FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 8, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Two organizations recently approved grants for Wilson College totaling $12,500 to be used for scholarships.
The college was granted $10,000 from the Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) to provide $2,500 scholarships to four students studying one of the college’s equine-related majors, which include animal studies, veterinary medical technology, equestrian studies and equine-facilitated therapeutics.
TERF, which awarded Wilson an additional $5,000 scholarship grant earlier this year, is a Delaware-based charitable organization that provides funding for equine education and research, as well as helping fund care for thoroughbred horses after their racing careers have ended.
The college also received a $2,500 grant from The M&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of M&T Bank, to fund a scholarship for a student with financial need who is enrolled in one of Wilson’s health sciences majors, with preference given to a nursing student. The foundation “strives to strengthen communities by providing support for a diverse range of civic, cultural, health and human service organizations,” according to its website.
M&T, based in Buffalo, N.Y., has supported Wilson College in the past through scholarship funding and contributing to an outdoor learning pavilion at the college’s organic farm.
MEDIA CONTACT: Margaret Light, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations Phone: 717-262-2010, Ext. 3179 Email: margaret.light@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 master’s degrees in education, the humanities, accountancy, nursing, fine arts and healthcare management for sustainability. 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 | June 3, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College will host a “Community Adventure in Healthy Eating” again this year, kicking off with a lecture and dinner at the college on Tuesday, June 14. The program is a 28-day, heart-healthy, plant-strong diet program based on the one introduced by Austin firefighter Rip Esselstyn in his bestselling book, The Engine 2 Diet.
The program will begin at 6 p.m. in Wilson’s Brooks Science Center with Mercersburg physician Elizabeth George presenting the results of Dr. Esselstyn’s life-changing work with his cardiology patients and speaking on the topic, “A Research-Based Revolution in Healthy Eating.” The lecture is free.
At 7:15 p.m., a plant-based dinner featuring produce from Wilson’s own Fulton Farm will be served in college dining hall. Tickets for the dinner are $15 and can be purchased online by visiting www.healthyeatingadventure.org and clicking on the registration link, or by calling Wilson’s Fulton Center for Sustainable Living Director Chris Mayer at 717-264-4141, Ext. 3247.
People who participate in the healthy eating program will have a coach and the support of a series of weekly potluck dinners where they will share dishes based on the Esselstyn diet. A how-to “kitchen makeover” session will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 21 in Wilson’s Sarah’s Coffeehouse, followed by weekly potluck dinners to be held at 6:30 p.m. June 28 and July 5 at Fulton Farm pavilion and July 12 in Sarah’s Coffeehouse. A final celebration dinner will be held at 6 p.m. July 19 in the college dining hall.
The program is sponsored by the Fulton Center, Penn National Golf Course Community and Mercersburg Area Council for Wellness.
MEDIA CONTACT: Chris Mayer, Fulton Center for Sustainable Living Director Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3247 Email: christine.mayer@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.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 12, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College has received a $5,200 grant from the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Trees for Tomorrow program to plant native trees in the plaza outside the college’s new library learning commons.
The tree-planting is part of the college’s current project to build a landscaped academic quad between the learning commons area and the Brooks Science Center. The trees – which include honeylocust, hawthorn, dogwood, black gum and several types of oaks – are being planted by DM Landscaping, a subcontractor to R.S. Mowery & Sons, and will be maintained by Wilson’s groundskeeping staff.
In April 2014, the college was part of a joint initiative between the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the Franklin County Commissioners to plant 300 trees and shrubs throughout the county. Volunteers for that project planted trees on the riparian buffer along the Conococheague Creek on campus.
Since 2013, the Trees for Tomorrow program has helped plant nearly 4,000 trees in Franklin County. Financial and technical support offered through the program has enabled local governments and organizations to execute tree-planting projects countywide, ranging from urban tree installations to large-scale volunteer tree plantings to tree care and maintenance. These new trees help manage stormwater, improve water quality and create wildlife habitat.
MEDIA CONTACT: Cathy Mentzer, Manager of Media Relations Phone: 717-262-2604 Email: cathy.mentzer@wilson.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 24, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation has awarded Wilson College a $27,000 grant to support students age 25 and older who are pursuing a bachelor’s degree and need financial assistance.
This marks the 30th year that the Newcombe Foundation, a Princeton, N.J.-based charitable organization founded in 1979 to support students seeking college degrees, has supported mature students at Wilson College. This year’s grant will be split into two funds: $20,000 for the Newcombe Scholarships for Mature Students program and a $7,000 endowment challenge grant for the Charlotte W. Newcombe Endowed Scholarship Fund, which helps to maintain scholarships in the future.
Wilson, which matches the awards on a one-to-one basis, enrolls students age 25 and above through two programs: the Single Parent Scholars (formerly Women with Children) program and the adult degree program.
The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation is an independent foundation that began in 1979 as the result of a bequest from its namesake, a Philadelphia philanthropist. The foundation continues Newcombe’s support of students as they pursue degrees in higher education through scholarships and fellowships.
