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Widener magazine

Volume 21

Number 03

fall ‘11

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Here.

W i d e n e r

Widener UniversityOne University PlaceChester, PA 19013Phone: 1-888-WiDeNerWebsite: www.widener.edu

Published by the Office of University relations

Executive Editor: Lou Anne bulik

Editor: Sam Starnes

Class Notes Editor: Patty Votta

Proofreader: Lindsay Pepino ’12

Contributing Writers:Derek CrudeleKate Dellinger ’13Dan hanson ’97Lindsay Pepino ’12Allyson roberts

Photographers: melanie franzChris hartloveJohn martins

Visit Our Blog— widenermagazine.com

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Widener Magazine Volume 21 Number 03 fall ‘11

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.

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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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.

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3 / On Campus

4 / Arts and Culture

32 / Class Notes

36 / Chapter Notes

37 / Campaign Update: taking the Lead— the Campaign for Widener

DePArtmeNtS

W I D E N E R M A G A Z I N EMagazine Advisory Board:gerry bloemkerLou Anne bulikKathleen butlerDenise giffordDan hanson ‘97matthew Poslusnytina Phillips ’82, ’98, ‘03meghan radosh ’00, ‘02Sam Starnesbrigitte Valesey

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On the Cover:Student-athlete Kate Dellinger. Read her story starting on page 6.

P r e s i d e n t ’ s M e s s a g e o n c a m p u s

32

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

shared the top academic honor; they were followed by field hockey and softball team member Trina Menta in 2009.) Nine Widener student-athletes made The Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area List last year, including four members of the foot-ball 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 IIIPresident

Widener Athletics: A Tradition and Future of Success

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

Five New Trustees NamedThe 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.

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.

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 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:

n 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 per-cent by 2018. Philadelphia ranks as the second largest area of employ-ment in the nation for biomedical engineers.

n Labor statistics also show strong growth projections for fields related to informatics, including graphics and web development, artificial intel-ligence, and information gathering and dissemination. Widener will offer informatics majors through both the School of business Administration and the College of Arts and Sciences.

n finance is ranked among the highest-paying 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.

a r t s a n d c u l t u r e

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 oppor-tunity 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

Widener Students Rub Shoulders With Accomplished WritersAlumni and members of Widener Community

invited to attend literary readings

English and creative writing departments sponsor the event by bringing visiting writers to campus to share their knowledge and profes-sional 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 commu-nity 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.

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.

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Author heidi Durrow signs her novel for Widener students.

george Saunders speaks with students.

Author george Saunders with michael Cocchiarale, an associate professor in Widener’s creative writing program.

“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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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.

8

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.

10:50 A.M. When class ended, I met my room-mate 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 motor-ized 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.

9

“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.”

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.MI 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.

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.

9 p.M.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 room-mates 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.

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 con-secutive semester on the Dean’s List.

WIDENER ATHLETICS: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 student-athlete 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 student-athletes.

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 student-athletes 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 in 2010; women’s swimming in 2011; and women’s basketball in 2009.

Blue & Gold ClubAlumni 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.

KATE DELLINgER’S STATS:

21AgE

2013CLASS

33TEAM NuMBER

17.1pOINTS pER gAME

7.8REBOuNDS pER gAME

3.996gRADE pOINT AvERAgE

“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.”

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WIDENER STuDENTS TAp INTO MAJOR LEAguE SpORTINg EXpERTISEBy Allyson Roberts

ONLY TWO MILES from Widener’s Main Campus in Chester sits PPL Park, a state-of- the-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 pro-fessor 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 relation-ship 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

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 chal-lenged 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 spe-cialties. 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, gradu-ates and other leaders in Philadelphia sports, including representatives from Dick’s Sporting Goods, the Eagles, Gore-Tex, and the Union, for guid-ance 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

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).

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THREE DECADES LATERAN EPIC MATCHUP REVISITED

BY DEREK CRUDELEWHEN 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 unde-feated and ranked number one in the nation. Despite a 34-game regular-season 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.

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 every-body’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.”

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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.

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.

“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

the 1981 team went undefeated and won a national championship. manlove at the College football hall of fame induction ceremony in July.

Few big games go without contro-versy 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 sea-son 13-0, winning the school’s second NCAA Division III title, and mark-ing 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 confi-dence 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 atten-tion 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 con-necting 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 sto-ried history of athletic competition between these two institutions,” Widener Athletics Director Jack Shafer said. “We hope to continue it with the 320 Challenge.” w

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 sec-onds later when Widener sophomore linebacker Phil Aruffo picked off a pass and ran 25 yards for a touchdown.

By Dan Hanson ’97

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

A SPORTS HALL-OF-FAMER OFF THE FIELD

“He had you with the way his voice projected. We were hanging on every word.” —Joe Tercha ’49

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

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

2120

A LONG HISTORY OF ATHLETICS ON CAMPUSFor almost 150 years, athletics has been a mainstay at the Main Campus of PMC-Widener

2120

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 base-ball 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

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 base-ball continued to field a strong team,

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making the NCAA tournament three consecutive years, 1976–78 (the team returned in 1999, and 2010.)

