Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Amir Mohammadi
Senior Vice President for Administration, Global Engagement and Economic Development; Interim Vice President for Advancement
• Rita Abent
Chief Communication and Public Affairs Officer
• Carrie Birckbichler
Chief Data Officer
• Molly Mercer Chief Financial Officer
• Tina Moser Chief of Staff
• Lynne Motyl
Chief Human Resources Officer
• David Wilmes Chief Student Affairs Officer
• Amanda Yale
Chief Enrollment Management Officer
CREDITS
Executive Editor: Rita Abent, chief communication and public affairs officer, University Communication and Public Affairs.
Editor: Robb King, deputy chief communication and public affairs officer, University Communication and Public Affairs.
Designer: Sandy Busch, graphic communication director, University Communication and Public Affairs; Megan Cassioli, graphic communications assistant director, University Communication and Public Affairs; Kaylee Priddy, student graphic designer.
Contributors: Justin Zackal, communication specialist, University Communication and Public Affairs; Jon Holtz, director, Athletic Communication; Tyler McIntosh, assistant director, Athletic Communication; Karl Schwab. Photographers: Mike Schnelle, digital design director, University Communication and Public Affairs; Alumni Relations; SRU alumni.
The ROCK is an Educational Advertising, Collegiate Advertising and CUPRAP (Cuppie) award winner.
THE ROCK
The ROCK is published three times annually by the Office of University Communication and Public Affairs for friends and alumni of the University. Send address changes to: Slippery Rock University University Communication and Public Affairs 104 Maltby Avenue, Suite 201 Slippery Rock, PA 16057
ABOUT THE COVER:
“Face Diversity, Foster Inclusion,” a recent art project at SRU, featured enlarged portraits of University community members hung on external walls of various campus buildings. The project then moved indoors as part of a November exhibit in the Martha Gault
Gallery. Read the complete
page 44.
SRU earns more than 50 College Factual ‘badges of distinction’
Slippery Rock University earned 51 institutional and program specific badges of distinction from College Factual, a data-driven college choice resource. SRU‘s “best of the best” institutional designations (top 5 percent) included “Best for the Money” nationwide, in the mid-Atlantic region and in Pennsylvania.
College Factual awards badges to those universities that finish in the top 1%, 5%, 10% and 15% of each of the categories being evaluated.
SRU earned 16 badges in the top 5%; 13 in the top 10%; and 22 in the top 15%.
Crossing the Political Divide
Slippery Rock University welcomed political pundits Donna Brazile and Ana Navarro to the Smith Student Center Ballroom, Nov. 19 as part of its 2019-20 Performing Arts & Lecture Series, Despite being from opposing parties, the pair came together and brought their political clout and unparalleled insights from the world of politics to The Rock, delivering an entertaining and practical talk about today‘s hottest political topics.
SRU launches nationally recognized Bonner Leader Program
A new program at SRU is providing access to education and opportunities for civic engagement through a nationally recognized service model that has been adopted by an exclusive network of institutions. SRU is one of only 64 institutions in the country to sponsor a Bonner Leader Program, in which students receive a combination of an institutional scholarship and a paid student leadership position for leading a community-service partnership for the institution.
Bonner Leaders must commit at least 10 hours per week during the academic year to leading a partnership with a community organization while maintaining a minimum 2.5 GPA. The first cohort of Bonner Leaders include five firstyear SRU students. Subsequent cohorts will include 10 students per year. Once the program is operating at full capacity there will be 40 students in the program.
Established in 1990 at Berea College in Kentucky through the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, the Bonner Program was created to provide diverse, low-income, underrepresented and first-generation students with opportunities to attend college while using their talents and education to provide community service and develop leadership skills.
SRU fall enrollment surpasses 8,800 students
Enrollment at Slippery Rock University continued to remain steady this fall with 8,806 students attending the University, according to the official 15-day-of classes report.
For fall 2019, SRU enrolled 7,468 undergraduate and a record 1,338 graduate students compared to 2018‘s enrollment of 7,538 undergraduate and 1,286 graduate students.
Graduate student enrollment is up 52 students, or 4.04%, from one year ago. Overall, SRU saw an enrollment decline of less than one-quarter of 1% (.20) from one year ago.
SRU‘s first-time, full-time freshman enrollment is up 26 students from one year ago (1,579/1,553), as is the overall high school GPA (3.47/3.44) of those incoming students.
Beaming with pride
Slippery Rock University students, staff and faculty gathered the morning of Sept. 20 to celebrate a milestone in the ongoing construction of the University‘s Performing Arts Center, and in particular, the placement of the last steel beam. The placement of the beam signifies that the construction process has reached its highest point. Participants were invited to sign the beam before it was placed in the building. Construction is expected to be completed late in the second quarter of 2020.
SRU honors quartet of distinguished alumni
Four outstanding Slippery Rock University graduates have been honored as 2019 Distinguished Alumni by the SRU Alumni Engagement Office.
The quartet includes: Richard Allen, ’83, the CEO of Warren General Hospital; Janet Hollack, ’67, who spent seven seasons as a member of the U.S. Reserve Field Hockey squad and was the athletic director and field hockey coach at Mount Vernon College for 10 years; Lawrence Kelly, ’75, who has spent nearly four decades as an attorney at Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George, P.C., during which time he was named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer 13 times; and Raymond Newman, ’78, a professor in the University of Minnesota‘s Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, where he researched aquatic ecology, invasive species and fisheries management.
