Sound Shapers title
Fall 2020
Keep Scrolling
BY WAY OF BUCKNELL
A STUDY IN CONTRASTS
Green and gold compete for autumnal attention as the seasons shift.
If you would like a reprint of this photo, please fill out the form at bucknell.edu/bmagazine. We will send you a complimentary 8-by-10 print.
photograph by Emily Paine
BY WAY OF BUCKNELL
A STUDY IN CONTRASTS
Green and gold compete for autumnal attention as the seasons shift.
If you would like a reprint of this photo, please fill out the form at bucknell.edu/bmagazine. We will send you a complimentary 8-by-10 print.
photograph by Emily Paine
Pathways
From Bucknell to Broadcasting Health News typography

by Bryan Wendell

To combat society’s most menacing ills, we’re going to need more doers than talkers.

We’re going to need people like Alana Fisher ’24. The sociology major from Baltimore says she chose Bucknell because she wants to go beyond just studying and talking about racism, police brutality and anti-Semitism. She wants to do something about those pernicious problems.

Pathways
Pathways with Viv Williams
From Bucknell to Broadcasting Health News typography
by Bryan Wendell

To combat society’s most menacing ills, we’re going to need more doers than talkers.

We’re going to need people like Alana Fisher ’24. The sociology major from Baltimore says she chose Bucknell because she wants to go beyond just studying and talking about racism, police brutality and anti-Semitism. She wants to do something about those pernicious problems.

Pathways
From Bucknell to Broadcasting Health News typography

by Matt Hughes

Growing up in Germany, Chris McNaughton ’07 dreamed of playing professional soccer. But when his height reached 6-feet-11-inches, McNaughton says basketball chose him.

The chance to prepare for a pro career and get a top-tier education brought McNaughton to Bucknell, where he started at center on the two teams notching the Bison men’s only victories to date in the NCAA Tournament (the 2005 appearance against Kansas, where he hit a game-winning hookshot, is still the highlight of his career, he says).

Pathways
Pathways with Viv Williams
From Bucknell to Broadcasting Health News typography
by Matt Hughes

Growing up in Germany, Chris McNaughton ’07 dreamed of playing professional soccer. But when his height reached 6-feet-11-inches, McNaughton says basketball chose him.

The chance to prepare for a pro career and get a top-tier education brought McNaughton to Bucknell, where he started at center on the two teams notching the Bison men’s only victories to date in the NCAA Tournament (the 2005 appearance against Kansas, where he hit a game-winning hookshot, is still the highlight of his career, he says).

Gateway
Letters
THRILLED WITH DIGITAL EDITION: I am so pleased that Bucknell Magazine is being distributed in a digital format. Although I have greatly appreciated the beautifully printed paper version, I have become more aware of trying to reduce the amount of paper that I consume. The digital format is beautiful, easy to read and an efficient way to find videos and other web pages that I might have missed.
DOROTHY ASHMAN ’70, M’72
Lewisburg, Pa.
NO STOPPING THE WORK
In the summer issue’s cover story, “Our Pandemic Spring,” I was drawn to the item on Page 27 about the strike of 1970 to protest the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, when “Bucknell canceled classes to allow students and faculty to join a strike on campus.”

This article reminded me about my first research project simulating the full-scale bridge abutment in Dauphin County. For a small engineering college, this project was huge. With Professors Carl Kindig and Robert Brungraber G’05 and three students, I was driving 20 40-foot-long steel foundation piles. We had white steam shooting high above our heads. A group of student protestors wearing headbands came to the pile-driving site where the Bucknell West housing complex across Route 15 is located. They screamed, “STOP, STOP.” But we had pile-driving contractors, out-of-town engineers, PennDOT engineers and other interested engineers at the site. It was not possible to stop the work.

JAI KIM
Professor emeritus of civil & environmental engineering
Lewisburg, Pa.
appreciating staff
Reading the letter from Bill Seidel ’62 in the summer edition about his experience as a student worker caused me to reflect on my own experience working on campus. One of my great Bucknell memories during the early 1970s was working in the Roy G. Bostwick Cafeteria in the then-new student union. I learned a great deal working with Mrs. Mildred Muffly, Mr. Hank Ross and the wonderful adult cafeteria workers who lived in Lewisburg. These good folks were neither professors nor students. They demonstrated a strong work ethic and enjoyed relating to us student workers. Their fine work was often unnoticed and unappreciated by most students. I remember them with affection and gratitude.
Chuck Erdeljac ’73
Oakmont, Pa.
Editor's Letter graphic
A Conservation Observation

A year ago we debuted our new digital edition with a striking photo of Nadia Sasso ’11 and Nakea Tyson ’11 lighting up our cover. Our intent was to give an appealing option to those who prefer the convenience and ease that a mobile digital experience can offer. As with the print edition, our digital magazine is a gift to our readers — one that especially appeals to our alumni, parents and friends who are committed to environmental and resource sustainability.

Preserving resources has become more critical now than it was a year ago. This spring, Bucknell budget managers turned their attention to conserving resources as the pandemic took hold and prompted the closing of the campus. Cost cutting became even more critical this fall as the price of reopening became clear — nearly $12 million in unbudgeted expenses just for COVID-19 testing and purchase of PPE, signs and other collateral needed for the academic year. Other unexpected expenses amount to many millions more.

For instance, while Bucknell rejoiced in welcoming its largest first-year class — 991 exceptional students — recruiting that class required an unprojected increase in financial aid.

And so, this will be the academic year of further belt tightening. We’ve looked at ways we can squeeze the magazine budget without reducing our quarterly frequency or diluting the quality of our visual and editorial report. To do so, we have reduced our page count from 72 to 64 pages. Like some institutions, we are halting our international mailing, which costs more than $3 per magazine and comes with uncertainty during the pandemic, as some countries have excluded mail from the U.S. or experienced delays in delivery.

That’s where the digital edition comes in. Each quarter, our international readers will receive an email notification when the digital edition is online at magazine.bucknell.edu along with a PDF of class notes. With more than 1,000 international recipients, this change will allow us to save $12,000 per year while still offering the full Bucknell Magazine experience for our readers abroad.

