Juniata THE WINE, BEER, AND SPIRITS ISSUE | 2015 SPRING-SUMMER
Careers in Crafting Wine, Beer, and Spirits Juniata’s New Provost Mapping Our Reach Homegrown Science Finding the Perfect Career
CAMPUS NEWS
Juniata faculty and students weigh in on issues of the day. ›› The quotes used here appear originally in Campus Opinions on the Juniata website. Go to www.juniata.edu/opinions. —Reported by Nate Deitcher ’17, Nicholas Good ’18, Marlene Matula ’17, Ichiro Narita ’18, Katherine Tobar ’15, and Erika Young ’16
“In
today’s world, (a campaign slogan) is a requirement,
because once it is used, it becomes mandatory for marketing yourself. The value is less today because of television, but up through Kennedy’s presidency, it meant a lot due to the fact that there was less TV coverage.”—Jim Tuten, professor of history, on the use of campaign slogans.
We try to accommodate seniors first
“It is a step-by-step process. by organizing room draw numbers first by graduation date and then by GPA range. There are four GPA ranges within each class. For rising sophomores though, it is completely random.”—Penny Hooper-Conway, assistant director of residential life, on room draw.
“I think Pretty Woman breaks down the unspoken societal barriers that have been put up between different classes of people. It shows that no person is better than another and that love can conquer all obstacles.”—Aubrey Treese ’16, Elizabethtown, Pa., on the 25th anniversary of the premiere of Pretty Woman.
“Our culture tells us, to some extent, what institutions we should and should not believe in depending on how we we’re raised. Large societies have governments and people grow up just accepting that as the norm; that there is some faith in government and some need for the government to do certain activities.”—Philip Dunwoody, associate professor of psychology, on how societies believe that their government should be trusted. “The business tests to see if the student would be a great candidate for a position. The student benefits, as well, because they learn more about the company or business and are able to get a feel for the business and whether or not they would want to pursue a career there.”—Kathy Baughman, assistant professor of business, on the importance of internships in the job market.
“Film is an art form that has permeated the entire world for decades.
Films provide an easy way to enter into a part of the world that you would not otherwise experience.”—Michael Henderson, associate professor of French, on the importance of seeing foreign films.
“Expect the unexpected. There will be times that things are difficult, and maybe these things will be made more difficult because you don’t know how things work. My best advice is do not struggle alone if you are feeling alone or depressed. Make connections that will help you.”—Kati Csoman, dean of international programs, on experiencing culture shock abroad.
“The student-athletes are EARNING THE REVENUE FOR THE SCHOOLS and deserve to get something. The pay should be equitable across all divisions.”
—Randy Rosenberger, professor of business, on whether the NCAA should compensate athletes.
PRESIDENT’S NOTE Dear Friends,
Juniata has a superlative track record when it comes to “proving” the worth of a liberal arts education, but more and more agencies, including the federal government, are asking colleges and universities to provide outcome-based statistics that will give students and parents a clearer picture of what type of college educations are worth the investment.
PHOTO: J.D. CAVRICH
The state of higher education today is one of accountability. Interested parties ranging from parents to politicians want to know if spending four years at college is worth the time and monetary investment. Liberal arts colleges are under particular pressure from opinion makers to show how a broad-based education where students can study history, English, biology, art, and politics and still find employment in a marketplace where jobs are increasingly specialized.
James A. Troha trohaj@juniata.edu @juniataprztroha
The expansive interview with our new provost, Lauren Bowen, addresses how the faculty and the College are approaching the accountability issue. She and other faculty leaders are taking the lead on examining our curriculum, teaching, and experiential programs to see where we can improve. One of the lessons I remember from writing essays in English classes is “show, don’t tell.” Many of the stories inside this edition of the magazine reveal exactly how Juniata prepares students for an evolving workplace where 21st century graduates may switch career fields three or four times and change jobs even more frequently. Another story shows how some of our professors and a few alumni switched careers midstream to find their true calling. There’s also an interesting story on many recent Juniata graduates using their education to explore the growing industry devoted to making wine, craft beer, and specialized spirits. Increasingly, students are coming into college with no major in mind. Juniata is no different. In fact, Laura Bancroft ’15, media relations intern for this past year, was one of those students, and her article shows just how the College guides students to areas where they can thrive. She also contributes a great essay on her experience in our Endpaper. Finally, we’ll see how Juniata’s model for well-rounded education (and teaching) results in research and volunteerism that directly affects and improves Huntingdon County.
welschg@juniata.edu
Genna Kasun ’06 Assistant Director of Advancement Communication
Luke Fragello Director of New Media Communication
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Juniata is published two times a year by Juniata College, Department of Advancement and Marketing and is distributed free of charge to alumni and friends of Juniata. Postmaster and others, please send change-of-address correspondence to: Alumni Relations, 1700 Moore St., Huntingdon, PA 16652-2196. Juniata can accept no responsibility for unsolicited contributions of artwork, photography, or articles. Juniata College, as an educational institution and employer, values equality of opportunity and diversity. The College is an independent, privately supported co-educational institution committed to providing a liberal arts education to qualified students regardless of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability. Its policies comply with requirements of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IV of the Education Amendments of 1972, and all other applicable federal, state, and local statutes, regulations and guidelines.
Juniata students strum in unison as they perform for Juniata’s Concert for a Cure, which benefits breast cancer research. —photo by Klarissa Juliano ’18, Kittredge, Colo.
2015 Spring-Summer |
Juniata
Dawn Scialabba Alumni Relations Assistant
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Gabriel Welsch VP for Advancement and Marketing
meadowd@juniata.edu
Rosann Brown Executive Director of Marketing
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wallj@juniata.edu 814-641-3132
David Meadows ’98 Director of Alumni Relations
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John Wall Editor Director of Media Relations
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—Photo by Amber Boring ’18, Altoona, Pa.
2015 Spring-Summer |
Altoona resident Amber Boring ’18, whose eye for arresting images is anything but, is a student photographer for the College’s marketing department. She took this shot of the Marlene and Barry Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts while waiting to shoot another event. Trustee Barry Halbritter happened to see the image and told her how much he liked the photograph. A short time later, Amber presented a framed photo of the image to Halbritter.
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Photography by: J.D. Cavrich
Matthew Kinnebrew ’16, of Lansdowne, Va., rises to meet the challenge of spiking the ball at a Juniata men’s volleyball contest.
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At left, Kerigan Ammerman ’18, of Alexandria, Pa., and Paige Dennison ’16, of East Berlin, Pa., celebrate a triumph on the softball field.
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Concentrating on the task at hand, Chris Schreder ’18, of Lititz, Pa., prepares to tag an incoming runner.
Tennis player Mike Lifshitz ’16, of Worcester, Mass., looks inundated with serves in this shot. In all probability, the other tennis ball is stuck in the fence.
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Photography by: J.D. Cavrich | Juniata
Eagle forward Marcus Lee ’18, of Carrolltown, Pa., gets big air as he elevates toward the rim.
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2015 Spring-Summer |
Juniata women’s basketball player Danielle Atkinson ’18, of Landisville, Pa., wrestles for the ball with a University of Scranton player.
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The Russian Dinner is an annual event sponsored by the Russian Club, where members created Slavic “comfort food” dishes such as borscht and kavas. —Photo by Amber Boring ’18, Altoona, Pa.
President Troha chose a day without rain, sleet or snow to keep him from his appointed rounds, helping Cassandra Feagley ’16, deliver the day's mail on campus. —Photo by Candice Hersh, Huntingdon, Pa.
The Juniata Dance Ensemble, which is a student club dedicated to giving students a chance to continue performing dance, raised funds this year for Gamcotrap, a women’s rights organization in The Gambia.
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—Photo by Christine Reilly ’18, Nashua, N.H.
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More than 400 students from Juniata visited the booths and employers at the 2015 Juniata Career Day. —Photo by Gordon Dimmig ’17, Elizabethtown, Pa.
One of the highlights of the many, many options for students to see and participate in at the Liberal Arts Symposium is the Multicultural Storyfest, a public speaking opportunity where international students and others tell tales from their own culture. —Photo by Rick Hamilton, Huntingdon, Pa.
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Juniata
THE WINE, BEER, AND SPIRITS ISSUE | 2015 SPRING-SUMMER
Juniata
You can’t tell here, but Darren Moser ’04 is actually in Maui, Hawaii, checking on his work as a master brewer for Maui Beer Co. Moser learned how to make beer in a Juniata course taught by retired biologist Todd Gustafson. On the cover, Tod ’83 and Jean Manspeaker pose in their Everett, Pa. vineyard. Moser and the Manspeakers are part of a growing craft beer, wine, and spirits industry. THE WINE, BEER,
Careers in Crafting
Mapping Out Our
CONTENTS Campus Conversations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover
Reach
Homegrown Science Finding the Perfect
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| 2015 SPRING-SUMMER
Wine, Beer and Spirits
Juniata’s New Provost
SS15_MAG FRONT.indd
AND SPIRITS ISSUE
Career
6/25/15 1:44 PM
President’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Campus News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Spirited Entrepreneurs: Careers in Crafting Wine, Beer and Spirits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Thanks to Juniata’s broad-based liberal arts education
COVER PHOTO: J.D. CAVRICH BACKGROUND PHOTO: DANIELLE MEYER
model, many graduates are jumping into a growing market for craft beer brewing, winemaking, and craft distilleries. Check out the heady alumni who already have created vintage experiences.
What’s Next: Juniata’s New Provost Discusses All Things Juniata College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Lauren Bowen, Juniata’s provost since July 2014, takes time to talk about what she has learned about the College and what lies ahead for her and for the institution in the coming year.
Mapping Our Reach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Juniata professors, administrators, and staff all are heavily invested in the community of Huntingdon and surrounding towns. We put together a list of local organizations where Juniatians volunteer, and the College’s reach into the community is more extensive than many would think.
Homegrown Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Juniata has at least three dozen science professors, most of whom maintain active research programs. We decided to map out some of the science research affecting just Huntingdon County and found experiments stretching well beyond the labs on campus.
Exploring: Finding the Perfect Career Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Not everyone comes onto college campuses with their career mapped out. In fact very few graduates head into the workforce having studied exactly what they dreamed about as high school seniors. Juniata student Laura Bancroft ’15, who wandered a bit before finding her writing POE, outlines how the College uses the “Exploratory” POE to help students find their path.
Switch-Craft: Juniata Faculty’s Path to the Classroom . . . . . 62
Not all Juniata professors knew they were destined to become academic mentors when they graduated from college. Here are a few instructive origin stories of College faculty who found their way here after a few career turns.
Faculty Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Faculty Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Alumni Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
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Volunteer Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Recruit a Student (Gold Card) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Homecoming and Family Weekend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Power of the Juniata Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360° . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Endpaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover
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Kati Csoman, acting dean for Juniata’s Center for International Education, has been named dean of the center after a national search and interview process. Juniata since February 2008. She “Juniata is quite fortunate to also managed Juniata’s innovative have someone of Kati Csoman’s short-term study abroad programs. caliber to lead the Center for She started her career at Juniata International Education and I look in 1996, working as an assistant forward to working with her in this for the Baker Institute for Peace role,” says Lauren Bowen, provost and Conflict Studies’ Link to Learn at Juniata. “Her commitment to program. In 1998 she was hired at global education and intercultural Penn State as an education abroad competency and her vision as to how adviser for the university’s Office to achieve internationalization in the of Global Programs. She returned curriculum and co-curriculum, on to Juniata in 2001 as director of the Juniata campus and throughout international student and scholar the world, will serve our students, services, where she managed all faculty, staff, and external partners immigration services and designed exceptionally well.” orientations and workshops for Csoman has been an effective international and study abroad administrator within the College’s students. She was promoted to international center since 2001, assistant dean in 2008. when she joined the center’s staff Csoman’s entire career has as director of international student been involved in international and scholar services. She served as issues and education. Her first job acting dean in 2010-11 and has been in 1990, as a Fascell Fellow in the acting dean since February 2014. U.S. Department of State, took her to Csoman has continued developing the American Embassy in Budapest, the international study initiatives Hungary. that led to the College receiving the She returned to the United States 2012 Senator Paul Simon Award for to become a project coordinator for a Comprehensive Internationalization. University of Pittsburgh fellowships In addition, she has continued her program in the University Center duties in overseeing the College’s for International Studies, where she budgets for international study and also held positions as an outreach managing immigration services coordinator, undergraduate adviser, for students, international faculty lecture series coordinator, and office and language instructors, and manager (for the Pennsylvania other duties. Governor’s School for International Csoman had served as assistant Studies). dean for international education at
Kati Csoman has pretty mu ch done every job available at Jun iata’s Center for International Educati on, including finding bedsheets in the mid dle of the night for late-arriving inte rnational students. That’s why her appointment as dean of international pro grams bodes well for Juniata’s continu ed excellence in international education.
She was an administrator for grants related to global education themes at Juniata, including a Fulbright-Hays grant to fund a delegation to Morocco, and has led faculty delegations to Great Britain, Europe, Mexico, The Gambia, Senegal, Spain, Ecuador, and Japan. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1989 from the University of Pittsburgh and went on to earn a master’s degree in 1996 at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
2015 Spring-Summer |
PHOTOS (TOP LEFT AND RIGHT, BOTTOM): J.D. CAVRICH; (TOP, CENTER) RICK HAMILTON
Stepping Up: Juniata Names Kati Csoman International Dean
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CAMPUS NEWS
Kaitlyn Dreese ’18, shown here getting a kiss from Robber, competed in Germany this summer with Karli (far right) with Team USA at the European Open for dog agility competition.
Dogged Determination: Juniata Student’s Border Collies Nationally Known In some circles, starting a college career can be seen as an obstacle course, what with studying, tests, readings, labs, and finding the perfect roommate. For Kaitlyn Dreese ’18, of Lewistown, Pa., such intellectual gymnastics are old hat because she has spent most of her life training her dogs to conquer physical agility courses in national and international competitions.
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“Each course is different, but typically there is a see-saw, tunnels, jumps, an A-frame, and weave-poles (or slalom) in each course,” she explains. Dreese has four border collies that she trains and enters in competition. Her dog Seacrett was rated No. 1 in the nation in 2013 and two others, Phil and Karli, were named to the international team representing the United States in the European championships. The fourth dog, Robber, has yet to place in any of Kaitlyn's competitions. Up until this year, Dreese has been living with her dogs and was able to train them whenever she felt like it. Now immersed in time-consuming coursework,
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like Organic Chemistry (which she passed in fall semester), and dorm living, the world-traveling trainer can only work with her furry foursome for a few hours on weekends. Last year, Dreese traveled to Hungary with two dogs to compete on the U.S. team, and has traveled to England and other countries as well. She manages the expense of travel through organizing fundraisers, but it’s in time management that she shines. “Competitions definitely make me work harder at college,” she says. “In elementary school through high school, good grades were always needed so my parents would let me go to the (competitions).”
Although Dreese does her training at home, she has brought different dogs on campus for short visits, much to the enjoyment of her friends. “A lot of students miss their dogs at home, so when I bring them on campus everybody comes out to see them,” she says. While her free time is spent racing her dogs through their obstacle course challenges (the trainer runs with the dog, so Dreese must stay in competitive shape along with her dogs), she’s already decided on a career path— veterinary school. “I want to keep working with dogs, but I’d like to specialize in rehabilitation and chiropractic medicine,” she says.
Africa Beckons: Trip to Rwanda Yields Potential
It all started with a student choosing to study abroad in a country torn by civil strife. Lily Kruglak ’11, had opted to pursue an independent study abroad experience in Rwanda during her junior year, 2010. Energized by the experience, she came back and organized Genocide Awareness Week, an annual event that has been repeated for the past four years. Kruglak’s enthusiasm for the project passed on to her faculty advisers, historian Alison Fletcher and Celia Cook-Huffman, Burkholder Professor of Conflict Resolution. In 2012, the pair of professors visited Rwanda to see if the academic infrastructure could support a study abroad program. Their efforts bloomed in January 2015 as five Juniata students accompanied CookHuffman and Fletcher on a threeweek winter break course called Rwanda: Conflict and Memory. Part of Fletcher’s course portfolio requires her to develop courses on African history and her personal teaching interests resulted in the development of a popular Juniata course Crimes Against Humanity, documenting historical genocides. Cook-Huffman was interested in how conflict resolution has been used in the country. The Rwandan genocide, which ignited in 1994, is a relatively
recent event, which made the subSaharan country optimally suited for a study-abroad experience. “The course is not just about the genocide,” explains CookHuffman. “We ask the students to look at postgenocide restoration and rebuilding, postconflict resolution. Rwanda is also unique in that the Rwandans involved on both sides of the genocide still live among one another. There are Rwandans who live next door to people who killed their loved ones.” The course also addresses macro-issues
2015 Spring-Summer |
PHOTOS (LEFT): J.D. CAVRICH; (RIGHT) ALISON FLETCHER
r Alison Fletcher, associate professo er), cent near blue (in ry of histo helps out at a Rwandan farm at left. Fletcher keeps the students n, and colleague Celia Cook-Huffma professor of conflict resolution, moving up the mountainside of (center) and Mori Hitchcock ’16, over Chester, Pa., strides confidently by wed follo ge, brid a precarious ent. Cook-Huffman and another stud
such as economics, government, and the Rwandan justice system. Over the three-week course the students visited villages, church memorials to the victims of the genocide, as well as Rwanda’s art center, a safari, and the country’s nationalized rain forest. In addition, Kruglak, then on leave from graduate studies at Georgetown University and working for Resolve Network in war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, spent the entire course time with the students and faculty. “We were lucky she could take the time to help as she has more knowledge of the area than us, but she has always been someone who puts the needs of others first,” Fletcher says. “Celia and I also met with faculty and other adminstrators at the University of Rwanda in Butare,” Fletcher says. “The government has made English the language of instruction, so that will make things easier.” The Juniata professors would like to see a semester-long study abroad program emerge, but Fletcher says the College will probably sponsor a larger faculty trip to cultivate connections and collaborations. Perhaps the most important connection made on the trip? Probably meeting Rwandan high school student Liliane Pari Umahoza. She starts at Juniata in August.
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CAMPUS NEWS
Peace In: Polly Walker Named Baker Institute Director
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Polly Walker, who came to Juniata as an assistant professor in 2011, has been named director of the college’s Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, effective in August 2015. As director, Walker also will be a member of Juniata’s faculty as the Elizabeth Evans Baker Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies. She is one of the author/editors of an anthology, Acting Together: Peacebuilding Performance Project, on peacebuilding performance around the world, and has organized several events of peacemaking through performance at Juniata. “Polly Walker exemplifies the values and commitments of the Baker Institute. Her emphasis on transforming conflict through dialogue is demonstrable in her work as a teacher, scholar, and administrator,” says Lauren Bowen, provost at Juniata. “We are fortunate with her considerable skills, knowledge, and experience leading the Baker Institute.” She has taken a lead role in nurturing educational efforts to use performance or the arts as a tool in peacemaking. She currently is chair of ReCAST Inc.: Re-imagining Community, Art and Social Transformation. She also has developed and taught many new courses at Juniata, including Conflict Transformation, Gender Indigeneity and Peacebuilding, Peacebuilding through the Arts, Theatre and Social Change, and Theatre of Witness. “I look forward to engaging with the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, the wider Juniata community, and national and international peace organizations,” Walker says. “Together we can make significant contributions to fulfilling the Baker Institute’s mission of understanding war and violent conflict and building peace. In so doing, we make a significant contribution to Juniata’s mission to empower students to develop the skills, knowledge, and values that
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lead to a fulfilling life of service and ethical leadership in the global community.” Before coming to Juniata, Walker was director of Partners in Peacebuilding, a conflict transformation consultancy in Brisbane, Australia. In addition to her consultancy, she also taught at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1975 from New Mexico State University and went on to earn a master’s degree in 1983 from the same university. After earning a doctoral degree from the University of Queensland, in Brisbane, Australia, Walker worked as a lecturer in the university’s School of Politics
Polly Walker, assistant professor of peace and conflict studies, has been a part of Juniata’s faculty since 2011 and was named director of the Baker Institute in May.
“Polly Walker exemplifies the values and commitments of the Baker Institute. Her emphasis on transforming conflict through dialogue is demonstrable in her work as a teacher, scholar and administrator.” —Lauren Bowen, provost
and International Studies, The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, and the Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. In 2009, she became a research associate at the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Her research focuses on building local mediative capacity for nonviolent social change. Her doctoral work centered on reconciliation processes between Aboriginal and settler Australians. She also received a Rotary Fellowship at the University
of Queensland to research nonviolent ways of educating indigenous students. She has published her research in professional journals, including the Conflict Resolution Quarterly, and the Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology. Of Cherokee descent, Walker is chair of the Indigenous Education Institute, dedicated to the revitalization of Indigenous knowledge. IEI has held several multiyear grants funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.
Parting Words: Retiring Faculty Remember
“I have had so many fantastic students who are involved in their community, campus, and are interested in taking their knowledge into the future as positive forces for change. They have come to Juniata with enthusiasm, positivity, and optimism to make the world a better place in terms of the environment and human rights. Most are active learners and want to stretch their minds to understand how their culture, and other cultures, maintain in an ever globalizing world. I enjoy that energy. I also especially enjoy meeting advisees for the first time, empathizing with their first year fears, and watching them as they ‘Think, Evolve, and Act.’ Seeing their growth in maturity and confidence as seniors never fails to inspire me.”
Paula Wagoner came to Juniata in 1997 and specializes in cultural anthropology.
— Paula Wagoner, associate professor of anthropology
—Larry Mutti, professor of geology
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PHOTOS: J.D. CAVRICH
Larry Mutti joined the Juniata faculty in 1978 and currently researches fluid inclusions and mineral growth.
“Juniata was the kind of institution I wanted to be at and while some other schools might have had greater resources available to support me, Juniata has afforded me the opportunity to do the things I felt I needed to do and that were most rewarding to me. Certainly among those things were the opportunity to mentor students from early in their careers to a certain level of professional maturity. But there was also a willingness to let me think, teach, and act very broadly. I’ve had a chance to teach not only narrowly within my disciplinary niche, but at the fringes of my expertise and beyond—in PACS, in Heart of India, in Soil Science and Sustainable Agriculture, in resource and development issues. That has meant that I have continued to grow, both as a geoscientist, but also as a human being. The College’s more relaxed understanding of what it means to be professional has allowed me to be a professional citizen and left me free to engage with the local public on behalf of both global and local causes. Huntingdon has been a good community for me to call home, raise a family, and find recreational opportunities, both outdoors and musical, that were fulfilling to me. Who could ask for more?”
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Juniata student Christine Zoerner ’15, of Huntingdon, Pa. rakes out the coffee beans to dry in the sun. At the end of the day, the beans are rewrapped in tarps so the drying process can begin again for at least four or five days.
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CAMPUS NEWS Christine Zoerner, who studied business at Juniata, asks a worker at Herrera Coffee Farm in Nicaragua whether or not the coffee bean she just examined has gone bad.
Business Opportunities Perk Up in Nicaragua For the millions of college students walking across campuses sipping lattes and cappucinos, the total knowledge of how the coffee we consume is harvested, processed, and marketed doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Juniata’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership decided to change that and brewed up a fact-finding mission to several coffee farms in Nicaragua to explore educational and business opportunities. The idea was driven by Greg Anderson ’99, who owns and operates Standing Stone Coffee Company, the go-to place for gourmet café au lait. Anderson convinced Terry Anderson (no relation), director of JCEL, to cosponsor a delegation to witness the growing and production process for coffee. In addition to four members of the Standing Stone staff (including Christine Zoerner ’15, of Huntingdon, Pa.), the College was represented by Kristie Putt, assistant director of the Sill Business Incubator, and Candice Hersh, associate director of marketing. Despite a crop-duster style landing at the Managua airport, the coffee contingent made it to Matagalpa, the city closest to Selva Negra, a privately owned coffee farm. Before their bags were unpacked the group was whisked off to witness workers picking coffee beans. Soon the group was picking the ripened crop alongside
2015 Spring-Summer |
PHOTOS: CANDICE HERSH
Zoerner picks coffee berries during an informal “picking” competition among the Juniata visitors.
the farm workers. But it was not all work. One evening the group went on a night hike, to see birds, buttterflies and bats, and possibly panthers. “”Our guide told us if we ran into a panther he would use the laser pointer to coax the animal away from us,” Hersh explains. “Somehow that didn’t comfort me.” In addition to Selva Negra, the group also visited Epiphany Coffee, a farm located about an hour away. Between the two farms, the Juniata group was able to see and sometimes experience the entire process of delivering coffee from berry to packaging. Putt also met with the owners of both farms to discuss possible service projects for Juniata business students interested in ventures in developing countries. Putt Kristie Putt (center), ass istant director of says owners JCEL, talks with Karen Kuhl, an owner of of both farms Selva Negra Cof fee Co. are willing to collaborate on service projects such as purchasing low-cost homestoves, solar lights and panels, supporting community tourism, and raising funds for bridge-building and repairs. According to Putt, JCEL’s goal is to find companies that can serve as models for international or social entrepreneurship, as well as opportunities to collaborate on service learning projects. As these ideas percolate at JCEL in the business department, the next step might be a return trip during winter break, which coincides with harvest season. They also plan to incorporate visits to a nearby chocolate factory as well as a rum company. “As we left, we donated clothes, medical supplies, and school supplies,” Hersh says. “It was an amazing experience.”
