California University

Volume 19, Number 17 NoV. 20, 2017
Read the JouRnal online: www.calu.edu/news/the-journal

Cal U Honors Military Veterans

A

s part of its 2017 Veterans Week celebration, the
Office of Military and Veterans Affairs hosted its
44th annual Veterans Day Dinner on Nov. 9
with guest speaker Michael Sears, a retired U.S.
lieutenant commander and California Area School
District superintendent.
Sears shared anecdotes from his 18 years of service
as a naval surface warfare officer. His final ship
assignment was as executive officer aboard the
USS Pensacola, which participated in Operation
Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf.
“You’ve all been standing a watch somewhere,” Sears
said to the many veterans in the room. “Veterans …
share this theoretical concept of duty, which is essentially
subscribing to a cause bigger and more important than
themselves.
“Vets chose to serve their country and, following
their military service, have maintained a strong sense of
duty and have served in other ways. They do this
because they are the man or woman in the arena,
daring greatly.”
Earlier in the program, University President
Geraldine M. Jones offered remarks, including praise for
the display of nearly 60 banners that highlight veterans’
military service.
“They are just one way that our University expresses
its pride in our alumni, students, employees, friends and
family members who have served our nation with
distinction,” President Jones said.
“We have a long history of honoring their courage
and sacrifice — and we wholeheartedly welcome those
veterans and service members.”
Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 260 students, faculty
and staff at Cal U have served in the U.S. military,
including a number of students who have had multiple

California University of Pennsylvania President Geraldine M. Jones signs a proclamation designating Nov. 6-10 as Military and
Veterans Appreciation Week at Cal U. Looking on are (from left) sophomore Tommy Boyd, of Uniontown, a retired Marine
Corps master sergeant who is studying sport management; Spec. Alexis Richardson ’17, of Pittsburgh, a member of the U.S.
Army Reserve who is earning a master’s degree in intercollegiate athletic administration; Capt. Robert Prah ’06, ’10, director of
the University’s Office of Military and Veterans Affairs; and Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Maund ’11, an ROTC instructor at Cal U.

deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Twelve students were awarded the Presidential
Patriotic Service medallion, given to those who have
served on active duty while enrolled at Cal U.
The recipients of the Col. Arthur L. Bakewell

Veterans Scholarship — senior David Sheets and
graduate student Ashley Pugh — also were recognized.
The scholarship is awarded annually in memory of
Bakewell, a longtime Veterans Club adviser. It is funded
— Continued on page 2

Rotary Recognizes Eliason’s Efforts

F

or more than 30 years
Dr. Grafton Eliason has helped
those who care for others, and
his work is being noticed.
A professor for the past 13 years and
coordinator of clinical mental health
counseling in the Department of
Counselor Education, Eliason received
the Andrew G. Uram International
Service Award from the Rotary Club of
Washington, Pa., on Oct. 31.
Created in 2004, the award
recognizes those who have provided
humanitarian relief abroad or worked
to promote world understanding and
peace. It is named in honor of past
president Andrew Uram, who led the
Rotary Club’s first major
international service project to ship
books to Ghana through the Brother’s
Brother Foundation.
Andrew Uram is the father of
Thomas Uram, a member of Cal U’s
Council of Trustees.
Michael Pecosh ’97, ’05, one of
Eliason’s former students and an officer
with the Rotary Club of Washington,
nominated Eliason for the award.
“I can think of no one more
deserving of this recognition,” said
Pecosh, a licensed professional
counselor with his own practice.
“Through his work here and abroad, he
has educated, comforted and brought

Campaign
Highlights
Service

P

Dr. Grafton Eliason, a professor in the Department of Counselor Education, speaks to the
Rotary Club of Washington, Pa., Oct. 31 after receiving its Andrew G. Uram International
Service Award.

people together as our human family.
“He’s a friend, a mentor and more
importantly an inspiration for what
someone can do to make the world a
better place.”
Eliason and Cal U students have
taken several mission trips to India,
Peru, Belize, Puerto Rico and South
Africa. They have worked in schools,

orphanages, homes for the elderly and
addiction centers and have had the
opportunity to share experiences with
nurses, police, teachers and students.
Eliason’s first mission work was in
India, when he was attending the
Princeton Theological Seminary at the
age of 20.
— Continued on page 4

ennsylvania’s State System of
Higher Education has launched a
social media campaign to
highlight the ways students at Cal U and
the 13 other State System schools give
back to local communities, the region
and the commonwealth.
The #givebackPA campaign will
continue through December on
Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and
Twitter. Follow that hashtag at
facebook.com/CalUofPa;
twitter.com/CalUofPa;
instagram.com/CalUofPa; and
youtube.com/CalUofPa.
The University will post content to
— Continued on page 4

