Thiel Happenings

Thiel, Grove City Outlets and Simon Property Group collaborate to provide professional wardrobe help for students in need

A unique collaborative program between Thiel College, Grove City Premium Outlets and Simon Property Group Inc. will ensure students in need have access to proper professional wardrobe items for job and graduate school interviews as well internship applications.

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WATCH: Thiel College celebration of life service for Emeritus Professor David Miller

The Thiel College celebration of life service is at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19 at the William A. Passavant Memorial Center for Emeritus Professor of Business and Accounting David Miller ’61 H’20, who passed away October 23.

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Thiel College marks Veterans Day with several projects

Thiel College held several events in conjunction with Veterans Day last week. On Thursday, Nov. 10 Professor of History David Buck, Ph.D. discussed the research he and his students have done to chronicle the members of the College community who have served in the military. From when his research began several years ago to today, the list of names with military service histories has grown from 120 to more than 750 names.

On Tuesday this week, Buck was joined by the College's veterans liaison Mike Mason for an online conversation with alumni and friends and college archivist John Hauser'71 H'20.

• Watch the Veterans and Thiel College episode of Zooming from the Archives.

Adjunct Professor Ann Coleman, Ph.D. had Dr. Richard Mondak, who was a physician in the U.S. Navy and William G. McConnell Jr., who was an attorney for the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Middle East, speak to students in her classes.

Simon’s Closet helping students in need dress for success

Simon’s Closet is located on campus in the Career Development Center on the first floor of the Howard Miller Student Center.

For the Fall 2022 semester, walk-in hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Appointments outside these hours may be scheduled via College Central.

All appointments and walk-in customers will have thirty minutes to shop, try on, and select clothing pieces. Students may choose to either borrow or keep a total of three clothing items per academic year at no cost to them. Clothing donations can also be made on Thiel’s campus by setting up a 30-minute appointment with the Career Development Center at (724)589-2005.

Keeping these appointments helps to ensure that students are provided with a variety of clothing in the proper styles and sizes that meet seasonal needs. Clothing should be recently laundered or dry cleaned. Simon’s Closet cannot accept stained, ripped, or damaged items, items that are not appropriate for professional events, used cosmetics, hosiery, or socks, items that are five years old or older, or worn shoes with scuff marks or missing eyelets and shoelaces.

For more information contact Libbi Brown at ext. 2005.

Be a part of Thiel's history

In Thiel's earlier days, students and faculty would gather together on the lawn in front of Roth Hall to take an annual picture. One such photo, taken on November 21, 1922, is displayed outside of the STEAM Room on the second floor of the library.

To celebrate its 100-year anniversary, we would like to invite all current students and faculty members to participate in a retake of the photograph. If you are able, please join us at 11 a.m. Tuesday, November 22  in front of Roth Hall!

Employees recognized during Trustee Luncheon

During the Board of Trustees luncheon on Nov. 4, six employees were recognized for their contributions throughout the year.

From left to right Associate Dean for Academic Programs & Records Laura Pickens, Ph.D. ’06, Director of Financial Aid Michelle Work, Director of Environmental Services Kim Scobbie-Byler, Managing Director of the President’s Office Amy Taczanowsky, Director of Planned Giving Mario Marini ’91 and Administrative Assistant to the Vice President for Student Life and Athletics Melissa Michael.

Student News

Kara Wasser shares her entrepreneurial and business insights

Kara Wasser was the featured speaker at the November 9 Entrepreneurship Seminar. Wasser is the CEO of OhanaLink Technologies located in Hermitage, Pa.

“Kara is not your typical entrepreneur. In fact, she spent 18 years working in corporate America before she started her company. With no experience in tech of any kind, she was starting from scratch in a male dominated field. Her passion is what kept her going through this.” Tyler Zere ’23

“Kara Wasser is the CEO of OhanaLink Technologies, a woman-owned and led social media platform that allows families to link together. This platform started as an idea after Wasser missed the birth of her niece because she was left out of the group chat.” Ashley Wolford ’23

“She developed a prototype called Baby Arrival Monitor, from there she went on to join business groups where she pitched her idea and received great feedback which also helped with her market research. She spent countless hours researching what it took to develop an app, growing her network, and learning about what it takes to turn her solution for her problem into reality.” Justina Jenkins ’23

“She started her company in 2017, then in 2019 she quit her job and put everything into her business; she dumped literally everything she had into OhanaLink. Kara built and launched in 2020, but Covid set up a roadblock.” Autumn Gourley ’24

“One of the concepts Kara spoke about that stuck with me was how she was able to ‘make the jump’ from a regular corporate job to her own business. She explained how hard it was to operate the business to its full potential as a side hustle and she knew it needed her full attention.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23

