By Steve Seepersaud
In honor of Father's Day, this month's Alumni Connect features a father-daughter tandem of Binghamton graduates. Though the University was very different when each attended, they found a similar sense of home.
As a student, Lenny Paris '89 spent a good deal of time in the University Union bowling
alley. So, naturally, it was one of the spots he made sure to show his daughter, Lindsay,
when they took a brief tour of campus. She also saw Cleveland Hall (where dad lived)
and Lehman Hall (the former residence of her mom, Jodi Beres Paris '89).
Lenny Paris thought Binghamton University would be a good fit for his daughter because of the family connection as well as the large number of students from Long Island. In other words, Binghamton would be away from home and familiar at the same time.
"I never pressured Lindsay to attend Binghamton, or any college," he said. "I did encourage her to go to Binghamton because it was the best school she got into."
Lindsay Paris '19 had only visited Binghamton once, but that was all she needed.
"I knew I wanted to go to a school where I knew a decent amount of people," said the Plainview, N.Y., native. "Binghamton was a popular choice among graduates of my high school. I also knew I would be getting a great education. When I visited, I loved the area and felt like I could see myself there for the next few years."
"I was very happy [when Lindsay told me] she would be attending Binghamton," said Lenny Paris, chief financial officer of TRB Advisors LP. "The transition was easier because I could imagine her on a campus I was part of over four years, even though it had changed from when I graduated. That being said, I was a mess when we said goodbye."
For Lindsay Paris, Binghamton provided opportunities to meet new people and maintain friendships with classmates from back home. In particular, this happened through experiences such as Department of Theatre main stage productions and student-run theater groups.
Binghamton was a launching point for her career in education; she's a special education paraprofessional at Western Suffolk BOCES on Long Island and pursuing a master's degree at Columbia University Teachers College.
"Binghamton is very different now from when my parents went in the late 1980s, and being able to talk about these differences in addition to many of the similarities is something that we enjoy doing from time to time," she said. "It is always cool to remember that I was a legacy."
