SPRING 2020

Hurst ties still bind Barbara Pacicco Wenig ’95 Inside this issue: and Nalika Nanayakkara ’94 Hurst teachers making a diference P. 6 Student investors reap gains for university P. 12 P. 2 Joe Morris becomes go-to political commentator P. 14 A message from the President

Every year as I engage students across our campus, I’m inspired by the phenomenal potential that I see. I’m also reminded that our highest duty is to provide our students with the teaching, tools, and experiences to make a positive diference in the world.

In this spring’s issue of Mercyhurst Magazine, you will witness the fruits of our labor on a grand scale: alumni building successful and meaningful lives and, in many cases, lives that are making a diference for others.

Take our feature on teachers. With about 2,800 living education graduates now located in 43 states and 12 countries, the stories are endless. We checked in with a few of those educators who started at Mercyhurst and Their Manhattan ofces aren’t far apart, so they get together at least are now helping change the world. monthly for lunch or after-work drinks. Their families have grown close as well; they’ve even traveled together. Two years ago, the families visited I’ve always believed it to be a diferentiator for Mercyhurst that so many Sri Lanka where Nalika introduced them to her homeland and native of our alumni – be they young or old – have sustained the friendships culture. Now they’re thinking about a similar trip to Italy, so Barbara can they made here during their college years. do the same.

For the four young men who founded the Laker Asset Management Club I want to take just a moment to thank our Mercyhurst community, on campus nearly three years ago, the ties remain strong. Having come including our talented and committed faculty, staf, donors, and friends, together to invest $100,000 of our endowment – successfully, I might add who inspire our students and enable us to produce such remarkable – they continue to follow each other’s paths beyond the gates and into alumni as we meet in this issue of Mercyhurst Magazine. Please enjoy. the business world.

Our students come from all corners of our state, nation and world, excited Happy Spring & Carpe Diem, to broaden their horizons. Mercyhurst provides room for discovery of all kinds, including the most important discovery for any student: learning what kind of citizen, neighbor, friend, and person they want to be.

Our cover story is a moving tribute to the deep and lasting friendship Michael T. Victor, J.D., LL.D. that began in the early 1990s between two international students at President, Mercyhurst University Mercyhurst and continued into the high-stakes world of New York fnance. These alumnae are Barbara Wenig, a native of Italy, and Nalika Nanayakkara, who came to the U.S. from Sri Lanka.

ON THE COVER: Barbara Pacicco Wenig ’95 and Nalika Nanayakkara ’94 meet up on the streets of Manhattan. Good friends since their days at Mercyhurst, they both now hold top executive positions with major fnance frms in New York City. Read their story on page 2. Mercyhurst Magazine is a publication of the Ofce of Marketing and Public Relations.

Magazine Editor Susan Hurley Corbran ’73 [email protected] 814-824-2090

Design Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07 [email protected] 814-824-3022

Contributing Writers Inside this issue Susan Hurley Corbran ’73 Joseph Cuneo 4 Sean Cuneo MERCYHURST’S LIBRARY – Deborah W. Morton NOW AND THEN Contributing Photographers Check out recent renovations to the library, and see what earlier Leena Clint ’16 libraries looked like. Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07 Curtis Waidley ’19 Anna Wesley

6 Director of Alumni Engagement HURST TEACHERS ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE Lindsay Cox Frank ’12 ’14M [email protected] Read profles of Audrey Coletta ’98 ‘01M; Kimberly Szmyd Thomas ’02 814-824-2330 ‘04M; Grace Doman ’16 ‘18M; Gary Magorien ’06; Joseph Magorien ’01; Youjia Hua ‘02M; Michael Troutman ’12; Ebony Britton ‘09M; Cole Lowe ’18; Kelly Dombrowski Karns ’06; and Shay Bellamy ‘19M.

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RENOVATIONS TRANSFORM Send changes of address to: SPORTS FACILITIES Alumni Relations Learn the latest developments from Laker athletics, including Mercyhurst University a growing slate of club sports options. 501 East 38th Street Erie, PA 16546 [email protected] 2 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SHARE LIFELONG BOND 12 STUDENTS GET REAL-LIFE INVESTING EXPERIENCE If you haven’ t been receiving the bi- monthly Alumni eNewsletter, Mercyhurst 14 LOCAL, NATIONAL MEDIA TURN TO JOE MORRIS does not have an active email address for GRADUATES BENEFIT FROM ERIE REVITALIZATION you. Visit mercyhurst.edu/alumni/update 16 to update your information and reconnect. 18 OL PROGRAM OFFERS SPECIAL DEAL FOR ALUMNI HAPPENINGS ON THE HILL 20 We’d love to hear from you! 24 CLUB SPORTS EXPAND STUDENT OPTIONS Send your story ideas, suggestions and 26 VIRTUAL REALITY TECH HELPS TRAIN POLICE CADETS comments to [email protected]. 27 CLASS NOTES 1 Barbara and Nalika (center) with their families during their trip to Sri Lanka.

From Italy and Sri Lanka to Erie to New York: lifelong friendship born at Hurst By Sue Corbran

Barbara Wenig and Nalika Nanayakkara Their Manhattan ofces aren’t far apart, While both women say Mercyhurst have built remarkable careers in the high- so they get together at least monthly for prepared them well for their business powered world of New York fnance. They lunch or after-work drinks. Their families careers, they are equally grateful for the occupy top posts in prestigious frms, have grown close as well and meet up liberal arts classes that are part of the but they’re more than just colleagues – regularly; they’ve even traveled together. Mercyhurst experience. they’re good friends who frst bonded as Two years ago, the families visited Sri international students at Mercyhurst in the Lanka where Nalika introduced them to her In Sri Lanka, Nalika says, students take early 1990s. homeland and native culture. Now they’re high school entrance exams and then are thinking about a similar trip to Italy, so assigned to focus in just one feld, in her In those days before the internet, when Barbara can return the favor. case math and science. “If I had stayed Barbara Pacicco of Rome, Italy, and Nalika there, I would have been pigeonholed in Nanayakkara of Nugegoda, Sri Lanka, A quarter-century ago, there was a vibrant chemical engineering or something like decided they wanted to attend college community of Irish students at Mercyhurst, that,” she says. Exploring the broad array abroad, it meant a tedious search through but few other international students. of subjects she studied at Mercyhurst was college catalogues to fnd a school that Nalika and Barbara laugh now about some “part of the excitement and the journey.” would welcome foreign students. of the adjustments they faced. Nalika, who arrived in January, reports, “There Things weren’t much diferent in Italy, By coincidence, both reached out to must have been three feet of snow, which Barbara says. “The liberal arts concept Mercyhurst, which quickly accepted them I’d never seen before.” She’d purchased a didn’t really exist in Italy. Once you were and ofered scholarship help. winter coat when she arrived in New York, assigned to a faculty, that’s all you did.” but didn’t really have the proper attire to Barbara arrived at Mercyhurst a year after survive an Erie winter. Both also praise the sense of community Nalika. She says the two connected quickly, they felt at Mercyhurst. “The sense of and their friendship remains strong to this Both women had studied English in their community and the friendships allowed day. own countries, so “academic English” me to be in America by myself. I doubt wasn’t much of a problem. Barbara admits, you’d be able to make those connections in “We hit it of and became close friends,” though, “Idiomatic English wasn’t my thing. a lot of places,” Barbara says. “I didn’t make Nalika agrees. “We’re very diferent people There are lots of funny stories about the friends like that at Ohio State,” she refects. personality-wise and in how we approach common expressions I didn’t understand.” “There was just something very special situations, but we complement each other.” about our experience at Mercyhurst.” 2 Nalika Nanayakkara team; now there are 450+ folks in the Nalika majored in fnance and minored in math. At graduation in 1994, practice.” she was co-valedictorian of her class (an honor she shared with fellow international student Jakub Svoboda of the Czech Republic). Nalika enjoys being on the cutting edge in an industry that’s changing dramatically. After moving to New York, she combed the classifed section of The New “The word disruption is overused, but old York Times in search of her frst job. She landed an entry-level position as rules are breaking down and new rules a fnancial analyst with a Japanese bank, though she was told the frm getting established, and it’s all to the generally hired only Ivy Leaguers. “At the beginning of my career, I always beneft of the consumer,” she says. “One had to explain what Mercyhurst was. No one had heard of it. But they of the most interesting things is being gave me a shot even though they didn’t recognize the school.” ahead of the change that’s happening in our industry and making sure particularly that people who don’ t have Three years later, Nalika enrolled at Columbia University, earning her fnancial services, who are unadvised, get the access they need and have MBA in fnance and management in 1999. She joined the management fnancial peace of mind.” consulting arm of Ernst & Young. When Ernst & Young (now known as EY) sold its consulting business to Capgemini, she moved to that French She’s also passionate about building the business by hiring and grooming consulting company and stayed for 10 years. the best talent, and giving young people a chance to launch their careers. As for her own career, she says, “Life is full of opportunity and adventure. At that point, she knew she was ready for a new adventure. That next I’m happy where I am, but I would expect many more changes in the step actually took her back to EY, to help build a new business in Wealth future.” Management. “The best thing about EY is that it’s very entrepreneurial, even though it’s a huge company with over 250,000 employees globally,” Nalika and her husband, Edward Hartzog, have a son, Alexander, who’s she explains. 12. Outside the ofce, she’s deeply committed to the Fortune Society, a nonproft that works to help formerly incarcerated individuals readjust to She now leads the America’s Wealth and Asset Management Advisory mainstream society. She also enjoys politics, history, tennis, and traveling practice out of the New York ofce. Under her leadership, the business the world. has grown by leaps and bounds. “When I started, we were a very small

Barbara Wenig ’95 fnancial planning and analysis function, and Barbara had always been interested in languages and travel. She began earned her CPA and CFA designations. In 2004 studying economics at the University of Rome but soon decided she she was recruited into Lehman Brothers, then wanted to study in America. a prestigious investment bank. When Lehman collapsed and went through bankruptcy “As a parent now, I can’t even imagine how my parents felt about that during the 2008 fnancial crisis, Neuberger decision. But they knew better than to tell me not to do this. They Berman partners efected a management understood it was an incredible opportunity for me, but they were buyout and returned the frm (then a division certainly apprehensive.” of Lehman) to its roots as an independent, employee-owned investment manager. When she headed to Mercyhurst, she thought she’d stay for a year or so and then transfer credits back to Italy. Instead she found a new home. Barbara worked with its leadership team as it Warmly welcomed into the Mercyhurst community, she says, “I made reestablished its stand-alone company and endeavored to keep and then lifelong friends just 24 hours in. For a foreign student who couldn’t go grow its client base. Today she’s a managing director and head of the home often, the Mercyhurst community was just outstanding.” frm’s client platform, overseeing client coverage operations and analytics for the frm, and is a member of the frm’s Operating Committee. Barbara majored in fnance and human resources and was part of the honors program. She says she enjoyed being with students who were During her early years in New York, Nalika introduced Barbara to David really interested in academics and wanted to be thinkers. Wenig, who would become her husband. When they married, Nalika was a maid of honor – along with Danielle Castro Klein ’96, another close She graduated summa cum laude in 1995, earning a full fellowship to friend from their Hurst days. Ohio State for graduate study. She earned her MBA in fnance and health care in 1997, then headed to New York City, where she reconnected with Barbara and David’s family now includes four kids (two biological sons Nalika. and two daughters adopted from China): Carly, 17; Parker, 16; Aaron, 13; and Lauren, 8, as well as three pets. Outside of work and family life, Her frst job was with an insurance startup afliated with New York Barbara enjoys reading, ftness, and traveling the world and experiencing University Medical Center, where she spent two years working on other cultures. fnancial programs and analytics. She then spent fve years at HMS, a healthcare technology and analytics solutions frm, where she ran the 3 From left: Lauren Abbott, Brian DeFrancesco ’06, Gov. Tom & Michele Ridge, President Michael T. Victor, and Elizabeth Becker

