The Bear2Bear Benefit & Bash April 3, 2020
On April 3, the college will host the second annual Bear2Bear Benefit & Bash, a gala-style event to support our Bear2Bear Student Emergency Fund. The Fund provides grants to students in emergency situations and has recently been expanded to include completion grants for students who are near graduation but whose financial circumstances may jeopardize their ability to finish their Ursinus academic careers. This year, we are excited to honor Joseph DeSimone, Ph.D. ’86 with the Bear2Bear Impact Award for Leadership and Service. DeSimone is cofounder and executive chairman of Carbon, a leading digital 3D manufacturing company.
LOOKING FOR WAYS TO SUPPORT THIS EFFORT? Donate to the Bear2Bear Student Emergency Fund directly or participate in our mobile auction on April 3 at ursinus.edu/bear2bearbenefit. Auction items range from weekend getaways and Ursinus memorabilia to wine and spirits, luxury items, jewelry and much more.
VOLUME #128 | WINTER 2020
Ursinus Magazine is published seasonally three times a year. Copyright © 2020 by Ursinus College Editorial correspondence & submissions: Ursinus Magazine 601 E. Main Street Collegeville, Pa. 19426 610-409-3000 ucmag@ursinus.edu
DEAR READERS,
CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER Tom Yencho tyencho@ursinus.edu MAGAZINE EDITOR Ed Moorhouse emoorhouse@ursinus.edu CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dominic Monte dmonte@ursinus.edu GRAPHIC DESIGNER Erica Gramm CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ISSUE Photography: Jeff Fusco, Dominic Monte and Jim Roese Editorial: Andy Edwards, Geoff Gehman, Mary Lobo ’15, Susan Tuttle and Jennifer Meininger Wolfe MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD Jacqueline D'Ercole, Mary Lobo ’15, Rosemary Pall P’12, Pamela Panarella and Jennifer Meininger Wolfe URSINUS COLLEGE PRESIDENT Brock Blomberg SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT Jill Leauber Marsteller ’78, P’18 ONLINE MAGAZINE (URSINUS.EDU/MAGAZINE) Erin Hovey ’96 CAMPAIGN NEWSLETTER Jacqueline D’Ercole, Kristin Maag The mission of Ursinus College is to enable students to become independent, responsible and thoughtful individuals through a program of liberal education. That education prepares them to live creatively and usefully and to provide leadership for their society in an interdependent world.
Last September during Homecoming and Family Weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend two events celebrating titans of Ursinus athletics: the late Adele Boyd ’53 and the late Bill Racich. I call attention to both events in this space because I could not help but to be struck with awe by the generations of Bears gathered to pay tribute to these Ursinus mentors. Athletics has always been part of the fabric of this college. It’s a tie that binds so many of our alumni to the old gold, red and black. And throughout the decades, Ursinus has graduated hundreds of students whose leadership abilities were honed right here at Ursinus, both in the classroom and on the playing field. That is part of our legacy as a liberal arts institution. One of the feature stories in this issue of Ursinus Magazine looks back at our rich history in athletics. Another feature continues an anniversary series that profiles those considered mentors and thought leaders here on campus and beyond. I hope you find a little inspiration in both as we continue our 150th anniversary tribute on these pages. Go, Bears! Sincerely,
BROCK BLOMBERG
President
“
Athletics has always been part of the fabric of this college. It’s a tie that binds so many of our alumni to the old gold, red and black.
”
CONTENTS
ON THE COVER As Ursinus College continues its sesquicentennial celebration, Ursinus Magazine pays tribute to its longstanding history in athletics and providing student-athletes with pathways to grow into leaders. The cover image is a collection of Ursinus athletics memorabilia from various sports and championship seasons in tribute to our rich traditions on the playing fields.
(above) Members of the Ursinus field hockey team celebrate after their 2006 NCAA championship.
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PAYING IT FORWARD
GETTING TO KNOW
In January, Ursinus received the largest donation in its 150-year history, $11 million to support the long-term sustainability of the Abele Scholars Program.
Ursinus Magazine catches up with head women’s basketball coach Margaret White to talk hoops and Ursinus’s athletics legacy.
OFFICE SPACE
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Katie Morello ’08 is an Emmy Awardwinning producer and editor for NFL Films, where she works on programs like Inside the NFL, NFL Films Presents and Hard Knocks.
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CELEBRATING 150
In the second part of a three-part series, Ursinus Magazine profiles some of the most influential mentors and thought leaders on the Collegeville campus and beyond.
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TOOLS OF THE TRADE
THE BURNING QUESTION
Last October, Ursinus celebrated its 150th anniversary in a truly unique way: a site-specific, live performance piece at the Berman Museum.
Jasmine L. Harris, an assistant professor of anthropology and sociology, shares her research and expertise on compensation in Division I athletics.
THE GATEWAY
AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR WILL SPEAK AT COMMENCEMENT Min Jin Lee, an acclaimed novelist known for her impactful portrayals of immigration, prejudice and self-discovery, will address the class of 2020 during Ursinus’s 147th commencement on Saturday, May 16. Her novel, Pachinko, was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. Lee is recognized as one of “10 Writers and Editors Who Are Changing the National Conversation” and she is a recipient of fellowships in fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard.
THE NEXUS INITIATIVE IDC EARNS PRAISE The Innovation and Discovery Center, which opened in October 2018, was chosen by the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and the Montgomery County Planning Commission to receive a 2019 Montgomery Award. The award recognizes and promotes high quality planning and design within Montgomery County, Pa., as well as the commitment of municipalities, organizations and professionals to the county’s enhancement.
PLANTING THE NEXT 150 YEARS Members of the Ursinus community planted more than 170 trees and shrubs last fall, creating a sustainable food forest at the Whittaker Environmental Research Station (WERS). The project—made possible by the hard work of dozens of participants led by Patrick Hurley, associate professor and chair of environmental studies—was funded by an $18,000 grant awarded by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
This winter, Ursinus launched a new initiative that brings together the shared pursuits of the offices of career and postgraduate development, leadership development and student activities and UCARE (The Ursinus Center for Advocacy, Responsibility and Engagement). The aim of the collaboration is to seamlessly bring together three key components to an Ursinus student’s education: service, leadership and the meaningful pursuit of professional development.
(above, left) Courtesy of Min Jin Lee (above, third from left) Ursinus students work on the new food forest. Photo: Patrick Hurley.
EIGHT BEARS JOIN ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, Ursinus inducted eight former standout studentathletes into the Athletics Hall of Fame, and Ginny (Migliore) Murphy ’87 was honored as the recipient of the Adele P. Boyd ’53 Award. The award acknowledges a member of the Ursinus community who embodies the qualities of the late Boyd, a teacher, coach, administrator, mentor and friend who advocated for and remained involved with Ursinus athletics for more than 50 years. Murphy was a three-sport standout during the 1980s, most notably as a three-year starting forward for the Division I field hockey program. She helped lead the Bears to three top-20 national finishes and back-to-back appearances in the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship, including a title in 1983. She was a fouryear starter and three-year co-captain for the women’s basketball team, and earned one letter in softball, competing on the 1984 squad that won the Middle Atlantic Conference championship. “[Boyd] learned early on that successful teams were [made up] of players that were respected, understood their roles, and realized they were contributing to something bigger than themselves. What a valuable life lesson,” Murphy said, explaining that she is proud to honor Boyd’s legacy. The other hall of fame inductees included: Adegbemiga “Yori” Adegunwa ’01, an early superstar of the men's track and field program who captured five Centennial Conference individual titles during his outstanding career.
