Bruce Morton Wright of the Erie Chamber Orchestra conducts a class at Edinboro University of
Pennsylvania’s Music Summer at Edinboro program. Seventy students from northwestern
Pennsylvania studied piano, strings, voice and band instruments during the one-week camp held
in June. The program was sponsored through a social equity grant from the State System of
Higher Education.

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA

Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 732-2745 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 7,1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

EDUCATION BECOMING MORE AFFORDABLE AT EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
Parents who expect to pay $1,734 for their son’s or daughter’s tuition this fall at Edinboro
University of Pennsylvania may be in for a pleasant surprise. Not only is this the first time in 17
years that Edinboro and the other 13 universities in the State System of Higher Education
(SSHE) have not raised tuition, but Edinboro also makes available more than $33 million in
financial aid every year.
“Eighty-five percent of our students get some sort of financial aid,” said Ken Brandt,
Edinboro’s director pf financial aid. “The average financial aid package is $5,700 a year.”
This means that only 15 percent of the school’s 7,100 students pay the full tuition.
Of the $33 milhon given out this past academic year, 60 percent was in loans, 36 percent
in grants, and four percent in work study programs. The biggest single chunk of assistance - $18
million - comes primarily from federal Stafford Loans which are low-interest loans available to
students regardless of financial need. The maximum amount available for freshmen is $2,625.
More than 3,700 Edinboro smdents took advantage of Stafford Loans last year. Another federal
program, Perkins Loans, which range from $800 to $2,000, are for undergraduate students with
exceptional need.
The second most popular financial aid at Edinboro last year came in the form of
Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) grants. These awards vary in value
based upon family income. More than 2,200 Edinboro students received PHEAA grants worth
$4.3 million last year. Federal Pell Grants, which range from $400 to $3,000 for undergraduates,
were awarded to 2,300 Edinboro students for
supplemental grants.

A member of the

^00 came from federal

EDUCATION BECOMING MORE AFFORDABLE, Continued

Page 2

Edinboro’s work-study program provided 870 students with $1.3 million in assistance last
year. Scholarships, tuition waivers and athletic grants accounted for another $2.8 milUon.
In addition to the tuition freeze this year and the $33 million in financial aid, Brandt said
there is other good news for the families of college students. Earlier this year. Congress
reauthorized the Higher Education Act. This means students can look forward to such
government-backed programs as Pell Grants for another five years. Brandt said the most
important news, however, has been the recent middle class tax rehef programs which are
expected to total $35 billion over five years. One of those programs is the education IRA which
allows taxpayers to invest up to $500 per child, per year. Another program, the Hope Scholarship
Credit, offers a tax credit for the first $1,000 of tuition and fees, and half of the next $1,000 of
tuition and fees.
The news is also good for Edinboro students from Ohio and New York. For the coming
academic year tuition for those students has been reduced to 200 percent of in-state tuition or
$3,468 per semester. In 1999 that rate is expected to be reduced to 150 percent of in-state tuition.
Brandt reported the University will be even more aggressive in 1999 in recruiting outstanding
freshmen by offering $50,000 in scholarships in addition to the tuition cutbacks.
-30BKPtcsw

Edinboro University’s Van Houten Dining Hall was the host site in June for the 43"'^ Annual
Scholarship Banquet of the Erie Wolves Club, Den Vm. President Frank G. Pogue is shown
accepting on behalf of the University a framed print of the U.S. Brig Niagara from Wolves Club
member Dan Perfetto in recognition of Edinboro’s continuing support of the Club’s scholarship
program. Founded in 1956, the Erie Wolves Club has gone over the $1 million mark in
scholarship money raised for deserving Erie County students. The perpetual scholarship
endowment fund established by the Erie Wolves at Edinboro University in 1990 was their first
award to a public institution of higher education. One of the five 1998 scholarship recipients,
Mercyhurst Prep senior Heather Tardio, will attend Edinboro University this fall.

