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PMC-Widener: In Memory of Those Lost in Battle

Sam Starnes — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:25:22 +0000

With Memorial Day weekend fast approaching, I wanted to remember the alumni from Pennsylvania Military College and Widener University who lost their lives in service of their country. Below are the plaques from the PMC Class of 1963 memorial beside Alumni Auditorium that commemorate John “Jack” Lance Geoghegan and William “Buddy” James Stephenson. You can enlarge the images by clicking on them. To view the plaques from the memorial in front of Old Main that list of all 68 names of those from PMC and Widener who lost their lives in service of their country, click here.

From Widener University to the Milky Way: Stargazing Nights in the Kirkbride Observatory

Sam Starnes — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:28:52 +0000

The observatory atop Kirkbride Hall on Main Campus soon will open for another season of public stargazing. The university’s 12- and 16-inch computerized reflecting telescopes this fall will allow for views of the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, as well as the blue-yellow double stars Albireo and Almach, the globular star cluster M13 and the Ring Nebula in Lyra. The winter and spring season will feature planets Jupiter and Saturn, the binary stars Rigel, Cor Caroli and Izar, and the Orion Nebula and the globular star cluster M3.

The planet Jupiter's size compared to Earth

The free viewings begin Sept. 10 and are held weekly on Monday nights and one Friday night a month. Click here for the Monday schedule and here for the Friday sessions. Widener astronomy professors, including Professor Harry Augensen, will be on hand to answer questions and offer assistance.

Jeff Blomquist ’06, co-author of A User’s Guide to the Universe: Surviving the Perils of Black Holes, Time Paradoxes and Quantum Uncertainty is an alumnus who participated in the program when he was a Widener undergrad. We featured him in the spring issue of Widener Magazine and produced an online video about him including many photos shot in the observatory.

Looking for the Widener 500: Less Than A Month Left for Alumni to “Take the Challenge”

Sam Starnes — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:24:20 +0000

The Trustees of Widener University have issued a time sensitive challenge to alumni. If 500 individual alums will give any amount to the university before June 30, members of the Board of Trustees will give $25,000 to the Widener Fund. In order for the Board of Trustees to make this gift, all you have to do is visit www.widener.edu/giveonline or call 610-499-1160. If you want more information, check out the video below. To qualify for the challenge, your gift must be received by June 30.

Remembering PMC-Widener’s 68 Fallen Alumni

Sam Starnes — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:13:22 +0000

Three plaques in front of Old Main at Widener University commemorate the names of the 68 Pennsylvania Military College and Widener alumni who “laid down their lives in service of their country.” The plaques are pictured below, and can be enlarged by clicking on each image. As President James T. Harris III wrote in his message in the spring 2010 magazine, the plaques are “a constant reminder to me that this institution, through all of its changes, is a place where graduates have always answered the call of duty for the nation.”

Widener: Where Art and Sustainability Meet

Sam Starnes — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:31:00 +0000

Coca-Cola and root beer cans normally end up in the trash or recycling bin, but Widener senior Stuart Johnson used a pile of his roommate’s empties to create “Metallic Guitar 2010.” An environmental science major, Johnson’s work pictured here is just one of many creative uses of recycled material by Widener students, faculty and staff on display in An EcoArt Exhibition: Recycle, Reuse, Re-create.

The exhibit in the Widener University Art Gallery runs through May 15. An open house will be held from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 21, and all are invited to attend.

Gallery hours are from Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Wednesday–Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. For more information, call (610) 499-1189.

Young Widener Alumnus Co-Authors and Illustrates Book Addressing Universal Questions

Sam Starnes — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:23:26 +0000

In the upcoming spring issue of Widener Magazine that is due out very soon, we have a short profile of Jeff Blomquist ’06, as well as an excerpt and cartoons he drew from A User’s Guide to the Universe: Surviving the Perils of Black Holes, Time Paradoxes, and Quantum Uncertainty.

Blomquist collaborated with Drexel University Associate Professor Dave Goldberg on the book published by John Wiley and Sons earlier this month. You’ll have to wait until the magazine arrives in April to read more — although, of course, you can buy the book now. Here’s a video about Jeff and his experience at Widener and the origins of this work. The clip also features some of his drawings.

