Moravian University Magazine Fall 2023 by Moravian University

FA L L 2 0 2 3

UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

The

FOOD ISSUE

Heat Up Your Cooking Skills Follow Our Food Trail Try These Wines, Ciders, and Beers

Landon Eckles ’07 Is Building a Juicy Business FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

VIEW FINDER A fall sunset over Makuvek Field

U N I V E R S I T Y M AG A Z I N E

Editor Claire Kowalchik P’22 Art Director Brooke Porcelli Managing Editor Nancy Rutman ’84 Sports Editor Mark J. Fleming Archivist Cory W. Dieterly Contributing Writers Elizabeth Shimer Bowers, Karen Cicero, Steve Neumann ’94, G’18, Nancy Rutman ’84, Greg Forbes Siegman, Meghan Decker Szvetecz ’08, Mike Zimmerman Contributing Photographers Carlo Acerra, Marco Calderon, Katie Creighton, Kristina Gibb, John Kish IV, Michael Paulino, Jenna Sparacio Contributing Illustrators GreatPetsPortraits.etsy.com, James O’Brien, Colleen O’Hara, Nate Padavick Alumni and Parent Engagement Amanda Werner Maenza ’13, G’17

Executive Director Matt Nesto ’16, G’21, G’22

Associate Director Dylan Star

Assistant Director Kathy Magditch P’13

Administrative Support Assistant Copyright 2023 by Moravian University. Photographs and artwork copyright by their respective creators or by Moravian University. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reused or republished in any form without express written permission.

PHOTO BY JOHN KISH IV

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

oravian Greyhound family and friends,

The campus is abuzz with the largest incoming class in Moravian’s history, and Mo and Benny are ecstatically welcoming all the new Hounds. We are finalizing the details of the new Haupert Union Building. So, while everything seems to be in a state of renewal, I am delighted to introduce the redesign of Moravian University Magazine. Our editorial team has meticulously worked to ensure that the aesthetics and content of the magazine resonate with the values and branding of our cherished institution. We are pleased to announce the addition of more interactive features, providing new opportunities for our alumni to engage with the magazine and our broader community. We want our alumni to contribute as writers. For example, Ask an Alum (page 12) will be a recurring column in each issue, featuring the wisdom, insights, and Moravian memories of our alumni in response to various queries. Your participation is encouraged and indeed necessary for the column’s success. I had the privilege of writing about Mo for the inaugural Hounds of Moravian column featured on the back page, which honors both two-legged and four-legged members of our extended Moravian family. Moreover, we are proud to introduce a comprehensive digital edition of the magazine, accessible through the Moravian University website. This digital version offers a rich, interactive experience and allows for broader distribution and immediate access (see the QR code opposite). In terms of frequency, the magazine will continue to be published in fall and spring, with print and digital editions available. During the summer months, acknowledging our community may be vacationing and busy with family commitments and outdoor activities, only the digital version—accessible anywhere, anytime on a phone or laptop— will be provided. This strategic shift enables us to expand the print magazine to 64 pages, further elevating its quality. The paper we’ve chosen is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and with an average print run of 20,500 copies, the digital summer edition saves 1,066,000 pages annually, reflecting our commitment to sustainability. These changes put into action the words in our mission statement to “provide transformational leadership in a world of change”; we are committed to adapting and growing. Rest assured, the essence of what makes Moravian unique, the Moravian community, remains steadfast. Thank you for your continued support and engagement with Moravian University. We look forward to your feedback and your writings as we collectively embrace this new chapter of Moravian University Magazine.

President Bryon L. Grigsby ’90, P’22, P’26

2 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

PHOTO BY MARCO CALDERON

CONTENTS

ON THE COVER

Features 22 Lost & Found

Clean Juice cofounder and CEO Landon Eckles ’07 was just fine being a D student at Moravian... until he wasn’t.

28 Three Cheers!

The story of three alumni from three different generations who craft three different fermented beverages

36 Creating a Stir

Photographer Jenna Sparacio captured Landon Eckles ’07, CEO and cofounder of Clean Juice, enjoying his favorite smoothie.

Kelly Unger ’93 owns a popular cooking studio in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Our writer joined Unger for a hands-on baking class that was sprinkled with culinary tips and recipe ideas so you can level up your kitchen skills, too.

44 Bethlehem Food Trail

Find your way to these alumni-owned eating and drinking establishments.

The Hub 4

News & Notes

Greyhound Sports

Why I Play

Community

Brilliance 18 Creators

10 An Alum Reflects

19 Bookshelf

12 Ask an Alum

20 Think Piece

13 Faculty Focus 14 Moravian Moment

Alumni

16 Student Spotlight

48 Lighting the Way 52 Hall of Fame 54 Class Notes

DIGITAL ISSUE

62 In Memoriam 64 Hounds of Moravian

44 FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

NEWS & NOTES

The Hub First-year students line up on Makuvek Field for their class photo.

Moravian Welcomes the Largest Class Ever!

4 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

n August 25, 2023, Moravian University welcomed the largest pack of Greyhounds to set foot on our campus in the school’s 281-year history.

What’s our secret?

and innovation to provide students an exceptional undergraduate experience that is itself transformative. Today, each incoming student receives an Apple MacBook Pro and iPad to ensure equal access to technology. New programs expand opportunities for learning and career preparation. Through Elevate, students gain leadership and teamwork skills; they study abroad and get hands-on work experience in their fields. “It’s wonderful to see the years of strategic planning, investment, and hard work pay off in the form of the recordbreaking Class of 2027,” says Scott Dams, vice president of enrollment and marketing.

Moravian’s history is one of transformation brought about by ongoing investment

While incoming students enthusiastically embrace the advancements and innovations

While across the nation college and university enrollments continue to slide, Moravian’s has hit an all-time high. More than 500 first-year students have enrolled, sprinting past the previous record of 486 new students in the fall of 2015. We are also seeing record-breaking enrollment in transfer students at 104.

FALL 2023

PHOTOS BY JOHN KISH IV

NEWS & NOTES

“

to the undergraduate experience, what lies at the core of their commitment is a quality that has been a constant at Moravian for 281 years—a close community. And that might just be more important than ever. In a 2023 interview with PBS NewsHour, Laurie Santos, a cognitive scientist and psychology professor at Yale University, reported that “nationally, among college students, we see levels of loneliness around 60 percent.” First-year student Nicolette Guido was excited to learn about Elevate and Moravian’s career promise, but what mattered most in her decision was that she felt comfortable on campus. Francesco Coffaro and transfer student Eddiana Mancebo Almonte say they chose Moravian for the warm and supportive

community. For Billy Sottilare, who is transferring from Ocean County Community College, where he appreciated the intimate experience, finding that same quality in a four-year university was essential. “And I like that the classes are small and you can interact with the professors one-on-one. That’s especially important to me.” “When I came to an open house, everyone was so welcoming and friendly,” says Lanie Nosbich, who has been excited about becoming one of the pack ever since that day in August 2022. “Everywhere you go on campus, people wave and smile at you. And Moravian tells you what most colleges don’t— that choosing where to go is about finding the right fit.” For Nosbich, the Moravian community is the right fit. Elevate and study abroad, she says, are the icing on the cake.

It’s wonderful to see the years of strategic planning, investment, and hard work pay off in the form of the record-breaking Class of 2027.” —Scott Dams, Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing

The Class of 2027 by the Numbers Gender Women Men

62% 37%

Top 5 Home States Pennsylvania New Jersey New York Maryland Connecticut

356 128 12 7 3

Top 10 Programs Chosen Nursing Undecided Business Psychology Education Biology Health Sciences Pre-Physical Therapy Sports Management Pre-Medicine

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

NEWS & NOTES

Millennium Fellows (first row, from left): Gillian Schonenberg ’25, Jayden Brennan ’25, Melanie Johnson ’24, Logan Palau ’24, Arly Hernandez ’25; (second row): Hunter Morris ’26, Prince Sokpo ’25, Zayna Wright ’25, Isabella Ziccardi ’25

Joselyn Salazar ’23 Awarded Fulbright Scholarship

Moravian Students Selected for Millennium Fellowship

Joselyn Salazar ’23, who graduated with a major in political science and a self-designed minor in Latin American studies, was awarded a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship for the 2023–2024 academic year at the primary school CEIP La Jurada in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It’s the perfect next step in Salazar’s plan to get a master’s degree and eventually work in diplomacy. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected in an open, merit-based competition that considers leadership potential, academic achievement, and record of service. Notable Fulbright alumni include 62 Nobel Prize laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize recipients, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and 41 who have served as a head of state or government. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants from over 160 countries the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

6 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

The Millennium Fellowship Class of 2023 welcomes nine Moravian students: Jayden Brennan ’25, Arly Hernandez ’25, Melanie Johnson ’24, Hunter Morris ’26, Logan Palau ’24, Gillian Schonenberg ’25, Prince Sokpo ’25, Za-nya Wright ’25, and Isabella Ziccardi ’25. The fellowship is a semester-long program, supported by the United Nations Academic Impact and Millennium Campus Network, to advance undergraduate leadership worldwide in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Moravian students will focus their work on the following goals: sustainability (specifically a plan to minimize the impact on the environment during the demolition of the Haupert Union Building in 2024); gender equality; zero hunger; and peace, justice, and strong institutions.

Black and Latino Male College Readiness Program Is a Success Thirty-three students from eight Lehigh Valley high schools attended Moravian

FALL 2023

University’s second annual Black and Latino Male College Readiness Program this summer. The goal of this program is to provide Black and Latino male high school students and their families with the knowledge needed to be successful in a college search process and beyond. Students learned valuable life skills from more than 30 mentors and professionals who participated in this innovative program. The program was made possible by a generous gift from Air Products. Learn more by watching this video: mrvn.co/bl-readiness.

Moravian Awarded Education Grant

To help address the pressing need for teachers, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has awarded $1.5 million in grant funding to 15 universities statewide that are positioned to offer an accelerated program for PK–12 Special Education Teacher Certification to at least one partner—a school district, private or charter school, technical institute, or intermediate unit. The $99,912 in funding awarded to Moravian supports an 18-month post-baccalaureate

PHOTO BY JOHN KISH IV (LEFT), PHOTO BY KATIE CREIGHTON (RIGHT)

NEWS & NOTES

program for assistant teachers and nonteacher professionals of the Allentown School District and Colonial Intermediate Unit 20. “These grants will expedite the process of becoming a certified special educator and enable more teachers to enter the field faster,” says Acting Secretary of Education Khalid N. Mumin.

EV Charging Stations

The installation of vehicle charging stations is part of Moravian’s ongoing commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and accommodate electric vehicles on campus. The new charging stations can be found in lot A and commuter lot X.

President Addresses Mental Health Support

President Bryon L. Grigsby ’90, P’22, P’26 joined Gregory H. Krikorian, dean

of students and Title IX coordinator at Washington College, on Mantra Health’s July 13 webinar “Increasing Mental Health Support on Campus: How Independent Colleges Are Leveraging Telehealth.” You can view it at mrvn.co/Grigsby-webinar.

New Academic Programs

The following academic programs have been approved and were open for admission this fall. Data science (undergraduate) Early childhood education—English as a second language (undergraduate with dual certification) ● Master of social work ● Master of arts in school counseling ● Trauma-informed care certificate ● Cognitive behavioral therapy certificate ● Business administration major (degree completion students only) ● ●

Where We Stand

Every year, national publications put out their rankings of colleges and universities. Moravian is happy to boast about several of our standings.

#39

IN THE BEST UNIVERSITIES IN THE NORTH U.S. News & World Report

Best Colleges IN AMERICA 2023 Money

Best Value Schools AMONG REGIONAL UNIVERSITIES

U.S. News & World Report

Best Colleges for Veterans AMONG REGIONAL UNIVERSITIES

U.S. News & World Report

Best Colleges for Social Mobility

AMONG REGIONAL UNIVERSITIES

U.S. News & World Report

#14

Yusuf Dahl speaks about his personal story “from prison to Princeton” at this year’s Black and Latino Male Readiness Program.

PHOTO BY KATIE CREIGHTON

IN THE 2024 BEST COLLEGES FOR NURSING IN PENNSYLVANIA Niche

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

GREYHOUND SPORTS

Swinging in the Golf Suite

Thanks to a generous donation from an alum, Moravian installed a golf suite in the Athletics and Recreation Center last year. Greyhound golfers can practice putting on the green and chipping in the rough. The big hit is the Trakman simulator. It projects a golf course onto a screen, and athletes hit balls at the screen. The software records and displays buckets of data including speed, direction, and distance the ball travels. An illustration shows where on the club face the ball was struck.“And there is so much more data the software collects,” says Meredith Mutcher, director of the golf program.“It evaluates everything.”

Athletes can use any club and can practice driving and putting as well as hitting through any of the hundreds of courses from around the world that are available. At the end of their session, golfers can download their practice data to an app on their phones so they can keep track of their progress.“The suite is great for working on your swing as well as putting and chipping,” says Jason Koch ’25, captain of the men’s team,“and the Trakman has helped me with my carry yardage—how far the ball goes before it lands—and what club to use.” According to Mutcher, students use the suite at all hours: between classes, after dinner, even at six in the morning.“They come individually, and they’ll also gather as a group,” she adds. The suite has cushioned chairs so athletes can hang out.“The team loves the suite to work on skills,” says Koch,“but it also provides a great bonding opportunity.”

ATHLETICS RECAP The women’s golf team competed for the first time in program history at the Elizabethtown College Fall Blue Jay Invitational in September.

Jeff Long earned his first victory as head football coach with a lastminute, 29–28 win over the Apprentice School on September 16, Gary Martell Day.

Both cross country teams won the Stockton Osprey Open to move up to third in the NCAA Division III Metro Region.

NCAA Division III celebrates its 50th year 2023–24. Moravian will highlight former student-athletes and

Greatness on the Gridiron

Gary Martell ’76, P’07 is in his 50th year with the Moravian football program, hitting the gridiron in 1969 as a player and serving as a team captain, quarterback, and all-around player before leaving for the National Football League with the Baltimore Colts. Martell returned to Moravian in 1974 to finish his degree and began his long career as an assistant coach. Since his start as a player, he has been part of 486 games for the Greyhounds with 229 victories and seven ties, a pair of Middle Atlantic Conference titles—one in 1970 as a player and one in 1988 as a coach—and two NCAA Division

III Playoff appearances as a coach in 1988 and 1993. Martell was instrumental in starting the Blue and Grey Club and the Moravian Athletics Hall of Fame. He was honored at the game on September 16, 2023, for his outstanding career here at Moravian.

8 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

coaches throughout the academic year.