Library evolves to meet needs of today’s students

The main foor of Mercyhurst’s library inviting place for students to work, and to Arnold D. Palmer 2003 Charitable Trust and got a $1.5 million facelift just in time for access resources like tutoring, writing help, the Henry L. Hillman Foundation. fall semester, and the improvements and technology support. Among the most are getting rave reviews from students. popular additions: several conference-style The library has evolved since the opening Library Director Darci Jones says use of the rooms for collaborative research and study of Mercyhurst College from a single room library has increased to the point that she’s (with a computerized system to reserve the housing 8,500 books in the late 1920s, to already ordered additional tables for the space). a spacious complex designed to meet the space. learning styles of today’s students. At the heart of the spacious entrance is a The project was accomplished entirely round, handcrafted carpet customized with In addition to a quality core collection with donor dollars, including gifts from the Mercyhurst insignia. of print volumes, the library now gives former Trustee Ellen Hammond Ryan ’64 students access to more than 250,000 and her husband, David; Mary Magnotto The renovation also features nine built-in e-books, dozens of electronic databases Wood ’65 and her husband, Michael; glass display cases showcasing historic covering all areas of the curriculum, video Thomas B. Hagen, for whom Mercyhurst’s documents, photographs, and artifacts content, and more. History Department is named; and Brian from the Thomas J. and Michele Ridge DeFrancesco ’06 and his wife, Jessica. Collection. Gov. Ridge was on hand in Check out the photos at right to October for the dedication of the displays, see Mercyhurst’s library at diferent Jones said the renovations created a warm, made possible through gifts from the stages in its history. 4 2 1 3

THROUGH THE YEARS

The frst library was a single room on the second foor of Old Main – 1 now the home of the Center for Teaching Excellence.

When O’Neil Tower was built in 1933, the library moved to its second foor, and eventually expanded to the third foor. The reading room, 2 shown in a photo from Praeterita 1941, had a view of the south campus out its windows. Human Resources occupies this space today. 4 In 1953, the library moved to the upper level of the new Joseph J. Weber Memorial (the lower level housed the Little Theatre). The reading room was converted into a dance studio in the 1970s (when 5 3 the library moved to the Learning Resource Center), but in 1998 it was returned to library use and restored to look much like the 1950s original. It ’s still a popular space for quiet study.

Mercyhurst ’s fourth library, the Learning Resource Center, opened in 4 1971 and was christened the Hammermill Library in 1985.

In 1998, the Walker Wing was built, connecting the library to Weber Hall (including the Catherine Walker Reading Room). A fourth foor was also 5 added to the broad and boxy library building. Though it wasn’ t used for library purposes, the addition creates a look more in tune with the Collegiate Gothic look of Old Main. Hurst education graduates can

By Sue Corbran

Mercyhurst has been preparing teachers curriculum for special education teachers. With about 2,800 living education since its earliest days. In the 1920s, the In the early ‘80s, special education became graduates now located in 43 states and 12 young college began certifying secondary Mercyhurst’s second graduate degree countries, the stories are endless. Take a teachers for a variety of academic subjects. program. Master’s degrees in secondary look here at just a handful of teachers who The elementary education program was education and teaching excellence are started at Mercyhurst and are now helping approved in 1951, and grew to include a ofered now as well. change the world.

Audrey Coletta

Audrey Coletta ‘98 always aspired to be a mother and a teacher. She taught for However, she didn’t pursue her dream of attending college until fve years at Diehl she was 34 years old, married, a mother of fve (the youngest just Elementary School 18 months old), and working full time as a teacher’s aide at GECAC in Erie while working Head Start. on her master’s in special education Dr. Robin Quick, her colleague at Head Start, often told her, “You at Mercyhurst, should be the teacher in this classroom.” Not sure whether it was then continued her even physically possible to attend college with her busy schedule education at Gannon and young family, Audrey registered for several classes to test University to receive the waters. After earning 3 A’s, she enrolled as a full-time student. credentials as a reading specialist, principal, and superintendent. She earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood/elementary education in just four years, with an almost perfect GPA. As soon as she received her principal’s certifcate, she was hired as principal of the Wattsburg Area Elementary Center. In 2005, It wasn’t feasible to quit her job because her husband was a grape she became principal of Klein Elementary in the Harbor Creek farmer, a profession with many challenges. Most days she worked School District, where she remained for four years until she was from 8 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., then rushed of to classes, and often asked to return to the Wattsburg Area School District. When she arrived home after 10 p.m. She couldn’t begin homework until left Wattsburg in 2017, she briefy considered venturing into a she visited with her children who were still awake and assured the diferent feld, but another opportunity presented itself and she house was clean. joined the Erie Catholic Schools System.

She says she felt a sense of accomplishment, but also guilt Now in her second year as principal at Saint Luke School, Audrey over missed school events and family activities and not being says, “It’s a perfect ft.” As a public-school educator, she was used available to comfort her children when they were sick. Though the to keeping her strong faith private. “Now I can actually talk about children missed their mom, she also knows she was a good role God. It’s been hard to get used to – being able to put ‘God’ back in model proving that dedication and hard work can turn dreams ‘God bless you,’’ she smiles. She adds that she has enjoyed learning into reality. When the whole family celebrated her graduation, and continuing all the special traditions that are part of the strong she knew they were extremely proud of her. Audrey credits her community at Saint Luke School. “The welcoming community at husband, extended family, and the phenomenal faculty in the Saint Luke School has added another dimension to my life and I education department for supporting her in her determination to have grown individually and spiritually.” earn that diploma. 6 Kimberly Szmyd Thomas02

Kimberly Szmyd Thomas ’02 has been a expanded to cover all six elementary special education teacher in grades K-4 in buildings in the district and feeds 360 Pennsylvania’s Butler Area School District kids per week. for 16 years now. She works with kids needing learning support, and provides She oversees it all, from scheduling itinerant emotional support and autistic volunteer helpers to speaking before support for students who can function in community organizations to solicit traditional classrooms, yet need extra help donations to coordinating with stores master’s in special with things like social skills. and food banks. Her work helped earn education and a certifcate in educational her the United Way Red Apple Award, leadership (2004). “We were exposed to Ever since her student days, Kim’s concern which is given to educators who exemplify so many children from a wide range of for children has extended far beyond her leadership and outstanding dedication abilities that I felt I was more prepared and own classroom. As a graduate assistant to students. She also earned the Butler confdent to work with the diversity of at Mercyhurst, she launched a Giving AM Rotary Club’s Paul Harris Fellow students found in classrooms today.” Tree to beneft children who might not Recognition, honoring her dedication receive many Christmas gifts – a tradition to helping others in need and the Butler Kim also feels extremely thankful for the that continues to this day in Mercyhurst’s community. professors that she had while attending Education Department. “We were poor Mercyhurst. “They continually encouraged college students, but we could buy $10 or Now that she supervises student teachers you, wanting you to succeed. They were $15 gifts for those kids who had so little,” herself, Kim is especially grateful for always willing to listen and to help you she says. the preparation she and her classmates reach your fullest potential.” Dr. Kathleen received at Mercyhurst. Bukowski continues to be one of Kim’s For the past fve years, Kim has been greatest role models and inspirations. operating the Kids’Weekend Backpack “It’s amazing how many educational Program to provide food for kids who experiences I had,” she says. “From the frst Kim married her high school sweetheart, might otherwise go hungry when they’re term freshman year, you were placed in a Edward Thomas, and they’re raising three away from school. She founded the classroom somewhere. Most colleges do daughters: Ella, 10; Mae, 8; and Nora, 5. program in her district and started with a not start placing students until their junior And of course Kim is active in all their pilot in her own school building, serving year.” She counted 19 diferent classroom activities, including helping with three around 80 children. The program has now experiences during her undergrad years, separate Girl Scout troops. and six more while she was earning her Grace Doman

A unique partnership between Grace believes she had the best of both better able to Mercyhurst’s Department of Education and worlds – she was a certifed teacher in determine the Erie’s Public Schools gave Grace Doman charge of her own classroom, but she also best time and ’14 invaluable experience – and a résumé had easy access to the education faculty place to send booster that helped her land her frst (especially the late Dr. Tom Kitchen) and my kids into ofcial job. university resources whenever she needed an inclusion advice or help. classroom After earning her degree with majors where they’ll in special education and elementary When she was hired to teach in Stow, be successful,” education, Grace stayed on at the Hurst to Ohio, south of Cleveland, her new boss Grace says. work on a master’s in special education, confrmed it was that experience that which she completed in 2016. Under earned her the interview, and then the Grace’s concentration during her a contract with the city school district, job ofer. master’s program was in Applied Behavior Mercyhurst students staf a classroom for Analysis. Between getting a new job and students with autism, which then operated At Stow, she’s a special ed teacher in a preparing for her frst year there, she never at Edison Elementary. self-contained classroom for students in took the certifcation exam that she had kindergarten through second grade with prepared for. “I worked hard for it, and it Grace spent her frst year as a graduate autism, Down Syndrome, and a variety would be nice to have those letters (BCBA) student assisting in the classroom and by of other conditions. But she reports that after my name,” she noted, so she’s now her second year in the master’s program her experiences in regular classrooms preparing to take the exam this summer. was the lead teacher for the classroom, during her undergrad years have been very She’s hard at work studying and getting overseeing all the teachers assisting with valuable. “I have a real understanding of back into test-taking form. the program. what it’s like in a regular classroom, so I’m 7 Gary Magorien

2019 was a big year for Gary Magorien ’06: he was teaching at the same time, he could diversity than he completed his doctorate, got married, actively practice everything he learned he’s seen and started a brand-new job in high school right away, which he found especially before, as administration. rewarding. well as a high proportion This is actually the frst year since his Last June, Gary married Leah Labranche, of students preschool days that Gary hasn’t been a native of Mississauga, Ontario, in a enrolled in taking classes somewhere. After earning his ceremony at the Niagara Botanical career and Hurst degree in social studies education, Gardens. Leah is an anatomy instructor technical he landed his frst teaching job at his alma at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic programs. Just a mater, McDowell High School just outside Medicine (LECOM), who’s currently working few months into his new role he believes Erie. on the dissertation for her Ph.D. he’s found an excellent ft.

