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WIDENER
Widener Magazine
Volume 21
Number 03
Fall
‘11
Widener Magazine Volume 21 Number 03 Fall ‘11
6
6
Widener University
One University Place
Chester, PA 19013
Phone: 1-888-WIDENER
Website: www.widener.edu
Published by the
Office of University Relations
12
Executive Editor: Lou Anne Bulik
Editor: Sam Starnes
Class Notes Editor: Patty Votta
Proofreader: Lindsay Pepino ’12
A Full Day: Widener junior Kate
Dellinger stars in the classroom
and on the basketball court. How
does she do it? She narrates
one very busy day in the life
of a Widener student-athlete.
Running with the Big Dogs:
Widener’s sport management
program brings students
in contact with the major
league franchises in the
Philadelphia area.
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18
A Gridiron Turning Point:
Widener’s last national
championship season in 1981
included an epic game against
nearby Swarthmore that
marked a critical moment
for both teams.
Bigger than Cosell and
Costas Combined:
Pennsylvania Military College
alumnus Bill Stern ’30 was a
giant figure in the early days
of sports broadcasting.
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28
A Deep and Storied Tradition:
Athletics on campus date back
145 years to when baseball
began at Pennsylvania Military
Academy, and it is still going
strong today.
From the Killing Fields to
Protecting American Presidents:
The journey of Widener alumnus
Leth Oun, a ’98 sociology
graduate, started in Cambodia
and culminated in a job with
the U.S. Secret Service.
WIDENE R M A GA ZIN E
14
DEPARTMENTS
Visit Our Blog—
widenermagazine.com
18
Please join the
conversation by posting
your comments and letters
to the editor online.
Find us on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/
wideneruniversity.
Magazine Advisory Board:
Gerry Bloemker
Lou Anne Bulik
Kathleen Butler
Denise Gifford
Dan Hanson ‘97
Matthew Poslusny
Tina Phillips ’82, ’98, ‘03
Meghan Radosh ’00, ‘02
Sam Starnes
Brigitte Valesey
Contributing Writers:
Derek Crudele
Kate Dellinger ’13
Dan Hanson ’97
Lindsay Pepino ’12
Allyson Roberts
3 / On Campus
Photographers:
Melanie Franz
Chris Hartlove
John Martins
4 / Arts and Culture
32 / Class Notes
36 / Chapter Notes
On the Cover:
Student-athlete Kate
Dellinger. Read her story
starting on page 6.
37 / Campaign Update:
Taking the Lead—
The Campaign
for Widener
President’s Message
Widener
Athletics:
A Tradition
and Future
of Success
Widener
University’s
long and storied
history of
athletics dates
its origins back
to 1866 when
Pennsylvania
Military Academy, as we were then
known, fielded a baseball team.
A full 145 years later, Widener
University fields twenty Division
III teams—ten for men and ten for
women—with a total participation
of 450 students, 16 percent of our
undergraduate student body.
For all of these students, being an
athlete means more than competition.
It means tradition and passion; service
and community; and learning and
achievement. It means, to paraphrase
the NCAA Division III’s positioning
statement, following one’s passions,
and discovering one’s potential.
The performance of Widener
student-athletes in the classroom
exemplifies this realized potential.
Our valedictorians in 2008 and 2009
were student-athletes. (In fact, in
2008, volleyball teammates Rachel
Chizmadia and Becky Rohrbaugh
2
ON CAMPUS
shared the top academic honor; they
were followed by field hockey and
softball team member Trina Menta
in 2009.) Nine Widener studentathletes made The Philadelphia Inquirer
Academic All-Area List last year,
including four members of the football team, raising the total number
to 44 recognized since 2007. In the
spring semester, an impressive 48 of
our student-athletes made the Middle
Atlantic Conference Spring Academic
Honor Roll. Contrary to the
popular public perception of athletics,
Widener student-athletes have a
higher grade point average than the
rest of the student body and are
more likely to graduate than their
Widener peers who do not
participate in athletics.
Student-athletes also share a
commitment to service. Players from
all of our teams have participated in
projects aiding the Special Olympics,
Boys and Girls Clubs, Habitat for
Humanity, and many other
charities and community outreach
programs. Outstanding individuals
from our athletic programs have won
the President’s Award, honoring a
student who has contributed the most
to campus life, two of the last three
years. Bonnie Zwissler, a member
of the cross country and track & field
squads who made the Dean’s List all
four years in civil engineering and
math, won this year; Tracy Jones
from the men’s basketball squad
earned the award in 2009.
Being a student-athlete at
Widener also means being part
of a family. The story of Kelly
Vogelgesang, a member of the
softball team, bears this out.
Kelly’s parents died during her first
two years at Widener—her father of
cancer during her freshman year, and
her mother of a brain tumor during
her sophomore year. Despite these
losses, she stayed in school and
graduated in May with a degree in
psychology. “We have three other
seniors on this team, and without
them I would have never made it
through,” she told KYW Newsradio.
“Without head coach Fred
Dohrmann, without the people at
Widener giving me such a great
(academic) scholarship, without
my friends and family ... I can’t say
enough good things. Without them
I wouldn’t be able to be here today.”
Her story demonstrates how
college athletics is much more
than simply playing a game.
These are exciting times in the
history of the NCAA Division III.
It was a great honor for me to serve
as chair of the national Division III
President’s Council last year and also
as a member of the search committee
that selected NCAA President
Mark Emmert.
The biggest honor, however,
is serving as president of a university
whose student-athletes exemplify
the highest ideals of intercollegiate
athletics, sportsmanship, academic
excellence, and service to others.
Dr. James T. Harris III
President
Five New
Trustees
Named
Anthony R. Britton Jr. of Darien, Conn.
A managing director for the Royal Bank of Scotland, he
graduated from Widener with a bachelor’s degree in business
management and economics in 1982 and served as captain
of the 1981 Widener national championship football team.
Anna Miller of East Prospect, Pa.
A junior chemistry major, she is a member of the Presidential
Service Corps/Bonner Leaders program and was one of only
135 students nationwide to be honored as a Newman Civic
Fellow by Campus Compact, an honor recognizing college
student leaders.
The Widener University Board
of Trustees recently elected five new
members to its ranks including the
former publisher of The Philadelphia
Inquirer, an executive for the Royal
Bank of Scotland, the president of
an international investment and
business conglomerate, a technology
and information scientist, and an
undergraduate student leader.
Widener University President
James T. Harris III welcomed the
new trustees to the 29-member
board in the spring. “They have
outstanding skills and experiences
that will complement the board
and help the university take
advantage of new opportunities in
an ever-changing higher education
landscape,” Harris said.
New Majors on Campus
Biomedical engineering major
begins, informatics and finance
to start 2012
Fourteen freshmen who make up
the Widener School of Engineering’s
first class of biomedical engineering
students began their studies this
semester. The university next year
is planning to introduce majors in
finance, business informatics, and
media informatics.
The informatics and finance majors
will be offered in fall 2012, pending
approval of the Board of Trustees. The
informatics majors focus on a wide
Robert E. Samuel of Blue Bell, Pa.
A senior technology architect for Aetna, Inc., he is the
incoming president of the Widener University-Pennsylvania
Military College Alumni Association. He holds a 1991
bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a 2000
master of engineering degree from Widener.
Richard L. Tan of San Diego, Calif.
President of Pacific Millennium Holdings Corporation,
he has more than 30 years of experience in the paper and
finance industries. He received an honorary doctorate in
international business from Widener in 2009.
Brian P. Tierney of Bryn Mawr, Pa.
Former publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tierney
is chief executive officer of Realtime Media and leads its
parent company, Brian Communications. He is a 1987
graduate of the Widener University School of Law.
range of technical skills in the rapidly
changing business and media environments, while the finance major will
provide students with the skills to succeed in the financial sector.
Workplace demands for graduates
with expertise in these varied fields are
expected to grow:
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Jobs in biomedical engineering—
a field combining engineering and
medical technology to find ways to
improve the quality of human life—
are expected to increase by 72 percent by 2018. Philadelphia ranks as
the second largest area of employment in the nation for biomedical
engineers.
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Labor statistics also show strong
growth projections for fields related
to informatics, including graphics
and web development, artificial intelligence, and information gathering
and dissemination. Widener will offer
informatics majors through both the
School of Business Administration
and the College
of Arts and Sciences.
Finance is ranked among the highestpaying college degrees, and the
market for financial analysts is
expected to grow more than 30
percent in the next decade.
For more information on these
majors, visit www.widener.edu.
3
ARTS AND CULTURE
Widener Students
Rub Shoulders With
Accomplished Writers
Alumni and members of Widener Community
invited to attend literary readings
“The Distinguished
Writers Series
offers a wonderful
opportunity for
the creative
writing students,
but it also extends
Widener’s outreach
to the community
at large.”
—Dr. Ken Pobo
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By Lindsay Pepino ’12
Kyle Gies never worries about sharing
his creative work with his peers and
professors.
As a Widener creative writing
major, he is comfortable exchanging
his stories and participating in class
workshops. It wasn’t until he was
given the opportunity this year to have
a one-on-one tutorial with writer
George Saunders—a renowned author
who has appeared on “The Late
Show with David Letterman” and is
a frequent contributor to The New
Yorker—that Gies became nervous.
“After reading Saunders’ books
I was excited about my tutorial and
felt that he would be an easy person
to talk to about writing,” said Gies, a
senior from Wilmington, Del., whose
minor is professional writing. “That
being said, the quality of his writing
made it really daunting for him to
be reading my work.”
Over the past seven years,
Widener’s creative writing students
like Gies often have had the opportunity to discuss their poetry and
prose with award-winning writers
in the university’s Distinguished
Writers Series. Led by Dr. Michael
Cocchiarale and Dr. Ken Pobo, the
English and creative writing
departments sponsor the event by
bringing visiting writers to campus
to share their knowledge and professional experiences with students.
“The program works so well
because of its intimate nature,” said
Cocchiarale, an associate professor.
“The classes are capped at just fifteen
students. This allows us to give
students more individual attention.”
The purpose of these visits is not
just to benefit students but also to
expand Widener as a writing community where students make connections
with writers from other institutions.
Each visiting writer gives a reading
that is open to the public; alumni
and other members of the Widener
community are welcome to attend.