Page 2

NoV. 20, 2017

Cal U Celebrates Native American History

A

n FBI attorney explored the
complexities of tribal sovereignty
in the United States Nov. 2 as
part of Cal U’s Native American
Heritage Month celebration.
Christopher B. Chaney, of the
Seneca-Cayuga Nation, lives in
West Virginia and has served as a tribal
prosecutor, handling crimes for the
Jicarilla Apache Nation and the
Southern Ute Tribe.
He also prosecuted federal crimes for
the Navajo Nation and the Uintah &
Ouray Ute Tribe.
For two years, Chaney was in charge
of law enforcement and corrections
programs for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
His talk was titled “Tribal Sovereignty
and Federal Indian Law.”
“Tribes are governments much in the
way that any state or the United States is
a government, but their status is a bit
different,” Chaney said. “Over the years,
criminal legal authority in Indian country
has been one of the main ways that tribal
sovereignty has been expressed.”
Chaney said criminal jurisdiction

Attorney Christopher B. Chaney, of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation, discusses complexities of
tribal sovereignty and federal Indian law in the United States as part of Cal U’s Native
American Heritage Month celebration.

became increasingly restricted, reaching a
low point in 1990.
A 1991 amendment to the Indian
Civil Rights Act — which recognized
that tribes had power to “exercise

criminal jurisdiction over all Indians —
and the 2010 Tribal Law and Order Act
— which allows tribal courts to increase
jail sentences handed down in criminal
cases — have increased tribal sovereignty.

“The concept of tribal sovereignty
and how it interacts with federal law
changes from time to time. It is an
active area of the law that has constant
new legislation, and new Supreme
Court cases,” Chaney said.
“It can be murky, and there’s
constant talk about sovereignty and
what it means.”
Sponsoring the presentation were
the Office of the Provost and the
LaDonna Harris Native American
Studies Institute at Cal U.
Dr. Clarissa Confer, a professor in
the Department of History, Politics,
Society and Law, followed Chaney’s
visit by showing films to further
awareness about Native American
issues and heritage.
The Nov. 9 film, LaDonna Harris:
Indian 101, is a documentary about
the Comanche activist and national
civil rights leader who has visited
Cal U and for whom the institute is
named. On Nov. 16, a film about
Native American environmental issues
was shown.

Campus BRIEFS
Schedules Change
for Thanksgiving

Holly Day
Set for Dec. 3

So that students can observe the
Thanksgiving holiday, no classes will
be held from Nov. 22-27.
The University will be closed
Nov. 23-26 and will reopen Monday,
Nov. 27. Classes will resume on
Tuesday, Nov. 28.
Residence halls will close at 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 21, and re-open at
4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26.
The final Journal of the Fall 2017
semester will be available online and
in print on Dec. 11.

The California Borough
Recreation Authority and Cal U
welcome everyone to California
Holly Day, 4-6 p.m. Dec. 3 in the
Performance Center inside the Natali
Student Center.
The free community event
includes treat bags for the first 100
children who attend, plus holiday
crafts, a photo booth with Santa,
musical performances, horse-drawn
carriage rides, bookstore discounts
and more.
Free parking is available in the
lots behind the student center.
Guests are invited to bring new
scarves, hats, gloves and gifts for
children to the Donation Tree.
For more information,
email Melissa Dunn at
dunn@calu.edu.

GACO Fair
Draws 230
Deborah Wojcik, newly retired
director of Cal U’s Government
Agency Coordination Office (GACO),
reported that last month’s 30th annual
Procurement Opportunities Fair
attracted more than 230 participants.
Focused on providing
businesses with contracting and
subcontracting opportunities, the fair
in Washington, Pa., featured 70
booths staffed by representatives of
government agencies, corporations,
regional service organizations and
area businesses. Training sessions also
were offered.
“Through these events businesses
have access to multiple buyers for
their goods and services,” Wojcik
said. “It is an excellent networking
opportunity for companies, which
often leave the fair with a contract or
develop relationships that lead to
future business.”
Since 1985, local businesses
assisted by the GACO program have
reported receiving more than 58,335
contracts and subcontracts totaling
nearly $3.7 billion dollars.
The next Procurement Fair will be held
Oct. 23, 2018, at the Monroeville (Pa.)
Convention Center. For more information,
contact Tracy Julian at 724-938-5881 or
julian@calu.edu.

