Thiel Happenings

Sports psychologist and author leading special sessions on mental toughness at Thiel College

Thiel College will host sport psychology coach, author, and speaker Rob Bell, Ph.D. for two presentations on Thursday, Nov. 7. The first session will be tailored for prospective college students visiting campus, while the second will welcome the entire Thiel College community to hear Bell discuss mental toughness.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel hosting local moot court event before team heads to national qualifying tournament

The Thiel College Moot Court Program will host its first Moot Court Oral Advocacy Night at 6:30 p.m. November 7 in the Stamm Lecture Hall in the James Pedas Communication Center.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel College President highlights College’s connection to region for Pittsburgh Quarterly story

Thiel College President Susan Traverso, Ph.D. underscored the College’s strong ties to Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania in an editorial featured in Pittsburgh Quarterly recently. This editorial was part of the magazine’s exploration of Pittsburgh as a college town.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel College Office of Admission recognizes Phillips for monthly team member honors

The Thiel College Office of Admission has recognized Seth Phillips ’25 as its Thiel Team Member of the Month for October.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Title IX training video available for review

As part of Thiel’s commitment to fostering a positive culture and providing a campus that is free from discrimination and harassment, the attached recording of the Thiel College Title IX training program educates and addresses the obligations of Thiel College faculty, staff and student employees under Title IX.

• Title IX Training - Prevention of Discriminatory Harassment

The “Prevention of Discriminatory Harassment under Title IX, presented by Kimberly Colonna from McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC includes valuable information designed to educate employees on obligations and rights under Title IX. It provides you with practical advice about what constitutes harassment under the law and misconduct under College policies. You will learn what to do if you see, hear of, or experience conduct that might constitute harassment or discrimination. This program features scenarios taken from real incidents and cases

Faculty, Staff and Student employees who were unable to attend the in-person training program in September are asked to watch the video.

Promote the grammar and punctuation workshop for students

Professor of English and Pedas Endowed Chair of Communication Mary Theresa Hall, Ph.D. is asking faculty and staff to let students know about this spring’s grammar and punctation class.

ENG 115: Grammar and Punctuation Workshop in spring 2025 is a one-credit course that and is offered on a pass-fail basis. The class will be held on from 10:40 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

This course will refine grammar, punctuation, and writing skills.

For more information contact Hall.

Images of the Week showcase fall and Halloween fun 

Asistant Professor of English Sheila Gross, Ph.D. ’10 submitted her photo essay of Thiel in Fall and Physician Assistant Studies Lecturer Jessica Sloan submitted the PA students and staff celebrating Halloween for this week’s photo essays. The Office of Communications and Marketing is collecting photos that showcase the beauty and spirit of campus life. All faculty and staff members are invited to share their favorite moments from across campus!

Whether it’s a stunning landscape, a memorable interaction with students, or even a rare glimpse of the elusive woodchucks that roam campus, we’d love to see what you capture.

📸 Submit your photos to tnotes@thiel.edu and help us highlight the scenes that make Thiel College special!

Registrar’s office celebrates staff appreciation Halloween party

Registrar Debbie A. Schreiber, Assistant Registrar Amy Stoyer and Associate Dean for Academic Programs & Records and Professor of Psychology Laura Pickens, Ph.D. ’06 picked up the trophy for best costumes during the Staff Appreciation Club’s Halloween Party in Roth Hall last week.

Student News

Entrepreneur shares his journey with seminar class

On October 23, Eric Gaber, Lecturer and Entrepreneurship center Director at Westminster College, visited class and shared his entrepreneurship journey as well as insights about how to succeed as an entrepreneur or employee in today’s world.

Eric Gaber is a third-generation entrepreneur creating many new businesses such as E&C Services Inc., Relizathan Properties, MateriaLink, BHS and other for profit and nonprofit groups — Zachary Bergstresser ’25

[Gaber] He highlighted different types of entrepreneurships such as corporate, social, and small business, explaining that not all entrepreneurship involves inventing new products; many entrepreneurs succeed by innovating, managing teams, and networking effectively. —Suengwoo Baek ’25

To Eric, important tools for success are the following: Risk vs Reward, try, fail, try, fail, and then success, knowing when you don’t know something and using other sources to fill in that information. He then went on to discuss the 5 spokes of entrepreneurship umbrella, which are the following: 1. Ideation 2. Corporate 3. Civic 4. Socio 5. Small Businesses (This is the largest of the 5). —Jordan Lang ’25

Eventually he scaled back on some of his companies and involvements and went to Westminster to teach his experiences as an entrepreneur and became the director of Westminster Entrepreneurship Center, eventually leading him to be the executive chair for the Entrepreneurship Leadership Council. —Patrick Belback ’25

He is also a published author of the book “How to Win the Recruiting Game in the 21^st Century” he wrote the book as a marketing tactic for his recruitment firm which now instead of actually doing the recruiting, they are a recruiting consulting firm. —Patrick Belback ’25

He emphasized the importance of networking with all people and that it is one of the biggest ways to find opportunities and help on day to day projects we might be tasked with. He also told us to find out strengths and what each of us are good at already or naturally —Dillon Belknap ’25