Like most teachers, he quickly started During 13 years at McDowell, Gary taught Outside school, Gary owns several graduate work, completing his master’s a variety of social studies courses at the income properties and enjoys buying degree in educational development and academic and honors levels, and chaired and renovating homes. A music lover and strategies at Wilkes University in 2011. He the social studies department. But in fall guitar collector (he owns 16), he estimates fnished a second master’s (plus principal 2019 he made a big move, accepting a post he’s played more than 100 shows over certifcation) from Edinboro University in as an assistant principal at Erie High School. the last three-and-a-half years at bars and 2014. Then it was back to Wilkes where he Created in 2017 when Erie’s Public Schools festivals throughout the tri-state area. But entered the Ed.D. program in educational merged three high schools into one, Erie on Dec. 27 he played his last date with his leadership. enrolls more than 2,200 students. country band Small Town Revolution. “I’m “As I fnished each one, I just kept going,” just too busy,” he says with a note of regret. Erie High is roughly comparable in size to “Something had to give.” Gary says. “I wanted to keep learning and I McDowell, but Gary is experiencing a much was in the rhythm of going to school.” Since higher level of cultural and socioeconomic

Joe Magorien

Joe Magorien ’01 laid the foundation for running back, Pitt and Steelers star James focusing on his two careers while he was at Mercyhurst. Conner). Then he coached for two years family and his at Gannon University. Throughout his business. He majored in elementary education and coaching years, his specialty was strength special education, and he’s now in his 19th and conditioning, so launching Magorien’s “The great year teaching special education in the Advanced Training and Performance three thing about Millcreek School District just outside Erie. years ago was a perfect next step. my job is that my kids are all He was also a running back on coach When he leaves school each day, he heads part of it,” he Joe Kimball’s Laker football team, which to his Fairview studio where he ofers says. “Every led frst to football coaching jobs and, personal and group training in speed and one of them eventually, to his own business teaching agility for youths, as well as in strength and comes to strength and conditioning. performance for high school and college some kind Joe spent four years as a learning support athletes. Conner has also called on him to of session at teacher at McDowell Intermediate before assist with his camps for student-athletes the studio, so I’m always around them. moving to McDowell High School, where at the Steelers training complex. And I work with my kids’ sports teams, too.” his caseload now includes two dozen 11th Joe’s days are packed, but he says it’s the Joe’s wife, Erin Koskoski Magorien, earned and 12th graders with a wide variety of same schedule he’s had since he was a her bachelor’s degree from Mercyhurst in disabilities. He teaches and co-teaches student-athlete himself: get up, go to 2002, as well as a master’s degree in 2005, academic classes in English and social school, practice, watch flms, go home. and now teaches part-time in the Hurst studies as well. Department of Fashion Merchandising. He earned a master’s degree and principal For 15 years he coached running backs They have four kids: Gavin, 12; Preston, 9; certifcation through Gannon University. Nora, 8; and Joey, 6. for the McDowell Trojans football team At the moment, though, he’s not looking (including the school’s most famous to move into administration, instead

8 Youjia Hua From his frst course with Dr. Phil Belfore, He accepts a Improving services for students with he was fascinated by the promise of new cohort disabilities in his Chinese homeland Applied Behavior Analysis for improving of 20 to 30 has become a mission for Youjia Hua, specifc behaviors – from social skills and students each who earned a master’s degree in special communication to hygiene and grooming summer, from education at Mercyhurst in 2002. – for individuals with disabilities. Widely a pool of more and successfully used in the United States, than 100 For the past fve years, he’s been training ABA was not commonly available in China. applicants. teachers and parents in China to use Up to a third Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). The frst Youjia went on to earn an MBA at Gannon of them are to ofer such training in China, he’s already University and a doctorate in special parents of prepared more than 100 Chinese students education at Penn State University. He students on to sit for ABA certifcation exams. developed an ABA course sequence for the autism spectrum. Unable to access the Chinese speakers during his frst faculty services their families need, they learn the Youjia majored in English at Shanghai appointment, at the University of Iowa. ABA process themselves, earning BCBA University before deciding to continue his certifcation and going on to help other education in the United States. His decision In 2017, he joined the Curry School of families. to pursue special education was an unusual Education at the University of Virginia as an one, since he hadn’t previously studied associate professor. He continues to ofer The students watch Youjia’s recorded education and had almost no interaction his hugely successful ABA training program lectures online, and then gather from all with students with disabilities in the in conjunction with UVa’s STAR initiative over China – via Zoom meetings – for Chinese educational system. (Supporting Transformative Autism weekly discussions. Research). He went online to scout potential graduate programs and discovered Mercyhurst.

Michael Troutman Catholic school. At the same time, he’d out that many Michael Troutman ’12 is defnitely part of work toward a Dayton graduate degree of his students a minority group – a male teacher who in education, receive a living stipend, come from specializes in teaching the youngest and reside in a supportive, faith-based single-parent learners. community with other Lalanne teachers. homes and Mike earned a master’s degree in have had few He frst aimed to teach high school Technology-Enhanced Learning, taking successful men math. When he switched to elementary online courses during the school year and they can relate education, he pictured himself working spending summers on the Dayton campus. to. He’s built with 5th and 6th graders. Instead, he’s relationships found his niche teaching kindergarten and Mike taught kindergarten for two years not just with frst grade. at a Catholic school in Indianapolis, his students, Indiana, then stayed on for a third year but also with their siblings and One of his two student-teaching after meeting his now-wife, Casey, also families, who see him deeply involved in assignments was in a kindergarten a Lalanne teacher. Then he moved to an the community, coaching and attending classroom. When he interviews for jobs, Indianapolis-area public school and taught school events. he says, “Their eyes just light up when frst grade for two years. I mention that I have kindergarten An athlete since his high school days, Mike experience.” Mike and Casey then relocated to the coached softball and basketball while in Columbus, Ohio, area, where he now Indianapolis, even winning a state title in With so few men working in the primary teaches frst grade at Schultz Elementary in softball in his fnal year there. Today he grades, administrators are excited to ofer a Delaware, Ohio. coaches high school softball. positive male role model for their youngest students. He didn’t expect to enjoy teaching the He’s had plenty of experience being in the early grades, but he’s come to embrace minority. At Mercyhurst, he was one of only After earning his bachelor’s degree, his role. “I’m there not just to teach the a handful of men in his education program. Mike joined the Lalanne Program at the content areas, but also to make a diference And at his K-5 school today, he’s one of just University of Dayton. He committed to in their everyday lives,” he says. He points four men among 30 classroom teachers. teach for two years in an under-resourced 9 Ebony Britton

There were signs early on that Ebony Center. She was passionate about the need help families get Britton ‘09M was meant to be a teacher, to improve literacy skills to help inner-city the best possible although she didn’t see them at frst. students succeed and prepare for jobs that educational She graduated from Penn State in 2005 could lift them out of poverty. experiences for with a degree in broadcast journalism their children Ebony secured grant funding to install and headed to New York City hoping to with special i-Ready technology. “We saw great results,” break into the news business, but quickly needs,” she says. Ebony says. “The kids were able to interact decided that wasn’t for her. It was while “If one person in person with tutors, but also had i-Ready working for Erie’s Barber National Institute doesn’t do it, to track their progress and generate that she realized she loved working with who will? I need lessons to help with problem areas like children with autism, and that education to at least try.” comprehension or phonics.” was her calling. Her personal project these days is a In 2016, Ebony relocated to the warmer As a student in Mercyhurst’s graduate children’s book she’s written titled climate of Naples, Florida, where she’s program in special education, she taught Adventures of Ebbie and Bogo, in which now a behavior specialist with the Collier at the R. Benjamin Wiley Charter School. her character encounters children with County Public Schools. She works with After graduation, she taught there for a variety of disabilities. “I feel you don’t students with high-functioning autism, as several years before heading to Chester, see enough children with autism or other well as children of migrant workers, who Pennsylvania, to teach and earn a second disabilities in children’s literature right rarely spend a full term in a single school. master’s degree in education from now,” she says, “and I hope to help change that.” Newman University. Eventually, she hopes to open an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) clinic to help Back in Erie again, she worked as lead Ebony returned to work recently after the meet a huge need in her area for the kind teacher for Mercyhurst’s after-school birth of her second son, Elijah Robert. His of services that Erie residents take for program at the Booker T. Washington big brother, Carmen, is 7. granted. “I want to help bridge the gap and

Cole Lowe

Shortly before his graduation, Spanish Cole can trace his fascination with South Cole is happily education major Cole Lowe ’18 got a piece America to a high school history class. back in his of great news – he’d been accepted for Assigned to report on any fgure from classroom now, the prestigious and highly competitive world history, he wrote about Eva Peron – teaching Spanish Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant and was dismayed to discover he was the l-lll, working with program and chosen to spend nine months only student who focused on a fgure from kids in Fairview’s teaching English in Argentina. Latin America. “Their stories and cultures theatre program, are just as rich as the stories and cultures of and advising the There was just one problem. He was also Europe,” he says. “Too often we gloss over Students for Change pursuing high school teaching jobs and the richness on our own side of the world.” club as it works to he’d now have to let potential employers promote diversity know he’d be unavailable for parts of the He was immersed in those stories at the and inclusion. next two school years. National University in Catamarca, a rural Taking a page province near Argentina’s border with from Mercyhurst’s Luckily, Erie County’s Fairview School Chile. During breaks, he visited Brazil, playbook, he’s added a community service District decided it had more to gain than Uruquay, Chile, Patagonia, and nearly a component to his curriculum. Later this to lose by hiring a teacher who could share dozen Argentine provinces. Virtually no one spring, his students will participate in a that kind of experience with its students. spoke English and, despite years of Spanish naturalization ceremony at Erie’s federal study, it was somewhat overwhelming to courthouse. He taught at Fairview High School from listen, comprehend and think in Spanish. fall 2018 until he departed for South He came back with a variety of souvenirs, He’s been accepted for graduate work at America in March 2019, then substitutes including, he laughs, an Argentine accent. Vermont’s Middlebury College, and he flled in for him until he returned after the And, more importantly, a deeper awareness won’t rule out the possibility that he’ll Thanksgiving break. that the way we do things here is not the one day want to teach at the college level. only right way. For now, though, he says he feels most relevant working with teenagers. 10 Kelly Dombrowski Karns

Kelly Dombrowski Karns’ 6-year-old daughter Lilly asked her routes in Erie and North East. recently: Did you ever want to be anything except a teacher? Her Kelly describes them as “3-hour mom’s answer: an emphatic NO. lessons with food” and points out that she’s still teaching. At Mercyhurst, Kelly dual-majored in elementary and special education, graduating in 2006. What most impressed her, she says, Three years ago, Kelly joined the Mercyhurst was the variety of clinical experiences and practicums she had Alumni Association board where she soon started looking for right from the start. “I especially liked that we got to work in vastly ways to connect her current students with the university’s alumni diferent environments in urban, suburban and rural districts that network. lie within minutes of campus.” First up was an Alumni and Student Networking Night which One of her student teaching placements – in a middle school annually brings together education students with Hurst alums special education classroom – led to a job ofer after graduation. “It now teaching in the area. The evening is full of casual conversation was like I had a semester-long interview,” she says. After starting in about classroom topics from lesson planning to behavior a learning support classroom, she later focused on middle school management and discipline, plus advice on job searching, social studies. It was her dream job. interviewing and networking.