In addition to Saunders, other
writers who have visited campus
include Heidi Durrow, author of the
bestselling 2010 novel The Girl Who
Fell from the Sky, and Kevin Wilson,
author of the recently released novel
The Family Fang and the acclaimed
2009 short story collection
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth.
Writers are chosen based on the
success of their work and also their
ability to relate to students and make
personal connections when they
come to campus. The series is not
about fame or dropping names in
order to get noticed. Instead, creative
writing faculty stress the importance
of bringing in writers who are at
various points in their careers
from experienced to emerging.
This mixture benefits students
who get to see all stages of being
a professional writer.
Originally visiting writers were
brought in once a year, but as the
series progressed, the visits became
more frequent. The series now hosts
two writers each year. During the
two-day visit, writers speak to classes
and give a reading of their own work.
In class students can ask questions
about the writing process and receive
insight about the life of a writer. After
the public literary reading, Widener
students and faculty have dinner with
the guest of honor.
Pobo, a professor and poet who
has been part of Widener’s faculty
since 1987, said the program enriches
the campus experience for all. “The
Distinguished Writers Series offers a
wonderful opportunity for the creative
writing students, but it also extends
Widener’s outreach to the community
at large,” he said.
Author Heidi Durrow signs her novel for Widener students.
George Saunders speaks with students.
Lindsay Pepino ’12 is a creative writing
and communication studies major from
Oceanside, N.Y.
Literary Readings:
4 p.m., Oct. 27, Anjali Joseph,
whose first novel Saraswati Park
was published in 2010, will read in
the Webb Room in University Center.
Spring 2012, Dilruba Ahmed, author
of the book of poetry, Dhaka Dust,
will read at a time to be announced
on the creative writing web page at
www.widener.edu.
Author George Saunders with Michael Cocchiarale, an associate professor in
Widener’s creative writing program.
5
IN THE CLASSROOM.
ON THE COURT.
AND IN THE COMMUNITY.
These are the places where Widener
University student athletes like Kate
Dellinger excel.
A psychology and pre-physical
therapy major from Wrightsville, Pa.,
Dellinger maintains a 3.996 grade
point average, has been named to the
Dean’s List four times, and earned
a spot on The Philadelphia Inquirer
Academic All-Area Team.
On the basketball court, as a
sophomore she led Widener’s team
with 17.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per
game, results that earned her second
team honors for the All-Eastern
College Athletic Conference (ECAC )
South Region Team.
And in the community, she
also has been involved. Dellinger
volunteered for the Hoops for the
Heart Clinic, a basketball clinic
for Chester kids held on Martin
Luther King Jr. Day, and the Special
Olympics where she helped to keep
score of the basketball games.
How does she achieve such
success? Hard work, and some very
busy days. Dellinger kindly agreed
to keep a journal of an exceptionally
hectic day this past winter, Monday,
Feb. 21, only two days before
Widener’s Middle Atlantic
Conference Tournament game.
6
7
“We often work on case studies about genetic disorders instead
of simply copying lecture notes. I hope to someday become a
physical therapist, so I found this class very interesting and
directly related to my future.”
10:50 A.M.
MONDAY, FEB. 21
By Kate Dellinger ’13
8 A.M.
My alarm buzzed me awake. I jumped
in the shower and got ready for class.
I share a suite with four girls: Ro, Nat,
Carrie, and KG. We have a kitchen
and a common area where we all hang
out together.
8:40 A.M.
I turned on ESPN’s SportsCenter
and quickly ate a bowl of cereal—
Special K Vanilla Almond, my
favorite, that I eat every day—
and a banana.
8:50 A.M.
I walked to Academic Center North
for Elementary Calculus. We reviewed
for Wednesday’s exam on first and
second derivatives and finding the
absolute maximum and minimum
values of a function.
9:50 A.M.
After math in ACN I headed to the
Kapelski Learning Center for Logic
class. I sat beside (Laura) Carson, my
teammate. We checked our answers to
the homework problems and learned
about the four types of definitions as
well as their goals.
8
When class ended, I met my roommate Ro (Rochelle Retirado) at Java
City for white hot chocolate. Ro is
manager of the women’s basketball
team—she runs the clock at every
practice and keeps the book at games—
as well as a member of the lacrosse
team. She prefers to ride her motorized scooter to class, so I then
walked down the hall to Sensation
and Perception at 11:00 as she
zoomed ahead. We spent the class
taking notes from a presentation
about receptive fields in neurons of
the striate cortex, the part of the brain
that processes visual information.
11:50 A.M.
Immediately after class I rushed to
the library for a picture with President
Harris for making the President’s List.
There were about 20 other students
who each received a 4.0 for at least
two consecutive semesters.
12:30 P.M.
I returned to my room and had lunch
with my roommates. They made tuna
melts, but I don’t like cheese or mayo,
so I just ate plain tuna and an apple.
12:50 P.M.
I went to Kirk (Kirkbride Hall) for
my final class of the day, Cells and
Genes. We chose partners and worked
on a case study about inheritance of
eye color. We often work on case
studies about genetic disorders instead
of simply copying lecture notes.
I hope to someday become a physical
therapist, so I found this class very
interesting and directly related to
my future.
1:50 P.M.
I returned to my room to grab things
for basketball practice. I like to shoot
on my own for about an hour each day
and can’t wait to get to the gym.
2 P.M.
After warming up I went through my
normal routine. I worked on jump
shots, threes, and pull ups, and then
finished off with foul shots. Coach D
(Alisa DiBonaventura) stopped by
and worked with me and fed balls to
me. We worked on shooting when my
defender lays off of me just enough to
get a shot off, something we knew I’d
encounter in our tournament game.
3 P.M.
I went downstairs to the weight room
to lift. Mondays are focused on upper
body so I did bench, shoulder press,
bicep curls, triceps pull-downs, flies,
and dumbbell rows. I usually complete
three sets of 10, and my arms feel like
Jell-O afterwards.
3:45 P.M.
I went to the Wellness Center to
conduct a 15-minute data collection
for my naturalistic observation project
in my Research and Design class.
4 P.M
9 P.M.
I drove to Wawa to grab a turkey
sandwich, a peanut butter Power Bar,
and a Gatorade. I returned to the gym
to get dressed for practice and to get
my ankle taped.
My roommates decided they wanted
to watch a movie. After a lot of
arguing, we finally all agreed on 300.
Carrie, who is from Hawaii, made
hurricane popcorn which is a blend
of popcorn, rice crackers, and nori,
another name for seaweed. My roommates go crazy over that stuff but I
made my own mini bag of regular
popcorn. I had never seen the movie
before but I really liked it. By the end,
I was really struggling to stay awake.
4:30 P.M.
I ate during a team film session in
which we watched Messiah College
who we would play on Wednesday in
the conference semifinals. They had
beaten us by two points on their home
court only a few weeks before, and
we had beaten them in overtime at
home in December. Before we began
watching, we each took a quiz on their
players and what their strengths were.
6 P.M.
Our team practice followed for two
hours. We had a pretty good practice
with a lot of drills. However, we had
a lot more to go over on Tuesday in
order to be prepared for the game.
Messiah beat us last year in the
conference semis and we did not
want to let that happen again. I felt
like the team was focused, but we
knew in order to win we had to
pick up our defense.
8 P.M.
After practice, I went back to my
room and took a long, hot shower.
8:40 P.M.
I finished my math homework on
MyMathLab, an online tool for
the class.
11:30 P.M.
After the movie I grabbed my iPod,
and went to bed. I listened to my
sleep playlist—it includes slower
songs by bands like Bruno Mars and
Secondhand Serenade—and spent a
few minutes thinking about the three
upcoming exams I had that week and
the big game on Wednesday. I didn’t
last long though, after such a full day.
I fell asleep before the second song on
my playlist even started.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Two days later, the women’s basketball
team lost to Messiah 63–74 in a hard
fought game on Messiah’s home court
in Grantham, Pa. It was the Pride’s
eighth trip in the last nine years to the
conference tournament and the fourth
straight year they battled the Falcons
in the semifinals. The team went 19–7,
tying the 1981– 82 squad for most
victories in a season at Widener.
In the classroom, Dellinger
finished the semester with all A’s—
another 4.0 average—her fourth consecutive semester on the Dean’s List.
9
WIDENER ATHLETICS:
KATE DELLINGER’S
STATS:
21
2013
33
17.1
7.8
3.996
AGE
CLASS
TEAM NUMBER
POINTS PER GAME
REBOUNDS PER GAME
GRADE POINT AVERAGE
10
A Program of Pride
Kate Dellinger’s busy day typifies
the hard work of 450 Widener
student-athletes who compete
on the university’s 20 men’s and
women’s varsity teams.
For all, coaches, faculty, and
administrators emphasize goals for
success in various arenas—academics,
sports, and community. “Any studentathlete that comes to Widener is going
to have a well-balanced experience
on and off the field,” said Larissa
Gillespie, Widener’s assistant athletic
director, senior woman administrator,
and coach of the women’s field
hockey team.
As the statistics below show, Widener
student-athletes perform exceptionally
well in and out of the classroom.
Unlike like higher NCAA divisions,
Division III schools like Widener do not
grant athletic scholarships. “We are
here because we love the sport and
we still want to do great in school,”
said Jen Harnden, a senior engineering
major from Hershey, Pa. who plays on
the lacrosse team.
By the Numbers—Widener
Student-Athletes Perform . . .
In the Classroom:
A total of 48 Widener student-athletes
made the Middle Atlantic Conference
Spring 2011 Academic Honor Roll.
Three of Widener’s last five valedic­
torians have been student-athletes.
Two of the last three winners’ of
Widener’s President’s Award—given
to students who contribute the most
to campus life—have been studentathletes.
Student-athletes at Widener have
higher SATs upon entering college,
maintain higher GPAs, and are more
likely to graduate.
A total of 44 student-athletes have been
selected to The Philadelphia Inquirer
Academic All-Area List sine 2007.
In the community:
Every Widener student-athlete has
participated in community service
projects each of the last four years,
and Widener student-athletes
volunteered more than 800 times
last year for a variety of programs.
The Widener Athletic Department’s
support of the Delaware County
Special Olympics dates back to 2001,
preceding by a decade an NCAA
Division III effort to support Special
Olympic programs nationwide.
In April, more than 400 Special
Olympians competed in a swim
meet and basketball tournaments
on campus at which more than 200
Widener student-athletes volunteered
as officials, scorekeepers, coaches,
and food servers. Student-athletes
also created an “Olympic Village”
that included dancing, karaoke,
carnival games, and face painting.