DRAFT

July 7,1998

Cutline

,v
The family of the late Scott Dye, a professor in the speecl^communicatioi^epartt^n
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, stands beside a tree that was^edic^d to hi^ii^^e oi
the Edinboro campus. From left, back row, are Dye’s niece Kirsten Nogay, sister Gayle
Pomeroy, wife Mary Alice Dye, brother-in-law John Pomeroy. Front row, nieces Flinn and
Logan Pomeroy. Dye was a member of the Edinboro University faculty from 1971 until his
retirement in July of 1991.
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BKP:csw

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA
Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 732-2745 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 10,1998

News Advisory
A group of students from the newly created Kazakh-American University in the Republic
of Kazakhstan are touring Edinboro and the Erie area now through Wednesday, July 22. The
group of 16 students is led by the president of the university, Amirlan A. Kussainov, and
Nurzhauar S. Issayeva, head of the school’s international department.
The scholars are here to learn about American society, improve their understanding of the
English language and create formal linkages with American institutions.
Their schedule includes:
• Friday, July 11 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., a tour of the Troyer potato chip factory in
•
•
•
•
•

Waterford.
Saturday, July 11, from 9:30 to noon, a tour of the Drake’s Well Museum in
Titusville.
Monday, July 13, from 2 - 4 p.m., a tour of General Electric.
Tuesday, July 14, from 2 - 4 p.m., a tour of International Paper.
Wednesday, July 15, tours of the buffalo and alpaca farms in Edinboro in the
morning, and a tour of grape industry in North East at 1 p.m.
Thursday, July 16, beginning at 1:30 p.m., meeting with Erie Mayor Savacchio,
followed by a tour of the Blasco Memorial Library and the Maritime Museum.

For more information, call Linda Kightlinger, Edinboro’s coordinator for international
student services, 814-732-2770.
-30BKP:csw

A member of the State System of Higher Education

July 14,1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

LIVING-LEARNING IS A POPULAR CHOICE AMONG EDINBORO STUDENTS
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania is expanding a program this fall which it hopes will
give more students a greater sense of belonging to the University. Last year, Edinboro created a
living-learning area on one floor of Lawrence Towers for students majoring in education. The
idea was to bring together students who share the same major for study and support in the hopes
it would improve their grades and satisfaction with the University.
The program was so popular that four more living-learning areas are being added this
year, and another floor is planned for education students. The new areas are for students majoring
in criminal justice, general studies, liberal arts, and science and math.
More than 40 education students signed up for the program last year, and several more
were on a waiting list. The two floors for this fall’s program are already filled, and another
waiting list has been established. So far, 225 students are registered for the seven living-learning
floors in two residence halls this fall.
Kim Kennedy, Edinboro’s director of residence life and housing, said the key to the
program is getting faculty involved. “The program has worked nationally. Where it has
succeeded is where faculty have been committed to the program.”
For last year’s pilot project, the residence life staff met with faculty and department chairs
from the School of Education to plan programs and screen applicants. Education professor Kathy
Stevens developed a calendar of events and coordinated 11 programs for the students during the
year which focused on professional topics.
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LIVING-LEARNING IS A POPULAR CHOICE, Continued

Page 2

Susan Criswell, chair of educational services, said the program not only built a good
environment for study, but also encouraged a lot of camaraderie on the floor. She said a mix of
students were chosen - successful students who were good role models and underachieving
students who could benefit from a supportive atmosphere.
The proof of the program’s success can be seen in the high number of students remrning
from last year. A survey of students living in the University’s residence halls showed the livinglearning floors had a higher level of student satisfaction in most areas, especially in academic
achievement, emotional support and involvement with other residents.
“Everyone here acts like a big family,” one student said. “We help each other study, joke
around, hang out and chat. The floor is a friendly environment to live in.”
The program is supported by a two-year grant from the State System of Higher Education.
The University is also installing computer labs in Lawrence Towers and Rose Hall which will be
available to students in those residence halls.

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BKPxsw

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA
Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 732-2745 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 15,1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

JAMES SHEEHAN NAMED EDINBORO FINANCE VICE PRESIDENT
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania President Dr. Frank G. Pogue has announced the
appointment of Mr. James P. Sheehan to the post of vice president for financial operations and
administration at the University. His appointment, which begins on August 1, comes at the
conclusion of a six-month national search.
Sheehan succeeds Richard E. Morley, who retired on June 30 after serving 14 years as
Edinboro University’s chief financial officer.
“Jim Sheehan brings to our campus a breadth of knowledge and experience in finance and
administration, and his expertise in effectively connecting the budget and planning processes will
be most helpful as we implement our five-year budget, planning and Continuous Improvement
process,” Pogue said. “He also has a keen understanding of the role that budgeting plays in
supporting the goals and aspirations of the University.
“One of the priorities I established as president was to build a collaborative
administrative team of professionals who understand and are sensitive to the relationship
between what they do and the way we all serve students,” said Pogue. “Jim is the newest member
of that team and we welcome him to the Edinboro University Family.”
Sheehan is currently the assistant vice president for finance at Sacred Heart University, a
private institution enrolling some 5,000 smdents, located in Fairfield, Conn. His responsibilities
there included administration of a $50 million operating budget and its allocation in terms of the
five-year plan, strategic planning and administrative computing.
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A member of the State System of Higher Education

