From left: Dr. Jody Harpster, executive vice president for external affairs and university relations; Carrie Wise ’95, Alumni Chapter Leadership Award; Linda Basler ’64-’89M, Alumni Chapter Leadership Award; Jack Roddick, Lifetime Achievement Award; Dr. Joan Crouse, Exceptional Service Award; Dr. Richards, Exceptional Service Award; and Jerome Dean ’82, 2008-09 SU Alumni Association past-president.
University presents service, leadership awards
Five individuals are recipients of awards for their service to Shippensburg University.
Dr. Joan Crouse and Dr. Robert N. Richards Sr. received the Exceptional Service Award; Carrie Wise and Linda Basler received the Alumni Chapter Leadership Award; and Jack Roddick received the Lifetime Achievement Award. The awards were presented recently by the Shippensburg University Alumni Association.
The service award is presented to an individual or individuals who through personal effort or involvement have helped the university in a significant and exemplary way. It is the highest volunteer recognition presented by the association. The chapter leadership award is presented in recognition of a graduate's direct impact on the success of a particular alumni chapter or the alumni chapter planning committees and the goal of helping to reconnect alumni with the university as members of active networks within the Shippensburg family. The lifetime achievement award is in recognition of life-long career achievement and personal commitment in the recipient's field of endeavor for the benefit of the community and society.
Richards served more than 40 years as team doctor for the university's football team while also volunteering his services to the Chambersburg Area Senior High School program. A native of Glenolden, he graduated from Temple Medical School in 1945 with a degree in orthopedics. He moved to Chambersburg in 1953 where he started a solo orthopedic surgical practice, becoming the first orthopedic surgeon in Franklin County.
Crouse, who earned her bachelor's degree in 1974 and her master's degree in 1976, recently finished her second 4-year term on the SUAA Board of Directors. She served from 1996-2000, including as board president in 2001-2002. She was re-elected in 2005. She was instrumental in the Southcentral Pennsylvania Alumni Chapter Planning Committee, serving as chair at its inception in 2002. During her board tenure , she was co-chair for the Alumni Weekend Planning Committee and volunteered with the Alumni Admissions Program by presenting scholarships to incoming freshmen from her school district. She also returns to campus to volunteer with the Alumni Career Speakers Program, the Academic Success/Summer Start program, and the Woman to Woman program.
Basler, who earned her bachelor's degree in 1964 and her master's degree in 1989, was on the original Franklin, Adams, and Shippensburg Regional Alumni Chapter Planning Committee. She later served on the Chambersburg/Shippensburg Alumni Chapter Planning Committee. She and her husband, Larry, a 1964 bachelor's and 1969 master's graduate, have opened their home to incoming Shippensburg students and their parents. She was instrumental in the success of the 1st Annual ArtSHIP: Arts and Wine Festival, and has continued her support with the 2nd Annual Festival. She is active with Alumni Days and Homecoming where she provides vision and guidance on how best to engage alumni.
Wise, a 1995 graduate, has been an integral member of the Southcentral Pennsylvania Alumni Steering Committee since its inception in 2002 and has been an active member on the Alumni Weekend Committee for two years. She annually plans and hosts alumni and friends at the Hershey Bears dinner and hockey game. She also co-hosts the annual Alumni & Friends Social at The Firehouse in Harrisburg with her husband, Dan, a 1993 graduate, and has planned the SU Volunteer Night at the Cancer Recovery Center in Harrisburg.
Roddick, a 1947 Shippensburg graduate, has had a personal connection with the university for more than a half century. His association began as a student, led to a faculty position in the physics department with coaching duties, to faculty emeritus status. After coaching football for nine years, he volunteered to shoot the team's coaching films; something he has done for 39 years, missing only one season due to a broken leg suffered filming the last pre-season game. He also coached track for 19 years. He retired from teaching in 1989 but still serves as director of the Dibert Planetarium, a post he has had since 1970.