FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 26, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Three Wilson seniors presented the results of their research at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, held April 1 to 3 at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa.
Amadea Clement, of Bowie, Md., and majoring in chemistry and biology, presented a research project entitled An Analysis of Histamine Intolerance and its Correlation to Diet and Daily Activity. The study focused on daily diet, stress, exercise and sleep patterns of residential college students over a two-week period, and how those factors impacted the students’ histamine levels.
Lindsey Sutton, of Greencastle, and majoring in chemistry and studio art, presented a research project entitled Temperature Dependence of Viscosity and Polarity of Phosphonium-Based Ionic Liquids. Ionic liquids are considered “green” substances, mainly due to their low volatility, low combustibility and recyclability. Sutton’s research measured the effect that temperature and added solvents had on the liquid’s viscosity.
Ghada Tafesh, of Gaza in the Palestinian Territories and who is majoring in biology and English literature, presented her research project entitled The Relationship between Oral Anticoagulant Apixaban and Fish Oil Supplementation in a Stroke-Prone Animal Model. Her study investigated the interaction of the blood thinner, apixaban, with the commonly used dietary supplement of fish oil (omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid) to determine the likelihood of a potential drug interaction.
The students will share the results of their research during Wilson’s annual Student Research Day on April 29.MEDIA CONTACT: Cathy Mentzer, Manager of Media Relations Phone: 717-262-2604 Email: cathy.mentzer@wilson.edu
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Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 29 majors and seven master’s degrees. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
Located in Chambersburg, Pa., the college had a fall 2015 enrollment of 923, which includes students from 22 states and 16 countries. Visit www.wilson.edu for more information.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 25, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College has received an AmeriCorps/VISTA grant from the Pennsylvania Campus Compact (PACC) to provide a full-time coordinator for the college’s volunteer, migrant education tutoring program.
The six-year-old migrant education tutoring program, done in partnership with Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12, has provided after-school tutoring for children of migrant farmworkers in the Chambersburg area. The overall purpose of this program, which has been dubbed Learning Campus, is to expose children to college life.
The program has evolved to the point where it needs formal structure, increased direction of student volunteers and an educational curriculum that employs Pennsylvania core standards, according to Wilson Vice President for Student Development Mary Beth Williams, who oversees the tutoring program along with Lynn Newman, Wilson’s education division chair, and Eric Mandell, LIU student support specialist.
“We are very excited that we have received this opportunity from PACC,” said Williams. “I’m hoping that with someone solely dedicated to the Learning Campus program, our efforts will continue to be both successful and sustainable. We want the program to empower the children of migrant workers in Franklin County and encourage them to unlock their full academic potential.”
The AmeriCorps/VISTA worker will recruit, train and manage tutors and grow the capacity of the program into a sustainable and academically sound opportunity for children. The program is intended to build connections for the elementary school students with hands-on enrichment activities provided by Wilson’s academic departments.
The goal is to create a sustainable Learning Campus tutoring program within three years.
The VISTA coordinator will be provided with both housing and a meal plan from Wilson and will receive a stipend from PACC. Williams said she is hopeful the VISTA coordinator will be at work in time for the fall semester.
The VISTA coordinator, who will act as a liaison between the College and the LIU, will also seek to identify further community engagement opportunities within the migrant and seasonal farmworker community for Wilson students.
The tutoring program currently provides literacy and math enrichment services twice a week throughout the school year to 30 to 35 children in kindergarten through fifth grade within the LIU’s Migrant Education Program. Under the current partnership, the LIU is responsible for working with the families of the children who come to campus, and Wilson provides the tutoring part of the program.
In addition to the children being tutored, Wilson students who volunteer with the program – many of whom are majoring in education – also benefit through experiential learning.
Wilson College is one of 20 colleges in the state to receive an AmeriCorps/VISTA grant through PACC. The ultimate aim of PACC’s grant program is to address pressing community needs while fostering higher education institutions as agents of community change. The program is also designed to develop AmeriCorps/VISTA members as future leaders in the public service arena.
MEDIA CONTACT: Cathy Mentzer, Manager of Media Relations Phone: 717-262-2604 Email: cathy.mentzer@wilson.edu
By Lori L. Ferguson
As a 2004 Vermont state senatorial candidate, Jane Kitchel ’67 faced formidable odds. She was a Democrat vying for an office that her party had not held since 1912. And she was a woman, running in a very Republican region of the state against two male incumbents—a move, Kitchel wryly observed, that is generally not recommended. But she was heavily recruited and believed she could make a difference, so Kitchel went for it.
Not only did she succeed, she was the top vote getter, as she has been in every election since. “I worked really hard to win that race,” Kitchel said, “but my feeling is, ‘If you take it on, you’d better step up.’ As my mother always said, ‘Take what you do seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously.’ ”
Kitchel has always taken her role as public servant seriously, and over the past 49 years has leveraged every opportunity to deliver for her constituents. Currently in her sixth term, she is among the most knowledgeable politicians in the state and, as chair of the Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful. She’s had a hand in many critical pieces of legislation and garners respect across party lines. “Jane is funny, articulate, reasoned and practical,” said state Sen. Richard Westman, a Republican from Lamoille County. “She has government experience and a practical nature that allows her to be one of the most effective members of the Legislature. I feel extremely lucky to have her as a state Senate colleague.
“She's also one best bakers I know,” he added. “Everyone in the building looks forward to her cakes!”
Kitchel brushes off the praise with characteristic modesty. “I like to work through others and give credit where credit is due,” she said. “And I never ask anyone to work harder than I’m willing to work myself. People notice these things.”
One of 10 children, Kitchel was raised on a large dairy farm in the Caledonia County town of Danville, in the area commonly known as the Northeast Kingdom. In addition to managing the family farm, her parents, Harold and Catherine McDonald Beattie, served as guardians for people with developmental disabilities and mental health issues. Her mother also served a term in the Legislature in the mid-1960s.
