Year of the City: September in Review

The first Year of the City lecture, presented by Gary Welborn, chair and associate professor of sociology, was an especially appropriate kick-off for Buffalo State’s Year of the City. Welborn emphasized that Buffalo State pursues a reciprocal relationship between the college and the community.

“Truly reciprocal relationships,” Welborn told the audience, “require three things: the community and college must be equal partners in the process; each side helps to generate new knowledge; and each side derives benefits.” The lecture was sponsored in part by the Center for the Study of Art, Architecture, History & Nature (C-SAAHN).

While Welborn focused on collaboration between the West Side and Buffalo State, other activities strengthened different town-gown ties. Poets Lisa Forrest, PR and outreach librarian, and Irene Sipos, lecturer in the Writing Program, kicked off the Olmsted Parks Poetry Project with a lecture and workshop in the Rose Garden at Delaware Park.

"The parks poetry project meetings have been fantastic," said Sipos. "Community members and Buff State students, faculty, and staff have attended. At our first meeting, author Lynda Schneekloth [professor emeritus of the UB School of Architecture and Planning] gave a wonderful talk about Olmsted and what Buffalo looked like at the time he designed the parks." Afterward, Sipos and Forrest led a poetry workshop. Further meetings are scheduled.

Bruce Fisher, director of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies and visiting professor of economics and finance, led a group of leaders from Hamilton, Ontario on a tour of Buffalo. The tour concluded at the Burchfield Penney Art Center auditorium with a panel presentation discussing the Buffalo-Hamilton connection.

One of the strongest bonds connecting Buffalo State with the Western New York community is the pervasive presence of alumni in every aspect of local life, including Buffalo Bills mania. Buffalo News sportswriter Mark Gaughan, ’84 along with Howard Simon, ’84, Chris “Bulldog” Parker, ’94, and Greg Bauch, ’99, of WGR 550 AM, the Bills’ flagship radio station, speak highly of the hands-on learning they experienced at Buffalo State. Simon said, “The last time WGR had the game rights, the Bills went to four straight Super Bowls—I’m just saying.” We hope the magic works again.

Academic departments across campus work with local agencies, schools, and businesses to place students in internships and practicums. Some faculty members have taken this integration a step further by developing service-learning courses. In such courses, students help meet the needs of a community group by taking part in activities that deepen and enrich classroom learning. A student in one such class called it “the most meaningful thing I have ever done.”

At the kick-off for Buffalo State’s Transforming Lives campaign on September 28, Louis P. Ciminelli, chairman and CEO of LPCiminelli Inc., noted that Elmwood Village would not be the vibrant place it is without Buffalo State’s presence. Buffalo State students could not experience the rich diversity of opportunities without the museum corridor of Elmwood Avenue, the brave new enterprises opening in Black Rock and the West Side, and the nearby businesses.

Reciprocity? Together, Buffalo and Buffalo State own it.