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2013 HOMECOMING LIVE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST SCHAEFFER DEDICATION COCA-COLA COLLECTORS

K U T Z T O W N U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E

GUITAR HERO

page 9

The story of KU’s RICK VITO.

Winter 2013

Kutztown field hockey showed promise in its first year under head coach Marci Scheuing this fall, but the team still felt the presence of its legendary predecessor, Betty Wesner. When Scheuing took the reins, she maintained contact with the KU coach of 33 years. After all, she might not be here in Kutztown without the contributions of Wesner.

“That’s what drew me here,” Scheuing said. “I knew what an amazing job she did after playing against her team for four years (at Mansfield). You want to follow somebody like Betty with a program that’s been taken care of for so many years by a great coach.”

In her 33 seasons, Wesner finished with a 344-257-15 record. This allowed her to retire as fourth all-time in NCAA Division II wins, while her .571 winning percentage ranked seventh in Division II at the time of retirement.

However, along the way, Wesner did much more than just lead the field hockey program. Serving in the uni-versity’s athletic department as a compliance officer

for 15 years, Wesner helped, in part, to bring women’s ath-letics to its current standard of success. In addition, while serving on field hockey committees in the Pa. State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA), Wesner played a pivotal role in the development of Division II field hockey as a whole.

Still, most importantly, her impact was felt by all of her players. As a coach, her interactions with student- athletes helped to build young women and create lasting relationships.

“I think the thing I miss most after retirement is the interaction with the student-athletes,” Wesner said.

Fittingly, the program paid honor to Wesner and her family by hosting the Joshua W. Wesner Tournament in September

and held a ceremony for their longtime head coach.“I feel blessed that the team feels the way they do about me, my son, my family and the coaching staff,”

Wesner said.

T H E E N D O F A N E R A

CONTENTS

PRESIDENT OF KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY:F. Javier Cevallos

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS, MARKETING & EXTERNAL AFFAIRS:John Green

DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT:Alex Ogeka

DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS: Matt Santos M ’03

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS/ TOWER EDITOR: David Johnson

KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

Tower magazine, issued December 2013, is published by Kutztown University, a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The Tower is published two times a year and is free to KU alumni and friends of the university.

Address correspondence to: Kutztown University, Office of University Relations, P.O. Box 730, Kutztown, PA 19530 or email [email protected]. Telephone: 610-683-4114

Submissions for Classnotes may be sent to: [email protected].

DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY MARKETING: Jennifer Umberger

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY MARKETING/ DESIGN & PRINT MEDIA:Camille DeMarco ’81, M ’01

DESIGN: Gipson Studio, LLC — Linda Gipson

CONTRIBUTORS: Adam Dobrowolski M ’14, Athletics Broadcasting Graduate AssistantBryan Salvadore ’10, M ’12, Sports Information DirectorEsther Shanahan M ’16, University Relations Editorial Graduate Assistant

Photographers – Susan Angstadt; Doug Benedict; Jason Cline ’14; Adam Fegely ’16; Dan Z. Johnson; John Secoges; Jeff Unger; and Hub Willson ’71

9

12

FEATURES

LIKE A ROCKFrom humble beginnings in Kutztown to sharing the stage with legends, Rick Vito follows his dream.

IN THE LINE OF FIREMiriam Amie ’76 has spent three decades in the middle east.

DEPARTMENTS

NEWS AND NOTES

BACK TO CLASS WITH ...Bill Bateman & Randy Schaeffer ’72

KU FOUNDATION UPDATE

CLASSNOTES

20 Dr. Ronald Horvath: A Leader in Education

22 An Artist’s Legacy

24 Preserving Pennsylvania’s German Heritage

4

14

16

19

Winter 2013

ON THE COVER

Rick Vito warms up in Schaeffer Auditorium

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY

HUB WILLSON ’71, CLASSMATE OF

RICK VITO WHO ALSO PERFORMED

WITH HIM IN THE 70s.

PH

OTO

BY

HU

B W

ILLS

ON

’71

14

2412

Opposite page: Betty Wesner is saluted by

the 2013 KU field hockey team before its

“Pink Out” for breast cancer awareness

game Homecoming weekend.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

NEWSNOTES

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4 TOWER | Winter 2013

university’s 9/11 memorial and a celebra-tion of the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s epic “I have a dream” speech.

Golden Bear Plaza was dedicated Oct. 5 as part of Family Day. It sits on the former site of the vehicle fleet garages and the coal-fired power plant, which was erected early in the 20th century. At that time the area was the southernmost part of campus. As the college expanded over the next 80 years, the plant became closer to the center of South Campus.

The reality of transforming this area into an open plaza began to take shape in 2006, with the

New Open Spaces Beautify Campuscreation of a new heating plant on the outskirts of campus. The old plant and garages were demolished and construc-tion on the new plaza

took place over the past year.Some of the highlights include

lighted outdoor basketball courts and a refurbished barbeque pit, which was originally located behind Risley Hall. The barbecue pit (pictured above) was a gift to the university from the Class of ’44 and was used for tailgates for football games into the early ’90s. The bronze golden bear statue, formerly located in South Dining Hall, stands proudly at the plaza’s center.

College Hill Memorial Grove, formerly known as Bell Plaza, was dedicated May 9 in memory of those students, faculty and staff who have died. The concept of the grove came from students who wanted a place to hold memorial ceremonies and to honor classmates and friends.

The area, which is located between Stratton Administration Center and Old Main, is shaded by large oak trees and appears much like it did 100 years ago. The bell in the center of the grove was dedi-cated by the class of 1910. It rang in the Old Main clock tower for many years before it was replaced with an electronic system.

The name “College Hill” was first used in the late 1920s as a postal address and as a common term to identify the campus. Prior to 1928, when KU was known as Keystone State Normal School, the area was known as “Normal Hill.”

College Hill Memorial Grove has already been the scene of the

Right: Guido Pichini ’74, chair of the PASSHE

Board of Governors and KU trustee, joins Briana

Berry ’15, Residence Hall Association president;

Avalanche; Dr. F. Javier Cevallos, president,

Kutztown University; and Nick Imbesi ’14,

Student Government Board president, at the

dedication of Golden Bear Plaza.

Winter 2013 | TOWER 5

Golden Bear Softball Plays for National Title

Riding an unprecedented 14-game winning streak, the Golden Bears softball team made a postseason run all the way to the

Division II National Championship Game last spring. Led by seven All-PSAC East players, including divisional athlete of the

year Brianna Knipe ’14, the Golden Bears began their streak with a pair of wins to close out the regular season. The run included

the school’s first ever PSAC championship under head coach Judy Lawes and ended with an extra-inning loss in the national

championship. KU now owns back-to-back appearances in the Division II National Softball Championships.

Internationally renowned poet Sharon Olds vis-ited Kutztown University and read from her work on Oct. 24. Olds also held a master class with students to discuss the current state of liter-ature in America.

Olds is the author of eight volumes of poetry, most recently “Stag’s Leap,” for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and became the first American to win Britain’s T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. Often credited as one of contemporary poetry’s leading voices, Olds was the New York State poet laureate from 1998 to 2000 and teaches creative writing at New York University, where she holds the Erich Maria Remarque professorship.

Steinway artist Sandra Rivers held a three-day residency at Kutztown University in early November. Her visit included a lecture on racism and sexism in classical music, a piano master class, and a special con-cert with the Kutztown University Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Timothy Schwarz.

One of the first African-American students at the Juilliard School of Music, Rivers taught in the New York City public school system for three years. During this time she was held at gunpoint twice and was put under “protection” by a gang who escorted her from the subway to the school. While teaching, she won Best Collaborative Artist at the Tchaikovsky Competition, making her one of the most sought after pianists of her generation.

Renowned Pianist Sandra Rivers Holds Residency at KU

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Sharon Olds Visits KU

NEWSNOTES

AN

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Cutting the ribbon are, L to R: James

C. Zellner ’86, president of the KU

Foundation Board of Directors; John

(Jack) Wabby ’69, KU trustee; L.

Charles Marcon; State Senator Judy

Schwank; Martha Hafer ’02, honorary

co-chair, Setting the Stage, the

Campaign for Kutztown University;

Dr. William J. Mowder, dean of the

College of Visual and Performing Arts;

and William F. Ribble ’73, co-chair,

Setting the Stage, the Campaign for

Kutztown University, and member of

the KU Foundation Board of Directors.

A Renaissance at the Heart of KU


n September 10, Kutztown University celebrated the grand reopening of the newly renovated Schaeffer Auditorium with a ribbon-cutting

ceremony. Approximately 400 faculty, employees, students, retirees, donors and community members attended the event (4). The renovation, which cost $20 million and took approximately 18 months to complete, preserved the stately beauty and historic integrity of the original building. New features include a 23,000 square-foot expansion, enhanced seating, stage lighting, music classrooms, dressing rooms, reception space and a small theater (3). The main auditorium (5) has 826 seats, a high-tech enclosed sound and lighting room and a new entryway.

