News

This year’s Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend, Oct. 15 through 17, features numerous in-person events including entertainment, hockey, speakers, escape rooms, axe throwing, a zip line, tours, open houses, and more. Building on the success of last year’s Tiger Alumni Week, a variety of virtual programs specifically for alumni will be held beginning on Oct. 11.

Many only dream of racing the historic oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Several RIT engineering and computing students will make that dream come true. Members of RIT’s Autonomous Vehicle team will join partner universities as finalists in the inaugural Indy Autonomous Challenge.

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine has recognized RIT as a 2021 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award recipient and a 2021 Diversity Champion. This marks the eighth year in a row RIT has been named a HEED Award recipient and seventh consecutive year as a Diversity Champion.

The COVID-19 impact on collegiate sports changed the storyline for many student-athletes, including RIT alumnus Jimmy Spillane ’20 (biomedical sciences), who has found his way back onto the lacrosse field for the 2021-2022 season.

Students, faculty and staff are invited to stop by the ice rink from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 23 to learn about library services and resources, and how to access them while the Wallace building is under construction.

RIT welcomed 26 new students this fall through a program that provides tuition waivers as well as academic and social support to City of Rochester residents. The 12th cohort of the Destler/Johnson Rochester City Scholars program includes graduates from eight schools in the Rochester City School District and Rochester charter schools.

The $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has expanded RIT’s accredited Priority Behavioral Health and Clinical Psychology Internship program to focus on delivering integrated care for young clients who struggle with substance use, mental health issues, and trauma from exposure to high rates of violence within the community.

Dr. Russell W. Bessette and his wife, Melissa, joined RIT officials and other dignitaries to announce a donation of two patents and the creation of the Dr. Russell and Melissa Bessette Award for Doctoral Student Excellence, a $3.05 million bequest from which funding will be awarded annually as part of recruitment or at any point during a doctoral student’s enrollment at RIT.

Dr. Leon Reznik has just been awarded a grant from the US Civilian Research and Development Foundation

Cadet Haleigh Freiner-Mess is a squadron commander in RIT’s Arnold Air Society, which is an Air Force ROTC cadet service organization. The third-year psychology student from Canaseraga, N.Y., recently became a member of the Professional Officer Course and is responsible for training and teaching the newer cadets in RIT’s Air Force ROTC program.

After having served for more than 20 years at home and abroad as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, Lt. Col. Jacob Jendrey was named the new commander of RIT’s Army ROTC program. He began with the campus group this summer and brings experience as a former cadet and a career officer who has seen history unfold in America and across the globe.

RIT students, faculty, and staff will contribute music, dance, comedy, poetry, photojournalism, and more during the 10th Annual KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival, which begins Tuesday and continues through Sept. 25 in downtown Rochester.