Dozens of Thiel College employees and students joined community members, sexual assault survivors and AWARE personnel as the campus hosted the annual Take Back the Night event on Friday, April 26.
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Thiel College hosted television anchors, reporters and photographers from Pittsburgh, Youngstown, and Erie on Tuesday to speak with students about careers in communication and television.
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The Thiel College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Department of Athletics hosted the third annual Tommys Sunday night at the William A. Passavant Center.
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Thiel College hosted its third annual Mentor of the Year event on Friday, April 26. The event recognizes the extraordinary contributions of alumni, educators, and professionals in a ceremony held in the Howard Miller Student Center’s Sawhill Georgian Room. The event, part of the Thiel College Mentor of the Year Initiative, underscores the significant professional and civic impacts of these individuals, celebrating the deep connections they foster within the community.
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President Susan Traverso, Ph.D. hosted the final Thiel News Time (TNT) was held Tuesday.
Faculty and staff members gathered in the Sawhill Georgian Room to hear introductions of new employees and a recap a busy spring semester and to discuss key updates regarding enrollment, the budget and an outline of the board retreat and meeting.
The meeting was also an opportunity to celebrate several high points from the past semester and also set the stage for the Commencement Exercises on May 12, the dedication of the first floor for Professor of English and James Pedas Endowed Chair of Communication Mary Theresa Hall, Ph.D. and groundbreaking for the Daniel and Dorothy Spence Academic Center on May 10.
The Speech-Language Pathology department invites faculty, staff, and students on May 9 to join them from 1-3pm as they celebrate Dr. Nancy Antonino.
Antonino has been a member of the Thiel community since 1989 and helped add a master’s degree to enhance the historically strong Communications Sciences and Disorders bachelor’s degree program. Here retirement party will be in the lobby of the Glen Johnson Community Center.
Kayla Emanuelson ’13; Aaron Wakley ’15; Allison Wakley ’16; Louie Karellas ’20 MBA’22; and Kate Sollers ’22 were the featured speakers at the April 24 Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar. Emanuelson is a tax manager at SSB CPAs, Aaron Wakley a financial consultant at PRESTIGE Wealth Strategies, Allison Wakley a human resource and recruiting specialist at LECOM, Karellas a payroll analyst at The Walt Disney Company, and Sollers a production scheduler at Hiab USA.
“Having the opportunity to hear from a panel of Thiel alumni that were recent graduates was a unique and special experience. As many of the students in the class are graduating in May and have a lot of change approaching it was encouraging to hear Aaron, Allison, Louie, Kate, and Kayla discuss their current positions and how they got there.” Julianne Slagle ’24
“Kayla graduated with majors in Business and Accounting and a minor in English and was also able to graduate with 150 credits in four years. She then passed the CPA exam in six months and went four for four on all the tests.” Abigail Sefton ’25
“A former resident director, Louie now works at Disney doing risk assessment and auditing for their various branches. A major in international business and business administration, Louie spoke on how he loved his professors at Thiel. While at Thiel he had an internship at Disney which would help him secure a job later on.” George Tice ’24
“Kayla emphasized the importance of tackling the CPA exam early, she cautions against underestimating its complexity. Unlike traditional exams, cramming for the CPA exam is not a viable strategy. Kayla found the financial portion to be the most challenging, differing from the opinion of Professor Kassalen who considered it to be the easiest.” Jackson Pletcher ’24
“The other big piece of advice Kayla had for the CPA exam is to take a review course. She stated that what is on the CPA exam is not like what you see in school or in your work. Neither experience will adequately prepare you to take the CPA exam alone.” Connor Lovic ’24
“The panel gave us lots of wisdom such as discussing the importance of budgeting and even a tool to do so. It gave me some hope to hear that one panelist was able to pay off $75k of student debt in 2 ½ years. We were also given investment advice (Roth IRA over Traditional IRA) and had the terms ‘debt snowball’ and ‘debt avalanche’ defined to us. As a non-business major, I found this down-to-earth advice really useful and uplifting as I enter the real world with debt and little financial knowledge.” George Tice ’24
“A lesson I thought was very important was learning about work life balance and how important that is in the future and being able to still live your life while working long days. A few of the members of the panel also had young families and they needed to be able to balance their careers along with starting a family.” Aidan Rispoli ’25
“I just thought it was really cool to see what people I went to college with and saw graduate not long ago have been up to and how they are moving forward in life.” Jacob Traupman ’24
“One main message that I got from the panel of speakers was to pursue what you love and what is meant to find you will find you if you are patient.” Julianne Slagle ’24
“Overall, all of the panel provided great insights and advice for all of us that will be useful soon.” Connor Lovic ’24
Lessons Learned
Dinner “Dishing”
Final exams are upon us, and the TLC would like to remind you of our peer-led review sessions. Our schedule of sessions is included below.
For more information, contact Than Oo.
TC’s Health, Wellness & Safety Notes
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but prioritizing mental health is essential year-round..
An individual’s mental health—how one thinks, feels and acts—can change over time due to various factors. Mental illnesses are some of the most common health conditions in the United States. While 1 in 5 adults experiences mental illness each year, less than half of them receive treatment.
The stigma around mental health and treatment has long existed, but fortunately, it’s becoming less of a taboo topic.
If you know someone who is experiencing a mental illness, be supportive, validate what they are going through and
minimize judgment about seeking help.
HR Notes
Thiel College welcomes
Retirement planning available
Participants of the Thiel College Retirement Plan can meet with independent Retirement Plan Advisor Jack Ryan from HB Retirement for retirement planning needs through conference calls and virtual meetings. His office hours can be selected below.
Ryan is available Tuesday, May 7 for in-person meetings on campus.