The L-shaped expansion features two large rehearsal halls (2), a 90-seat ‘smart’ classroom and an elevator connecting all levels.

Guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony also attended a dedication for the Sadie Snyder Hippenstiel & Elizabeth Hippenstiel Marcon Platz (1). The platz, which is an outdoor plaza that features a fountain, is located between Schaeffer and the Sharadin Arts Building. Attendees threw a penny into the fountain at its dedication. All change collected from the fountain will be used to fund student scholarships.

After the ceremonies and tour of the newly renovated building, KU Presents! launched its 25th season with a performance by world-renowned dance company, Momix (6).

O

Dedicating the new

Sadie Snyder Hippenstiel

& Elizabeth Hippenstiel

Marcon Platz are, L to

R: Ruth Marcon; L.

Charles Marcon; Tracey

Thompson, executive

director, KU Foundation

& Alumni Engagement;

and Dr. F. Javier

Cevallos, president,

Kutztown University.

5 4 6

6

3

2

1

PHOTOS BY JOHN SECOGES

NEWSNOTES

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From 1973 to 1987, Coach Baldwin taught hundreds of Kutztown student-athletes about football, leadership and about life. In the 57 seasons of KU football prior to Coach Baldwin’s arrival, the team record for wins in a season was six. Under George Baldwin, the 1977 squad went 7-2. Seven wins is still the third-winningest season in team history, and remained tied for the school record until 2010.

From 1895 until 2010, only one KU football coach ever won a title – that was Baldwin and his 1980 squad, which won the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and played in the state championship game.

A former U.S. Marine who served during World War II, Baldwin was a man of multifaceted talent – in addition to his coaching responsibilities, he taught classes, served as the director of recreation and intramurals and wrote a book, “Call Me Coach,” which was published in 1996. Above all, he was a family man, and stressed the impor-tance of family and the necessity of balancing time between the demands of coaching and being with his wife, Marillyn, and children.

Baldwin was inducted into the Kutztown Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.

The Kutztown University Department of Music dedicated the Richard G. Wells Rehearsal Hall on Sept. 28 before the 40th anniversary of the Graduate Organiza-tion of Bands (GOB) concert. The room, located in the newly expanded Schaeffer Auditorium, was named in Wells’ honor to acknowledge the impact Wells has had on music at KU and his students.

Wells was an associate professor of music from 1968 until his retirement in 1997. He was the director of the marching, concert and jazz bands as well as several other instrumental ensembles. Wells is credited with the development and implementation of the jazz studies program at KU.

He continues to be active as a member of the GOBs and directs the Kutztown University Alumni Jazz Band.

Rehearsal Hall Honors Work of Retired Music Professor

Remembering a LegendThe Kutztown University Foundation & Alumni Engagement Office held a memorial service for former KU football coach George Baldwin, on Saturday, Sept. 21 in the newly renovated Schaeffer Auditorium. University officials, former players, coaches and family members gathered to honor Baldwin’s legacy of excellence.

Greg Bamberger, KU

director of athletics,

(right) presents a ball,

signed by the 2013

football team, to the

Baldwin family. Coach

Baldwin passed away

on July 4, 2013.

L to R: Dr. Richard Wells with his wife, Elizabeth Wells; Josée Vachon,

KU’s first lady; and Dr. F. Javier Cevallos, president, Kutztown University,

outside the rehearsal hall named in Wells’ honor.

A testament to Baldwin’s success is his placement record — he sent several players to the National Football League, including running backs Bruce Harper and Doug Dennison, and wide receiver Andre Reed.


FEATURE

PH

OTO

BY

HU

B W

ILLS

ON

’71

From humble beginnings in

Kutztown, to sharing the

stage with legends,

RICK VITO follows his dream.

BY:

GARY MAYK

LIKE A ROCK

+(CONTINUED NEXT PAGE)


After nearly 50 years in the music business, the largely self-taught Vito is still learning and evolving.

“I’m in this for life,” Vito said. The Stones’ comments so early in his career, and again

a year later at another session, gave him confidence. “It made me feel like I can do this,” Vito said. “That

validation fortified what up to then had just been my own perception.”

The Stones wouldn’t be alone in recognizing Vito’s abili-ties: he frequently performed with 70’s rock royalty, including Little Richard, Bob Seger, Mick Fleetwood, Delaney & Bonnie, John Mayall, Bonnie Raitt, Roger McGuinn, Bobby Whitlock, Jackson Browne and with many other big names.

Vito was the lead guitarist of Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1991. He toured with Seger in 1986-87, and with Raitt in 1977, 1980-81 and 1998-99. Today, he’s still a featured guitar-ist with the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, whose first album, “Blue Again,” earned a 2010 Grammy nomination.

For Vito, growing up near Philly in the 1950s and 1960s and being the son of John Vito, a Wildwood, N.J., bar manager, was like attending a school for rock.

“Bandstand was the center of the universe for a lot of

rock ‘n’ roll bands,” Vito recalled. “There were great DJs in Philly – Jerry Blavat, Hi Lit, Joe Grady and Ed Hurst. With all the rhythm and blues they played, I was exposed to a lot of great music. And Wildwood was just jumpin’ as far as entertainment.”

Even at home, music infused Vito’s life. His mother, Irene, played Hawaiian guitar. “So when Elvis came along, I just grabbed her guitar and started wailing,” Vito said.

His parents bought him a Stella six string and called in Frank DiPrima, his uncle, who played in New York pit orchestras.

“I wasn’t a very good student,” Vito confessed. “I couldn’t get into my uncle’s conservative style.”

Sensing Vito’s leanings, DiPrima hooked him up with James Burton, whose weekly guitar solos rocked Ricky Nelson’s perfor-mances at the close of each TV episode of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”

“He taught me how to knead the strings and play higher on the neck,” Vito said.

After that, Vito’s guitar education became listening to successful guitarists and learning to play their style – “increasing my vocabulary,” Vito called it.

“I struggled to mimic rock pioneer Chuck Berry,” he recalled. “When I heard Keith Richards playing it, I could understand it better. The Stones were covering a lot of blues tunes and R&B. Then I learned about Paul Butterfield, John Mayall and Eric Clapton.”

Recordings of great guitarists became his teachers. “I couldn’t read music,” he said. “I still can’t very well.” That hasn’t stopped him from having an illustrious career –

Vito is the recipient of the W.C. Handy Blues Award, has nine solo CDs and six solo DVDs to his credit, is featured in four Fleetwood Mac albums and has performed with giants of rock ‘n’ roll since 1972.

Left: Rick Vito performs

on stage in Schaeffer

Auditorium in October.

Below: On stage with

Bonnie Raitt. Right:

Posing with Fleetwood

Mac for a promotional

photo in 1988.

RICK VITO, who attended KU from 1967 to 1971, was playing guitar at a recording session less than a year after leaving school when the Rolling Stones walked in.

“The producer was Jimmy Miller, who produced the Stones, too,” Vito explained. “It was exciting when the Stones came in. Here they were, full of compliments about my playing – and I had learned everything from them.”

Vito had his most complete rock experience when he became lead guitarist of Fleetwood Mac for four years, starting in 1987.

“It was the kind of experience that can’t compare to anything else,” Vito reminisced. “Here was a situation where I wasn’t just being hired as support, but was being inducted into the group as a member.”

It was what he had worked so hard to achieve musi-cally, and yet he wasn’t prepared for the business side of rock.

“It’s not a pretty business at all,” Vito revealed. “We see the glory side, the artists and great music, but there’s an entirely different animal on the other side of the desk.”

For Vito, staying in touch with reality was as impor-tant as staying in touch with his music. At a Jersey club he had been awed by an unknown Jimi Hendrix playing a right-handed guitar left-handed. Vito saw him again, after Hendrix had become a guitar god, at major Philly venues. But quickly, Hendrix was gone, snuffed out by a drug overdose.

Vito calls himself a survivor. “Fame is not necessarily a good thing,” he said. A

lot of young kids don’t realize that, sometimes until it’s too late.”

Vito has important people in his life: Aimee, his wife of 30 years, and their children, Francesco, 29, a chef, and Ara, 19, a pianist, actress and singer. They live in Franklin, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville.

Recently, Vito created a new persona, King Paris. He and his band, The Hip-notics, accompanied by belly dancers, fuse the sounds of East and West, blues and rock, new and old, in what’s called ‘world music.’ Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” with a touch of sitar? Yeah, that’s it.

“I’m having so much fun with this,” Vito said. So, apparently, are his club audiences, according to a review on pureguitarmagazine.com.