Other programs that Widener studentathletes have participated in include
Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Walk
for Autism, and the Chester PAL
soccer league.
And in athletic competition:
Recent NCAA championships include
the women’s outdoor shot put title
won by Lauren Lucci in 2008 and
distance runner Macharia Yuot’s six
titles from 2003 to 2006.
Widener teams have won 15 MAC
championships since 2007: men’s
basketball in 2008 and 2009; men’s
swimming in 2008, 2009, and 2010;
men’s lacrosse in 2008, 2010 and 2011;
football in 2007; men’s indoor track &
field in 2010 and 2011; men’s outdoor
track & field in 2010; baseball n 2010;
women’s swimming in 2011; and
women’s basketball in 2009.
“We worked on shooting
when my defender lays off
of me just enough to get
a shot off, something we
knew I’d encounter in our
tournament game.”
Blue & Gold Club
Alumni and others can get involved
through the Blue & Gold Club.
Visit www.widenerpride.com or
contact Michael J. Talarico, associate
director of university development,
at mjtalarico@widener.edu, or
phone 610-499-4118.
11
WIDENER STUDENTS TAP
INTO MAJOR LEAGUE
SPORTING EXPERTISE
Caryinna Yenchak, left, a 2011 business management
graduate, not only played soccer in PPL Park,
home of the Philadelphia Union, but she did
an internship with the team (pictured with
Rachel Kyprianou ‘11).
By Allyson Roberts
ONLY TWO MILES from
Widener’s Main Campus in
Chester sits PPL Park, a state-ofthe-art 18,500-seat Major League
Soccer stadium that houses the
Philadelphia Union.
And only 12 miles away, a straight
shot up I-95, Philadelphia’s other
major-league sports teams make their
home in a multi-venue complex: the
Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field; the
Phillies at Citizens Bank Park; and
the 76ers, Flyers, and Wings at the
Wells Fargo Center.
Leveraging Widener’s proximity
to these teams has been the mission
of Dr. Brian Larson, associate professor of marketing, since becoming
coordinator of the School of Business
Administration’s sport management
program in 2007. By networking
with sport industry experts in the
Philadelphia sports scene, he has
uncovered opportunities for students
to work in the field—and often on the
field—and form relationships with
major players behind the scenes of
Philly’s professional teams.
Caryinna Yenchak, a 2011
business management graduate who
played on the women’s soccer team,
benefited from the school’s relationship with the Philadelphia Union,
completing an internship with
the team in its inaugural summer.
Yenchak said her experience working
in the PPL Park merchandise store
gave her invaluable insight into the
complexities of a major sporting
12
operation. “I was able to learn
so much,” Yenchak said.
Often representatives of the
various teams visit campus. John
Weber, the Phillies vice president
of ticket sales, and Rob MacPherson,
the team’s director of national sales,
together taught an event marketing
class at Widener. Students in the class
design a “Paint the Town Red” event
to create preseason buzz to boost
ticket sales. The students are challenged to work through the logistics
of the event and to think of the target
audience and desired goals just as they
would if employed by the Phillies.
For the 2011-12 academic year,
the sport management program has
further enlisted the help of industry
insiders to teach courses in their specialties. Bob Schwartz, vice president
of marketing for Comcast-Spectacor
Ventures, will teach sport marketing,
and Chris Kemple, general manager
of the Wilmington Blue Rocks, will
teach sport management.
While Larson has become the face
of the sport management program on
campus, he has looked to his industry
adjuncts, peer business faculty, graduates and other leaders in Philadelphia
sports, including representatives from
Dick’s Sporting Goods, the Eagles,
Gore-Tex, and the Union, for guidance in strengthening the program.
He calls upon these individuals, his
Sport Management Advisory Board,
for help with a number of tasks
including course development.
One of the program’s biggest
supporters is alumnus Tony Pontello,
’61, ’70, owner of Appco’s Sports
World in Secane, Pa. Pontello not
only sits on the Sport Management
Advisory Board, but he also offers
financial support for the Sport
Speaker Series, which exposes
students twice a year to successful
individuals working in sports.
Next year, the newly formed
Student Sport Network will run the
Sport Speaker Series to give students
experience in planning, promoting,
and executing events. “Experience is
the one thing that our advisory board
brings up over and over again—
students are much stronger candidates
for employment when they have a year
working in sports under their belts,”
said Larson. “We’re looking to do
even more. Ultimately, our program
will explore every opportunity to
better prepare students to compete
for a career in sports.”
Dr. Brian Larson, associate professor of
marketing and coordinator of the School
of Business Administration’s sport
management program
13
AN EPIC MATCHUP REVISITED
THREE DECADES LATER
BY DEREK CRUDELE
WHEN WIDENER FOOTBALL
faced Swarthmore on a crisp Saturday
afternoon on Nov. 14, 1981, much
more was at stake for the two schools
only three miles apart than winning
or losing one game. The final contest
of the regular season represented a
turning point for two college football
programs that had been playing
each other for more than one
hundred years.
Four years after its first NCAA
Division III championship in 1977,
Widener entered the contest undefeated and ranked number one in the
nation. Despite a 34-game regularseason winning streak, the Pioneers
—as Widener teams were known—
started the week with Swarthmore
College being the only remaining
game listed on their schedule.
The squad learned earlier in the week
that only a victory would secure a
spot in the eight-team field.
14
A loss, on the other hand, meant
the end of the season.
The same was true for
Swarthmore, an up-and-coming
team with a 7-1 record, its most
victories since 1919. Fresh off an
upset, the Garnet (Swarthmore’s
team) also needed to win to reach
postseason play.
With the Middle Atlantic
Conference (MAC) title at stake,
Widener had reason to be confident.
Widener had won 11 straight against
Swarthmore, the last loss being in
1969, Bill Manlove’s first season as
coach. Furthermore, the team had
averaged a stunning 242.4 rushing
yards per game that season. “We
didn’t set our goal to be national
champions,” Manlove said. “But as
the season progressed, it got on everybody’s mind. Our goal was to win the
conference. But once we won enough
games in the conference, we knew we
could compete in the tournament.”
15
“We had to earn every game and we weren’t going down
without swinging. We had the confidence that we could
win any game.”—Jim Hirschmann, defensive back
Tony Britton ’82, a starting slot
back who had three catches for 50
yards against Swarthmore, remembers
the aura of the powerful Widener
team. “It was great going into a game
like that where Widener would have
100 players warming up and other
teams would have about 50,” he said.
“You could hear the echoing of our
warm-up—and the other team was
shaking in its boots.”
Widener encountered an
unexpected foe during game week—
generous local press coverage of
Swarthmore, a team Widener had
dominated over the past decade.
“The attention Swarthmore
is getting is bugging our kids a
little, but I told them not to
let it bother them,” Manlove told The
Delaware County Daily Times before the
game. “I told them to let the week
belong to Swarthmore, but let the
game belong to us.”
Senior defensive back and kick
returner Tom Deery, who at season’s
end would be named an All-American
a third time and in 1998 was enshrined
into the College Football Hall of
Fame, anchored the team. “Everyone
referred to him as ‘Tom Terrific’,”
Manlove said. “He always was around
and seemed to make every play.”
When 9,500 spectators crowded
into Clothier Field on Swarthmore’s
campus, many on Widener’s side felt
Deery had to make key plays for the
team to win—and he did.
The 1981 team went undefeated and won a national championship.
16
When Swarthmore scored a
touchdown to tie the game at 6-6
in the third quarter, Deery blocked
a kick on an extra point attempt to
keep the game tied.
On the ensuing kickoff, Deery
fumbled, giving Swarthmore the ball
at Widener’s 25 yard line. Deery made
up for his mistake on the next play,
intercepting a Swarthmore pass in
the end zone.
After that, Widener took the lead
for good, 9-6, with 7:16 left in the
third quarter when kicker Mark
Stephan booted a 22-yard field goal.
The margin grew to 16-6 just 48 seconds later when Widener sophomore
linebacker Phil Aruffo picked off a
pass and ran 25 yards for a touchdown.
Few big games go without controversy and this contest had an indelible
one. With the Pioneers holding a 16-6
lead late in the third quarter, Deery
fumbled a punt on his team’s 30-yard
line and the Garnet recovered. Deery,
however, had called for a fair catch
and, under the rule of the time, an
official said Swarthmore violated the
necessary space to make the catch.
The Pioneers held on to win 16-6.
The team ultimately finished the season 13-0, winning the school’s second
NCAA Division III title, and marking the first undefeated campaign
since Pennsylvania Military College
went unbeaten in 1954. “We had a lot
of guys who really wanted to win, and
we had the better record in the end,”
said Jim Hirschmann ’82, a defensive
back for Widener. “That game served
us well heading into the NCAA
Tournament. We had to earn every
game and we weren’t going down
without swinging. We had the confidence that we could win any game.”
The years after saw Widener
continue to churn out solid teams,
winning four more league crowns
before decade’s end and maintaining
both a respect and name for itself that
remains to this day.
Swarthmore’s program went the
other direction. The following season,
Swarthmore entered the Widener
game ranked eighth in the country,
but received unfavorable media attention when many of its professors and
students said the team’s prominence
detracted from the college’s academic
reputation. The “NBC Nightly News”
and “The NCAA Today” on CBS
both featured the controversy.
Widener beat Swarthmore
24-7 in that 1982 matchup. After
that season, the schools played
only twice more, in 1986 and 1987,
with Widener winning 35-0 and
36-3, respectively. The 1987 game
marked the end of a rivalry begun in
1879. Over 108 years, Widener and
Swarthmore played 43 games with
Widener holding a 24-18-1 lead.
Swarthmore went on a 28-game
losing streak in the late 1990s that
ultimately landed the program on
ESPN’s list of the ten worst college
teams of all time. After posting a 4-5
mark in 2000, the college’s trustees
voted to disband the 122-year-old
football program.
Despite the end of football at
Swarthmore, the longstanding rivalry
between Widener and Swarthmore
has been revived via the 320
Challenge, named for the route connecting each campus. A 19-sport,
year-long event, the 320 Challenge
pits the two schools in every shared
sport. Widener won the 2009-10
challenge by a score of 12-7, and the
2010-11 edition 10-8. “There is a storied history of athletic competition
between these two institutions,”
Widener Athletics Director Jack
Shafer said. “We hope to continue
it with the 320 Challenge.” w
Manlove Inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
Bill Manlove—Pennsylvania Military
College and then Widener’s head coach
from 1969 to 1991—earned one of the
highest honors in college football this
summer with his induction into the
College Football Hall of Fame.
