ENGAGED Office of Civic Engagement | Allegheny Gateway Volume 8, Issue 1 • Spring 2021
LIVING OUT THE LEGACY OF
ALYSON LAWENDOWSKI '93 See story, page 4
Table of Contents 3
Introduction by Dave Roncolato
4
Living Out the Legacy of Alyson Lawendowski '93
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Photos from Global Citizen Scholars Overnight at Pymatuning Lab of Ecology
10 Impact Players: Alyson Lawendowski Recipients 20 Bethany Ozorak Testimonials
ENGAGED magazine is a publication of Civic Engagement of the Allegheny Gateway in collaboration with College Relations. Editor: Dave Roncolato Layout design: Sarah M. Bennett Cover: Global Citizen Scholars Cohort III organize a much needed food drive for local food pantries, April 17, 2021
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A Different Kind of Issue of Engaged The Office of Civic Engagement in the Gateway has experienced our mission and our work very differently during the 2020-2021 year of the COVID 19 pandemic. Much of the usual tasks of mobilizing students and alumni to be engaged in the communities beyond campus was not possible. It gave us time to pause and reflect. It gave us time to appreciate the remarkable students who over the last few year have gone above and beyond to be impactful in their service and their engagement. We are dedicating this issue of our Engaged publication in recognition of a dozen recent students who fit the description “Impact Player.” No doubt there were impact players in Allegheny’s service movement that came before and certainly those who will come afterwards. In addition to our recent students, it is appropriate that we mention those who, over decades have lived the legacy of Alyson Lawendowski ’93. Alyson helped to found the Allegheny College Service Movement that so many students have both contributed to and benefited from over the decades. Finally, we want to acknowledge that the ethic of service and commitment has come through even in the midst of the isolation of this pandemic. With great care and discipline the Civic Engagement staff has been able to support students in accomplishing important community projects that addressed critical needs. These efforts ought not to go unrecognized.
—Dave Roncolato ’79, Director of Civic Engagement Fall 2021 | ENGAGED 3
Living Out the Legacy of
Alyson Lawendowski '93 By Dave Roncolato ’79, Director of Civic Engagement
While at Allegheny, Alyson majored in psychology and joined a sorority. She also was instrumental in launching Allegheny’s community service effort in the early 1990s, serving as a volunteer in a Meadville elementary school. Although so many of Alyson’s college experiences were positive, Alyson also faced adversity — she battled cancer three of her four years at Allegheny. She died just one month after her graduation in 1993. Following Alyson’s death, her parents found a way to honor their daughter. They created the Alyson Lawendowski Award for Community Service — an award given annually to a student who has been instrumental in advancing the College’s commitment to service. Alyson left a poem posted on her bulletin board in the red house, now the Prayer and Meditation Retreat, when she left campus for the last time. In honor of the 20th anniversary of the award, the poem was re-hung in 2013 by Alyson’s twin brother and father in this same house, now the Meditation and Mindfulness house. The poem offers words of advice for all student service leaders especially during this difficult time of the Global Pandemic:
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The Lawendowski award is all about legacy — lasting impact on the student service movement at Allegheny College. Past recipients of this award created ACTS, Alleghenians Committed to Service, developed our Alternative Spring Break program, launched the national student Nothing but Nets campaign from Allegheny College, co-taught the Values Ethics and Social Action capstone course on homelessness,
built a hoop house at the Akerman Farm, and served as construction chair for Allegheny’s Habitat for Humanity house while finishing her Senior Comp.
1994 Arlyn Andrews 1995 Jill Engel (Jill Engel-Hellman) 1996 Kim Wolfe (Dr. Kim Sanchez) 1997 Jennifer Taggart 1998 Cara Jordan 1999 Sarah Hardner (Sarah J. Magilson) 2000 Tara Hill 2001 Stephanie English 2001 Chris West 2002 Mary Shannon Kelly 2003 Karen Hoerst 2004 Andrea McMillen 2005 Celeste Lindahl (Celeste Halcomb)
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
This issue is all about student “Impact Players.” It is fitting to recognize all of the Aylson Lawendowski recipients through the years for they have all been impact players.