Rivers makes Sports Illustrated‘s “Faces in the Crowd”
Roland Rivers, a Slippery Rock University senior communication studies major from Ellenwood, Georgia, was featured in the Oct. 21 issue of Sports Illustrated. Rivers, the quarterback of the nationally ranked SRU football team, was included in the “Faces in the Crowd” section.
SI recognized Rivers for leading the top-ranked offense in NCAA Division II after he threw for 1,620 yards, rushed for 286 yards and completed a Division II-best 23 touchdown passes through the first five weeks of the season.
Matthew Maritz ’98, Bachelor of Science, Park and Resource Management
HOME: McDonald, Pennsylvania.
PROFESSION:
Police officer for Robinson Township.
HOBBIES:
Skeet shooting, hunting, attending SRU football games and most importantly, spending quality time with my family.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Signing an undrafted free agent deal with the NFL’s Washington Redskins (1997); being inducted into the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame (2019); and being a father to Madison and Matthew.
WHY I GIVE:
I made lasting memories and lifelong friendships during my time at The Rock. I enjoy giving back to a University that took a chance on me and a football program that helped shape me into the man I am today. I hope that, through giving back to the University, I can provide someone else with the same sort of opportunity and experience I was able to have at SRU.
Allen Hollack Kelly Newman
Ray Carothers, ’73, Bachelor of Science, Elementary Education
HOME: Anderson, South Carolina.
PROFESSION:
Self-employed small business coach and consultant after a 40-year career in the financial services industry.
HOBBIES:
Boating, spending time with my wife and our friends and families, following the Steelers and SRU football.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
It took me five years, but I was the first in my extended family to earn a college degree. That degree led to a six-year stay as a middle school teacher in Coral Springs, Florida. But it is what I learned about myself and others while at The Rock that led to my 40-year career in the financial services industry and allowed me to raise and educate my daughters before enjoying retirement with my wife.
WHY I GIVE:
Mostly because I can. I have been funding an annual scholarship for nearly 25 years. My annual gift is the same amount I had to borrow each year to attend SRU since my parents were not in a position to help me with tuition. My hope is that my scholarship keeps current students from borrowing as much. And besides, it just feels good to do it.
Getting a kick out of it
The University Program Board, a studentrun organization that schedules concerts and other entertainment offerings on campus, played host to Alex Morgan, co-captain of the U.S. women‘s national soccer team. Morgan, who also plays for the Orlando Pride in the National Women‘s Soccer League, is the reigning U.S. women‘s soccer player of the year. She was a member of U.S. teams that won gold at the FIFA Women‘s World Cup tournaments in 2015 and 2019 as well as at the 2012 Olympic Games.
International education
Slippery Rock University students from Barbara Westman‘s upperlevel fiber art class collaborated with art students from Chongqing Technology and Business University in China to design a collection of banners that were displayed on campus throughout September. The handmade banners explored the culture, art and nature of China.
SRU places two students in prestigious THIS program
Michael Shimmel, a Slippery Rock University senior political science major from Philipsburg, and Janco Swart, an SRU senior political science major from Oil City, were selected to participate in the prestigious The Harrisburg Internship Semester program during the fall semester. THIS provides students the opportunity to work in all areas of state government while earning a full semester‘s worth of credits. Students also received a $3,500 stipend to assist with living expenses.
Shimmel worked in the office of state Rep. Michael Sturla, D-Lancaster County, as part of the 15-week internship sponsored by Pennsylvania‘s State System of Higher Education. Swart interned at the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a bipartisan agency of the state Legislature.
More than 600 students from State System universities have participated in THIS since the program began in 1989, each gaining valuable insight into the workings of state government at the policy-making level. Interns have worked with dozens of state agencies, as well as in the offices of the governor, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the attorney general.
Shimmel
Swart
From left, Jessica Griggs, SRU women’s soccer coach; Morgan; and Tyler Spence, a senior social work major from Falmouth, Maine, and captain of the SRU women’s soccer team.
Just call her Governor Dunlop
Nicole Dunlop, a Slippery Rock University junior corporate security major from Latrobe and president of the Slippery Rock Student Government Association, was sworn in Oct. 9 as a member of the board of governors of Pennsylvania‘s State System of Higher Education. Dunlop is one of three student leaders selected from Pennsylvania‘s 14 public universities to represent students on the board.
Dunlop was appointed by Gov. Tom Wolf and confirmed by the state Senate. The 20-member board of governors, which meets at least four times per year, has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the development and operation of the State System. The BOG establishes broad fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the member universities operate. Student BOG appointees, who may serve until they graduate, participate in all board discussions and have the same voting rights as all other members.
SRU Hall of Famer Aldrich named to USA Olympic staff
Gary Aldrich, ’82, has been named the men‘s throws coach for the U.S. track and field team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Aldrich, whose daughter Kate Aldrich is a freshman on the SRU cross country team, graduated from SRU with a bachelor‘s degree in health and physical education and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. He was a four-year member of the track and field teams and spent six years as an assistant coach for the program. Aldrich earned a master‘s degree in science of sport and exercise, kinesiology and biomechanics from SRU in 1989. As a student-athlete, Aldrich won a PSAC title in the shot put and set the program record in the discus at 51.99 meters. Aldrich currently serves as the head men’s track and field coach at Carnegie Mellon University.
