ESU Faculty, Students, and Alumni in the News

East Stroudsburg University is honored to recognize the following faculty, students, and alumni for their recent accomplishments in their fields of study.

Mathematics and Public Health students got hands-on experience while helping people with food insecurities. Mathematics majors Kathryn Taylor, a senior from Newfoundland, Pa., and Sydney Peet, a senior from Pottstown, Pa., worked with Arlyn Harris, 2021 graduate from Bronx, N.Y., and Master of Public Health students Taylor Fox, from Macungie, Pa., Courtney Kwiatkowski, from Souderton, Pa., and Marla Simmons, from Harrisburg, Pa., to analyze data from a survey conducted by Second Harvest. Second Harvest helps 200 agencies in Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, and Wayne counties to obtain food and distribute it to food insecure people. Second Harvest surveyed the agencies they support to determine how well the agencies’ needs were being met and what additional support the agencies could use. The team of math majors and MPH students, with the support of Olivia Carducci, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and department chair and Clare Lenhart, Ph.D., associate professor of public health, analyzed the results of the survey and prepared visuals (bar charts, pie graphs, etc.) to illustrate the results. Directors of the food pantries indicated, for example, that they have a need for larger cold storage facilities and that different program hours may be needed. The work is continuing this semester as students will survey clients regarding their needs and satisfaction with services.

A graduate student studying Communication was recognized for her research. Kim Bell was recognized by the Pennsylvania Communication Association for her research paper A Rhetorical Criticism of “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman. Using rhetorical criticism theories and applications, Bell evaluated the content of the poem “The Hill We Climb” that was recited at President Biden’s Inauguration. Bell will present her research during the 74th annual PCA convention this October.

A Political Science professor published a book about Latino military recruitment. Adam McGlynn, Ph.D., professor of political science along with co-author, Jessica Lavariega Monforti, Ph.D., Dean College of Arts and Sciences at California Lutheran University, published Proving Patriotismo: Latino Military Recruitment, Service and Belonging in the US. The book examines Latino military recruitment and question whether military service is perceived and functions as a vehicle by which Latinos in the United States can be accepted as first-class citizens. Using interviews with teachers and administrators, original surveys of students and veterans, as well as national data, Dr. Lavariega Monforti and Dr. McGlynn examine the ways in which Latino students in the Rio Grande Valley are targeted by the poverty draft and encouraged by recruiters to enlist in the U.S. armed forces. This results in a complex picture where the intersection of poverty, ethnicity, and patriotism demonstrates why U.S. military recruitment targets a growing Latino population and why Latinos in the United States seeking their acceptance as Americans are open to these overtures. The book was published by Lexington Books which is an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. More information about the book can be found on Rowan’s website.

Two Communication Sciences and Disorders alumni received national recognition. Two alumni from East Stroudsburg University’s Communication Sciences and Disorders graduate program were recently honored with national recognition. Mark Hrycko ’14 and Emily Doll ’16 were each awarded the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Distinguished Early Career Professional Certificate. This award recognizes speech-language pathologists who have “demonstrated a significant impact in their profession and community” through their leadership and accomplishments within the first five years of their career. Hrycko has created and implemented St. Luke’s Hospital Network’s student internship program and is their continuing education coordinator. Hrycko received a Therapist’s Excellence Award and has recently been promoted to facility director at St. Luke’s North Outpatient Hospital. Doll is a clinical speech pathologist for IU 20 working with a diverse population of children. She has presented nationally on multiple topics, including auditory processing disorders, standardized test validity, and selective mutism. She has published in peer-reviewed journals in the areas of literacy and the impact of parent language on children’s development. She released her first book, “Treating Selective Mutism as a Speech-Language Pathologist” from Plural Publishing in September 2021.

Art + Design students took a field trip to see how plastic is repurposed. Professor Xue Dong recently took 13 students from her Product Design II course on a tour of Waste Not Technologies, LLC. in Tobyhanna, Pa. Waste Not Technologies makes solid recycled plastic posts for livestock fencing and sign posts from 98% recycled plastic. During the field trip students explored the plastic recycling and processing industries, and experienced how raw plastics are repurposed, reconstructed, and reproduced to give a new life. During the field trip, each student experienced the washing plastics process, shredding of granulating yogurt cups into small particles, and plastic extrusions producing final sign posts. The integrated art + design students who attended the field trip included: Jadelyn Cardenales, a sophomore from Perth Amboy, N.J.; Brady Jayce, a junior from Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Emma Brooks, a sophomore from Swiftwater, Pa.; Erika Cinquanto, a junior from Douglassville, Pa.; Shaheen Clark, a junior from Scranton, Pa.; Miranda Davis, a junior from Bushkill, Pa.; Geyser Gioia, a junior from Kinnelon, N.J.; Malorie Gorman, a senior from Pocono Lake, Pa.; Fabrizzio Grana, a senior from Tobyhanna, Pa.; James Holloway, a sophomore from Damascus, Pa.; Amna Khan, a senior from East Stroudsburg, Pa.; Aleksander Pankowski, a senior from Albrightsville,Pa.; and Daniel Zimmerman, a junior from Wharton, N.J.

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