Steve Leavitt, professor of
anthropology and interim dean of students since September, has been named as
the new dean of students, it was announced Wednesday (March 3) by President
Roger Hull.
“Having served very well in the
capacity of interim dean for the past eight months, Steve was the clear choice
of the search committee and me,” Hull
said in a campus email.
“Not only will Steve bring an
unusual academic perspective to the position, but he will also be able to view
things in a way that most people in the position cannot. I believe that both of
these attributes are of tremendous import at this point in Union's
history.”
Leavitt and his wife, Karen
Brison, joined the College's anthropology department a decade ago. Together,
they served as co-directors of the Union Scholars Program. They also led
several term abroad programs to Fiji.
“I want to use this year as a
time for all of us to assess the good and not-so-good about student life here
outside of academics,” Leavitt said in a letter introducing himself to
students at the beginning of the year. “This includes housing, social
life, psychological and social services, and, yes, parking.”
Leavitt earned his bachelor's
degree from Swarthmore College.
He went on to earn his Ph.D. at the University
of California at San
Diego. He has written on religious movements, family
relations, sexuality, adolescence, and responses to bereavement. He previously
taught at Washington University
in St. Louis. Leavitt and Brison
live in Schenectady with their son,
Jeffrey.
Hull
also thanked members of the search committee: Prof. Julius
Barbanel, chair; Prof. Zoe Oxley; Christina Sorum, dean of faculty;
Cheryl Rockwood, head trainer and director of student athletic programming; Jon
Jackson '04; Daniel Taft '06; Matt Milless, director of student activities; and
Gretchel Tyson, director of affirmative action.
Steve Leavitt, professor of
anthropology and interim dean of students since September, has been named as
the new dean of students, it was announced Wednesday (March 3) by Union
President Roger Hull.
“Having served very well in the
capacity of interim dean for the past eight months, Steve was the clear choice
of the search committee and me,” Hull
said in a campus email.
“Not only will Steve bring an
unusual academic perspective to the position, but he will also be able to view
things in a way that most people in the position cannot. I believe that both of
these attributes are of tremendous import at this point in Union's
history.”
Leavitt and his wife, Karen
Brison, joined the College's anthropology department a decade ago. Together,
they served as co-directors of the Union Scholars Program. They also led
several term abroad programs to Fiji.
“I want to use this year as a
time for all of us to assess the good and not-so-good about student life here
outside of academics,” Leavitt said in a letter introducing himself to
students at the beginning of the year. “This includes housing, social
life, psychological and social services, and, yes, parking.”
Leavitt earned his bachelor's
degree from Swarthmore College.
He went on to earn his Ph.D. at the University
of California at San
Diego. He has written on religious movements, family
relations, sexuality, adolescence, and responses to bereavement. He previously
taught at Washington University
in St. Louis. Leavitt and Brison
live in Schenectady with their son,
Jeffrey.
Hull
also thanked members of the search committee:
Prof. Julius
Barbanel, chair; Prof. Zoe Oxley; Christina Sorum, dean of faculty;
Cheryl Rockwood, head trainer and director of student athletic programming; Jon
Jackson '04; Daniel Taft '06; Matt Milless, director of student activities; and
Gretchel Tyson, director of affirmative action.
Junior forward Devon Bruce will need a big effort against Utica's Tim Troy.
The Union Dutchmen earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Association's Upstate New York Tournament and will host Utica College on Wednesday, March 3, 3:30 p.m. in Memorial Fieldhouse.
The 18-7 Dutchmen, who have enjoyed winning seasons each of the last six years (for the first time in over 30 years), are playing their 13th ECAC tournament since the event made its debut in 1973. Union, which won the tournament's initial title, last captured a championship in 1975. The Dutchmen last advanced to the title game in 2003, losing to Ithaca, 77-76, when their final shot rolled around the rim and fell off at the buzzer.
Meanwhile, the 23-3 Dutchwomen host Mt. St. Mary in the opening round of the NCAA tourney.
“The ECAC bid and the accompanying number one seed is certainly a great compliment to what the kids have accomplished over the course of the whole season,” said head coach Bob Montana. “The fact that they have won 18 games against a very challenging schedule, the toughest strength of schedule index of the teams being considered for the ECAC's, is the reason that we were rewarded with the top seed.”
Montana, who has guided his Dutchmen to an eight-year record of 119-94, has seen his Dutchmen qualify for five postseason invitations, including an NCAA berth in 2001-02. Forwards Imbrie Packard and Ryan Freundlich will be making their third consecutive trip to postseason.
“The fact that we have received our fifth post-season bid in the last six years is a testament to the talent, commitment, and discipline of the players in this program. Our seniors, Imbrie Packard and Ryan Freundlich, have shown excellent leadership all season, and I know their focus was to play in March once again.”
Sophomore guard John Cagianello leads a trio of Dutchmen who are averaging in double digits. The Garnet's top three-point shooter with 66, Cagianello averaged 18.2 points during the regular season. Classmate, forward Brian Scordato, was next at 12.2 and junior forward Devon Bruce added 11.0 points a game. Bruce led the Dutchmen in the rebounding department with his 7.4 average and was followed by Scordato (6.2) and Freundlich (4.2). Sophomore point guard Chris Murphy paced the team in assists with 109 while Bruce and Packard had 17 and 15 blocked shots, respectively.
Eighth-year head coach Bob Montana has guided his Dutchmen to six consecutive winning seasons and into five postseason tournaments.
This is the second meeting of the year between the Pioneers and the Dutchmen. Union captured a 74-55 decision in Memorial Fieldhouse back on December 3.
