Community News

High school students from around the region competed in the 25th annual Northeastern Pennsylvania Brain Bee, an academic competition designed to inspire an interest in neuroscience. The event was held Saturday, Feb. 21, at the PNC Auditorium inside the Loyola Science Center.

Among the participants was the winner Muyan Liu, a junior from Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia. Liu’s victory advanced her to the National Brain Bee that will be held Saturday, April 25, at the University of California, Irvine. She also received a $1,000 scholarship to The University of Scranton, if she attends the University, and a cash prize.

“Most people take biology in high school. Maybe they’ve had psychology, but generally, they don’t have neuroscience,” Robert F. Waldeck, Ph.D., director of the neuroscience program at Scranton and the NEPA Brain Bee coordinator, told the Times Leader. “So it seems like a really complicated topic and they don’t really know much about it, because they don’t know anybody doing it.”

Dr. Waldeck explained that’s where an event like the NEPA Brain Bee proves useful, as it is a competitive, fun and informal way of expanding one’s knowledge on the topic.

For additional coverage, please visit the Times Leader, WNEP and Fox56.

Additionally, the Scranton Brain and Behavior Conference is fast approaching on Saturday, April 18. For more information, please visit the conference’s website.

The University of Scranton welcomed aspiring authors, filmmakers, researchers and historians to campus on Saturday, Feb. 28, as part of a regional National History Day (NHD) competition.

The University’s DeNaples Center opened its doors to 60 students from Bedford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan and Wayne counties. Participants competed across five categories — documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances and websites — in Junior (Grades 6-8) and Senior (Grades 9-12) divisions. Submitted projects aligned with this year’s theme “Revolution, Reaction and Reform.”

Wyalusing Senior High School was Best School, Senior Division, while Harlan Rowe Middle School won Best School, Junior Division.

The event served as the Pennsylvania Region 2 contest, setting the stage for the upcoming Pennsylvania State Finals, which will also be hosted at the University. The state championship will be held April 25-26.

NHD is a nonprofit education organization, established in 1974 and dedicated the improving the teaching and learning of history.

For more information, visit the National History Day page on the University’s website. If you have any questions about the regional or state competition, please contact Sean Brennan, Ph.D., professor of history, at sean.brennan@scranton.edu.

The University of Scranton’s University of Success, a four-year, pre-college mentorship program, is now accepting applications for the upcoming 2026 academic year that begins this summer. It is open to students currently in eighth grade.

The University of Success is an academic, social and cultural enrichment program funded entirely by corporate and foundations grants, so there is no charge to students and their families. The program's goal is to assist first-generation, college-bound students to successfully complete high school and gain entrance into a college or university. Last year's freshman class included students who's graduated eighth grade from All Saints Academy, Northeast Intermediate School, North Pocono Intermediate School, West Scranton Intermediate School, South Scranton Intermediate School, Riverside Junior High School, Carbondale Area Junior High School, Abington Heights Middle School and Dunmore Junior High School.

Accepted students will begin the program with a residential summer academy, which will be held at The University of Scranton's campus from Sunday, July 12, to Tuesday, July 21. Upon completing the summer program students will continue to meet for enrichment sessions throughout their high school career.

The deadline for submission of applications is Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

Applications may be obtained by emailing Margaret Loughney, University of Success program director, at margaret.loughney@scranton.edu. Applications may also be obtained online at the University of Success website.

As The University of Scranton approaches its 140-year anniversary, it has released a new roadmap designed to empower the institution to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of today and those that lie ahead.

“Strategic Plan 2030: Forging Our Future” is built around four goals: a future-oriented enrollment strategy; student success and retention; next-generation learning and innovation; and organizational effectiveness. The execution of these four goals will ensure sustainability, innovation, student success and long-term institutional strength. The steps to achieving these goals — along with supporting objectives and more detailed outcomes — are laid out in a newly launched webpage on the University’s website.

The Strategic Plan has and will continue to engage offices and departments throughout campus as a collaborative, institution-wide effort. While areas of the University will advance the plan’s goals according to their own expertise and operations, the Strategic Plan is universally rooted in a commitment to the University’s mission, vision and values.

“Our work is grounded in a mission that calls us to not only maintain the University, but to nurture and strengthen it,” Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., University president, said in a campus-wide email announcing the Strategic Plan. “Together, we will advance this shared responsibility, moving forward with a readiness to meet change, to embrace innovation and to shape students who will lead productive lives with integrity.” 

$content.getChild('content').textValue

The Strategic Plan’s cooperative effort was spearheaded by Tracy M. Stewart, Ph.D., interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, and Kate Yerkes, assistant provost for planning and institutional effectiveness. The Plan is the product of a year’s worth of research and analysis led by the Provost’s Office and informed by campus-wide input.

It is the University’s first such planning document since “Our Core, Our Community, Our Commitment” was released in 2020.

“It is common practice for institutions like ours to create and refresh strategic plans every few years,” Father Marina said. “The preparation of this Strategic Plan, however, was not merely an administrative task. It was a necessary act of stewardship led by the representative University Planning Committee. I am deeply thankful to the committee members and all faculty, staff, students and trustees who shared their thoughtful input, insight and wisdom as part of a University-wide discernment process.”

The Strategic Plan will be implemented through the University’s integrated planning and institutional effectiveness model, which will allow the University to track progress and illustrate the work being done. The initial stages of implementation will include the establishment of team leads and priorities, divisional planning and self-study assessments. Execution of the Plan will continue through 2029 and into 2030.

The multi-level planning and execution of the Strategic Plan, which transcends academic departments, administrative divisions and student-facing units, will be aligned with the University’s Jesuit values. Cura personalis (care of each individual and our campus community) and cura apostolica (care of our institution and its resources) are among the prime influences.

The University of Scranton is a Catholic and Jesuit university with 70 majors across the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, the Kania School of Management and the Leahy College of Health Sciences, as well as 40-plus graduate programs tailored for part-time and full-time students. The Wall Street Journal recently touted the value of a Scranton degree, as the University ranks highly and is trending positively in categories related to return on investment. Recent graduates have exceeded national benchmarks in achieving successful, post-graduation outcomes. Forbes, U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review have also selected Scranton as one of the nation’s best colleges.

For more information, please visit “Strategic Plan 2030: Forging Our Future” on the University’s website.

$content.getChild('content').textValue

 The Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL) announces the third cohort of the CBL Student Fellows Program. CBL is an academic experience that involves students working with community partners — individuals, groups and local organizations — in ways that meet community-defined needs. The Student Fellowship Program aims to foster the professional and personal growth of students who are pursuing a CBL project alongside a faculty mentor. 

Projects focus on a plethora of areas and interests such as exploring the benefits and limitations of AI use in English Language instruction, understanding the lived experiences of women and their healthcare needs, coordinating a career exploration workshop for youth in Scranton, assessing food insecurity in Scranton through program assessment and client experience, early language and literacy development for preschool children and identifying gaps in access to pet healthcare services and providing educational resources to pet owners in Scranton. 

All projects are in collaboration with community partners and aim to improve or expand the services they provide. The fellowship program will run throughout the spring semester.   

The Spring 2026 CBL Student Fellows are listed below, including their involvement and a description of each intended project.     

Lauren DeSantis ’26  

Lauren DeSantis ‘26 is a senior from Copiague, New York, in the College of Arts and Sciences studying  English and philosophy. Her project focuses on understanding how free, accessible AI tools can support English Language Learning (ELL) instructors. The project centers on educator perspectives on the benefits and limitations of AI use in real classrooms. 

By grounding her research in the lived realities of local instructors, the project aims to identify tools that are  innovative and culturally responsive, and practical while considering the community’s existing resources. DeSantis seeks to offer a free training workshop to give instructors hands-on exposure to AI tools they choose to incorporate into their teaching. This project moves to inform broader conversations among educators, community organizations and institutions in the local Scranton community about how emerging technologies can be utilized responsibly to support language learning.  