He joins players Tom Deery ’82 and
Billy “White Shoes” Johnson ’75 as
representatives of Widener in the
hall. At PMC and Widener, Manlove
recorded a 182-53-1 record in
Chester, earning two NCAA titles,
10 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC)
championships, seven NCAA
Tournament appearances and four
undefeated regular seasons.
Manlove, 78, now works as a part-time
coach at Delaware Valley College. He
also does volunteer work, most notably
in his church, and often travels to see
his grandkids.
Manlove at the College Football Hall
of Fame induction ceremony in July.
17
“He had you with the way his voice projected.
We were hanging on every word.”
—Joe Tercha ’49
By Dan Hanson ’97
A SPORTS
HALL-OF-FAMER
OFF THE FIELD
Pennsylvania Military College alumnus
Bill Stern, a giant figure in the early days
of sports broadcasting, hosted the first
national sports talk show and was the
first to broadcast a televised football
game and a Major League Baseball game.
18
Before the ESPN SportsCenter
generation of catchphrase-coining
anchors, before Bob Costas or
Howard Cosell, another sportscaster
ruled the airwaves—both on radio
and television—and literally helped
pioneer the profession for all who
followed him.
Bill Stern, a 1930 graduate
of Pennsylvania Military College,
captivated radio listeners and
later television viewers with a rich,
resonant voice and a dramatic flair
that earned him the title of most
popular sportscaster in the nation
annually from 1940 to 1952,
according to a Radio Daily Magazine
poll of radio editors. In addition,
during his career with NBC and
later ABC Stern amassed a career
of “firsts”—including broadcasting
the first televised football game, the
first televised Major League Baseball
game, and hosting the first sports
talk show.
Prior to his stellar broadcasting
career, however, Stern was a rebellious
youth from Rochester, N.Y., bouncing
from one school to the next before his
parents, on vacation in Europe, met
a cadet from PMC. Impressed by the
cadet’s “poise, manner and bearing,”
they decided to enroll their son at
the school.
“It was one of the best things
that ever happened to me,” Stern
wrote in his 1959 autobiography,
The Taste of Ashes. “When I
entered PMC Prep in 1925 it
was driven home rapidly that
I could go on for the next five
years as I had been and remain a
scorned private sweeping floors,
cleaning brass buttons, and
shining shoes; or, if I wanted
to give the orders and have my
buttons cleaned and my shoes
shined for me, I could do so with
some intensified application.”
Stern returned to PMC on
occasion much to the delight of
sports-crazed cadets who regularly
listened to his popular Colgate
Sports Newsreel. One such cadet
was Joe Tercha ’49 who recalls one
of Stern’s visits.
“He talked about how proud he
was to attend PMC and the lessons
that he learned there that carried
him into broadcasting,” Tercha said.
“He had you with the way his voice
projected. We were hanging on every
word. At the end of his talk, he said,
‘Fellows, I’d like to ask you to do one
favor for me.’ We would have done
anything he asked. He said, ‘Use
Colgate shave cream.’”
Stern’s life and career, however,
were not without their share of
tragedy. In 1935, just as his radio
career started, he was in a car accident
that cost him a leg. Stern pointed to
that incident as the beginning of an
addiction to morphine and sleeping
pills that would haunt him for the
next 21 years and almost lead to the
end of his broadcasting career. After
going through drug rehabilitation,
which Stern describes in vivid detail
in his autobiography, he resurrected
his career with the Mutual
Broadcasting System, and in 1959
was named the favorite radio sports
announcer by TV Radio Mirror in a
nationwide polling of listeners. The
following year, he was given a star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at
6821 Hollywood Boulevard.
Stern died of a heart attack in
1971 at the age of 64, and much of the
recognition of his accomplishments
came posthumously. He was
inducted into the inaugural class
of the American Sportscasters
Association (ASA) Hall of Fame
in 1984 and the Radio Hall of Fame
in 1988. As recently as 2009, the
ASA published its list of the Top
50 Sportscasters of All-Time, with
Stern ranking at number 20.
Howard Cosell, known for
marching to the beat of his own
drummer as a sportscaster, paid
Stern what was probably the ultimate
compliment when he said, “He dared
to be different.” w
19
A LONG HISTORY OF
ATHLETICS ON CAMPUS
For almost 150 years, athletics has been a mainstay at the
Main Campus of PMC-Widener
20
21
1
2
5
3
6
By Sam Starnes
THE CIVIL WAR had been over
for one year. Pennsylvania Military
Academy, a predecessor to Widener,
had a new home in Chester. A new
sport, baseball, was spreading across
the country.
Two cadets from PMA organized
the baseball team, the first athletics
program in the school’s history. The
Eclipse, as the team was known,
played two games against the local
Chester Club baseball team.
Eleven years later in 1877 baseball on campus was popular enough
that all four classes fielded teams that
competed fiercely, according to the
school newspaper, The Reveille. “All
four nines went to the field with the
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4
7
consciousness of their own superiority
over their rivals, and all settled down
to work with a determination to win
or die in the attempt,” the paper said.
The doubleheader started out with
a shellacking as the seniors beat the
juniors 44-5, and the freshmen
topped the sophomores 17-15.
The team representing the school
by then was known as The Energetics.
The Reveille reports, “On May 10th,
the University of Pennsylvania nine
visited the Academy to play the
Energetics. They were a fine set of
young men, but their ability as base
ballists was not of a very striking
character, for the Energetics had
an easy victory.”
A century later, Widener baseball continued to field a strong team,
making the NCAA tournament three
consecutive years, 1976–78 (the team
returned in 1999, and 2010.)
Gymnastics
Gymnastics, the school’s second sport,
began in 1868 when PMA moved to
the university’s present location. The
new campus featured a gymnasium
equipped with “bars, rings, trapezes,
springboards, a vaulting horse, clubs,
and weights, and many of the cadets ...
became proficient in gymnastics,” Dr.
Clarence Moll, former president of
PMC and Widener, wrote in a History
of Pennsylvania Military College: 1821–1954.
Other sports were introduced in
the next few decades including football, lacrosse, tennis, fencing, hockey,
boxing, and basketball.
8
Football
Football began at Pennsylvania
Military Academy in 1879, only ten
years after the first intercollegiate
game ever played between Rutgers
and Princeton. (The school changed
its name to Pennsylvania Military
College in 1892.)
PMC’s football team developed
the play calling system still in use by
quarterbacks. “Prior to 1887, when a
gridiron play was set in motion it was
the custom of the captain to call the
names of the players,” writes Henry J.
Buxton in Pennsylvania Military College:
The Story of One Hundred Years, 1821–1921.
“When the Princeton squad came to
Chester to play PMC, the captain of
the cadet-team called the cadetnumbers of his men instead of their
names. The effect was bewildering
to the Princeton organization and
enabled the cadets to make substantial
gains. Princeton was quick to see
the advantage of the new system,
and therefore after the Tigers used
the numbers instead of names.
The number system soon became
universal in football.”
The 1888 PMC team recorded
a remarkable nine-game season in
which it not only went undefeated,
but held all of its opponents scoreless. The team did have one decisive
advantage in that all of the games
were played on the PMC campus.
In the early years of football,
President Theodore Hyatt did
not allow the team to travel to
play away games.
1. Game on campus, 1891
2. Baseball team, 1891
3. Baseball team, 1908
4. George A. Redsecker, 1898
5. A play at second base, 1978
6. Gymnastics team, 1907
7. Fencing, circa 1900
8. Hockey, 1903 (actor Burt
Mustin seated)
From previous page: The 1934
football team with Williams “Reds”
Pollock, who played for the Chicago
Bears, holding the ball
23
9
10
13
11
14
In 1934, PMC played one of
the earliest indoor football games on
record in Convention Hall in Atlantic
City, now known as Boardwalk Hall,
the arch-roofed arena famous for
being home to Miss America pageants
until 2004. The football team
played six more games in Atlantic
City in the thirties.
The 1954 team tallied an
undefeated season, winning all
seven games played that year.
PMC returned to Atlantic City
in 1961 to play in what became known
as the Boardwalk Bowl against the
Merchant Marine Academy, more
commonly referred to as Kings
Point for its location in New York
state. PMC played a game annually
in Atlantic City until 1970. Home
24
games were played on Memorial Field
behind Old Main, and would be until
the university opened Leslie C. Quick
Jr. Stadium in 1994.
Jack Klotz ’56 was one of the
area’s top offensive linemen when he
competed for PMC in the mid 1950s.
He played professionally for the Los
Angeles Rams, the New York Jets,
and the Houston Oilers.
Billy “White Shoes” Johnson
played for Widener from 1972 to 1974,
setting multiple records that would
gain him notice of the NFL, where he
went on to play for 14 seasons with
the Houston Oilers, Atlanta Falcons,
and the Washington Redskins.
Joe Fields ’75 played in the same
era, and went on to play fourteen
12
15
16
seasons in the NFL, most of those
with the New York Jets.
Under Coach Bill Manlove, who
was recently selected for the College
Football Hall of Fame, Widener won
1977 and 1981 national championships (for more on Manlove and Tom
Deery, also a member of the College
Football Hall of Fame, and the 1981
championship year, see page 14).
The 2000 football team
reached the semifinals of the
NCAA championships, and in
2001 reached the quarterfinals.
an outstanding team that competed
with and often defeated prominent
schools such as Harvard, Yale,
Princeton, and Army. (PMC also
featured talented stunt-riders as well.)
In 1928, PMC won the national
Indoor Intercollegiate Polo
Championship and the sport became
the flagship of the athletics program.
The squad also won a national
championship in 1943. However,
after World War II, high expenses
of the sport ultimately brought an
end to the program in 1948.
Polo
Pershing Rifles
When polo was introduced as an
intercollegiate sport in 1923, PMC
took advantage of its existing cavalry
and intramural polo program to field
PMC in 1952 was granted a charter
in the National Society of Pershing
Rifles, a fraternal organization of
companies consisting of drill teams
and tactical units. In their first
competition in 1953, PMC won two
of three first-place trophies. In 1959,
the team won the first of 11 straight
national championships.
Women’s Sports Begin
Increasing female enrollment
prompted Widener College to begin
a women’s sports program in 1972.