Predicting Vito’s future might require King Paris’ crystal ball. There’s the work with the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, solo work and there are still things he’d like to accomplish.

“I could stand more exposure,” he said. “I would feel comfortable with having a record on my own that gets out there. Maybe a song in a movie that gets rec-ognized for the level I know personally that I’m at now. You just can’t always make these things happen; I still pray about that.”

KEITH RICHARDS: “Keith

was my personal hero. He

was a genius at creating

musical signatures that

are timeless.”

CHUCK BERRY: “He inte-

grated black with white

in music, much the same

way Elvis did.”

BOB SEGER: “Bob should

never be underrated as a

tasteful songwriter and as

a guitar player.”

MUDDY WATERS: “He

influenced the whole

Chicago scene, Chuck

Berry and the natural pro-

gression that followed.”

ERIC CLAPTON: “He has

the most successful career

as a guitarist in history.

He influenced more players

than any other guitar player.”

PETER GREEN, FOUNDER

OF FLEETWOOD MAC:

“He was the most authentic

white blues player, in my

mind, ever to come along.”

BONNIE RAITT: “We’re the

same age, we both started in

the Northeast and we both

play slide guitar. We have

a lot in common with the

people we like musically

and grew up listening to.

We’re still friends.”

Rick Vito on guitar legends

For more info ...

Visit Rick Vito online @

www.rickvito.com or www.kingparis.com

We’re at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City in 1971, and here’s (DJ) Ed Hurst,” Vito recalled. “He’s hold-

ing the event. So I go up to him and explain I’m from the area and on my first tour with Delaney & Bonnie. He said, ‘Oh, if you’re from the area, then I guess you know who I am.’ I joked, ‘Yeah, you’re Jerry Blavat.’”

Vito was a senior speech and theatre major when he decided, six credits shy of his degree, to go pro full-time. He had played in bands since his days in Johnny and the Inspirations, a doo-wop group at Cardinal O’Hara High School in Springfield, Delaware County. While at Kutz-town, he formed the Vito-Valenti Blues Band with singer/blues harpist Rick Valenti. They played at The Hullabaloo in Reading, the Third Eye and Illick’s Mill in Bethlehem, and at fraternity parties and student union gatherings at Lehigh University and KU. They also did a New York recording session produced by Todd Rungren, another suburban Philadelphian.

Vito introduced himself to and played his tape for Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett before a Philadelphia show while still a KU student. Then he took his guitar with him for one of their performances at Lehigh University. They invited him to sit in.

For Rick Vito, musician, the earth moved. Only weeks out of KU, Vito was off to Los Angeles,

then touring nationally with Delaney & Bonnie. Bob Seger, in album notes, calls Vito’s slide guitar on

“Like a Rock” the best guitar overdub he ever heard. Millions of people have heard the song on Chevrolet truck ads. Vito loved the exposure.

“It was always fun,” he said. “At home, watching TV, my wife would reach over and say, ‘There you are.’ That’s really cool. I love it.”

“

PH

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BY

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OM

AS

SHIL

LEA

’69

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http://www.rickvito.com

http://www.kingparis.com

FEATURE


FEATURE

MIRIAM AMIE ’76 isn’t kidding; she’s stating a fact.When the Iraqi dictator’s forces overran Kuwait in 1990,

it thrust Amie, then a part-time reporter for the Associated Press (AP), into the front line.

It would put her in harm’s way, in bunkers wondering where the next Iraqi Scud missile would strike, and whether it bore deadly gas. Once, she needed to scramble for cover by a burning oil well in southern Iraq.

Eventually, her skills would land her a challenging and dangerous job in Afghanistan’s troubled Kandahar province, where the Taliban often hold sway and periodic shelling was the norm. While there, she worked to improve the lives of the local people, especially the women.

“I never envisioned being a journalist in a conflict zone,”

“Saddam Hussein really changed my life.”

In the Line of F iresaid Amie, who has specialized in covering conflict and post-conflict scenarios.

It’s not a trajectory one would predict for an art educa-tion major, but Amie, a native of Kingston, Pa., credits her KU training with preparing her for this career.

“Kutztown prepared me to think, taught me how to observe as an artist,” she said.

Those observational skills, she noted, are essential to a reporter’s craft.

“In some art classes you had to observe for 20 minutes before putting pencil to paper. That laid the groundwork for much of the work that I did as a journalist. When you com-pose a news story you have to talk to various sources. It’s like doing a three-dimensional piece of work, four-dimen-sional if through time.”

Amie explained that, regardless of the medium, artists have to be conscious of how they perceive, the angles they take, their points of focus.

The arc of her career transition started in New York,

For security reasons

no identifiable photos

of Miriam Amie

could be published.

BY: Félix AlFonso PeñA


where Amie, not particularly keen on teaching at that point, was living and working after graduation.

“A friend of mine from Kutztown had associates who were working in Saudi Arabia, teaching English as a foreign language,” she said. “When they came back to visit I was inspired by their stories and by their experiences.”

She did some research and in 1983 started work on her master’s in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at American University in Cairo.

Amie had always done well in writing classes at KU. While studying in Cairo, she began writing stories for American newspapers. She wrote about horses (Amie owned four, one being a purebred Arabian) and Bedouin (nomadic Arab tribes) culture.

“My creativity shifted from canvas and sculptures to writing,” she recalled.

She also started teaching English classes to native Arabic speakers at the university, even after graduating in 1986, and at the U.S. Embassy. In 1987, through an American company, Telemedia, Amie was teaching English and developing curriculum for cadets in the Egyptian Air Force Academy in Bilbeis.

Two years later, she was in Bahrain, now a contribut-ing reporter for the Associated Press.

A year later, Saddam Hussein’s forces rolled into Kuwait, and the gravity of war exerted its inexorable pull on Amie’s life and career.

“I didn’t ask to get involved in conflict; it just hap-pened,” she said. “My focus at AP shifted from banking, finance and culture, to flak jackets, chemical suits and gas masks. The scary part were incoming Scuds (mis-siles). Many were landing in Bahrain or in the waters between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.”

Amie points out that while “the Gulf War only lasted about 100 days, the seven-month build up led to the largest stress.”

“The tension was more unnerving than the war itself,” she remembered. “During the war, you’re so busy. When the conflict finally came to a head it was almost a relief.”

Nonetheless, post-conflict Iraq was action-packed, she said, with threats from Saddam, border issues, oil well fires and oil smuggling.

Her employers varied over the next few years: she covered Kuwaiti reconstruction for a U.S.-based think tank, Pasha Publications; she set up and managed a Kuwaiti news bureau for United Press International (UPI); Deutsche Presse-Agentur hired her twice to cover events from Kuwait; and she joined Platts, the energy division of McGraw-Hill Financial in 2000. That’s in addition to freelancing for CNN, CNN International, CBS “60 Minutes,” CBS Radio and Washington Newsdesk.

During the 2003 Iraq War, she was a unilateral reporter, as opposed to one embedded with a military

unit. She had more freedom, but ran far greater risk.At times, Amie traveled with a Kuwaiti oil well

firefighting team, whom she describes as wonderful friends who would have laid down their lives for her. It was with them, in Southern Iraq, after the men had cleared a path through a minefield, where she found herself scrambling for cover across barren ground when unknown adversaries opened fire on them.

She still remembers sleepless nights in Iraq when rocket attacks drove her and others into bunkers.

In 2011, Amie decided to broaden her horizons, becoming strategic communications advisor for USAID in what is called the U.S. Regional Platform South, Kandahar, Afghanistan. Her tasks included helping mentor government organizations to create broadcasts for anti-narcotic efforts and for peace and reconciliation among tribes.

Gender violence, she said, was prevalent, and she met women who were battered and otherwise abused.

“Part of my job included mentoring Afghan nongov-ernment organizations to secure U.S. government funds to further media and gender development,” she said. “I ended up creating the first-ever gender strategy for Southern Afghanistan.”

Radio in a box (RIAB) kits, used to set up a complete broadcasting station, proved useful at penetrating ancient walls and reaching geographically isolated populations.

“The women we worked with were always under threat,” she said. “Some carried weapons. They were cloistered. But radio is a driving force. It’s the glue that keeps society together. It makes them feel like they’re bonded. They can be miles apart but can connect via cell phone to a radio program and still be anonymous.”

Meanwhile, the war continued in fits and spurts, with periods of daily and nightly shelling, and relatively peaceful stretches in between. Nobody was truly safe.

“It was always hard to hear news that your colleagues were involved in accidents or hit by an IED (improvised explosive devise),” she said.

In September 2012, Amie left USAID and returned to Kuwait, her headquarters for much of the past 25 years, where she has been doing stories for Platts.

How does she do it? How does she handle the stress of conflict and a deadline-intensive industry?