“Throughout my childhood, I was exposed to values of civic engagement and community involvement,” Kitchel recalled. “That’s the breadth of experience I had as a child. We were constantly exposed to people from all walks of life—their stories, needs, trials and tribulations. I remember having dinners with U.S. Sen. Ralph Flanders, who was a family friend. As kids, we just took it for granted.”
It seemed a foregone conclusion that Kitchel and her siblings would continue the family legacy of giving back to the community. Today Kitchel is joined at the statehouse by her younger sister, Catherine ‘Kitty’ Toll, who serves as a Democratic state representative for the Caledonia-Washington district.
Kitchel wasted little time in getting involved in the business of her state. After graduating from Wilson College in 1967, she took an entry-level position in what was then Vermont’s Department of Social Welfare, and over the next 35 years, worked her way to the top, retiring in 2002 as secretary of the Agency of Human Services.
After stepping down, Kitchel toyed with the idea of leaving the public sector. “I thought I could do some of the things that I hadn’t been able to do while working full time,” she said. Soon, however, she was encouraged to run for a state Senate seat and, after much deliberation, she decided to take on the challenge. “I thought to myself, ‘What if I don’t do it? Will I look back with regret?’—and I also asked myself, ‘What if I don’t win?’ But I’ve always believed that if you only undertake things where you are guaranteed success, you won’t try much, so I decided to give it a go.”
After her election success, Kitchel threw herself back into the legislative maelstrom that has come to define her life, a press of meetings and committee work that frequently spills over into the weekend, a time when senatorial duties are interspersed with household chores. “Every day is pretty much scheduled from the time I enter the statehouse to when I leave,” she explained. As the chair of the Appropriations Committee, Kitchel is in constant demand for meetings. She serves on the Transportation Committee, as well.
Regular committee work begins at 9 a.m., so Kitchel books meetings early in the morning, as well as during lunch and afternoon breaks. “We have no staff to assist us and we have no offices, so much of my work, such as correspondence, emails and reading, has to be done at home on weekends,” she said.
The work is taxing, yet Kitchel clearly revels in the challenges. “For me, this is a demanding and rewarding job, since policy priorities all have to be translated into how fiscal resources are allocated. I’ve been very fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time, and I’ve been recruited to take on the right jobs,” she said.
Yet a cursory review of Kitchel’s accomplishments belies such humility. During her tenure in the Agency of Human Services, she played an instrumental role in establishing Dr. Dynasaur, a publicly funded healthcare program created in 1989 to ensure universal health insurance coverage for all Vermont children. She was a key player in the creation of Vermont 2-1-1, a general resource number that provides state residents with information on hundreds of important community resources, from emergency food and shelter to senior services and legal assistance. And she was on the frontlines of Vermont’s first-in-the-nation statewide overhaul of the public welfare system during the Clinton era.
“Jane is one of the most capable people I’ve ever met,” said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. “She was the architect of our universal healthcare program. She’s a real treasure, and we’re lucky to have her.”
Kitchel is proud of what she's accomplished for her state, but concedes that advocating for change hasn't always been easy. "When we were working through the welfare overhaul, I was accused of leading an economic assault on the most economically oppressed women in the state," she said. "It was difficult, but I believed creating alternatives to welfare dependence through education, training opportunities and other human capital investments for single women was worth the battle." Wilson embraces these same values, she noted, in the College’s Single Parent Scholar program.
Yet throughout it all, Kitchel remains committed to listening and building bridges. “I always ask for other’s opinions. You can’t be a committee of one. You need to engage people, respect their thinking and value their perspectives. No matter the task at hand, you don’t need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You can’t. You must form partnerships and work collaboratively. It’s the only way.”
Among those with whom Kitchel has collaborated over the years is Democratic 2016 presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. “Bernie has a great ability to connect on a personal level and he nurtures relationships,” she said. “His history in Vermont is one of trying to improve the lives of ordinary people wherever possible.”
Sanders is equally complimentary. “State Sen. Jane Kitchel is respected around the state, not just because she is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, but because she puts the needs of ordinary Vermonters above all else,” he said. “Her vast experience in state government—having served as Secretary for Human Services—is grounded by a hard-working family farm life. Jane has always been someone my staff and I could count on to discuss health, education and other important issues facing Vermont and in particular, the Northeast Kingdom.”
Kitchel is also a tireless community volunteer, serving a host of leadership roles for institutions such as the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium, Danville Chamber of Commerce, Vermont Food Bank, Northeastern Vermont Area Health Education Center and Danville Congregational Church.
Dean once described Kitchel as “the quintessential Vermonter,” a moniker she gladly accepts. “Vermonters believe in hard work and the value of money,” she said. “They realize the importance of community responsibility and have a deep-seated respect for sense of place and self.
“I grew up on a farm that’s been in the McDonald family since the 1830s,” she continued. “My mother continued the tradition and operated the farm for nearly 50 years.” Now it is Kitchel’s nephew who leads the farming enterprise. “The land is part of your soul,” she said.
When it came time to go to college, Kitchel cast her gaze farther afield. “I wanted to get outside of the New England region for a while and meet new people, and I was also interested in attending a women’s college,” she recalled. A family friend suggested she consider Wilson College, a school known for its commitment to intellectual rigor. Kitchel liked what she found. “I was also fortunate to be the recipient of some generous scholarships from Wilson, which—coming from a large farm family—helped considerably.”
Kitchel majored in history at Wilson and credits the liberal arts education she received there for contributing to her success. “The values I encountered there, including the honor principle, were solid and the exposure to the larger world was invaluable. I learned to read with a critical eye, analyze a situation thoughtfully and write.”
