Here you will find stories showcasing our chapter, current news, and updates about our Fraternity, our brothers and our many supporters.
The SigEp Journal, the official magazine of the Fraternity, is a biannual print publication and serves as the online source for features stories, chapter news, alumni & volunteer news, commentary and more. View the SigEp Journal Archive.
Life was going well for Scott Russell, Thiel ’71: Happily married to his wife, Amy, and the father of two sons, he was at the pinnacle of his career as a director at consulting firm Watson Wyatt. He enjoyed an active lifestyle and close relationships with family and friends.
But in 2010, he started to notice things that concerned him. “There would be times when I realized there were things I couldn’t remember,” Russell explained. He began to miss meetings and forget details associated with his job. Russell always took great pride in his work, so this was out of character for him.
A series of tests confirmed what Russell feared: He had early onset Alzheimer’s. The disease, a type of dementia that affects memory and behavior, was one Russell was all too familiar with: It ended his father’s life several years prior to his own diagnosis.
Russell acknowledges he went through a period of distancing himself from friends and family after first being diagnosed. He credits his wife with helping him confront his new reality. “After the diagnosis, Amy was the one who reached out to the local Alzheimer’s Association and got me involved in various support groups,” he shared.
While there’s no cure yet for Alzheimer’s, here’s where the story gets even more interesting: Life is still going good for Scott Russell.
Although becoming an advocate wasn’t his original intention, Russell began speaking to groups on behalf of the Connecticut Alzheimer’s Association. Partnering with local educator Dr. Darla Shaw, he started a program in which they visited schools to speak to kids. Hearing about his experience demystified what some of them were seeing family members go through. He even inspired a group of middle schoolers to write a book for younger kids that’s been used to raise funds and build awareness. And the line of stuffed animals he decorates and sells on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association (named “Alzi Animals”) is loved by children and one of the ways Russell keeps his mind engaged.
Russell has traveled the country giving lectures and speaking at fundraisers and community walks. And after he and Amy served on the National Alzheimer’s Early Stage Advisory Board, Russell was asked to join the board of the National Alzheimer’s Association. It marked the first time the organization had someone living with early onset Alzheimer’s on the board. He was also the first person with the disease to co-chair the annual Alzheimer’s Advocacy Forum, which draws hundreds from all 50 states to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress for more funding for research. One year, he gave the keynote at the national convention of Tau Kappa Epsilon, the fraternity of former President Ronald Reagan (who also had Alzheimer’s).
With support from a major research institute, Russell and a former colleague are now developing a potentially groundbreaking survey examining the impact of diet, exercise and other lifestyle factors on the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s in particular.
Russell remains incredibly upbeat and is proud of the work he’s done to increase awareness about Alzheimer’s. He serves on several nonprofit boards and volunteers with faith-based organizations and other local groups to build ramps for disabled members of the community.
While he takes medication to slow the progression of the disease, he said having Amy’s support, maintaining a healthy diet and staying active (he continues to play with a soccer league) have all played a role in helping him retain memories and a level of alertness that’s unusual for someone who was diagnosed nearly 15 years ago. Spending time with good friends and chapter brothers like Barry Stamm, M.D., ’70, and John Zawacki, ’71, and their wives has also provided a community of support.
Russell’s quick to say his journey hasn’t been linear; while experiencing declines in some areas, he’s remained steady in others, producing a zigzag path that might be surprising to anyone who hasn’t experienced dementia or had a loved one with the disorder. He’s also had medical issues arise, including a recent heart surgery.
Still, Russell continues to look on the upside. “One of the biggest impacts this has had is to make me realize how fragile and precious life is.”
While his memories aren’t as sharp as they once were, being involved in SigEp is something Scott Russell looks back on with immense fondness. He not only appreciates the friends he made, but also how being a member of the Pennsylvania Nu chapter shaped his personal development as an undergraduate. He credits much of that development to his good friend and mentor, Pete Steffens, Thiel ’70, who Russell still talks to almost daily.
“One of the mantras of SigEp was to be involved on campus in a positive way,” Russell said. “That’s how I got involved in student government and became senior class president. The Fraternity wanted you to expand your horizons and encouraged you to do that.”
He can also lay claim to a role in starting a longstanding Fraternity tradition. One year while attending SigEp’s Grand Chapter Conclave, Russell and others at his table began kidding around about the colorful sports jacket Conrad Eberstein, Pennsylvania ’65, was wearing. At one point, Russell joked that the unusual jacket should be auctioned off.