OCTOBER 9-13, 2019
UNTAMED PRIDE
Slippery Rock University‘s 2019 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend featured a variety of events to fire up the SRU faithful despite the chilly temperatures. In addition to the always popular parade down Main Street, there was the coming together of past and present members of Rock Nation with the Alumni and “Rock The Block” tailgate tents. And
Aldrich
Abracadabra!
SRU alumnus puts on a “Magic”
With seconds left in the game, the home team sinks a 3-pointer that not only sends the crowd into a frenzy but forces the visiting coach to call a timeout to calm his players and strategize. The ebbs and flows – if not flurry of field goals and lead changes – during a basketball game’s final minutes make it nearly impossible for the participants to follow a scripted game plan. Instead, they must improvise and decide on the fly what they are going to do next.
Caleb Pardick knows that drill all too well and is the guy who calls those “shots” at Orlando Magic games. However, he’s not doing it with X’s and O’s on a coach’s clipboard. Rather, as the game producer for the NBA franchise, Pardick is in a control room seven stories above the arena floor making his split-second decisions, like what song will best capture the emotion of the moment or what scoreboard graphic will best hype the crowd.
“We’re putting on a show,” said Pardick, who has worked in the Magic’s Broadcast Production and Creatives Services Department since 2013.
“Whether it’s a season ticket holder who is here 45 times a year or a single-game ticket buyer who is here for the first time and is just looking for a night out, we treat it like we are putting on the best and freshest show possible every game. Whether we’re down by 10 or up by 30 (points) in the fourth quarter, it’s still about entertaining the fans and making sure everyone is having a great night.”
Pardick, a 2008 Slippery Rock University graduate with a degree in journalism, always knew he wanted a job in sports.
However, he never thought as a reporter for The Rocket, the studentrun newspaper at SRU, that he’d be deploying mascots onto NBA courts or prompting 20,000 fans to chant “DE-FENSE!” in unison.
Abracadabra!
show for NBA fans
“You can plan as much as you are able, but it is still a live production and you have to adapt on the fly.”
But like many players, Pardick spent time in the minors before earning his way to the “bigs.” He interned with the New York Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre Yankees, before his senior year at SRU and continued with minor league baseball immediately after graduation as a public relations coordinator with the Aberdeen (Maryland) Ironbirds.
Pardick also served as the creative services manager for the WinstonSalem Dash, a Class-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, before joining the Magic in 2013. The Dash moved into a new ballpark during Pardick’s four years with the team and with the transition he became more attuned to the intricacies of managing the Daktronics-brand scoreboard and video systems. The same systems are used by the Magic in its home arena, the 20,000-seat Amway Arena, but on a much grander scale.
“The jump to the NBA was more a product of the experience I had with the technology and the vendor,” said Pardick, who is on the phone with a Daktronics representative almost daily. “It was sort of a big leap, early on especially, because I went from working with two or three video displays (at Winston-Salem) and I was like ‘Wow, we have a lot of displays’ and there’s
Pardick, ’08, and his staff manage the content that appears on more than 50 LED video boards at Amway
a lot of content and events here (in Orlando).‘ We have a lot of video content and displays that we touch on a daily basis.”
There are 51 LED video displays in and around Amway Arena that Pardick and his staff operate, displaying internal marketing, like promotions for upcoming games; video playback and statistical information; and advertising from corporate partners.
The Magic’s Broadcast Production and Creative Services Department is comprised of more than 15 employees, ranging from videographers and motion graphics designers to in-arena and on-air talent.
Pardick and his staff also happen to be the best at what they do. Last year, the Magic won the award for Best Supporting Displays among all professional and collegiate sports teams at the Information Display & Entertainment Association annual conference.
And while much of the content they need each game can be accounted for – scripted bits and sponsored elements – Pardick’s improvisational skills still come into play at every event. That’s why Pardick and his staff, which includes Tyler Edwards, event presentation manager, have a production meeting three hours before tip-off of each game.
“You can plan as much as you are able,” said Pardick, “but it is still a live production and you have to adapt on the fly. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the game or when there’s going to be an injury. If a player is down and we were going to be doing (a skit) on the court with the mascot, that would be in poor taste with a guy laying on the floor.”
Pardick’s favorite time of the game is when the score is close in the final two minutes and his staff has completed all its contractual obligations for the night.
“You’ve done the ads and now it’s our time,” Pardick said. “That’s when it’s the most fun in those final stretches and there’s several ways the game can go and we don’t know until we see it unfold on the court. At a moment’s notice, you’re going to have to make a decision.”
Pardick communicates constantly with Edwards, who works court-level within the seating bowl, to get a feel for the spectator atmosphere. Together they determine what to do for the next stoppage in play, whether that’s a montage hype video or blasting a Magic fan favorite, “Shout!,” the classic Isley Brothers hit from 1959.
“It’s about having those A, B and C contingencies,” Pardick said. “If we’re on a run, that’s when people know ‘Shout!’ is coming. That’s one that we all just have a feel for.”
Developing a feel to make a “Shout!” decision for 20,000 NBA fans is a far cry from Pardick’s days of typing out-oftown scores on a dot-matrix scoreboard at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre games or writing a men’s soccer game story at SRU. But Pardick said his first leadership experience was with The Rocket as managing editor and his time at SRU helped prepare him to adapt quickly to learning new skills, work settings and advanced technologies.