  

Jessica Ely '26 

Jessica Ely ‘26 is a senior from Dimock in the College of Arts and Sciences. She has a major in biology, a minor in psychology and a health humanities concentration. Her project aims to use graphic medicine to center the lived experiences of women and other marginalized patients navigating healthcare in the Scranton community. The project highlights healthcare as a deeply human journey shaped by access, cost, policy and emotional well-being. Project partners include Maternal and Family Health Services and the Edward R. Leahy Jr. Clinic for the Uninsured. 

Ely aims to hear from students and community members connected to organizations in the area through anonymous surveys to gather firsthand perspectives on women’s health concerns. These local perspectives will inform a public-facing educational comic that reflects the realities and challenges faced by people in the region, making complex topics more approachable and visible. 

By distributing the comic at partner organizations and online, Ely aims to increase awareness and empower individuals to make better-informed decisions about their health. Grounded in The University of Scranton’s Jesuit values of cura personalis and social justice, this project blends art, public health and advocacy to foster a more informed and connected community.  

Gianna Familetti '28 

Gianna Familetti ‘28, is a sophomore from Dalton, in the Leahy College of Health Sciences. She has a major in communication sciences and disorders as well as a minor in psychology. Familetti will be teaming up with Marywood University’s after-school program, Students Together Achieving Remarkable Success (STARS), to expand post-secondary education and career awareness through interactive, panel-style workshops.

The youth participating in the STARS program will have the opportunity to engage directly with students, faculty, and staff from The University of Scranton about college life, academic majors and diverse career pathways. By pairing peer-to-peer conversations with faculty insight and interactive campus activities, the workshops aim to make higher education feel more accessible and achievable for local students. Drawing on her own experience as a first-generation college student, Familetti brings empathy and mentorship to students facing uncertainty in their academic paths. This project supports the local community by empowering youth to envision meaningful futures. 

  

Fiona Killeen '26 

Fiona Killeen ‘26 , is a senior from Sparkill, New York, in the College of Arts and Sciences. She has a major in psychology, along with a minor in political science. Her project, Navigating Nourishment, addresses food insecurity in the Scranton community by focusing on program assessment and client experience at Friends of the Poor. The project centers on the experiences of community members navigating shifting eligibility requirements and access barriers. Through the development and administration of a client survey, Killeen is examining how effectively the pantry meets the needs of the community it serves. By analyzing client feedback and overall program effectiveness, this project aims to understand how local food assistance organizations can respond to community needs with greater accessibility and dignity. Grounded in the Jesuit value of being men and women for others, this work promotes dignity, equity and care for the whole person. 

 

Tia Varghese ‘27 

Tia Varghese ‘27, is a junior from Catonsville, Maryland  in the Leahy College of Health Sciences. She is majoring in communication sciences and disorders. Her project, Little Voices, Big Futures, supports early language and literacy development for preschool children from multicultural families in the Scranton community. She is teaming up with The University of Scranton Early Learning Center to provide weekly interactive language sessions focused on storytelling, music and play, alongside take-home kits in English, Spanish, and Hindi to extend learning into the home. The program draws on evidence-based practices in early language intervention to ensure activities are engaging and accessible for children of varied language backgrounds and abilities. This project responds directly to a community-identified need for equitable early childhood support by addressing early language gaps, which can hold long-term academic and social consequences. Varghese aims to empower families with tools and strategies to support language growth at home, while preschool staff gain a sustainable model for inclusive language enrichment.  

Olivia Zrebiec '28 
 

Olivia Zrebiec ’28 is a sophomore from Belford, New Jersey  in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is majoring in biology with minors in biochemistry and history; as well as being on the Pre-Veterinary track. Through her project, Care for Every Paw, she aims to partner with the Scranton Area Community Foundation’s NEPA Animal Welfare Collaborative to identify and address gaps in access to preventative pet healthcare and veterinary education in underserved Scranton communities. By working with the NEPA Animal Welfare Collective, Zrebiec aims to identify common preventable medical issues, seasonal trends, and patterns linked to environmental factors. This data-driven approach would allow shelters to better anticipate medical needs and use limited resources more efficiently. 

Zrebiec hopes to develop accessible materials, such as pamphlets and social media content as well as engaging with the public through workshops or information tables at adoption events. This project extends care to the full ecosystem of families, communities and animals that provide much-needed companionship and emotional support.  

The Office of Community-Based Learning is excited to see how these programs develop and to see the impact that they will have on the Scranton community. For more information on CBL at the University visit www.scranton.edu/cbl

 

More than 100 individuals, spanning both The University of Scranton and Greater Scranton communities, gathered in Brennan Hall’s Rose Room on Feb. 19 to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Hosted by the Asian studies program and the Department of World Languages and Cultures, the festive event featured Asian cuisine, cultural presentations and hands-on activities including a lively chopstick relay, horse-themed origami, calligraphy and lantern decorating.

Ann A. Pang-White, Ph.D., professor of philosophy and director of the Asian studies program, noted that volunteers from the Asia Club and Japanese and Chinese classes arrived at 5 p.m. for setup. The event began at 6:30 p.m.

“It is a selfless service for others,” Dr. Pang-White said.

The festivities also included Chih-Yi (Arena) Wu and Kazumasa Fujita, instructors in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, leading presentations and workshops that “captured the audience’s attention and made the evening a great success,” Dr. Pang-White said.

$content.getChild('content').textValue

“We are grateful for the University’s support for this important holiday and cultural marker for East Asian community,” she continued. “It is truly a manifestation of our Jesuit mission of ‘finding God in all things’ and ‘care for the whole person (cura personalis),’ in real action in real world that touches the shared life of spirit, body and mind of the members in our community.”

Lunar New Year is one of the most important events in China and for Chinese communities around the world. This year marks the Year of the Horse.

For additional coverage, please visit WVIA, Fox 56 and the Times-Tribune.

$content.getChild('content').textValue

The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum will offer Collaborative Programs exploring unique topics in music, art and wine. The events are sponsored by Munley Law.

On Thursday, April 9, Richard Kogan, M.D., professor of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, and artistic director, Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program, will return for a presentation — hosted in collaboration with the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) — exploring the life and music of George Gershwin. The event, “George Gershwin: Music and Healing,” will include a performance and lecture, followed by a reception.

A child of immigrants in New York City, Gershwin was a hyperactive, behaviorally challenged youngster whose life was transformed when he heard a classmate’s violin recital through an open window. He was a creative phenomenon, a man who was able to extract music out of what others considered to be merely noise, a man who was inspired to write “An American in Paris” after hearing the sounds of Parisian taxi horns.

Dr. Kogan will reveal Gershwin’s thought processes during his artistic journey from “Rhapsody in Blue” to “Porgy and Bess” until his death at age 38 from a brain tumor. His presentation will be illuminated with performances of some of Gershwin’s most beloved music.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. at GCSOM, 525 Pine St., Scranton. Admission to the event, which includes a reception, is $40 for the general public and free for Schemel Forum members and University of Scranton and GCSOM employees and students.

 

---

 

On Thursday, April 30, the Schemel Forum will partner with Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library and the Hope Horn Gallery for an unveiling of Niccolò Betti’s “Madonna and Child with the Young St. John the Baptist.”

The public unveiling of this newly restored treasure will feature insights from art restorer John Powell, co-owner, Chelsea Restoration Associates, and art historian Robert Simon, Ph.D., president, Robert Simon Fine Art. A reception will follow.

When the Morgan family gifted a remarkable Madonna and Child painting to The University of Scranton, its black, featureless background suggested a work of quiet simplicity. During restoration, however, conservators made an astonishing discovery — the black backdrop had been added long after the painting’s creation.

The reveal came through a meticulous process by Powell, a skilled restorer of fine art whose clients include the Everhart Museum in Scranton. Given the age of this piece, Powell said it was important to proceed slowly and with caution.

