From her house on South Main Street, President Joyce Jacobsen at Hobart and William Smith Colleges said she is “comfortable with local race relations.”
She feels content with the current view of racial relations in the city of Geneva after a month’s worth of daily protests captured the attention of the community calling for police reform, which led to a 5-4 decision to explore the prospects of a police accountability board through Geneva City Council.
But now she faces public backlash, after a single student’s concerns grew into a significant grassroots movement in the city of Geneva. This after President Jacobsen aired some comments online about race relations at the Colleges and greater Geneva community.
Mercy Sherman, a rising junior who’s studying political science and psychology sought that Jacobsen would be held accountable for her actions during a recent Q&A Zoom session by sending a campus wide email in response to her comments, which suggested that systemic racism did not exist in Geneva.
“But in general, in upstate New York, I don’t think we have had that many direct issues with systemic racism here; uh we don’t think that it is an issue for Geneva. Believe it or not, again it is actually a rather diverse community here, we have been pretty comfortable with the black lives matter demonstration here like everybody else, but they have been peaceful, no property damage, they have been a corporative effect with the local police involved and the local city councilors, so we are actually comfortable about local race relations here,” Jacobsen said during the session.
This specific statement drew stark criticism, especially from Sherman.
“By not acknowledging that there is a problem, you undermine the Black Lives Matter movement, and Black experiences, and at the same time perpetuate racism,” Sherman wrote in her letter.
Concerned with trusting the school administration moving forward, Sherman asked, “How are we supposed to trust that the administration has our best interest in mind when making decisions? How are we supposed to trust that the stories we have shared are being read by the administration when statements like that are being made?”
She also firmly believes that Jacobsen’s blanket-statements are “even more detrimental in the fight of inclusion, equality, and the Black Lives Matter movement” because her comment “removes any accountability and gives permission for white supremacist ideals and acts” to arise, partly by “painting a false narrative.”
Sherman added, “If system racism is not prevalent within our community, and racism does not exist, then how can we hold inequality and racist behavior accountable?”
Regardless of whether Jacobsen intended to convey these comments in this fashion, the harm has been already done, according to Sherman.
“If you did not mean to say what you did, that is still a problem because words have power and someone in your position needs to think before they speak. You could have simply stated that just like everywhere else in the nation we here in Geneva are working and trying our best to deconstruct systematic racism by protesting. But instead, you said systematic racism is not an issue and that Geneva is diverse as it is a positive thing. Yes, Geneva is diverse, but it is also segregated — just like our campus where people of color face prejudice and inequality on a daily basis,” she emphasized.
All things considered, Sherman desires for Jacobsen to issue an honest and heartfelt apology.
“We do not want a generic email that is always sent out to make the problem vanish. We want a video of you saying that systemic racism is prevalent within the Geneva community as a whole, especially at HWS,” Sherman explained.
She continued claiming that “everyone who is a part of the Geneva community has the right to this apology,” which would allow her to “take back such hurtful statements.”
Hours later Jacobsen responded.
Instead of a video, Jacobsen sent the “generic email” in Sherman’s own words, and yet she doesn’t consider her latest email as an apology – a response that did not address her raised issues.
“From both private and public communication with students, I have heard that it sounded as though I deny systemic racism exists at HWS and in Geneva. I am very saddened and sorry to hear that my comments affected anyone in that way, as I would not ever want anyone to feel they have been made less visible by my actions or words. It pains me deeply to think that any student was hurt or moved to anger because of belief that I am not acting in good faith, and it is difficult to hear that my meaning was interpreted differently than my aim,” Jacobsen wrote.
“Beginning with myself, I pledge to be generous with your words and your intentions, and will offer back my own understanding. I am and will remain invested in dialogue with you,” she continued.
Although she apologized for offending anyone with her comments that may had been seen as hurtful, Jacobsen still double-downed on her position that Geneva is a safe and diverse community and publicly affirmed that systemic racism still exists here at the same time.
“To the best of my knowledge, Geneva is a relatively safe and diverse community based on my own lived experience here and in other places, and my own work as a social scientist who has studied race, ethnicity and gender issues throughout my career. But systemic racism exists here, as it does everywhere, manifesting itself in ways and degrees distinct to this time and place,” Jacobsen responded.