Kitchel has leveraged those lessons to great advantage over the course of her career, and she shows little sign of slowing down. She’s currently focused on securing data that the Legislature can use to evaluate return on investment for the services and programs they support. “We need to make sure that our public investments serve us well,” she said.
“I’ve been blessed with good health and I’m always working to keep things in perspective,” Kitchel said. “I look back at my career and think, ‘I was there at some interesting and pivotal times relating to social policy.’ Our legacy defines us and the next generation. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished on behalf of the people of Vermont.”
By Coleen Dee Berry
For a high school senior, it was an act of unflinching courage. Molly McElroy stepped on stage in front of more than 300 of her classmates at The Catholic School of Baltimore and painstakingly described her ongoing battle with anorexia..
She did not know how her classmates would react. “It was terrifying,” McElroy ’17 said. “I hadn’t really told people. Even my sister—she’s my best friend—when I told her, I had to turn out all the lights in the room and then text her what was wrong with me. I was so embarrassed. It was so hard to talk about it.”
But McElroy knew that in order to conquer her eating disorder she had to bring it out into the open. “I had to tell my story, but I was afraid of what would happen afterwards,” she said.
Her high school classmates did not fail her. “The majority of the students at the assembly were moved to tears by the end of her talk,” recalled Sharon Johnson, principal of The Catholic School, who was a teacher at the school at the time of the assembly. “It was extraordinarily courageous for Molly to get up on that stage and reveal something that personal and painful about herself.”
McElroy received a huge outpouring of support from her fellow students. “About 20 of them afterwards told me how much the talk had helped them. It was so empowering for me, I knew I could not stop,” McElroy said. Her Beautiful Me campaign unfolded from there.
Beautiful Me is a support network and awareness campaign that stresses the positive side of body image, not just eating disorders. “Discover your greatest self and understand that you are beautiful in your own way,” Beautiful Me’s website states.
After speaking at her high school assembly, McElroy made contact with the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) and began mentoring other high school students who had disorders. She created a Beautiful Me Facebook page and spoke to other groups, including Girl Scouts and other schools.
When she enrolled at Wilson, one of her first priorities was to find a way to bring Beautiful Me to campus.
“I met Molly on orientation day when I sat down to lunch with her and her dad. The first thing her dad said was, ‘Oh good, I’m glad you met Molly because she will be talking with you about her project,’” said Cindy Shoemaker, Wilson’s director of counseling. “I was very happy to encourage her and support Beautiful Me. Peer education is very powerful. It’s something that Wilson has embraced. It’s very empowering, especially when it’s someone who has lived it and wants to share the experience.”
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The statistics are sobering. Nationwide, eating disorders affect 20 million women and 10 million men, according to NEDA. The 2014 National Survey of Counseling Centers found that 21.3 percent of college counseling center directors had reported an increase in students with eating disorders over the previous five years. A 2013 study by NEDA showed eating disorders increasing on college campuses: In 1995, 23 percent of women and 8 percent of male students reported eating disorders, and in 2008 those figures had increased to 32 percent of women and 10 percent of men.
Eating disorders range from anorexia (taking extreme measures to avoid eating) and bulimia (eating, then purging through vomiting or laxatives) to binge eating (periods of uncontrolled excessive eating). Another form of eating disorder is a constant preoccupation with exercise.
There has also been an increase in what is termed “disordered eating” by college students, according to the NEDA. An individual with disordered eating is often engaged in some of the same behavior as those with eating disorders, but at a lesser frequency or lower level of severity. Research by NEDA suggests that more than 50 percent of the overall national population has, at one time, demonstrated problematic or disordered relationships with food, body and exercise.
Shoemaker said she sees more evidence of disordered eating on campus than full-blown eating disorders. “The students come here and there’s no longer any parental control of over food. They can have as much pizza and ice cream as they want,” she said. “So many get the dreaded freshman 15 (gaining 15 pounds the first year at college) and then they’re trying everything to lose it.”
Eating disorders are complicated to identify because most victims are good at hiding their symptoms and are in denial that they have a problem. National Institute of Mental Health statistics show that almost 80 percent of students with eating disorders do not seek help. “Often it will be the friend group around the student who will come to us and say they are concerned about their friend’s behavior,” Shoemaker said.
“I think, for every case of someone with an eating disorder that I know about on campus, there’s probably about another four students who are struggling with one and not saying anything,” said Wilson Director of Residence Life Sherri Sadowski.
So when McElroy said she wanted to use Beautiful Me to raise awareness and foster support on campus, Wilson’s counseling and student development staff members embraced the idea. “At a larger school, they may have brushed Molly’s idea off, saying that we have our own program, we don’t need yours, but here we encourage that type of involvement,” said Leah Rockwell, campus counselor. “And Molly and her program certainly have reached many people on campus.”
For the past three years at the end of February, McElroy—with the help of other students who support her Beautiful Me campaign—has organized a week’s worth of events both to promote positive body image and to increase awareness about eating disorders. One of the fixtures of Beautiful Me week is the “Like a Tree My Body Is’ display in Lenfest lobby. Students are encouraged to take a paper leaf, write one positive word about their appearance on it and then pin the leaf to the large cutout tree on display.
Last year, the week featured a talk by Sara Shaw, an eating disorder survivor and Harrisburg Area Community College coordinator of student life and multicultural affairs, who uses improv workshops to speak about eating disorders. “Campaigns like Molly's Beautiful Me are crucial,” Shaw said. “They often intercept girls at critical turning points and offer real hope in really dark periods.”
Shaw praises McElroy’s dedication. “I was so happy to see her initiative, and it's refreshing to see someone like her in college. Wilson is lucky to have her. I think the impact she's making is phenomenal.”
This year, the week was themed “Let Your Light Shine” and students made luminaries, which were lit on the campus green after the final Beautiful Me event on Sunday, Feb.28. Another highlight was an evening Zumba class, which featured a talk by instructor Erin Adams about her personal eating disorder challenges.
