Editor���Ĵ�ý�s note: This story was originally published online on December 1, 2025. It has been updated to highlight an August 2026 New York Times story about Stewart���Ĵ�ý�s newest album, 24 American Caprices.

As a dual degree student majoring in mathematics and violin performance, ���Ĵ�ý�08, ���Ĵ�ý�08E was used to challenging coursework. But no class at URochester impacted or challenged him more than his weekly violin lessons with the late , an internationally acclaimed soloist and violin professor at Eastman.

���Ĵ�ý�Each week, you���Ĵ�ý�re one-on-one with this luminary violinist, and your self-esteem rides on her mood that day,���Ĵ�ý� says Stewart, a seven-time violinist and composer and a professor at the Juilliard School in New York. ���Ĵ�ý�My hands would be trembling before every session.���Ĵ�ý�

Stewart says Blakeslee, who died in 2015, wasn���Ĵ�ý�t shy about expressing her feelings. ���Ĵ�ý�If she didn���Ĵ�ý�t like it, she told you. But if she loved it, she���Ĵ�ý�d get very excited. She thrived on improvisation. One time, I suggested I couldn���Ĵ�ý�t be that creative. She looked me dead in the eye and said, ���Ĵ�ý�Don���Ĵ�ý�t ever say that about yourself. You can do whatever you want.���Ĵ�ý����Ĵ�ý�

Soon after, Stewart performed a version of an Astor Piazzolla tango instead of the usual classical piece. ���Ĵ�ý�Blakeslee loved it,���Ĵ�ý� he says. ���Ĵ�ý�It was the most excited I ever saw her get.���Ĵ�ý� Stewart says the weekly sessions made him a better musician and teacher. ���Ĵ�ý�The searing feedback made me practice harder, but it also sometimes made me play worse, because I was so afraid. In my own teaching, I try to be as honest as I can while making sure the student doesn���Ĵ�ý�t want to run away. It���Ĵ�ý�s a balancing act.���Ĵ�ý�

Stewart has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center and serves as artistic director of the . He was also the featured speaker���Ĵ�ý�and a performer���Ĵ�ý�at in May. ���Ĵ�ý�Talk about surreal,���Ĵ�ý� he says. ���Ĵ�ý�I was playing at convocation, and all of my old teachers were sitting behind me.���Ĵ�ý�

His message to graduates mirrored Blakeslee���Ĵ�ý�s advice years before: Never sell yourself short. ���Ĵ�ý�I applied to so many things in college,���Ĵ�ý� he says, ���Ĵ�ý�and didn���Ĵ�ý�t get a lot of them. But that didn���Ĵ�ý�t define me. I feel like my career is meaningful. No matter what you feel [now], your future is in front of you. You came from a great school, and you can build a meaningful career as well.���Ĵ�ý�

This story appears in the fall 2025 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the ���Ĵ�ý.

Editor���Ĵ�ý�s note: This story was originally published on May 9, 2023. It was updated in July 2024 to include video of Josh Shapiro���Ĵ�ý�s commencement speech and updated again on May 24, 2026, with an excerpt reprinted with permission from (Harper, 2026).

Josh Shapiro ���Ĵ�ý�95 was elected governor of Pennsylvania in November 2022���Ĵ�ý�the first alumnus to hold a state���Ĵ�ý�s top executive position.

Shapiro delivered the address at the University-wide 2023 Commencement Ceremony held in Fauver Stadium at the Brian F. Prince Athletic Complex on the River Campus.

The governor of the fifth most populated state in the United States took time to answer questions via email about his time at Rochester, his unplanned veer into politics, and his advice for graduating students.

Editor���Ĵ�ý�s note: A version this story was originally published in April 2016. It has been republished ahead of the building���Ĵ�ý�s 50th anniversary on April 4, 2026.

For three weeks during the summer of 2023, Norah DeMayo ���Ĵ�ý�28 stayed in Gilbert Hall on the ���Ĵ�ý���Ĵ�ý�s River Campus. She ate her meals at Douglass Dining Center and attended classes at the Medical Center.

���Ĵ�ý�I felt like a real college student,���Ĵ�ý� she says.

DeMayo had completed her junior year at Irondequoit High School in Rochester, New York, and was eager to experience ���Ĵ�ý�college life.���Ĵ�ý� She enrolled in URochester���Ĵ�ý�s , where high school students from around the world take courses ranging from data science, aerospace engineering, and journalism to business, nursing, and ethics.

���Ĵ�ý�There���Ĵ�ý�s literally something for everyone,���Ĵ�ý� says program manager Tom Paradise.