After first securing any loose elements to prevent further loss, Powell cleaned the surface of years of soot and dirt to brighten the colors in the painting. From there, he used solvents to selectively remove old varnishes and previous restoration, starting with the lighter, more stable colors. It wasn’t until he began working with the background that Powell began to wonder what might be beneath the black paint.

“There was just something about how stark the figures of Mary and Jesus were against the backdrop,” Powell said. “It seemed unresolved.”

As he continued to work, some flesh colors began to emerge.

“I thought to myself, ‘This is interesting,’” he said.

And then, the figure of an infant St. John the Baptist emerged.

“There was this beautiful figure so typical of Florentine Renaissance painting, which is precisely the work I love,” he said.

The addition of a third figure against a rich, dark woodland setting changes the character of the painting, said Powell, with action and more depth.

Working in collaboration with art historian Dr. Simon, the work has been attributed to the 16th-century Italian Renaissance painter Niccolò Betti, best known for “The Sack of Corinth” in the Studiolo of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

The collaborative process between in-house curators and conservators is typically found in museums, and not the private sector, said Dr. Simon, adding that he and Powell were able to profit from each other's expertise in order to tease out the background and historical context of the painting. 

“In this case it helped that my academic specialty is Florentine painting of the 16th century,” said Dr. Simon. “Each painting that one studies, whether in the conservation lab or in the library, is a puzzle — here a 500-year-old puzzle in which we try to understand who painted the work of art, what was originally intended, the religious significance, what changes have been made to the picture over time, and how can we make it understandable to today's audience. Paintings like this are like messages in a bottle, coming from across the planet and centuries in time.”

It’s uncertain why the original work was painted over, although it appears to have something to do with the top panel, according to Powell.

“The original panel had some kind of damage at some point, and a piece of wood was added,” he said.

The event, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library, is open to the public free of charge, courtesy of the Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library and the Hope Horn Gallery. The restored painting will be on permanent display on the fourth floor of the Weinberg Memorial Library.

 

---

 

On Friday, May 29, the Schemel Forum will host “Vin et Vues: Loire Valley and its Wines.” This hands-on wine education event will feature a four-course wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres, a presentation on wines of Loire Valley, France, and an interactive discussion led by wine writer David Falchek, CAE, IOM, CMP.

Participants will explore France’s under-appreciated wine region, Loire Valley. The region looms large in French consciousness for history, the arts and agriculture, yet is less recognized for wine, despite pioneering a number of varieties and styles. Falchek will lead participants in a deep dive of this influential region carved by Europe’s longest wild river and will host a sampling of a range of wine styles.

Falchek is a wine writer and critic for publications including “Wine & Spirits Magazine” and The Scranton Times-Tribune and is former executive director of the American Wine Society.

The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library.

The cost for the wine tasting, hors d’oeuvre and lecture is $60 per person, $110 per couple for non-Schemel Forum members. There is no additional fee for Schemel Forum Members, Angels, and Archangels to attend this event. University of Scranton and GCSOM students, staff, and faculty must purchase tickets. All participants must be 21years or older.

For additional information or registration information, call 570-941-4740 or email schemelforum@scranton.edu.

Additional Schemel Forum events can be found on the Schemel Forum’s webpage.

The University of Scranton invites the public to campus on Sunday, March 8, for Waymarks Opening: A Feast in the Wilderness. It is the inaugural celebration of Waymarks Toward Reunion, a yearlong program in sacred art and theology funded by the Creative Arts Collective for Christian Life and Faith.

Structured as a four-movement day, the event begins at 10 a.m. with a keynote lecture by Rev. Paul Kollman, C.S.C., associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. Father Kollman, a theologian and scholar of world Christianity, will explore how beauty guides us toward freedom and reunion with God.

Father Kollman, the author of “The Evangelization of Slaves and Catholic Origins in Eastern Africa” and numerous other publications, has served as executive director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Social Concerns, president of the American Society of Missiology and president of the International Association of Mission Studies.

The lecture will be held at the Ann and Leo Moskovitz Theater inside the DeNaples Center. It is free and open to the public.

Following Father Kollman's lecture and beginning at 12 p.m. is a shared feast by invitation. The meal, also at the DeNaples Center, is offered as an act of hospitality and celebration.

The afternoon features a live concert by Paul, Terrell and Farrin, a devotional folk music trio from Sufism Reoriented. The concert will be held from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. at the Moskovitz Theater.

The day will conclude with an evening Mass, beginning at 4:30 p.m., inside the Madonna della Strada Chapel on campus. All are welcome.

Waymarks Toward Reunion is rooted in the conviction that beauty is not merely ornament but a path — a waymark in the wilderness that points toward God's life, light and love. This opening day embodies that vision: an invitation to gather across differences and follow the road of the heart's desire together. Three of the four movements of the event are free and open to the public.

The project is anchored in a Jesuit-Franciscan partnership between The University of Scranton and Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, with the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, D.C., as artistic home.

For information, please email program director Patrick Beldio, MFA, Ph.D., sculptor, comparative theologian, and visiting assistant professor at The University of Scranton at patrick.beldio@scranton.edu.

The University of Scranton celebrated the graduation of 19 community leaders who participated in Cohort 5 of its Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program (NLCP). Classes for the 13-month program, which seeks to develop future executives to serve area nonprofit institutions, began in January 2025.

The University’s Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program, housed in the Kania School of Management, seeks to support and advance nonprofit professionals through a comprehensive and academically rigorous leadership program to develop future executives to serve at NEPA nonprofit institutions.

Douglas Boyle, DBA'88, CPA, CMA, Accounting Department chair and founder of the Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program, noted the program fulfills a critical need in the region.

“The NLCP creates an ecosystem for new and emerging leaders to collaborate on solving an organizational challenge and strengthening their leadership skills," he said. "The cohort-based approach assures that by building strong relationships, each participant gains a network of peers with specialized skills that they can gain insights from long after graduation. The program assists the organizations with succession planning, nurtures future collaborations with the nonprofit sector and, most importantly, yields strong and resilient leaders.”

$content.getChild('content').textValue

Since the program’s inception in 2017, 87 nonprofit professionals from more than 70 regional organizations have graduated from the program representing 10 counties. The program has created a network of high-performing individuals serving at nonprofit institutions, in addition to building an informal regional network of mentors and coaches for emerging nonprofit leaders.

Members of the 2025-2026 cohort of Scranton’s Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program and the organizations they represent are:

Pam Anslinger, business development officer I, PA Housing Finance Agency (PHFA)

Jessica Baab, philanthropic services coordinator, The Luzerne Foundation

Jessica Freyne, executive director, Providence Pregnancy Center

Rossanna Gabriel, executive director, Hazleton Integration Project, Inc.

Heather Greene, business manager, Jewish Family Services

Nicole Guzenski, workforce development LEAD center manager, Outreach

Jennifer Hayes Housel, executive director, Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers

Eileen Howells, designated institutional administrator, The Wright Center

Tara B. Jones, executive director, Lackawanna River Conservation Association

Alyse Kerr, executive director, Integrative Mind and Body

Marianne Linko, deputy chief operating officer, The Wright Center for Community Health

Amanda Masters, youth program manager, The Cooperage

Christine S. Pirillo, DHA, senior director, laboratory medicine, Geisinger Health System

Dani Ruhf, chief executive officer and founder, Child Hunger Outreach Partners (CHOP)

Helen Schmid, president and chief executive officer, Telespond Senior Services

Conor Simon, grants and outreach manager, Wayne County Community Foundation

Rachael Stark, NEPA program coordinator, Pennsylvania Environmental Council

Jill Avery Stoss, president and CEO, The Institute

Gina Suydam, director, external affairs, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry

For additional information, visit the Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program webpage or call 570-941-4047.

$content.getChild('content').textValue

On Saturday, Feb. 28, Performance Music at The University of Scranton will present a recital featuring acclaimed baritone vocalist Sidney Outlaw and renowned multi-keyboardist Christopher Johnson. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton. Admission is free and the concert is open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis.