Steve Coulter ’86, a key cog in a golden age of Ursinus men's soccer, helping to lead the Bears to an ECAC crown in 1983 and a return trip to the championship game in 1984. David “Zeb” Engle ’09, one of the premier pitchers in the storied history of baseball at Ursinus and the school's all-time leader with 302 strikeouts and 272 innings. Jennie Moore Anderson ’09, one of the most decorated multisport athletes in recent Ursinus history, racking up seven All-Centennial Conference certificates between field hockey and softball, and driving those squads to five combined championships. Mark Schmidt ’82, a four-year linebacker for the football team who
(above) Virginia “Ginny” Migliore Murphy ’87. Photo: Jim Roese.
became a coach and developed local powerhouses at both Neshaminy High School and Imhotep Charter. Allyson “Ally” Shicora ’08, who stands alone in the storied annals of Ursinus women's lacrosse as the only Bear to be named first team All-Centennial three times, one of only 19 players in conference history with that distinction. Kaitlyn Sutherland Bonavita ’09, one of the top field hockey players in all of Division III and a three-time first team All-American. She was also a key contributor to the softball team. Nicole “Nikki” Thren Farris ’09, a two-time field hockey All-American, earning second-team honors as a junior and senior to go along with first team all-conference and first-team all-region honors. Ursinus Magazine • Winter 2020
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Paying it THE GATEWAY
Philanthropists Joan and Will Abele ’61, through their Abele Family Foundation, have generously provided Ursinus with the largest single private gift in its 150-year history: $11 million to support the Abele Scholars Program for years to come. The pledge was announced on Friday, January 17, in front of the Ursinus community and special guests, officially carrying Ursinus over its $100 million Keep the Promise campaign goal.
The Abele Scholars Program helps to fill the financial gaps confronting many students from low- and middleincome families. Established in 2018, it supports students every year from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Abele Scholars receive $40,000 over four years. In addition, each scholar receives $2,000 for “startup” costs, such as the purchase of a laptop or required books; $3,000 for academically enriching pursuits, such as internships, summer courses or academic conferences; and $8,000 in loan forgiveness.
“For Joan and me, giving back to the college is critically important. This is about more than giving students an advantage. It’s about giving them opportunity,” Will Abele said.
As an alumnus and member of the Ursinus College Board of Trustees, Will and his wife, Joan, have supported Ursinus philanthropically for 50 years. “The Abele Scholars Program has provided standout students with the resources required to reach their fullest potential and become responsible, contributing citizens, all while strengthening Ursinus’s commitment to access and affordability,” Ursinus President Brock Blomberg said. The Abele Scholars Program is currently in its second year of operation and includes two cohorts totaling 24 students. Approximately 18 first-year students are targeted annually for each new cohort, with finalists selected by a committee of Ursinus faculty, staff, alumni and Abele Family Foundation representatives. Fittingly, the gift was announced on Benjamin Franklin’s birthday to acknowledge a “pay it forward” pledge that each Abele Scholar makes when selected for the program. The pledge excerpts a 1784 letter from Benjamin Franklin to Benjamin Webb, in which Franklin declined repayment for a loan and instead encouraged his recipient to “pay it forward.” A part of the gift, Ursinus's new Commons will be named in honor of former assistant professor of religion, wrestling coach and executive secretary for the alumni association Richard T. Schellhase ’45, who was a personal mentor to Will Abele, and his wife, Kay Schellhase ’57.
(above) Abele Scholars (from left to right) Brandon Smith ’23, Megan DePaul ’22, Luke Lesher ’23 and Trinady Banks ’23.
Forward SCHOL ARSHIP FUND CHALLENGE Thus far during the Keep The Promise campaign, 65 named scholarships have been created. Let’s keep the momentum going. Ursinus is challenging the community to create another 35 scholarships for our students. There are several ways to support scholarships at Ursinus. For more information, contact the office of advancement at ucalumni@ursinus.edu or (610) 409-3585.
photo JIM ROESE
Ursinus Magazine • Winter 2020
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THE GATEWAY
photo DOMINIC MONTE
GE T TING TO KN OW
MARGARET WHITE Ursinus’s head women’s basketball coach came to Collegeville in 2015-16. On the Helfferich hardwood, she has coached All-Centennial Conference performers and guided the Bears to back-to-back conference playoff appearances in 2017-18 and 2018-19. A 2009 graduate of Gettysburg College, White is sixth all-time in Bullets history in three-pointers made, with 118. If you were to play in a 3-on-3 tournament for the ages with basketball legends from the collegiate and professional ranks, who would be on your team? I would go with the two Birds: Sue Bird and Larry Bird. Both are/ were such smart players and can shoot the lights out. I would just give the ball to them and stay out of the way! Do you have a coaching idol? Why do you look up to that person, and do you model your style or philosophy after him or her? I’ve been fortunate to work with some tremendous coaches during my career so far, especially when I was an assistant coach at three different schools before coming to Ursinus. One of the best pieces of advice I received was to be authentic, so I try hard not to emulate a certain coach. Of course, I’ve picked up great philosophies, X’s and O’s tips, and leadership traits that I have learned from and adapted to fit my own style. What has been the most rewarding part of coaching Ursinus women’s basketball? Our team is just a ton of fun to be around. They have a great sense of humor and it keeps us going through the ups and downs of a basketball season. It’s really rewarding to see them improve throughout a season or career and to watch them achieve their goals both on and off the court. Our team is also tremendously resilient. When they face a
challenge, they choose to let it make them stronger, and that has continued to propel us toward being one of the top teams in the Centennial Conference. I also get to work with two very talented assistant coaches and UC alums (Kim Smith ’86 and Angela Upright ’17), who go above and beyond for our program every day. Do you have a standout moment from your time as a coach here? There are a few, but nothing quite compares to when we had the opportunity to play a conference game at the Palestra at UPenn a couple seasons ago. We had the first game of the day (out of five back-to-back conference games), so we got the whole Palestra to ourselves when we arrived, which was awesome. We had one of our best performances against Gettysburg (who ended up winning the conference that year) and we took them into overtime in front of a huge crowd of fans, family and alumni. Despite losing the game in the end, our team got to experience playing on the “big stage” and showcased what our program is all about. Ursinus has a long and storied history in women’s athletics. What does that mean to you? How do you view your place within that history? I think the fact that Ursinus has such a rich history in women’s athletics is really important. I am a woman coaching a women’s sport within an athletic department that is led by a woman [Director of Athletics Laura Moliken]. In the landscape of college athletics, that makes Ursinus unique. I grew up
being coached by tremendous male coaches, and I appreciate all that they taught me about basketball and life. It is so important, however, that girls and young women see women in leadership roles in athletics, a field that continues to be maledominated, long after Title IX. I also have two talented assistant coaches who represent two different generations of Ursinus female athletes. Ursinus can be very proud that their experience here was so positive that they feel compelled to pay it forward to this generation. What’s the best piece of advice you ever received as a player, and do you share that same advice with your own players? The best advice I ever got was from my college coach, who told me to “work harder and pray more” when I was struggling with my performance. It was very straightforward advice (and maybe a bit sarcastic), but accurate. I think sometimes we (coaches and players) can overthink things and be very hard on ourselves, when in fact the game is actually pretty simple. I do emphasize the importance of preparation, hard work and going the extra mile with my team … but I leave the religious piece up to them! Back to fun hypotheticals. The game is on the line and one bucket wins it. Who’s taking the shot? Like many sports fans, I can’t decide between Lebron James or Michael Jordan! Ursinus Magazine • Winter 2020
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THE GATEWAY
OFFICE SPACE
THE KEEPER OF
photo DOMINIC MONTE
THE FLAME
The sign hangs above an entryway down a long hallway at NFL Films headquarters in Mount Laurel, N.J.: “Keepers of the Flame.” It’s a label that the production company’s many filmmakers and cinematographers take seriously, since it has played an enormous role in the National Football League’s immense popularity. “We understand the legacy we have here,” says Katie Morello ’08, an NFL Films associate producer. “‘Keepers of the Flame’ is our motto. We must carry on that legacy and make sure our content is the best it can be. These are some of the greatest filmmakers in the world who have captured some of the greatest plays and players in history.” Morello majored in media and communication studies and psychology at Ursinus and earned a
master’s degree in film at The New School. At NFL Films, she landed an internship and then became a seasonal production assistant before being hired full time in 2015. In her current role, she pitches her own stories, writes them, picks her own music and edits it all together to create the compelling narrative so many fans have come to expect with NFL Films.