“Wherever I set up my home and my office, home always becomes my retreat,” she said. “I come back to decompress, have some downtime and recharge my bat-teries. I believe that my years of practicing yoga have helped me cope and maintain stability while working in conflict zones. I love taking care of animals. That is the domestic side of me. I had horses when I was in Egypt, and I have my cats with me now. ”

Amie is happily married to her career. “My work is my life and I like that. I get up like a

fireman every day, ready to do the job.”

Miriam Amie

1976

Graduates from Kutztown University

with a degree in art education.

1983 Moves to Cairo

to work on a degree in Teaching English as a

Foreign Language.

1989 Becomes a contributing

reporter for the Associated Press.

1990 Iraq invades Kuwait.

Amie reports for CNN and CBS

during the war and the post-war period.

2000 Amie interviews Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir

al-Hakim in Kuwait. He was one of the

most influential Shia Muslim spiritual leaders

with millions of followers in Iraq and Iran.

2011 Becomes a strategic

communications advisor for USAID.

2012 Returns to Kuwait.


BACK TO CLASS WITH .. .

BILL BATEMAN RANDY SCHAEFFER

BY: FÉLIX ALFONSO PEÑA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: DAN Z. JOHNSON

The love BILL BATEMAN and RANDY SCHAEFFER ’72 have for all things Coca-Cola is the real thing.

That’s stunningly obvious from the moment one walks into their elegant

home, passing beneath a globular glass Coca-Cola shade, circa 1915-1920, into

spacious rooms decorated with numerous museum quality artifacts dating back to 1887, the second year of the soft drink company’s existence.

Everywhere one looks, Coke is it.Schaeffer, who has been teaching math at KU for 25 years,

was recently awarded the Arthur and Isabel Wiesenberger Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching and elected to the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Bateman retired from Kutztown University in 2007 after teaching math and computer science for 41 years.

“This is the only serious thing I do,” Bateman said, smiling.Serious, indeed. Their collection, the largest in private

hands, fills three stories of a turn-of-the-century house in Reading, Pa. Much of it is memorably beautiful.

In the parlor, dedicated to art from 1910 and earlier, calendars featuring beautiful young women – Bateman and Schaeffer refer to them as “our girls” – grace the walls.

“From the very beginning, they made beautiful girls part of their advertising,” Schaeffer said. Among them is Bateman’s favorite: a 1904 calendar with Lillian Nordica, the first American opera star. Schaeffer’s favorite is Hilda Clark; he and Bateman even made a pilgrimage to visit her gravesite in New York state.

Most touching, perhaps, is the tale behind the fringed lamp-shade, dated to 1911, hanging in the landing of the stairwell.

“The lampshade hung over a soda fountain at a drugstore in Columbus, Ohio,” Schaeffer said. “When they tore the place down in the 1960s, they asked the man who worked there as a soda jerk if he wanted anything. He said, ‘I stood under that light all my working life. I’d like to have it.’”

The man, who lived in poverty, kept the shade in his tiny apartment. Better than money, it brought him visitors, people who wanted to look at it or buy it. After his death, Bateman and Schaeffer purchased it at an Ohio auction.

Not all the purchases have such memorable stories. After all, they include countless bottles, coolers, a vending machine, premiums for retailers and salespeople, and myriad promo-tional items bearing the company logo: pencils, matchbooks, buttons, playing cards, jewelry, perfume bottles in the shape

of Coke bottles, pocket mirrors, tape measures, clickers, whistles, tie clips, cuff links, money clips, pins, a shoe brush, a metal match safe (back in the day when they could ignite from the friction within the box) and much more.

A pressed-wood wall clock, dated between 1894 and 1897, mimics the look of cast iron and proclaims the “Ideal Brain Tonic,” “Specific for Headache” and “Relieves Exhaustion.”

Among the unique pieces in the collection is an 1887 metal sign urging one to “Drink Coca-Cola for headache,” the only such item known to exist.

Elsewhere, a ceramic urn for pouring Coke syrup, circa 1900, shows how the drink was originally served by apothecaries: Poured from spigots on the side into small glasses with a line that indicated the level of syrup (one ounce). The glass was then filled with carbonated water.

Among the oddities are watch fobs with swastika decora-tions, from the 1920s and 1930s.

“The swastika was a symbol of good luck before the Nazis appropriated it,” Schaeffer explained.

In contrast to the small items stored in glass-topped display cases and numerous drawers, large cardboard cutouts designed for window displays dominate one room. A Norman Rockwell creation shows a boy fishing on a summer day, sipping a Coke. Hollywood is here, too, represented by Maureen O’Sullivan, Jackie Cooper and Wallace Beery enjoying their Cokes.

The partners’ collection and expertise was the subject of their 1995 book: “Coca-Cola: The Collector’s Guide to New and Vintage Coca-Cola Memorabilia.”

The soft drink giant recognizes the pair’s accomplishments. They have attended Coca-Cola events in Atlanta, the compa-ny’s headquarters, a number of times. Some 37 years ago they visited the company archivist, and in 2007 they were invited to the opening of the World of Coke museum.

“We were treated as if we were employees,” Schaeffer recalled. The two value the camaraderie with fellow collectors,

forged over decades, and they love what Schaeffer called “the thrill of the hunt.”

What now? There are new items to be had, such as the share cans used in an advertisement in Singapore, two cans sold together that can be separated, and they want to complete their collection of calendars.

No calendars for the years 1893 to 1895 are known to still exist, said Bateman, “but we have guesses about where they might be.”

If anyone can unearth this lost artifact, it’s Schaeffer and Bateman.

BILL BATEMAN

RANDY SCHAEFFER


Thompson to Lead KU Foundation & Alumni Engagement

KU FOUNDATIONUPDATE

Following a compre-hensive national search, the Board of Directors of Kutztown University Foundation named Tracey L. Thompson as executive director, effective Sept. 1, 2013.

Thompson will be responsible for providing institutional leadership for the foundation, and will oversee all fundraising, alumni engagement, and development operations. As executive director, she will work with President Cevallos, alumni, and the entire KU community to further the foundation’s philanthropic mission and provide support for the university, its students, faculty and staff.

“We think that Tracey’s outstanding leadership experience and her strong vision will help grow the foundation and enhance its ability to support KU,” said JAMES ZELLNER ’86, president

The Kutztown University Foundation & Alumni Engagement is

pleased to announce that as of Sept. 26, 2013, Setting the Stage, the

Campaign for Kutztown University, has raised more than $14.1 million

toward the June 2014 goal of $15 million. The foundation is grateful

for the generosity and support of the alumni, parents, friends, corpo-

rations and organizations who have contributed to the campaign.

If you would like to learn more about how you too can participate,

please visit www.give2ku.org/campaign.

of the KU Foundation board. “Tracey has a proven track record of success, and we are looking forward to working with her to complete the Setting the Stage Campaign and to build for the future.”

Thompson brings more than 20 years of advancement experience to the position from her time spent working within both higher education institutions and nonprofit organiza-tions. Most recently, Thompson served as vice president for Institutional Advancement at Antioch University New England in Keene, N.H., where she implemented an alumni outreach program, oversaw the growth of the annual fund and unrestricted giving and helped create a robust culture of philanthropy.

“I am so proud to join the team at the Kutztown University Foundation & Alumni Engagement,” Thompson said. “I am looking forward to helping the foundation complete the Setting the Stage Campaign and achieve new heights of success in advance of KU’s sesquicentennial in 2015-2016.”

Thompson has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and broadcasting/film from the University of Maine and a master’s degree in management from Cambridge College in Cambridge, Mass.

WHAT ARE THE CAMPAIGN’S TOP PRIORITIES? Schaeffer Auditorium, Sharadin Arts

Building, the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, student scholarships,

and both unrestricted and restricted annual funds.

94%OF GOAL

$14.1million

$15million

CAMPAIGN NEARS $15 MILLION GOAL

http://www.give2ku.org/campaign


MARGUERITE BIERMAN ’79 died Oct. 30, 2013, after a courageous battle with cancer. Her generous gift to the university has left a legacy of support for women entering the field of visual arts.

Read the full story on page 22.

Giving to the KU Annual Fund is the best way for alumni, parents, and

friends to support and sustain all the great things happening at KU.

Contributions to the fund are allocated to the most integral needs of

the university: student scholarships, infrastructure and operations,

academics, and athletics and programming. By giving to the fund,

you send a vote of confidence to KU and participate in a process that

continuously strengthens the university. What matters isn’t how much

you give, but that you give. If you would like to make a gift to the

KU Annual Fund, please visit www.give2ku.org/make-gift.

PROGRAMMING

STUDENT ATHLETICS

ACADEMICS AND DEPARTMENTAL FUNDING

INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONAL EXPENSES

STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID

12%

11%

25%

7%

44%

WHY YOUR PARTICIPATION COUNTS

THE KU ANNUAL FUND:

The KU Foundation & Alumni Engagement is proud to partner with the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU) to offer the KU Alumni Visa credit card.