WHY I PLAY

“

I’m a sprinter. No room for mistakes. In the water, everything is quiet. It’s just you, and you’re staring down at the line, and you think, Go, go, go!” —Catie Lovett ’25

Tri Athlete Well, no, Catie Lovett ’25 is not a triathlete in the true sense of the word.“I can’t bike for the life of me,” she says. But she does compete in three sports: cross country in fall, swimming in winter, and track in spring. Lovett has been swimming competitively since she was five. In middle school she ran track—the 800 and 1600—“just to keep in shape.” Then in her junior year of high school, a friend convinced her to join cross country. “ ‘You’re more of a distance person,’ she said, so I came to the dark side. I never imagined running long distance.” Her favorite? “Hands down, it’s swimming.” But swimming wasn’t the reason Lovett looked at Moravian.“Coach Jesse Baumann [director of men’s and women’s track & field and cross country] sent me a hand-written note inviting me to campus to meet with him and the cross country team. During my visit, he mentioned that Moravian was starting a swimming program, and that really sparked my interest. I thought it would be awesome to be the first girl to commit, to start something here, and watch it grow.” Now in her third year, Lovett is still excited about the swimming program.“We have very good swimmers, but as a team, we don’t yet have the size.” She’s still competing in track and cross country while she works toward her nursing degree (she has a 3.92 GPA). And swimming is still her number-one sport. “Right before you get up on the blocks, it is so loud. Everybody is cheering. It’s a feeling you can’t describe. They blow the whistle, and everybody stops. The whole place goes quiet. You step up. You take your mark. And the second you hit the water, it’s all game. I’m a sprinter. No room for mistakes. In the water, everything is quiet. It’s just you, and you’re staring down at the line, and you think, Go, go, go!” —Claire Kowalchik ’P22

PHOTO BY CARLO ACERRA

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

AN ALUM REFLECTS

Community Defying the Odds Growing up surrounded by poverty, crime, and drugs, Baru Roberson-Hornsby ’19 could have gone to the dark side like many of the youth in his neighborhood, but the love of family and a passion for learning inspired a bright future.

grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey, which has historically suffered from high poverty, drug abuse, and crime. Seeing

these issues firsthand as a child began to shape my view of what my future would look like. I could easily have fallen victim to my environment. Fortunately, I have a huge family (nearly 100 cousins!) who looked after me and taught me that I was unique and had a special purpose in this life. Having that affirmation and a great desire for knowledge at a young age gave me the motivation to pursue college and the opportunities it would offer me. As with most first-generation college students, I did not know the first step in the search process. Choosing a school that was somewhat close to home was a priority, as was finding the most affordable option, since finances at home were tight. A close friend was on the track & field team at Moravian, and I chose to do an overnight recruitment stay with the team. As I got a feel for Moravian, I liked the small, close community and small class sizes, and I decided to attend. Once on campus, I became involved in many cocurricular activities. I joined the men’s track & field team and the Black Student

Baru Roberson-Hornsby ’19 addresses high school students at the Black & Latino Male College Readiness Program of the Lehigh Valley.

10 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

Union, was president of the Omicron Kappa chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, enjoyed the role of resident assistant, worked many campus jobs, and served on several institution-wide committees.

AN ALUM REFLECTS

Roberson-Hornsby helps students register for an open house hosted by the Center for Career and Civic Engagement.

All these experiences taught me how

director for the Black & Latino Male College

to communicate effectively, manage my

Readiness Program of the Lehigh Valley,

time efficiently, and build a personal and

supported by a generous sponsorship from

professional network. Being so heavily

Air Products. It is the first of its kind in the

involved during my undergraduate career

Lehigh Valley and provides Black and Latino

led me to discover my passion for helping

males who are entering grades 10, 11, and 12

others. So when an opening came up at

with a comprehensive experience to learn

Moravian for a new position as a career-

about the college search process. And it is

development strategist, I jumped at it.

free to all attendees.

I’ve spent the past two years working

Black and Latino males face significantly

in the Center for Career and Civic

lower graduation rates compared to their

Engagement, specifically with first-year

peers. By addressing the specific challenges

students. I guide them in their choice

faced by these young men, providing

of majors and in their career interests,

support, fostering a sense of belonging, and

help them build résumés and other

empowering them, the program increases

professional documents, and direct

their chances of completing their college

them to internship and professional

education and achieving their personal and

development opportunities. Helping

professional goals.

young adults reach their personal and professional goals gives me fulfilment.

When someone asks what makes me happy,

Perhaps the most meaningful experience

stacked against them and achieving their

thus far has been serving as the program

lifelong goals. —Baru Roberson-Hornsby ’19

When someone asks what makes me happy, I tell them it’s people defying the odds stacked against them and achieving their lifelong goals.

I tell them it’s people defying the odds

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

ASK AN ALUM

What was your favorite meal, dish, or specialty menu at the dining hall when you were a student at Moravian?

NEXT UP What natural setting on or off campus was your favorite outdoor space while you were at Moravian and why? Submit your answers at mrvn.co/ask-an-alum,

Chicken in any form—nuggets, tenders, patties—had respondents

or look for this

salivating as they typed their answers. Midnight Oasis (an ongoing

question in the next

tradition) got rave reviews. And if you wanted a delicious made-to-

alumni bulletin.

order meal, Clewell was (and is) the place to dine. Here’s a taste of alumni food favorites; for the full course, see the digital version of Moravian University Magazine at magazine.moravian.edu.

“Since I was from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, the food was not something I was accustomed to, so I didn’t have a favorite dish. All I remember is that the cooks found many ways to serve ground beef in a variety of dishes I never heard of. However, I did get to like veal parmigiana. Dessert was the only thing I really liked, because that was not everyday fare at home. As a result, I gained 10 pounds my first year at Moravian. Playing on the field hockey and tennis teams helped to curb my weight gain.”

“The salmon cakes at the sustainable table! They were a unique take on crab cakes and always had such great flavor.”

“Definitely the fried chicken patty on a bun for dinner. Probably one of the least healthy choices, but they were delicious. Often followed by Old Milwaukee drafts at the SPO house across the street from the HUB.”

—SAM HICKEY ’23

—PAUL STAUDT ’90

—MARY L. HARLEY ’67

“Omar’s Omelets! He’d always be down in Clewell, especially on weekend mornings, and I swear these omelets were the size of your face and always fantastic, and he was part of the Clewell crew that always showed happy faces.” —CRYSTAL SMITH ’17

“First thing that came to mind was ‘cream of yesterday’s ravioli soup,’ but, really, the Greyhound dogs. Hot dog, cheese sauce, and bacon on a breadlike bun—a perfect combination.” —PHILIP PAGE ’87

12 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

“Clam chowder and raisin bread with butter— warm and comforting. The bread was fresh and a delicious dunking treat. It was a Friday lunch special.” —JOAN TAGGART KOCH ’72

“I graduated 35 years ago (how can that be?), so I don’t think I remember my favorite meal, but how about the funniest memory—taco soup. And you guessed it, made from the previous day’s tacos! I think I opted for some Cap’n Crunch.” —KAREN MENGEL-GRAHAM ’88

FACULTY FOCUS

A Conversation with

Sandra Aguilar

andra Aguilar is an associate professor of history. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Mexico, she attended the University of Oxford for her master’s degree and the University of Manchester for her doctorate. She teaches courses in colonial and modern Latin America and Mexican history as well as seminars on race, food, class, and gender in Latin America. She is writing a book titled Cooking Modernity: Food, Gender, and Class in Mid-20th-Century Mexico. To learn more, magazine editor Claire Kowalchik talked with Aguilar over coffee at Baked in Emmaus.

Your research explores food, diet, and culinary practices in Mexico between 1920 and 1960 from the perspective of women. What drew you to this academic pursuit?

When I was an undergraduate, we didn’t have courses on women’s history. At Oxford, I discovered historical writings on women. Most of that research was done in the ’70s and beyond and focused on the public sphere—women as teachers, nurses, or workers. I wanted to explore something new, so I thought why not turn to the mid-20th century and research women in the home. At the time, women spent most of their time in the kitchen, so I decided to explore women’s daily lives from the perspective of the kitchen and food. I found very little information for the time period, which pushed me into different avenues in my search for primary sources. I went to the Archives of Public Health, which took my research into nutrition, nutrition policies, welfare, and what the government was trying to do to improve the diet of the population. But to learn what happened in the kitchen required use of other sources, such as cookbooks, advertisements, and oral histories. Fortunately, I was able to talk with women in their 70s and 80s, which provided information I wouldn’t have been able to find anywhere else.

What are some of the things your research has uncovered?

My work emphasizes how cooking and eating became an arena to define and transform the working class and the implications of this on race.

The working class represents the majority of Mexico’s population, and in the interest of improving the health of the country’s workers, the government encouraged families to increase their protein intake. Drinking milk was seen as the most effective way to do so— emulating dietary practices in the United States. Milk was not part of the diet of most Mexicans, and indigenous peoples or those with indigenous ancestry could not digest cow’s milk. In the mid-20th century, lactose intolerance was not known, and the government saw any refusal to drink milk as stubbornness, characteristic of indigenous peoples and the working class.

ILLUSTRATION BY COLLEEN O’HARA

Those people who migrated from the countryside to the city had access to processed foods and sugar, which significantly altered their diet. Interestingly, when researchers mapped the nutrition patterns of Mexico, they found that the diet of one of the poorest communities of indigenous people who foraged for plants, grew their own food, and ate insects (high in protein) was more nutritious than that of their economic counterparts in the city.

So, when doctors and the government promoted a higher consumption of protein, why didn’t they recommend eating more insects? Because it is not viewed as civilized or something that a modern nation should embrace.

In Mexico’s drive to advance, it emulated the cultural patterns of white Europeans and white Americans, making people feel it’s not good to be indigenous. The message to them was that they must change, and that diet was one of those things they had to change to be part of the civilized modern Mexico. I bring my research into my classroom to show students that studying the past helps us understand better our present and find the connection between the experiences of certain groups in the United States and Latin America. In our conversation, I learned that Sandra Aguilar loves to cook, and Grandma Meche’s Cookies are a traditional family favorite. For the recipe, go to our digital edition at magazine.moravian.edu.

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

MORAVIAN MOMENT

Smiling faces of food service staff greeted students in the cafeteria of the new College Union Building (CUB) in the 1960s.

14 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN MOMENT

A Moveable Feast

ucked away in sometimes-forgotten

its food services. Slater Food Service

The Star Campus Restaurant serves as the

corners of Moravian’s campuses are

Management operated the dining hall in

main dining hall on North Campus while

various spaces that once served as

the North Campus Refectory as of the late

Clewell Dining Hall serves the South. Also

dining halls. In the earliest days, when the

1950s, just before those dining facilities

on North Campus, students can stop into

women’s and men’s colleges were separate

were relocated to the new College Union

the Blue & Grey Café for lunch, dinner, or

and more of the student body came from

Building—now the Haupert Union Building

late-night noshing.

the Bethlehem area, many students enjoyed

(HUB). In 2001, long-time contractor at

home-cooked meals with their families.

Moravian, Wood Dining Services, was

Resident students were kept fed by cooks

purchased by Sodexo, the current providers

employed by the two colleges.

of meals, snacks, and drinks on campus.

ground floor of the Sally Breidegam

From 1848 to 1867, students at Moravian

Today Moravian students can choose from

in the fall of 2017, continuing a Moravian

College for Women gathered for meals in a

several meal plans and are able to consult

tradition of satisfying students’ appetites

refectory (a.k.a. dining hall) on the ground

a registered dietitian on staff to make sure

for good food as well as their appetites

floor of the Old Chapel (we know it today

those plans accommodate any special

for learning.

as Hearst Hall). When the New Chapel,

dietary needs.

—Nancy Rutman ’84

The newest dining venue on campus is DeLight’s Café, which opened on the Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences

today’s Peter Hall, was built in 1867, the old refectory was remodeled into a kitchen and joined to a new refectory on the ground floor of Peter Hall. This combined space, now known as Clewell Dining Hall, is still providing meals 156 years later.

ON BOARD Costs per semester for board (meal plans) over the years: 1957–58 $200

1970–71 $280

1979–80 $435

1989–90 $815

2000–01 $1,395

2008–09 $1,821

2023–24 $3,350– $3,731

On the women’s college campus, food preparation was not only a student service but for many years part of the curriculum. Women were taught food science as part of their home economics education, and dedicated kitchens were equipped for this purpose. Unfortunately, cooking didn’t make it into the men’s curriculum. As for where the men ate, head to North Campus and Zinzendorf Hall, home to the English Department, and you’ve come to the former dining hall of the men’s college and seminary, built when the men moved from East Church Street to Main Street in 1891 (see Moravian Moment, Spring 2023).

Students enjoy a conversation in the CUB dining room in the 1960s.

Moving up to the 20th century, Moravian transitioned from having an in-house

To view a slideshow of Moravian dining facilities and staff over the years,

cooking staff to hiring contractors for

go to our digital edition at magazine.moravian.edu.

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Finding His Natural Fit To spend weeks in Costa Rica immersing himself in scientific research and studying with a world-renowned scientist was an opportunity Dwight Holloway ’24 could not have even imagined as a boy, despite his deep affinity for the natural world.

hen Holloway was a teen, the idea of attending college at all— let alone conducting scientific research—seemed unfathomable.“I would have said there was no way in the world I would go to school and do as well as I’m doing,” he says.“Now I’m even entertaining the idea of becoming a professor.” Growing up in rural Georgia, Holloway, 37, spent his childhood exploring the outdoors. His mother instilled her love of nature, and Holloway has fond memories of their forages for button-top mushrooms. Holloway says he was raised in the church and has always found his spiritual connection in nature—whether catching snapping turtles, fishing, or hiking through the woods. To celebrate his high school graduation, one of Holloway’s older brothers took him backpacking through the mountains of Georgia. With not even a thought to college, Holloway spent the next eight years serving in the US Navy, followed by four years in the US Air Force. In 2017, Holloway and his wife, Rachel Leon, a current Bethlehem City Councilwoman, put down roots in Leon’s hometown with their son, Joshua, now 12. After his discharge from the air force, Holloway began studying to become a personal trainer but realized this would not be a sustainable career option. That’s when he considered using his GI Bill benefits to take college courses, landing at Northampton Community College, where he earned his associate degree in environmental science. “I thought, I love nature, I love being outside, maybe this is the route for me,” he says.

16 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

As a veteran, Holloway valued Moravian’s participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, which helps veterans afford private schools by waiving a portion of their tuition. He also learned that it was the only area school to offer an environmental studies degree. He says that from the moment he met with his transfer advisor, Moravian has been a welcoming place where the faculty truly cares about his success. Two of those faculty members are Sara McClelland, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Diane Husic, director of the environmental studies and sciences program and Holloway’s advisor. McClelland collaborated with Holloway to develop a SOAR (Student Opportunities for Academic Research) project in environmental science examining feeding competition between male Howler monkeys and other group members. That project involved two trips to the Camaquiri Conservation Initiative in Limón, Costa Rica. During the first, over spring break, Holloway and fellow students learned how to annotate information observed in the field; create graphs, tables, and charts with that data; and study the tracks of animals living within Camaquiri’s 500 acres of rainforest. Jill Pruetz, a professor at Texas State University and protegé of Jane Goodall, taught a course on primate field techniques. In the summer, Holloway returned to Costa Rica to finish collecting data for his SOAR project. “My trips to Costa Rica to learn about primatology were amazing,” he says.“The skills I learned will be carried with me as I progress in my career. I am so thankful for the guidance and knowledge that was shared with me. I now have a great network of

FALL 2023

friends and mentors that I look forward to seeing in the future.” “Every chance he had to go into the rainforest or explore something new, he did,” says Husic.“Dwight is a highly engaged and ever-curious student.” “Dwight is a thoughtful, engaged, and dedicated scientist,” says McClelland. “He thinks about his research question from different angles to ensure he is using the best protocols to test his hypothesis and spends time ensuring that he understands his data before making any conclusions. Dwight is becoming an excellent scientist, and he has a bright future ahead of him.” Holloway looks up to Husic and McClelland, inspired by women working in a predominantly male field and breaking barriers much like he hopes to achieve as a role model for his son and other Black students. “I would love to teach so that I could help with the diversification of the field of science in general,” he says. It’s why he makes time to volunteer as an outdoor recreational coordinator with Afros in Nature, a local group aiming to “create safe spaces for Black individuals to get outdoors and experience things that they might not have the chance to experience, like whitewater rafting, mountain biking, and hiking,” says Holloway. Set to graduate in December, Holloway has been invited to be a teaching assistant in the spring. That means another chance to return to Costa Rica, but this time, he says,“I’ll actually be able to help lead some of the instructing.” —Meghan Decker Szvetecz ’08

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

“

I would have said there was no way in the world I would go to school and do as well as I’m doing. Now I’m even entertaining the idea of becoming a professor.” —Dwight Holloway ’24

Dwight Holloway, with biology professor Sara McClelland, sets up a field camera that uses an infrared motion sensor to capture photos of the animals he is studying.

