Photo Spotlights

Student volunteers hammered together frames for houses for Flower City Habitat for Humanity as part of Into the ROC's Spring Framing Frenzy. 

The Alfred L. Davis Distinguished Public Service Awards for 2020 and 2021 took place April 13 during a socially distanced ceremony at the RIT Inn & Conference Center. RIT President David Munson, center, presented the 2021 Bruce R. James '64 Distinguished Public Service Award to Bhuvish Mehta, left, a fifth-year computer engineering major from India, and the 2021 Four Presidents Distinguished Public Service Award to Luane Davis Haggerty, right, principal lecturer in NTID's Performing Arts Department.

RIT students from Circle K International make no-sew fleece blankets during Service Week on campus.

Students in Assistant Professor Ambarien Alqadar’s Contemporary Film Practice class worked together to produce a sci-fi film in the MAGIC Spell Studios soundstage late last month. The film is based on a short story, Sultana’s Dream, a feminist utopian tale written in 1905 by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, a Muslim feminist, writer, and social reformer from British India (present-day Bangladesh).

Cookies are given to students as they leave their weekly COVID-19 Tiger Testing. The cookies are a thank you to students for all they have done to help keep the campus safe. 

A Black Lives Matter rally, complete with speakers, music, poetry, and other performances, was held March 27 in U-Lot.

During the Recharge Day on March 24, students could learn how to make maple syrup, play some tunes on steel drums, and walk a labyrinth. There were dozens of activities to attend online, in-person, and as drop-ins. The day gave students a break from classes and studying. Here, Henry Yaeger, a science, technology and public policy graduate student, walks the labyrinth in the Fireside Lounge. The exercise is used as a stress reliever and meditation tool.

The No. 1 RIT men’s lacrosse team practices ahead of its March 20 game against SUNY Cortland. The team opened the 2021 season with wins over Nazareth College (23-8) and St. John Fisher College (19-11).

A year ago on March 15, 2020, RIT President David Munson sent a note to the RIT community announcing that there will be no in-person classes for the remainder of the semester and encouraging students to not return to campus after spring break.

“Please know that all measures being put into place, no matter how disappointing they may be or drastic they may seem, are designed to protect our students, faculty, staff, and the greater community,” Munson said at the time.

Here is a look back in photos to the start of the pandemic and what quickly became an empty campus.

Students in the genomics lab in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences have been learning about testing processes and procedures throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In a lab session with College of Science adjunct faculty member Emily Coon-Frisch, right, Pent Eistrat, a fourth-year biomedical sciences student from Toronto, has been able to practice clinical lab techniques as the real-world crisis unfolded this year.

From left, Meiqi Jiang, a first-year medical illustration student from Atlanta, and Mary Yuen, a third-year environmental science student from Schenectady, N.Y., team up to build a snow person by the Quarter Mile. Feb. 23 was the first of three Recharge Days scheduled this semester to offer students a break from classes and studying due to the condensed COVID-19 calendar.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced more than 300 statewide performances to revitalize the entertainment industry. “NY PopsUp” kicked off with dance performances by Garth Fagan Dance at RIT.