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♪ Music ♪
Vicki Schultz: When Steve showed
me the letter from Dr. Destler
saying that we had been chosen
as the recipients of the
Outstanding Alumni Award for
this year, I think my exact
quote was, "that's crazy talk!"
I was extremely honored and
humbled.
Steve Schultz: RIT has been a
huge part of my life,
32 out of the 50 years I've
been alive so far, and to be
recognized and honored by the
institute is again, very
rewarding and humbling.
Vicki: I'm really grateful that
RIT introduced me to the
concept of philanthropy.
After graduation I got an entry
level job in the Office of
Development and worked
my way up to be a Development
officer, soliciting donors,
soliciting alumni, to give back
to scholarship funds, and it was
the most rewarding career path I
think I could have ever
imagined.
To be able to witness not only
how lives were changed of the
recipients of the donors'
generosity, but how donors found
it extremely rewarding as well.
Deborah Stendardi: I have to say
she was one of the most terrific
people I've ever worked with.
She just has a way about her
that I think relates very well
to people and so the role of
donor relations fit her very,
very well.
We also worked on the
United Way campaign together
and she was RIT's campaign
coordinator for several years
and in fact, she was the third
person to receive the Miller
Award, which our local United
Way gives for outstanding
campaign coordinating.
Cindee Gray: You know, it's
like a child that you know,
you're watching your child grow
up and United Way was very near
and dear to me and so when I
turned that over to her to
watch her take it and run with
it and make improvements and
the way everything just
blossomed under her leadership,
I was very proud of her.
Vicki: Coming from the
Development side, it's hard to
imagine being on the other side
and it's, we're grateful to be
able to be contributing back and
making a difference here.
Steve: RIT shaped me by giving
me the tools to succeed in the
technology world from the
innovative side, the ability to
create and problem solve and to
work with people.
I was very heavily involved in
Student Government, Editor and
Chief for Reporter Magazine,
Computer Science House,
Corner Crew.
The Computer Science House, we
had a great group of people
there, we did a lot of stuff,
not all of them were shall we
say, within the bounds of the
school regulations, but we
learned a whole lot, we made a
lot of great advancements and
we had a whole lot of fun doing
it.
Barry Culhane: Steve Schultz,
or as we called him back then
"The Hawk", had a whole crew of
men and women in the Computer
Science House who were just
brilliant, brilliant students
that had so much drive and
passion and that carried on
throughout his entire
experience at RIT, which was a
little longer than others, but
he had a lot going on.
John Schott: When I first met
Steve, and for the first many
years it was hard to predict
any future for him, was he ever
going to finish school?
Was he ever going to take life
seriously?
And I'm happy to say he's only
sort of taking life seriously
now.
Steve can tackle a problem and
chew on it and come up with
creative solutions that are
often way outside the box.
Culhane: I think as it turns
out, his nickname "Hawk," is
perfect for what he's doing
today at Pictometry.
A "hawk" is somebody who has
the big picture from above,
who has a keen sense of sight
and vision.
Schott: The thing that
Pictometry has brought to the
field is the ubiquitous
presence of oblique images.
Steve: We take aerial imagery
for use by primarily county and
local governments for 911,
Assessor, Police, Fire;
we've grown to employ over 300
employees, most of them in the
Rochester area.
If I have to look and say
what's the single most
rewarding thing, it's knowing
that there's a lot of people
who make their livelihood off
of something that I helped
build.
Schott: We were starting to
build a research group here,
it was the very early stages.
I was trying to get people to
behave in a more formal fashion
and Steve would show up the day
after a hockey game in his
reaper outfit.
He was an interesting
character.
Steve: I got started following
hockey in I believe it was the
1982 season, the opening game
weekend was Halloween weekend
and I happened to go in costume
that year.
I was dressed as the Grim
Reaper and we were losing by a
couple of goals and as soon as I
showed up, we tied the game up
and came back and won.
Well the next night was now
November first, I didn't wear
the costume, got there a little
late, we were losing, they said
it's because you're not wearing
your costume!
So I ran across to the dorms,
grabbed my costume, came back,
we came from behind and won and
I was essentially forced to
wear the costume for the next
nine years.
Culhane: He helped create the
Corner Crew and never missed a
hockey game.
He was way ahead of his time in
terms of seeing how much hockey
would mean to this campus.
David Faas: "Hey Corner Crew!!"
Faas: The tradition of Corner
Crew is carrying on because
it's something that was needed
at RIT, the spirit that is
exuded through the students, is
really what being a Tiger is
all about.
And I'm proud to say that Steve
started that and without his
initiative in getting it going,
it wouldn't be here today and it
wouldn't be what it is today.
We're a little bit more
politically correct...
All: (chanting) It's all your
fault! It's all your fault!
Faas: He's always been a Tiger;
he bleeds orange and if he can
do something to make the
student experience at RIT
better, he will go to the ends
of the earth to make it happen.
Bill Destler: Two of our alums
have stepped forward to make
the first really significant
gift towards this fund raising
campaign.
Culhane: You know, with Steve
and Vicki making the decision
to give the first gift for the
building of the Polisseni
hockey rink does not surprise
me in the least.
Steve: The rink will have a big
impact on the campus.
You only needed to be out in
the administration circle when
the team returned back from the
games in Albany.
It was two or three in the
morning and it was a packed
house and they were chanting
and cheering and they
passed the team around on their
shoulders, I think we only
dropped one of them.
It was just an amazing site.
It's been such a big part of my
life for many years, both the
hockey program and RIT in
general that I felt it was the
right thing to do.
Vicki: I think the new rink will
just add a whole new level of
excitement.
I think it will improve the
student experience here.
It was something that we
decided we wanted to do
together.
I'm very proud to be with Steve
and we have a wonderful family
and a wonderful connection to
RIT and we're really proud that
we've been able to make a
difference here.
We are an RIT Tiger family and
always will be.
♪ Music ♪