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CAMPUS NEWS
‘Be Proud’: International Alumnus Praises Faculty Who Guided Him Christoph Schwemmlein ’84, Juniata Trustee and managing director of Klöcker Brothers, recalled his experience on campus as a German international student at the College’s 137th Commencement ceremony May 16 and extolled the value of a Juniata degree, saying to the graduating class of 343 students, “don’t forget about the people who guided you on your way.”
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’84 receives hwemmlein from, left, Christoph Sc d y degree hoo sor and ar or on h his ofes , politics pr wen, Jack Barlow d Lauren Bo an , al sh ar faculty m wer right. provost, lo
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Schwemmlein was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. In addition, James Lakso, provost emeritus at Juniata, and Raymond Figura, dean of business administration at Westfälische Hochschule (University of Applied Science), Bocholt campus, in Bocholt Germany, received honorary doctor of humane letters degrees. Schwemmlein, who helped build a small German company into a multinational corporation, reminisced about the relationships he made with faculty such as Klaus Jaeger, professor emeritus of German, and Bob Reilly, professor emeritus of social work: “They positively took me by the hand. Totally unusual for a German student (to experience). The two of them always took the time (to teach me) a new sense of studying.” He also credited Jaeger with pledging to help him financially if misfortune struck when he and a business partner borrowed the funds used to start the business now called Klöcker Brothers. “A professor of German and a former student,” Schwemmlein said.
“Across-borders trust. All of this made me feel brave and proud.” Schwemmlein, managing director of Klöcker Bros., graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business and computer science. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Applied Sciences of Muenster in 1984 and went on to earn a doctoral degree in 2001 from Bauman Moscow State Technical University. He joined Klöcker Bros. in 1990 and oversees all sales operations for the company. Under Schwemmlein’s leadership the company was transformed from a craft-oriented
Jim Lakso and Pat Wea ver, left, share a lau gh af ter W eaver introduced Lakso for h is own honor ary degree .
is chairman of the board of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. Lakso earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wittenberg University in 1967. He went on to earn a master’s degree in 1970 in economics and a doctorate in economics in 1973 from the University of Maryland. Raymond Figura has been dean of business administration at the Bocholt campus since 1996. He was dean of the business administration faculty at Bocholt from 1996 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2008. Since 2012, Figura has been vice dean of faculty in business administration and information technology. Figura earned a diploma in mechanical engineering from the University of Bochom in 1979. He went on to earn a doctorate in engineering at Bochrom in 1984. He began his business career in 1984 in the private sector, working in production management for Procter & Gamble, Digital Equipment and other companies in Germany. Figura, with Thomas Siebe, another senior administrator at Bocholt, helped establish a partnership between the German university and Juniata’s Center for International Education. The 2015 Senior Class Gift collected more than $51,000
(81 percent of the class contributed to the gift), for contributions to the Alicia Griffith Fund, which helps students in need during their time at Juniata, and for the eventual renovation of the College’s Health and Wellness Center.
PHOTOS: J.D. CAVRICH
business to a global enterprise emphasizing research and development in weaving machine and automotive technology. Currently under his management, the company has established Klöcker Brothers Design & Build, a Huntingdon-based contracting company specializing in residential projects. Schwemmlein’s son, Arnold ’15, graduated. Another son, Achim ’18, is a freshman at the College. Jim Lakso came to Juniata in 1970 and continues to teach classes in economics every year. In addition to his four-decade career as a professor, he held a variety of administrative roles at the college, including stints as assistant academic dean, director of summer sessions, chair of the economics department, and academic dean of social sciences. He retired in 2013. In 2012, Lakso was recognized by the Council of Independent Colleges as Chief Academic Officer of the Year. He also was honored with an Alumni Citation from Wittenberg University in 2014 and received Juniata’s John C. Baker Award in 2013. The College named its teaching center the James J. Lakso Center for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Lakso received the 2005 Beachley Award for Distinguished Academic Service and the 1983 Beachley Distinguished Professor Award. He
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CAMPUS NEWS
Five College Alumni Honored with Alumni Achievement Awards PHOTOGRAPHY BY: LAURA HESS ’11
As part of its “Alumni Weekend 2015,” Juniata presented five alumni-related awards Saturday, June 6, during Alumni Assembly. Mary White ’73, president and chief executive officer of Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colo. was awarded the Alumni Achievement Award; Ronald Seiler ’77, an independent pharmaceutical consultant, received the Harold B. Brumbaugh Alumni Service Award; Jonathan Hunter ’72, a public health and housing consultant, received the William E. Swigart Jr. Alumni Humanitarian Award; Dr. Jeremy Souder ’00, patient safety officer at Pennsylvania Hospital, was awarded the Young Alumni Achievement Award; and Dr. Jessie Mosley ’02, chief of medicine at J.C. Blair Hospital in Huntingdon, received the Health Professions Alumni Appreciation Award.
Mary White ’73
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Mary White has been president and chief executive officer of Swedish Medical Center, a large community hospital serving the Denver, Colo. Community, since 1996. As CEO, she oversees 1,200 medical personnel and 2,000 employees. She also
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steered the hospital through a significant transition from notfor-profit status to becoming part of Hospital Corporation of America. She has helped develop the hospital’s expansion and certification in a variety of primary care areas and medical sub-specialties, including a telemedicine program for strokes that serves 50 hospital sites in a five-state region. From Juniata, she went on to earn a master’s degree in public health from the University of Pittsburgh. White has worked her entire career in the healthcare industry, starting in 1974 as a medical technologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She moved to Denver in 1976 to work as a medical technologist at Presbyterian Medical Center until 1978.
She moved into hospital administrative duties in 1980 when she joined Rose Health Care Systems as an administrative resident. She became assistant to the resident in 1981 and was promoted to director of planning in 1986. She was vice president for facility planning and development at Rose Medical Center from 1989 to 1991 and was senior vice president and chief operating officer at the center from 1991 to 1996. She has worked tirelessly for Juniata, serving on the College’s Board of Trustees since 1996. She was a member of the Alumni Council from 1991 to 1994, and worked as a class fund agent and volunteered to raise funds for the Science Campaign in Juniata’s Uncommon Outcomes capital campaign.
Editor’s Note: Every year, we ask the winners of Juniata’s teaching awards to list some of the things that have inspired them in their professional lives, be it a book, a song, a movie, or a combination of those things. Here, the winners pick five inspirations, corporate lessons learned, and activities to pursue in retirement.
Beachley Award for Distinguished Service
PHOTO: J.D. CAVRICH
Vince Buonaccorsi, professor of biology
What follows are five things that have inspired me over the years. 1. The Leafy Sea Dragon fish: With protrusions adapted over time to look like strands of seaweed, the leafy sea dragon is a prime example of how amazing nature can be. 2. The television program NOVA, Fabric of the Universe, The Illusion of Time: Available on YouTube, this was the most mind-bending TV program I’ve watched in years. It reveals how past and future events are as real as the present and illustrates how much is still hidden about the true nature of the universe.
3. Wayne Weibel’s book, The Final Harvest: As a practicing Catholic, I am always on the lookout for evidence of God in our lives. This book provides an interesting perspective on that issue. It makes the case that God directly intervenes in our world in forms ranging from private revelations from the Blessed Virgin Mary to children in Bosnia. This book, which I read some 20 years ago, opened me up to the possibility of working in a profession that seeks scientific understanding while being dedicated to the service of students. 4. My son, Andrew: I thought I was pretty good at Clue until I started playing against Andrew. With a blend of deductive reasoning (process of elimination) and inductive reasoning (guessing people’s motives for their actions) he hasn’t lost in quite some time. His thought process challenges me to think more broadly about scientific approaches to questions in my research program. 5. Scientist Malcolm Campbell: A biology professor at Davidson College and founder of the Genome Consortium on Active Teaching, Malcolm’s work has improved the educational experience for tens of thousands of undergraduates and faculty. His work brought cutting-edge research into the undergraduate classroom. He challenges leaders to be bold in vision and action. He taught me that it isn’t necessary to know all the details about what is ahead before embarking on a journey, as long as you have a good heading and keep checking the compass. 2015 Spring-Summer | 21
Gibbel Award for Distinguished Teaching
PHOTO: J.D. CAVRICH
Kathy Baughman, Swigart Associates Supported Assistant Professor of Business and Economics
My teaching is strongly influenced by the 15 years I spent working for a variety of business organizations, including a large international public accounting firm, a Fortune 500 corporation, and a growing manufacturing company. Here are five lessons learned: Firing an employee is HARD. It may look easy on The Apprentice when Donald Trump leans across the table, points his finger and says “you’re fired,” but I assure you this action is much more difficult and has significant repercussions. As a manager, you have a responsibility to all of your employees to help them develop. So, before you say those words, you need to reflect on your actions as a manager—why is this action necessary? Did you provide the best guidance and support? What should you have done differently? Is this a balanced decision? Make the most of business travel. Business travel is different than a vacation. Remember you are there to achieve a specified objective. There will be a tight deadline that you must meet, which means you won’t have time for traditional sightseeing. So instead, focus on connecting with the local employees. Go out to dinner; ask about their culture and traditions. It will be much more rewarding than having dinner in your hotel room. You’ll return with your objective completed and a new appreciation and understanding of a different culture.
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Organization charts do not tell the whole story. The organization chart will show you the official
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reporting lines, but the unofficial lines can be more important. You need to observe the interactions of the senior management and the organization’s decisionmaking process to determine the unofficial lines. Development of a mentor-mentee relationship will be extremely helpful in this process. Take care of these relationships. Over the years, my mentors have been an invaluable source of guidance and support. CEOs are not professors. Write accordingly. I was once asked to write a paper researching a change in accounting treatment, including a pro-forma financial statement. I wrote a detailed and extensive paper. To my surprise, I received a call and was asked to walk senior management through the concepts presented in the paper. It was clear that they had not read my paper. I learned the importance of concise writing, and the effective use of headings, bullets, and formatting to ensure proper communication. Keep asking questions. A typical audit turned into a fraud investigation when we started to uncover evidence that appeared to make little sense. The payments were supported by invoice documentation, but the descriptions on the invoice were not logical. We expanded our audit into a larger fraud investigation, which ultimately ended in an arrest. The fraud was uncovered because we continued to ask questions and review documentation until we had answers supported by evidence. Keep asking questions until you are satisfied.
CAMPUS NEWS
Jonathan Hunter earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. He went on to earn a master’s of divinity degree from Bethany Theological Seminary in 1977. He worked as a minister in the Church of the Brethren from 1977 to 1987, serving congregations in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Hunter currently works as an independent consultant providing planning and training designed to get health and housing organizations to meet the needs of the homeless and high-cost users of public crisis systems. Before becoming a consultant, Hunter worked for 13 years for the Corporation for Supportive Housing in southern California. He started in 2000 as program manager of the agency’s California program and became the program’s director in 2004. During that time he designed and started an initiative to end homelessness for individuals with mental illness in Los Angeles
County and led an initiative to connect the homeless, who are frequent users of crisis care, to health care providers. In 2008 he was promoted to managing director for the agency’s western region, which included offices in Texas, Arizona, and California, until he stepped down in 2014. Hunter started his work with the homeless in 1987 as director of the Friend-to-Friend Clubhouse, run by Episcopal Community Services. He was named director of transition programs in San Diego for Episcopal Community Services in 1989 and became assistant chief administrative officer for programs in 1991. In 1993 he was named executive vice president and chief operating officer for Episcopal Community Services, one of the largest social services agencies in southern California. In 2011, Hunter received the Tom McGuiness Community
Ronald Seiler ’77
time he also worked as a computer instructor at Montgomery County Community College and at Temple University. Seiler has been an extraordinarily active volunteer for Juniata, working as co-chair of the Juniata Scholarship Fund from 2012 to 2015 and as alumni representative to the College’s Board of Trustees from 2010 to 2013. He also served on the Alumni Council from 1993 to 1998 and 2010 to 2013. He volunteers for the Juniata Career Team and is a Juniata Admission Ambassador. In addition, he was president of the Alumni Association for 1996-1997 and has served on the Delaware Valley Alumni Leadership Team.
Jonathan Hunter ’72
Leadership Award from Housing Works. He also received the 2013 William F. McKenna Award from LINC Housing. He also has been a volunteer for the Juniata Career Team.
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Ronald Seiler earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, mathematics, and secondary education. He went on to earn a master’s degree in 1982 in physical science from West Chester University.
Seiler has worked as a pharmaceutical consultant since 2014. Previously he worked as an associate director of learning and development at Merck Polytechnic Institute within Merck Research Labs in North Wales, Pa. Seiler started his career at Merck in 2001, starting as a manager of end-user documentation and managing learning technology and training from 2005 to 2008. He worked as a project manager in the Project and Pipeline Management Department from 2008 to 2011. He was associate director from 2011 to 2013. Seiler started his career in 1977 as a chemistry teacher at North Penn High School until 1984. From 1984 to 1999, he owned and operated Computer and Office Training, a computer training school in Lansdale, Pa. During that
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CAMPUS NEWS Dr. Jeremy Souder is a 2000 graduate of Juniata, earning a bachelor’s degree in politics and health. He went on to earn his medical degree in 2005 from the University of Pennsylvania. He is board certified in both internal medicine and hospice and palliative medicine. He served his residency in internal medicine from 2005 to 2008 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Souder has remained with Penn Medicine since then, and is currently a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Penn’s School of Medicine. Since 2010 he has served as Pennsylvania Hospital’s patient safety officer and as a hospitalist, and most recently he was named medical director of the Inpatient Palliative Care Program at Pennsylvania Hospital, which is part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Jessie Mosley ’02
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The Health Professions Alumni Appreciation Award was given to Dr. Jessie Mosley, chief of the medicine department at J.C. Blair Hospital in Huntingdon, Pa. since 2014. Dr. Mosley earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Juniata and
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He has also been Pennsylvania Hospital’s lead physician for Schwartz Center Rounds for Compassionate Healthcare since 2011. Souder received the Patient Advocacy Award from Pennsylvania Hospital in 2011 and in 2012 was one of the recipients of the Quality and Patient Safety Award for Operations from the University of Pennsylvania Health System. He is a fellow of the Society of Hospital Medicine, and a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Association for Physician Leadership, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He has remained active as a volunteer for Juniata, working on the Juniata Career team from 2005 to 2009 and as a member of the Health Professions Affinity Group.
went on to earn her medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2006. She served as an intern and resident from 2006 to 2009 at Altoona Family Physicians of the Altoona Regional Health System, acting as chief resident at the practice from 2008 to 2009. Mosley started her medical practice career as a staff physician in 2009 at Broad Top Area Medical Center in Broad Top City, Pa., serving the community until 2013. Dr. Mosley became a staff physician at Huntingdon Family Care Center, which is part of J.C. Blair Medical Services, in 2013 and continues to practice there in addition to her duties as chief of medicine. She is board certified in osteopathic medicine.
Jeremy Souder ’00
Do you know someone who is deserving of a Juniata Alumni Award? Help the Alumni Council’s Awards and Nominations committee by submitting a nomination for one of the following: Harold B. Brumbaugh ’33 Alumni Service Award Alumni Achievement Award Young Alumni Achievement Award William Swigart Jr. ’37 Alumni Humanitarian Award
For online nominations and more information, visit www.juniata.edu/alumni/ association/awards.html
Beachley Award for Distinguished Teaching
PHOTO: J.D. CAVRICH
Ben Sunderland, Professor of Mathematics
Mathematics came easy for me, and so I pursued it through my undergraduate and graduate studies. I have always had an interest in music, studying piano for six years and singing in choruses from elementary school through high school, Penn State University Choir, and Juniata College Choral Union. My membership in the local 4-H Club cultivated an interest in growing vegetables, a hobby which continued for several decades. These activities have motivated me over the years and will continue to inspire me through my retirement. La Bohème: Giacomo Puccini takes the simplest of plots and creates an opera that is nonstop gorgeous from beginning to end. I loved this music even before I knew what the Italian words meant. Complex Analysis: A branch of mathematics with elaborate structure and amazing results. I am astounded by the things I have learned about this discipline and humbled by all that I don’t know. Family History: Seeking information about my family and their acquaintances has occupied much of my free time for the last 45 years. I
never knew my Sunderland grandparents, but my mother’s parents, William C. and Gertrude Kauffman Miller, did me the favor of living to their mid-90s. I was in my mid-40s when they passed away, and during those years they provided me with rich memories from our more than weekly visits. Dahlias: In recent years, discouraged by groundhogs and rabbits, I have abandoned growing vegetables and turned my efforts to roses and a dahlia bed. Dahlias are stunning and relatively pest-free. For many years I have brought cut dahlias to the folks at Brumbaugh Academic Center in late summer and so far no one has complained. Mount Union Area Schools Alumni Association: I am a charter member and current president of the Board of this Association which was organized in 1989. As of our May 2015 meeting we shall have awarded scholarships to over 100 seniors and have designated 34 of our graduates as Distinguished Alumni. Portraits and biographies of the Distinguished Alumni adorn the walls of Mount Union Area High School in the hope that current students will be inspired to greater heights.
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Sports Quiz TH E U LTI MATE J U N IATA
1. Which of these NFL players does not belong with the others?
2. Former Juniata athletic Director Bill Berrier ’60 can be “seen” in what film starring Hollywood actor Kurt Russell?
a) James Harris b) Joe Ferguson c) Dave Krieg d) Kurt Warner e) Steve Largent f) Jerome Bettis
3. Why does the sound of the word “pain” hold dread for Phil Mickelson and the late former Juniata president M.G. Brumbaugh when it comes to Pinehurst Golf Resort?
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4. This athlete played wide receiver on a football team, competed in track and field, volleyball and basketball for Juniata, and is the College’s only individual national champion.
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5. What Juniata Hall of Fame football player’s father was a collegiate football legend who starred in the only Rose Bowl not played in California and later played for the Pittsburgh Steelers?
6. Which of these professional basketball teams does not have a present or past Juniata connection? a) The Indiana Pacers b) The Boston Celtics c) The Portland Trail Blazers d) Buffalo 716ers e) The Washington Generals
7. This Juniata coach played in the 1937 Rose Bowl for the University of Pittsburgh and also played professional baseball and coached the men’s basketball team. What was his fulltime occupation?
8. In 1973, the Juniata football team, 10-1 that season, competed in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl against Wittenberg University. The governors of the two states the teams represented made a bet on the outcome. Who were the governors and what did they wager?
9. This Juniata athlete was an outstanding quarterback at the College and went on to play professionally with teams called the Blue Bombers and Roughriders. Who is he and what league did he play in?
Answers ➥
2015 Spring-Summer |
10. A member of the Juniata faculty played on two national championship teams as an undergraduate. Can you name him and the sport he played?
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Sports Quiz TH E U LTI M ATE J U N IATA
1. Kurt Warner did not play for Juniata graduate Chuck Knox ’54. That was former Penn State running back Curt Warner. 2. The name Berrier can be seen in a box score in the documentary film The Battered Bastards of Baseball, a film about the Portland Mavericks minor league team. Kurt Russell played for the Mavericks and his father, Bing Russell, owned the team. 3. Golfer Phil Mickelson came in second to Payne Stewart in the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Golf Course and Martin G. Brumbaugh died of a heart attack while playing golf at Pinehurst in 1930. 4. Peggy Evans ’85 won the Division III triple jump national championship in 1985 and competed in basketball and volleyball at the College. Ever the competitor, Evans played on an all-women’s semi-pro football team in the 2000s.
5. Steve Lach ’81, a Juniata defensive back and former coach for the College, is the son of Steve Lach, a running back who played in the 1942 Rose Bowl and was drafted into the NFL by the Chicago Cardinals. He was signed by the Steelers to play in 1946 and 1947. 6. Indian Pacers coach Frank Vogel attended Juniata for three years in 1991-1994. Casey Craig ’97, a member of Juniata’s Sports Hall of Fame, worked for the Boston Celtics from 1999 to 2003. Brian Cannon ’08 played for the Washington Generals, a professional team that tours with the Harlem Globetrotters. Jeremy Hays ’14 played for the Buffalo 716ers of the Premier League. 7. Arnold “Doc” Greene was a dentist with a practice in Huntingdon and coached Juniata’s men’s basketball team from 1949 to 1961. The annual Doc Greene Memorial Tournament is named in his honor.
8. The governor of Pennsylvania was Milton Schapp and the governor of Ohio was John Gilligan. Shapp bet a bushel of Pennsylvania apples versus a jug of Ohio maple syrup. 9. The late Donald Weiss ’69, played in the Canadian Football League for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders. 10. Jim Borgardt, professor of physics played on two teams that won the national championship in … Ultimate Frisbee. Jim played for the University of California, Santa Barbara teams that won the championship in 1987-1988 and 1988-1989. Jim also played as a graduate student on the University of Arizona Ultimate team, which won the national championship in 1990-1991.
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ILLUSTRATIONS BY: RICK HAMILTON
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VRICH PHOTO: J.D. CA
has handed Tony Nabozny undered la out uniforms, towels to m fro ng hi everyt d met nearly an s, ck athletic so competed o every athlete wh e 1980s. th ce sin a at for Juni
Fully Equipped: Tony Nabozny Folds His Last Towel with more students than much of the faculty. “The former students still come up to say hello, although I tend to remember the uniform number rather than the last name,” he says. He’s also done all their laundry. He washes all uniforms and practice gear, plus towels and other gym necessities. Even undergarments, although when he sees 20 or more underthings in an athlete’s washload, he makes sure they realize he’s not a personal laundry service. Although things have gotten easier with Juniata’s turf field, he still gets out the toughest grass stains. (The key? Stain remover, a presoak, and washing for several hours instead of the regular cycle.) As he departs Juniata’s playing fields, he leaves a legacy of presenting each varsity athlete with his or her jersey at the end of their fourth year. Indeed, he feels it's his way of marketing the College. “I’ve shipped shirts and shorts to Haiti and Africa, so people all over the world wear our gear,” he says. He’s loved every game he’s seen, every uniform he’s folded, and everyone he’s worked with in the department, saying, “They’re all younger than me now, but they don’t make me feel older.”
2015 Spring-Summer |
He’s worked under five Juniata presidents, more than five athletic directors, done more laundry than Mr. Clean, and probably holds the record for knowing the most alumni. For Tony Nabozny, athletic equipment supervisor, all that is coming to an end in July when he retires after 39 years as a Juniata employee. He’s going to miss it all—except for the laundry— as the clock winds down on a career that began when basketball shorts were short and ends when shoulderpads are small. After a quick sojourn at Penn State’s physical plant staff, Tony came to Juniata in 1976 as a custodian at age 21. He soon became custodian at the gym and when the College’s equipment manager retired because of illness, Tony stepped in. “I’ve seen students become coaches, and watched so many Juniata games, although I’m still not sure about offsides in soccer and some of the field hockey rules,” he says with a laugh. Roughly a third of each incoming class is comprised of athletes and Tony is the man they see for uniforms, shoes, hats and whatever else they need. Ergo, in outfitting College athletes, he’s worked closely
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Formula for Success: Fermenting Revolution Juniatians Find Entrepreneurial Spirits in Beer, Wine, Distillery Industry By John Wall, director of media relations PHOTOGRAPHY BY: J.D. CAVRICH unless noted
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Making a great wine, beer, or bottle of whiskey starts out in similar fashion. Living ingredients are mixed together. The amount of ingredients and time of formation varies greatly depending on what is being made. The maker adds or subtracts ingredients in search of new flavors, sharper focus, or attention-getting outcomes. The ingredients are tested by temperature and then allowed to age as the mixture attains flavor, potency, possibly transcendence. Finally, when the mixture has fermented and a final product has formed, those who come in contact with the final product invariably comment on its brilliance, its uniqueness, its essence of perfection.
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Tod Manspeaker ’83, foreground, and his wife, Jean, prune each one of the 2,000-plus grape vines on their vineyard at Briar Valley Vineyards in Bedford, Pa. Pruning the vines, which cover 10 acres, takes the couple at least a month to complete. The repetitive task is crucial to growing excellent wine grapes.
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formula for success
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When the bubbles rise up to the top, that’s a pretty fair description of a Juniata education. Sub out the nouns pertaining to alcohol, and almost any student would love to study at a College where cookie-cutter recipes are seen only in the dining hall and those providing the education prefer not to deliver the same products in the same way year after year after year. Is it too far a stretch to say that the same unique mix of Juniata educational tenets—independent thinking, critical feedback, hands-on experience, all applicable in varying measures to every Juniatian of any vintage—is perfect for producing entrepreneurs for today’s rapidly morphing marketplace? It’s certainly true for a growing pool of people who see opportunities in starting brewpubs, vineyards, and distilleries. It’s also true for graduates who work in the same lab or office for 30 years. In the last decade or so, at least a dozen Juniatians have started or begun careers at breweries, vineyards, or distilleries. That’s not even counting the hundreds of home brewers or backyard winemakers. Not all made these stops the focus of their career, but enough have remained in the industry that Juniata’s alumni office has started tracking the various graduates in the fermentation sector. What has spurred this sudden outpouring? For some, inspiration foamed up when they took Juniata’s “Art and Science of Brewing” from biologists Todd Gustafson or Jeff Demarest, or more recently, “Wine Chemistry,” taught by chemist Peter Baran. For others, restlessness in a current career or retirement might have spurred thoughts of perfecting that pristine pilsner, pinot, or pear brandy.