Once Lilly arrived, though, Kelly wanted a teaching position that More recently, Kelly worked with Alumni Relations to contact would allow for more time at home. She had already earned fellow alumni for advice to seniors just setting out on their student a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Gannon teaching experiences. Dozens of graduates responded with University, and she soon was hired as an adjunct instructor at messages of encouragement and plenty of practical tips that were Mercyhurst. She was still teaching – about teaching! She’s now compiled into a book that was presented to new student-teachers a part-time faculty member, teaching a variety of courses to in January. These participating alumni were then matched with a undergraduate education majors. student teacher as part of a new mentorship program. The pairs have been connecting monthly to discuss teaching strategies, Along the way, she created a business of her own. After she classroom experiences, and life after graduation. planned a tour of Erie’s top food destinations for some visiting relatives, they pointed out “people would pay you for this.” Erie Kelly is married to Steven Karns, who’s a middle school assistant Food Tours now offers walking tours with food samplings on three principal in North East, Pennsylvania. Lilly now has a sister, Clare, 3.

Shernee ‘Shay’ Bellamy 9M

Shernee “Shay” Bellamy is an Erie native and Central Tech graduate, which young people study for their high school who completed her master’s degree in secondary education online diplomas, build and rehabilitate low-income from her home base in Gainesville, Florida. housing, and earn nationally recognized construction certifcations. She earned a BFA in theatre with a minor in speech communications from Clarion University in 2010. She then went Faculty members says Shay’s personal on to become a fight attendant and worked at Sarah Reed experience working with at-risk youth Children’s Center before embarking on a two-year assignment with profoundly enriched online discussions with her AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). Her VISTA classmates. And Shay says she took many of the service took her to Barry University in Miami, Florida, where she lessons she learned at Mercyhurst back into her programmed lessons and events centered on justice issues for area classroom. schools, as well as working on sustainability issues on the Barry campus. She now has moved on to start a business called Concrete Dreamers with her sister. Concrete Dreamers facilitates socially Shay earned the Segal Award through her VISTA service, and the conscious trainings and curriculum, centered on leadership, award – matched by Mercyhurst – helped fund the next step in empowerment, professional development, and social justice. her education. When she received her master’s degree in 2019, She also works as a case manager, developing relationships and she also earned the Sister Eustace Taylor Award as the outstanding workshops for residents of the Gainesville Housing Authority who student in her program. are enrolled in The Strive 4 Success Program.

Shay was teaching at a nonproft called Project YouthBuild in While she plans to keep educating people around issues that are Gainesville throughout the time she was working on her master’s. important to her, Shay also intends to enroll in a doctoral program Project YouthBuild helps low-income students ages 16-24 who in educational leadership at the University of Florida with an eye have dropped out of school to develop leadership, life, and to one day becoming principal of an alternative school. employability skills. It’s an intensive nine-month program during 11 Laker Asset Management club making gains for university Student-run investment fund focuses on social, academic, fnancial goals

It’s a given: every Mercyhurst University student Approximately 20 current members screen will have a hands-on learning experience companies that match their investment fund’s before graduating. Depending upon their criteria and carry out the due diligence to majors, students have delivered intelligence support their intended investment, all the while Trustee Des McDonald, Adrian Larsen briefngs to national security leaders, designed being guided by Mercyhurst business professor custom spaces for local social service agencies, Mark Simpson, who is a certifed public And that’s what gives McDonald confdence. prepared and delivered a weekly dining series, accountant and a certifed fnancial planner. “The students have been great,” he said. “They conducted public opinion polls, and more. set up their own internal processes, chose areas This past year, students identifed themes to to invest in, and rules by which they invest. Why, posited Mercyhurst Trustee Desmond guide their investment strategy, one being the Their handling and their returns have given me McDonald, shouldn’t business students nation’s aging population. Their research led the assurance that I’m not going to wake up interested in careers in investment them to invest in real estate developments for some day and say, ‘Wow, we just took a terrible management learn to invest – not just book- the elderly and in drug distributors. Their latest bath.’” learn the concepts, but manage actual dollars? theme is “Green,” which has sparked research Such marked the genesis of a student-directed into companies working in the feld of solar On the contrary, the board voted this year to investment fund known as Laker Asset energy and other sustainability initiatives. give LAM another $100,000 to invest. Management (LAM), which began two years Though the fund has been succeeding, ago at the urging of McDonald and Mercyhurst LAM members meet weekly. Membership spans McDonald said even if it loses a little, there President Michael T. Victor, with support from those aspiring to careers within the industry are lessons with each mistake, and investors Vice President for Finance & Administration to those simply eager to learn about fnancial have to constantly be learning, adapting and David Myron. The Board of Trustees followed markets. Simpson spends part of the time withstanding discouragement. with an allocation of $100,000 from the teaching; the rest is spent with students leading university’s endowment committee, which discussions about the market’s performance And, to McDonald, learning is key. Not only are McDonald chairs. that particular week, the latest news from the the students learning how to invest in fnancial Fed, external factors infuencing the market, markets, but they are also gaining intangible McDonald believes that giving students and investment ideas. skill sets, such as good decision-making the ability to make real-life decisions is an and management. extraordinary utility, and an experience that For Larsen, it is an opportunity to network and you simply do not get from curriculum or from socialize with like-minded students as much as Simpson agreed. For these students, asset professors. it is a learning experience and an opportunity management goes way beyond academic to make money for the university. He said theory. From a resume standpoint, students are But what happens when you blend tens of 20 regulars attend the weekly meetings, but working with actual dollars and that denotes a thousands of dollars, the stock market, and another 30 or so attend on occasion. certain level of acumen and responsibility. college students? In LAM’s case, profts. At Plus, they maintain a robust website at least so far. Club president Adrian Larsen, a “I think we really have expanded our reach lakerasset.com where they share their senior from Denmark majoring in international and that was our intention – to create an research and portfolio. They also deliver a business, fnance and economics, said the environment where ambitious students could quarterly report to McDonald and members of group has done well. network and challenge each other,” he said. the university’s endowment committee.

“We outperformed our benchmark, the S&P Larsen came to Mercyhurst as a golf recruit to With this year’s additional allocation, Simpson 500, by 2.04% in our frst year,” he said. pursue a childhood dream of playing sports at said LAM intends to take a new approach. a higher level, but elbow injuries have taken a “Our plan is to divide students into three or Larsen is one of four students who founded toll. Despite the demands of three majors, he four groups and give them $15,000,” he said. LAM and helped craft its charter and establish still craved a vehicle by which to channel his “Each group will research and invest in three its guidelines. The others – Bernardo Ramirez, focus and energy. companies. The logic behind it is that they will Grant Coultrup, and Jeremy Wu – have since be competing and learning and having fun, gone on to successful business careers. LAM ft the bill. “It’s the one thing I really have but as portfolio managers, they will also be to push myself at,” he said. diversifying and limiting risk.” 12 Where are they now?

Jeremy Wu Grant Coultrup Bernardo Ramirez

Today, Jeremy Wu is business development After Mercyhurst, Grant Coultrup worked for After graduating from Mercyhurst in December manager for a cannabis startup called a year at a private accounting frm before of 2017, Ramirez became a full-time investment RedWhite&Bloom in the heart of Toronto’s venturing forth to build his own portfolio. analyst at JPMorgan’s Latin America Private fnancial district. His responsibilities range from Foremost among those projects is Netrendity Bank based in Miami, Florida, where he corporate development to forecasting revenues Networks, a startup he leads as operations supports three senior investors and helps for new operations. coordinator. The software company hosts The manage the portfolios of ultrahigh net worth Rowing Channel, through which it provides a clients, endowments, and foundations. “The challenges a startup faces are unique, but live video broadcast of top races in the world “I can confdently say I would not be in this the whole experience and process of starting of collegiate rowing. As a former Mercyhurst position if it wasn’t for LAM,” he said. “LAM LAM prepared me for my current day-to-day rower and assistant rowing coach at Orange helped me develop habits that will make me a better than any classroom lecture ever could,” Coast College, he said this enterprise brings his lifetime learner and gave me the opportunity to Wu said. “It’s shocking how many similarities passion full circle. start developing two key skills: technical skills I see between a billion-dollar business and and soft skills.” our little university club. One thing that really Rounding out his portfolio is Coultrup Designs, stands out is how important strong leadership where he consults with small businesses to help Among the technical skills are economics, and management are, and I think LAM has them design and implement a pivot to a digital business strategy, capital markets, diferent benefted from all of the various leaders it has future. Coultrup Designs spans many industries types of investment vehicles, statistics, tax had during its brief existence.” from fashion to music to infuencer marketing. considerations, and more.

Wu helped start the student club because of “Working with LAM taught me responsibility, “In LAM, we wanted to create a culture that his passion for trading and investing, but he due diligence, how to build an entity, and demands habitual, day-to-day technical claims the most rewarding aspect had nothing some of my frst experiences managing development, with the ultimate goal of to do with the actual investments, rather the people,” he said. “I believe that this program is improving LAM’s human capital,” Ramirez said. opportunity to build and lead. “We literally very important to the development of young “We preached for something as simple as started with nothing but an idea, and a few fnanciers and money managers at Mercyhurst.” reading business, fnancial and political news months later we were pitching the endowment every single day and letting your curiosity force committee for $100K,” he said. Coultrup also beneftted from enlightened you to Google absolutely any word or concept leadership. “Having Mark Simpson on our side that you did not understand. If you do this Apart from the many skills Wu acquired was a huge bonus,” he said. “Here was a guy every single day, you will be surprised by how through LAM, he said the most meaningful who had been in the feld for years, racked much you can learn over time.” takeaway was the network of passionate, up numerous professional certifcations, and intelligent, and hard-working students that believed in us enough to advocate for our new In terms of soft skills, Ramirez cited numerous kept him motivated. club. Perhaps our best move was befriending Mercyhurst people for motivating him, President Victor. As former dean of the Walker including President Victor, Carl Anderson, David “I still keep in touch with past members like School of Business, Victor took a genuine Myron, and Mark Simpson. “I pushed myself to Bernie (Ramirez), and current members like interest in us and helped push our case to the limit just to try to keep up with this group Adrian, and I hope to continue doing so as we the top where we would pitch our idea to the of individuals,” he said. “Each one of them has all fnd our own distinct paths toward success,” endowment committee and get legitimacy.” a level of technical and soft skills that I hope he said. to match in the future. If I can sum it up in one phrase, I would say they helped me be comfortable being uncomfortable.” 13 Joe Morris emerges as sought-after political analyst For a guy who doesn’t play hardball, he’s got an unlikely bucket-list item

By Deborah W. Morton

The New York Times, C-SPAN, Fox News, NBC … the list of high-profle media outlets seeking political analysis from Mercyhurst’s Dr. Joe Morris continues to grow.

