MAGAZINE FALL 2014

Team feeds of new tradition P. 21

Inside this issue: MAJOR GIFT HELPS AIM STUDENTS ON CAREER PATH P. 3 PRESIDENT GAMBLE TO RETIRE IN 2015 P. 6 LAKER ALUMS HEADING TO LAW SCHOOL P. 7 POPULAR COURSE EXPLORES ‘BREAKING BAD’ PHENOMENON P. 15 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI, ATHLETES HONORED P. 23-24 A message from the president

I’m amazed at how often I feel the inspiration of the Sisters of Mercy who founded this school – like when I was privileged to watch our own Sister Mary Matthew Baltus fy o ver campus. What a joyous – and well-deserved – moment that was for her. I’ve also been thinking about Sister Maura Smith lately as I watch our Autism/Asperger Initiative at Mercyhurst (AIM for short) build a national reputation. Her dream led Mercyhurst to create a program for students with learning dif erences more than 20 years ago. She was convinced that serving those students was a natural outgrowth of our Mercy mission. We were pioneers in the feld then, just as w e were in 2008 when we added a program to serve college students on the autism spectrum. Now, thanks in part to the parents of one of our AIM students, we’ve launched a Career Path Program to make sure these talented students are ready for the job market. You can learn more on pages 3-5. Then there’s the photo on the cover of this magazine, one of my favorite images from fall term at Mercyhurst this year. That’s football coach Marty Schaetzle holding a giant spoon aloft for each player to touch on his way onto Tullio Field. Laker football didn’t do very well early in the season. As the losses piled up, Marty scrambled to fnd something t o motivate the team to perform as he believed it could. I have to think it was the Sisters of Mercy (Sister Damien, perhaps?) who inspired him to use a sort of parable to make his point. Check out the story on page 21 to read his message to the team – and to learn how the rest of the season unfolded. Let’s just say he seems to have started a wonderful tradition here on the Hill. As you may have heard, I’ve decided to step down as Mercyhurst’s president at the end of this academic year. You can read about that, and the search for the university’s next leader, on page 6, but I’m going to wait until the spring magazine to refec t a bit on the past 10 years. I wish you and your families a happy and blessed holiday season and a wonderful new year. God bless you and God bless Mercyhurst University.

Thomas J. Gamble, Ph.D. President, Mercyhurst University

The Ofc e of Marketing and Contributing Writers Associate Vice President We’d love to hear from you. Public Relations publishes Susan Hurley Corbran ’73 for Advancement Send your story ideas, Mercyhurst Magazine twice a year. David Leisering ’01 Ryan Palm ’07 suggestions and comments to Amy Lombardo ’96 ’01 [email protected] [email protected]. Magazine Editor Deborah W. Morton (800) 845-8568 Susan Hurley Corbran ’73 (814) 824-3320 Send changes of address to: [email protected] Contributing Photographers Alumni Relations (814) 824-2090 Jennifer Cassano Director, Alumni Relations Mercyhurst University Matt Durisko ’14 Tamara Walters 501 E. 38th St. Design/Photography Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07 [email protected] Erie, PA 16546 Jeremy C. Hewitt ’07 Caitlin Ewing ’14 (814) 824-3350 [email protected] [email protected] Ed Mailliard (814) 824-3022 Frank Rizzone Class Notes Editor Debra Tarasovitch Vice President for External Afairs [email protected] Monsignor David Rubino, Ph.D. (814) 824-2392 [email protected] (814) 824-3034 1 Come fly with me

Anyone staring skyward Aug. 28 near the Mercyhurst campus spied a plume of smoke streaming from the back of a restored 1944 Boeing Stearman. It was none other than our own Sister Mary Matthew Baltus buzzing by.

Nancie Baltus was 15 when she took her frst fying lesson in a vin tage biplane. That summer day, the spry 90-year- old strapped on a headset, boarded the open-air fying machine at North Coast Air and let pilot Scott Allen fy her back in time to the golden age of aviation.

The rarefed e xperience for Sister Mary Matthew, the longtime astronomy professor for whom the Baltus Observatory atop Zurn Hall is named, came courtesy of a Mercyhurst trustee who prefers to remain anonymous. Sister was cool and collected as she climbed Once back on the ground, Sister Mary The opportunity arose last year at a on board the shiny red, white and blue plane. Matthew was all smiles. Mercyhurst Prep gala when a biplane figh t over the peninsula was of ered for bid at a “I just want to feel what it is like again,” she “I got to see Mercyhurst, the observatory and fundraising auction. Sister eagerly bid, but said. “The last time I few one of these w as my old family home on Beech Avenue,” she was outdone by deeper pockets. Seeing her back in 1945.” said, obviously pleased. disappointment, the Mercyhurst trustee Allen few Sist er along the peninsula and quietly placed an anonymous bid for a second When asked if she’d do it again, she didn’t then up and around Mercyhurst, where he figh t as a gift for her many years of Mercy hesitate: “Oh sure, but next time I’d like him to unleashed his smoke system to the delight of service. This year marks her 70th anniversary as let me fy it .” spectators below. a Sister of Mercy.

2 ‘Hurst aims high for students on the spectrum

By Susan Corbran

Transitions can be hard for students on the autism spectrum.

Two unique components of the Autism/Asperger Initiative at Mercyhurst (known as AIM) have been developed to ease such transitions.

For students trying to decide whether they’re ready to attend college, AIM of ers a three-week residential program called Foundations each summer. And now, thanks to a generous gift from the family of an AIM student, a Career Path Program will help ensure that AIM students can succeed in the work world following graduation.

When Mark Stookey and Lisa Chismire started researching college • academic support, including priority scheduling, testing options for their son, they had some special concerns. accommodations, mediation with teachers, and more.

Diagnosed as a child with Asperger’s syndrome, Andrew Stookey was at The one thing the Mercyhurst program needed to add, Mark Stookey the top of his high school honors classes academically, but had a harder believed, was a mechanism to help AIM students move forward into the time in areas like social interaction and executive functioning. As he work world after graduation. got closer to graduation, his parents discovered public schools in their hometown near Philadelphia had little to of er to students like Andrew. AIM Director Brad McGarry agrees, noting that unemployment rates among adults on the autism spectrum hover around 85 percent. “It’s not They pushed the school district, even threatening legal action, until enough to prepare these students academically for the world of work. it developed a program to help Andrew and others on the spectrum We have to make sure they’re employable after graduation,” he said. prepare for college. He and his staf w ere already working on a new vocational track for AIM Determined advocates for their son, they researched options all over students when Stookey and Chismire approached them with a proposal the East Coast before eventually settling on Mercyhurst and its AIM to help fund it. program. “Mercyhurst was by far the best program I saw,” Mark Stookey said. “Lots of the others had one or two of the pieces that Mercyhurst They have agreed to donate $250,000 – $50,000 to kick-start the of ers, but Mercyhurst was the most complete package.” new Career Path Program as it rolls out over the next three years, and $200,000 as seed money for an endowment to fund the program into AIM of ers: the future.

• a supported living environment. Students can choose to live in a “Where else could we put our money where it would have a bigger special AIM residence hall run by a trained hall director. impact for Andrew and other students like him?” Mark Stookey asks. He says the lifetime earnings of just one successful AIM student will more • individualized social skills training. AIM staf ha ve identifed mor e than cover the family’s investment. than 100 social skills that students may need to practice and created training modules to address them. Students are assigned He adds that the stars aligned for this project because Mercyhurst to complete the modules that address their specifc needs . already had a plan in place and was ready to launch it as soon as the funding became available. He’s convinced that Mercyhurst can be a • peer mentoring. AIM students spend several hours each month model for the rest of the educational establishment. “We’re going to with their peer mentors, other students from the Mercyhurst help the world understand just how much people on the spectrum have community. to of er.” • social activities, including optional meal gatherings and events on and of campus .

3 Mark Stookey, center, and his wife have donated a quarter-million dollars to build a career preparation track into Mercyhurst’s AIM program. He’s pictured with, from left, Ryan Palm ’07, associate vice president for advancement; President Tom Gamble; his son, sophomore Andrew Stookey; and Brad McGarry, director of AIM.

Under the Career Path Program, students will begin preparing TESTING THE WATER for post-college careers from their frst t erm on campus, completing individualized modules to build the social skills Mercyhurst’s summer Foundations program gives students on they’ll need to fnd and hold jobs . They’ll use specialized the autism spectrum a chance to “test the waters” of life on a software to assess their own skills and interests, and then college campus. begin exploring potential careers. That’s an apt metaphor, says Brad McGarry, who directs both They’ll gradually be introduced to the workplace, frst b y Foundations and the year-round Autism/Asperger Initiative at shadowing workers in their chosen feld , then by working in Mercyhurst (AIM). paid Career Path Experience jobs on the Mercyhurst campus, McGarry and his staf ar en’t swimming instructors, he explains. “We and eventually by interning of campus . AIM plans to build a push kids into the deep end to see whether they can stay afoa t.” network of local businesses and alumni interested in working with its students, and will help students tap into national They pushed the 22 students in Foundations this year to live on their resources as well. own, navigate an unfamiliar campus and city, co -exist peacefully with a roommate, socialize with their peers – even take and pass a college In addition to extensive preparation, students can be assigned course. These tasks can overwhelm any new college freshman, but a job coach to help them navigate jobs and internships. they’re even tougher for students with Asperger’s syndrome or other Plans call for a full-time staf member t o oversee the Career forms of high-functioning autism. Path Program. The ratio of staf t o students is nearly 1-to-1. Staf members w on’t let Mark Stookey hopes other AIM families will see the value in any student drown, but they don’t throw in a lifeline at the frst sig n of the new program and contribute to the endowment, but he trouble, either. Students need to learn whether they can tread water. also expects that Mercyhurst alumni – including thousands of Many parents have assumed a college degree isn’t possible for their teachers – will embrace the concept. kids on the spectrum. McGarry says Foundations gives parents For information or to make a gift, contact Ryan Palm, associate hope, and an objective way to determine if the kids are ready for the vice president for advancement, at 814-824-3320 or rpalm@ demands of college life. mercyhurst.edu. If you can provide an internship experience for Foundations has developed a reputation as the leading college - an AIM student – or a job for an AIM graduate – contact Brad readiness program in the country, McGarry says. Demand was so high McGarry at 814-824-2451 or [email protected]. this year that he had to turn away dozens of potential students. He accepts only those he thinks have a reasonable chance of success,

Continued on p. 5 4 Continued from p. 4

based on what he learns from parents and what he observes during a pre - admission interview.

It’s more than a gut feeling. He’s developed a rating scale that measures how students perform on what he calls the “AISE Domains”: academic progress, independence, social competence and emotional stability. The scale allows him to calculate a GPA of sorts. Like the grade point average all students earn, it ranges from 0 to 4.0, but it measures far more.

During the Foundations experience, staf members c ontinue to measure performance on the AISE Domains and the student’s progress toward individual goals. Everything from workshops to social activities is designed to help students develop the skills they’ll need to succeed in a college.

At the program’s close, each family gets a personalized report with a recommendation for the future. This year, McGarry told fv e participants they probably weren’t ready to enroll in college yet. The rest, he believes, can succeed, with some level of accommodations.

Five of them enrolled in Mercyhurst’s AIM program this fall. Eleven of the 12 students in this year’s freshman cohort have completed Foundations.

MCGARRY TREK AIMS TO BUILD AWARENESS After launching a program to help students on the autism spectrum achieve job success, Mercyhurst is aiming even higher to advocate for more vocational resources for these students with a pair of adventure trips in 2015.

Brad McGarry, who directs the Autism/Asperger Initiative at Mercyhurst (AIM), will set out to “Raise the Roof for Autism” in February when he climbs Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro. Then a few months later he’ll lead a group of AIM students and friends as they “Conquer the Canyon” in Arizona.

