Our on-campus happenings may slow down a bit over the summer, but they certainly don’t stop! Drop by the Esther Massry Gallery to see the faculty show or listen to some inspiring tunes from the Baroque era at the Bach Bash.

Ongoing until July 31:
The Art and Design Faculty Show, Esther Massry Gallery, Massry Center for the Arts. After July 31, the gallery will reopen with the faculty show on September 7. Summer hours: Monday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 8 p.m. Closed Sundays and July 4. 

July 11:
Graduate Meet and Greet, 3 to 5 p.m., Veteran’s Center (Casey Hall), Office of Graduate Admissions

July 13:
Summer Open House (Undergraduate Admissions), 9:30 a.m., Massry Center for the Arts

July 20:
Summer Open House (Undergraduate Admissions), 9:30 a.m., Massry Center for the Arts

July 28:
Bach Bash, 7 p.m., Massry Center for the Arts, Picotte Recital Hall

Upcoming:
It’s happening in September, but you can register now: The Golden Knights Golf Classic will be held on September 14 at the Capital Hills at Albany golf course, 65 O’Neil Road, Albany. Click here for more information.

After a fulfilling career in teaching, Tom Kerner has found new rewards in mastering and using an international method for teaching English as a second language.

During his time at Saint Rose earning his B.S. in Special Education, Kerner learned a valuable lesson. “You can’t just plunge into instruction,” says the Albany native, who retired in 2012 after 27 years of teaching in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont public schools. “You have to know what your students’ performance levels are and what skills they bring to the task.”

About a dozen years ago, Kerner discovered a huge group of students who weren’t receiving that benefit. He learned about the issue during a trip to Cambodia, from a friend from Schenectady who was living there. While university students in Southeast Asia are required to be proficient in English, the vast majority are taught by native English speakers – expatriates from the United States and elsewhere – with no training as teachers.

“There’s no requirement of teaching expertise,” says Kerner. “I found they had no idea what to do other than follow the curriculum.”

Read more about Kerner’s story and how teaching English across the world reconnected him with part of his past here.

You might know him as the person who started Albany’s 1st Fridays arts walk to revitalize Lark Street and downtown Albany, the organizer who brought musician Moby to Larkfest, or the Capital District’s proud champion of LGBTQ and minority individuals over the last decade. Now, Michael Weidrich G’06, G’10 is back in his native Buffalo as the executive director of Young Audiences of Western New York (YAWNY), an-arts-in-education organization that provides a wide range of arts and cultural programs to the region’s school children.

Skilled and accomplished in arts advocacy, business development, and social-justice activism, Weidrich is a Renaissance man who starts renaissances in his own communities. A rarity with a BFA and an MBA, he’s an artist who’s adept at business, and a businessperson who’s at home in the arts.

Read more about Weidrich here.

The College celebrated its 95th annual Commencement on May 12 at the Times Union Center in Albany. A total of 1,476 bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and certificates of advanced study were awarded to a diverse group of students from 14 states and 20 countries.

The Commencement speaker was award-winning journalist Parisa Khosravi, who served as senior vice president for international news gathering, national news gathering, and global relations for CNN Worldwide, directing coverage of countless historic news stories, including the Rwandan genocide, the earthquake in Haiti, and the Arab Spring. Khosravi, who is a member of the College’s International Programs Leadership Council, was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Read more about the ceremony here or watch a video on this year’s graduating class here.