PHOTO BY JOHN KISH IV

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

CREATORS

Brilliance I

t all started when Jeanne Petrucci ’86 walked into the dean’s office at Moravian University and asked to construct an academic plan to support her intended occupation, which at the time was in cosmetics. Petrucci pushed for an interdepartmental major to merge business and science into the science of cosmetics. That major landed her a dream job as an executive at Estée Lauder in New York City immediately after graduating from Moravian. Nearly four decades later, Petrucci is still building on that educational foundation as founder and CEO of Living Plate RX, a successful business that supplies nutrition educators and healthcare practitioners with the tools they need to maximize patient support with a prescribed eating plan.

Food as Medicine

Food Rx

Using the science of nutrition, the technology of computers, and a passion for service, Jeanne Petrucci ’86 built a unique business that fulfills an unmet need among healthcare professionals.

When Petrucci married and had children, she needed a more flexible career that cultivated her interests. “I’ve always been fascinated with food as it relates to health,” she says, “so I started working as a community-based cooking instructor partnering with local nonprofits.” She developed a special relationship with Cancer Support Community, the largest network of mental health care professionals in the field of oncology. “The patients from Cancer Support Community wanted to know how the food we were preparing was impacting their health,” she says. “I knew I shouldn’t be answering those questions until I had a better understanding of the science of nutrition.” So she began the journey of earning her master’s degree in nutrition education at Columbia University and becoming a registered dietitian (RD).

Tools for Behavior Change

Armed with her degree and the knowledge necessary to answer nutrition science

18 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

“

To simply hand someone a list of foods based on their diagnosis isn’t helpful. They need to know what to do with those foods.” —Jeanne Petrucci ’86

questions, Petrucci opened her own teaching kitchen and surrounded herself with experienced professionals. “Three months in, however, it became clear to me that there were no resources to help me support my community,” she says. So, just as she had constructed an interdepartmental major at Moravian, she got to work creating the necessary resources herself. “I developed presentations, e-books, meal plans, cooking videos, and handouts and used it all in my community,” she says. And she made sure those resources were effective. “To simply hand someone a list of foods based on their diagnosis isn’t helpful,” she says. “They need to know what to do with those foods.” As a result of those resources, her practice exploded. “Doctors started referring patients to us, saying, ‘Jeanne and her team don’t just provide counseling; they give tools for behavior change.’ ” There was such a demand, in fact, that she decided to take all the content, put it

CREATORS

in an online library, and offer subscriptions to other registered dietitians. “In less than a week, we sold out of our Founding Member memberships. Then I knew, ‘Okay, we have something,’ ” she says. Living Plate Rx was born. Today, the business is booming, with a vast library of resources that is constantly updated by a team of registered dietitians who specialize in the areas of the content they create. Petrucci also hired a software development company to build a customizable digital meal-planning platform. Living Plate Rx continues to grow, and the company recently brought on an operating partner to further scale the business. “It’s a very exciting time,” Petrucci says. As Petrucci looks ahead to the future, she says she never forgets how she got here. “I’m so thankful to Moravian for giving me the support and flexibility to create an interdisciplinary major, which set the stage for the rest of my career. Because I was able

COPING WITH CANCER IN THE KITCHEN With a drive to help, early in her career, Jeanne Petrucci ’86 started serving people whose lives have been touched by cancer. As part of her master’s thesis, she wrote an eight-module intervention program for the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) called “Coping with Cancer in the Kitchen.” Five years ago, Petrucci and AICR partnered to conduct a pilot study, which was so successful that the AICR funded a second randomized control trial. “What we are looking at is whether or not people who have been touched by cancer who participate in culinary nutrition-based intervention have better outcomes than people who participate in nutrition education interventions alone [without the culinary piece],” she says. The studies confirmed the belief on which she has based her entire business model: Giving people a list of foods alone isn’t helpful; you must address their culinary confidence as well and give them supportive resources.

to handpick my courses and curate my path, there wasn’t a class I didn’t run to.” Petrucci encourages current Moravian students and young professionals to focus on service and to fulfill unmet needs as she has done. “If your career and mission are built on serving people and solving their problems, you will ultimately find success.” —Elizabeth Shimer Bowers

For More Information

Visit the Living Plate Rx website, livingplaterx.com. Jeanne Petrucci’s podcast, Nutrition Content Creator Podcast, is available on all podcast channels. You may also reach out to Petrucci directly at jpetrucci @livingplaterx.com.

BOOKSHELF

Season to Taste: Rewriting Kitchen Space in Contemporary Women’s Food Memoirs By Caroline J. Smith ’96 The kitchen, and the expectations of women associated with it, have shifted considerably since the 1960s. This book explores the food memoirs, with recipes, of women writing between 2000 and 2010 in order to consider the ways in which these women are rewriting the kitchen space and renegotiating their relationships with food.

Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work By Bill Schaninger ’93, G’98, Bryan Hancock, and Emily Field With rich stories and cutting-edge research, Power to the Middle offers a new model for companies to radically alter the way they hire, train, and reward their midlevel managers—their most valuable asset.

FALL 2023

Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century, 13th edition By Dana S. Dunn, professor of psychology, Wayne Weiten, and Elizabeth Yost Hammer Using classic and contemporary research, relevant examples, and engaging applications, this book shows students how psychology can help them understand themselves and the wider world.

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

THINK PIECE

Securing Food for Hungry Students Hungry? Grab an apple, carrot sticks, or a yogurt. Or maybe it’s time to sit down to dinner—roast chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed fresh vegetables, and a salad perhaps? Most of us in the United States enjoy three full meals a day, snacks, beverages, and the occasional dessert. Others only imagine such bounty. By Dr. Nicole Loyd, Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, and Dean of Students Mr. Greg Meyer, Dean for Community Wellness

20 M ORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

In 2021, 10.2 percent (1 in 10) of US households were food insecure at least some time during that year, according to the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture,* which monitors food security in the United States. Food insecurity means not having reliable access to nutritionally adequate food, usually due to not having reliable access to an adequate income. The reality is more grim for college students. Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community and Justice, which conducts the nation’s largest assessment of college students’ basic needs, learned through its fall 2020 survey* that 34 percent of college students had experienced food insecurity in the 30 days prior to the survey.

ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES O'BRIEN

THINK PIECE

Student populations most affected by food insecurity include those from lower-income homes, first-generation students, and racial and ethnic minority groups.

Effect on Academic Performance

Research shows that hunger disrupts concentration, degrades sleep quality, and can exacerbate depression and anxiety. Any of these outcomes inhibits learning. And the consequences can be dire. A long-term study conducted at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health looked at a nationally representative sample of 1,574 college students from 1999 through 2003 and found that 15 percent were food insecure. Researchers then tracked the educational progress of all 1,574 students from 2015 through 2017. After adjusting for other factors known to be linked to higher or lower educational attainment, the researchers found that those in the food-insecure group were 43 percent less likely to graduate from college and 61 percent less likely to achieve a graduate or professional degree.

SNAP for Support

Some food assistance comes from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides benefits to families and college students who don’t have the resources to buy the food they need. COVID and the accompanying job losses increased food insecurity in the United States, and the government temporarily expanded eligibility for SNAP, bringing an estimated 3 million students into the program. With the easing of the pandemic, beginning July 1, 2023, that expansion has begun snapping back state-by-state to pre-pandemic levels. In the US House of Representatives, however, momentum is building around making sure that all eligible students receive SNAP benefits. In January of this year, Rep. Mark Takano of California and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon (who has said that she accessed food assistance when she was in college)

Research shows that hunger disrupts concentration, degrades sleep quality, and can exacerbate depression and anxiety. Any of these outcomes inhibits learning. And the consequences can be dire.

introduced the Opportunity to Address College Hunger Act as an amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965. This amendment would require all institutions of higher learning that receive grants for their workstudy programs to notify students receiving work-study aid that they may be eligible for SNAP assistance and to explain where to go to find more information, confirm eligibility, and access SNAP benefits. As of August 11, 2023, the amendment had 70 cosponsors. Eliminating food insecurity also requires effort on the ground, and many campuses across the country, including Moravian, have established food pantries.

Mo’s Cupboard

“When a Hound calls, the pack comes running.” So in 2018, as it became clear that more and more students were going to bed hungry, Moravian opened its on-campus food pantry—Mo’s Cupboard. That year, 22 students benefitted. Five years later, 529 students accessed Mo’s Cupboard a total of 7,732 times—that’s a 2,300 percent increase! Here’s an overview of the students we serve: ● 70 percent have a parent who is a college graduate (30 percent are first-generation college students) ● 21 percent commute to campus ● 70 percent are white ● 3.0 is the average GPA of users Mo’s Cupboard resides in the Student Life Suite in the HUB. Using the card reader, students can access the cupboard any time the HUB is open, including late nights and weekends. At first, the pantry offered food and some toiletries. Over time, cleaning supplies, school supplies, and other living essentials were stocked on the shelves. In spring 2022, a mini-grant funded the purchase of a large freezer for a back storage room, which allowed us to start purchasing subsidized food items in bulk from the Second Harvest Food Bank. We also formed partnerships with other local organizations including The Factory on the south side of

Bethlehem, and in the summer of 2022, Moravian was designated a Pennsylvania Hunger-Free Campus. Our mission is to remove the financial barriers for students to allow them to focus on their classes and coursework. To that end, we also purchase textbooks, classroom supplies, gas cards, ride-share cards, bus passes, and clothing—essentially anything students might need . Mo’s Cupboard even has a regalia closet so graduating seniors unable to afford their robes can participate fully in commencement. Just this past summer, an alum from the Class of 2020 dropped off their regalia for the cupboard. We love to see alums paying it forward. Since its founding, Mo’s Cupboard has relied 100 percent on the generosity of donors to fund its operation. Only a few hundred dollars in 2018 launched this initiative. This past year, we received more than $12,000 in cash donations. Many of you reading this are responsible for that success—thank you! And for those interested making a gift, visit moravian.edu/ mos-cupboard. Greyhounds taking care of the pack: That’s what Mo’s Cupboard is all about! *The latest published report.

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

22 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

LOST D N U O F Clean Juice cofounder and CEO Landon Eckles ’07 was just fine being a D student at Moravian… until he wasn’t. BY MIKE ZIMMERMAN

PHOTO BY JENNA SPARACIO

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

ometimes you can just flip a switch. Other times life flips the switch for you.

College is a nebulous time at best. You’re young, you’re adrift, and you have no clue that you don’t know what you don’t know. The experience drops you unprepared into all the battles: freedom versus discipline, temptation versus responsibility, the quest for knowledge versus the gravity that glues your face to your pillow. Safe to say that Landon Eckles lost most of those battles. “I transferred to Moravian as a sophomore, and it was my first time away from home. My focus was definitely more social. I went to have fun.” When he got to Moravian and his “social” lifestyle really kicked in, Eckles met a girl. They started out as friends, but by his junior year, they were officially an item. And that’s when “everything changed,” the business administration major says. But not because he suddenly found focus or his new girlfriend pushed him to excel. Nope. “We got pregnant.” Yeah, sometimes life flips the switch for you.

Landon Eckles grabs a cold and healthy one at Clean Juice, the organic juice and food chain that he cofounded.

24 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

oday, Eckles, Class of 2007, is CEO of Clean Juice, a national organic juice and food chain. He’s married to that college sweetheart, Kat, who went on to graduate from Wilmington University, and they have five children. (“We’re done at five,” he promises.) He and his wife have built their business from one location in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they live, to a franchise empire that should eclipse 150 locations in 30 states by year’s end (in the Philly suburbs alone, Clean Juice has bars in Malvern, Dresher, Glen Mills, Wynnewood, and Collegeville). Landon runs the business and Kat is the creative vision of the venture.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL PAULINO

I went from being How big is the company now? Here’s some context: By Eckles’s estimates, Clean Juice went through several hundred thousand gallons of almond milk and more than a million pounds of bananas last year. The stores had 3.3 million customers in 2022 and have sold more than 10 million smoothies since 2014. So it’s not spoiling the story at this point to say, no, Eckles didn’t drop out of college, he didn’t spin out of control on the pregnancy news, nor did he devolve into a mess of party boy self-pity. “I decided that I needed to actually, you know, man up,” he says. “I knew that child would depend on me for the rest of my life. And that my income was gonna be important, and these were just things I hadn’t thought about. I went from being a young dumb kid to an adult almost overnight. I was standing in my own way.

Everything I needed was there. And so I decided to go get it.”

he day of this interview, Eckles took that college baby to take her driver’s test (“Crazy,” he says). So he’s gotten a taste of how fast time flies. Especially when your business is flying, too. He and Kat had a basic plan to start: Open a juice bar and survive. If things broke right, maybe they could open more in and around Charlotte. The “dream” was 10 locations in the first five years. Well, there’s that old adage about best-laid plans. After five years, they opened their 100th location.

a young dumb kid to an adult almost overnight. I was standing in my own way. Everything I needed was there. And so I decided to go get it.” —LANDON ECKLES '07

“It’s funny, when you have something that works, it works fast,” he says. “We definitely did not expect to be a national brand, but we opened up the first one and then we opened up a couple more that we owned. And then

One of a Kind

Clean Juice started as an organic juice and smoothie bar but has since grown to include organic good-for-you foods: wraps, salads, toasts, and acai bowls. It is the first and only USDA-certified organic health food franchise. (Source: Entrepreneur, November 22, 2022)

PHOTOS BY JENNA SPARACIO

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

If we continue on the growth trajectory that we have, in five years we’ll probably have 300 to 400 stores. We want to grow the density in the markets where we’ve already opened stores.” —LANDON ECKLES '07 Eckles chats with Clean Juice patrons.

people kept coming in and asking us, ‘Hey, is this something we could franchise?’ ” They had no intention of franchising when they started. But more and more people inquired, and the more they looked into it, the more attractive it became. The first franchise opened in Florida in 2017 and did “really, really well,” Eckles says. The 75th location opened in 2019 in Lake Charles, Louisiana; the 100th in 2020 in Morristown, New Jersey. “We kept opening these stores in these random markets and they kept doing great and it just kept making sense,” he says. Clean Juice has made Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest-growing private companies in 2019, 2020, and 2021. It’s number 260 on Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 list. The pandemic slowed progress, as did recent recession fears. But even over the

26 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

past three tumultuous years, the growth is still coming, Eckles says. “Being able to take a company and grow in some of the most challenging times I’ve ever faced is a testament to the brand and our team and everything we’re creating.”

So what does it really mean to go from dumb kid to adult overnight?