Kilimanjaro is composed of three distinct volcanic cones and rises more than 19,000 feet above sea level in northern Tanzania. It’s billed as the highest freestanding mountain in the world, and McGarry admits climbing it is a “bucket list” thing to do.

“But more importantly, we’re trying to raise awareness for the lack of vocational resources for adults on the autism spectrum. I work every day with some really, really bright young adults and I want to make sure that they and other folks on the autism spectrum can get quality work and have jobs they love just like everybody else,” he explained.

McGarry’s been hiking and climbing all over northwestern Pennsylvania as he trains for the climb, set for Feb. 6-16.

Contributions to fund the summit attempt and to beneft v ocational awareness can be made at hurstalumni.org/raise-the-roof-for-autism. You can follow McGarry’s adventures through a video diary on his Facebook page, Raise the Roof for Autism.

The Conquer the Canyon group will leave Mercyhurst right after graduation in May to begin “the grandest hike on earth.” It’s the second time an AIM group has made the trip to experience the magnifc ent beauty of the Grand Canyon. From the rolling hills of the rim to the steep descents into the canyon of up to 3,000 feet, they’ll be led by expert guides who will interpret the geology, history, for a, fauna and environmental zones of the canyon.

The itinerary also includes visits to the Valley of the Sun, the Sonoran Desert and the Red Rock Country of Sedona, a Colorado River Float Adventure, and Walnut Canyon National Monument.

To help fund the trip for an AIM student, visit hurstalumni.org/conquer-the-canyon.

5 Gamble announces plan to retire in 2015

Thomas J. Gamble, Ph.D., has announced that he will retire on May Prior to his selection as university president, Gamble was vice president 31, 2015, after nearly a decade of distinguished service as Mercyhurst for academic afairs a t Mercyhurst. He is a former director of the University’s 11th president. He will, however, remain at Mercyhurst to Mercyhurst Institute for Child and Family Policy and founding director pursue other academic interests. of the Mercyhurst Civic Institute. He began his teaching career at Mercyhurst as an adjunct faculty member in 1985 and became a full- “It has been an enormous privilege to serve as president of an time professor of criminal justice and psychology in 1997, earning institution that I love and where all three of my children received their tenure in 2003. education and degrees,” said Gamble, who turns 68 next year. “My frst professional loves have always involved learning, teaching, research Before joining Mercyhurst full time, he was and writing and I desire to spend the last several years of my tenure at aflia ted with the Erie County Ofc e of Children Mercyhurst in those activities, which are a genuine source of joy and and Youth (OCY) from 1983 to 1997 as director rejuvenation for me.” of the Edmund L. Thomas Center and director of professional services. He became executive Gamble advised the Mercyhurst Board of Trustees that he would not director of OCY in 1988. seek an extension of his contract, which expires at the end of the 2014- 2015 academic year, but he agreed to stay on longer if necessary to Gamble holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy allow for an orderly presidential search and transition. from Gannon University, a master’s and doctorate in psychology from Syracuse University and a “Dr. Gamble has been a transformative president for Mercyhurst and second doctorate in social psychology we are deeply grateful for his many years of dedicated service,” said from Syracuse’s Maxwell School of Board Chair Marlene Mosco. “Since he was appointed president in Citizenship and Public Afairs , one 2006, he has been the driver behind many bold decisions, including of the top public policy schools in the transition of Mercyhurst College to Mercyhurst University in 2012, the county. He was a postdoctoral changing the academic calendar from three terms to a traditional fellow in child psychology at Yale semester system and introducing a new core curriculum in 2013.” University from 1982 to 1984.

SEARCH UNDERWAY • Trustee John H. Langer ‘95 “We feel good about • Trustee Desmond J. McDonald the composition of TO NAME SUCCESSOR the Presidential Search • Trustee Robert S. Miller ’11 Committee,” Mosco said. “It Two former student leaders of Mercyhurst, • Trustee Joanne M. McGurk, Ph.D. represents a cross section of now members of the university’s board (president, Faculty Senate) ages, disciplines, occupations of trustees, have been named to lead the and length of service to the • Trustee Scott A. Koskoski ’00 (president, national search for the university’s 12th board and university. It is Alumni Association) Joseph G. Necastro president. also the frst time so man y • Trustee Nicholas T. Latta ’15 (president, Mercyhurst graduates who Board Chair Marlene Mosco named Mercyhurst Student Government) were all former student Joseph G. NeCastro ’78, chief fnancial and leaders have been named to a administrative ofc er for Scripps Networks • Joseph M. Morris, Ph.D., associate search at the university. They Interactive Media, Knoxville, Tennessee; and professor of political science and director have a vested interest with Richard A. Lanzillo ’83, shareholder of Knox of the Mercyhurst Center for Applied this being their alma mater.” Gornall McLaughlin & Sennett, P.C., Erie, to co - Politics chair the Presidential Search Committee. • Michael A. Elnitsky, Ph.D., associate As the search progresses, professor, chair of biology department the university community Richard A. Lanzillo Joining Lanzillo, Mosco and NeCastro on the and pre-health advising program will be able to access a Presidential Search Committee are: • Janice M. Haas, assistant professor and Presidential Search website through a link • Trustee JoAnne K. Courneen, RSM ’64 chair of the physical therapist assistant at mercyhurst.edu. Constituents will also be able to communicate with the co -chairs and • Trustee Rosemary D. Durkin ‘77 program at Mercyhurst North East. committee through a link on the website. 6 Alums making mark in legal arena

The American Bar Association suggests Students majoring in criminal justice, English or students preparing for law school and legal political science can take a pre-law concentration careers need to excel in analytical thinking and within their departments. These majors provide problem solving, critical reading, writing, oral students with a solid foundation for the rigors of communication and listening, research, personal law school. Michael Federici, Ph.D., chair of the ’36 GRAD WAS FIRST organization and management, serving others political science department, says that in his 20+ TO PURSUE LAW and promoting justice. years in the department, not a single graduating senior in political science who has applied to law CAREER Coincidentally, Mercyhurst’s core curriculum school has failed to be accepted. was designed to help students master all these While the numbers may be on the rise essential skills and values. That might explain Students in any major can pursue an 18-credit now, dozens of Mercyhurst graduates have why increasing numbers of Mercyhurst graduates pre-law minor. In addition, students who pursued law careers over the years, starting are earning admission to top law schools, have opted to not formally pick up a pre-law (it’s believed) with Catherine Durkin, a 1936 receiving signifcan t scholarships, and launching concentration or minor are still well prepared for graduate who went on to serve as one of successful legal careers. law school as a result of the strong liberal arts the frst la y members of the Mercyhurst foundation they receive at Mercyhurst. Board of Trustees. Rosemary Durkin ’77 At least a half-dozen 2014 graduates began law followed her Aunt Catherine to Mercyhurst, school this fall, joining an impressive group of Bollheimer says the liberal arts focus at to law school and eventually into the Mercyhurst alums who are already in law school Mercyhurst helps develop “intellectually well- Mercyhurst board room. and practicing law. Mercyhurst students have rounded students” who will succeed in law recently earned admittance to schools including school. She adds, “Law schools are looking She says Catherine fnished la w school the University of Michigan, DePaul University, for students who understand various ways of in just two years, graduating from the Duquesne University, Hofstra, University of thinking, who know how people and society Western Reserve University School of Law Pittsburgh, Case Western Reserve and Indiana work, and who can engage in solving difcult in 1948. She was the only woman in her University at Bloomington. problems in the world.” class, and one of just fv e in the whole school, at a time when soldiers returning Meredith Bollheimer, J.D., who has run Mercyhurst also has an infrastructure in from World War II flled most of the sea ts. Mercyhurst’s Pre-Law Society for the past nine place to assist students on the journey to law years with Tina Fryling, J.D., says she is continually school, including an active Pre-Law Society The school’s dean had encouraged impressed with the number, quality and diversity that provides guidance on LSAT preparation Catherine to apply, but he died while she of Mercyhurst students interested in attending and the admissions process. It brings in local was a student. His successor didn’t believe law school. attorneys and regional law school admissions women should be attorneys and refused representatives to meet with students, and to give her a letter of recommendation, While the majority of pre-law students have been organizes visits to law schools. but she found a job anyway, as in-house (and still are) political science majors, students counsel for an insurance company. She from majors as varied as chemistry, public health, There’s also a four ishing network of ‘Hurst alumni continued to practice in a small fr m and intelligence studies, history, business, criminal who routinely provide advice and mentoring for later as a solo practitioner, primarily in justice and dance are increasingly choosing to prospective law students. trusts and estates law, until 1980. pursue pre-law studies and law school. She died in 2009. In the following pages, we profle just a f ew of Mercyhurst’s alumni lawyers. Rosemary Durkin majored in history at Mercyhurst before attending Case Western Albert Veverka ’05, fourth from left, hosted members of the Pre-Law Society on a visit to Pittsburgh law schools last year. With him, from left: Evan Christensen, now a student at Northern Illinois University College of Law; Mary Mancuso, now Reserve, graduating in 1980. Today she’s a at Indiana University Maurer School of Law; Amanda Bortak; Emily Orlando; Kelsey Gorcica; Ian Grecco, now at Duquesne shareholder and member of the Trusts & University School of Law; Joseph Wheeler; and Mike Vervoort. Estates Group of Stark & Stark Attorneys at Law in Princeton, N.J. She’s married to fellow alum Jefr ey M. Best, and their daughter, Deirdre Best, graduated from Mercyhurst in the spring and is now a graduate student in education.

7 Linda and Bruce Pancio with William H. Pugh V, president-elect of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Jo-Ann and Rich Lanzillo

BAR ASSOCIATIONS ELECT ‘HURST ALUMS Two classmates from the Mercyhurst Class of 1983 will head bar associations on opposite In addition to his Erie County Bar Association sides of Pennsylvania in 2015. role, Rich Lanzillo is now co-chairing the committee searching for Mercyhurst’s 12th Richard Lanzillo, Esq., will step up to the presidency of the Erie County Bar Association, president. He’s served on the Mercyhurst while Bruce Pancio, Esq., will lead the Montgomery Bar Association outside Philadelphia. Board of Trustees since 2003 and as its vice Bruce was a criminal justice major expecting to work in parole or probation before shifting chair since 2007. his sights to the law. He says Barry Grossman’s Constitutional Law was the most interesting He made his mark at Mercyhurst even earlier, class he ever took, and helped nudge him toward new goals. during his student years, winning back-to- After graduating from the Villanova School of Law, he accepted his frst job with a back terms as student government president Philadelphia law fr m specializing in insurance defense work. He remained in that feld and earning the coveted Carpe Diem Award through several jobs before deciding to open his own fr m. With partner Joseph Walsh, at graduation. Esq., he launched Walsh Pancio, LLC in 2007 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. The fr m focuses After graduating from Mercyhurst with a its practice on civil litigation with a heavy concentration on representing defendants in major in history and minor in business, Rich personal injury cases as well as builders in construction defect cases. Since its formation, enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh School one of the fr m’s clients has been the Erie Insurance Group. The fr m has expanded its of Law where he served as a law review editor practice to the entire eastern half of Pennsylvania and hired two associates and several and earned his Juris Doctorate degree summa paralegals to serve their clients. cum laude in 1987.