The reason is simple. Morris, who chairs the university’s Department of Political Science, has evolved into a quick-thinking, articulate, and objective news source whose credibility stems from his own insightful grasp of political events to his more encompassing take on the public pulse. The latter he gauges through public opinion polling he oversees as director of the Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics (MCAP).

Also, the fact that a historically blue county like Erie turned red for Donald Trump in 2016 has all eyes on this region as the 2020 presidential race heats up. Morris has become the go-to guy for putting the issues, the candidates, and the controversies in perspective.

A beloved professor, the lights, camera, action routine didn’t become part of his wheelhouse until 2017. His predecessor, Dr. Michael Federici, was the man in the spotlight for many years. When Federici left Mercyhurst in May 2017 to take a position at Middle Tennessee State University, Morris stepped into the role, intent on keeping Mercyhurst’s Poli Sci department the expert on local and regional politics. To that end, he has been hugely successful.

But, never did he think he’d be sitting in the same room being interviewed by two-time Emmy Award winner and former CBS and CNN news correspondent Joie Chen, who was at Mercyhurst in July to prepare a segment for the Hearst Television political magazine program “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien.” Nor did he expect to be a guest of C-SPAN when its bus rolled into Erie in October to gather key insights on Pennsylvania’s role in Campaign 2020. And who would have fgured that Keisuke Katori, a Washington, D.C.-based reporter for The Asahi Shimbun, widely recognized as Japan’s leading national newspaper with a daily circulation of nearly 8 million, would seek out Morris for a sit-down?

Besides his knowledge and engaging on-camera persona, Morris’ popularity stems from his willingness to accommodate. Recently, he was driving his son, Logan, to a youth hockey game down state when an interview request from New York Times national correspondent Trip Gabriel came in. Rather than seek a more convenient time, he hooked up his Bluetooth and did the interview on the road. 14 Morris said he approaches his media Morris said, but a life experience that he’d like more than a couple hours to leave Mercyhurst, appearances as an opportunity to lecture in a to have: Being yelled at by Chris Matthews. go home and change into a suit, and make the very big classroom. “I always view it as a chance roughly two-hour trip. to reach more people; to help them understand Morris has his favorite political analysts on both why this or that is an important issue for them,” the left and the right, and on the left, it’s Chris Barreling down I-79, he got himself mentally he said. Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball. psyched and prepped.

He also appreciates the opportunity his “He yells at everybody, whether he agrees with But his exuberance took an abrupt turn when celebrity creates for his students. At least a them or not,” Morris said. “I’d like my turn.” his cell phone rang just south of Meadville. It dozen of them annually do interviews along was the Hardball producer telling him that a with him. And, the estimated 150 students from And it almost came. breaking news story had derailed their original assorted majors who conduct the university’s plans for the evening broadcast. Morris’ services public opinion polls get to see their work A couple years back, Morris got a call from a would no longer be needed. publicly shared, not only locally, but across Hardball producer to come on the show. He the country, from NBC’s Today Show to Nate thought for sure someone was playing a trick He could feel the car slowing down, as if Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, the prestigious polling on him. He turned to the university’s PR director keeping pace with his disappointment. “I think aggregation website. to check it out, and she determined the request I traveled home at around 45 miles per hour,” was authentic. he said. “It means a lot to our students to realize that they were part of documenting what was going Since Erie does not have a satellite uplink, But, he hasn’t lost hope. Hardball has used on at that time in history,” Morris said. Hardball had rented a studio in Pittsburgh MCAP’s poll results in the past. He fgures an for Morris to engage in what would be a live invitation will come again … and he’ll be ready. What’s next? Well, it’s not exactly a career goal, interview with Chris Matthews. He had little

15 From left: Guillermo Duquela, Dalma Bordon, Jeremy Young, and Quentin Malloy Momentum surge in downtown Erie benefts Mercyhurst graduates

By Deborah W. Morton

Colleagues said it couldn’t be done, but For someone who defed the odds by “The opportunity to work at Federal Jeremy Young did it anyway. relocating from the busy Beltway to Erie’s Resources has truly highlighted the downtown in the early stages of what need for diversity and forward-thinking He moved the headquarters of his has become a bona fde renaissance, grit leadership that cities like Erie need from multimillion-dollar technology company, counts. a professional standpoint to continue to Federal Resources Corporation (FRC), from grow and transform communities,” Bordon northern Virginia to downtown Erie two Duquela, a native of the Bronx in New said. “In the short time I have worked with years ago. In that short time, his company York, started working at FRC just weeks Jeremy and the staf at FRC, I have become has experienced enviable growth, and after graduating last May with a degree extremely passionate about my career and gone from a mere seven employees to in Business. He counts himself fortunate responsibilities within the company.” more than 60, 12 of whom are situated to be there. “I feel downtown Erie has a in the FRC headquarters in the Cashier’s great atmosphere and is trending upward,” Like Duquela and Bordon, Malloy had to House, a three-story Greek Revival building he said. “There are more opportunities learn an entirely new industry in short at 417 State Street. presenting themselves as new order. A 2017 Hospitality Management establishments are being built.” graduate, Malloy said, “Choosing to work Three of those new hires are Mercyhurst as an inside sales representative for Federal graduates: Guillermo Duquela and Quentin He also feels Mercyhurst prepared him well, Resources Corporation is one of the most Malloy, inside sales; and Dalma Bordon, saying, “With my experiences in Residence rewarding decisions that I could have made marketing/HR support. Life as an RA and in the classrooms of the to launch my professional career thus far. Walker College of Business, I’ve learned Federal Resources fosters a refreshing, “They’re all ambitious self-starters who to conduct myself like a professional both positive work environment that allowed have had to learn this industry from inside and outside of the ofce setting.” me to seamlessly immerse myself in the scratch,” said Young, whose company IT sales industry in a short amount of time specializes in providing IT modernization Bordon studied Political Science and while having no prior experience. solutions and services that focus on Strategic Communications at Mercyhurst as cyber security, cloud, data analytics, an undergraduate. An international student “My time as an undergrad at Mercyhurst and infrastructure to the United States from Paraguay, she also earned a graduate provided me with a solid and versatile government. “They’ve come from degree from Mercyhurst’s Organizational foundation that I can easily build upon. Mercyhurst very well prepared, they work Leadership program in 2019. While I am no longer active in the hard, and they have grit.” hospitality industry, I am still using the talents I developed at Mercyhurst for 16 customer-relationship building at Federal his undergraduate degree in business at In terms of his own industry, he said, Resources. Keeping organized, efcient Clarion University where he later earned “That portion that is focused on cyber, communication, and efective planning are his MBA. Much as he would have preferred risk management and data science is the some of the transferable skills that are most launching his career in Erie, he went most underserved; there are more jobs relevant to what I am doing now.” elsewhere for lack of local opportunities, than people with the skill sets to fll them. achieving considerable success in the IT This is a great opportunity for schools like Meanwhile, Young is excited to create and cyber security industries. Mercyhurst University, which has strong career opportunities for Erie’s young majors in those areas.” people. In fact, in January, he announced In recent years, Young has sought ways of receipt of a three-year government giving back to his hometown. In 2014, he When Mercyhurst President Michael Victor contract worth $14 million. The company purchased and restored an aging building committed the university to take the lead will provide direct support to the Defense behind the comedy club at 14th and in forming the Erie Innovation District, Health Agency’s MHS Genesis program, State, presently home to Domino’s Pizza. which according to plan became a separate the new electronic health record for the In spring 2018, he publicly announced the entity in 2019, one of his main goals was to Military Health System. The program relocation of FRC to Erie at a media event mitigate brain drain and create new digital provides enhanced, secure technology to hosted by the Erie Innovation District (EID), economy jobs that would provide family- manage health information. launched by Mercyhurst University, and the sustaining wages. Erie Downtown Development Corporation Young attended Blessed Sacrament School (EDDC). “We are proving that right now,”Young and Cathedral Prep and then pursued said. “And it can only get better.” 17 Organizational Leadership: 20 years strong By Sean Cuneo

On May 21, 2000, at then-Mercyhurst the region to ofer a Master of Science framework for professionals who currently College’s spring commencement, degree in Organizational Leadership. hold leadership positions or are aspiring to the degree of Master of Science in Leadership coursework had been ofered at leadership roles in organizations. Students Organizational Leadership was conferred Mercyhurst as part of the Administration of in the program learn to synthesize for the frst time on 12 individuals, the frst Justice master’s program in the preceding contemporary scholarship with insight graduating class in a brand-new master’s years and, according to the May 1998 from Mercyhurst’s service-oriented program. edition of the Mercyhurst Newsletter, a heritage to articulate their own leadership survey of 100 regional employers indicated philosophy and put leadership theories Twenty years later, the Organizational overwhelming support for a standalone into practice in professional settings. Leadership program—or OL, as it’s widely leadership degree program. known—is marking this noteworthy “Organizational Leadership highlights the anniversary with a restructured, fexible Bruce Murphy, Ed.D., then-chair of the human side of organizations,” said Anne curriculum and the transition to 100 Walker College of Business, was the frst Zaphiris, Ph.D., OL program director. “We percent online coursework. director of the OL program. study behavior and communication to understand how organizations function “In taking the OL program 100 percent “Most of [the students] have and what it means to be a productive online, we’re trying to meet the needs preconceptions about what leadership member of a team.” of the 21st century leadership market,” entails, but when they’re exposed to said Heidi Hosey, Ph.D., dean of Global people from diferent occupational The new 100 percent online OL program Programs and Experiential Learning and backgrounds, they have to broaden their consists of 10 courses, starting with seven interim dean of the Walker College of conception. One of our goals in starting OL foundational core courses. With the Business, which houses the OL program. this program was to have some impact remaining three courses, students can “Many students are already professionals on the leadership of this region,” Murphy choose from electives that are relevant to working in industry and business, and they said in the September 2001 Mercyhurst their professional competencies and goals. don’t have the time or accessibility to sit in Newsletter. Online coursework will provide fexibility classrooms. They need fexibility.” for students juggling professional and Celebrated for its broad applicability other responsibilities while also expanding At the start of the 1998-99 academic year, across diferent professional disciplines, opportunities for those outside the Mercyhurst became the frst college in OL provides a theoretical and practical geographic region. 18 “We continue to contemporize our curricular oferings to A MASTER’S FOR MODERN LEADERS meet the needs of the modern-day workforce,” said Leanne Roberts, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic afairs. “Through the creative eforts of our distinguished faculty on the curriculum design and online classes through our outstanding Ofce of Distance Learning, ORGANIZATIONAL the changes in our OL program are yet another example of Mercyhurst keeping pace with the rapidly changing marketplace.” LEADERSHIP Current OL elective oferings address topics including human resources, law, marketing, and corporate 100 PERCENT ONLINE responsibility, with the potential to expand in the next few years to include courses in areas ranging from cyber security and data analytics to education and health care.