“Caleb was brilliant and I always felt like I wasn’t teaching him; I was just guiding him,” said Joseph Harry, SRU associate professor of communication, and former faculty adviser for The Rocket. “Journalism prepares you to be a good thinker and organizer of information and that helps with any type of communication job. (At SRU), we integrate writing with state-of-the-art ways to communicate digitally for a solid degree, even for people who are not going into journalism.”
And where Pardick went, seven stories above the court helping to control the magic happening in the arena below, has to be one of the greatest places in sports, Pardick said. “You could say everything I did leading up to this was part of a journey.”
Caleb
Arena,
Pardick
SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY 20 20
in 1938, the President’s Residence is a three-story, colonial brick home tastefully landscaped and situated on approximately three quarters of an acre. The first floor of the residence is open to the public and serves as the “Welcome Center” for a variety of social events and gatherings hosted by the president and first lady throughout the
As another winter “Februburies” The ROCK in snow, we are reminded of the words of Patience Strong, “In February there is everything to hope for and nothing to regret.”
Spring blossoms accentuate the beauty of SRU‘s oldest structure, Old Main. The facility, built in 1893, is constructed of Ohio Sandstone and red brick. When it opened, administrative offices and classrooms were on the first floor; a library was on the second floor and a gym was on the third floor. Today, Old Main houses administrative offices and services.
The Maltby Center, built in 1939, has a colonial doorway exactly in the center and a lead cupola tops the peak of a slate roof. Once the Library, today the Center houses a variety of University operations including the Office of Financial Aid, Information and Administrative Technology Services, the Martha Gault Art Gallery and the studios of WSRU-TV, the student-run television station.
Vincent Science Center, built in 1968 and renovated in 2011, houses state-of-the-art classroom and laboratory space for science and health education, offices and a student-run planetarium. The facility was named in honor of Arthur Vincent, former science professor and chairperson of the Science Department from 1923 to 1940.
rock CLASS NOTES
EDITORIAL INFORMATION
To submit “Class Notes,” email us at alumni@sru.edu or go to www.rockalumni.com. We do not publish engagements or pregnancies, but we do publish marriages and births.
Please note that due to space restrictions, submissions may be edited. However, remember that we are proud of all our alumni and all they do. GO ROCK!
1940s
Ed Cottrell, ’43, attended homecoming and was recognized for being part of the 80th anniversary of the 1939 championship football team. ● 1
1960s
Sandra (Neely) Knechtel, ’67, was awarded the Lou Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 30 years of onstage and backstage work at the Pensacola Little Theater, the longest continuously running theater in the Southeast. Knechtel got her start at SRU dancing with Orchsis. In 2019, Knechtel played Sister Mary Theresa in PLT‘s production of “Sister Act.”
1980s
SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
2019-2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
President, L. Michael Ross, ’77
President Elect, Melissa Visco, ’04
Immediate Past President, Don Huddart, ’87
Treasurer, Keith Warcup, ’75
Secretary, Suzanne Fodor, ’79, ’85
Executive Committee Honorary, Richard Manning, ’75
BOARD MEMBERS:
Andrea Boggs, ’14
Joe Dropp, ’03
Ashley Ganoe, ’05, ‘09
Patrick Geho, ’92
Susan Whelpley Greaves, ’80, ’85
Michael Harich, ’94
Katie Hill, ‘15
Donna Kratz, ’84
Bruce Newton, ’78
Corey Riddell, ‘88
Ron Shidemantle, ‘92
Alexandra Vaughan, ’15
Tami Wasserman Wincko, ’88
Dominic Williams, ’88
Ann Tager Winter, ’15, ’17
Richard Wood, ’75
Michael Zody, ‘88
Sam Zyroll, ’78
Theodorea Regina Berry, ’85, was named vice provost for teaching and learning and dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Central Florida. Berry will lead UCF’s new Division of Student Learning and Academic Success. UC, with a total enrollment of more than 68,000 students, is the largest public university in the U.S. David Boucher, ’80, was hired as chief business transformation officer at Brumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Boucher will lead transformational initiatives for BIH and direct the hospital’s international insurance billing functions, appointment booking, marketing and public relations. BIH is one of the largest private hospitals in Southeast Asia with 580 beds and more than 30 specialty centers.
Jeff Podobnik, ’89, was promoted by the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team to vice president of Florida and Dominican Republic operations. Podobnik will guide and support Pirates employees at three complexes: Pirates City and LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida, and the organization’s Dominican Academy in the Dominican Republic.
1990s
Richard Mishock, ’95, was promoted to principal at HBK CPAs & Consultants, a financial services firm with 16 offices in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Florida. Mishock, who will serve as a
principal in HBK’s Stuart, Florida, office, provides accounting, tax and consulting services to individuals, as well as a wide range of industries including construction, real estate, manufacturing, wholesale distribution, professional firms and nonprofit organizations.
Krista Wolfe, ’99, was appointed to the Pennsylvania State Board of Physical Therapy for 2020 by Gov. Tom Wolf. Wolfe is the dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Central Penn College. Wolfe joins seven other board members who include licensed physical therapists, athletic trainers, two members of the public and the commissioner of professional and occupational affairs. The State Board of Physical Therapy regulates the practice of physical therapy in Pennsylvania by passing qualified applicants for licensure as physical therapists and registration as physical therapist assistants. Among its other functions, the board issues, renews, suspends and revokes licenses and registrations.