“The way in which PSECU conducts its business, both as a company and on a one-to-one level, is com-mendable, particularly for the ways in which it focuses on extending courtesy and care to all its customers,” said Alex Ogeka, director of Alumni Engagement. “We are happy to offer such a great benefit to KU alumni.”

To learn more about the KU alumni credit card from PSECU, please visit www.psecu.com/kufae.

L to R: Edward Richmond, CFO, KU Foundation

& Alumni Engagement; Ned Eisenhuth ’78, KU

Alumni Board of Directors; Dr. F. Javier Cevallos,

KU president; Barb Bowker, vice president of

marketing, PSECU; Greg Smith, president and

CEO, PSECU; Alex Ogeka, director of Alumni

Engagement; Major Ben Brooks ’79, member,

KU Alumni Board of Directors.

During her visit to campus in April, Marguerite

Bierman ’79 presented Dr. F. Javier Cevallos, presi-

dent, Kutztown University, with a piece of artwork

from her private collection.

KU Alumni Benefits via PSECU

You can stay connected to the KU Foundation & Alumni Engagement through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. By

connecting with the foundation, you’ll never miss announcements regarding alumni events in your area, what’s happening

on campus and news about the work of KU students and faculty. To find out how you can stay connected, please visit the

foundation’s website at www.give2ku.org.

Stay Connected

An Artist’s Legacy

http://www.give2ku.org/make-gift

http://www.psecu

http://www.give2ku.org


The 1960s

Brenda (Carl) Hanna ’61 and Ed Hanna

’62 have been performing their

puppet show at the Kutztown Folk

Festival for 41 years. Their two

children and six grandchildren all

help with the show. The Hannas

were married 51 years in August.

Donald Sneeder ’61, M ’67 recently

exhibited his acrylic paintings at

Lancaster Galleries. Sneeder has been

exhibiting regionally for more than

40 years, most recently at the Harrisburg

Art Association and at York’s Gallery

234. He has also shown work in

Charlottesville, N.C.; Pittsburgh;

Philadelphia; and Washington, D.C.

He lives with his partner of 53 years

in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

Desiree D. DeNicola ’69 is the first

female mayor for the Borough of

Roseto, located in Northampton, Pa.

DeNicola served in the U.S. Army

and U.S. Army Reserves for seven

years and taught in the Bangor Area

School District for 30 years, retiring

in June 1999.

The 1970s

Jacqueline (Greene) Thomas ’71, a

fiber artist for more than 50 years,

recently earned the National Art

Education Association Retired Art

Educator of the Year award. As part

of her honor with the art association,

she will write for various publications.

She is also creating a new art series

called “Twisted Sister.”

Richard Pawling ’73 is now the chief

field musician for the Union Volunteers

Brigade. They have drilled at Neshaminy

State Park and attended the 150th

anniversary of the Battle of

Chancellorsville. Pawling recently

discovered the grave of his great

grandfather, Capt. John Davis Pawling,

III Corps, Pa. 68th Volunteer Infantry

Company, for whom Pawling’s late

father, formerly a professor at KU,

was named. Pawling attended the

150th anniversary of Gettysburg and

CROSSROADS Lay Leadership Program

at Moravian Theological Seminary,

Bethlehem, Pa.

Harry McGrath ’79 recently joined the

O’Malley, Harris, Durkin & Perry PC law

firm. Formerly a law clerk for Judge

William J. Nealon in the U.S. District

Court for the Middle District of Pa.,

he twice led U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s

judicial selection committee for the

Middle District.

Gregory Pinelli ’79, the athletic director

at Bristol High School, has been named

the 2013 recipient of the Robert

Buckanavage Citation Award. This

award is presented in recognition of

Pinelli’s exceptional time, energy, and

effort devoted to the Pennsylvania

State Athletic Directors Association.

He has been married to his wife Lori

Ann (Sterner) ’82 for 31 years and they

have five children: Stephanie, Gregory,

Matthew, Michael, and Anthony.

CLASS NOTEStented with the commanding officers

as their bugler.

Tana Reiff ’73 wrote new editions

of nine of her high-interest/low-

readability books, published as the

Pathfinders series by Grass Roots

Press. She has written more than

80 titles of fiction and folktale retell-

ings aimed at older new readers.

John DeVere ’74, M ’78 was awarded

vice president emeritus status by the

Reading Area Community College

Board of Trustees at its 41st Annual

Commencement. Additionally, DeVere,

who is president of Education &

Training Solutions LLC, was recently

a guest speaker at the Regional

Mechatronics Conference sponsored

by the Community College of

Allegheny County.

John Dreibelbis ’74 is celebrating

40 happy years of marriage, three

successful children, three healthy

grandchildren, 38 years as marketing

manager or director at five prominent

international companies and life in

the warm South.

Kim Edwards ’74 is the director of

finance for the Lehigh Valley Economic

Development Corporation (LVEDC).

Edwards joins LVEDC after working the

last 15 years as director of the financ-

ing assistance program at the Lehigh

University Small Business Development

Center. He has worked 36 years in the

lending industry.

Geraldine (Burne) Margin ’74 retired

as superintendent of schools in

Manasquan, N.J. During her 38-year

career in education she has held a

variety of positions in teaching and

administration in Pennsylvania,

Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey. She

is married to Rick Margin ’73 and

they reside on the water at the Jersey

shore. They are avid sailors and have

34-year-old twin sons.

Dr. Jill Peters ’75 received her doctorate

in ministry in June 2013, from the

Biblical Theological Seminary in

Hatfield, Pa. Peters directs the

KU RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE

KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY WAS LAUDED BY

THREE ORGANIZATIONS LAST SUMMER.

U.S. News and World Report declared KU a “Best

Regional University.” Victory Media, the premier

media entity for military personnel transitioning

into civilian life, awarded the university the title

of “Military Friendly School,” while The Princeton

Review designated KU a “Best in the Northeast.”

CLASSNOTES


recalled. “Gladys worked on The Keystonia. We went out for

coffee. After our second date, I told my roommate ‘I’m going

to marry that girl.’”

As editor of The Keystone, Horvath reported on the sweeping

push for Pennsylvania to provide more resources for teacher

education institutions. In 1960, his graduation year, he saw

the transformation of Kutztown State Teachers College to

Kutztown State College. In 1983, he rejoiced when KU achieved

university status.

“Institutions around the state have really prospered as

universities, as exemplified by KU,” he said. “KU was relatively

small; there were only 900 students when I graduated. There

was an excellent faculty, particularly in English, and I got to

know a lot of people. They all had a positive impact on my life.”

Although his path took him from the classroom to administra-

tion, Horvath never gave up on his first love — teaching.

“I’ve always enjoyed being in the classroom,” he said. “The

students I met were truly inspirational. One woman was 86 years

old when she graduated from JCTC in 1983! She had a straight

‘A’ grade point average, never missed a class and graduated

first in her class. When she walked across the stage, 100 of her

closest friends were shouting for her. I joined in.”

Horvath and Gladys have endowed the Dr. Ronald J. and

Gladys (Albright) Horvath Scholarship at KU, which provides

scholarship assistance to the editors-in-chief of The Keystone

Newspaper and The Keystonia Yearbook — an homage to

the story of their love.

“My favorite memories are

of being with Gladys at KU,”

Horvath reminisced. “A sacred

part of me says that with-

out KU, I never would

have met her, and my

life just wouldn’t have

been the same.”

When DR. RONALD HORVATH ’60, M ’66 retired as the president

of Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC), located

in Louisville, Ky., he left a legacy of excellence. During his

20-year tenure, from 1975 to 1995, Horvath was named one of

the top 50 community college leaders in the nation and JCTC

was ranked second on

a list of America’s best

community colleges.

If you ask him about

the secret of his success,

he’ll tell you it was the

people around him.

“I had such wonderful,

talented people working

with me and for me,”

Horvath explained. “I

always tried to involve

faculty in any direction

the college would take

and, most importantly,

I was willing to listen

to them. The faculty

at JCTC set an excellent

example for the students. Their commitment to students

reminded me of the professors I had at KU.”

Horvath credits the trajectory of his successful career to

serendipity — he always happened to be in the right place at

the right time.

A love for English led him to obtain his bachelor’s degree in

English at Kutztown, and a talent for teaching made pursuing a

master’s degree in education the next logical step. Horvath

taught for seven years at Parkland High School before moving

on to become an assistant professor and administrator at

Lehigh County Community College. In 1973, after he received

an Ed.D. in educational administration from Lehigh University,

the sky was the limit. His credentials earned him

a position as Vice President for Academic Affairs

at Broome Community College (N.Y.), where he

was also acting president (in 1975), and launched

his career as a visionary leader at JCTC.

