The following area students graduated from PennWest University in December at the California, Clarion and Edinboro campuses.
Online campus: Julie Cruz, Mohrsville, master of social work; Rachel Domasinsky, Exeter Township, principal/K-12 post-master’s certificate; Gabrielle Hardy, Womelsdorf, master’s in library science; Amanda Jordie, Denver, bachelor of arts in sociology/psychology.
Clarion campus: Callie Koppenhaver, Wyomissing, bachelor of arts and associate of arts in interdisciplinary studies.
Fusion Fellow
Riley Whiskeyman, Shillington, was selected as an inaugural Fusion Fellow at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The program is designed to foster collaboration between students and faculty from the College of Arts, Humanities, Media and Public Affairs and the John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The inaugural Fusion Fellows were selected through a competitive application process held in the fall.
Whiskeyman. a communications media major, is working on a project on the role of communications media in conservation biology by producing a documentary focused on the Bay Islands of Honduras and the contributions of IUP students and faculty to local conservation efforts.
Honor society
Emily Schaeffer, Blandon, was elected into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi at Kutztown University.
Local leader honored
Alvernia University President Emeritus Dr. Thomas F. Flynn received the Presidents’ Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. The award honors individuals whose service to Catholic higher education is exceptional, who have promoted Catholic higher education through sustained public advocacy and who have advanced its mission through philanthropy and voluntary leadership.
“Dr. Flynn has devoted his career to advancing Catholic higher education, offering principled and trusted counsel to presidents and boards across the nation,” Alvernia President Dr. Glynis A. Fitzgerald said. “His leadership reflects a profound commitment to the mission of Catholic higher education — placing students at the center, strengthening the institutions they call home and honoring the responsibility universities hold to the communities they are called to serve.”
Flynn served as Alvernia’s president from 2005-2019 and works as a senior associate with the ACCU Consultancy Service, helping college leaders navigate governance, strategy, mission integration and institutional changes.
Items are submitted by the colleges and organizations involved.