This back-and-forth digital dispute even attracted the attention of Ward 5 City Councilor Laura Salamendra, who has helped advocate for the police accountability board and mobilized the People’s Peaceful Protests.
Salamendra shared her perspective on the subject exclusively with FingerLakes1.com, stating that she is not surprised to hear about Jacobsen’s comments.
“I was saddened but not surprised to hear that the President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges thinks that “race relations” in Geneva are “comfortable.” I hear that a lot when talking about how [GPD] Geneva Police Department targets Black and brown people – including Black and immigrant HWS students. I know staff on the HWS campus that are contracted to a multinational corporation in Sodexo to face racism on the job. Hobart and William Smith is part of the Geneva community and we need to face the fact that systemic racism affects the lives of Black people, and shapes the entire community, on and off campus. When wealthy white HWS students break the law, commit acts of vandalism or ‘property damage’ or assault, or give themselves and each other alcohol poisoning, Geneva city services attend to their needs and protect their interests – as do the high-priced attorneys they hire. As we call for stakeholders to join the efforts to build Police Accountability in Geneva, we must recognize who arguably holds the biggest stake: the working-class people faced with systemic racism and a war against the poor every single day in our community. Over the last six weeks, HWS faculty, students, alumni/ae, and staff have been an important part of the movement fighting for Black lives and against racist policing. We’ve been out there together working for a better world, because all those members of the HWS community recognize that there’s not two communities – campus and city – but one, and that if we care about ending racism now is the time to work together,” Salamendra said in the statement to FingerLakes1.com.
Although Jacobsen eventually admitted that systemic racism is real in Geneva and even at the Colleges, she cautions swift action or judgement upon the institution or any of its actors.
“I ask that we take a proactive approach to learning more about and working on solutions to difficult issues such as racism, classism and sexism. But I also ask that we be gentler with each other and not move in haste to judgement… It is important in this challenging age, when truth, facts and the quest for knowledge are under assault from many angles, that we investigate fully before moving to judgement, that we develop mutual and constructive approaches to move forward to a better world, and that we be kind and understanding with each other during what is a very difficult time for all involved as we continue to grapple with the ongoing pandemic,” Jacbosen said.
However, it seems that the lack of swift action has stunted progress at the institution along these fronts, according to Sherman.
After claiming that some parents and professors contacted her after sending-out the email, she offered a brief email to Jacobsen privately.
“Thank you for your message, which is a perfect example of not taking full accountability and centering yourself as a victim. This is not an apology,” Sherman told FingerLakes1.com.
Sherman’s scathing critique of Jacbosen’s comments has emboldened a collective of students to stand-up against a complicit administration, which stands idly by as incidents of racism continually spur-up without any reaction from the institution itself.
After feeling largely ignored and unanswered, Sherman kickstarted the Rising Panthers, a group of students who aim at deconstructing systemic racism through structural changes at the Colleges.
“I started that because her comments on that video was the last straw,” she shared.
Seeking inspiration from international civil rights icon Angela Davis, who guest lectured at the Colleges in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Fisher Center for the Study of Gender and Justice, Sherman met Davis and motivated her to challenge institutional structures at the campus level.
“She told me, she was like; I love your passion and I remind her of herself at her age. That’s why we picked that name because of the fact that she came to campus, and the advice that she gives us and we’re trying to follow that model as best as possible,” Sherman shared.
At the end of Davis’ lecture in 2019, students candidly spoke about race-related issues on-campus that had been felt largely ignored – including the Colleges’ reliance upon Sodexo Food Services, a company that serves food to prison facilities nationwide.
The newly arranged Rising Panthers are currently constructing a list of demands, one of which intends to officially sever ties with Sodexo.
Today, the Rising Panthers are meeting virtually to iron-out that list of certain demands that are structural in nature as well as an accompanying timeline, according to Sherman.
“We have a meeting on Tuesday [today] to come up with those demands and what our goal is to have the school administration actually sign those demands and the timeline that we present to them,” she added.
Aside from cutting-off Sodexo some of the other unfinalized demands include: changing the uniforms for the Campus Safety officers as well as the construction of a brand-new Intercultural Affairs office.
In reference to the IC, Sherman considered, “It’s the only space on campus that is for students of color is across from campus safety. Like what kind of message does that send?”
