ALUMNI NEWS

What You’re Saying

Jami (Hutchison) Huber NEW HOLLAND VETERINARY

HOSPITAL posted an update. Meet Jami! Jami is a 2004 graduate of the Veterinary Nursing program at Harcum College. She has been at New Holland Veterinary Hospital for almost 12 years! She was raised around dogs and dog shows. Her mom has had Basenji’s since she was 8 years old. She found her passion for this profession while working in a boarding kennel/ veterinary hospital during high school.

Mario DiCarlo MISHOCK PHYSICAL THERAPY AND ASSOCIATES posted an

update. Mishock Physical Therapy & Associates is Growing! Our Phoenixville Clinic is pleased to welcome board certified, Physical Therapy Assistant, Mario DiCarlo, PTA. Mario graduated from Harcum College in 2020 with a Physical Therapist Assistant degree. Welcome Mario! We’re grateful to have you as part of our Phoenixville team!

CANDICE BRAWLEY posted an update from VCA WELLINGTON. “I got into the veterinary field because of my love of animals and my desire to help them, of course! While being in the field, I found I also love helping and teaching owners. This is something VCA excels in, along with incredible and passionate patient care. I could not ask for a better team of compassionate people to work with and learn from.”

What’s new?

Use the #HARCUM and #HARCUMCOLLEGE hashtags to connect with us on social media! Anna Dougherty

ANNA DOUGHERTY is with METROPOLITAN VETERINARY

ASSOCIATES via Facebook “I’ve spent my entire career at MVA; I started as an Emergency Assistant, then worked as a mid-shift and overnight Emergency Nurse. I have spent the past three years working as an Oncology Nurse. My favorite part of the job is the relationships that I develop with our oncology patients and their families. I especially love being able to share our Chemo Graduates on social media (with owner consent), pictured here is one of our most recent graduates Gatsby.”

#vettechlife #ourteamrules #behindthestethescope #veterinarymedicine Candice Brawley

Alumni News

Meet Two Golden Bears Reunion Volunteers

“We have all walked different paths since we left Harcum—advanced degrees, careers, families, travel, and even retirement. This will be a wonderful chance to reconnect and learn where each of our journeys has taken us, to reminisce and ‘take a walk down memory lane.’ I look forward to reconnecting with you.” — Susan Zeller-Kent ’72 Past President, Harcum College Alumni Association

“2023 will be here before we know it and will mark the 50th anniversary of our graduation from Harcum College. As a fellow member of the class of 1973, I hope you will make plans to join me and our classmates on October 7–8, 2022, Harcum’s Homecoming Weekend, to kick off a year-long celebration.” — June Berman Olster ’73 MINNESOTA MEETUP Alumni Christine Marlo-Triemstra ’00, Merrie Kristol Forstein ’63, and Melissa Samango met for brunch in Minneapolis on December 19 to share Harcum stories.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD ADDS NEW MEMBERS The Harcum College Alumni Association added two graduates to the board: Amy Williams Copeland ’86, Fashion Design; and Portia Graham ’12, Leadership Studies.

Amy Copeland has spent three decades creating, designing and constructing fashions, home furnishings, and costumes. She was an integral part of Harcum’s Centennial activities including “Bears and Squares” and by serving as a panelist in the lecture series. Currently, she serves as a member of the Fashion Design Advisory Board. She has taught Fashion Design at Jefferson University since 2007, and serves as an adjunct professor in Harcum’s Fashion Design program.

After Portia Graham completed her degree at the Harcum College Coatesville Partnership Site, she went on to serve as site coordinator. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Eastern University in 2015, and currently works at the Coatesville Veteran Affairs Medical Center, as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant. She founded and works with her non-profit organization Covenant Lives, LLC.

HCAA SNACK BREAK Members of the Harcum College Alumni Association (HCAA) Board sponsored a “snack break” during final exams on December 8 in the Academic Center. Tracy JohnsonRockmore ’04, HCAA President, said, “It was great to be on campus and to connect with Harcum’s future alumni! We look forward to more opportunities to connect with students and alumni in the spring semester.”

Tell us your story!

If you have done amazing things with your Harcum degree, we want to hear from you. Send us your news and a photo ideally to NEWS@HARCUM.EDU.

In Memoriam

CATHERINE CHADWICK HELM Class of 1977

MELISSA KOLONICH Class of 2000

TRACEY FISHER Class of 2017

Sandra Smolen Jaffe ’58 Founder of Preservation Hall Sandra Smolen Jaffe, founder of Preservation Hall, the celebrated home of New Orleans jazz for six decades, passed away in New Orleans on December 27, 2021 at age 83. She was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Wynnefield. She studied journalism and public relations at Harcum, graduating in 1958, and worked for an advertising agency for two years. She married her husband on Christmas Day 1960. On their way home from Mexico City, they stopped in New Orleans.