The women’s field hockey team
marked the first women’s varsity
team on campus.
Women’s Swimming
The women’s swimming team in
1975–76 and 1976–77 went undefeated
during competition in two regular
seasons. The 1977 team featured
five All-Americas: Donna Bender,
Linda Fleck, Patty Leaymen, Doreen
McGowan, and Marsha Reinecker.
17
9. The undefeated, untied, un-scoredupon football team of 1888
10. Football team with bear as
mascot, circa 1920
11. Frank Spang, right, with ball,
and Frank Hartzel, 1938
12. The 1940 football squad
13. Lined up in cadet uniforms, 1938
14. Game action, 1947
15. Boardwalk Bowl versus Kings
Point, 1961
16. Billy “White Shoes” Johnson meets
football legend and U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Byron “Whizzer” White,
1973. Johnson had broken White’s
NCAA record for all-purpose yardage
set in 1937.
17. Johnson, left, with Richie
Roberts, 1974
25
19
18
23
20
25
24
Men’s Basketball
Women’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team went to
the NCAA Division III Final Four
in 1978, reaching the championship
game. Saint Joseph’s University
basketball coach Phil Martelli, a ’76
Widener alumnus who played for the
Pioneers, worked as an assistant coach
for this team. Dennis James from this
team was named an All-American and
drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers. The
men’s team returned to the Final Four
in 1985. Overall, Widener’s men’s
basketball team has appeared in the
NCAA tournament 17 times, most
recently in 2009.
Women’s basketball has reached the
NCAA tournament three times, most
recently in 2009. In 2011, the team
tied its record for most wins in a season with a 19-7 record. For more on
the 2011 team’s leading scorer, Kate
Dellinger, see the cover and page 6.
Track and Field
Six different Widener track and field
athletes have won national titles:
Richie Weaver raced to the title in
the 440-meter hurdles in 1970; Mike
Williams captured the 1975 triple
jump title; Rich Grzeszkowiak won
the decathlon in 1980; Tony Brown
took the 200-meter dash in 1999;
Macharia Yuot won six national
championships from 2003 to 2006;
and Lauren Lucci, now an assistant
track and field coach at Widener,
won the outdoor shot put in 2008.
Neil Weygandt began running the
Boston Marathon as a junior at PMC
Colleges in 1968, and has run the race
every year since, holding the record
for consecutive races at the famed
marathon.
In the spring, Michael Garrity, a
senior from Glenolden, Pa., became
Widener’s latest All-American,
earning the honor in the 1,500-meter
run at the NCAA Outdoor Track
and Field Championships.
Men’s Lacrosse
The men’s lacrosse team has appeared
in the NCAA tournament nine
times since 2000, including the last
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22
27
two seasons, and has won 13 Middle
Atlantic Conference titles. The squad
has had eight All-America picks in
its history.
Much More Online
This photo essay attempts to hit some
of the highlights of the 145 years of
athletics on campus in Chester, but
six magazine pages can never begin to
do justice to the many sports, stories,
and traditions of Pennsylvania Military
Academy, Pennsylvania Military
College, and Widener.
For many more photos, please
visit the Widener University Archives
online exhibit, 100 Years of Athletics:
1866 to 1966. It is accessible via the
Wolfgram Memorial Digital Collections at
28
For the complete list of awards and
records, visit the athletics web page
at www.widenerpride.com.
Contributors include:
Jan Alexander, an archivist with the
Widener University Archives in the
Wolfgram Memorial Library
Derek Crudele, sports information
director
Debbie Perreca, senior graphic
designer
Rebecca Warda, collections manager
for the PMC Museum
18. Polo action, 1938
19. Stunt riding, 1938
20. Pershing rifles, 1953
21. Pershing rifles competing
in formal dress at Indiantown
Gap Military Reservation,
Annville, Pa., 1959
22. Field hockey, 1973
23. Women’s swimming, 1976
24. Men’s basketball, 1978
25. Neil Weygandt, right, and
Ron Sayers, 1968
26. NCAA 440-meter hurdles
champion Richie Weaver, 1970
27. Lil Carney, a junior, 2011
28. Lacrosse’s Nick Politarhos, 2011
All photos property of the Widener
University Archives except for images
numbered 11, 12, 13, 18, and 19,
which are from the Historical Society
http://digitalwolfgram.widener.edu/cdm.
of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia Record
You can also find a slide show of athletics
Photograph Morgue collection and are
photographs on the Widener Magazine
used by permission.
blog at www.widenermagazine.com.
26
27
Alumni Profile
From the
Killing Fields
to Protecting
American
Presidents
Widener Alumnus’ Journey
from Cambodia to Widener
to the U.S. Secret Service.
By Sam Starnes
BEFORE HE TURNED
10-YEARS-OLD in his native
Cambodia, Leth Oun’s father, two
grandparents, three uncles, an aunt,
and two cousins perished at the
hands of the murderous Khmer
Rouge regime.
For the next six years, until
he was 15, he and his mother and one
of his sisters struggled to stay alive in
what became known as the Killing
Fields, frequently claiming fake
identities. They feared execution
because Oun’s father had been an
28
Oun graduated from Widener in 1998;
his daughter, Jennifer, is a Widener
freshman.
29
Alumni Profile
Secret Service officers with President Obama in 2011. Oun is fourth from the right in the front row.
officer in the Cambodian Army overthrown by dictator Pol Pot.
Oun was forced to labor in rice
paddies for as much as eighteen hours
a day, and he witnessed many die from
starvation and being overworked.
Estimates are that almost a quarter
of Cambodia’s population of seven
million perished from 1975 to 1979.
A 1998 Widener graduate,
Oun, 45, said he never dreamed
during those dark days that he would
become an American citizen, much
less work as an officer for the U.S.
Secret Service with the job of
protecting the President.
30
“Not in a million years did I think
I would live in America,” he said.
His journey from the rice paddies
of Cambodia to the Secret Service
in Washington followed a winding
path of hard work, determination,
and good fortune. In 1979, Oun
and his mother and a sister escaped
from Cambodia to a refugee camp in
Thailand and began seeking political
asylum in the United States, Austria,
Canada, and France. They did not
hold much hope that they would get
into the United States, and were
thrilled when they ultimately did.
When Oun was 17, he and
his mother and sister relocated to
Maryland. He found learning English
very difficult—the Khmer language,
also commonly known as Cambodian,
has a different alphabet—but Oun
credits his high school teachers as
being very helpful.
He learned English and graduated
high school and attended community
college while also working as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant, a job
he walked to and from about three
miles each way. He later landed a
better job at a convenience store that
required a much longer commute, so
he acquired a set of wheels. “My first
car was a bicycle,” he joked.
Oun with Reik, an 8-year-old Belgian
Malinois, trained in detecting explosive
devices.
In the early nineties, he
transferred to the Community
College of Philadelphia, finishing his
associate’s degree. He then applied
to Temple, Columbia, Penn State,
and Widener. Widener was the first
to accept him, and after a campus
visit, he made up his mind to attend.
At Widener, he majored in
sociology with a minor in criminal
justice, disciplines that he said taught
him skills that he uses today. A key
part of his job is to travel with a
bomb-sniffing dog ahead of the
president and vice president and
other officials, ensuring that the
locations they will be visiting are safe.
He has traveled all over the United
States and internationally, including
Germany, India, Japan, Oman, South
Korea, Pakistan, Romania, Turkey,
and Vietnam. Oun said a Widener
sociology course focusing on societal
stratification prepared him for the
unique job of performing security in
other countries. “The class helped me
to understand differences in cultures
and societies,” he said. “It helps me
today in many ways, working with
different cultures and religions.”
This understanding comes in
handy when traveling internationally
with a canine—the dog stays in hotels
with him—in Middle Eastern countries such as Oman. “If someone there
touches the dog, they have to pray for
forgiveness—they view it as a dirty
animal,” he said. “But that’s their culture, their religion. You have to try to
understand them.”
After graduating from Widener,
Oun worked for a service caring for
juvenile offenders for 18 months, and
then landed a job in Philadelphia
working in corrections with the U.S.
Department of Justice. While
working in corrections, he applied
for the Secret Service. The application
process took two years, but ultimately
he received a job offer in 2002. “It
was like I had just won the lottery,”
he said. “I was jumping up and down
in front of my house.”
One of Oun’s favorite parts of his
job is working with canines. He smiles
when he talks about his dogs: Reik,
an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois, the
bomb-sniffing canine he cares for and
At Widener,
he majored in
sociology with a
minor in criminal
justice, disciplines
that he said taught
him skills that he
uses today.
guides, and the family pet, a German
shepherd named Buddy. “Dogs are
amazing. They are loyal to you, and
always love you and protect you,” he
said. “And they don’t talk back.”
Oun’s daughter, Jennifer, will
enroll as a freshman at Widener in
the fall with plans to major in English
in preparation for law school. He
is pleased that she is following in
his footsteps. “There are very good
professors here,” he said, noting that
Vernon Smith, a senior lecturer in
sociology, Dr. Barbara Ryan, and
the late Dr. William R.F. Phillips
were three of his favorite teachers.
“They really helped me a lot, and
helped me learn what I needed
at the start of my career.”
Reflecting on the brutal
experiences of his childhood and
teenage years in war torn Cambodia,
Oun said his past makes him very
appreciative of his life that he and his
family have now. “People in the U.S.
often don’t realize what they have,”
he said. “I am very fortunate to be
where I am today.” w
31
Class Notes
Class of 1949
Capt. “Big Fred” Shahadi,
BS, business administration,
was honored by American
Legion Post 93 with a citation
recognizing his service as
mailman to the Post. The citation to Shahadi, who served
on a minesweeper that helped
clear the way for the D-Day
invasion, read in part: “All
the members of the American
Legion Post 93 thank Big Fred
from the bottom of our hearts
for all he did for the United
States of America when he
was serving in WW II . . . Every
one of us want to thank you
for all that you have done for
Post 93. You have truly been
a blessing to our American
Legion Post.”
Class of 1955
Col. Chuck Suraci Jr. has
been chosen for a third term
to lead the award-winning
Thomas W. Anthony Chapter,
Air Force Association, located
at Joint Service Andrews
AFB. This is the largest
chapter in the state of
Maryland with 12 AFA
awards. “I am very honored
to lead this chapter of AFA in
the 21st century,” Col. Suraci
said. “A third term is awesome. I also thank PMC for
my leadership training.”
