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Morgan Tracey ’03 always figured she’d go to law school. She did, but that was just one milestone along an amazing path.

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Fall/Winter 2012

Like a lot of political science majors, Morgan Tracey always figured she’d go to law school. She did, but that was just one milestone along an amazing path she’s followed since graduating from Mercyhurst in 2003.

Fire&Ice The journey took her into inner-city shelters and housing builds on a series of AmeriCorps assignments, into blazing forests as part of an elite firefighting team, into the library of Michigan’s Thomas Cooley School of Law, and to the White House where she was honored as an AmeriCorps “Champion of Change.”

Today, she’s poised atop a mountain at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y., vying for a spot on the American team in the thrilling sport of skeleton.

None of this surprises those who knew her as a Mercyhurst student.

“Whenever somebody uses the term ‘scholar-athlete,’ Morgan is one of the people that come to mind for me,” recalls Brian Ripley, Ph.D. “She exemplifies the sort of dedication, energy, self-discipline and just good old time management skills that it takes to succeed on the field and in the classroom. You could see the leadership potential in her right from the start.”

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Born in Champion, a small town in northeastern Ohio, she says she was drawn to Mercyhurst first by its soccer program.

John Melody, who now works in fundraising in Mercyhurst’s advancement department, was the soccer coach then and recruited her. He remembers her as an extremely hard-working, athletic and very coachable player who could play several positions both defensively and in midfield.

“She was an important part of a successful team that was nationally ranked throughout her college years,” he says.

“It’s no surprise that she has become successful as she has a great desire to succeed and was always very motivated on and off the field.” Tracey credits Melody for nurturing a drive for excellence in her.

Off the pitch, she took advantage of all Mercyhurst offered both in and out of the classroom. Besides playing soccer, she co-founded the Young Democrats Club, served as president of the political science honor society and volunteered extensively both on and off campus.

As graduation neared, she decided to continue her service with a year in AmeriCorps. As a member of the National Civilian Community Corps, she was assigned to a team that traveled the country to tackle whatever work was needed.

She built homes for low-income families, helped restore a historic building for community use, assisted a food bank, prepared tax returns and worked with the U.S. Forest Service on fire safety projects.

It was during her time in northern California’s El Dorado National Forest that she saw her first forest fire and got her basic training in firefighting. Soon she had set her sights on firefighting’s most elite ranks – the Hotshots. “They’re sort of like the Special Forces of the firefighting world,” she explains.

“They were the last line of defense against really devastating fires – they were out there battling to save people’s homes – and it intrigued me,” she says. There were no women in the 20-person crew she observed, motivating her even more.

She stayed with the Forest Service and eventually spent three six-month seasons as a Hotshot.

Hotshot teams are dispatched all over the country when massive wildfires break out. They reach the fire sites however they can, by air, water or even on foot.

They routinely work shifts of 16 hours or more, and have to be ready to survive up to two weeks in the wild with no support.

The work is physically and mentally demanding, and emotionally taxing.

“The work takes a toll on your body,” she says simply. So for several winters, she took classes at the Cooley Law School.

Finally, in 2009-10, she enrolled full time, graduating in 2010 and later passing the bar exam in Ohio.

She has yet to set up a law practice, though, instead opting to pursue another physically demanding interest – skeleton.

Like the better-known bobsled and luge, skeleton involves sliding as fast as possible down an icy, tube-like course.

Skeleton athletes can reach speeds of up to 90 miles per hour during the milelong course – lying prone and face-first on a sled that’s barely a half-inch above the ice.

She’d watched the sport during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and promised

herself she’d give it a try if she passed the bar.

She headed to upstate New York, to the U.S. Olympic training site at Lake Placid, where tourists can experience skeleton from a lower point along the run. “I was hooked after the first run,” she says.

She followed that up with a weeklong introductory camp and worked her way up to the competitive circuit.

The U.S. national team competes nine times each season, which runs from October through April, on courses all over the world. But it’s a full-time year-round commitment for the athletes – like Tracey – who hope to be part of the Olympic delegation in Russia in 2014 (or in South Korea four years after that).

While the U.S. Olympic Committee provides housing and food during the competition season, and athletes are able to use Lake Placid’s training facilities, most Olympic hopefuls are self-funded and moonlight where they can to pay for their sport, including thousands of dollars for their fitted sleds.

“It would be wonderful to be able to just be an athlete, and not have to hold another job,” she adds. Instead, she works a lot of shifts at the nearby Whiteface Lodge resort. She’s also been able to do

some legal work thanks to corporate partnerships arranged by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The women’s Olympic field has been narrowed to fewer than 30 racers. She’s made the cut so far, but knows it won’t be easy from this point on. America sent three women to Vancouver, but will be entitled to just two competitors in 2014.

Whether or not her passion takes her to an Olympic stage, Tracey expects she’ll eventually return to law. She’d love to run a nonprofit and somehow use what she’s learned through her wealth of experiences to help others.

And wherever she goes, she’ll carry the Mercyhurst spirit with her.

