JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — SUNY Jamestown Community hosted the State University of New York Residence Life and Housing Administrators conference on Tuesday and Wednesday this week on the Jamestown Campus.
This is the first time a community college has solely hosted the summer conference that brings together representatives from SUNY colleges across the state. Residence life staff from 19 colleges attended.
The highlight of the conference was a diversity, equity, and inclusion discussion led by Ricardo Nazario y Colón, SUNY’s senior vice chancellor for DEI and chief diversity officer.
SUNY’s senior vice chancellor for DEI and chief diversity officer.
Nazario y Colón spoke of the evolution of higher education and how diversity, equity, and inclusion have always been at the heart of that journey. He reaffirmed SUNY’s strong commitment to DEI, no matter what shifts may be happening at the federal level. He also stressed the importance of creating safe, welcoming spaces where all students can feel supported and thrive.
Three JCC staff members presented during the conference, including a keynote address by Jessica Kubiak, Academic Affairs vice president, that focused on the relationship between academic affairs and residential life programs.
JCC’s Morgan Franchina, Success Center director, and Stephanie Cardone, executive assistant and project manager, also presented. Additional presentations were delivered by representatives from the University of Albany, Fashion Institute of Technology, and Kayla Crosby from the Jamestown Jackals basketball team. Presentations focused on health and wellness, problem solving, workplace equity, evaluating residence life programs, and student communication.
“I wanted to stress what small campuses can do to best support our residents while bridging the gap between residence life and campus resources,” said Tyler Silagyi, JCC Residence Life director and conference organizer.
Silagyi was confirmed as president elect of the organization during the conference’s business meeting on Wednesday morning. Silagyi will serve a one-year term followed by a two-year term as president.
Silagyi has been JCC’s Residence Life director since 2018 and has worked with the Jamestown Campus student housing program since 2016. A 2014 JCC graduate, Silagyi went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Fredonia and a master’s in higher education administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
The SUNY Residence Life and Housing Administrators hold three annual conferences, including in the fall at SUNY headquarters in Albany and in the spring at Turning Stone Resort in Verona. Campuses bid to host the summer gathering.
"Hosting the conference is a great honor,” Silagyi said. “We appreciate the opportunity to have roughly 40 colleagues travel from across the state to Jamestown to enjoy our campus, but also what our community has to offer. Sharing with our colleagues the great things that our campus is doing has been rewarding.”