“Utica is a much different team from the team we played in December,” said Montana. “Since January they have been playing very good basketball. They have a couple additions to their team since our last contest. Tim Troy, a 6'6″ 250 post player, has been a key addition to their starting lineup. Over the weekend he had 21 rebounds and 11 points against RIT and 13 rebounds with 12 points against St. John Fisher in the championship of the Empire Eight Tourney. He has provided good post play and leadership. Jemarr Bryant, who also joined the team in January, provides them a good shooter from the perimeter (40% from three-point range), and at 6'2″ 185 pounds, is another strong wing player.”
Troy is an interesting story all by himself. He started the year as a 28-year old coach who still had eligibility remaining from his college days. After opening the season with just one win in six games with Troy as an assistant coach, the Pioneers are 15-6 with him in uniform. He enters the game with an 8.9 rebounding average and a scoring average of 9.2 He also has 18 blocked shots.
“Utica is an athletic team that defends very well (opponents shooting only 40.1% from field), Montana continued. “The Pioneers run a very good half court offense, and they are an excellent rebounding team. We will need to stop their key inside scorers, keeping in mind they shoot 38.3 from three-point range. They have out-rebounded their opponents by exactly 10 a game so we cannot allow them to get extra offense off the offensive board.”
A victory by the Dutchmen would bring the tournament's semi-final and final rounds to Schenectady on Friday and Saturday.
The Dutchwomen, who earned their first appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament by capturing the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association's automatic bid, host Skyline Conference champion Mount St. Mary, of Newburgh, New York, Wednesday (March 3) at 7:30 in a first-round showdown.
The game will be broadcast live on the web.
The Dutchmen, meanwhile, earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Association's Upstate New York Tournament and will host Utica College Wednesday (March 3) at 3:30.
The Dutchwomen, whose only other postseason experience came in the ECAC Upstate New York tournament last year and in 2001, put their 23-3 record up against a Blue Knight squad that finished at 22-5. Union's 23 wins sets a program standard for the 29-year old program, breaking the mark of 22-5 set last year.
“This is an exciting time for the players, the coaches, and the program,” said head coach Mary Ellen Burt, who, along with assistant Jamie Seward, has captured the UCAA's last two “Coaching Staff of the Year” awards.
“Mount St. Mary's is not like any other team in our conference,” said Burt. “They have an outstanding all around player in junior guard Oneisha Staples and an exceptional three-point shooter in sophomore guard Kellie Stuart.”
Staples, a graduate of Newburgh Free Academy, averages team highs in points (14.2) and assists (5.6). She is also a solid rebounder with her 4.5 average and leads her team with 68 steals (an average of 2.5).
“When we were preparing to play them back in December (the game on the 14th was postponed by a snowstorm and eventually cancelled), Staples was averaging 20 points and three assists,” said Burt while referring to Staples's dual ability to either put the ball in the hoop or dish it off for someone else to score. “If we double team her, she will find an open teammate.”
Stuart, meanwhile, hits three-point field goals at a rate of 43.3 percent (55 of 127). She is second on the team with her 10.3 average and has an overall average of 44.8 from the field. Stuart is deadly from the charity stripe, connecting on 23 of her 28 opportunities (82.1 percent).
“The game will come down to our defense against their offense,” explained Burt. “We need to do a good job in transition on defense and make them run halfcourt offense sets as opposed to letting them get fast-break and layup opportunities.”
Junior forward Nneka Cruse is the third-leading scorer on the Blue Knights' roster with her 7.3 average and leads the squad in both rebounding (with an average of 6.0) and blocked shots (with a total of 25). Mount St. Mary, which has blocked a team-total of 84 shots this season, is averaging 69.3 points a game while allowing the opposition an average of 50.7 points a game.
Coaches Mary Ellen Burt and Jamie Seward have led the Dutchwomen to an overall record of 45-8 the last two seasons.
Mount St. Mary reached the NCAA tourney for the fifth year in a row by capturing the Skyline Conference championship last week. The Blue Knights defeated SUNY Old Westbury, Stevens Tech, and Farmingdale State in the Skyline tournament to earn the conference's automatic qualifier. The Mount is 47-0 in Skyline play (including playoffs) dating back to the 1999-00 season. The Blue Knights have won 11 straight and 17 of their last 18 games heading into their game with the Dutchwomen.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Union squeaked out a 50-49 decision in the championship game of the Dutchwomen's invitational tournament on January 9, 2000.
While the Blue Knights feature a trio of stars, the Dutchwomen do not. Instead, the last two seasons, which have amassed an overall winning percentage of .849 (45-8), play entirely by the “team concept” approach.
“Ego-less, selfless and unified-those three words are the threads of our program,” said Burt. “Jamie and I asked our players to give up their personality goals for the good of the team goals. We asked our players to believe in our system and if they did those two things, the reward would be the success of the team. They did that, which is why we are now playing in the NCAA tournament.”
A total of 10 of Union's 14 players are averaging 15.6 or more minutes a game with guards, sophomore Erika Eisenhut and Taryn Scinto leading the Garnet with averages of 24.7 and 24.1, respectively. Nine players have been in the starting lineup at least six times, and only one player has not seen action in at least 11 games (and she was sidelined with illness and injury throughout the season).
Junior forward Katlyn Cunningham leads the team in both scoring (10.0) and rebounding (4.6) while Eisenhut and junior guard Melissa Marra average 9.9 and 8.3 points, respectively. Junior forward Emily Scott and sophomore guard Nicole Cerniglia are second and third on the team's rebounding chart with averages of 4.5 and 4.3, respectively. Marra is averaging 3.2 assists a game while Eisenhut has created an average of 3.0 steals a game.
The winner of the showdown travels to play at New York University on Saturday, March 6.