Bill Smith Molly McGravey Sarah Goetz Jessica Badach Hubert Marisa Frey Gretchen Hilderbrand Katelyn Kelly Fiona Hensley Emma Dosch Paige Missel Sydney Bedford Delaney Heard Andrew Nunn Sarah Young Alex Zelanzy Judith Carrillo Osbaldo Meza
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Think freely. Practice patience. Smile often. Savor special moments.
Alyson's Discovery of Allegheny By Marilyn and Joe Lawendowski It seemed as if our daughter’s college search was to be one of the briefest we had ever known! A few brochures, some phone calls, and then, that “ah-ha” moment — our family trip to Meadville to visit the campus! That was the moment our daughter knew for sure that she had found her “home-away-from home!” The historic buildings, the lawns and pathways that invited us to explore where so many had walked before us. That beautiful day, with students, and professors, opening a new world to her life that would be there — of life-long friendships, devotion to education and self-discovery, of outreach and service to others in this beautiful college town.
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The key poem that summarizes Alyson hangs in the Meditation and Mindfulness house on campus (her residence during her last year at Allegheny) and at our home, listing many key statements about her philosophy: "Think freely. Practice patience. Smile often. Savor special moments. Celebrate life." Besides her involvement with community service programs in which she thrived under the guidance of the school and our special angels, Marilyn and I are thrilled with the success of a program that benefits both the community and the school. Try to remember the following words from one of her favorite songs...
Rest your head. It's going to be alright when times get tough. You can fall back on us. Don't give up.
"Don't Give Up" — Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush
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GLOBAL CITIZEN SCHOLARS 8 ENGAGED | Fall 2021
Forty Global Citizen Scholars from four different cohorts spent an overnight together at the Pymatuning Lab of Ecology, accompanied by eight Allegheny faculty. These cohorts study, debate, and discuss issues such as global warming, women's empowerment, neurodiversity, and stories of the global pandemic.
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Adele Gilman ’20
By Dave Roncolato ’79, Director of Civic Engagement
Adele Gilman was a part of the Davies Community Service leader program, the Allegheny Volunteer Service leader program, and the Alternative Spring Break program. Through these programs she served at a non-profit in Meadville to help elicit feedback from the community on the city’s future development priorities; created the Gators Youth Sports Mentoring Program that pairs Allegheny athletes with Meadville youth to strengthen the relationship between the College and the surrounding local community; and served communities in Erie, Detroit, and Chicago through a variety of projects. In addition to these programs, she volunteered at the local soup kitchen, was the community engagement chair for Hillel, a member of Alpha Phi Omega, the service fraternity on campus, and a frequent attendee at Service Saturdays.
IMPACT PLAYERS
Alyson Lawendowski Recipients
Biochemistry and Spanish Double Major
The creation of the Gators Youth Sports Mentoring Program was most impactful. It enables Allegheny athletes to mentor Meadville youth and to strengthen the bond between the Allegheny and Meadville communities. The program grew the number of mentor and mentee pairs grew from three to six to fifteen.
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Her service and engagement work heavily influenced her post-graduation plans to work for the Federal Government as a scientist. At Allegheny she saw the role that the government plays in society. As a student actively involved in service and engagement, she came to appreciate how local nonprofits and government collaborate to positively impact the lives of community members. She now is working for the federal government. “I learned to build bridges between communities and the importance of making those connections, whether attending Service Saturdays and completing projects with Meadville middle and high schoolers, bringing different religious groups on campus together to work on projects around the college, or volunteering at the soup kitchen. Civic Engagement staff kicked off service projects with a motivational charge which at times included the words of MLK, “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” This idea, that we must be the leaders of change and that the time to create change is now, was emphasized and reinforced throughout the service work I did at Allegheny.
The sense of purpose and urgency fostered in me while I was in college made me hungry to start contributing to society after graduation.
