The Wilson College Ten Tones a cappella ensemble will provide a special performance during the inaugural “Sing On: Keystone Collegiate Choral Festival.” This collaborative event marks the first collegiate choral music festival in Central Pennsylvania. It will be held in the Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre at Penn State Harrisburg April 26 from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Students from Wilson, Alvernia University, and Penn State Harrisburg will spend the afternoon on campus working with choirs from the other universities and will perform a free concert for the public. The concert will showcase individual performances by each university’s choir, culminating in a combined chorus featuring all participating groups.
The Ten Tones, under the direction of Dillon Beede, Wilson’s director of choral activities and chair of music, will provide a special performance during the concert. Beede will also conduct the combined choruses, bringing his expertise and passion for choral music to this unique festival.
This collaborative effort marks the first collegiate choral music festival in Central Pennsylvania. It is free and open to the public, making it a perfect opportunity for the community to experience the vibrant collegiate choral scene in Central Pennsylvania.
On Friday, April 18, Wilson College students will present over 80 research projects at the College’s sixteenth annual Barsy-Colgan Student Research Day. This year's presentations span numerous disciplines from the sciences, humanities, arts, and social sciences, showcasing the breadth and depth of a Wilson education. The event is free and open to the public.
Students will share their work between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fourteen students will make oral research presentations in the auditorium of the Harry R. Brooks Complex for Science, Mathematics and Technology throughout the day. One student will offer an original piece of work during a poetry reading in Sarah’s Coffeehouse at noon and another student will share an exhibition of original art pieces in the John Stewart Memorial Library at 3:45 p.m.
Sixty-eight poster presentations of undergraduate student research in multiple disciplines and student group research from history, biology, criminal justice, and nursing classes will be on display throughout the day on several floors of the Stewart Library and in the front lobby of the Brooks Science Center. Students will be available to discuss their posters from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Wilson College alumna Louise Barsy Colgan ’80 and her husband Sean provide an annual gift that makes The Barsy-Colgan Student Research Day possible. Their generous philanthropy also funds academic research grants presented to students for senior year research.
For more information, please visit www.wilson.edu/SRD.
Trailblazing adventurer and academic leader Tori Murden McClure will address the Wilson College Class of 2025 at the 155th annual commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 4.
McClure retired from Spalding University in 2024 having worked there for 25 years and serving the last 14 years as president. She is perhaps best-known as the first woman and first American to row a boat solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She accomplished this 3000-mile journey in 1999 after 81 days at sea in her boat “American Pearl,” a 23-foot plywood rowboat she crafted by hand and later donated to the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. A decade earlier, she was also one of the first two women and first 10 Americans to ski cross country to the South Pole as part of a 50-day, 750-mile Canadian-led expedition.
In 2009, Harper Collins published her memoir, “A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean,” which details her life and journey across the Atlantic. The book is the basis of a stage musical called “Row,” which made its world premiere at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts in 2021.
“It is an honor to have renowned adventurer and scholar Tori Murden McClure providing the Commencement address to our undergraduate and graduate degree students this year,” said President Wesley R. Fugate, Ph.D. “Not only will her extraordinary journeys and academic insights help celebrate this occasion, but it is my hope that her experiences will also encourage Wilson’s graduates to embark on their own journeys with a sense of lifelong learning and adventure.”
As an accomplished mountaineer, McClure has completed major climbs on several continents and served as a former Board Chair of the National Outdoor Leadership School, a nonprofit global wilderness school based in Wyoming. She also worked as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Wilderness EMT for almost twenty-five years, while also providing EMT instruction to firefighters.
As a former college athlete, McClure is a proponent of collegiate and amateur athletics. While attending Smith College as an undergraduate, she was a dual-sport Division III student-athlete in basketball (team co-captain) and varsity crew and served as a student athletic trainer. As a senior, the College honored her as the student who best represented the ideals of a Smith scholar-athlete, the College’s highest athletic honor. She joined the Smith College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. She served a term as Vice Chair of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Board of Governors—the top governing body in collegiate athletics, chaired the NCAA Division III Presidents Council, and was Acting Chair of the NCAA Board in 2020.
During her extensive career, she worked as a chaplain at Boston City Hospital, director of a Louisville, Kentucky women’s shelter, policy assistant to the Mayor of Louisville, and the first full-time employee of the Muhammad Ali Center. McClure holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Smith College, a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, a Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Spalding University.
Wilson College will showcase the remarkable art, artists, and artistic opportunities available at the College during the third annual ArtsFest to be held on campus April 7 to 11, 2025.
The theme for this year’s event is “Art is…Shared Stories,” which features Wilson College community members sharing their experiences, expertise, and work. ArtsFest is a week-long event that includes presentations/readings, performances, projects, workshops/classes, exhibitions, immersive experiences, “make and take” or arts and craft type experiences, and other type of arts-based events. Wilson College students and faculty who have been engaging in any arts-based research, experiences, or projects/assignments as a part of their coursework will be sharing this type of work, as well.