“An accumulation of experiences has led me

wherever I wanted to go,” Horvath revealed.

“I’ve enjoyed my career immensely and made

lots of friends along the way. I’ll always appreci-

ate the support I received from faculty and

colleagues — I learned a lot from them.”

Serendipity led Horvath to his wife, GLADYS

(ALBRIGHT) HORVATH ’62, M ’72.

“I was editor-in-chief of The Keystone,” he

Dr. Ronald Horvath: A Leader in Education

“ There was an excellent faculty [at KU] ... They all had a positive impact on my life.” —DR. RONALD HORVATH ’60, M ’66

Dr. Ronald Horvath (far right) during Family

Day 1975, his first year as president of Jefferson

Community and Technical College.

CO

UR

TESY

OF

JEFF

ER

SON

CO

MM

UN

ITY

AN

D T

EC

HN

ICA

L C

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E


The 1980s

Michelle Byrne ’81, an award-winning

outdoor oil and watercolor artist, was

recently featured in PleinAir Magazine.

Byrne has had two books of her paint-

ings published and she is currently

working on a third book.

Charles Dussinger ’82 is the owner of

Penny Lane Graphics, a design studio in

Lititz, Pa., and an adjunct instructor at

Pennsylvania College of Art & Design,

Lancaster, Pa., in the Graphic Design/

Illustration department.

Geoff McCall ’82 is the creative director

for an agency in the West Chester area.

He recently teamed up with fellow KU

alumnus Bill Dussinger ’82, on a project

for a major pharmaceutical client. They

completed five initial deliverables and

plan to continue working together.

Lisa (Marino) Oswald ’82 is the presi-

dent, owner and founder of Sorrelli

Jewelry. Oswald has grown the business

from her kitchen table to a $10 million

jewelry company with wares found in

department stores, on Amazon and in

more than 400 boutiques nationwide.

The first Sorrelli national showroom

opened this year for retailers in Atlanta.

Commander Vito Petitti ’82 retired after

25 years of service as an intelligence

officer in the U.S. Navy. After 9/11, Petitti

conducted criminal investigations and

counterterrorism operations with Naval

Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

During Operation Iraqi Freedom he

served as the senior intelligence officer

for Naval Coastal Warfare in Kuwait and

Iraq. Following his military service Petitti

earned a law degree and is now admit-

ted to practice law in California and New

Jersey, where he has a divorce media-

tion practice.

Curtis Smith ’82, M ’88 celebrated 30

years of teaching high school special

learning. He has had stories and essays

appear in more than 75 literary journals.

Smith has been cited by The Best

American Short Stories, The Best

American Mystery Stories and The

Best American Spiritual Writing. He

released his ninth book, a collection of

stories from Press 53.

Paul Caputo ’83 was chosen as superin-

tendent for the Southern Columbia Area

School District. He lives in Ringtown, Pa.,

with wife Michelle and sons Luke (11) and

Joel (14). Their son Paul (19) is a freshman

at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Robin Townsley Arcus ’84 is producing

the documentary film “Savoring Sacred

Sound,” a week in the life of choristers

making music for the glory of God.

David Sharp ’85 served under the New

York City Buildings Department, perform-

ing rapid structural assessments of build-

ings affected by Hurricane Sandy in the

lower Manhattan area. Sharp was previ-

ously presented with a special Award of

Appreciation from the National Institute

of Standards & Technology (NIST) for

“tireless service in directing the efforts of

the World Trade Center Steel Recovery

Team” in the aftermath of the events

which occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.

Donald Trexler ’86 has joined New York

Life Insurance Company as corporate vice

president of claims for the Dallas Service

Center. Don and his wife Allison celebrat-

ed their 25th wedding anniversary in June

2012. They reside with two of their four

children in Plano, Texas.

Kenneth Andujar ’87 is the owner of

Andujar Construction, Inc., a multimillion-

dollar commercial construction business.

Committed to philanthropy, Andujar sup-

ports several organizations that provide

care or services to children who are

underprivileged, orphans, dealing with

cancer or the incarceration of parents.

He lives in Charlotte with his wife of 22

years and their twin sons (11).

Kristin (Krumanocker) Pedemonti ’89

is an award-winning professional story-

teller and TED Talks Finalist. She travels

the world telling stories at festivals,

events, universities, schools and other

venues. She performed in Warsaw,

Poland and Nairobi, Kenya at their

storytelling festivals. In summer 2013

Pedemonti volunteered in Kenya, Ghana

and India.

David Reimer ’89 released the third

edition of “Micro-Distilleries in the U.S.

and Canada,” the only guide dedicated

to North American micro-distilleries.

The cover art was designed by KU

student Jerry F. Cavill, Jr. ’14.

Dr. Mark Thomas M ’89 is director of

the Schuylkill Choral Society. Thomas

is teaching a new course for children

who love to sing and hopes to develop

a children’s choir, The Minor Notes

Chorale. He has directed the choral

society for 28 years and has worked

as supervisor of music for the Upper

Perkiomen School District for the

past 14 years.

The 1990s

Roger Jackson ’90 has accepted the posi-

tion of executive director of the College

Settlement Camp of Philadelphia, the

Henry J. & Willemina B. Kuhn Day Camp

and The Outdoor School in Horsham, Pa.

Kimberly (Whiteman) Taylor ’90 was

recently promoted to officer in the Human

Resources Department at the Federal

Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Dr. William Ziegler ’93 has been promoted

to high school principal at Pottsgrove

High School. He is president-elect of the

Pennsylvania Association of Elementary/

Secondary School Principals and will

serve as its president in 2014.

Michael McAllister ’94, senior manager

in ParenteBeard LLC’s corporate gover-

nance and risk management group, has

been appointed to the American Institute

of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)

information technology task force. He is

a certified public accountant, certified

information technology professional and

certified information systems auditor.

Dawn Hoffman ’95, MBA’06 has accepted

a position with ITEM Media as marketing

manager. In this role she will oversee all

marketing efforts for the publishing com-

pany’s three technology titles, including

Interference Technology, Electronics

Cooling, and Environmental Test &

Design, as well as their consumer title,

Tea Magazine.

CLASSNOTES


Todd Davies ’96 was hired as assistant

superintendent for the Exeter Township

School District.

Grant Ervin ’96 is the public safety

Geographic Information System (GIS)

program manager for the city of

Philadelphia. Recently, the team

he manages won the 2013 Special

Achievement in GIS Award from the

Environmental Systems Research

Institute (ESRI) and will present at

the ESRI user conference in San

Diego. Ervin has been selected to

present the morning plenary session

as the first user story.

Daniel Smith M ’96 is a fifth grade

teacher at West Reading Elementary

School. He lives in Cumru Township

with his wife, Karen, and son, Quentin

(15). He and his family love to travel,

and they have been to 27 of the 30

major league baseball stadiums.

Smith also serves as the assistant

boys tennis coach at Wyomissing

Area High School.

Daniel Stephens ’96 has been named

vice president for National Penn Capital

Advisors (NPCA). In his role, Stephens

will be responsible for providing retire-

ment plan consulting and portfolio

management solutions for defined

contribution plans. He is a Qualified

401(k) Administrator through the

American Society of Pension Profes-

sionals & Actuaries.

William Bowen ’97 recently accepted the

position of principal at Gwynedd Square

Elementary School. He started his career

in 1997 as a fifth-grade teacher in the

Philadelphia School District before

teaching in the Central Bucks and

Palisades districts.

Nathan Shultz ’98 unveiled Nouveau

Dental Studio in Jan. 2012, in his Spring

Township home. He specializes in high

quality and aesthetic dental restorations.

Jason Dugan ’99 recently assumed

the position of assistant scout execu-

tive/COO with the Pacific Skyline,

Boy Scouts of America in Foster

City, Calif.

Vali G. Heist M ’99 owns ‘The Clutter

Crew,” a business that helps clients

organize their lives. She’s a certified

professional organizer and has self-

published a book, “Organize This!

Practical Tips, Green Ideas, and

Ruminations About Your Crap.”

Clark Zimmerman ’99 was awarded

the Lincoln Forum Teacher Scholar-

ship, which recognizes excellence in

history education. Zimmerman is the

chairperson of the Hamburg Area

High School’s Department of Social

Studies, where he teaches American

Civics, American History and Ameri-

can Comparative Government and

Politics, in addition to coaching

varsity golf and softball.

After her cancer diagnosis in 2011, MARGUERITE BIERMAN

’79 threw herself into art.

“I wasn’t afraid to die, but I was frustrated my life

would evaporate and that would be it,” she revealed. “I

have an extreme urgency to do, feel, get out and try.”