In Search of Underage War Hero

Sam Starnes — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:19:53 +0000

DeSales A. Glover. Photo from 458th Bombardment Group (H)

In the spring issue of the Widener Magazine due out in mid-April, a package of stories will focus on Widener and its long and continuing relationship with the military in preparing soldiers and serving veterans. One story, however, that I was unable to complete is a feature story about DeSales A. Glover, a former Pennsylvania Military Preparatory School cadet from Pittsburgh, Pa.

Before he attended the high school attached to Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener) in Chester, he enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 14. From October 1942 through July 1944, he flew 31 missions, mostly over Germany, earning a Purple Heart and many other medals, before his age was discovered and he was discharged at the age of 16, the PMC News reported in October 1945.
He apparently reenlisted when old enough, serving with the Air Force in Korea, according to a story on page 3 in The New York Times on Feb. 1, 1951. “Based on the number of missions flown, a B-26 gunner, Sgt. Desales A. Glover of Pittsburgh, Pa., is the high man in Korea. As of Wednesday night, he had eighty-two missions, thirty-five of which were at night.” The article goes on to quote him: “In the early part of this war, we knocked out as many three trains a night and from fifty to eight motor vehicles carrying supplies on the road,” he told the Times.

But since that 59-year-old reference, I have not been able to find any information about him in databases or contact directories. I even located and phoned a woman by the same name in Upstate New York who had never heard of Sgt. Glover. Rebecca Warda, collection manager of the University Art Gallery and the PMC Museum, and I have struck out thus far in our reportorial efforts to find him. We don’t plan to give up, however. If you have any information, please contact me at jsstarnes@widener.edu, or call 610-499-4246. I hope to eventually tell the rest of the story of this veteran’s life. – Sam Starnes, Editor

Widener Makes Way for New Academic Building

Sam Starnes — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:27:26 +0000

Demolition of Loveland Hall began Monday morning on the Widener University Main Campus.

By 9:30 a.m. Tuesday the building was half gone. Victory Hall will soon follow, and in two-to-three weeks the demolition of the two structures will be complete. All materials are being handled in accordance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System specifications.

Beginning this summer, construction on the new academic building that will house the School of Nursing and the Oskin Institue will begin. The new building is expected to be completed and in use by January 2012.

Baseballs are in the Air — Alumni Association Gathering Set for Spring Training in Clearwater

Sam Starnes — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:27:02 +0000

Baseball season has started, at least in Florida and Arizona, and that hopefully means the snow mounds on the Main Campus in Chester soon will melt away and springtime will be upon us. The Phillies play their first exhibition game of the season tonight. On Sunday, March 28, the Widener University-PMC Florida West Regional Alumni Chapter will host a noon tailgate before the Phillies-Pirates spring training game in Clearwater. A block of 200 tickets are available, but alumni need to make reservations by no later than March 10. A sunset happy hour will be held at 4:30 the day before. See the Alumni Events page for more information.

Haiti Panel Discussion, Benefit Luncheon Among Upcoming Widener University Events

Sam Starnes — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:43:04 +0000

U.S. soldiers unload bottled water in Haiti.

A survivor of the Port-au-Prince earthquake will join three Widener professors on a panel discussion “Making Sense of the Haitian Earthquake” at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12. Akim Gabriel, a French instructor at Temple University who survived the earthquake, will speak with Widener faculty members Dr. Steve Madigosky, professor of science education and environmental science; Dr. Sarah Roth, associate professor of history; and Dr. Stephanie Schechner, associate professor of French and director of Widener’s master of arts in liberal studies. The discussion is open to the public and will take place in the Kapelski Learning Center, Lecture Hall 1, on Widener’s main campus in Chester. It is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Diversity Committee, The Academic Service Learning Faculty Development Program, and the Office of Community Engagement.

The following week, On Thursday, Feb. 18, Widener will host an Empty Bowls Luncheon from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Lathem Hall on 13th and Potter Streets in Chester. Members of the community are invited to attend. For a minimum $10 donation, attendees will receive a ceramic bowl made by Widener students during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 18. ARAMARK, the university’s food service provider, has donated food and will serve a hot soup lunch including a choice of two soups, bread, fruit and beverages. Participants will be able to keep the ceramic bowls. Click here for additional on-campus efforts to aid Haitians.