"Anytime Chris Johnson steps into Houlihan-McLean, it is sure to be a terrifically musical performance," said Performance Music Executive Director Janelle Decker. "To have him teamed with a singer as formidably gifted as Sidney Outlaw promises to be a next-level concert experience.”

Lauded by The New York Times as a “terrific singer” with a “deep, rich timbre,” Grammy Award-nominated baritone Outlaw is an internationally acclaimed opera and concert artist known for his powerful, forthright sound, bringing equal authority and artistry to the operatic, symphonic and concert stages. Since bursting onto the global stage as the Grand Prize winner of the Concurso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballé, he has appeared with leading opera companies and orchestras across the U.S. and abroad, earning praise for signature roles such as Don Giovanni and Figaro. A dynamic recitalist and recording artist, Outlaw received a Grammy nomination for his role as Apollo on the Naxos Records recording of Darius Milhaud’s 1922 opera trilogy, "L’Orestie d’Eschyle," and is also showcased on the Grammy-nominated album "Black Pierrot." Outlaw currently serves on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music and Brooklyn College, where he balances an active performing career with teaching and mentoring the next generation of classical musicians. 

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Johnson is a member of acclaimed chamber orchestra The Knights. He serves as Director of Music and Organist at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Scranton and as Director of Chapel Music at The Interchurch Center in New York City on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. In addition to previous appointments as Director of Music and Organist at The Riverside Church in New York City, Artist-in-Residence at Union Theological Seminary and Director of Music and organist for the Woodstock/St. Paul Community at Columbia University, he also served as assistant organist at Christ Church United Methodist in Manhattan. As a flautist and organist, he performs regularly with Ensemble Eccolo, a chamber ensemble based in Altenburg, Germany, presenting concerts throughout Europe and the Middle East. An enthusiastic and avid flyer of airplanes and lover of languages, Johnson is a type-rated commercial pilot with five flight and ground instructor ratings and dabbles in German, Norwegian and Egyptian Arabic.

For more information on the concert, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit the Performance Music website. Visit the following links for more info on Outlaw and for more info on Johnson.

 

---

 

If You Go:

What: IN RECITAL: Sidney Outlaw, baritone voice, and Christopher Johnson, keyboards

When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 28

Where: Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton

Admission: FREE

 

An Israel-Palestine winter movie series will highlight two documentary films that cover topics related to October 7 and Gaza and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. University of Scranton co-sponsoring offices include the Ellacuria Initiative, Peace and Justice Studies Program, Office of Community Relations, Theology/Religious Studies Department and Political Science Department.

'Holding Liat' Feb. 21 Field Trip to Dietrich Theatre

On Saturday, Feb. 21, University and Scranton community members are invited to a field trip to the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock to view the film, "Holding Liat," which begins at 2:15 p.m. (Attendees can gather on campus by 1 p.m. to depart to Tunkhannock by 1:15 p.m.)

Film description: In the weeks unfolding after Liat is kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel, her father resists efforts to use her captivity to justify escalating violence in Gaza. This documentary film exposes political and emotional rifts within the family as they struggle to find a way to bring Liat home.

Tickets are available directly through the Theatre ($8.50). Free student tickets are available through Peace and Justice Studies. Attendees are invited to a post-film discussion. Registration is required. Please visit this link to register. (Students can also contact will.cohen@scranton.edu directly.)

 

'No Other Land' Campus Screening March 25

On Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. in DeNaples Center Room 405, University and Scranton members are invited to attend a screening of the Oscar-winning documentary, "No Other Land."

Film description: Palestinian activist Basel Adra documents the destruction of his community in Masafer Yatta under Israeli occupation. He forms an unlikely alliance with Israel journalist Yuval. For years, they fight against mass expulsion – forging a complex bond haunted by the extreme inequality between them.

Attendees are invited to a post-film Q&A discussion with Fr. Michael Azar, Theology and Religious Studies, and Julie Schumacher Cohen, community engagement. Registration is required for campus screening and discussion. Please visit this link to register.

Questions about the movie series? Please contact community@scranton.edu

 

The University of Scranton Political Dialogue Initiative will host two spring 2026 dialogues. The first dialogue will explore the theme of Political and State Violence and will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 24 from 7-9 p.m. in the PNC Auditorium, Loyola Science Center, room 133. Students will have the opportunity to share their perspectives and listen to and learn from others in small-group facilitated dialogue sessions that are interactive.

On Monday, May 4, from 7-9 p.m., University and Scranton community members are invited to the second dialogue, America at 250. This dialogue will take place in the PNC Auditorium, Loyola Science Center, Room 133. Students and community members from a range of perspectives and backgrounds are invited to attend and reflect on the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Pre-registration is required for the dialogues.

This event is co-sponsored by the Political Dialogues Working Group together with Student Government, College Democrats, College Republicans, the Philosophy Society and the Political Science Club.

These dialogues are part of an ongoing “Bursting Our Political Bubbles” Dialogue Initiative, which blends the reflective, structured dialogue methods of national non-profit Essential Partners with St. Ignatius of Loyola’s teachings of discernment and reflection. During the session, participants will have a chance to engage and encounter each other's experiences and views - not debate or persuade - through structured dialogue to build understanding.

If you have questions about this dialogue or the political dialogues initiative, email community@scranton.edu .

 

The University of Scranton this spring will welcome national thought leaders as part of a series of lectures on topics including ethics, history, religion and social issues.

First, on Thursday, Feb. 19, Meghan Sullivan, Ph.D., the Wilsey Family Collegiate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, will present “Loving Strangers” as part of the University’s Ethics Across the Curriculum initiative. Dr. Sullivan is the founding director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethics and the Common Good and has received millions of dollars of grants to support ethics-based work and research.

Dr. Sullivan’s lecture is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. at the PNC Auditorium inside the Loyola Science Center.

A series of Gail and Francis Slattery Center for Ignatian Humanities-sponsored lectures — with support from various other offices and departments — begins Wednesday, Feb. 25, and closes on Thursday, April 23, with the annual Sondra H’87 and Morey Myers H’12 Distinguished Visiting Fellowship in the Humanities and Civic Engagement Lecture.

All lectures are free and open to the public.

Here is a list of the upcoming events:

 

---

 

When: 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25

Where: Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall

Who: Amy Jill-Levine, Ph.D., Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University

What: “The Bible, Gender and Sexuality: Historical Insight and Contemporary Relevance”

 

When: 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26

Where: Rose Room, Brennan Hall

Who: Michelle Lelwica, Ph.D., Professor of Religion at Concordia

What: “The Religion of Thinness: How Faith, Culture and Body Ideals Shape Our Relationship With Ourselves and Each Other”

 

When: 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 4

Where: Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall

Who: Rev. James Alison, Catholic priest and theologian

What: “The Catholic Church and Matters LGBT: How Did We Get Here and Where Are We Going?”

 

When: 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 11

Where: Heritage Room, Weinberg Memorial Library

Who: Andrew Hartman, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of History at Illinois State University

What: “Karl Marx in America”

 

When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26

Where: Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall

Who: Michelle Loris, Ph.D., Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Sacred Heart University

What: “Gay and Catholic: A Long and Winding Road to Faith and Flourishing”

 

When: 4 p.m. Thursday, April 9

Where: PNC Auditorium, Loyola Science Center

Who: Jonathan Nashel, Ph.D., Professor of History at the University of Indiana South Bend

What: “America, Vietnam and the ‘White Space’ of History”

 

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 22

Where: Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall

Who: Alexis Paige, award-winning author

What: “Shame Must Change Sides: How Gisele Pelicot, Trauma Studies and Survivor-Centered Storytelling Can Inform a New Paradigm on Gender-Based Violence”

 

The Sondra H’87 and Morey Myers H’12 Distinguished Visiting Fellowship in the Humanities and Civic Engagement Lecture

When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23

Where: Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall

Who: Brandon Terry, Ph.D., John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and co-director of the Institute on Policing, Incarceration and Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research

What: “Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope”

The Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL), in collaboration with campus partners, is pleased to offer a series of three "CBL Talks" in the spring 2026 semester. The goal of these talks is to provide University students and the surrounding community with information and insights into the major challenges and opportunities facing the Scranton area, and how they can be part of positive change. This spring semester’s "CBL Talks" are as follows: "Healthcare Across the Lifespan," "Community Solutions: Affordable Housing in NEPA,” and "Making NEPA Home."