Alex Zelazny ’19 Biology and Psychology Double Major
Alex Zelanzy served at the United Way of Western Crawford County as a Davies Service Leader all four of her years at Allegheny College. She conducted over 300 home project site visits which led to the completion of 200 projects. The United Way’s Community Improvement Center constructed 24 wheelchair ramps during the time Alex worked at the agency. In addition she helped with the annual Make a Difference a Day and other events the United Way put on to raise money to be allocated to many important community organizations and projects. She conducted research about Western Crawford County as preparation for developing the United Way’s impact plan focused on helping to develop programs for the youth in the community. This work helped her learn multitasking and accomplishing tasks. She found this skill to be transferable to coursework at Allegheny. Along with that it also made Allegheny feel more like home because I felt like I knew more about the community I was in. Alex is currently a Lab Animal Technician at the Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After her time with the Davies Program and United Way she was committed to finding
a job that helped others. The Gene Therapy Program researchers rare diseases that oftentimes greatly limit someone's quality of life and sometimes even greatly shorten someone's life. This means that these diseases often affect children and because they are rare they are not very researched. She feels honored to be a small part in this long process to give people within the rare disease community hope for a cure and the realization that work is being done on their behalf. “An amazing part of the Davies Program is that it takes you off campus pretty much entirely. This makes me believe that all the work I did had on an impact on the community beyond campus. Some examples I can think of are helping build ramps for individuals that wouldn't have been able to afford them on their own. These ramps helped improve people's quality of life. Some of my favorite memories are visiting people's houses and the owners being so grateful that someone was going to be able to help them with a project they couldn't complete on their own."
Amya Rae Ruiz ’21 Community and Justice Studies Major, Education Studies Minor
As a Bonner Service Leader Amaya Rae Ruiz was the Training & Enrichment chair of the Bonner Service
Leader program. She was also an ambassador of the VOTE Everywhere initiative by The Andrew Goodman Foundation (AGF), Co-President of Queer People of Color Club, Author of “Anti-Racist Civic Engagement for Student Service Leaders at Allegheny College”, as well as a Co-Director of the Black Diamond event. Beyond this she organized multiple events, large campus demonstrations, and initiatives that led to several policy changes at our school regarding sex, discrimination, race, and transfer credits. As a Bonner, Amaya taught her peers concepts that are crucially to effective community work. Concepts that she learned through research at Allegheny. Her critical insights on Allegheny programs inspired several trainings. She mentored young Black girls in Meadville, advocated for more inclusive and diverse site work. Her senior comp project was inspired by experiences as a student of color in the program interested in anti-racist work (“Anti-Racist Civic Engagement for Student Service Leaders at Allegheny College”). She worked with organization board members to implement structures in the National Civic Leadership Training to include conversations about navigating with and within underrepresented identities in higher education when registering college students to vote, curated a proposal and petition with hundreds of signatures to move Gator Day to Election Day so that students and faculty face less barriers to getting to the polls, and collaborated with college administrators to institutionalize voter Story continued on page 12
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registration within college move-in processes and college promotions. Amya also co-direct the Black Diamond Event. This event was created by a class of powerful students. Black Diamond is an annual celebration of the compelling history that Black residents in Meadville share. The event gathers and promote fellowship amongst Black residents, artists, and businesses in Meadville. As an independent student Amaya served as a diversity consultant for the Deconstructing Male Fragility podcast (popular to Allegheny students), presented at the GLCA Student of Color Leadership Conference "Breaking Isolation: Discussing The Ways In Which Isolation Is Used As A Tool Of white supremacy To Break Down Students Of Color Using Counter Storytelling.", participated as a subject in an ethnographic study and book soon to be published by prominent scholar, educator, organizer, and activist "Teaching Beautiful and Brilliant Black Girls by Dr. Shemariah J. Arki". She conducted research under the Community and Justice department exploring the lives of contemporary Black youth, especially young girls, in the context of both higher education, intersecting identities, and economic injustice. She worked with Allegheny's administrators to implement important policies, including proposing Gator Day on Election Day, writing the policy that allows students to transfer in up to 64 credits at Allegheny. She co-lead the student-wide initiative in 20182019 for better Race and Sex discrimination policies at the college.
Amaya is employed in Meadville with Mars Home for Youth (MHY) Family Services. This organization works with underrepresented families that struggle with trauma, mental health, education, and many other things. Her service work at Allegheny greatly impacted her current work. In fact, the person who She was recommended for the job by her supervisor at her Bonner site. “I now work with kids that I worked with during my time as a Bonner. My work in Civic Engagement definitely came full circle. I would say that I've actually learned most of what I know now from my service and engagement. Sometimes I learned from it directly, sometimes I experienced hardships around my identity, as a younger low-income Black Latine woman in college who is passionate about social justice, that required me to pick up a book in order understand. I feel like those moments were the most transformative to my education, even though they were hard to get through. It framed my work as an anti-racist educator in a very intentional way.”