Although constructive changes haven’t occurred on-campus in Sherman’s eyes, she believes that with the resurgence of the national Black Lives Matter movement instigating changes, she hopes that this momentum may be brought back to the Colleges.
“We’re hoping to start like protesting in the fall along with the Geneva community. I don’t want to graduate and then have to go back to normal,” she admitted.
“And then when the fall happened, absolutely nothing happened.”
This sense of normalcy surrounding racial issues has lingered throughout the history of the Colleges, even as early back as last year when graffiti on sidewalks depicted politicized hate speech: “Build the Wall” and “Trump ’22.”
During the tenure of then Interim President Patrick A. McGuire L.H.D. ’12, these incidents occurred, and the Herald student newspaper archived the stories of students who felt racially profiled and discriminated against on-campus through its special in-depth issue titled “Race and Diversity on College Campuses.”
Although the administration eventually responded to the situation with multiple emails after a lengthy few days of silence, nothing else happened in the aftermath even though these hate crimes were well-documented, and the Herald published the critical series on the race relations at the Colleges.
“And then when the fall happened, absolutely nothing happened. I kept on asking, and there was something going to happen like the Herald came out right before the summer and I was expecting to come back and there will be like this big protest and it was just like it never happened. The Herald never happened. The graffiti on the buildings and sidewalk never happened. All of that stuff just kinda like mysteriously went away,” Sherman remembered.
On May 2nd in 2019, McGuire publicly acknowledged the severity of racism that plagued the Colleges following the newspaper’s special edition and the circulation of a flyer depicting a Ku Klux Klansman from a dated yearbook.
“The issue of the Herald was followed yesterday by the circulation of flyers that embedded a reprehensible image from a past yearbook into a current photo of campus. The image is a painful and ugly part of the Colleges’ past and of our nation’s past, and these flyers have caused intense pain, justifiably eliciting anger and fear. For me personally, it is an image that is difficult to look at and not feel horrified and ashamed of this history. Although the person or persons who created and distributed the flyer have not identified themselves or their intentions, the point, I believe, is that the racism that existed on our campus decades ago reverberates today. Certainly, the Herald proves that point. As I reflect on my own actions this year, I think those flyers also point to a failure of my interim presidency to address the needs of our students, faculty and staff. Let me explain,” McGuire wrote in a campus wide email.
He then elaborated to express that the yearlong absence of a chief diversity officer considerably diminished the Colleges’ ability to initiate constructive dialogues around race, inequalities, and injustices.
“In my sincere desire to ensure that a Chief Diversity Officer join our campus as quickly as possible to guide our dialogue, I now realize we spent too much time absorbed in the hiring process and not enough effort focused on ensuring that the work of inclusion continue unabated. I am profoundly disappointed and saddened that there has been a failure in outreach, dialogue and empathy. For this, I sincerely apologize,” he elaborated.
Although McGuire admitted personal fault for delaying the search and finding a replacement, the history surrounding this position has been problematic for quite some time with its status remaining in limbo.
Former President Mark D. Gearan L.H.D. ’17 appointed Solomé Rose to become the interim chief diversity officer in March of 2016.
Two years later, Rose had vacated her position in 2018 under the tenure of then President Gregory Vincent and had since been emptied.
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion did not have a new appointment throughout McGuire’s interim presidency during the fall of 2018 and spring of 2019 amid a campus wide search to fill the position.
This ongoing absence ensued for the duration of Jacobsen’s first year until an announcement on January 23, 2020 when Khuram Hussain, the current Dean of Hobart College and Associate Professor of Education, had been named as the Colleges’ Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion effective June 1st of this year.
“Reporting to the President and sitting on Senior Staff, Hussain will serve as the Colleges’ chief diversity strategist. The Offices of Intercultural Affairs, Academic Opportunity Programs and International Students will all report to him,” the statement read.
Although Jacbosen did not initiate these problems, she certainly inherited them when she assumed her powerful role as president of the Colleges, and Sherman believes that she’s not doing her part to respect and rectify the past – even when it comes to the yearbooks.
When Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s hearings started, the blackface yearbook controversy ensued surrounding Governor Ralph Northam [D-VA].
As colleges across the nation swiftly searched their archives to find any insensitive images regarding race, the Colleges encountered the 1961 and 1968 editions of the Echo yearbook.