Trustees Meet
Dec. 6
The California University Council
of Trustees will hold its final quarterly
meeting of 2017 at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 in
the President’s conference room, Old
Main, Room 110.

See Cal U Events
Online
A new online events calendar
makes it easy to see what’s
happening at Cal U.
Click the “Calendar” link in the
homepage navigation, or click
“Events” at the bottom of the
homepage (near the newsfeed) to
view a searchable list of campus
activities.
The new online calendar allows
users to browse by event type or date.
Details about the event, directions,
registration information and more is
all readily available, along with a
one-click link to share the event on
your social media accounts.

During his keynote address at the 44th annual Cal U Veterans Day Dinner, retired U.S. Navy
Lt. Cmdr. Michael Sears, superintendent of the California Area School District, praises
veterans and active duty military members for their willingness to serve.

Cal U Honors Veterans
— Continued from page 1
through the generosity of the Veterans
Scholarship Fund 500 Club.
Coincidentally, Bakewell’s daughter
is Michael Sears’ wife, the former
Cherie Bakewell.
Sears praised his late father-in-law for
starting the Veterans Club at Cal U and
giving student veterans the opportunity to
develop their leadership skills.
“He was quiet and a very
understanding person who always took
care of his veterans and soldiers at
Cal U,” Sears said of Bakewell, a veteran
of three wars. “He looked for the best in
people and overlooked their faults.”
Veterans Week at Cal U began with
President Jones signing a proclamation
declaring Nov. 6-10 as “California
University of Pennsylvania Military and
Veterans Appreciation Week.”
The Office of Military and Veterans
Affairs followed that Nov. 6 signing by
holding an open house to dedicate its
new suite of offices in Residence Hall E.
Capt. Robert Prah, who directs the
office, highlighted the variety of services
available to students, including a
computer lab equipped to process
military paperwork.
“This is a very warm and inviting
place for our military and veteran
students,” said President Jones, who
remarked on the University’s status as a
Military Friendly School.
“I’m proud of what we’re doing
here,” added Larry Maggi, a U.S. Marine

Corps veteran and a member of the
University’s Council of Trustees.
Prah recognized members of the
Facilities Management staff who assisted
with the office’s summertime move from
Manderino Library, where Veterans
Affairs had been housed for the past
several years.
Brian Phillips, Gregory Phillippi,
Albert Gauden, Clarence Camp,
Edward Hagyari, Anthony Roberts,
Jeffrey Lowden and Patrick Kelly each
received a Coin of Excellence, created
specifically for the Veterans Affairs Office,
and a certificate of appreciation noting
their “unwavering support of our Cal U
Military, Veterans and ROTC programs.”
“Your hard work … and
professionalism does not go unnoticed,”
the certificate read. “We appreciate all of
your countless hours behind the scenes
devoted to serving our veterans and
service members.”
University Police officer Brian Bobnar
also received a coin and a certificate for
his regular “check-ins” with the office’s
staff and students.
Veterans Week 2017 concluded with
another open house on Nov. 11, and
President Jones also hosted a “Pop-Up
Coffee” event on Nov. 7.
Her message to the veterans at all the
events was clear.
“On behalf of California University
of Pennsylvania, I want to say out
loud what I hope you all have heard
many times before — thank you for
your service.”

NoV. 20, 2017

Page 3

Honors
Students
to Present
Digital
Stories

From left: Jerry Koza, Jake Newbill, Kristin Bomboy, Laken Ganoe, Dr. Carol Bocetti (club adviser) and Luke Gray enjoy a moment at The Wildlife
Society National Conference in Albuquerque, N.M. Cal U’s student chapter of The Wildlife Sociey won third place at the conference’s Quiz Bowl.