She’s rubbed elbows with legendary players past and present, like Joe Namath and Larry Fitzgerald, and has worked on programs like Inside the NFL, NFL Films Presents and the NFL Network’s NFL 100 program, which highlighted the league over its first century. But her favorite story was an original idea she pitched about the NFL’s first female scout, Connie Carberg of the New York Jets.
Morello is proud to be one of eight female producers in the company. “I don’t take it lightly and there’s a certain responsibility that comes with that,” she says. She’s earned two Emmy awards: one as an associate producer on the HBO Hard Knocks season that covered the Houston Texans, and the other for editing Hard Knocks featuring the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I’m always looking for stories that allow me to be true to myself, while also being true to the Sabols [NFL Films pioneers Ed and Steve Sabol] and their legacy,” Morello says. As a long-time Philadelphia Eagles fan, though, editing the team’s Super Bowl highlight film might top the list. “That was probably my proudest moment,” Morello says. “Handing a copy of that DVD to my dad.” Ursinus Magazine • Winter 2020
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As Ursinus celebrates its sesquicentennial anniversary, it strives to honor its legacy in athletics with a commitment to providing student-athletes with unique pathways to grow into exceptional leaders and citizens. One hundred and fifty years later, that mission is still going strong, and we’re only getting better with age.
BY ANDY EDWARDS
Bears Are Born Athletics at Ursinus College began with America’s pastime, in the spring of 1890 on a small patch of level land near the college. A few years earlier, the baseball club had engaged in the nascent stages of intercollegiate play with a counterpart from Muhlenberg College, but the burgeoning blaze of competitive fervor was met initially and repeatedly with opposition from faculty and the administration. Denied “for excellent reasons” in its request to the faculty to improve the improvised diamond on the south campus, the student-led Athletic Association pushed onward and secured a lease from Dr. James Hamer. A seven-game schedule was set, and baseball was on. Today, most of the Bears’ athletic programs will don as many as three different uniforms during one season. But in the earliest days, although the Athletic Association had its field, the baseball team did not have a uniform, and the college still lacked its own colors. In 1887, John Henry Augustus Bomberger left a hint that Ursinus should adopt its own distinctive colors “as other seats of learning had,” and the suggestion took hold two years later after another wink from his editorial eye. In 1889, an all-student meeting determined that “a suitable combination of black, old-gold and red should be adopted as the distinctive insignia of our Alma Mater.” With its aesthetic decided, the Athletic Association went about putting it on display. The organization channeled the campus’s growing energy into a benefit concert held in the college chapel, raising about $50 to pay for a set of brand-new uniforms. Football kicked off in a tentative form in the fall of 1890, and in a few years became the epicenter of athletic interest at the college. The gridders hired their first coach in 1894, and joined baseball, basketball and tennis as one of four prongs of the official athletic program until, just shy of a century ago, the next seminal event took place. Ursinus has long been known and revered for its status as a pioneer of women’s athletics. That reputation
reached its apex under luminaries like Eleanor Frost Snell, but the college’s trailblazing was first due to the efforts of Miss Agnes R. McCann, who organized a Girls’ Athletics Association in the fall of 1919 to put women’s athletics on par with the existing men’s program.
Snell’s greatest impact came as coach of the field hockey program, from whom she produced more AllAmericans than any other college or university in the United States. At least 25 of Snell’s charges participated in overseas tours, and she guided the Bears to six undefeated seasons.
The 1923 Ruby stated, “We want to strengthen the bond which now connects the name of ‘girls’ and the name of ‘Ursinus’ to such a degree that the two shall forever be inseparable.” And in 1930, the Ruby asserted that “no college girl, and especially no Ursinus girl, considers her activities complete unless she is able to participate in some sport.”
According to the Centennial Conference’s Snell-Shillingford Symposim page, “Under Snell, Ursinus women cultivated more expansive dreams of athletic excellence, dreams that would lead two of her former athletes to take up the mantle of head coach of the U.S. Women’s Field Hockey team and countless others making an impact throughout the athletic world as competitors, coaches, officials, physical educators, administrators and academics.” The Snell-Shillingford Symposium continues to empower women in coaching, striving to close the gender gap in the profession.
Athletics continued to gain a foothold at the college into the ensuing decades. In 1920, the Athletic Association purchased new grounds to expand its facilities, and four years later the Grizzly Bear was adopted as its official symbol. Cross country, wrestling and soccer were added to the menu of sporting options between 1929 and 1931, and over the next several years, the newly coined Grizzly Bears produced two Eastern Pennsylvania Football Conference titles in addition to a pair of conference crowns in cross country and another in track and field.
In 1988, colleagues, family, friends and former students dedicated a professorship in Snell’s honor: The Eleanor Frost Snell Chair of Health and Physical Education. Together, they raised more than $500,000 to create the first professorship at a liberal arts college to honor a woman in the field of health and physical education.
Snell’s Belles Near the end of President George L. Omwake’s tenure, Ursinus’s place in the landscape of collegiate athletics changed forever. Eleanor Frost Snell joined the staff in 1931, and over the next four decades would go on to preside over a women’s program unique in its era, establishing Ursinus as the “small, but mighty college among the giants” and inspiring generations of young women honored to call themselves “Snell’s Belles.” Snell was a titan of coaching by any measure, and her record as boss of the field hockey, basketball, softball and tennis programs was otherworldly. She was 269-69-13 in 39 years as the basketball coach, and 61-18 in 16 seasons as tennis coach. She spent 27 years as softball coach, going 125-20 overall and presiding over a 10-year period with a single loss.
(above) Eleanor Frost Snell (left, with a student) led the way in establishing Ursinus as a force in women's athletics.
THE WELL
The MAC Years As Ursinus gained national and international acclaim in Snell’s era, the Bears continued to cultivate a formidable athletics program that included a bevy of consistent championship contenders in the Middle Atlantic Conference. Ursinus was not at the league’s inception meeting in 1922, but it was one of a handful of institutions that approved the original plan for the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference and is listed in official records as holding conference membership from at least 1945. In the MAC, Ursinus shared membership with much larger, highprofile institutions like Columbia, Drexel, La Salle, Penn, Princeton, Rutgers, Saint Joseph’s, Seton Hall and Temple, who have since gone on to form major Division I conferences. Competition was split between “University” and “College” divisions, and the Bears regularly excelled. Cross country and track and field enjoyed extended spells of high-level success under Ray Gurzynski ’39 and Bob Shoudt; women’s swimming seized the crown in 1975; softball ran off a fourpeat in the 1980s. Men’s basketball brought the campus to life in 1981, embarking on a magical run to the Final Four under coach Skip Werley, one of seven hall of famers from a squad that, as an anonymous letter to The Grizzly put it, “gave life to cold winter nights.” Amidst this growth, the women’s lacrosse program had constructed a full-fledged dynasty. The Bears leveled
everyone in their path on the way to their first national championship in 1983 and added another crown in 1984 before becoming the first team in college history to win an NCAA title in 1986. Ursinus went on to capture backto-back Division III championships in 1989 and 1990, earning a trip to the White House to meet President George H.W. Bush in the latter year.