Our subscribers residing in the United States will maintain their print subscriptions — unless they have already requested just the digital edition. Digital-only subscribers receive a quarterly magazine email and a PDF of class notes. You may wonder why the class notes aren’t included in the digital edition. We exclude them to protect the personal information Bucknellians love to share with one another; if included in the digital edition, it would be publicly available and searchable.

As this issue went to press we had more than 700 digital-only subscribers. Making the switch not only spares trees but also precious dollars that can instead support the undergraduate experience for our students. If you prefer to be a digital-only subscriber, please write to us at bmagazine@bucknell.edu.

Sherri Kimmel, Editor
For questions or comments, contact me at sherri.kimmel@bucknell.edu
Correction
A ’burg and Beyond story in the Summer 2020 issue about a student’s research trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau contained an inaccurate description of the concentration camp. It should have been described as the site of a German Nazi concentration camp in occupied Poland, not as a Polish concentration camp.
Table of Contents
Colors clash as fall arrives.
From Baltimore to Bucknell.
From Germany to Bucknell … and Back.
GATEWAY
Our readers share their thoughts.
Patriot League paused fall sports due to COVID-19.
In Lewisburg and far afield, Bucknell’s students and staff make a positive and palpable difference.
Thelathia “Nikki” Young named associate provost for equity & inclusive excellence.
New trustees begin terms on Bucknell’s Board.
Professor Kim Daubman reveals her faves.
Michael Tonge ’10 elevates Black art and culture.
Professor Clare Sammells delves into racism, pandemics — and zombies.
Maggie Wyngowski ’21 excels in and out of the pool.
Abby Brown stirs up a pumpkin coffee scrub.
Students return to a transformed campus experience.
Chris Retzler ’93 takes stock of shareholders’ values.
FEATURES
The pandemic has revealed cracks in the health care system — and renewed efforts for reform.
Bucknellians engage, educate and entertain — using only their voices.
A century after gaining the right to vote, women make headway in elected office.
’RAY BUCKNELL
Trusting science.
Smoke but No Fire explores the conviction of innocent people.
Anthony Harold ’77 helps Baltimore students bound for college.
Larnie Booker ’93 is a top doc.
Carl Agnelli ’89 protected two presidents as a Secret Service special agent.
Exoneration of death-row prisoner was the aim of Brian Stolarz ’95.
Adam Ahuja ’05’s road to music production began at Bucknell.
Brianna Clarke-Schwelm ’11 looks to communities for solutions.
Lynn Museum director Doneeca Thurston ’12 brings to light recent hidden history.
Mark Mosquera ’14 is on the hunt for life-saving drugs.
Austin Kevitch ’14’s latest creation is The Lox Club app.
Remember your friends, family and classmates.
Longtime admissions officer pioneered marketing strategy.
Your opportunities to get involved.
Try your hand at the gamelan.
Professor Barry Long details his love of vinyl jazz.
ON THE BACK COVER:
Face coverings were the fall semester fashion statement.

Photo by Emily Paine

Bucknell

magazine

Volume 13, Issue 4

Interim Chief Communications Officer
Heather Johns

Editor
Sherri Kimmel

Design
Amy Wells

Associate Editor
Matt Hughes

Class Notes Editor
Heidi Hormel

Contributors
Brad Tufts
Emily Paine
Brooke Thames
Bryan Wendell
Lisa Leighton

Editorial Assistant
Kim Faulk

Website
bucknell.edu/bmagazine

Contact
Email: bmagazine@bucknell.edu
Class Notes:
classnotes@bucknell.edu
Telephone: 570-577-3611

Bucknell Magazine
(ISSN 1044-7563), of which this is volume 13, number 4, is published in winter, spring, summer and fall by Bucknell University, One Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA 17837. Periodicals Postage paid at Lewisburg, PA and additional mailing offices.
Permit No. 068-880.

Circulation
53,000

Postmaster
Send all address changes to:
Office of Records,
301 Market St., Suite 2
Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837
© 2020 Bucknell University
Please recycle after use.

Mix Paper from responsible sources
students running for exercise
Photo: Emily Paine
" "
Although league competition could not occur, physically distanced formal team practices began in September.
A Season Suspended
by Sherri Kimmel
Just over a century ago, a pandemic wreaked havoc on Bucknell’s fall sports. As American overseas involvement in World War I grew, the Spanish Flu staged a lethal invasion, prompting the Board of Trustees to cancel the fall 1918 season. But the halt in play was only temporary. The football squad was back in full force and fine form by November, dominating its opponents.

In fall 2020, COVID-19 is dominating the headlines and, as in 1918, disrupting the dreams of Bison athletes and their fans. On July 13, the Patriot League Council of Presidents announced suspension of the fall season. For college athletes, this meant no competition in the fall but a prospect that the fall season could shift to the spring semester.

news ticker
STANDING WITH STUDENTS
Bucknell joined 58 other colleges and universities in a July amicus brief in a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from enforcing new visa guidelines that would have barred some international students from attending college in the U.S. The government later rescinded the ruling.
RARE COMPANY
Professors Margot Vigeant, chemical engineering, and Joe Tranquillo, biomedical and electrical engineering, were inducted in June to the American Society for Engineering Education Academy of Fellows. They join 2016 inductee Professor Michael Prince, chemical engineering, in being recognized.
GRANTS FOR UNDERGRADS
Two math and science professors received National Science Foundation research grants that will directly benefit Bucknell undergraduates. Professor Kelly Bickel, mathematics, was awarded a $119,703 grant, while Robert Stockland, chemistry, was awarded $185,000.
AROUND TOWN AND AROUND THE GLOBE
’burg and Beyond
In Lewisburg and far afield, Bucknell’s students and staff make a positive and palpable difference.
students working in the garden
Photo: Emily Paine
" "
Kelsi Chuprinski, assistant Catholic campus minister, helps build the labyrinth.
" "Bucknell University Farm, Lewisburg
Walking a labyrinth isn’t about getting lost, says the Rev. Kurt Nelson, Bucknell’s director of religious & spiritual life, it’s about finding something within yourself.

“It’s meant to be meditative practice of movement,” Nelson says. “The goal is simply to find your natural pace as you follow a single pathway toward the center, and then follow the same path back out.”