Students Shine at Wildlife Event

C

al U’s student chapter of The
Wildlife Society earned a thirdplace finish — its best ever — at
the 20th annual Quiz Bowl, which took
place earlier this fall during The Wildlife
Society National Conference in
Albuquerque, N.M.
Cal U competed against more than 20
North American teams.
Quiz Bowl is a fast-paced wildlife
knowledge competition between teams of
four undergraduates, including an
alternate. Questions range from taxonomy
to wildlife management, to ecological
principles, to Wildlife Society trivia.
Cal U’s team of Kristin Bomboy,
Laken Ganoe, Luke Gray, Jake Newbill
and alternate Jerry Koza finished ahead
of Arizona State for third place. Georgia
repeated as champion, and Purdue
placed second.
Tara Fisher, a junior biology major
with a fisheries and wildlife concentration,
is the chapter’s public relations officer and
kept score throughout each of the rounds.
“At the 2016 conference we did not get
past the first round, so it was so rewarding
to see our team do such a great job,” she
said. “It was very stressful, but exciting,
just watching.”
Ganoe, a graduating senior, believes
the team built on its experience from the
previous year.
“We were more prepared and had a
mindset of ‘let’s just get some answers
correct,’” she said. “Once we did get some

‘Happy Elf’
Opens Dec. 7

C

ommunity members ages 5 to 55
will join Cal U students onstage
and behind the scenes when the
Department of Music and Theatre
performs The Happy Elf.
This is the second consecutive year the
holiday production— based on a song by
Grammy award-winner Harry Connick
Jr. — has been presented at Cal U.
Showtimes are 7 p.m. Dec. 7-9 and
2 p.m. Dec. 9-10 in Steele Hall Mainstage
Theatre. All performances are open to the
public. Children from area school districts
will attend a matinee at 10 a.m. Dec. 8.
The family-friendly musical comedy
tells the story of Eubie the Elf, one of
Santa’s helpers, whose rose-colored view
of the holiday season is put to the test
when he sets out to bring Christmas joy
to a dreary town called Bluesville.
Tickets are $12 for all ages. Students
with valid CalCards are admitted for 50
cents; a $5 deposit will be returned when
the student attends a performance.
For more information or to order tickets by
phone, call the Steele Hall
Box Office at 724-938-5943.

right, I think things just started rolling.”
Club adviser Dr. Carol Bocetti, a
professor in the Department of Biological
and Environmental Sciences, said the
Cal U chapter was competing against
schools whose chapters are four to fives
times larger.
She added that many of those teams
have their own buzzer systems, do
extensive training, and even photograph
questions to use to prepare for next
year’s competition.
“We teach our students what we teach
them, and they simply go up there and
express what they’ve learned and know,”
she said. “Their performance reflects very
positively on our program, and I am so
proud of them.”

Invaluable for Students
The Wildlife Society’s Conference is
one of the largest gatherings of wildlife
professionals, students and supporters in
North America.
Attendees learn about the latest
advances in wildlife research,
management and education through a
wide variety of symposia, contributed
papers, workshops and field trips.
Bocetti emphasized the conference’s
value for students and cited Ganoe, who
attended her first conference in 2015 as a
sophomore club officer.
Through networking at the 2015 event,
Ganoe landed a summer job. In 2016
she attended as chapter president, and

this year she presented a research
poster on her honors thesis, “Feasibility
of remote mark recapture methods on
fishers in Clarion County.”
Ganoe was the conference’s northeast
student representative and student
development working group secretary.
In spring 2018, she will complete a
research assistantship with the
Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State
under Dr. David Walter, whom she met
at the 2015 conference.
With assistance from the
Pennsylvania Game Commission, she
will continue her work and research of
the fisher, Pennsylvania’s second-largest
member of the weasel family.
“These conferences have really
helped shape my professional career,”
said Ganoe. “They open up so many
opportunities for students to experience
all there is in wildlife and see the
big picture.”
Some of the conference travel costs
are paid through proceeds from the
chapter’s popular Outdoor Bash and
Wild Game Dinner. The 20th annual
event will take place on March 24, 2018.
“I’ve been to a lot of national
conferences, but I have never
experienced one that is done as well
for undergraduate students,” Bocetti
said. This conference changes these
people’s lives, and it’s incredibly how
professionally ready they become.”

S

tudents in University
Honors Program English
courses taught by
Dr. Christina Fisanick will present
their digital stories about the
Mon Valley at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 5 in
the Performance Center, inside the
Natali Student Center.
Admission is free, and the public
is welcome.
More than 30 honors students
worked with 12 historical societies
throughout the Mon Valley, including
groups in Monessen, California,
Charleroi and Dravosburg, to
produce the digital histories.
Along the way, students
sharpened their writing, critical
thinking and editing skills, digital
literacy and more.
The students read scholarly
articles on the northern Appalachia
region and visited the Carrie Blast
Furnaces at the former U.S. Steel
Homestead Works to learn about the
steel-making process and the role
immigrants played in the Industrial
Revolution. Students also read Rust
Belt Boy: Stories of an American
Childhood, by Paul Hertneky, a
memoir set in the Mon Valley.
This marks the fifth year of a
collaboration between Cal U’s
digital storytellers and the Senator
John Heinz History Center
Affiliates Program, of which the
local historical societies are
members. Over the past five years,
students have provided an
overview of each historical society,
as well as a feature on a noteworthy
artifact or collection.