Each CBL Talk will begin with a presentation from guest speakers, followed by Q&A. These sessions will also be recorded to serve as a resource for CBL courses. These events are a special collaboration of the Office of Community-Based Learning with the Leahy College of Health Sciences T.A.P.E.S.T.R.Y. program. The talks are also open to the broader University and Scranton communities.

 

Details on The Spring 2026 CBL Talks

 

“Healthcare Across the Lifespan”

On Thursday, Feb.12, at 11:30 a.m. in the DeNaples Ballroom, DeNaples Center room 407, Dr. Maria Montoro Edwards, Maternal Family Health Services and Dr. Maria Vital, Edward R. Leahy Jr. Clinic, will highlight health and healthcare issues across the lifespan impacting individuals at different ages, from different populations and with diverse needs.

* Event update: This event is now full. We encourage prospective attendees to sign up for the following CBL talks listed below.*

 

“Community Solutions: Affordable Housing in NEPA”

On Thursday, March 4, at 6 p.m. in the PNC Auditorium, Loyola Science Center, room 133, Joy Hubshman, United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA, Sara Cruz, Scranton Housing Authority, and Kecia Snyder, Lackawanna County, will discuss issues related to affordable housing in NEPA.

RSVP 

 

“Making NEPA Home”

On Thursday, April 23, at 6 p.m., in the PNC Auditorium, all are invited to a screening of the WVIA documentary "Making NEPA Home," which shares stories about immigration in NEPA from refugee and immigrant individuals and agencies that work with these communities. After the film, a panel discussion will include speakers: Kara Washington, WVIA; Fikile Ryder, Catholic Social Services; Ushu Mukelo, Congolese Community of Scranton; Terilynn Brechtel and Audrey Golosky, United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA; Julie Schumacher Cohen, University of Scranton.

RSVP  

---

The CBL talks are sponsored by the Office of Community-Based Learning, Office of Community Relations, and additional campus and community partners. Questions? Contact Daysi Carreto, assistant director of Community and Civic Engagement, at daysi.carreto@scranton.edu or (570)-941-4419.

 

On Monday, February 16 at 6:30 p.m. The University of Scranton will host “Trivia Night: Contributions of Black Northeast Pennsylvanians Across the Eras – From the Underground Railroad to Black Scranton” featuring Glynis Johns, CEO and Founder of Black Scranton Project, and E.J. Murphy, Program Manager at the Destination Freedom Underground Railroad Walking Tour at the Waverly Community House.

This Trivia Night event will feature opening comments by the two speakers, trivia questions and prizes, and Q&A and discussion. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

This event is co-sponsored by: The University of Scranton Offices of Community Relations, Cross-Cultural Centers and the Louis Stanley Brown Black Student Union together with the Black Scranton Project and the Waverly Community House Destination Freedom Program.

Register for the in-person event 

Please direct questions to the Office of Community Relations at community@scranton.edu.

The University of Scranton, Condron Sweda Advertising and three of the area’s most experienced politicians are combining forces on an event later this month.

Registration is open for Campaign School, a free workshop for aspiring political candidates, staff members, volunteers and anyone in Northeastern Pennsylvania with an interest in politics. The event is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, on the University’s campus.

The University of Scranton’s Leahy Distinguished Fellow in Public Service and former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is among those who will share his insights in speaking with attendees. Lackawanna County Commissioners Chris Chermak, a Republican, and Thom Welby, a Democrat, will also present on what it takes to meet the challenges of campaigning in NEPA.

“Campaign School offers an invaluable opportunity for anyone interested in local politics and the political process to meet and learn from elected officials, former candidates, campaign strategists and advertising executives,” said Brian Snee, Ph.D., associate professor of communication and media and director of the University’s Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service (CEEPS).

Dr. Snee’s on-campus program, CEEPS, has partnered with Condron Sweda Advertising, a Clarks Summit-based, full-service agency, to bring the event to life.

While Campaign School will take place on the University’s campus, the final location will be confirmed closer to the event date. Registrants will receive an email with the precise location.

For more information, please visit the event’s registration page and follow CEEPS on social media, including Facebook.

On Thursday, Feb. 12, Performance Music at The University of Scranton will host world music/jazz/pop/funk sensation Lucky Chops in concert. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton. Admission is free and the concert is open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis.

"When I first heard the guys in Lucky Chops jamming together in the NYC subway while still students, they were already drawing crowds bigger than the audiences in many of the city’s established venues," said Cheryl Y. Boga, conductor and Artistic Director of Performance Music.

“We are really looking forward to being able to share this group’s irrepressible energy and joyful excitement with our students and audiences," added Janelle Decker, Performance Music Executive Director and conductor.

The highly energetic Lucky Chops have been sharing their inspired brassy funk with audiences since 2006 when they first came together in New York City while still students. Their intent was and is to share the healing and inspirational power of music with their audiences. The intense power of that message has reached and impacted audiences throughout the world — the group has performed in 25 countries and has millions of views and followers on their social media pages. The members are all committed to passing down their creative torch musically to student musicians and music educators, as well as audiences, through their performances and educational events. Co-founder of the group Josh Holcomb, trombonist, is a native of New York City. In addition to his extensive work with Lucky Chops, Holcomb maintains an active freelance career within New York's jazz, world music and gospel music scenes.

The University of Scranton Jazz Band will perform one piece with Lucky Chops at the concert. The 25-member ensemble of big band style instrumentation is made up of University of Scranton student musicians from majors spanning the curriculum. The majority of their performances are open to the public, free of admission charge, and often feature a nationally or internationally renowned guest soloist. The primary focus of Performance Music at The University of Scranton is its student choral and instrumental performing ensembles. Hundreds of students participate in the ensembles each year, and neither an audition nor enrollment fee is required for membership.

For further information on the performance, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit the University's website. For more info on Lucky Chops, visit their website.

 

---

 

If You Go:

What: Lucky Chops with an appearance by The University of Scranton Jazz Ensemble, presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton

When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 12

Where: Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton

Admission: FREE

The ninth presentation in the Jay Nathan, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar Lecture Series featured remarks by a career diplomat and additional programming that celebrated her native country.

Leena-Kaisa Mikkola, Ambassador of Finland to the U.S., participated in the program, titled, “Finland: History. Culture. Economy,” on Thursday, Jan. 15, at the PNC Auditorium inside The University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center.

Mikkola, who previously served as Ambassador to China (2021-2024) and Israel (2011-2016) and as Director General for Africa and the Middle East (2017-2021), has been in her current role since September 2024. She spoke alongside Petri Koikkalainen, senior specialist for science and higher education.

In addition to the lecture, the evening’s events included live performances by Finnish singer Josefin Silén and Finnish classical pianist Markus Kaitila, as well as a reception.

Previous Nathan lecturers have included representatives from Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania, Romania, India, Thailand, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

For more information, please see the series’ webpage on The University of Scranton’s website.

$content.getChild('content').textValue

The University of Scranton will host the 25th annual Northeastern Pennsylvania Brain Bee, an event that offers high school students a chance to test their neuroscience knowledge in an academic competition. 

There is no cost to enter the Brain Bee, which will begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at room 133 inside the Loyola Science Center. Registration is currently open and will close after Feb. 20. The registration form can be found on the event’s website. The event is open to high school students currently enrolled in Grades 9-12 and between the ages of 13-19. 

