History

Brian Keogh
Class of 1994, University of Albany, Acquisitions and Digital Preservation Specialist, founder of University of Albany's National Death Penalty Archive

Cheryl has been with the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office since 2007. She started out in the National Register section where she was responsible for historic context development on postwar suburbs, urban redevelopment and railroads, review of National Register nominations, and served as the Transportation Enhancement Coordinator. She is currently the Above Ground Resource Environmental Review for the Central Region of Pennsylvania. In this role, she advises and assists state and federal agencies with their compliance responsibilities under the Pennsylvania State History Code and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Joseph Felice ('08) was recently featured in the August 2020 edition of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Magazine, which has a circulation of 1.3 million, Felice has researched Cpl. Wellington Sahler. Joe also recently published an article on the World War One Centennial website.

Adam Farence ('15) is pursuing a master’s degree in Data Journalism on scholarship at Columbia University. Farence is only one of six U.S. students admitted to the program out of twenty. While at WCU he served as the Op-Ed Editor and the Editor-In-Chief of The Quad. After graduation, Farence worked as a journalist for the Daily Local News, covering crime and local politics. After leaving the paper, he moved back home to Enola, Pennsylvania, where he worked as an IT analyst contracted to the state government. During that time he also obtained a Nanodegree in Android Application Development from Udacity. In his spare time, Farence enjoys running, dancing, and working on his science fiction novel.

James Padilioni Jr.
Class of 2013, PhD Student in American Studies at the College of William and Mary, where he worked as Book Review Editorial Assistant for William and Mary Quarterly. He has also interned at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and at Colonial Williamsburg.

Stephanie Sena
Class of 2001, teaches history at Villanova University and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Her courses concentrate on history of imperialism in the Middle East and Africa, and the history of race and class in the US. In 2011 Stephanie founded SREHUP, the Student-Run Emergency Housing Unit of Philadelphia, to engage students in the work of ending chronic homelessness in Philadelphia. View her TEDx Talk, "Igniting the Social Justice Generation,"about working with students in this capacity. Stephanie also sits on the board of directors of Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-profit that builds playgrounds in the occupied territories. She traveled to Palestine in 2015 to work on the playgrounds.

Alyssa Day
Class of 2009, Teacher, Downingtown High School East, where she currently teaches AP Psychology and Western Civilization. She credits "extreme determination and the skills and knowledge imparted by the professors and advisors" and WCU in "catapulting me into a fulfilling and enriching career."

"I'm currently teaching English at Xi Xiang Middle School in Shenzhen, China. I'll be coming back here next year, while working towards going to graduate school in either Hong Kong or Japan. I've been taking classes in Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean, and plan on taking the HSK [Chinese Proficiency Test] 5 sometime next year. So far I've traveled to Tokyo, Seoul, and various cities in China, including Zhuhai, Macau, and Hong Kong. I'm very anxious to see what the next few years have in store for me."

Kolby Gonzalez ('19) is currently a middle school teacher in the West Chester Area School district where he teaches US History and World Geography.  When he's not teaching he's running an after school homework club, and he is one of the tech liaisons of his school building.  In Fall 2020, he began a Masters in Education program at Neumann University.

Stephanie Hurter
Class of 2002, Afghanistan Country Coordinator at U.S. Department of State/ USAID (2014), Strategic Planner, US Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Public Affairs Specialist (2011-2014)

Joshua DiSylvestro (Winter '17) recently stopped by the History Department to report that in December he graduated with honors from the Police Academy. He is now Officer DiSylvestro and working in nearby Chester. Josh remembers that as a student he was sometimes impatient when professors refused to accept less than his best, but now says those expectations laid the groundwork for his Dean's List achievements at the Academy. Josh mentioned that because he has a college degree all ranks are open to him. Furthermore, his history degree was a factor in his acceptance into the Academy: they liked that he knows "other stuff." Josh says one reason for that is that officers are often assigned to neighborhoods where they might serve as role models to young kids, providing examples of different life opportunities these youngsters might follow. Congratulations, Officer DiSylvestro, the History Department is proud of you! And we thank the Police Academy for recognizing the value of studying history.