LEWISBURG, Pa. — These are Bucknell University story ideas that may interest you in October.
CLOSET FULL OF PROFESSIONAL CLOTHING — Bucknell’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an international honors organization for financial information students, is launching its newest service initiative, a Professional Clothing Closet. The project aims to provide Bucknell students in need with workplace and formal clothes for networking events, career fairs and interviews, free of charge. Beta Alpha Psi currently seeks donations from the wider community for monetary donations, professional clothing, jewelry and portfolios. “These contributions will allow the closet to provide students with access to a wide range of sizes and styles, helping ensure all students can feel confident and prepared for professional opportunities,” says Lauren Gillaspy ’26, accounting, vice president of public relations for the organization, which is centered out of Bucknell’s Freeman College of Management. CONTACTS: Gillaspy, lkg012@bucknell.edu; Amber Lawson, assistant professor of practice in accounting and advisor to Beta Alpha Psi, 570-577-1303, all025@bucknell.edu
JAZZ ORIGINS BOOK AN AWARD FINALIST — Professor Benjamin Barson, music, has been named a finalist for the prestigious Museum of African American History Stone Book Award for Brassroots Democracy: Maroon Ecologies and the Jazz Commons, named one of the best books of 2024 by PopMatters. Barson, a musician, composer, and historian, says, “Discovering John Coltrane’s music as a teenager and participating in Northern New Jersey’s grassroots, predominantly African American jazz scene helped me find my own path as a musician, and led me to work alongside veteran Civil Rights activists to create large-scale jazz suites inspired by the struggle for African American liberation. Brassroots Democracy is part of that same effort to honor the deep connections between the music and movements for freedom.” This year’s entry pool yielded submissions from notable publishers, including Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, and university presses such as the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago. CONTACTS: Barson, 570-577-1393, bmb036@bucknell.edu; Aaron Edelstein, Rasky Partners, 617-447-0915, AEdelstein@rasky.com
CREATING COMMUNITY THROUGH COFFEE — The Bucknell Coffee Society is an interdisciplinary club dedicated to building community and connection through coffee. All students are welcome to learn about the science, history and cultural impact of coffee. The club hosts events, lectures, and workshops, collaborates with local Lewisburg coffee shops, like Culture Coffee, and, of course, enjoys coffee together. Society president and co-founder, Maya Fetzer ’26, is a chemical engineering and Spanish major, and through her own research and class experience, she has been able to relate coffee to both fields. The club’s advisor, Professor Kat Wakabayashi, chemical engineering, has conducted extensive research and even teaches classes related to coffee. Professor Wakabayashi leverages various internal and external funding support and finds students, like Fetzer, to be a great resource in his coffee-related research. They were recently included when Mayor Kendy Alvarez ‘06 declared Lewisburg the Coffee Capital of Pennsylvania, and Bucknell is certainly helping cement this distinction. CONTACTS: Wakabayashi, 570-577-3778, kat.wakabayashi@bucknell.edu, Fetzer, maf043@bucknell.edu
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CONTACT: Mike Ferlazzo, 570-577-3212, 570-238-6266 (c), mike.ferlazzo@bucknell.edu