He’s personally handled thousands of civil cases, trying more than 70 to jury verdicts. He’s Today Rich is a shareholder with the law been admitted to practice before a variety of state and federal courts, including the U.S. fr m of Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, Supreme Court. P.C., headquartered in Erie. He handles Bruce has long been active with the Montgomery Bar Association, which provides complex commercial, employment and civil continuing education for its members, represents the interests of lawyers to the legislature, rights litigation and appellate work and has and organizes regular gatherings of lawyers in dif erent specialties to share news and successfully litigated several precedent- concerns. In 2009, he headed one of its largest sections as the president of the Trial setting cases in state and federal courts. Lawyers Section. He presently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Montgomery Bar Rich has held a variety of ofc es within the Foundation, the charitable arm of the association. Erie County Bar Association, most recently He’s also active with the Montgomery Child Advocacy Project, having served on its board vice president, and is actively involved in since 2011 and as a volunteer for many years prior. The organization is composed of several other professional and charitable lawyers who volunteer their time to represent the interests of children involved in litigation organizations. – to make sure the child has a voice in matters ranging from protection from abuse cases Rich and his wife, Jo-Ann Israel Lanzillo ’86, to testifying as a witness in a criminal case. have two daughters, Amanda, a graduate of Bruce and his wife, Linda, have three children: Lauren and Jim, who are following in dad’s Georgetown University, and Eliza, a junior at footsteps as frst -year law students at Drexel University and Temple University, respectively, Brown University. and Danielle, a junior at Temple University.

8 WILLIAM DOPIERALA Erie native Bill Dopierala ’72 majored in history at Mercyhurst and thought he’d become a teacher – until the prospect of student Albert Veverka, an avid golfer. teaching convinced him education wasn’t the right feld f or him. Instead, after taking a law course from former Erie County Executive Barry Grossman, he opted for law school, graduating from ALBERT VEVERKA Duquesne University School of Law in 1975. He’s believed to be the An internship following his junior year at Mercyhurst helped push Albert frst male M ercyhurst graduate to become an attorney. Veverka ’05 toward law school. He spent that summer working for After graduation he went to work Senator Barbara Boxer (D -Calif.). for Erie Atty. George Levin, but in Like several other graduates, he’s quick to credit the grounding in 1979 joined the staf of Er ie County reading, writing and oral argument he got in the political science Children’s Services, working to department for preparing him to succeed at the West Virginia University protect abused and neglected College of Law. “I felt abundantly prepared, and I owe Doctors Clemons, children. When he moved to the Ripley, Federici and Morris a world of gratitude for challenging me Erie County District Attorney’s through four years at Mercyhurst,” he says. Ofc e nearly a decade later, he helped establish a special child He interned his frst summer of la w school with Justice Max Baer of the abuse prosecution unit within the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and eventually took his frst job as a la w DA’s ofc e. Working with County clerk to the Hon. Katherine B. Emery of the Washington County Court of Detective Larry Dombrowski ’91, he Common Pleas. pursued grant funding that allowed the county to hire a detective to specialize in child abuse. Albert then spent three years as an assistant district attorney In Allegheny County before accepting a position this fall with the law fr m In 1996, Bill joined the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Ofc e of Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote in Pittsburgh. He currently focuses his in Erie. As a senior deputy attorney general in the Erie ofc e, he practice on criminal and medical malpractice defense. defends lawsuits against state agencies in a 10-county area of northwestern Pennsylvania. He’s returned home to Mt. Lebanon, a suburb in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. An avid golfer, he loves traveling to play courses all over the Bill and his wife, Heather, have three kids: Scott, 39; Katie, 33; and country. He also still plays tennis, the sport in which competed for four Emily, 28, a 2008 Mercyhurst grad. years at Mercyhurst. Bill was the frst captain of the men ’s tennis team, the frst Following up on his student ofc e as co-president of the Mercyhurst intercollegiate sport of ered in 1971 for men at the newly Young Democrats, he now serves as a Democratic committeeman. coeducational Mercyhurst, and helped the Lakers to an undefeated He also visits high schools throughout the Pittsburgh area, talking to match record in their frst y ear. Though he plays little tennis these students about careers in law as well as preparing them for the legal days, he does enjoy ofcia ting high school football in the Erie area challenges they may face when they turn 18. and spends a lot of time reading.

ANDREA BULLOTTA DALOIA Andrea Bullotta Daloia ’98 was about halfway through a dance major at Mercyhurst when she decided political science would be a better ft f or her (though she still kept a dance minor). During her senior year, Professors Michael Federici and Randy Clemons encouraged her to pursue law school.

She attended Cleveland Marshall College of Law, fnishing sec ond in her class in 2001. “Although nothing can entirely prepare you for law school, the tougher classes that focus on a ton of reading and writing (especially the ones taught by Drs. Federici and Clemons) did a great job in preparing me,” she says.

Today she’s still in Cleveland as counsel in the law ofc es of Thompson Hine. She focuses mainly on construction litigation involving contract disputes or injuries at construction sites. She’s also part of the Products Liability Practice Group, most often handling lawsuits related to occupational exposure to various chemicals.

Though she’s single and has no children of her own, she loves spending time with her nieces and nephews and other family members who have moved near her home in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake. In her spare time, she frequently practices yoga and Pilates, and is also involved in a variety of community service projects, from legal aid events to soup kitchens. 9 instrumental in my maturation as a student and a person,” he says. “Their CHRISTOPHER JURUSIK advice, guidance and rigorous courses helped instill in me the confdenc e Christopher Jurusik ’95 grew up in Elmira, New and knowledge necessary to pursue a law degree.” York, but played hockey and graduated from He earned his law degree from SUNY Bufalo S chool of Law in 1998. Bishop Ridely College in St. Catharine’s, Ontario. He worked as an assistant district attorney prosecuting criminals He says his hockey career didn’t four ish at in Westchester County, New York, through 2003, then relocated to Mercyhurst – but his academic career did. the Bufalo ar ea and practiced in the malpractice feld f or fv e years. One of his frst classes , American Government Returning to the prosecution side, he joined the Erie County District with Dr. Randy Clemons, shifted his focus from Attorney’s Ofc e in 2009 and is now assigned to the Financial Crimes the hard sciences to political science. Clemons’ Bureau, specializing in white-collar prosecutions. teaching style, he says, encouraged students to participate during his With a job, a wife and four children between the ages of 4 and 11, he lectures, creating a dialogue and encouraging critical thinking. “I owe a doesn’t have much spare time, but does cycle, swim and coach his debt of gratitude to both Drs. Clemons and Michael Federici as they were children’s hockey teams.

Alspaugh continues her dance training. MARY CATHERINE COSGROVE ANDRES Mary Catherine Cosgrove, an undergraduate social work major, married fellow student Dennis Andres shortly after they graduated in 1972. When the youngest of their three children was about a year old, she went to work as a hospital social worker, frst in Erie and later in Indiana. JO ALSPAUGH

A decade later, she decided it was time Jo Alspaugh ’08 double-majored in dance and French at Mercyhurst, to broaden her horizons. A master’s but found her ultimate career in a much dif erent feld – family la w in social work was an option, but she and litigation. also found herself drawn to the law, She never abandoned her love of performing, though, dancing perhaps inspired by her dad, who had been a sitting judge throughout professionally with the Albany Berkshire Ballet before deciding on law her childhood in Bufalo , New York. school, and with the Ballet Theatre of Ohio even as she studied law at She started studying part time at Valparaiso University School of Law. Case Western Reserve University. Now, despite a demanding position When Dennis, who had earned a master’s degree in scene design and with Erie’s Quinn Law Firm, she continues to appear with SoMar technical theatre at Syracuse University, took a position with St. Mary’s DanceWorks, the dance troupe led by Mark and Solveig Santillano College in Notre Dame, Indiana, she enrolled in law school full time. that’s in residence at Mercyhurst. She received her J.D. in 1991 – the same year her oldest son, Dennis Jo, who earned her J.D. in 2013, says her Mercyhurst experience Jr., graduated from high school. She says her Mercyhurst education more than prepared her for law school because the practice of law provided a sound foundation for legal study, but adds that the draws from so many dif erent skill sets. Both her majors and her core multitasking skills she developed as a working mom were also helpful. courses helped develop those skills, including reasoning, writing, Mary Catherine started as a part-time deputy prosecutor, while also communicating, and more. She was a teaching assistant for Case maintaining a private practice, focused on family issues. For the past 11 Western’s appellate practice program, and a judicial extern in U.S. years, she’s been a full-time deputy prosecutor for St. Joseph County, District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Indiana. Two years ago, she entered the Democratic primary for probate She devotes much of her practice to family law issues, including court judge. Though she lost, she says the experience of running was custody, divorce and support. She’s also a trained “collaborative lawyer” awesome. “Everyone must follow the ethics rules so there isn’t any who can of er alternative dispute resolution services to interested mudslinging,” she explains. “I enjoyed all the terrifc people I met – and clients, avoiding costly litigation and multiple court hearings. the fact that the whole process was out of my comfort zone so I pushed my envelope.” Active in the Erie County Bar Association, she serves on the Leadership Committee for the women’s division and is involved in mentoring She also continues to serve her community, frst v olunteering to educate through the Bar Association’s Attorneys and Kids Together program. women about domestic violence and legal issues, and more recently Besides performing, she also teaches dance at the Erie Dance providing pro bono service to hospice patients. She’s also a River Conservatory and serves on the boards of the Erie Contemporary City Rocker, spending several hours each week rocking infants in the Ballet Theatre and the Erie Dance Consortium. newborn ICU.

10 KAITLYN FAUCETT GARY COAD Three years into her legal career, Kaitlyn Faucett ’09 says she’s grateful to Gary Coad always wanted to be Mercyhurst for preparing her for law school at the State University of New York at a lawyer, but he knew his chosen Bufalo . “While I think it is hard for anything to truly prepare you for your frst y ear specialty – patent work – required of law school, I think the classes of ered by the Political Science Department had expertise in the hard sciences, me better prepared than most of my frst - year counterparts. I would like to give a so he majored in chemistry at very grateful shout- out to Dr. Clemons, Dr. Federici, Dr. Morris and Dr. Ripley!” Mercyhurst, graduating in 2009.

She adds that Dr. Michael Federici is tougher than most law school professors He was always on the lookout for she encountered. “He pushes each of his students to their edge, asking them intersections between science to independently analyze complicated political, and legal, issues in his classes, and law while he was here. He not just accepting his thoughts or arguments as ‘true’ solely because he says recalls a seminar class with department chair Clint Jones, so.” She also credits the tough love provided by department patriarch Dr. Randy Ph.D., where each student had to give a presentation on an Clemons. “He relishes forcing his students to think outside the box, reminding area of research. “So I spoke to a group of future scientists on them that there is rarely a ‘right’ answer, and teaching them to look at every the basics of patent law,” he says. situation through multiple lenses before determining a course of action. This is exactly how you are asked to think in law school.” Gary attended the Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law), a school well- Kaitlyn’s been licensed to practice in Texas since 2012 known for its patent curriculum. After graduating in 2012, and New York since 2013. For the last year she’s been he joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, a highly regarded fr m an associate at Levinthal Wilkins & Nguyen, PLLC, a with about 1,200 attorneys in 20 ofc es around the world. Houston-based litigation fr m that handles business and The fr m handles complex corporate, litigation, regulatory, tax commercial disputes, as well as catastrophic personal and restructuring challenges for clients. Gary works in patent injury actions. “I absolutely love my job!” she says. litigation, representing clients who allege new products or services have infringed on their patent rights. He’s based in Before joining LWN, she served as in-house counsel Washington, D.C. for a boutique oil & gas company where she primarily examined title and managed the company’s litigation. “The law is an incredibly crowded feld and a v ery hard market to enter,” he says. “But as a scientist you have something few Kaitlyn and her boyfriend, Ryan, live in Houston with their one-and-a-half-year- others have.” He’s made an open of er to mentor Mercyhurst old Doberman Pinscher, Royal. In her free time, she enjoys running, hot yoga, students interested in following his path to the law. Bufalo spor ts, and a fair amount of mindless reality TV. Gary and his wife, Myumi (a patent litigator at another D. C. Determined to give back to aspiring attorneys and law students, she’s active with fr m), live in Alexandria with their two small dogs. When he’s the Houston Bar Association, the Texas Young Lawyers Association, the New York not at work, he says you’ll fnd him on the golf c ourse. Bar Association, and Phi Alpha Delta.