He concluded with the motivational idea that the difference between ordinary and extraordinary lies in doing a little extra. And he inspired us to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams with passion and self-awareness. His message was clear: every individual has the potential to succeed, and the only limit is oneself. —Minseo Kim ’25

Gaber also elaborated on his current goal of fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Pittsburgh region, aiming to bring together educational institutions, businesses, and government agencies in what he called the "entrepreneurial confluence." Through his energetic storytelling, he underscored how essential it is to remain curious, humble, and willing to take risks in both life and business. — Jaehee Lee ’25

With over 35 years in the private sector, he comes from a family of entrepreneurs, having learned valuable lessons while initially avoiding the family business. —Daeun Lee ’25

Eric believes that entrepreneurship isn’t only about inventing new things; it also involves building businesses, managing teams, and connecting with customers. —Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25

He also talked about the five spokes of the entrepreneurial umbrella, which consists of ideation, corporate/intrapreneurship, civic, socio, and small business. He also informed us that 90% of employers are small businesses. —Emily Ripple ’26

Eric obviously has a lot of knowledge and success under his belt and he said to us “I have learned as much from failures as successes.” This quote really stood out to me because even someone as successful as him can appreciate and learn from the failures. —Casey Yacos ’25

During his presentation, he explained the five “spokes” of entrepreneurship: Ideation, Corporate (Intrapreneurship), Civic, Social, and Small Businesses, and discussed the differences between them. He emphasized that passionate people build businesses, manage teams, and connect with others, and that finding the right role for oneself involves staying open-minded. —Gianna Sprecace ’26

Lessons Learned

• Self-Awareness and Passion: The speaker stressed the importance of self-awareness and understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses —Suengwoo Baek ’25

• The only reason you can’t be successful is yourself. —Patrick Belback ’25

• The importance of networking and finding the right people to network with not just anyone. —Dillon Belknap ’25
• Be a sponge and learn as much as you can from everyone you meet —Dillon Belknap ’25
• The world of entrepreneurship isn’t just about inventing something brand new. —Zachary Bergstresser ’25
• Successful entrepreneurship comes from collaboration. —Minseo Kim ’25
• An important lesson I learned from Eric was “entrepreneurship needs passionate people to build businesses, manage teams, and to connect with customers. —Jordan Lang ’25
• Gaber's approach of "under-promising and over-delivering" is notably different from the mindset often encouraged in business, where individuals are told to "promote themselves and stand out." This contrast was refreshing and intriguing. — Jaehee Lee ’25
• Learning from failures can serve as a foundation for success, and self-awareness is crucial for understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses —Daeun Lee ’25

• Keep an Open and Positive Mind— Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25
• He also mentioned 'putting a 7 in your schedule,' meaning you should wake up early and time-block your day —Rachael Smith ’26
• Eric said it is very important to know your personal strengths and know when to hire someone that can do something better than you can. —Casey Yacos ’25
• Eric said optimism and desire are two of the biggest things that make entrepreneurs successful. —Casey Yacos ’25

Dinner Dishing

• The dinner concierge was Yianni Panagiotopoulos. His dinner was of course Greek-inspired, as always, we had a three-course meal consisting of a Mediterranean salad, grilled chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots as well as tzatziki sauce, and for dessert was a type of Greek custard —Emily Ripple ’26
• The Greek food prepared by Yianni was a different experience… It always excites me to taste food from other cultures. —Suengwoo Baek ’25
• Dinner was picked by one of the students and my friend in the class Yanni, He chose a Greek style dinner and read us a script he found before we had our meal —Dillon Belknap ’25
• During dinner, many motivating insights were shared, making it a meaningful experience. —Minseo Kim ’25
• I praise the work AVI does at Thiel College for us. It was also great getting to know the people at my table more and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations together. —Jordan Lang ’25
• The main course, Greek Lemon Chicken, was amazing the oven-roasted chicken had a great lemon and garlic flavor, and the roasted potatoes on the side were seasoned to perfection. For dessert, the Galaktoboureko was delightful, with layers of flaky phyllo and creamy custard soaked in a light syrup. —Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25
• I had the opportunity to sit with new friends and Eric Gaber who was today’s speaker. He tried to make the atmosphere comfortable, so we had good conversation over a delicious dinner. It was very nice getting to know each of them better. —Chaerin Ryu ’25
• This evening was all about trying authentic Greek foods. Although I don’t eat peppers or cucumbers, I really enjoyed the salad.—Gianna Sprecace ’26

Sensory Studios accepting appointments

Students can schedule appointments for the Sensory Studios through Accudemia but direct links are also available.

• Sensory Studio 1
• Sensory Studio 2

PLL Appreciation Week continues through Nov. 8 to show gratitude for Thiel’s Peer Learning Leaders and all of the hard work they do for the College. PLLs include tutors, SI/PASS leaders, Writing Lab consultants, English conversation coaches, and a PLL mentor. These dedicated students support everything from math to science to honors, and they do what they do because they want to help others.

Please join us in the TLC during PLL Week to show your appreciation and enjoy some treats!

• Can’t make it? Leave a note for all, some, or one of our PLLs on this form.

We will be sure to share your kind words. Thank you for your continued support of our programs and staff!

Thiel athletes read to elementary students 

Recently a group of Thiel College athletes spent time at Greenville Elementary School to read to the students.