Alfred University recognizes 2024 Fiat Lux! Award winners

Mark Zupan, Alfred University president (left), with (from left) the 2024 Fiat Lux! Award winners: Diana Maguire, Fiat Lux! Award for Intersections; Chris Boswell, Fiat Lux! Award for Mentorship; and members of the Cramp family, Tori Cramp '20 and her parents, Lori and Ian Cramp, Fiat Lux! Award for Inclusivity.

At Tuesday's annual Holiday Luncheon, Alfred University recognized recipients of the university's Fiat Lux! Awards. The awards were established in 2016 by Mark Zupan, university president, to honor people who bring distinction to Alfred University. The 2024 Fiat Lux! winners-Chris Boswell, director of athletic; Diana Maguire, assistant professor of management and leadership; and the Cramp family of Hornell-exemplify Alfred University's three core strengths: mentorship, intersections, and inclusivity.

"If you've had the pleasure to work with him, you know that he is deeply passionate about his work and about all of our student-athletes," Martinovich commented in introducing Boswell for the Fiat Lux! Award for Mentorship. "I've often wondered what his favorite team is, but it's impossible to tell since he gives equal energy, enthusiasm and support into celebrating every team. He's always exuding Saxon Pride, cheering for the wins and celebrating successes even after a loss."

Boswell, along with Devon Withers, associate director of athletic communications, mentor nearly 20 student workers each year. The workers work behind the scenes at Saxon sporting events, performing duties ranging from keeping statistics, web streaming games, photography, and managing athletics web pages and social media platforms.

"It's not an overstatement to say that through his mentorship, these student workers form an expanded marketing team that fuels the energetic communications flowing into all media channels," Martinovich said. "And these experiences for our communication student workers will propel them into a future career with outstanding organizational and communications skills."

Beth Ann Dobie, provost and chief operating office for Alfred University, introduced Maguire as recipient of the Fiat Lx! Award for Intersections.

Maguire is director of Alfred University's leadership minor. Run in collaboration with the university's Judson Leadership Center, the minor mentors students to become the next generation of leaders. She played a pivotal role in the success of Alfred University's DC Purple City Leadership Forum, held in Washington, D.C. in April. She, along with staff from the Division of University Advancement and alumna Danielle Johnson-Kutch '03, brought together trustees, alumni, and Alfred University staff to provide an extraordinary leadership experience for 70 students from across the university.

"The students engaged in valuable networking and participated in a leadership forum aptly themed, 'Connections, Conversations, Developing Relationships'," Dobie commented.

Maguire also played a lead role in orchestrating the first annual University Mentorship Day, for which people-including academic deans and staff from University Advancement, Student Experience, and the Career Development Center-worked together to create a day-long opportunity for our students to hear from and connect with young alumni. "Through these interactions, our students were able to 'see themselves' as alumni of Alfred University," Dobie commented.

Thomas Orrange, dean of Student Experience, introduced the Cramp family as recipients of the Fiat Lux! Award for Inclusivity. The family includes Alfred University alumnae Amber and Tori Cramp. Amber earned Amber earned a bachelor's degree in accounting in 2017 and an MBA in 2019, while Tori, former assistant dean of our College of Business, earned a bachelor's degree in marketing in 2020 and an MBA in 2022. Their father, Ian, who attended Alfred University, and his wife, Lori, an Alfred State College graduate, are owners of Billy Schu's restaurant in Hornell.

The Cramps were recognized for the generosity they show each year around the Thanksgiving holiday. For the last 21 years, the restaurant has offered free turkey dinners to members of the Hornell and surrounding communities who don't have someone to eat with, cannot afford a holiday meal, or are homebound. Last year, Billy Schu's extended the offer of a free meal to Alfred University students who remained in Alfred over the Thanksgiving Break.

"The word inclusivity means many things to many people. But fundamental to anyone's definition is that we all belong," Orrange commented. "The Thanksgiving holiday evokes these feelings. Created in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln, his proclamation to create Thanksgiving described a day of rest and gratitude, one in which we gather together - not just as families, but also as friends, and specifically to create new friends by ensuring that no one is alone on this day. To invite others in…to make all feel like they belong."

Orrange called the Cramp family's acts of kindness "an incredible act of generosity and inclusivity, true to the original spirit of Thanksgiving that Abraham Lincoln had in mind."