TINA FIELDING FRYLING Tina Fielding Fryling ’92 is not only a practicing attorney, but also has a hand in teaching the next generation of lawyers. An associate professor of criminal justice at Mercyhurst, she’s been teaching classes like Constitutional Law for several years, and is best known around campus for the mock trials her students stage each term.

Starting this year, other teachers around the country are using a textbook she authored titled Constitutional Law in Criminal Justice. The 636-page book examines the provisions of the U.S. Constitution that guide the investigation of crimes and of threats to public safety and national security, as well as how those provisions have been interpreted by the courts. It features open-ended scenarios based on actual cases that allow students to explore situations they’ll face in the criminal justice system.

Tina, a Wattsburg native, majored in criminal justice at Mercyhurst and then headed to the University of Dayton School of Law. After graduation, she clerked for Erie County Judge Fred Anthony and worked for a local law fr m, gaining experience in areas of the law from juvenile justice to civil litigation to bankruptcy.

She then pursued a master’s degree in administration of justice at Mercyhurst and stayed on to teach. Never one to stop learning, she says she’d continue taking classes now if she had the time. Instead, on top of her class load, she maintains a solo legal practice in criminal, bankruptcy and family law, and handles appeals for the Erie County Public Defender’s Ofc e.

Tina’s the mother of four kids ages 8-14. In her spare time, she used to play the trombone and she takes Irish dance lessons.

11 FRANK KOSTIK JR. Frank Kostik Jr. graduated from Mercyhurst in 2001 with a major in political science and an ROTC commission. When his fellow cadets were heading to active duty, he requested a waiver to pursue a degree in law.

It was only a temporary delay, though. After earning his J.D. from Harrisburg’s Widener University School of Law in 2004, he entered the Army. His frst assig nment was as a legal assistance attorney at Fort Riley, Kansas, but he worked his way rapidly up through the ranks.

He’s held a range of legal posts, including a deployment to Iraq during “the surge” as a brigade judge advocate, and earned a Master of Laws degree from the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. Now a major, he’s part of the U.S. Army Trial Defense Service, assigned as senior defense counsel at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and acting senior defense counsel at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. In that role, he defends soldiers accused of committing crimes ranging from misdemeanors to serious felonies like sexual assault and murder.

It was Professor Michael Federici’s American Government class that drew Frank to political science, and a recommendation by an ROTC instructor that aimed him toward the law. He’s grateful for the preparation he received at Mercyhurst, particularly in case analysis and legal writing. The notoriously rigorous requirements of the poli sci department taught him to stay ahead of the reading, he says, and that’s a major component of success in law school.

Frank’s wife, Alison L. Fedrow, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, so she splits her time between Silver Spring, Maryland, and their home in Kansas.

Frank’s brother, Adam, graduated from Mercyhurst in 2011 with a double major in philosophy and political science – and an ROTC commission. He earned his degree this spring from the University of Dayton School of Law.

that includes many of her former clients. At SIFMA, she will continue to LINDSEY WEBER KELJO advocate on behalf of the fnancial ser vices industry. Lindsey Weber Keljo ’04 majored in political science and world Lindsey and husband Michael languages (specifcally Russian and Spanish) a t Mercyhurst. After her Keljo (an executive with 2004 graduation, she did campaign work for the Republican Party in Hilton Worldwide) welcomed Pennsylvania for a couple of years until one of her clients – Erie County son Charles John (Charlie) Court of Common Pleas Judge John Garhart – encouraged her to take earlier this year. They look the LSAT and apply for law school. forward to raising him in D.C., Before and during college, she worked as a child entertainer and clown, which she says has some of under the stage name “Rainbow.” She wrote about that experience when the best schools in the nation, she applied to law schools, impressing admissions ofc ers enough multitudes of educational to win entrance to schools like Michigan, Duke and the University of activities, and where she Pennsylvania. She chose top-rated Michigan, whose admissions director expects him to meet “lots of told her, “You’re the frst clo wn we’ve ever let in.” Washington dorky famous people.”The frst time she Graduating in December 2008, she accepted a job in Washington, D.C., took Charlie to a work event, with Patton Boggs LLC (later Squire Patton Boggs), a law fr m that is also she recalls, Ken Starr kissed consistently ranked as the nation’s top lobbying fr m. Lindsey loved her his head. job, which allowed her to use her legal degree to advocate on behalf of her clients on Capitol Hill and with the regulatory agencies. Perhaps In her spare time, Lindsey likes to enjoy all the Washington area has to because she joined the fr m during the depths of the recent fnancial of er, from exploring museums and historical sites, to hiking just outside crisis, she specialized in fnancial ser vices, focusing on, among other the city limits, to walking the streets of Old Town, Alexandria, where she things, many of the regulations that have stemmed from the Dodd- lives with her family. She also enjoys playing soccer on a recreational Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. team with fellow Michigan alums and spending time with her dog, Marcie. Earlier this year, she accepted a new position as counsel to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), a trade association

12 Love and loss... and hope By Susan Hurley Corbran

6:15 AM, Sunday morning. A soft voice innocently calls, “Daddy? Can you make me some pancakes?” With eyes half shut and a slight smile, I answer, “Sure, honey, I’m coming right down.” In a moment of butter, four and maple syrup , my shattered family begins to heal.

The night before, I’d told Amanda (four years old), Kevin Patrick (six), and Christopher (two) that their Mommy had died. If it were not for my kids, I would have remained in bed for a long time. But Amanda needed me to rise and be her daddy. My little girl’s 6:15 AM wake-up call summoned me to fnish the job m y wife, Pamela, and I began: making pancakes, making memories and making a loving home for our three children. This is our journey.

Kevin McAteer ‘89 lost his wife on Feb. 17, 2007. Numb with grief and disbelief, he was still determined to ensure that the kids would remember what Pamela looked like, what she sounded like, and how much she had loved them.

He gathered home videos, created photo collages, wrote down family stories. Gradually, the scrapbook he was building for the kids morphed into a journal of how the whole family survived its unthinkable loss and he decided to share it with a broader audience. On Father’s Day 2014, he published the story in book form.

Kevin found his title in the words of Amanda, who looked so much like her mother: “Daddy, can you make me pancakes?” He says it shows how quickly the next chapter of your life starts. “When you have kids depending on you, you don’t have time to think about it,” he says. “Sometimes life puts you in insanely adverse situations and you just have to step up.”

From top: Kevin, Pamela and the kids a few years before cancer struck; Kevin and his kids the frst summer after Pamela’s death; the six children from Kevin and Shayna’s blended family. Opposite page: The McAteers in a “Brady Bunch” pose.

“Daddy, Can You Make Me Pancakes?” (2014, Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas) is available through amazon.com. Follow the McAteers’ story at kevinmcateer.com/blog/. 13 Kevin subtitles his book “The True Story of a Young Mother’s Battle Against LIFE LESSONS Cancer and Her Husband’s Journey to Bring Healing to Their Family.” He Kevin spent the frst 13 y ears of his career with Marriott International recounts Pamela’s illness and death as well as how he and the kids coped before joining Concord Hospitality Enterprises, a fast-growing company with the loss and worked to create a new normal. He doesn’t gloss over the that manages hotels throughout North America, in 2003. His next tough times, but there’s humor (and plenty of “clueless dad” tales), too. One promotion took the McAteers to Raleigh, North Carolina, late in 2005. reviewer on amazon.com called the book “a real laughing tear jerker!”

Feeling run-down, Pamela headed to a walk-in medical clinic one day the “Each story of grief, although unique, also has similarities,” Kevin says. “The following April, expecting to be sent home with a simple prescription. By experiences that my family went through will, hopefully, be ‘takeaways’ for nightfall, though, she’d been diagnosed with leukemia and admitted to others to learn from. My hope for this book is that it of ers support to and Rex Hospital. strengthens other families going through difcult times .”

After a grueling cycle of chemotherapy, her leukemia went into remission Another reviewer summed up the book like this: “Kevin’s motivation and the couple glimpsed light at the end of the tunnel. Then the cancer for breaking open his only-recently mended heart in order to write this reappeared in November, triggering even more intense treatment and memoir is evident: Partly to honor Pamela’s memory, partly to provide a plans for a bone marrow transplant. “We were still confden t that she keepsake for his children, perhaps a little catharsis, and partly as an ef ort would make it,” Kevin recalls. “She was a completely healthy 36-year-old to share hope with those who are going through similar pain.” woman – other than the leukemia.” But she wasn’t able to fgh t of an infection that overwhelmed her fragile immune system a few weeks later, killing her less than a year after her frst sympt oms appeared.

STRENGTH TO CONTINUE There may be more books in Kevin’s future. He’s already started a children’s book – the kind of resource he wishes he’d had to help his own kids understand cancer and loss.

Or he might tackle a volume he laughingly calls “Six kids, a six-pack and step-parenting.” In a development straight out of a TV sitcom, Kevin in 2012 met Shayna, a single mother of Madison, Mia and Mason. Their youngest sons were kindergarten buddies, and Kevin and Shayna met on a YMCA soccer feld . Play dates for the kids led to adult dates for their parents and the couple married on Christmas Eve 2012. Their “real-life Brady Bunch” today includes two 14-year-olds, two 12-year-olds and two 10-year-olds. (Kevin says he’s still waiting for Alice to appear to help with the family’s mountains of laundry.)

“I’ve chronicled some things that have happened through our lives together, blending a family, my continued responsibility of raising the kids as best I can in the spirit of how Mom would have, or learning about the hard time Shayna and her family went through with divorce. There might be a book in there,” Kevin says.

Becoming a published author wasn’t Kevin’s only recent accomplishment. In July, he was named senior vice president of marketing and sales for Concord Hospitality, where he’s responsible for direct sales, e-commerce and revenue management endeavors for the fr m’s 90 owned and managed hotels.

14 ‘Breaking Down Breaking Bad’ hottest class on campus

By Deborah W. Morton

When it comes to audacious, complex, badass characters, Shakespeare Certainly Schif , who watched all 62 episodes, didn’t expect to be so reigns supreme. Or does he? “blown away” by this television genre, which is why he jumped when the opportunity arose to share his enthusiasm in the Mercyhurst Kenneth Schif , Ph.D., associate professor of English, used to think classroom. He joined associate professor of criminal justice Tina so. Mercutio, Lady Macbeth, Richard III, Henry V - they were a gnarly Fryling, J.D., and chemistry/biochemistry department chair Clint bunch. But along came Walter White, who took badass to a whole Jones, Ph.D., in teaching what arguably was the hottest course on new level. the Mercyhurst campus this fall: an interdisciplinary of ering called Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan said his goal in creating Walter “Breaking Down Breaking Bad.” And it was just for freshmen – 75 in all. White was to turn Mr. Chips into Scarface. And it wasn’t just Walt Schif e xamined the Emmy Award-winning series as a work of whose character evolved so dramatically over the fv e seasons of narrative art; Fryling dissected the criminal justice thread throughout; AMC’s Breaking Bad. The same could be said of Jesse Pinkman, and Jones taught the science piece. They took turns doing lectures Skyler White, Saul Goodman, Mike, Gus… and then each took a group for weekly break- out sessions. “The moral complexity of the characters and the plot development are as good as anything Shakespeare ever wrote,” Schif said . “Breaking Bad is a new form of great, narrative art.”

Who would have fgur ed that Walter White’s iconic “I am the one who knocks”* would be uttered in the same breath as Richard III’s “Now is the winter of our discontent”?

