December 2019

The University of Scranton recognized students and their high school teachers, who they credit for contributing to their success, with Rose Kelly Awards at a ceremony held recently on campus.

The Rose Kelly Award was established by University of Scranton alumnus Joseph Wineburgh, Ph.D., to link the efforts of educators to the achievements of college students. The award is presented jointly to a student in each of the University’s colleges who has completed two years at Scranton and to the teacher whom he or she recognizes as having a great impact in his or her life. Students are selected based on exemplary achievement in both academics and general campus involvement.

Charles Kulick, Pittston, received the Rose Kelly Award for the College of Arts and Sciences. He honored Patrick Clemens, his teacher from Scranton Preparatory School.

Jeffrey Colucci, Mahwah, New Jersey, received the Rose Kelly Award for the Kania School of Management. He honored Eileen Fay, his teacher from Mahwah High School.

Diana Valentina Mesa, Miami, Florida, received the Rose Kelly Award for the Panuska College of Professional Studies. She honored Miriam Smith, her teacher Mesa from Saint Brendan High School.

Frank O’Hara medals were given University of Scranton students with the highest grade-point averages in their first-, second- and third-year in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Kania School of Management and the Panuska College of Professional Studies for the 2018-19 academic year. The awards, named in honor of the late Frank O’Hara who served the University for 53 years in various administrative positions, were presented at a ceremony held recently on campus.

College of Arts and Sciences

Nicolette George, Denville, New Jersey, received a medal for academic achievement for her freshman year. A dean’s list student at Scranton, she is currently a sophomore majoring in physiology. She is a graduate of Morris Knolls High School.

Sarah White, Brooklyn, New York, received a medal for academic achievement for her sophomore year. A recipient of the University’s full-tuition Presidential Scholarship, she is currently a junior majoring in biology with a mathematics minor. She is also member of the Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program and the Magis Honors Program in STEM. Additionally, White serves as a tutor in the University’s Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) and is currently involved in interdisciplinary research. She is also the community service chair of the Royal Signers, the secretary of the Irish Cultural Society, the chair of Relay for Life’s team development committee and a member of knitting club. She will lead a domestic service trip to the Appalachian Region of Kentucky in March.

Anna Maria Giblin, Berwyn, received a medal for academic achievement for her junior year. She is currently a senior majoring in history with a philosophy minor and legal studies concentration. She is a member of the Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society and the Pre-Law Society. She tutors in the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. She has also completed internships at Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman and Goggin. She plans to attend law school after graduation.

Kania School of Management

 Philip Cocco, Pittston, received a medal for academic achievement for his freshman year. He is currently a sophomore majoring in finance and is also a member of the Kania School of Management Business Honors Program, where he serves as president of the Business Honors Club. He participates in the University’s Track and Field Team as a shot put thrower.

Nicole Cavanaugh, Dallas, received a medal for academic achievement for her sophomore year. She is currently a junior majoring in accounting. A member of the Business Leadership Honors Program, Cavanaugh also serves as a tutor in CTLE, participates in clubs such as Kania Women in Business and the Society of Accounting Students and owns an art business. She plans to obtain her CPA license and earn a master’s in business administration.

Abbey Murphy, Mountain Top, received a medal for academic achievement for her junior year. She is currently a senior majoring in accounting with a minor in theology. A member of the Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Program and the undergraduate Honors Program, Murphy serves as a Resident Assistant in Condron Hall and has done internships with Guard Insurance and Snyder and Clemente. She is pursuing research with Andrew LaZella, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy.

Panuska College of Professional Studies

Alexandra Benadon, Hillsborough, New Jersey, received a medal for academic achievement for her freshman year. She is currently a sophomore majoring in human resources with a double minor in business and finance. She received athletic honors in field hockey, including All Landmark Conference Second Team and ZAG Field Hockey/NFHCA Division III Scholar of Distinction. She participates in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Society for Human Resource Management. She also volunteered this past summer as an Orientation Assistant at the University.