Bennett Gould ’17 Environmental Science Major, Community and Justice Studies Minor
As a Davies Service Leader Bennett experiences the network of civic
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engagement students as close-knit, even across programs, and resulted in some of his closest friendships at Allegheny and into post-grad life. Placed as a Davies Leader with the City of Meadville, Bennett developed outreach literature for the City's Stormwater Management Program covering a range of best management practices that residents may follow to reduce quantity and improve quality of stormwater runoff. Given Meadville's place in the ecologically significant and biodiverse French Creek Watershed, small changes to stormwater management would have a big impact downstream. The greatest takeaway from his experience with Civic Engagement was appreciation for the Meadville community with a realization of the rich local history and promise for the future. Ultimately, this led to him pursuing a position in Meadville's local government where he continues to make a difference in the community he now calls home. Currently Bennett is the City of Meadville - Stormwater Program Support Manager / GIS Manager / IT Coordinator. “The Meadville community motivates me to work for the betterment of the community! Meadville's residents are some of the most passionate, kind, and industrious people I have met. They shape the soul of the community and, in turn, fan my desire to contribute my own humble part.”
Celeste Carl ’21
Charles Ross ’20
Biology Major, Education Studies Minor
Community and Justice Studies Major, Education and Theater Minor
As a Bonner Service Leader Celeste Carl engaged in two afterschool programs, Forest Green and Fairview Fairmont. She served as a tutor, a mentor, a student coordinator, and an event coordinator. In her first year at Allegheny she held a fundraising carnival for the Forest Green community. With others she raised money and solicited donations from the community including money, books, and clothes. She participated in a mentoring program at Fairview Fairmont. In this role she organized and held events to encourage low-income, under-represented, students to hope for something better and look at education as an option. During her last year at Allegheny, she created a plant pamphlet to give to community organizers in the Meadville community in the hopes that we will “add some green into our lives” by taking care of their environment and using household items to start a garden. “Doing community service and seeing the lack of educational support for low-income students encouraged me to become an education minor and look into a future focusing on the education system!”
As a first year student at Allegheny Charles served as the student fellow for the Network for Local Knowledge and Research. Through this fellowship, he worked alongside Dr. Zack Callen and Dr. Dave Roncolato. It was in this work that he was introduced to community partners and began to see the intersections between the academy and civic engagement. He was also heavily involved with the Men of Color Advancement Association (MOCAA). MOCAA is a student-led organization that works to increase the retention rate for men of color at Allegheny College through academic, social, and philanthropic programming. Being a part of MOCAA allowed him to be part of a bigger community, to serve his community. Charles is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in American Studies Ph.D. at Washington State University. Approaching his research as an Afro-Pessimism Scholar he is examining the production of Black art primarily hip-hop music and Black theater to explore how they are used to act as agents of social healing. A recent project analyzes the music video titled Entrepreneur. While at WSU, he serves as the Smart Start Program Retention Counselor. The Smart Start Program is an academic program that is sponsored by
the Multicultural Student Services Office which is designed to support first-generation college students. He works diligently to create spaces for the voices to be heard who have historically been silenced by rethinking the of leadership. “I truly believe that I could not do the work that I do without my background in civic engagement. My background in civic engagement gave me the ability to ask tough questions, work with various people, and see the material consequences of research. Ultimately, the biggest gift I got from the Gateway is the commitment to service in order to make my community better. It has given me a passion to pursue my lifelong question that was asked by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which is, “Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'”
Erblin Shehu ’19 Economics and Global Health Studies Double Major
As an international student from Albania, Erblin Shehu was the Bonner Service Leader Coordinator for Fit Kids, an afterschool program. It served a group of 25 students per semester, and over 3 years Erblin was in charge of the program 150 students from 1st grade until 6th grade were impacted.