MEDIA CONTACT: Margaret Light, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3179 Email: margaret.light@wilson.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 11, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles, great-great-granddaughter and biographer of African-American icon Madam C.J. Walker, will address the graduating class at Wilson College’s 146th annual commencement ceremony, to be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 15.
Bundles, who will receive an honorary degree from the college, will deliver an address entitled “Strategy, Service and Serendipity: Mapping a Life that Matters.”
This year, approximately 74 students will receive bachelor’s and associate degrees during Wilson’s commencement ceremony, which will be held outside on the college’s main green. (In case of rain, the ceremony will be held in Laird Hall.) In addition, approximately 29 graduates of Wilson’s master’s degree programs in education, accountancy and the humanities will receive their degrees and another 36 certificates will be granted to college graduates who are completing the teacher intern program at Wilson.
A baccalaureate service will be held at 10 a.m. in Alumnae Chapel at Thomson Hall.
Bundles had a 30-year career as an executive and producer in network television news, including serving as deputy bureau chief of ABC News in Washington and as a producer with ABC’s “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.” She is chair and president of the National Archives Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization that increases public awareness of the National Archives. Bundles is currently at work on her fourth book, The Joy Goddess of Harlem: The Life and Times of A’Lelia Walker, a biography of her great-grandmother. Her previous books about her great-great-grandmother, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, Madam C. J. Walker: Entrepreneur and Madam Walker Theater Center: An Indianapolis Treasure have received a number of awards, including the New York Times’ Notable Book award and the Letitia Woods Brown Book Prize.
Bundles, who lives in Washington, D.C., graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and Radcliffe College, and received a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and an honorary doctorate from Indiana University. She is a member of the Alpha Iota Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Harvard College and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 9, 2016
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College honored students and faculty members at its annual Academic Awards ceremony held Friday, April 29, in the Harry R. Brooks Complex for Science, Mathematics and Technology.
The following students and faculty received awards:
Brenda Ashton Aiken and Robert McCutchen Aiken Study-Abroad Scholarship, which is awarded to a full-time fine arts student to supplement travel, living and education expenses for study abroad in Italy, was given to Lindsey Sutton of Greencastle, Pa. Sutton also received the Davison Greenawalt Grove Award for a student participating in research in physical and life sciences.
Edward and Sarah Anderson Psychology Prize, given to a graduating senior for outstanding scholarship in the discipline of psychology, was awarded to Charlotte Flood of Mercersburg, Pa.
James Applegate Award, which is awarded to a student with an interest in drama and theater, went to two students: Marybeth Richards of Chambersburg and Breana Park of Mountain View, Calif.
Lucy Bremmer Global Citizenship Award, awarded to a student who participates in the service learning component of Wilson’s global citizenship initiative, was given to Netha Kane of Chambersburg and Aurora Ortiz of Dallastown, Pa. Kane also received the William P. Van Looy Business Prize, mentioned below.
Alice Martin Brumbaugh Award in Sociology, which is given to a female student who has entered the college at a non-traditional age and shows a special interest and/or outstanding promise in the field of sociology, was awarded to Diane Lewis of Chambersburg.
CRC Press General Chemistry Achievement Award was given to Kirstin Lehman of Coopersburg, Pa.
Marel Harlow Cheng Memorial Prize, awarded to a student who has done well in international studies or has made some noticeable contributions to international understanding, went to Christina Gonzalez of Santa Barbara, Calif. and Krista DeWald of Fairfax, Va. DeWald also received the Dorle Haas Memorial Prize, awarded to a senior for outstanding service within the greater Chambersburg area; and the Helga Rist Prize mentioned below.
Margaret Criswell Disert Honors Scholarship, given to a rising senior who has, in the judgment of the selection committee, submitted the proposal for senior advanced study and research considered most worthy of support, was awarded to Anna Harutyunyan of Armenia. Harutyunyan also received the E. Grace White Summer Scholarship awarded to outstanding juniors in biology for use at approved laboratories.
Estep-Lawson Memorial Prize, awarded to a student in lower-level French who demonstrates excellence and shows future promise in French studies, went to Kyleen Wolfe of Grantville, Pa.
Mildred Franklin Prize, given to a senior for excellence in classical languages, was awarded to Chelsea Kessler of Freeburg, Pa.
Donna Gomer VMT ADP award for an adult degree student displaying excellence in the study of veterinary medical technology went to Melissa Beck of Chambersburg.
Margaret Strode Haines Award, which recognizes a student with outstanding qualities of scholarship, interest in the humanities and strength of body, mind and spirit, was given to Ghada Tafesh of the Palestinian Territories. Tafesh also received the E. Grace White Prize, awarded to a senior whose major field is biology or biochemistry, and who has demonstrated outstanding achievement and plans a career involving the biological sciences.
Gloria Randle Scott-Frances Richards Hesselbein Prize, awarded to the senior who has demonstrated outstanding volunteer service during their four years at Wilson College, was given to Katelyn Wingerd of Orrtanna, Pa. Wingerd also received the Catherine Herr Langdon Award, given to a senior who has demonstrated academic excellence and has given encouragement and guidance to fellow students during the year. In addition, Wingerd was awarded the Helga Rist Prize, given to a dedicated, successful, American Wilson College foreign language student who has demonstrated integrity, promise and potential; and the Wilson College Education Award, mentioned below.
