Department Mourns Loss of Alumna
The IUP Journalism Department is mourning the loss of one of its May 2009 graduates, Kristen A. Stormer, 23, of Hollidaysburg.
After graduating cum laude, Kristen moved to Ocean City, Md., and was working as a beach photographer for Scopes Photography. She was living with her close friend and fellow Journalism graduate, Josie Grimes of Bessemer.
Kristen was killed Tuesday crossing the Coastal Highway at 33rd Street on her bicycle. She was hit by a soft drink delivery truck.
“In my thirty years of teaching in the IUP Journalism Department, where I’ve worked with nearly two thousand students, I’ve never known a student who was more filled with life than Kristen Stormer,” said Randy Jesick, professor and department chairman. “She was so uplifting to talk with because she had such a wonderful enthusiasm for her career and her life.
“Every time I ever saw her in our classrooms and in my office, she had the broadest and most sincere smile on her face,” he continued. “She always impressed me as a hard-working student who really was destined for professional success. Plus, she seemed like a truly, genuinely happy young woman. She was always aglow with life.”
Friends, faculty, and staff members are already discussing plans to hold a memorial service when the students return in the Fall. They are also anxious to begin a memorial scholarship within the department.
View Kristen’s obituary.
Dr. Michele Papakie and students from her Entertainment PR class visited New York City last fall. This picture was taken on the set of Good Morning America. John Travolta was a guest that day! Back row: Nicole Blessing, Diane Sawyer, Kristen Stormer, Courtney Larkin, Michele Papakie, Stephanie Falcone, Josie Grimes, Tara Friedl, Robin Roberts, Shannon Mangold, Ernest Easter, Ariel Kifer, Crystle Smith, Lauren Bazala, and Lacey Fulton. Front row: Laura Kale, Carol Rosenthal, Summer Burke, DeAnna Allen, Maggie Fantaski, Katie Morgan, and Ashley Malick.
Visit “Another Angel to Watch Over Us … Kristen Stormer” on Facebook to post your memories.
IUP Journalism’s People Person—That’s Monica Rizzo sandwiched between Jerry Springer and his dance partner, Kym Johnson, on the set of Dancing With the Stars about two years ago. Monica, who graduated from the IUP Journalism Department with the Class of 1987 and now lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif., works out of Los Angeles as a reporter for People magazine. Dancing With the Stars is one of her main beats, along with American Idol, Lost, and all things Disney Channel-related.
IUP Journalism alumni Daniel T. Feldbusch (Class of ’03), left, and Michael Henninger (Class of ’06), right, flank IUP Society of Professional Journalists Secretary Kelly L. Andrews (Class of ’09) following SPJ’s first J-Jobs Boot Camp held April 17, 2009, in the Hadley Union Building Allegheny Room. Feldbusch, a public-relations practitioner at Xenophon Strategies in Washington, D.C., and Henninger, a staff photographer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, discussed their careers and answered audience questions about how they landed their jobs. Photo by David Loomis
August 2009 Newslitter
May 2009 Newslitter
March 2009 Newslitter
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IUP Homecoming
Information about IUP’s Homecoming festivities including the Homecoming Parade, Pre-Game in the Oak Grove, Crimson Huddle, Fifth Quarter Celebration, and Homecoming Ball.
Journalism Department Homecoming Social
Plan to join us Saturday, October 10, between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. as we celebrate Homecoming in the Journalism Department. Please stop by to reminisce and have some light refreshments in the Journalism Department, Davis Hall.
About twenty-five to thirty Journalism alumni, at each of the last two Homecomings, have enjoyed talking with and exchanging personal updates with former classmates and also sharing their IUP experiences and professional histories with fellow department grads and maybe making new contacts.
If you plan to attend, please contact the department secretary, Lee Vest, by Wednesday, October 7, and let her know that you’ll be there and how many will be in your party.