McElroy’s outreach is not limited to the February week of events. During the spring semester, she helped form Foot Steps, a campus club designed to offer a support network for those coping with mental health issues, including eating disorders. She led a Beautiful Me team that participated in a fundraising walk-a-thon in Baltimore in the fall, and she volunteers for Chambersburg’s Women In Need program. And every year, McElroy returns to her high school in Baltimore to speak to students.
“I think that programs like Beautiful Me help people to understand what eating disorders are and that they really do exist,” McElroy said. “I want to let others know that they are not alone and there are others who are struggling too.”
Beautiful Me volunteer Lily Rembold ’17 said she became close friends with McElroy during their freshman year. “Hearing Molly’s story and being her friend through part of her recovery has really given me a passion for helping others who struggle with eating disorders and self-image,” Rembold said. “The most important thing I have learned is that recovery is a never-ending process. It takes time and hard work and a lot of energy. That's why people who are struggling need a really good support system, and that's what Beautiful Me is here to do.”
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McElroy’s problems started when her older sister—and best friend—Maggie left for college at the start of Molly’s sophomore year in high school. McElroy admits she took up with group of friends, including a boyfriend, “who were hurtful and bad influences.” She began to experience physical stomach pains that kept her from eating. She was convinced something wrong with her, but all the tests showed there was nothing wrong—except she was rapidly losing weight and not eating.
Pat McElroy, Molly’s mother, has a background in counseling, but said even she did not realize the full impact a sibling leaving for college can have on those remaining behind. She and her husband, Tom, despaired as they watched their daughter become more withdrawn and grapple with eating issues. “As a mom, I desperately wanted to fix this for Molly and it was very hard realizing that I wasn’t the one who could fix things,” she said.
When a doctor first confronted her with a diagnosis of anorexia, “‘I was very, very angry with him,” McElroy said. “I was like, ‘No, this is not why I’m not eating. There HAS to be something wrong because my stomach hurts so much.’ I didn’t understand that I was mentally causing my pain.”
A therapist helped her realize she did indeed have an eating disorder. She gave her disorder a name—ED. Her therapist encouraged her to treat the disorder like a person, and realize that she had to “break up” with this person. “ED was like a bad boyfriend, always trying to tell me what to do, being critical and negative,” McElroy said. “He had to go.”
McElroy credits her love of horses and riding with helping her get a handle on her disorder. One of her doctors suggested she was becoming too underweight to ride safely. “That pushed me to decide that I wanted to recover, that I loved riding too much to let ED take that away,” she said.
Her parents encouraged McElroy to network for support. Pat McElroy said she finally told her daughter, “If you want to deal with your problem and get better, you have to build something to help other people who are suffering just like you are.” She helped Molly arrange the talk before her high school assembly, and Pat McElroy also spoke about being a parent and facing her daughter’s problem. “I actually found out more about her and how she felt during that talk than I had known before,” she said.
Pat McElroy continues to support her daughter’s Beautiful Me effort, recently helping her to create a webpage. “I know that Molly is probably going to have to struggle with this issue for the rest of her life, but by helping others, she is helping herself stay on track,” McElroy said. “Her dad and I have always told Molly, ‘God put you on this earth for a purpose—that you’re here to help make a difference’ and that she is doing that through Beautiful Me.”
McElroy has made a difference on Wilson’s campus. One of her Beautiful Me volunteers, Emma Miller ’17, said she became involved in the group because she has undergone some of the same challenges McElroy faced.
Miller was a cross country runner who led Wilson’s team to the NEAC championships her freshman year. But she also was obsessed with being thinner and fitter. “I became worried about everything I ate and didn't see food as fuel for my body. I saw it as something necessary that I would then need to burn off,” Miller said. She tried every diet and “had issues” with binge eating disorder. But through the support of McElroy and Beautiful Me, she was able to get her eating dysfunction under control.
“I now chase progression and not perfection,” Miller said. “Loving myself and working towards being stronger has carried over into my relationships with others. I have become a better sister, daughter, friend, and have the capacity to care for someone else.
“I'd be lying if I said there are no struggles remaining,” Miller continued. “There are always struggles. But when the mind is cared for above all else, the power those struggles hold over you is weakened. Beautiful Me reminds me of that and empowers others to do the same.”
Beautiful Me will continue after college, McElroy said. She chose Wilson because she wanted to major in equine-facilitated therapeutics, and she sees herself merging the two. “My dream for Beautiful Me would be to open a small company where women can come to have group sessions and ride horses and learn how to love themselves.”
The program will also continue at Wilson after McElroy graduates through the newly created Foot Steps club, which McElroy said will carry on her efforts to raise awareness of eating disorders and offer victims support.
McElroy’s dedication has impressed not only her peers, but the entire Wilson community. “Her willingness to put her own story out there makes her very vulnerable, but it also empowers others to share their own vulnerabilities,” said Rockwell. “Molly’s very committed and dedicated to getting her message out. She doesn’t get paid for this; she doesn’t get credit. It’s certainly an act of service—and it sets a powerful example for the other students.”
By Cathy Mentzer
A few days before Wilson’s spring semester began on Jan. 25, three new international students from Indonesia, Panama and Uzbekistan were taking part in orientation, but the impending Blizzard of 2016 was the main thing on their minds.
“I’m very excited,” said 19-year-old Alvin Kurnia Sandy of Indonesia. “Snow is the thing I wanted to see the most before coming to America.” Like him, 21-year-old Leydianis Gonzalez of Panama had never seen snow. “Really, it has been my dream to throw snowballs,” she said.
Within 24 hours, the students were enjoying more snow—about 30 inches of it—than they ever dreamed. “I felt like I went into my fridge back in Indonesia,” laughed Sandy, who said he and the other new students had a snowball fight, made snow angels and walked all over campus during the snowstorm. “But I loved it.”