The Centennial Conference
schools that thrive on the national stage in both academics and athletics. A greater demand for athletic excellence naturally brought with it a need for top-notch facilities. Named for three-sport standout Catherine “Floy” Lewis Bakes ’49, the Floy Lewis Bakes Center opened in 2001 and housed the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame until 2018. An imposing bear takes center stage, carved from the long-standing lone sycamore tree in the famed end zone of Patterson Field. This setting has long served as the athletic heart of campus, even hosting an epic 1997 wrestling dual meet between USA
The scope of Ursinus Athletics changed forever in 1981, when Ursinus joined seven other private colleges to form the Centennial Conference. A footballonly league in its infancy, the CC expanded to all sports in 1992, adding Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Washington as charter members. Since then, it has established itself as one of the premier conferences in all of Division III, a remarkable collection of
(clockwise from top) The 2008 men's basketball team celebrates a trip to the Final Four; Ursinus earned NCAA championships in field hockey and women's lacrosse; and UC hosted a USA vs. Russia wrestling meet.
and Russia. Snell Field, recently resurfaced and one of the best of its kind, played host to consecutive Division III national championship field hockey matches in 2007 and 2008. Current Director of Athletics Laura Moliken brought the legacy of Snell and other luminaries full circle in 2006, steering the field hockey team to its first NCAA championship. The late Bill Racich shepherded wrestling to 11 conference championships in his legendary career. Softball has collected five trophies in the CC era, and baseball won three under Brian Thomas.
Ursinus shocked the world in 1934, when the football team upset mighty Penn, 7-6. Later called one of the biggest upsets of the decade, it was the first time the Bears had even scored on Penn since 1910. According to The Ruby, “Never did the Red and Blue band play the dirge so woefully as when hilarious Ursinus rooters carried their muddy heroes off the battlefield just after the final whistle had sounded a 7-6 victory for the Perkiomen warriors.” The 1943 football team, made up almost entirely of Navy sailors from the V-12 program during World War II, orchestrated another stirring upset by taking down Temple, 10-6. The 1944 wrestling team defeated Franklin & Marshall for the first time in program history, ending the Diplomats’ 53-match winning streak over a five-year period. Ursinus was one of the first colleges in the Middle Atlantic area to foster the sport of softball, and the Bears dominated from those nascent days. The Bears went undefeated in 12 of the first 14 years of intercollegiate competition.
Longtime men’s basketball coach Kevin Small brought the Bears back to the Final Four in 2008. Women’s swimming ran off six straight CC crowns, and men’s lacrosse achieved conference glory for the first time just last spring. The track and field programs are churning out a growing arsenal of conference champions and medalists, while a litany of others continue to ascend the league ladder. The landscape of collegiate athletics is ever changing. It is mostly unrecognizable from the fledgling program that debuted well over a century ago, yet those humble beginnings resonate.
The 1973 men’s basketball team was given the NCAA Award of Valor for its efforts in helping to rescue more than a dozen people after a gas leak explosion rocked the motel they were staying in just outside Mount Union, Pa. Every member of the team entered the burning dining area to help evacuate victims of the explosion. Ursinus has produced 60 Centennial Conference players/ performers of the year since the formation of the conference. Softball (14) and field hockey (10) lead the way with double-digit player of the year awards. Associate Director of Athletics Erin Stroble ’02 was both a CC player of the year (2002) and coach of the year (2010). Ursinus has been a fertile ground for high-profile coaches, and not just in field hockey and lacrosse. Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther ’94 and University of Florida football head coach Dan Mullen ’94 were teammates here in the early 1990s. University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball coach Steve Donahue ’84 was a member of the Bears’ Final Four team in 1981, and former women’s basketball player Debbie Ryan ’75 spent 34 years as head coach at Virginia, winning three ACC championships and making three Final Four appearances. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Ursinus once had a living, breathing black bear mascot. Robert ‘Bump’ Landis ’40, a senior in 1939, brought the cub, named Zachie, to campus from the Norristown Zoo. Zachie lived in a barn near the hockey field, posed for photos with the football team and watched games from the branches of the infamous sycamore tree in the Patterson Field end zone. Zachie later ended up at the Hershey Zoo. Ursinus Magazine • Winter 2020
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THE WELL
In the fall, Ursinus Magazine introduced a threepart series to celebrate the college’s 150-year history and recognize some of the people who have made an indelible mark on Ursinus, both on the Collegeville campus and beyond. The series is meant to be a living document, one that is sustained throughout our anniversary year; and one that grows as new names are suggested and added. The first in the series introduced you to our pioneers, those who helped to shepherd the Ursinus way, as well as alumni who are forerunners in their fields; and our philanthropists, the people who make giving back and paying it forward their life’s mission. In this second part of the series, we’re proud to present our mentors, teachers in and out of the classroom helping to inspire a new generation of Bears; and our thought leaders, cutting-edge researchers, thinkers, philosophers and scholars. Each has been put forward by members of our campus community, by the college’s 150th anniversary committee, and by you—our readers. Ursinus Magazine • Winter 2020
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The
THE WELL
Mentors In a 2018 Ursinus Magazine article, Carolyn Smith Strainic ’11 said of U.S. Ambassador Joseph H. Melrose ’66, “I try to approach situations the way he would.” Strainic followed in Melrose’s footsteps to the United Nations, where she is a diplomat for the U.S. Mission in New York and one of countless Ursinus alumni that, to this day, are proud to call the late Melrose a mentor. He embodied global citizenship and, while at Ursinus, advocated for a liberal arts curriculum that cultivated sensitivity to cultural, demographic, economic and political differences. Five years after his death, his legacy continues through the Melrose Center for Global Civic Engagement, which fosters civic service worldwide. Nearly every Ursinus graduate has that one person who helped shape their life—a mentor who influenced them, advised them, challenged them and inspired them. For many students, that person was Rev. Charles Rice, who spent two decades serving the pastoral needs of the college community, overseeing the chaplaincy program and advising and counseling students. Christian Rice ’98, who mentors current Ursinus student leaders as assistant professor of philosophy and the humanities and assistant dean for civic engagement, said that Charles Rice was “always challenging students to be their best selves—intellectually rigorous, honest and kind.” Another spiritual adviser, Martha Bean Kriebel ’56, was pastor during a different sesquicentennial anniversary: the 150th year of Trinity Reformed United Church of Christ, located across
the street from Ursinus in Collegeville. She was the first woman to earn a degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. At Trinity UCC, she is now pastor emerita, a term used by the church to honor a person whose lengthy ministry has been one marked by distinguished service.
Intellectual rigor is a common thread for many former students who credit professors like Kelly Sorensen for challenging them to think critically. And every summer, Sorensen guides at least 70 students through the popular Summer Fellows program, where students pair with faculty mentors on research and creative pursuits. In Ursinus Magazine’s call for mentors, many faculty were put forth by alumni: In the sciences, Ellen and Robert Dawley, Ron Hess, Roger Staiger ’43 and Vic Tortorelli; in the humanities, Ross Doughty ’68, Becky Jaroff ’81, M. Nzadi Keita and Jon Volkmer; Heather O’Neill and Lynne Edwards ’88 in social sciences; John French and Domenick Scudera in the performing arts. Those names are only a small sample of the number of professors—many of whom could also be listed on the very next page as thought leaders—identified as teachers who inspire and challenge students to be introspective, and encourage them to be leaders, innovators and creators. Teaching is the life’s work of many Ursinus alumni, too. Harriet Metzgar Gould ’68 was an elementary principal and K-12 curriculum director in Nebraska, where she developed programs that led to her school’s designation as a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of
“ Nearly every Ursinus graduate has that one person who helped shape their life—a mentor who influenced them, advised them, challenged them and inspired them. ”
Education. Robert Hoffert ’62 created a transcendent ethnic studies program at Colorado State University. During his service to California University of Pennsylvania, Jack Bauman ’60 established and led its urban studies program, addressing a crucial programmatic need for the institution. All three are past recipients of the distinguished Henry P. and M. Page Laughlin Educator Award.