“My senior year went from social, fun, hangout, whatever, to straight A’s,” he says. “I had to. But first I had to make the decision that I wanted to actually succeed at something. Class was a nuisance. But then I enjoyed it. I looked forward to it, even the more advanced classes.”

o yes, Eckles did indeed get his straight A’s senior year and did indeed graduate in 2007. He and Kat married and wound up having their second child on the heels of their first (“Irish twins,” he jokes) as Eckles took his first job as a pharmaceutical rep. Soon they moved to North Carolina. He wound up burning out in a too-much-travel international finance job, and seven years later they began dreaming of a new business and experimenting with smoothie recipes. But going from party dude to surprise father to straight-A student to college grad to immediate job inside of a year is, well, unusual. Put another way, maturity forced upon the immature rarely sticks.

FALL 2023

Hindsight has taught Eckles that he had all the tools to succeed but simply hadn’t opened the toolbox. All he had to do was flip the lid.

He’s quick to point out that had he gone to a larger school, he would’ve been “lost.” But Moravian allowed his change to take hold faster and with greater impact. He illustrates this with the story of one particular professor. “I won’t name the professor, but I took two classes with her,” he says. “Spring semester 2006, I got a D in her class. The next class

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL PAULINO

with her, a harder class, I got an A. And she didn’t necessarily say these words, but I knew that I was, pardon my French, a pain in her a— in that first class. I was lucky to get that D, to be honest. I didn’t deserve it. Then I came back in the fall and she saw a completely different human being. She saw the change I wanted to make, and she was there for me every step of the way. So that’s pretty cool.” It also led to a life lesson Eckles thinks too few learn: Always be worth someone’s time. During the D class, he was a human time suck. During the A class, he was a student worth encouraging. And that’s the secret: If you’re able to show them you’re worth their time, they’ll give it to you generously.

he Eckleses’ initial five-year business plan didn’t go according to any plan... so what’s the new five-year plan? “If we continue on the growth trajectory that we have, in five years we’ll probably have 300 to 400 stores,” he says. “We want to

grow the density in the markets where we’ve already opened stores. Let’s say we have one store in Las Vegas right now. Well, we want to open 10 stores in Las Vegas because we have more purchasing power and more brand awareness. And so we want to backfill a lot of these markets where we’ve opened up. That’s a big goal of ours.” At this point, Eckles has earned a pass on any warnings about seeking a fortune in Vegas. His true fortune began accumulating in Bethlehem, and he knows it. His advice to anyone coming up today? “If you’re gonna commit to four years of college, make the most of it. It’s a really good time to figure out not just who you are, but who you want to be. I finally focused on doing well, and that taught me that the potential was there all along. The journey through Moravian really helped me succeed.” And then Eckles pauses and smiles. “You know, once I decided that that’s what I wanted.”

Quick Hits: Landon Eckles On living a healthy lifestyle: “It’s an everyday decision, right? Every day you make your choice. For example, we have a Clean Juice a mile from the office. I have the same smoothie every single day for lunch. Just enough to satiate any hunger I have, and it doesn’t put me in a slump for the rest of the day.” Go-to workout: “I practice Brazilian jujitsu, and I’m really dedicated to that. I don’t love running on a treadmill.” Secret to being married to your business partner: “Before Clean Juice, Kat never saw me at work. We came together to build Clean Juice and got to see each other in a different way. I’m more on the execution side of things and she’s on the visionary side. So she has all these great ideas, and I have to make them come to life. It’s been really cool to work with each other like that.” On knowing thyself: “I’m high-strung. I definitely have to take intentional time to relax. Meditation and doing things that just kind of calm me down are really, really important. And that opens up my ability to think about the bigger picture. If I just jump right in my inbox first thing in the morning, that’s all I’m gonna do all day.”

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

28 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

Three Cheers! A

The story of three alumni from three different generations who craft three different fermented beverages

BY STEVE NEUMANN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATIE CREIGHTON

merica’s Founders, like most colonists of the time, consumed alcoholic beverages from dawn to dusk. George Washington was a known beer lover. John Adams, on the other hand, loved hard cider—he actually drank it for breakfast every morning. Thomas Jefferson, though a failed winemaker himself, enjoyed French and Portuguese wine. Benjamin Franklin loved, well, just about everything. All in moderation, of course. Today, three Moravian alumni-run businesses—Hardball Cider, Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery, and Lost Tavern Brewing—are carrying on the venerable colonial tradition of producing fermented beverages right here in Pennsylvania, home of the signing of the nation’s founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Hard Cider Pancakes One of Geoff Deen’s favorite hard cider food pairings is Hard Cider Strawberry-Banana Pancakes. Using your favorite pancake mix, incorporate some Strawberry Hard Cider into the batter along with slices of banana and strawberries before you cook the pancakes. You’ll get some of the sweetness from the cider and the strawberry flavor to complement the fresh strawberries and bananas in the pancakes. Instead of maple syrup, reduce some fresh apple cider into a glaze and drizzle on top of the pancakes for an extra kick of apple flavor.

Hardball Cider 805 Orchard Rd. Mount Bethel, PA 18343 484-341-3101 hardballcider.com Taproom hours Friday: trivia, food truck, 4–9 p.m. Saturday: live music, food truck, 12–9 p.m. Sunday: live music, food truck, 12–7 p.m.

30 M ORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

Hardball Cider

Geoff Deen ’04, a former baseball player at Moravian, founded craft cidery Hardball Cider in 2013 on his family’s farm in Mount Bethel. “The farm has been in operation for about 125 years, and we can date cider making here to 1934,” Deen says. “In the early 1980s, my parents bought a commercial cider press, and we can produce about 1,000 gallons a day with it.” Deen’s route to the craft cider business was a circuitous one. After graduating from Moravian with a self-designed major in business information systems, Deen spent the next 10 years in corporate America, working various positions in the telecommunications industry. But his first love has always been the hardball diamond. After his own college baseball career, Deen coached softball at Moravian for seven years and did a year in a professional women’s softball league. However, after his corporate career began taking more and more of his time, and after incurring a shoulder injury that limited his participation in the sport, Deen started to miss the energy of the baseball stadium. Around that time, hard cider was starting to gain popularity as a “new again” beverage. “It was the drink of colonial America up until the time Prohibition hit,” Deen says. “So I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve got a farm here, and a cider press—now’s a great time to try this.’ ” Deen began by taking viticulture courses at Harrisburg Area Community College and completed an immersive weeklong hard cider workshop at Cornell University with 20 other cider producers from across the United States and Canada and an instructor from the UK. “Fast-forward to today, and we just had our fourth-anniversary party for the opening of our taproom here on the farm.” In addition to the taproom, Hardball Cider’s property includes a two-acre lake and

Geoff Deen ’04, founder of Hardball Cider, pours a cider from the tap for a guest at his cidery.

outside seating for more than 300 people. “Folks bring their whole family along with their own tables, chairs, and pop-up tents and make a day of it,” Deen says. “On Friday nights, we do live trivia. On Saturdays and Sundays, we have live music, and there’s a different food truck every day.” The first three ciders Deen created of course had to have baseball-themed names: the semisweet Splitter, the sweet Curveball, and the dry Fastball. “I started getting more creative after that. This year, we’ll probably produce close to 30 different ciders. Our most popular one today is White Wash, which has a white peach flavor.” Currently, Hardball’s original cider press grinds between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds of fruit a day from farm’s 25 acres, but that’s not enough to meet the demand the cidery has generated. “We also source apples from other Pennsylvania and New Jersey farms,” Deen says. “My parents have done business with those growers over the years, so we know the families and their farms, and we know the quality of the fruit.”

And the growing demand for Hardball Cider extends beyond the beverages themselves. Deen says he keeps getting inquiries to host bridal showers, wedding receptions, and other private parties. To accommodate this new service, he plans on moving the taproom into the property’s large 1838 bank barn after he renovates it. The current taproom would then be converted into its own rentable space. For Deen, the most satisfying part of creating Hardball Cider isn’t that he was able to merge a lifelong sports passion into a viable business but that the business has had its own “Build it, and they will come” moment. On Mother’s Day of this year, cars were parked up and down both sides of the property’s half-mile-long pastoral lane. “To go from wondering if there’s a car coming up the lane to asking where we’re going to park everyone is a pretty cool story to be able to tell,” Deen says. “We’re a small family business on an old family farm, and to see it come back to life is really awesome.”

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery Jan and John Landis, both Class of 1974, are pleased with the fruits of their vineyard.

were tilling untested ground—figuratively and literally. “Back then, no one had any real experience about what grapes would grow well in the Lehigh Valley, so you had to experiment,” Jan says. “Over the last 50 years, we’ve grown more than 30 different varieties in the vineyard, trying to see which ones do well and which ones don’t. It takes three or four years before you actually get a crop, so you can’t get too impatient.” Vynecrest officially became a licensed winery in 1989. Today, after having the opportunity to acquire more land over the years, the Vynecrest estate consists of 75 acres—25 of which are dedicated to grapes. The winery currently makes about 22,000 gallons— roughly 9,000 cases—of wine a year. Among some of Vynecrest’s top sellers are its flagship wine, Lemberger, a full-bodied dry red; a blend called Vynecrest Red; a blend of white varietals called Autumn Gold; and Naked Chardonnay.

In the spring of 1974, Moravian sweethearts John and Jan Landis, both of whom graduated in 1964, purchased a small tract of land with a house and barn in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, after Jan—an English major who was working for Rodale Press at the time—had edited a book titled Homesteading: How to Find New Independence on the Land. “I got hooked on that book,” Jan says, “and we both got enthused about the idea.”

agricultural department and started selling our grapes to home winemakers,” Jan says. After a few years, however, the Landises saturated the local market for home winemakers and began having to give away the grapes they grew. “We got the hint that perhaps we should take it a step further and become a winery,” Jan says. “John was a chemical engineer at Air Products, so he knew all about distillation and the lab side of making wine.”

Since their youngest son, Sam, joined the family business in 2002, the Landises have been gradually moving away from the everyday operations of the vineyard. Jan still keeps the books and manages PR and social media, and John has been active with the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing Research Board, an organization that aims to have the state be recognized as the premium East Coast wine appellation. “It’s under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture,” John says. “We assess member wineries 20 cents per gallon of wine, and that money goes into a fund for us to invest in either marketing or research— most of which is done at Penn State.

The couple created a very large garden area, so in addition to the usual fruits and vegetables, they decided to grow grapes. “We took courses and seminars in Penn State’s

At the time, the wine-making industry in Pennsylvania was in its infancy. The state legislature had only authorized home wineries in the late 1960s, so the Landises

“I’ve seen the whole industry grow from 60 wineries to more than 300 right now in the state,” John adds. “That’s pretty amazing growth.”

32 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

Red Wine and Wilbur Buds John Landis grew up in Lititz, home of Wilbur Chocolate, so the preferred candy in the Landis house was Wilbur Buds, a semisweet chocolate. Another Landis family favorite was sour cherry pie, so when Vynecrest first decided to make a fruit wine in 2000, John’s first thought was to make a sour cherry wine, which became Vynecrest’s Cherry DiVyne wine. To this day, Vynecrest serves Wilbur Buds with its Cherry DiVyne.

Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery 172 Arrowhead La. Breinigsville, PA 18031 610-398-7525 vynecrest.com Wine bar hours Sunday–Thursday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Online orders are available for shipping.

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

A Rendezvous with Spice Kenny Rampolla, VP of sales and marketing for Lost Tavern Brewing and son of Ken Rampolla ’79, loves spicy food, and he loves IPAs, and he loves that the two go really well together. Rampolla particularly enjoys pairing the Korean Fried Chicken from Zach Umstead’s Randevoo restaurant in the Moravian Book Shop with any of Lost Tavern’s IPAs, because the notes of spice and bitterness in the IPA cut through some of the spice and heat from the chicken. Naturally, Rampolla recommends his brewery’s double IPA Randevoo with the Korean Fried Chicken.

Lost Tavern Brewing 782 Main St. Hellertown, PA 18055 484-851-3980 losttavernbrewing.com Taproom hours Monday, 5–9 p.m. Tuesday, closed Wednesday & Thursday, 4–10 p.m. Friday, 3–10:30 p.m. Saturday, 12–10:30 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. (brunch served) 444 Main St. Bethlehem, PA 18018 610-419-0346 losttavernbrewing.com Taproom hours Monday, closed Tuesday–Thursday, 3–10 p.m. Friday, 3–11 p.m. Saturday, 12–11 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. (brunch served)

34 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

Lost Tavern Brewing Local folklore says that when Pennsylvania German settlers established a community in the 1740s in what is now Hellertown, one of the first buildings commissioned was a tavern. That wasn’t surprising for the colonial era—it was in the tavern that the most pressing business and political issues of the day were discussed. While the location of Hellertown’s first tavern has been lost to history, Moravian alumnus Ken Rampolla ’79 decided to honor that legend by forming a partnership to open a craft brewery called Lost Tavern Brewing in the Hellertown building that houses Rampolla’s sales and marketing company, Responsive Marketing Inc. The partnership began when childhood friends Robert Grim and Anthony Gangi, after years of home brewing and honing their craft, brought the idea to Rampolla and his son, Kenny. “Anthony went to high school with my daughter, and he approached us because they thought [our building] would be an ideal place to have a craft brewery,” Rampolla says. “My son is a beer lover and knew the industry a lot better than I did, so we thought it made sense.” After the meeting, Rampolla—a longtime member of the Moravian University Board of Trustees—became CEO of Lost Tavern Brewing, with Grim as president, Gangi as head of operations and brewmaster, and Rampolla’s son Kenny as vice president of sales and marketing. That was seven years ago. Since then, Lost Tavern Brewing has been voted the Lehigh Valley’s number-one brewery a couple of times and continues to expand into new markets and venues. “If you go into the Moravian Book Shop, there’s a restaurant and a taproom in the space,” Rampolla says. “That’s our craft brewery.” For the first four years of its existence, Lost Tavern Brewing grew at a fast pace, with only limited distribution outside of its own

Ken Rampolla ’79, CEO of Lost Tavern Brewing, enjoys his favorite brew, Odd Fellow.

taprooms because it didn’t have enough capacity. But with the addition of a new production facility located just down the road from the main taproom in Hellertown, Lost Tavern Brewing is poised for a substantial increase in the availability of its beer, says Rampolla. “Kenny and his team have now opened up some significant distribution chains that weren’t there before. We make the signature beer for Saucon Valley Country Club, Wind Creek has made a major move towards us, and several local country clubs are now looking at private label beer from

us, as is Blue Mountain Ski Resort. Those are significant growth opportunities that will push us ahead pretty significantly in the next year or so.” Lost Tavern Brewing’s motto is “honor the past, craft the future,” so customers can expect a wide range of brews on tap, from hoppy IPAs to refreshingly tart wheat beers to fruited cider. Rampolla’s personal favorite is Odd Fellow, a variant of a Belgian ale that tends to be about 8 percent alcohol. “It’s so flavorful,” Rampolla says, “and I think the name fits me pretty well.”