AROUND TOWN AND AROUND THE GLOBE
’burg and Beyond
In Lewisburg and far afield, Bucknell’s students and staff make a positive and palpable difference.
Michael Duncan using his DIY rockwall
Photo: Tom Duncan
" "
Michael Duncan ’23 used his engineering know-how to build a climbing wall on the family farm.
" "Milford, Pa.
Michael Duncan ’23 first learned to climb on rocky escarpments around his hometown — in a rugged corner of Pennsylvania hemmed in by the Catskills and New Jersey’s Skylands region. At Bucknell, he burnished his skills and sinewy muscles with a tight community of climbers at Gerhard Fieldhouse’s indoor wall. When COVID-19 cut Duncan off from both locales this summer (solo outdoor climbing is risky, and Duncan was self-isolating to protect elderly family members), he found a creative way to practice his favorite sport in quarantine.
Cultivating ‘a Livable World’

New leader expands equity and inclusivity efforts

by BROOKE THAMES
Professor Thelathia "Nikki" Young Image
Photo: Emily Paine
" "
 Professor Thelathia “Nikki” Young was named associate provost for equity & inclusive excellence this summer.
" "
 Professor Thelathia “Nikki” Young was named associate provost for equity & inclusive excellence this summer.

Since joining Bucknell in 2011, Professor Thelathia “Nikki” Young, women’s & gender studies and religion, has worked to cultivate an educational community in which every Bucknellian feels a sense of belonging. This fall, Young accelerated her efforts as the new associate provost for equity & inclusive excellence — an appointment that supports a crucial element in the University’s proactive plan to foster inclusivity by confronting systemic racism and racial injustice.

To amplify the voices of Bucknell’s minoritized communities, President John Bravman announced this summer that his senior leadership team would now include Young’s position. Her appointment, effective Aug. 1, followed a year in which she served as interim associate provost.

Accomplished Trio Joins Board
by Sherri Kimmel
Three alumni — a national leader in cancer care, a groundbreaking researcher and electrical engineering professor, and a head of industry for Google — are new members of Bucknell’s Board of Trustees.

Thomas Buchholz ’84, a philosophy major, decided to become a physician after shadowing a doctor at Geisinger during his sophomore year at Bucknell. He spent the bulk of his career at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston as a radiation oncologist specializing in breast cancer treatment. In the latter years of his 20-year tenure he was provost, executive vice president and physician-in-chief. In 2018, he moved to San Diego to become the first medical director and a corporate senior vice president at the newly opened Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center.

What I'm Reading Logo for Bucknell Magazine
Kim Daubman, Associate Professor of Psychology
Illustration: Joel Kimmel
Kim Daubman
Associate Professor of Psychology
Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Anti-Racist Cover
How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
As I write, nine of the top 10 books on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list are about anti-Black racism and white supremacy, including this one. Through compelling stories and analysis, Kendi argues that being nonracist is not enough. Rather we are called to be anti-racist. For white folks steeped in privilege, this book helps to lift the blinders so that we can do the work needed to dismantle racist policies once and for all.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants Cover
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Written by a Native American poet and botanist, this book is at once devastating and hopeful. Kimmerer’s descriptions of biodiversity loss and stories of our profound disconnection to the natural world are piercing. She offers a vision of how we can live with greater reverence to the more-than-human world and become the good stewards we are meant to be.
Scott Barry Kaufman, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization Cover
Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization by Scott Barry Kaufman
You might recognize the author as the creator of The Psychology Podcast and the title as a reference to the pinnacle of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This book is a delightful review of Maslow’s life and work, updated with the most recent scholarship. It’s also an exploration of Maslow’s late-in-life insight that self-actualization is not the end point to living to our fullest but is, paradoxically, a transitional goal along the path to self-transcendence.
What I'm Reading Logo for Bucknell Magazine
Clip art of Kim Daubman, Associate Professor of Psychology
Illustration: Joel Kimmel
Kim Daubman
Associate Professor of Psychology
Ibram W. Kendi, How to Be an Anti-Racist Cover
How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
As I write, nine of the top 10 books on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list are about anti-Black racism and white supremacy, including this one. Through compelling stories and analysis, Kendi argues that being nonracist is not enough. Rather we are called to be anti-racist. For white folks steeped in privilege, this book helps to lift the blinders so that we can do the work needed to dismantle racist policies once and for all
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of the Plants Cover
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Written by a Native American poet and botanist, this book is at once devastating and hopeful. Kimmerer’s descriptions of biodiversity loss and stories of our profound disconnection to the natural world are piercing. She offers a vision of how we can live with greater reverence to the more-than-human world and become the good stewards we are meant to be.
Scott Barry Kaufman, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization Cover
Transcend: The New Science of Actualization by Scott Barry Kaufman
You might recognize the author as the creator of The Psychology Podcast and the title as a reference to the pinnacle of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This book is a delightful review of Maslow’s life and work, updated with the most recent scholarship. It’s also an exploration of Maslow’s late-in-life insight that self-actualization is not the end point to living to our fullest but is, paradoxically, a transitional goal along the path to self-transcendence.
Pop Quiz
Michael
Tonge ’12
Cultural Curator
Michael Tonge Portrait Image
Photo: Keith Scott
Tonge, the son of two artists, started The Culture LP at Bucknell, where he majored in sociology and minored in gender & women’s studies. What began as a blog is now a content and events platform that elevates and supports Black art and creativity and is a consultancy for brands and organizations. In recent months, it organized art shows and held a yoga meetup to honor Juneteenth. Tonge is also a strategy director for the creative agency Giant Spoon.
Cool Class clipart
Cool Class: Zombies
Zombies:
From Slavery to Pandemics
What Class?
Zombies: From Slavery to Pandemics
Who Teaches It?
Professor Clare Sammells, anthropology

Students may enroll in my class on zombies expecting the cheap thrills of fake blood, gory makeup and low-budget monsters. Instead, they delve into topics such as racism, slavery, colonialism, U.S.-Caribbean relations and global pandemics.

