“I feel like I have to say, ‘I’m not weird, guys. I just had this thing that stopped me from doing what I wanted when I was 18.’”

Senior English major Joe Morgan has had an unconventional college journey, to say the least. At almost 40 years old, Morgan made the brave decision to pursue a college degree and explore his passion for English literature after being barred from higher education at an early age. 

Picture this: it’s 11:45 p.m. on a Monday; most students are studying, sleeping, or binge-watching Netflix. This is not the case in Nassau Hall, where a ‘“bathtism” is about to be performed. During this procedure, a group of oddly dressed students parade through the basement of Nassau, some of whom are about to be “enlightened” by the bath. In the front of the pack is Max Worden, first-year theater major, Nassau Hall resident, Southside boy, and “founding father” of bathtisms.

Geneseo’s education major is by far its largest, and with hundreds of students enrolling in and graduating from the program each semester, it can be difficult to spot the future educational gems—those wholly impassioned by the prospect of teaching future generations. Enter Torianna Robleto, a junior childhood special education major with endless zeal for both learning and teaching.

Humanities is currently a general education requirement that brings about much controversy among students. Many students complain about the “archaic” readings, the “boring professors,” and the lack of diversity, and perhaps there are some faculty who would agree with them (looking at you Doggett). However, Professor Wes Kennison has a deep passion for the humanities subject, so much so that he has been teaching humanities at Geneseo for about thirty-six years. A former student of Geneseo, Kennison cultivated his love of Thoreau and Thucydides into a wealth of knowledge that he adores spreading to students. However, it had been a long, adventurous road for Kennison between his first day of freshman year and today.

For the past three years, Owen Vincent has been an integral part of The Lamron. As for the past three semesters, we have been lucky enough to have him as our News Editor. Unfortunately, we are at the end of an era, and Vincent has chosen to step down from his position in order to dedicate more time to his studies and potential career opportunities.

Typically, the “Invasion of Privacy” Knights’ Life feature zeroes in on the life and perspective of a faculty, staff member, or student in the Geneseo community. The students interviewed are typically starting their undergraduate degree closely following their graduation from high school, and have the general Geneseo background of growing up somewhere in New York before choosing Geneseo for their higher education. These pieces thus rarely feature a student who strays from these norms in their journey to Geneseo, such as first-year English major Brian Malgieri, a self-identified adult student who recently got involved with The Lamron and the Geneseo campus community at large.

Most days when students enter lower Mary Jemison after getting their cards swiped, they are greeted by many friendly CAS workers. One of these days, Ward Parker can be seen working at Asada regularly for lunch. He has lived an interesting life and is always ready to make you smile with his friendliness.

If you are involved with civic engagement, politics, or bagel appreciation at SUNY Geneseo, it’s more than likely that you’ve crossed paths with senior international relations major Tim Rainis. Rainis, a man of charm, wit, and high-brow living is constantly looking to uplift and improve the Geneseo community, whether that comes in the form of educating students about local government or directing them to the best gumbo at a local fundraiser.

“The content of the character is what matters. Nothing else matters. Everything else is amazing.”

 Kodjo Adabra (PhD), an Associate Professor of Francophone Studies at Geneseo, has a third-degree black belt, an excellence award from the SUNY Chancellor, and numerous books to his name; yet, his story begins over 5,000 miles away. Adabra is originally from Togo, a West African Nation. There, he would go to Togo’s premier college to earn a degree in business; however, he was a very vocal student in a place where the government wasn’t kind to activists. 

Lee Pierce is an assistant professor of rhetoric and communication at SUNY Geneseo: a concentration and department that is not only widely studied, but renowned at the institution. While there are many faculty at Geneseo that go above and beyond in regard to their curriculum and presence in the classroom, it is rare that one encounters a professor as authentic, transparent, and committed to respect as Pierce.

It is rare to find a student on a college campus willing to wake up excited to contribute something to the day, the world, or a literary community; it is rarer still to find a student who will answer questions about their college experience for a student-run newspaper first thing in the morning. Nevertheless, I was able to speak to two such individuals just earlier today: English creative writing majors and seniors Kat Johnson and Jenna Murray. I met with Johnson and Murray this morning amidst the early antics of Suki, Murray’s cat, and chuckles of Johnson and Murray’s respective caffeine addictions over their first cups of coffee.

I don’t think it crossed Nate Bedell’s mind when he came to The Lamron’s general meeting last Thursday that he would leave being voted our next Invasion of Privacy guest. Either way, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Nate about his on and off campus life, the importance of his writing, and an in-depth retrospective of one soon to graduate.

“The answer is the students,” Professor Lytton Smith said when asked what he’s most proud of about the Geneseo Creative Writing department. “The ambition and the variety and the adventurousness of the students. And students is the wrong word, because you’re all writers. But you have to put in there that I’m inspired by it, although it’s not mine to be proud of, although I kind of am—does that make sense?”

“Actually, I water my plants first,” said editor-in-chief of The Lamron Sarah Sharples when asked about the first thing they do in the morning. “Then I brush my teeth, then I meditate. This is why I get the least relatable character on a Buzzfeed quiz.”

Here at The Lamron, we’ve recently suffered a great loss—the graduation of our beloved Nick Widman, English major, class of ‘21, and former editor-in-chief. Over the past three years, Widman has made an impact on our paper that will not soon be forgotten.