GymnasticsGymnastics, 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 foot-ball, lacrosse, tennis, fencing, hockey, boxing, and basketball.

FootballFootball 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 cadet- numbers 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 score-less. 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 William “reds”

Pollock, who played for the Chicago

bears, holding the ball

1

5 6 7 8

2 3 4

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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

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

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 champion-ships (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.

PoloWhen polo was introduced as an intercollegiate sport in 1923, PMC took advantage of its existing cavalry and intramural polo program to field

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.

Pershing RiflesPMC 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 BeginIncreasing 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 SwimmingThe 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.

9. the undefeated, untied, un-scored-upon football team of 188810. football team with bear as mascot, circa 192011. frank Spang, right, with ball, and frank hartzel, 193812. the 1940 football squad 13. Lined up in cadet uniforms, 1938 14. game action, 194715. boardwalk bowl versus Kings Point, 196116. 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

9

13 14 15 16 17

10 11 12

Men’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 BasketballWomen’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 sea-son with a 19-7 record. For more on the 2011 team’s leading scorer, Kate Dellinger, see the cover and page 6.

Track and FieldSix 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 1967, 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 LacrosseThe men’s lacrosse team has appeared in the NCAA tournament nine times since 2000, including the last

two seasons, and has won 13 Middle Atlantic Conference titles. The squad has had eight All-America picks in its history.

Much More Onlinethis 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 http://digitalwolfgram.widener.edu/cdm.

You can also find a slide show of athletics

photographs on the Widener Magazine

blog at www.widenermagazine.com.

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

All photos property of the Widener

University Archives except for images

numbered 11, 12, 13, 18, and 19,

which are from the historical Society

of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia Record

Photograph morgue collection and are

used by permission.

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18. Polo action, 193819. Stunt riding, 193820. Pershing rifles, 195321. Pershing rifles competing in formal dress at indiantown gap military reservation, Annville, Pa., 1959 22. field hockey, 197323. Women’s swimming, 1976 24. men’s basketball, 197825. Neil Weygandt, right, and ron Sayers, 196826. NCAA 440-meter hurdles champion richie Weaver, 197027. Lil Carney, a junior, 201128. Lacrosse’s Nick Politarhos, 2011

18

23 24 25 26 27 28

19 20 21 22

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

A l u m n i P r o f i l e

From the Killing Fields to Protecting American PresidentsWidener Alumnus’ Journey from Cambodia to Widener to the U.S. Secret Service.By Sam Starnes

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Oun graduated from Widener in 1998; his daughter, Jennifer, is a Widener freshman.

“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 dish-washer 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.

A l u m n i P r o f i l e

officer in the Cambodian Army over-thrown 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.

3130

Secret Service officers with President Obama in 2011. Oun is fourth from the right in the front row.

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 coun-tries 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 cul-ture, 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

Oun with reik, an 8-year-old belgian malinois, trained in detecting explosive devices.

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

3332

Class of 1949Capt. “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 cita-

tion 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 1955Col. 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 awe-

some. i also thank PmC for

my leadership training.”

Class of 1957Capt. 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-Dix-

Lakehurst in february. the

New Jersey Council is com-

prised of five geographic

chapters representing mOAA

members residing in New

Jersey. mOAA members

include active duty, reserve,

National guard, and retired

commissioned military offi-

cers. here bill is being con-

gratulated 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 1983Dr. Les Folio, bS, radiologi-

cal 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 expe-

riences in iraq with mDCt

and trajectory analysis. Dr.

folio also is a clinical associ-

ate 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 peri-

odical publications, and has

chaired several trauma con-

ferences both nationally and

internationally.

Class of 1985Donna Urian, bS, account-

ing, ’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 achieve-

ments, initiative in the com-

munity, and leadership for

other women in business.

Donna is the owner/share-

holder of fischer, Cunnane &

Associates, Ltd., and is serv-

ing 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 1989Yusuf Wilson, mS, human

resource management, is

president and senior consul-

tant 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

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 1990Armand

Chris

Dalmass,

bS, man-

agement,

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 cele-

brated 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., com-

munity, he is proud to vitalize

his four children with the very

same philosophies his clients

have shown him.

Class of 1994Peter 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 opera-

tions 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.

C l a s s N o t e s

Save the Date!Alumni WeekendApril 13 & 14, 2012

We welcome all Widener—PmC Alumni!for more information please visit

alumni.widener.edu/netcommunity/WPN

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 e-mail

address (along with your name) to admissions.office@widener.edu.