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

BY KA R EN C I C ER O PH OTOGRAPH Y BY KR I ST I NA GI B B

36 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

t’s a rainy Friday afternoon, but there’s nothing dreary about The Rooster & The Carrot, Chef Kelly Unger’s cooking studio in Bucks County. “I feel like I’m in Europe again,” one seasoned traveler tells me as we mingle in a well-equipped, airy space that gives off major French country vibes. For the next two hours, we’re going to take an often-sold-out hands-on baking class with six other students—most of whom expressed their delight at landing one of the coveted spots. Unger, who graduated from Moravian University in 1992 with a business management degree, runs an überpopular series of cooking classes in a renovated building adjacent to her home in Doylestown. Some are demonstration-style (you watch her do all the work), but for many, like this one, you roll up your sleeves, put on an apron, and handle the ingredients yourself. Unger calls all of us over to the studio’s centerpiece—a massive kitchen island where there’s a stool and small baking tray lined with brown parchment paper waiting for each of us. She explains that we’re going to be using the trays to make Cream Biscuits, using a recipe that doesn’t require yeast. “All the magic comes from the baking powder,” she says. It’s a relief for a few of us (myself included) who confess that we’ve had drama when we jumped on the pandemic breadmaking bandwagon. We’re also thrilled to hear her response to another question about whether we’re going to need to weigh our ingredients on a kitchen scale. “Only if you want to be a Michelin chef!” she says. “We’re all about family cooking.” Phew! A natural storyteller, Unger dives into the fascinating background for the class’s second recipe—Naan au Fromage, or cheese-stuffed naan. While traditional Indian cooking doesn’t include flatbread with cheese, some Indian restaurants in Paris added the twist. A cookbook author did some detective work to figure out what kind of cheese they use, and Unger shows us what it turned out to be. Not Brie. Or Camembert. Or Roquefort. As she holds up a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, the room erupts in laughter.

"How long can you keep baking soda once it's opened?" asks a student as the class mixes dry ingredients for the biscuits they are making. "Six months," replies Chef Unger.

Bringing people together over food is what drew Unger to cooking in the first place. After graduating from high school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, she headed off to the esteemed Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. She received a culinary degree in 1988.“I could have stayed another two years to get my bachelor’s, but I wanted a broader management degree,” she says. At Moravian, she was a self-described “nontraditional” student taking night classes while holding down a job.“I especially enjoyed my marketing classes at Moravian— so much so that I dropped cooking after graduation and took a job as a marketing director for a nursing center,” she recalls. After working in her position for about five years, Unger put her career on the back burner for her husband’s job and to raise her two daughters.“We moved around a lot early in our marriage,” she says. In 2014, a friend asked her to teach cooking classes at a farmers’ market.“I fell in love with the culinary world all over again,” she recalls.

38 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

When the farmers’ market gig ended, she taught classes in people’s homes for about six months before launching The Rooster & The Carrot Cooking Studio in 2018. “This building used to be a horse stable. Everywhere there’s a window, that was a stall!” she says. In addition to the cooking classes, Unger maintains a food blog, which focuses on farm-to-table eating and seasonal ingredients.“I’m a one-woman show, and all the knowledge I have about running and marketing the business came from my time at Moravian,” she says.“It helped me critically analyze my options and make decisions.” Unger runs one to two classes a week, except during summer when she focuses on testing recipes for future classes. For instance, she recently made a pumpkin pie out of phyllo dough that will appear in a fall session. Puff pastry is also a key ingredient in one of her favorite dishes to teach—an Apple Camembert Tatin (recipe on page 43).

Cream Biscuits For today’s class, Camembert makes an appearance only as a snack along with sliced radishes that look almost too pretty to eat. We munch while we work. Unger explains mise en place, a French term that basically means you have to get your act together— lay out your ingredients and do all the prep work—before you start the cooking process. Unger did this for us. To save time, she prepped all the biscuits’ dry ingredients in a bowl for each of us. She instructs us to mix them together, giving encouragement (“you’re good”) and guidance (“you need to dip your hands in more flour”) along the way.“It’s going to be such an easy dough to work with,” she promises.“You’ll love it.” As we stir, we pepper Unger with questions, like

“How long can you keep baking soda once it’s opened?” (six months) and “What’s a good store-bought vanilla extract?” (Watkins). Not long after, we’ve each created little balls of dough that we’re going to flatten and eventually shape into three homemade biscuits. She gently guides us to press down with our palms and keep the dough an even size. We use a bench scraper to divide our dough into three pieces, and then doublecheck the edges.“If it’s higher on one end than the other, it’s going to bake unevenly,” she says. She also warns us not to touch the cut side of the dough with our fingers. Five minutes later, everyone has their dough on the baking sheet ready to pop in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Taking just a half-hour from start to finish, these yeast-free biscuits will make even a regular weeknight dinner feel extra special. You can double— or even triple—the recipe if you’re having company. Active Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Makes 3 or 4 biscuits

Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt ⅔ cup (5 ounces) heavy cream ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon melted butter

Make It

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt with a fork. 3. In a measuring cup, mix the vanilla extract into the cream. Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. 4. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter or cutting board and sprinkle with flour. Flatten with your hand and fold the dough over on itself. Flatten again, repeating one or two more times. 5. Pat the dough into a rectangle about ½ inch thick. Cut into three or four even pieces using a bench knife. Place on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with butter. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, until light brown on top and cooked through. A Cream Biscuit plated with jam and apple slices makes for a lovely breakfast.

Cheese-Stuffed Naan Fans of grilled cheese must try this genius twist on classic naan (a flatbread) that Chef Kelly Unger adapted from the cookbook My Paris Kitchen, by David Lebovitz. No sourdough starter or special equipment required! Active Time: 45 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes Makes 6 flatbreads

Ingredients 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast ⅔ cup tepid water 1¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for your work surface, divided Pinch of granulated sugar ¾ teaspoon baking powder 5 tablespoons melted clarified butter (ghee), plus more for frying and serving, divided 2 tablespoons full-fat plain yogurt ¾ teaspoon sea salt or Kosher salt 12 wedges plain Laughing Cow cheese

Make It

1. In a measuring cup, mix the yeast and the water until the yeast is dissolved. 2. Place ¾ cup of the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and sugar and mix until combined. Let stand for 30 minutes; the mixture will become frothy. 3. Add the remaining cup of flour, baking powder, 3 tablespoons of the butter, yogurt, and salt. Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough will be soft. If it sticks to your fingers when you touch it, add another tablespoon or two of flour. Cover the mixer bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for an additional 30 minutes. 4. Divide the dough into six pieces. Dust your work surface with flour and knead each dough piece in the flour until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. Roll each piece of dough into a 4-inch disk. 5. Unwrap the cheese and place two wedges side by side in the center of each disk. Fold over the edges, pressing them to completely enclose the cheese. 6. Flip the disk so it’s seam side down and roll it out on a floured work surface until it’s about 6 inches in diameter. (You will hardly be able to tell the cheese is in there!) 7. Place a cast-iron skillet or wok over high heat and cover with a lid. Once the pan is hot, brush a thin layer of clarified butter over the bottom. Place each dough piece in the skillet, cover, and cook about a minute, until the dough puffs and the bottom is brown. Flip with a spatula and cook another minute, until brown. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining dough, adding more butter as needed. Serve warm.

Fresh out of the oven, the Cheese-Stuffed Naan is warm and ready to eat.

While the biscuits are cooking, we turn our attention to the naan. Earlier in the class, Unger had demonstrated the doughmaking process. Since the dough has to rest for two half-hour periods, the class isn’t long enough to make it in real time. I write down a fantastic tip that may make my next solo attempt at bread making be more successful: “You always want to make sure your yeast gets going before you add your salt,” warns Unger.“Salt stunts the growth of your yeast.” In front of the mixer, Unger fields our string of questions about an ingredient she used in the recipe that was somewhat unfamiliar to the group—clarified butter. Someone asks what I am thinking: “Can you just use regular butter?” while another person wants to know how to make it or, better still, where to buy it. Unger explains that she made the clarified butter (basically butter minus the milk solids) by melting regular unsalted butter on low heat for about 15 minutes and then letting it stand for about five minutes. “I skimmed off the foam from the top and poured the liquid into this jar,” she says. The milk solids that have settled to the bottom of the pan may be discarded.

As for whether you could skip this step and use unsalted butter, the short answer is, Yes and no. Clarified butter has a much higher “smoke point” than regular butter—meaning that it won’t burn as fast when cooking. “You could use regular butter to make the dough, but you couldn’t fry the dough in regular butter—you’d need grapeseed oil,” Unger says. The lazy cook in me silently likes that idea or buying a jar of clarified butter at the supermarket, where it’s usually called ghee.

Students roll out the dough for their Cheese-Stuffed Naan.

Once the dough is prepared, each of us reaches for the rolling pin we brought from home. After giving the dough a few rolls on our well-floured surface, we place our Laughing Cow cheese on top, fold over the dough, and roll some more. We’re all astonished that you can barely notice the cheese anymore. Soon, each of us takes our naan-in-the-making to one of the cast-iron skillets (Lodge is Unger’s preferred brand), where it puffs up and browns in a matter of minutes.

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

About 90 minutes into class, the biscuits are out of the oven and everyone has a plate of warm naan in front of them. We pass around jam for the biscuits, which are slightly sweeter than the buttermilk kind you might associate with Thanksgiving. The consensus is we love them—and think they’d pair well with tea.

By the time I arrive at my house—more than an hour after class has ended—the naan isn’t warm anymore, but it still has a major wow factor.“That’s really delicious!” says my daughter, eating the rest.“We have to make it ourselves!” Thanks to Unger, we know how (and if you check out the recipe on page 40, you will too)!

The naan, however, is the real showstealer.“It tastes like the most delicious, comforting grilled-cheese sandwich,” pipes in a fellow student. I find myself instinctively nodding in agreement as I graciously accept a to-go carton to bring the rest of the biscuits and naan home to my family.

To learn more about The Rooster & The Carrot Cooking Studio, Chef Kelly Unger’s recipe blog, her menu of classes, and how to register for a class, go to theroosterandthecarrot.com.

Unger has found her happy place, teaching cooking classes, testing recipes, and blogging about farm-to-table eating and seasonal produce.

BY KATIE CREIGHTON 42 PHOTO MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

Apple Camembert Tatin Watch Unger make Apple Camembert Tatin. Go to magazine.moravian.edu to see a step-by-step video.

A scrumptious yet simple appetizer for a fall dinner party, this French dish is sure to draw rave reviews from guests. Chef Kelly Unger adapted this recipe from Let’s Eat France, by François-Régis Gaudry, and has included it in her cooking classes. Active Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes Makes 6 servings

Ingredients 4 sweet apples, such as Gala or Honeycrisp, cored but not peeled 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 wheel (9 ounces) Camembert cheese, sliced 14 ounces frozen puff pastry dough, thawed*

Make It

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. 2. Slice each of the apples into about 12 thick pieces. Place in a large skillet with the butter and brown sugar. Cook on medium heat until soft. 3. Spread the apples in the prepared cake pan and top with Camembert slices. 4. Roll out the dough on parchment paper. Make sure the dough is large enough to cover the top of the pan. Place the dough over the pan, tucking the edges into the rim. 5. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes, then invert onto a large plate. Serve warm. *For best results, thaw puff pastry dough in the fridge rather than on your counter.

PHOTO BY KATIE CREIGHTON

FIND YOUR WAY TO THESE ALUMNI-OWNED EATING AND DRINKING ESTABLISHMENTS. ILLUSTRATIONS BY NATE PADAVICK

44 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

The Cup

· 1430 linden st ·

e Elizabe

th ave

n news st

Center st

Adagio

Apollo Grill

· 530 Pembroke Rd ·

e GOEPP ST

· 85 w broad st ·

Joe’s tavern

e union blvd

Maple st

FRED B ROONEY HIGHWAY

e broad st

linden st

main st

· 12 w broad st ·

e Market st

Lost Tavern Brewing · 444 main st ·

W church st

S news st

Lehigh River

The Aging Moon

· 211 Mechanic st ·

e 3rd st

Sotto Santi

· 10 W 4th St ·

e 4th st

o br

OWNER: RACHEL GRIFFITH ’07

OWNER: SHELLY SALAK ’86

CO-OWNERS: WILLIAM

610-865-9600 • apollogrill.com

610-868-3200 • joestavern.com

BURKHARDT ’69 AND

Heading into its 64th year and thirdgeneration ownership, Joe’s is the quintessential tavern experience, offering an impressive selection of craft beers, as well as cocktails, along with classic quality pub fare. Homemade soups and cheesesteaks are the tavern’s specialty.

FREDERICK BUCKENMEYER

The Apollo is a casual yet upscale bistro committed to serving wonderful food and unique cocktails in a lively and fun atmosphere.

“WHETHER YOU WANT TO SHARE APPS WITH A GROUP OF FRIENDS, ENJOY A FINE-DINING EXPERIENCE, OR GRAB A COCKTAIL AT THE BAR, THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE AT APOLLO.

“Samantha Hickey ’23 and I stopped into Joe’s for dinner. We began our evening with an elderflower champagne cocktail for Sam and a Leinenkugel, from a craft brewery in Wisconsin, for me. We ordered several items: French onion soup; pierogies with beer, cheese, and bacon; a cheesesteak; a burger with sautéed onions, mushrooms, Cheddar, lettuce, and tomato; and Parmesan fries on the side. Everything was made fresh and was delicious. As for decor, since Shelly is originally from New York, Yankees and New York Giants memorabilia are everywhere.”

-MATT NESTO ’16, G’21, G’22

I found the Tricolore salad (mixed greens, goat cheese, mandarin oranges, roasted red beets, and walnuts with a honey drizzle and balsamic vinaigrette) colorful, flavorful, and light, while the Black & Blue Tenderloin appetizer offered a hearty bite paired with the Tempura Fried Cauliflower.”

-AMANDA MAENZA ’13, G’17

46 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

610-691-8422 bethlehemdairystore.com The Bethlehem Dairy Store (known by most as The Cup, for the original shape of the shop— a large milkshake cup) has been an ice-cream-lover’s heaven since the 1930s. For more than 30 years, Burkhardt and Buckenmeyer have been serving homemade ice cream in 30-plus flavors and every imaginable serving option: cups, cones, sundaes, shakes, floats, on top of Belgian waffles, in ice cream sandwiches, and more.

“THIS HAS BEEN MY GO-TO ICE CREAM SPOT SINCE I WAS A CHILD. THE ICE CREAM IS THE BEST IN THE VALLEY, AND THEY HAVE COUNTLESS FLAVORS TO CHOOSE FROM. AND WITH THE NEON LIGHTS, VINTAGE STYLE, AND SMILES EVERYWHERE, THE ATMOSPHERE IS UNMATCHED!” -ETHAN DEATER ’23

FALL 2023

OWNER: KEN RAMPOLLA ’79

OWNER: ANTHONY SPAGNOLA ’94

losttavernbrewing.com

610-625-3777 • seafoodadagio.com

484-895-3111 • sottosantipizzapub.com

The first satellite taproom of the Hellertown-based brewery, Lost Tavern is located within the Moravian Book Shop, the oldest continuously operating bookstore in America, where visitors and students can also purchase Moravian University texts and merch. You can order from a wide selection of beer on tap or select from options to go. Want something to munch while you sip? Head back to the Rendevoo counter for some Asian fusion cuisine. (See page 28 for a story about Lost Tavern Brewing.)

Named after the Italian musical term meaning “in slow tempo,” Adagio specializes in seafood but also offers chicken, steak, pasta, and pizza for the non–fish lovers in your group. The restaurant is open for dinner only, Wednesday through Saturday, 4 to 10 p.m.

