In the News: Buffalo State Eclipse Fest Featured in ‘New York Times’ and ‘Buffalo News’
Buffalo State University was featured in the New York Times and the Buffalo News on Monday, April 8, as the only major university in the State University of New York system to hold a significant public event for the 2024 total solar eclipse.
The New York Times photo recaps, “Highlights from the Total Solar Eclipse’s Dark Path Through the U.S, Mexico and Canada” and “Watching the Total Eclipse Across North America,” featured images of Buffalo State’s Eclipse Fest by New York Times contributor and Buffalo State academic advisor Jalen Wright. The captions read, “Buffalo Eclipse Fest, an event with games, entertainment and food, welcomed residents and visitors to Buffalo State University’s Coyer Field” and “There was cloud cover in Buffalo, but still exaltation.”
The Buffalo News article, “Eclipse Fest at Buffalo State Offers Rare Opportunity for Both University and Visitors,” by Sandra Tan, interviewed Interim President Bonita R. Durand, Ph.D., Kevin Williams, associate professor of geosciences and director of the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium, and SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr.
Interim President Bonita R. Durand, Ph.D., enjoys Eclipse Fest 2024.
About 1,300 people—including guests from as far as California, Tennessee, and North Carolina—gathered at Buffalo State’s Coyer Field on Monday and enjoyed food, entertainment, and—of course—the total solar eclipse.
“We have a planetarium,” Williams said. “We do a lot of public programs to bring people in to talk about astronomy. We should be one of the places people go to for information and have a big event.”
And indeed, people have been relying on Williams and Buffalo State as sources of information over the past several months leading up to the eclipse; the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium has given multiple sold-out eclipse shows. “Kevin has been like a celebrity,” King said.
Post-eclipse, the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium will continue to provide students and visitors with immersive views of stars, constellations, nebulae, galaxies, planets, and much more.
Photos by Jesse Steffan-Colucci, Buffalo State photographer.
