Bill Bonnell '83 can finally exhale. The college football season, which began in August and took him to a different high-profile stadium every week for several months, finally ended on the night of January 9th with the national championship game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. "We had a great season. It felt good to be back to normal after what we went through with Covid."
Onondaga Community College's Fire Protection Technology degree program was just awarded reaccreditation by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC). This prestigious and exclusive designation provides students the opportunity to be internationally certified as firefighters, fire officers, or fire service instructors. IFSAC awards this accreditation to only one institution in each of the 50 states. In all of New York State, OCC is the sole institution with this designation.
The Onondaga Community College Women's Basketball team begins the second half of the season this weekend with two big home games. Saturday the Lazers play North Country Community College at 1 p.m. Sunday they challenge Division II Union College from New Jersey at 3 p.m. The Lazers enter this weekend's competition with a 5-and-3 record and are ranked #14 in the nation.
United States Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called his latest effort a "shot in the arm" for the entire Central New York region.
Onondaga Community College Sound Recording Professor Shane Patterson has a new gig. When he's not teaching students on the OCC campus, Patterson will be working as Chief Engineer at SubCat Studios in Armory Square. "This will be a great pipeline for our students to get involved in real-world recording situations," said Professor Patterson.
There's a pretty good chance you've seen the amazing work G.M. Crisalli & Associates does, and an equally good chance you've never heard of the construction management company which is headquartered on Hiawatha Boulevard in Syracuse.
Andrew Coleman was an outstanding high school student until Covid happened and in-person learning stopped. "I went from having a routine to being in isolation, and having no outreach with my teachers, friends, or sports. I lost all of my motivation to do school work."
Halfway through his senior year at Baldwinsville High School, Coleman bounced back and finished strong. That fall he came to Onondaga Community College and blossomed into a leader across campus. "I needed a good starting point and heard OCC was a great place to come to where you could figure things out."
DeJuan Tigner Jr.,'s dreams came true at Onondaga Community College. He grew up watching a family member serve as a parole officer and it inspired him to pursue a career in law enforcement.
After he graduated from the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central, he came to OCC and enrolled in the Criminal Justice degree program. He received his associate degree in May 2022.
Onondaga Community College moved its December graduation from Storer Auditorium to SRC Arena, and the change in venue resulted in a bigger crowd and more of a celebratory feel to the event.
Lynore Constantine graduated from Community Hospital's Nursing School 55 years ago. On December 14 she came to the Onondaga Community College campus and had the honor of "pinning" her granddaughter, Gabriella Argiro, as she completed her Nursing degree to become a Registered Nurse (RN). "I'm very excited for her. Nursing was good for me and I know it will be as good for her as it was for me," said Constantine. "Having her pin me was really exciting," said Argiro. "She's been a huge inspiration for me."
