Colonel Couple

 

The Kalaritises, who met when they were Wilkes undergraduates, are pictured at their home in Florence, S.C.  (Photo by Seth Johnson Media)

Panos ’77 and Deb (Stephens) ’78 Kalaritis Share Career Success And A Marriage Made at Wilkes

By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13

It wasn’t the most auspicious introduction.

Wilkes freshman Deb Stephens ’78 had joined her Waller Halls roommate, Sherry Meyer, as a score keeper for the men’s soccer team. Milling around with the players before an away game, Deb, clad in dark pants, had taken a seat on the stairs at the Ralston Athletic Complex. Wilkes soccer player Panos Kalaritis ’77, a junior international student from Greece, was there with the rest of the team.

“He was not shy,” Deb says of her first encounter with the man who would become her husband. “And his first words were less than romantic.”

Artistic Vision

Sordoni Art Gallery Opens the Doors to New Home With Warhol Exhibit

By Geoff Gehman

Zigzagging through the opening-night crowd for the opening exhibit of the new Sordoni Art Gallery, people are staring at Andy Warhol’s iconic images of icons — Marilyn Monroe, Jackie O., Brillo. No two people experience Warhol’s art the same way and part of a gallery’s purpose is to provide myriad ways to enter the experience. In its new location with a new director, the Sordoni Art Gallery aims to do that.

The bigger, better Sordoni Art Gallery debuted in October beside the new Karambelas Media and Communications Center on South Main Street. It has 7,000 square feet, nearly double than in its previous home in Stark Learning Center. State-of-the-art climate control and convenient parking also are upgrades.

Collaborative Communicators

New Karambelas Media and Communication Center Launches New Era

By Vicki Mayk MFA ’13 and Sarah Bedford ’17

A centralized newsroom with computers and meeting space in the Karambelas Media and Communication Center promotes a collaborative environment for students. (Photos in this section by Earl and Sedor Productions)

Wilkes junior communication studies major J.M. Rey has a window on the world these days – at least the world outside the new Clayton and Theresa Karambelas Media and Communication Center. Rey, production director for campus radio station WCLH, has gone from being on-the-air in cramped quarters in a hard-to-find area of the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center to a spacious- state-of-the art studio that looks out on the street through tall windows at 141 S. Main St. Passersby can hear WCLH’s programming broadcast from speakers placed outside.

“Now people walking by can see you, say hi, and promote the station,” Rey says. “Now when you’re doing a live show they can hear what you’re playing out in the street. It’s just great to hear reactions and see people jamming out and everything; it’s just so cool.”

Rey sums up his first reaction to seeing the new facility in three words: “My jaw dropped.” His reaction is shared by many who visit the new center.

Flying High

From Wilkes Colonel to Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Deirdre Gurry ’99 Has Seen The World

By Kelly Clisham MFA ’16

Lt. Col. Deirdre Gurry ’99 stands next to her aircraft–a T-6 Texan 11–which she pilots as the commander of a squadron of T-6 pilots.

Growing up in the small town of Bushkill, Pa., Deirdre Gurry ’99 never imagined she’d become a pilot. “My vision of my future was very limited. I had no idea as a kid what I would be doing with my life,” she says. Today, she has a much higher world view. Gurry is not only a pilot, but a Lieutenant Colonel, squadron commander, teacher and mentor to the next generation of aviators in the United States Air Force.

Creative Community

An Oral History of Manuscript’s 70 Years As Wilkes’ Literary Magazine

By James Jaskolka ’16

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In the first issue of Manuscript published in 1947, the editors expressed their hope that the literary magazine would become a college tradition of which they might all be proud. As the publication marks its 70^th anniversary, it’s clear their dream was realized.

Founded as a way to ensure free and open speech in creative work, Manuscript Society and the publication it produces serve as the premier creative outlet at Wilkes. Visual art and writing are accepted from students, faculty or alumni, guaranteeing that each edition reflects Wilkes’ best creative work.

Bird Watcher

Dan Klem ’68 holds a merlin, a bird of prey that is a smaller version of the peregrine falcon. He also holds a sample of glass with a dotted pattern applied as ceramic bonded to glass. It has been used successfully to decrease bird deaths from glass collisions. All photos by Dan Z. Johnson

Daniel Klem ’68 Has Devoted a Career to Studying and Saving Birds

by Krista Weidner

If Daniel Klem ’68 had a mantra, it might very well be “I’m not giving up.”

Klem, who is the Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the problem of bird deaths and injuries caused by collisions with building glass. Since earning a doctorate in zoology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Klem has been researching the bird/window issue and working tirelessly to raise awareness, both within the scientific community and among the general public.

Australian Adventure

Allison Roth ’11 Left Her Job to Spend a Year Exploring the Land Down Under

A spectacular view in Noosa, Queensland, Australia, which was one of the many coastal areas visited by Allison Roth ’11 on her year-long adventure.

 

Roth snorkels to explore Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

It started with a casual conversation with a family friend at a party. Allison Roth ’11 was chatting with an Australian woman who had backpacked across the United States in her 20s.

 

“She asked me why I didn’t do the same thing – in Australia,” Roth recalls. “I remember saying, ‘I can’t because I’m saving for retirement.’ As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized how ridiculous that sounded. And I couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said.”