Alumni To Honor Former
Faculty Members At
October Reunion
Honorees include Coach Michael Flick, Pete Mathews and John Wroblewski
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS, Pa. – The Alliance College Alumni Association will honor three former faculty members at their biennial weekend reunion on October 5-7, 2018 at the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel in Erie, Pa. The Saturday evening dinner program will include special recognition of former Soccer Coach Michael Flick and Professors Pete Mathews and John Wroblewski. This is in addition to the 50th Anniversary of 1968 Graduates and the 40th Anniversary of 1978 Graduates.
“The alumni association has a tradition of honoring and thanking living faculty and staff during our reunion weekends,” noted ACAA President Michael Anderson. “This year’s honorees all played an integral role in the Alliance College community during the 1970s and 1980s.”
The honoring of Coach Michael Flick will highlight a tribute during the celebration to all of the Alliance soccer teams at the former Cambridge Springs college. A resident of Leeper, PA, Coach Flick was a standout soccer player at Slippery Rock State University before being hired in 1968 to build the Alliance College soccer program. Tapping the resources of a student body that included Polish Americans with intense soccer backgrounds, Coach Flick was able to recruit standout players from as far away as Africa. In this way he developed the program into a small college soccer powerhouse; consistently in the NAIA national ratings. In 1972, his Eagles won the NAIA Pennsylvania District 18 Championship.
Alliance’s early roots were in the technical field including a noteworthy Tool and Die Program. The October Reunion will include memorabilia from the school’s technical program, including woodwork made by students in the early 1920s.
Honoree Pete Mathews was both an alumnus of the Alliance technical school and later a faculty member at Alliance College. A lifelong resident of Crawford County, Professor Mathews trained under the late E.J. Kruszka. During the 1970s the college tapped Professor Mathews to return to his alma mater where he served as a professor and director of the program. He committed himself and the program to providing the best possible technical training in the tool and die field. Professor Mathews expertise in the classroom was complemented by the respect he enjoyed with the northwestern Pennsylvania tool and die community. Students during his tenure fondly remember his genuine concern for preparing them for future technical careers.
Professor John Wroblewski first came to Alliance as an adjunct faculty member, bringing his business experience and energy to the classroom. Eventually was appointed to head the business department, Wroblewski is known for starting the Society for the Advancement of Management (SAM Club). Serving as it advisor, the Erie resident would arrange student trips to multiple businesses in the region in order to connect the classroom to real life.
Often held at the Riverside Inn in Cambridge Springs, the Alliance College Alumni Association reunion is being relocated this year due to the 2017 tragic fire that destroyed the historic property. The Riverside at one time served as a dorm for Alliance students during the college’s peak enrollment in the 1960s. The Reunion Weekend features multiple events celebrating Alliance College. More information and reservations can be made through the Alliance College alumni website: www.alliancecollege.com
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About Alliance College Alumni Association: Opened in 1912 by the Polish National Alliance, Alliance College nurtured students on the bucolic hilltop campus in Cambridge Springs, PA for more than 75 years. As a crown jewel of higher learning, its mission was to offer Polish immigrant and Polish-Americans children advanced educations during a time of widespread discrimination while encouraging the study of Polish language and Polish culture in America. In 1988, the school ceased operations and the property was sold to the state prison system. In 2001, the alumni, faculty, and staff of Alliance Academy, Alliance Technical Institute, and Alliance College came together to create the Alumni Association as a means of hosting reunions, renewing acquaintances and sharing memories. In 2009, the 501(c)(3) Alliance College Alumni Association Foundation was created to continue the college’s essential mission of promoting and encouraging post-secondary education by awarding an annual scholarship. The goal of the organization is to create a fund that would allow the scholarship to continue in perpetuity. For more information on the organization go to www.alliancecollege.com
Contributions to the ACAAF are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Alliance College Alumni Association Foundation
c/o 6785 Legacy Lane, Wadsworth, OH 44281 330-858-3712 rjd44282@hotmail.com