Zombies are part of the folklore of Haiti, rising from the experience of slavery. According to legend, these people had their souls stolen through sorcery and were forced to work endlessly in sugar plantations, finding relief only in death.

Five-time Patriot League medalist Maggie Wyngowski ’21 is preparing for her senior season.
Photo: Marc Hagemeier
Getting In the Swim
by Andrew Faught

In the rare event that swimmer Maggie Wyngowski ’21 starts to trail in the 400-meter individual medley (IM) — an endurance race featuring four strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle — she doesn’t worry. The best is usually yet to come.

“My strongest stroke is the breaststroke, and that’s really where I catch up or pull away from everyone else,” the three-time All-Patriot League First Team honoree says. Wyngowski, who holds the school record in the event (4:15.26), also is a five-time individual Patriot League medalist, winning gold in the 400 IM in 2020 and silver during her first two seasons.

Ask the Expert text
Pamper Yourself With a Pumpkin Coffee Scrub
Illustration of Abby Brown
Illustration: Joel Kimmel
" " Abby Brown, a Library & Information Technology project manager, has a long-nurtured passion for gardening and making good use of the Earth’s bounty — fruits of a close relationship with her grandmother, who taught the young Abby to garden, cook and preserve foods. Brown makes natural skin-care products and writes a lifestyle blog called TheHeirloomLady.com. One of her fall favorites is pumpkin coffee scrub.
Professor Kat Wakabayashi takes his teaching to a new level — the outdoor balcony on the second floor of Academic East.
" "
Professor Kat Wakabayashi takes his teaching to a new level — the outdoor balcony on the second floor of Academic East.
New Protocols in Place
A Fall Like No Other
Students return to a transformed campus experience
by Matt Hughes
R

eturning to Bucknell’s campus felt like stepping onto a movie set to Jaden Lee ’22. At the semester’s start, the mechanical engineering major was still getting used to taking visual cues from the more than 10,000 signs hung on campus over the summer, illustrating where to stand while waiting for food, checking equipment out from the library or directing one-way movement through buildings. “It’s like stage directions: ‘Go upstairs one way and down another.’ ‘Stand on this spot,’ ” he says.

The proliferation of signs as well as face coverings — many in orange and blue — might have been the most obvious indicators of change as Bucknell reopened on Aug. 17 for an in-person fall semester amid an ongoing pandemic.

Orientation assistants cheer on new Bucknellians.
On the first day of classes, students get into the groove of an unusual academic year.
Photos: Emily Paine
" "
Top: Orientation assistants cheer on new Bucknellians.
Bottom: On the first day of classes, students get into the groove of an unusual academic year.
Q&A
Illustration of Chris Retzler '93
Illustration: Joel Kimmel
Chris Retzler ’93
‘Don’t Bet Against the U.S.’
by Matt Zencey
Since 2008, Chris Retzler ’93 has managed investment portfolios at Needham Asset Management. In early April, The Wall Street Journal cited his fund’s strong gains despite the market’s COVID-19-induced crash and called him “Stock Funds’ No. 1 manager” for the previous 12 months. At Bucknell, Retzler played varsity water polo; after graduating with a dual major in Latin American studies and economics, he was a Fulbright scholar in Bolivia. For the last eight years, he has served on the Bucknell University Alumni Association board.
Features
VOTE GETTERS Women shine in political arena
Photograph of Lewisburg Mayor Judith Wagner M’71 by DUSTIN FENSTERMACHER
Features
VOTE GETTERS Women shine in political arena
Photograph of Lewisburg Mayor Judith Wagner M’71 by DUSTIN FENSTERMACHER
Photograph of Lewisburg Mayor Judith Wagner M’71 by DUSTIN FENSTERMACHER
Features
VOTE GETTERS Women shine in political arena
Photograph of Lewisburg Mayor Judith Wagner M’71 by DUSTIN FENSTERMACHER
Image of Illustration of currency
Title of COVID
in the
Coal Mine
For alumni in the hospital and health care industry, the pandemic has revealed cracks in the system — and renewed efforts for reform.
by MICHAEL BLANDING

paper art by HELEN MUSSELWHITE

Title of COVID
in the
Coal Mine
For alumni in the hospital and health care industry, the pandemic has revealed cracks in the system — and renewed efforts for reform.
by MICHAEL BLANDING

paper art by HELEN MUSSELWHITE

Image of Illustrations
Image of the letter A
A Boston-area woman went to the hospital in late February after feeling short of breath. Soon after, she was diagnosed with COVID-19. That bad news was quickly followed by another shocker: Her bill for testing and treatment was nearly $35,000.
A Colorado man, following 10 days on a ventilator, was floored by a bill for $140,000. A Seattle man who spent two months in the hospital received a bill for a staggering $1.1 million.

Coronavirus sticker shock like this has shined a new spotlight on an aspect of the medical system called balance billing — better-known as “surprise billing” — when treatment by a provider outside of a patient’s insurance coverage, unbeknownst to the patient, can unexpectedly jack up costs.

Art in Progress
Cut-paper art enhances the narrative in feature story
by Sherri Kimmel

Choosing the best visual strategy to advance a particular feature’s storytelling arc is one of the greatest joys — and challenges — for a magazine editor. At Bucknell Magazine, we’re fortunate to have a talented consulting art director, Lauren Sanders, who helps us bring our stories to life. For our fall feature “COVID in the Coal Mine,” we sought conceptual art that could visually relate the complicated tale of the American health system’s struggles during the pandemic in a way photos of those interviewed would never allow. Lauren suggested a type of art with which we were unfamiliar — cut-paper art. Helen Musselwhite, a paper artist who lives in Wales, was our choice for our maiden voyage into papercut land.

Images will scroll automatically
" "
Helen provided a visual description of her process for our opening art. Note that we asked her to change her original color palette and also add a denomination to the bills to make it clear that they represent currency, highlighting the expenses related to COVID.
Badge
The
Powers
of
Voice
Bucknellians engage, educate and entertain — using only their voices.
by BRYAN WENDELL

photograph by
SALLY MONTANA

Blaze Berdahl ’02 started out as a child actor in the movie Pet Sematary but now relies on her flexible voice in her creative work.
Badge
The
Powers
of
Voice
Bucknellians engage, educate and entertain — using only their voices.
by BRYAN WENDELL

photograph by
SALLY MONTANA

Blaze Berdahl ’02 started out as a child actor in the movie Pet Sematary but now relies on her flexible voice in her creative work.
1
1
Riding Out the Pandemic in a Soundproof Booth
PICTURE A POSTAPOCALYPTIC MOVIE but with the cameras pointed the other direction. All summer long, studios across Hollywood sat eerily empty. Director’s chairs vacant. Props and costumes untouched.