“Kara had many issues with funding but admitted that she was not ready, and the investors knew this. She took out her 401K and drained her savings to continue working on this investment without the help of anyone else.” Hayley Phillips ’23

“She created the OhanaLink Baby app that launched in 2020. The app provides access for family and friends that want to track the process of a pregnant family member.” Ian Yahner ’23

“After pitching this to some investors, Kara kept receiving the question of ‘Have you thought about a general health version?’” Ashley Wolford ’23

“I asked Kara if launching her business during the Covid-19 pandemic was stressful to which she said yes because her sales team was unable to do what they were best at. It was very difficult for her to get her ideas out there at first since in-person meetings were off the table at that time.” Sydney Hipps ’23

“Someone then came to Kara and explained the need for communication in the domestic violence market. There are a lot of things that have to be done differently because of the nature of these situations.” Jakob Misencik ’23

“At first Kara was unsure but then realized the app was a building block, base solution platform which could help solve their problem. From there they were the first to the market to help domestic violence victims and they partnered with many agencies in the states to provide a discrete undetectable app domestic violence victims could use. This really helped her business take off.” Justina Jenkins ’23

“Today, OhanaLink Technologies is a platform suite of healthcare mobile solutions. Its advanced and innovative technology includes plug-ins with a secure wrapper feature.” Ava Kavulla ’25

“I continue to meet great friends of Penn-Northwest Development Corporation through this class, and Kara Wasser is no exception. While I never had the pleasure of meeting her before Wednesday night, I spent my summer internship hearing about OhanaLink Technologies and their incredible success, although never to the depth of her presentation for our class.” Trey Wilt ’23

“I’m happy I had the privilege to hear Mrs. Wasser’s story for a second time, I originally heard her speak in the previous entrepreneurship class I took with Professor Kandray. Just from last semester OhanaLink Technologies grew even bigger than it previously was. I love the idea of the company!” Devyn Giovengo ’23

“My favorite thing that Kara spoke about was having a reliable team. When talking about this she said, ‘Building my team was key’. As she explained more, I was able to learn that a team needs to be reliable in all aspects and not just showing up to work on time.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23

“Before expounding on her business story, she shared five things that prospective entrepreneurs think they need, which are experience, defined end goal, road map, money, and business/brand name. Instead, prospective entrepreneurs simply need an idea/problem, Google, market research, mentors, and commitment. She is a testament to this. She took advantage of networking opportunities, mentorships, and entrepreneurship education programs offered through the E-Center in Hermitage, PA.” Ava Kavulla ’25

Lessons Learned

• “You can build a company anywhere thanks to the internet.” Nevaeh Arnold ’23
• “Just start. You do not have to have a whole lot of money to get started.” Siwon Lee ’23
• “You do not need a defined end goal for your business start-up.” Hayley Phillips ’23
• “Don’t think you have to have It all figured out on day one because you won’t and don’t need to.” Nevaeh Arnold ’23
• “She suggested that we need to identify or find a problem that we are passionate about solving.” Siwon Lee ’23
• “Don’t be afraid to take that leap of faith, the worst that could happen is that you go back to zero.” Matt Castles ’23

• “Mentors are free, you do not need a lot of money to gain knowledge.” Autumn Gourley ’24

• “Network, network, network! For Kara, networking helped to build her business, and she even has some of her connections working for her now.” Ashley Wolford ’23
• “Build your product before your brand.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23
• “Problems = Opportunities” Justina Jenkins ’23
• “Be okay with having to adjust and change your business model.” Ava Kavulla ’25
• “If you put an end date on something you already gave up.” Kaleb Achuff ’24
• “Don’t let gender biases discourage you.” Nevaeh Arnold ’23
• “Don’t back yourself into a corner, be open minded.” Matt Castles ’23
• “If you can enjoy the journey, you'll be rewarded every day.” Jisu Kim ’23

Dinner Dishing

• “Sydney’s take on the South with the chicken and waffles was delicious. The entire dinner from the starting salad to the ending peach cobbler was delightful and probably what could be considered the most “American” food we have had yet.” Hayley Phillips ’23
• “This day, I had a Southern style meal. I did not know that there were different styles of food from region to region. It was really new to me. I was glad to experience more diverse food and expand my experiences.” Siwon Lee ’23
• “This week I had the honor of being dinner concierge. My table had many great conversations as we spent the evening trying to find a hobby for Professor Witosky to take up when he retires.” Sydney Hipps ’23

• “We had great conversation during dinner because Professor Kandray is always a good time. A wide variety of topics were discussed from international politics to finance.” Tyler Zere ’23