Since the summer courses began in 1990, URochester has welcomed thousands of high school students to campus���Ĵ�ý�from Los Angeles to New York, but also Bangladesh to Brazil, Morocco to South Korea, and Venezuela to Vietnam.

It���Ĵ�ý�s a chance to preview their future���Ĵ�ý�and discover their path.

Jackie Hsiao ���Ĵ�ý�27 took a stab at fencing during a summer camp before she entered eighth grade. She hated it. ���Ĵ�ý�It was hot and sweaty, and I didn���Ĵ�ý�t know what I was doing,���Ĵ�ý� the Milford, Connecticut, native says. ���Ĵ�ý�All the kids were beating me.���Ĵ�ý�

Reluctantly, she stuck with the sport when school started that fall. Her older brother, Timothy, was on the school team, so Jackie joined to make car pickup easier for her parents. ���Ĵ�ý�The environment was so much better than at camp,���Ĵ�ý� she recalls. ���Ĵ�ý�The team became my family, and I fell in love with the sport.���Ĵ�ý�

Fencing is a combat sport featuring sword fighting, where competitors try to score points by landing their sword on the opponent���Ĵ�ý�s ���Ĵ�ý�target area.���Ĵ�ý� It requires patience, balance, mental toughness, and physical stamina.

Hsiao (pronounced like the first syllable of ���Ĵ�ý�shower���Ĵ�ý�) says her skills improved greatly thanks to the coaches at Hopkins School, a college preparatory school in New Haven, Connecticut, and a personal coach. She improved so much that this past February, she was invited to compete at the in Charlotte, North Carolina. While she didn���Ĵ�ý�t approach the winner���Ĵ�ý�s circle, it was a major accomplishment for someone whose sporting career was nearly derailed toward the end of her senior year of high school.

Hsiao was leading her opponent by one point in the waning seconds of a state championship match, and the opponent was desperate. ���Ĵ�ý�Her coach told her to charge at me, and I tried to back up defensively,���Ĵ�ý� she says. ���Ĵ�ý�I planted my right knee at the wrong angle and tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).���Ĵ�ý�

Hsiao won the match but lost nearly a year of competitive fencing. By the time she was cleared to compete, she was a first-year student at URochester, where she majors in anthropology and takes vocal lessons at Eastman. She joined the , attended practices, and eventually competed for the team. Last spring, Hsiao was elected club president and led a full men���Ĵ�ý�s and women���Ĵ�ý�s team to the in State College, Pennsylvania���Ĵ�ý�a first for the organization.

Hsiao is a student of the game. Her mother records all of her matches so that she can watch them and learn from her mistakes. She���Ĵ�ý�s interested in a career in medical law and believes fencing offers life lessons that have prepared her for the arduous journey ahead. ���Ĵ�ý�In fencing, you���Ĵ�ý�ve got to be ready for anything, because every opponent has a different style and mentality.���Ĵ�ý�

While at the Junior Olympics, she met two fencing idols: three-time Olympic women���Ĵ�ý�s foil gold medalist and college All-American of Princeton University. This summer, Hsiao competed at the in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Again, she didn���Ĵ�ý�t chase gold, but the experience whetted her appetite for the future.

���Ĵ�ý�Persistence is the key, and losing is one of the best ways to learn,���Ĵ�ý� she says. ���Ĵ�ý�My goal is to earn a rating from the . To do that, I���Ĵ�ý�ll need to achieve victories in their competitions. I���Ĵ�ý�ve set my mind to it.���Ĵ�ý� Allez!

This story appears in the fall 2025 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the ���Ĵ�ý.

Varsity baseball coach celebrated the 500th victory of his illustrious career this spring, at a game when the . All have come with the Yellowjackets, making Reina the winningest coach in program history.

���Ĵ�ý�I���Ĵ�ý�ve really never thought about the amount of wins���Ĵ�ý� he says. ���Ĵ�ý�I���Ĵ�ý�ve always focused on how do we win this game? It���Ĵ�ý�s about the student-athletes and what they mean to me. I love all of them.���Ĵ�ý�

The Rochester native was named the 18th head coach in URochester history in 2002.
His teams have gone 505���Ĵ�ý�390 (.564 winning percentage) and made three trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Two of his players have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft���Ĵ�ý�pitchers ���Ĵ�ý�24 and ���Ĵ�ý�24. Ghyzel was drafted after the 2017 season and pitched professionally through 2021. He earned his bachelor���Ĵ�ý�s degree from URochester in 2024.