“We want to provide students with the ability to choose Leadership is about adapting to change, earning trust, upscale areas and help them advance in areas that are motivating others, and making strategic decisions. most relevant to their felds,” Hosey said. Organizational Leadership equips you with an understanding of leadership principles and opportunities to further develop The online OL program will also ofer multiple entry points your leadership and problem-solving skills. This program (fall, spring, or summer), diferent options for course complements almost every background, ofering instruction in pacing, and full-semester and half-semester courses, the complexities of leadership that can be applied in any feld. allowing students to complete the program in a manner that works for them. Perhaps most notably for Laker grads, This 10-course program (30 credits) includes courses such as: Mercyhurst alumni who graduated more than two years ago will qualify for a special tuition rate of $1,000 per • Leadership Theory and Practice course. • Leadership and Organizational Behavior From its inception, the OL program attracted students from • Organizational Communication diferent educational and professional backgrounds, from health care and manufacturing to higher education and volunteer organizations—a pattern that continues today. “There is no typical OL student. They come from all SPECIAL TUITION OFFER undergraduate majors, in all diferent levels of their careers,” Zaphiris said. FOR MERCYHURST ALUMNI

Over the past 20 years, the program’s more than 350 Merychurst alumni who graduated more than two graduates include entrepreneurs, executives, and years ago can pursue an Organizational Leadership managers in diverse industries all around the world, such as a school superintendent, a National Hockey League master’s at a cost of only $1,000 per course. coach, and the founder of an adventure travel organization in Chile.

For Zaphiris, who keeps in touch with OL alumni on active Facebook and LinkedIn pages, their successes and READY TO APPLY? reminiscences about course lessons and faculty are proof Get started for free at apply.mercyhurst.edu. that the OL program is still meeting the needs of leaders more than 20 years after its founding. Visit mercyhurst.edu/OL for more information, “I love the OL program,” Zaphiris said. “I believe that we are or contact the Ofce of Graduate & Continuing well positioned to prepare modern leaders for whatever Education at [email protected] or 814-824-3351. challenges they’ll face in their careers.” 19 Happenings on the Hill Sen. Casey addresses Intel students

U.S. Senator Robert “Bob” Casey Jr. addressed Group, spoke specifcally about terrorism and Mercyhurst Intelligence Studies majors Oct. 1. weapons of mass destruction and what he The senator, who is co-chair of the Weapons needs from the intelligence community to of Mass Destruction Terrorism Caucus and an make informed decisions. appointee to the National Security Working

Remembering Pat Yahn

Patricia Sontheimer Yahn never lost touch with But her greatest gift came when she endowed Mercyhurst. the annual student art show at Mercyhurst, which has been known since 2017 as the She cultivated her passion for watercolors Patricia S. Yahn ’50 Juried Student Art Show. under the tutelage of Sister Angelica Cummings, earning her art degree here in 1950. Mrs. Yahn died last year at the age of 91, but During her long career as a working artist, and she’s being remembered again this spring as later as an interior decorator, she frequently the 2020 edition of the student exhibit opens took part in art exhibits on the Hill and donated in Cummings Gallery. Juror James Pearson has many works that are still on display on campus. chosen the best of Mercyhurst student work in all mediums for the March 9-April 2 show.

Mary Schaaf elected trustee

Mary E. Patalon Schaaf, a 1968 Mercyhurst Wharton School of Finance. Schaaf enjoyed a graduate, has been elected to the Board of career of more than 33 years as Senior Financial Trustees of her alma mater. She earned a Advisor with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & master’s degree from Edinboro University in Smith beginning in 1977 and served as Erie 1977 and certifcation in Portfolio Performance County Controller from 2011 to 2019. Measurement at the University of Pennsylvania

Author Deborah Goodrich Royce signs copies of debut novel at Hurst

Deborah Goodrich Royce, perhaps best known Finding Mrs. Ford. A longtime friend of President as an actress on TV (including the soap opera Michael T. Victor, she also shared highlights of All My Children) and in flms, visited Mercyhurst her career with the audience. in October to sign copies of her debut novel,

20 New Cyber Security major enrolls record class

Mercyhurst University welcomed 63 Cyber coincides with the addition of the MCPc Cyber Security majors in fall 2019 – believed to be the Education Center at Mercyhurst University, largest enrollment ever in a debut program. which was dedicated in 2018 on the Mercyhurst Some 45 freshmen and 18 upperclassmen have campus. chosen to focus their degree pursuits on this high-demand feld. Said university President Michael T. Victor, “While focused almost entirely on national Although Mercyhurst has infused cyber security and law enforcement at its start nearly security concepts as part of its Intelligence three decades ago, the Ridge College has Studies curriculum for years, this marks the frst evolved to educate students in the burgeoning year that it has ofered Cyber Security as an feld of business intelligence, and now, cyber undergraduate major in its own right. The move security.”

High-fying entrepreneur makes mark in real estate world

Long before Ryan Gibson ’05 enrolled Today, Spartan has recruited 1,500 passive in the Walker School of Business, he investors and raised $20 million in private dreamed of becoming a pilot. Even after his equity. Business is exploding right now, Mercyhurst education launched him in a Ryan says, and the company is on track to diferent direction, he knew he still wanted meet its goal of owning $250 million in to fy. real estate by the end of 2022. In the past year, Spartan has grown from the founders Today, Ryan is both the chief investment to building a team of 22 employees and ofcer of an $85 million real estate frm has facilities in Texas, Colorado, and he co-founded and a commercial airline Washington. pilot. He has a simple explanation: “I have a passion for entrepreneurship, and I don’t It was only natural for Jackie Kerper like being bored.” Gibson, who majored in Hotel, Restaurant Ryan and Jackie have a daughter, Quinn and Institutional Management (HRIM) at Marilyn, who’s 3, and welcomed a son, After graduation, Ryan went to work as an Mercyhurst, to become Spartan’s director Rowan, on Dec. 26, 2019. They live in airline pilot in Washington, D.C. In 2009, he of operations. Jackie’s HRIM background Seattle, Washington. and his wife, Jackie Kerper ’05, bought their made her a perfect ft to oversee Spartan’s frst house and “rehabbed it right down to more than 3,000 units of real estate. Ryan says he’s always been entrepreneurial, the studs.” but he’s quick to credit his Mercyhurst Ryan says that partnering with his wife, a mentors for their contributions to his He soon teamed up with his neighbor, fellow Mercyhurst grad, has contributed current success, including President Scott Lewis, to renovate four properties signifcantly to the business’s success. Michael T. Victor, who taught his Business on their block and the company Spartan Ryan says, “It’s special to be able to work Policy and Strategy class, and rowing coach Investment Group was born. Spartan with your spouse and have the same Adrian Spracklen. began with renovating properties and educational foundation that Mercyhurst converting row homes into condos, but provided.” Learn more about Ryan’s company and now focuses on commercial real estate. its mission “to improve lives through real estate” at spartan-investors.com.

21 Spanos earn honors after big baseball season The 2019 baseball season saw the Lakers travel to their second straight College World Series and fnish as one of the last four teams standing in Division II. After the season, the Mercyhurst coaching staf brought home multiple awards and honors.

Head coach Joe Spano was named American Baseball Coaches Association Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season after leading the Lakers to a 36-win season, a 19-9 record in PSAC play, and that World Series appearance – the third for the team in the last fve years.

He would go on to be named the 2019 Erie Times-News Sportsman of the Year for his dedication to Mercyhurst baseball and the Renovations continue to community. In his career Spano has racked up 649 wins and all 10 of Mercyhurst’s winningest transform campus athletic facilities seasons. Associate head coach Charlie Spano was also The growth of Mercyhurst Athletics has been and the Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse, and honored by the ABCA as the Division II Assistant apparent in a very physical way over the past will also provide an additional practice and Coach of the Year, an award that honors year, with the Mercyhurst Ice Center, Saxon competition site for the university’s soccer, feld coaching expertise, recruiting, loyalty to the Stadium, and the baseball/soccer felds all hockey and lacrosse teams. program and respect for the game. undergoing transformative renovations. The impetus for the project came largely from Charlie fnished his 18th season with the Saxon Stadium, which was named for John and Betsy Hirt Vorsheck, a 1973 Mercyhurst Prep Lakers. During his tenure, Mercyhurst has had Patty Saxon during Homecoming 2019, has graduate and a 1977 graduate of Mercyhurst 23 infelders earn all-conference honors. In his an all-new playing surface that was expanded University, and her husband, William. time as recruiting coordinator, 14 Lakers have to allow men’s and women’s soccer to play at gone on to be drafted by Major League Baseball Together, the Vorshecks gifted $4 million to Saxon under the newly installed LED lights. clubs and eight are still active at various levels of Men’s soccer hosted their PSAC quarterfnal the university’s frst-ever designated capital professional baseball. matchup on the Saxon turf. campaign for athletics: Laker for Life: The Campaign for Mercyhurst Athletics. Mercyhurst Also during Homecoming, the Saxon Stadium has named its new and upgraded facilities The press box was named for P. Barry McAndrew, William J. Vorsheck Jr. Athletic Complex. the long-time voice of Mercyhurst Athletics and the public address announcer for Laker football Also upgraded thanks to the Laker for Life and basketball. campaign were the Mercyhurst Ice Center, which got new boards and glass, new chillers Marc McAndrew ’88 made a major contribution to provide a higher quality playing surface, to the Laker for Life Campaign in honor of his and improvements to its spectator areas; and father, who was a member of the Mercyhurst the baseball/soccer feld, which has a new turf English faculty for 41 years prior to his playing surface, a pair of new scoreboards, and retirement and was inducted into the Athletics new grandstand seating behind home plate at Hall of Fame in 2014. the baseball feld. Four new locker rooms were also built behind the Ice Center. Mercyhurst and Mercyhurst Preparatory School also broke ground last fall on a shared facility Laker for Life: The Campaign for Mercyhurst that will provide an on-campus home for the Athletics continues to accept donations, with university’s softball team as well as Mercyhurst further projects dependent on its success. For Prep boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. The softball/ soccer complex will be located in the space information, visit the campaign website at between Mercyhurst University’s two turf felds mercyhurst.edu/LakerforLife.

22 Lakers tapped for ‘Friendship Four’ The Mercyhurst men’s hockey team will join fellow Atlantic Hockey teams Army and Sacred Heart to compete in the 2020 Friendship Four next fall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They’re the frst Atlantic Hockey teams chosen for the Friendship Four, one of the premier events of the college hockey season. ‘Fighting for Folgs’ The Lakers will face Quinnipiac University of the ECAC in the frst round on Nov. 27. "It is truly an honor to have Mercyhurst selected to participate in the Friendship Four next campaign honored year," said Director of Athletics Brad Davis. "Mercyhurst University has many roots in Ireland, and it is truly a natural ft for us to have the privilege to play college hockey in Belfast." Mercyhurst University earned third place in the NCAA Division II Award of Excellence for 2020, in recognition In addition to a pair of hockey games, the team will take part in cultural experiences, of last year’s “Fighting for Folgs” campaign. including visiting local youth groups and exploring the deep history of Northern Ireland.