Scott Flannery ’92 wrote, “He built a family the spans four decades of combatants; men who are undoubtedly more successful in life because they had ‘Coach.’”
So many of our mentors also serve as advocates. Alexandra Peters Adams ’11 is a child advocate attorney who also guides students in Ursinus’s pre-law program. Meanwhile, Tracie Johnson ’13 was so inspired by her experience as a Bonner leader at Ursinus that she, too, sought out a career in law. As an Equal Justice Works Fellow, she creates career pathways for women and girls of color who face barriers to employment and higher education because of their juvenile and adult criminal records.
Eleanor Frost Snell, included in the previous issue of this magazine as an Ursinus pioneer, mentored generations of young women and helped to establish a legacy on the playing field that continues to this day at Ursinus under Director of Athletics Laura Moliken and coaches like Pete Gallagher and Kevin Small, and even at other institutions thanks to the leadership of Jen Shillingford ’54, Steve Donahue ’84 and Dan Mullen ’94.
No list of mentors would be complete without our coaches. Of the late wrestling coach Bill Racich,
Beyond academics and athletics, no Ursinus student’s experience ever seemed complete without the
Among Racich’s many mentees was Pat Curry ’01, often lauded himself for his commitment to the program as a devoted volunteer assistant coach and liaison for UC wrestling alums.
mentorship of Debbie Nolan, who for 33 years advocated for student leaders and challenged them to take risks, lead with their hearts and strive to always be their best selves; or Carla Rinde, who during her 35 years provided thousands of students with guidance down career pathways by embracing uncertainty and seizing opportunity. The groundwork Rinde laid continues through Ursinus’s office of career and postgraduate development, where a vast alumni network serves to advise current students. And at the U-Imagine Center for Integrative and Entrepreneurial Studies, Entrepreneurin-Residence Maureen Cumpstone ’79 inspires students to think creatively across disciplines to address societal issues through new business endeavors. Each of these mentors share a common trait: a passion for preparing new generations of leaders.
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The
THE WELL
Thought Lea Thought leaders are trailblazers who are unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom. If that sounds like an “Ursinus thing,” well, that’s because it’s ingrained in students from their very first days on campus through the shared Common Intellectual Experience. Take Winnifred Berg Cutler ’73, for example. As part of her groundbreaking work, she coauthored the first study that showed fertile men and women produce pheromones, has performed novel breast cancer research and founded the Athena Institute for Women’s Wellness. Highlighted in a 2016 Ursinus publication, Cutler said, “Someone who thinks like an entrepreneur recognizes an opportunity.” That entrepreneurial spirit drives Jeevan Sekhar ’99, a physician who helped establish the Reid Cancer Center in Richmond, Ind., where he began to realize that complementary therapies could enhance the lives of his cancer patients. Similarly, Bonnie Nemeth Clarke ’87, director of the Clinical Trials Network at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) in Reston, Va., is helping change the way pediatric tumors and cancer are being detected and, as a result, cured. And Jesse Kremenak ’08 is a founder of Kremenak NanoTech, Inc., which is committed to creating and commercializing innovations that will improve human and environmental health. Graham “Mac” Mackenzie ’74 is noted as being an innovator in the creation of smart cards and prepaid debit cards
for use by Armed Forces personnel overseas. His wife, Ann Helfferich Mackenzie ’77, is herself a teacher and mentor. Both spend countless hours volunteering at Ursinus and elsewhere.
Innovation is a term used often in the motor vehicle industry. After graduating from Ursinus, George Dupont ’70 rose from his start as a service technician to executive positions at American Motors/Jeep Corporation, Land Rover North America and the Ford Motor Company. An entrepreneurial thought leader, his “pay it forward” mentality inspired him to create an annual fund scholarship that supports students from Souderton, Pa. He has also written Ursinus into his estate plan, committing $2 million for scholarship support. Ursinus thought leaders have always been part of public service. Alan Novak ’71 was the longest serving chairman of Pennsylvania’s Republican Party (1996-2005). Margaret Hewitt George ’49 served the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as the first woman and only Democrat to have represented her legislative district. The late J. William Ditter Jr. ’43 was senior United States District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, nominated into the role by President Richard Nixon in 1970. Samuel Totaro Jr. ’69 is renowned in Pennsylvania for his accomplishments in the field of adoption law and related adoption litigation. And Matt Weintraub ’90, who currently serves as district attorney for Bucks County, Pa., has more than a quarter century of experience as a prosecutor.
“ Thought leaders are trailblazers who are unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom. ”
aders On the education front, as an Ursinus student, Elizabeth Cannon ’10 was integral to the creation of UCARE, the Center for Advocacy, Responsibility and Engagement and today works as senior associate director at Civic House at the University of Pennsylvania, which closely mirrors UCARE. Nola-rae Cronan ’01 was a member of the first-ever cohort of TED-Ed Innovative Educators, a yearlong professional development program for dynamic educators who are dedicated to celebrating the ideas of students and teachers around the world; and Layali Eshqaidef ’03 created a program for young children to learn the Arabic language through hands-on projects and immersion programs. Each of these thought leaders have drawn inspiration from their Ursinus experiences, capturing the essence of what it means to be a Bear in their everyday lives.
We’re still not done shaping our history and telling the Ursinus story. If there’s someone you’d like to see on this list or in an upcoming issue, we’ll include them. Email ucmag@ursinus.edu and visit ursinus.edu/magazine as we write our history together.
Still to come: The Unsung Heroes and Helping Hands (Spring/Summer 2020)
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photo JEFF FUSCO
W
hat are the sounds of 150 hammers banging, 150 bags of nails jangling and 150 lunchboxes clanging?
No, I’m not composing a nursery rhyme or a Christmas ditty for a construction crew. I’m just writing a piece about performing a piece called Music for 150 Carpenters. Seven score and 10 of us christened the stereophonic sound happening in October at the Berman Museum of Art as a celebration of the college’s 150th anniversary and the Berman’s 30th. Our workshop orchestra rattled, clobbered and even crunched, simulating everything from rain tattooing a tin roof to feet stampeding bleachers. Charlie Stainback, the Berman Museum director—who retired on Feb. 28, making this opus a grand finale to his Ursinus career—booked Music for 150 Carpenters to stretch his mission to invigorate the senses. A drywall specialist during his graduate-school days, he envisioned the composition as a splashy sonic supplement to the museum’s envelope-ripping shows showcasing copies of the backs of famous paintings and glass jars of paints mapping buildings on the Washington Mall. He discovered the musical installation from a colleague who hosted a 100-carpenters performance in 2009 at a Brooklyn arts space with a massive boiler.
In celebration of Ursinus College’s 150th Anniversary, the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art presented a truly unique auditory experience: Douglas Henderson’s Music for 150 Carpenters. The site-specific, live performance piece held in October was made in collaboration with professional and regional carpenters, local artists, museum professionals and Ursinus faculty, staff, alumni and students as a symbolic tribute to the many hands that helped build Ursinus. This is one carpenter’s firsthand account.
By Geoff Gehman
Back then, composer Douglas Henderson was living in New York City, earning most of his money by running a company that renovated brownstones and lofts. He created the carpentry piece partly to honor his “tool-bag years,” a period illustrated in a samename Berman exhibition of playful drawings by David Scher, Henderson’s former construction comrade. I interviewed Henderson the day before the Oct. 26 concert, when the Berman resembled a construction site. We discussed his meticulous process of recording—the sounds of windgusted leaves; subdividing sounds into pitches, pulses and grains; and layering them in “cloud masses” that challenge conventions of hearing music made by humans and elements.