Class of 1957
Capt. William Guderian, USN
(Ret), BS, engineering, was
installed as the president of
the New Jersey Council of
Chapters of the Military
Officers of America (MOAA)
during ceremonies held at
the Joint Base McGuire-DixLakehurst in February. The
New Jersey Council is comprised of five geographic
chapters representing MOAA
members residing in New
Jersey. MOAA members
32
include active duty, reserve,
National Guard, and retired
commissioned military officers. Here Bill is being congratulated by LCL Charles
Sweetman, USAF (Ret) (left).
Class of 1972
Bill Speer, BA, history, invites
fellow alumni to join the
Pennsylvania Military College
group Facebook page. More
than 100 members now share
stories and memories of their
time at PMC.
Class of 1973
David Jones, BA, government
and politics, and his wife,
Oclivery, were chosen to
receive the William J. & Rev.
Shirley M. Smith Spirit
Award. For the past 29 years
the couple has educated more
than 1,300 students. Teaching
high academic standards,
self-confidence and personal
pride, many of their alumni
serve throughout the U.S.
in various capacities. The
Joneses have taught in
Delaware for more than 30
years. They started the Faith
Elementary School in 1982.
David and Oclivery reside in
Dover, Del. They have two
grown children.
Class of 1983
Dr. Les Folio, BS, radiological technology, a radiologist
in body imaging and lead
radiologist for Computed
Tomography at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) in
Bethesda, Md., was featured
on the “Daily Planet” show
on the Discovery Channel
Canada. Discovery Channel
approached Dr. Folio about
his innovations in combat
radiology that were featured
on the NewScientist web site
at http://www.newscientist.
com. His work has led to
numerous publications,
including an article in
the January 2011 issue of
Radiology on anatomic CT
phantoms, and in AJR in the
summer on Dr. Folio’s experiences in Iraq with MDCT
and trajectory analysis. Dr.
Folio also is a clinical associate professor of radiology
for the Philadelphia College
of Osteopathic Medicine. He
retired from the Air Force
as a Colonel in the summer
of 2009. His fifth book—
Combat Radiology: Diagnostic
Imaging of Blast and Ballistic
Injuries—was published by
Springer in August 2010. He
worked as a chest radiologist
at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center in Washington for the
last four years. He deployed
twice to Iraq while in the
military, with several other
deployments to the Middle
East. He has more than 60
publications in peer reviewed
journals and dozens of periodical publications, and has
chaired several trauma conferences both nationally and
internationally.
Class of 1985
Donna Urian, BS, accounting, ’92 MS, taxation, was
recently recognized by the
Chester County Chamber of
Business & Industry as their
2011 Female Business Leader
of the Year at the Chamber’s
Annual Women in Business
Dinner. Urian was recognized
for her professional achievements, initiative in the community, and leadership for
other women in business.
Donna is the owner/shareholder of Fischer, Cunnane &
Associates, Ltd., and is serving as a director of taxes. In
2009, she was recognized as
one of Pennsylvania’s Best
50 Women in Business. She
was selected as a 2008-2009
Women of Accomplishment
by the Women’s Yellow Pages
of Greater Philadelphia. In
2008 she was recognized by
Widener University with the
Beta Alpha Psi Distinguished
Alumni Award. Donna lives
with her husband Tom in Glen
Mills, Pa.
Class of 1989
Yusuf Wilson, MS, human
resource management, is
president and senior consultant of Wilson Training and
Consulting Systems, LLC.
Yusuf has over 20 years of
executive leadership and
training experience. He’s a
member of the Sustainable
Business Network of Greater
Philadelphia, Society of
Human Resources Managers
(SHRM), and the International
Coaching Federation (ICF).
Yusuf has solved problems
and provided leadership
for organizations such as
Philip Morris USA, American
Express, JP Morgan Chase
Bank, TD Bank and MBNA.
He has helped these
organizations achieve their
goals acting as vice president
of sales, call center director,
regional sales manager,
training consultant, and
production manager. Yusuf
has designed and facilitated
Human Dynamic Seminars
Class of 1995
Do you know a high school
student who would be a perfect
fit at Widener?
If yes, please refer them to our Office
of Admissions. Alumni make the best
recruiters for Widener and we hope you
know of someone who would be a good
fit for Widener! Please send the student’s
name, address, phone number, and email
address (along with your name) to
admissions.office@widener.edu.
on Job Search Strategies,
Time Management,
Consultative Selling, Career
Development, Personal
Financial Management,
Effective Presentations Skills,
Managing Change, Executive
Leadership, and many others.
Class of 1990
Armand
Chris
Dalmass,
BS, management,
a four-year
football
letterman,
began
his prosthetic education at
Northwestern University
School of Medicine in
Chicago after graduating from
Widener. He is now partner
of a cutting-edge prosthetic
facility in Chester, Prosthetic
Innovations, LLC, that celebrated its fifth anniversary in
June. The company aims to
provide the most progressive
care available to all upper and
lower extremity prosthetic
clients across the country.
An active member of his
Moorestown, N.J., community, he is proud to vitalize
his four children with the very
same philosophies his clients
have shown him.
Class of 1994
Peter Gardner, BS,
engineering, currently
operations director at
Limerick Generating Station,
will become plant manager.
Exelon Nuclear announced that
Gardner will replace Ed Callan
’80 (also a Widener grad), who
was named vice president
for Mid-Atlantic Operations.
In his new role, Gardner will
be responsible for oversight
of the day-to-day operational
activities at the plant. Gardner
has more than 28 years
experience at Exelon and
Limerick Generating Station.
Before taking on the position
of operations director, he
held the roles of engineering
manager, manager of operations services, shift manager,
and operations supervisor at
Limerick, and held a senior
reactor operator license
there as well. Gardner also
holds an MBA from Saint
Joseph’s University. He
lives in Gilbertsville, Pa.,
with his family.
Cecelia A.
JohnsonStewart,
MSW. After
years of
working
as a social
worker in
various
positions, Cecelia became a
Special Education teacher in
2001. She is currently teaching students with autism in
Greensboro, N.C. Cecelia has
two children. Her youngest
is a rising senior at the
University of Dayton, and her
oldest son is a graduate of
the University of Pittsburgh
who works for T-Mobile.
Class of 1996
Kymberly Grosso, MBA,
health administration, is an
author who has a 13-year-old
son with Asperger’s and a
4-year-old daughter. She
has a BS in Speech Therapy
and an MBA in health care
administration. She serves
on the board of the Chester
County Autism Support
Group in Pennsylvania and
belongs to several autism
organizations. She has
authored several articles and
publishes an autism website,
www.autisiminreallife.com.
Her blogs and parent stories
are intended to touch and
inspire parents as they continue with their autism journey.
She also hopes that those
who do not have children on
the spectrum will gain insight
into how parents feel and why
they are so passionate about
their children.
Class of 1997
Kathleen P. King, EdD,
higher education, ’94 ME,
was recently inducted into
the International Adult and
Continuing Education Hall of
Fame at the annual University
Professional and Continuing
Education Association
Conference in Toronto. King
and 15 other inductees were
selected for the Hall of Fame
based on their contributions toward the foundation
for continuing education
and adult learning. King is a
professor in the Department
of Adult, Career and Higher
Education at the University
of South Florida, president
of Transformation Education,
and a certified professional
life coach. She is the author
of 19 books and more than
175 published articles and
research papers. Her books
and web-based audio materials are used as course materials in universities around the
world. King was the founding
editor-in-chief of Perspectives,
the New York Journal of
Adult Learning in partnership with the New York State
Association of Education.
King integrates her research
across the interdisciplinary
contexts and content areas of
adult education, higher education, K–12, career and technical education-vocational, and
human resources.
Save the Date!
Alumni Weekend
April 13 & 14, 2012
We welcome all Widener—PMC Alumni!
For more information please visit
alumni.widener.edu/netcommunity/WPN
33
Class Notes
Class of 1998
Ann Gioia,
MSN, an
assistant
professor
at Salem
Community
College in
Carneys
Point, N.J.,
was honored by the National
Academic Advising
Association (NACADA). Gioia
received the Outstanding
Advising Award for Faculty
Academic Advising from
NACADA Region 2 at its
annual conference in
Charlottesville, Va. The
Outstanding Advising Award
recognizes individuals who
have demonstrated qualities
associated with outstanding
academic advising of students. NACADA Region 2
covers Delaware, District
of Columbia, Maryland,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania
and Virginia.
Monica Lavin, MS, human
resource management, ’96
BA, behavioral science,
has been named human
resources manager for the
law firm Cohen Seglias
Pallas Greenhall & Furman
PC. Based in the Philadelphia
office, Lavin will be responsible for directing all human
resources functions at the firm
including employee benefits
administration, orientating
new hires, assisting with
the firm’s Continuing Legal
Education (CLE) programs as
well as additional training
programs for attorneys and
staff. Lavin has 10 years of
human resources experience,
most recently as assistant
vice president, human
resources manager, for
Managers Investment Group
in Conshohocken. Prior to
that, she served as assistant
vice president, generalist for
Rorer Asset Management. She
has been a member of the
Society for Human Resource
Management since 2001.
Class of 2000
Robert Anen, BS, hospitality management, will join
Brookside Country Club
of Allentown in the newly
created position of General
Manager, overseeing all
operational aspects of the
club. Most recently, Mr. Anen
served as assistant general
manager of The Merion
Cricket Club in Haverford, Pa.,
where he was responsible
for day-to-day operations
and member services for
the 2,700-member club. Mr.
Anen is the immediate past
president of the Philadelphia
and Vicinity Club Managers
Association of America and is
currently the President of the
Philadelphia Club Foundation.
He has a strong history in
the private club industry with
experience at Waynesborough
Country Club, Coatesville
Country Club, and Manasquan
River Golf Club.
Michael
Connor, BS,
management, has
been
named
agency
director of
sales for
Income & Estate Planning
Partners, P.A. in Newark, Del.
Mike is a registered representative and investment advisor
with Transamerica Financial
Advisors. In addition to his
personal practice, his responsibilities include managing
the sales team, hiring new
financial advisors, and
training and mentoring the
financial advisor interns at the
firm. He brings over seven
years of experience with ING.
He also holds an MBA degree
from Goldey-Beacom College.
