Thiel Happenings

Embark on an epic adventure as The Thiel Players Bring ‘She Kills Monsters’ to life

The Thiel Players’ production of ‘She Kills Monsters’ by Qui Nguyen opens at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16 at the William A. Robinson Theater.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel College student gains hands-on experience in Caribbean ecosystem studies program

Thiel College sophomore biology, environmental science and conservation biology triple major Alana Rudolf ’27, completed a 21-day immersive field studies program in the Caribbean, where she engaged directly with marine ecosystems, applying classroom knowledge in a real-world environment.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Oh, Deer! Curious visitor interested in Math Club for this week's Thiel scenes

Sorry for the headline. It was too easy. Golf coach Dan McMillen ’86 had a companion for his morning walk on Sunday, Nov. 3. He said the deer was particularly interested in the Math Club. He said it's common to spot deer on campus during his early morning walks. 

Open Enrollment information sessions set for November 19

OPEN ENROLLMENT

SELECT YOUR 2025 Plan Year Benefit

Choose from two Information Sessions on Tuesday, November 19, 2024

11:30 a.m. & 3 p.m.

These information sessions allow representatives from our medical, vision & dental, life, disability and retirement plans to provide important updates, review plan details and answer questions regarding 2025 benefits.

Introductions: Amy Arbogast, VP for Finance and Administration and Jennifer Clark, Director of Human Resources

Medical: Anthony Benevento, Reschini

Vision, Dental, Flexible Savings Accounts & Accident & Illness Coverage: Adam Seger, Davevic

Retirement: Jack Ryan, Henderson Brothers

Life & Disability: Paula Barnet, CBIZ/EIIA (for The Standard)

All benefit-eligible employees should plan to attend one session (spouses are welcome) and complete the 2025 OPEN ENROLLMENT in PAYCOM between November 20 and December 2, 2024. Although the 2025 Open Enrollment is considered a passive enrollment year, you should still plan to:

Review current coverages and dependents

Review and update Flexible Savings Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) contributions if applicable.

New for 2025: Employees may choose additional coverages through Guardian, such as accident and critical care coverage. Adam Seger will present the plan details during the open enrollment sessions. He will be on campus on November 21 for individual meetings with employees who have questions.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Human Resources team:

For more information, contact a member of the Human Resources team

• Jennifer Clark at ext. 2858
• Diana Mazur at ext. 2004
• Angela Sorg at ext. 2150

Meeting Links

FIRST SESSION

Time: Nov 19, 2024 at 11:30 a.m.

Topic: 2025 Open Enrollment

https://thiel-edu.zoom.us/j/85...

Meeting ID: 857 4204 0849

Passcode: 011259

SECOND SESSION

Time: Nov 19, 2024 at 3 p.m.

Topic: 2025 Open Enrollment

Join Zoom Meeting

https://thiel-edu.zoom.us/j/86...

Meeting ID: 868 7089 7056

Passcode: 095259

New Tomcat Tennis Court signage celebrates donors

The Tomcat Tennis Courts sign was installed at the beginning of the fall 2024 tennis season outside Court #1, along with recognition plaques for the recent court resurfacing. Dr. Robert Burns ’74, Richard Huether ’74, and John Hudson H’21 contributed to the $300,000 tennis court renovations in the summer of 2022. A special thank you to these generous alumni for the positive impact they’ve made on the Thiel Tennis program for our current and future student-athletes!

If you are interested in supporting Thiel Tennis, please contact David Hummel ’83 (Director of Alumni Relations), Mark Batt ’87 (Director of Advancement) or Anthony Kobak (Head Tennis Coach) for a list of available projects.

Trio runs in Gloyer Memorial 5K to honor alumnus

Vice President for College Advancement Roberta Leonard, Assistant Director of IT Operations and Veterans Liaison Mike Mason and Bruno participated in the Ryan Gloyer Memorial 5K Run/Walk on Nov. 3. The event is held to spread community awareness of the life and legacy of SFC and Thiel College alumnus Ryan Gloyer ’04. Ryan Gloyer Middle School is named for Gloyer, who is also an alumnus of Seneca Valley School District. Gloyer, of Zelienople, Pa., died as a result of injuries sustained in combat in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

Zooming from the Archives discusses upcoming Thiel History Book

Wednesday’s Zooming from The Archives including with Thiel College’s 18th President Robert Olson, Ph.D. '60 H'09, College archivist John Hauser’71 H’20 and Professor Emeritus of Business Administration and Accounting Gary Witosky ’79 H’24 discussing the ongoing work for the new Thiel history book that will cover the years from 1974-2024.

Student News

Alumni relations director with real estate license shares tips on being entrepreneurial

On October 30, Thiel College Director of Alumni Relations David Hummel ’83 visited the entrepreneur seminar class to share his experiences in real estate and other ventures with the class.