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MEYER PHOTO: DANIELLE
The Manspeakers must prune most of last year’s growth from each vine. Untrained pruners can’t take the workload from the couple. Both interned as pruners at California vineyards.
“The creative freedom I was given at Juniata was a gift.” —Darren Moser ’04 DIRECTOR OF BREWERY OPERATIONS AT MAUI BREWING CO., MAUI, HAWAII.
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PHOTO: DANIELLE MEYER
Darren Moser ’04, shown here filling some kegs at the Maui Brewing Company, was inspired by the Juniata course The Art of Brewing. Later he served as TA for the course and did an independent study brewing project with biologist Todd Gustafson.
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formula for success
“What I learned at Juniata is that you learn to see the forest and not the trees. At Juniata you make sure you connect with the entire community and then develop the ability to make the entire region your community—that’s what we're trying to do here.” —Andrew Maxwell ’96 BREWMASTER, RIVERTOWNE BREWING CO.
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Andrew Maxwell ’96, who studied chemistry and started his career as a chemist, now is the master brewer for Rivertowne Brewing in Pittsburgh, Pa. The brewing facility pictured here is in Murrysville, Pa.
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The canning and labeling line makes Rivertowne one of the most efficient craft beer operations around. Using cans is important for craft beer because light coming through glass bottles can affect the taste of beer.
plant in Murrysville, Pa., where Maxwell is the brewmaster. “What I learned at Juniata is that you learn to see the forest and not the trees. At Juniata you make sure you connect with the entire community and then develop the ability to make the entire region your community—that’s what we're trying to do here.” Darren Moser found his first brewing community at Juniata. Self-described as “not an incredible student,” he took Gustafson’s brewing class and found a calling to focus around his interest in science. “Brewing is very much a science, so I took chemistry and botany,” he says. “Todd allowed me to be the TA for his next brewing class and I also did an independent study focused on brewing.” Although he wasn’t much interested in pursuing graduate school in science after earning a degree in natural history, Moser was earning his master brewer certificate at the University of California-Davis’ acclaimed brewing course mere months after getting his diploma. Soon after that he was hired as a brewer by Trumer Brauerei, based in San Francisco, and worked his way up to production manager before moving on to Maui in 2012. “The creative freedom I was given at Juniata was a gift,” Moser explains. “Even a small thing like presenting at a scientific conference (NCUR) made a major difference for my career. I’ve given two presentations at national conferences of the Master Brewers Association and that has given me great exposure.”
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“All these industries are creating craft products, which means the people making it are not working in a factory but practicing a trade,” explains Darren Moser ’04, director of brewery operations at Maui Brewing Co. in Maui, Hawaii. “In a society where so many things just exist online or on paper, it is a tangible thing to produce.” It’s also just an obviously great business decision. There are 400 craft distilleries in the United States, according to the American Distilling Institute, and that number is expected to double over the next seven years. The craft brewing industry, according to the Brewers Association, produces 15.3 million barrels (a barrel is 31 gallons) per year, which translates into $14 billion in sales. The number of brewpubs and regional microbreweries rose from 1,521 in 2008 to more than 3,200 in 2014. Even the wine industry, which has experienced a leveling off after the winery boom that started in 1960s California and expanded across the country, is still growing. In 2009, according to Statista, there were 6,941 wineries, whereas in 2014, that number bloomed to 7,762. For Andrew Maxwell ’96, who has been in the beer industry since the late 1990s, the road to success began when he graduated from Juniata with a chemistry degree (supplemented by a home-brewing hobby). He was working in the pharmaceutical industry when a job opportunity arose with John Harvard’s Brewhouse in Philadelphia. It paid $8 an hour. “There definitely was a pro/con list, but my wife said ‘If you don’t do it, you’ll regret it the rest of your life.’” By 2006, Maxwell had teamed with Pittsburgh restaurateur Christian Fyke to develop a craft brewpub. Today the company, Rivertowne Brewing Co., has four restaurants around Pittsburgh and a brewing
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formula for success
| Juniata
Not all Juniata beverage makers started as hobbyists. In fact, Spencer McMinn ’05 was well on his way toward a career in industrial chemistry after earning his doctorate in chemistry at the University of Virginia. His cousin, Matt Nuernberger, a freshly minted MBA from Babson College in Boston, visited Spencer in Paris bearing gifts—a business plan. Matt’s idea was to open a craft distillery, called GrandTen Distilling, in South Boston (Southie to locals). Spencer had imbibed a lot of cocktails but had never distilled alcohol because that’s, well, bootlegging. But as a chemist he had all the skills needed. “Distilling is just separating two liquids with different boiling points. Ethanol boils before water and the vapors from boiling travel up to a condenser where droplets form to be bottled as whiskey, rum, or other spirits,” McMinn says. McMinn also says chemists are uniquely trained to excel in a highly regulated industry such as liquor production. They are used to meticulous record keeping, repeatable experiment design and environmental concerns. So far the boutique distillery sells whiskeys, vodkas, rums, and gin, as well as liqueurs. Although McMinn had established careers in lab chemistry and teaching at Boston College, Matt’s business pitch came at a fortuitous time—2010. After the economic downturn of 2008, universities in many cases cut the amount of funding available to scientists and companies cut back on providing grants to laboratory researchers. “We were able to find investors who liked our plan and now we’re approaching profitability,” he says. McMinn says the central lesson he took away from his time at Juniata was becoming a part of a community comprised of very different and
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“I really like the aspect of living in and among the community you serve and doing that has served us well at GrandTen.” —Spencer McMinn ’05 GRANDTEN DISTILLING, BOSTON, MASS.
often unique individuals. Although he grew up in Huntingdon, McMinn rarely went home on weekends, preferring to spend time with his on-campus friends. The chemistturned-distiller views his current career in similar terms. “I really like the aspect of living in and among the community you serve and doing that has served us well at GrandTen.” Although the wine industry is still expanding in the United States, growth in grapes is nowhere near as explosive as it was in the boom times of the northern California expansion in the 1960s and 1970s. That said, many industry observers say new wineries that research niche markets and seek out grapes that are well suited to the microclimate where the winery is located can still find success. Which is where Tod Manspeaker ’83 comes in. With his wife, Jean, he owns and operates Briar Valley Vineyards and Winery in Bedford, Pa. Manspeaker had no background in oenology or vitaculture when the couple decided to become vintners. He did have a decades-long career as an accountant and a Juniatian appetite for research. They started small, planting 10 vines at a residential property they owned in Bedford. “That’s where we learned what not to do,” he laughs. Since 2006, the winery has added a tasting room on Bedford’s historic Pitt Street and planted a 10-acre vineyard on Manspeaker’s farm outside Everett, Pa. The larger vineyard produced its first full crop in 2014 and the winery sells nine varietal wines and several blends. While there are opportunities still to be had in the fermentation industries, working at breweries and vineyards is not all one long tailgate party. Christian Lampe ’94, an archeology and philosophy POE, switched careers after years of hobby brewing and cidermaking
At left: Spencer adds freshly made vodka from the distilling apparatus to be aged in oak barrels. The vodka is spicy pepper and chocolate-infused. The vodka ages in the barrel for nine months, enough time for the flavors to infuse in the vodka. 2015 Spring-Summer |
PHOTOS: TONY GERMANN
Spencer McMinn ’05, another Juniata chemistry graduate, gave up a career in the lab to create GrandTen Distillery, a Boston-based company that creates whiskeys, rums, gins and other spirits. Here, Spencer poses with GrandTen’s wares with his business partner and cousin, Matt Nuernberger, right.
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formula for success
PHOTO: COURTESY WEYERBACHER BREWING CO.
Juniata graduate Zane Miller ’09, who started at Weyerbacher Brewing Co. about a year ago, had significant experience at craft brewing before being hired at Weyerbacher, a growing microbrewery and brewpub operation. At right, Christian Lampe ’94, switched careers from archaeology to brewing.
“I’d like to see a fermentation science course or POE.” —Christian Lampe ’94 WEYERBACHER BREWING CO., EASTON, PA.
Juniatians in the fermentation industry are serving up generous support.
| Juniata
PHOTO: COURTESY WEYERBACHER BREWING CO.
Weyerbacher donates beer for Homecoming and Family Weekend.
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Rivertowne donates beer for Alumni Weekend and Homecoming and Family Weekend. GrandTen hosts alumni events in Boston. Briar Valley provides wine at a discount for Homecoming and Family Weekend.
in his spare time. He also credits Boxers, a local Huntingdon restaurant, with sparking his interest in brewing. He describes taking a significant paycut to take a job at Weyerbacher Brewing Co. in Easton, Pa. in 2004. The company opened in 1995 and today Lampe has about a 10 percent ownership of the company. He sees the beer industry veering away from the explosive growth of the last decade. “I think most people who want to brew beer going forward professionally will have to take certification courses at UC-Davis or the Siebel Institute of Technology,” Lampe says. “That said, we just hired a Juniata graduate, Zane Miller ’09, who didn’t go to either program, but he had significant experience. I didn’t attend those either, but it turns out
that a philosophy degree is really useful for figuring out problems with big machines.” Lampe also would like to establish a more solid connection between the College and the brewing industry. So far he’s hosted a tour of Weyerbacher’s brewing facility for Juniata’s brewing course, and has talked to several professors when he’s returned to campus. “I’d like to see a fermentation science course or POE,” he says. As might be expected, there is at least one Juniata graduate with a different vision. Kyle Motley ’10, who took the College brewing course in 2009 has spent much of his time since competing against other homebrewers. He’s won a variety of medals and awards, including invitations to be guest brewer at Mad Horse Brewing Co.,
in Whinchester Va., and Lost River Brewing Co. in Wardensville, W.Va. More recently he spent three months in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, brewing on the island of Palau. What’s next, pilsnering in Pago Pago? Actually, he’s going back to graduate school in forestry to build up a nest egg to fund his dream. “I’d like to work with two Juniata friends Pat Harris ’12 and Greg Kilbride ’10 to create a farm brewery, where we’d grow our own hops and barley and brew it on site. I think these locally sourced farm breweries are the next thing,” he says. >j<
Above: Tod Manspeaker in Briar Valley’s tasting room.
2015 Spring-Summer |
At right: Some of Briar Valley’s award-winning wines. The Manspeakers have planted grape varieties suited to central Pennsylvania’s climate and have used their own grapes to create wines since starting the winery.
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It’s All Academic
| Juniata
PHOTO: AMBER BORING ’18
Juniata’s New Provost Joins Campus Community
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Lauren Bowen, who started as Juniata’s provost a year ago, has spent the past year getting to know Juniata, its students, and its many, many traditions such as the Spring Convocation, where this photo was taken.
By John Wall director of media relations PHOTOGRAPHY BY: J.D. CAVRICH unless noted
As the College’s top academic officer, Bowen will get plenty of opportunities to examine life at Juniata writ large. After all, that’s her job description. The description would not be “she asks all the big questions,” but more like, “she puts together teams and groups to ask big questions and then works with the team to see what can be applied to the issues facing the group.” After her April 2014 hiring, Bowen has spent almost a year on campus learning, looking, and finding out for herself how Juniata works. While Lauren did not grow up wanting to be a college professor, or administrator, for that matter, she did grow up in a family that valued higher education. Her father, a local radio and television journalist (who was the “voice of Marshall University athletics” for a few years), and her mother, a public school administrator, both graduated from Ohio State University, and it was expected all four kids would go to college as well. The family lived in Huntington, W.Va. until moving across the Ohio River to SouthPoint, Ohio, where as a high school senior Lauren decided to attend Ohio State University.
“While Ohio State is a large university, I would argue I was liberally educated there,” she says. “I took many small seminars, was mentored by full-time faculty members, and also had the opportunity to take large courses. It gave me a breadth of perspective that continues to inform my work in higher education today. I was encouraged to ask questions and think critically and had access to an incredible array of interesting courses." The following interview will perhaps give readers an idea of how Lauren approaches her work, as well as how the College and its faculty will negotiate some of the "big question” issues facing higher education in general and, in some cases, Juniata in particular. Juniata Magazine: Since your area of scholarship is political science, how did you become interested in that discipline? Lauren Bowen: It took me a while to settle on a particular major as I enjoyed my courses in sociology, history, and English. In my junior year, I took a course entitled Civil Rights and Liberties and realized it included elements of all that I found fascinating. It turned out what I was really
2015 Spring-Summer |
More than anything, Lauren Bowen likes to look at the big picture. A student of constitutional politics, Juniata’s new provost earned her educational degrees in political science but acknowledges her coursework in history and sociology also informs her world view. “I like relying on Supreme Court cases to tell the political, social, and economic story of the United States."
Before presiding over this year’s Commencement ceremony, Bowen checked in with Joanne Krugh, provost office administrative manager, to see how the day was unfolding.
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It's All Academic
interested in was the U.S. Constitution. So I ended up majoring in political science with minors in history and criminal justice that provided me with both depth and breadth. Q: What did you want to pursue as a student of constitutional politics? A: I planned to be an attorney, until spring break of my senior year. I had applied to law schools and was debating which one to attend and then decided to get a Ph.D. instead. My two faculty mentors suggested that I liked to ask more of the analytic ‘Why’ questions than ‘How’ questions, and thought I’d be a better fit in graduate school. I realize now that lawyers get to ask why, and political scientists often ask how, but I oversimplified it all when I was 21. Q: What was it about the constitution that interested you enough to devote your doctorate to it? A: I came of age in the late ’60s, so I was formed by the civil rights movement, by Vietnam and Watergate. My interest in politics and the constitution was really about understanding those issues and the women’s movement of the 1970s. Through that lens, I was able to look at what interested me about the constitution. As it turns out, I think what really captivates my imagination is understanding what we mean by a term as broad as “citizen” and what sorts of influences can contribute to meaningful social change. A career in higher education is really the logical outgrowth of that passion.
“Harnessing and coordinating a lot of the high-impact practices and experiential learning opportunities available here really appealed to me.”—Lauren Bowen, PROVOST
| Juniata
Q: Was becoming a professor always foremost in your mind? A: I think I saw being a professor as an interesting life, but I didn’t know much about it. No one in my family had earned a Ph.D., so all I really knew about it was that you would teach. Once I was in graduate school at the University of Kentucky I was able to understand more fully the life of a faculty member. Q: Did you come to John Carroll University right out of graduate school in 1989? Was it immediate immersion in teaching? A: What I realized in grad school was that I really love to teach. In my second year I started teaching U.S. Politics to 60-75 undergraduates, which was a little daunting, but I really loved it. The offer from John Carroll was at a more teaching-oriented institution and by that time I knew I wanted to be at a student-centered and teaching-oriented school. Q: Are there any courses you taught at John Carroll that you loved to teach? A: The case law courses in constitutional law were always my favorites. The separation of powers, Federalism, economic regulation has always been my favorite and always will be. You’re basically telling the whole story of U.S. history, but you’re using cases or primary sources. It is important to know how the law reflects a changing social, economic, and political order. Understanding the narrative of how power is exercised in the U.S. and how people’s lives have been lived through those cases is really fun. Q: Are you going to teach at Juniata? A: I’m going to teach a seminar in spring 2016 called The Politics of Equality, which analyzes the intersections between race, sex, and economic status to understand social movements and the policy responses to those movements.
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Provost Bowen’s first Commencement at Juniata was an unqualified hit.
PHOTO: KLARISSA JULIANO ’18
Throughout the academic year, Bowen was able to take in many events, such as the dedication of Juniata’s outdoor classroom, a Class Gift from the Class of 2014. Here, she talks to Anshu Chawla ’14 (center), president of the Class of 2014.
A: I think it was the problemsolving and getting the ability to think “big-picture” about the educational experience of students, program design, curriculum design, and seeing how all the parts fit together. As a faculty member at Carroll I had been working collaboratively with faculty, student affairs professionals, and academic administrators before the fellowship, and what I liked about administrative work is that I could do more than generate the ideas. I could also help (the institution) realize them. Q: As a political scientist, how was the experience of crossing over into administrative duties? A: I became a department chair in 2001 and I really enjoyed the work and responsibilities associated with it. While some of us might think of it as bureaucratic work in the pejorative sense, I like to think of us as members of a collective— creating new courses, figuring out if students were learning what we want them to learn. And how did we know if we were educating them liberally? I pursued other administrative roles while at John Carroll, including director of the core curriculum and associate academic vice president. I suppose an understanding of politics is helpful whenever navigating collaborative and sometimes contentious work. Q: Are there qualities that all good administrators should have?
A: The ability to set goals and the drive and commitment to work toward achieving them is perhaps the most salient for me. To do that effectively, I think one has to know how to work collaboratively. So the basic skills include knowing process, knowing who to include, knowing when to include relevant voices, how to include those voices so that you do not to get stuck if the process is mired in hearing different opinions. When it comes time to make the decision, don’t make it in isolation without consulting others. Take responsibility for missteps while giving credit when due to others for their contributions to success. The ability to ask good, analytic, and critical questions is key to being a good administrator. A healthy sense of humor, especially a selfdeprecating one, and empathy and compassion are essential too. Q: Was there a moment where you thought, “I’m never going back to the faculty” because this is just too interesting? A: (Laughs) I still think I will go back to the faculty before I retire. Q: What’s it like coming to Juniata as an “unknown” administrator from John Carroll, where you had spent your entire career? A: In some ways it’s been much more seamless than I would have expected, because I am walking into a brand-new culture, and yet it’s been exceptionally welcoming.
2015 Spring-Summer |
Q: Many professors spend their lifetimes in the classroom, preferring others worry about administrative details. You became involved in administrative work relatively early at John Carroll. What drew you to that aspect of higher education? A: Early in my career I was involved in some faculty development workshops where we were talking about bigger ideas in liberal arts education. That brought me outside the political science department and what I realized is that I really care about teaching the skills of citizenship. The bigger conversations about liberal education happened with people in other disciplines and other departments. I started to work with the curriculum committee and…I liked it. It was a gradual evolution, though. I didn’t see myself as an administrator yet because I didn’t know how you got into that work. Q: Well, how did you get into that work? A: The provost at John Carroll asked me to apply for an American Council on Education Fellowship. I spent the 2000-2001 academic year at the College of Wooster and learned a lot more about administration and leadership. After that year I thought that this was the best match for my skill set and my interests. Q: What aspect of working as an administrator really excited you?
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ISSA JULIANO ’18
PHOTO: RICK
HAMILTON
It's All Academic
PHOTO: KLAR
ows, st or hostess kn As any good ho t, lef e th m rve fro you always se n kept in mind something Bowe g she and servin at Madrigal as livered the de er ill M b Bo partner . e in attendance courses to thos
Bowen takes part in a Pove rty Simulation ev ent in April. Th e attendees wer e asked to us ea limited budg et to and other expe pay for services nses.
| Juniata
Although we couldn’t find a shot of Provost Bowen pulling the faculty team together in the Mountain Day tug-of-war, this shot of her in the background is fitting, because Mountain Day is a time to put the students in the foreground.
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PHOTO: HALEY CHANDLER ’16
2015 Spring-Summer |
It’s been an adjustment not to have the same kind of institutional memory and lived experience so many people here have. Hopefully I have the humility and ability to say ‘I don’t know’ and ask questions. I’ve worked very hard not to say ‘Well, here’s how we used to do it…’ because every culture is different. Q: As Juniata’s provost you are now part of the senior leadership team, which is a marked change from John Carroll, where you reported to the provost. What are some the challenges ahead for you in adjusting to overseeing hundreds of employees? A: The model is not that different, it’s just that the context is broader. It will be nice to think about how my work fits in with enrollment, IT, and other areas. I like that breadth of perspective. Q: What interested you about the opportunity presented at Juniata? A: Juniata struck me as a place that had real opportunities that are borne out of strength. What I liked about Juniata is that they had strengths, but there was an eagerness to try new things as well. That faculty here love their work and are committed to the institution was apparent. So sustaining the strengths in the midst of possibly reexamining curriculum, thinking about what we want our students to learn, and how one might design programs and courses to ensure they go where you want them to go was appealing. Harnessing and coordinating a lot of the high-impact practices and experiential learning opportunities available here really appealed to me. The commitment to experiential learning and to internationalization was evident. Q: What are some of the biggest changes on the horizon at Juniata? A: I think higher education is moving into an increasingly interdisciplinary world that emphasizes the integration and application of knowledge. That will affect how we’re organized and the support we provide students. All of us can get access to facts and figures. Colleges must give students the skills to question those facts and figures, and colleges have to organize themselves a little differently to deliver that. Tied to that is how do we know students are learning and developing those skills we want them to learn? We have to be able to demonstrate that.
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It's All Academic
| Juniata
Q: What is the College’s agenda on curriculum development going forward? A: The POE is pretty well established at Juniata and it’s one of the things that makes us distinctive. What I would anticipate is fine-tuning the POE so that it remains contemporary and also reflects the more interdisciplinary postcollege world. You can maintain the integrity of a curricular model while adjusting the elements. Where we may have an opportunity to reimagine the curriculum is around General Education, also known as FISHN (and also includes CWS, IA, CA, IC, Q, and CW/CS). Of course, changing the curriculum is a decision for the faculty; they are appropriately the stewards of the curriculum. My role as provost is to help call the questions and then help structure ways they can be answered in an authentic way. I think the Mellon Grant we received last year, where we’re examining what we know about assessment of learning within our general education curriculum, the results of that work, when shared with the entire faculty will help us decide if we want to affirm the curriculum, tweak it, or possibly radically overhaul it. Q: How challenging is it to try these changes in an era when everything from technology, media, learning, and socialization is changing rapidly?
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A: In some ways it’s easier. How students learn determines how you want to teach, which drives what you’re going to teach and how you’re going to deliver it. It is a lot to harness and manage all at once and sometimes it feels like you’re pulling one thread out and something else unravels. Maybe we start with asking how students learn right now. If we think about redoing curriculum, it’s not content-specific anymore. And that, for me is really interesting. Q: Are there any movements or ideas from the faculty that might be part of that change?
After Convocation, Bowen catches up with Kathy Westcott, former interim provost and professor of psychology. PHOTOS: AMBER BORING ’18
PHOTOS: KLARISSA JULIANO ’18
Bowen talks to alumni and students during Homecoming and Family Weekend’s Breakfast with the President event.
At the breakfast prior to the Commencement ceremony, Bowen chats with David Witkovsky, Juniata’s chaplain, and mathematician John Bukowski, who, as an accomplished pianist, also provides the music for Commencement.
“Some really good work on intercultural competency has already been done; we can build on that.” —Lauren Bowen, PROVOST
2015 Spring-Summer |
A: There has been some talk about how we embed conversations about diversity and inclusion in the curriculum. The idea is to have students grapple with those issues in the curriculum as they do in their lived experience outside the class. There’s also conversation about how best to situate our students in a global context. Some really good work on intercultural competency has already been done; we can build on that. And I think SoTL is a tremendous resource on the Juniata campus. Similarly, the faculty learning community that emerged from the HHMI grant has informed and will continue to inform curricular and pedagogical conversations. Q: What will be the challenges ahead for the faculty at a liberal arts college when the liberal arts are under fire? A: The external pressures are always there, and higher education is always trying to respond to those pressures by demonstrating the saliency and relevancy of the liberal arts. While career placement and those sorts of outcomes certainly matter, I would argue being well grounded in liberal arts will serve students exceptionally well, as I think problem-solving skills and critical-thinking skills and communication skills matter in all aspects of one’s life. We know from employers they want nimble learners and we know that effective citizenship demands those sorts of competencies, but there are a lot of pressures against that coming from various sectors. Q: Why is there pressure from the outside? A: Indebtedness, shrinking the length of time by taking college credit in high school, getting through in three years, making sure you get a job. I understand those pressures as a parent. I didn’t understand it as a student, when my dad was worried what I was going to do with a degree in political science and would I be able to get a job. I think that’s part of the public narrative and there are pressures from governmental bodies to be efficient. I worry that eventually that may erode the residential experience on which liberal arts colleges pride themselves. I think it's important that we contribute to public discourse to combat that narrative. Q: Is the four-year residential experience still important? A: Of course it is. However, I wouldn’t suggest that it’s imperative for every student. College (Un)Bound, by Jeffrey Selingo, tells how few students really are experiencing that four-year residential ideal. I do think we want higher education to serve some of those large, noble purposes about figuring out who you are and what are you going to do in life, not just what kind of job are you going to get. So liberal arts colleges serve a most valuable niche in the national conversation. And I think for all students—regardless of where they attend school and the reasons why—there is value in the liberal arts. Q: Are there any interesting models or programs that you’ve seen at other places or at John Carroll that might be applicable to Juniata’s mission? A: We already do a lot of the cutting-edge educational theory at Juniata, although we probably need to be better organized in letting other people
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It's All Academic
| Juniata
know about it. One big project in which I was involved at John Carroll near the end of my tenure there centered on the creation of a Learning Commons, where we worked to better coordinate academic support with academic advising, with career placement, and major fellowship advising. If part of what college is about is helping students figure out who they are, what gives them energy, what gives them purpose, and who they want to be, then some connection has to be made between the career services, advising, and other support structures. At Juniata, we’re deeply committed to undergraduate research. We’re deeply committed to international education. We have great internship and service-learning programs. How do we make sure our students take advantage of this without overwhelming them? How do they punctuate and animate their own education? Juniata’s doing it now, we just need to coordinate it a little better. Q: What are some of the changes ahead for faculty? A: How we define work at Juniata comes up frequently, and that’s going to be the challenge and the opportunity when you have a culture that is responsive, and a mission that’s personalized and to which the faculty are so deeply committed. How do you learn how to say no, when the culture is responsive and generous? If it turns out we’re not doing a particular thing well, then perhaps we should not be doing that anymore. I’m not talking about cutting programs. It’s more about how many independent studies can really be run and how
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“While career placement and those sorts of outcomes certainly matter, I would argue being well grounded in liberal arts will serve students exceptionally well as I think problem-solving skills and criticalthinking skills and communication skills matter in all aspects of one’s life." —Lauren Bowen, PROVOST
many courses can one professor realistically teach. How many designated POEs do we need for a student body of 1,600? Q: What are some of the aspects of the strategic plan that affect faculty issues going forward? A: The first pillar of the plan is scholarship, and central to that is ensuring that we can demonstrate that we’re achieving our mission and we are adequately assessing student learning at the course, program, and institutional level. So we’re going to need to be intentional and coordinated about it. We’re going to have to go from being inputbased to evidence-based in terms of how we make our decisions, not just curricular ones but budgetary, hiring. Everything is going to come back around to the central question: How do we ensure that our students are attaining the learning goals that derive from our mission? The community pillar of the strategic plan suggests that how we respond to students and support them in their learning is of high priority. I would characterize the Juniata culture as generalist in the sense that everyone is encouraged to share in the work and contribute and that humility and responsiveness is a hallmark of the place. Still, faculty, staff, and administrators lament workload and I worry there might be inadvertent duplication of effort. It might be time to realign some tasks and establish priorities. Faculty will of course be a part of that. Q: Starting a new job always has trepidation and anticipation for most people. What has been fun about your first year learning about being the Juniata provost?