���Ĵ�ý�All of that success has been great,���Ĵ�ý� Reina says. ���Ĵ�ý�But what I���Ĵ�ý�ll remember most are the bus conversations, phone calls, and texts with players and watching these young men grow into leaders in the workforce and become great husbands and dads.���Ĵ�ý�

Reina���Ĵ�ý�s milestone win came in the same game that infielder ���Ĵ�ý�24, ���Ĵ�ý�25S (MS) broke a team record by collecting his 202nd career hit. The California native played five seasons under Reina and finished with 221 hits. ���Ĵ�ý�Having Jackson accomplish that feat made the day truly special,���Ĵ�ý� Reina says. ���Ĵ�ý�It���Ĵ�ý�s been great watching him turn into the player he is.���Ĵ�ý�

When the milestone game ended, Reina congratulated Reed and flipped him the game ball. Reed caught it, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out another ball. He handed it to his mentor and said, ���Ĵ�ý�Right back at you, Coach! Congrats on win number 500!���Ĵ�ý�

Reina says he has no plans to retire any time soon. ���Ĵ�ý�I love meeting families during the recruiting process, I love practice time and watching the kids get better, and I stink at golf. I love this school, and I love my boss (athletic director ). So, as they say, ���Ĵ�ý�If you love what you do, you���Ĵ�ý�ll never work a day in your life!���Ĵ�ý� As long as that holds true, I���Ĵ�ý�ll keep trying to win the next game.���Ĵ�ý�

This story appears in the fall 2025 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the ���Ĵ�ý.

Cue the trumpets, the costumes���Ĵ�ý�and the figgy pudding.

The Boar���Ĵ�ý�s Head Dinner has been a ���Ĵ�ý student tradition for more than 90 years, open to undergraduates across the University, and has run annually with only a few exceptions. The event transforms a River Campus space���Ĵ�ý�mostly recently the Feldman Ballroom in Douglass Commons���Ĵ�ý�into a 16th-century English court. There���Ĵ�ý�s feasting, singing, juggling, and other merriments���Ĵ�ý�welcome diversions at the end of the fall semester in December.

And yes, there���Ĵ�ý�s even a real boar���Ĵ�ý�s head.

Using information that appeared in Rochester Review (the University���Ĵ�ý�s magazine for alumni and supporters), the Campus Times student newspaper, and an exhibition prepared by the University archivist, we take a look at one of URochester���Ĵ�ý�s most beloved traditions.

���Ĵ�ý�17 (PhD) has been a professor at the for seven years, but she has never forgotten what it���Ĵ�ý�s like to be on the other side of the classroom.

���Ĵ�ý�To be a great educator, it���Ĵ�ý�s important to remain a curious student,���Ĵ�ý� she says. ���Ĵ�ý�Teachers can forget what it���Ĵ�ý�s like to see material with fresh eyes and assume students understand the material. When we fall into these traps, we risk losing our students.���Ĵ�ý�

An associate professor in the , Grzesik (pronounced GRES-sick) is a recent recipient of the University���Ĵ�ý�s Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Students say she���Ĵ�ý�s innovative and open-minded, willing to change her curriculum based on student feedback.

���Ĵ�ý�I took a course with Dr. G my first year and had a great experience,���Ĵ�ý� says Suchi Mehta ���Ĵ�ý�25, who majored in statistics. ���Ĵ�ý�In my senior year, a friend took the same course, and it didn���Ĵ�ý�t even sound like the same class. Dr. G is constantly implementing new ideas to improve the student experience.���Ĵ�ý�

Discovering a passion for teaching

The Utica, New York, native knew little about statistics when she enrolled at the State University of New York at Oswego as a public relations and marketing major. During her sophomore year, she took an introductory statistics class and offered to tutor a classmate who was struggling with memory loss from a car accident.

���Ĵ�ý�I started working with him, and he got a B in the course,���Ĵ�ý� Grzesik says. ���Ĵ�ý�That inspired me and drew me into education.���Ĵ�ý�

She switched her majors to adolescent education and mathematics and became interested in statistics after taking part in an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) at Eastern Tennessee State University. ���Ĵ�ý�There was one problem about how often you���Ĵ�ý�ll get called on if you pick a certain seat in a classroom,���Ĵ�ý� she says. ���Ĵ�ý�It was super interesting and opened my eyes to this new world. It was math, but very relatable to the world around us. And the job prospects were excellent.���Ĵ�ý�

She enrolled in graduate school at URochester in 2011 and earned her doctorate six years later.