Sponsored by the University’s neuroscience program in the Department of Biology, the Brain Bee covers topics including emotions, intelligence, memory, sleep and stress. 

The winner of this regional bee — dedicated to the memory of J. Timothy Cannon, Ph.D., founder of the University’s neuroscience program and a longtime Brain Bee coordinator and judge — receives a $400 prize, a $1,000 scholarship to The University of Scranton and also advances to the National Brain Bee, held Saturday, April 25, at the University of California, Irvine. 

Three University of Scranton biology professors will serve as NEPA Brain Bee Judges: Gary Kwiecinski, Ph.D.; Marc Seid, Ph.D.; and Robert F. Waldeck, Ph.D., director of the neuroscience program and NEPA Brain Bee coordinator. 

Previous top-three finishers have attended local schools such as Wyoming Area, Wallenpaupack, Abington Heights and Scranton Prep, as well as schools from other parts of Pennsylvania and other East Coast states. 

For more information or to register online, visit the NEPA Brain Bee’s website or contact Dr. Waldeck at 570-941-4324 or email robert.waldeck@scranton.edu.

The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum will offer two evening courses this spring, each furthering the program’s mission of sharing ideas and lessons that illuminate culture, ethics and the human experience. Both courses will be taught inside room 305 at the Weinberg Memorial Library.

The first course, titled, “Food, Climate Change and Justice,” is instructed by Sarah Kenehan ’02, Ph.D., executive director of the University’s Gail and Francis Slattery Center for the Ignatian Humanities. Meeting from 6 to 7:15 p.m. on Mondays — Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23 and March 2 and 9 — the course examines how global food systems intersects with climate change. Participants will explore scientific data and philosophical literature to better understand how justice intersects with food systems and individual food choices in the context of a warming world.

Dr. Kenehan earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and philosophy from The University of Scranton, where she was also a member of the women’s cross country team. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Tennessee and her Ph.D. from the University of Graz in Australia. Dr. Kenehan, who previously worked at Marywood University, began working in her current position in 2022.

The second course, titled “Appreciating Art Through the Ages,” is instructed by Darlene Miller-Lanning, Ph.D., director of the Hope Horn Gallery at The University of Scranton. Dr. Miller-Lanning’s course will meet from 6 to 7:15 p.m. on Wednesdays — March 25 and April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 — and covers major art developments and significant artworks from the Ancient, Classic, Medieval, Renaissance, Modern and Contemporary eras, as described in Helen Gardner’s century-old text.

Dr. Miller Lanning earned a bachelor’s degree from Wilkes University, a master’s from Marywood University and a Ph.D. from Binghamton University. She has worked at the University since 1991.

Registration starts at $100 per course for non-members of the Schemel Forum.

To register for the evening courses or to request more information, please call 570-941-4740 or email schemelforum@scranton.edu.

For more information about upcoming events, visit the Schemel Forum’s website. The Schemel Forum’s spring brochure is now available.

Lackawanna and Wayne County residents, whose households earned $67,000 or less in 2025, can receive free assistance in completing and filing their federal, state and local tax returns from University of Scranton accounting students through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

University students have assisted residents with low and moderate incomes who need help with their basic tax returns for more than 30 years.

Walk-in service at Brennan Hall on the University’s campus begins Monday, Feb. 4, and will end on Wednesday, April 8. The VITA service is offered on a first-come, first-served basis during scheduled hours. Appointments are not available at the University.

Residents can schedule appointments at other locations by contacting the United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties by visiting its website or calling 570-602-3133 or 1-866-662-8887.

Residents who qualify for the free VITA service are asked to bring the following items: a valid photo ID; Social Security cards for all taxpayers and dependents; all W2 forms; last year’s tax returns; all 1099 forms (interest, dividends, pensions); unemployment paperwork; Form 8332 for non-custodial parents; information related to income and expenses (business, rental properties, sale of stocks); a personal banking account check if direct deposit is desired; documentation related to health insurance for themselves and anyone on the tax return, such as Form 1095-A, -B or –C; and real estate tax receipts if you qualify for the rent/tax rebate.

Walk-in VITA service without an appointment is available in Room 111 of Brennan Hall, Madison Avenue, on the University’s campus on Mondays, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesdays, noon to 5 p.m.; Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Service begins on Monday, Feb. 4, and continues to Wednesday, April 8, except for the week of March 16-20, when the University is closed for Spring Break.

The VITA office may also close due to inclement weather.

The University reserves the right to cap the number of walk-in residents they can serve within a single day. Residents with questions may call the University at 570-941-4045.

A group of seventh-grade students from Wyoming Seminary visited The University of Scranton on Thursday, Jan. 22, for a hands-on field trip focused on creativity, problem-solving and entrepreneurship.

Much of the day’s programming occurred inside the IDEA Center at Robert S. ’68 and Marilyn A. Weiss Hall, where Sem students participated in interactive activities that challenged them to think like entrepreneurs and designers. Working in small teams, the students developed business ideas, identified real-world problems and pitched solutions in areas such as gaming, entertainment, sustainability and school improvements. The students also engaged with the IDEA Center’s laser engravers and 3-D printers to create advertisement products and investigate protoyping.

“Students embraced this experience completely,” said Tom Bryan, director of the IDEA Center, who was featured earlier this month in a video walkthrough of the new facility. “They collaborated, solved problems and gained real insight into entrepreneurship and design. They stepped into the role of University students for the day, rose to the occasion and had a lot of fun in the process.”

$content.getChild('content').textValue

Working alongside Bryan as volunteers were University of Scranton students Allison Kipp, a business analytics major from Pittston; Cameron Moczulski, a journalism/electronic media and advertising/public relations major from Carbondale; Damien Bryla, an accounting major from Canadensis; Daniel Juchnicki, a mechanical engineering major from Tobyhanna; and Vincenzo Angeloni, a journalism/electronic media major from Jessup.

The goal of the IDEA Center, which opened at the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year, is to empower students, faculty and community partners to turn concepts into reality with cutting-edge resources and instructors.

For additional coverage, please see the following links from WNEP-TV and the Scranton Times-Tribune.

$content.getChild('content').textValue

On Saturday, Jan. 31, Performance Music at The University of Scranton will host the Anderson Twins Sextet performing their acclaimed program, “The Fabulous Dorseys,” to open Performance Music’s spring 2026 season. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton. Admission is free and the concert is open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis.

“Will and Pete are no strangers to Scranton, and on every occasion they visit, their approachable virtuosity draws in our students," said Performance Music Executive Director Janelle Decker.

“The twins first performed here with Loren Schoenberg and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem All-Stars in 2008 and have returned to the University as guest artists and clinicians so many times that they feel like sons of Scranton," added Cheryl Y. Boga, Artistic Director of Performance Music.

The Anderson brothers’ program brings the remarkable story of the Dorsey brothers, Jimmy and Tommy, to life. Performed by a sextet of New York’s finest musicians, the show traces the Dorseys’ journey from their start in the coal regions of Northeastern Pennsylvania as teenage professionals on trombone and saxophone through their rise as national stars with the Dorsey Brothers Band, to the dramatic 1935 sibling split that sent them on separate paths, followed by their long-awaited reunion a decade later.

Identical twins Peter and Will Anderson are two of the most extraordinary jazz woodwind players today. Hailed by The New York Times as “virtuosos on clarinet and saxophone," they were born and raised in Washington, D.C., and moved to New York City to attend The Juilliard School. They’ve performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Paquito D’Rivera, Wynton Marsalis, and can be heard on the 2014 Grammy-winning soundtrack of HBO’s "Boardwalk Empire" with Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks. They’ve headlined at Carnegie Hall, The Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Feinstein’s 54 Below, Blues Alley, Birdland and performed live on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie "Home Companion" Radio Program. The Andersons have performed in over 40 U.S. states, throughout Brazil, Japan, the U.K., and six times in New York City's famed "Highlights in Jazz" series, alongside Lou Donaldson, Jimmy Heath, Ken Peplowski, Steve Turre, Warren Vache, Frank Vignola and Jimmy Cobb.