A: The truth is, it’s all been fun. Every day is so different. There’s an enormous amount of things in which I’m involved. I’ve been thinking about curriculum, I’ve been thinking about faculty, but I’ve also been given a voice in the new art building. I helped recruit a new art museum director, a new director of the Baker Institute, and a new dean of international programs. I participate in a senior leadership team that is collegial, cooperative, and strategic. I’ve had the opportunity to work collaboratively with many different people and to learn from all of them. I have been given the chance to ask questions and to think about how different pieces of the puzzle all fit together for this greater whole. Being able to work in higher education and contribute to the transformation in the lives of 18- to 22-year-olds— there’s not a better place to work right now from my point of view. >j<
Revenge is sweet as Bowen lowers the boom on Jim Bor gardt, professor of physics, with a sledgehammer. Well, act ually she hit the concrete block on Bor gardt’s chest, but either way she found the teachable moment and help ed deliver a memorable dem onstration. 2015 Spring-Summer |
PHOTOS: GORDON DIMMIG ’17
Every faculty member, provost and president must go through the time-honored ritual of lying on a bed of nails during Physics Phun Night and awaiting sledgehammer hits by physics professor Jim Borgardt. Provost Bowen was able to survive the demonstration of the distribution of force.
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Helping Hands
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: LAURA HESS ’11
Editor’s Note: Each year, as Juniata makes new faculty and staff hires, more and more
new employees choose to live in Huntingdon and the surrounding community. As might be expected, Juniata’s new hires often look for places to volunteer or help the community. Here’s an incomplete snapshot (we didn’t poll every employee) of where Juniatians lend a hand.
Arts Karla Wiser ’97, controller Treasurer, Huntingdon Dance Company Jill Keeney, professor of biology Member, Summer Community Band Sharon Yohn ’99, assistant professor of chemistry Handbell director at Stone Church of the Brethren Larry Mutti, professor of geology Board Member, Huntingdon County Arts Council Secretary, Huntingdon County Arts Council Gail Ulrich ’81, director of human resources Volunteer, Huntingdon Dance Company Grace Fala, professor of communication Pro bono musician: Huntingdon Arts Council, Winterfest, Mayfest, and Stone Town Gallery Peter Goldstein, professor of English Teacher, poetry writing class sessions, SCI-Smithfield and SCI-Huntingdon Barbara Hughes, director of administrative information services Secretary to the board, The Playhouse at McConnellstown
Books Dawn Scialabba, alumni relations assistant Member, Friends of the Huntingdon County Library Kathy Westcott, associate professor of psychology Member, Board of Directors, First Book Huntingdon Co. Randy Rennell, director of enrollment data and research Board Member, Treasurer, Alexandria Library Belle Tuten, professor of history Secretary, Board of directors, Huntingdon County Library Dave Hsiung, professor of history Member, Board of Directors, Huntingdon County Library Trustee, Huntingdon County Library Sarah May Clarkson, director of academic support services Member, Board of Directors, Huntingdon County Library
Schools
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Dennis Johnson, professor of environmental science President, Board of Directors for Juniata Valley School District Dawn Scialabba, alumni relations assistant Officer, Huntingdon High School Boys’ Soccer Boosters, Huntingdon Area School District Music Boosters Fay Glosenger, professor of education Member, Early Childhood Stakeholders Committee Ben Sunderland, associate professor of mathematics President, Board of Directors, Mount Union Area Schools Alumni Association Michelle Bartol ’84, dean of enrollment Member, board of directors, executive committee and finance committee, Stone Valley Community Charter School
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Environment Dennis Johnson, professor of environmental science Board of Directors for the Huntingdon County Conservation District, Member of Little Juniata River Association Kathy Jones, associate professor of education Board member, Friends of Raystown Lake Norris Muth, assistant professor of biology Board member, Raystown Restoration Branch, American Chestnut Foundation Sharon Yohn ’99, assistant professor of chemistry Co-leader of the Sustainability Circle at Stone Church of the Brethren Mike Keating, director of corporate and foundation support Member, Juniata River Blueprint Communities Gina Lamendella, assistant professor of biology Volunteer, Little Juniata River Association Leslie Leckvarcik, grants compliance specialist and director of Science in Motion Vice president, board member, Friends of Raystown Lake
Community Clubs Miranda Peruso ’00, director of the Juniata Scholarship Fund Member, Order of the Amaranth, Order of the Eastern Star Joel Pheasant ’99, director of technology solutions center Board Member, Hartslog Heritage Museum Leslie Leckvarcik, grants compliance specialist and director of Science in Motion Vice president, board member, Petersburg Catering Club
Health Debra Kirchhof-Glazier, professor of biology Co-Secretary, Huntingdon Health and Wellness Association Miranda Peruso ’00, director of the Juniata Scholarship Fund President, J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital Auxiliary Kristin Noetzel ’11, assistant director of leadership giving Member, J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital Auxiliary Beth Williams ’95, assistant professor of sociology Stone Church of the Brethren Witness Team Sally Oberle ’99, director of advancement services Member, Scholarship Committee Co-Chair, J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital Auxiliary
Politics
2015 Spring-Summer |
Sarah Worley ’00, assistant professor of communication Elected Democratic committee person, Fifth Ward of Huntingdon Borough, Secretary, Huntingdon Democratic Committee Debra Kirchhof Glazier, professor of biology, Co-Secretary, Huntingdon Health and Wellness Association, Member, Walker Township Park Committee Deborah Roney, assistant professor of English, AAUW-Huntingdon Branch Judith Benz, assistant professor of German, AAUW-Huntingdon Branch Dennis Plane, associate professor of politics, Huntingdon County Representative, Pennsylvania Democratic Party State Committee, Member, Huntingdon County Democratic Committee, Judge of Elections, Fifth Ward of Huntingdon Borough
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Sports Deborah Roney, assistant professor of English Huntingdon Soccer Club Jim Roney, professor of Russian One of founders, Huntingdon Soccer Club Coach, junior varsity, Huntingdon Area High School Dawn Scialabba, alumni relations assistant Huntingdon Soccer Club Jill Keeney, professor of biology Organizer, HCC track and field spring program Anne Wood, assistant vice president and chief information officer Volunteer, Huntingdon Community Center and Huntingdon Soccer Club Neil Pelkey, professor of environmental science Coach, HCC soccer Dominick Peruso, professor of accounting Coach, soccer, Huntingdon Community Center Baseball, Huntingdon Little League Jerry Kruse, professor of computer science and mathematics, assistant provost Board Member, Huntingdon Soccer Club Youth Soccer Coach Andy Dudash, head of reference services Coach, Huntingdon Community Center, soccer and baseball Joel Pheasant ’99, director of technology solutions center Board Member, Huntingdon Soccer Club David Widman, professor of psychology Soccer Referee, Huntingdon Soccer Club, Huntingdon Community Center Cady Kyle, assistant director of human resources Coach, Huntingdon Community Center, Huntingdon Soccer Club Vince Buonaccorsi, professor of biology Volunteer soccer coach Ryan Mathur ’96, professor of geology Youth sports coach
Social Causes Darwin Kysor, director of career services Member, Executive Board, Huntingdon Community Center, Member, Executive Board, Juniata Valley Council Boy Scouts of America Dawn Scialabba, alumni relations assistant Girl Scout troop leader, Member, Friends of the Huntingdon County Library Jamie White, professor of physics Board Member, Huntingdon Area Habitat for Humanity Mike Keating, director of corporate and foundation support Volunteer, Huntingdon Community Center Miranda Peruso ’00, director of the Juniata Scholarship Fund President, Auxiliary to J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital, Campaign Cabinet Chair, Huntingdon County United Way Board of Directors Beth Williams ’95, assistant professor of sociology Member, Social Work Advisory Council Justine Black ’08, assistant director of instructional technology Board of Directors, Huntingdon County Habitat for Humanity
Church
| Juniata
Henry Thurston Griswold, professor of Spanish Chair, Gifts Discernment Team, Member, Leadership Team at Stone Church of the Brethren Jerry Kruse, professor of computer science and mathematics Discernment Committee, St. John’s Episcopal Church Larry Mutti, professor of geology Treasurer and recording clerk, Huntingdon Friends Meeting Beth Williams ’95, assistant professor of sociology Stone Church of the Brethren Witness Team Ben Sunderland, associate professor of mathematics Financial clerk and organist for the Huntingdon Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints David Meadows ’98, director of alumni relations Past chair and member, board of directors, Church Representative, Camp Blue Diamond
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Helping Hands
Business Rob Yelnosky ’85, vice president, finance and operations Board Member and Chair, J.C. Blair Foundation, Board Member and Assistant Treasurer, AAA of Central Pennsylvania, Board Member, Presbyterian Homes in the Presbytery of Huntingdon Member, Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission Darwin Kysor, director of career services Member, Rotary Club of Huntingdon Terry Anderson, assistant professor of business, director of JCEL Board of Directors, Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau, Membership Committee Chair, Raystown Visitors Bureau, Board Member, Strategic Alliance for Economic Growth Dominick Peruso, professor of accounting Board Member, Kish Bank regional board Jerry Kruse, professor of computer science and mathematics Rotary Club of Huntingdon, Youth Exchange Kristie Putt, assistant director Sill Business Incubator, Member, Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau Marketing Committee Member, Education & BASICS Committee Gail Ulrich ’81, director of human resources Huntingdon County representative, Southern Alleghenies Workforce Investment Board Youth Council Rosann Brown, executive director of marketing Rotary Club of Huntingdon Kati Csoman, dean, international programs Member, Kiwanis Club Emil Nagengast, professor of politics Member, Kiwanis Club Candice Hersh, associate director of marketing Board Member, Secretary, and Marketing Committee Member, Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau Member, Partnership for Economic Progress Marketing Committee
Municipal
2015 Spring-Summer |
Kathy Jones, associate professor of education Vice President, Huntingdon Landmarks Inc. Mike Keating, director of corporate and foundation support Member, Huntingdon Borough Civil Service Commission Doug Glazier, professor of biology Member, Walker Township Zoning Hearing Board and Park Committee Joel Pheasant ’99, director of technology solutions center Board Member, Huntingdon County PRIDE Board Member, Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce Larry Mutti, professor of geology Member, Huntingdon County Planning Commission Kristin Noetzel ’11, assistant director of leadership giving Member, Huntingdon County PRIDE Jack Barlow, professor of politics Member, Huntingdon Borough Tree Commission Sally Oberle ’99, director of advancement services Volunteer, Huntingdon County PRIDE Cady Kyle, assistant director of human resources Board of Directors, Huntingdon County PRIDE, Inc. Karla Wiser ’97, controller Board of Directors, Huntingdon County Foundation Barbara Hughes, director of administrative information services Volunteer, Huntingdon County PRIDE telethon Leslie Leckvarcik, grants compliance specialist and director of Science in Motion Board member, Petersburg Sewer Authority Kati Csoman, dean, international programs Board member, Huntingdon Community Center
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Microbiologist Gina Lamandella and biologists Chris Grant and Norris Muth are studying how microbes in stream sediments respond to detritus from hemlock trees impacted by Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, an invasive insect species.
Geologist Ryan Mathur ’96 and research students tested and analyzed chlorine concentrations from baseline data taken in autumn to concentrations increasing due to use of salt and melting agents used on roadways during Pennsylvania’s fierce 2015 winter.
West Twp
Logan Twp
Barree Twp
Miller Twp
Biologist Chris Grant and several students tested striped bass at Raystown Lake for presence of mercury, showing about 40 percent of striped bass sampled were above human consumption criteria. Also, biologists Gina Lamendella, John Matter and research students studied the development of the fence lizard gut microbiome at the Raystown Field Station.
Oneida Twp
Henderson Twp
Porter Twp
Those unfamiliar with the scientific method or
Smithfield
with Juniata’s mission to provide hands-on experience for as many students as it can, might assume that most of the research at the College takes place in antiseptic labs or within the confines of the College campus. Nothing could be further from the truth, as professors across disciplines encourage students to investigate and test out their theories right where they live.
| Juniata
The benefit is twofold: Juniata students get to go out into the surrounding community and landscape to explore research, and Huntingdon County is exposed to developing research it can use to, say, reduce road salt, or spray for insect pests. This map is an incomplete photograph of this year’s research efforts in the county. Projects in the past have ranged from investigating a local murder dating from colonial times to using analytic instruments in HAZMAT situations. Plus, a couple of our researchers were probably too busy out in the field to include their research in this year’s roundup. Remember, the only thing that remains constant at Juniata is the quality of our research mission.
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Juniata Twp
Lincoln Twp
Huntingdon County Research
Neil Pelkey, professor of environmental science, collaborated with biologist John Matter and geologists Larry Mutti and Matt Powell to study bacteria-derived boreholes in the Virginia river snail. Also Lamendella, Pelkey and Matter used molecular tools to identify a cyanobacteria infecting river snails in the Juniata River.
Brady Twp
Jackson Twp
Biologist Norris Muth and students rescued native plants in Huntingdon County’s Lake Perez, to be restored to one or more community gardens in town in spring/summer 2015.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: LAURA HESS ’11
Environmental scientists Dennis Johnson and Pelkey are reintroducing native wetland plants to Juniata’s Student Farm by creating submerged areas replanted with cattails and other wetland species. The two also are working with Sodexo to determine the value of food waste as compost.
Mark McKellop, professor of psychology, and a student researcher analyzed perceptions of community and college from both sides of the issue (asking Juniata students about views/engagement with the town and asking townspeople about the College).
Biologist Jill Keeney and historian Peter Rothstein start a Howard Hughes Medical Institute research project this summer to determine the knowledge and attitudes towards infant and prenatal genetic testing in rural health care settings. The project focuses on the ethical, legal, and social implications of genomic sequencing.
Geologist Larry Mutti has students looking at pale fluid flow characteristics preserved in fluid inclusions, and the role of those fluids in mineralizing local rocks. The project relates to the geologic history of the area, but it also relates to the potential for developable oil and natural gas in local rocks.
Biologist Roy Nagle has studied long-lived turtles in Huntingdon County since 1998 to document life history, populations, and obtain natural history information. Nagle has worked for a more than a decade on conservation of a Juniata River population of map turtles, marking and releasing 500 nesting females and 700 hatchlings at the largest known nesting area in central Pennsylvania. Shirley Twp
2015 Spring-Summer |
Grant and research students over the past four years have assessed 177 streams (too many to list on this map) in Huntingdon County as part of the state’s Unassessed Waters Initiative, a state-wide effort aimed at detecting the presence of brook trout and brown trout populations, and assessing overall ecological health. Of the streams assessed, 35 percent contained wild brook trout, 21 percent had wild brown trout, and 12 percent had both species. Also, Muth and Grant examined how the loss of hemlock trees affected by the hemlock wooly adelgid insect could cause detrimental effects on brook trout streams. The streams investigated, most of them in Huntingdon County, may reveal the first answers on this important relationship.
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| Juniata
Katie McGlone ’17, of Fallston, Md. found her direction to declare her POE in one of the College’s painting classes. With the mentorship of Sarah May Clarkson, director of academic support services, she has decided to try and become a medical illustrator by declaring a biology POE with a secondary emphasis in art.
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To Declare or Not to Declare? Evolving from Exploratory to a Final Decision
2015 Spring-Summer | 57
Katie McGlone entered her first year at Juniata with an undeclared POE (program of emphasis) in biology, heading down the pre-med track. Those plans shifted when she took a painting class and discovered an instant connection. “I had always been above average in art, but I just told myself that it was something I would do on the side,” says McGlone ’17 of Fallston, Md., “I got really into my painting class last fall, so I researched how to combine art with what I wanted to do in the medical field.” With the help of her adviser, Sarah May Clarkson, director of academic support services, Katie decided on medical illustration. “Now, I have a POE in biology with a secondary emphasis in art and I hope to document surgery one day rather than perform it,” says McGlone, “Sarah May really gave me the confidence to know that I would be able to make this switch. I told her what my worries were and she told me that I had plenty of time to decide.”
By Laura Bancroft ’15
| Juniata
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: J.D. CAVRICH
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To Declare or Not to Declare
There is no hurry for incoming Juniata students to declare a POE. Many of the students who come in the door without a declared interest find their way to the door of Sarah May Clarkson, director of academic support services. Here she works with her student assistant, Cameron Shultz ’17, of Niantic, Conn., who started her POE as secondary education and German, but now is focusing only on German, spending her fall semester abroad, and hoping to become a translator.
past decade, more and more students have become trapped by the fear of committing to a major, thus causing them to switch educational paths too frequently. Many college students end up going one or two extra years if they have to make up required coursework for certain fields. Additionally, it can become quite costly for students who take more time to graduate. The final bill is usually based on how often they choose to start over. According to the College Board, 40 percent of students who intend to have a degree in four years will not earn one until after six. Luckily, Juniata has made picking a POE less daunting—by using the term, “exploratory.” Juniata’s use of “Exploratory” as a POE is
unique because it helps students to classify their academic path even if they have not yet specified it. Before accepted students are assigned to an adviser, they meet with an enrollment counselor who answers any questions they have about Juniata. The College then institutes a process that the enrollment office has perfected over time to help students find their own area of expertise in their own time, using “exploratory” as a means to get there. “We see ‘exploratory’ as a good thing,” says Sarah Diane Sadowsky, assistant dean of enrollment, “Being exploratory really allows you to be open and to explore topics that you didn’t get to experience
2015 Spring-Summer |
McGlone is one of many of college students who enter their first year without a set plan. According to an article titled, “The Developmental Disconnect in Choosing a Major,” from the academic advising journal, The Mentor, 20-50 percent of students who enter college are “undecided” and 75 percent of students will change their major at least once before graduation. Settling on a major right from the start is challenging for incoming freshmen nationwide. In 2010, according to The New York Times, 1,500 major programs were submitted to the Department of Education by colleges and universities across the country. As this number has increased over the
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To Declare or Not to Declare
| Juniata
in high school. It’s a self-discovery process. Knowing what you don’t like is almost as powerful as knowing what you do like. It’s an empowering process.” If prospective students decide to enroll at Juniata, their process of discovery will continue in the College’s renowned dual-adviser program. At Juniata, it helps that students are not admitted to any specific department, but to the institution itself, which provides individual flexibility in choosing a path. “When prospective students fill out the Common App, they must select at least one academic area of interest, but they can choose up to three,” says Sadowsky, “What they indicate on their application is what they will be ‘declared’ as to start, but this just helps the College identify who their first adviser will be.” Often students get caught up on how confining a major can be, but good advisers at the College are always standing by to help students develop a POE capable of inspiring their interest and focusing them toward an academic goal. If a student chooses “exploratory” on their online registration form, then he or she will most likely be assigned Sarah May Clarkson as a first adviser. Her job requires an understanding of the pressure students face in determining right out of the gate what they want do. With that comes uncertainty, but she is there to take the pressure off and help students discover exactly what it is they feel passionate about. “It’s absolutely understandable and appropriate that students are unsure,” says Clarkson. “I think our culture and society puts a lot of emphasis on knowing exactly what you want to do and who you want to be. We have a lot of students who are absolutely sure of what they want to study, but sometimes it’s after they’ve been here for a while that they decide they might not love it anymore. And that can cause a lot of stress and heartbreak for those students.”
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Frank Marin ’16, of Whitestone, N.Y., used his experience as a salesman for Cutco Knives to focus his POE on marketing. He credits Clarkson with asking searching questions about his interests to help him define his POE.
“I’m definitely still exploring because I’m the one building my POE—there are always new things to discover, new courses, and professors who might just lead me in a different direction.” —Ellie Rice ’16 GETTYSBURG, PA. COMMUNITY, CONFLICT, AND CHANGE WITH A SECONDARY EMPHASIS IN SPANISH
Frank Marin came into Juniata thinking he wanted to be a physical therapist, but soon discovered that exploring other options might be more therapeutic. After receiving a letter about job openings available in sales at Cutco knives, Marin decided to take a shot at it. He started with Cutco in December 2010 and three years later became an award-winning salesman for the company, which is how Marin found his niche in marketing. Clarkson, Frank’s adviser, helped him make it official. “I told Sarah May that I was a past salesman and had a lot of interest in the business side of everything,” says Marin ’16, of Whitestone, N.Y. “She suggested I take some marketing courses and meet with professors to get on the right track.” Marin is one of many college students whose area of study took a little exploring to be uncovered. Even if students have a clearer picture of what they want to study, faculty advisers can still help focus those who remain unmoored by finding an academic area of interest. Historian David Hsiung initially tries getting advisees to talk about what they like to do—without thinking about jobs. He explains how students feel like they must study a specific
field for a specific job, but this is not the case. “You have to figure out if there is a job out there that’s going to allow you to do what you want to do,” says Hsiung. To get students started, Clarkson has all her advisees fill out an academic advising questionnaire designed with two pages of reflective questions. The purpose of the survey is to help students identify their raw interests. “I give students a sheet that asks them to describe the times when they feel at their best,” says Clarkson, “The form tries to help students figure out when they feel strongest and where they’re finding success.” Hsiung also has his advisees fill out a survey that acts as a student self-evaluation form where they articulate their academic, extra-curricular, and even personal goals. He suggests that it’s very useful for students to discover what they don’t want to do, because it helps narrow down student options. “I recommend not eliminating options immediately, but instead taking a broad base of courses in order to explore the things students are actually interested in,” says Kim Roth, associate professor of mathematics. “I tell them to explore it early on, so they know for sure whether or not it’s something they really like.” Some students actually end up wishing for more time, and more courses, because of the unique opportunity to be exploratory that Juniata provides. “My POE is currently titled ‘Community, Conflict, and Change’ with a secondary emphasis in Spanish, but I don’t think it will remain that way,” says Ellie Rice ’16, of Gettysburg, Pa., “I’m definitely still exploring because I’m the one building my POE—there are always new things to discover, new courses, and professors who might just lead me in a different direction.” Focusing students into a POE really depends on where they are in their college career. Each year before spring break, sophomores are required to submit an initial POE form. The final POE isn’t required until fall of senior year. These checkpoints ensure that students are on track, but the sophomore POE form in particular is not binding—students have the option to submit a minor change form, or completely redesign the POE. Kathy Westcott, associate professor of psychology, says, “The POE is an educational road map rather than a contract of steps.” Too many students believe that there’s a linear path to
success in college, which magically leads graduates to a degree and, one day, a job. At Juniata, “exploratory” POEs have permission to roam—from subject to subject or department to department. This flexibility provides students resources to discover the range of courses Juniata offers, which helps them find a suitable match for a POE. Westcott always encourages her advisees to come up with reasons why they should try something versus reasons why they shouldn’t. “Don’t make a definitive decision that you’re not good at something based on one course or course description,” says Westcott, “I’ll ask students, if you could wake up tomorrow and go to your dream job, what is that? Life unfolds in so many different ways that it’s often hard for students to negotiate the unknown, so it’s always good to be as open to opportunities and exploration as possible.” No matter what academic area you choose, there is always room for growth and exploration—two major characteristics of a liberal arts education. The POE allows students to expand their ideas and it offers them an opportunity to build on every interest. “I am beyond pleased with my POE now,” says DiDi Rizzo ’16 of Altoona, Pa., “My adviser, Amy Mathur has helped me individualize my POE so that it combines all of the various biology and chemistry courses I've taken with a welcomed influx of English courses. Only at Juniata was it possible for me to achieve this balance, and I'm grateful for the opportunities I’m given here.” >j<
2015 Spring-Summer |
Sarah Diane Sadowsky, assistan t dean of enrollment, (right) says the College’s enrollment counselors see the “exploratory ” POE as a “self-discovery process.” Students gain a chance to explore subjects they are inter ested in but didn’t have the chan ce to learn about in high school. At left, student assistan t Erika Heikkinen ’15, of Burtonsv ille, Md., and Sadowsky, go over an upcoming inter view with a prospective student.