Clint Jones, Ph.D., does his best Walter White impersonation, donning hazmat gear for a class demonstration. His “meth” is actually rock candy tinted blue.

15 Schif e xplored the series as a narrative art form. He was particularly excited that his students could relate in the moment rather than being culturally removed as they are in the study of other great works of literature.

Jones engaged his group in the chemistry lab, where they learned to perform drug analyses. Students were given an unknown “white powder” consisting of one or more of the following chemical compounds: caf eine, lidocaine, aspirin and naproxen. He then took them through the analytical process so they could determine the identity and quantity of the drug(s) in their unknown powder. RJ Mitte pictured with faculty members Ken Schif , Ph.D.; Tina Fielding Frylling, J.D.; and Clint Jones, Ph.D. “Many of these students aren’t even science majors, but we gave them an authentic lab experience that introduced them to forensic drug analysis with a focus on the chemistry and techniques used in modern laboratories,” Jones said. ‘BREAKING BAD’

For her part, Fryling taught students about drug laws, drug cartels, CO-STAR EXPLORES examining why certain drugs are illegal, how drug crimes have af ected the OVERCOMING ADVERSITY modern-day prison population; she even delved into attorney ethics. Students – including those in the “Breaking Down “Certainly ‘Just call Saul’ (the character of attorney Saul Goodman) has some Breaking Bad” class – packed the performing arts issues,” Fryling said. center when R.J. Mitte visited campus Sept. 23 In her breakout session, students participated in a mock trial – a chance to as part of the Mercyhurst Student Government create their own justice since the Breaking Bad storyline never reached the Distinguished Speaker Series. courtroom phase. Mitte co-starred in Breaking Bad as Walter White For those students who had watched Breaking Bad, the course was a Jr., the teenage son of cancer patient and high welcome opportunity to reconstruct some of their favorite moments and school science teacher turned methamphetamine learn more about the nuances that contributed to its popularity. For others, manufacturer Walter White (played by Bryan it was an opportunity to immerse themselves in this new classic. Cranston). Like his character, Mitte has cerebral palsy, a permanent neurological disorder that *Season Four, Episode Six: The quote in full: “You clearly don’t know who you’re can af ect body movement, muscle control and talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A coordination, and balance. guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No! I am the one who knocks!” Although Mitte’s cerebral palsy is a milder form, he spent much of his childhood learning how to overcome the challenges posed by his disorder. Drawing from his personal experiences, Mitte travels the country as an activist and celebrity speaker inspiring others. He spoke at Mercyhurst on “Overcoming Adversity: Turning a Disadvantage into an Advantage.”

The talk was part of 2014-15 programming that explores “Confronting Injustice,” an academic theme that challenged the Mercyhurst community to address and refec t on injustice in the world while also learning about resources that exist to confront injustice.

Mitte is involved with several national organizations that raise awareness about equality and diversity. Currently, he is a youth spokesperson for the National Disability Institute; he advocates for actors with disabilities as a spokesperson for the campaign co-star R.J. Mitte chats with Mercyhurst students. ‘Breaking Bad’ “I AM PWD” (a tri-union campaign sponsored by SAG, AFTRA and Actors’ Equity); and he is a Celebrity Youth Ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy.

16 Headlines from the Hurst STUDENT-COMPOSER CREATES SALVIA, MASTERSON ELECTED MERCYHURST THEME SONG TRUSTEES It’s a well-known fact that people can boost their mood simply Two Erie business leaders have been elected to initial four- year terms as by listening to upbeat music. Mercyhurst student Alan Abramek trustees of Mercyhurst University. Joining the 32-member governing board is counting on that tenet to carry his own pumped-up anthem, are Mark J. Salvia and John W. Masterson. Both men were appointed earlier “It’s Gonna be a Good Day,” onto the playlists of the Mercyhurst this year to the Trustee Subcommittee on Endowment and Investments as community. community resources. The junior communication major from Poland is passionate about Salvia is partner and vice president of composing music and he’s found much to inspire his music at Hubbard-Bert, Inc. He joined the insurance Mercyhurst. “I love it here,” he said. “It’s not just the campus; it’s agency shortly after graduation from the students, the talent, the work ethic, the energy.” Mercyhurst in 1982. He is an advisory board “It’s Gonna be a Good Day” is a positive refec tion of his member of Health America and Highmark Mercyhurst experience with a contagious upbeat tempo that Blue Cross Blue Shield Producer; a member blends pop and rap. of Erie Life Underwriters; and a committee member for United Way of Giving. Salvia also Abramek had a number of fellow students perform live at the is a corporator of UPMC Hamot. university’s D’Angelo Performing Arts Center, where he mixed the instruments and vocals together on his computer. He Masterson is senior resident director and then convinced Facebook friend and Grammy Award-winning wealth management advisor for the Erie ofc e mastering engineer Brad Blackwood to do the audio post- of Merrill Lynch. He is a graduate of Penn State production in his Memphis studio. University and a member of the Society for Financial Service Professionals, International Abramek said he’d like to see the recording played as a theme Society of Certifed Emplo yee Beneft song at athletic contests and other Mercyhurst events. He Specialists, and Estate Planning Council of even envisions a music video that could be used to recruit Erie. He is a director of United Way of Erie new students. County, Erie Regional Library Foundation and ArtsErie and a member of the fnanc e “It’s not very often on a college campus that we can bring council, Erie Regional Chamber and Growth students together to produce a professional quality music video Partnership. Masterson had been a member that speaks to how we feel about being here,” he said. Check out of the Mercyhurst President’s Associates and adjunct his song on YouTube. faculty in the Mercyhurst Walker School of Business.

“We bring the world to Mercyhurst, which is integral to the Mercy ‘HURST ENROLLS RECORD tradition,” Evans said. “My role is to diversify the campus and this is our INTERNATIONAL CLASS best year ever.” This year Mercyhurst University welcomed the largest international class Evans credited the recruiting ef orts of his staf , including assistant in its history – 80 undergraduates from 25 countries – when nearly 700 director Adiba Shahjahan, and athletic coaches, as well as the “expanding new students arrived on the Erie campus for fall semester. reputation of Mercyhurst University around the world.”

As home to English-profcien t students from more than 40 countries, Mercyhurst has also launched an Intensive English Program (IEP) — an Mercyhurst is a hub of international diversity. This year, Mercyhurst’s English as a Second Language (ESL) equivalent — of ering international record undergraduate class is augmented by an additional dozen new students collegiate-level English profcienc y training in reading, writing, international graduate and adult students, according to Eric Evans, grammar, listening and speaking. director of international admissions and services. 17 ‘HURST FIRST IN REGION TO ADOPT ‘TEST-OPTIONAL’ POLICY Are the best and the brightest students the ones who can outscore the competition on standardized tests? Or are there better ways of measuring ability and predicting success?

Mercyhurst University believes the latter and has joined a NEW MEDIA CENTER HONORS growing number of colleges and universities that have elected INDUSTRY PIONEER MYRON JONES to omit standardized test scores as a requirement of admission. Mercyhurst was the frst univ ersity in the Erie area to adopt a Mercyhurst honored broadcast industry pioneer and Mercyhurst Trustee “test- optional” admissions policy. Emeritus Myron Jones in October when it dedicated its new Center for Media Convergence in his honor. Christian Beyer, director of undergraduate admissions, said the more than 850 colleges and universities that have de - The facility in the Audrey Hirt Academic Center is fv e years in the making emphasized standardized tests have done so for a variety of and includes a multimedia center that combines The Merciad student reasons, but all have expressed concern about the impact of newspaper and Laker TV into one space, a conference room, a new lounge overreliance on the tests. in the lower-level lobby and a renovated graphic design studio.

Standardized tests are tools rather than ends in themselves Using the most up-to-date equipment in the feld , the area has and, he said, play a small role in identifying how successful been designed to facilitate collaborative work among students in applicants will later perform as college students. Communication, Integrated Marketing Communication and Graphic Design.

Beyer said Mercyhurst will continue to emphasize academic “This will build an environment where print meets video meets web – a performance in high school, including GPA and class rank; key characteristic of media conglomerates of today,” said Communication character traits like persistence and resilience; talent; leadership Department Chair Meghan Waskiewicz. ability and extracurricular and community engagement. “This is Jones’ broadcasting career began as an engineer with radio station WERC by no means a relaxing of standards,” he added. in Erie more than 70 years ago. He went on to WFMJ in Youngstown, his “Like our contemporaries, we only expect a small number of hometown, but came back a few years later to launch WJET Radio 1400 in applicants to use the test- optional policy,” Beyer said. “Students Erie and then another daytime station, WHOT, in Youngstown. submitting test scores should know that we will continue to In 1959, he bought WEEP in Pittsburgh, quickly improving the facility to value and reward them for their academic performance on the become Pittsburgh’s second 50kw AM station. In his spare time, he built FM SAT and ACT.” stations to accompany WEEP in Pittsburgh and WHOT in Youngstown. Using Exclusions to the new policy include student athletes, who must this experience, in 1987, he masterminded the conversion of WJET-AM into submit scores in compliance with NCAA’s policy for evaluating WJET-FM. athletic eligibility. In 1966, he launched Erie’s frst c olor television station, WJET-TV. JET was the frst sta tion in Erie to use videotape to gather news.

The Carpe Diem Academy, open to FUNDING RENEWED FOR CARPE students in kindergarten, frst and DIEM ACADEMY second grades in the Erie school district, is an extended learning opportunity More than 200 students of Erie’s Public Schools will continue to get a of ering instructional support in math boost in academic and physical wellness from Mercyhurst University’s and reading, as well as arts experiences, Carpe Diem Academy, thanks to a grant from the Pennsylvania such as music and dance, and health Department of Education (PDE). and wellness activities. New this year is science enrichment. Students in the Mercyhurst’s $1.2 million 21st Century Community Learning Center grant academy receive a healthy snack and dinner. The snack, request to fund the program for the next three years was approved by typically fresh fruit or vegetable and yogurt, is donated by Wegmans PDE, which will provide the frst y ear’s funding of $399,000. grocery. The academy operates on site at participating schools four days “We at Mercyhurst are gratifed t o receive this grant because it af ords us a week from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. the opportunity to continue improving the lives of young school children Amy Bauschard directs the Carpe Diem Academy, and graduate and in our community,” said Leanne M. Roberts, Ph.D., associate dean of the undergraduate students in Mercyhurst’s education department staf the Hafenmaier School of Education & Behavioral Sciences and chair of the academy, providing great opportunities for classroom experience. education department.