JAMES SHEEHAN NAMED FINANCE VP, Continued

Page 2

Prior to Sacred Heart, Sheehan served as associate vice chancellor for financial
management at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., as director of fiscal affairs at
Bridgewater (Mass.) State College, and as comptroller at Massasoit Community College in
Brockton, Mass.
Sheehan’s professional career began in 1971 as a staff field auditor in the State Auditor’s
Office, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His first higher education position was director of
accounting at Bridgewater State College.
Sheehan earned his baccalaureate degree in accounting and finance at Bentley College
(Mass.) and his MBA at Southeastern Massachusetts University.
Sheehan and his wife, Betty Jean, have two children, son Shawn, who lives in
Massachusetts, and daughter Colleen, a student at East Carolina University.
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James Sheehan (left), Edinboro University’s newly appointed vice president for financial
operations and administration, is welcomed to the Edinboro Family during the University’s
recent Family Summer Retreat by President Frank G. Pogue. Sheehan, who comes to Edinboro
from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., succeeds retiring Richard Morley as Edinboro
University’s chief financial officer.

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA
Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 732-2745 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 16, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EDINBORO OFFERS ASTRONOMY COURSE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania will expand the way students can take classes this
fall by offering its popular Frontiers of Astronomy course over the World Wide Web. Designed
for non-science majors, the three-credit course explains the new revolution in astronomy and the
latest developments in space exploration based on discoveries from the space program.
Students from anywhere in the world will be able to take the entire course over the Web.
Astronomy professor Dr. James LoPresto will assign readings, essays and quizzes from the
textbook and provide each student with individualized attention through email consultations. The
course will focus on star evolution and the life histories of the solar system, stars, galaxies, and
the universe.
Eric Randall, Edinboro’s dean of Science, Management and Technologies, said offering
the course over the web expands the opportunities for students who possibly would be unable to
attend classes in person due to distance, schedule or other reasons.
He cited several advantages to taking classes via the Web. Students can log on at their
convenience, and they can study at their own pace. They also have the advantage of learning oneon-one with the professor, albeit through electronic mail. ‘This is really the old Socratic style of
teaching in new packaging,” said Randall, “and you can’t have better instruction than that.”
The class will be limited to 10 students.
More information is available by contacting Sharon Pratt Miller at (814) 732-5555, or
Dr. LoPresto at (814) 732-2469. The Web address for the course is
www/edinboro.edu/cwis/physics/observ/home.html.
-30BKP:csw
A member of the State System of Higher Education

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA
Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 72,1-27^5 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 17, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MEADVILLE RESIDENT TO COMPETE FOR U.S. LAWN BOWLS CHAMPIONSHIP
Meadville resident Richard Sayer and his brother Bob Sayer of West Kingston, Rhode
Island, have qualified for the U. S. Championships of the American Lawn Bowls Association
(ALBA), which will be held August 17-20 in Seattle. Richard is a graduate of Edinboro
University of Pennsylvania and is a photographer for the Meadville Tribune.
The brothers qualified for the tournament by winning the Eastern Division Playdowns
held in June at the Buck Hill Falls Lawn Bowling Club in eastern Pennsylvania. They are no
strangers to the U.S. championships, having represented the Eastern Division several times this
decade. They won the U.S. pairs title in 1996.
Their victory this year came despite not having played together for several months. There
are no lawn bowling clubs in this part of Pennsylvania.
The game is played by rolhng a set of wooden or composite balls or bowls toward a target
ball called a jack. The object is to score points by having the nearest bowl to the jack after all
bowls have been rolled.
Sayer said lawn bowling is a game of mental strategy and precise skill - not physical
dominance. Old and young compete together on the same level with experience and tactical
strategy being the ultimate consistent winner.
Playing the game is more challenging than it looks. Because of the shape of the bowls
they curve as they slow down. The player must determine how fast the green is playing, how
much curve to allow for the pace of the green, and what type of shot to play in a given situation.
The Sayers have been playing since they were children in Scituate, Rhode Island. They
were taught the game by their father, George, and their grandfather, Raymond, who was active in
the sport until he passed away last year at the age of 99.
A member of the State tystem of Higher Education