In that edition, a Ku Klux Klansman stands on the front steps of Coxe Hall on page 135.
The 1968 edition of the Echo depicts a Swastika banner prominently hangs with a group of Hobart students standing in front and smiling, one of whom hoists a machine gun resembling an AK-47 on page 193.
More than a year had passed since the original images were displayed across the campus during McGuire’s presidency without any historical contextualization or sheer attempt to explain where these images came from or why they were published in the first place.
Like the chief diversity officer position, Jacobsen also inherited this situation, which had yet to be resolved in a meaningful or constructive way until recently with Hussain’s appointment to become the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
For Sherman, a sense of fear still fills the air, blowing from Seneca Lake on its breezes across the campus for students who feel inclined to speak-out against injustices like the chief diversity officer position and the Colleges’ checkered racial history from yearbooks.
“I feel like a lot of the time people are scared. They’re scared about their jobs, just fear that they’re not tenured professors. They’re scared that like they’re going to get expelled,” she elaborated.
But now, it seems that the winds are changing in their collective favor, claiming that no one can stop the Rising Panthers and their allies ahead of next fall when the Colleges are set resume in-person despite the crippling effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Whatever the reason might be, yeah, like that’s the case if you’re just one person, but we’re a group no one can stop us,” Sherman concluded.
Following Jacobsen’s apology from Sunday, another letter had been drafted the next Monday by Tolulope Arasanyin ’21, which has already surpassed more than 100 signatures from current students, recent Class of 2020 alumni, and even a few parents.
In this letter, students and parents alike are not accepting Jacobsen’s initial apology.
Editor’s Note: We’re publishing the full-letters and emails as obtained by the newsroom. Read them below.
Mercy Sherman ’22 – Sunday, July 12 – 11:32 a.m.
Dear President Jacobsen,
First and foremost, I understand that Hobart and William Smith Colleges are a business at the end of the day. So far the role of leaders of such business has been to observe it through rose-colored glasses in order to make it marketable. They have to hide the horrors and very lugubrious past of the Colleges. They have had to ignore and minimize the experiences of the marginalized. They had to sacrifice their integrity and character in the name of capital. But it’s okay if that is the legacy you are trying to leave; it is okay if you are trying to send out a message to the student body that this is what it means to be a leader and live a life of consequence.
I also understand that you and I are women of color, but the difference between you and me is the fact that you are in a position authority; you are in a position to heal the wounds that come with having too much melanin within one skin; you are in a position to help deconstruct systemic racism and create systematic changes. With all that power, you refused to acknowledge that HWS and Geneva’s community have a problem when you stated,
“But in general in upstate New York, I don’t think we have had that many direct issues with systemic racism here; uh we don’t think that it is an issue for Geneva. Believe it or not, again it is actually a rather diverse community here, we have been pretty comfortable with the black lives matter demonstration here like everybody else, but they have been peaceful, no property damage, they have been a corporative effect with the local police involved and the local city councilors, so we are actually comfortable about local race relations here.” (Q&A zoom meeting) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyoeZWYfxu4.
By not acknowledging that there is a problem, you undermine the black lives matter movement, and black experiences, and at the same time perpetuate racism.
Your very brief statement on such a pressing and critical issue is extremely problematic for three main reasons. First, it sent a clear, but sadly already understood message that students, staff, faculty, and alums of color are not welcome or wanted. Because your words hold so much weight in the Geneva community as a whole, your statement discredits the history and experiences of people of color, and the very reason for protesting. It is a message that you care more about what the white population of our community thinks and feels than about what people of color think and feel because it states that systemic racism does not exist within our community. Second, it’s a frightening message, as if all the time and efforts that were put into reporting and documenting racist acts were for nothing, tossed aside by the administration, leaving a feeling of unease, anger, and lack of safety. How are we supposed to trust that the administration has our best interest in mind when making decisions? How are we supposed to trust that the stories we have shared are being read by the administration when statements like that are being made?
Third, what I think is even more detrimental in the fight of inclusion, equality, and the black lives matter movement is that your statement removes any accountability and gives permission for white supremacist ideals and acts by painting a false narrative. If systemic racism is not prevalent within our community, and racism does not exist, then how can we hold inequality and racist behavior accountable? We all know that racist white people justify their actions by saying racism is a thing of the past, that racism is not real: “Black people are suffering because of their own fault because; systematic racism is not real; it doesn’t exist where I live; whites are just better than blacks.”