2000s
Tony Mehalic, ’04, was inducted into the Ocean City Beach Patrol Hall of Fame in New Jersey and received the 23rd Robert Stowe Award for his outstanding service and contributions to the profession of ocean lifesaving. Mehalic has worked for Ocean City Beach Patrol for the past 13 years as a lifeguard, junior lifeguard camp program coordinator, coach, yearbook editor and senior guard. Mehalic is a physical education teacher at Latrobe Elementary School, where he currently coaches cross country and track and field. He previously coached swimming at the school for a number of years. Mehalic was a four-year letter winning member of SRU’s track and field team (2000-04). He resides in Latrobe with his wife, Abigail, and daughter, Sadie. 1 ● 2 Eric Powers, ’09, has begun a new career with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Butler County Assistance Office. Powers, who had a lower leg amputated in 2006, struggled with and overcame substance abuse before earning his degree. He is excited to be helping people going through hard times access needed social services. ● 3
In Memory
Michael Butchki, '71
Donna (Destefano) Campbell, '79
Philip Codispot, '70
Anna (Conley) Dejidas, '74
Rosemarie (McCusker) DeVal, '49
John Disch, '50
William Fisher, '74
Richard Fleeger, '74
Janet (Lutz) Fullerton, '66
Monica (Knoll) Glynn, '52
Shirley Guido, '72
Jennifer (Barr) Hatajik, '97
Margaret "Peggy" (Patton) Hobbs, '52
Michael Lauff, '07
Rachel (Stout) Mauger, '06
Marian McGaffick, '95
Charles Montgomery, '76
John Mooney, '66
Loretta (Giuntoli) Mrochek, '79
Danielle (Worthington) Schaar, '06
Robert Soule, '97
Robin (McKay) Stewart, '76
Roberta (Thomas) Szpara, '99
Ruth Wagner, '48
Amy (Wimer) Walowen, '93
Joseph Drobney, retired staff
Walter Stephenson, retired staff
2010s
Calahan Young, ’17, qualified for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, as a member of the U.S. men’s national goalball team. Goalball is a sport played by teams of three visually impaired athletes who throw a ball that makes a noise at an opposing team’s goal. Young, who has competed on national teams since 2017, will be making his first appearance at the Paralympics.
Weddings
Lisa Bumbarger, ’14, and Alexander Merida, ’14, were married Oct. 12, 2019 in Warrenton, Virginia. ● 4
Madeline Williams, ’13, ’17, and Kolten Hoffman were married July 6, 2019, in Erie. The couple resides in Hermitage. ● 5
‘Of the Students, By the Students, For the Students’
SERVICE TO STUDENTS. THAT, IN A NUTSHELL, IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE SLIPPERY ROCK STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION.
The association, established in 1938, has a storied history of the ways in which it helps the students it is elected to serve. Besides serving as the voice of the students to University administration, it owns and operates the SGA Bookstore and the SRU/SGA Preschool and Child Care Center, a nationally accredited, state licensed, nonprofit center. The independent 501(c)(3) corporation funds the Happy Bus, which provides on- and off-campus rides – including shopping runs to Butler’s Clearview Mall, Target and Walmart. It also provides free legal counseling and a free weekend movie series featuring recently released films. Last year alone, SGA allocated $2.5 million to fund 134 student clubs and organizations.
And now, the SGA is taking what it believes is the next logical step in its continuing mission of service to students: helping to ensure student success by establishing a $250,000 endowed scholarship.
“The SGA’s board of directors started talking about endowing a scholarship a little more than a year ago,” said Wendy Leitera, SRSGA business manager. “The board took a look at the organization’s reserves and asked themselves how (those funds could) best serve our students.
“The bookstore is one of the areas where we have a little more freedom and flexibility with our reserve funding, and as the mission of the store, like SGA, is to serve the students, we decided what better way can that be accomplished than helping to lessen a student’s financial burden by funding a scholarship?”
The $2,500 annual scholarship is open to all full-time students who meet the following criteria:
• Must have completed two semesters at SRU at the time of application.
• Demonstrate continued engagement outside of the classroom through work study, volunteer work, research, campus activity, athletics, intramurals, etc.
Recipients will be selected through an application process that takes GPA and financial need into consideration. Recipients who maintain full-time enrollment and a minimum 2.5 GPA will be able to renew the scholarship for up to four years.
“The SGA students who sit on the board were very much in favor of not only establishing the scholarship but also wanting to be involved in developing the criteria,” said Leitera. “They wanted to work hand in hand with the SRU Foundation, Inc. to structure it and meet the needs where they felt there was the most demand.”
That demand aligns itself nicely with an area of focus for the University: retention.
Enrollment at SRU remains firm. Still, the 2019 fall semester enrollment of 8,806 students showed a decline of less than one-quarter of 1% compared to the prior year.
“I‘ve said it before and I‘ll say it again, no one likes to see the arrow point downward, even if it is only a fraction of one percent,” said SRU President William Behre “But it is encouraging – especially when you consider the ongoing decline in the number of high school graduates – that we were able to hold our position when many of our sister institutions experienced double-digit losses.