“We are excited to continue building on the growing success and interest in Wilson College’s ArtsFest. This year our focus is on shared stories and our campus and Chambersburg arts community has stepped forward with some amazing stories to share. In addition to our campus and local talent, we are excited to also present four nationally recognized invited artists as part of this year’s events. Thanks to the generous support of the Palmer Grant, we are able to host Sir Dominique Jordan for a poetry reading, visual artist Sue Coe, singer and composer Melanie DeMore, and choreographer Camille Weanquoi,” said Dillon Beede, director of choral activities and chair of music.
The Arts at Wilson created ArtsFest to spotlight the remarkable art, artists, and artistic opportunities at Wilson. Distinguished by interdisciplinary programs and collaborative approaches to craft and inquiry, ArtsFest seeks to engage the Wilson College campus and greater regional community in art and art-making opportunities that reach across disciplines, subject, and boundaries, intending to foster relationships, connections, and ideas that effect positive change in our world.
ArtsFest is free, but please note that some events are open to the Wilson College community only and some events request reservations. For a detailed schedule and event descriptions, please visit www.wilson.edu/artsfest.
Wilson College is excited to announce plans to install a new state-of-the-art artificial turf field with the goal of having it ready for the Fall 2025 athletic season. The new turf field will be over 100,000 square feet and will upgrade the existing Rhonda Brake Shreiner Soccer Field in Kris’ Meadow.
“The artificial turf field installation will elevate campus amenities at Wilson College, especially the Phoenix athletic facilities. We are excited to take our athletic facilities to the next level for greater competitiveness on the field, and stronger overall student-athlete recruitment and retention,” said President Wesley R. Fugate, Ph.D.
Wilson will install the new turf field in the 28-acre parcel of land known as Kris’ Meadow, where the College’s soccer and softball fields are located. The turf field will replace the grass soccer field, home of the Wilson College women’s and men’s soccer teams and women’s lacrosse and the new home for the field hockey team.
"Converting our grass field to artificial turf is a game-changer for the Phoenix. This marks a significant investment in the future of our programs, ensuring that our student-athletes have access to a safe, durable, and high-quality playing surface for years to come," said Tina Hill, director of athletics. "The project also demonstrates Wilson’s commitment to providing the best possible environment for student-athletes to train and compete. It will enhance their athletic performance and overall experience, helping to drive the overall growth and success of our sports program."
The new artificial turf will provide a quality field comparable to competitive intercollegiate programs in the region and allow teams to play more often and be less impacted by adverse field conditions because of weather.
The fields in Kris’ Meadow have been in use since 2000, when Kris Rodger Sammons ’64 and her husband, William Sammons, donated funds to purchase land for use by the athletics program. The College constructed and dedicated the Rhonda Brake Shreiner Soccer Field in 2002, in memory of the daughter of Harold and Dolores Brake, and sister of Randall Brake (a Wilson College Everett-Pomeroy Trustee, having served from 1996 to 2005), whose company The Charles E. Brake Co. donated an additional piece of land to the College. The softball field was constructed in 2003.
“Shared Stories,” an exhibition featuring artwork by visual arts and graphic design faculty from Wilson College and Hagerstown Community College will open Wednesday, Feb. 26, in the Sue Davison Cooley Gallery of the Wilson College John Stewart Memorial Library. Wilson College will host an opening reception in the Gallery on Wednesday, Feb. 26, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The show runs through Apr 30, 2025. Admission to both the reception and the exhibition is free.
Sara Swacina, HCC Adjunct Visual Arts Instructor dropping off her paintings for the exhibition.
This year’s exhibition will center on Wilson’s ArtsFest ’25 theme “Shared Stories.” ArtsFest is an annual celebration of the arts in our community, showcasing the remarkable art, artists, and artistic opportunities at Wilson. ArtsFest ’25 will run from April 7 to 11, 2025.
As part of ArtsFest ’25, the faculty show in the Cooley Gallery will center on community, or “Shared Stories” of participation, practice, cooperation, collaboration, presence, and engagement. Participating artists explore human experiences through narratives of identity, hopes, dreams, anxieties, and perspectives. Visitors can expect to see work in a variety of media, including drawing, painting, photography, design, and sculpture.
Wilson College President Wesley R. Fugate, Ph.D., is one of six new members recently elected to the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Board of Directors. Fugate’s three-year term will end in January 2028.
With headquarters in Washington, D.C., the CIC is an association of over 700 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils of independent colleges, and other higher education affiliates, that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. “It is my honor to have received a nomination and election to the Board of CIC. I am grateful for this expanded opportunity to work with my colleagues, and this esteemed association, to advocate on behalf of higher education and the invaluable contributions independent colleges and universities make in our society,” said Fugate.
The CIC Board comprises up to 38 members, including a maximum of 26 chief executive officers from member colleges and universities and a maximum of 12 additional members drawn principally from senior executive ranks of American business corporations and philanthropies. The Board typically reserves two positions for individuals with State Council experience as chief executives, member president, or corporate members.
