Decades in the making

W

hen Syracuse University junior Alana Leak first met Sharon Owens on a football gameday, she didn’t just meet a politician – she met a proud alum, who insisted they wrap their meeting up quickly so everyone could “root for the Orange” together.

Four decades after graduating from SU, students said that same proud alumni energy carried Owens to a historic, landslide mayoral victory. She won with 73.8% of the vote and became the city’s first Black mayor-elect.

Culminating at the end of her year-long campaign, Owens delivered her victory speech at Palladian Hall at the Treasury Tuesday night. She was surrounded by her family, friends and prominent local politicians, including Mayor Ben Walsh and U.S. Rep. John Mannion.

“Democratic Party, it’s time to get to work to make some real change in our community,” the deputy mayor said. “You saw that vision, and you came out tonight and you voted for that vision.”

For many SU students, Owens’ victory was more than a campaign win. Students, her supporters and community members said the mayor-elect’s SU background shaped not only her passionate and composed nature but also her approach to public service.

Owens graduated from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 1985 with a degree in economics. During her four years, she worked at the Dunbar Center, a Syracuse Southside neighborhood recreational center, and competed for the Orange on the women’s track and field team.

Leak said Owens’ alumni status not only helps her relate to students but also allows her to better integrate education policies into her campaign, helping her spread it more broadly.

“She knows the students, she knows the people, she knows the campus,” Leak, a student intern for Owens’ campaign, said. “She’s just one of the most integrated people within the Syracuse community.”

Tyler Toledo, president of College Democrats of New York and SU graduate student, said Owens being an alum “drastically” impacted her campaign.

In her run for mayor, Owens’ platform focused on public safety, strengthening city neighborhoods, an inclusive, growing economy and creating and maintaining jobs in central New York.

Owens said in an Oct. 14 debate that she would diversify city housing options, support the Fowler High School police cadet program and increase collaboration with the Syracuse Common Council.

“She wants to bring that community to so many more young people and make it revitalized for them,” Toledo said. “Her background of being a Syracuse student has prompted her to care so deeply about other students that are currently here.”

During her time at SU, Owens was a member of the women’s track and field team, captaining her senior year and setting seven records by the time she graduated. She won the Big East title for the indoor long jump in both 1984 and 1985, and was also the 22nd woman inducted into the Orange Plus Hall of Fame.

In a 1989 interview with SU Magazine, Owens said in order to be the champion athlete and determined student she was, she maintained a strict schedule. She drew on it to stay focused with her many responsibilities, she said, including her community service work while in school.

Her commitment to the team demonstrated a drive and discipline for her work that carried into her mayoral campaign, said Hillary Sevin, an SU freshman and one of Owens’ campaign interns.

“As mayor, you have so many tasks that you need to complete and so many demands,” Sevin said. “Balancing both being an SU student and SU elite athlete, I think that really reflects the kind of balance and showed her how to effectively juggle responsibilities.”

Many SU students said Owens’ decision to stay in Syracuse shows her love and desire to improve the community. After graduation, she worked for local city nonprofits including the Southwest Community Center, Jubilee Homes and PEACE, Inc.

Before Owens worked in City Hall, she continued her nonprofit work as the deputy executive director of Home HeadQuarters from 2006 to 2010. Owens told The Daily Orange in April that former Mayor Stephanie Miner offered her a job as the deputy commissioner for the Neighborhood and Business Development, where she worked from 2010 to 2013.

In 2017, Walsh, who received his master’s of public administration at SU, appointed Owens deputy mayor of Syracuse, where she oversees the city’s Neighborhood and Business Development committee, as well as both the police and fire departments.

During a series of debates throughout October, Owens’ faced numerous challenges from opponents Thomas Babilon, Alfonso Davis and Tim Rudd for continuing “status quo” previous Walsh-era policies with her administration.

While Leak watched Owens’ debates and read her media coverage, she said she was motivated by Owens’ strength while facing attacks from her opponents.

“She owns her platform. She says what she’s going to do for the people, and she says how exactly she’s going to do it for the people,” Leak said.

Toledo said Owens demonstrates a “rare” level of commitment by using her skills to make long-term changes in the same place she started her adult life.