At this pizzeria pub in South Bethlehem, you’ll find a wide selection of pizza, calzones, and other Italian food favorites whether you want to dine in or take out. Happy hour drinks and food specials change daily. And if you’re up for some late-night fun, stick around for the DJ on Thursdays through Saturdays or karaoke on Sundays.

“LOST TAVERN IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SPOTS ON MAIN STREET. THEY HAVE A LARGE MENU, WITH VARIOUS TYPES OF BEER, GUARANTEEING THERE'S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.

checked out Adagio. Neither of us had been, and we were excited to try it. The menu offered an extensive selection of seafood. The standout for me was the surf and turf, which included a perfectly cooked fillet and bacon-wrapped scallops. The seafood was incredibly fresh and seasoned just right. The service was impeccable, with attentive and knowledgeable staff.”

I can enjoy the dark classics, such as the American Porter, while my friends who are less versed in beer can enjoy a fruitforward, juicy Onomatopoeia.”

-CHRISTIE JACOBSEN ’00

“My friend Claire Boucher and I recently

-ANGELA KILBURG ’18

“I had the wonderful experience of trying out Sotto Santi earlier this semester. I ordered their Sweet and Stingy Wings, an antipasto salad, a half pepperoni/ half cheese pizza cooked in their signature brick oven, and some zeppole, a lightly fried dough dessert. Everything was fresh and well prepared, and the pizza was among the best I’ve had in the Lehigh Valley.”

-ROMELLO WALTERS ’22, G’24

OWNER: ABBY HUDOCK ’19 484-553-3095

• AGINGMOON.COM

The Aging Moon is a small cheese shop featuring premade cheeseboards and blocks of cheese as well as accompaniments. The shop also takes online orders. Owner Abby Hudock is an American Cheese Society 2022 scholarship recipient and a certified sommelier. She will happily advise as to what wines or beers best pair with the cheese or cheese board you choose.

“THE MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY CHEESE CLUB ORDERED TWO CHARCUTERIE BOARDS FROM THE AGING MOON FOR CLUB EVENTS. Both boards were unique, and the flavors were fantastic. My favorite cheeses were the aged Cheddar and the smoked gouda. They were creamy, bold, and flavorful, perfect for a crowd-pleasing event. We will definitely order from her again for our next charcuterie board event. I recommend her shop to cheese lovers everywhere.”

-SHANE KLINGER ’24, PRESIDENT OF THE CHEESE CLUB

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

LIGHTING THE WAY:

Alumni

The Campaign for Moravian University is more than a fundraising initiative—it is our promise to change the life of every Moravian student through scholarships, meaningful experiences, and leading-edge technology and learning facilities. We are so grateful for our valued alumni and supporters who are lighting the way for our students, their future, and the next generation. We are lighting the way together!

A Student Union for the Future

priority of the Lighting the Way campaign is to support our students with leading-edge tools and learning spaces. Investing in our campus makes a statement about who we are, what we value, and where we are going. It allows Moravian to provide world-class instruction to our students today, promoting dynamic interaction and informal learning experiences to prepare them for success, while also changing to anticipate the needs of future Greyhounds and seminary students. The innovation of a student union on Moravian’s campus dates back to the 1920s. Students longed for a centralized location for student life. Demand for a student union persisted through the hardship of the Great Depression and resurfaced, full force, in the 1950s when students rallied

48 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

for the development of a central “hub” for student recreation. They fundraised and donated their own money and eventually presented a check to campus leadership for $400,000. The board of trustees approved building a student union in 1958, and the College Union Building, or CUB, opened in 1962. In the 30 years that followed, students paid a “student activity fee” to help finance the CUB. Student contributions were matched by alumni support and supplemented by board members and donors. In 1969, the CUB was renamed the Haupert Union Building, or HUB, in honor of Raymond S. Haupert, PhD,’22, S’24, who had served as president since 1944 and announced his retirement. The HUB has served as the center of the campus community for decades.

FALL 2023

Come early 2024, the HUB Expansion Project will transform the current building into a three-level, state-of-the-art space equipped with the latest technology for collaboration, meetings, and events. It will centralize programs and resources for students and faculty across campus and the seminary and celebrate the entire Moravian community. In 1962, when The Comenian announced the opening of the CUB, it detailed its purpose as “providing an informal, home-like atmosphere in which the student can come and feel as though [they] belong.” Just as Moravian students envisioned decades ago, the new and improved HUB will continue to serve as the epicenter for student living and learning while anticipating the needs of future students in our changing world.

RENDERING BY ESa, EARL SWENSSON ASSOCIATES

Creating Great Leaders Through a Transaction of Trust Robert P. Flicker ’71 spent more

than 50 years as a leader at East Penn Manufacturing, a battery company in Lyon Station, Pennsylvania. He began as a product engineer and climbed the ranks to chief operating officer. Now retired, Flicker is devoted to imparting his knowledge of leadership and trust to today’s rising leaders, all the while giving back to the roots where his own leadership journey began.

Flicker grew up on a small farm in Mertztown, Pennsylvania. He received his undergraduate degree in physics from Moravian and earned a master of science degree in physics from Lehigh University in 1974. He says he did not know much about science, higher education, or leadership until he came to Moravian as a first-generation student, but professors Ed Roeder, Jack Ridge, and Joe Powlette helped him gain confidence and sparked his interest in science.“If you liked physics at all, you got hooked, because they not only were your mentors, but they led you. They wanted you to succeed,” he recalls. Flicker strived to emulate these examples in his professional career. “I tried to have the same passion and to make sure that I shared my knowledge with other people,” he says. “My attitude was to be an open book and to encourage people to grow. A good leader should have good followers, and it is the

leader’s responsibility to develop them into good leaders. That’s as simple as it is.”

essential resource, but the very heart of the HUB,” she says.

Flicker has made it his mission to prepare today’s workforce to adapt to challenges. He will leave his mark in the new and improved HUB by investing in the Robert P. Flicker ’71 Leadership Suite, a 1,500-square-foot space dedicated to student organizations and clubs. The suite will offer two areas for student groups to gather—one an open common area; the other with closed-door privacy. Lockers will provide storage space. The suite will also allow student leadership groups, the Moravian Activities Council and the United Student Government, to centralize their offices together for the first time.

Flicker learned a lot about leadership and the power of trust from his former boss, DeLight E. Breidegam Jr. P’84, GP’14, GP’16, GP’18, cofounder of East Penn Manufacturing, who he says made deals with just a handshake. “DeLight loved people, and he had a passion for his business and for anything that he did,” Flicker says.“The first step in being a good leader is putting people first. DeLight sought input from everyone and was a clear communicator, but most of all, he could be trusted.”

“Both of these student groups are funded through the student activity fee and have, in the past, worked separately to meet the legislative and activity goals for engaging the campus community,” says Suzanne Moyer, director of conference and event management.“As these groups serve as prominent resources in themselves for our students, having them in the same physical location opens up a plethora of new opportunities and potential.” Moyer says the suite will be prominently positioned in a corner of the building facing Makuvek Field and Johnston Hall and will span approximately 8 percent of the first-floor footprint. “As the student community unpacks all of the features of this space, the foundation for next-level collaboration and support could very well lead to this space not only being an

Flicker acknowledges much of his foundation as a leader started at Moravian, which is a significant reason why he is one of the first living alumni to become a member of the Priscilla Payne Hurd Club in Moravian’s lifetime giving society, the Via Lucis Society. Flicker has also served on Moravian’s board of trustees since 2013 and is a member of the Student Affairs Committee, Audit Committee, Capital Campaign Committee, Advancement Committee, and University Executive Committee.“You need to give back to the community, even if it’s with your time,” he says. Flicker knows that universities and colleges face challenges due to changing demographics, but he believes Moravian is well positioned for success.“I’m very excited about the Lighting the Way campaign and how we’re thinking about being a valuable and longterm player in higher education,” he states. “We have great leadership with the president and his staff, and they have a vision for where we can go to meet future needs.”

A Place for Thousands of Talks Nicole Loyd, PhD, was a big

surprise. She was born 12 years into her parents’ marriage, after they had been told they could never have

children. From humble beginnings in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Loyd attended Bucknell University and the University of Virginia on academic and athletic scholarships and received degrees in education.

was a talented athlete, too. By the time I was three, I was in swimming lessons, ballet, and gymnastics. By the time I was in middle school, I had added golf, field hockey, basketball, and softball to the list.”

Loyd’s love of sports started early.“My first word was ball,” she says.“My dad was an exceptional athlete and played Major League Baseball for a summer, and my mom

Loyd’s parents shared “thousands of talks” with her about the importance of teamwork, good communication, and leadership. She brought that drive and endless energy to

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

Moravian in 2008 when she started as dean of students. Today, she serves as Moravian’s executive vice president for university life and chief operating officer.“I immediately fell in love with the people here and their deep sense of caring for one another,” Loyd says. “As a first-generation college kid who came from a working- and middle-class background, Moravian just fits me.” Loyd is well known in the Moravian community as an influential and caring administrator. In 2015, she opted out of having an assigned office so she could work among students and faculty on campus. You can often find her in the HUB; more than anyone, she recognizes its great importance as a central

gathering space.“Our staff, our faculty, our president, our trustees, our alumni—our entire community—all put students first,” she boasts.“For me, having a student union building at the core of campus that shows our values and provides a place for our community to be together is a testament to our student-centered philosophy.” Loyd’s gift to the Lighting the Way campaign is an extension of that philosophy. Anyone entering the expanded HUB will be greeted at the Marion Gibson “Gib” & Barbara Loyd HUB Information Desk. Those same “thousands of talks” that Loyd experienced with her parents will happen here with the same level of compassion and care.

“All of the things I hold fundamental to my life—living with integrity, always making time for people, working hard, giving back to the community, and telling the people you love that you do—I learned from them,” she says. Loyd lost her father to COVID-19 in 2021, but she will honor him and his impact on her life by giving back to the university she holds dear.“Sharing what my parents meant to me with this community is one of the greatest honors of my life, and I strive through my words and actions to make them proud every single day. I can’t wait to walk by that desk, and I’m sure I’ll often have tears in my eyes when I do.”

Giving Thanks for Being a Friend Laurie Riley Brubaker, Patricia “Pat” Murray Hanna, Joanne Belletti Molle, Judith “Judy” Mazzucco Oehrle, and Carol Sampson Sweeney, all members of the Class of 1982, clicked their first weekend at Moravian. They won a lottery contest for a suite in the newly built DeSchweinitz House, and from then on, they were deemed the “Roomies.” “We learned how to live on our own under Moravian’s umbrella,” says Molle.“We divided up household chores and cooking, learned to budget weekly grocery money, held annual Parents’ Day gatherings with our families, sunbathed in our baby pool, played practical jokes on each other, held our infamous General Hospital costume party during the Luke and Laura era, and planned our annual summer gettogethers at a classmate’s home by a lake.” The close living quarters posed occasional trials and tribulations and forced them closer.“There were at least five of us girls in that three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, so you can imagine that there would be challenges over the three years we were together,” says Oehrle.“I think the

50 M ORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

secret to making it work was organization, humor, and love.” The Roomies became lifelong friends, and three met their husbands at Moravian.“We navigated life’s ups and downs together, and we still do now—our marriages, the births of our children, health issues, the passing of our parents and siblings, our children’s weddings, and now grandchildren for some of us,” says Molle.“Laurie’s passing added another element to our friendship.” Laurie Riley Brubaker passed away in August 2019 after a long battle with cancer. She had a long and stellar career at Aetna, last serving as president of the company’s Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia operations. Laurie gave back to Moravian throughout her life, serving on the board of trustees, the Campaign Cabinet Committee, and the Leadership Council. She and her husband, Lloyd, established the Moravian Tomorrow Endowed Scholarship to support academically qualified students and the Lloyd and Laurie Riley ’82 Brubaker Endowed Internship Fund for first-generation and low-income students pursuing internships. They also financed a faculty office in the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences. Developing future leaders was important to Laurie. After she passed, Lloyd sponsored

FALL 2023

the naming of the Center for Career & Civic Engagement in the expanded HUB in her memory. The Laurie Ann Riley ’82 Center for Career & Civic Engagement

will empower students to develop the skills, experiences, confidence, and connections to pursue fulfilling careers while remaining civic-minded in their personal and professional endeavors.

The Roomies are honoring Laurie by funding two interview rooms in the center. The booths will provide students with private space for in-person or virtual interviews or meetings with prospective employers.“Laurie understood how important career development and community involvement are to students’ professional development and personal fulfillment,” says Hanna.“Our gift of the interview rooms is a perfect way for us to support the Lighting the Way campaign and to support Laurie, who is always in our hearts.” “I know that Laurie, like the rest of us, really saw our time and experience at Moravian as hugely significant in shaping who we became in our lives. She wanted others to have that same benefit,” adds Sweeney. “[The rooms’] function and purpose is a great way to exemplify Laurie’s desire to help others be able to get off to a good start by having a place to put their best foot forward while seeking that first big opportunity after Moravian.”

Get to Know Our Lighting the Way Subcommittee Chairs Sophia Z. Rivera ’24

Chair, Students Subcommittee What is your personal motto?

“Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy.” —Paulo Coelho

Who at Moravian has influenced you most and how?

Nicole Loyd [executive vice president for university life, chief operating officer and dean of students] has influenced me the most at Moravian. I’ve known Dean Loyd since I was a little girl running around campus with my mom in the Student Life office. I was always treated with respect and kindness (even when I would take naps under her desk...shhhhh!) I deeply admire Dean Loyd’s leadership. Her position at Moravian requires her to be very student-facing, so she does not have an office on campus—she believes she should be among the students. Dean Loyd is endlessly selfless, compas-

sionate, supportive, and intelligent. Her presence is radiating, and I look up to her as a role model and leader. She has influenced me and my leadership more than she knows, and I can confidently say that I am in the organizations, clubs, and positions I am in at Moravian because of her. I hope to be even just half the leader Dean Loyd is, and I will take the things I learn from her and carry them with me for the rest of my life.

dynamic learning environment. As a result, Moravian graduates will be well prepared to contribute to their communities, excel in their chosen careers, and make a positive impact on the world. This, in turn, will help shape a brighter future for the next generation of students and the broader society.

What are you most excited to see Lighting the Way make possible for Moravian?

How do you believe Lighting the Way will help our students, their future, and the next generation?

Lighting the Way will pave the way for generations of students to come. I have many friends who attend Moravian and pay for their education through scholarships. These students are leaders in the classroom, on the field, and in clubs. They are constantly trying to make Moravian better than when they found it. The Lighting the Way campaign will empower Moravian students to achieve their academic and career aspirations by providing financial support, offering valuable hands-on experiences, and creating a

I am eagerly anticipating the emergence of accomplished individuals whose success is directly attributable to the campaign. I’ve witnessed numerous fellow students discover their remarkable potential while at Moravian, achieving truly extraordinary feats. The individuals who will rise to prominence through the campaign will be highly capable and successful in their unique paths. These impacts will affect generations of students for years to come—I cannot wait to see how brilliant they will be and how they will choose to light the way for students in the future!

What is your favorite meal in the dining hall?

those in need and creating an accessible future.

Zoey M. Bronson ’25

Chair, Students Subcommittee Who is your favorite performer/ musician/ band?

Justin Bieber is my favorite musician. I discovered him in 2008 on YouTube and have followed his career ever since. Why? you may ask. Because my Bieber fever never subsided.

My favorite meal in the dining hall is the chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I can eat up to eight.

Why is it important for you to serve/volunteer?