U.S. LAWN BOWLS CHAMPIONSfflP, Continue

Page 2

Richard graduated from the Rhode Island School of Photography in 1986 and moved to
Meadville with his wife, Samantha, while he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts
from Edinboro.
-30BKP:csw

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA
Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 732-2745 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 20,1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE;

EDINBORO HONORS SEVEN DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
Seven Edinboro University of Pennsylvania graduates were recently named distinguished
alumni at a special luncheon ceremony that highlighted the school’s 1998 Alumni Reunion
Weekend.
Honored were local artist Joan “Matta D” Deckard; Henry Casilh, former executive
director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Arts; Katy Harriger, political science professor at
Wake Forest University; Edinboro State Normal School art education pioneer Russell
McCommons; business executive Herman Tomer; naturopathic physician and research scientist
Humbart “Smokey” Santillo; and James Kelly, dean of the School of Health and Human Services
at California State University, Los Angeles.
The works of JOAN “Matta D” DECKARD, ’61, first gained attention in Europe during
the early 1960s with one-woman shows in Paris. Major exhibitions were later shown at New
York’s prestigious Hemingway Gallery and at the Mickelson Gallery in Washington. In 1985,
she created the “Emerging Woman” symbol for the Women’s Self Help Center of St. Louis, one
of the pioneer organizations of its kind in the U.S. From this she created the Emerging Woman
Award, with actress Farah Fawcett as the first recipient for her role in the television drama, “The
Burning Bed.” Matta D also created the original design, “Angel of Mercy,” for the American Red
Cross in memory of Clara Barton, its founder. In 1990, to benefit the Erie Art Museum, she and
her late husband, sculptor John Silk Deckard, organized the first Erie Artists Exposition to be
held in more than 100 years. For the 1974 Erie Summer Festival of the Arts, she created the
sculpture, “Changing Faces,” which is located at the Louis J. TuUio Convention Center. Matta D
is currently creating “Lady of the Great Lakes,” a 20-foot-tall sculpture which will be part of the
Erie Bayfront Development.
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DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS, Continued

Page 2

HENRY CASILLI, Edinboro ’56, has devoted most of his hfe to the arts, from creating
and teaching to acting as a mentor for young artists. In 1968, he was named executive director of
the Pa. Center for the Arts, the prototype for the Governor’s School for the Arts. Leaving a
teaching and art department chair position at Wilkes University in the 1970s, Casilli became a
full-time clay craftsperson specializing in Raku, or pit-fired, techniques, for which he has won a
number of awards across the East Coast. During the 1990s, he served in a number of capacities at
the Harrisburg Arts Magnet School.
Dr. KATY HARRIGER, a 1979 alumna, became interested in politics as a teenager
watching the Watergate hearings on television. She is currently an associate professor in the
department of politics at Wake Forest University and director of the Teaching and Learning
Center, as well as a member of the Working Group on Presidential Disability and the TwentyFifth Amendment. In 1992 she published the book. Independent Justice, which is the only
scholarly publication that traces the history of independent counsels. Now recognized as an
expert in that field, she has been interviewed on CNN and NPR, and often quoted in Time, The

New York Times, USA Today and U.S. News and World Report.
RUSSELL MC COMMONS, one of the Edinboro art department’s first instructors teaching mechanical drawing at the Normal School in the early 1920s - received a certificate in
public school art in 1925 and a bachelor of science in public school art from Edinboro in 1927.
He earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1934 and pursued
advanced shidies at George Peabody College for Teachers, Penn State University and the
Columbia University Teachers College. McCommons has taught at the University of Virginia,
George Peabody College, Westmoreland County (Pa.) schools, and at what are now Edinboro,
Clarion, Mansfield and Slippery Rock universities. During World War n, he served as an audio­
visual specialist with the U.S. Navy. He has also been an electrical draftsman and an educational
consultant in early learning and reading disabilities, dyslexia and speech problems. In 1991,
McCommons was one of the 13 inaugural recipients of the Edinboro Alumni Art Achievement
Award, and was the featured speaker at the 1996 Normal Hall Clock Tower Dedication
Ceremony.
HERMAN TOMER, a 1971 Edinboro alumnus, is president of BRM/Gateway, the
nation’s largest independent disaster recovery center, and executive vice president of Landex,
Inc., a land development firm. Previously, he was a vice president for information services with
three Fortune 500 companies, and was also president of Gateway Archives and Gateway
-more-