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Being part of so many different civic engagement projects in Meadville, gave him the opportunity to learn a lot about the States, and to learn that not everything is the same as what is on TV. Through the many interactions he had with community members, he observed the disparities created with regards to food security, healthcare, welfare, job opportunities. This experience offered him perspective on these social factors that have a critical role in the well-being of a community, mostly in a public health context. Through his summer in Chisinau, Moldova, where in addition to service work, he did research on environmental health, he was able to define the topic for his senior comprehensive project. After graduating Erblin returned to Albania to give back to his community and to contribute to the development of Albania. Currently he is the Head of Statistics at the Central Directorate of Health Operations at the Ministry of Health of Albania. In this position, among other things, he manages the process of data gathering, organization, and data analyzing from 413 health centers, 35 hospitals, 36 local public health institutions and 4 Regional Directories of Health Operations. “Being part of so many different service and civic engagement projects in Meadville, and simultaneously doing school work, focusing on my career through various internships and maintaining a social life, gave me incredible managing skills and a very strong work ethic. It taught me to prioritize duties and most importantly it gave me the
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opportunity to never stop giving back to the community I live in.”
Erin Zehr ’19 Global Health Studies Major, Spanish Minor
As a Global Citizen Scholar Erin served locally, regionally and internationally. Her cohort of GCS focused on the concepts of home, displacement, and migration. They learned from refugees and immigrants. She now works at Global Links, which is an international development and medical aid organization that focuses on getting medical supplies to resource poor communities. Her engagement with the Global Citizen Scholars (GCS) group impacted her educational experience at Allegheny. This cohort of GCS focused on the concepts of home, displacement, and migration and we met with and learned from refugees and immigrants. This intensified her interest in equity and access for these groups of individuals and ultimately played a significant role in her choice to major in Global Health Studies. It also influences her campus summer research job, her internship while studying abroad in Ecuador, and the topic for her senior comprensive project. Through all of these GCS sparked her interest and provided an outlet to help her process this work and connect the dots.
After graduation she enrolled in a service year program called PULSE in Pittsburgh, PA, living in an intentional community and doing service at a nonprofit. This led her to a position of working full time at Global Links, which is an international development and medical aid organization. “My service and engagement work at Allegheny College definitely contributed to this motivation. The nonprofit where I work focuses on getting medical supplies to resource poor communities. My time with GCS definitely fueled my drive to work on improving access to health, education, and rights for groups that have been historically and systemically denied resources.”
Osbaldo Meza ’21 Economics and Spanish Double Major
As the Bonner Service Leader Osabaldo (Oz) coordinator for the Martin Luther King afterschool Mentoring Program. Over the last three years over 137 Allegheny students have worked at the mentoring program as mentors, leaders and volunteers. Collectively they have invested 48,172 (approximately 50,000) hours. This program impacted 120 Meadville Junior High students over the three years Oz has been in his position.
For Oz the service work gave him a chance to focus on more than himself. In so doing, it gave him the confidence to know that he could be effective and make a difference in whatever community he will find himself. Through his ongoing service work, he experienced being able to use his education to help future students have a sense of belonging. The mentoring program also gave him an environment in which to implement and further develop life skills such as leadership, communication, working with a team, and finding solutions to problems. “I have learned that the giver receives even more than he/she gives. This will continue to be my attitude long after graduation and into my career. Other than earning a salary, I will find a way to make a contribution to the community in which I reside. The Civic Engagement office has challenged me to turn my ideas into reality. They have held me accountable, while supporting me along my journey of service work.
I can without a doubt say that the Civic Engagement office has been a place of endless support and love and I am glad to call everyone there my family.
Ramona Myers-Cohen ’19 Community and Justice Studies Major, Communication Arts Minor
Ramona served as the Allegheny Volunteer Service Leader (AVSL) for the Food Rescue Program. She worked with this program for all of her years at Allegheny College. In the two years that she was the primary person tracking information for Food Rescue, this program recovered and distributed a total of approximately 1,930 pounds of food that otherwise would have been thrown out. This food was distributed to three local organizations that serve marginalized members of the wider community. Through Ramona’s leadership the group was able to bring food to those who would benefit from it, reduce food waste at Allegheny, and connect with the organizations receiving the donations. Being a part of Food Rescue added a different dimension to her experience at Allegheny. Working to coordinate the recovery of unserved leftover food and the distribution of that food required a different type of thinking than in academic classes. It motivated her to continue learning about food justice. Through Food Rescue she saw more of Meadville than she would have otherwise. Currently, Ramona is working as an AmeriCorps VISTA to establish a program that distributes informa-
tional resources and infant supplies to families of newborns in Crawford County. There is an emphasis on providing information about local resources and on using this program as an early way to connect community members to other needed services. They have distributed over 70 baskets of supplies to new families. “Although my post-graduation work is not food-justice related, my involvement with Civic Engagement gave me the context, knowledge, interest, and connections to learn about the VISTA program and choose to continue on a service-oriented career path.. In my years as an AmeriCorps VISTA member, I have had the opportunity to further develop my skill set by learning how to manage grant funds, create materials, seek out and organize donations, and coordinate with multiple social service agencies.”
