Nazareth and RG&E: A Lasting Partnership

A lasting partnership with Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) is supporting excellent facilities and programs at Nazareth College. Nazareth has received $1.5 million in commitments and grants over the past 43 years. RG&E’s support — whether for capital projects, arts programming, scholarships, or the annual fund — fuels Nazareth students to pursue their life’s work.

“With RG&E’s support of academic excellence, the campus has grown exponentially in the past decade. In a time when many small, private colleges are struggling, thanks in part to RG&E’s generous investments, Nazareth College is bucking the trend with record setting enrollment, innovative academic programs, our Center for Life's Work, and our nationally renowned civic engagement programs,” said President Daan Braveman.

Most recently, RG&E provided vital infrastructure for the impressive new Golisano Training Center (GTC) to help ensure maximum energy efficiency. The GTC provides indoor athletic facilities not only for Nazareth student athletes and students who engage in sport for wellness and fitness but also for the over 3,300 Special Olympic athletes in our region. In a unique partnership, Nazareth students will work with Special Olympic athletes as coaches, mentors, and clinicians providing programs in physical therapy, audiology/speech and language pathology, and wellness in support of Special Olympics’ Healthy Athletes initiatives.

“We live and work in the city of Rochester, and see our role as being a very strong, strategic community partner,” said Joe Rizzo, RG&E Manager, Economic Development. “We have a long standing partnership with Nazareth College and are proud to support the outstanding academic and community work they do every day.  Partnerships like these allow us to help transform and revitalize the community we live in.”

Similarly, RG&E supported:

• The Glazer Music Performance Center, which opened in the fall of 2018. Built in response to the needs of our growing music programs, the state-of-the-art Glazer Center is the main performance space for the School of Music’s ensembles and provides potential for expanded, enriched academic programming, and community programs and collaborations.

• Peckham Hall, which opened in 2012, is Nazareth’s Integrated Center for Math and Science, a state-of-the art facility that serves our growing enrollment in the School of Health and Humans Services and allows us to expand our efforts to prepare students for STEM related fields. 

Nazareth is a strong partner with the community. The College is nationally recognized for exemplary community service and has had an on-campus Center for Civic Engagement for more than a decade. A full 97 percent of Nazareth students participate in civic engagement, addressing local and global challenges. Last year, Nazareth students gave back more than 357,000 hours to the community through service-learning and civic-engagement programs. RG&E’s support of the Nazareth Annual Fund has supported our students’ work throughout Rochester.

Nazareth University is an inclusive community of inspired learners, educators, and changemakers who for nearly 100 years have been driven by a bold commitment to action, empathy, equity, and leading innovation for the common good. Impact experiences are at the heart of a Nazareth education, preparing each student to discover within themselves the potential to cultivate positive change in their life's work, in any career field, and in a world that is constantly evolving and infinitely interconnected.

Our broad academic offerings present a range of study options typical of larger universities, yet achieved in our supportive campus culture. Nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students enroll in degree and certificate programs and engage in collaborative, transformative learning experiences, preparing for the professions and society of today and tomorrow. In a learning community that purposefully integrates liberal arts and professional programs, Nazareth University graduates are able to launch a lifetime of impactful leadership in communities and workplaces near and far.

• published: 2019 November
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