THE WELL An American living in Berlin, he noted that he constructs scores to be seen, as well as heard. The 100- and 150-carpenter works were videotaped from above and projected on the floor after their performances, accompanied by a multichannel soundtrack and leftover hammers, tool bags and sawhorses. Immersing yourself in the floor video, said Henderson, “is like walking on your head in a swimming pool.” Henderson then introduced me to Scher, who was drawing construction characters on sheets of paper on both sides of a wall. I asked him what sort of sounds I would be summoning with my 149 carpenter colleagues. Prepare yourself, he said, to be in a beehive of “metallic wasps.”
mother and my mom’s late English best friend, both of whom were handier with hammers than me. Sure enough, my rehearsal hammering was as rusty as a rusty nail. I bent nails every which way from Sunday. My sloppy ferocity kept yanking the sawhorse I shared with Marshall, also a big banger. I did much better shaking small and large nails in bags and a tool apron, biting an apple stored in a lunchbox and dropping the lunchbox to the floor on command. I did even better at imagining creative sounds. Rustling small nails reminded me of the sloshing droning of a didgeridoo, Australia’s national indigenous wind instrument.
“ This piece doesn’t exist in my imagination. It doesn’t exist in a computer. It exists here, now. ”
Everyone signed up for Music for 150 Carpenters for an injection of unique fun. Charlie Jamison, the college’s special collections librarian and the first carpenter recruited, had the extra incentive of hammering with his daughter, Katie. Aidsand “Ace” Wright-Riggins, onetime trombonist and drummer, looked forward to performing in the kind of diverse community he advocates as Collegeville’s mayor. And me? I was hired solely for my skills as a wordsmith. I’m exceedingly messy with a hammer, although I nail equally well—and badly—with either hand. I’m better at arranging pictures than hanging them, and much, much better at chopping wood than nailing it. An afternoon rehearsal made me feel less like a carpentry greenhorn. We set up shop in 20 rectangular spaces arranged around rectangular audience areas in the Berman’s main gallery, two carpenters to a sawhorse topped by a wood block suitable for nailing. Our band included geologists Eric Jacobsen and Gil Marshall; Emily Artinan, an artist who runs a Chester County arts space she founded; and Heather Lobban-Viravong, vice president for college and community engagement. We were conducted by “head carpenter” Kate Teale, wife of the composer’s brother, David Henderson. Tall, cheerful and very English, she reminded me of my late English (above) Ursinus “carpenters” shake bags of nails to create sound during Music for 150 Carpenters.
My comparison was endorsed by Australian natives Franco Serafin and Juliette Knight, whose daughter, Ruby Serafin ’20, starred in one of Ursinus’s other signature anniversary events, The Complete History of Ursinus College [Abridged], an original play written by Professor of Theater Domenick Scudera and staged just weeks before Music for 150 Carpenters. The play was featured in the fall 2019 edition of Ursinus Magazine. Other carpenters imagined even more imaginative sounds. Shaking nails reminded Jamison of ocean wind whipped up by an approaching storm. Fortified by a buffet supper, we returned two hours later for the performance proper. Henderson
advised us to synchronize our first apple bites for a louder, tarter crunch, and not synchronize our hammering for more spontaneous, more sympathetic noises. He advised listeners to close their eyes, the better to see aural cloud maps. “This piece doesn’t exist in my imagination,” he explained. “It doesn’t exist in a computer. It exists here, now.” After an opening silence, Teale and her 19 fellow conductors began following color-coded sheets that told them when to start, stop and pace our cacophonies. This time the rustling of small nails reminded me of jingle bells while the rattling of big nails conjured sheets of rain rat-tat-tatting
tin roofs. When we hammered group by group, creating sonic waves that circuited through the two rooms, we invoked a locomotive cutting through a herd of thundering elephants. Inside this stereophonic jungle I began to understand what Henderson means when he says he sculpts sounds while “discovering and charting a territory of the extra-imaginary.” Henderson thought we all nailed it. “I’m exceedingly happy,” said the cheerful, tired composer. “This was the bomb, absolutely.” During a post-show reception, I circled back to Zuzana Mlcak-Rehm ’85. She and her mother, Ava, a fellow carpenter, put a universal spin on our extravagant experience. Zuzana: “It was a workout on the forearms.” Ava: “It was hard work, actually. It was also sort of fun. You know, I was the general contractor for two of my houses, so carpentry is close to my heart.” Zuzana: “Carpentry is the foundation of history.” I drove home that night with a touch of carpenter’s wrist(s) and slight ringing in my left ear. But I was buzzing with good vibes.
Editor’s note: After the live performance, the remnants of 150 hammers, 75 sawhorses and some 10,000 nails remained as part of an exhibition with an audiovisual recording projected on the gallery floor to form a final, immersive installation on view from November to March.
photo JEFF FUSCO
Ursinus Magazine • Winter 2020
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THE BURNING QUESTION
SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID? The truth about education as compensation in college athletics By Jasmine L. Harris Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology
E
d Ogeron, head coach of the 2020 college football national champion Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers, earned $1.7 million in bonuses for winning the national title. He also has a chance to earn another $200,000 in bonuses for his players’ academic performance at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year. These bonuses are in addition to his $4 million base salary in 2019, which is less than half the salary of his championship game competition—Coach Dabo Swinney for the Clemson University Tigers—whose $9 million salary doesn’t include the additional $5 million in bonuses he’s earned in the last two seasons. The players, by comparison, had to explain the few hundred dollars NFL wide receiver and LSU alumnus Odell Beckham Jr. handed out to LSU players in good-natured on-field celebration after their win because players are banned from being compensated for their contributions to the team. These differences in public response to payment of participants in college football highlight the innate hypocrisy of NCAA college athletic policies. Coaches and athletic directors “earn” their exurbanite salaries each season, but players can only “earn” college tuition, and room and board. Even as the NCAA earned over $1 billion in revenue in 2018, and universities like LSU and Clemson clear hundreds of millions in revenue over the same time period. But the state of college athletics has changed considerably since becoming big business in the early 1990s. Increasingly, collegeathletes, especially football and men’s basketball players—the only sports which generate a revenue surplus each year—spend less time in the
For all but the two percent of players who will go on to play in professional leagues, this means many will leave college without an adequate education and no money made during a time in their lives where they’re at peak marketability.
classroom, and more time preparing for the big game. In fact, my survey and interview data from players like these across the country suggests they spend three times as many hours on athletic responsibilities in comparison to academic ones during their time as “student-athletes.” Coaches and athletic directors at these schools care about academic performance insofar as it contributes to their own financial windfalls because it has little to do with what happens on the field. Football and men’s basketball players already report the lowest graduation rates of all student-athletes and non-athlete students; a lack of compensation while competing at the NCAA level creates difficult economic and educational paths in the future. This is especially true for black players from low-income communities who make up almost 70 percent of Division I football and men’s basketball teams. For all but the two percent of players who will go on to play in professional leagues, this means many will leave college without an adequate education and no money made during a time in their lives where they’re at peak marketability. These players don’t have the time to concentrate on academics, and therefore cannot adequately take advantage of the education they “earn” on the football field or basketball court. Instead, players sacrifice their bodies, and their educations to win, and as a result make a few additional million dollars for their coaches. Recently, the NCAA announced rule changes that allow all student-athletes to accept compensation in exchange for work, even during the sports season, in response to state legislation passed in California, and being prepared in a handful of other states,
including Pennsylvania, which overrode NCAA policy and threatened to upend the NCAA as we know it. But allowing players to be compensated for the use of their likeness and image is not the same thing as revenue sharing. Players are only allowed to seek out their own compensation rather than being awarded a portion of the revenue their labor sustains, actions which require more time and energy away from academics and focused squarely on sports. At Ursinus, student-athletes already overloaded with schoolwork may now be lured to go in search of their own revenue streams to supplement the cost of college attendance beyond just tuition, and room and board. And can we blame them? As the cost of living continues to increase while jobs paying livable wages post-graduation decrease, for many student-athletes, it’s now or never to make money on their athletic participation. But we must ask ourselves how much we want our studentathletes to invest in academics. If they’re spending a majority of their time on athletics, then is an education really ample compensation for their labor? Harris’s research interests include race, class and gender, and the intersectionality of those identities, particularly as they pertain to minority experiences. She has conducted extensive research about compensation in Division I athletics and her expertise has been recently featured on NBC10, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Business Insider, The Houston Chronicle, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other national publications.
