Oswego Legacies: All in the Family

Before heading out to SUNY Oswego for Family and Friends Weekend on Oct. 24-26 from his home in Montgomery, N.Y., Randy Sutter ’85 packed up the freshman beanie of his late father, Lorenz Sutter ’53, to share with his son, current secondary education student Jake Sutter ’18.

The connections to SUNY Oswego truly run deep in the Sutter family. In addition to his father and grandfather, Jake’s mom, Jill Tracy Sutter ’85; brother, Corey Sutter ’13; aunts, Leslie Sutter Borrelli ’86 and Darcy Cavanaugh Sutter ’83; and cousin, Jonathan Sutter ’17, are all Lakers as well.

Jake and Randy Sutter were among the more than 100 students and their families who attended the annual Alumni Legacy Reception on Oct. 25 at King Alumni Hall. Hosted by the Oswego Alumni Association, the reception brings together alumni who have current students attending their alma mater.

Alumni shared stories with each other and with their children, and families had fun looking up old yearbook photos of loved ones. Some parents lived in the same residence hall where their child now lives, and had fun walking those halls again.

Lisa Marceau Schnorr ’87, Alumni Association board member, welcomed the families and encouraged them to reconnect with their alma mater, especially now that their children are attending. She talked about how she got involved with planning her 25th Reunion when her daughter, Nicole ’15, was a freshman. That led her to be tapped to serve on the alumni board. Today, she hosts groups of SUNY Oswego students for field trips at her employer and tries to take interns from SUNY Oswego.

In addition to Nicole, she introduced her husband, Mark Schnorr ’89, and their son, Derek Schnorr ’18.

“Mark and I got a really good education here,” she said. “We love it here. It’s the perfect size and has a great diversity of academic programs. And for our kids, it’s just far enough away from home.”

The alumni parents also learned about some services and scholarships available to their students through the Alumni Association.

Anja Godlewski-Dykes ’15 gave a brief overview of some ways students can get involved with the Alumni Association, including such initiatives as the Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) mentor program, the Future Alumni Network (FANs), Alumni-In-Residence (AIR) and Senior Class Planning Committee. Her father, Carlton Dykes ’00 M’06, is an alumnus as well.

Michelle Tackett Spinner ’98, associate director for stewardship, talked about the more than 250 donor-funded scholarships available to students and encouraged parents and students to pick up a newspaper for a complete listing or to visit the website, alumni.oswego.edu/scholarship.

“We visited several colleges, and when Quinton ’18 visited Oswego he said, ‘This is it!’” said his mother Beth Brown Schill ’93. “It’s great to come back and see all the changes!”

—Margaret Spillett

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