“A lot of students come here and then think it’s time to leave … her focus is to show them what she saw in Syracuse and why she made it her home,” Toledo said.

Caprice Hibbler, an SU graduate student in the Newhouse School of Public Communications and a Southside resident, echoed Toledo, saying she believes Owens’ goal is for students to feel welcomed and cared for by the city in the same way she did 40 years ago.

As an SU alum, Owens encourages students to be more involved and take initiative in the community they’re spending time in, said Eliza Rosenstein, SU freshman and intern on the Owens campaign.

As a freshman, Rosenstein said she was “in her own world” at the university, having only been in Syracuse for a few months, before getting involved in the campaign. Sevin agreed with her, saying that working on Owens’ campaign showed her the importance of becoming involved with the city.

“(Owens) being the new mayor sends such a clear message to women interested in public service,” Sevin said. “We’re here, our voices are loud, listen up … give us a seat at the table because we need to be a part of these conversations.”

Leak said even in her first meeting with Owens, her ability to create meaningful connections with students stood out to her — something she would “never forget.” She said Owens is committed to remembering her SU roots and her “deep love” for the university was immediately apparent.

“Working with her was inspiring, exciting, hopeful and fun,” Leak said. “Sharon is a beacon of hope and truly cares about the community. She truly knows what’s going on with Syracuse.”

Owens also focuses on giving back and returning to her alma mater to hire SU students as her interns and volunteer coordinators. She connects the students with the city, as she once did, Leak said.

Kenneth Lanterman, an SU sophomore and volunteer coordinator for Owens’ primary campaign in the spring, said getting to pour his “heart and soul” into working on her campaign was an “insane” experience for students on campus.

He said Owens can understand the city’s developments and the people affected by it because of her career experience. Lanterman said her innate knowledge of community changes, such as the Interstate-81 viaduct and the Micron facility opening, equips her to help the constituents the best.

“It’s super exciting and surreal, students on campus are going to have our first Black mayor and our second woman mayor,” Lanterman said. “It’s a moment to see that we can climb the ranks and really be in that position if we want. Sharon shows us ‘Yes, this is possible.’”

Owens’ platform, shaped by her breadth of experience and deep knowledge of the city, gives her the ability to create meaningful connections and solutions to Syracuse’s issues, Hibbler said.

Courtesy of SCRC

Sharon Owens with SU’s women’s track team in 1985. Owens broke multiple records throughout her time on the team and was inducted into the Orange Plus Hall of Fame.

Rosenstein agreed, saying that her experience as deputy mayor allows her to understand the solutions needed to solve the city’s public safety issues, rising violence and high crime rates. Owens uses a community-outreach approach to combat violence in the community, rather than with violent measures, she said.

SU and other education institutions, including the Syracuse City School District and SUNY Upstate are the backbone of Syracuse, Toledo said. He said, as an alum, Owens shapes her policy platform to effectively help youth.

Owens also sits on the boards of many nonprofit organizations and actively contributes to the community, Rosemary Avila, executive director of CNY Works, said. Avila said being able to work with Owens has been an “extremely gratifying experience,” with Owens’ passionate support allowing CNY Works to flourish.

“She’s definitely an advocate. She understands the community,” Avila said. “She has a really good understanding of the needs of the community and the challenges and barriers like childcare, transportation and access to good-paying jobs.”

Rosenstein and Sevin added that Owens’ grace, passion and kindness stuck with them while working on her campaign. Rosenstein noted Owens’ specific effort to hug, thank and ask how her experience working on the campaign went, even during her busy Election Day.

As political science majors, both noted the importance of having an “inspiring” Maxwell alum as the new head of the city. Even though Rosenstein met Owens not long ago, she already looks up to her.

As someone who’s always been civically minded, Sevin said seeing Owens as mayor is a welcomed development.

“It’s so inspiring to see someone who was a regular student and is now leading the community we’re part of,” Sevin said. “It makes me feel like, if I take advantage of everything Syracuse has to offer, who knows what I can accomplish?”

Asst. News Editor Brenne Sheehan contributed reporting to this article.
Photograph by Ike Wood | Asst. Photo Editor

Published on November 6, 2025 at 3:12 am