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RIT honored the service and dedication of its employees with the Presidential Awards for Outstanding Staff ceremony Feb. 17. The annual awards, this year held as a webinar, are presented to staff members who exemplify outstanding service and dedication to the university and who exhibit a high degree of personal ethics and integrity while consistently demonstrating a strong commitment to student success.

As students at RIT have successfully transitioned to temporary online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve also found ways of connecting with their peers to continue their interests with clubs, organizations and performing arts.

Freezin’ for a Reason. That’s the motto of Rochester’s Polar Plunge and now the adopted saying for third-year game design and development student Harry McCardell. He’s ready to represent his fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, as president and run into frozen Lake Ontario.

What better way to enjoy the winter than celebrating the season with some hot chocolate, ice skating, musical entertainment, free swag and an escape room to get away from winter’s icy grip. Those are just a few of the activities lined up for this year’s FreezeFest, Thursday through Sunday.

Sometimes the answer lies within. In an effort to engage the more than 35 percent of undergraduate students who consider themselves “non-religious,” a new, somewhat nebulous group has formed at RIT to help them find secular answers for themselves.

WHAM-TV reports on a basketball tournament featuring RIT basketball players, members of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and Special Olympians.

RIT is hosting events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, which served as a catalyst for the LGBTQ rights movement in the United States. The RIT Q Center has partnered with student organizations across the campus to host speakers, films and interactive events to reflect on the cultural significance of Stonewall.

Education Week talks to Christopher Hinesley, director of RIT's Q Center, about embedding LGBTQ experiences into curricula.

Assistant Professor Alan Smerbeck is working with Q Center director Chris Hinesley on an updated edition of Gender Diversity: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty, which is set to come out in spring 2020. Originally published in 2016, the guide is meant to serve as a base-level reference book for learning about gender diversity, labels and pronouns, and the do’s and don’ts of talking about gender identities.

Guest essay by Christopher Hinesley, assistant director, Center for Campus Life, and Taj Smith, director of Diversity Education, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, published on page 11 of Insight Into Diversity.

WROC-TV reports on student volunteer work from RIT's chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World.

WHEC-TV reports on a new rainwater collection system constructed by the RIT chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World.