The Andersons' film credits include "Revolutionary Road," "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." They performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars in "After Midnight," which ran on Broadway from 2013-2014, and featured Vanessa Williams, k.d. lang, Fantasia Barrino and Patti LaBelle. In 2017, the Andersons directed “The Fabulous Dorsey Brothers” in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room, narrated by "The Wire" and "Treme" actor Clarke Peters.

The legendary Dorsey Brothers began their professional careers performing with the popular local band, the Scranton Sirens, at venues such as Scranton’s historic Hotel Casey in the early 1920s before relocating to New York and rising to fame as big band leaders. A mural of the brothers, completed in 2024 to honor their connection to the area, can be seen at 217 Wyoming Ave. in Scranton.

For further information on the performance, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit scranton.edu/music. For more info on the Andersons, visit peterandwillanderson.com.

 

---

 

If You Go:

What: “The Fabulous Dorseys” with the Anderson Twins Sextet, presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton

When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 31

Where: Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton

Admission: FREE

The University of Scranton has been nationally recognized for its dedication and distinction in community engagement in a newly released report that serves as the premier framework for assessing and honoring institutions committed to this work.

The 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, an elective designation awarded by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, listed Scranton as one of 237 honorees nationwide. The cohort includes 157 public and 80 private institutions, including 19 others in Pennsylvania. The University is the only 2026 cohort recipient of the honor in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area.

The classification, which is valid until 2032, is awarded to colleges and universities that submitted a self-study that revealed an institutional integration of mission, culture, leadership and resources used to advance meaningful and impactful community engagement. The Carnegie Foundation describes community engagement as “the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity” that contributes to the public good.

Answering the Call To 'Love Your Neighbor'

 

“Students, faculty, staff and alumni engage with the Scranton community in a range of ways — direct service, academic projects and research, and joint initiatives — that help improve the community we all call home. They address community-defined needs and priorities in such areas as poverty, food insecurity, youth programming, health care, older adult needs, immigrant and refugee support, prison education and civic engagement,” said Julie Schumacher Cohen, assistant vice president of community engagement and government affairs. “These community-based activities and partnerships are where some of our best learning takes place and one of the important ways that we respond to the call to ‘love your neighbor,’ grounded in our Jesuit and Catholic mission."

As a Catholic, Jesuit institution, The University of Scranton’s identity is closely tied to serving others in the community. Spearheading the University’s efforts are the Center for Service and Social Justice, the Office of Community Relations in External Affairs, the Office of Community-Based Learning, the Leahy Community Health and Family Center and the Small Business Development Center. Collectively, these offices and others organize service opportunities, host educational and cultural events, provide health and wellness services, offer expert consulting solutions and create hands-on learning experiences that connect students and employees with local and regional partners. Altogether, through these and other offices and programs, the University invested $1,077,557 in its 2023-2024 annual budget to support institutional engagement in the community.

These campus offices work directly with a range of community organizations; the application highlights several key partnerships including Children’s Advocacy Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, United Neighborhoods Center of NEPA, Scranton Jewish Community Center, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton Tomorrow, The Gino Merli Center, Catherine McAuley Center and Friends of the Poor, Bhutanese Cultural Foundation Association of Scranton, Congolese Community of Scranton, Saint Joseph's Center, Neighborworks of NEPA, Marywood STARS after-school program, McNichols Plaza Elementary School and more. 

“Since arriving at the University in 2021, I have found the relationship between The University of Scranton and the City of Scranton and the broader community of Northeastern Pennsylvania to be a source of pride, mutual learning, and collaboration in pursuit of the common good. The University cannot be successful if Scranton is not flourishing and vice versa,” Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., University of Scranton president, said in a letter submitted with the Carnegie application. “The University’s Jesuit and Catholic mission characterizes how we seek to engage with our community — in solidarity, in a spirit of mutuality and encounter, and in service of justice and positive change.”

The application provides information and analysis of the University’s community engagement efforts, reflecting on areas of growth and improvement as well as long-standing programs and commitments. It details local co-curricular service such as students preparing 1,700 meals in 2023-2024 for low-income neighbors through innovative projects such as “We Care;" supporting and mentoring youth in after-school programs; conducting item drives; volunteering with numerous local non-profit organizations; and participating in domestic and international service trips.

Through community-based learning, faculty and students engage locally in ways tied to their academic course or program. They have helped improve the health and wellbeing of neighbors with special needs and older adults, archived the stories of veterans, addressed period poverty, created arts activities for elementary students, provided health fairs for newly arrived refugees, and promoted awareness and advocacy on such issues as child abuse, among other projects. In 2023-2024, a total of 88 community-based learning courses were taught at the University, including an estimated 1,200 students performing 31,673 academic service hours during that year.

Community engagement is embedded in still further ways — through student government’s biannual Street Sweep that beautifies streetscapes and parks, through the many faculty and staff (80%) who engage in local community volunteer activities, and through the University's alumni’s annual day of service. The application also highlights civic engagement programs — such as non-partisan voter engagement activities and a political dialogue across differences project run since 2017 — which help students reflect on their values and use their voice within campus and in the public square.

The data and projects detailed in the Carnegie application built on the information shared through the University’s 2024 Community and Economic Impact Report, produced by the University’s Office of Community Relations. The University produced an overall economic impact of more than $277 million and awarded over $100 million in institutional student aid. The newest building on campus, Robert S. ’68 and Marilyn A. Weiss Hall, is a hub for several of the University’s community-focused programs and has state-of-the-art equipment that is meant to be shared with local partners.

The University of Scranton’s life-changing, four-year, pre-college program was recently awarded a grant that will help it continue to provide encouragement and academic, cultural and social enrichment to local teenagers who aspire to enroll in colleges and universities.

The University of Success program at The University of Scranton received a $15,000 grant from the Robert H. Spitz Foundation. It was awarded as part of the 2025 spring grant cycle for the Robert H. Spitz Foundation, administered by the Scranton Area Community Foundation. The funds will support promising high school students who can contribute to the community and achieve success with access to post-secondary education.

Created in 1996 and with its first full graduating class in 2001, the University of Success is supported by gifts and grants. The program, which is offered free of charge to selected local students beginning in Grade 9 and continuing through Grade 12, offers mentorship, seminars, test prep and developmental enrichment courses covering a wide range of topics. The University of Success staff closely works with students to keep them on track as they develop skills and confidence and ultimately gain admission to their chosen institutions of higher learning. The 17 University of Success graduates in the Class of 2025 matriculated to 11 colleges and universities, including five at The University of Scranton. Two graduates joined the military to further pursue their education.

The Robert H. Spitz Foundation has awarded more than $6 million in funding to initiatives and programs that serve the people of Lackawanna County and Northeastern Pennsylvania. It was founded in 2015, shortly after the death of Spitz, who was born in Scranton in 1955, graduated from Scranton Central High School and the University of Miami, Florida, and had been employed by the U.S. Department of Labor and owned several local Arby’s restaurants.

One of The University of Scranton’s most historic and highest-achieving programs has been awarded a nearly $1 million federal grant.

The University of Scranton’s clinical rehabilitation counseling program will receive a five-year grant, totaling nearly $1 million, from the U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). The grant, which will provide scholarships to graduate students at Scranton and will also broaden program accessibility through online and hybrid learning formats, was announced Monday, Jan. 12, in partnership with U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan ’12 through an official press release.

“The University of Scranton plays an important role in preparing students for careers that meet real needs in our communities,” said Rep. Bresnahan in the press release. “That’s why I’m proud to have helped secure this critical funding to expand access to training and help address workforce shortages in rehabilitation and counseling services. I will always fight to bring tax dollars back to Northeastern Pennsylvania to strengthen programs our communities rely on.”