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180-Degrees:
Juniata Faculty Career Switches Followed Their Hearts By John Wall, director of media relations PHOTOGRAPHY BY: J.D. CAVRICH
| Juniata
Fifty years ago, college graduates were expected to enter the job market in an industry or career field and work their way up to the corner office, the executive suite, or the top sales route without taking a bold step off the proscribed path. These men in grey-flannel suits (and five or six decades ago, it was mostly males) marched in lockstep toward retirement without thinking too deeply about whether they really enjoyed their working life.
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Finding a career, like Juniata’s quad, offers many pathways to success. Although many college graduates stick with one career, the trends are that 21st century graduates will change careers many times. Even Juniata faculty members have switched careers a few times before settling on higher education.
Randy Rosenberger
PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS, 1997 TO PRESENT Upon graduation from Dickinson College in 1980, Rosenberger accepted a coveted and competitive job as a certified public accountant at the Harrisburg, Pa. office of Ernst & Whinney. Although he was an economics major and not certified as an accountant, he was grateful to have a job in the middle of a recession and thought it would be a great place “to learn about business.” “The learning curve was pretty steep and as one of eight people hired that year, at the end of 12 months I was a solid No. 8,” he recalls, smiling. “But at the end of the 18 months, I was moving up.” He credits the liberal arts education he received at Dickinson with being able to quickly adapt to an unfamiliar career. “I found that I had ability and that my abilities were comparable to the other students at Dickinson. That really was a direct result of having close contact with faculty who encouraged me,” he says. As his third year at the accounting firm approached, Rosenberger found that he was not well suited to the repetitiveness of auditing. He didn’t have a job path in mind, but he returned to graduate school full time and earned an MBA at Cornell University. From there he worked as an investment banker, but a truly random conversation with a philosophy professor during a business trip train ride inspired him to try and teach a few college classes. More schooling followed, but he joined Juniata’s faculty in 1997 and hasn’t looked back. He believes that the liberal arts foundation is central to survival as a modern employee. “You’re in the spotlight and you have to produce at a smaller college. You learn that feedback isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes knowing what you want to do as a high school senior can be a curse. At Juniata the POE helps you make your own way and I really think there’s a lot of value in trying different things. I use all my experiences, even the summers I spent harvesting clams, in the classroom today.”
2015 Spring-Summer |
Today, gray flannel suits are as dead as the passenger pigeon and most people don’t even wear suits at the workplace. The current stats say that the average worker will change jobs seven times over the course of a lifetime. That stat is so current that most journalists can’t find the original report this oft-repeated demographic emerged from. A more recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the average length of stay in any given job is about 4.4 years. Which means today’s college seniors might have 15 to 20 jobs over the course of their careers. Conventional wisdom delivered by advisers, counselors, employment managers, and business gurus says that successful workers in the 21st century will know a little bit about a lot of things, making the quick transition between jobs easier to negotiate. In other words, successful workers will have a wide-but-detailed, broad breadth-but focused foundation of knowledge that will not act as a dated drag on the newly nimble worker’s employment potential. In other words, you need a liberal arts education. At Juniata, the foundation of the liberal arts and the versatility of the POE is practically a roadmap for this new career archetype. But nothing is as convincing as a real life example so Juniata magazine thought it might be interesting to have faculty recall their first jobs and trace how they arrived at their true calling.
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Daniel Welliver ’ 79
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, 2006 TO PRESENT
Alison Fletcher
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, 2007 TO PRESENT
| Juniata
As it turns out Fletcher was always interested in history (“It was about the narratives of the past—they were fascinating!”), she just had to work for a few years before she had the chance to turn the past into her present career. Seeking what Jane Austen’s Colonel Brandon might call “an occupation,” Fletcher trained as a nurse. She joined the training program at St. Thomas Hospital in London (which was started by Florence Nightengale. How’s that for a historical connection?) Over the next four years of nursing, she did some midwifery and visited patients as a community nurse (very much like the nurses in the popular PBS show Call the Midwife). These visits sparked her historical imagination. Talking to patients in and around Lambeth, then a working class London neighborhood, she found herself wondering how people of previous generations had survived in these same neighborhoods. “One of my first visits was to a veteran’s ward, and I soon found that many of the men I was taking care of were veterans of the First World War,” she recalls. “They were at the end of their lives, and it may have been the fact that I was wearing a uniform, but they began to tell me their stories.” At the end of four years, her husband, Dr. Andrew Fletcher (now an instructor at Juniata), was offered a position in the United States. Alison’s nursing credentials did not match up with the requirements for U.S. nurses, so she began to take courses, first at a community college in New Jersey and eventually at Bryn Mawr. “I had no plans to be a history professor, I just wanted to learn as much as I could,” she recalls. “At the time, just getting an undergraduate degree seemed unattainable.” But she kept going, earning a doctorate at Johns Hopkins and gaining a tenure track job at Kent State before settling in at Juniata. She says she sees the same tenacity in Juniata students, but also believes the College delivers specific skills that help graduates negotiate the new paradigm facing job seekers. “We give them leadership skills and a wider knowledge of the world and their place in it,” she says. “Juniata students build a confidence in themselves that makes it easier to find a career or job that is not a cul-de-sac (dead end).”
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When Daniel Welliver was accepted to Juniata, he had a vague notion of trying for medical school, but fate intervened in the form of a passionate community organizer who hosted the young, just-graduated-from-high-school Welliver as a summer intern. “I worked at a community center in Harrisburg and it just energized me,” Welliver recalls. “I immediately sought out (social work professor) Bob Reilly.” After earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology and social change, Welliver worked in Huntingdon at a child development agency and then accepted jobs in Reading and Harrisburg as his wife, Roxanne Harpster ’80, built her own career. Eventually, he became executive director of the same Harrisburg community center where he ignited his passion for social work. “My life has sort of been about circles,” he muses. “I keep circling back to places where I started.” From there, Welliver moved to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in 1998, where he helped train state agencies to comply with a variety of antidiscriminatory civil rights laws. His duties included teaching, investigating and documentation in a variety of educational settings, including higher education. In all his employment waystations, Welliver says his Juniata education separated him from the rest of the pack. “The rigor of Juniata is such that to do well here you have to distinguish yourself,” he says. “If you survive the gauntlet here you are stratifying yourself as a critical thinker and as someone who can handle the stressors of the modern workplace.”
180-Degrees
Kathleen Biddle
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, SINCE 2005
William Thomas
PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND IT, SINCE 2001
2015 Spring-Summer |
Bill Thomas has been the kind of guy who loved tearing apart toys, radios, machines—basically anything—in order to see how they worked. In the 1980s and 1990s, people like this were naturals for computer science, since the entire career field was about building something to see if it worked. But he wasn’t the sort of person to set career goals. “I was at Shippensburg (University) for about two years and they called me in and said ‘If you don’t declare a major, you’re going to have to leave.’ So I said computer science sounds good.” After graduation in 1983, Thomas went to work for AMP Inc., an electronics manufacturer, working on programming big mainframe computers. A few years and a job later, he was sitting at his desk one day at Hoffman Mills, a textile manufacturer in Shippensburg, and his boss dropped a manual in his lap and said “You’re the new network guy,” because computers were just starting to be used in unison to run manufacturing. The mill did not have a network engineer. Poised to move into the networking job at a time when that job title was still a rarity, Thomas found that building networks wasn’t as interesting as teaching others how to relate to computers. So he began teaching night classes, moving to full-time positions at Mount Aloysius College, and then to Juniata. “IT is just like the liberal arts,” Thomas says. “The broad-based education you get at Juniata gives you freedom to move within IT or switch specialization. At the end of the day it makes you confident enough to say, ‘I can do this, or I can figure this out.’ I was talking with the chief information officer of a company, and he says the difference between a Juniata graduate and a technology institute graduate is that the Juniata graduate is going to come up with the solution that is more thought out and the Juniata graduate is likely to come up with something others haven’t thought of.”
Instead of making a 180-degree career change at the start of her working life, Kathleen Biddle made her personal U-turn because of family circumstances. After starting out as a special education teacher at a central Pennsylvania intermediate unit and at The Grier School, she was asked to leave the classroom and step behind the microphone. Well, not quite. In 1984, Kathleen’s husband, Joe Biddle, was publisher of the Huntingdon Daily News and owned and operated two local radio stations WHUN and WLAK. Joe was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor, and as a result had a long recovery from the surgery. He asked Kathleen to step in and help the family business. “I started by shadowing all the people at the radio station,” she says. “I did sales, promotions, I even sat in for one of our DJs one night. After doing that, I have nothing but the utmost respect for disc jockeys.” Shortly after starting at the radio station, the general manager retired and Kathleen took over his duties and was doing everything from billing to dealing with the Federal Communications Commission. Ultimately, Kathleen came to realize her gig on and around the airwaves provided her the same broadbased “liberal arts” education she missed out on at her alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Indeed, when she returned to graduate school at Tufts University in Boston in 1992, she used her fine-tuned radio experience. “There were times I had to ‘sell’ Tufts programs to local school districts or I had to interview and hire students to staff a National Institutes of Health grant,” she recalls. “All that business experience I had at the radio station helped out.” “I think students (at Juniata) have a different skill set,” she says. “Its essence is a strong sense of self that is willing to take risks and try something new.” >j<
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FACULTY FEATURE
Cast and Crew: Jamie White Builds Career Filled with Performance
†
By Genna Welsh Kasun ’06, assistant director of advancement communication PHOTOGRAPHY BY: J.D. CAVRICH
| Juniata
Jamie White, who started his career as a high school physics teacher, liked building things as a student and later as a professor. But he also found out that he liked standing in front of a class and helping students understand scientific concepts. He gets to do both things at Juniata, where he has built a program of laser research and gets to teach talented physics students such as Teresa Turmanian ’16, of Gaithersburg, Md.
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White enjoys the building aspect of ed physics, as evidenc by his course Electronics, where students such as Joshua Katz ’18, of a Somerset, Pa., build nts. variety of instrume The same thing st happens in his mo , rse cou g nin tai ter en Musical Acoustics, ve to where students ha n ow ir the t uc constr nts. musical instrume
builder—had only just begun for White. When thinking about what career might suit him best, young Jamie faced a challenge as well. Should he follow his desire to perform in a formal setting, as a pastor in a sanctuary or a teacher behind a podium? Or should he continue working behind the scenes to manufacture the backdrop for life’s performances? In the end, White decided to construct a solution of his own—one that would allow him to present in front of a chalkboard and build experiments through which he would learn alongside others. He became a college physics professor. Although the notion isn’t unique, Jamie’s path didn’t come pre-assembled. After securing a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and teaching high school physics for four years, White decided to pursue his doctorate in physics. But, unlike many of his graduate school classmates who had come from industry or continued to graduate school directly after their undergraduate careers, Jamie was committed to teaching. And his
long-term vision also differed from his peers, whose ultimate goals involved securing research positions. Even those who entered physics envisioning a career as college professors were different from White, who began a doctorate with a blueprint in mind of becoming a professor specifically at a small, liberal arts college. “Quantitative skills and lab skills are important, but so is the rest of a liberal arts education,” White says. “I like advising, helping students design a plan for their goals, making the most of a four-year liberal arts education.” So, as if he was meant for the part, White found Juniata, where he now serves as a professor of physics and chair of Juniata’s physics department. He presents concepts in courses ranging from Optics and Thermodynamics to Musical Acoustics, which he co-teaches with Jim Latten, professor of music. In addition to performing as teacher, White also lays the foundations for students to create their own learning. For example, in the Acoustics course, students are
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Beardless, a teenage Jamie White drills the final screw into a false wall, a backdrop onto which he will next paint the prairie. After putting the final strokes of deep, dark violet and burnt orange on the set of the musical Oklahoma!, White quickly unlaces his tool belt and changes into costume. He warms up, preparing to belt out baritone harmonies as the musical’s character Jud. Throughout his years in high school, White performs a variety of theatrical roles, branching out from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical to comedic parts as Teddy in Arsenic and Old Lace and the Judge in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury. But he never gave up on building the sets he later stood before, sharing his musical and acting talents. “I always had to end my role as head of construction early and hand over the reins to go to rehearsal,” White says. “I loved how, when you build a set, you could build a building quickly and be around people. But singing is very important to me as well.” The challenge of balancing each role—of being performer and
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assigned a project to build their own musical instruments, resulting in plumbing-pipe trombones, a tambourine-banjo and even a theremin. And, it’s not unusual to find White building experiments alongside his students in the lab, finding solutions together with them, as they pop into his office asking advice on homework problems. “What’s the maximum velocity in this problem?” Alex Debrecht ’15, of Winston Salem, N.C., asks White during office hours. “I have no idea.” White says. “I’ve walked from class to class thinking about how I would figure that out.” White goes on to explain the direction of the moon, and other information pertinent to the problem, telling Debrecht how he’d draw some pictures and Google some information.
The maximum velocity problem comes from White’s Optics class, an advanced course where the top mathematicians at Juniata hone their skills. White’s goal for the class, he says, is to further push students’ math skills. “If our students, as seniors, aren’t pushing my own knowledge, we aren’t doing our job,” White concludes. “I can’t possibly be an expert in all of physics, so they expand my understanding through their questions.” To White, his learning and students’ learning are interconnected and simultaneous. He acts out a lecture, builds a problem, and, then, works with students to find the solution, which, in turn, influences his next performance as professor. It’s like a choir’s call and response performance, melody and harmony helping each other.
“It’s all about people,” White says. “I don’t see myself as doing anything else besides being around people trying to figure out how things work. Students are working on learning something and, at the same time, they’re creating their long-term goals.” While students have been busy constructing their paths in life, White plays lead as a department chair whose accomplishments include diversifying the department’s student population and retaining a community space for students in the form of the popular physics lounge. When he’s not leading department meetings, he’s usually enjoying lab, nearly indistinguishable from his students, save for his iconic beard. And, in addition to designing experiments, he’s built the physics department around the Juniatian concept of community. In a recent
| Juniata
The most enjoyable part of teaching for White is the one-on-one interaction as he helps students find their way to a solution for a problem. Here, White oversees Alexis Klein ’16, of Germantown, Md., as she works on a project.
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In addition to build ing a research progra m organized aroun to build a business d laser research, Wh that markets lasers ite, as well as his wif to university resear e, Laura, have found ch labs throughout the time the country.
Also in addition to his teaching, White and his wife, Laura, have recently become co-owners in a business that builds diode lasers for laboratory use in the U.S. Creating a company is only one part of White’s many professional endeavors. “Just building something for its own sake, as an engineer would, wouldn’t hold me, but I could help a student with an Introduction to Physics problem, as I have many times, again and again,” White says. Whether he has a hammer or hymnal, as a department chair or adviser, White has crafted a career that combines his skills as performer and builder. And he
couldn’t imagine it any other way. Neither could his students. “Dr. White is an exceptional professor because he teaches in a way that is understandable and enjoyable,” says Teresa Turmanian ’16, of Gaithersburg, Md. “His outstanding support has allowed me to acquire research experience that would not have been possible otherwise.” >j<
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course revision, he created a class specifically for physics sophomores to foster collaboration among physics students. Among other things, it includes fun Friday afternoon lab activities that allow students to construct things, like simple rockets and liquid nitrogen ice cream. And, in his spare time, White also values community. On Sundays, he continues to share his love for performance by singing in the Stone Church Choir on Sundays. “It’s very important to me to do that. There are certain things we have to do—just like breathing— and, for me, music is like that,” White says.
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FACULTY NOTES When we ask, So What—we’re not being rude. It started when we asked the faculty to explain a little more about the work they do in research, developing courses, consulting, and the like. We wanted the info behind the paper title, the story behind the curricular change, the life and the thinking that make Juniata profs as interesting as —Read on they are. Jack Barlow, Dana Professor of Politics, was named to the Huntingdon Tree Commission in January. In April, he served as a judge for the “We, the People” National Invitational and served as faculty for the Centre on Critical Thinking seminar “The History and Political Economy of Information Technologies” in Benicassim, Spain during May and June. Don Braxton, J. Omar Good Professor of Religion, gave invited talks on religious opportunities in virtual reality platforms at Elizabethtown College in February and Wittenberg University in March. Rosann Brown, executive director of marketing, designed a viewbook that won a silver Cuppie from the College and University Public Relations Associated Professionals organization, recognizing the contributions of enrollment employees Fumio Sugihara, Josh Beckel ’09, Sarah Diane Sadowsky, Steven Simons and Rylan Good. Marketing employees recognized were Gabriel Welsch, Candice Hersh, Genna Kasun ’06, and Angie Ciccarelli. Vince Buonaccorsi, professor of biology, spoke on undergraduate genomics research at the Plant & Animal Genome Meeting in San Diego, Calif. in May. He also presented a paper, with student co-author Andrea Waksmunski ’15, of Northern Cambria, Pa., on Yellowtail fish at the US/Japan Joint Panel on Natural Resources in San Diego, Calif. in October.
Lynn Cockett, professor of communication, spoke on “Understanding instructor immediacy in online and faceto-face teaching contexts” at the Annual SoTL Commons conference in Savannah, Ga. in March.
Celia Cook-Huffman, Burkholder Professor of Conflict Resolution, spoke on “Identity Matters: Confronting Identity on the Road to Conflict Resolution, Peace, and Justice” at The Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice at the University of Manitoba in March. Doug Glazier, professor of biology, was appointed to the editorial board of the journal Biology and published articles on metabolic scaling in the journals Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences and Biology. Chris Grant, assistant research professor of biology, received a $22,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Unassessed Waters Initiative. Alison Lutz ’15, of Lewistown, Pa., helped write the grant. Lutz and Grant also co-authored a paper on fracking impacts on a species of caddisfly in the Journal of Freshwater Ecology. Grant and Regina Lamendella, assistant professor of biology, and seven student co-authors published a paper on fracking impacts in aquatic ecosystems in the Journal of Envioronmental Science and Health. Lamendella also published a paper on bacterial sequencing in Applied Microbiol Biotechnology and presented a paper on fracking at the 10th annual Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Genomics of Energy and the Environment Meeting.
Fiona Grugan, international services coordinator and residence director, was selected as an Experts Among Us: Voices of the Year Honoree for the BlogHer 2015 Conference. She was also selected as a keynote speaker in the Experts Among Us Community Keynote in recognition of an article from her blog Coffee is Black. Robin Binder Heath, lecturer in business administration, spoke on “Bringing New Employees on Board” and “Considerations about ADA” at the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials 60th Annual Conference in March in Hershey, Pa. Cathy Herrera, lecturer in music, performed a concert tour with her trio Camerata Amistad beginning at California Lutheran University, followed by three venues in Guatemala during Spring break 2015. Her composition for men’s choir and flute, So Calls the Bird, premiered in New York City at the World Heritage Music Festival in May. She was invited to perform and teach a master class at the 25th anniversary International Flute Festival in Quito, Ecuador in June. Jill Keeney, professor of biology, had a 2014 article on yeast genetics highlighted in the GENETICS Spotlight, a showcase of research and “scholarship in selected articles” from a given year in publications of the Genetics Society of America. Tom Kepple, president emeritus, received the Francis J. Michelini Award for Outstanding Service to Higher Education from the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania in March. Debra Kirchhof-Glazier, professor of biology, spoke on nutritional medicine to doctors in the Altoona Family Physicians Residency Program in June.
t? a h W SOQ: Why was it important for you to give this talk? What was the purpose of it?
A: I presented it as the result of the sabbatical research I did...it’s the next step before preparing it for publication. It is currently under review at the journal Online Learning. Q: What are some of the topics you touched on in your speech? A: I wrote about how instructors present their identities in the face-to-face classroom as compared to the online classroom, and how this is vital to the development of a successful learning community. I concluded that online classrooms don’t have to be seen as poor substitutes of face-to-face classrooms and I advocate for reflexive teaching and learning. Q: What is the SoTL Commons conference?
It is held every year at the Georgia Southern University in Savannah. It’s a gathering of SoTL professionals and faculty from universities across the country and world.
The motto is “many disciplines: one language.” The hashtag is #ispeaksotl
Q: Were you asked to speak, or was it something you initiated?
I initiated it by sending in my paper, and it was chosen through blind review.
| Juniata
—Laura Bancroft ’15, Juniata Associate for media relations
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PHOTO: J.D. CAVRICH
Sarah DeHaas, Martin G. Brumbaugh Professor of Education, collaborated with Justine Black ’08, assistant director of instructional technology, to present “Digital Storytelling: Connecting Research to Personal Narrative” at the 2015 Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching in Washington, D.C. in May. DeHaas also served on the Conference Planning Committee for the 43rd Lehigh Special Education Law Conference at Lehigh University.
hat? W O S Q: What was the original reason for your collaboration with Justine?
A: Two years ago, I developed a Cultural Analysis course, “Leadership and Cultural Change.” Juniata College students develop critical thinking and leadership skills over four years, and they are encouraged to be “change agents” within their careers; however, students require tools to understand the dimensions of change and how to do so effectively. The main project for the course requires students to develop a scholarly narrative (digital storytelling) using theory, knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are presented in the course. Throughout this project, students select a topic within their POE or career interest that requires change. The final outcome is a visual product that tells the “story” of this issue, the benefits of change, and plausible or possible consequences if change fails.
Justine played a critical role throughout the semester by teaching the students the intricacies of creating the narratives and visual products and more importantly, the necessary technology to do so effectively. The student products were awesome.
Q: Why was it important for you to present? A: We wanted to share our experience. Scholarly narratives are a creative and valuable strategy for teaching and learning in higher education. They appeal to the digital generation as they allow students to create narratives that are meaningful to them and provide context to their lives and career aspirations. Q: What is the Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching?
Conferences like this provide opportunities for faculty in higher education to make presentations and discuss up-and-coming teaching strategies—the discussions are aimed at “millennials” as well as adults.
Q: How did your background as a professor of education and Justine’s background in IT make for a successful presentation and worthwhile experience?
PHOTO: JASON JONES
Monika Malewska, associate professor of art, had her artwork “Flag” published in Spinglish: The Definitive Dictionary of Deliberately Deceptive Language, by Christopher Cerf and Henry Beard. She also had a work published in Fresh Paint Magazine, Issue 7, and was profiled in Exploring Studio Materials: Teaching Creative Art Making to Children, by Mary Hafeli. John Matter, professor of biology, taught a short-course in Environmental Toxicology at the Catholic University, in Lille, France, in March as part of a collaborative program that culminates in an master’s degree in sustainable pollution management for Juniata students. Uma Ramakrishnan, professor of environmental science, also taught during the short course. Rosalie Rodriguez ’01, special assistant to the president for diversity and inclusion, published an essay on “Acknowledging Oppression, Surviving Privilege” in the Elephant Journal.
Karen Rosell, professor of art history, served as an external reviewer for Goucher College’s Department of Art and Art History.
—Laura Bancroft ’15, Juniata Associate for media relations Cathy Stenson, professor of mathematics, received the 2015 Allegheny Mountain Section Mentor Award at the spring meeting of the Allegheny Mountain Section of the Mathematical Association of America in April at Washington and Jefferson College. Jennifer Streb ’93, associate professor of art, lectured in Marchat SUArt Art Galleries at Syracuse University in conjunction with the opening of Juniata’s traveling exhibit on Minna Citron “From Realism to Abstraction” exhibition at the Syracuse gallery. She also presented a paper, “Popular Portraits in Miniature,” at the Popular Culture/American Culture Associations conference in New Orleans, La. in April. Tamara Stuber, assistant director of career services, completed a Career Development Facilitator certification program with the National Career Development Association. Henry Thurston-Griswold, professor of Spanish, visited Juniata’s three exchange programs in Spain: BCA-Valladolid, BCA-Barcelona, and Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville. In Seville, he taught a two-hour workshop, “Music as a Learning Resource in Spanish as a Second Language Classes.” Belle Tuten, W. Newton and Hazel A. Long Professor of History, published “Lactation and
Breast Diseases in Antiquity: Medical Authorities on Breast Health and Treatment,” “Women and Womanhood in the Middle Ages,” in the journal Quaestiones Medii Aevi Nova. She gave a talk on “The necessitas naturae and Monastic Hygiene,” at a conference called “Hygiene, Medicine, and Well-Being in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age” at the University of Arizona in May. James Tuten, professor of history, published “Madeira” and “Grog in the Royal Navy” in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol. Polly Walker, assistant professor of peace and conflict studies and director of the Baker Institute, spoke on “Ethical Collaborations between Indigenous Knowledge Holders and Western Scientists and Scholars” at Penn State’s Indigenous Knowledge Center. Daniel Welliver ’79, associate professor of sociology, spoke about his paper on crossing cultural boundaries at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society in New York, N.Y. in February. Jamie White, Book Professor of Physics, spoke at an “Advice for Your Academic Job Search” panel for Penn State’s Schreyer Institute’s annual professional-development conference for graduate students in January.