When veteran hockey equipment manager Mike Folga was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, the Mercyhurst Student-Athlete Advisory Women’s bowling debuts Committee hosted “Fighting for Folgs” to raise money Mercyhurst launched its 26th varsity athletic program in fall 2019 when the women’s for the Folga family and the American Cancer Society. bowling team competed in its frst tournament on Oct. 11.

The Award of Excellence recognizes initiatives in the Under the direction of Erie native and Professional Bowling Association member Michael past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, Machuga, the Lakers scored their frst win in their opening tournament with an 807-688 community engagement, and student-athlete victory over Belmont Abbey. leadership. Haley Youker led Mercyhurst with a pair of individual frst-place fnishes at the Medaille Though Folga died Aug. 31, 2019, his legacy will Invitational and the Wildcat Invitational, where she was named the Most Valuable Player. continue at Mercyhurst with the creation and funding of the endowed Mike Folga Legacy Scholarship as the Youker led the Laker roster with a 204.3 game average with a high of 1,124. She was senior gift of the Class of 2020. named the ECC Co-Bowler of the Week at the end of the fall season.

23 Growth of club sports creates more opportunities to compete

By Joseph Cuneo

When Tom McKinnon became coach of between club and varsity sports: no athletic Mercyhurst’s club hockey team in 2005, the scholarships are ofered, student-athletes already 17-year-old program consisted of take a greater hand in planning practices fewer than 20 players despite a winning and arranging competition, and teams are history. often responsible for raising funds.

Fifteen years later, Mercyhurst club hockey Mercyhurst hires non-student coaches comprises two men’s squads as well as a to focus on recruiting students to the women’s team, and boasts more than 80 university, while providing instruction and coaches, players, and staf members. organization. But ofering structure while still maintaining the independence that “Little by little, we’ve grown,” said club student-athletes cherish is a balancing McKinnon, who also holds the title of club act, said Hayden Weaver, who in the fall hockey general manager. “We’ve always became the frst coach of Mercyhurst’s looked for opportunities for growth.” Ultimate Frisbee team.

In many ways, the evolution of club hockey “When I talked to the captains (before I foreshadowed the growth of club sports in started), they were kind of nervous that general at Mercyhurst. an outsider was going to come in and coach, because they were most concerned “Club sports is one of the fastest growing about their studies and they didn’t want trends in college athletics and this is really to lose that,”Weaver said. “So, I’ve tried to about giving students the opportunity fnd a middle ground in it not being so to compete, while being involved in regimented but also introducing them to organizing and running the program,” some new strategies and concepts.” Mercyhurst athletics director Brad Davis said. “Club sports are also a very efective While team responsibilities occupy large recruiting tool.” portions of varsity student-athletes’ time, club members have more freedom Mercyhurst established nine new club to structure their schedules around teams for the 2019-20 school year. academics. In addition, club teams already in operation, which used to be considered For instance, fgure skating coach Anna Recognized Student Clubs/Organizations Zelina said she ofers her six-member team (RSCOs), are now coordinated by the multiple 6 a.m. practice times each week. athletics department. Athletics hired Allison Brace ’15 as the frst director of club “My rule for them is to come to two sports and plans to introduce roughly eight practices a week,” she said. “During fnals new teams in each of the next two years. week, I have all practices as optional, just if they need to blow of some steam, but we Club sports difer from intramural sports in try to make academics the priority.” that teams compete against other schools, often belong to regional conferences, and Figure skating is in its inaugural season can even play for national championships. and has yet to begin intercollegiate But there are also distinct diferences competition.

24 Before Mercyhurst’s relatively new sailing team could begin to school. Mercyhurst’s club hockey program added a second men’s compete, it not only had to build its numbers, but also secure team in 2016 for this very purpose. access to boats and gain afliation with its conference, the Mid- Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association, coach Bob Green said. While club hockey’s Division I team vies for players from across the region against other schools in a competitive recruiting landscape, Gannon and Penn State Behrend have also launched sailing teams the “developmental” or DII team ofers more casual student- in recent years. When the three teams co-hosted the Battle of Lake athletes a chance to play. Erie regatta in September, Mercyhurst’s eighth-place fnish ranked best among the local participants. “(Having two divisions) allows us to open the door to all skillsets,” he said. “We’re a program that can feld teams with the best of the Like skating, bowling, and other recently introduced teams, sailing best as well as have kids who want to continue competing after both draws student-athletes looking to continue competition high school.” after high school and introduces other students to sports they can participate in long after graduation. Mercyhurst is not alone in its renewed focus on club sports. Many schools have identifed them as a means of attracting prospective “I have a couple of students who are incredibly experienced, and I students and empowering non-varsity student-athletes. have students who have been sailing instructors or actively sailed in high school,” Green said. “Some students have no experience. Halli Bidwell, who has served as equestrian coach since 2005, One of my top sailors right now came in with no experience. said she’s noticed a diference in the way club teams approach recruiting now compared to when she began 15 years ago — and “I come at it from two ways: It’s a lot of fun, and it’s something that students are taking note. you can take with you when you leave college. I have friends who sail who are in their 80s.” “We’re sending out more recruiting letters,” Bidwell said. “A lot of the schools have (equestrian teams) and most of the kids who For some, club sports represent an opportunity to continue have ridden are coming out knowing which schools have teams, athletic careers that would have otherwise concluded in high so it helps to reach out to them.” 25 Goggles, avatars, action! Mercyhurst Police Academy uses virtual

reality technology to Police Academy Director Bill Hale explains the virtual reality scenario Erie News Now reporter train cadets Emily Matson is about to encounter.

A back alley, a living room, a school yard, a last winter for a sweeps story she was directing her aim, and shooting. “This is an car stop … the work space for police knows doing on the VR machine, essentially a exercise in decision-making.” no bounds, and it’s impossible to replicate pair of goggles and some basic acoustics. in a typical classroom or gun range. In an empty room at the police academy’s In another scenario, Matson is called upon North East ofces, Matson made a quick to coax a young girl of a bridge, where she The latest technology, however, takes law assessment of her surroundings, planted is cowering in contemplation of jumping. enforcement training into a whole new herself in the middle of the room, and Gluvna controls the avatar, so the girl may realm. Using its newly acquired Virtual adjusted the VR apparatus on her head. respond cooperatively, or not, to Matson’s Reality Training Simulator, the Mercyhurst Hale stood nearby. In the corner of the appeals. Municipal Police Training Academy is room, academy deputy director Ron introducing cadets to dozens of real-life Gluvna manned a computer station, Matson implores her to come down from scenarios, from mass shootings to domestic controlling what scenarios Matson would the ledge, to talk, to let her help. Just when violence. experience. it seems the girl is about to comply, she stands abruptly and teeters precariously on “The great thing about this new To demonstrate the VR efect on the the edge. So engrossed in the emotional technology is that it brings you closer to human body, Hale started with a scenario scenario, Matson reaches out to grab her, a real-life experience than anything I’ve that compels you to walk a plank jutting only to chide herself later for being duped ever seen before,” said Bill Hale, academy from a building many stories above the into reacting. However, Hale tells her that a director and a former Millcreek Township ground. Matson’s fear was palpable as week earlier, one of the academy’s cadets police ofcer. “It’s so immersive; you feel copious beads of sweat sprang from her went so far as to charge into the wall in his you are there.” palms. Despite knowing that she was own attempts to rescue the victim. standing on a carpeted foor in an empty Police ofcers encounter stressful room, repeatedly reinforced by Hale, she “It’s that real,” he said. situations daily, and the scenarios often was reluctant to move. Eventually, she took call for immediate decisions. With the that wobbly frst step and walked the plank Meanwhile, he added that there is no progression of simulation-based learning without incident. doubt in his mind that the new VR to interactive training that provides technology will better prepare ofcers to realistic experiences, trainees can practice Had she stumbled, Hale said, she would respond efectively and professionally with appropriate responses, including how to literally have experienced the sensation of the many scenarios they deal with each day de-escalate dangerous situations. falling through the air. as they work to protect their communities. Hale said he intends to make the new Moving forward, he anticipates applying technology available to local law Next, Matson is given an imitation Glock for grant funding that will enable the enforcement and possibly to social service pistol and conveyed to a cityscape, academy to customize scenarios, such as and mental health agencies that could where her charge is to identify and shoot using taped footage from a local school, for beneft from de-escalation training. menacing perpetrators, all the while instance, to more authentically train for a protecting innocent bystanders. “This isn’t school shooting. Meanwhile, Hale took Erie News Now target practice,” Hale reminded her, as she reporter Emily Matson through the paces warily worked her way around the room, 26 Class Notes The ’60s The ’00s

Kristine Monroe ‘67 and Dr. P. Barry McAndrew, retired Mercyhurst English Anthony Maher ‘02 and wife Anne had their fourth son, Apollo John, on July 29, professor, were married in Christ the King Chapel on July 13, 2019. Barry and Kris 2019. reside in Erie. Jennifer Moore ‘02 has been named director of the School for Humanities and Global Cultures at Ohio Northern University. She is also an associate professor of The ’70s creative writing.

Michele Rucinski ‘72 married Dr. Allen Thach on Aug. 4, 2019, at Luxembourg Erin Cunningham Peters ‘04 and husband Charley had their frst children, Gardens in Paris, France. Michele and Allen reside in Las Vegas. identical twins Elizabeth Marie and Ava Grace, on March 22, 2019.

Dr. Anne Summerville Koch ‘77 retired after 26 years teaching in the Suki Fuller ‘05 was named one of the 50 most inspiring, prominent and Pennsylvania public schools and now teaches in the education department infuential black voices in UK tech. at Duquesne University. She is teaching math to undergraduate students and overseeing feld experiences and student teachers. She is the mother of four and Parris S. Hobbs ‘05 was promoted to branch manager at Chase Bank in Dayton, grandmother of eight. Ohio. He has been with the bank for nine years as a private client banker. Before joining Chase, Parris worked as a customer service specialist at GE Capital and Holly A. Chiappazzi Villella ‘79 recently showed her art works at Sparrow earned an MBA from the University of Dayton. Gallery in Erie, Pennsylvania. Timothy Krysiek ‘05 and wife Allison had a daughter, Kathryn Amy, on July 20, 2019. She joined big brother Nicholas.

