Photo Spotlights

Fourth-year computer engineering student Mike Valentin from the Dominican Republic tried his luck at Jenga at Gracie’s Game Night Feb. 17. Playdate Rochester provided board games, a disc jockey, see ball and hula hoops. Gracie’s had a special menu of appetizers, main dishes and desserts to munch on.

First-year electrical engineering student Maria Melchiorre was first in a long line for FreezeFest blankets on Wednesday. FreezeFest is RIT’s celebration of winter with events including entertainment, a 5K run, a photo booth, ice sculpture and more. RIT’s seventh annual FreezeFest is Feb. 18-21. For more information, go to rit.edu/studentaffairs/campuslife/freezefest.

RIT officially closed Feb. 16 due to a severe winter storm. Students on campus spent some time outdoors, including skiing on fresh snowy hills. Third-year environmental science student Chris Schara found a spot to ski at Global Village.

Director of the M.K. Ghandi Institute for Nonviolence Kit Miller shared personal stories as part of the Motivational Mondays series of talks. The series is presented by RIT’s Women of Color, Honor and Ambition (WOCHA), featuring women of diverse backgrounds in leadership roles.

Students celebrated the Chinese New Year with calligraphy demonstrations, food and a Lion Dance on Feb. 11. Here, first-year computer science student Oscar Lowry feeds the lion money in a traditional red envelope. The official Year of the Monkey celebration was Feb. 7-13.

Graduating students marked 100 days before commencement by attending the annual Graduation Fair on Feb. 10. The fair is intended as a one-stop opportunity to gather important information related to commencement weekend, May 20-21. Here, students crowded a table choosing college rings.

Research at the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation at Rochester Institute of Technology explores extreme astrophysical phenomena through Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Several members of the center contributed research to the LIGO Scientific Collaboration that helped confirm Einstein’s prediction of the existence of gravitational waves. Members of the center include, left to right in the front row, Jam Sadiq, John Whelan, Jason Nordhaus, Monica Rizzo, Carlos Lousto and Manuela Campanelli, director; in the second row, Joshua Faber, Brennan Ireland and Naixin (Chris) Kang; in the third row, Yosef Zlochower, Yuanhao (Harry) Zhang and Richard O’Shaughnessy; in the fourth row, Dennis Bowen and Jake Lange; and in the fifth row, Zachary Silberman, Hans-Peter Bischof and James Healy. To read more, go to rit.edu/news/story.php?id=54606.

More than a dozen advanced placement students studying Italian from Greece Athena High School visited RIT to help celebrate Carnevale. They looked at pictures of Italy from local photographer Andrea Francesco Moretti (left) in the University Gallery, enjoyed pizza and cookies, and heard presentations about Carnevale from RIT students studying Italian.

Delving In, the current exhibition at Gallery r, features creative research in the visual arts and imaging sciences in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. The show is on view through Feb. 21, Thursday-Sunday, 1-5 p.m.

RIT’s College Activities Board hosted its annual Super Bowl party in the Gordon Field House on Feb. 7. The game was projected and captioned on two giant screens. The free event included 134 pizzas, 600 wings, prizes and giveaways.

First-year computer engineering technology student Matt Dantl participated in Fusion Fest ’16. RIT’s Electronic Gaming Society, in conjunction with RIT’s MAGIC Center, hosted the 24-hour charity LAN (local area network) party Feb. 5 and 6. The event, which included video-game playing, speakers and wellness activities, helped raise awareness for electronic games as a form of pain distraction for people battling cancer and benefited Cancer Wellness Connections.

The Rochester-Finger Lakes Middle and High School Art Exhibition in Bevier Gallery is hosted by RIT’s College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. The show runs through Feb. 22.