Bierman reached out to KU last year and offered to

donate artwork from her personal collection, by promi-

nent artist MICHAEL KESSLER ’78. After visiting the cam-

pus in April 2013 (pictured at right), she met with several

faculty members and was impressed with the Fine Arts

Department. At the start of her career, Bierman struggled

as a woman in a largely male-dominated field. The signif-

icant number of tenured female faculty in KU’s Fine Arts

Department, including the department chair, professor

Cheryl Hochberg, demonstrates how far the field has

come in eliminating gender bias.

A generous gift from Bierman has established an

endowed fund to provide encouragement and support

The Marguerite Bierman ’79 Why Not Dare, Dream, Feel and Do Mentorship Fund FOR THE COLLEGE OF VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

for women entering the field of visual arts. This schol-

arship will enable students majoring in studio arts or

crafts to obtain experience working with professionals

in the field and access to a mentoring relationship. The

goal is to allow students to gain an understanding of

the interplay between the studio art profession and

fullness of life in all aspects.

“This is a transformative donation that allows us

to provide expanded opportunities for our students

and faculty,” Hochberg said. “Starting in fall 2013,

Bierman’s endowed scholarship will provide for four

mentoring projects.”

Bierman, who died Oct. 30, was a decorative

painter and well known for her large public works,

which are displayed in a number of buildings around

Williamsport, Pa. Selections of her paintings can

be viewed in the gallery section of her website, at

www.margueritebierman.com.

ANNOUNCING

http://www.margueritebierman.com


Scholarship. Jacques received the award

at Cabrini’s Faculty Research and

Scholarship Reception on May 2.

Michelle (Mellon) Maloney ’03 has joined

Hanley Center as executive director of

treatment services. In her new role at the

nonprofit addiction treatment center in

West Palm Beach, Maloney will oversee

all programming, staff supervision and

training for on-site residential and outpa-

tient clinical services.

Jeanine Metzler M ’03 has received the

Christensen Award for Excellence in

Teaching from Northampton Community

College, Bethlehem, Pa. She is an associ-

ate professor of accounting.

Sara Gerhart ’05, M ’10 recently joined

the Pennsylvania Department of Educa-

tion as the school library development

advisor. In this role, Gerhart will provide

leadership and expertise to school

library personnel, classroom teachers

and administrators. In addition, she will

serve as the Act 48 coordinator and

school library liaison for the POWER

Library Project and Pennsylvania

Electronic Library Catalog program.

Travis Bieber ’06 accepted a position as

supervisor for the audit services group at

Reinsel Kuntz Lesher, LLP, in Reading, Pa.

Andrew Colbert ’06 and artist Takeshi

Arita led a crew of artists and artist

representatives to install artwork from the

estate of the late transformative modern

artist Sol LeWitt to the first floor of the

Einstein Medical Center, Montgomery, Ala.

Mary Kate Schneider ’06 has received

a Fulbright Award to conduct disserta-

tion research on education in Bosnia-

Herzegovina. She is currently completing

her Ph.D. in government and politics at

the University of Maryland.

Christina Steffy ’06, ’09 is a member

of the College and Research Division

of the Pennsylvania Library Association,

which recently launched a scholarly,

open access journal to share information

about the research and practices taking

place in Pennsylvania’s academic

libraries.

book, Hoffman wrote an article that was

published in the Keystone State Reading

Association (KSRA) newsletter and has

been invited to give a presentation at

the KSRA Conference. Since the publi-

cation of her book, Hoffman has been

involved in book-signing events through-

out the area. Hoffman and her husband

of 10 years, Jared, own All-Points

Towing, Recovery and Service Center in

Jim Thorpe, Pa. They are the parents of

three children: Megan (8); Jocelyn (5);

and Sawyer (4).

Jaime Wohlbach ’00 has traveled the

world playing softball and coaching

teams. She is in her third year as head

coach for the University of Delaware

softball program. Since 2002, Wohlbach

has run a national and international soft-

ball clinic called Fastpitch Performance.

Nicholas Jacques ’01, assistant professor

of studio art at Cabrini College, is the

2013 recipient of the Buzzallino Faculty

The 2000s

Dr. Timothy B. Coyle ’00 completed a

three-year medical fellowship in pulmo-

nary and critical care at the University of

Connecticut’s School of Medicine. Coyle

will serve on the university’s hospital

medical staff in pulmonary and critical

care, and also on the faculty as an asso-

ciate professor. Coyle, a 2006 graduate

of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic

Medicine, completed his residency in

internal medicine at Lehigh Valley

Regional Hospital and served as chief

resident from 2005 through 2010. His

research has been published in the

National Journal of Asthma.

Sherry Hoffman ’00, a teacher at

Lehighton Area Middle School, wrote

her first book, “A to Z Character Educa-

tion for the Classroom,” and had it

published. The activity book teaches

the “bucket-filling concept” while incor-

porating reading skills. In addition to her

CLASSNOTES


PATRICK DONMOYER’S ’09 research has taken him down every

road in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The site manager, building

conservator and exhibit specialist for the Pennsylvania German

Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University, Donmoyer has

spent the past five years investigating the prevalence and signifi-

cance of barn stars in Southeastern Pa. Also known as hex signs,

the stars, characterized by geometric designs, intricate spirals

and explosions of vibrant color, are unique cultural artifacts that

reflect the Pennsylvania Dutch fascination with celestial activity.

Donmoyer, who majored in studio art and fine crafts, with

concentrations in printmaking and textiles, and minored in

Pennsylvania German studies, discovered that the signs serve

as artistic and cultural emblems.

“As an artist, I’m drawn to geometry and interested in

symbolism,” revealed Donmoyer. “To have a resource like this

in Berks County — to be able to see hex signs in public — is

unique. It’s really amazing art, but there are not that many

places in the U.S. where you can see them. None of the hex signs

are signed; they represent a people and not an individual artist.

I’ve dabbled with painting them myself.”

KU’s resident expert on all facets of Pa. Dutch culture, Donmoyer

has discovered more than 400 signs in Berks County alone. Prior

to his investigation, people believed there were only 200 surviv-

ing signs in the county. Today, he continues to take photos of

local barns to map the local landscape and document any barn

renovations that might be taking place.

This attention to detail is illustrated in all of his research.

When translating “The Friend in Need,” an early 19th century Pa.

Dutch folk-healing manual, he created a typeface to correspond

with the typeface of the original manuscript.

“I’ve always wanted to learn more about my ancestors,”

said Donmoyer, who has Pa. Dutch heritage. “It’s still alive in

Berks County. Many aspects of the culture have largely disap-

peared, especially their earlier practices and perception of the

world. My research attempts to remedy this.”

Donmoyer pursues the task of reviving public and scholarly

interest in Pa. Dutch folk art with seemingly endless energy. If he

isn’t working on the heirloom kitchen garden at the center, conduct-

ing research or working on his next book, then he’s scouring eBay

and other venues to rediscover lost manuscripts and private diaries.

One original manuscript unearthed by Donmoyer contained hun-

dreds of handpainted hex sign designs. Inspired by the discovery,

Donmoyer revived the hex signs exhibit during the

2013 annual Kutztown Folk Festival, giving new life to

a display that had vanished more than 40 years ago.

“Finding ways this culture can be celebrated is really

important,” Donmoyer explained. “There’s meaning in

it for everyone — whether it’s recognizing your own

diversity or being able to reconnect with your own heri-

tage. I’ve learned new perspectives on how the world

works. My hope is that my own work will inform how other

people perceive the Pa. Dutch culture.”

At only 28, Donmoyer has been invited to give more

than 50 presentations on his research and has two books

under his belt. His latest publication, “Myth and

Meaning in Pennsylvania Dutch Barn Stars,” boasts a

special forward by Dr. Don Yoder, the world’s fore-

most authority on Pennsylvania folklife. In the

future, Donmoyer hopes to expand on his

research and further investigate visual symbol-

ism in the Pa. Dutch culture.

“I plan to expand beyond barn stars,” he said.

“Something that hasn’t been done is compre-

hensively connecting symbolic themes present

in the culture. Examining early graffiti, for example,

might uncover marks not intended for the light

of day. I’m also interested in personal artwork in

private diaries, elaborately decorated tombstones

and translating local folk healing manuscripts.”

In 2008, when Donmoyer began his journey into

the world of folk life and art, he was told that Pa.

Dutch traditions were dying. However, he discovered

that old barn stars were actually being repainted,

not destroyed. Today, the excitement generated by

Donmoyer’s presentations, publications and growing

scholarly attention to the field of Pa. Dutch studies

ensures the perpetuation of this unique culture and

its intriguing artifacts.

Preserving Pennsylvania’s German Heritage

“ As an artist, I’m drawn to geometry and interested in symbolism.”