18 Michael & Elisabeth Augustine

QUICKSTARTER HELPS CHEFS START NEW THAI RESTAURANT CHAPEL RESTORATION TO BEGIN Chefs Michael and Elisabeth Augustine took their passion for South Asian cuisine and Mercyhurst’s Christ the King Chapel will close for the frst quar ter of 2015 to allow for their entrepreneurial spirit into the realm some much-needed restoration work. of social media when they sought to raise Msgr. David Rubino, Ph.D., vice president for external afairs , said more than $400,000 $4,000 to help fund a new local restaurant – has been donated to fund the updates, with many gifts coming from alumni with fond Like My Thai? memories of daily Masses and other celebrations in the chapel. The entire project will be The campaign launched Nov. 4 and topped funded by gifts and grants from generous donors, including a 50th anniversary gift from its goal just a day later. By the time it ended the Class of 1964. 15 days later, the Augustines had raised No signifcan t changes are planned to the architecture or overall look of the chapel, more than $12,000 to help make their which was dedicated in 1933, but it will get a coat of paint. The original pews and choir dream a reality. stalls will be refnished and r einstalled allowing extra leg room, and the mosaic will be At the helm of their Facebook/Kickstarter illuminated by its own lighting system. campaign was Mercyhurst intelligence Daily Masses will be held in Prince of Peace Chapel from January through March, while studies professor Kristan Wheaton, who has Sunday Mass will move to Taylor Little Theatre. netted a $10,000 grant from Ben Franklin Technology Partners to support regional entrepreneurial ef orts through his own crowd-funding knowhow and an initiative CAMPUS POLICE TO BE ARMED he calls “Quickstarter.” Mercyhurst University campus police are expected to be armed by spring semester 2015, Wheaton began Quickstarter, which according to a new policy adopted in May by the university’s Board of Trustees. essentially is his strategic plan for “Following a careful assessment of school, college campus and marketplace incidents conducting Kickstarter campaigns, after of violence around the nation, we came to the conclusion that in order to ensure the meeting with success on several of his own safest environment possible for our students and employees, our police ofc ers must be campaigns, among them funding games equipped to properly function as frst r esponders,” said Board Chair Marlene Mosco in he designed and sending a liturgical dance announcing the board’s decision. team from Mercyhurst to Jerusalem to perform last year. “We have always believed that access to deadly force should be proportionate to the risks facing us,” said Mercyhurst President Tom Gamble, Ph.D. “Until recently, that calculation “Quickstarter is a great opportunity for had us stopping short of arming our police ofc ers. In our most recent review, the balance entrepreneurs in the Erie region who need tipped the other way.” funds to launch their ideas and potentially turn those ideas into businesses,”Wheaton Mercyhurst already maintains a department of Act 120-certifed polic e ofc ers and, said. “The more successes we can through its Municipal Police Training Academy, trains the majority of police ofc ers generate through Quickstarter, the better in the region. opportunity we have to produce a culture change for Erie as an idea hub.” “We’re confden t that Mercyhurst police not only are well trained, but represent the best of the best by virtue of our preeminent role in police training and public safety,” Gamble said.

19 Athletes excel in spring, fall sports

Football won its last seven after starting 0-4 – the only football team MERCYHURST LAKERS in any division to have that roller- coaster ride. Mercyhurst would have won the PSAC West and played for the conference championship had the rules not been altered in the of-season. The Lakers broke some individual/team records along the way while head coach Marty Schaetzle was named PSAC West Coach of the Year.

Men’s soccer won its second PSAC Championship and accepted a sixth straight bid to the NCAA tournament. Baseball fnished 30-15 o verall and made the NCAA playof s for the Mercyhurst ended the season third time since 2009. Head Coach Joe Spano was named the Chuck at 19-3, losing to top-ranked Tanner College Coach of the Year. Charleston in the Atlantic Men’s lacrosse earned 12 wins in 16 games, won its second straight Region Final. ECAC regular season title and made the NCAA tournament for the Field hockey made its way to the PSAC playof s fourth straight year. Andrew Wagner was named Division II’s Top before bowing out in the quarterfnals . The Lakers set the single - defenseman while both Mitch McAvoy and Brady Heseltine were season record for goals with 47. chosen in the 2014 National Lacrosse League draft. Men’s golf captured the Bud Elwell Fall Classic and fnished ff th at the Women’s lacrosse went 16-3, tying the PSAC Championships. Women’s golf won the Westminster Invitational program record for wins, qualifed f or and took fourth place at the PSAC Championships. its sixth straight PSAC Tournament, and advanced to the PSAC championship Women’s volleyball advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the frst game for the second time in three time since 2012 and fnished 18-13. seasons. Becca Himes was named a Second Team All-American and the NORTH EAST SAINTS team was named to the IWLCA All- Academic Squad. Saints softball set a school record for wins at 37-6, won Women’s rowing made its seventh consecutive NCAA Division II the district title for the sixth Championship Regatta, where Emily Francis won the NCAA consecutive year, and reached Elite 89 Award. its national tournament, also for The men’s golf team advanced to the NCAA tournament for the fourth the sixth consecutive year. time in the last fv e seasons. Saints baseball also set a school The men’s tennis team ended 7-9 overall but made the PSAC playof s record for wins at 31-10 and won the Region III title for only the for the second straight year. The women’s tennis team fnished 13-6 second time in program history. They fnished as distr ict runners-up. and made the NCAA playof s. In the fall, freshman Nenad Terzic won Men’s and women’s soccer both fnished as runners-up in R egion the PSAC Singles Championship and the women’s team had a PSAC III. The women set a school record for wins at 11-6-2, while the men Singles winner in freshman Saoia Gomez de Segura. The ITA honored fnished a t 10-6. both teams for their academic prowess. Women’s volleyball fnished as R egion III runners-up, with an 8-13 Women’s water polo won the CWPA Division II Championship in March record. and ended the season with a 9-14 record. Senior Cailin Jope was an ACWPC First Team All-American. Shawn Wiler again competed at the NJCAA cross country nationals in Lubbock, Texas, fnishing 95th of 256 runners .

20 Football team feeds of coach’s newfound tradition

By David Leisering, Sports Information Director

After an 0-4 start to the 2014 football season, “There was a big pot of stew in the head football coach Marty Schaetzle was middle. Everybody gathered ‘round grasping for a way to turn the season around and everyone had big, long-handled and to salvage something from that spoons in their hands, but they were dismal start. still famished.

Seven straight victories later, Schaetzle “Everybody in Hell kept trying to take appears to have found a new tradition for the those spoons and feed themselves, Laker football team that has taken the cake – but they couldn’t get any of the and eaten it with a spoon. stew into their mouths, so they were wasting away.” Schaetzle and the Lakers fnished the 2014 season with a 7-4 overall record and a 7-3 When the guy and the angel went to mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Heaven, it appeared to be the exact same Conference (PSAC) Western Division. room. Beautiful. Paradise. Eden. Everybody was holding the same spoons, but everyone As the Lakers entered the feld dur ing the was plump, healthy, red-cheeked, seven-game winning streak, Schaetzle met feeling great. them holding a large silver spoon. Each player touched the spoon on his way to the feld – a The guy didn’t understand but the angel new tradition that captured national attention explained, Schaetzle told his players. “In when the Lakers defeated Slippery Rock at Heaven, everybody’s learned to feed each Michigan Stadium on Oct. 18. other. Each one takes a spoon with a long handle and feeds the guy across from him, Photos by Ed Mailliard The spoon comes with a great story that and the guy feeds him in return.” Schaetzle explained to the team prior to its win over crosstown rival Gannon University – The coach told them, “If we start feeding each If it weren’t for a 2014 rule change, the the game that started the winning streak. other, we have a good chance to become a Lakers would have played for the conference good football team.” championship on Nov. 15 against the ff th- “We started out 0-4, we’re young, and we’re ranked team in the country, Bloomsburg, still not a very good football team, but we’re Hence the spoon. who had earlier beaten the Lakers during the headed in the right direction,” Schaetzle told 0-4 start. the team. He tried to explain to them the fne The team’s 7-4 record clinched its third line between being good and not being good. straight winning season, the frst time the But, the tradition that Schaetzle has started program had accomplished that feat since points towards a bright future for the The coach told them the story of the guy stringing together seven straight winning Mercyhurst football program. Despite its dings who wanted to know the dif erence between years from 1983 to 1989. and nicks and the beating it takes from each Heaven and Hell. “An angel took him to Hell, and every player who touches it on the way to and he was shocked to see that it didn’t look the feld , the spoon is still perfect. all that bad. It was nice, a kind of paradise.

21 This year’s game coincided with the Big House Band Invitational featuring the Michigan Marching Band and select high school bands. Big House, big win Mercyhurst’s brand-new marching band was also on hand to perform.

By David Leisering, Sports Information Director “This is a wonderful opportunity for our program – our student-athletes, The Michigan Wolverines weren’t at home on Oct. 18, 2014, but Michigan coaches, staf , parents and fans – to play a great program at one of Stadium was rocking anyway as Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock faced of the most historic venues in the country,” said Director of Athletics Joe there in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contest. Kimball in announcing that the previously scheduled Mercyhurst- Slippery Rock game was being moved more than 270 miles west. “I sure Michigan has announced Slippery Rock football scores during its games wasn’t going to say no to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our kids.” for decades and twice previously has invited the Rock to play a game in its famed stadium. This third visit was part of Slippery Rock University’s The “Big House Battle” proved to be Mercyhurst’s third consecutive 125th anniversary celebration, and marked the 35th anniversary of SRU’s victory after four straight losses to open the season. Quarterback frst visit t o the “Big House” in 1979. More than 61,000 fans attended that Brendan Boylan threw for 385 yards and four touchdowns, lifting the game, setting a Division II attendance record that still stands. Lakers to 31 unanswered points and a 45-23 thumping of Slippery Rock in front of 15,121 fans.

in the baseball draft; outfelder Da vid Lough, He also excelled in the classroom and was who’s now playing with the Baltimore Orioles, named a Capital One Academic All-America® was the previous high draft pick when he was First Team selection with a 3.71 GPA in sports taken by the Kansas City Royals in the 11th medicine and pre-physical therapy. round in 2007. Following the draft, Altavilla was sent to the “This couldn’t happen to a more deserving Everett (Washington) AquaSox, the Mariners’ person,” said Mercyhurst head coach Joe Spano. Single A Short Season aflia te. He posted a 5-3 “Dan is one of the hardest- working athletes I record and struck out 66 batters in 66 innings MARINERS DRAFT have ever coached. He is a terrifc t eammate, a of work there, and was then invited to the terrifc pit cher, a terrifc studen t…he’s the total Instructional League in Peoria, Arizona. ALTAVILLA package. I couldn’t be happier.” He’s not sure where he’ll be playing in 2015. “At Altavilla’s 2014 season at the Hurst – arguably spring training, every player has to come ready By David Leisering, Sports Information Director the best by a pitcher in program history – to showcase their hard work and dedication in Pitcher Dan Altavilla became the highest draft resulted in an avalanche of honors. He received the of-season, ” he said. “From there, players will pick in Mercyhurst baseball history when the the inaugural Brett Tomko Award as Division be placed on teams based on their talent and Seattle Mariners took him in the ff th round II’s Most Outstanding Pitcher, was named the consistency.” of the 2014 Major League Baseball First- Year ABCA/Rawlings Division II National Pitcher In the meantime he returned to campus this Player Draft. of the Year, and earned a place on the ABCA/ Rawlings First Team All-American Team, among fall to continue working toward his degree. He The righthander is the 15th Laker to be selected many other awards. hopes to fnish b y spring, or by fall at the latest.