“I am excited to expand our Board with new members who will bring informed perspectives and insights to our work. Together, we will accomplish a great deal to make a positive impact on the independent higher education sector,” said CIC President Marjorie Hass.
The CIC Board of Directors generally has the power to set policy, manage, and direct the affairs of the member organization led by Hass and a staff of approximately 30. The Board is self-perpetuating and elects each incoming class of new directors and officers. The Board seeks nominations for new directors from CIC Institutional and International Member college and university presidents, chief executives of State Councils, and other board members.
Wilson College business students received some real-world business knowledge during their classes on entrepreneurship and management. Rodney Salvadia and Liz Ortiz, representatives of Fastenal, a distributor of wide-ranging industrial and construction products, recently visited campus to share skills and knowledge for developing a good sales pitch and an understanding of career competencies, or how a person’s knowledge and behaviors lead them to be successful in a career. Director of Business & Assistant Professor of Business Lance Cain’s entrepreneurship and small business management classes welcomed Salvadia and Ortiz for several days in October.
In the entrepreneurship class, students work throughout the semester to create business and marketing plans for fictional businesses they develop as groups. The Fastenal representatives walked the students through what an elevator pitch was — a brief introduction to a product or service that takes as long as an elevator ride—and explained the components of a successful pitch during their guest lecture. Each student developed a pitch for their group’s fictional business, presented them, and their peers ranked them. The winning pitches went to Vu Nguyen ’27 and Alexis Shreiner ‘26.
Adding an element of competition allowed Cain to introduce the concept of writing and presenting an elevator pitch while also having some fun. “Having Fastenal in the classroom was 100 percent a practical approach. They provided real-life examples from the real world,” Cain said. “It also created the opportunity for the students to connect with professionals and build their networks.”
The Fastenal representatives also visited Cain’s introduction to management class. This class took a career readiness assessment to evaluate each student’s career competencies, such as critical thinking, communication, and leadership. The students also researched and made presentations based on the different competencies—what they are and how they impact an individual’s career.
As a bonus, members of the class also received their individual assessment results. The assessment revealed a personalized strengths and weaknesses report, along with an explanation of how to build upon or improve each. For example, if a student needed to strengthen their leadership skills, the results suggested they take on a leadership role in a club.
“[The visit from Fastenal] helps students think like a professional versus as a student. It helps them answer, ‘Why is being a professional different from my part-time jobs or my work as a student’,” Linda Boeckman, director of Career Development said. “The more exposure we can provide students to people doing the work, day-in and day-out, the better. They validate what faculty say from an exterior source.”
Wilson College is now accepting applications for the Doctor of Occupational Therapy’s inaugural cohort expected to start classes in January 2026 with the first graduating class to receive diplomas in December 2027. Prospective students can apply through December 5, 2025, through the Occupational Therapy Centralized Application Service (OTCAS).
The new hybrid accelerated Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program is the first online doctorate to be offered by Wilson College. The OTD educational model will include flexible online learning, in-person lab immersion experiences, and fieldwork opportunities, culminating in a capstone project and preparation for board examination. Wilson’s accelerated OTD program allows students to complete the program in two years rather than the average three or more years in a traditional OTD program. The condensed timeline allows graduates to enter the workforce sooner and with less debt. Evidence In Motion (EIM), a leading provider of online and hybrid healthcare education, provides the unique hybrid program structure and curriculum.
Wilson College President Wesley R. Fugate said, “We are excited to welcome the first OTD cohort to Wilson. The addition of this program furthers our mission to innovatively provide high quality, affordable education while providing students access to a high-demand program that will ultimately benefit them and their communities.”
The hybrid structure of the program makes it accessible to students in areas beyond the state or region who want to remain in their own communities for the online and fieldwork portions of the program. Travel to the Philadelphia metropolitan area is required eight times during the two-year program for hands-on lab immersions. The Wilson College faculty, with decades of combined expertise in occupational therapy, developed the course curriculum. The program coursework involves innovative educational methods, current research, cutting-edge software, and personalized support that will empower future generations of leaders in occupational therapy.
Wilson OTD Program Director Michael Gerg, DOT, OTR/L, said, "Wilson College’s commitment to academic excellence and innovation has provided the foundation for a curriculum that not only prepares students for clinical success but also inspires them to become transformative leaders in the field of occupational therapy. I eagerly anticipate welcoming students from both the local region and across the country, fostering a diverse and dynamic learning community."
Occupational therapists evaluate and treat people across the lifespan, focusing on occupational tasks, daily skills and personal goals that promote independence. According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual pay for occupational therapists in 2023 was $96,370, and the profession is expected to grow by 11% (faster than average) through 2033.
For more information visit: https://www.wilson.edu/doctor-occupational-therapy.
The Ten Tones have returned! This much-loved a cappella ensemble originated in the late 1950s and provided entertainment through musical performances on campus and regionally for several decades. According to its former and current members, the group embodies the core of what Wilson is: a welcoming mixture of ages, abilities, and interests that inspire, encourage, and support each other through music.
