Dr. Phillip Benesch, chair of social sciences and associate professor of political science, announced that LVC students had a 100% success rate on the University of London level-4 law modules completed this summer. It is the second consecutive year program participants achieved a 100% success rate in mid-year University of London law exams.

To date, just two years into the program’s history, five LVC students have completed all requirements for the award of the University of London Certificate of Higher Education in the Common Law (equivalent to the first year of a British law degree). The 13 LVC students who have so far registered for the program are on track to earn a total of more than 200 LVC equivalent credits through the University of London by the end of 2021.

Thirteen alumni successfully completed law school to earn their Juris Doctorates during the past two spring semesters, and a 14th is on track to graduate in December. They are:

2020—Waleisha Moat ’15 (Widener University Commonwealth Law School); Kaleigh Hoover Ryder ’17 (Widener University Commonwealth Law School); Paul Markovits ’17 (Widener University Delaware Law School); Samuel E. “Trey” Manning III ’17 (Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law); Giovanna “Gio” Ortiz Brackbill ’16 (Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law); and Anastasia “Anna” Maxwell ’17 (Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law).

2021—Caitlin Dryden ’18 (Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law); Adam Filbert ’18 (Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law); Ryan Kingshill ’17 (Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law); Andrew Luch ’18 (Widener University Commonwealth Law School); Cooper Gerus ’17 (University of Baltimore School of Law); Deanna Berish ’12 (Santa Clara University School of Law); Cassidy Decosmo ’18 (Duquesne University School of Law); and William J. Rice ’06 (December, Georgetown University Law Center).

Dr. Daniel Pitonyak, assistant professor of physics, gave a contributed talk, “Impact Study of Future Data on the Tensor Charge from a QCD Global Analysis,” at the 19th International Conference on Hadron Spectroscopy and Structure on July 28. Dr. Pitonyak also gave an invited talk, “Proton Spin at Small x,” at the Electron-Ion Collider Users Group Summer Meeting on August 6. Both presentations were virtual.

Dr. Daniel Pitonyak, assistant professor of physics, co-authored “First analysis of world polarized DIS data with small-x helicity evolution” for the August issue of Physical Review D. The results will help in understanding how the spin of quarks and gluons contribute to the overall spin of the proton. Dr. Pitonyak’s co-authors are from The Ohio State University, New Mexico State University, and the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The authors are members of the Jefferson Lab Angular Momentum Collaboration.

Dr. Joe Murphy, chair of athletic training, co-authored “Musculoskeletal practices for the preparticipation physical examination” in the BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation Journal. Murphy’s co-authors were Connor Corrente, a student at the Penn State College of Medicine, and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center physicians Dr. Matthew Silvis, Dr. Robert Gallo, and Dr. Cayce Onks. 

Dr. James M. MacLaren, LVC president, was interviewed for the CBS TV 21 story, “Project Education–As COVID cases surge, colleges prepare for the fall semester.” Dr. MacLaren and fellow Central Pennsylvania educational leaders discussed their institution’s plan for safely returning to campus this fall.

Dr. Chris Dolan, professor of political science and director of the LVC Center for Political History, published “After the U.S. Withdrawal” in The Hill on August 10. Dr. Dolan wrote about the geopolitical implications of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan.

Dr. Chris Dolan, professor of political science and director of the LVC Center for Political History, was invited by the Wilson Center to serve as a research associate on the Global Europe Working Group on the Western Balkans and Subgroup on Kosovo. Dr. Dolan will co-research Wilson Center policy reports on Euro-Atlantic integration prospects for Kosovo and North Macedonia, maligned disinformation operations and cyber threats, and the normalization of diplomatic relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Dr. Kathryn M. Whiteley,associate professor of criminal justice, officially launched her documentary, “Until We Have Faces,” to purchase or rent online. The documentary also was presented to the director, senior management, and various key staff of the Youth Advocate Program (YAP), Lebanon, on August 12. The goal is to use the documentary as a course template (educational resource) to facilitate/teach/share the personal experiences of women serving life in SCI Muncy Pennsylvania with Central Pennsylvania female youth.

Dr. Michael Schroeder, professor of history, was acknowledged in a recent LebTown post, “Community oration of famed Frederick Douglass speech scheduled July 5 at LVC” for his partnership with the Lebanon County branch of the NAACP to establish an annual Frederick Douglass Community Oration at the College. President James MacLaren, Ph.D., and Dr. Monica Cowart, provost and vice president of academic affairs, participated in the second annual event as two of 44 community orators for Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”