These priceless moments are part of the international student experience at Wilson College. While students come here to get an education, many also arrive with the goal of absorbing the American culture and way of life. The exchange that ensues enhances the entire Wilson community.
“It’s so powerful and so important for us to have a diverse community,” said Elissa Heil, vice president for academic affairs, herself a product of study abroad, which she participated in both in high school and college. “That’s how we break down barriers. That’s how we break down prejudices. That can be uncomfortable, but it’s also exhilarating.”
Nihed Kassab, a senior from Tunisia attending Wilson through a one-year, U.S. State Department program called the Global Undergraduate Exchange (UGRAD) Program, is trying to soak up as much U.S. culture as she can. She sees the experience as an opportunity to build bridges between the youth of her country and their U.S. counterparts.
“What I see (of Americans), I see in media,” Kassab said. “What we hear of people here back home is not what we see here. My program is meant to see what people really are. (Americans) are really very welcoming and generous. Amazing people.”
In the classroom, Assistant Professor of Spanish Wendell Smith said that the wider cultural perspective that international students bring into the classroom is invaluable. “They may want to contribute and talk about things that are not in the standard frame of reference that my other students are used to talking about in class,” Smith said. “The international students that I’ve had have been some of the most successful students in my classes. The students we’re getting seem to be academically top-notch.”
Smith also finds that international students often model good behavior in terms of study habits and, in the case of his classes, demonstrating the possibility of becoming fluent in another language, “which I think is a good example for our American students.”
After leaving the College, many of Wilson’s international students go on to prestigious graduate programs in the U.S. or abroad, and forge impressive careers in fields such as medicine and research. One example: Jing Luan ’12, of China, worked as a researcher at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia after graduation and is now enrolled in a M.D.-Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania. She hopes to work in genetic regulation research.
“We’ve got some real rock stars,” said Vice President for Student Development Mary Beth Williams. “They do really well when they’re here and they do really well when they graduate.”
How and why they come
Many of Wilson’s international students come to the College for a one-year abroad program—such as those from Korea’s Seoul Women’s University—or for a one-semester exchange like Sandy and Gonzalez. “Typically, they’re a pretty motivated group of people,” said Heil, herself a product of study abroad, which she participated in both in high school and college.
Wilson’s location, size and liberal arts curriculum are attractive to international students, according to Paul Miller, director of international student and scholar services. “Any number of students will tell me they want to be on the East Coast. They don’t necessarily want to be in a city, but they want to be near New York City and Washington, D.C., so they’ll look at a map.” International students also find their way to Wilson through word of mouth and college and athletics recruiting efforts.
Last fall, 34 students were officially enrolled in Wilson’s international student scholars program—the most in Miller’s 10 years with the College. After transfers, graduations and the arrival of several new students, the number for spring semester is 33—up from 19 students in 2010-11, according to Miller’s office. Miller said 17 of the 33 are four-year students.
Students in the international student scholar program represent 16 countries and the Palestinian Territories, according to Miller. Eight students are here for a study-abroad year through Seoul Women’s University. The College has five full-time students from Saudi Arabia, as well as students from Uganda, France, Tunisia, Mexico, Armenia, Vietnam, China, Brazil, Ghana, Ireland, Nepal, the Palestinian Territories, Panama, Indonesia and Uzbekistan.
Assistant Director of Admissions Michael Eaton, the College’s international admissions counselor, uses a variety of means—including websites, recruitment services, partnerships and social media—to connect with students, many of whom find Wilson through the Internet. Eaton traveled to the Middle East in spring 2015 with the U.S. Educational Group, where he visited high schools and met guidance counselors and students in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. He is going to four cities in Canada this spring and the College is considering a trip to Latin America next year.
In other efforts to broaden its international reach, the College established ties last summer with the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China through FriendlyPA, an economic development initiative aimed at cultivating ties with educational institutions abroad.
Athletics recruiting is playing an increasing role in attracting international students. Head men’s soccer coach Caleb Davis, who actively recruits international players for his team, put together a diverse group of students last fall for the inaugural men’s soccer team. Of the 18 players, seven were from foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jamaica, Ghana, Gambia and Australia. “They’re their own family,” Davis said. “They all act like brothers. They all pick on one another. I think that makes them feel comfortable here.”
Before they can be admitted into the international program, prospective students have to demonstrate a level of proficiency in English on such tests as TOEFL and IELTS (International English Language Testing System). “The intent is to ensure that they’re qualified,” Eaton said. “We want students who are going to be successful.”
Looking to the future, Vice President for Enrollment Mary Ann Naso says international student recruitment will be “very important” to the College. “We’re looking at decreasing demographics (among U.S. college-bound students) so we need to find the means to replace them,” she said.
International students on the Wilson campus have a positive effect that the College, including the global studies department, wants to see grow and develop further, according to Smith. “I would say our main goal is to internationalize the campus, in the sense of having what’s going on in the wider world be more on the consciousness, in the mind, of Wilson undergraduates across the board,” he said. “And that takes a long-term cultural change. Right now, the best thing we have to accomplish that is the international students on campus. They’re in a sense the beachhead for internationalizing the campus.”
Arriving on campus
After students are admitted, Miller and the Office of Student Development contact students to provide them with information about life at Wilson and help them coordinate travel. When the students arrive in the U.S., student development officials make arrangements to meet them at the airport and drive them to campus where, “I’m here to greet them,” said Miller, adding that that kind of personal attention differentiates Wilson from many other institutions.
Miller briefs the students on important safety information, including what to do if they become ill, how to navigate the U.S. healthcare system and how 911 works. Once the new students are settled in, Miller leads a two-day orientation program to familiarize students with the campus. Orientation also includes the two things Miller says students are most concerned with: making banking arrangements and obtaining a cell phone and plan. The College even takes students shopping to make sure they have the appropriate clothing for the local climate. “Another major issue that we talk about is our immigration regulations—what they can and cannot do,” Miller said.
