s ideal of linking the curriculum and the co-curriculum in order to promote active, collaborative, problem-based, and experiential learning.”

SIFE is an international, non-profit organization active on more than 1500 university campuses in 40 countries. Medaille SIFE activities are supported, in part, by the voluntary efforts of 25 business advisory board members who lend a hand when fundraising, develop organizational accountabilities, create valuable connections and help to foster a strategic focus for the team.

Now in its sixth year, the Media Awards Ceremony on Monday, March 21 recognized 21 individuals for their contributions to television and radio broadcasting, print journalism, law enforcement and law. The yearly event is coordinated by the Department of Communication as a way to highlight individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the College’s internship program.

Kendra Eaglin of WKBW-TV received Reporter/Anchor of the Year.
Kevin O’Neill of WGRZ-TV received Entertainment News Reporter of the Year.
Jim Toellner of WGRZ-TV received President and General Manager of the Year.
Joseph Schlaerth of WIVB-TV received News Director of the Year.
Ed Buttacio, news director of YNN Buffalo and Rochester, received the Excellence in Local News Coverage award.

In radio, Eileen Buckley of WBFO-FM received Radio News Director of the Year. She is also a Medaille graduate.
Lee Pettigrew of WUFO-AM received Program Director of the Year.

For print journalism, Rick Forgione, city editor of the Niagara Gazette, received Print Journalist/Editor of the Year.

Two graduates received Alumni of the Year Awards: Christie Witt of WGRZ-TV, and Lisa Cialfi of Travers Collins and Company.

The Student Government Excellence Award was given to Nicholas Calandra, SGA President.

In the law enforcement category, four local police officials were honored: Buffalo Police Department Commissioner Daniel Derenda; BPD Captain Christine Giardina; NYS Police Captain Michael Nigrelli; and Erie County Sheriff’s Department Captain Kevin Caffery.

For judicial awards, honorees included the Honorable Rose Sconiers of the NYS Supreme Court, Appellate Division; the Honorable E. Jeannette Ogden of the Buffalo City Court; the Honorable Robert Russell of the Buffalo City Court; and, Jeffrey Freedman of Jeffrey Freedman Attorneys.

And, three alumni received special recognition awards for outstanding performance in the communication industry: Chris Musial, president and general manager of WIVB-TV; Don Tomasulo, director of results at Entercom Communications; and, Heidi Raphael, vice president of corporate communications for Greater Media of Detroit.

Medaille College introduced the Medaille Student Veterans Alliance (MSVA) at a reception on Wednesday, February 16, 2011. With Erie County Executive Chris Collins, NYS Senator Mark Grisanti and Erie County Veterans Services Director Marlene Roll in attendance, a welcoming event for the organization in the Kevin I. Sullivan Campus Center included faculty, students, alumni and their families, and introduced the group to the Medaille community.

Sergio R. Rodriguez, a Medaille graduate and Marine Corps veteran, was instrumental in launching the MSVA, which is the first chapter of its kind in Erie County and the second in Western New York. Rodriguez, along with Robert Banas, MSVA’s president, spoke to attendees about how the organization will support veterans and service members as they pursue their education. The group also hopes to extend that support network beyond graduation and into the workforce as a way to ease double-digit unemployment rates among the veteran population.

As part of the national organization Student Veterans of America, and as the first chapter officially chartered in Erie County, the MSVA will provide military veterans with resources, support and advocacy to succeed in higher education and after graduation. With this student group’s launch, Medaille continues its work to develop and to strengthen its student services, which also include dedicated staff and financial aid opportunities at its Buffalo, Amherst and Rochester Campuses. The 100,000 veterans in Erie County represent the third largest countywide population of veterans in New York State.

Sergio R. Rodriguez of Medaille’s Office of Veterans and Military Affairs participated in a roundtable discussion on Friday, February 11 about solutions for the problems facing soldiers and veterans as they return from service.

The event was covered by WKBW Channel 7, and was led by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Pete Lonergan, head coach of Medaille’s women’s basketball team, was interviewed live on Sunday, February 13 on “Hoopsville,” part of D3hoops.com website.  This online program featured Lonergan, who has coached the Medaille team for eight seasons with a 170-45 record. Read more at medaillesports.com.