Almost all Hollywood filming stopped in the second quarter of 2020, which ran from April to June. The Los Angeles Times reports that only 194 shoot days — the lowest total on record — were completed during that span. That’s a 97.8% decrease from the same period a year before.

Elizabeth
Fiedler ’02
International relations and French major

Democrat, Pennsylvania state representative from Philadelphia, elected in 2018

Former radio journalist

Claiming Their Place typography
A century after gaining the right to vote, women make headway in elected office
by Tom Kertscher
photographs by Dustin Fenstermacher
S

helly Simonds ’91 remembers her grandmother, who was born in 1899, telling her about the fight for women’s rights.

“She was always a trailblazer and bragged to me about riding a bicycle and wearing pants,” she says. “I knew from her that voting was something that women had to fight for — that she had to fight for — and now it’s really come full circle for me as a new legislator.”

Simonds gained national attention after losing her first run for the Virginia House of Delegates in 2017, when her opponent’s name was drawn out of a bowl to break a tie in the balloting. The former Spanish teacher ran again and won in 2019 — coincidentally, the same year Eileen Filler-Corn became the first woman elected speaker in the 401-year history of the Virginia House.

Speak Out, Be Daring, Alumna Advises
Iceland native Katrin “Kata” Sverrisdottir ’91 understands that, when it comes to working in the high levels of government, she has had advantages, including hailing from a country ranked among the highest in the world for gender equality.

“We have come a long way in Iceland, be it for instance our legislation on parental leave or equal pay. This certainly makes it easier for women to achieve their goals,” Sverrisdottir says. “Our prime minister is a woman, five out of 11 ministers in Iceland’s government are women and the national commissioner of the Icelandic police is a woman.”

Her great-great-great-grandmother was the first woman in Reykjavík, the capital, to vote in a municipal election — in 1888. That was possible because she owned land.

Illustration by Margie Tillman Ayres
Illustration by Margie Tillman Ayres
While at Bucknell, the Icelandic citizen was named the 1990 Queen Azalea for the Norfolk, Va., International Azalea Festival.
UNUSUAL OPENING Fall’s first day featured face coverings
photograph by Emily Paine
From the President department heading
Illustration of John C. Bravman, President
Illustration: Joel Kimmel
Trusting Science
WHEN I WAS A SMALL CHILD, I lived in fear that I would wind up in an iron lung machine. I’d seen the pictures of paralyzed polio victims encased in metal chambers that provided a means for them to breathe. Fortunately, Jonas Salk, who The New York Times referred to as “the father of biophilosophy,” developed a poliovirus vaccine shortly before I was born, but those images were still in wide circulation.

And now, as another deadly virus ravages the world, we anxiously await our era’s Salk to allay our fears. Now if only some of our citizens can overcome their hesitancy to accept the vaccine when it becomes available. Spurred on by the rhetoric of certain celebrities and anti-vaccine activists, many people fear preventatives are worse than the diseases themselves. As Nature, perhaps the leading science weekly in the world, reported in May, there are many false narratives being promulgated. They include: “coronaviruses will be used to implant microchips into people and […] a woman who took part in a UK vaccine trial died.”

Book Talk
Jessica S. Henry, Smoke But No Fire Cover
No Crime but Much Harm
by Sherri Kimmel
NEW YORK CITY public-defender-turned-professor Jessica Henry ’90 happened to stumble upon an astonishing statistic as she was doing research for a course she teaches on wrongful convictions. “I thought, ‘That can’t be!’ I actually emailed the National Registry of Exonerations and asked, ‘Is that correct? Is it really true that one-third of all wrongful convictions involve people convicted of a crime that never happened?’”

An affirmative response led her to delve deeply into the grave flaws in the criminal justice system underlying that startling statistic. The result is what she says is the first book to explore the causes and consequences of convicting individuals of crimes that never happened.

A WASTE OF LIFE
“No-crime wrongful convictions are such a waste of human lives and criminal justice resources,” she says.

The damage begins “with the police and extends through prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges,” Henry adds. “The harm caused to the innocent person who is wrongly convicted, his or her family and society at large is tremendous. In a democratic society, we do not have an interest in prosecuting, convicting and incarcerating people for crimes that never occurred. That is not in our vision of what justice should be.”

Jessica S. Henry, Smoke But No Fire cover
Jessica Henry '90 Portrait
" "
Convictions without commission of a crime are “a waste of human lives,” says Jessica Henry ’90.
PROFILE
The Next Chapter
Anthony Harold ’77 helps Baltimore students bound for college
by Bryan Wendell
It’s a familiar story for high school counselors: They pour their hearts into helping students succeed without expecting so much as a thank-you note.

But then, sometimes, a text message arrives out of nowhere.

This summer, one came from a 2016 Baltimore Polytechnic Institute grad. The recipient was Anthony Harold ’77, an adviser with the CollegeBound Foundation, a Baltimore nonprofit. He guides about 400 students at the STEM-focused public school, step-by-step through the college application process.

In the text, a student who’d been raised in a single-parent home thanked Harold for helping her navigate the challenges of applying, finding scholarships and dealing with mountains of financial-aid paperwork.

