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Affirmative consent is a knowing, voluntary, andmutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity. Consent can be given by words or actions, as long as those words or actions create clear permission regarding willingness to engage in the sexual activity.

After arriving at SUNY Potsdam her freshman year, Jessica Semenyo ’22 immediately drew a parallel to the tranquility of her childhood in Ghana—fresh air and open skies that, until that moment, she hadn’t seen since she was 10 years old, when she moved from West Africa to New York City.

After excelling in SUNY Potsdam’s geology and wilderness education programs, Brandon Keough ’18 quickly transitioned to graduate school where he has been conducting research in remote parts of Alaska and combining his passion for both disciplines. His hard work has paid off, as he recently accepted a job as a geoscientist at ExxonMobil.

After a full year of canceled competitions, socially-distanced practices and facilities challenged by changing protocols, the Potsdam Bears are back! Across 10 days in April, Bears Roaring Back—the first-ever annual campaign to support Potsdam Bears Athletics—raised $72,723 from 677 donors. Generosity from alumni, former and current student-athletes, parents, friends, coaches and faculty/staff will improve the student-athlete experience and recreational opportunities for all SUNY Potsdam students.

After getting her Master of Music degree in vocal performance from SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, Melanie Shank ’16 landed a job at the most prestigious performing arts center in the world. From 2017 to 2020, Shank worked as the executive assistant to the vice president of concert halls and operations at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

After graduating from SUNY Potsdam in 2013, Amy Smith made her way to Tufts University. She was the corresponding author on a study that was recently published in the November 2016 issue of Science, one of the world’s top scientific journals. A graduate student in psychology at Tufts University, Smith and senior author Dr. Ayanna Thomas found that learning by taking practice tests can protect memory against the negative effects of stress. What was your major/minor? I double-majored in mathematics and honors psychology.

After graduating from SUNY Potsdam six years ago with a double degree in music performance and speech communication, Emma Simon ’12 has made a concerted effort to do what she loves every single day.

After landing her dream job as the executive director for the St. Regis Tribal Gaming Commission in Akwesasne, Jill Benedict ’01 & ’24 was still looking for ways to challenge herself. Twenty years after receiving her undergraduate degree from SUNY Potsdam, she has returned to her alma mater to pursue an M.S. in Management—a fully online degree program that has allowed her to parlay her educational experiences into transferrable leadership skills for the Mohawk government.

After a long drive from New York City to SUNY Potsdam, alumna Fatima Simmons ’16 was back in the same dance studio where she was once a student­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­—but this time she was there to lead the class.

After losing 50 pounds in four months, José Abel Santiago’s doctor suggested running some tests. A painful bone marrow biopsy and blood work revealed that he was unknowingly battling chronic myeloid leukemia.“I was freaking out. I started crying. A hundred different things were going through my head. I thought, ‘Oh, wow, I have cancer, I’m going to die before I graduate from college.’ That was the emotion that I had,” he said.