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June 23, 2025
The next issue is on July 7. Please send your news by the end of the day, Tuesday, July 1 (It is an earlier deadline than usual, due to the July 4 break.)
✨ Send all your sparkling news to newsletter@sage.edu ✨
| | Volunteers Needed! Intercultural Cafes, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays (Spirituality Center, Troy) and Thursdays (West Hall, Albany), are friendly gatherings where English language learners practice conversation with volunteers. Drop in, or email Nana Owusu-ofori (Troy) or Noora Ahmed (Albany) to learn more. | | |
The First Coffee Hour IRL!
During the pandemic, our Innovation Committee started Coffee Hour, a weekly Zoom meeting to keep Russell Sage employees connected to each other across the college. The tradition continues today, with weekly sessions during the semester that offer an opportunity to share good news, talk about new developments, learn from our peers, and "dance it out."
This summer, the Innovation Committee innovated once again with Coffee Hour IRL, holding Coffee Hour "in real life" with two in-person sessions. The first was last week on the Albany campus, with Troy up next July 16 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Buchman Plaza. Sign up for the July 16 Coffee Hour IRL today!
Part of living Be. Know. Do. is being together, and sometimes (especially if Ali is there), there will be dancing!
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Sage Night at the ValleyCats
Join the college community at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, 80 Vandenburgh Ave, Troy, on Saturday, July 19, for a Tri-City ValleyCats Game.
Game starts at 6:30 p.m., but get there early to see the ceremonial first pitch and snap a pic with Chompers. Stop by the Sage table to enter a free raffle and snag some college swag. Don't leave early — there are post-game fireworks!
Use the code Sage to purchase discounted tickets ($9) to the baseball game (Share the link and code with friends and family, too!)
ICYMI: Grad student Jake Reinisch is an outfielder with the ValleyCats!
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Meet Julie Hart, Director of
The Aphasia Center at Russell Sage
At The Aphasia Center at Russell Sage, people with aphasia rebuild communication skills and health sciences students gain experience with the condition. In this Q&A with speech pathologist Julie Hart, Hart shares how the center makes a difference — and how you can help raise awareness about aphasia.
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Wall of Wins
🟢🔷 "Shout out to Advancement staff Sara Carlson, Sheri Spraker, Tori Reinhard, and Liz Nielson. During Reunion, a newly-enrolled student and her father arrived to look around campus. Without hesitation, all five of them made helpful suggestions about what to look at, gave them a map, and provided a warm welcome on a cold rainy day!" -Maria Vincent, Advancement
🟢🔷 "Thank you to VP for Marketing and Communications Jenn Gish and Assistant Provost for Strategic Initiatives Peter Stapleton for joining our Advancement retreat and sharing great information with us!" - Tori Reinhard and the whole Advancement Team
🟢🔷 "Shoutout to everyone in the Albany Facilities department, especially for working hard to put in the AC units in the library. That is tough work, and you all handled it with smiles. You are AMAZING!"
🟢🔷 "Thanks to Shane Frederick in IT for your quick help and patience when there is an issue both in and out of the classroom. You make our days much easier!"
Please continue to share the everyday victories that make this college community exceptional: Wall/Google Doc of Wins.
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Sparkling Good News
Meghan Bornt, OTR/L, administrative compliance coordinator in the occupational therapy department (pictured, left) sent two updates in response to our call for sparkling good news in the last issue of Coffee Break. Thanks Meghan, for sharing your milestones! We celebrate your resilience, and congratulate your son!
"My son [pictured, right] was awarded both end-of-the-year academic and athletic awards and I attended the Cancer Survivor's brunch through New York Oncology and Hematology as a two-year breast cancer survivor
June 8."
| | Green Wave, 2025, acrylic ink and paint on pieced and sewn muslin, by Gina Occhiogrosso, exhibitions and marketing manager at Opalka Gallery, is featured in Turned and Turning Still at The Painting Center in New York City, curated by Kellie Lehr, Jamie Powell, and Lisa Petker Mintz. On view June 24–July 19. | |
Claws-It Win
If you clicked on the Faculty Achievements story noted above, you've seen this already, but it's such a great example of collaboration that we wanted to call it out again!
A congregation of gators behind the Gator Claws-it — a resource aimed at addressing food insecurity at Sage — worked together on a successful grant to support the Claws-it. Congratulations to everyone involved, including Assistant Professor of Nutrition Selina Preyer-Blakney, MS, RDN, who provided data on food insecurity in the Sage community and implications on students’ health and success; Interdisciplinary Studies Department Administrative Assistant Maverick Douglas, who wrote the grant application with guidance from Director of Corporate, Government and Foundation Relations Starlyn D’Angelo; Associate Director of Career and Self-Discovery Center Jennifer Morrill and Assistant Director of Service Learning and Community Engagement Nana adoma Owusu-ofori, who provided background and budgetary information; and Assistant Professor of Geography Ali Schaeffing, Ph.D. who provided oversight and a history of the Claws-it.
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From HR: How the Employee Assistance Group Can Help
Counselors with the college's Employee Assistance Group field hundreds of help calls every day. Common questions include:
● When will I stop grieving? If you feel stuck, you might benefit from counseling or a grief support network.
● Should I rent or buy? The EAP's Financial Resource Center has calculators, articles, and tools to help you make financial decisions.
● Should I make a change? Experienced counselors and online resources can provide valuable guidance.
● How do I find the best daycare? The EAP's Self-Help Center includes a Child Care Locator, Elder Care Locator, and other resources.
Log in at www.theeap.com/higher-education-eap or call 800-252-4555.
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Next Issue
The next issue of Coffee Break is on July 7. Please send your news to to newsletter@sage.edu by the end of the day, Tuesday, July 1 (It is an earlier deadline than usual, due to the July 4 break.)
Solutions: The Newsletter for students will return when the fall semester begins.
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