Antony Harold’s work focuses on twin goals summarized in CollegeBound’s motto: “To college. Through college.”
Photo: Holly Brocato
Anthony Harold’s work focuses on twin goals summarized in CollegeBound’s motto: “To college. Through college.”
Flashback
Dr. Larnie Booker ’93
Photo: Picture People
A Top Doc
Dr. Larnie Booker ’93, a general pediatrician and the care center vice president at Advocare Mid-Jersey Pediatrics in East Brunswick, N.J., was a pre-health student who majored in biology and minored in Latin at Bucknell. He earned an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine and was named one of New Jersey’s Favorite Kids Docs by New Jersey Family magazine and among New Jersey’s Top Doctors several times.
1. How did Bucknell shape your career?
Bucknell taught me that I had a voice and that one person could make a positive difference through words and actions. I had great examples among the student body when I arrived on campus.
2. What class opened your eyes the most?
Since I was a biology major, this may be surprising, but I would say American Sign Language. I had no prior experience with the deaf community. Gaining some insight into their language and culture opened my eyes to some of the challenges they face.
The Ellen Clarke BeRtrand SocieTY

Bucknell appreciates the many alumni, parents, friends and staff who have included the University in their estate, tax or financial planning.
The gifts of Bertrand Society members strengthen every facet of the University.

We welcome the following new members this year:
Richard Wible
Jennine Steinberg Solomon ’11 and Andrew Solomon ’12
John Hoadley ’72 and Beth Fuchs
Lewis Ricci ’79 and Maggie Philleo Ricci ’79
Stuart Coyne ’48
Anonymous
We celebrate the legacy gifts made by members no longer with us:
Esther Herrington Wheeler ’44
Isabell Beers McConnell ’53, P’81, G’13
Spencer Bruno ’54, G’09
Clair Wheeler
Elizabeth Webber
Donald Westcott ’64, P’96
Dorothea Bohling Snyder ’52
Eleanor Leiper Williams ’50, P’76
Robert Woolhouse ’51
Lois Henneberger ’43
Richard Ellis
Lynn Harer Frazier ’49, P’80, ’82
Marilyn Gardner ’53
Lorna Hulings Gravell ’52
Three Anonymous Members
We welcome the following new members this year:
Richard Wible
Jennine Steinberg Solomon ’11 and Andrew Solomon ’12
John Hoadley ’72 and Beth Fuchs
Lewis Ricci ’79 and Maggie Philleo Ricci ’79
Stuart Coyne ’48
Anonymous

We celebrate the legacy gifts made by members no longer with us:
Esther Herrington Wheeler ’44
Isabell Beers McConnell ’53, P’81, G’13
Spencer Bruno ’54, G’09
Clair Wheeler
Elizabeth Webber
Donald Westcott ’64, P’96
Dorothea Bohling Snyder ’52
Eleanor Leiper Williams ’50, P’76
Robert Woolhouse ’51
Lois Henneberger ’43
Richard Ellis
Lynn Harer Frazier ’49, P’80, ’82
Marilyn Gardner ’53
Lorna Hulings Gravell ’52
Three Anonymous Members

If you have a plan that qualifies you for membership or you would like additional information about the Bertrand Society, please contact the Office of Gift Planning at 570-577-3271 or giftplanning@bucknell.edu.
PROFILE
Attention to Detail
Carl Agnelli ’89 protected two presidents during his 25 years with the Secret Service
by Bryan Wendell
From a luxury box at the Super Bowl to a beach in Cape Town, South Africa, Carl Agnelli ’89 has visited bucket-list locations on six continents.

But in his role as a Secret Service special agent protecting Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush — a job where anything less than a 100% success rate was a catastrophic failure — these trips weren’t exactly vacations.

Agnelli served on the presidential protective detail from 1997 until 2002 — part of a 25-year career with the Secret Service. But for every Serengeti safari with Clinton or Daytona 500 with Bush, there were a hundred moments too dull for any scrapbook.

“People ask me what it’s like, and I say, ‘Put on your best suit. Go out and run around for an hour — get yourself real sweaty — and then stand in the rain, next to that door outside,” Agnelli says. “That’s what a lot of my days were like: freezing, standing outside in a place like Poland or Russia, thinking, ‘I’m going to die. It’s so cold.’ ”

Protecting U.S. presidents was all in a day’s work for Carl Agnelli ’89
Photo: Matt Agnelli
Protecting U.S. presidents was all in a day’s work for Carl Agnelli ’89.
PROFILE
Innocence Mission
Exoneration of death-row prisoner was the aim of Brian Stolarz ’95
by Brooke Thames

An innocent man convicted of capital murder, a tenacious attorney committed to reversing the sentence and a key piece of missing evidence that would lead to exoneration — anyone familiar with crime dramas might point to these as the ingredients of a sensational thriller. But the story of the eight-year battle Brian Stolarz ’95 fought to reverse the death-row conviction of Alfred Dewayne Brown is anything but fiction. It’s one of eight true stories featured in Netflix’s The Innocence Files, a documentary series released in April that shines a spotlight on miscarriages of justice.

“I felt that this was the ultimate manifestation of my calling — to be of service to others as a lawyer,” says Brian Stolarz ’95, right, with Alfred Dewayne Brown. In 2016, Stolarz published Grace and Justice on Death Row, a book about the case.
Photo: Chris Tate
“I felt that this was the ultimate manifestation of my calling — to be of service to others as a lawyer,” says Brian Stolarz ’95, right, with Alfred Dewayne Brown. In 2016, Stolarz published Grace and Justice on Death Row, a book about the case.
WAYFINDER
Adam Ahuja ’05
As the year unfolds, I can’t help but think how often we look at the start of a new decade as a convenient marker for a shift in culture. These new ’20s, however, don’t require any artificial reference point. The changes 2020 has brought have been so obviously generation defining that it rather begs reminiscence to the last moment in American history to which it might arguably compare.

In fall 2001, I was a first-year student at Bucknell. One fateful morning, a classmate ran into my room and woke my roommate and me at around 9 a.m. “The twin towers are burning, and a plane flew into them!” he screamed. We rushed out into the floor’s common space and watched the scene on TV. The reality began to sink in. We were shocked. Tears fell.

Unity Through Creativity
On campus during the following years, many of us were drawn toward one possible reaction to crisis: unification. My campus band, Flowdown Street Six, consisted of musicians from a variety of backgrounds. I’m not sure we saw any parallels between our band and the generation’s values concurrently being shaped, but we knew that the music we were making spoke to the diversity among us and the unity we found through creativity, and that was something we celebrated.