Class of 2002
Class of 2005
Laura Peppel, BS, business administration, has
been named an associate,
Jaclyn Shea, BS, chemical
engineering, was an ROTC
cadet and commissioned as
a second lieutenant. Jaclyn
was accepted into the ROTC
Educational delay program
and she deferred her military
commitment to go to law
school in Michigan. She
graduated law school and
passed the Michigan Bar. Ms.
Shea was commissioned into
the Army JAG Corps to serve
We Want to Hear from You!
Please send your news for Class Notes to
Office of Alumni Engagement Office
One University Place
Chester, PA 19013
Or email Patty Votta at pavotta@widener.edu
34
design and production, in the
Distribution Team at Turner
Investments, an employeeowned investment firm
based in Berwyn, Pa. In this
position Ms. Peppel assists
in the development and production of marketing and
client-service communications
and in the updating of those
communications as needed.
She previously served as a
client-service associate at ING
Clarion Real Estate Securities.
She lives in Milmont Park, Pa.
Class of 2003
her military commitment. She
is now a captain for the U.S.
Army and is serving at Fort
Sam Houston, Texas, as a
military prosecutor.
Class of 2005
Jean Rances,
EdD, has been
named an
“Outstanding
Educator”
by Camden
County
Woman
magazine.
She has been an adjunct
professor for Immaculata
University for six years, and
currently teaches nurses at the
Hospital of the University of
Pennsylvania (HUP). Most of
Dr. Rances’ students are
nurses from New Jersey taking
courses in Philadelphia sites
like HUP. She teaches research,
composition and literature
courses to adult learners in an
accelerated format. She also
has been nominated twice for
“Who’s Who Among America’s
Teachers.” A longtime resident
of Cherry Hill, N.J., she taught
for six years in the Humanities
Department at Widener.
Class of 2011
been working ever since.
I’m starting to get the hang
of things, and I conducted
my first two inspections
as a HACCP Manager earlier this week and boy, do
I wish I were in Hospitality
Management 407 again!
Everyone that I work with
has been great and very supportive. My boss has been
with ARAMARK for many,
many years and we’re much
alike: loud, friendly, and passionate about our work! On
another note… ALASKA IS
BEAUTIFUL!! I can’t begin
to describe how happy I
am being here and being
given this opportunity. I am
so thankful for all of your
help through the years and
I can assure you all that I’ve
applied the knowledge I’ve
learned.”
Marriages
Heather Pontello ’97, ’09,
and Kevin Swartz on May 1,
2010 at the Cathedral
Basilica of Saints Peter and
Paul in Philadelphia.
Obituaries
Tina Saengsouriya, BS, hospitality management, moved
to Alaska after graduation to
work as hazard analysis &
critical control points (HACCP)
manager in Denali National
Park for ARAMARK Parks &
Destinations. She sent this note
to Widener faculty in June. “I
arrived on May 18 and have
Dr. Alonzo
C. Cavin,
71, professor emeritus in the
Center for
Education,
died
Sunday
June 5. A popular figure on
campus, Dr. Cavin joined the
faculty of PMC Colleges in
June 1969 as an associate
professor of education and
the founding director of
Project Prepare. The program
has helped thousands of disadvantaged students earn college degrees. Project
Prepare’s success made it a
model for other colleges and
universities, and in 1971, the
program inspired
Pennsylvania to create the
Higher Education Equal
Opportunities Act. Dr. Cavin
retired from Widener in 2002
but continued teaching as an
adjunct professor. He also
served the community for
many years as a member of
the Rotary Club of Chester,
and as the chair of the
Chester-Wallingford Chapter
of the American Red Cross.
Robert
Heberton
“Heb”
Butler, 87,
a 1949
graduate
of PMC
and one
of the first
wave of veterans to earn their
degrees on the GI Bill, died
on July 18. Heb, as he was
known to his friends, lived
in Swarthmore and was a
regular at Widener
University events. From
Alumni Weekend to Veteran’s
Day ceremonies, Heb and his
good friend and classmate Big
Fred Shahadi were always
ready with a smile and a
story. Not only did Heb attend
events, he helped organize
them, and he served the
university in so many other
capacities. He served as
president of the Widener-PMC
Alumni Association from 1987
to 1990, and during that time
represented the association
on the Widener Board of
Trustees. He also served as
a class reunion volunteer,
chairman of the President’s
Council’s Bullock Society
Committee, and a member
of the PMC Museum
Committee. In 1995, Heb
received the Alumni Service
Award from the university,
and received a Lifetime
Volunteer Award in 2008.
Brendan
Kehoe, 40,
a Widener
computer
science
student in
the early
nineties
who
authored the book Zen and
the Art of the Internet: A
Beginner’s Guide, died of
leukemia in his native Ireland.
The book, part of which was
written while he was a
student at Widener, was
published in 1992, and was
a very early and well-known
guide to the Internet.
In Memoriam
Vincent P. DeAugustine ‘42
Richard L. Hellwege ‘46
James E. Bowen ‘49
R. Heberton Butler ‘49
Joseph L. Grieco ‘49
Richard D. O’Brien ‘49
John J. Williams ‘49
John H. McWilliams ‘50
Theodore Agress ‘51
Joseph R. Imburgia ‘51
Leo F. Stinson ‘52
Joseph F. Balinski ‘52
Samuel J. Garrett ‘53
Richard L. Munson ‘54
Robert C. Roth ‘54
Conrad P. Karl ‘55
Stuart H. Raub ‘56
John E. Horning ‘57
Joseph A. Caccia ‘60
Richard L. Fenn ‘60
John F. Kirlin ‘60
William W. McClurken ‘61
James C. Petrucelli ‘61
Edgar K. Clark ‘63
Albert H. Molette ‘67
Darryl R. Heckman ‘68
Charles J. Griesser ‘69
Michael P. Moffett ‘71
George W. Hippman ‘72
Frank A. Beldecos ‘72
Thomas M. Conmy ‘73
Ralph M. Russo ‘77
Michael B. Egan ‘78
William G. Taylor ‘78
Robert M. Toanone ‘80
Susan L. Smith ‘81
J. M. Dunlap ‘83
George E. Charnick ‘84
Joanne G. Kramer ‘84
Wanda M. Webb ‘84
Joseph R. Roberge ‘85
Walter S. Dozer ‘88
Carol A. Cannon ‘90
Ruth A. Courtney ‘91
Christopher M. Fascetta ‘91
Beth A. Serepca ‘92
Carter S. Shields ‘93
Charles K. Graber ‘95
Alexander M. Stirton ‘96
Jeffrey F. Zackon ‘99
Joseph F. Gula ‘01
Paulette N. Bradley ‘03
Richard C. Czibik ‘06
Friends, Faculty, and Staff
Mark W. Bailey
William T. Baker
Alonzo C. Cavin
Helen G. Colbert
Arthur R. Fultz
Muriel Gilman
Clyde L. Harris
Brendan Kehoe
Howard S. Marcu
Marianne “Mimi” Murray
Dorothy Newquist
David W. Oskin Jr.
Widener-PMC Alumni
Online Community Ads
Join Widener’s new online alumni community to connect
with other alums, create profiles, class notes, alumni clubs,
photo galleries, events, giving, and more. Continue the lasting
connection! alumni.widener.edu/netcommunity/WPN
35
Cha pter Notes
Upcoming Fall 2011 Events:
OCTOBER
Greater Phila/Philly—Boo at the Zoo, Philadelphia Zoo Event
(date TBA)
Greater Phila/Delco—Tequila Tasting (date and location TBA)
NOVEMBER
NYC—Broadway Show (date and location TBA)
DECEMBER
Dec. 10: FL East—Sunset Happy Hour at Marriott Harbor Beach
Resort, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Dec. 11: FL East—Dolphins vs. Eagles at Sun Life Stadium,
Miami Gardens, Fla.
Dec. 18: Greater Phila/ChesCo—Holiday Lights & Dessert
Reception at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa.
California—holiday party at the home of Sharon Carothers ’92
(date TBA)
. . . And many more to be added!!!
For the latest information and more details about these events
and others, please visit: http://alumni.widener.edu/events or
call 610-499-1154.
If you have interest in starting a new chapter, please contact the Office of
Alumni Engagement at 610-499-1154 or alumnioffice@widener.edu.
Campaign
Update
Regional Chapter Contact Info:
Greater Philadelphia Area
Philadelphia County, PA
Jeff Flynn ‘04
jeffrey.t.flynn@gmail.com
Delaware County, PA
Jim Gentile ‘77
jjgdds@mac.com
Bucks & Montgomery
Counties, PA
Gregg Strom ‘64
gstro@stonemor.com
Chester County, PA
Frank Pellegrini ‘66
fpellegrini@maillie.com
South Jersey
Office of Alumni Engagement
alumnioffice@widener.edu
Wilmington, DE
Vera Kunkel ‘78
liberal@magpage.com
Central PA
Ryan Riley ‘07
centralpa.alumni@gmail.com
NYC/North Jersey
Office of Alumni Engagement
alumnioffice@widener.edu
District of Columbia
Dave Almacy ‘92
david.almacy@gmail.com
Atlanta, GA
Morrie Spang ‘62
morriespang@comcast.net
FL—East Coast
Tom Dougherty ‘93
tdougherty@rccl.com
By now you are aware that the university is
in the midst of a comprehensive campaign
entitled Taking the Lead ~ The Campaign for
Widener. You may have wondered what
makes the campaign so important. The
answer is simple. This campaign represents
a defining moment in Widener’s history;
it is a clear statement that Widener has arrived, and with the
resources provided by the campaign, is prepared to take
its rightful position among the nation’s leading universities.
FL—West Coast
Office of Alumni Engagement
alumnioffice@widener.edu
FL—Orlando
Office of Alumni Engagement
alumnioffice@widener.edu
California
Sharon Carothers ‘92
scarothe@worldnet.att.net
Puerto Rico
Dennis Lopez ‘85
Dennis.Lopez@compass-usa.com
Washington State
Alex Poblete ‘89
alex@dmp-inc.us
Baltimore, MD
Donna Spinella ‘94
dlssai@aol.com
Campaign Rally Rouses Campus
You could feel the excitement in the air at
the on-campus kick-off rally held on April 16.
Student leaders paraded across the stage, each
expressing how they are personally Taking the
Since the inception of the regional chapter program in 2007,
more than 2,000 alumni and friends have gathered at baseball
stadiums around the country to watch the Philadelphia Phillies.
