Thiel Happenings

Thiel College student’s testimonial video shared on social media by national fraternity

Thiel College first-year student John Robbins ’24, of Toksook Bay, Alaska, had his video testimonial chosen by Sigma Phi Epsilon’s National Fraternity for a social media message to its nearly 15,000 Twitter followers recently.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

New leaders tabbed for Thiel College Career and Disability Resource offices

Thiel College has recently appointed Liza Schaef the Career Development Center director and Jodie Witherite the Disability Resource Center interim coordinator.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel College partners with Walberg Family Pharmacies to serve as COVID vaccination site

Thiel College’s William A. Passavant Memorial Center will be the site of Walberg Family Pharmacies vaccination clinic Tuesday, Feb. 16.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel College community works together to help make vaccine clinic possible

College archivist John Hauser ’71 sent a Tomcat Tribute regarding Tuesday’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the William A. Passavant Memorial Center.

“There were more than 2,000 visitors to campus for the Walberg Family Pharmacies’ Vaccine Clinic on Tuesday, probably the largest group ever to be on campus where a vast majority (likely) had no previous connection with Thiel. Thanks to the work of our Maintenance staff for clearing and salting the parking lots and driveways as well as setting up the Passavant Center, the Public Safety officers who kept the extraordinary traffic moving, Housekeeping for disinfecting and cleaning the Passavant Center, the Athletic Department for volunteering to help and to Roberta Leonard and her staff in College Advancement for coordinating the logistics of the event with the Walbergs. This was a major PR and community relations opportunity for Thiel, and we hit a home run. The responses of our visitors in person and on FB all showed how well things went, thanks to the work of these dedicated employees.”

Get some steps in; help Thiel College

Match Day is the largest one-day fundraiser for the College and it has become a tradition for the Thiel Family. This year, the goals are 550 volunteers coming together to walk or jog 550 laps at the Dr. Barry ’70 and Carol ’71 Stamm Track and Field Complex all with an eye objective to get 550 donors to give.

Please mark your calendar to make a gift or participate as a volunteer.

• Register online to volunteer or walk.

Match Day will also be a great opportunity for community members and Friends of the College to wear Thiel College gear.

For more information, Contact Director of the Thiel Fund Mark S. Batt ’87 at ext. 2157.

Thiel News Time agenda includes board, enrollment and athletic updates

President Susan Traverso, Ph.D., briefed the Thiel College community about last weekend’s Board of Trustees meeting and a glimpse into the next phase of campus planning.

Football coach Mike Winslow ’04 spoke briefly about the decision to focus on the fall 2021 football season.

• Read more about the football announcement.

As part of the online meeting, Vice President of Enrollment Management Ashley Josay Zullo gave an enrollment update.

IT reminds community about upcoming password policy changes

Starting in March, passwords will require 12 characters and will need to include at least one capital letter, one number, and one special character. Common words will be prohibited.

Failure to comply with these new requirements will prevent access to your Thiel account and you won’t be able to access any network resources including Moodle, Office 365, Printers, Wireless, and Shared Drives.

• Passwords can be changed by logging onto the Thiel Hub.

Contact the Solution Center for assistance in changing your password.

For more information, call ext. 4000.

Student News

Sandy & Rich Parker prepare students for dining and career success

Sandy ’81 and Rich Parker ’82 were the guests and featured speakers at the February 10th Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar. Sandy guided the class through an etiquette dinner highlighting the dos and don’ts of dinning in a business situation. After dinner, Rich shared his Thiel story as well as many observations about the challenges and successes he had during his career in business.

“After dinner, Rich gave us a nice presentation explaining how to succeed in business.  He spoke about how even if you fail, you need to keep going. Being prepared is the best tool you can have in your arsenal. Overall, their presentations were helpful in life and in business.” Hannah Uschock ’22

“In previous presentations the speaker mentioned resumes, and how they don’t land you the job, the interview does. This ties into what Rich was saying. Being prepared is the best thing you can do and this will give the employers a positive impression because they know you did the research and put in the work.” Jocelyn Bracken ’21

“Then we moved onto the main course of chicken parmesan and pasta. Personally, I thought I was already ahead of the game with twirling my pasta on my spoon. I quickly learned I was wrong. Sandy taught us her tips and tricks on how to properly twirl the pasta, just in case any of us students got pasta on a business dinner.“ Madison Acor ’22

“Rich Parker was second up to bat after his wife Sandy, but he did not disappoint. He told us about his many different careers throughout his history of working. Throughout his life story there seemed to be a recurrent theme of people giving him the tools to succeed. The variant on what happened after that was completely dependent on him. Sometimes he accepted the tools humbly and other times his confidence got in the way.” Hailee Hess ’21

“Throughout the speech, Rich mentioned that important figures, such as the Thiel football coach, Professor David Miller, and pharmaceutical professionals, provided him with the tools to succeed in his endeavors.” Emily Baker ’22

“Lessons learned: always be prepared, straight up ask for the job, accept help, and be open to the idea that you are not perfect.” Delaney Merideth ’21

“I got a lot out of it as Sandy went through the various dining etiquette that we should follow, most of which I really had no idea about. It was extremely helpful to have learned those skills that I can put to better use in the future.” William Brandsema ’21

“Rich’s speech has inspired me to break barriers, simply because he continued to move forward when the universe was trying to break him down. I will also carry with me the importance of working in a good, healthy environment. I am not willing to sacrifice my happiness and fulfillment for money. If I am treated justly and fairly in a job, I would take the opportunity every single time before a more comfortable salary and poor work environment.” Ashton Camerot ’22

“He also talked about being adaptable because you never know when you need to switch up your job to help the company.” Jeffery Karnoff ’21

“Something I have never thought to do is to ask for the job. It never occurred to me that asking for the job is something most do not do. With this, being the last person to interview for the job allows your interview to stay on the minds of those who are interviewing you!” Jessica Peters ’21

“Spaghetti should absolutely not be ordered during a business meal.” Hannah Uschock ’22