Most international students say the orientation is essential and that it provides time to get to know and bond with other internationals. “It was really helpful,” said Naeun Noh, a South Korean student here for one year from Seoul Women’s University.
Noh said students also learn about cultural differences, such as the importance at Wilson of regularly checking email.
Classroom culture here is also discussed, including time management. “That’s a major orientation topic. Time,” Miller said. “Americans live by the clock. Many countries don’t.”
After orientation, Miller takes the students on a two-day trip to the nation’s capital, where they explore Congress, the White House and other sites such as the Smithsonian Institution and Holocaust Museum. Miller gives them assignments and sends them on their way around the city.
“Invariably, students will come back to me and say, ‘Now I know that I’m in the United States—I stood in front of the White House,” said Miller. “They love taking their picture in front of the White House.”
“It was one of my loveliest days,” Kassab said of the experience.
As the students begin their first semester here, they go through a period of adjustment that can be challenging for some. Common issues include grappling with the English language, being far from family and adjusting to American food.
Sandy, who attends the State Islamic University of Lampung, had never been away from home before coming here in January. “The first month was the hardest part of my exchange experience,” said Sandy, who uses Skype to talk to his parents. Despite the early adjustments to the food and language, “I love and enjoy it here,” said Sandy.
Ghada Tafesh ’16, who is in her fourth year at Wilson on an AMIDEAST scholarship, recalls having a little trouble adjusting her first year, mainly with being homesick. But now, “I blend in pretty well.”
Her best friend is an American student she was paired with through the NeXXt Scholars program, Lindsey Sutton ’16. “We come in one package,” she said.
“I never imagined I’d be this close to friends and people who don’t speak my native language, people who don’t completely understand my culture,” Tafesh said of her Wilson friends. “We’re like siblings. It’s been definitely a blessing—all of it.”
The College has a fairly large group of Muslim students and for them, the religion’s restrictions on eating pork and the requirement to consume halal food—which is similar to kosher food in the Jewish faith—can be problematic. “In the dining hall, most of the time they serve bacon products or pork products, which I don’t eat at all," said Bassil Andijani ’18, a second-year student from Saudi Arabia who moved off campus this semester.
Tafesh sometimes prepares food from her homeland in the residence hall. “They love it,” she said of her American friends. “They even speak some Arabic words.”
A lot of international students are unaccustomed to actively participating in class, which is a requirement at Wilson. “In many countries, you sit and listen. You don’t dare talk to the professor,” Miller said. “Here you’re expected to question the professor. You’re expected to speak up. And that’s very difficult for many of our students to learn.”
Yet, “so much of our critical thinking is based on that exchange,” Heil said. “(International students) really appreciate the opportunity to work so closely with faculty—an opportunity they wouldn’t have in their home universities.”
Experiencing the American way of life
Most international students say they feel welcome and accepted at Wilson. Sometimes, however, cultural and language differences can be barriers to friendships. “One of the principal goals of many international students when they come to the United States is to develop American friends,” Miller said.
The outgoing Andijani’s involvement in soccer has helped him forge close friendships with team members. “Soccer has its own language,” he said. “No one cares where you come from. You just play.”
Just as the internationals come to experience the American way of life and make friends here, their American counterparts can learn a lot from the international student presence on campus, according to Daniel Glazier ’18. “Personally, I find cultural differences and varying cultures interesting,” said Glazier, who is a work-study student in Miller’s office. “They can bring a different cultural perspective to a class.”
Glazier recalled a course where one classmate was from China and one from Japan. Through discussion, other students learned about historical conflicts between those two countries that most were unaware of, he said.
Sutton said she appreciates her international peers for a variety of reasons, including the way her own worldview has broadened. “I get to learn about a whole new culture and I get to learn a different way to think,” said Sutton, who lives with two international students. “They bring in new ideas, new thoughts and different experiences. I think it’s really important that we have international students. ”
At a recent town hall meeting on religious expression hosted by Williams, the current U.S. political climate’s impact on the College’s Muslim students was a topic of discussion, with Muslim and non-Muslim students sharing their feelings on an uncomfortable subject. “I feel safer here than being outside,” Tafesh said. “My friends here know me as a person, not as a Muslim or a person wearing a scarf.”
Andijani and Kassab say the tenor of the Republican presidential campaign bothers them, but they understand—due to their experiences at Wilson—that not all Americans are anti-Muslim. “Personally, I think that religion is the last thing I would look at as far as who I would be friends with,” said Andijani.
Wilson provides two key programs that help international students feel at home and learn about American culture: the Friendly Families program (see sidebar) and the international student organization, the Muhibbah Club, which stages a popular annual, multicultural dinner with performances by international students, some of whom perform songs or dances—often in costume—that reflect their culture.
Through Friendly Family and experiences off-campus with friends’ families and connections, students learn about American culture in ways that they might not otherwise. Kassab spent a week with a Jewish family over Christmas break, who she asked to take her to their synagogue and another week with a Christian family, who took her to church. “That was amazing. What I discovered about Judaism and Christianity and Islam is, they’re very similar.
“This experience is really changing a lot in me,” Kassab continued. “It’s really opening my mind more.”
After graduation, many of Wilson’s international students maintain close ties with classmates, faculty, staff and Friendly Families, which speaks volumes about their experiences.
“If I had a chance to go back and do it over, I would not hesitate in attending Wilson College,” said Nikola Grafnetterova ’10, a graduate from the Czech Republic now in a doctoral program at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi while working full time there as scholastic coordinator for student-athletes. “It was a life-changing experience.”
by Coleen Dee Berry
Even more so than the iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge, one city street in Selma, Ala., came to symbolize the legacy of racism to a group of Wilson College students.