22 New Athletics Hall of Fame members honored during Reunion Weekend 2014 include (from left) P. Barry McAndrew, Lyndsi Hughes, Brian Haberstock, Christine Somera, Andrew Schonhof , Jeanna Hartmann, Adam Tokash and Jim Zorn. Sports Hall of Fame inducts 8 in 2014

Seven Laker athletes and a beloved Mercyhurst professor make up the 2014 class inducted into the Mercyhurst University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Those inducted include:

BRIAN HABERSTOCK LYNDSI HUGHES “The ef orts of these students both on the feld and in the classr oom FOOTBALL, 1987-90 WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL, 2001-04 have made them a perfect ft f or this prestigious honor,” said Athletics Haberstock fnished his outstanding Hughes remains the program’s all-time Director Joe Kimball. “And Barry McAndrew has been an icon at career on the Laker football team with leader in kills and ranks second all-time Mercyhurst for so many years in both academics and athletics that it 1,271 rushing yards, which currently in both digs and service aces. She was a was an easy decision to induct him as well.” ranks 12th on the all-time list. He was the two-time CoSIDA Second Team Academic third rusher in program history to eclipse All-American, a two-time AVCA All- 1,000 career rushing yards and he still Region selection, and a two-time CoSIDA JIM ZORN holds the school record for most rushing First Team Academic All-District honoree. CHRISTINE SOMERA WOMEN’S WATER POLO, 2004-08 MEN’S VOLLEYBALL, 1997-2000 yards in a game (282 against Bufalo on She was a member of the All-GLIAC Team Oct. 27, 1990) and for the longest kickof three times and was also a three-time Somera was a four-time Academic All- Zorn was a four-year starter and holds the return in school history (100 yards against GLIAC All-Academic selection. She also American and was a ACWPA All-American program’s single-season record for kills Brockport State in 1988). He was the frst ranks in the top 10 in career blocks and is in 2005. She is the program’s all-time with 411. He ranks frst all-time in car eer player to rush for four touchdowns in the most decorated player in Mercyhurst leader in career points and in career kills (1,459), is second all-time in career one game and held the school record for volleyball history. drawn ejections. She also ranks second digs (533) and career points (1,701.5), and career yards per carry (5.1) until it was all-time in career assists and third all- is fourth all-time in career aces (75). broken in 2013. He was a Pizza Hut Third ANDREW SCHONHOFF time in career goals. She was named the Team All-American in 1988. MEN’S WATER POLO, 2005-09 Mercyhurst Female Athlete of the Year in P. BARRY MCANDREW 2008 and was a four-time All-Conference ADMINISTRATOR JEANNA HARTMANN Schonhof w as the ACWPA National selection, second team in 2005 and 2006 FIELD HOCKEY, 1999-2002 Player of the Year in 2008 and was and frst t eam in 2007 and 2008. McAndrew was a professor in the English a three-time ACWPA First Team All- department at Mercyhurst for 41 years Hartmann was a First Team STX/NFHCA American and a three-time Academic All- and has been “The Voice of the Lakers” Division II All-American in 2002. She American. He held the program record for ADAM TOKASH MEN’S VOLLEYBALL, 1997-2000 for nearly 30 years, serving as the public currently ranks third on the program’s career goals and career points until 2013, address announcer at home football and all-time list in career points with 75 and and remains second in both categories. Tokash led the MIVA in aces in 1999, men’s and women’s basketball games. career assists with 19, and is tied for He played professionally for three ranking him ff th nationally. He is the second with 28 career goals. During her seasons after his graduation, two years in program’s all-time leader in career points All-American year of 2002, Hartmann New Zealand’s First Division and one year (1,743), career aces (143), and career digs recorded the third-most points in a in Germany’s Second Division. (679). He ranks second in the program’s season with 35 and the fourth-most goals history in career kills (1,432) and ranks in a season (14). third in solo blocks (88). 23 Distinguished Alumni Allan Belovarac, Ph.D. ’73; Mary Hofman ’74; P atricia Clark Lightner ’81 ’85; and M. Marcia Federici, Ph.D. ’72. Not available for photo: Paul Cahill ’88. Mercyhurst recognizes 5 distinguished alumni

Mercyhurst University honored fv e outstanding graduates as Center, she has been a district director for the Pennsylvania Board of Distinguished Alumni during ceremonies at Reunion Weekend Probation and Parole since 1999. In 2002, she received the Kinnane June 6-8, 2014. Criminal Justice Award for her career accomplishments. She is also an adjunct instructor in the criminal justice department at Mercyhurst. The award for Outstanding Service to Mercyhurst went to Allan Belovarac, Ph.D., who had worked at least part time at Mercyhurst Paul Cahill ’88 is Senior Vice President of Brand Management, ever since his 1973 graduation and retired in May after a 40-year Marriott Hotels and Resorts and JW Marriott Hotels, for Marriott career with the university. A popular history professor for 34 years, International, Inc. He is responsible for developing and executing a he previously coached the Laker crew team during its early years and multi-year brand strategy for both brands. He has held a variety of served as Mercyhurst registrar and director of institutional research. leadership positions within the Marriott organization, including Area He also had a 28-year career as an intelligence specialist with the U.S. General Manager of the South Orange County market, Area General Naval Reserve. Manager for Los Angeles, and Senior Regional Director of Operations for the Western Region. Three alumni were honored for Outstanding Contributions to their Chosen Fields. Mary Hofman ’74 received the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community. A special education teacher with the Millcreek M. Marcia Federici, Ph.D. ’72 worked in the biopharmaceutical Township School District, she retired after 34 years there but has feld f or more than 25 years, managing product development, continued to run the theater program she and colleague Mary Ellen quality control and manufacturing with such fr ms as Genentech Lieb developed for their students who have graduated from high and GlaxoSmithKline. She worked on many drugs now being used to school. Each year they stage a musical starring their special needs treat cancer, growth defciencies and str oke, including TPA for stroke students of all ages. She is very active with St. John’s Parish in Erie. patients and the cancer drug Bexxar. Since retiring from industry, she has devoted herself to teaching and mentoring the next generation Note: There’s still time to nominate candidates to be honored in of young scientists. 2015. Visit hurstalumni.org/nominations.

Patricia Clark Lightner ’81 ’85 has worked in the parole, probation and community corrections feld thr oughout her career. After working for the Edmund L. Thomas Juvenile Detention Center, the Erie County Adult Probation Ofc e and Gateway Rehabilitation

24 Mercyhurst: Always close to my heart

By Amy Lombardo

I recall walking into the campus of Mercyhurst That’s dedication! I had to take one term of , I mentioned this to Mary Ellen Dahlkemper, as an adult, pushing 40, single mother, recently but was back full force the next. she suggested the Alumni Board and made unemployed and wondering how to improve a recommendation. That is how I became a my career prospects and fulfll a need t o do Another change of job… Then there was no member 18 years ago. I still can’t believe it’s what I hadn’t done when I graduated from high stopping. I had a mission and a personal goal been that long. school many years prior. I was nervous and to do the best I could. Graduated summa cum afraid of what the future would hold; but from laude with a degree in risk management and I’ve seen many changes in the board, the the moment I met the staf of the adult c ollege was honored by the college with the Bishop’s administration, and Homecoming in those I felt at ease. Award for Academic Excellence. It was a very years. My favorite activity to help with at special experience to have my parents and my Homecoming was the “Comfortable Cup of It was fall, but within weeks I was enrolled and children at my graduation. In fact, my daughter Tea” at the Motherhouse. It was such a warm had fnancial aid lined up and w as sitting in and I graduated with our bachelor’s degrees experience to see the alums visiting the Mercy my frst classes . What an experience being in two weeks apart. Sisters, and I know the feeling was mutual. classes with students almost 20 years younger I also had the great honor for many years of - taking algebra of all things! Seriously? It had I didn’t anticipate how much I’d miss attending welcoming the adult students into the alumni been 20 years since I had to fgur e out “x.” classes and learning. When they started the association at a reception prior to graduation. master’s degree in Organizational Leadership, My most heartfelt experience, though, was Anyway, I survived the frst trimester with fying I jumped right in. It started as a certifca te being able to present the Distinguished Alumni colors and found out I loved college. I got a job, program. It still warms my heart when I hear award to Mary Ellen on behalf of the Alumni transitioned into MAP (Mercyhurst Accelerated of new graduates from that program, knowing Board. She had been such a blessing to me and Program) of ered by the adult college and that my cohorts and I had a hand in the success all the adult college non-traditional students. began attending evenings and weekends. of the program becoming a permanent part The students lovingly called them “marathon” of Mercyhurst. One of the changes on the board is the classes - four hours on Saturday mornings institution of term limits, so I must bid farewell and Sunday evenings and Wednesdays. What I would like to give a special thank you to to the board, but not to the university, which a great way to get a degree. I could work my Dr. Gamble, who was my thesis mentor. His will remain part of me and always be held day job, attend classes, and study during what guidance really made that dreaded experience close to my heart. This retirement coincides seemed like every other waking hour. a success. I can’t say enough good about all with my retirement from the Pennsylvania the professors I had. I was exposed to many Department of Revenue. I’ve come full circle Since it was a new program, we all were interesting and practical topics, from classical from starting college to a new career to being participating in a great experiment. Many music and English classics to accounting and able to retire. Looking forward to many new professors went well beyond the call of duty, statistics, and from trying to resolve the issue of opportunities coming my way! To those of you especially during my second year when I brucellosis in bison to fnancial managemen t. just beginning…. Remember to give it your literally almost died of a pulmonary embolism best and Carpe Diem! within weeks of the end of term. The professors In the brief interval between graduating with gave me every opportunity to fnish, ev en if a B.S. and starting the M.S., I found I missed it meant dropping of classw ork at my home. participating in the college experience. When 25 Alumni Board elects new leaders

Scott Koskoski ’00 has taken ofc e as president of the Mercyhurst University Alumni Association. Serving with him are Emily Mosco Merski ’04 ’06 as vice president and Mike Lyden ’05 as secretary/treasurer.

New to the board this fall are members:

Noel Burgoyne ’57 Patrick Dunn ’78 Jacob Grifn ’14 Catherine Hornick ’87 Adrianne LaGruth ’13 ’14 Paulette Vaccaro ’83 Emily Mosco Merski ’04 ’06; Robert Merski ’99; Jeanne Keim Phillips ‘68 Elise Yablonsky ’07

The board would like to thank members who have completed their terms on the board, including Jeanne Phillips ’68, a long-time member who’s been a regular at Erie alumni events and helping to educate students and recent alumni about the importance of giving back to their alma mater. Also departing are JP Ratajczak ’04 and Kristen Hudak ’05, co -chairs of the networking team; and Mary McKenna ’90.

Sadly, Bob Dubik ’78, who also completed his term this year, died Nov. 13.

It’s also time to say farewell to board member Amy Lombardo ’94 ’96 ’01. At left she refec ts on her attachment to Mercyhurst and why the university will always be a part of her life. Laker mascot travels the world

Flattened by falling books in Hammermill Library last spring, ‘Hurst mascot Louie the Laker needed some time away from campus. Thanks to countless Laker alums, he’s been on the road ever since. Here are just a few of the places he’s visited. Germany You can take Flat Louie along on your winter adventures by printing a copy from the Alumni Community page on the Mercyhurst website (mercyhurst.edu). Thanks to 2014 Mercyhurst grad Rudy Claros for the designs.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Alyssa Rainier ‘96 and her brother, Jason Gifen ‘97, at Ethiad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

26 101 Moments of Motherhood

The Mercyhurst motto – “carpe diem” – urges everyone to seize the day, The book paved the to take advantage of every opportunity, to grasp each moment. way to a “Moments of Motherhood” column for Regan Kosic Long ’06 has taken that advice to heart, compiling all the her hometown newspaper, moments of her busy life as wife, mother, teacher, photographer and the Williamsport Sun- more into newspaper columns, popular books and now a well-read blog Gazette. After that, she on motherhood for The Hufngt on Post. expanded her reach from Regan says her Mercyhurst preparation helped her fnd her frst job the 40,000-circulation as a special ed teacher in California. “Most college students don’t get Sunday paper to the their feet wet in the classroom right away,” she says, “but by the time I online Hufngt on Post, graduated I had about 10 dif erent schools on my résumé where I’d where her work has had experience.” generated more than 100,000 likes and shares.

She and her husband, Terry, moved back to Pennsylvania after they Now in the works: another undisclosed 101 Moments book and her frst started their family. She took a job teaching 5th grade and has since children’s book, a humorous tale based on Kaden’s journey through the moved to 2nd grade. Her other full-time job is as mom to daughters Terrible Twos. Kendyl (6), Kennedy (2) and Kelsey (born Aug. 29 this year), and How does she do it all? Regan says she’s been high energy since birth. son Kaden (4). “Whenever I get an idea, I just go with it.”