To the group’s surprise, Eberstein was game. Since then, the jacket has been auctioned at major SigEp events, including Conclave’s closing banquet, the Alumni Awards Dinner. The proceeds go to the SigEp Educational Foundation, and hundreds of thousands have been raised to support undergraduate brothers since the tradition started.
New Ligonier Valley athletic director Wesley Siko
Wesley Siko always knew he wanted to work in sports.
“Since I was a high school athlete, I knew that athletics was the best fit for me,” he said.
“To me, there is no better feeling than helping a learner-athlete reach their goals. In this role, it’s not only my job to support and be an asset to help develop our learner-athletes, but it’s also what’s most important to me.”
Landing his first job as an athletic director during a pandemic, when daily schedules are more suited for the shredder than a bulletin board, was not the ideal foot-in-the-door position he envisioned.
But Siko, the new AD at Ligonier Valley, which eventually is scheduled to begin play in the WPIAL this fall for the first time in 50 years, is up for the challenge and ready to help light the way for a program that had years of success in various sports in District 6.
Siko has a wave of support behind him as the school district begins life in a new environment.
“Even before covid-19 and the pandemic, we knew this season was going to be challenging as our first year in the WPIAL,” Siko said. “On top of that, the pandemic and constant need for adjustments has created challenges that we’re continuing to overcome. My primary goal this year is to create and maintain opportunities for our learner-athletes to compete and do so in a safe manner.
“The WPIAL has given us great guidance throughout the pandemic to help us do just that. And the district leaders have also been a great resource for navigating these difficult times, and we’re fortunate to have them as our support.”
Corey Turcheck had been the Rams AD since 2015, but he resigned to teach an entrepreneurial class at the school. Time constraints proved to be a challenge for him.
“I absolutely love working with the students, and that’s what kept me doing it,” Turcheck said of the AD position. “But it was time to have a normal life. It’s hard enough to do the job without teaching, but I was also teaching. A very difficult thing to manage.
“Thankfully, the administration saw that the position has to be solely athletic director, and that’s what Wesley will do.”
Turcheck also will continue to serve as an assistant football coach at Ligonier Valley, something he has done for 15 years.
Siko, 32, a Greensburg Salem graduate, played basketball at his alma mater for coach Paul Sapotichne and later for Tim Loomis at Thiel.
He interned at Indiana High School and was mentored by longtime athletic director Pat Snyder. Siko was an assistant basketball coach for the Indians.
He went on to sports administrative positions at Carnegie Mellon, where he learned from Jason Mlodzianowski, as well as Misericordia University in Dallas (Pa.) and Towson (Md.).
Like many tiered plans that states, districts and programs have tried to follow to return to competition, Siko has some keys he believes Ligonier Valley can embrace to move into the fall — and beyond.
“First, our teams will need to adjust to the new travel,” Siko said. “After being in the same conference and playing the same schools each and every year, you tend to develop a routine. We’ve spent considerable time around our travel planning from controlling costs to ensuring safety both during and after covid-19. Second, our relationships in the community, with other districts and with WPIAL officials are all crucial components. Having resources within and outside of our district will be an important part of our development as a WPIAL school.
“Finally, our learner-athletes just want to compete, and it’s up to us to ensure that they can do that. Being in our infancy stage, this is an important year to make a great impression and establish ourselves as competitors throughout the WPIAL.”
Two other local athletic director spots are expected to be filled in the near future, at Norwin and Yough. Brandon Rapp is the new AD at Hempfield after he left Norwin.
GREENVILLE, Pa.—Ricardo Daley ’96 is serving his first three-year appointment on the Thiel College Board of Trustees.
His board appointment will run until 2023. Ricardo Daley is a business owner and entrepreneur from Avon Lake, Ohio.
Daley graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and received his M.B.A. from the Keller Graduate School of Management in finance. He is in candidacy for Qualified 401(k) Administrator and Chartered Financial Analyst designations.
His areas of expertise include finance, investments, financial markets, and entrepreneurship. Daley previously served Thiel as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. While he was a student at Thiel, he was a member of the basketball team and was involved with the Student Government Association and the student newspaper.
The Board of Trustees is responsible for the oversight of Thiel College. The Board adopts rules, regulations and policies governing Thiel College and has authority over curricular development, use of property, development of facilities and fiscal and human resources management. The Board of Trustees meets formally three times a year on campus.