Ryan is available for phone or Zoom calls on May 6, 16, 21, and 30
Ryan can assist you with questions regarding:
Challenge 24 Competition
May 1 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Lutheran Heritage Room, Howard Miller Student Center
The bi-annual Challenge 24 competition will be held in the Lutheran Heritage Room.
Stuff-a-Plush
May 2 from 11 a.m. to noon
Lutheran Heritage Room, Howard Miller Student Center
Students will have an opportunity to fill their very own stuffed animal for them to take home.
Chess Club Tournament
May 2 from 5–10 p.m.
201 Greenville Hall
School and community Chess Club tournament! The games will be 20 minutes long with each player getting 10 minutes each for moves. There will be a grand prize gift card as well as snacks for players.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes Bonfire
May 2 from 8–11 p.m.
Quad Fire Pit
Thiel’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes will hold their final meeting with a campfire, s’mores, bible study, and fun.
Circle K Car Smash
May 3 from 4–7 p.m.
Greenville Hall parking lot
Circle K is having their annual car smash fundraiser as part of the Farewell Festival.
Farewell Festival
May 3 from 4:30–7 p.m.
Greenville Hall Lawn
All college departments and offices will be invited to host an activity for Thiel College’s farewell festival. This festival will feature games, activities, crafts or other events to celebrate the end of the semester.
Bingo in Bly
May 3 from 7–9 p.m.
Bly Hall
Student Life will host weekly bingo games in Bly Hall.
For more information, contact Than Oo at too@thiel.edu.
Class of 2024 Graduation Rehearsal Picnic and Dinner
May 5 from 5:30–8:30 p.m.
Passavant Center and Lawn, Howard Miller Student Center
As part of the celebration for the graduating class, there will be a picnic on the Howard Miller Student Center lawn for seniors prior to graduation rehearsal. Additionally, a tree dedication ceremony will take place before rehearsal.
Baccalaureate Service
May 11 from 7–9 p.m.
David Johnson Memorial Chapel
Graduating seniors will be celebrated in a baccalaureate service. Students will reflect on their time at Thiel, in a service with readings, music and ritual. This year’s theme is “The Flow of Life’s Call.”
Senior Bonfire
May 11 from 8–11 p.m.
Lower campus
Post Baccalaureate service bonfire and gathering.
150th Commencement Exercises
May 12 at 11 a.m.
William A. Passavant Memorial Center
Graduating seniors will be celebrated during the 150th Commencement Exercises.
Tax Saving Tips
May 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Anderson Fellowship Hall in The Heritage at St. Paul's, 339 East Jamestown Road, Greenville, Pa.
Accountant Robert Sherbondy and Director of Planned Giving Community Foundation of W PA and Eastern Ohio Amy Atkinson will cover minimizing capital gains tax, maxing out retirement contributions, annual gift tax exclusion, HSAs and FSAs, tax savings through charitable giving and more. An open Q & A session will follow presentation.
For those not comfortable attending in person, there will also be a virtual option through Zoom.
Reservations are recommended. Please register here. Or call 724-589-4667 and select option 7.
Grapes and Growlers Sponsored By Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce
May 18 from 4-7 p.m.
The Bistro, Howard Miller Student Center
General admission is $25 per person. Food will be available for purchase.
For more information or to purchase tickets contact Mark Batt ’87 at ext. 2157.
Tomcat Tributes
Tomcat Tributes recognize the teamwork Thiel College employees exhibit each day. Employees can nominate co-workers for recognition in four categories (Random Act of Kindness, Going the Extra Mile, Had a Great Idea, Just Because).
Nominee: Than Oo
Nominator: Kristel Gallagher
Comment: “Than happened to be walking by while I was taking down poster easels at the Scholarship & Arts Symposium and, in true Than form, he jumped in to help. He stayed until the entire area was cleaned up and made the job much easier on me. Thank you, Than!”
Nominee: Michelle Lentz
Nominator: Kristel Gallagher
Comment: “Michelle was instrumental in helping me set up the poster easels for the PA Research Poster Session at the Scholarship & Arts Symposium. Michelle gave up her precious morning time to help me organize, straighten, and make "perfect" the easels in our designated space. Thank you!”
Publishing Schedule
T-Notes is published every week during the academic year. It arrives Wednesday afternoons. The next edition will be out May 8, 2024. Send your event or news to tnotes@thiel.edu by noon Monday, May 6, 2024 to be published in that week’s edition.
Submit updates and news
The Office of Communications and Marketing is always looking for good content that can be featured in the weekly staff newsletter (T-Notes), the student newsletter (Thiel Happenings), the website Newsroom or on social media.
Please send any information about you, your students, your department or your colleagues to Dominick DiRienzo M.A.’22.
Information about anything your department is featuring this year, any faculty accomplishments or student activity.
These updates do not have to meet a “newsworthiness” standard and do not have to be things that you are specifically doing or hosting.
If you have any questions, contact DiRienzo at ext. 2188.
Communications collateral
Employees should update the logos used on institutional materials, including email signatures, letterhead, PowerPoint slides, etc.
Thiel College has used the shield and wordmark combination as the official institutional logo for more than a year. They are the only approved logo for academic co-curricular and institutional use. Additional athletic logo packages are also available.
Email signatures, brand resources, and a job request form are all available online. A Dropbox folder has been set up with instructions and the materials necessary to create new email signatures. Employees can find other Thiel College-branded resources including letterhead, logos and PowerPoint slides in the same folder.
Thiel College community members who need help with communications and marketing initiatives and collateral can now request those services with a job form. The request form is available on the communications and marketing webpage or linked directly below.
For more information, email the office.
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