I also understand the institution utilizes the word “diversity’ as a means to not address inequalities. The word diversity means absolutely nothing to me. Just because my black body is present within a space, that means that the space is diversified, right? Diversity does not address how I feel or how I am being treated within that space, yet the Colleges love to take pictures and post them on their website to paint this false narrative of a diverse community. This grants you the opportunity to profit from such false narratives, to continue to use them as a justification for the claim that systemic racism is not prevalent within HWS and Geneva community.
I want to know why you would make such a hurtful statement given your credentials as our president. I was told by Khuram Hussain after he spoke with you that it was not what you meant. I am also aware that multiple professors and students who have viewed the video find it problematic and emailed you as well. Your recent email states,
“I am concerned that people have misinterpreted my remarks from the meeting based on a partial reporting of what the question was to which I was responding and what the full answer was that I gave… I didn’t say anything about HWS in my answer and I stand by my statement about Geneva in contrast to other communities in which I have lived in the past, such as Memphis, DC, Boston and Chicago. Systemic racism by definition is everywhere, but it manifests in different ways and degrees from place to place. I don’t disagree with your statements below about BIPOC students at HWS and I made no reference to the situation on campus in my answer to the question, which I understood to be from a parent asking about whether it was safe for students to go to the hospital in Geneva.”
Although you didn’t mention HWS in your answer, HWS is part of the Geneva community. You did not even mention the hospital within your response. You said that systematic racism is not an issue for Geneva, which is not factual. You then ended with “we are actually comfortable about local race relations here” (scary). I am sure that everyone who watched the video is not misinterpreting the video.
If you did not mean to say what you did, that is still a problem because words have power and someone in your position needs to think before they speak. You could have simply stated that just like everywhere else in the nation we here in Geneva are working and trying our best to deconstruct systematic racism by protesting. But instead, you said systematic racism is not an issue and that Geneva is diverse as it is a positive thing. Yes, Geneva is diverse, but it is also segregated — just like our campus where people of color face prejudice and inequality on a daily basis. Maybe your reason is that your lies were a business move, or maybe it is just your ignorance showing. Whatever the reason, you need to publicly apologize. We do not want a generic email that is always sent out to make the problem vanish. We want a video of you saying that systematic racism is prevalent within the Geneva community as a whole, especially at HWS. Everyone who is a part of the Geneva community has the right to this apology. Every student, staff, alum, faculty, and parent has the right to hear you take back such hurtful statements. Doing this shows character and sets an example that HWS actually cares about diversity, inclusion, and people of color.
Signed an angry student,
Mercy Sherman
President Joyce P. Jacobsen – Sunday, July 12 – 4:39 p.m.
Dear Members of the Hobart and William Smith Community,
I write to you regarding a recent parent Zoom meeting I held about the Fall 2020 Opening plan. During the question and answer portion, I responded to a question regarding the safety of the hospital in relation to systemic racism. A portion of my response was videotaped and posted online. From both private and public communication with students, I have heard that it sounded as though I deny systemic racism exists at HWS and in Geneva. I am very saddened and sorry to hear that my comments affected anyone in that way, as I would not ever want anyone to feel they have been made less visible by my actions or words. It pains me deeply to think that any student was hurt or moved to anger because of belief that I am not acting in good faith, and it is difficult to hear that my meaning was interpreted differently than my aim.
This moment reflects a wider challenge of being clearly heard for what we intend to say while also acknowledging how our words are actually heard by others. This is a challenge of trust and one from which I will not shy. Beginning with myself, I pledge to be generous with your words and your intentions, and will offer back my own understanding. I am and will remain invested in dialogue with you.
I had hoped, in that moment, to assure all our parents that Geneva is a comparatively safe place with a reliable hospital, and a community that cares about their children and about students at the Colleges. To the best of my knowledge, Geneva is a relatively safe and diverse community based on my own lived experience here and in other places, and my own work as a social scientist who has studied race, ethnicity and gender issues throughout my career. But systemic racism exists here, as it does everywhere, manifesting itself in ways and degrees distinct to this time and place.