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS, Continued

Page 3

Management Services. A former U.S. Navy intelligence officer serving in both Vietnam and the
Pentagon, he is active in community service affairs and is the current board president of Big
Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh, as well as a board member of the Edinboro
University Alumni Association. Tomer is also affiliated with the Advisory Council of Penn
State’s School of Business, the College of Business at the University of South Carolina, the
AT&T Customer Council, the editorial board of Corporate Computing magazine, and the
Association of Records Managers and Administrators.
Dr. HUMBART “Smokey” SANTILLO attended Edinboro on track and football
scholarships, graduating in 1970 with a degree in elementary education. He is a naturopathic
physician and research scientist who has investigated the healing capacities of food and natural
supplements for the past 20 years. After earning the degree, doctor of naturopathy and master
herbalist from the American Medical Naturopathic Association, he wrote his first book. Natural

Healing with Herbs, which is considered a classic in the field. Five other books followed, two of
them best sellers, including his latest. Food Enzymes. Santillo is the inventor of JUICE PLUS,
which removes water from whole fruits and vegetables, concentrates them into a powder in
capsule form, and adds enzymes and fiber. He is a much sought-after speaker in this country and
in Europe, where herbal medicines are popular.
Dr. JAMES KELLY graduated from Edinboro in 1970 and later earned a Ph.D. from the
Florence Heller Graduate School of Policy, Planning and Administration in Social Welfare at
Brandeis University. Since 1971 he has been a member of the National Association of Social
Workers, the Council of Social Work Education, and the Gerontological Society of America. He
is currently dean of the School of Health and Human Services at California State University at
Los Angeles. A former student government president while attending Edinboro’s old Warren
campus, he was a 1971 delegate to the White House Conference on Aging, and more recently, the
U.S. representative to the International Meeting of Experts on Gerontology, held by the United
Nations Fund for Population Activities. KeUy has been awarded numerous grants for study and
work in the fields of AIDS, gerontology and human services, and is the author of several books
and professional pubhcations.
Edinboro University has honored 78 distinguished alumni since the program began in
1976.
-30WAR:csw

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA
Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 732-2745 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 23,1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

REVIVING OPHELIA AUTHOR TO SPEAK AT EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
Mary Pipher, Ph.D., the author of the number-one bestseller Reviving Ophelia, will be the
keynote speaker at a conference at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania on Monday,
October 19,1998. The professional conference/workshop, “Protecting and Reconnecting our
Families,” is sponsored by the Opheha Project and Edinboro University.
Conference organizer and Edinboro English professor Caroline Nobile said the
conference will focus on the family, which is the subject of Pipher’s 1996 book The Shelter of

Each Other, Rebuilding our Families.
“Having the fortitude to look at a problem head on and tackle it is probably the main
strength of this grass roots community organization, the Ophelia Project,” said Nobile. “We don’t
claim to have all, or even any, of the answers to the problems our famihes and children encounter
today, but we know that we must work together as a community to begin to effect positive
changes in the way we live and relate to each other.”
The Ophelia Project, a national organization founded by Susan Wellman in Erie in 1997,
is dedicated to saving the selves of girls by protecting and reconnecting famihes through
awareness, education and advocacy. Inspired by the works of Pipher, the group sees itself as part
of a groundswell of national concern for what is happening to our sons and daughters.
The conference is expected to cover topics such as the adverse effects of culture and the
media on families, other successful programs, networking among parents, and forming
partnerships between teachers and parents.
Pipher, a clinical psychologist and therapist from Lincoln, Nebraska, writes about the
effects of the culture on families and explores how the loss of community and the proliferation of
media and technology have hurt the family.
-30BKPicsw
A member of the State System of Higher Education

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA
Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 732-2745 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 23,1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE;

ADMISSSIONS COUNSELORS APPOINTED AT EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania has announced the appointment of two admissions
counselors to the admissions office - Obadiah (Obie) AguUar and Sheila Murphy.
Agudar, a native of New York City, is a graduate of the University of Buffalo where he
earned a degree in psychology. Prior to his appointment, Aguilar was an admissions counselor
for two years at D’YouvUle College in Buffalo and worked as a tutor in a bilingual magnet
school. He plans to pursue a master’s degree in student personnel administration.
Murphy is a native of West Seneca, NY and a graduate of SUNY Geneseo where she
obtained a bachelor’s degree in special education. She earned a master’s degree from Buffalo
-

