Springfield College Alumni Making the World a Better Place

Springfield College Alumni Making the World a Better Place

Congratulations are also in order for Stuart Sokoloff '17 who married Amber Daniels on April 26, 2025.

Congratulations are also in order for Stuart Sokoloff '17 who married Amber Daniels on April 26, 2025.

 

In this section, you will find alumni updates from May 1, 2025 through May 31, 2025. Thanks for sharing your news! Please direct any future submissions to alumni@springfield.edu.

By: Maria D'Agostino Crawford '91 and Damon Markiewicz 

Congratulations to EJ Occhiboi '11 who was married on August 2, 2024 in New Rochelle, N.Y., surrounded by Springfield College alumni Kevin Behlmer '11, Tom Brannano '11, Mike Cometa '11, Jesse Craddock '10, , Mari Weinandy Ferry '10, Matthew Ferry '11, Josh Greenman '07, Nick Hogan '11, Jack Koziatek '11, Stephen Lansing '13 G'14, Adam Perri '11 and Collin Plante '11.  EJ's wife, Sam, although not an alum, is an honorary triangle. 

If you have wedding photos you would like us to include in an upcoming issue of Triangle Monthly and the AlumniPride Facebook page or you would like to request a wedding banner, please email alumni@springfieldcollege.edu.  

Westfield (Mass.) High School recently celebrated College Reveal Day 2025.  

Pictured with Westfield High School Counselor Merylina (Ina) Santiago Asselin '92, G'00, are incoming Springfield College students Gianna Bellizia '29, Jordan Hanechak '29 and Liliana Rossi '29.

Asselin continues to be a proud alumna who assists with sending along prospective students to Springfield College as part of the annual Youth in Motion program during both the fall and spring semesters. 

"I am pleased and excited to share with Springfield College alumni, current and future students that I’ve just released my new book entitled Essential Ingredients For Lasting Relationships Through C.P.R. (Covenant Producing Relationships) writes Larry Garfield Ginn '06. While attending Springfield College I gained a great deal of understanding of behaviors in social environments. This experience pushed me into clinical psychology, where I received a clinical psychology degree from Azusa Pacific University, in California. That educational experience along with Pastoral counseling motivated me to develop a modality which is C.P.R., my book.

C.P.R. is truly all about a covenant type relationship with family, friends, colleagues or community. My educational journey at Springfield was what I looked for to better serve not just the faith-based community but all communities. C.P.R. is a combination of thirty years of counseling, coaching, mentoring, teaching and pastoring individuals, couples and groups in the areas of marriage, parenting and grief, crisis & trauma.

Since 2005 I have operated ACI (Alpha Covenant Inc.), a bookstore and outreach counseling/coaching center in Long Beach, California. In 2020 we relocated ACI to Arizona where our focus is coaching and outreach. The move allowed me to focus on the completion of C.P.R. With much encouragement from colleagues, clients and friends I finished C.P.R. Thanksgiving Day 2024 and released it on Amazon February 5, 2025.

Since my book release I’ve received a number of invitations to share how C.P.R. can be utilized. On April 21, 2025, I was invited to share C.P.R. at Cal State University Long Beach to first year social work grad students (SW 592: Community Practice). C.P.R. was well received from students. I believe our society is truly suffering because of unhealthy relationships and C.P.R. can be an antidote to this issue.

C.P.R. is, “Life Changing Techniques To Grow A Relationship” and “Life Saving Techniques To Save A Relationship."

Congratulations to Moriah Billups '15 of Concord (NH) Hospital Health Systems - Concord Hospital Trust who has been named 2025 Concord Young Professional of the Year!

Billups chose Springfield College because it gave her numerous opportunities to explore her sundry interests. She was also drawn to the mission and the type of character it develops.

“Leadership is something that can be taught but it’s also deeply rooted in your morals; the way you think about things and view the world. And I think Springfield really instills that in their students. No matter what group you’re a part of, every student at every facet of the College can become a leader," said Billups. 

Stopping by the Alumni House this month for a visit was Vanessa Copp Wallace '85. Vanessa, who resides in Delaware, was in the area visiting family and returned to Alden Street after not being on campus for quite a number of years.   