David is the Alumni Director at Thiel College, and he is a realtor on the side. He earned his real estate license the same week his child was born in 1990. David is still a part-time realtor, and he does 15 hours of continuous education a year to maintain his license.—Jordan Lang ’25

Though being a real estate agent might seem like an easy job it is very much like owning your own business where you manage your own schedule and usually need to find clients yourself through advertising and other sources to get your name and profession out to as many people as possible. —Zach Bergstresser ’25

His passion for entrepreneurship begins from a young age, he started working in his family’s business when he was just 10 years old and was a newspaper delivery boy. In college he was the quieter and more reserved student, but he decided to put himself in an uncomfortable situation by running from what I remember was class president or class representative something along those lines. —Patrick Belback ’25

Overall, it was an enlightening presentation that prompted me to seriously consider a career in real estate sales. —Dillon Belknap ’25

Listening to David Hummel talk about his life feels like hearing a story about finding purpose through experience. He began his career after graduating from Thiel College with a degree in business and accounting, starting out in government work at HUD in Washington, D.C. Soon after, he moved into real estate, earning his license in 1990—Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25

At the beginning of his presentation, he talked about how he does not like speaking in front of people and had us sitting in a family room style, which I found interesting. This was a good way to give the presentation, as it felt more personable. —Lexi Brown ’26

He is in ‘Your Town Realty’, which is a real estate company based in Pittsburgh. Overall, he was a great public speaker and was powerful and sincere, charismatic, funny, and very interactive with the audience. —Chaerin Ryu ’25

Hummel emphasized how his upbringing in an entrepreneurial family influenced his career and instilled in him values such as resilience, integrity, and the importance of community involvement. He also discussed challenges in the real estate industry, including the 2008 market crash, and highlighted his commitment to ethical practices and customer service. —Jaehee Lee ’25

Additionally, the speaker covered future trends in real estate, noting changes in housing market behavior over the decades. For instance, people used to move frequently, about every seven years, but now tend to stay longer due to factors like the 2008 financial crisis, which affected home values and mortgages. —Yeeun Seo ’25

Lessons Learned

• Second lesson learned: Turn situations into reality. —Jordan Lang ’25
• Third lesson learned: There’s risk with everything, but also many chances to be rewarded. —Jordan Lang ’25
• Do something you enjoy so it doesn't feel like work. —Zach Bergstresser ’25
• How being in the right place at the right time can happen more often if you think about the process of where people will be and how things unfold—Dillon Belknap ’25
• Where skills and passion meet, that’s what you should be doing. —Patrick Belback ’25
• Set goals and work hard to achieve them. —Casey Yacos ’25
• Make challenges into opportunities, do not be scared. —Casey Yacos ’25
• Life doesn’t follow a straight path—Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25
• Value those who support you—Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25
• He gave the advice to never show up empty handed (he brought us chocolate with his business card attached), to turn situations into reality, and that there is risk in all things. —Gianna Sprecace ’26
• Skills that you pick up on in life, you do not know when you will use the —Lexi Brown ’26
• Network as often as possible—Emily Ripple ’26
• If you do not know the correct answer, ask—Emily Ripple ’26
• Balancing Ethics with Ambition: His account of handling simultaneous real estate offers underscored the importance of transparency and integrity, even when situations became challenging or contentious. —Jaehee Lee ’25
• Importance of Presence and Visibility: By staying at properties and engaging with people in the area, the speaker was able to make valuable connections that led to successful sales. This practice of being visible around listings helped the speaker stand out in a competitive market. —Yeeun Seo ’25
• Honesty and integrity in all transactions are important to foster credibility with clients. —Minseo Kim ’25
• Goal-Setting: The speaker emphasized that setting clear goals motivates effort and tracks progress, driving personal and professional achievement. —Seungwoo Baek ’25

Dinner Dishing

• It was also great getting to know the people at my table more and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations together. —Jordan Lang ’25
• Dinner was really good; I enjoyed the meal that was picked out with especially the sauce that was on the fish and rice, it enhanced the salmon flavor a lot, I loved the veggies it came with this week too. —Patrick Belback ’25
• This dessert was a crepe type dessert with whipped cream and strawberries. I am not the biggest fan of crepes, but I enjoyed it after our main course meal it paired nicely. —Dillon Belknap ’25
• For dinner, we were first served a mozzarella salad, then for the main course we were served rice and vegetables with salmon. The sauce on the salmon was the best part, it was absolutely delicious. Lastly, for dessert we were served a crepe cake—Casey Yacos ’25
• The meal was delicious. The salad with mozzarella and salmon was fresh and went well with the rice. The main course had tender salmon that was really tasty—Yianni Panagiotopoulos ’25
• This will be on my “Top Three Dinners” list for this class. I really enjoyed the cheese ball salad, the salmon was great, and I was a huge fan of the dessert — Gianna Sprecace ’26
• Before the presentation, I joined fellow students for dinner, where we shared a relaxed conversation over food. I talked about Korean cuisine and culture, which helped to bridge connections as we swapped stories and experiences —Jaehee Lee ’25
• During dinner, we discussed the menu and shared our preferences. Everyone expressed their likes and dislikes about the dishes. We also talked about any special plans for Halloween, exchanging ideas about activities we might enjoy. —Minseo Kim ’25
• I feel much better after the seminar dinner than I did before. At my first seminar dinner, I found the dining etiquette quite unfamiliar and challenging. Now, I've learned to navigate those skills more skillfully and can truly enjoy the dinner with others. —Daeun Lee ’25
• It was almost the first time that a seafood main dish was served, and the grilling and texture of the salmon were very similar to the taste I usually enjoy, so it was a wonderful dinner. —Seungwoo Baek ’25

A ‘vital’ presentation to her high school alma mater

Caitlin Augustine M.S.’26, a Thiel College didactic physician assistant studies student, was invited back to her high school to pass on what she has learned in her PA Program. She traveled back home on October 11 to teach how to take vitals in anatomy classes at Seneca Valley Senior High School in Harmony, Pa. She also talked about Thiel’s PA program with the students.