I am a member of multiple organizations dedicated to community service. This is important to me because I’ve found there is no greater feeling than giving back to

What are you most excited to see Lighting the Way make possible for Moravian? I am most excited to see Lighting the Way expand the HUB to fit the needs of our growing community at Moravian. To read full-length versions of these excerpted profiles, visit moravian.edu/lightingtheway.

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

HALL OF FAME

The Moravian Athletics

Hall of Fame Five student-athletes and four Greyhound teams won a place in the Moravian Athletics Hall of Fame. This year’s induction ceremony took place on September 22 in Johnston Hall as part of Homecoming Weekend. Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

Kelly Applegate ’07 had an outstanding career on the basketball court that earned her the honor of being named 2006 Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year and Kodak Honorable Mention All-American. A two-time allconference player, she finished her career with 1,529 points and 694 rebounds. Applegate was also a member of the women’s outdoor track & field team for three years. She captured the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Outdoor title in 2004 in the shot put, and she scored points at the MAC Outdoor Championships in the shot put, discus, and javelin with top-eight finishes in each event during her three years on the squad.

an All-Region Pitcher of the Year, a two-time Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Year, and a four-time Landmark All-Conference selection. He threw for several school records: 30 wins, 268.1 innings pitched, 285 strikeouts, and eight shutouts. Katie Kramer-Bicknell ’00 was a four-time All-Middle Atlantic Conference honoree on the volleyball court while helping the Greyhounds to three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances. She set school records for assists, with 4,325, and service aces, with 205. Gary Zack ’12, a four-year member of the men’s outdoor track & field team, won the 2011 NCAA Division III National Championship in the javelin. He competed at the NCAA meet every year and was also the NCAA runner-up in 2012. Zack still holds Moravian’s javelin record at 69.05 meters (226 feet, 6 inches).

Caitlin Corrigan Boyer ’09 was a standout on the soccer pitch as a goalie, helping the program to three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances. She was a three-time all-conference selection and put up an impressive array of career marks: 51 victories, 34 shutouts, 317 saves, a .817 save percentage, and a 0.78 goalsagainst average as a Greyhound. Brendan Close ’12 served as pitcher on the baseball team for four years. During his career, he was an All-American,

The 1998 women’s volleyball squad achieved a 27–7 overall record, tying the program record for victories at the time. They were runners-up in the Middle Atlantic Conference Tournament and played in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

More in-depth features on all of the honorees can be found at mrvn.co/hof2023.

52 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

The 1999 women’s volleyball team posted a 26–8 record, competed in the MAC Championship match, and earned the Greyhounds a third straight berth at the NCAA Division III Tournament, where they took the program’s first-ever division tournament victory. The 2007 women’s soccer team posted a 15–6–1 record on the year, competing in the inaugural Landmark Conference Tournament and reaching the NCAA Division III Tournament. The 2008 women’s soccer squad achieved a record of 14–6–2 on its way to capturing the program’s first-ever conference title, winning the Landmark Conference Championship. The Greyhounds also earned an NCAA Division III Tournament berth for the third time in four years. Patricia Billie Martin ’77 received the Robert Martin Herbstman Award, which recognizes an alumnus or alumna whose qualities of teamwork, leadership, and selflessness exemplify the spirit of Moravian University athletics. Billie Martin was a member of the early women’s volleyball teams at Moravian.

HALL OF FAME

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

CLASS NOTES

Class Notes The editors of Moravian University Magazine publish all class notes that we receive. We reserve the right to edit for space or style. Some information may appear only online at moravian.edu/classnotes. If your class year or a named correspondent is not listed either here or online, email your information to alumni@moravian.edu or mail to Class Notes, Alumni Engagement Office, Moravian University, 1200 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 18018.

Deadlines for Submissions

Spring 2024 issue: December 12, 2023 Summer 2024 issue: May 5, 2024

Photo Policy

Please send us your image as a jpg file at 300 dpi or higher. For photos taken with a smartphone, send the largest image file. We publish one photo per wedding or birth. We welcome photos of gatherings of alumni.

For More Information

Race Relations The year 1958 was about the races. Besides the legal battle surrounding the

efforts to integrate racially segregated schools and other public facilities in the South, there was a Cold War arms race and space race between the US and the USSR. At Moravian, there was also a race to increase available on-campus housing on both the north and south campuses for the post-WWII boom in student population. —Nancy Rutman ’84

54 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

1/31

1/10

1958

moravian.edu/classnotes

MORAVIAN MOMENT In a Comenian editorial, Joseph L. “Joe” Rosenfeld ’58 warns that “As long as [Soviet satellite] Sputnik II is flying over our heads we’re in serious trouble.”

SPACE RACE The US completes its first successful deployment of a satellite when Explorer 1 is launched into orbit.

CLASS NOTES

Class correspondent Virginia Stanglein is now happily retired, for the second time, from the federal government and enjoying her three young grandchildren. She sends the following news:

1990

Northampton County Judge John M. Morganelli has been appointed to the board of trustees of the Janet Johnston Housenick and William D. Housenick Memorial Foundation. The Foundation is a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation that exists in part

Michele Anderson has enjoyed a spectacular 2023 so far. In May, she married again and is thrilled to have a partner at this stage of her life. Her triplets, now 24, attended the ceremony. Her son Erik and his wife, Greta, performed the readings, her son Gunnar signed the marriage license, and her daughter, Brynn, conducted the ceremony. In June, Michele retired after 32 years of teaching public school. She looks forward to the next phase of her life but will miss having Moravian student teachers in her classroom. In September, she celebrated 10 years cancer free after her bone marrow transplant to stop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

1976 Curt Canfield published the novel The Errors of Mankind: Mistaking the True Conditions for Our Well-Being. It is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

1977

2/14

Our 50th reunion weekend, attended by 31 of our class plus some significant others, was held along with Homecoming on October 28–29, 2022. The festivities began with Friday’s Brunch & Learn, followed by campus tours and three professor-led mini classes, and ended with a jovial and tasty barbecue at The House Party. Saturday’s events included a continental breakfast with an alumni annual meeting and address by President Bryon Grigsby, the alumni parade, and tailgating at the 14–3 winning Moravian versus McDaniel College football game.

Michael Rossi Jr. was recently hired as superintendent of Lenape Valley Regional High School in Stanhope, New Jersey.

MORAVIAN MOMENT The Comenian reports that Moravian junior Walid Nammari has been elected president of the Pennsylvania Collegiate International Relations Club.

ARMS RACE Gerald Holtom designs a peace symbol for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Upcoming

Events

Details and registration for any of these events can be found at moravian.edu/alumni/events.

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 Dinner with a Dozen Hounds These exclusive events will connect 12 alumni with one of our outstanding faculty members for an intimate evening of dinner and conversation on a particular topic. A three-course, catered dinner will be presented by Moravian University’s executive chef and include a wine pairing.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023 Evening on Main Street WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2023 Golden Greyhound Event FEBRUARY 2, 2024 Alumni Night at the Phantoms FEBRUARY 21, 2024 Golden Greyhound Event

3/7

1972

1988

2/24

Betty Adams Roach received the Moravian Medallion of Merit Award from the Alumni Association of Moravian College in 2011. She passed away on June 24, 2023.

to preserve land on which sits a historic mansion built by Archibald Johnston, the first mayor of Bethlehem and the first president of Bethlehem Steel Company.

2/21

1943

Our class was inducted into the 50+ club at a lovely cocktail hour and dinner that evening in the Sally Breidegam Miskiewicz Center for Health Sciences. See the photo of our attendees at mrvn.co/50th-reunion-1972. It seems a good time of fellowship and reconnecting was had by all. Since then there have been other opportunities for our classmates and all alumni to connect at the various Return & Learn events, Founder’s Week, the Shining Lights programs, Book Club, and local sports gatherings. Check it out online.

MORAVIAN MOMENT In basketball, the Moravian Greyhounds finish their first season under new head coach Rocco Calvo with a record of 11 wins and 9 losses.

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN MOMENT The Comenian notes that Ronnie Vrabel ’59 (stage name Ronnie Ravelle) has released a rock ’n’ roll single called “Don’t Restrain Me, Joe.” Listen here: mrvn.co/vrabel.

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

CLASS NOTES

On June 25, Michael Gallo ’19 graduated from the prestigious Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he received a master of management science degree in global affairs. In addition to maintaining a 4.0 GPA, he was selected for the Outstanding Capstone Award for his thesis research project on the history and future prospects of United States–China bilateral public health cooperation, for which he interviewed top officials from both countries’ Centers for Disease Control.

ARMS RACE A US bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb over Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Though the radioactive payload never detonates, the bomb destroys a house and injures several people.

56 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

Suzanne Kmet-Diaz will retire from teaching at the end of this year, having taught for 30 years for the Township of Union public schools in New Jersey. She looks forward to spending time with her children and her new rescue puppy and playing pickleball. She says that after playing racquetball at Moravian, she can be pretty competitive.

Mary Kate Andris, EdD, recently joined CIVIC Leadership Institute in Hampton Roads, Virginia, as president and chief executive officer. Mary Kate is a member of the institute’s Class of 2018 and is the first graduate to be tapped to lead CIVIC.

MUSIC Rock ’n’ roll icon Elvis Presley is inducted into the US Army.

FALL 2023

1999

1995 Keith Quelet released a new album of original songs. He met with Pastor Bob Rapp (Christ UCC) who heads the Bethlehem Emergency Shelter (BES) Project and offered him music to promote awareness of how BES provides food and housing to the homeless of the Lehigh Valley. He is seeking opportunities in area schools to write an original song with students as a means of addressing the particular mental health challenges many students face post-pandemic. Pastor Rapp expressed an interest in partnering with Keith in his outreach to school students in our area.

3/26

3/24

3/11

1958

“Throughout the course of my time in Schwarzman Scholars, I had the chance to learn from and interact with a broad array of global thought leaders, top academic experts, and pioneering business executives on a daily basis, alongside traveling extensively around mainland China and Southeast Asia,” says Gallo.“Although the academic term was just 10 months long, it was by far the highest-intensity learning experience I’ve been a part of across my academic and professional career. I was challenged in ways I never could’ve imagined possible and was constantly absorbing new information, insights, and perspectives all while being surrounded by a cohort of extraordinary young leaders.”

1996

Diane Abate Sarnicky relocated from Massachusetts to North Carolina in May 2023 after receiving a promotion to the US Controller position at iQE, supplier of advanced wafer products and material solutions to the semiconductor industry. Diane is responsible for both the Massachusetts and North Carolina manufacturing locations.

2006 After nearly a decade of working in Lafayette College’s Office of Alumni Relations, Amy Frantz Gross accepted the role of director of traditions and class affinity in Lehigh University’s Development and Alumni Relations Division. Her responsibilities include

3/27

Our First Schwarzman Grad

1991

FILM At the 30th Academy Awards, The Bridge on the River Kwai takes home seven statuettes, including the Oscar for Best Picture.

WORLD Nikita Khrushchev becomes premier of the Soviet Union.

CLASS NOTES

2007

McGaughey ’91

leads a dedicated team of employees and volunteers who prepare and deliver fresh and healthy meals to more than 1,000 home-bound seniors and adults with disabilities. They also conduct wellness checks and offer other services and resources to those they assist. For this issue of Moravian University Magazine, we asked McGaughey for his insights on this important work.

You joined Meals on Wheels in 2022. What drew you to the job?

A critical part of Meals on Wheels’ mission is to battle social isolation. For many of the people we serve, we are the only face or voice they may see or hear in a day. On some level, due to the pandemic, I could understand the impact of isolation. So I believe deeply in the mission. I was also drawn to Meals on Wheels’ comprehensive approach—battling isolation on multiple fronts. For example, if a homebound senior has a pet, we know how important that companionship is. So we offer dog and cat food at no cost, as well.

How would you describe your management style?

I am a servant leader. I love talking to the team and getting to know them as people. The more I know about them, the more I can do to make their work environment conducive to their strengths.

4/13

3/30

Stephanie Widger Adams started a new job in October of 2022 at Sullivan County Elementary School in Laporte, Pennsylvania, as K–6 music teacher and director of the band and chorus—and she married Noah Adams on July 23, 2022. In attendance at her wedding were five of her fellow music education majors from her graduating class as well as one from the 2008 music education class.

Was that approach influenced by anyone at Moravian University?

As CEO of Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley, Erik

DANCE The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater gives its first performance.

I was influenced by many people at Moravian. If I had to single out one of them, it would be Dr. Robert Burcaw, professor of English. He was a relationship builder. During my time at Moravian, I felt he knew me, cared about me, and wanted the best for me. It is an example I follow to this day.

What has been the most challenging part of your job?

Finding ways to let the broader community know we provide so much more than a meal.

What is your biggest takeaway from your first year as CEO?

There are amazing people who share their time and talent to support other people. We have more than 30 employees and over 900 volunteers. They are a constant reminder that there is good happening in the world.

What ingredients go into the recipe for an ideal volunteer?

Compassion, concern, flexibility, and focus on others.

Many of the people you interact with are older adults. Finish this thought: Seniors are...

…a treasure we don’t always see. Seniors bring so much history, insight, perspective, and knowledge to the table. Between the seniors that volunteer with us and the ones we serve, I have seen such appreciation for simple things like a story, handshake, or warm meal. — Greg Forbes Siegman

SPACE RACE Sputnik II, carrying Laika the dog, disintegrates during reentry from orbit.

4/17

Amy and her husband were thrilled to introduce their son last year to the magic of the holidays at Moravian, taking him to Fireside Storytime with President Grigsby and Mo. And after a few years’ hiatus, Amy and Kate Struck Massa ’06 were able to attend Vespers, sharing the experience with Kate’s daughters for the first time.

More Than a Meal

4/14

overseeing Lehigh’s annual alumni reunion, leading a team that educates students on the importance of Lehigh traditions and philanthropy, building young alumni engagement opportunities, and organizing Class Notes for Lehigh’s alumni magazine.

MUSIC American pianist Van Cliburn wins the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

FALL 2023

WORLD Expo 58, featuring a 335-foot-tall stainless-steel tribute to scientific progress known as the Atomium, opens in Brussels, Belgium.

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

CLASS NOTES

2008

Veteran Alumna Named Poet Laureate Combat veteran, speaker, and writer Jennifer “Jenny” Pacanowski ’22 has been named poet laureate for Veterans for Peace, an organization committed to world peace that works internationally toward many goals, including raising awareness of the causes and costs of war.“It is an honor to be acknowledged by such a large organization,” says Pacanowski. “The values of Veterans for Peace align with my own, and I find it validating. It’s a beautiful thing to be a representative.” This fall, Pacanowski toured with Veterans for Peace in Japan speaking and performing her poetry about being a woman in the military. The opportunity also gave Pacanowski access to spread the word about the power of art to help veterans heal from the trauma of war and reintegrate into society, something she learned from personal experience.

Samantha Christman-Amore and her husband celebrated the birth of their first child, son Luca Amore, on February 10, 2022.

With poetry as an outlet for all the disappointment, disillusionment, and rage that immobilized her when she returned from Iraq, Pacanowski says she has been able to move into the future. In 2016, she founded the nonprofit organization Women Veterans Empowered & Thriving (WVET), which offers workshops in writing and performance to empower women veterans to not only reintegrate but thrive. Today, the organization provides workshops for all veterans, including men, as well as civilian support members.