Sarah Young ’20 Global Health Studies & Communication Arts Major, French Minor
In her four years as a Bonner Service Leader Sarah Young served in multiple roles. In her first and second she served at Forest Green Estates, working in the community room to provide programming alongside fellow Bonners for the kids and residents. During the summer we provided programming and free Story continued on page 16
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I have learned that the giver receives even more than he/she gives. This will continue to be my attitude long after graduation and into my career. Osbaldo Meza '21
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As a Bonner Sarah spent the summer after her first year in Meadville During that summer, she got to experience Meadville through all of the community events and traditions it had to offer, from Second Saturday markets to the Thurston Classic to eating at different places around Meadville, like Whole Darn Thing and the Market House. Sarah is now serving as a Lake Effect Leaders AmeriCorps VISTA with the City of Erie. She is developing a Promise Program in Erie. Her responsibilities include researching current Promise Programs, working with community partners to learn about current scholarships and programs that already exist, and helping to design the program itself. “Service has always been important to me, even before I entered Allegheny and was a part of the Bonner Program. However, the Bonner Program gave me the skills, experiences, and passion to explore this type of work as a career. The AmeriCorps VISTA program was a perfect fit because it was a continuation of the work that I have been doing over the past four years in an area that I already had a connection with
and wanted to continue to learn more about.”
Victoria Bajek ’21 Environmental Science Major, Biology and Religious Studies Minors
As a Bonner Service Leader Vicky Bajek’s main site was Bethesda Children's Home, an organization that works with trauma informed youth. She was in charge of their tutoring and community service program. She coordinated the tutoring of 10 students with 6 volunteers, and we were able to do at least 15 service projects in the community as well as have at least 20 organized craft nights. In addition she spearheaded the Food Rescue Program at Allegheny which takes food that would have been otherwise wasted from Brooks Dining Hall to local nonprofits in Meadville. This effort was able to rescue about 40 pounds of food every day. Beyond this she participated as a regular volunteer at the Stone Methodist Soup Kitchen and Family Services Food Pantry and as a mentor through the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program of Crawford County. Victoria is pursuing a Master's in Integrated Plant and Soil Science at the University of Kentucky. Her civic engagement at Allegheny made her realize a passion for food injustice. In her studies she hopes
work with sustainable agriculture and marginalized farmers to make a more sustainable and just agricultural/food system for all. “My engagement in the community honestly created a more holistic learning experience alongside my studies at Allegheny. I was able to first handedly see the impact of injustice in my community experience at the same time of learning about systems of oppression in my studies.
Throughout the entire experience, I learned the importance and need of being a civically engaged community member.
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lunches for kids between the ages of 5 and 18. In her junior year, she worked at America Reads at First District Elementary. She worked with two different classrooms, tutoring students in reading and math as well as helping with classroom tasks, such as making copies, laminating posters. And during her senior year, she was one of the senior interns for the Bonner Program.
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EN SCHOLARS
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Bethany Ozorak Testimonials By Ben Helkowski, AmeriCorps VISTA Program Coordinator The last impact player that the Civic Engagement Office would like to recognize is Bethany Ozorak. Bethany has moved on from her role as the Davies & Fahrner Assistant Director for CommunityBased Projects; however, her dedication to Allegheny College and the development of it’s students and the Meadville community lives on. Here are some testimonials from her colleagues:
1
Describe your fondest memory of Bethany
2
What are some of the most impactful contributions Bethany made to the Allegheny community?
3
What message would you give to Bethany as she prepares for the next chapter of her life?
will be remembered for all the ways she cared in her work here and this is a quality she will take with her in the future.