State University in student personnel administration. Murphy was an admissions counselor at
Niagara University for nearly four years before accepting her current position at Edinboro.
Terry Carlin, Edinboro University’s assistant vice president for admissions, said, “We are
indeed fortunate to add these two very talented and energetic individuals to our staff. With their
assistance, Edinboro University wiU continue to attract students from throughout Pennsylvania,
New York, Ohio and the country.”
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A member of the State System of Higher Education

July 27, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SHAWN M. ROSH COMMISSIONED AT EDINBORO UNIVERSITY CEREMONY
Shawn M. Rosh of Athens, Pa., was conrniissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S.
Army in a conunissioning ceremony held May 9 at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Rosh,
the son of Ike and Ann Rosh, was in the University’s ROTC program and graduated with a
degree in art education. Following graduation, Rosh was assigned to active duty in the
quartermaster corps advanced camp at Fort Lewis, Washington. He will serve there until
August 8 at which time he will be assigned to Fort Polk, Louisiana.
-30BKP:csw

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
OF

PENNSYLVANIA
Office of Public Relations and Publications
Edinboro, PA 16444
(814) 732-2745 or 2929
Fax (814) 732-2621

July 31,1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE;

WORLD WAR II TRAGEDY STILL AFFECTS LIFE OF EDINBORO GRADUATE
This is a story of two young men - friends and roommates at Edinboro University of
Pennsylvania - who were touched by fate in very different ways. One, the son of a common
laborer, was acclaimed an artistic genius as a college smdent. The other was bom into one of
America’s most beloved and admired artistic families. One died tragically at an early age in
service to his country, his promise and talent forever unfulfilled. The other has Uved a full and
rewarding life, excelling as both an artist and a teacher.
This is the story of Wilbur Sloan and Richard Rockwell. It has been more than 50 years
since their lives diverged, their friendship shattered by World War n.
Sloan grew up in New Castle, Pa., the son of Leana and Wilbur Sloan, Sr., who worked
for a chemical company. It was a burden on the family to put Sloan through college, who
graduated from New Castle High School in 1939. He was exceptionally talented; Rockwell said
he was the best painter at Edinboro. Sloan’s ambition was to attend Columbia University and
become an art professor.
He entered the Army on Febmary 16,1943, just one month after graduating from college.
He was assigned to a special training program at the University of Missouri to learn German. The
Army expected to need German-speaking soldiers for occupation forces in Germany after the war
was over. Unfortunately for Sloan, the program was canceled, and he was assigned to the 66*
Infantry Division for combat training.
His unit shipped across the Atlantic to England and in December was ordered to reinforce
the Allied forces at the Battle of the Bulge. On Christmas Eve, 1944, Sloan and more than 2,000
other American troops were crossing the English Channel on the Belgian troopship Leopoldville.
-moreA member of the State System of Higher Education

WORLD WAR n TRAGEDY, Continued

Page 2

At ten minutes to six, less than five miles from its destination at Cherbourg, France, a torpedo
from the German submarine U-486 slammed into the Leopoldville. Despite the heroic efforts of
the British destroyer HMS Brilliant, the transport sank in the icy waters of the Channel.
Approximately 800 were killed and 650 wounded. Among the fatalities was Sloan. His body was
buried in the St. Mere Eglise Cemetery in Normandy. In July of 1948 his body was returned to
the United States where he was laid to his final rest in Castle View Burial Park in New Castle.
Rockwell grew up in Kane, Pa., the son of Jarvis Waring Rockwell and the nephew of the
great American illustrator Norman Rockwell. Both Jarvis and Norman were bom in a house on
the comer of Amsterdam Avenue and 113* Street in New York. Jarvis had been a Wall Street
stockbroker who lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929. He turned his model ship
building hobby into toy designing, moved his family to Kane, and went to work for the Holgate
Company creating the Holgate Toy Company. He became the company’s chief toy designer and
created such classic Holgate toys as the Bingo Bed, Rocky Color Cone, and Lacing Shoe, which
are still among the company’s most popular toys. The current president of Holgate,
coincidentally, is Richard Bly, a 1977 graduate of Edinboro University.
Richard Rockwell said his father’s design of the Tyke Bike with its high-rise handlebars
and banana seat received the Toy of the Year award for 1965.
Rockwell’s mother was Caroline Cushman, who worked for the American Red Cross.
Her father was a maritime lawyer in New York who spent a good part of his legal career
litigating the Titanic disaster.
Rockwell enrolled at Edinboro and became Sloan’s roommate in Reeder Hall for two
years.
Like Sloan, Rockwell also enlisted in the armed forces in January of 1943. While at
Edinboro he had passed the test for the Army Air Corps. He became a pilot for the 95* Troop
Carrier Wing, flying C-47s. The last time he and Sloan saw each other was in Kansas City,
Missouri, while Sloan was going to the University of Missouri.
Rockwell was the first of the two to go to Europe, arriving in England two weeks before
the Normandy invasion. He flew in the second wave of the invasion of Europe and was involved
in operations throughout the war including the ill-fated invasion of Holland. His plane dropped
paratroopers, pulled gliders and carried supplies. Once, while carrying a very heavy mobile
hospital unit, his plane nearly didn’t get off the ground.
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WORLD WAR II TRAGEDY, Continued

