Photo Spotlights

RIT welcomed actor, director and author Michael J. Fox as this year’s Horton Distinguished Speaker Oct. 15, in the Gordon Field House and Activities Center. Fox added to the many events of RIT’s Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend, Oct. 14-16. Fox starred in the TV series Family Ties and Spin City, as well as the Back to the Future trilogy, Teen Wolf and The American President. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at the age of 29, Fox has also become an advocate for increased research funding and awareness for Parkinson’s disease through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

RIT welcomed actor, director and author Michael J. Fox as this year’s Horton Distinguished Speaker Oct. 15, in the Gordon Field House and Activities Center. Fox added to the many events of RIT’s Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend, Oct. 14-16. Fox starred in the TV series Family Ties and Spin City, as well as the Back to the Future trilogy, Teen Wolf and The American President. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at the age of 29, Fox has also become an advocate for increased research funding and awareness for Parkinson’s disease through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Faculty, staff and students shared an unprecedented level of support during ROAR Day, the sixth annual Raise Our Annual Responses initiative. ROAR Day organizers report this year’s kickoff to RIT’s annual giving campaign on Oct. 13 brought in more than $40,000, which is a record total for the event. Approximately 950 faculty, staff and students made contributions at one of seven stations set up across campus. Gifts are still being accepted at rit.edu/tigergift.

Actor and comedian Kevin Hart performed in front of a sell-out crowd on Oct. 14 in RIT’s Gordon Field House and Activities Center as part of Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend. Hart has landed roles in several feature films, including Scary Movie 3, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Fools’ Gold. His “Laugh at My Pain” comedy tour was one of the most successful comedy concerts in history, earning more than $15 million in ticket sales.

Actor and comedian Kevin Hart performed Oct. 14 in RIT’s Gordon Field House and Activities Center, as part of RIT’s Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend. Hart has landed roles in several feature films, including Scary Movie 3, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Fools Gold. His “Laugh at My Pain” comedy tour was one of the most successful comedy concerts in history, earning over $15,000,000 in ticket sales.

Members of the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund join RIT President Bill Destler, NTID President Gerry Buckley and other dignitaries for the ceremonial groundbreaking of Sebastian and Lenore Rosica Hall on Oct. 14. The $8 million, 23,000-square-foot building is intended for research and innovation at NTID. The building is expected to be completed in the spring of 2013.

Donald Brinkman, research project manager for Microsoft Research Connections, thanks members of RIT’s Just Press Play project team and the School of Interactive Games and Media for their work. Brinkman visited RIT for the launch of Just Press Play on Oct. 13 in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. Just Press Play is an interactive video game that helps students explore, uncover secrets, band together and seek a balance in their academic and social lives—all of which help to make a student “awesome.” RIT faculty, staff and students developed the game and it was funded by a $350,000 gift from Microsoft Research.

Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend features a performance by comedian Kevin Hart at 9 tonight and a talk by actor Michael J. Fox at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Both events are sold out, as is Saturday’s men’s hockey game against St. Lawrence University at 7:05 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena. It marks the first time an RIT men’s hockey game at the downtown ice-hockey rink has sold out more than two days in advance (last year’s homecoming game drew a record 10,556 fans, selling out on game day). “Having a sellout for the second consecutive year cements the idea that RIT hockey has arrived in the hearts and minds of the community,” says Lou Spiotti, executive director of RIT Athletics. “We’re proud to be able to bring this level of excitement and entertainment to our fans.” U.S. soccer star and Rochester native Abby Wambach will drop the ceremonial first puck, and she will sign autographs between the first and second periods. For more on Brick City Weekend, go to www.rit.edu/gcr/brickcity.

RIT/NTID alumni Sean Forbes, a rap musician; Matt Hamill, NCAA wrestling champ and former UFC contender; and Adrean Mangiardi, video director, took over the Frisina Quad on campus and enlisted student talent to film a music video for “The Hammer,” a movie about Hamill’s life, which was filmed in part on the RIT campus and which will be opening in select theaters nationwide on Oct 27th.

Hundreds of students attended the 11th annual NTID Job Fair on Oct. 12. More than 40 employers looking to fill summer co-ops and some permanent openings reviewed resumes and met with students.

President Bill Destler reads to the children at RIT’s Margaret’s House on Oct 11. The kindergarten class is participating in a national program sponsored by Pizza Hut, called “Read Along for Hunger.” The class has a goal to read 300 books. Margaret’s House provides full day care and education for children ages 8 weeks through kindergarten and after-school care for first- through third-grade children.

WITR-FM (89.7), RIT’s student-run campus radio station, joined more than 300 radio stations nationwide on Oct. 11 for College Radio Day, which aimed to highlight the importance of college radio stations to their campuses and surrounding communities. WITR marked the occasion by giving away bumper stickers, CDs, T-shirts and a guitar autographed by bands that have performed on “Rochester Sessions,” a WITR show featuring live music that airs 7-9 p.m. Sundays. From left, WITR members Joe Makowski, an applied networking and system administration major; Kevin Cosgrove, a second-year biotechnology major; and Eli Clampett, a second-year computer engineering major.