University News

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Thank You, COACH ZWAAN

Bill Zwaan

Coach Bill Zwaan, the NCAA Division II all-time winningest active head football coach for the Golden Rams, retired at the end of the 2023 season following 21 years and 20 seasons of football. He is keenly aware that not many professions afford a person the opportunity to influence 4,000 lives while coaching a game they love.

“I cannot say enough about the incredible student-athletes who have played for me,” said Zwaan. “I think they all know that I care for them very much, and that I will always remember what they did for me.” Overall, Zwaan is 216-90, including his six seasons at Division III Widener University. He still owns the highest winning percentage in school history at Widener and led that institution to the Division III national semifinals.

In the fall of 2021, Zwaan surpassed two coaching milestones for victories when he earned his 200th career win at home against Edinboro and then became WCU’s all-time winningest head coach when he topped College Football Hall of Famer, W. Glenn Killinger, with his 148th win at the school against Bloomsburg on Homecoming Weekend.

Bill Zwaan's impact on our University community has been nothing less than outstanding — on the field as well as off.

“Bill Zwaan's impact on our University community has been nothing less than outstanding — on the field as well as off,” said President Chris Fiorentino, acknowledging Zwaan’s support of students “as teacher, mentor and friend. Throughout his career at this University, Bill has helped numerous students find jobs, counseling, shelter, food, and assistance with medical insurance. He has gone above and beyond for all of our Golden Rams. Thanks to Bill Zwaan, countless West Chester University students have crossed the finish line to graduate and they credit him with their success. Our entire community of educators is grateful to Bill and the years that he has spent fueling student success on our campus."

For the past six years, Zwaan and his family have run a Christmas holiday program to help WCU’s homeless students. It started in 2017 with 12 students and has now grown to more than 50 students in 2023. Each holiday season, the Zwaans inspire the University and the local community to give students who are homeless close to $100,000 worth of gifts, gift cards, and holiday dinners. His family has also established a fund to help those students throughout the year: the Promise Program.

In addition, he has donated his time to the Autism Awareness Programs in the Philadelphia area; helped spearhead the “Be The Match” bone marrow program headlined by former Villanova head coach Andy Talley; gotten involved with the Thanksgiving Dinner Project through WCU’s Neuman Center; partnered with the Intellectually Disabled Students Internship Program supported through WCU’s Ram Initiative Program; and worked with the Travis Manion Foundation Heroes Run.

Zwaan has one of the most impressive coaching resumes in all of Division II:

A record of 162 wins, 76 losses
Six Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division titles
2018 PSAC Championship
Coach of the Year five times
Guided the Golden Rams to the NCAA II playoffs 10 times — a school record.
Steered the team to the national semifinals twice

162
162 WINS | 76 LOSSES

6
PA STATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE EASTERN DIVISION TITLES

10
NCAA II PLAYOFFS

NCAA Woman of the Year Finalists
Bring Inspiration to Younger Athletes

For the third time in the last four years, WCU has had a student-athlete among the Top 30 candidates for the NCAA Woman of the Year honor — an honor no other school at any level has achieved since the NCAA adopted its Top 30 award system in 2006. Swimmer Ann Carozza ’23 was selected from a record 619 nominees submitted by member schools. She is a two-time NCAA Division II national champion, earning victories in the 200-yard butterfly in 2022 and 2023.

In February, Carozza was one of four of the Golden Rams’ most decorated former female student-athletes to speak to up-and-coming female athletes about their experiences in athletics and how a life of sports competitions helped mold them into the women they are today. She joined fellow NCAA Top 30 Woman of the Year finalists Kaitlin Hatch ’19 (field hockey), Juah Toe ’20 (women’s rugby), and Jessica Meakim ’21 (gymnastics) to deliver messages of perseverance and stories on building character and confidence. Along with mini-clinics in several sports put on by current WCU female student-athletes, their appearance was part of National Women in Sports Day, sponsored by the Women’s Sports Foundation.

“WCU athletics is what landed me where I am today,” Meakim says. “I am very grateful for the networking opportunities and have fully embraced the Division II experience.”

Meakim works for the non-profit Unite for Her. Hatch is an associate director for search engine optimization and a consultant for Fortune 500 companies. Toe is a mental performance coach for IMG Academy in Florida. Carozza is a special education teacher in the West Chester Area School District.

(L-R) Ann Carozza, Juah Toe, Kaitlin Hatch, Jessica Meakim

Music’s
“Food for the Soul”
Should Feed Everyone

The newly established local non-profit If Not For Music (INFM) is working with WCU’s Wells School of Music (WSOM) to bring music lessons, instruments, and experiences to aspiring students in need, both on and off WCU’s campus.

“Music can’t be only for those who can afford it,” says founder Jae Winter, whose son, Gannon, fell in love with music when he was handed a French horn in the fourth grade in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District. “Gannon suffered from anxiety and depression. He went through a dark time in middle school. He often says he might not be here today ‘if not for music.’ Thus, the idea for the non-profit was born.”

Working with WSOM Dean Christopher Hanning, who sits on the non-profit’s advisory council, INFM funded trips for WCU marching band students to attend the 2024 Rose Parade in California and plans to fund students to attend WSOM summer music camps.

Roger Mustalish, WCU professor emeritus of health, is the chair of the non-profit’s board of directors. Edward Lordan, communications and media professor, is on the advisory council and placed two WCU interns at INFM this spring.

Plans to expand INFM include underwriting concert and performance costs on campus and at local senior centers and other community venues, as well as deepening relationships with area school districts to identify aspiring students in need who want musical experiences and instruments.

For more information, visit www.ifnotformusic.org.

MORE THAN
$69.5 Million
RAISED

150 Forawrd, The Campaign for West Chester University. 1871-2021

150Forward:
The Campaign for West Chester University Surpasses Fundraising Goal Four Months Ahead of Schedule

West Chester University has raised more than $69.5 million to surpass the $65-million-dollar goal as part of 150Forward: The Campaign for WCU. The goal was exceeded earlier than anticipated!

But we’re not stopping there.

150Forward provides access to a WCU education through scholarship aid like the Fund to Finish, because crossing the stage isn’t always easy. Sometimes the cost of a single course is all that separates a student from their degree.

As a community of educators developing graduates to succeed personally and professionally, helping students reach commencement is key. The Fund to Finish is flexible emergency funding available when the Office of Financial Aid confirms a student has exhausted all other avenues of support: the “last-dollar” amount a student needs to complete their degree.

Between the fund’s inception in December 2018 and September 2023, 144 scholarships were awarded, with a total of $141,586 in aid. Backing the Fund to Finish creates emergency aid that provides support to Golden Rams when it matters most.

Visit
go.wcufoundation.org
to make an impact.