Joanne Harrison Hopkins Literary Achievement Award, given for the finest piece of imaginative literature in fiction, poetry or drama produced during the academic year, went to Lauren Hampton of Lancaster, Pa.
Josef Michael Kellinger German or Foreign Language Award for a student who has demonstrated excellence in German or foreign language studies was given to Stephanie Marshall of Keene, N.H.
Mary-Eleanor Maule Travel Grant, awarded to graduating seniors or students entering their junior or senior years for travel planned in support of study in Spanish, was given to Dasia Edwards of Waldorf, Md.
Robert Shannon McElwain Prize, awarded to the best student in mathematics, went to Amisha Rijal of Nepal.
Helen Adams Nutting History Prize, awarded to a member of the junior or senior class who has demonstrated outstanding ability in the field of history, went to Kerry Salmi of Chambersburg.
Organic Chemistry Award, given to the student in organic chemistry who earned the highest grades for the year, went to Gaser Ahmed of Chambersburg. Ahmed also received the E. Grace White Summer Scholarship awarded to outstanding juniors in biology for use at approved laboratories.
Outstanding Peer Teacher Award, given to honor exemplary service as a First-Year Seminar peer teacher for the year, went to Lily Rembold of Franklin, Pa.
Nicky Hoffman Reich Award, given to the student whose work with animals shows commitment to humane treatment, was awarded to Eileen Antrobus of Chambersburg.John D. Rose Award in Environmental Studies, given to an outstanding junior majoring in environmental studies or biology to fund a summer research project or internship, went to two students: Tracy Dile ’18 of Shippensburg, Pa., and Vanessa Lybarger of Bedford, Pa.
William and Ivy Saylor Prize, established through the Academy of American Poets to support young poets at colleges nationwide, was awarded to Patrick Fox of Chambersburg.
Grace Tyson Schlichter Award in Communications, which is given to a senior who has shown general academic excellence and outstanding promise for a career in a field of communications, was given to Lesley Eichelberger of Chambersburg.
Mary Beers Sheppard Prize, awarded to the member of the senior class who has shown the keenest understanding and appreciation of literature, was given to Jennifer Dodds of Hagerstown, Md.
Joan M. Thuebel ’52 Earthwatch Prize, which sponsors a Wilson student or faculty member to participate in an Earthwatch Institute project of his or her choosing, was awarded to Professor John Elia of Chambersburg.
William P. Van Looy Business Prize, awarded to the junior or senior business and economics major who has demonstrated excellence in business studies and in service to the well-being of both the Wilson College community and larger community, went to two students: Nicole Brown of Glen Burnie, Md., and Netha Kane of Chambersburg.
Wilson College Education Award is awarded to one elementary education major and a student preparing for teacher certification in a secondary school level who have shown outstanding achievement in both their academic studies and in their professional preparation. Meleah Hopkins of Chambersburg won the secondary award and Katelyn Wingerd of Orrtanna, Pa., received the early childhood award.
Wilson Equestrienne Award, given to a graduating senior who has excelled in academics and equitation, went to Alyssa Arnold of York, Pa.
Carolyn Zeleny Prize, which goes to a sociology student in the junior or senior class on the basis of academic excellence and/or community service, went to Charlotte Flood of Mercersburg, Pa.
Wilson College Scholar Athletes, those who have maintained a grade-point average of 3.4 or higher and participated in at least one Wilson varsity athletic team, are: Nicole Bodulow of Perkasie, Pa.; Lily Rembold of Franklin, Pa.; Katelyn Wingerd of Orrtanna, Pa.; Marquise Beckett of Randallstown, Md.; Kallie Butts and Kayla Butts, both of Pasadena, Md.; Taylor Crouse of Orrtanna, Pa.; Kristyn Fogg of Virginia Beach, Va.; Amanda Haase of Culpeper, Va.; Ashley Horn of Fredericksburg, Va.; Jennifer Patton of Greencastle, Pa.; and Erin Stephan of Gettysburg, Pa.
In addition, several faculty members were honored. Longtime Professor of Dance Paula Kellinger, who is retiring at the end of the academic year, received a special award. And the following faulty members received the Donald Bletz Award for Excellence in Teaching: senior faculty award, David True, associate professor of religion; junior faculty award, Steven Schmidt, assistant professor of psychology; and adjunct faculty award, Kimberly Maske-Mertz, adjunct instructor of English and communications, and Robin Herring, adjunct instructor of communications.
For more information, contact Wilson College Manager of Media Relations Cathy Mentzer at 717-262-2604 or cathy.mentzer@wilson.edu.
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 29 majors and master’s degrees in education, the humanities, accountancy and nursing. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
Located in Chambersburg, Pa., the college has a spring 2015 enrollment of 805, which includes students from 17 states and 14 countries. Visit www.wilson.edu for more information.
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
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.
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.”