Geoffrey M. Roche was recruited by Siemens Healthineers to lead workforce development for North America. He and his wife, Rebecca, and their three boys, Corbin, Gavin, and Reid, relocated to Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. Christopher Consavage is officially a full-time fine art photographer. You can view his work and purchase prints at christopherconsavage.com.

2012 Rania Hanna’s debut novel, The Jinn Daughter, published by Hoopoe, will be released on April 2, 2024. The novel pulls together mythology, magic, and ancient legend in the gripping story of a mother’s struggle to save her only daughter. Rania deftly weaves subtle, yet breathtaking, magic through this vivid and compelling story that has at its heart the universal human desire to somehow outmaneuver death.

SPACE RACE Congress officially authorizes the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Its “meatball” logo is designed the following year.

58 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

CIVIL RIGHTS Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus orders all public high schools in the state capital, Little Rock, to close rather than allowing them to be integrated.

FALL 2023

9/29

9/18

9/12

7/29

1958

To pay off student loan debt, Pacanowski joined the army as a combat medic and served one tour in the Iraq War. When she returned home, reintegration was nearly insurmountable. What worked was writing. Pacanowski has penned poetry since she was a kid, but it was in a veterans’ workshop on freewriting that she discovered writing’s power to heal. “The workshop was an open and welcoming space,” she says. “Writing and speaking my truth allowed me to release the stories that were harming my body, mind, and soul. It gave me relief, and I felt witnessed.”

BUSINESS Bank of America launches the BankAmericard (later known as Visa), the first widely available credit card.

CIVIL RIGHTS In a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court rules that the public schools in Little Rock must integrate.

CLASS NOTES

Katelyn Weiss Slivka and her husband, Paul Slivka, welcomed their first child, Jameson Paul, on September 22, 2022.

2014 Jasmine Berger, who has her own business as a counselor, accepted a position at Northampton Community College as an adjunct professor of psychology.

2015 Ryan Barwick moved to Sitka, Alaska, to teach at Mt. Edgecombe High School.

2016 Emily Hoke married Chris Petrides on July 29, 2023, at the First Presbyterian Church in Manasquan, New Jersey. Lauren Hostetler and Lexi Fabey ’19 got engaged on June 30th, 2023, in Newport, Rhode Island, and are looking forward to their wedding in 2024. They met at Moravian and recently bought their first home in Bethlehem. Max Korten, who served as a research coordinator for the nonprofit organization Better Tomorrows, presented his findings regarding the survey research and data collection process for out-of-school time and youth residing in affordable housing, at the Mathematica headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey. Max and Better Tomorrows were one of eight nonprofit organizations to present their survey research findings to Mathematica. Dylan Morrow and Caitlin Clearwater-McGann were married on August 12, 2022. They met on the first day of freshman orientation at Moravian in 2012.

10/11

Claire DelCasale Oas and her husband, Corey Oas, wel-

10/1

CJ Billera is happy to share that he was recently promoted to commercial sales manager at Lutron after having celebrated 10 years with the company, which is based in Dallas. In other exciting news, he recently

After nearly a decade of work in the nonprofit sector, Becca Mitchell earned her master’s degree in food and agriculture law and policy from Vermont Law School. She works in food systems research and is relocating from Vermont to Martha’s Vineyard with her partner this fall.

comed their daughter, Grace Dianna Oas, on May 21, 2023.

MORAVIAN MOMENT Ground is broken for what will become the Rau-Hassler dormitory complex on Moravian’s north campus.

2018 Elyssa Lowman has been an assistant nurse manager in the neonatal intensive care unit of the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune Township, New Jersey, since September 2022. Brianna Marmol got engaged to Sam Ackerman on October 22, 2022. They will be married on October 22, 2023, at the Chandelier at Flanders Valley in Flanders, New Jersey.

2019 Nicholas and Jacqueline Tone recently celebrated their first anniversary. In addition, they have just purchased their first home right here in the Lehigh Valley. Nicholas has returned to Moravian to obtain his MBA in managerial accounting. Casidhe Holoboski currently works as an RN in a fertility clinic, assisting patients through insemination and IVF treatments. She would be happy to be a resource for any nurses interested in learning about this field. Reach out at casidhe. holoboski@gmail.com.

SPACE RACE The space probe Pioneer 1 is the first spacecraft successfully launched by the newly formed NASA.

10/23

2013

got engaged to Allexus, who is from Louisiana. Her new favorite food—pierogies. CJ played football at Moravian and keeps in touch with several teammates.

10/23

Naiomi Gonzalez’s last few years have been a whirlwind. She graduated with her third master’s degree just as COVID hit. As a result, her final semester pivoted online. Then she moved from Texas to Wisconsin and spent a year living and working at a deserted church camp because of, well, COVID. Next she was off to Cincinnati, where she spent the last two years as part of Mercy Volunteer Corps and served at Ignite Peace, a local nonprofit that focuses on education and advocacy. Her biggest project was creating and facilitating a five-session certificate program on nonviolence. Now she is getting ready to move to Richmond, Virginia, where she will live and work at an ecumenical Christian retreat center. She hopes to set down some roots and catch her breath for a bit.

LITERATURE Russian author Boris Pasternak (Doctor Zhivago) is announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. Two days later he declines the honor after pressure from Soviet authorities.

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN MOMENT College Hall is rededicated in honor of trustee Archibald Johnston (1864–1948), the first mayor of the City of Bethlehem and president of Bethlehem Steel.

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

GREYHOUND ALBUM

Brielle Ferraro ’15 married Julian DiGiacomo on March 19, 2022, at St. Columbkill’s Church in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. Belinda “Bel” Ward ’19 married Zack Sokolowski on June 24, 2023, at the Mill at Manor Falls in Millersville, Pennsylvania. In attendance were Brendon Ward ’24, Ruth Pluymers ’19, and Allie Schaedler ’19.

Keegan Schealer ’22 and Hannah Pellicciotti ’21 got engaged on June 19, 2023, in Encino, Los Angeles, California. Nick Zambelli ’19 and Gabby Stelzmiller ’19 got engaged on July 18, 2023, in Oranjestad, Aruba.

Matthew Nesto ’16, G’21, G’22 and Emily Phifer got engaged on January 21, 2023, in Cape May, New Jersey.

TRANSPORTATION The Pan American World Airways Clipper America, a Boeing 707, makes its first transatlantic flight.

60 M ORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

LITERATURE Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a novella by Truman Capote, is first published in book form.

FALL 2023

11/10

11/8

10/28

10/27

1958

Brielle Ferraro ’15 and Julian DiGiacomo welcomed their first baby, Carmen Thomas DiGiacomo, on August 21, 2023.

MORAVIAN MOMENT Moravian’s football team faces Upsala in the first contest for the Blue and Grey Football trophy, sponsored by the Moravian chapter of Alpha Phi Omega.

NATION Jeweler Harry Winston donates the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution.

CLASS NOTES

2020

2022

Stephanie Haffling moved to Winter Park, Colorado, in the summer of 2021 to work as a preschool teacher. She is now living in Hawaii for six months and loves her adventure-filled life.

Prior to graduating from Moravian’s RN to BSN program, Alex D’Antonio accepted a promotion from St. Luke’s University Health Network to the director of nursing within one of the network’s skilled nursing units.

Alyssa Lopez received a contracted position teaching first grade in the Methacton School District in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Helium Scheduling Team, supporting the southern region. When not working, she enjoys working out, playing basketball, and taking her dog for walks.

2023 Morgan Amy has joined the Air Products MRI

Moravian Band Steels the Show at Musikfest player is the only one with the sheet music, and the rest of us make it up as we go.” The Steel City Hot Four formed back in May 2023 and consists of Hourt on trombone, Ben Sanchez ’22 on drums and washboard, Jesse Leahey ’23 on sousaphone, and Spencer Guido ’24 on trumpet. All four band members are or were music performance or music education majors, and they all plan to make music a part of their careers and their after-work lives.

When the Steel City Hot Four walked onstage at Musikfest on August 8, it was only the third time they had ever performed as a group. But as evidenced by the captive audience, there is something about this Moravian Dixieland band that was just meant to be.“We couldn’t have asked for a better show,” says band member Mitchell Hourt ’24.“People were clapping and singing along, and (by Musikfest standards) every seat was filled.”

“Playing Musikfest was exciting, and since we’d been working with this performance in mind, it was very fulfilling to complete,” Sanchez adds.

MORAVIAN MOMENT Moravian president Raymond S. Haupert awards Greyhound Bus Company mascot “Steverino” the honorary degree “Bachelor of Canines.”

12/28

12/21

12/18

11/22

Now that the Steel City Hot Four have gotten a taste of the sweet music they play together, they are ready to take their band to the next level.“I’m hoping to start gigging with this group on a regular basis because the music is just too fun to play,” Sanchez says. The band also enjoys keeping alive what is a more than century-old art form.“Jazz has been called America’s contribution to the world of The band’s stellar performance is a particularly impressive feat art, and Dixieland jazz is really where it all started,” Hourt says. considering the nature of the style of music the foursome plays. “Plus, it’s fun music. It’s happy music.” “It’s difficult to play and authentically recreate the Dixieland style —Elizabeth Shimer Bowers because it relies heavily on improv,” Hourt says.“The trumpet

SPACE RACE NASA launches the world’s first communications satellite, SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay).

WORLD General Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France.

FALL 2023

SPORTS In what has been called “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” the Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants 23–17 to win the NFL championship.

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

IN MEMORIAM

A Legacy of Music

aestro Donald Spieth, 81, artist-inresidence in music and conductor of the Moravian University Orchestra, passed away at his home on September 1, 2023. Spieth came to Bethlehem in 1967 as a National Teaching Fellow at Moravian University and founded the Moravian University Orchestra that same year. He held undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa and studied conducting at the Juilliard School.

Donald Spieth speaks to the audience during a concert by the Moravian University Orchestra.

“Maestro Spieth was an educator in the truest sense of the word, known to colleagues and students for his choice of repertory and his expressivity, efficiency, and patience with differing levels of ability,” says Bryon L. Grigsby ’90, P’22, P’26, president of Moravian University.“Moravian and our students have been extremely fortunate to have a man of his talent and generous spirit as a member of the music department. He will be missed.” Spieth was also guest conductor of concerts and special services, such as Easter and Christmas, at Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem. As music director of the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, Spieth led highly acclaimed performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.“The Orchestra, led by Donald Spieth, played energetically, precisely and sweetly,” stated a review in the New York Times. Spieth has collaborated with many celebrated artists, including Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, and Lang Lang. He made four internationally distributed recordings and received the prestigious award for Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music from

62 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

FALL 2023

“

Don was a humble and modest man and never spoke or behaved with pomposity or self-importance— common traits among orchestral conductors at his level—yet this modesty belied his world-class talent as a conductor and educator.” —Larry Lipkis, composer-in-residence and professor of music

the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). “Don was a humble and modest man and never spoke or behaved with pomposity or self-importance—common traits among orchestral conductors at his level—yet this modesty belied his world-class talent as a conductor and educator,” says Larry Lipkis, composer-in-residence and professor of music. “Don was a wonderful teacher and mentor,” adds Moravian University Provost Carol Traupman-Carr ’86, a former violinist in the college orchestra under Spieth and his former work-study student.“Perhaps no single person elevated the level of orchestral ensembles in the Lehigh Valley more than Don Spieth. The impact he has had on the Moravian and Lehigh Valley musical communities cannot be overstated.”

IN MEMORIAM

1943 BETTY ADAMS ROACH June 24, 2023

1957 VIRGINIA SUSAN “GINGER” WHITEFORD June 12, 2023

1979 REV. RICHARD LANDIS BRUCKART ’79, S’82 June 22, 2023

1949 JEAN WHITAKER CLIFF December 5, 2018

1957 ELAINE T. NOLFA July 5, 2023

1980 CAROL MOONEY KEMP July 30, 2023

1949 IVAN BACKER July 1, 2023

1957 JO-ANNE N. PESSIN July 28, 2023

1981 DR. DAVID ANTHONY HNATOW May 16, 2023

1952 CARL ELLSWORTH CASE June 2, 2023

1959 DR. JAMES BURTON HOWELL July 4, 2023

1983 JAMES P. “JIM” FINK July 3, 2023

1954 SISTER MILLICENT J. DRAKE February 10, 2023

1961 CHARLES “CHUCK” MERKEL August 12, 2020

1985 DOROTHY M. HOFFMAN June 29, 2023

1955 SHIRLEY H. SUTTON December 2, 2022

1966 DR. BARBARA JEANNE “BOBBIE” DIRKS July 25, 2023

Staff in Memoriam

1956 FREDERICK CHARLES WOITSCHECK May 17, 2023

1971 RUSSELL SALVATORE NICRONE July 31, 2023

1956 RICHARD WOODLAND KOHL ’56, S’60 July 1, 2023

1973 LAWRENCE C. BELNOSK August 12, 2023

1957 RICHARD “DICK” DUBBS June 9, 2023

1977 KATHRYN ELIZABETH OZZARD CHISM June 16, 2023

DONALD SPIETH, conductor of the Moravian University Community Orchestra September 1, 2023

FALL 2023

MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

HOUNDS OF MORAVIAN

Get to know

Come to a campus function and you’re sure to run into President Grigsby’s handsome and happy dog Mo. He is a 12-year-old male greyhound and retired racer from Orlando and Sanford, Florida. We asked President Grigsby to tell us more.

1 SUBMIT YOUR DOG’S BIO Who doesn’t think their dog is the pick of the litter? Tell us about your best friend, send us a pic, and he or she just might be featured on this page. Go to mrvn.co/hounds-mu to fill out a submission form and send us a photo—a clear portrait shot of your dog’s face.

64 MORAVIAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

What is something Mo taught you?

Racing greyhounds have not seen much of the world when they come to their owners. When I got Mo, I learned what it was like to be trusted, to be the one responsible for leading him safely into unfamiliar territory and experiences. It is different than when you have a puppy; adult dogs are much more cautious, and they can get hurt. Mo couldn’t climb stairs or feel comfortable jumping up on furniture, for example. Our bond was over trust that I would not hurt him. He taught me what it is like to be trusted completely.

What is Mo’s favorite place on campus?

The HUB. He loves everything about it— food and students there to pet him. If he escaped my office, I would look for him at the HUB.

FALL 2023

What is the funniest thing Mo has ever done?

One day, he wandered into the open elevator on the second floor of Colonial Hall. The doors closed, but when the elevator reached the third floor, they did not open. The development staff heard him whining in the elevator and released the hound.

In what special way have you pampered Mo?

Mo gets chicken usually twice a day—once from the HUB for lunch and rotisserie chicken for dinner.

What major would Mo choose as an undergrad or graduate student at Moravian? Mo would major in counseling—he is an excellent listener and loves to be around humans.

ILLUSTRATION BY GREATPETSPORTRAITS.ETSY.COM

Thanks Recognition Moravian University and Theological Seminary have been lighting the way for our students and their future for more than 280 years, and the extraordinary generosity of our supporters will continue this legacy for generations to come. Visit moravian.edu/thanks-recognition to learn more about our supporters who are lighting the way with us and their impact on the Moravian community.

moravian.edu/lightingtheway lightingtheway@moravian.edu

1200 Main Street Bethlehem, PA 18018

New friends burst with enthusiasm during orientation for Moravian’s largest incoming class ever (see our story on page 4)!

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Lehigh Valley, PA Permit No. 521

PHOTO BY JOHN KISH IV

Moravian University Magazine Fall 2023

Articles inside