Moravian University Houndcast

On this episode of Houndcast, Dylan Star and Owen Levan-Uhler ’26 sat down with 2024 Alumni Fellow Louis Spann ’26. They talked about Louis's recent election to Moravian's Board of Trustees as a Student Trustee, and his campus-wide campaign for the position. They also talked about clubs and involving yourself on campus, and the challenges navigating high school, college, and young adulthood during and after the pandemic. We have just a few episodes left for this season of Houndcast, so as always, thank you for listening!

For more information on this year's Shining Lights event, visit this link!

On this episode of Houndcast, Dylan Star and Owen Levan-Uhler '26, sat down with James P. Orlando, EdD ’96. J.P. is receiving the Benigna Education Award at this year's Shining Lights ceremony for his academic and medical education work with several Lehigh Valley institutions like St. Luke's, where he's been for the last ten years. Continuing with the season's theme of "success," they discussed how J.P.'s definition of success was shaped by his time at Moravian and through his changing roles in the Lehigh Valley, as well as how important it is to have intention when looking at your future.

For more information on this year's Shining Lights event, visit this link! 

On this episode, Dylan Star and Owen Levan-Uhler ’26 sat down with John F. Ferry Jr. ’78, P’12 (Jack), who is the recipient of the Haupert Humanitarian Award for 2024's Shining Lights Awards. They talked about his time at Moravian studying under Prof. Jack Ramsey and performing with Moravian's Blackfriars. Jack then talked about his professional career, starting as an English teacher at Northampton High School, then owning a snack food distributorship, and finally, working for United Rehabilitation Services in Hazelton, which was an organization for adults with intellectual disabilities.

In this episode, Dylan Star hopped onto Zoom with Kayla Herr ’19. Continuing with this season’s theme of success, they talked about Kayla’s experience with Turning Point of Lehigh Valley, Neighbors in Health, and her current job with the BRAVE program of South Florida. BRAVE, which stands for Be Resilient and Voice Emotions (BRAVE), was founded in 2019 and has made significant progress connecting high school teens to mental health resources.

Moravian University is proud to support our students with mental health and wellness. The Counseling Center provides confidential therapy services to help Moravian students manage personal, social, and academic challenges, at no additional cost. 

State and National Mental Health Resources:

• Mental Health Resources in PA
  

*This episode was recorded on Zoom, so we apologize for any imperfections in the audio.*

We are so excited to be bringing you Season 8 of Houndcast! For our first episode back, Dylan Star and Owen Levan-Uhler ’26 sat down with Pat Schoenen ’70. Pat is this year's recipient of the Medallion of Merit for this year's Shining Lights Awards. This season we wanted to focus on the idea of success, and what that means to each of the wonderful guests we bring onto the show. For Pat, success is finding something you're passionate about, and finding satisfaction in being a vital part of your community. "Come as a tourist, leave as an ambassador."

This year's Shining Lights awards are on Friday, April 19th at 6 PM in the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences (or the Sally for short). More information about the event can be found here. The registration page for the event will be live in the near-future, so keep on the lookout!

In the second part of this 2-part Houndcast special, Dylan Star and Owen Levan-Uhler ’26 continued their conversation with Abby Hudock ’19. They talked about the excitement and legal process of building your own store, her engagement with local businesses, and her constant search for the latest and most creative trends to build and boost her community.

Check out The Aging Moon on Instagram!

For this 2-part Houndcast special, Dylan Star and Owen Levan-Uhler ’26 sat down with Abby Hudock ’19. On this episode, they discussed Abby's local cheese shop, The Aging Moon. They also talked about Abby's journey to find the right major, her job at Wegmans, cheese SATs, cheese politics, and cheese caves.

Check out The Agine Moon on Instagram!

On this episode, Dylan Star sat down with Erica Venuti Sortino’14 and Samuel Sortino ’14. They talked about Sam’s job as a network auditor for St. Luke’s University Health Network, and how Erica’s job as a secondary math teacher has seen changes over the past decade. Erica and Sam met at Moravian and have since gotten married, so they played a special round of ‘Fast Fire Questions’ revolving around the life of the “Covid newly-weds.” 

On this episode of Houndcast, Dylan Star sat down with Grace Gilbert ’21. They talked about Grace's experience being a Fullbright scholar and working in Mexico and her current job working in business immigration law. They also talked about engaging in creative outlets like pottery, and keeping a positive mindset as students navigate college and choose careers. As always, we hope you enjoy this episode, and thank you for listening!

Kurt Poling ’89, P’17, P’20, and Leadership Gift Officer Julie Kulp Ditchcreek, joined Dylan Star and Owen Levan-Uhler ’26 in the Zinzencko media center to talk about the Lighting the Way Campaign. Kurt gave insight as to how Moravian students, athletes, and alumni will be able to take advantage of the new HUB once it's complete. He reminisced on his own experiences at Moravian as an athlete, a volunteer, and a parent to multiple Hounds.

Look below for links to topics discussed in the episode! https://www.moravian.edu/campaign

https://moraviansports.com/landing/index

https://www.moravian.edu/alumni/events

https://www.moravian.edu/giving/opportunities/athletics