Dear Paul Smith’s community,

The fall semester is almost behind us! It’s been a great one, and we look forward to an even better 2019. We won’t be sending out a January 1 Day 1 report, as hopefully all of you will be celebrating the new year with family and friends. And I will be far away from the internet, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in support of the important Climb-It-4-Climate launched by Bethany Garretson. I hope to summit on New Year’s Day, and though halfway around the world, will be thinking of all of you!

Best wishes to all for a joyous holiday season.

Cathy

• Professor Randall Swanson presented a talk entitled Trees of Saranac Lake: Natives, Non-Natives and the Endangered at the Saranac Lake Free Library on November 29th.
• Thanks to all the bidders who participated in the Forestry Department Lumber Auction. Proceeds from the auction will go toward mill improvements.
• Mountain Lake PBS will present a series of videos about the creation of Promised Land: an Adirondack Folk Opera, with the first episode airing December 7 at 8pm. The piece will also appear on a new opera-themed web page to be launched the same day. The opera is composed by Glenn McClure, and the original work as shown in the PBS documentary has been performed by the Northern Lights Choir under the artistic direction of Helen Demong.
• Adirondack conservation experts Zoë Smith and Dr. Michale Glennon have joined Paul Smith’s College. These two experts support our vision of expanding our expertise in rural resiliency. They are based at the Adirondack Watershed Institute, and will be working with Dan Kelting and others in a strategic planning process that focuses on the future direction of the institute.
• Ross Conover taught an invited lecture to a Virginia Tech graduate class on how to prepare for a career as a teaching professor.
• Hospitality student Alec Johnson was awarded the 2018 Foodbuy Scholarship, presented at the annual Fred Tibbitts & Associates Dinner at Battery Gardens in. Ray Agnew joined Alec and his father Robert for the event.
• The Ganzi hosted a luncheon prepared by Patrick Duhaime (a Navy veteran) and his fellow culinary students to honor PSC Veterans and made the local news on WPTZ.
• The Admissions team welcomed 175 prospective students to campus in November, including visits from high schools/BOCES, transfer visit day, and individual campus tours.
• Despite “wonderful” winter Adirondack weather, 69 prospective students and their families joined us for an Open House on Saturday, November 10. Spring admissions events are fast approaching so keep an eye on your calendars to plan appropriately!
• The Admissions team launched a new Peer Recruitment Initiative with a two-day training session to prepare our current students to visit their high school alma maters during the winter break. Any students who would like to participate but were unable to attend training are encouraged to contact Cori Barnard at cbarnard@paulsmiths.edu or 518-327-6110.
• Drew Baumann ‘78 hosted a San Diego alumni event with 13 attendees. Thanks, Drew!
• Giving Tuesday was a huge success, with 238 generous donors providing $54,867.14 in gifts, which will be doubled thanks to the Coming Home Challenge.
• Andy Johnstone has been accepted to the Syracuse University Masters in Communications program, one of only 15 candidates to be selected.
• The Counseling Center hosted the annual Women’s retreat.
• Health Services worked hard to help our community combat the flu season, providing multiple vaccination clinics throughout the month.
• Halloween Fun! The 2nd annual Haunted House and 4th annual Haunted VIC were a hit, drawing nearly 200 students and community members to the campus. The haunted house, an alternative-to-drinking event for Halloween night, was hosted by Residence Life, the Counseling Center, and Student Activities. The residents of LMS and Currier participated in the Tucker Farm’s pumpkin picking, corn mazes, and pumpkin carving event. They also had a mini “Séance” where students were invited to learn about different religious and cultural traditions. Prizes were awarded for the best pumpkins, and costumes were worn.
• Residents of Overlook and Upper St. Regis teamed up to sponsor “Sex Feud…on a Cart!” In a Family Feud-style game, residents competed to learn about sexual wellness.
• The VIC winter calendar is complete, with a wide range of naturalist and outdoor recreation programs. This year we are delighted to have Lady and Fee back at the VIC for horse-drawn sleigh rides!
• It’s been a busy and productive season for Athletics:
  • The Woodsmen’s team concluded their fall season with a 1st place victory. The men’s team defeated nine other teams including host school Finger Lakes Community College, Penn State (D1), and competitive rival SUNY-ESF. Out of a possible 1500 points, the Paul Smith’s men won 1352 points, including first-place victories in pole climb, disk stack, bow saw, crosscut saw, canoeing, packboard relay, and pulp toss.
  • PSC athletes made us proud at the USCAA National Championships in Virginia Beach
    • Team captains Tessa White, Matt Frye and Isaac Leach led the Cross Country team at the championships. White and Leach both earned USCAA All-Academic Team honors. Matt Frye and Tessa White set career personal bests in their respective distances (8K – Men; 6K – Women) at the championships, and led their respective teams. The men’s team finished in 10th place overall with 292 points. This was the team’s best overall performance at USCAA Nationals since 2015, when the team placed fourth in Lakeland, FL.
    • Nayleece Williams and Paige Farrington received USCAA Volleyball Division II Honorable Mention recognition. The women’s team played admirably in the national tournament in their matches against Penn State-Fayette and the University of Cincinnati-Clermont.
    • Kyle King earned Second Team All American honors at the USCAA Division II national championship. King led the team with 20 points, as he scored 9 goals and earned two assists. Three of the goals were game winners.
    • Katey Snyder earned honorable mention distinction for Women’s Soccer as she led the team with 8 goals and two assists this season.
  • The bowling team hosted an early season invitational event at Romano’s Saranac Lanes where the Varsity team manned by Jon Herrman, Nick Ferrara, Connor Bean, Kalei Fenn and Benjamin McInerney swept the six team field, shooting a combined 3009 pins in the team portion of the tournament. Kalei Fenn led all bowlers rolling a 257, followed by Nicholas Ferrara’s 256.
  • The hockey team hosted home game against St. John Fisher and SUNY Canton at the Saranac Lake Civic Center. Katey Snyder had 49 saves in goal in the St. John Fisher game, an outstanding effort in goal for the Bobcats. Cody Liguori scored the first goal for Paul Smith’s in this rebirth to the program. Large crowds have been in attendance, with an estimated crowd of 300 attending the SUNY Canton game, where the team played tribute to the Paul Smith’s College Veterans with a ceremonial puck drop to begin the game. This is the first year Paul Smith’s College has had a hockey team under athletics in over a decade, and there are 25 on the coed roster.
  • The Outing Program ran a trip with students to Red Rocks Nevada to work on hard skills for rock climbing. Students worked on guiding principles for leading groups and safely setting anchors, belay stations and how to manage group dynamics.

Upcoming Events:

• December 1: Trip to Montreal
• December 1: VIC trail season opens
• December 2: Counseling Center Men’s Retreat
• December 5: Wellness Gift Bags
• December 5: Semicolon project, a mental health and suicide prevention community conversation
• December 6: Speaker Tim Horvath “Everest: Climbing the Heights”,
• December 7: Employee Benefits Open Enrollment Closes
• December 8: 25th Jingle Bell 5K Snowshoe Race
• December 10: Holiday Craft Night
• December 21: Winter Solstice Celebration @ the VIC