Associate Professor of Religion David True led five students on a January-Term travel seminar tracing the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The trip focused on Selma, where images of “Bloody Sunday”—a brutal clash between club-wielding police and peaceful civil rights marchers on the Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965—were captured on television and horrified American viewers.
But it was Broad Street in Selma that evoked a more present outrage for the Wilson students. Members of the nonprofit Something New Foundation, which helped sponsor Wilson’s trip, took the group on a city tour. “What struck me most was this one street, Broad Street, which divided the town racially between the poor black side and the affluent white side,” said Patty Hall ’18. “That divide is still there today. Just being able to see that, not just read it in a book, but to actually drive down the street and see it, was very powerful.”
The students were told that black residents once were required to obtain a permit to cross the street to the white side of town. Even though segregation that egregious is now in the past, Broad Street laid bare the glaring racial divide that still exists today, the students said .
“It was such a stark difference between white and black, you could clearly see where the poverty line was drawn; it was right there on that street,” said Charles Meck ’18. “On the black side, buildings were falling in on themselves. There were burnt-out buildings just crumbling. On the white side, the landscaping was exquisite and houses were beautiful.”
“Before I went down there, I didn’t really realize how prevalent racism is in our society,” said Cassandra Watkins ’17. “And it’s not just down South. You come back here and you start noticing things that you never noticed before—if someone uses a term or makes a joke, you really pick up on it a lot more.”
The trip’s focus was King’s impact on events that unfolded in Selma and other areas of the South during the civil rights movement, True said. After the Bloody Sunday attack on protestors, King organized both a symbolic march across the Pettus Bridge and then led more than 3,000 protestors in a historic Selma-to-Montgomery march to highlight voting rights abuses.
The trip offered students the opportunity to visit churches where King spoke and to understand the role religion played in King’s activism, True said. “I think it was really valuable, going to the churches and attending worship services there. It helped me to understand how the black church was really a political and cultural force that helped propel the civil rights movement,” Hall said.
The students took a course in non-violent protest training and met with James Webb, who was a teenager when he participated in the historic Selma marches. As a volunteer service component, the group worked with Something New to help tutor pupils at a local elementary school. They also visited Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala., and spent time in Atlanta, Ga., at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights—where they experienced the museum’s lunch counter simulation.
The simulation is designed to immerse visitors in the real-life experience of young, black college students who attempted to sit at a segregated lunch counter. “You sit on a stool, put your hands on the counter and shut your eyes. You can hear everyone yelling at you, really loud and nasty, and your stool bangs around like people are hitting or kicking you. I don’t know how the people who actually did this were able to employ the methods of non-violence,” Hall said. “Because you just want to cry,” added Watkins. “I had to keep telling myself it wasn’t real.”
True, who grew up in Birmingham, said he was inspired by King, whom he described as a beacon for justice. “In some small way, this course and this trip was my offering to MLK and my attempt to pay homage to the civil rights movement,” True said. He noted that several of the students had never been taught the details of the Selma protests. “We have to be on guard against cultural amnesia,” he said. “The antidote to that is getting the students out into the field and getting them immersed in the experience.”
All five of his students said the trip changed their perceptions. “Just because the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were passed (in the 1960s) doesn't mean underlying issues went away,” said Marissa Rankin ’19. “Racism still exists, and it has been difficult adjusting back to my 'former life' of not knowing. I went on this trip and it opened my eyes.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 18, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College students will present the results of their undergraduate and graduate research at Wilson’s 7th annual Student Research Day on Friday, April 29. The public is invited to join Wilson students, faculty, staff and administrators at all events.
Seniors will present their work, which was produced in conjunction with faculty advisers, beginning at 9 a.m. in Warfield Hall’s Allen Auditorium and the Brooks Science Center auditorium. In addition, a dance presentation choreographed and performed by students will be held at 11:30 a.m. in the dance studio in Davison Hall. Afternoon sessions will be held in the Brooks auditorium.
In addition to the oral presentations, other students will share their work graphically in a poster session, to be held from 1 to 2:30 p.m., also in Brooks. One group of posters represents the work of students in a class called “Biology of Cancer,” looking at different types of cancer.
Presentations will showcase undergraduate and graduate research projects in such disciplines as biology, chemistry, history, fine arts, psychology, English and environmental science.
“Student Research Day is an important day at Wilson College, providing a time to showcase the remarkable achievements of our students, “said Elissa Heil, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. “It’s also a celebration of our strong student and faculty collaboration, which Wilson College prides itself on.”
Student Research Day is again being sponsored this year by the NOVA Corp., a minority-owned information technology service company headquartered in Chambersburg.
The day will kick off with welcomes by Heil in the Brooks Center and President Barbara K. Mistick at 9 a.m. in Warfield’s Allen Auditorium.
Oral presentations throughout the day focus on the humanities, sciences and social sciences, and will include examinations of: factors that increase the contamination risk of pathogenic E.coli in the Conococheague Creek; effects of apiary practices on Colony Collapse Disorder in European honey bees; Chambersburg African-American Black Nationalist Martin Robison Delaney (1812-85); effects of taking the blood thinner Apixaban and fish oil together on hypertensive, stroke-prone rats; the Rights of Nature movement and women farmers in Pennsylvania engaging in activism for social or political change.
At 4 p.m., guest speaker Maria Silvia Muylaert de Araujo will present a talk on “Mitigation of Climate Change.”
Also on April 29, three Wilson seniors – Lindsey Sutton, Allison Strayer and Alexis Ankro – will host a capstone exhibition of their artwork in Wilson’s Bogigian Gallery. The exhibition will continue through May 15.
Wilson’s Student Research Day will conclude with the annual Academic Awards presentation at 6 p.m. in the Brooks auditorium.