MLK WEEK
The Ursinus community celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a week of service, community and reflection. Activities included an interfaith service in Bomberger Hall; film screenings and discussions; and special guest lectures by Tracie Johnson ’13 and Professor Emeritus Donald Camp. Ursinus also announced its first Inclusion and Equity Awards for faculty and staff, and students gathered in locations throughout the region to work on service projects.
photos JIM ROESE, JENNIFER MEININGER WOLFE (top left)
LIFE IN PIXELS
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CLASS NOTES 1940s
Lois M. Hillman ’45 proudly shares that she became a great-grandmother.
1950s
T. Lawrence Fleischer ’50 shares that he is alive and well and enjoying life. Richard A. Berjian ’51 has published his latest novel, Givers and Takers. Marvin Rotman ’54 writes that he has retired and that his daughter, Sydney Rotman ’15, began medical school in August 2019. Myron E. Rosenfeld ’56 shares that he and his wife, Ruth, became great-grandparents and their son, Edward Rosenfeld ’83, became a grandfather on July 10, 2019. Joseph C. Donia ’57 and Deanne Farese Donia ’58 write that they had the pleasure of having their grandson, Nick, living with them while he prepared to begin a graduate nursing program at the University of Connecticut.
1960s
C. Virginia (Keller) Young ’60 shares that she is so grateful to be golfing, bowling and touring.
Georgia Ferrell ’62 is now a Canadian citizen and is building her home on 31 rural acres in Ontario. She plans to become a homesteader with chickens, a cow and other animals. She continues to create art with mixed media. Karl Luck ’63 is still working as a pilot on Alaskan cruise ships. Carol Taney Miller ’63 shares that after 50 years, she has returned to Chester County and has been enjoying seeing Ursinus women’s athletic events. She adds, “Go Bears! Happy 150!” William R. Cooper ’65 and his wife, Elaine, write that they will be moving to Collegeville. He says, “We’ll see you there!”
1970s
Jane Atkinson Bandstra ’78 reports that son Brian Bandstra ’16 is a senior underwriting specialist at PayPal, and son Robert Bandstra ’17 is an environmental scientist at Langan Engineering and Environment. John Davis ’79 was inducted into the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in 2018 and retired from Montclair State University after 35 years.
1980s
Richard H. “Rick” Millward ’80 is associate director of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Pilot Bioproduction Facility. He turned 60 last year and recently skied 27,000 feet downhill in 3½ hours for charity event, walked across the state of Maryland on the Appalachian Trail in one day, and attended the World Scout Jamboree with his brother. Theresa Pavletich Miller ’83 resides in Westlake Village, Calif., north of Los Angeles. She is married with two children and serves as head of doctor credentialing and human resources for Aligned Telehealth in Woodland Hills, Calif., a tele-psychiatric services company. Lawrence “Larry” Muscarella ’83 was featured in a New York Times article about antibiotic resistance, the complex design of duodenoscopes (which makes them hard to clean), and their association with insidious hospital infections.
1990s
Carolyn Barry ’96 was appointed associate dean for social sciences and graduate programs at Loyola University’s College of Arts and Sciences. She supervises six academic departments offering undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs, as well as the ROTC/military science department and more than 85 full-time faculty, including clinical faculty based at the Loyola Clinical Centers.
BEARS’ DEN
2000s
Leslie Hoffman ’03 married George Mamas on October 6, 2018, officially becoming a stepmother to Phoenix and Persephone Mamas. Victoria Langton ’07 graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2010. She is working for Greenberg Traurig in Atlanta.
2010s
Lauren Geiger ’17 is now in her third year as a graduate student of English language and literature at the University of Michigan. Ang Bey ’19 performed in Candles, a Philadelphia Young Playwrights production of a student-written play, in January.
BIRTHS
Rebecca (Cohen) Kasen ’07 welcomed a daughter, Anne (Annie) Sophia, born on July 9, 2019.
ALUMNI EVENTS April 3, 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. BEAR2BEAR BENEFIT & BASH Rivercrest Golf Club & Preserve, Phoenixville, Pa. We hope to see you at our second annual Bear2Bear Benefit & Bash! All proceeds support the Ursinus College Bear2Bear Student Emergency Fund. This event is a gala-style event featuring a cocktail hour, dinner, silent and live auctions and a program recognizing this year’s Bear2Bear Impact Award for Leadership and Service Recipient, Joseph DeSimone ’86. For more information and to purchase tickets to the event, please visit ursinus.edu/b2bbash.
April 4, Noon to 5 p.m. COMMONS GRAND OPENING AND MUSIC ON MAIN FESTIVAL Ursinus College Celebrate the opening of the Schellhase Commons and join us for our inaugural Music on Main festival, featuring live music (28 performers) food trucks, vendors and—of course—a chance to tour the Commons.
April 23, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. OPENING RECEPTION: ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION 2020 Ursinus College Join the Ursinus College community in celebrating the achievement of its student artists. The Annual Student Exhibition showcases the works made by art students and majors in the disciplines of painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, installation, mixed media and photography. The Annual Student Exhibition 2020 will be on view from April 23 until May 16, 2020.
April 24-25 ALUMNI WEEKEND 2020 Ursinus College Come back to campus for Alumni Weekend 2020 to reconnect with friends and meet current students and faculty. Events include class reunion dinners, Mimosas and Memories, the Alumni Awards Ceremony and more! Congratulations to classes celebrating milestone reunions 1955, 1960, 1965 and 1970!
September 25 PROMISES KEPT CAMPAIGN CELEBRATION Phoenixville Foundry, Phoenixville, Pa. We have made a promise: to enable our students to become independent, responsible and thoughtful individuals through a liberal arts education. It is a promise that has endured for almost 150 years. A promise that places our students at the center of everything we do and a promise we will continue to keep thanks to the generosity of our donors. Join us as we celebrate the successful completion of the largest campaign in the history of the college.
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DEATHS 1940s
K. Joanne (Sherr) Schweitzer ’53 died August 18, 2019.
1970s
Marion E. (Beamensderfer) Lerch '41 died October 3, 2019.
Duke E. Stouffer ’53 died November 15, 2019.
John T. “Tom” Balas ’70 died September 23, 2019.
Rev. Mary Alice (Weaver) Butkofsky '43 died October 20, 2019.
Philip R. Trump ’53 died May 18, 2019.
Alan Glass ’71 died September 6, 2019.
Capt. Gordon L. Wineman ’46 (V-12 Program), U.S. Navy (Retired), died September 6, 2019.
Donald L. Allebach ’55 died September 16, 2019.
Barbara J. Walker ’72 died October 27, 2019.
Gerry W. Cox Jr. ’55 died December 2, 2019.
Wayne G. Wylie ’74 (Evening) died September 7, 2019.
Hope C. (Coburn) Giamboy ’56 died October 8, 2019.
John B. Martin ’75 (Evening) died December 6, 2019.