By the end of my senior year at Bucknell, I received my degree in management and finished the pre-health requirements. Feeling more like a self-described generalist, the reality of the specialized economy was starting to hit me. A thirst for academics and adventure won out, and I pursued a master’s in public policy and management at the University of Konstanz in Germany.

Adam Ahuja ’05 produced a musical documentary with 40 quarantined artists.
Photo: Bryan Edward
Adam Ahuja ’05 produced a musical documentary with 40 quarantined artists.
Profile
Working for Women Worldwide
Brianna Clarke-Schwelm ’11 looks to communities for solutions
by Brooke Thames
A pivotal study-abroad experience her junior year led Brianna Clarke-Schwelm ’11 to a career that illuminates the role health care access plays in the empowerment of women around the world.

During her three months on Rusinga Island in Western Kenya, the religious studies major helped local leaders secure funding for a health clinic to battle the HIV epidemic. Clarke-Schwelm observed the social stigma against HIV-positive people that disproportionately disadvantaged women. She also saw the impact that strong community leaders can have on addressing inequities.

For several years after graduation, she worked in public-health clinics in Honduras, Panama and Kenya to improve health care access and the social status of women. “Women can’t get jobs, run for office or be leaders in their communities if they’re sick or caring for people who are sick,” she says. “We have to address public health if we want the most marginalized people on this planet to have a shot at not only gaining equality but also pursuing the lives they want to live.”

Brianna Clarke-Schwelm ’11 detailed her experiences working to improve health care access and the social status of women in a TEDx talk on women’s rights this spring.
Photo: Sebastian Schwelm
Brianna Clarke-Schwelm ’11 detailed her experiences working to improve health care access and the social status of women in a TEDx talk on women’s rights this spring.
PROFILE
Illuminating a Community
Lynn Museum director Doneeca Thurston ’12 brings to light recent hidden history
by Matt Hughes

As the director of the Lynn Museum/Lynn Arts in Lynn, Mass., Doneeca Thurston ’12’s work is tied inextricably to the community around her — not only to its colonial past but to the narratives that reverberate in the neighborhood today.

“Lynn has evolved so much over time, and some of those more recent histories are missing from our permanent collection,” Thurston says. “Some of the people who live in our neighborhood are not visible in this space, so we use our exhibitions to celebrate the histories of the people who are here today — to become more of an ally and supporter in the community.”

That commitment to community not only includes work developing exhibitions such as Industry & Craft: People at Work in Lynn and Untold Stories: A History of Black People in Lynn. It extends to her part-time docent staff.

Doneeca Thurston ’12
Photo: Christopher Padgett/Citizen Salem
Lynn Museum/Lynn Arts Director Doneeca Thurston ’12 reduced her work hours to keep her staff employed.
PROFILE
A Quest for the New
Matt Mosquera ’14 is on the hunt for life-saving drugs
by Matt Hughes

When Matt Mosquera ’14 stepped into Charles Kim’s lab as a Bucknell sophomore and told the mechanical engineering professor he wanted to build a robot resembling an octopus’ tentacle, he didn’t know it would lead to a career creating lifesaving drugs.

“I just wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before,” says Mosquera, who recently earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and began work this summer as a research scientist for Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Matt Mosquera ’14
Photo: Cynthia Cheung
Matt Mosquera ’14 is developing biologic medicines as a research scientist at Teva Pharmaceuticals.
Entrepreneur Spotlight
Austin Kevitch '14
Photo: Yes Theory
Austin Kevitch’s latest creation sprung from his mother’s unfortunate experience with dating apps.
The Lox Club
by Lori Ferguson

Austin Kevitch ’14 isn’t one to sit still. In fewer than six years, the serial entrepreneur has participated in the design and development of four successful apps: Scholly, Brighten, Phoneless and Moodboost. Now he’s at it again.

Although currently in negotiations to sell Brighten Labs — the umbrella company for Brighten, Phoneless and Moodboost — Kevitch is already hard at work with three co-founders on a new venture: The Lox Club, a private, membership-based dating app that sprang from Kevitch’s gentle ribbing of his mother.

“You just have to dive in and trust that you’ll figure it out.”

“My mom is single and has had a series of nightmare experiences with dating apps, so during the COVID crisis, I half-jokingly created a dating app to cater to ‘Jews with ridiculously high standards,’ ” he explains. Much to Kevitch’s surprise, a couple thousand people signed up, so he and his partners began refining the app, which launched in July.

IN MEMORIAM
Remember your friends, family, classmates and others by posting a comment on our online Book of Remembrance. Go to bucknell.edu/bmagazine.
1947
Eugene Gaier, Nov. 21, Cranbury, N.J.
Charles Menzies P’77, G’04, G’07, June 7, Brentwood, Tenn.
Mary Frederick Schoff, April 3, Worcester, Pa.
1948
Ginnie Malhiot Cindrich P’73, April 20, Woodcliff Lake, N.J.
Margaret Fatzinger Corcoran P’84, May 4, Catasauqua, Pa.
Marshall Fogerty, Jan. 15, 2019, Davidson, N.C.
Warren Lee M’49, P’74, P’77, April 17, Tampa, Fla.
Mary Fenimore Metzler, April 23, Cherry Hill, N.J.
Betty Kreitzburg Westplate, June 19, Kenosha, Wisc.
1949
Margaret Couch Fogerty, June 12, Davidson, N.C.
Ray Shook P’72, P’73, April 29, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Shirley Geiger Slorance, June 6, Manasquan, N.J.
Henry Struck, June 14, Pinehurst, N.C.
1950
Robert Collins, April 27, Mendham, N.J.
Edgar Feingold, April 6, Baltimore, Md.
John Litus, May 2, Yardley, Pa.
George Tracy, Feb. 16, Beaufort, S.C.
1951
Joe Blackburn P’78, G’09, April 17, Emporium, Pa.
Jack Roush, May 29, Sunbury, Pa.
1952
Ben Benson, April 29, New York, N.Y.
Donald Deakyne, May 27, Minnetonka, Minn.
Edythe “Dee” Ferns Gingerich, June 25, Cummaquid, Mass.
Lorna Hulings Gravell, April 29, Fairfax, Va.
1953
Chester Derck, May 11, 2017, Ellijay, Ga.
Liz Hudson Dugas, May 15, Ocala, Fla.
1954
Harold Debbi M’55, April 23, Harrisburg, N.C.
Don Dobbs, June 11, Lewisburg, Pa.
Judith Esmay, April 28, Hanover, N.H.
Joan Olcott King, April 19, Sautee Nacoochee, Ga.
Fanny Rich Mapes, June 11, Lancaster, Pa.
Doris Erman Rochlin, May 18, Bethesda, Md.
IN MEMORIAM
Dick Skelton ’60, M’70, P’92

Dick Skelton ’60, M’70, P’92, regarded as the architect of Bucknell’s admissions marketing strategy, died Aug. 17 in Lewisburg.