— PATRICK DONMOYER ’09


INMEMORY Emma (Knoll) Strause ’22 • 3/28/2013 Josephine (Kercher) Hinkle ’40 • 2/5/2013 Leah (Oswald) Smith ’40 • 3/5/2013 Martha Ruth Dillenbeck ’41 • 2/18/2013 Gladys (Spatz) Long ’42 • 1/16/2013 Anna Werner ’43 • 12/11/2012 Janet (Copeland) Silvers ’44 • 3/7/2013 Shirley (Stafford) Bridges ’45 • 1/11/2013 Lee Bierly ’47 • 12/22/2012 Shirley (Sonon) Rife ’47 • 5/15/2013 J. Richard Fox ’48 • 3/11/2013 Miriam (Rollman) Irwin ’48 • 5/20/2013 Arline (Gaby) Bucks ’49 • 2/5/2013 Mary (Powers) Hill ’49 • 9/2/2013 James Good ’50 • 7/5/2013 Robert Loehrig ’50 • 8/2/2013 Joyce Johnson ’51 • 12/9/2012 Dorothy (Ludwig) Simmons ’51 • 3/3/2013 Windolyn (Lincoln) Stevens ’52 • 2/1/2013 John Reese ’52 • 3/13/2013 Lee Sieger ’53 • 2/24/2013 Josiah Werner ’53 • 4/27/2013 James Fairfull ’54 • 2/14/2013 Charles Trafford ’54 • 6/22/2013 Donald Jones ’56 • 3/31/2013 John Holingjak ’56 • 8/6/2013 Charlene (Bellman) Jopp ’59 • 4/9/2013 John Clifford ’62 • 2/16/2013 D. Jane (Turner) Bair ’62 • 2/20/2013 Eva (Peters) Kline ’63 • 3/3/2013 Carol Shaaber ’66 • 3/5/2013 Janice Rahn ’66 • 5/22/2013 Tatjana Ludwig ’66 • 9/6/2013 Kathryn Shultz ’69 • 1/21/2013 Marilyn (Dibella) Marshall ’69 • 4/8/2013 Robert Lesko ’69 • 5/5/2013 Richard Deppen ’73 • 12/9/2012 Ronald Schreiner ’73 • 12/23/2012 Richard Hoffman ’73 • 4/8/2013 Patrick Gallagher ’74 • 12/17/2012 Michelle Burylo ’74 • 3/27/2013 Walter Symons ’74 • 6/10/2013 Velma (DeTemple) VanLiew ’75 • 6/29/2013 Keith Petruska ’77 • 7/27/2013 Marguerite Bierman ’79 • 10/30/2013 Jean Wade ’79 • 6/19/2013 Deborah (Brader) Fernsler ’83 • 8/12/2013 Sara Gallen ’85 • 6/18/2013 Paula Vinsky ’87 • 2/13/2013 Karen Valeriano ’89 • 2/10/2013 Laurie (Kurtz) Miller ’92 • 2/28/2013 Tina Burkey ’93 • 7/7/2013 Christine Gutekunst ’97 • 12/21/2012 Jennifer Hummel ’99 • 3/3/2013 Scott Atiyeh ’04 • 2/3/2013 Kathrine Skinner ’05 • 12/28/2012 Joshua Kortze ’10 • 1/27/2013 Timothy Del Vecchio ’13 • 4/13/2013 Jean M. Shapcott ’14 • 7/16/2013Gregory Heifer ’14 • 9/2/2013Benjamin Galli ’14 • 10/7/2013 Marlene Fowler • 2/4/2013 • friend of the universityAnthony Hoffer • 3/1/2013 • staffGeorge Baldwin • 7/4/2013 • football coachJeff Unger • 10/16/2013 • friend of the university

Nick Aspromonte ’11 was promoted as

a new managing partner for Walker

Marketing & Consultants.

Lisa Chickilly ’11 joined the Lehigh

Valley Financial Group, a general

agency of Massachusetts Mutual Life

Insurance Co., as a financial services

professional.

Terri Lomax ’11 graduated with her

master’s degree in Conflict Analysis

and Dispute Resolution from Salisbury

University. She plans to relocate to

New York City, where she will work in

residence life at St. John’s University.

She recently launched her personal

development blog for young women,

Mocha Girls Pit Stop.

Benjamin Morton ’11 was promoted to

senior accountant at the Lancaster

location of ParenteBeard LLC.

David Blisard ’12 won ‘The First Class

Teacher of the Year’ award at North

Dorchester High School, Md. The award

is a locally sponsored recognition

intended for a first-year teacher who

has demonstrated exceptional skill

and dedication. Blisard also received

a proclamation from both houses of

the Maryland General Assembly and

the City of Cambridge.

Sara Keith ’12 traveled to Beijing,

China, last summer, for an international

service learning (ISL) program through

the Rutgers University Social Work

Department. She is currently enrolled

at Rutgers, The State University of

New Jersey, as a clinical social work

student.

Ahmed Awadallah ’13 is pursuing a

master’s degree in International

Relations at the London School of

Economics.

Kevin Harden, Jr. ’07 was a featured

panelist for the Philadelphia Bar

Association’s Chancellor’s Leadership

Institute.

Cory Porrino ’07 has been promoted

to manager at ParenteBeard LLC.

Kristen (White) Greenawalt ’09 has

completed a mural in the stairwell

of the Conshohocken Free Library.

Greenwalt served as a long-term substi-

tute on the art faculty at Twin Valley

High School in Elverson, Pa., and has

been teaching art at the Whitemarsh

Art Center and various secondary schools.

She owns a mural business called “If

Your Walls Could Talk.”

Joanna (Horstmann) Hayes ’09 accepted

a position at Wilson College as the head

coach for the men’s and women’s cross

country teams.

Emily Hopkins ’09 was sworn in as

an officer at the Whitemarsh Police

Department.

Mikal Payne ’09 joined JP Morgan

Private Bank as a trust administrator for

the Newark, Del., office. Payne and his

wife Lauren relocated from Buies Creek,

N.C., so he could accept the position.

Matthew Roberts ’09 joined Bean,

Kinney & Korman, P.C., as a land use

and zoning associate.

Matthew Belcastro ’10 was sworn in as

a probationary police officer for the

Chatham N.J., Police Department.

Thomas Funch ’10, founder, videogra-

pher, editor and producer of FunchFilm,

is in the top five percent of wedding

vendors in the U.S. and Canada. In 2013

he was one of the winners of Wedding-

Wire’s 2013 Brides Choice Awards.

DO YOU NEED TO UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION WITH THE ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT OFFICE?

Please visit: www.give2ku.org/update

Anyone who updates their information between December 1, 2013 – March 1, 2014 will

be entered to win a $250 Visa Gift Card courtesy of the KU Foundation & Alumni

Engagement Office.

http://www.give2ku.org/update


1 Alumni, families and students enjoy

halftime activities. 2 Homecoming

Queen Kelly Hedlund ’14 and King

Michael Lawrenson ’14. 3 It was a

packed house as Golden Bear football

took on East Stroudsburg at University

Field. 4 KU Marching Unit drum major

Stephanie Spatz ’15.

1 1

9

54

8

HOMECOMING 2013


5 Vocal sensation Pentatonix wowed a sold-

out crowd in Schaeffer Auditorium. 6 Matthew J.

Grider ’94, owner of the Kutztown Tavern, gives

College of Business alumni a tour of his brewing

facility. 7 Moira O’Connor-Servis ’87, M ’93, president

and Lauren and Mikal L. Payne ’09, member, KU Alumni

Board of Directors. 8 Keri Brown ’11 and Doofan Tor

Agbidye ’10 enjoy the 5th Quarter Party. 9 Teammates

of the late George A. Kruse ’77, a member of the KU

Athletic Hall of Fame, present his lacrosse jersey to

Greg Bamberger, KU director of athletics. 10 Alumni

of the Department of Electronic Media pose for a

photo during their reunion.

2 3

10

6 7

The Kutztown University Department of Electronic

Media was awarded a Mid-Atlantic regional Emmy in

September for its documentary on Eastern State

Penitentiary. Those honored with the award were

Ryan Hedrick ’13, producer/videographer; Andrew

Donahue ’14, videographer; Shawn Petcaugh ’13,

editor; and Helen Bieber, professor of electronic

media and department chair, and former professor

Andrew Skitko, advisors.

KU garnered four nominations from the National

Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. KU swept

the Arts, Entertainment and Public Affairs category

of College and University Productions.

ELECTRONIC MEDIA BRINGS HOME AN EMMY

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDREADING, PA

PERMIT NO. 2000

15200 Kutztown Road

Kutztown, PA 19530-0730

Ryan Hedricks ’13, producer, and

Helen Bieber, KU professor and chair

of the Department of Electronic

Media, accept the award during a

ceremony in Philadelphia.

kutztown university...

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