“I’ve been given these opportunities and I’m going to run with them as far as I can,” she says. “As long as I’ve left everything on the table, I’ll be satisfied.”

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Joe Morris, D.A.

‘Doing’ politics The Politcal Science Department’s new concentration in Applied Politics is a great option for students who see themselves ‘doing’ politics in the future.

The phone rings. An unfamiliar voice asks you to answer a few questions about your views. Are you thrilled at the opportunity to share your opinions, or annoyed by the interruption?

The Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics (MCAP) and its centerpiece polling operation work on the assumption that most people want to be part of the conversation on important issues.

They want their opinions to be heard.

Launched in 2010, MCAP has been gradually raising its profile with a series of successful polls, ranging from an independent poll that explored how Pennsylvanians feel about Marcellus shale and fracking to a poll for the Erie Times-News that predicted Mike Kelly’s 2010 victory over Kathy Dahlkemper in the state’s 3rd congressional district.

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With a new 30-station computerized calling center that more than doubles its capacity, MCAP is poised to make an even bigger impact.

An opinion poll is like a snapshot of a particular moment in time, explains MCAP Director Joe Morris, D.A. Unless it’s finished quickly, that moment is gone and the findings may no longer be accurate.

MCAP can now complete more interviews in a shorter period of time, earning greater credibility, and media attention, for its results. News outlets across Pennsylvania (including the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) now report the polls. Even the respected New York Times: FiveThirtyEight Forecasts have highlighted MCAP results.

MCAP is carving out a distinct niche among the myriad polling groups clamoring for attention. It’s gaining

a reputation for asking penetrating questions that reveal not only what people think, but why they think it.

“We don’t just do horse-race polls,” Morris emphasizes.

That fracking poll didn’t ask only whether people favor or oppose gas extraction.

A dozen follow-up questions probed the thinking behind the opinions.

The first major poll this election year did ask whether people backed Obama or Romney. But it also explored how much voters knew about SuperPACs, how much Romney’s Mormon religion impacted their opinion of him, and what they thought of Pennsylvania’s new photo ID requirement for voters. Students started calling on Sept. 12 and finished 522 interviews by Sept. 20. The analysis of their findings was ready by Sept. 24.

Over eight days, the students dialed about 3,000 random numbers, reaching people about 70 percent of the time.

Perhaps 25 percent of them agreed to complete the interview. For the first time, callers sought out likely voters, not simply registered voters.

About 100 Mercyhurst students worked the phones during this fall’s polls.

Besides political science majors, dozens of freshmen studying “The Road to the White House” learned how politics works by talking with actual voters. Morris and MCAP Associate Director Rolfe Peterson, Ph.D., taught the popular interdisciplinary course with Meghan Corbin of the communication department.

How did the callers convince busy people to spend 15 minutes or more answering all those questions?

They quickly stress that they are students, not telemarketers or campaigners. And they emphasize how important it is that every viewpoint be represented.

Jacob Jaskiewicz

Senior poli sci major Jacob Jaskiewicz, described by Morris as “one of our superstar callers,” is MCAP’s project manager. He plans to stay with MCAP for a year after graduation before heading to law school and eventually specializing in environmental law. He supervises dayto-day operations in the call center, trains student callers and assists with question development and analysis.

He says it’s an awesome experience for an undergraduate. “We’re doing stuff that we can only talk about in the classroom,” he explains. “We actually get to do social science research and analyze the data we obtain.”

Junior Rachel Oest, another political science major who aspires to be an environmental lawyer, liked the job so well that she decided to stay on as a volunteer after her paid work-study assignment with MCAP ended.

She appreciates not only the insights she gains into how people view political issues, but also how much she’s been able to improve her speaking and listening skills.

Jessica Denninger, a junior poli sci major, agrees. She says her involvement with the polling operation looks good on her résumé. Even more important, she reports a huge increase in self-confidence by the end of the survey and a greatly improved ability to talk easily with strangers.

All three students enjoy the fast-paced, high-pressure, exciting environment of the call center, especially when the noise level rises.

“It adds to the energy in the room,” Jaskiewicz says. “It makes you want to be the one who gets the next caller.”

REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE Political science has long been one of Mercyhurst’s best-known and respected majors. Many poli sci majors plan to teach or attend law school, but the new Applied Politics concentration prepares students whose goals include “doing” politics, whether running for office, managing campaigns, staffing the offices of government officials or advocating for a cause.

Work on MCAP polls gives the students unique insights into the American political process.

Morris says he’s dreamed of creating a research facility like MCAP since arriving at Mercyhurst more than a decade ago.

He’s been a news junkie from a young age, but doesn’t want to enter politics himself. Instead, he focuses on learning why people do what they do in the political arena.

MCAP, he says, has allowed him to reinvent his own career but benefits the university on a much wider scale.

It offers an unparalleled hands-on learning opportunity for students.

It serves the local, state and even national communities by contributing to public discussion about important issues.

And, as an added bonus, it enhances the reputation of Mercyhurst University and of its Political Science Department across the state.

To learn more about the Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics, visit polisci.mercyhurst.edu/MCAP.

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