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James Roney, professor of Russian, presented a paper in April on Science, Medicine and the End of Life in Tolstoy’s Ivan Ilyich at a meeting of the Association of Core Texts and Courses in Plymouth, Mass.
Professionally, I have studied change theory for many years and believe this information is useful to our students. Justine has worked in the field of Educational Technology for 7 years and provides technology support for Juniata students.
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ALUMNI FEATURE
Love of Labor Not Lost on Lawyer Juniata Graduate Chris Scalia Finds Work Defines Us By John Wall, director of media relations PHOTOGRAPHY BY: J.D. CAVRICH
“I remember riding up to the campus on my bike and there were people playing volleyball in the mud or throwing frisbees and students walking around the buildings, it really seemed like a magical place.”
| Juniata
—Chris Scalia ’98
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When Chris Scalia ’98 was very young, his dad wasn’t home much during the week. A construction worker for heavy industry and road crews, Mike Scalia often was able to come back home only on weekends. Young Chris would listen to his dad and a friend talking on the weekends and he soon realized the two men always talked about their job. He didn’t understand much about the language—concrete loads, superstructures—at first, but as he got older Chris realized his dad, and pretty much anybody who leaves the house to earn a living, define themselves through work. As a kid, Chris sort of defined himself as well—not through work—but more like thinking of his options as set in stone. For example, the Scalias are longtime residents of Huntingdon and Chris might have heard that Juniata “is a great school where rich kids go.” “I remember riding up to the campus on my bike and there were people playing volleyball in the mud or throwing frisbees and students walking around the buildings,” he recalls. “It really seemed like a magical place.” As he got older, Chris began making a name for himself as a football player and soon began to identify with the life of a college athlete. He went to Waynesburg University as a freshman, but soon transferred back home. “It just wasn’t Juniata,” he says. “I remember where I was when I made the decision working on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the summer—and I just didn’t want to compartmentalize myself.” The young athlete played football at Juniata when he returned, but after a year, he found that more compelling things were happening far, far away from the football field. Chris found he enjoyed taking a stand on what he learned in his classes and defending his opinion as to what the lessons meant. Critical thinking is what led him away from athletics and led him to numerous classrooms in the Communication and English departments. He began to think of himself as a pretty decent student—at least until Donna Weimer took him aside one day. Weimer, who had taught Scalia in some introductory courses, told him in no uncertain terms that he was wasting his talent coasting along in courses when he could do so much more. “People here were pushing me to think so much bigger,” he says. As he took his academic career more seriously, more faculty went out of their way to encourage him to push beyond his own expectations. “Being in an environment where you feel safe defending your ideas is pretty amazing,” he says. Chris must have felt pretty good defending his ideas in class, because he accepted Grace Fala’s invitation to compete in the Bailey Oratorical Contest and made the list of finalists. He headed into the night of competition with, if not a sense of purpose, then a desire to do well. “I thought ‘How can this be happening to me? But I ended up winning and my parents were there,” he says, smiling. As Chris moved through his college career it became clear that he was highly influenced by the opinions and guidance of mentors, so it’s not a massive leap from English professor Peter Goldstein telling him “I think you’d make a very good lawyer” to Chris’ next move—an internship with Huntingdon senior judge Stewart Kurtz.
“Being in an environment where you feel safe defending your ideas is pretty amazing.” —Chris Scalia ’98
A native of Huntingdon, Pa., Chris Scalia saw Juniata as a “magical place” where anything was possible. After coming to campus and being inspired by his coursework and a couple bits of firm advice from Juniata professors, the corporate lawyer for Hershey Co. decided to focus his expertise on labor issues and human resources. Today he is in charge of helping the company retain and improve its most important assets—people.
retain and improve its most important assets—people. “It’s very easy to make this the story of one, but everyone working a job has been helped along the way through training, feedback, development and other factors and we need to think about how to accomplish that from a systemic point of view,” he says. These days, Chris is working on helping Hershey, find, teach, develop and retain talent, all while assiduously learning as much as he can about working. Adding to his knowledge of why people get out of bed to go to work has continued to fascinate him and it’s a light that was lit decades ago when a young boy heard his dad talk about building roads, bridges and other structures. Chris still listens to people talking about their jobs and he still loves to talk about how he traveled from bike rides to a local campus to the corporate offices of Hershey Company. He remembers the name of every mentor, every person who ever helped him, and in most cases, every detail of the job he was doing at the time. Chris credits Juniata with teaching him to think critically and work at a high level, but underneath the credits given to the College, there is a person whose own curiosity has never stopped accumulating experience. For him, work is a calling. “If it’s not a labor of love, then what are you doing working there?” he says. >j<
2015 Spring-Summer |
“We would talk about things every day,” Chris recalls. “He taught me an important lesson for the law—don’t think your writing can’t be improved—something I remembered in my first job as a lawyer and use today.” The story must now lead to law school, right? Um, not so much. After graduation in 1998, Scalia interviewed at a regional logistics firm and agreed to start immediately. But he found that corporate life was somehow wanting. He applied to law schools and was accepted at Widener University School of Law. “I thought I would transfer after my first year, but I found out it’s harder to transfer to another law school, they typically only accept transfers at the top of their class,” he explains. A year of furious work later and Chris was at what is now known as Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law, graduating in 2001. In law school and at his first job (at the Harrisburg office for Morgan Lewis & Bockius), Chris felt himself drawn to labor issues and began to work on labor and employment cases. “It’s the human story that draws me in,” he says. For the next five years, the newly minted lawyer worked on a variety of cases for the law firm, traveling across the country and working on large corporate cases, as well as other opportunities. “Morgan Lewis was my Harvard,” Chris says. “But also as an associate in a law firm, you work all the time. When Chris saw colleagues
leave the firm to accept jobs as inhouse counsel in large corporations, he started to listen to some of the “headhunting” firms that contacted him every so often. The offer that hit Chris’ sweet spot was an opportunity at The Hershey Company as labor counsel. The huge company was starting a major reorganization called the Global Supply Chain Transformation. The project called for the construction of a new North American plant, closing some facilities and reorganizing manufacturing lines. Chris’ new job was to work with plant managers and employers to negotiate collective agreements for each plant. As his work expanded so did his responsibilities and his portfolio quickly grew beyond duties as a labor lawyer into much more encompassing human resources issues. By 2011, he was named a senior director for human resources for Hershey’s global operations. “At Hershey, human resources means we are focused on the business needs of the company but also focused on building a sustainable talent base,” he says. Which means that his new title at the company—Vice President, Talent—provides Scalia more opportunities to work with all aspects of Hershey’s human resources operation. And because employees are the most important part of any division of Hershey’s operation, Chris can use his talents to help the company
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class notes 1964
M. Gail Woodworth Mann
traveled to Sihong, China, to teach English to teachers and students in the Amity Foundation Summer English Program.
Marion (Kercher) Oliver
1949
Charles N. Pickell
is in his fourth year of teaching in the Lifelong Learning Program at the University of Virginia and is a part-time associate pastor at Meadows Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville. Charles recently traveled to France, visiting Paris, Normandy, and the D-Day beaches.
1951
Donald L. Robinson
| Juniata
retired from Singer Travel in Wyomissing, Pa. after 22 years. During their years as travel agents, Donald and his wife Eleanor visited 105 countries on six continents. It has been a fulfilling second career after Don served 40 years as a pastor in the Church of the Brethren.
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1956
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 60th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
1961
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 55th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
John Noble
was selected by Super Lawyers magazine as one of Maryland’s 2015 Top 100 Lawyers in the state.
shared a photo taken at an annual holiday gathering of a group of classmates. Pictured (l to r) are Marlene (Fisher) Butler ’64, Rose Marie (LeRoy) Minter ’64, Lois (Rehberg) Beamer ’64, Sara (Barcklow) LeRoy ’64, and Marion (Kercher) Oliver ’64.
1965
James I. Richardson
received the International Sea Turtle Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. Jim is an instructor and undergraduate coordinator in ecology at the University of Georgia.
1966
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 50th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
Thomas B. Robinson
christened the “Dr. Thomas B. Robinson” shell at the Purdue University Crew Boathouse on Oct. 9, 2014. The new shell was named in Tom’s honor for his strong commitment to Purdue rowing. Tom retired from the university in 2010 and is now Vice President for Student Services Emeritus.
Class of 1965 50th Reunion (l-r) Row 1: Lois (Williams) Crissman, Judy (Livengood) Maxwell, Mary Alice (Bagshaw) Peterhaensel, Susan (Vieth) Clopper, Carol (Hamburg) Swigart, Barbara (Robbins) Urban, Carol (Shank) Gibboney, Dennis Gibboney (l-r) Row 2: Row 2: Barbara (Antes) Walker, Janet Hess, Becky (Fyock) Widdowson, Ron Ferraro, Tom Heilman, Judy (Rose) Burger, Sharon (Edgar) Bush, Sandra (Clemens) Rice, Penney (Robinson) Bush, Kent Butler (l-r) Row 3: Jim Will, Clay Pheasant, Dede (Edmiston) Pletcher, Luella (Kneisly) Van Newkirk, Pamela (Stevens) Schneider, Judy (Rodgers) Pheasant, Christine (Smith) LeFevre, Dianne (Heagy) Fahnestock, Marilyn (Rear) Morgan, Ginny (Emery) Moore, Linda Shiley, Charles “Chick” Swigart, Tom Paxson, Terry Blue, Joanne (Anderson) Kepley (l-r) Row 4: David Morse, Duane Ruble, William Fisher, Bruce Davis, Ray Gardner, Gail (Davis) Plitnik, Mike Tremel, Allison (Mook) Sleeman, Dean Buckwalter, Alice (Smith) Judy, Steve Burger, Donna (Hunt) Nicholas, Paul Hertzler, Barry Halbritter, Dave Rodenbough, Neale Clopper, Carl Bush, Jack Crissman, Bill Baker, John Lersch, Cathy (Fulmer) Fonda, Lan (Dodge) Shaffmaster, Susanne (Judy) Wright, Jesse Wright
1968
1970
retired from Clearfield (Pa.) Area School District after 37 years as a social studies teacher. Merle continues as head baseball coach at Clearfield Area High School, serving in that role for 44 seasons.
traveled to Paris, France, in October 2014, with a group that included several other Juniatians, (l to r) William Crock ’70 and his wife, Cindy Crock, Terry’s wife, Dianna Stevens, Pamela (Pollick) Babick ’71, Terry Stevens ’70, and Rebecca (Valigorsky) Bricen ’71. Pam, a retired French teacher, organized the trip.
Merle L. Lansberry
1969
R. Clifford Berg
received the National Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and the National Silver Antelope Award from Boy Scouts of America.
Frank M. Dankanich
1971
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 45th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
2015 Spring-Summer |
retired from dentistry after serving for more than 39 years in private practice in Bellefonte, Pa.
Terry L. Stevens
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1973
1975
retired as president and chief executive officer at Peerless Chain Company. Tom has spent more than 42 years within the industry and has been employed by Peerless for 18 years, the past eight as president and CEO. He will remain with the corporation as a senior consultant assisting with future strategic projects.
joined the staff of J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital in Huntingdon, Pa. as an orthopedic surgeon. Bill has practiced orthopedics in central Pennsylvania for more than 25 years.
Thomas S. Wynn
1974
David P. Andrews
was recently hired by the Penn State University World Campus as a part-time faculty member in the masters’ degree program of the School of Labor and Employment Relations, where he will teach labor and employment law. David is the managing partner of Andrews & Beard Law Offices in Altoona and Johnstown, Pa.
Brian L. Clemens
was honored by The Journal-Record as one of the Most Admired CEOs in the state of Oklahoma for 2014 for his leadership and dedication to the community. Brian is the chief executive officer of Community Hospital/ Northwest Surgical Hospital in Oklahoma City.
Donald W. Kensinger
| Juniata
runs a website for his products, www. rockoilcandles.com, having retired in 2011 as the director of pupil services for the Lower Dauphin School District. Donald creates crafts and lamps made from flat pieces of rock or pieces of countertop.
76
Julie (George) McCormick was named executive director of the Pittsburgh Fellows Program, a postundergraduate, leadership development program that recruits and trains highly qualified college graduates to be values-driven, ethical business leaders in the Pittsburgh region.
William W. DeMuth
1976
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 40th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
Jody (Rosenhoover) Huston
and husband Steve celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a weeklong trip to Excellence Playa Mujeres, Mexico, followed by two weeks in Dunedin, Fla.
1977
Eric C. Jensen
attended the inauguration of Manchester University President, Dr. David McFadden, on Nov. 7, 2014, as a delegate of Juniata College.
1980
Lisa (Masood) Giles
was appointed to the board of directors at GenMark Diagnostics, Inc., a provider of molecular diagnostic testing systems. Lisa is currently the president and chief executive officer of Giles & Associates Consultancy and the CEO of Optivara, Inc.
1981
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 35th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
George A. Bojalad
was appointed as director of human resources for Penn Highlands Elk Regional Health Center, an affiliate of the Penn Highlands Healthcare system in St. Mary’s, Pa.
Patricia J. Cook and Jill S. Windwer
have collaborated to create a cooking app, the New Cooks Glossary, a dictionary of ingredients and cooking methods that is accompanied by a free recipe blog, www. wordstocookby.com. Patti currently teaches communication classes at the Community College of Vermont and is a chefinstructor for the Visiting Nurse Association. Jill is a digital strategist in the legal publishing industry. Patti and Jill met on the first day of freshman orientation at Juniata and have been friends ever since.
1982
Robert P. Aravich
was promoted to senior credit manager of U.S. Bank in its Idaho and Washington state division. Rob’s responsibilities include the management and administration of the commercial banking and commercial real estate loan portfolio for the division. Rob also was elected as the vice-president of membership for the Ore-Ida Council of the Boy Scouts. He continues to serve on the executive committee of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and on the board of the Bishop Kelly High School Foundation.
Sharon (Cooney) Erb
was named pastor of First English Lutheran Church in Tyrone, Pa., after serving for seven years as director of pastoral care and congregational relations for Allegheny Lutheran Social Ministries.
Regina (Wood) Pollard
was inducted as a charter member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society at Alfred State University, where she serves as a social and behavioral sciences professor. Regina was selected as the scholarship and awards officer for the organization.
Presidential Timbre: Jody Harpster ’72 With a résumé that spans more than 40 years, three campuses, and roles in just about every major department on a college campus, including interim President (twice), it appears that Jody Harpster ’72 has fulfilled his destiny. As Shippensburg University’s 16th president, Jody says he likes being busy. Beginning his career in student affairs and residential housing, certainly prepared him for the always-on-call nature of a college president. PHOTO: BILL SMITH/SHIPPENSBURG UNIVERSITY
Q: What influence did Juniata have on your career path and where you are today? A: I was the vice president of the student body and had the good fortune of sitting on the Board of Trustees. This was the first opportunity I had to look at the College across the board—to see all the moving parts from a greater vantage point. It whetted my appetite for institutional and administrative work. I don’t think you could have the Juniata experience without carrying with you many of the values that influenced you and that you learned there. Q: What’s the most rewarding part of your work? A: Interactions with the student body, by far. I began my career in student affairs and have always enjoyed interacting with young people. As a student at Juniata, I walked away with an understanding of Juniata’s deep commitment to students and that helped me become the person I am today. I think back to the influence that so many individuals had on me—Bruce Hirsch, my choir director. The choir toured the Eastern United States and got to sing in some amazing places. Those choir tours were central to my student experience. I remember going to my first French restaurant and having my first taste of French cuisine. Like so many others, I always respected Bruce, but I continued to get to know him after graduation and grew to love him. Q: What do you believe is the issue that most profoundly affects higher education today?
A: Mountain Day—that’s so special. When I tell people about it, they say “Really?” People are incredulous about that. A morning we shut down the school, take buses to a local park, have a big picnic, and spend time together. To me, this was the collective celebration of our time together. Q: What Shippensburg tradition is your favorite? A: I wasn’t able to come back to Shippensburg’s Alumni Days as a graduate since I lived so far away, but as an employee, I’ve really come to love this event. It’s three days of sharing good ideas and having fun together. There’s a picnic, a golf tournament, a big headliner show, and even the restating of wedding vows. You always walk away from a weekend like that feeling really good about it and the university. Q: What would you be doing professionally if you weren’t running a college? A: Aden Wertz ’72, my roommate who’s now a pastor in Tyrone, and I sang for various civic organizations and club dates. Maybe we could’ve been the next Simon and Garfunkel. I also had an interest in Egyptology and enjoyed courses with Paul Heberling. I’m not sure I could have taken the summer heat in Egypt, though. I had enough challenges when I lived in the South.
—Katie (Padamonsky) Dickey ’97, associate director of alumni relations
2015 Spring-Summer |
A: There are many, but there will always be financial challenges. It’s a little different for private schools like Juniata, but if we’re looking to modify our funding [at Shippensburg], the state legislature must be convinced that additional resources are needed. Funding is needed for so much across the state, infrastructure for instance, and when education is looking for money, we’re told to get in line. This requires us to be more entrepreneurial and creative and to devise new and different ways to generate funds or cut costs. Additionally, there appears to be a lack of the core belief in the value of higher education. People are asking more often, why go to college? And I’m always fighting for protection for the liberal arts core. This is where students are taught to think critically and make sound analytical decisions. These skills not only make you a productive member of a work team, but also a good partner in your personal life.
Q: Colleges and universities are known for their traditions and, as Juniatians, we hold our own special traditions very near and dear. Did you have a favorite tradition as a Juniata student?
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Up, Up and Away: A Passion for Aerial Photography Dr. David Newcomer ’69 clearly remembers the day when Jeff Dunkle ’69 parachuted into Juniata’s football stadium in 1965. This experience stayed with him until 2001, when Newcomer finally took the plunge. Taking it one step further, he received his pilot’s license in 2007. Pairing his already existing passion for photography with his new love of aviation has proven to be a breathtaking combination. PHOTO: DAVID NEWCOMER
Q: What inspired you to learn how to fly?
Q: Do you fly and photograph at the same time?
A: One of the interesting things I learned from fellow skydivers is that a lot of them are also pilots. After skydiving for seven years, I decided to get my pilot’s license.
A: Yes and it’s actually easier than you think. It’s definitely safer than driving a car and taking photos. It’s taken me a few years to perfect my technique. The plane is either on autopilot or I let go of the controls for a minute. I stick my camera out of the window vent and take a few quick shots. Out of these shots, one of them will be the one I was looking for. I’ve also learned that the camera angle is very important. For example, when the plane is traveling at 160 miles per hour, it’s important to angle the camera at 45 degrees to compensate for the speed.
Q: Why did you decide to take photos while flying? A: Photography has been a passion of mine since elementary school. My father also enjoyed photography and had a dark room in the basement of our home. I began taking photos and videos while skydiving. Aerial photography was a natural progression. I compile my favorite aerial photographs into a calendar each year and distribute 4,000 calendars to fellow physicians, patients, friends and Juniata staff.
Q: What is your favorite place to fly? A: We’re really lucky to live in such a beautiful place as the northeastern United States. I love taking photos of the Susquehanna River, Chesapeake Bay, Lake Placid, Hatteras Island and Acadia National Park. It really is the best part of the country for aerial photography. Q: How often do you fly? A: I’m part owner of a Piper Saratoga with three others, but I fly more often than the other owners. I try to get up in the air at least once a week. Q: Have you had any scary moments? A: Six years ago when I was about 10 miles from the Lancaster Airport, I heard an explosion under the engine and began to lose power and altitude. I called the tower for an emergency landing but was able to land at the airport without incident. One of the cylinders blew out and when I landed, black smoke was pouring out of the engine. I was lucky that I made it to the airport.
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—Christina (Garman) Miller ’01, assistant director of alumni relations
1984
Kimberly (Manspeaker) Miller
James Kralik
was named to the list of “50 Rural Hospital CEOs to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review. Kim is president and chief executive officer of Beaver Dam Community Hospital in Beaver Dam, Wis. The hospital was named to the annual list of Top Hospitals by The Leapfrog Group, for demonstrating excellence in hospital safety and quality.
began his fourth year as a geologist with AECOM Technology Corp., working on the ongoing remedial investigation of the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill in Michigan.
1985
Darin J. McLean
shared a photo of a group of Juniatians who had their first get-together in more than 20 years on March 16, 2014. Pictured (l to r) are Randolph “Randy” Nolen ’83, Mark Grusso ’85, Darin McLean ’85, and Rob Davis (attended Juniata) at Rob’s home in York, Pa.
1986
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 30th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
1991
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 25th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
1992
1993
Kathy, director of residence education and housing services at Michigan State University, was invited to present the 25th Annual Fayetta M. Paulsen Lecture at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) in February 2015. Kathy’s presentation, “Don’t Run from Baboons or Put Ketchup in Your Coffee: Global Perspective on Student Affairs,” included reflections on her trip to Africa in October 2014, where she delivered the keynote address on “Learning Communities in the 21st Century” at the Learning Communities Seminar hosted by the University of Botswana.
received the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Mount Aloysius College Alumni Association for her service to the community and the college. Marie earned an associate’s degree from Mount Aloysius before continuing her education at Juniata. She serves as president of the Hollidaysburg Area (Pa.) Arts Council and was director of education for the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art.
Kathleen M. Collins
Marie (Riley) Little
Pamela (Naudascher) Goldman
was re-elected to serve on the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association, a statewide organization for physicians holding the doctor of osteopathic medicine degree. Pam is an academic hospitalist at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
1999
Shannon (Price) Bailey
taped an episode titled “Cold War Checkmate” for Mysteries at the Museum, which aired on The Travel Channel on Oct. 24, 2014. Shannon is vice-president for exhibitions and curatorial affairs for the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Mo.
1994
Bradley J. Miller
was elected to serve on the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association, a statewide organization for physicians holding the doctor of osteopathic medicine degree. Brad is a family medicine physician in Williamsport, Pa.
1996
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 15th Reunion Celebration during Homecoming & Family Weekend on October 2-4, 2015.
Kristy J. Manning
was appointed as director of policy for the Division of Energy in the Missouri Department of Economic Development, after working as a deputy legislative director for six years.
2015 Spring-Summer |
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 20th Reunion Celebration during Alumni Weekend on June 2-5, 2016. Please contact Alumni Relations if you would like to volunteer for your reunion committee. (1-877-JUNIATA; alumni@juniata.edu).
2000
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2001
Cullen L. Sheehan
was recently appointed to the Allstate National Advisory Board, beginning his term in January 2015. He also began a new two-year term in January as a board member for the Blair County (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce. Cullen is the owner of an Allstate agency in Altoona.
2002
Jennifer L. Dorsch
began a new position in February 2015, as director of the Church of the Brethren Disaster Ministries. Jenn will work out of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.
Ethan J. Gibbel
was named president of Gibbel Insurance Agency in Lititz, Pa. Ethan succeeds his father, James Gibbel ’60, as president.
2003
Allison L. Bates
| Juniata
was appointed as shareholder and vicepresident of the Lancaster location of Behavioral Healthcare Consultants. Allison is a licensed psychologist specializing in health psychology, as well as psychological and neuropsychological assessment.
80
Brad S. Hahn
earned his master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in health care management from Keller Graduate School of Management in King of Prussia, Pa.
2004
Jennie M. Fretts
is a doctoral student at the University of Montana and received the American Indian Student Services Outstanding Student Award in May 2014. Jennie participated in the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship Program Psychology Summer Institute in July 2014.
Johanna M. Holtan
received the Principal’s Medal for Exceptional Service from the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland, for her contributions in supporting the student community in all aspects of internationalization and in serving the university community and mission.
2005
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 10th Reunion Celebration during Homecoming & Family Weekend on October 2-4, 2015.
2007
2011
graduated from Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Ky. with a master’s degree in aquaculture and aquatic sciences. He accepted a position as a laboratory research analyst in the Center for Human Disease Modeling at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
was selected to serve as president of the student bar association at Duquesne University for the 2014-15 academic year. Krystal is a third-year law student at Duquesne.
Zachary A. Kupchinsky
Nicholas S. Price
was promoted to blood bank technical specialist at Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital in Lewistown, Pa.
2008
Amanda M. Partington-Todd
was promoted to the position of inspection manager at Care Quality Commission in West Sussex, England.
2009
Daniel M. Albaugh
received certification as a crime scene examiner. Dan is a police officer assigned to the patrol division of the Ephrata (Pa.) police department and is a member of the Lancaster County Major Crimes Forensic Unit.
2010
Be sure to mark your calendar for your 5th Reunion Celebration during Homecoming & Family Weekend on October 2-4, 2015.
Krystal T. Edwards
2012
Timothy A. Carn
began a new position in December 2014 as an archaeology field director at Navarro & Wright Consulting Engineers in New Cumberland, Pa.
Michael E. Sevick
was named as the account leader of ingredients at Wenger Feeds in Harrisburg, Pa. Wenger Feeds was founded by Melvin Wenger ’35 in 1944.