The ’80s Kristen M. Mekota ‘05 and husband Chris had their 4th child, Noah Christopher, on Dec. 1, 2019. Noah joins sisters Ava, Grace and Evelyn. Elizabeth Hajduk Dobes ‘82 showed her work at Whispering Willows Art Gallery, LLC in Norman, Oklahoma, in October and November 2019. She works in Karen Rugare ‘05 was named vice president of customer service colored pencils and featured images of birds. operations and strategy for Erie Insurance in October 2019. The ’90s Ben Bluemle ‘06 and wife Megan had a son, Cameron, on July 1, 2019. Mary Ellen Leisering Ermis ‘06 and husband Reis had their frst child, Dave Constantino ‘92 has been inducted into the Punxsutawney Sports Hall of Christian James, on Nov. 19, 2019. Fame. He is in his 28th year as a teacher at Clarion Area High School and is a long- time coach for the school district. Jen Anderson Michel ‘06 and husband Tim had a daughter, Joella Jessica, on March 28, 2018. Yvonne Maher ‘93 has been named vice president for advancement and community engagement for the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Ramona Ramos ‘06 married James Sullivan Jr. in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 9, 2019. Ramona is a management analyst for the Jonathan Nolan ‘97 and the Woodrow Wilson Middle School music program Department of Veteran Afairs in Chicago. received a 2019 Merit Award from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association. Nolan, the band teacher at Wilson since 2004, also received a special citation Laura McCarthy Kawecki ‘07 and husband Michal had a son, from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for his dedication to the music Julian Kevin, on Dec. 4, 2018, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. program. He also received the 2019 Imagine Award from Erie Arts and Culture recognizing an educator whose eforts have made an outstanding contribution Lucia Abaunza McLain ‘07 and husband Brandon McLain ‘07 to the community by using arts and culture in an educational setting to inspire had a second daughter, Lillian Elizabeth, on April 5, 2019. She joins and empower students. Jonathan also teaches guitar in Mercyhurst’s D’Angelo big sister Isabella. Department of Music. Cody Smith ‘07, a researcher in the University of Notre Dame Jarrett Coco ‘98 has been elected to partnership with Nelson Mullins, an Department of Biological Sciences, has been granted a highly 800+-attorney frm with ofces in 11 states and Washington, D.C. He’s in the frm’s competitive National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award that Columbia ofce. will allow him to perform bold research that has the potential to impact a broad area of science.

Kayti Ostromecki Stadler ‘07 and husband Ryan had a son, Christian Ryan, on Aug. 27, 2019.

27 Christopher Davis ‘08 married Kristina Davis on July 6, 2019. Groomsmen Kevin Dudek ‘14 and Heather Mills Dudek ‘14 had their included Brian Folland ‘08, John Wayner ‘08, Christopher Anderson ‘08, and frst daughter, Harper Marie, on June 9, 2019. Robert Blackburn ‘09. Joseph LaGruth ‘14 married Evan Clark on June 1, 2018, in Kathryn Gorski ‘08 and husband Doug had sons Cleveland, Ohio. Bridesmaids included Adrianne LaGruth Benjamin Leo and Bradley Christian on Oct.1, ‘13, Laura Mohney ‘14, and Kathryn Turek ‘14. Groomsmen 2018. They joined big sister Charlotte. included David Bott ‘14, Ian Abplanalp ‘14, Collin George ‘14, Greg Reimer ‘14, and Chris Ulrich ‘10. Joseph works as a Deanna Fletcher Manbeck ‘08 and police ofcer for the city of Shaker Heights, Ohio, and Evan is a husband Joe had their second son, Jacob volunteer coordinator for The Adoption Network Cleveland. The William, on March 21, 2019. newlyweds reside in Lakewood, Ohio.

Kristin Peterson Pierce ‘08 received a Hilary Anderton ‘15 married Grant Gettinger ‘15 on May 24, Nautilus Book Award in the category of 2019, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bridesmaids included Molly children’s illustrated fction for her children’s book titled Mckay Bahntge ‘15 and Emily Reinhart ‘15. Groomsmen Mayva O’Meere, Creationeer. The book includes 19 historic included Joe Gagliano ‘15, Dan Bahntge ‘15, and senior Zack art references that were inspired by her Mercyhurst Art Kisel. The newlyweds live in Charlotte, North Carolina; Hilary is a Appreciation class. merchant at Of Broadway Shoes and Grant is an AML analyst at PNC Bank. Kaitlyn Faucett ‘09 has joined Lightfoot, Franklin & White, LLC as an associate in the frm’s Houston ofce. Lauren McCrillis ‘15 was awarded the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in May 2019. Hailee Maiorano Leveto ‘09 and husband Jake had their second son, Quinn, on Oct. 27, 2019, making Dexter a big Timmy Reed ‘15, a childhood cancer survivor, has started a nonproft called brother. T-Strong to help provide smiles to children fghting cancer in northeast Ohio. T-Strong held his frst 5K fall dash fundraiser Nov. 9, 2019. Timmy resides in North Canton where he is an employee of Corrosion Fluid Products. The ’10s Kiersten Krolikowski ‘15 Shannon Reed Grube ‘10 and husband Richard had married Lee Wytka on Sept. 28, their second child, Abigail Rose, on April 12, 2019. She 2019, in Orchard Park, New York. joins sister Isabelle Louise. Bridesmaids included Sarah Jansen ‘15 and Kyla Keefe ‘16. Casey Harvilla ‘11 married Matt Belcastro on Sept. Kiersten and Lee both work for 22, 2018, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The bridal party the Department of Justice and included Laura McCarty Waryk ‘11. Casey and Matt live in Boston, Massachusetts. reside in Pittsburgh where Casey works as an art therapist and Matt works as a systems analyst. Eva Solomon ‘16 started a new role as case manager for the Independent Living Program at Bethesda Lutheran Services. Chris Risi ‘10 married Hillary Pattenden ‘12 on June 1, 2019, in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. The two met Aristides Mairena ‘17 recently completed his MSc in Computer Science from the at Mercyhurst while playing on the men’s and women’s University of Saskatchewan and authored his second peer-reviewed publication. ice hockey teams. They are working and living in Thorold, His work explores how people perceive visual efects in their peripheral vision Ontario. for the design of user interface notifcations. The paper is published online as part of the proceedings of the 2019 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Carolyn Carlin ‘12 was given Pittsburgh’s 30 Under 30 award by the Pittsburgh Systems. Business Times and Leadership Pittsburgh Inc. She highlighted Professor Emeritus Roy Strausbaugh as one of the people to have most infuenced her professional Sarah Paschal ‘17 made a short flm about Habitat for Humanity and development. was entered in the AIA People’s Choice award competition.

Joe Coyne ‘13 married Kelly Coyne on July 6, 2019, in Avon Lake, Ohio. Ryan Eric Fink ‘18M was named chief human resources ofcer at Global Blood Bartizal ‘13 was a groomsman. Joe is a CPA and fnancial planner at Fairport Therapeutic. Asset Management in Cleveland, Ohio. Kelly is a chemistry teacher at Notre Dame Cathedral Latin H.S. Caitlyn Lear ‘18 married TJ Wensel on June 29, 2019, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Caitlyn is pursuing a master’s degree in forensic and investigative science at West Thomas Frank ‘13 was awarded the inaugural Martin P. Eisert Leadership Award Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. at Erie Insurance, recognizing an HR & Strategy Division member who models ERIE culture in his or her behaviors, innovates in response to challenge, and adds strategic value to the enterprise.

Durim Loshaj ‘13 was chosen to create original artwork on six signal cabinets and utility boxes near Perry Square in Erie, Pennsylvania, as part of a public art project aimed at brightening downtown Erie.

28 Alumni Deaths Wife of:

Ronald G. Seyboldt ‘95 (Kim Glancy ‘90) Sara McClain ‘42 Jean Shirley ‘72 Dr. Rebecca Sullivan Chevalier ‘46 Edward Grotkowski ‘76 Mary Agnes Culhane Grant ‘47 Ronald Bolash ‘77 Mother of: Helen McDonough Sennett ‘49 Gregg Yeager ‘78 Monica Klos ‘84 (Genevieve Klos) Patrick McIlwee ‘88 (Mary Anne Skelly McIlwee ‘57) Patricia Sontheimer Yahn ‘50 Jefrey O’Hara ‘80 Veronica Nakich Kraus ‘51 Richard Trenski ‘81 Father and father-in-law of: Margaret Green Graves ‘53 John Harrington ‘82 H. Ann Downing Sala ‘54 Michael Folga ‘86 Denise Mall Chybrzynski ‘82 and Thomas Chybrzynski ‘81 Mary Anne Skelly McIlwee ‘57 Timothy Ruth ‘86 Sr. Domenica DeLeo, RSM ‘59 James Myers ‘87 Mother and mother-in-law of: Patricia Richards Ogilvie ‘62 Kimberly Glancy ‘90 Leslie Hafenmaier Armstrong ‘90 and David Armstrong ‘86 (Catherine Hafenmaier) Mary Baker ‘63 Dorothy Johnson ‘91 Margaret Ferko ‘65 Francine Jencka Konen ‘91 Katherine Icardi Hummel ‘68 Kimberly Ostrowski ‘91 Friends of the university:

Marilyn Rose Frink ‘70 Denise Nicotra ‘95 Edward Gallagher, former education faculty member

Rita Kennerknecht ‘70 James Triplett ‘98 Catherine (Kay) Daleo Hafenmaier, university benefactor Gerald Kubiak Jr. ‘06 Brian McHugh, former professor of education and education department chair

Angela Phillips ’08 ‘19M may have set a record for Mercyhurst connections and grandmother, Alice Feehley Crotty ’49, are Hurst alums. The bridal party at her Aug. 23, 2019, wedding to Matt Wachter at St. Patrick Church. During included Angela’s twin sister, Rachel Phillips Tupitza ’08, as matron of honor; the reception at the Erie Art Museum, the photographer gathered well over bridesmaids Kara Bemis ’08, Carly Eades Maas ’11, and Nina Campbell ’19M, 50 graduates and current employees for this group photo. Angela is associate assistant director of admissions; and groomsman Caleb Pifer, vice president for director of international admissions at Mercyhurst. Matt, vice president, university advancement. The rest of the group is made up of cousins, friends, and fnance and development, with the Erie Downtown Development Corporation, family friends on both sides. attended Penn State, but both his mother, Mary Beth Sullivan Wachter ‘73,

29 501 East 38th Street, Erie, PA 16546 mercyhurst.edu

UNIVERSIT ST Y R CONGRATULATIONS! U

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E Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients:

K M E • Barbara Brairton ‘65 E W • Brian DeFrancesco ‘06 20 ON 20 REUNI • Bea Tomczak Habursky ‘85 • Joel Montminy ‘95 • Sister Rita Panciera, RSM ‘53 Join us over • Betsy Hirt Vorsheck ‘77 Reunion Weekend Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees: • 2008-09 Women’s Ice Hockey Team to celebrate our • Vicki Bendus ‘11, women’s ice hockey • Gregory Bensman ‘12, men’s lacrosse alumni honorees. • Mike Folga ’86 (posthumously), athletic trainer • Rachel Griepsma ‘11 ‘12M, women’s water polo & women’s soccer • David Lough ’08, baseball & football

Register today at: mercyhurst.edu/alumni/reunion