Her frst book – 101 Moments of Motherhood – was published in 2013. That might explain why she’s also launched two new businesses: It captured experiences of motherhood from throughout her life, from a photography company (fttingly named “In the Moment”) that her own nontraditional upbringing to her interactions with her growing specializes in child and family portraits, and a second venture as a beach family. “It’s a heart- wrenching book,” she admits. “Very sentimental, very body coach. Always an athlete, she shares her own passion for ftness . emotional. It brings people to tears.” 101 Moments of Motherhood is available online through amazon.com. Read her blog posts at hufngt onpost.com.

27 Class notes

Peter Winklebauer ‘73 received a citation Laura Osborn ‘97 has joined St. Martha Lisa Bannister ‘08 from the Pa. State Senate and a lifetime School in Sarasota, Florida, as director received an MBA in achievement award for his excellence in the of marketing and public relations. She general management arts and dedication to the well-being of the relocated to Siesta Key, Florida, from on June 28, 2014, from community. Peter has taught art to high Rochester, New York, where she spent 15 Devry Keller Graduate school students for many years and has years working for Camp Good Days and School of Management. impacted many students with his passion. Special Times. She has accepted an adjunct instructor position with Mercyhurst Jefr ey Smith ‘88 was appointed Diane Dominik Wickles ‘98 published University at the North East campus. Lisa executive director of St. Susan Center her debut romance novel in September has also started a nonproft called P roject soup kitchen in Jamestown, New York. through Assent Publishing in Pittsburgh. Prom in Erie, Pennsylvania, collecting and He previously worked in food service and Hong Kong Treasure is available in print and distributing formal wear to those in need hotel management through the Marriott eBook. for special occasions. Corporation in New York City and Dallas, Texas, and at restaurants in Florida. Anne Onofrey McClendon ‘00 teaches Colleen Gafne y ‘10 accepted a position general music, choir and drama at Holy as a marketing coordinator and graphic Paula Yoviene Prohaska Spirit Catholic School in Tuscaloosa, designer with rand* construction ‘91 has joined Bufalo Hotel Alabama. Her 4th grade choir students corporation in Washington, D.C. She was Supply as interior designer joined Foreigner on stage at a concert in previously a marketing coordinator and in the fr m’s Amherst, May to sing one of the band’s biggest hits, graphic designer for Signature Financial New York, headquarters. “I Want to Know What Love Is.” They earned Partners in Vienna, Virginia. Paula’s previous experience the opportunity by winning a local radio included government, education and station contest and also received a $600 Chelsea Lammes ‘11 started a nonproft healthcare design and she is excited to grant to purchase new instruments for the called wovenheART to raise funds for For now work on interior design projects in the music program. The Silent, a local organization that fgh ts hospitality realm. sex trafck ing. She also earned a master’s Brent Swain ‘01 earned his master’s degree degree in counseling and took a job as a Glenn Novak ‘93 has been hired as fnanc e in middle school instruction. counselor at Goodwill Industries of East director for Global Color Additives & Inks. Texas. He will lead the fnance function for GCAI, Emily Camilli Brady ‘03 has been hired as including oversight of fnancial oper ations a State Farm Insurance agent. She plans to Bethany Jones ‘12 was promoted from across global business units and the run her own agency in St. Louis. assistant to general manager of Panera continued fnancial in tegration for recently Bread in Dublin, Ohio. acquired businesses. Sara Houston ‘06 recently defended her dissertation and graduated with her Ph.D. Jeremy Dickey ‘13 Jim McManus ‘94 received the James P. in biomedical science with a concentration received the Douglas Sweeney Founder’s Award in neuroscience from Kent State University. Smith Student and was honored as “Man Sara is now a postdoctoral fellow at George Award 2014 from the of the Year” by the Retired Washington University Medical School in Chartered Institute Irish Police Society on Washington, D.C. of Public Relations in March 15, 2014. Jim is a Manchester, England. professor in charge of the Mary Ellen Leisering ‘06 earned her The competition criminal justice program at Lorain County Master of Liberal Arts degree at Houston was created to help identify students with Community College and a police chief for Baptist University (HBU) in August 2014. the greatest potential and to recognize the Village of Kipton, Ohio. She is entering her seventh year at HBU as a founder and honorary patron of CIPR assistant director of athletic media relations International, Douglas Smith. Sondra Dorwart DePalma for the NCAA Division I school. ‘97 was recognized as a Thomas Frank ‘13 accepted a position at Distinguished Fellow of Ashlee Nelson ‘06 received Erie Insurance as a performance tracking the American Academy the 2014 Outstanding First analyst for the Enterprise Program of Physician Assistants for Year School Counselor Award Management Ofc e at the home ofc e in exceptional contributions from Fairfax County Public Erie, Pennsylvania. to patient care and the medical profession Schools in Virginia. during her 12 years as a physician assistant. 28 Class notes

Rachel Brown Andrews ‘12 and Alyssa Nancy Mealey Bailey ‘01 and husband MARRIAGES Andrews ‘12 were married on June 27, 2014, Jefr ey had a son, Samuel John, on July 29, by Mercyhurst professor Dr. Richard McCarty. 2014. Sarah Donovan ‘07 married Ben Lewis on The couple held a celebration of their union Sept. 28, 2013. Bridesmaids included Emily on Aug. 16, 2014, and bridesmaids included Michelle Mogel Hosford ‘02 Donovan ‘09, Theresa Mullan ‘07 and Natalie Grospitch ‘12, Jill Barrile ‘12, Kayla and husband Donnie had a Michelle Ellia ‘07. Clark ‘13, Claire Hogan ‘12, Christy DiSalvo daughter, Arianna Britton, on ‘12 and Kyra Stanyard ‘12. April 14, 2014. Arianna joins James “Jayme” Dylewski ‘07 married brothers Aidan (6) and Landon Jessica King on Oct. 12, 2013, at Purchase Jordan Gruver ‘12 married James Duberow (2) and sister Soraya (4). Line Church of the Brethren. Jayme is an on June 21, 2014, in internal medicine resident at St. Luke’s Christ the King Chapel at Melissa Smith Maegle ‘02 and Steven Hospital in Bethlehem. Mercyhurst. Jordan is a Maegle ‘02 had a daughter, Cecelia Jane, graduate student at Florida on Feb. 15, 2014. Cecelia joins big sister Kathryn Miller ‘08 married State University and Jim is Sydney. Doug Gorski on Sept. employed by Tallahassee 6, 2014, in Avon, Ohio. Memorial Healthcare. JP Ratajczak ‘02 Bridesmaids included Amy Members of the wedding party included and his wife had a Opest ‘07 and Deanna Erin Hepler ‘12, maid of honor; Lauren son, AJ Ratajczak, Kramer Hinman ‘07. Haines ‘11, bridesmaid; and Chris Wise ‘09, on April 17, 2014, in groomsman. Columbus, Ohio. Brittany Monteparte ‘08 married Justin Graf on Nov. 9, 2013, Stephen Lupo ‘13 married Andrea DiSanti on Casey Kilroy ‘03 and Andrew Dinkelaker in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Bridesmaids July 20, 2013. Andrea is the daughter of Jim had their frst child , Saylor Clare, on included Marla Glista ‘08, Kara Stadelman DiSanti ‘85 and Barb Carlin DiSanti ‘81. Oct. 25, 2013. ‘09, Nicole Hlavaty ‘09, Kayla Lincoln ‘09

and Katy Sherlach ‘09. Brittany works in Jessica Montana ‘03 McLean, Virginia, as an analyst and project and Matthew Backhaus manager with BAE systems and Justin is an BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS ‘05 had a daughter, Bryn attorney with Academi. Randolph Byrd ‘74 and wife Kathryn had Montana, on March a son, William Robert Goodson Byrd, on 10, 2014, in Pittsburgh. Jenna Golden ‘09 married Eric Bresnehan Oct. 6, 2014. She joins big brother on Aug. 16, 2014, in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Matthew Jr. Bridesmaids included Claire Rowella ‘09 Kathryn Argentieri and Marla Glista ‘08 and a reading was Nawracaj ‘92 and Jaime Myers Outly ‘05 and done by Shannon Farrell ‘09. husband Kevin had husband Ryan had a son, a son, Evan Adam, Abraham Thomas, on Shannon Murphy ‘09 in June 2013. He July 19, 2014. married Christopher Sherwin joins big sisters Ella and Elise and big brother on June 21, 2014, in Latrobe, Ethan. The Nawracajs live in Chicago. Gloria Emberger Oxford ‘05 and husband Pennsylvania. Bridesmaids Sean had their frst daugh ter, Marlee Ann, included Kathryn Kolker Toni Platte Payner ‘96 on June 19, 2014. Marlee joins big brother Miller ‘09 and Megan and husband Ian had a Noah. Peluso ‘09. Shannon works son, Christopher James, on in treasury management at PNC Bank and June 11, 2014. He joins big Thera Gaston Reams ‘05 and husband Christopher is a patent attorney for The brothers Michael and Ryan. Brian had a son, Hudson Louis, on Webb Law Firm. May 11, 2014. Isaac McPherson ‘99 Megan Lee Rivett ‘11 married Matthew and wife Andrea had Chris Aloshen ‘07 and Saeli on July 25, 2014, in Las Vegas. Megan their fourth son, Daniel Meghan Sauer Aloshen works in Warren, Pennsylvania, as a daycare Alexander, on Jan. 1, 2014. ‘07 had their frst child , son director, and Matt works as an ofc e Malcolm Joseph, on June manager for C.R.I. 9, 2014.

29 Class notes

Hilary Frantz Jonczak ‘07 Sr. Mary Edith Hirsch, R.S.M. ‘62 Father and grandfather of: and husband Chris had Jacquelyne Fondy ‘65 Betsy Herzog Frank ‘81 and Thomas their second son, Dominic Daniel Hedlund, OD ‘77 Frank ‘13 (Robert Herzog) Reed, on Dec. 5, 2013. Robert S. Dubik ‘78 Sarah Maio ‘80 Father of: Amanda Riccardi Walsh ‘08 and husband Joseph Bickers ‘86 Denise Moles ‘81 Brendan had their frst child , son Calvin Ernest Frank Kemling Jr. ‘86 Alexander, on Nov. 11, 2013. Trissa Dudzinski Marino ‘89 Mother and grandmother of: Ojae Michal Louise Beale, Ed.D. ‘92 Susan Souders Sidorick ‘71, Marjory Gerald Volgstadt II ‘97 Souders Gorny ‘73, Molly Souders Lord ALUMNI DEATHS Valerie Kennedy ‘98 ‘77, and Molly Gorny Robinette ‘04 Brian Yaniszewski ‘99 (Marilyn Cummiskey Souders ‘47) Jean Summers Wichtowski ‘33 Martha Mary Kettering Kessler ‘37 Daughter of: Pauline O’Laughlin Hergenrother ‘38 CONDOLENCES Donna Morrison ‘08 (Courtney Morrison, Mary Ellen Linney Avery ‘43 who was a current Mercyhurst student) Dorothy Szyplik ‘43 To the family of Daniel Kuehl, Ph.D., Adele Trippe Karle ‘44 associate professor of intelligence studies. Son of: Eileen Walsh Thompson ‘44 Susan Patricia Donahue Deet ‘68 (Gregory Anne Cleary Joyce ‘46 Deet) Marilyn Cummiskey Souders ‘47 CONDOLENCES Elizabeth Peters Strong ‘52 Brother (and brother-in-law) of: Nancie Sigmond Stowe ‘53 Husband of: David Quinn ‘90 and Antoinetta Tripodi Maryann Robaskiewicz Adsit ‘55 Joyce Metzler McChesney ‘69 (William Quinn ‘92 (Patrick Quinn) Anne Remaley LeBlanc ‘55 McChesney) Lillian Egnot Cohen ‘60

30 501 East 38th Street, Erie, PA 16546

ERSIT NIV Y

U T D

S

R N U 12-14 E

H K

Y

E C

2015 Reunion E

R E Weekend W

M N O NI 2015 REU