2013
Cory M. Mattas
began a new position as a wildlife technician at Bat Conservation and Management Inc. in Carlisle, Pa.
Emily J. Rowley
began a new position as a bilingual customer service representative at Mehandi. com in Kent, Ohio, a leading provider of henna products in the United States.
2014
Zachary S. Strouse
began a new position as assistant director of annual giving at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pa.
Living La Costa Rica Angela (Tribus) Ramos ’09 took all the pieces— international studies and French training, study abroad experiences, her choir tours across the globe, her Peace Corps service—and put together a fulfilling career. Along the way, she met and married her husband, Gregory, and fell in love with a rural community in the highlands of Costa Rica.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ANGELA (TRIBUS) RAMOS ’09
From her desk at the Friends of Nature Copey Learning Center in Copey de Dota, Costa Rica, Angela shares the story of how she ended up as the executive director of a school that was only a dream when she arrived as a wide-eyed Peace Corps volunteer in 2010.
Q: How did you become interested in international education and teaching English? A: When I studied abroad at the American Language School in Dalian, China, people would literally ask me on the street if I would help them with their English. Teaching connected me with people and the Chinese culture more broadly than the homogenized, affluent academic environment at the university. So, after returning to Juniata, I heard about the Teaching English as a Second Language certification program that included a practicum experience in Ecuador. Along with my POE in international studies and French, those experiences set me up well for my position in the Peace Corps. Q: What was your Peace Corps placement? A: Starting in 2010, I taught English as a foreign language and trained other teachers in Copey de Dota, Costa Rica, a wonderful little community of 500 people. The area is known for bird watching and the farming of cold-weather crops like corn and avocados. In the valley below us, there is also a coffee cooperative, Coopedota, that is recognized as the world’s first carbon-neutral coffee producer.
Q: Have you been in Copey de Dota since then? A: No. As part of my project, I helped a group from the community fulfill their dream of starting the Friends PHOTO: COURTESY OF ANGELA (TRIBUS) RAMOS ’09 of Nature Copey Learning Center. Until that time, the town only had an elementary school and they wanted to provide educational opportunities for older children and adults. Through that experience and the connections I made with Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Education in San José, I went on to a new position as a Peace Corps volunteer leader. So, in 2013 and 2014, I provided training and support for more than 100 Peace Corps volunteers while also working with the Ministry’s National English Assessors to develop workshops, courses, and resources for teachers. Q: And you eventually returned to the Copey Learning Center? A: While I was away, I got engaged to Gregory, one of the men involved in the start of the school. When my service ended, I came back to Copey de Dota and we were married. I was also hired as executive director of the Learning Center, which has grown significantly and serves as a model for four other centers in the region. Our 70 students study English, art and culture, the environment, and tourism.
2015 Spring-Summer |
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ANGELA (TRIBUS) RAMOS ’09
—David Meadows ’98, director of alumni relations and parent programs
81
Mark Francischetti ’76 recruited students through the Gold Card Alumni Scholarship Program
Marissa Gunn ’05 moderated a panel of African-American alumni
Fran Fiorino ’78 represented Juniata at a college fair in New Jersey
Your Time is Valuable
Doug Spotts ’89 hosted an alumni event for healthcare professionals
Heather (Lecrone) Ott ’09 helped to plan her five-year reunion
Shane Gallagher ’10 served as president of the Central PA Juniata Club
Tracking volunteerism can be tedious, so why do it? Volunteer participation is one of the measures of success that impacts Juniata’s ability to receive grants and other funding. When you volunteer your time for Juniata, don’t forget to let us know! Report your volunteer hours and learn about other volunteer opportunities at www.juniata.edu/alumni.
Nicole Close ’92 hired a Juniata student intern
Christopher Bair ’92 served on the Information Technology Advisory Board
Mike Valdiserri ’81 recruited students for the football program
Bonnie (Wineland) Crawford ’64 welcomed seniors into the Alumni Association at Senior Salute
Vol. 15 Issue 1
Juniata News
| Juniata
Good as Gold
82
Shelly Miller-W itiak ’93 a prestigious Fu earned some se lbright rious bragging Fellowship to te rights. Four year ach English s ago, she in Russia. Not on successfully recr ly did Shelly uited a new actively recruit student to her al Molly, she ma mater. did so through th Molly Adler ’15 e Gold Card proved to be Alumni Scholars an active campu hip Program s leader, a which provided stand-out in the a $1,000 classroom, scholarship each and was recently of Molly’s awarded four years at Ju niata.
You can earn br agging rights of your ow n by recruiting a stud ent with the Gold Card Pr ogram. Visit www.juni ata.edu/ alumnischolars hip to learn more, or us e the card in the cent er of this magazine.
Fun for All Ages!
& Family Weekend Oct. 2–4, 2015 80th Anniversary of Bands Reunion and Concert
Class Reunions
2000 2005 2010
juniata.edu/hc Online registration begins August 1.
The Power of the Juniata Network
Mo lly
Sollenberger ’
10
J es sica Matlack ’14
2015 Spring-Summer |
’10 During Juniata Career Day 2014, Molly Sollenberger ts studen l Severa g. Staffin JFC represented her employer, ess eagern and ence, confid ma, charis the but table, stopped by the to Molly led er of Jessica Matlack ’14 to become a staff manag g Temps Branch recommend Jessica to her managers. The JFC Staffin although the and, iately immed ew intervi an Manager called Jessica for was successful a Jessic us, rigoro and long is s proces ew company’s intervi to “pay it forward” ued contin a and had a job lined up upon graduation. Jessic for JFC Staffing work to came ally eventu by referring Angela Myers ’14, who g together at Staffin JFC ented repres a Jessic and Molly as well. This year, ary 26, 2016. Febru on Day Career Day, and hope to do so again during Career
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Marriages Kara A. Elias ’01
and Amy Saranchuk were united in marriage on Aug. 11, 2012, in Groton, N.Y.
Joanna M. Acri ’04
and Gregory Burrows were united in marriage on Aug. 2, 2014, in Hershey, Pa.
Maria S. Bowman ’04
and James Munn were united in marriage on April 26, 2014, in Grottoes, Va. Juniata alumni in attendance were Rebekah (Helsel) Carswell ’01, Virginia Meadows ’03, Matthew Henry ’04, Breanna (Daum) Henry ’05 and Teresa Ralicki ’05.
Sara J. Cain ’04
and Brent Belanger were united in marriage on Sept. 12, 2014, in Stevensville, Md. Juniata alumni in attendance were Cara Helstrom ’04, Danielle (Stiffler) Tirserio ’04, and Robert Tirserio ’04.
Erin M. Baney ’05 and Benjamin T. Wetzel ’04
were united in marriage on June 8, 2013, in Howard, Pa. Juniata alumni and staff in attendance were (l-r) Jamie (Peretich) Kohler ’04, Carolyn Keller ’05, Amara (Camp) Dunn ’05, Erin Baney ’05, Benjamin Wetzel ’04, Juniata chaplain Rev. L. David Witkovsky, Charles Parson ’80, and Christopher Kohler ’04.
Drew M. Haerer ’05
| Juniata
and Mary May Pratt were united in marriage on Sept. 6, 2014.
84
Caitlin H. Hinson ’08 and Shawn D. McDonald ’08
were united in marriage on Jan. 2, 2014, in Gros Islet, St. Lucia. In attendance at the destination wedding was Juniata classmate, Matthew Schmidt ’08. Caitlin and Shawn also hosted a wedding reception on Feb. 8, 2014, in Pittsburgh, Pa., at which additional Juniata alumni were in attendance.
Emily M. Hauser ’09
and Dzarnyi Pukuma were united in marriage in Pittsburgh, Pa. on July 26, 2014. Juniata alumni in attendance were Kelly (Ashcraft) Pearce ’09, Gina Piccolini ’09, Jessica (Winemiller) Gibboney ’08, Courtney Callas ’08, Mindy Werner ’08, Travis Sumner ’08, Jill Walsh ’08, Sara Cieslewicz ’09, Jessica (Milheim) McCoy ’09, and Jennifer Hnatuck ’11.
Tyler J. Kochel ’09
and Christina Ceccato were united in marriage on April 26, 2014.
Angela M. Riotto ’10 and Kyle M. Stankus ’09
were united in marriage on Nov. 8, 2014. Angela is pursuing a doctorate in American history at the University of Akron, and Kyle is working as team sports and fitness department lead at Dicks Sporting Goods in Akron, Ohio.
Sarah E. Slat ’10 and Patrick T. McShane ’11
were united in marriage on June 28, 2014, in Hollidaysburg, Pa. Juniata alumni and faculty in attendance were (l-r) Robert Bond ’84, Julie (Robbins) Bond ’85, Scott Holzhauer ’10, Erin Bean Halteman ’12, Evan Halteman ’10, Zachary Cupler ’11, Molly (Harlacker) Cupler ’10, Kyle Blauvelt ’10, Emily Koval ’11, Jessica (Kline) Burlingame ’09, Wade Branstetter ’11, Daniel Follett ’11, Claudia McDowell ’09, Christopher Burlingame ’09, Michelle Morchesky ’10, Anthony Damiano ’10, Patrick McShane ’11, Sarah Slat ’10, Blake Colaianne ’11, Erica Bennett ’09, Kathleen Biddle, J. Mark McKellop, Bethany Kozak Chamberlain ’09, Aaron Chamberlain ’07, Kathie (Wareham) Gasper ’74, Kathryn Westcott, and Joseph Grappone ’75. Also in attendance but not pictured were brothers of the bride David Slat ’02 and Christopher Slat ’06.
Leah M. Tester ’13 and Joshua L. Graybeal ’13
were united in marriage on May 17, 2014, in Lancaster, Pa. Juniata alumni in attendance were bridesmaid Ellen Swanson ’13, as well as Katherine Graves ’12, Robert Parker ’13, and Zachary Alexakos ’13.
Janice L. Jackson ’14
and Nicholas Bryan were married on Sept. 6, 2014. Janice also began a new position as a food inspector for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in August 2014.
2015 Spring-Summer | 85
It’s the Great Pumpkin . . . Justin Reiter ’02 didn’t study biology or chemistry at Juniata, but despite this, he has quite the green thumb. So much so that he’s taken up growing giant pumpkins that flirt with the 2,000-pound mark. PHOTO: COURTESY OF JUSTIN REITER ’02
Q: What inspired you to grow gigantic pumpkins? A: When my wife Holly and I started dating, our third date was at her parents’ house, where they were cutting a giant pumpkin from the vine to take to a weigh-off the next morning. The following year, I basically shadowed her father, Russ Baptiste, who was growing two giant pumpkins. I’d drive to their house every Saturday morning hanging out in the pumpkin patch, pulling weeds, training vines, and learning the art of giant pumpkin growing. In the fall of 2010, I experienced a pumpkin weigh-off, where the two Russ grew weighed in at 902 and 907 pounds, securing 28th and 29th place. The 907-pound pumpkin was used as a decoration outside of our wedding reception on October 30, 2010, and I was hooked. Q: Where do your get your seeds? A: The first seeds I ever planted in 2013 were from the same 907-pound pumpkin that was at our wedding reception. The entire first year was a learning experience. Last year, I used two seeds: a Baptiste 907 and a Brady 1058. As a member of the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers, seeds are readily available for purchase or trade with other giant pumpkin enthusiasts. Q: How long does it take to grow a giant pumpkin? A: The process starts indoors, in mid to late April with the germination of the seeds. I transfer the plants to their hoop houses in the pumpkin patch in early May. I’ll try to get a pumpkin pollinated in early June and the actual fruit grows until late September. At this point the pumpkin is cut and taken to the weigh-off in early October.
Q: What is the process and how much time does it take out of your day? A: Giant pumpkin growing is indeed a process. After the plants are outside in the pumpkin patch, I train the vines to grow in a certain pattern, begin a feed and disease prevention regiment, and continue to pinch off tertiary vines and unwanted female flowers. The first two months are the most work, as I bury side vines, keep the insects under control, and keep a very close eye on the growth rate. I’m not as serious as some growers who spend 20-30 hours a week in their pumpkin patch. I try to spend an hour each evening during the week. On Saturday mornings I’m in the pumpkin patch from 6 a.m. until late morning. Q: How much has your largest pumpkin weighed and what is your goal weight? A: In my first growing year, we estimated the weight at around 450 pounds, but didn’t enter it in the weigh-off. Last year, I captured 20th place with a 1,106-pound pumpkin. This year I’m shooting for 1,500 pounds with a goal to place in the top 15. Q: Where do you take them for competition? A: We take our pumpkins to Canfield, Ohio in early October. Last year, they had a livestream of the event and I had many fans watching online as pumpkin competitors tried to knock me out of the lead. Q: What happens to the pumpkin after the competition? A: After the competition last year, my pumpkin went on a mini-tour. It visited a fall festival at our church and a birthday party for our one-year-old cousin. After the end of the tour, we cut it open, took out all of the seeds, and composted it.
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF JUSTIN REITER ’02
86
—Christina (Garman) Miller ’01, assistant director of alumni relations
Births Julie (Hoffer) Caplinger ’00
and husband Matthew are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Madison Grace, on July 29, 2014.
Sarah C. Worley ’00 and Ryan L. Wetzel ’06
are proud to announce the birth of their son, Elliott David, on Nov. 14, 2014. Elliott was welcomed home by proud big brother Owen.
Colleen (McLaughlin) Bauer ’01
and husband David are proud to announce the birth of their son, Logan Parker, on Dec. 11, 2014.
Alison B. Goodman ’01
and husband Tim Strait are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Lyra Brook Ann, on Dec. 15, 2014. Lyra was welcomed home by big brother Elliott.
Amanda L. Kohr ’01
Timothy S. Rickards ’05
Timothy S. Musselman ’01
Lindsey (Snyder) Swearman ’06
and wife Rachel are proud to announce the birth of their son, Nathaniel Robert, on July 24, 2012, and daughter, Josephine Harper, on April 10, 2013. and wife Kerri are proud to announce the birth of their son, Calum Scott, on Feb. 4, 2015.
Erin (Pappariella) Doan ’02 and Jacob M. Doan ’02 are proud to announce the birth of their son, Luke Pappariella Doan, on Nov. 12, 2014.
Justin K. Reiter ’02
and wife Holly are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Paisley Autumn, on Dec. 12, 2014.
Tiffany (Wagner) Shockey ’02 and Benjamin L. Shockey ’00
and wife Erin are proud to announce the birth of their son, Lucas, on Nov. 17, 2014. Lucas was welcomed home by big brother Caleb, 3. and husband Michael are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Abigail Teresa, on Dec. 2, 2014. Abigail was welcomed home by big brother Zachary, 2.
Dana (Reist) Custer ’07 and Seth W. Custer ’05
are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Beatrice Rose, on Feb. 14, 2015.
Kellyn (Zeuner) Jaspan ’07
and husband Scott are proud to announce the birth of their son, Emerson James, on Dec. 23, 2014.
are proud to announce the birth of their first child, daughter Adrienne Mercy, on May 25, 2014.
Andrea (Denkovich) Daly ’04
and husband Ryan are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Ashlyn Grace, on Feb. 2, 2015.
Jennifer Habel Hall ’04
and husband Brian are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Montgomery Jane, on March 29, 2014.
Sean A. Waddle ’04
and wife Meghan are proud to announce the birth of their son, Everett Allen, on Jan. 19, 2015.
2015 Spring-Summer | 87
I met a Juniata alum in the most unusual place... William Phillips ’70, the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, was a guest speaker at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., where I teach organic chemistry (using David Reingold’s textbook). A physics teacher at my school went to an event that Phillips was attending. I asked her to tell him she worked with a Juniata grad and invite him to do a presentation at our school and he graciously agreed. He presented information about his research at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). The students really enjoyed his presentation and liquid nitrogen demos. —Megan (Dieckman) Hart ’07
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M. in October I was in Santa Fe, N. ost Ranch, the 2014 and visited Gh ia O’Keefe, org Ge desert home of n (Norvig) sa Su o int n where I ra Townsend ’63. rd) Maran ’64 —Janice (Wenge
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Prior to C hri are shipp stmas, many boxe ed aroun d the worl s so happe d. It ned that a box des for our h tined ome (the Albrechts misdelive ) wa red to an other hom s our winte e in r commu nity of Be Rocks in ar Acme, Pa . (the Albri The Albri ghts). ghts did a Google se and foun arch d us to be nearby in commun the ity our packa and delivered both ge and an invitation their upc oming Ch to ristmas p While att arty. ending th is Joseph S lick ’59 fr party, I met om Fores Pa., who t Hills, was there with his significan to to learn th ther. It was great at his Jun iata grou continue p s to get to gether ev month fo ery r lunch in Pittsburg and that h it is still g oing stro What a w ng. onderful meeting evening m and aking a n ew Junia connectio ta n and sh aring sto ries. —Nicole Close ’92
I attende d the Pen nsylvania Modern L State anguage Ass conferen ce in State ociation Co in Octobe r 2014, wh llege, Pa., ere I disc that one overed of my gro up memb Brandi M ers, artin ’05 ,w graduate , too. Bran as a Juniata di teacher a nd I am a is a Spanish French te We had a ach fun few d ays togeth er. learning er about lan guage an discussin d also g our Jun iata mem —Sarah ori (Prokopic k) Crawfo es. rd ’00
My fa m outsid ily and I w ere hi e of W ki friend il s, wh kes-Barre, ng in Ricke ich m P trail. tts Gle a. We ad At n Stat were e allow one narro e us a part hikin y of 10 ing us w poi g with Park nt, I n to pas s them o t ther r etche oti .I s. heard nodded he At first I d ced a coup d out alon le id g ll t oldest he woman o and a tha not recogn off to the s the ide nk yo ask w ize eit daugh u for ho wa her of daugh ter wa let s te s Junia r answere wearing a from Junia ting us pas ta s. d ta J looke —me and that both h uniata swe because m I d a lit my w a e y t r s p h a i tle clo i r r and E ser an fe, Julie (A ents had a t. My le zar) M ttend d reco minu anor “Nor ed cM gni i” te and th s about Jun (Kocum) L zed them a onagle ’89 .I e s i e into f n continue ata and the wis ’90. We Erick Lew ellow i d s ’89 h c h o ik n our a alum way. ing experie tted a few ni. Alway nce in sap the pa rk —Jam leasure to ru es Mc Mona n gle ’8 9
I both Joel Ranck ’90 and m fro married Peruvians a, Lim of rb bu the same su of ds od e th e ar at Peru. Wh , ell Gis that? Joel, his wife e, m d ite inv and son Noah o, and my husband Alfred er for ov na ian Ar er ht ug da goat. ed cu a dinner of barbe r ’91 lde Za e ett nn —Jea
We were on a cruise departing from Amsterdam in October 2014. On a pre-tour luncheon before the cruise, we were seated next to a couple from Pennsylvania. We said we went to a small college in Pennsylvania and Lewis Rarig ’66 said he had graduated from Juniata, too. Small world. —Rolfe Wenner ’64 and Sara (Colbourne) Wenner ’64
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WE WANT TO PRINT YOUR STORY . . . Tell us the most unusual place or circumstance where you met another Juniata alumna/us and we will highlight it in an upcoming Juniata Magazine.
2015 Spring-Summer |
PLEASE SEND YOUR STORY TO . . . Dawn Scialabba, Alumni Relations Assistant Alumni Relations Office, Juniata College 1700 Moore Street, Huntingdon, PA 16652 Fax: 814-641-3446 Email: scialad@juniata.edu
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Obituaries Anna (App) Gifford ’36
February 12, 2015—Anna taught elementary education until moving to Lockport, N.Y. with her husband Preston, where she worked at Montgomery Ward. Anna was an active member of Emmanuel United Methodist Church and volunteered at the Lockport Public Library. She was preceded in death by her husband and is survived by children John, Janet, and James, and nine grandchildren.
Ruth (Ulery) Garman ’41
July 17, 2014—Ruth married her husband, John, in 1942 and they began a partnership of ministry and service. In 1950, they relocated to Saskatchewan, Canada to begin ministry there. They helped to establish the Massey Place Brethren in Christ Church and operated The Trading Post in Saskatoon. After John’s death, Ruth returned to Pennsylvania, where she continued her active life. Ruth loved singing, fishing, and traveling, visiting 46 countries during her life. She took up golf in her late 60s and enjoyed sports, especially following her daughters’ softball and golf careers. She is survived by daughters Judi and Lorraine, sons Henry and Bruce, and four grandchildren.
Lorma (Ruble) Holsinger ’41
January 3, 2015—Lorma taught in Hanover and Mifflin County schools for 29 years as a music educator. She was a member of the Spring Run Church of the Brethren in McVeytown, Pa., where she served as organist. Lorma was an active volunteer at Lewistown Hospital and belonged to the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees, the Delta Kappa Gamma Society, and the Mifflin County Historical Society. She was preceded in death by her husband, J. Garwood Holsinger ’43, and is survived by son, Steven Holsinger ’76, daughter Kay, grandson Christopher Holsinger ’17, and nephew Duane Ruble ’65.
Willard C. Sackett ’41
February 2, 2015—Bill served as district sales manager for Wayne Feeds and Allied Mills Co. from 1940 to 1971. He was a member of the Jesus Messiah Evangelical Free Church in Hanover, Pa. Bill was preceded in death by wife Ruth and son Robert. He is survived by his son Charles “Chick” Sackett ’69 and two grandchildren.
Dorothy H. Brumbaugh ’42
October 25, 2014—Dorothy spent 40 years as an elementary teacher in the Altoona Area School District. She loved working with children and was a lifetime member of the teachers’ association. Dorothy was an active member of Altoona Grace Brethren Church, where she taught Sunday school and was active in the women’s group.
Robert J. Brumbaugh ’42
September 11, 2014—Robert was the owner and president of W.B. Coleman Testing Laboratories in Philadelphia. He developed and was recognized for many patents in chemistry and served the federal government as a chemist. Robert was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Shiremanstown, Pa., and enjoyed gardening and investing in the financial markets. He was the brother of Donald Brumbaugh ’39 and Eugene Brumbaugh ’46, both deceased. He is survived by wife Anne, daughters Deborah, Susan, and Barbara, and six grandchildren.
Charles W. Catherman ’43
November 2, 2014—Charles was a member of the U.S. Air Force as a trained aerial gunner-radio operator and later received commission as a P-47 pilot. After his years of military service, Charles worked in the newsroom of the Hazelton (Pa.) Standard-Speaker for 36 years. He was a member of the Conyngham United Methodist Church and the Conyngham Recreation Board, where he served as a manager of Whispering Willows Park. Charles is survived by wife Shirley, children Chas, Pamela, and Corinne, and seven grandchildren.
James A. Heath Jr. ’43
January 30, 2015—James was retired from employment with the United States Office of Economic Opportunity in the human resources department. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He enjoyed reading, fishing, and playing tennis. James is survived by son Jonathan and one grandson.
Marian (Horner) Kimmel ’43
January 8, 2015—Marian was a dietitian for the Cherry Hill School District in New Jersey until retiring in 1986. She was a member of the Wine Tasters and the Cosmopolitan Dance Club and she supported Marian’s Attic, an upscale thrift shop named after her to benefit the Laurel House shelter for victims of domestic violence. Marian was preceded in death by her first husband Calvin Loew, second husband Earl Kimmel, and son Jack. She is survived by daughter Cheryl and four grandchildren.
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PHOTO: VALERIE HERSH ’16
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December 21, 2014—Betty taught home economics at Chittenango High School in Chittenango, N.Y. for many years. She was an active member of First Baptist Church of Chittenango and enjoyed reading, sewing, playing bridge, and traveling. Betty was preceded in death by husband Lloyd Noffsinger ’42 and daughter Susan. She is survived by son Timothy, grandson Daniel, and niece Nicole (Simkins) Putt ’75.
Community Church. Jane was preceded in death by her husband James and sister Margretta (Madden) Styles ’50. She is survived by son Jeff, daughter Beth, four grandchildren, and brother Joseph Madden ’49.
Eugene R. Brumbaugh ’46
November 14, 2014—Joyce was a homemaker and supported her husband, James, in the ministry for 20 years before retiring to Maryland. She then worked for the Talbot County Health Department for 10 years and was a member of the Calvary Baptist Church, where she was involved in various church ministries. Joyce enjoyed gardening and playing the piano and organ. She was preceded in death by her husband and is survived by son Leonard, daughter Charlotte, and two grandchildren.
January 23, 2015—Gene worked at Shell Oil Company as a division geophysicist from 1946-1981, retiring from Shell to be a regional geophysical manager for Tomlinson Interests Inc. He went on to be a consulting geophysicist and served as an expert witness in legal proceedings regarding geophysical issues. Gene was an active member of the International Society of Exploration Geophysicists, serving as president, and of numerous other professional associations. Gene served as a member of the Juniata Alumni Council and as an alumni trustee. He was preceded in death by brothers Donald Brumbaugh ’39 and Robert Brumbaugh ’42. His wife of 68 years, Miriam (Yoder) Brumbaugh ’45, died two weeks after Gene’s death. He is survived by daughters Cynthia and Deborah and two grandchildren.
