Rhonda Branca MA ’03, PhD ’10 cultivates curiosity and community at Binghamton

For Rhonda Branca MA ’03, PhD ’10, staying at Binghamton University has offered the possibility to sustain her love of learning while creating life-changing connections along the way.

Originally from Indianapolis, Ind., Branca grew up close to the open campus of Indiana State University, where she worked and audited an assortment of lectures. Not straying too far from her roots, Branca received a scholarship to study English and theatre there. An avid reader her entire life, she felt like it was a natural progression to someday pursue a career as an educator.

“Similar to Binghamton, there was a lot of integration between the university and the surrounding community,” Branca said. “As a teenager, I was able to work on theater productions or attend lectures that you don’t have access to without a university committed to the community around it.”

But when it came time to attend graduate school, Branca — who had initially decided upon attending Florida State University — decided to switch gears and head to Binghamton after hearing a friend’s praise about promising funding and supportive faculty. More than two decades later, Branca’s continued pursuit of education has landed her at the head of Binghamton University’s Lyceum program at the College of Community and Public Affairs: an initiative dedicated to providing low-cost educational programming to local community members in the Southern Tier and beyond.

“After graduating, I had the choice of going back to my home state, where my family were, or staying here — with the community that I had forged and the friendships that I’d made. And I opted to stay, building a life for myself here.”

At Binghamton, Branca pursued her master’s in literature, which allowed for a seamless transition into her doctorate under the same advisors with whom she had already built a strong rapport — people equally as dedicated to the study of literature as she was, including the more niche elements of the field.

“I do remember attending a few parties at [Professor Libby Tucker’s] house and being able to talk about my research,” said Branca, who wrote her dissertation on the golden era of the Victorian ghost story, a time when 19th century society was becoming more technologically advanced. “I wasn’t worried about nerding out in front of them; they were all interested in similar topics. The conversations were just so exciting. It’s a party, it’s not a classroom discussion. It was a lot of fun to be able to experience that in such a warm and friendly atmosphere.”

During her time as a graduate student, Branca taught English courses at SUNY Canton and Binghamton, as well as darkroom photography for 10 years within the art department. It was here where she also crossed paths with Jonathan Cohen, the University photographer and Branca’s now husband, who would often visit her class to speak with students and recruit interns.

After finishing both degrees at the height of the Great Recession, Branca’s goal to teach English as a faculty member evolved. Still interested in giving back to the mission that had guided her to Binghamton in the first place, Branca came across the opening to direct Lyceum in 2013. Having settled down in Broome County in 2001, Branca described the role as “a good fit” — taking her existing background in non-profit administration to the next level.

With over 120 liberal arts-style and practical subjects to choose from, Branca hopes the Lyceum program can encourage the intellectual curiosity of its participants as well as the educators who volunteer their time.

“It’s allowing people who didn’t have the opportunity during their working lives, for whatever reason, to come and learn things that they’ve always been curious about but never had the opportunity to study. They can forge new friendships from doing that or take up a new interest that they were completely unaware of before,” said Branca.

Getting to meet attendees in-person, such as a newly widowed woman in her 70’s, has shown Branca the impact and importance of her work through Lyceum.

“She said that the program and the people that she met in it and getting out every day, coming to class and learning new things, and that it gave her something to continue to live for after this devastating loss,” Branca said. “I was so touched to hear that the program meant that much to someone. And she says she’s not the only one!”

While Branca studied literature, the culmination of years of reading had also naturally ignited a passion for creative writing. When she first started sending her own stories out for publication as a graduate student, she received around 30 rejections from several different editors — left in the dark about what needed to be fixed. The often-demoralizing cycle of revision, submission and rejection prompted her to question her own competency as a writer, and the frustrating lack of feedback in the process only compounded those doubts.

It was Jaimee Wriston Colbert, a distinguished professor of English at the University and a five-time published author herself, who helped Branca come to a realization and craft a plan.

“[Colbert] pointed out that most journals have a huge volume of unsolicited submissions, and some get as many as a thousand unsolicited manuscripts a month,” Branca said. “If they only publish 20 pieces in an issue, and they only do two or maybe four issues a year, anyone’s chances of getting published, no matter how strong the work is, become razor thin. On top of that, most of the pieces that are submitted to journals are not publishable — they need to be reworked, or they have fundamental flaws.”

That conversation with Colbert inspired Branca to co-develop her own journal — one that exclusively features pieces that have faced rejection, but are yet to be abandoned by the writer, with the optimism that they would eventually find their place elsewhere.

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a journal out there that only worked with pieces that have already gone through this initial process? If there was a journal that only worked with writers who have sat with their piece, revised it in the face of rejection… and still had faith that the piece just needed to find the right home?’” she said. “It turns out that journal didn’t exist. So, we decided to make it.”

Eleventh Hour Literary was born. With the editorial board staffed primarily by University alumni as well as current faculty and staff, the connections the new journal shares with Binghamton run deep. Thanks to support from the University’s Professional Staff Senate and funding from the office of President Harvey Stenger, the winner of the journal’s inaugural prose contest was able to be compensated for their work. In addition to curbing out-of-pocket expenses, securing the “Binghamton seal of approval” directly from the administration has allowed Branca and her team to collect submissions from across the world — while generating greater community engagement among both the Alumni Association and the University itself.

“It’s a labor of love. I know that is such a cliche, but it’s true. There really is something to it,” she added. “It was on my bucket list to do something like this at some point in my life. And there is no time like the present!”