That is therefore true about HWS as well; to be clear, in my response to the question posed on Zoom about the hospital, I did not mention HWS because that was not asked. But in turning to consideration of the particulars of systemic racism as it manifests at HWS, we, including above all myself, have much work to do to become more inclusive and responsive to BIPOC student concerns. HWS is a learning community and this is an active but also an academic enterprise for us to understand what is occurring at the Colleges and in the wider world. I ask that we take a proactive approach to learning more about and working on solutions to difficult issues such as racism, classism and sexism. But I also ask that we be gentler with each other and not move in haste to judgement. For instance, in the last few weeks there has been a resurgence of discussion about hateful images in past yearbooks, including assertions that a particular person was in one of the photos and that a professor had identified the person. Upon investigation, neither of those assertions turned out to be true. It is important in this challenging age, when truth, facts and the quest for knowledge are under assault from many angles, that we investigate fully before moving to judgement, that we develop mutual and constructive approaches to move forward to a better world, and that we be kind and understanding with each other during what is a very difficult time for all involved as we continue to grapple with the ongoing pandemic.
HWS, as with all human constructs and institutions, has both current and historical faults and shortcomings, but also stands for principles worth defending and maintaining. As I wrote in the Colleges’ strategic plan: “The Colleges must hold true to their fundamental purpose of providing a life-changing education to students and preparing them to become life-long learners who continue the practices of critical examination and searching for truths. Hobart and William Smith also must continue to stand for willingness to engage in dialogue, treating all with dignity and respect, and working toward a better world. These are principles worth preserving and upholding, particularly in a complex world where the continuation of ideals such as these face many current and developing threats.”
I try my best to uphold these principles, and I know you all do, too.
Sincerely,
Joyce P. Jacobsen
President
Joint Group of Students – Monday, July 13, 2020
Dear President Jacobsen,
In the midst of a global pandemic, a surge of unemployed Americans, and movements demanding racial justice continuing across the country, you sat there and denied the existence of systematic racism because to you, there have been no DIRECT issues in Geneva.
You wrote in your email that “systemic racism exists here, as it does everywhere, manifesting itself in ways and degrees.” Is it possible for systematic/systemic racism to manifest in a different degree depending on the body both in Geneva and at HWS?
You had hoped to assure the safety of Geneva by denying the existence of any underlying violence that occupies systematic racism, which harms the lives of people of color in this small community. Assuring the safety of Geneva does not go hand in hand with denying the existence of systematic racism. Safe for who? Nor should a denial of DIRECT systematic racism be used as a way to assure safety, because those at the margins are the ones who continuously feel the hard line of injustice.
Yes, Geneva is relatively safe and diverse for you. But is that safety extended to the darker skinned body or the body accompanied an accent? As you said systemic racism takes on various degrees and your implication is one form. Yes, you may not have intended harm, but words hold power especially from a woman in your position.
You ask for us to take a proactive approach to classism, racism and sexism, yet you demand we be gentler and kinder. You ask us to be gentle and kind while not taking accountability for your denial of the existence of systems that hurt people, while not offering approaches to learning about how these violent systems affect Geneva specifically to your audience. Your letter did nothing, but pick at a sore wound and we, the students, felt it.
We are gentle and kind. Should we not say anything and be satisfied with harmful, pacifying rhetoric? How long do we have to sit in classes (when discussing race in pure silence) with students who do not participate in meaningful dialogue that affects our lives? Especially when our president implies the lack of its existence? How are you going to be proactive in your approach to classism, racism, and sexism? Is there a plan?
President Jacobsen take accountability for the harm your words had. Take accountability for denying the degree of systemic racism you participated in. Provide students with the necessary tools to combat racial tension. Like Mercy said, your statement is not an apology.