“That being said, we are looking closely at how we get that arrow to go back up overall,” Behre said. “We plan to be more aggressive in a number of areas, but particularly in the area of retention. While our retention rates are already higher than most institutions in our category, we can and will do better. Anyone in business will tell you
Leitera Keffer
that it’s easier to keep the customers you already have then going out to get new ones.”
And the SGA agrees.
“Retention is a key factor anytime but it’s especially important with the decline in high school grads,” Leitera said. “The SGA recognizes that and wanted to step up and do what it could to keep a student at the University who may have otherwise not be able to persist through graduation. That is the main focus. This scholarship isn’t about leadership or extracurriculars as much as it is how successful a student has been and how the SGA can further that success by providing financial support that could make the difference in a student’s pursuit of a degree.”
“Establishing this scholarship was about asking ourselves ‘What’s the most impactful thing we can do that students really want and would benefit from the most?” said Riley Keffer, an SRU graduate student from Grove City and 2017 SGA vice president of financial affairs, who, along with Logan Tupper, his 2018 counterpart and a 2019 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in health care administration, spearheaded the creation of the scholarship.
“Traditionally, the SGA has provided money for things that touch a greater number of students – funding the Happy Bus or assisting in renovation or building a structure like the Smith Student Center – but we wanted to look at doing something immediate and what could be more immediate than helping to pay someone’s tuition? It’s about changing someone’s life rather than changing the look of something on campus and that is something this scholarship will keep doing year after year after year. That’s something special that everyone associated with the SGA can be proud of for a long time.”
While Keffer and Tupper developed the idea and brought it to the SGA board, Kaitlyn Hazelett, a senior dual accounting and finance major from Sarver and current vice president of finance,
worked with the SRU Foundation to finalize the scholarship criteria.
“It really was a group effort over the course of the last year or so,” said Leitera. “Riley got the discussion rolling during his time as vice president and passed the torch to Logan. The two of them then continued working on the details as each of them transitioned into their current roles as senators, then bringing Kaitlyn up to speed before they all brought it home to the SGA for approval. It was important to each of them that this continued to move forward and that together they saw it through for the benefit of many.”
To learn more about or donate to the SGA Scholarship, contact the Slippery Rock University Foundation, Inc. at 724.738.2047.
You can (ac)count on him
Local accountant – and SRU rival –establishes pair of scholarships
For a few Slippery Rock University accounting majors, having a Clarion University graduate in their corner, not to mention their field of study, could end up being a big “bonus” – Kenny Bonus, that is.
Bonus, who graduated in 2010 from CU with a degree in accounting, is the owner of Bonus Accounting in Butler. The firm provides bookkeeping, payroll and tax preparation and planning services. Bonus recently established a pair of scholarships at SRU. The first is a $500 award that will be distributed fall 2020. The scholarship will be awarded to a junior or senior accounting major, and first preference will be given to students in the Accounting Club at SRU with second preference given to students who are double majoring in finance.
The second, earnings from a $25,000 endowed scholarship, will be presented in the spring 2020 semester. The value of the award will fluctuate between 2% and 4% of the endowment. Additional criteria are identical to the first scholarship.
So just why did a Clarion grad end up establishing not just one, but two scholarships, at a rival institution?
“It’s really all about community,” said Bonus. “I have three employees – my brother, Aaron Bonus; Josh Boozel; and Melissa Hemphill – who graduated from SRU, and as a Butler County business, I like to keep my support local even though Clarion is my alma mater. At the end of the day, both schools are part of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, so it’s all relative.”
Aaron Bonus, graduated from SRU in 2012, while Boozel and Hemphill both graduated in 2018. All three earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting.
“My business is in Butler County, SRU is in Butler County … my intent is more about supporting local people and jobs than it is about school rivalries,” said Bonus. “Part of my business’s mission is to create as many high quality, good paying jobs as
Kenny Bonus, owner of Bonus Accounting in Butler, established a pair of scholarhips at SRU to benefit accounting majors.
possible in Butler County. So, by employing SRU grads, most of whom are from Butler County, I’m hoping that I can inspire others to give as well and for the recipients of the scholarships to build their career and stay in Butler County after graduation.”
Bonus built his business after a five-anda-half-year stint at international accounting powerhouse KPMG.
“Bonus Accounting was started with a vision to provide affordable quality accounting services,” he said. “With many older accountants reaching the age of retirement, it is becoming more difficult to find a trusted CPA. Our firm has sought to fill this void and provide valuable accounting services to local businesses and individuals while creating jobs in the local area.
“We’re continually growing and expanding. We recently acquired Tom Green CPA‘s firm in Chicora. Being known for quality and our dedication to our clients, Tom entrusted us to continue the good work he had provided to his clients for more than 38 years. We also have welcomed tax clients from Clair Bupp who retired in 2018. Our reputation for quality speaks for itself and has afforded us the privilege to serve the clients of retiring accounting and tax professionals.”
It‘s that same type of dedication – to education and accounting – that Bonus hopes to reward through his scholarships.
“I think that being able to create scholarships that can benefit individuals
who are working hard, who are passionate about their studies and have their nose to the grindstone is the biggest benefit for me,” Bonus said.
“I hope that the recipients are able to feel a sense of accomplishment by earning either of the scholarships and that it validates the decisions they’ve made and motivates them to forge ahead. Having been the recipient of a scholarship myself, I know that it encouraged me to continue to work as hard and smart as I could. It allowed me to take a small step back and see that it served as a testament to my pursuits.”