Not only has it been a great way to reunite our local alumni
population, but also an opportunity to bring a little bit of the
Philadelphia area to our alumni who have moved elsewhere
after graduation!
With the help of one very magical mouse, 28 alumni and guests
gathered at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports on the Walt Disney
World complex in Orlando in March to see the Phillies take on
the Atlanta Braves during Spring Training. Knowing how the
Pride can really throw a party, Donald Duck and Goofy stopped
by the pre-game festivities to share in a Philly cheesesteak and
many other goodies!
Attendees included: (back row
L-R) Joe Lynch, John Lynch ’66,
Goofy, Robert Grosch ’66, Jeff
Rockwood ’84, Andrew Rockwood,
Andrew Mendenhall ’01, Alexis
Mendenhall, Erin Burns, Maggie
Burns, and Bill Burns; (middle
row L-R) Jeff Pecsi, Ronald Tasket
’61, George Gannon ’68, Mary
Gannon, Barbara Kadash, Mary
Dolan, Donald Duck, Cassandra
Rood, Jacob Rood, and Rowena
Rood ’91; (front row kneeling
L-R) Amy Sheely Pecsi ‘06, Joe
Lynch, Jr., Matt Dolan ’03, and
Brian Rood. Not pictured: Adam
Stefanoni ’85 and family.
36
Lead at Widener. From working to reforest land in
Costa Rica to helping Phatso’s Bakery grow and
flourish right here in Chester, these students
gave vivid testimony to Widener’s commitment
to making our world a better place.
Main Campus Campaign Priorities:
Student Scholarships
It’s truly exciting and gratifying to see alumni, trustees,
corporations and foundations, faculty and staff, and other
friends rally to the cause and give generously toward the
success of the campaign. They know this is an effort worth
waging and supporting. Each and every gift is valued and
appreciated and moves us one step closer toward achieving
our ambitious goals.
I invite you to get involved and be part of the great victory
we’ll all share at the conclusion of the campaign. You will be
proud knowing you did what you could to propel Widener
toward even greater heights of accomplishment and recognition.
Thank you for joining me and the campaign leadership on this
most worthy of endeavors.
Sincerely,
Faculty Excellence
Oskin Leadership Institute
Center of Community Outreach and Partnerships
Center for Teaching and Learning
Student Enrichment
Wolfgram Library
New Academic Building
Dr. James T. Harris III
President
Campaign Progress
Classroom Enhancements and Upgrades
$43 million
Programs, Research, Scholarship
Our complete Honor Roll List of Donors for 2010-2011
can be found online at www.widener.edu/honorroll.
Please look for an abridged listing to be published
in the spring 2012 issue of Widener Magazine.
Goal: $58 million
Amount Raised as of 9/1/11
campaign.widener.edu
Campaign Update
Faculty Spotlight
Joe Hargadon ’80,’82,
Widener’s reputation for academic
excellence is rooted in our outstanding
faculty, many of whom enjoy
national and international reputations
as authors, researchers, and specialists
in their fields. Campaign support for
endowed funds for faculty excellence
helps us attract and retain top
faculty. Check back in future
Campaign Updates as we turn
the spotlight on some of our other
award winning faculty.
Joe Hargadon ’80, ’82
Accounting professor and head
of the Accounting and Information
Management Department in the
School of Business Administration,
Dr. Hargadon received the 2011 Fitz
Dixon Innovation in Teaching Award,
which recognizes a faculty member
who has designed and implemented
an innovative or experimental teaching or learning project. Dr. Hargadon
worked with executives from PNC
Global Investment Servicing, now
part of BNY Mellon, to develop
a course titled Accounting and
Taxation of Mutual Funds. It includes
real-world simulation exercises at
BNY Mellon facilities. Students
completing the course found enhanced
employment opportunities in the
investment accounting arena. The
course has also served as the catalyst
for the creation of a mutual fund
undergraduate accounting course
at several other universities and
resulted in a co-authored textbook
entitled The Fundamentals of
Mutual Fund Accounting.
campaign.widener.edu
Accounting professor and
head of the Accounting and
Information Management
Department
Esther Brown,
Assistant professor in the
School of Nursing
New Academic
Building
According to Hargadon,
“Creativity is paramount in
reaching today’s students. Students
learn in different ways, so faculty
must use varied avenues to get
them excited and make the
material relevant to them.”
Esther Brown
Assistant professor in the School
of Nursing, Dr. Brown received the
2011 Distinguished New Faculty
Award at the 22nd International
Conference on College Teaching and
Learning for her work to develop a
course that blends the nursing process
and service learning. Students in the
course work closely with a variety
of service agencies in Chester
to do an assessment and determine
how their efforts could better
serve the population.
The students gain a better
understanding of the nursing
profession by being immersed in
the process. “I want our students to
realize that everyone has a story; they
are more than simply patients. That’s
important for a nurse to know,” said
Dr. Brown. “The course allows them
to practice critical thinking, but it
also helps them to feel and develop
compassion.” She added, “Nursing is
a field beyond tasks. Anyone can be
taught to give an injection. It’s more
than that; it’s about the care and
making connections.”
The doors of the new academic building
are open and students are filling
classrooms and labs that weren’t much
more than lines on a blueprint this
time last year. The new facility, with
its bright, open design, welcomes
students from the School of Nursing
as well as those studying at the new
Oskin Leadership Institute.
During construction, students saw
the daily effort of the craftsmen who
created the building, from the laying
of the foundation to the finishing
touches on the landscaping. What
the students didn’t see were the contributions of many others who gave
generously to ensure that the building
is not only visually appealing, but also
provides them with state-of-the-art
academic resources and facilities.
In addition to the $5 million gift
from David Oskin ‘64 and his family
to establish The Oskin Leadership
Institute, other organizations and
individuals have stepped up in support
of the new building. Connelly
Foundation awarded Widener
$250,000 to support the clinical
simulation labs for use by nursing
students. These labs give students the
opportunity to work with high-tech
mannequins that simulate the
symptoms and diseases of hospital
patients, strengthening students’
critical-thinking and decision-making
skills. The Ethel Sergeant Clark
Smith Memorial Fund made a grant
of $150,000 toward the trauma
intensive care unit in the building.
In appreciation for their generosity,
the university named each area for its
benefactor. Beautiful marble plaques
at each site reflect the new names:
Connelly Foundation Simulation
Suites, and The Ethel Sergeant Clark
Smith Trauma Intensive Care Suite.
Other naming opportunities in the
new building still remain; these can
be found at campaign.widener.edu/
naming-opportunities.html. School
of Nursing contributors of $500 and
above are recognized as members
of the Nightingale Society and are
eligible to have their name permanently displayed in the building.
Gifts of every amount are deeply
appreciated and add up quickly. More
than 50 nursing alumni, along with
past and present faculty and staff,
combined to contribute upwards of
$30,000 to the cause to date.
Though students may not think of
it while participating in a leadership
seminar or caring for a simulated
trauma patient, the new building that
surrounds them is held up by more
than steel beams and girders. It is
supported by contributors, both large
and small, who gave generously to
ensure that when these students
graduate, they will be even better
prepared to take on a leadership role
in their profession and in the world.
39
campaign.widener.edu
Campaign Update
Stepping up to the
Challenge
Paul Beideman ’79 and his wife,
Caroline, have made a $500,000
commitment to the campaign in
support of The Beideman Visiting
Leadership Professor Program, which
will be associated with The Oskin
Leadership Institute. Through this
gift, distinguished scholars from
outside institutions will spend time at
Widener sharing their expertise and
guiding faculty and student discussion
and research. The stature of these
visiting professors will enhance the
reputation of Widener and The
Oskin Leadership Institute.
Beideman has achieved the kind of
success that serves as inspiration to
students who might wonder if their
Widener education will pay off.
According to Beideman, “Much of
my success I attribute to the support
of my family and my MBA from
Widener. They made all the difference
for me.” Since earning his master’s
degree in finance from Widener,
Beideman’s career followed a
Gifts to the Widener Fund support
Paul Beideman ’79
remarkable trajectory, culminating
in his being named chairman of the
board and chief executive officer
of Associated Banc-Corp, a bank
holding company with 300 offices,
5,200 employees, and total assets
of $24 billion.
Recently retired, Beideman continues
to be involved in several charitable
organizations and also shares his
Student Spotlight
Joe Decker ’14
campaign.widener.edu
“I’m not going to college just for
myself. I want to use this time
to also help people who are less
fortunate.” Sophomore Joe Decker
of Franklinville, New Jersey, echoes
the “learn and serve” philosophy
of the Presidential Service
Corps/Bonner Leadership program
when explaining why he devotes so
much of his free time to Habitat for
Humanity. Joe, currently working on
knowledge and expertise with
Widener as a member of the Board
of Trustees. His commitment and
loyalty to Widener are seen not only
through his generous financial
contributions to the university, but
also in the leadership he provides as
treasurer of the Board of Trustees
and as a member of the Finance and
Administration Committee.
a third home in Chester, describes
his experience with the group as
“infinitely rewarding.” The mechanical
engineering/physics major anticipates
that he’ll continue to be involved with
community service in some way or
other throughout his career. He recalls
the time he witnessed two little boys
seeing their new home for the first
time. “The boys were so excited and
appreciative.” Joe said,“It’s a moment
I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”
Investing in the Future
~ The Widener Fund
and Rachel Randazzo
When you give to the Widener Fund,
you invest in students like Rachel
Randazzo ’12. As a student worker in
the phonathon office, Rachel is well
aware of the impact the Widener
Fund has on her educational
experience. It enhances recruitment
and retention of outstanding faculty
who know Rachel by name and
are committed to her success. The
Widener Fund helps keep Rachel’s
education current through the
purchase of the latest library
resources and classroom technology.
Scholarships and financial aid are
also supported by the Widener Fund,
which have been a tremendous help
to Rachel as she pursues her degree
in social work. The Widener Fund
supports the development of innovative programs that inspire students
to develop their leadership skills and
become responsible citizens through
community service. The president of
the Social Work Club, Rachel has
visited and interviewed older adults
as part of her service learning experience. She plans on using her Widener
degree to launch a career working on
issues related to our aging population.
Please consider giving to the
Widener Fund. When you do, you
invest in the future of our university
and students like Rachel Randazzo,
who will, in turn, make the future a
better place for all of us.
Contact the Widener Fund Office at
1-888-WIDENER x5
Give online at www.widener.edu/giving