A member of ROTC and a business administration major at Bucknell, Skelton served in the Army after graduation. He joined Bucknell in 1963 at the urging of Dean of Admissions Fitz Walling ’46, P’79, G’05, G’11, according to former Associate Vice President for Enrollment Mark Davies ’74, P’04, P’11.

Skelton was “one of the first at Bucknell to think about marketing, putting staff out on the road to visit high schools and building relationships with college counselors,” said Davies. “He developed a national reputation as being fair-minded, and he recognized the importance of diversity. He was a strong leader who always sought input from those he worked with.”

DO
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webinar
A Tiny Flaw in a Big, BIG Building

Watch as Professor Ron Ziemian, civil & environmental engineering, tells the story of an iconic building in New York City.

Wednesday, Nov. 4, noon EST

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You’re Invited

" "See you at Reunion!

Class years ending in 1s and 6s, join us June 4–6 to celebrate with your friends!
Don’t forget to register.
Know an outstanding Bucknellian?
Nominate a fellow graduate today for achievements and loyalty to the University.
‘Get Ready to Rumble!’
Watch Provost Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak, Faculty Chair Coralynn Davis and President John Bravman extend heartfelt greetings to the Class of 2024 in a first-of-its-kind video version of Convocation. Find out who offered this memorable advice: “Get Ready to Rumble!”
Get Your Culture Fix!
Check out the Weis Center Sessions — videos featuring members of the Bucknell community in various performance media, including poetry, music and spoken word. New sessions are available every Friday.
President John Bravman behind the number 24
MAKE VIRTUAL MUSIC

The arrival of COVID-19-imposed quarantines this spring offered time to experiment with new art forms. A creative option developed by and for Bucknellians (and others) will allow you to play the gamelan — virtually.

The gamelan is a traditional Indonesian orchestra comprising mostly percussion instruments, including metallophones, chimes, gongs and drums. In summer 2018, Abby Dolan ’19 created the virtual gamelan as a Digital Scholarship Summer Research Fellow to help new players become familiar with the instruments outside the classroom.

Students in Bucknell’s Gamelan Ensemble, of which Dolan was a member, normally play together on the two-dozen intricately carved red-and-gold instruments housed on campus. But after returning home this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students kept up their skills through the virtual gamelan.

The tool includes five instrument applications for Windows and Mac OS X that you can download to your own computer. To play, tap the number and letter keys to ring and mute notes. This simulates the striking and dampening of metallophone keys.

“It’s inspiring to see a past student project become useful two years later, especially in a time of national crisis,” says Professor Bethany Collier, music, director of the Gamelan Ensemble. “It speaks not only to the utility of digital tools today but also to how important and relevant the work our undergraduate research students do really is.” — Brooke Thames

Gamelan Learning project
Photo: Emily Paine
Try your hand at the gamelan gamelan.blogs.bucknell.edu/instruments
Witty Winners
Here are our favorite caption submissions from the last issue:
“If people just focus on my smile, maybe they won’t notice I forgot the candles.”
Arthur Harriman ’48
“111? You don’t look a day over 100!”
Shannon Hayes ’11
“A slice of Bucknell history. What could be better?”
Kevin Mackenzie P’19
“A Bucknell education is the real icing on the cake.”
Anne Fredsall Michelini ’78
“WOW!! That tooth whitener really worked!”
Edward McComsey ’52, P’81
Submit your caption for the retro photo on Page 61 to bmagazine@bucknell.edu or facebook.com/bucknellu by Nov. 1.
1957: Bucknell University 111th Birthday
Photo: Special Collections/University Archives
 My Favorite Thing graphic
Vinyl Jazz
" " Professor BARRY LONG first encountered his future focus in music as a teen attending summer festivals sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz. The Harrisburg native fell hard for jazz and bought three vinyl records one summer: Miles Davis’ A Tribute to Jack Johnson, Charlie Parker’s Volume 1 and Clifford Brown’s Memorial Album. The music department chair now directs the Bucknell Jazz Ensemble and curates the public performance series Jazz@Bucknell.
Photo of Jazz Records
Photos: Emily Paine
" "
Barry Long maintains a passion for vinyl. “There’s something about having a tangible record — seeing the images that have been chosen [for the album cover] and reading the liner notes.”
Image of Jazz Records
Photos: Emily Paine
" "
Barry Long maintains a passion for vinyl. “There’s something about having a tangible record — seeing the images that have been chosen [for the album cover] and reading the liner notes.”
Vinyl Jazz
" "Professor BARRY LONG first encountered his future focus in music as a teen attending summer festivals sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz. The Harrisburg native fell hard for jazz and bought three vinyl records one summer: Miles Davis’ A Tribute to Jack Johnson, Charlie Parker’s Volume 1 and Clifford Brown’s Memorial Album. The music department chair now directs the Bucknell Jazz Ensemble and curates the public performance series Jazz@Bucknell.
ALL THREE RECORDS were really formational. The Miles Davis one was the first jazz/rock fusion I’d heard and is a tribute album to an African American boxer that addresses issues of social justice. Miles soon became the trumpet player I was most interested in and most influenced by when I was in high school and college. This record makes me think about local connections, like the Central PA Friends of Jazz and the friendships I formed then that still remain.
Face coverings were the fall semester fashion statement.

photograph by EMILY PAINE

two students wearing facemasks
Face coverings were the fall semester fashion statement.

photograph by EMILY PAINE

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Thanks for reading our Fall 2020 issue!