Thiel Happenings

Thiel College awards $125,000 scholarship to DuBois high school student

Thiel College, a leading liberal arts college in northwest Pennsylvania, awarded a full tuition scholarship worth $125,000 to DuBois Area High School senior Jonathan Russell.

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Eisenhower High School student earns full tuition scholarship worth $125,000

Thiel College, a leading liberal arts college in northwest Pennsylvania, awarded a full tuition scholarship worth $125,000 to Eisenhower Junior-Senior High School senior Mitchell Angove.

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Fox Chapel High School student earns full ride worth $125,000

Thiel College, a leading liberal arts college in northwest Pennsylvania, awarded a full tuition scholarship worth $125,000 to Fox Chapel High School senior Sydnee Pilarski.

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Several endeavors connect Thiel neuroscience majors with area scholastic students

Thiel College neuroscience majors Nathaniel Hill ’20, Joelle Reitz ’19 and Evan Youker ’18 and Professor of Neuroscience and Department Chair Greg Butcher, Ph.D., took a break during finals week to provide students from Greenville School District’s East Elementary an in-depth look at the brain.

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Thiel business students present strategic business plan to trails association

Thiel College students in Professor of Business Administration and Accounting Angelo Giannini’s strategic management class presented on Dec. 11 to the Mercer County Trails Association as the culmination of a semester-long project to help the trails group with marketing, fundraising and right-of-way issues.

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The Lorax, education honorary work with United Way to hand out books

Adjunct Professor of Education Julie Harris dressed as the Lorax and visited students at Greenville’s Hempfield Elementary School on Dec. 8. Students Justin Zinsmeister ’18 and Sam Sesti III ’18 read to the students as part of the day's events. Other members of the education honorary society Kappa Delta Pi distributed books to students for the holidays through the United Way of Mercer County. The program continues Thursday when Thiel students will be at Jamestown Elementary School to read and hand out books.

Thiel to host NetVUE Summit on Jan. 24-25

Thiel will host a Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education Summit on campus in January. Thiel received a grant for NetVUE to support the College's efforts in considering ways of aligning the understanding of vocation and vocational discernment with the College's work with students. Approximately 60 faculty and staff members have participated in reading groups this fall to discuss themes such as mentoring, the importance of the liberal arts in vocational discernment and the importance of meaningful work.

As an extension of those conversations, the College will be hosting Julie Massey and Daniel Deffenbaugh, Ph.D., on Jan. 24-25. Each will give an on-campus presentation on issues related to mentoring of students. They will also be available to visit classes and meet with groups of faculty, staff, and students.

Massey is the associate vice president for the division of Mission and Student Affairs at St. Norbert College, a role she assumed in the spring of 2016. She is a 1987 graduate of St. Norbert College and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Loyola University Chicago. She has been published in America Magazine, Liguorian Magazine and in the texts “Understanding Student Affairs in Catholic Colleges and Universities” and “Student Life in Catholic Higher Education: Advancing Good Practice.” She and Bridget Burke Ravizza, Ph.D., co-authored the book “Project Holiness: Marriage as a Workshop for Everyday Saints.”

Deffenbaugh joined the Hastings College religion and philosophy faculty in the fall of 2001 and since that time has worked with his colleagues to develop a broad range of courses in religion. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in constructive theology from Vanderbilt University. He also has an M.Div. from Western Theological Seminary and a B.A. in biology and religion from Hope College. He is the author of “Learning the Language of the Fields: Tilling and Keeping as Christian Vocation” and several book chapters and journal articles. In 2005, Deffenbaugh was named the CASE Professor of the Year for the state of Nebraska, a national award sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Student News

Department of Education celebrates annual holiday party

More than 40 students, faculty and staff gathered together to celebrate the Department of Education’s annual holiday party on Dec. 11.

Thiel Choir performs at St. Paul’s

The Thiel Handbell Ringers and the Thiel Choir performed at St. Paul’s on Dec. 8. The groups performed the repertoire from the Christmas Festival plus an additional handbell choir piece and two piano duets, performed by two of our exchange students visiting from South Korea.