And for Bonus, those collegiate pursuits included not going easy on himself in selecting a major and future career path.
“Some people might consider ‘number crunching’ day after day to be not much of a draw, but for me it’s exciting to meet with clients and help them to improve their financial situations by either helping to save them financially or to make them, potentially, tens of thousands of dollars. For me, that’s powerful.”
“Part of my business’s mission is to create as many high quality, good paying jobs as possible in Butler County. So, by employing SRU grads, most of whom are from Butler County, I’m hoping that I can inspire others to give as well and for the recipients of the scholarships to build their career and stay in Butler County after gra –Kenny Bonus
“I joke that I pursued accounting because my mom told me to,” Bonus said with a laugh. “Originally I was a business management major but then added accounting as a second major because I realized that (accounting) was more technical, more precise … it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t for everybody and it seemingly weeded out the people who would really succeed in business from the rest. I found it to be more challenging and I really liked that.
In addition to his newfound role as a benefactor, Bonus’ civic-minded nature extends to his service on a variety of area nonprofit agencies, including sitting on the boards of the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Butler Arts Center, the Butler County Historical Society and the Butler County Chamber of Commerce. He is currently president of the Butler AM Rotary Club as well as a city council member in Butler.
“I’m always looking for opportunities to help my community and its citizens better themselves,” said Bonus. “Establishing the scholarships, like my time with any of the local entities I donate time to, is about just that. If I can make a difference, whether for one or for one hundred, I’m in.”
For additional information about the Bonus Accounting Scholarships or to contribute, contact the Slippery Rock University Foundation, Inc., at 724.738.2047.
FACE ABOUT
If you close your eyes and imagine Slippery Rock University’s campus, do you see people or buildings? If you said “buildings” you’re not alone. And chances are Theresa Antonellis would agree with you. After all, there is the historic dignity of Old Main and North Hall and the unique design of Vincent Science Center to mention just a few. But for all the memories they helped to make, Antonellis believes that the large, physical structures obscure, at least visibly, what truly makes them special: the people who learn and work in them.
“I see these big brick walls that are empty and I visualized how they would look to have our own smiling, friendly faces adorning them,” said Antonellis, an SRU instructor of art. “I want people to feel happiness, joy and a sense of connection with their community (when they walk around campus).”
In 2018, Antonellis had an idea to bring public art to SRU. Influenced by two participatory art projects, Inside Out and Face 2 Face, she set about to make her vision a reality.
Inside Out, an international participatory art project, was created by a French photographer and street artist known simply as “JR” in 2011. Inside Out features large-format portraits of residents pasted to structures in their communities to make a statement about personal identity. The project has featured more than 260,000 people as part of 1,300 groups in 129 countries, following criteria that is consistent with the project’s mission to effect social change.
Antonellis was also moved by an earlier — and illegal — iteration of the project called Face 2 Face that consisted of monumental portraits of smiling Palestinians and Israelis posted to the opposite side of the walls bordering their respective neighborhoods.
“There’s not a lot of two-way conversations between these groups. This project started just that, between people who wouldn’t normally have friendly talks,” Antonellis said. “That’s what prompted me
thinking about how we could do that here.” Via his website, JR said of the people in Face 2 Face, that they “look the same; they speak almost the same language, like twin brothers raised in different families. A religious, covered woman has her twin sister on the other side. A farmer, a taxi driver, a teacher, has his twin brother in front of him. And he is endlessly fighting with him. It‘s obvious, but they don‘t see that. We must put them face to face (so) they will realize it. We wanted, at last, for everyone to laugh and to think by seeing the portrait of the other and their own portrait.”
Thankfully, bringing Inside Out to SRU wasn‘t as challenging as it was in the Middle East – and it even included serendipity. In December 2018, Antonellis rallied support for an SRU-based Inside Out project from Cindy LaCom, professor of interdisciplinary programs and director of the gender studies program, and Ursula Payne, professor of dance and director of SRU’s Frederick Douglass Institute, a collaborative to create inclusive university communities.
“The purpose of this project was to bring awareness to diversity and inclusion using public art as the medium,” Payne said. “Portraiture is a great way to tell the story of our diverse community.”
The trio came up with a local name for the project, “Face Diversity, Foster Inclusion,” and sought buy-in from the University to display large portraits on the sides of campus buildings.
Left and top, images of people from the SRU community were featured both in a “Face Diversity, Foster Inclusion” exhibit at the Martha Gault Art Gallery and on the sides of campus buildings.
Unbeknownst to the group, organizers of SRU’s Kaleidoscope Arts Festival decided to screen JR’s film, “Faces Places,” in April and students from a photography class, taught by Jamie Hunt, a part-time art instructor, were capturing photos in the Inside Out fashion for a class project.
“That created this wonderful affirmation of, ‘Oh, we’re in the right place at the right time,’” Antonellis said.
Hunt’s class set up photo booths around campus during the Kaleidoscope Arts Festival and asked passersby to participate, while SRU’s Inside Out team of Antonellis, LaCom and Payne invited as many as 20 campus organizations, representing a full scope of diversity, to participate.
“We were strategic in our outreach,” LaCom said. “All three of us are equally committed to diversity and inclusion and that became the thematic and organizational schema for our conversation and vision. It was an incredibly collaborative campuswide project in terms of all the moving pieces.”