Emily Campo, Haddonfield, New Jersey, received a medal for academic achievement for her sophomore year. She is currently a junior majoring in occupational therapy. Last year, she received an O’Hara award for her freshman academic year. She is a member of the Student Occupational Therapy Association and the Helping Professions Residential Learning Community. She has volunteered with several organizations, including the Arc of Northeastern Pennsylvania, and currently serves as a teaching assistant in kinesiology. She is also a member of the Royal Signers and secretary of the Knitting Club. 

Madison Heaton, Medford, New Jersey, received a medal for academic achievement for her junior year. A recipient of the University’s full-tuition Presidential Scholarship, she is currently a senior occupational therapy major who is also pursuing minors in psychology and human services as well as a concentration in human development. She was the recipient of the O’Hara Award for her sophomore academic year. She served an orientation assistant and participated in the Scranton Emerging Leaders program. She is the president of Royal Signers and the Knitting Club, a member of Student Occupational Therapy Association and a certified yoga instructor. An active volunteer, she is also a member of Beading Hope and Autism Speaks U and is current a Resident Assistant in upperclassmen housing.

College of Arts and Sciences (above) From left: Brian Conniff, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and recipients of the Frank O’Hara medals from the College of Arts and Sciences: Anna Maria Giblin, Nicolette George and Sarah White.

Panuska College of Professional Studies (above) From left: Victoria Castellanos, Ph.D., associate dean of the Panuska College of Professional Studies, and recipients of the Frank O’Hara medals from the Panuska College of Professional Studies: Emily Campo, Madison Heaton and Alexandra Benadon.

The University of Scranton Programming Board (USPB) held its annual Tuition Raffle throughout the Fall 2019 semester, with the final drawing occurring at USPB’s Christmas on the Commons event on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019.

The recipient this year is Connell Kennedy from Jefferson Valley, New York, and a graduate of Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak, New York. He is a member of the Class of 2022 and is a finance major in the Kania School of Management. On campus, he has been involved with PRISM club, the Irish Cultural Society, and has participated in the Street Sweet service project sponsored by Student Government.

This annual Tuition Raffle is an opportunity for students and families to win a reimbursement of tuition for a full time student up to the amount of $22,695.00, which is applied to the spring 2020 term. In order to participate, a student must be currently enrolled as a full-time undergraduate at The University of Scranton. 

The Tuition Raffle greatly helps in deferring the cost of programming events for the senior Class of 2020, including Senior Week activities. While the University provides a portion of funds for campus-wide programming, it does not fully cover senior class programming. Therefore, this raffle is the Senior Programming Committee’s main source of funding for the entire academic year and all senior events. 

Mission Statement: 

The University of Scranton Programming Board (USPB) is a student-run organization with the purpose of sponsoring social, cultural, educational, and recreational events at The University of Scranton. We strive to make all of our programs accessible and enjoyable for the campus community. The students involved in USPB will gain valuable leadership experience and learn more about programming and the implementation of both small and large-scale events. Each year, we plan over 50 events as “men & women for and with others” that are open to university students, faculty and staff, and most of which are free.

For more information, please visit The University of Scranton Programming Board at www.scranton.edu/cse. For more information, contact USPB at (570) 941-6233 or email uspb@scranton.edu.

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Two majors at Scranton – criminal justice and history – have seen the number of incoming students triple in the past three years for the same reasons: cogent explanations of career employment opportunities following graduation; having an engaging faculty and providing appealing courses.

“Parents want to see routes to employment and they have heard about new technology-based programs in criminal justice,” said James Roberts, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice and Criminology. “We are still just as good as we have always been with the traditional criminal justice career areas of police, courts and corrections. We have been blessed to build off what we already had into new areas of crime analysis. Police departments and private sector firms are recruiting for positions in cyber security and crime analysis and the salaries are quite good – some start in the range of $70,000 or $80,000.”

The number of incoming Scranton students declaring a major in criminal justice increased from 13 in 2017-18 to 39 in 2019-20.

