FACULTY PROFILE
STUDENT PROFILE
An International First
S Michael Antonio
tudents who took Mary Brewster’s spring break criminal justice study trip became the first international visitors to the newest location of New Scotland Yard. They learned about the British justice system while dining with police officers, probation officers, and human rights attorneys; observed cases at Southwark Crown Court, Royal Courts of Justice, and the Supreme Court; heard a lecture by an internationally renowned researcher on facial recognition; and were guided through the Houses of Parliament. They even had a sunny day to ride the London Eye.
Paloma Perez
“Shark Tank,” WCU-Style
RESEARCH IN PERU: Soccer Changes Boys’ Behavior
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oys in an impoverished community in Peru, South America, are mostly staying safe and out of trouble since joining a soccer team at Club Deportivo Dan (Spanish for Dan’s Sports Club, known as CDD). Criminal justice professor Michael Antonio has been evaluating the impact on boys of CDD, a community-based program begun in 2008 by American Dan Klopp. It offers at-risk youth in the poorest suburbs of Ventanilla, a town north of Lima, an alternative to joining gangs and safety from kidnappers looking for forced child labor for local mines. “The soccer team was found to have the most immediate means for engrossing preteen and adolescent males to learn more about educational opportunities, mental health services, medical examinations, teen pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases,” Antonio concluded in a study published in the Journal of Gang Research. A trip to Ventanilla is unabridged culture shock, as the 40 WCU students Antonio has taken on four study abroad or service trips can attest. In the Los Lomas district, many 10 WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY
houses are dirt-floored and have no electricity or running water. Children might attend school shoeless. With little for them to do beyond school, many turn to petty crime, join gangs, or become prostitutes. “It’s emotionally draining on our students” to see this poverty firsthand, he reports. Yet at least 10 students took second trips: to be summer interns, conduct their own research, or further serve the Ventanilla community. “This is not a land without hope,” Antonio asserts, and the surveys he conducted with current and former CDD members confirm that. CDD’s structure “encouraged pro-social lifestyle choices, including … attending to educational responsibilities and maintaining good work ethics that have measureable impacts for their families and the local community.” In the year after they left the club, “former participants were less likely to fall into… delinquent behaviors…that resulted in… a criminal record.…Other findings… show a willingness to think about and take steps to improve the wellbeing of oneself and one’s family. [It’s] further evidence that former CDD participants have learned critical
problem-solving skills and developed decision-making abilities that will lead to better choices for their future.” CDD is part of Klopp’s Voices for Peru (V4P) organization, which also opened an accredited private preschool four years ago. Donna Sanderson, WCU professor of early and middle grades education, joined the 2017 spring break group to provide and train its teachers to use a special education tool, adapted with characters in the Spanish alphabet. That trip’s participants also collected school supplies, books, clothes, and sneakers for both kids and adults. In 2016, V4P opened Equality House, which serves LGBT adolescents, whether or not they’re part of CDD, and those who endure domestic violence. It offers drug and alcohol counseling and education, administers medical screenings, and fosters self-support groups in the community. Klopp appreciates the work Antonio and his students are doing, saying, “The highest form of charity is quality time, and this is what I saw. In a place where children have no freedom, West Chester University students are providing love and hope.”
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n just seven minutes each, hopeful entrepreneurs presented their concepts to a panel of judges for the University’s fifth annual Business Idea Competition finals in April. The competition was organized by WCU’s Edwin Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center. In the category for WCU undergraduate students, Chris Thompson’s Treasure Hunt, a fundraising platform for fundraisers and events planners in the form of a game, took first place. Runner-up was Justin Horrocks’ Major Scoreboard, a mobile app and subscription service for improving how scores are viewed at sporting events. Winner of the division for WCU graduate students and WCU alumni was Dr. Geoffrey Chan’s Virtual Individual Private Doc. Runner-up was EVA’s Tech from Raymond Bonnett and Joshua Rudley. Overall winner was Collegeville’s Lisa Guenst, who pitched ToothShower, LLC, Oral Home Care Suite for the shower.
Chris Thompson
Junior Is An Inaugural Voya Scholar
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irst-generation college student Paloma Perez knows the value of opportunity, and Voya Financial has provided her with another by naming her one of the first Voya Financial Scholars. A junior accounting and finance major, Perez is one of only five students in the country to earn this distinction, which includes being paired directly with Voya employee mentors. In addition to the $10,000 scholarship, Voya Financial and its employees offer such opportunities as networking, resume help and interview prep, plus additional internship and hiring opportunities that may arise. Perez is proof of the efficacy of the support given students through Chester County Futures (CCF), which partners with Voya Financial. She participated in
CCF’s high school comprehensive program of academic support, mentoring, and scholarships. CCF connected her with Chester County’s Latino Luncheon group, which awarded a scholarship to her and encouraged her to establish relationships and network. Perez has been a Start intern with PricewaterhouseCoopers and an ESL assistant, teaching English to Spanish-speaking adults at the Oxford Public Library through La Comunidad Hispana. She is the new president of the WCU chapter of the accounting honor society Beta Alpha Psi. She says her education and the Voya Scholars advantage will help her navigate a future where she could “give back one day to students, similar to how many individuals and organizations have helped me out.”
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