Signed,
Another angry student
Tolulope Arasanyin (HWS ‘21)
Mercy Sherman (HWS 22)
Tia Fishler (HWS ‘21)
Katherine Kieli (HWS ‘21)
Orson Sproule (HWS 21)
Eva Olivia Catanzariti (HWS 20)
Gizem Hussain (HWS 21)
James Anderson (HWS 23)
Cole Cassano (HWS 23)
Alexandra Curtis (HWS 20)
Sydney Hummel (HWS ‘21)
Noah Thirkill (HWS ’23)
Julia Cilano (HWS
Stephanie Cox (HWS ‘23)
Justine Pearson (HWS ‘22)
Katherine Marthens (HWS ‘22)
Caraline Gray (HWS ‘23)
Olivia Rowland (HWS ‘21)
Alexandra DeVito (HWS ‘21)
Mary Warner (HWS 21)
Tai-Ling Bey (HWS 20)
Mikayla Meyer (HWS ‘21)
Rachel Meller (HWS ‘21)
Katie Kumta (HWS ‘21)
McKayla Okoniewski (HWS ’22)
Ethan Brown (HWS ‘20)
Caitie Britt (HWS ‘22)
Kaitlyn Czajka (HWS ‘22)
Madeleine Mood (HWS ‘22)
Leilani Buswinka (HWS’ 22)
Sophia Macaluso (HWS ‘21)
Caitlyn Moody (HWS ‘22)
Clare Kramer (HWS ‘21)
Michael Davis (HWS ‘21)
Bryce Noel (HWS ‘22)
Ben Stigberg (HWS ‘22)
Yasmin Oliver (HWS’22)
Zoë Bloomfield (HWS’22)
Meredith Kehoe (HWS ‘22)
Owen Feider-Sullivan (HWS ’21)
Michael Mulholland (HWS ‘22)
Brooke Sowerby (HWS ‘22)
David Peck (HWS ‘22)
William Koepp (HWS ‘23)
Blair Reilly (HWS ‘22)
Sophia Snyder (HWS ‘23)
Lucia Tecca (HWS ‘23)
Olivia Broomes (HWS ‘23)
Grace Mongeau (HWS ‘22)
Sharon Lopez (HWS ‘23)
Nana Yaa Asante (HWS ‘23)
Julíssa Ramirez (HWS ‘23)
Laurel Soulier (HWS ‘22)
Moritz Marchart (HWS ’22)
Needhi Bajaj (HWS’23)
Kian Dart-Snouffer (HWS ’22)
Sofia Ferguson (HWS ‘23)
Samantha Sorensen (HWS ‘22)
Natalie McCarthy (HWS ‘22)
Margaret Nimely (HWS parent)
Hannah Goichman (HWS’22)
Edie Falk (HWS’21)
Karlee Rockstroh (HWS ‘22)
Sophie Laino (HWS ‘22)
Joy Chen (HWS ‘21)
Johanna Golden (HWS ’23)
Jennifer Alogna (HWS ‘21)
Laysha Castillo (HWS ‘22)
Isory Almanzar (HWS parent)
Jose Arnaud (HWS parent)
Abbey Brown (HWS ‘20)
Kara Gilleland (HWS ‘23)
Hannah Taylor ( HWS ‘22)
Sandy Taylor ( HWS parent)
Dellarie Flood(HWS ‘22)
Rachel Flood(HWS parent)
Anthony Carella (HWS ‘22)
Grace MacCurrach (HWS ‘22)
Phoebe MacCurrach (HWS ‘18)
Canieshia Phillips (HWS ‘19 ’20)
Gemma Carr-Locke (HWS ‘22)
Faith Fassett (HWS ‘23)
Stephen Ponticiello (HWS ‘21)
Ethan Albrecht (HWS ‘21)
Jacob Leaverton (HWS ‘23)
Maria Perez (HWS ‘22)
Anu Rajagopal (HWS ‘22)
Alexandra Carey (HWS ‘18, MAT ‘19)
Shreeya Desai (HWS ‘21)
Miles Cornman (HWS ‘20)
Andrew Krimmel (HWS ’20)
David Pratt (HWS ‘21)
Kels Veeder (HWS ‘21)
Olivia Varner (HWS ‘21)
Gabriela Martinez (HWS ‘22)
Ethan Lewis (HWS ‘23)
Isabella Valinoti (HWS ‘22)
Leela Willie (HWS ‘22)
Katelyn Nguyen (HWS ’21)
Samantha Rosenberg (HWS ‘20)
Kate Kieli (HWS Parent)
Gabe covered health and indigenous affairs in the Finger Lakes between 2019 and 2022. His award winning coverage was cited by the federal government and provided residents with an invaluable service during the coronavirus pandemic.