The increase in history majors at Scranton is bucking the national trend. According to surveys by the American Historical Association, overall enrollments in history courses have declined by nearly 8 percent from 2013-14 to 2016-17, before stabilizing. Scranton has seen the number of incoming students declaring history as their first major rise from a low of 5 in 2017-18 to 16 in 2019-20. The total number of history majors, which includes those who have changed their major as well those who declare history as a second major, also increased from 48 to 62 during the same period.

David J. Dzurec III, Ph.D., professor and chair of the History Department at Scranton, said parents often ask what their son and daughter can do with a degree in history and are “dubious” when he tells them “anything they want.” However, he then provides them with examples of recent graduates who have gone onto to medical school, business and consulting firms in addition to all of the graduates who have gone to law school. The concrete examples of success in a wide range of fields win over many of the skeptical parents.

According to Dr. Dzurec, another factor contributing to the increase is the department’s enrollment is the “exceptional faculty” who he noted are accessible and “engaged with our students.” The University’s Jesuit education requires all students to take courses in the humanities, which “allows us access to students, and when we get them in the classroom they really begin to understand how much fun history can be,” said Dr. Dzurec. “So even if a student doesn’t come in as a history major, by the time that class graduates, the number of history majors has grown exponentially.”

Dr. Roberts also credits the faculty for the growth of the major. Their expertise allowed for the development of new content in the areas of cybercrime and crime analysis. The department opened in 2017 the Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Crime, which provides a vehicle for developing partnerships with local and regional criminal justice and social service agencies to use faculty expertise and state-of-the-art technology and techniques for the sophisticated analysis of data to more efficiently utilize resources or to evaluate of the effectiveness of programming. The center also offers a Student Analyst Program, which allows students to work directly with criminal justice agencies and faculty on research, data collection and analysis.

“Our faculty are highly trained, professionally active, publishing and are at the top of their fields. All are doing research and taking students under their wings, giving them practical experience as undergraduates through the center,” said Dr. Roberts.

Dr. Dzurec and Dr. Roberts also credited new courses for an increase in interest in their fields. Criminal justice developed new courses crime analysis and cybercrime. Travel courses to Italy, Germany and England offered in history have been very popular, as has an “Indigenous Peoples of America” course that took students to the Navajo nation in Arizona. Also popular is a “Disney’s American History” course that examines the accuracy of Disney movie portrayals of historical figures and concludes with a trip to Disney World in Florida.

In addition, both say Scranton’s recent 3+3 programs with Boston College, Duquesne, Penn State and Villanova law schools have interested students who wish to pursue law degrees after graduation. They also credit the support their departments have received from the University as a contributing factor as well.

In early November, nearly 50 students participated in a Search Retreat, a weekend of talks, personal reflection, and small and large group activities focused on these questions: Who am I? Who is God in my life? Who do I want to be? How do my relationships with others lead me closer to or further from God?

A team of 10 upper-class students train for about 30 hours, reflecting on topics for student-led talks, praying together, and learning to lead small group reflection. There are three retreats each year, and the community gathers monthly for renewals. Retreat alumni conduct a continuous prayer vigil during the retreat so that each hour a different person is praying for the retreatants. Student alumni also return to Chapman Lake to serve meals during the retreat. 

“I think it’s impossible to really get to know someone and not love them. And Search creates the perfect environment for understanding that,” said Colleen Rohr '20, a Search team leader.

The Search Retreat began at The University of Scranton in 1984 under the leadership of Fr. Bill Gavin, S.J. and was taken over by Fr. Joe Simmons, S.J. until 1993. 

Cathy Seymour ‘90 went on Search 10 as a student and has directed the Search Retreats since 1993.

“It has been a privilege to accompany so many students on the Search Retreats.  It’s especially meaningful to be able to work these days with some of the children of my own classmates," said Seymour.

The November 2019 retreat was the 89^th Search Retreat at the University, and the Search community is strong. More than 2,900 students have participated over the last 35 years.