Musicians Perform On, Off Campus

C

al U’s talented student
musicians are tuning up for
holiday performances.
Jazz ensembles under the direction of
Dr. Frank Stetar will perform holiday
tunes and an assortment of jazz melodies
at 8 p.m. Nov. 21 in the Performance
Center, inside the Natali Student Center.
The Young and Gifted Gospel Choir,
directed by Dr. Randy Tillmutt, will
perform at 5 p.m. Dec. 2 in Old Main
Chapel. The concert will include African
folk songs and holiday favorites.
Both events are free and open to
the community.
At 8 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3 p.m. Dec. 3,
the Cal U Choir will join the
Washington Symphony Orchestra at
Trinity High School in Washington,
Pa., to sing several selections at Ho Ho
Ho with the WSO.
Choir director Dr. Yugo Ikach,
co-chair of the Department of Music and
Theatre, is the WSO’s music director and
principal conductor.
The choir will perform John Rutters’
“Angels’ Carol,” Leroy Anderson’s “A
Christmas Festival,” Craig Courtney’s “A
Musicological Journey Through the

The Young and Gifted Gospel Choir’s fall concert will be at 5 p.m. Dec. 2 in Old Main Chapel.

Twelve Days of Christmas” and
“Hallelujah” from Handel’s Messiah.
Cal U Commercial Music
Technology majors Kate Snyder, Meghan
McPherson and Nick Linder will be
soloists with the orchestra for TransSiberian Orchestra’s “Dreams of
Fireflies.”
The California Singers vocal
ensemble will be part of the
“Christmaspalooza” celebration at the
Washington Crown Center from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Dec. 9.

For details about performances by Cal U
musicians, contact the Department of Music
and Theatre at 724-938-4878 or email
ikach@calu.edu, stetar@calu.edu or
tillmutt@calu.edu.
Tickets for the Washington Symphony
Orchestra are available at washsym.org or
by calling 1-888-71-TICKETS. Tickets for
“Ho, Ho, Ho with the WSO” are available
at Citizens Library and Peters Township
Public Library and at the door. Cal U
students with a valid CalCard are admitted
free of charge to WSO concerts.

Page 4

NoV. 20, 2017

Two Vulcans Win PSAC Championships

D

istance runner Julie Friend and golfer
Cai Yan Ho won Pennsylvania State Athletic
Conference individual championships during the
weekend of Oct. 21-22.
Friend, a redshirt senior, won the Vulcans’ first PSAC
women’s cross-country championship in 35 years.
She finished the 6-kilometer run at Roadman Park in
22 minutes, 7.8 seconds, nearly 57 seconds ahead of the
second-place competitor — the largest margin of victory
in the league race since 2010.
Friend also became only the second women’s crosscountry runner in program history to win the individual
league title. Rachel Brooks was the first to accomplish
this feat, in 1980.
Cal U finished fifth in the team standings with a trio
of runners placing in the top 30. This was the Vulcans’
second-best conference finish in the last 30 years.
The Vulcans’ next two top finishers were senior
Summer Hill and junior Alyson Pierce, who finished
14th and 26th, respectively.
On Nov. 4, Friend won the NCAA Division II
Atlantic Regional to become the program’s first-ever
individual regional champion. The Vulcans finished in
third place at the regional and qualified for Nationals as
a team for the second time in three years.
On the men’s side, sophomore Brett George led the
Vulcans by finishing 19th overall.
Ho, a senior captured medalist honors by six strokes
at the PSAC Women’s Golf Championships, held at the

Runner Julie Friend (above) and golfer Cai Yan Ho
took individual championship titles.