Student Research Day at Wilson was founded in 2010 as a way to recognize and celebrate the research, scholarship and creative activities of students and their faculty mentors. For more information, visit www.wilson.edu/student-research-day.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 14, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Bestselling author, life coach and Emmy-winning daytime television celebrity Rhonda Britten will speak at Wilson College at noon and 7 p.m. Friday, April 22, in Thomson Hall’s Alumnae Chapel. Her 90-minute presentations, which are free and open to the public, will be based on her book, Fearless Living.
Dubbed “America’s Favorite Life Coach” by TV Guide, Britten is founder of the Fearless Living Institute and has devoted her life to teaching people how to overcome fear. She hosted the TV show, Help Me Rhonda, before becoming part of the NBC’s hit reality show, Starting Over. A frequent guest on Oprah, Britten is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has been a frequent TedX speaker.
Her other books include Change Your Life in 30 Days, Fearless Loving and Do I Look Fat in This?
Britten will sign copies of her books – several of which will be available at the college bookstore – after the presentations, which are sponsored by the student-led Wilson College Government Association (WCGA) and Wilson’s human resources office.
For more information about Britten and her work, visit www.FearlessLoving.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kerry Salmi, WCGA president Phone: 717-300-0743 Email: kerry.salmi@wilson.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 12, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Three Wilson College seniors — Alexis Ankro of Tappan, N.Y.; Allison Strayer of Carlisle and Lindsey Sutton of Greencastle — will host a capstone exhibition of their art from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, at the historic High Line Train Station on South Jefferson Street in Greencastle.
In addition to the exhibition at High Line, selections from the students’ bodies of work will be shown in Wilson’s Bogigian Gallery from April 28 to May 15. A reception for the artists will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28, in the gallery.
Ankro is majoring in studio art, with an interest in animation. For her capstone project, she created Balloons, an animated short story of a robot’s distracted journey home after retrieving a bundle of balloons. Originally conceived as a traditional, hand-drawn, animated short, Balloons was converted to computer-generated animation through the use of state-of-the-art software.
Strayer is a graphic media major and a photographer. Her area of concentration combines graphic design with mass communications. Her capstone project is a carefully developed, web-based portfolio constructed by hand, which incorporates her knowledge of HTML5, CSS3 and Adobe Dreamweaver software. Her intention is to make her portfolio accessible to potential clients with the hope that her style, intuition and training will fit their needs.
Sutton is majoring in studio art, with a concentration in painting. Her series of paintings explores moments — obvious or not — where bonds are strengthened and happy memories are made. Her hope is to show that quality of life can be improved if the positive aspects of a relationship are given time to grow and mature.
All three students will present their scholarship in brief talks during Wilson’s annual Student Research Day on Friday, April 29.
The Bogigian Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free. For additional information or an appointment, contact Professor of Fine Arts Philip Lindsey at 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305, or philip.lindsey@wilson.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT: Philip Lindsey, Professor of Fine Arts Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305 Email: philip.lindsey@wilson.edu
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 29 majors and seven master’s degrees. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation. Located in Chambersburg, Pa., the college had a fall 2015 enrollment of 923, which includes students from 22 states and 16 countries. Visit www.wilson.edu for more information.
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College recently launched its seventh graduate program, a Master of Science in Management geared toward managers of diverse organizations in the areas of project and program management, accounting, supply chain management, logistics and Lean Six Sigma, a business management model focused on eliminating inefficiencies and improving quality.
The management degree would benefit those working in a variety of employment sectors, such as business, industry, government and the military, according to Wilson Vice President for Academic Affairs Elissa Heil.
“A Master of Science in Management provides someone with the advantage of having the knowledge and skills to advance their organization in leadership, operations management and efficiency,” said Heil. “We were rigorously selective in our areas of emphasis, each of which is in high demand right now with employers.”
The M.S. in management is being offered online, using a dynamic videoconferencing technology called ZOOM that allows for real-time interaction between students and faculty. Students can speak to one another, engage with the instructor and share examples of their work in a virtual face-to-face classroom environment.
“The use of ZOOM technology differentiates Wilson’s program from other institutions, where taking an online course can be similar to a correspondence course,” Heil said. “We’re excited to be able to offer such a rich, interactive delivery system.”
Wilson will offer two courses per nine-week term, with five terms offered per year. A student taking the full load of courses could complete the master’s degree in as little as 14 months, according Heil.
In designing the program, Wilson’s business and economics faculty developed a degree in management or administration with a strong focus on preparing organizations to survive the demands of a growing, competitive global economy by targeting innovative and successful management practices.
The curriculum is centered on a core group of courses with various tracks that students can pursue, based on their undergraduate and work experiences, as well as their desired career paths, providing program content that differentiates Wilson’s program from traditional management and administration programs by:
Focusing on organizational sustainability and meeting the requirements of evolving global economic pressures; namely cost, quality and access; and providing specific strategies for diverse organizations to financially survive with growing global competition.
Providing a common core of required courses supplemented by electives that can be customized to meet student and employer needs. The electives may be taken from a single area of emphasis or across several areas of emphasis, enabling students to complement their prior education and work experience or prepare them for a new career path.
Providing courses not normally found in traditional management or administration programs, such as processre-engineering and Lean Six Sigma.
Allowing an organization enrolling employees to request that specific material be covered in the program, and developing a customized course or courses to meet their needs.
Wilson’s Board of Trustees approved the M.S. in management in late February. It complements six other master’s programs offered by the college, including the fairly new master’s degree in healthcare management for sustainability, as well as graduate degrees in education, humanities, fine arts, nursing and accounting.
For more information about the master’s degree in management, visit www.wilsoncollegeonline.com or contact the Wilson College Office of Admissions at 800-421-8402 or admissions@wilson.edu.
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 31 majors and seven master’s degrees. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