Innovative ways of teaching statistics

Statistics is a notoriously challenging subject, and Grzesik knows she���Ĵ�ý�s teaching students who may be taking a required course as well as those who want to make it their career, so she adjusts accordingly.

���Ĵ�ý�My introductory classes are more lecture-based,���Ĵ�ý� she says, ���Ĵ�ý�while the upper-level classes are more interactive.���Ĵ�ý�

Grzesik frequently works with staff at the University���Ĵ�ý�s Teaching Center to consider both minor and substantial course updates. She is always looking for innovative ways to improve her classes.

In one class, students take an exam on their own, then again two days later in groups of three. The first test counts for 75 percent of the grade.

���Ĵ�ý�Students spend two days thinking about whether they felt they understood the question without knowing if it was right or wrong,���Ĵ�ý� Grzesik explains. ���Ĵ�ý�Then, they meet in small groups and discuss their answers. If they struggled, they get to hear an explanation from peers who perhaps understood it well. They get another chance at learning that concept.���Ĵ�ý�

She records her lectures but has limited their availability to one week for introductory courses after discovering that making them available all semester led to many students ���Ĵ�ý�binging���Ĵ�ý� the recordings the day homework was due���Ĵ�ý�and often missing class that day.

���Ĵ�ý�Learning is a workout for the brain,���Ĵ�ý� she says. ���Ĵ�ý�You can���Ĵ�ý�t just do heavy lifting one day only and expect to make long-term gains.���Ĵ�ý�

This “workout routine” is a mindset she encourages her students to bring to learning.

���Ĵ�ý�Lift (learning something) on Mondays and Wednesdays, stretch (practice) on Tuesdays and Thursdays to prevent soreness, and challenge yourself (office hours) on Fridays,���Ĵ�ý� she says. ���Ĵ�ý�Then use those well-trained brain muscles to perform the homework.���Ĵ�ý�

Keeping a ���Ĵ�ý�student mindset���Ĵ�ý�

, an associate professor of statistics and director of the statistics program, says no two semesters with Grzesik are ever the same.

���Ĵ�ý�She���Ĵ�ý�s always thinking about how she can refine her pedagogical initiatives and provide the best educational experience possible,���Ĵ�ý� he says. ���Ĵ�ý�Each semester, she thinks about what is working well and what can be improved, adapting to the unique setting of that particular group of students.���Ĵ�ý�

When Grzesik joined the URochester faculty in 2017, 18 students majored in statistics. In the eight years since, Ciminelli says that number has grown to 45. Nine new courses have been introduced, with Grzesik taking the lead on four. In addition to developing upper-level statistics courses, she has refined established ones.

���Ĵ�ý�It keeps me in the student mindset,���Ĵ�ý� she says.

Ciminelli says Grzesik is a wonderful researcher who could have taken her career in a more research-focused direction. Instead, he says, ���Ĵ�ý�she pursued her passion for teaching, and the University and our students are all the better because of it.���Ĵ�ý�

What URochester students say about Katherine Grzesik

���Ĵ�ý�I���Ĵ�ý�ve never met a professor who does as much experimentation with her courses and really takes time and considers feedback to assess those innovations and works on making the course even better the next time. Dr. G is constantly implementing new ideas. While the content of introductory statistics is essentially the same, her course design keeps adapting to improve.���Ĵ�ý�
���Ĵ�ý�Suchi Mehta ���Ĵ�ý�25, statistics major

���Ĵ�ý�It only took a few lectures for me to fall completely in love with Dr. G���Ĵ�ý�s style of teaching and see the passion with which she lectured. I never thought I���Ĵ�ý�d be able to comprehend statistics in the way I did, let alone TA for the coding lab, but she provided every resource necessary for anyone to be able to learn. Working under Dr. G has been one of the best experiences of my college career, and her unwavering love for statistics has never failed to impress me.���Ĵ�ý�
���Ĵ�ý�Atreyee Ghosh ���Ĵ�ý�25, biochemistry major

���Ĵ�ý�I took Dr. G���Ĵ�ý�s introduction to statistics class and have worked with her for four semesters as a teaching assistant. I���Ĵ�ý�ve seen the countless hours she has dedicated to ensuring that students understand not only the content but also that the students who take her course always succeed. No question was considered ���Ĵ�ý�silly���Ĵ�ý� or met with judgment. I���Ĵ�ý�ve noticed her passion, not only in sharing her knowledge of statistics but in the love she has for this subject.���Ĵ�ý�
���Ĵ�ý�Poushali Ray ���Ĵ�ý�25, psychology major