Thiel Happenings

Thiel College professor featured in Youngstown Business Journal MBA profile

Professor of English and Department Chair Jared Johnson, Ph.D. MBA’27 is taking an unconventional path to broaden his leadership expertise by pursuing a Master of Business Administration at Thiel College, a journey recently highlighted by the Youngstown Business Journal.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel College golf coach Dan McMillen retires after 16 seasons

Thiel College men's and women's golf coach Dan McMillen ’86 has announced his retirement after 16 seasons leading the Tomcat golf programs. A Thiel alumnus, accomplished PGA Professional and former student-athlete, McMillen guided the program through years of competitive success while mentoring generations of student-athletes on and off the course.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Pennsylvania players win Tomcat Tennis Tournament titles

The Level 5 Open-Flighted Girls 18U Tomcat Tennis Tournament sponsored in partnership with First National Bank was held July 25 at Tomcat Tennis Courts. The event brought together a competitive field of junior tennis players from across the region and beyond, delivering high-quality play and exciting matchups.

In Flight 1, top seed Kendall Dougherty (Bradford Woods, Pa.) defeated Rya Johnson (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 in a tight, third set tiebreak match for the Championship. Alexis Pattenaude (Marietta, Ga.) took home the third place medal.

In Flight 2, Grace Liu (Fairview, Pa.) defeated Raina Patel (Cleveland, Ohio) 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 for the title. Zoey Liu (Pittsburgh, Pa.) took the third place medal.

• Read more.

Event organizer Anthony Kobak is grateful to First National Bank, as the corporate sponsor and, GAMMA Sports for their tennis goodies for the player “welcome bags.”

Student News

Speech-Language Pathology celebrates commencement

Thiel College celebrated six graduates of its Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program during commencement exercises on July 30 in the Lutheran Heritage Room of the Howard Miller Student Center. The graduates are Katabella Marie Byers ’25 M.S.’26, of Franklin, Pa.; Olivia Kay Giardina ’25 M.S.’26,of Greenville, Pa.; Taylor Elizabeth Nickum M.S.’26, of Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Vincent Rodriguez M.S.’26, of Riverside, Calif.; Lillian Rachelle Sitzer ’25 M.S.’26, of Elmira, N.Y.; and Abigail Lee Smagala ’25 M.S.’26, of Russellton, Pa.

• View photos from the event.

Etc.

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).

• Nominate a colleague!

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.

• Download brand assets.

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.

• Job request form

For more information, email the office.

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.

The updates can include 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.

Publishing Schedule

T-Notes is published every-other Wednesday during the summer break. Send your event or news to tnotes@thiel.edu by noon Aug. 17, 2026 to be published in that week’s edition. The next edition will be published Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026.