SGA puts its money where its memories are

Past and current members of the college's Student Government Association, formed in the mid-1960s as a communal cross-campus voice, held a joyful reunion Saturday evening in the Community Arts Center's Capitol Lounge. Among the highlights (in addition to free-flowing anecdotes and other recollections) was the announcement that SGA had raised more than $8,000 in President Davie Jane Gilmour's name for the “Tomorrow Is in the Making: Legacy Campaign for Penn College."
 

– Photos by Cindy Davis Meixel, writer/photo editor

Warmed by the glow of reunion (from left): Loni N. Kline, vice president for college relations/chief philanthropy officer; Kimberly R. Cassel, director of college relations; Gilmour; and former SGA members Mark Capellazzi, ’09 culinary arts and systems, and Brian D. Walton, ’09, technology management, and ’07, heating, ventilation & air conditioning technology. (Walton is the college’s assistant dean of business and hospitality.)

A former SGA secretary, Norma (McLaughlin) Winter, ’68, liberal arts, enjoys the gathering with her husband, David, ’75, industrial technology. (David earned his degree taking night classes in the basement of the former Williamsport Area High School – now Klump Academic Center – and in the former “trolley car barn” on campus.)

SGA alumni Sarah R. (Shott) and Adam J. Yoder revel in showing the president their baby’s first photos with the Easter Bunny, taken earlier that day. The Yoders are employed as coordinator of admissions operations (Sarah) and industrial technology specialist (Adam). She earned a bachelor's degree in information technology: web and applications development in 2011; he earned a bachelor's in building automation technology in 2011 and associate degrees in electrical technology and electromechanical maintenance technology in 2008.

Catching up in the Capitol Lounge: Jesse R. Viani (left), ’04, business administration: management information systems concentration, and Randy H. Mason, ’04, architectural technology.

James Riedel extols the mentoring he received from his SGA advisers – traits they garnered from Gilmour’s great leadership – a guiding presence he continually felt as a student. Riedel earned degrees in automotive technology and automotive technology management in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Current SGA members were also in attendance, including senator Ashlee E. Massey (left) and Ashlee Felix, the association’s vice president for public relations; both are enrolled in human services & restorative justice.

There were good-hearted chuckles during Riedel’s talk as he makes mention of Viani’s work to establish smoke-free zones on campus. From left: Scott M. Elicker, ’11, business administration: marketing concentration and individual studies; Viani; Mason; and Carolyn R. Strickland, vice president for enrollment management/associate provost.

McKenzie presents that small stone canvas to his inspiration.

Kevin A. Hickman, ’04, radiography, and ’08, physician assistant, announces that SGA raised $8,418 for the Legacy Fund to honor Gilmour and presents the president with a vase of white roses. Hickman is a member of the Alumni Task Force, the Wildcat Alumni Career Mentor Program and the Tomorrow Makers Program.

With her vase of roses in the foreground, Gilmour shares her gratitude with the SGA alumni.

A lovely Wildcat-blue glow frames the presidential remarks.

"My friends can attest to my instinctive, perhaps peculiar, reverence for Dr. Gilmour since my freshman year," said 2020-21 SGA President Ethan M. McKenzie, who is headed to Harvard Law School this fall. "I even painted a small rock in her likeness at the 2018 homecoming bonfire in front of the library, which I recently fished out of a closet."

Winter shares her SGA insights and experiences from the late ’60s with the more recent graduates and Elliott Strickland Jr. (second from left), vice president for student affairs.

The multigenerational exchange continues, as Winter enthralls her audience. From left are Strickland, Kirk M. Allen and Joshua M. Appleman. Allen attained an associate and two bachelor's degrees in business management and administration in 2004 and 2007; Appleman is an '06 graduate in computer information technology-data communications and networking.

With their special guest front-and-center, past and present SGA members and their college mentors make use of a staircase in the CAC's inner lobby.

Yoder shows Gilmour a small metal washer he has kept on his keychain for more than 10 years. During an SGA leadership conference, Gilmour distributed the galvanized components to attendees and asked them to remember the institution’s values when they demonstrate leadership in their careers. Yoder says he thinks of the college and Gilmour often when he sees that simple symbol of strength and permanence.

Mason shows a photo of himself, taken by a college photographer in 2002 in an architecture lab. (The photo was used for years by the college in various marketing materials.)

Presidents unite! Former SGA leaders and the current one capture a memory with the college president. From left: Reidel, Yoder, current SGA President Robert A. Luna, Gregory J. Miller, Gilmour, McKenzie, Viani and Walton. Luna is a senior in health science. Miller earned HVAC-related associate and bachelor’s degrees in 2010 and 2012.

A close-up of the president's blue-ribbon bouquet