Fort Schuyler Magazine - Spring 2022

F E A T U R E

LISA DOWNING '79 International Woman of MYSTERY

A ttending Maritime was not a choice for Lisa Downing ‘79, the first Black female graduate of SUNY Maritime, it was a calling. At the time there were only a handful of schools in the nation that taught her chosen field of Meteorology. Lisa’s youth was spent in Catholic schools driven by uniforms and discipline and when she walked onto the Maritime campus, saw the uniforms, and experienced the regiment, she knew that she had found her college.

At the time, Lisa was one of the few people of color on campus in what was only the second year of women being admitted to SUNY Maritime. While other underclassmen might get away with infractions like failing to square their corners or sneaking out at night, Lisa would not be as fortunate as she would undoubtably be noticed. In her own words, she “learned to operate within the rules of the school.” She would skirt a rule here and there, knowing what she could

BY MATTHEW BONVENTO ’01

30 | Fort Schuyler Spring 2022