More than 170 students, faculty, staff and community members had their portraits taken by student photographers who followed the international guidelines for Inside Out that include no pets, masks, sunglasses, backs of heads, groups of people or inanimate objects in a portrait. The recommendation from Inside Out’s website are for portraits to be expressive, emotional and captivating. “They are more than pictures of smiling faces,” the guidelines stated, “they seem to reflect the personality and story behind the face.”
“That consistency creates a strong, aesthetic statement,” Antonellis said. “What stands out is the diversity.”
“One of the things that was intentional about this project was the way it deconstructed classical art,” LaCom said. “Portraits have a hegemonic history and have largely belonged in the domain of the most privileged. Historically, portraiture is of white, wealthy men and their portraits
are hung in an estate, mansion or museum. We are reframing that by posting portraits on the outside and having the entire community portrayed.”
While some of the diversity is explicit, such as skin color, there’s also implicit expressions of diversity that arise from people’s assumptions or curiosity.
For example, Kai Bright, an early childhood education major from Bessemer, had his photo taken because he wanted to represent the transgender and gay communities with which he identifies.
“There are trans people on campus but no one is really visible,” Bright said. “It’s great to see the wide range of people who had their photos taken and it reminds us that diversity isn’t just skin color. There’s so much going on behind each of these faces that we don’t think about every day.”
wouldn’t know the struggles I’ve gone through unless you stop and ask. And that’s when the conversations come up.”
Jones served 10 years in the U.S. Army before retiring as a sergeant. While deployed on a combat mission in Afghanistan in 2010, he was injured while retrieving ammunition dropped from a helicopter under the cover of darkness when an unexpected second helicopter supplying the drop site nearly landed on him. After Jones was granted medical retirement in 2014, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He’s now pursuing his third college degree through the GI Bill and has taken an interest in photography.
“It’s great to see the wide range of people who had their photos taken and it reminds us that diversity isn’t just skin color. There’s so much going on behind each of these faces that we don’t think about every day.”
– Ken Bright
Maggie Calvert, a dual political science and philosophy major from Butler, had a visual reminder of diversity. At the time of her photo, she was wearing a seizure monitor with adhesive sensors attached to her face as she was going through treatment for an undiagnosed chronic illness.
“I was proud to step out of my comfort zone and display that part of me,” Calvert said. “It made me feel vulnerable, but I also felt empowered that I was able to display who I am and take power back from my disability.”
One of the student photographers, Greg Jones, a graduate student majoring in art from Jamestown, had his photo taken for the project in addition to capturing other people’s portraits. Jones, 36, might outwardly appear as just a nontraditional college student, but he too has a story to tell, and not just with his camera lens.
“The cool thing about photography is telling a story visually, but sometimes the story needs words to be fully understood,” Jones said. “Looking at my photo, you
Top, more than 170 of the 3-foot-by-5-foot portraits were pasted to campus buildings like Bailey Library; left, smaller versions were featured in the Martha Gault Art Gallery exhibit.
“In the process of doing the photo shoots and putting it together, I’ve met hundreds of students who I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten to meet,” Jones said. “This project brought me together with the University and it shows that everyone is different; we tend to forget that.”
Once the photographs were captured and printed, the organizers recruited the help of Leslie Stem, an artist from Pittsburgh, who worked with more than a dozen SRU volunteers to hang nearly 150 portraits on five campus buildings: Spotts World Culture Building, Eisenberg Classroom Building, Bailey Library, Vincent Science Center and the Smith Student Center. Each of the 3-by-5-foot portraits were clustered in groups and affixed to exterior brick walls using an organic wheat paste that would not damage the façade.
The installation took four days in early October and during the following months the portraits would eventually fall as the wheat paste decayed from the outdoor elements. Portraits hung on buildings and others taken during the project were also featured in a weeklong exhibit at the Martha Gault Art Gallery, Oct. 28–Nov. 7.
“This project deconstructs the notion of art,” LaCom said. “It’s ephemeral – it’s meant to degrade. The very idea of community is not that it can be consistent but that it can change. The faces we see right now would not be the same faces we see in 10 years and it will not be the same community we see in terms of diversity and inclusion as it was today.”
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Experience the Difference
I am the
Herb Hunt, ’67, bachelor’s in education;
’72, master’s in elementary education
DAY JOB: Retired but trying to stay involved in education. To accomplish this goal, I founded HH Education Events. The purpose is to offer unique workshops on current issues at no cost for educators. Some of the topics that have been discussed include the impact of mental health issues in school; how prepared are students for the world after high school; the impact of legal issues in school; the annual school safety summit; and the impact of social media on students.
BACKGROUND: I grew up on our family farm in Lawrence County, and after earning a pair of degrees from SRU, I graduated from The University of Akron with a doctoral degree in educational leadership in 1979. I have been a teacher, school administrator, college professor and assistant to the dean in SRU’s College of Education.
INFLUENCE OF SRU: I am who I am today because of the professors I had during my years at The Rock. They made an impact on my life by sharing their knowledge and skills but most importantly their life experiences. By happenstance, my experience working in SRU’s College of Education had an extremely profound influence upon me as I worked with administrators and faculty who were not only dedicated but demonstrated on a daily basis what it meant to be an outstanding teacher, educator and person. That is why I am proud to do what I can financially to help support SRU. Life is not always about getting, it is also about giving back.