While in Europe he received a letter from his first wife, Ellen, who graduated from
Edinboro in 1942, telling him Sloan had been killed. At that time, Rockwell assumed he had died
in action.
Sometime later, Rockwell had a dream which he still remembers clearly. “I dreamed I
saw Wilbur standing on a street comer in Paris. I remember being surprised at seeing him there
and I went up to him and said, ‘I’m so relieved to see you. I thought you were dead.’”
It would be fifty years later before Rockwell would know the entire story behind Sloan’s
tragic death.
At the end of the war he was discharged at Ft. Wayne, Indiana. There he was introduced
to Braniff Airlines which wanted to hire him as a pilot. Rockwell was interested but something
nagged at him - his longing to fulfill his artistic ambitions. “I asked myself, ‘Are you going to be
an artist or a pilot.’”
It was not a hard decision to make. He paid a visit to “Uncle Norman” in Vermont for
advice. “I went to God and God spoke,” recalled Rockwell. “He said, ‘Go to the Pratt Institute.’”
Located in Brooklyn, the Pratt Institute was considered to be one the top art schools in the
country. He attended Pratt for two years and when he left in 1948, got a job with Timely Comics,
which later became Marvel Comics. Timely’s offices were located in the Empire State Building.
In 1952 he went to work for the legendary Milton Caniff, creator of the Terry and the
Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips. Rockwell illustrated Steve Canyon for the next 35 years
until the strip ended in 1988.
In addition to practicing art, he also has taught it - at New York University, Parsons
School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY, where he teaches the art of the
comic book and the rapid drawing technique know as reportage.
Rockwell had the good fortune of begiiming a second career in the early 1980s when

The Peekskill Star asked him to be a courtroom artist for the trial of the Weathermen (Brinks
armored car robbery) in Goshen, New York. Since then he has covered dozens of cases including
the World Trade Center bombing. He is best known now as a courtroom artist for Fox 5 WNYW.
He also worked for other network stations, newspapers and CNN.
The History Channel commissioned Rockwell to create art for programs on
assassinations, Japanese war crimes, and the Iran hostage crisis. He is also producing 150
drawings for Henry Steel Comanger’s book on the 20* century.
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WORLD WAR II TRAGEDY, Continued

It was through his work as a courtroom artist that Rockwell finally learned the fate of his
friend Wilbm- Sloan. He became friends with Allan Andrade, a New York City police officer
who is now retired. Andrade told Rockwell he had written the manuscript for a book on the
sinking of the ship, “Leopoldville: Freedom is not Free. ” Rockwell asked to see the book and
offered to provide illustrations for it. While reading through the manuscript Rockwell was
astonished to see the name of his roommate. At long last he knew what happened to him.
Upon learning of the circumstances of his death, Rockwell felt the need to contact
someone from Sloan’s family. Andrade wrote to the New Castle News asking it to locate a
member of the family. The newspaper found Eleanor Coates, Sloan’s only living sibling, still
residing in New Castle. Coates was only 13 when her family was notified of his death.
Rockwell and Coates spoke by telephone and met for the first time when both attended
Edinboro University’s Alumni Reunion Weekend in June.
Although Wilbur Sloan was just 23 when he died, by looking at the life of his fiiend
Richard Rockwell, we can see what might have been - what should have been - and share in the
loss felt by his family and friends from a Christmas eve tragedy long, long ago.
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