Vanessa enjoyed looking at the Class of 1985 yearbook and seeing numerous campus updates.   If you are in the area, please do not hesitate to stop by the Alumni House, located at 258 Middlesex Street, to say hello!

Abigail Osborne Connell '17, G'19, recently started a new position as a Physician Assistant at Pinnacle Medical Group in Reno, Nevada.

Ken McCarthy '89 will be inducted into The National Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association (NILCA) Hall of Fame on October 18, 2025.

Andy Strout ‘79 has been inducted into the Maine Tennis Hall of Fame. Strout's teams, boys and girls, combined for 26 state champinships during his 45-year career as the Cape Elizabeth High School head coach in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

May 16 was a very special day on campus as we welcomed three generations of Springfield College Alumni. Congratulations to Emma Raccaro '23, DPT '25, Emma's mom Nancy Vitalone Raccaro '80 and Gabe Vitalone, G'48, Nancy's dad and Emma's grandfather. 

During the visit, Gabe shared many stories of his time on Alden Street, including swimming in McCurdy Natatorium (now the Springfield College Museum), the challenging courses taught by Dr. Peter Karpovich, G'29, and living in Alumni Hall. Gabe "left his mark" on a very special wall in Judd.

Earlier this month students from COMM 319 Advanced Television Production toured ESPN's campus in Bristol, Connecticut and met with Springfield College alumnus and ESPN associate producer David Seronick '12.
 
Along with Professor Jeremy Menard, the students toured the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" television and radio studios, sets and control rooms. Plus, they sat in on the taping of an episode of "Game On: Journey to the NCAA Championship," a series highlighting the stories of college athletes and teams leading up to the NCAA tournament. At left, David Seronick '12 with Sam MacGilpin '27, Shane Baran '27 and Dante Iafrate '27.
Congratulations to Jon Katz '19, who was recently featured in the Boston Business Journal. Katz founded BLENDi while he was a marketing student at SC. 
 
"Seven years ago, I was a broke college student at Springfield just trying to make my post-gym protein shakes smoother. I didn’t have investors. I didn’t have connections. I had $649 and a problem I couldn’t ignore. So I did something about it. I built a prototype blender from parts at Walmart. 
 
I launched a failed crowdfunding campaign. I used a cash advance on a credit card to make my first 300 units in my dorm and sold them within six months of getting them. Packing them by hand in my college dorm," explained Katz.
 
Today, over 600,000 people use BLENDi to blend wherever life takes them.

During Senior Week, the Office of Alumni Relations welcomed the Class of 2025 to the Alumni Association with a complimentary mug. 

Congratulations to all of our graduates! Please be sure to keep in touch with Alumni Relations. If you did not receive your mug, please feel free to stop by the Alumni House to pick one up or email alumni@springfieldcollege.edu.

 

Complex Rehab Technology veteran Brad Peterson '91 has been promoted to vice president of global clinical sales and education for Amylior.

In an April 3 post to social media, Amylior, headquartered in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, said Peterson will also be the vice president of U.S. national accounts. Prior to the promotion, Peterson had been Amylior’s vice president of sales for the United States. Read Full Story...

Brad's father, Kenneth Peterson '63, G'64, is a proud double alumnus. In addition to his son Brad, Kenneth's daughter, Gretchen '97, G'98, is also a proud double alumna as a Physical Therapy major.

Six members of the Class of 1972 gathered for their annual "Fishing Not Necessarily Catching Gathering" at Rideouts Lodge on East Grand Lake in Weston, Maine.
 
At left, are David Wood, David Peterson, Ron Levin, Tony Petrillo, Jack Kuszaj and Tom Ciancetta, all members of the class of 1972. 
Denise Desautels '77 and Deb Hill Caban '77 recently won the Gold Medal in the women's doubles 3.5 (70-74)  division of the United States Open Pickleball Championship in Naples, Fla.
 
This was a special day for Denise and Deb. The long-time friends were college roommates at Springfield College.
 

Richard Dunn '88 recently caught up with fellow Springfield College alumnus and wrestling teammate, Greg Muscarella '89, in Provo, Utah. The long-time friends were supporting a mutual friend, the head baseball coach of Kansas State Pete Hughes.