OCC Alum who helped design Down Syndrome Barbie to be recognized by the college

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — A member of OCC’s graduating class of 2022, worked with Mattel in designing a Down Syndrome Barbie Doll.

Kayla McKeon, alongside 6 other graduates, were named Alumni Faces honorees for Onondaga Community College.

Here are all of the Alumni Faces class of 2023:

According to OCC.

Anas Almaletti ‘08

• Degree: Mathematics & Science
• Profession: Entrepreneur
• His story: Anas graduated from high school in the country of Jordan, then moved to the United States. He earned degrees from OCC, SUNY Binghamton, and Syracuse University. He owns and operates 50 Cricket Wireless Stores in New York and Pennsylvania.

James Domroe ‘02

• High School: Liverpool
• Degree: Broadcast Media Communications
• Profession: Owner of 325 Productions marketing agency
• His story: James turned his teenage passion for making movies into a career, creating a content-based marketing agency. His clients include Cornell University SUNY Upstate Medical University, Salt City Market, Syracuse University, JMA Wireless, OCC, Saab, and Loretto.

Dennis Hebert ‘67

• High School: Henninger
• Degree: Liberal Arts
• Profession: Financial Services and Community Servant
• His story: Dennis graduated from Henninger High School in 1965 and decided to try “the new college downtown” on the advice of his guidance counselor. He worked professionally in financial services, served in many community-based organizations, and held multiple positions on the OCC Foundation board.

Kayla McKeon ‘22

• High School: Cicero-North Syracuse
• Degree: General Studies
• Profession: Down Syndrome Advocate
• Her story: Kayla helped Mattel design a Barbie doll with Down Syndrome; led an effort to pass legislation in Congress that aids people with disabilities; became the first lobbyist in U.S. history with Down Syndrome; and was named the National Down Syndrome Society’s Self-Advocate of the Year. She earned her OCC degree over the course of 12 years while continuing to advocate for those with Down Syndrome.

Bryan Morris ‘14

• High School: Red Creek
• Degree: Engineering Science
• Profession: Engineer at Micron in Boise, Idaho
• His story: Bryan served in the United States Air Force for four-and-a-half years, then came to OCC. While earning his degree, he was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and worked in OCC’s Office of Veterans and Military Services. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Syracuse University and is now an engineer at Micron Technology in Boise, Idaho.

Diana Robertson ‘77

• High School: Westhill
• Degree: Drama
• Profession: Fundraiser for Higher Education
• Her story: Diana came to OCC and unexpectedly found her passion in a Creative Writing class. Writing became an important component of her work as Director of Development and Alumni Affairs for the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. As she saw the gradual erosion in writing skills due to the growing influence of texting and social media, Diana and her husband Drew gave the OCC Foundation $100,000 for the creation of the Endowment for Student Success in Writing.

A celebration will be held on OCC’s campus on Wed. Oct 18, at 5:30 p.m.

OCC says the event will be emceed by Glenn LaPoint ’16, who is also known as “Gomez” on radio station WTKW FM, TK-99

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