The rehabilitation counseling profession itself was significantly shaped — and in many ways created — by the federal government. It emerged in the early 20th century as a result of injured veterans returning from war and desiring a sense of normalcy. As the demand for these services grew, so, too, did the need for qualified professionals. Because of service demand and concomitant federal commitment to rehabilitation programmatic success, a handful of programs were started at well-established, graduate degree-granting colleges and universities.

Clinical rehabilitation counseling practitioners are charged with helping individuals overcome developmental, emotional, mental and physical disabilities while also encouraging autonomy and removing the social and attitudinal barriers that restrict full participation for people with disabilities.

“As a Catholic, Jesuit institution, The University of Scranton teaches our students and graduates to be ‘for and with others.’ We must not only serve others but stand in solidarity with them,” said Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., University of Scranton president. “The clinical rehabilitation counseling field is a shining example of this Jesuit ideal. Our students are trained to treat — but even more importantly, accompany — individuals as they face emotional, physical and psychological challenges. They work with the underserved and overlooked, treating them with the humanity and dignity they deserve and that ultimately helps them flourish.”

The grant will fund tuition scholarships and increase the pool of highly qualified, master’s-level rehabilitation counselors, thus addressing regional personnel shortages. The degree was previously offered only on-campus, but will now also be offered entirely online or as an on-campus/online hybrid, making it accessible to more students.

Scranton’s nationally recognized rehabilitation counseling program, which offers a Master of Science degree, was established in 1965. It is the second-oldest such program at a Catholic college or university in the U.S.

Since its inception, Scranton’s rehabilitation counseling program has prepared 976 graduates who have gone on to serve people with disabilities in both public and private settings. Data shows rehabilitation counselors are likely to serve 1,500 to 2,500 individual clients in a career, meaning Scranton’s graduates are estimated to have served about 1.5 million clients with disabilities.

In addition to the teaching rooted in Jesuit values and instruction coming from world-class educators, Scranton’s innovative program features state-of-the-art video technology at the David W. Hall Counselor Training Center, which enables students to record counseling sessions with hands-on supervision.

“We are very honored to have received this grant award, as it is a significant validation of the commitment to excellence of those who have built and sustained this program for over 60 years,” said Samantha Herrick, Ph.D., associate professor of counseling and human services and director of the University’s Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Program. “This grant will allow us to carry forward our mission into the future by increasing capacity and expanding access for qualified applicants with a passion for empowering others to reach their full potential.”

The clinical rehabilitation field offers strong employment rates and salaries, as well as opportunities to engage in meaningful, life-changing work. Additionally, Scranton alumni remain connected to the program long after graduation, evidenced by the 60-year anniversary celebration and reunion held this fall.

The grant will award the University’s program with five payments over a five-year period, totaling $999,909.16.

U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Scranton’s rehabilitation counseling program as No. 2 in Pennsylvania and in the top 50 in the U.S., reflecting its strong reputation across the nation.

Innovation. Design. Education. Application. The IDEA Center at The University of Scranton promotes creativity among students and fosters connections with the community.

In this video, IDEA Center Director Tom Bryan explains some of the possibilities the center offers, including 3D printing, laser engraving, graphic design, and manufacturing equipment, as well as a podcast media studio.

You do not need to be an engineer to create in the space at the IDEA Center, which is located at the University's Robert S '68 and Marilyn A. Weiss Hall. The team there provides instruction, safety training and guidance prior to the use of the equipment or machinery.

Learn more about how the IDEA Center can help bring creative ideas to life. Visit the website to reserve the podcast studio, complete a form to request training or schedule a visit or field trip.

Walk through the IDEA Center in this video interview with Tom Bryan. Then, get all the details at The Scranton Journal website: https://journal.scranton.edu/issues/2025/fall

On Sunday, Jan.18, The University of Scranton will once again host the Greater Scranton MLK Commission’s annual dinner. This event strives to give voice to and emphasize the importance of positive community and racial relations in all aspects of life through education, programming, and special events. It is an opportunity to celebrate the life, legacy and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

The annual celebration and awards dinner will take place on Sunday, beginning at 2:30 p.m. in the University’s DeNaples Center McIllhenny Ballroom.

This year’s program theme is “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” and will feature keynote speakers, U. Melissa Anyiwo, Ph.D., associate professor of history and director of Black Studies at The University of Scranton and Dr. Yerodin Lucas, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Marywood University. University President Rev. Joseph Marina, S.J., will provide an opening welcome.  

The University will sponsor a table; members of the University community interested in attending are directed to contact Julie Schumacher Cohen in Community Relations at julie.cohen@scranton.edu 

For more information, visit the event registration page: MLK Commission Annual Dinner details. 

The spirit of giving is alive and well at The University of Scranton, where, for the past month, students and faculty and staff members participated in an initiative that provides holiday gifts to families in need.

This year’s Gifts for Kids program — organized in partnership by the University’s Center for Service and Social Justice (CSSJ), Friends of the Poor, the Catherine McAuley Center and Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton — yielded hundreds of gifts generously donated by members of the University community. Organizers requested a focus on teens, noting that infants typically receive ample donations but need less. In response, a record number of teen gifts were collected.

“We’ve seen a lot of community need this year,” said Ellen Judge, CSSJ outreach program coordinator. “We’re glad that people were able to be generous and donate so that we could participate in this important program every year on our campus.”

Collected items will be delivered to the Byron Recreation Complex, where volunteers will sort and prepare them for distribution on Tuesday, Dec. 16, and Wednesday, Dec. 17. Gifts will be distributed to families who pre-registered for assistance.

For additional coverage, please see this story from Fox 56.

$content.getChild('content').textValue

Performance Music at The University of Scranton will continue in the holiday spirit at its 24th Annual Empty Stocking Fund Benefit Concert, this year featuring the Scranton Brass Orchestra. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14, in the University’s Houlihan-McLean Center (Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue, downtown Scranton). The event is open to the public. Attendees are asked to bring either a new unwrapped toy, a new piece of child’s clothing or a cash donation. All donated items will directly benefit children of local families in need this holiday season via the University’s Center for Service and Social Justice.

Founded by Cheryl Boga and Hal Baillie, Ph.D., and with artistic support from Mark Gould, and now in its 13th season, Scranton Brass Orchestra is a fully professional, 27-member ensemble comprised of brass and percussion players/teachers from across the region. Since its founding in June 2011, the group’s performances have been free and open to the public and have featured nationally and internationally acclaimed guests, among them some of the most acclaimed brass players of our time. Some of the goals of the group include to provide high-level large brass ensemble performance and listening opportunities, serve as an aural and visual model to aid in the tonal and technical development of student brass players and as a professional development resource for brass performers and teachers in the region, and give participating regional brass musicians and teachers opportunities to work with and observe masters of the art of brass playing.

The Empty Stocking Fund concert traces its origins back to 1999, when Boga’s friend, Alan Drake, the former chairman of the music department at Georgia’s Augusta University, told her about a benefit Christmas concert held there. She was intrigued and Drake gave his blessing for her to bring the concept back to Scranton for the following year. For the inaugural year, she and Drake waged a friendly competition to see which concert could raise the most money. Scranton won — and an annual tradition was born.

The concert’s charitable mission makes it particularly special. The University’s Performance Music family is always moved when they see the donated items out on display the night of the concert. Meanwhile, the performance itself never fails to produce an abundance of yuletide cheer.

For those who are unable to attend the concert but would still like to drop off a toy or other donation, they will be accepted at the Houlihan-McLean Center this week (Monday, Dec. 8 through Thursday, Dec. 11) from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. (Before the day of the concert, please use the Jefferson Avenue entrance.)

 

---

IF YOU GO:

WHAT: Annual Empty Stocking Fund Benefit Concert with the Scranton Brass Orchestra, presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton

WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Houlihan-McLean Center

ADMISSION: A donation of either a new unwrapped toy, new piece of child’s clothing, new toiletry items or a cash donation, with all proceeds directly benefiting local families in need