Decorated Coach to Lead Women’s Lacrosse
Avery Murphy has been named the new head coach of Women’s Lacrosse. Stepping into the role, she will be building off last year’s spectacular CSAC Championship run and a historic 12-5 record.
Murphy comes to Chambersburg with an impressive resume as both a player and a coach. She joins Wilson after being the head coach at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where she led the Pirates to their best winning percentage in program history. Previously, she was the assistant coach at both King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and Alvernia University in Reading, Pa.
Murphy graduated from Cabrini University in 2019 after a stellar lacrosse career. In three seasons, she led the Cavaliers to three consecutive conference championships—two of which were in the CSAC and resulted in postseason bids to the NCAA tournament—and won three Player of the Year awards.
Tracy Leskey ’90 Honored by National Entomological Society
Tracy C. Leskey, Ph.D. ’90, was honored in November with the Founders’ Memorial Award by the Entomological Society of America (ESA). The Founders’ Memorial Award was established in 1958 to honor the memory of scientists who have made outstanding contributions to entomology.
In addition to the award, Leskey delivered the esteemed Founders’ Memorial Award Lecture at ESA’s annual meeting held at the National Harbor in Maryland. In her remarks, she discussed the renowned work of Ronald J. Prokopy, Ph.D. with fruit flies, specifically the apple maggot fly (Phagoletis pomonella), and his extensive research into integrated pest management methods in apple orchards.
Leskey currently works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service as a research leader and director of the Appalachian Fruit Research Station.
Giving Tuesday Reaches New Heights
November 28, 2023 was a remarkable day for Wilson College and her students. Through the generosity of more than 140 Wilson community members, alumnae, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, friends, and Trustees, we raised $144,225 in just 24 hours. Simply amazing!
Your contributions set a new historical milestone for Giving Tuesday at Wilson, surpassing our challenge match, and marking a 13% increase in funds raised from last year’s total. This year’s Giving Tuesday dollars benefit the We Rise campaign.
Special thanks to current and former Trustees Robin J. Bernstein, Margaret Hamilton Duprey, Cynthia Dimmick Grove ’63, Lisbeth Sheppard Luka ’69, and Paula Spezza Tishok ’71. Together, their kindness provided a $60,000 matching gift for this year’s Giving Tuesday initiative.
The Power of Women
In September, a team of Wilson leaders donned work gloves and volunteered at the Women Build project for Habitat for Humanity of Franklin County. The day was spent hanging drywall (a new skill for most), helping to construct a single, detached three-bedroom home on Warm Spring Road in Chambersburg. Once complete, the home will be purchased by a single mother of two, through an affordable mortgage.
Women Build events support Habitat’s overall mission of bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope. Learn more about Women Build projects and Habitat for Humanity at www.habitatatfranklinpa.org.
Student Exhibit Explores Mental Health
Simone Hawkins, a senior Art and Design major, from La Plata, Md., recently presented an exhibition of her senior capstone project at Wilson’s Bogigian Gallery in Lortz Hall.
This exhibition reflects a body of work Hawkins created to explore mental health and the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of its effects on how we think, feel, act, manage stress, relate to others, and make choices. She explores a variety of materials and techniques to express emotional depth through drawn, painted, and photographic form.
In her senior capstone artist statement, she writes, “These works explore mental health through a lens of personal narrative, and hopefully create an opportunity for dialog for those struggling with sound mental health.”