Dave Roncolato The word that comes to my mind when I think of the legacy of Bethany is "CARE." Bethany gave consistent care to all she did with students, with community partners and with our faculty and staff. She was never afraid to put in the time it took to do things thoroughly and thoughtfully. She was the first on the scene every Service Saturday. She planned and carried out the trainings and supervision of Davies students with great care and concern. Indeed Bethany
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One impactful contribution that stands out was the care with which she put into the testimony to Ellie Davies after her passing. Bethany reached out to Davies Service Leader alumni and they responded with words of praise and appreciation for the gift of Ellie and the family to their experience at Allegheny and Meadville. Bethany’s intelligence and drive will lead her to success and impact. But it is her heart for service that will be her most vital beacon in the next chapter of her life and career.
Jennifer Kessner We’ve had some amazingly deep conversations! Bethany is one of those listeners who gets on your level and understands you as a whole. I will miss that in person interaction. We haven’t had Supernatural nights in a while, but they’ll forever be a fond memory. Bethany provided consistency in a position that had previously been one year contracts. She was just that good! And then we made her per-
You remind me to not sweat the small stuff, so here’s my reminder to you to do the same. You are amazing, and you deserve all the great things coming to you.
partnerships, and even helped to run the shuttle vans! From the big to the small — Bethany’s contributions have made a huge impact on our community. Just continue being yourself and doing the work that you do! There’s no doubt you’ll continue to succeed and anyone community that has you in it is incredibly lucky.
Jeniffer Gonzalez Reyes Olivia Lang It’s truly hard to pick one fondest memory of Bethany — I have many! Overall my memories of Bethany in Civic Engagement are ones of someone incredibly kind, dedicated, and welcoming. She truly always went out of her way to make sure she was able to connect students with community partners and always with enthusiasm. Bethany spent countless hours behind the scenes making contributions to Allegheny and the Meadville community. If you were involved in service here in the last 5 years — you likely have Bethany to thank for something! She planned trainings, coordinated community partnerships, supported students, guided faculty and staff community
I really appreciated how considerate Bethany is even when I was stuck in a tough financial situation when I had first moved, she went out of her way to buy me a meal that made me feel genuinely cared for. Bethany is someone that can ask hard questions and still be very caring and welcoming to everyone. Bethany provided very strong and thoughtful leadership to all of her projects and the Davis program. She was very passionate and very motivated even while completing her graduate program. Continue the great work with students and continue being such a strong and passionate leader in all you do.
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She just understood people, where they were coming from, and what their needs were. She made that effort.
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manent. Her contribution was her presence — literally. She thought out detailed suggestions for all of our projects and had feedback that resonated with the group. She just understood people, where they were coming from, and what their needs were. She made that effort.
Jennifer Kessner
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Bethany demonstrate true and sincere pass service. Beyond this, worked to make othe connected to Alleghe beyond that, Meadvil
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ed a sion for she ers feel eny and lle.
Kate Robb Bethany was so welcoming when I joined the Civic Engagement office in November! We are so grateful for Bethany’s continued support of the Lake Effect Leaders AmeriCorps VISTA project, both in formerly serving with our cohort and later supervising a VISTA member in our Civic Engagement office. Although we only worked together for a few months, your passion for civic engagement and serving others shines through. You will be a great asset to any team you join in the future and we wish you the absolute best!
Ben Helkowski One of my first, and fondest, memories of Bethany is when she conducted one of our workshops What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do. This training focused on how to organize yourself to a successful work week. While the content was certainly helpful, Bethany’s personality and pizzazz was what I remembered most. Bethany demonstrated a true and sincere passion for service. Beyond this, she worked to make others feel connected to Allegheny and beyond that, Meadville. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and work with you over these past 1.5 years. Any employer will be lucky to have you as a part of their team and any friend is lucky to have you in their circle.
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Ben Helkowski
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Civic Engagement Staff 2020-2021
From left: Gabrielle Bradshaw, AmeriCorps VISTA Project Director Jeniffer Gonzalez Reyes, Bonner Program Coordinator Nikki Hawk ’18, AmeriCorps VISTA Dave Roncolato ’79, Director of Civic Engagement Jennifer Kessner, Gateway Office Manager Bethany Ozorak ’13, Assistant Director for Community-Based Projects Olivia Lang ’11, Associate Director of Civic Engagement and Bonner Program Director Ben Helkowski, AmeriCorps VISTA Program Coordinator
ENGAGED Magazine • The Civic Engagement Office, Allegheny Gateway 520 N. Main Street • Meadville, PA 16335 • (814) 332-5318