“When I heard the music for the first time, it felt like a total transformation,” Jaffe said in a 2011 interview published in this magazine. “We found this whole new world…the music was just so wonderful.”

In 1961, she and her husband opened a club called Preservation Hall in New Orleans to showcase the unique blend of African, Caribbean, and European music for which New Orleans is famous for today. It has since become one of the most venerated jazz venues in the country. “It all started as a jam session in 1960 that never ended,” she said.

In 2006, she and her son Ben Jaffe received the National Medal of Arts Award for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from President George W. Bush in the Oval Office. She was honored by Harcum College with a lifetime achievement award in 2010.

Sandra Jaffe is survived by her two sons, Russell Jaffe and the affore-mentioned Ben Jaffe, who currently oversees Preservation Hall; two sisters, Resa Lambert and Brenda Epstein; and four grandchildren Allaina, Rebecca, William and Emma Lena.

Bear Pride

THE ADMISSIONS TEAM (left to right) Isabelle Waddelow, Krystal Popiel, Karey Bowen, Maggie Hobbs, Tyler Gangi, and Rachel Bowen. Not pictured, Liz McWilliams. Senior Admissions Counselor KRYSTAL POPIEL, who did television in California, hosts Harcum’s news show “Bears Beat,” in a bright, energetic style that reflects beautifully on the institution. “I help showcase our wonderful students and their accomplishments.”

Originality. Follow-through. Chutzpah. These are all qualities that characterize the Admissions Team at Harcum College. They are full of enterprise, too, because they likely have gone where no admissions team has gone before.

They’ve soared to a national victory with a team Halloween costume in 2018, winning a year’s worth of free Chipotle. Their gingerbread house won a team office decorating contest in 2019. And when Harcum launched its TikTok platform in 2021, they starred in videos to push out the Harcum brand.

At the helm of this spirited team since 2012 is Rachel Bowen, Vice President of Enrollment Management. “College Admissions is so important,” Bowen said. “Our job is to be the cheerleader and the advocate to our prospective students.”

When the effects of the pandemic dampened everyone’s spirits, the Harcum community could always count on Admissions’ cheer.

“Love our admissions team,” commented Dossie Cavallucci ’80, ’93, EFDA Program Director, after seeing their last TikTok video embracing the latest craze, the #JerkChallenge, on the Harcum Facebook page.

TikToks may be their latest endeavor, but their hallmark has been the group costumes, revealed just before Halloween.

“It was such a good team building exercise the first year, we decided to do it the next year but up the ante to the gold trophy year,” said Bowen. “Winning gave us the confidence to keep trying new challenging things.”

In 2020, their team costume was a Zoom screen, towering 20 feet in the air, assembled on the steps of Melville. In 2021, they became a troupe of ghouls, barely distinguishable from one another and a ghoulish TikTok.

They have also hosted informative videos, which became critically important during the pandemic. Even when prospects were not able to campus, the Admissions Team made sure they had a great feel for Harcum and the Harcum brand.

“Our holistic approach is to guide the student through the admissions process so they can gain the confidence they need to succeed,” Bowen concluded. “We are with them through every step because it can be a daunting process. Helping students get to the finish line, motivates us to keep going.”

And for all their efforts that infuse the school with such a fun personality while pushing out its core values, Harcum is tickled pink.

FOUNDERS’ DAY

2 022 In 2018, Harcum College launched Founders’ Day, a day of giving, to celebrate its opening over 100 years ago. The mission of our founders, Edith and Octavius Harcum, to provide students with an opportunity for outstanding academic, career, and life preparation lives on today.

Celebrate FOUNDERS’ DAY with us!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 24-hour day of giving to raise funds for The Harcum Fund and Founders’ Day Eve, Reception at Bedford Hall

2022 FOUNDERS’ DAY COMMITTEE: Co-Chairs: Trevor Gulledge & Julie Taddeo

Donna Broderick, Julian Crooks, Christa Eck, Robyn Gleason, Meg Kelly, Steve Kleponis, Shawn Madary, Jana Rediger, Roxanne Sutton

750 Montgomery Avenue Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 www.harcum.edu

PHILADELPHIA, PA PERMIT NO 138

PRIORITY MAIL US POSTAGE PAID

PHILADELPHIA, PA PERMIT NO 138

PRESORTED BOUND PRINTED MATTER US POSTAGE PAID PHILADELPHIA, PA PERMIT NO 138

GOLDEN BEARS Reunion

Honoring the Classes of 1972 and Earlier

PRESIDENT’S DINNER: October 7, 2022 GOLDEN BEARS VIP BRUNCH: October 7, 2022 TO REGISTER, contact Institutional Advancement at 610-526-6060 or advancement@harcum.edu.