Photo Courtesy of Kevin Reed
Make sure you compliment Kevin's outfit next time you see him out and about!
Once students arrive at SUNY Geneseo, the role of an admissions counselor naturally comes to a close. But those counselors do not disappear; they are already hard at work recruiting the next incoming set of prospective students.
SUNY Geneseo students from the greater Buffalo area might remember chatting with Kevin Reed—the senior assistant director of admissions who handles counties including Cattaraugus, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, as well as most out-of-state territories during their college decision journey. If you have ever had the pleasure of chatting with Kevin, chances are you were met with great conversation and some cheesy dad jokes. I have personally had many interesting conversations with Kevin, and this week I encouraged him to share his wisdom and wit with readers of The Lamron.
Kevin is from a small town south of Buffalo and attended Medaille College where he majored in media communications with a specialization in radio broadcasting. In college, Kevin was the DJ for his campus radio station. He recounts his on-air persona the “Ice Cream Man” as a nod to one of his favorite bands: Van Halen. He worked his way up from DJ to the program director and eventually station manager.
Kevin expressed his love for attending concerts. He claims to have been to hundreds of shows over the years, but the one that reigns as his favorite was back in the summer of 1992 at Rich Stadium, where he saw Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. Being the ultimate rock fanatic, Kevin shares that if he were not an admissions counselor, he would be “an ultra cool rock ’n’ roll superhero with denim and leather armor and would be able to transform any object into a legendary shredding guitar.”
Despite his love for radio and music, Kevin decided to pursue a career in admissions. He shares, “I was a tour guide when I was in college and all of the admissions counselors seemed young and cool.” After graduating college, he recalled finding an ad in the paper for an open admissions counselor position at Daemen College. “I applied, interviewed, and got the job, and started by the beginning of July.”
After spending five years at Daemen, he was ready for a change, and decided to apply to work in SUNY Geneseo’s Office of Admissions. Kevin shared that he was not planning on working at SUNY Geneseo for long. He wanted to dip his toes into the SUNY system, but planned to move back to the Buffalo area and work at either Buffalo State or the University at Buffalo. However, he expressed that he “ended up loving it here and then met [his] wife and put down roots,” and has now been here for 26 years.
When asked about meeting his wife, Kevin described the story much like the one seen on the show The Office (2005-2013); however, he feels it resembles Dwight and Angela’s relationship rather than Jim and Pam’s. Kevin’s wife, Christie, started working at SUNY Geneseo in the Office of Admissions, where they met. After working in various departments—including the Health Center and the Department of Communication—she now serves as the administrative assistant to the president of the college. Kevin wanted to share that “Christie is the best and deserves a huge shoutout for her extremely hard work on the Together Towards Tomorrow community festival and inauguration this past week.”
One of Kevin’s favorite things about working at SUNY Geneseo is interacting with the students. “I enjoy getting to know [the] tour guides and trying to make them laugh. They are only semi-annoying.” Kevin shared that if he were a student here, he would most likely join clubs like WGSU, The Lamron, and Best Buddies. Kevin is a loyal reader of The Lamron and particularly enjoys it when there is a new physical print out. He shared that if he were a staff writer, he would enjoy writing for every section except news.
Kevin finds joy through going on walks around campus. If you catch him out and about on campus during one of his daily walks, you may notice his extraordinary taste in fashion. He is often seen in outfits that would not be sported by the average admissions counselor. From spike studded bracelets to a button down with Josh Allen’s face printed all over it, you never know what Kevin might show up to the office wearing.
To close out our conversation, The Lamron asked Kevin what advice he would give to current students. He responded “be unapologetically yourself. Normal is boring. Normal people worry about being weird. Weird people are too busy having a good time.” A wonderful ideology to live by!