Class of 1995Cecelia A. Johnson-Stewart,

mSW. After

years of

working

as a social

worker in

various

positions, Cecelia became a

Special education teacher in

2001. She is currently teach-

ing 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 1996Kymberly 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 contin-

ue 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 1997Kathleen 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 contribu-

tions 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 materi-

als are used as course materi-

als in universities around the

world. King was the founding

editor-in-chief of Perspectives,

The New York Journal of

Adult Learning in partner-

ship with the New York State

Association of education.

King integrates her research

across the interdisciplinary

contexts and content areas of

adult education, higher educa-

tion, K–12, career and techni-

cal education-vocational, and

human resources.

3534

Class of 1998Ann 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 stu-

dents. 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 respon-

sible 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 2000Robert Anen, bS, hospital-

ity 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.

Class of 2002Laura Peppel, bS, busi-

ness administration, has

been named an associate,

design and production, in the

Distribution team at turner

investments, an employee-

owned investment firm

based in berwyn, Pa. in this

position ms. Peppel assists

in the development and pro-

duction 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 2003Michael

Connor, bS,

manage-

ment, has

been

named

agency

director of

sales for

income & estate Planning

Partners, P.A. in Newark, Del.

mike is a registered represen-

tative and investment advisor

with transamerica financial

Advisors. in addition to his

personal practice, his respon-

sibilities 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 2005Jaclyn 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

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

Tina Saengsouriya, bS, hos-

pitality 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

been working ever since.

i’m starting to get the hang

of things, and i conducted

my first two inspections

as a hACCP manager ear-

lier this week and boy, do

i wish i were in hospitality

management 407 again!

everyone that i work with

has been great and very sup-

portive. my boss has been

with ArAmArK for many,

many years and we’re much

alike: loud, friendly, and pas-

sionate 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.”

C l a s s N o t e s

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

Marriages

Heather Pontello ’97, ’09,

and Kevin Swartz on may 1,

2010 at the Cathedral

basilica of Saints Peter and

Paul in Philadelphia.

ObituariesDr. Alonzo

C. Cavin,

71, profes-

sor emeri-

tus 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 dis-

advantaged students earn col-

lege 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 MemoriamVincent 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.

We Want to Hear from You!Please send your news for Class Notes to Office of Alumni engagement Office One University Place Chester, PA 19013Or e-mail Patty Votta at pavotta@widener.edu

363636

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.

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.

C h a p t e r N o t e s

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!

Regional Chapter Contact Info:

Greater Philadelphia AreaPhiladelphia County, PAJeff flynn ‘04jeffrey.t.flynn@gmail.com

Delaware County, PAJim gentile ‘77jjgdds@mac.com

Bucks & Montgomery Counties, PAgregg Strom ‘64gstro@stonemor.com

Chester County, PAfrank Pellegrini ‘66fpellegrini@maillie.com

South JerseyOffice of Alumni engagementalumnioffice@widener.edu

Wilmington, DEVera Kunkel ‘78liberal@magpage.com

Central PAryan riley ‘07centralpa.alumni@gmail.com

NYC/North JerseyOffice of Alumni engagementalumnioffice@widener.edu

Baltimore, MDDonna Spinella ‘94dlssai@aol.com

District of ColumbiaDave Almacy ‘92david.almacy@gmail.com

Atlanta, GAmorrie Spang ‘62morriespang@comcast.net

FL—East Coasttom Dougherty ‘93tdougherty@rccl.com

FL—West CoastOffice of Alumni engagementalumnioffice@widener.edu

FL—OrlandoOffice of Alumni engagementalumnioffice@widener.edu

CaliforniaSharon Carothers ‘92scarothe@worldnet.att.net

Puerto RicoDennis Lopez ‘85Dennis.Lopez@compass-usa.com

Washington StateAlex Poblete ‘89alex@dmp-inc.us

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!

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.

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,

Dr. James T. Harris IIIPresident

Campaign Update

Campaign Progress

$43 million

Goal: $58 million

Amount Raised as of 9/1/11

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

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

faculty excellence

Oskin Leadership institute

Center for Community Outreach and Partnerships

Center for teaching and Learning

Student enrichment

Wolfgram Library

New Academic building

Classroom enhancements and Upgrades

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.

campaign.widener.edu

39

Campaign Update

Faculty Spotlight 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, ’82Accounting 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 teach-ing 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.

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 BrownAssistant 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.”

Esther Brown,Assistant professor in the School of Nursing

Joe Hargadon ’80,’82,Accounting professor andhead of the Accounting and Information ManagementDepartment

New Academic BuildingThe 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 con-tributions 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 perma-nently 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.

campaign.widener.educampaign.widener.edu

Stepping up to theChallengePaul 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

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

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.

Student Spotlight“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

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.”

Joe Decker ’14

Campaign UpdateInvesting in the Future ~ The Widener Fund and Rachel RandazzoWhen 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 innova-tive 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 experi-ence. 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

Gifts to the Widener Fund support

campaign.widener.edu