Miriam (Yoder) Brumbaugh ’45
Mary Martha (Dilling) Brown ’47
Joyce (Lehmann) Beeson ’45
February 6, 2015—Miriam was a volunteer and member of many organizations such as Girl Scouts, hospital auxiliaries, and the New Orleans Geological Society Auxiliary. She loved entertaining guests and traveling with her husband. Miriam was an accomplished pianist and talented knitter. She enjoyed New Orleans Saints football games, Mardi Gras, and playing bridge. She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, Eugene Brumbaugh ’46, and is survived by daughters Cynthia and Deborah, two grandchildren, and brother Paul Yoder ’47.
Helen (Keller) Foster ’45
July 14, 2014—Helen was retired from a career as a teacher in the Quaker Valley School District in Sewickley, Pa. She was preceded in death by husband Len and is survived by son John Foster ’72, daughter Nancy, and two grandchildren.
Jane (Madden) Rupp ’45
Harry L. Bryant ’47
January 10, 2015—Harry was a former Juniata College Alumni Council member. He was preceded in death by wife Rozella (Deemer) Bryant ’47 and is survived by sons Lee, Greg, and Scott, daughter Brooke, and seven grandchildren.
Glenn P. Holsinger ’47
March 9, 2015—Glenn served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and attained the rank of first lieutenant during World War II. He retired as vice president of claims from Mutual Benefit Group insurance company in Huntingdon, Pa. He was a member of the Memorial Church of the Brethren in Martinsburg, Pa., where he sang in the choir, and the Huntingdon Kiwanis Club. Glenn enjoyed playing cards, bowling, golfing, hunting,
and fishing. Glenn is survived by wife Virginia Minor Holsinger ’50, sons Dennis and Greg, and seven grandchildren.
Betty Jane (Summers) Wheeler ’47
October 3, 2014—Betty Jane, of Toronto, Ont., was preceded in death by husband Arthur and is survived by sons David and John, daughter Heather, and seven grandchildren.
Constance (Loizeaux) Patterson ’48
December 20, 2014—Constance was a longtime member of Terrill Road Bible Chapel in Fanwood, N.J., and actively supported her husband William in his role as an elder there. She was preceded in death by her husband and is survived by her sons Bruce and David, daughters Peggy and Polly, and 10 grandchildren.
Mary Lou (Meyers) Burkholder ’49 December 24, 2014—Mary Lou worked as a dietitian at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa., and then as a home economics teacher at Biglerville Junior-Senior High School. She was active as a church volunteer at the
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January 12, 2015—Jane, most recently of St. Petersburg, Fla., was an academic advisor at St. Petersburg Junior College. She obtained her pilot’s license and enjoyed flying. Jane was a member of Eastern Star and the Pasadena
December 18, 2013—“Marti” was an English professor and chair of the Christian education department at Taylor University in Fort Wayne, Ind. Previously, she had been a high school teacher in Glendale, Calif. and a kindergarten teacher in Gas City, Ind. Mary was preceded in death by husband, Thomas, and is survived by daughters Bonnie and Marilee, son Dan, and seven grandchildren.
PHOTO: VALERIE HERSH ’16
A. Elizabeth (Simkins) Noffsinger ’43
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Barbara, Bette Anne, and Becky, ten grandchildren, and sister Barbara (Lape) Gainous ’53.
Charles E. Allison Jr. ’51
February 3, 2015—Charles was a World War II veteran and served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army for four years. He worked as a teacher and guidance counselor before becoming a school psychologist for 20 years. Charles also worked as the director of the Wayward Youth program at the YMCA and with Goodwill. He was a member of Roxbury Church of the Brethren, chairman of the board of the Church of the Brethren Nursing Home for 25 years, on the board of directors at Conemaugh Memorial Hospital, and on the Foster Grandparent Advisory Council in Cambria County. He is survived by wife LaRue (Seese) Allison ’51, sons Doug and Craig, daughter Gayle, and five grandchildren.
Elsie (Beard) Lowry ’51 PHOTO: VALERIE HERSH ’16
Gettysburg Church of the Brethren, serving as deacon, Sunday School teacher, and on various committees. Mary Lou enjoyed golfing, playing bridge, painting, quilting, knitting, and gardening. She also participated in a round-robin letter with 14 of her Juniata friends. Mary Lou was preceded in death by husband Paul and daughter Elaine. She is survived by daughter Lisa, son Timothy, and four grandchildren.
Carolyn (Hess) Frye ’49
October 2, 2014—Carolyn lived in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida. She was preceded in death by husband Harry and sons Mark and Chris. Carolyn is survived by son Greg.
George D. Hower ’49
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October 18, 2014—George served in the U.S. Army and had been employed with the FBI, as a teacher in the Tyrone Area School District, and as a supervisor at GTE Sylvania. He was a member of the Duncansville Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Juniata Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8685, and the Blair County Game, Fish, and Forestry Association. George enjoyed hiking, meteorology, hunting, gardening, and travel. He is survived by his wife Jean, daughters Kathryn and Janis, son Richard, and four grandchildren.
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Rex W. Hershberger ’50
February 19, 2015—Rex co-founded and managed the Hershberger & Myers Insurance Agency in Martinsburg, Pa., continuing in that capacity for 40 years until his retirement in 1993. Rex served in numerous community service organizations, including the Morrison’s Cove Rotary Club, Memorial Park Board, Martinsburg Housing Authority, and Nason Hospital board of directors. He was an active member of Martinsburg Memorial Church of the Brethren and was a member of the Juniata College Alumni Council, receiving the Alumni Service Award in 1981. Rex and his wife, Dorothy “Dottie” (Lehman) Hershberger ’50, made hospitality the center of their lives, opening their home to numerous gatherings of friends, family, and College alumni. Rex is survived by wife Dottie, daughter Kimber Hershberger ’75, sons Loren, Bernie, and Daniel, brother James Hershberger ’50, and seven grandchildren, including Brenton Mitchell ’06 and Eli Hershberger ’13.
Charles K. Lape ’50
November 19, 2014—Charles was a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served in World War II, and was a member of the Sykesville American Legion. He is survived by wife Anna (Brumbaugh) Lape ’49, children C. Kenneth,
December 6, 2014—Elsie was a homemaker and enjoyed reading, learning about history, and doing crafts. She was a member of the Women’s Club of McConnellsburg, the Fulton County Medical Auxiliary, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the Waynesboro Church of the Brethren. Elsie was preceded in death by husband Robert Lowry ’50. She is survived by daughter Susan (Lowry) Hare ’75, daughter Sharon, son Cameron, and six grandchildren.
Quayton R. Stottlemyer ’51
November 24, 2014—Quayton was a retired senior research chemist for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. He was a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society. In 1998, Quayton donated to the College an extensive art collection of more than 300 works, which now comprises most of the permanent collection of the Juniata College Museum of Art. Quayton was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters during Juniata’s Commencement ceremony in 2002. His wife Dorothy died in February 2015 and he is survived by son David.
Lois (Robinson) Darby ’52
October 12, 2014—Lois, most recently of Audubon, Pa., was preceded in death by her husband, Clement. Lois is survived by son Stephen, daughters Susanne and Beth, and nine grandchildren.
Lloyd E. Mauck ’53
February 4, 2015—Lloyd, of Frederick, Md., was a master plumber and retired from Eastalco Aluminum in 1992. He enjoyed traveling and once took a six-month cross-country trip to Alaska. Lloyd was an active member of the Frederick Church of the Brethren and served on the building committee. He was a lifetime member of the Elks Club of Frederick and the Catoctin Club. Lloyd is survived by wife Martha (Petre) Mauck ’53, son L. Edward, daughter Aimee, and three grandsons.
Robert S. Mould ’53
June 7, 2013—Robert is survived by wife Donna.
Carl N. Rutherford ’54
December 1, 2014—Carl served as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for almost 40 years, retiring in 1992. He was a chairman of the Central Pennsylvania Historical Society and a member of the Snyder County Historical Society and Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. He had a great interest in railroads and trains and genealogy. He was preceded in death by wife Arlene. Carl is survived by daughter Susan and two grandchildren.
Margaret (Barrington) Shafer ’54
May 27, 2014—Margaret, most recently of Campbell, Calif., was 81 years of age at the time of her death.
Methodist Church in Carlisle, Pa., and enjoyed being part of the women’s prayer shawl group. She was preceded in death by husband Ernest and is survived by sons David and Michael, daughters Susan and Debra, and eight grandchildren. Gail (Roach) Mack ’55 November 28, 2014—Gail received a master’s degree in mathematics from Purdue University. She was then employed for many years in the data processing division of the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, retiring in 1995. She was a member of Southern Hills United Methodist Church. Gail is survived by husband John, sons Wayne and Eldon, daughter Ruth, and five grandchildren.
George J. O’Brien ’55
January 14, 2015—George served in the Pennsylvania National Guard and was called to active service during the Korean War. He was a member of the U.S. Army basketball team which won the European Command championship. George had a career in secondary education in Waynesboro and Langhorne (Pa.) as a mathematics and social teacher, basketball coach, athletic director, and principal. He was president of District 1 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. George loved traveling and playing golf. He is survived by wife
Joanne, sons Michael, Timothy, and Stephen, and three grandchildren.
Stanley L. Schrock ’55
January 8, 2015—A Korean War veteran, Stanley was a chiropractor and owner of Schrock Chiropractic until retiring in 1997. He was a member of Sigma Phi Kappa Fraternity, the Pennsylvania Chiropractic Society, the American Chiropractic Society, and Grace United Methodist Church. Stanley loved traveling, music, and sports. He is survived by wife Sarah, sons Greg, Kirk, and Mark, six grandchildren, sister Loretta (Schrock) Davidson ’60, and cousin Ashley DeMauro ’08.
Bonnie (Brumbaugh) Frijters ’56
March 3, 2015—Bonnie was a retired music teacher, serving for more than 20 years at Juniata Valley Elementary School in Alexandria, Pa. She was an active member of the Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon, where she was a member of the choir and a deacon. Bonnie was active in the Huntingdon County Arts Council, the Huntingdon County Historical Society, and the Huntingdon Area Educational Foundation, where she assisted with the placement of many high school foreign exchange students into local residences. She was a volunteer for Huntingdon House and enjoyed painting, gardening, and attending concerts and plays. Bonnie was preceded in death by sister
Thomas M. Appleby Jr. ’55
November 15, 2014—Thomas, most recently of Mays Landing, N.J., is survived by wife Barbara.
Joann (Feight) Baughman ’55
March 10, 2015—Joann retired in 1993 from teaching in the Everett (Pa.) Area School District and was an active member of the Everett Church of the Brethren. She served as social services chairperson for the Bedford chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees and was a member for over 50 years of the Order of the Eastern Star. Joann enjoyed camping, reading, doing crossword puzzles, cross-stitching, and traveling. Joann was preceded in death by daughter Lori. She is survived by husband Wayne, son Barry, daughter Tracy, and two grandchildren.
Patricia (Fair) Brown ’55
PHOTO: VALERIE HERSH ’16
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January 3, 2015—Patricia was a homemaker and had worked for J.C. Penney in Chambersburg, Pa. She was a member of the Otterbein United
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Jane Brumbaugh Gough ’60. She is survived by sons E. Nathan, Hans, and Ethan, five grandchildren, and niece Diana Gough ’89.
death by his sister Charlotte (Stutzman) Frantz ’47 and brother Blair. He is survived by sister Helen (Stutzman) Hollinger ’54 and brother Lyle.
Carl J. Valore Jr. ’56
Kay (Hoffman) Swivel ’58
December 1, 2012
Robert E. Smith ’57
February 26, 2015—Robert is survived by wife Patricia and brother George Smith ’50.
John S. Barger ’58
December 31, 2014—John was a naval aviator and made several tours of duty on aircraft carriers, one in Vietnam. He also worked as an electrical engineer and enjoyed pleasure sailing, both in his home state of Florida and in the Virgin Islands. John is survived by wife Betty, son Jeff, daughters Debbie and Cheryl, and five grandchildren.
Earl J. Stutzman ’58
August 22, 2014—“E.J.” was a music educator and taught in the Cleveland (Ohio) public schools. He sang as a member of the Robert Shaw Chorale and traveled to Austria and Germany to study music and German. After retirement, he relocated to Arizona where he organized a homeowners’ association to preserve a historic residential community and also championed the needs of the disenfranchised. E.J. was preceded in
November 5, 2014—Kay worked as an elementary school and middle school teacher until her retirement in 1993. She was a member of St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church in Huntingdon, Pa., the Huntingdon chapter of the American Association of University Women, the Standing Stone Garden Club, and Daughters of the American Revolution. Kay enjoyed reading, playing cards, and traveling. She is survived by husband Thomas, daughter Lori (Swivel) Fowler ’85, son Thomas Swivel ’87, and four grandchildren.
Elizabeth A. Shearer ’59
January 20, 2015—Elizabeth taught middle school in Harrisburg, Pa. and served on the school council. She became a regular winter resident of Port Charlotte, Fla. and was a member of the National Education Association and the Church of the Brethren in Manheim. Elizabeth was preceded in death by husband, Michael.
Lois (Hershberger) Brown ’60
January 31, 2015—Lois, of Montgomery, Ill., served for 30 years as an advocate and case manager for children and adults with developmental disabilities.
She enjoyed knitting and reading. She is survived by son Timothy, daughters Amy, Lisa, and Mari, 13 grandchildren, brother James, and sister Martha (Hershberger) Thien ’64.
Jane (Brumbaugh) Gough ’60
November 4, 2014—Jane was an English teacher for the Prince George’s County (Md.) public school system and also for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. She was a program analyst at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Space Systems Technology Department from 1983 to 2000. She enjoyed music and performed in numerous musical groups. Jane was very involved in her community and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation in 1989. She received the Harold B. Brumbaugh Alumni Service Award from Juniata College in 2014. Jane is survived by husband Robert, daughters Diana Gough ’89, and Shelley, and three grandchildren. Sister Bonnie (Brumbaugh) Frijters ’56 followed Jane in death in March, 2015.
Lynn Streightiff ’63
March 21, 2015—Lynn was a journalist for The Daily News in Huntingdon, Pa. and was an amateur theater enthusiast. He was a founding member of The Playhouse at McConnellstown, where he was active in sponsoring and directing plays. He is survived by brother Charles.
Larry D. Landini ’64
February 12, 2015—After graduating from Juniata, Larry become a football coach at the College and later continued his coaching career at Bucknell University and the University of Connecticut. He retired from coaching in 1980 and began working at Elizabeth Carbide Die Co., Inc., retiring as vice president of sales and marketing. Larry enjoyed spending time with friends, especially over a round of golf, a hand of cards, or at a University of Pittsburgh football game. Larry is survived by wife Janet, sons Pete and Mark, and two grandchildren.
Edwin L. McCurdy ’65
October 16, 2014—Edwin worked in residential construction and improvement. He is survived by son Ian.
Jill M. Tulman ’66
March 20, 2013—Jill was living in Paris, France, at the time of her death.
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PHOTO: AMBER BORING ’18
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JoAnn (Kent) Nace ’72
October 14, 2014—Joann was owner and editor of the Buck Saver Magazine in Boyertown, Pa. She was preceded in death by husband George.
Susanne (Hitchner) Wolf ’75
December 18, 2014—Susanne was a teacher and an administrator in the Simi Valley School District in California for 29 years. She is survived by husband Michael, sons Christopher and Brian, daughters Kristen and Melanie, and four grandchildren.
Cordelia (Foy) Fisher ’77
March 20, 2015—Cordelia was retired after 30 years of service as a biology and microbiology teacher at Bellwood-Antis School District (Pa.). She was also on the staff at the Jon C. Russin Funeral Home in Bellwood. She was a member of Hillside Community Church and enjoyed reading, gardening, and birdwatching. Cordelia is survived by husband Robert and daughter Jessica Fisher ’10.
PHOTO: VALERIE HERSH ’16
R. Douglas Mease ’81
January 30, 2015—Doug was employed as a case worker at the Huntingdon offices of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. He was a member and president of the Mount Union (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Company and a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association baseball and softball umpire. Doug enjoyed bowling, golf, and was an avid sports fan. He is survived by wife Deborah and daughters Kim and Stephanie.
Eric B. Foster ’83
May 17, 2014—Eric worked in pharmaceutical research and development and volunteered for his local fire departments. He loved to travel and enjoyed spending his summers in Cape Cod, Mass. Eric is survived by wife Victoria, daughters Sara and Lauren, and son Benjamin.
Judith M. Pepoy ’83
October 16, 2014—Judy began her career at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., where she was employed for more than 30 years. Her last mission was as a spacecraft analyst working on the Solar Dynamics Observatory. She had a great love for animals and enjoyed doing home improvement projects.
Marc S. Nelson ’89
November 21, 2014—Marc worked for many years with Duttera Sound Services and did freelance work for Showtime and Forty-Two Event Productions. He served as technical director for the Strand-Capital Theater in York, Pa. Marc liked being on stage doing plays, loved to golf, and was an avid fan of the New York Yankees.
Celeste (Heffner) Brion ’00
February 23, 2015—Celeste worked in the information technology department at Omega Financial in State College. She was a talented jewelry maker and loved computers, scrapbooking, and her animals. She is survived by father Clair, fiancé Michael Chero, brothers Troy and Steve, and sisters Dawn and Denise.
Christopher J. Haley ’02
Hilda V. Nathan, retired employee
March 2, 2015—Hilda was born and educated in Germany and moved to the United States after the deaths of her parents and brother Eric. She started her career as a teacher at the Huntingdon (Pa.) Secretarial School and became part of the Kenneth Fleming family of Huntingdon. In 1946 she began employment at the College as assistant treasurer, a position she held until her retirement in 1976. During her tenure, Hilda was known for doing all that she could do to help students to stay at Juniata when finances might otherwise have stood in the way of earning their degrees. In 2014 Juniata’s newlyconstructed residence hall Hilda Nathan Hall was dedicated in her honor. Hilda is survived by her companion of 72 years, Sarah Fleming.
March 11, 2015—Chris worked with his father and brother at Haley Plumbing and Heating, where he designed and installed mechanical systems for many clients. He enjoyed mountain biking and hiking and loved living in the Adirondacks. Chris is survived by wife Mairead, daughter Maeve, son Roan, and parents Nancy and Robert.
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Remembering Donovan Beachley Jr. ’47 I
f my dad were still here, he would be most upset that we were writing something like this. He was a quiet man, and not one who wanted any fuss made about him.
Dad came onto Juniata’s board with a group of people with whom he became close over the years, John Cramer ’63, George Cruser ’52, and Bob Wagoner ’53. He joined a group of Trustees who left a significant mark on Juniata, overseeing the building of the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center, and the Von Liebig Center for Science, as well as growth in the overall student body.
B
T he funny thing is, for as seriously as he took his responsibility, he was not sure initially he wanted to be a trustee. My grandfather, Donovan, Sr., was on Juniata’s board, and was very involved in the Hagerstown community. Dad was less involved due to the huge presence my grandfather had. As far as dad was concerned, my grandfather could be involved in the community, and he would just run the factory and the business. Dad was also very involved with our church and was chairman of the church board for many years.
Donovan Beachley Jr. ’47
When Juniata asked if he would serve on the board, I remember Dad coming to my office to ask what I thought. We talked about it, and he decided to join, I think partly because it was outside the Hagerstown community and so outside of my grandfather’s shadow. He made it clear he wanted to serve, and not take a leadership role. And he did serve, working with others on the finance committee. He thought a lot about it. I used to see him poring over documents in the days before a meeting. In the end, serving on Juniata’s board is where my dad developed his philanthropic sense outside of our local church. He started expanding his giving, to Juniata, to the YMCA, to the hospital and library. He encouraged his friends to support local capital campaigns and in many cases was the first to pledge.
For as quiet as he was, he had a wicked sense of humor. Not many people know this, but he was one of the group of students that took a cow up the Founders Hall bell tower. That’s a pretty famous prank among people who graduated in the ’50s and ’60s. That’s why we named a step for him in the new Founders. Now that Dad’s no longer with us, I can tell that story. That secret’s been kept a long time, which is something, because dad was Earl ’46 Kaylor’s roommate at one point. While he talked about pranks, he never said much else about himself or what he accomplished. He was a friendly person, too, and everyone liked him. Sometimes his sense of humor was too good, and he’d say the darndest things, to the point that we worried if people would take him seriously. But his fellow board members did. He was part of a board that had a huge impact on the College. They left Juniata better than when they arrived. He particularly would not have made financial commitments unless he thought they would provide benefit. He gave for impact, and for faith in the institution, and in the end, that is the legacy that matters. —David Beachley ’77, president of Beachley Furniture and a member of the Board of Trustees
Donovan Beachley Jr. ’47, former Juniata Trustee from 1982 to 2003, died March 4, 2015, at age 89. He received Trustee emeritus status in 2003. Beachley was president and chairman of the board of Beachley Furniture Company in Hagerstown, Md., a commercial and home furniture company founded in 1887 and owned by five generations of the Beachley family.
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He earned a bachelor’s degree at Juniata College in 1947 and went on to earn a graduate degree at MIT’s Sloane School of Business in 1949. Before going to
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college, Beachley served in the U.S Navy during World War II from 1944 to 1946. He was a lifetime member of the Hagerstown Church of the Brethren and was a past chairman of the board for the church. He served as a trustee for the Fahrney-Keedy Memorial Home for the Aged in Boonsboro, Md. Beachley, together with his father Donovan Beachley Sr. ’21, established the endowment for Beachley Awards for Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Service in 1968.
He remained very active in his community, serving as a member and past president of the Hagerstown Rotary Club. He served on the board of the National Furniture Manufacturers Association, and was a board member of the F&M/Susquehanna Bank, Hagerstown. Beachley also was a member of the Fountain Head Country Club. Beachley is survived by his wife, Mary Ellen, daughter Barbara, a 1974 Juniata graduate, and sons David, a 1977 Juniata graduate, and Edward, and six grandchildren.
END PAPER
Upon arrival at Juniata, I thought I knew what I wanted to study, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure. I had always really enjoyed writing throughout high school, and I was always interested in the journalistic aspect of it because I love reading magazines and newspapers. I was a little unsure of journalism because I really knew nothing else about the field other than it would give me an opportunity to write. I knew that writing is communication, so I started there. I initially spoke with my adviser, Sarah Worley ’00 (who’s been my general adviser since freshman orientation), who told me that it’s okay to explore different classes. But, I wanted a foundation in the communications department since I thought writing was something I wanted to incorporate into my POE. But, something was missing… I spent a lot of time my freshman year completing FISHN credits (Fine Arts, International, Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Sciences) and getting a lot of the fundamental course work taken care of. Like FISHING, I was casting out a line to see if anything would take the bait and spark my interest. I was still feeling lost. Yes, I was taking a variety of classes, but at the same time I felt like I was wasting my parents’ money as I just wandered around from department to department, not really finding a connection anywhere. I started to put a lot of pressure on myself to declare a POE, but I was too flustered at that point to recognize that I still had plenty of time. My dad had always told me that it could take just one class to show me the light. And I have to say I never really took him
PHOTO: J.D. CAVRICH
Finding Fulfillment: In Search of My POE
that her experience of taking Laura Bancroft ’15, of Winchester, Va., found is almost universal major a a wide variety of courses before declaring nts’ experience in stude other about wrote She nts. among Juniata stude . story finding the POE for them. This is her
seriously until I took Women and Literature. This class really opened my eyes, because I loved being in such an open environment where we freely discussed different ideas about the world and our own personal experiences. I soon realized that my exploration had really paid off. I met with Sarah and, together, we individualized my POE so that I was able to incorporate both writing and reading. We came up with the title, Media Writing and Literature. I’ve had some really great writing experiences at Juniata in the time I’ve been here, but one in particular stands out to me. It was my freshman year of college and I took a stab at writing for The Juniatian my spring semester. It was extremely intimidating to say the least because a lot of the other student writers were seniors. I was just a terrified freshman. One week we were assigned topics for our next set of articles and it ended up that my story fell through. Of course, this happens from time to time in the world of journalism, but I was still assigned another topic to write about with half the time to finish it. Luckily, I got it completed, but I was so embarrassed to even turn it in because I thought it was so bad. After the issue came out, I was shocked when Will Dickey
recognized me in front of the class for submitting such a well-written article in such a short amount of time. I was so proud of myself in that moment. I’ll never forget it. Sarah coaxed me into discovering what was going to make me happy. I knew I was happiest being involved in both the communications and English departments because I felt like I was getting the best of both worlds with reading and writing. By my junior year, I was signed up for courses like Novel to WWII, Literature of Revenge, Mass Media and Society, and Contemporary Novel. I took Amy Mathur ’96 on as my POE adviser, who was also a huge help to me in developing where I wanted to go, whereas Sarah helped me develop the communications side. As I graduated in May, I realized what an integral part my advisers were of my academic experience at Juniata. I came in with a blank slate and a few ideas, but I’ll be leaving with a degree in a field where I find both success and passion. I’m really eager to get out into the real world and pursue a career in journalism. And I truly owe every success to Juniata. —Laura Bancroft ’15 is a Juniata Associate in media relations.
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Two Juniata graduates embrace W. David Wilkins, instructor in College Writing Seminar, after filing out after the Commencement ceremony. Fittingly, both graduates wrote messages atop their mortarboards, including an allusion to a Maurice Sendak classic.