On this season’s premiere episode of 13, Colgate’s Senior Director of Communications and Parent Initiatives Rebecca A. Downing, talks about the University’s resources for parents to help their students transition to college.
Downing has worked in communications at Colgate since 1996, telling the stories of students, faculty, and alumni and how the University makes their journeys possible through academic, extracurricular, and developmental opportunities.
Since her first days at Colgate, Downing has worked on everything from academic, admission, advancement, and internal communications, as well as event promotion and media relations. As managing editor of the magazine, she spearheaded the conversion of the bimonthly tabloid Colgate Scene into a full-color magazine and website. She also served as interim vice president for communications for 18 months.
Prior to Colgate, she worked in customer service for a publisher of college information technology textbooks, and in communications at the Wentworth Institute of Technology and Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.
A graduate of Hamilton College, she lives in nearby Cazenovia, where she serves on the steering committee of the town’s Anti-Racism Coalition and volunteers at a local animal rescue farm. Her more than 30 years of experience provide the deep insights that help her to be a resource for Colgate parents and family members today.
Each episode of 13, Colgate’s biweekly podcast, digs into the work of a University community member by asking 13 questions. Episodes highlight the wide array of academic disciplines at Colgate, with interviews featuring faculty from political science, sociology and anthropology, physics and astronomy, women’s studies, English, Africana and Latin American studies, and many more.
Previous episodes of 13 have featured: Mark Divine ‘85, Niranjan Davray, Peter Klepeis, Dan Joseph, Andres Guhl, Marietta Cheng, Jessica Graybill, Lyosha Gorshkov, Masha Hedberg, Valerie Morkevičius, Nancy Ries, Daniel Bertrand Monk, Peter Balakian, Sam Rosenfeld, DeWitt Godfrey, Esther Rosbrook, Rebecca Shiner, Dawn LaFrance, Brittney Dorow ’17, Mari Prauer, Carolyn Guile, Nancy Ries, Joanna Holvey-Bowles, Martin Wong, Pamela Gramlich, Dorsey Spencer Jr., Danielle Nied, Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar, F. Scott Kraly, Kerra Hunter, Joe Levy, Nicki Moore, Ken Valente, Sarah Keen, Daniel Benton ’80, Laura H. Jack, Carrie Keating, Robert Kraynak, Dan Gough, Jennifer Tomlinson, Ana Jimenez, Alicia Simmons, Juan Fernando Ibarra Del Cuentro, Karen Harpp, Kwazi Konadu, Paul McLoughlin II, Anthony Aveni, Robert Garland, Ryan Hall, Craig Hatkoff ’76, Susan Thomson, Nick Kokonas ’91, Jessica Graybill, Brian W. Casey, Jeff Bary, Jennifer Brice, Ellen Percy Kraly, Danielle Lupton, Ynesse Abdul-Malak, Nimanthi Rajasingham, and John Pumilio.
Find 13 on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.