Hershey (Pa.) Country Club East.
She carded the lowest score of the weekend in the
second round, at one-over 72, to finish the event with a six
over-par 148. Ho is the fifth Vulcan women’s golfer in 10
years to win the individual title, and the first since 2012.
Cal U’s next highest finisher was freshman Sara
Suazo, who tied for third place with a 13-over 152.
The men’s golf team finished the championship in
second place. Sophomore Ryan Smith led the individual
effort by finishing in third place with an even-par 142.
Sophomore Nathan Bazant and junior
Jerome Landry each tied for 10th place at 10-over 152.
“The PSAC is the NCAA’s largest one-state
conference, which speaks volumes of what Julie and

#GiveBackPA Social Media
Campaign Under Way

Cai Yan accomplished,” said athletics director
Dr. Karen Hjerpe.
“Winning an individual conference title is a
significant achievement, but both of these champions
are also outstanding academically and are model
student-athletes.”
Friend is a multiple Academic All-American
selection. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at
Cal U and is pursuing her master’s degree in exercise
science and health promotion, with a concentration
in rehabilitation science.
Ho is a Dean’s List student with highest honors
(3.75-4.00 GPA). Her major is mathematics, with a
concentration in statistics.

Rotary Honors
Eliason
— Continued from page 1

— Continued from page 1
highlight a dozen community-oriented activities,
which began Nov. 4 with Make a Difference Day.
Each year on Make a Difference Day, Cal U
partners with community businesses and organizations
to address any needs they might have, with a focus on
California’s downtown business district. Cal U
students also helped to serve a dinner at Center in the
Woods, near the University’s upper campus.
Other #givebackPA events include the
University’s annual Toys for Tots drive, a Nov. 30
blood drive, the Dec. 3 Holly Day community event,
and an afterschool volunteer program at Charleroi
Middle School.
“The commonwealth invests in our universities,
we invest in our students and they give back to our
communities,” said Kayla Kuntz, Cal U’s social
media manager. “This campaign is a way to highlight
the service work done by our students.”
Diane Hasbrouck, director of the Center for
Volunteer Programs and Service Learning, reported
that Cal U students have performed more than 35,000
volunteer hours over the past three years. During the
past 11 months they have participated in 562 service
opportunities.
Senior Shaina Hilsey, a member of the Board of
Governors for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher
Education and past president of the Student
Government Association, enthusiastically supports
the #givebackPA campaign.
“As students and residents here, it important for us
to help out in the community and for people to see
that we care,” said Hilsey, a sport management major
with a concentration in professional golf management
and a minor in business administration.
“We want to make a positive impact.”

Cal U students (from left) Daisy Lara, Cassondra Garcia,
Vianey Almaraz, Brittany Braddee and Rynira Elam take
a break while doing yard work in West Brownsville
during Cal U’s Make a Difference Day service project.

“When I came back home, I realized I had gotten
just as much, if not more, from that experience than
the people I’d helped,” he said. “When I came to
Cal U, I knew I wanted my students to share that
same experience.”
Eliason was surprised and humbled by the award,
preferring instead to talk about his students.
Earlier this month, he accompanied Kayla
Benzio, a master’s degree student in clinical and
mental health counseling, to the Pennsylvania
Counseling Association’s state conference in
Philadelphia, where she presented research on posttraumatic stress disorder.
“I just share my experiences from a counseling
perspective, especially in the multicultural counseling
classes, and hopefully it gives the students some
incentive,” Eliason said. “It’s not just one-on-one
counseling in an office. There are so many different
ways to help people with this degree.”
In addition to the Rotary award, Eliason was
honored by the American Red Cross of Southwestern
Pennsylvania as 2014 Educator of the Year. He learned
CPR and basic crisis response techniques through the
Red Cross before taking advanced courses open only to
licensed professional counselors.
He continues to volunteer with the American Red
Cross of Southwestern Pennsylvania in crisis response,
and he also is a national trainer for Reconnections,
which works with military personnel and their families
Eliason is an ordained Presbyterian minister in
Redstone Presbytery and pastor for the Community
United Presbyterian Church in New Alexandria, Pa.
He served as chaplain and spiritual program
coordinator for nine years at Woodlands Foundation
in Wexford, Pa., a nonprofit organization for children
and young adults with disabilities and chronic illnesses.

The California Journal is published by California University of Pennsylvania, a member of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
Geraldine M. Jones
University President

Robert Thorn
Vice President for Administration and Finance

Christine Kindl
Editor

Dr. Bruce Barnhart
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Nancy Pinardi
Vice President for Student Affairs

Bruce Wald, Wendy Mackall
Writers

Office of Communications and Public Relations

250 University Avenue

California, PA 15419

724-938-4195

wald@calu.edu