Last Friday, Geneseo students banded together to help cure multiple sclerosis, as nine student bands and an enthusiastic crowd converged in the College Union ballroom. The Men of Action and Change brothers organized the benefit concert to raise money for multiple sclerosis research and to increase awareness of the disease.
"It's nice just to sit," said Myrtle Merritt, as she explained why Sunday is her favorite day of the week. This is no surprise, coming from a distinguished service professor who taught physical education for 30 years, and, 27 years after her retirement in 1982, is president of her Garden Club, president of the Genesee Valley Conservancy, director of development for the American Association of University Women's Rochester chapter, leader of the women's group at Geneseo United Methodist Church and active on the board of directors of the Roundtable Athletic Association and the Geneseo Foundation.
This year's freshmen might have noticed something missing from the campus they toured earlier last year. It's not the open frat parties, or the snow they might have encountered while walking around the College Green in February. The iconic bell tower in Sturges Hall, which customarily chimes throughout the day, has not made a sound since the summer.
Betty Balkin speaks deliberately. She pronounces every word precisely and carefully. To her, life is an art, something to be savored. As a child, Betty's mother read her a poem published by another child. "And [my mother] said, 'You could do that,' … so I did it!" Balkin's poem earned first prize on the children's page of The Jewish Tribune, a national weekly publication in Canada.
The presence of Greek organizations can be felt everywhere on campus, from the lettered clothing we see students wear in class, to the painted tree that stands in Sturges Quad. The Greek organizations at Geneseo, however, have a much more serious impact on our community than most students see.