Rev. Dr. Norman Dean Evans ’48 died September 10, 2019. Edith "Edie" (Parry) Reinhart ’49 died October 1, 2019.
1950s H. Russell Bernd Jr., ’50, died May 1, 2019. Joanne E. Duncan ’50 died October 26, 2019. Grace A. (Garis) Ikai ’50 died September 21, 2019. Donald J. Weisel ’50 died October 18, 2019. Walter J. "Jack" Christensen Jr. ’51 died November 11, 2019. Norman M. Fording Jr. ’51 died October 3, 2019. John R. Leckey ’51 died November 19, 2019. Donald W. Rose ’51 died October 7, 2019. Harry M. Swartz ’52 died December 27, 2019. William W. Van Horn ’52 died September 6, 2019. R. William "Bill" Body, Ph.D., ’53 died November 16, 2019. William M. Fynan ’53 died October 21, 2019.
Charles B. Tricebock ’56 died October 17, 2019. Marjorie “Marge” (Dawkins) Garinger ’57 died December 11, 2019. William H. Carson Jr. ’59 died November 7, 2019. Rev. Willis K. Heckler ’59 died November 8, 2019. Faye L. (Taggart) Phillips ’59 died November 21, 2019. James W. Vlahos ’59 died November 24, 2019.
1960s Thomas A. Kocher Jr. ’60 (Evening) died July 14, 2019. David W. Christensen ’63 died November 9, 2019. Dennis G.R. Wilson Sr. ’63 died November 8, 2019.
1980s William J. White Jr., ’81 died September 13, 2019.
1990s Hannegret M. “Hanna” Hartman ’92 (Evening) died November 1, 2019. Zane R. Stauffer ’92 (Evening) died October 7, 2019. Bradley P. Elling ’96 (Evening) died August 29, 2019. William G. Pieper ’96 died September 12, 2019.
2000s Scott A. Jones ’09 died September 18, 2019.
Charles W. Yerger ’68 died December 25, 2019.
Friends of the College
Janis C. (Creamer) Yunker ’69 died May 31, 2019.
Rosemary D. (Zechman) Pearson died October 4, 2019.
BEARS’ DEN
SAFE. SECURE. SENSIBLE.
S E L E C TE D O N E - L I F E A N N U I TY RAT ES ANNUITANT AGE
RATE
65
5.1%
T H E CHA RI TA B LE GIFT ANNUITY
“Make a gift and receive income for life.” For more information on how a Charitable Gift Annuity might help you realize your philanthropic and financial planning needs, or to receive a confidential, personalized illustration, please contact: Mark P. Gadson Executive Director of Leadership Giving and Advancement Resources Ursinus College Office of Advancement 601 East Main Street Collegeville, PA 19426 (610) 409-3164 mgadson@ursinus.edu
72
5.8%
75
6.2%
80
7.3%
85
8.3%
90+
9.0%
S E L E C TE D TW O - L I F E A N N U I TY RAT ES ANNUITANT AGES FIRST
SECOND
RATE
65
60
4.3%
75
78
5.6%
80
80
5.8%
80
84
6.1%
85
85
6.9%
85
89
7.4%
90
90
8.6%
93+
93+
8.8%
Note: The above rates are for illustration purposes only and may vary based on the date of gift and other monthly adjusted factors. Each annuitant must be at least age 60 at the time the annuity is created. Gift annuities are not offered in all states.
Ursinus Magazine •• Winter Winter 2020
35
WEDDINGS 1
2
1
3
2
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1 Sean Gregory ’17 and Elizabeth Cooley ’16 were married on September 1, 2019. 2 Jennifer Hope ’10 and Donald Gracias were married on November 30, 2018. 3 Kaitlyn Cherry ’13 and Philip Giannini ’11 were married on August 24, 2019. 4 Chanelle Houston ’06 married Brennan Wimbish on November 1, 2019. 5 Caitlin Whelan ’14 and Mike Jansen ’13 were married on June 15, 2019. 6 Abbie Cichowski ’10 and Byung Kim were married on November 9, 2019. 7 Erin Gormley ’11 and Matthew Dugan were married on July 13, 2019. 8 Lindsey Doutt ’11 and Stephen Messinger were married on October 13, 2018. 9 Sarah Muchowski ’15 and William Cornely ’13 were married on August 10, 2019. 10 Lindsay Teuber ’12 and CJ Yespelkis ’11 were married on June 29, 2019. 11 Mary Rhoads ’74 and Tom Sturgeon ’73 were married on May 21, 2019. 12 Crysta Zurad ’15 and David Duryea ’15 were married on October 19, 2019. 13 Louis Mueller ’15 and Madeleine Borowski ’16 were married on August 24, 2019. 14 Katie Gallagher ’09 and Brian Teuber were married on May 11, 2019.
IT’S
easy
URSINUS WEDDING PHOTOS
TO FALL IN
AT Wedding packages are available for 2020! Alumni receive a 25% discount on space rentals!
Ursinus
Contact case@ursinus.edu or 610-409-3002.
Ursinus Magazine publishes wedding photos in the magazine as well as online. Please send your favorite wedding memories. Digital photos can be emailed to ucmag@ursinus.edu. Ursinus College reserves the right to reject publication of photos that are not of publishable quality. We regret that we are not able to return print photographs. Questions can be addressed to the office of alumni relations, 610-409-3585, or by emailing ucmag@ursinus.edu.
BEARS’ DEN
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Ursinus Magazine • Winter 2020
37
LET’S GET SOCIAL! Just got a FaceTime call from Junior FOGO Aiden Baltz from Spain!
@ursinusdining
Great to catch up and hear he is enjoying his experience studying abroad. Love that our student athletes @UrsinusCollege get to take part in incredible life experiences like this during their time at UC. @CoachGaryMerc
@jillfaldoots
The 2019 Ursinus Gingerbread House, from concept to cardboard to gingerbread.
Coach Crystal!
@collegevilleitalianbakery
For all the days I take working here for granted. Incredibly thankful for this crazy place I get to call my office. Congrats to the Chiefs and to everyone who helped make Super Bowl LIV happen. God is SO good to us
The biggest congratulations to @UCTFXC coach Crystal Bacon, who qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials in the marathon last week! Crystal completed the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2:44:05 and will head to Atlanta for the trials on February 29! #upthebears @ucathletics
Thank you so much to the @ursinusmenslacrosse team, Head Coach Gary Mercandante and Assistant Coaches Peter DeSimone and Corey Shaffer for holding a collection for our toy drive! Today, the coaches and captains delivered all of the toys they gathered for local children to open on Christmas morning and we are so grateful. What an amazing group of young men and outstanding coaches! We love our Ursinus family. Thank you all so much for your kindness and generosity! #collegevilleitalianbakery #morethanabakery #ursinusmenslacrosse #gobears
@jdoorly_1298
Follow us!
Christmas party on 1.04 A lot has changed since that first Christmas party in Reimert 104, but I have a feeling @erincavs and Kiernan will probably still find cookies behind a TV in a few months #becauseofUrsinus My Disney story has just begun @shomalley
@UrsinusCollege #Ursinus
Who will “UC�?
Homecoming & Family Weekend September 25-26, 2020 The classes of 2020, 2015, 2010, 2005, 2000, 1995, 1990, 1985, 1980 and 1975 will be celebrating reunions. Baseball, Softball, Rugby, Volleyball, Zeta Chi, Delta Pi Sigma, Sigma Rho Lambda, Sigma Pi, Beta Sigma Lambda, Phi Alpha Psi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Dance and Music will be celebrating organizational reunions. The party starts on Friday night at the Promises Kept Celebration, to commemorate surpassing our $100 million goal for Keep the Promise. Be at the official Ursinus tailgate on Saturday, September 26!
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