SU Showcase prepares for record-setting attendance April 21

Monday, April 20, 2009, By News Staff

SU Showcase prepares for record-setting attendance April 21April 20, 2009Rob Enslinrmenslin@syr.edu

A record-setting 110 events are scheduled for SU Showcase on Tuesday, April 21. An unprecedented 66 rooms in 22 buildings across the Syracuse University campus are reserved for academic presentations, discussions, displays, concerts and screenings. Safety and transportation precautions are being put in place to accommodate the more than 10,000 people expected to converge on campus.

“This year’s lineup of student works and class projects is breathtaking,” says James T. Spencer, the day’s founding director, as well as a Meredith Professor and professor of chemistry in The College of Arts and Sciences. “Everything we’re showcasing has been submitted by students or faculty members or both. The schedule is indicative of the rich array of talent-academic, creative and otherwise-permeating campus.”

Spencer attributes the jam-packed schedule to a variety of factors, including a larger-than-usual student turnout in the planning process and the presence of Earth Day 24 hours later.

“That many of our events are geared toward environmental awareness shows where our students’ heads are at,” says Spencer, referring to the “Focus the Nation on Climate Change” program in the Life Sciences Complex, the “Hard Rain Project” outdoor photo essay by Crouse College, and a breakfast panel discussion on environmentalism in the Heroy Geology Laboratory. “Our goal is to ensure that SU Showcase is recognized community-wide as the academic event it is intended to be.” Now in its fifth year, SU Showcase was formerly known as MayFest.

The following is a snapshot of some of the day’s offerings:

  • Writing Program information tables, highlighting service learning and community engagement (9 a.m.-2 p.m., H.B. Crouse Hall);
  • folk arts tent, featuring traditional arts and music demonstrations by community members (10 a.m.-2 p.m., Quad);
  • Sci Mix, with more than 100 academic poster presentations by science and mathematics students (10 a.m.-2 p.m., Life Sciences Complex);
  • Maxwell Cultural Fair, featuring an international festival (10 a.m.-2 p.m., Maxwell School’s Strasser Commons);
  • iSchool fair, including food, activities and music (10 a.m.-5 p.m., Hinds Hall);
  • “Rock ‘n’ Renew: A Plan of Action,” presented by musician/eco-activist Jonny Dubowsky ’00 (12:30-1:30 p.m., The Lundgren Room, Life Sciences Complex);
  • “Local Literacies, Global Visions” oral history project, funded by Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life (12:30-2 p.m., room 304, Schine Student Center);
  • A Taste of Libba’s Place, featuring coffee and an open-mic jam, (1-2 p.m., Noble Room, Hendricks Chapel);
  • “Hard Rain Project” presentation, with founder/photojournalist Mark Edwards (5-6 p.m., Shemin Auditorium, Shaffer Art Building);
  • 37th Annual Mackenzie Hughes LLP Edmund H. Lewis Appellate Advocacy Competition, presented by the College of Law Moot Court Honor Society (5-7 p.m., Grant Auditorium);
  • SU Showcase After Dark, featuring performances by the SU Brass Ensemble, University Singers and Women’s Choir (7-9 p.m., various locations)

All events are free and open to the public, except for a free breakfast for SU students (first-come, first-served) from 9:30-11 a.m. in Heroy and the Student Organization Showcase for SU and SUNY-ESF students (I.D.s required), featuring food, music and activities, from 1-7 p.m. on the Women’s Building Field. More information, including a schedule and parking details, is available at http://sushowcase.syr.edu.

SU Showcase is a University-wide event sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, the Division of Student Affairs, the Division of Enrollment Management, the Graduate School, Traditions, PULSE and the Syracuse University Sustainability Action Coalition. Additional support is provided by Funk ‘n’ Waffles, Z89 (89.1 FM, WJPZ) and Citrus TV.

The Connective Corridor is offering a free park-and-ride service from downtown Syracuse to the SU Showcase on Tuesday, April 21. Corridor bus service will be available between 9:40 a.m.-11:40 p.m. The Connective Corridor bus, operated by Centro, stops at marked Centro and Connective Corridor bus stops at the Delavan Art Gallery, 501 W. Fayette St.; The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St.; Armory Square, on the corner of Fayette and Warren streets; the Civic Center, 800 S. State St.; the Everson Museum, 401 Harrison St.; Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St.; and College Place on the SU campus. The detailed bus schedule is available at http://www.connectivecorridor.com.

The Connective Corridor is a signature strip of cutting-edge cultural development connecting the University Hill with downtown Syracuse.