As I prepare to welcome only my second class to Cazenovia College, I find myself reflecting back over the past year, my first at Cazenovia. Mayor Wheeler’s observations about a close and growing relationship between the college and the community mirror my own thoughts.
There are so many points of intersection and interdependence between us as to make the College and the village partners, each in the success of the other. Our students add to this partnership and benefit from it in many, many ways.
Our students undertake internships at many area businesses and organizations, in finance, accounting, marketing, interior design and many other fields. These learning experiences are mutually beneficial to these organizations and our students, and they often lead directly to employment of our students, who thereby remain in the region as contributors to the region’s vibrancy and success.
Our students also volunteer regularly in the community, serving meals at the Friendship Inn and Rescue Mission, volunteering at Caz Cares, assisting with Fall Fest and the Chilly Chili Run, hanging garlands on Albany Street for the holidays and dressing up as international Santas for the Christmas Walk.
Many other points of village/college collaboration involve our faculty and staff. College representatives serve on the Chamber and CACDA boards. This past year, we established space to house the collaborative Center for Entrepreneurship and Community Development at the Carriage House. We also established a wonderful new relationship with Cazenovia Central Schools by offering every senior the opportunity to take a class per semester at nearly no cost. The high school and college also collaborate regularly on the use of athletic facilities, and our education majors regularly serve as student teachers in Cazenovia schools.
Cultural and educational opportunities abound at the college for area residents. Jazz-N-Caz is free and open to the public every year, as are many other events hosted at the beautiful and historic Catherine Cummings Theatre. Student, faculty and visiting artist exhibits grace the walls of the Reisman Hall Art Gallery several times a year, and we will once again this year play host to the upcoming Art Trail opening reception.
The college works regularly with area libraries to provide the “Great Minds, Great Ideas” lectures, all open and free to the public. We have sponsored and worked closely with other local interests to host the Entrepreneur Next Door Event and recognize, this past year, the Entrepreneur of the Year.
In turn, many local businesses and organizations work hard to make our students feel welcome. Just in my time here, I have seen that welcome grow and expand, from part-time job opportunities for students to welcome sessions at Common Grounds. Students have recognized and commented on the warmth with which they feel welcomed in Cazenovia.
For many students, this can make or break the college experience as they strive to overcome homesickness and to adjust to life in a new place to them. Our seniors, when they graduate, often refer interchangeably to the college and the village as the best home they could have imagined finding during their college years.
As we begin another exciting year of learning and growth at Cazenovia College, so we begin another year of rewarding collaboration and partnership to make the college and the village the best they can be. I feel blessed to be raising my family in this beautiful village and to be working alongside village and community leaders on a daily basis.
