Learning Diferences marks 30 years
Mercyhurst considers new campus in Ireland A decision is expected by October on whether Mercyhurst will expand its academic center in Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland, into a full-fedged international campus. During a joint news conference (via Skype) on Nov. 14, 2016, President Michael T. Victor, Waterford City and County Chief Executive Michael Walsh and Mercyhurst College Ireland Chair Heidi K. Hosey signed a Memorandum of Understanding that launched a yearlong shared analysis of the project. Mercyhurst’s longstanding relationship with Dungarvan, one of Erie’s Sister Cities, dates to the 1980s, when Mercyhurst began recruiting at St. Augustine College (high school). In 2010, the Mercyhurst Intelligence Studies Department began hosting its biennial Global Intelligence Forum in Dungarvan. Since 2012, small groups of Mercyhurst students and faculty have spent terms in Dungarvan at an academic center known as Mercyhurst College Ireland “This step represents a natural progression of what has been a highly productive and enriching relationship between our university and the people of Dungarvan,” said Victor. “With today’s increasingly global economy and the value of international study, we owe it to all concerned to do our due diligence in evaluating this unique opportunity.” The invitation to expand Mercyhurst’s academic operations in Dungarvan was extended by Dungarvan ofcials with support from Mercyhurst alumnus John Deasy, a member of the Irish Parliament. Besides increasing opportunities for Mercyhurst students to have international experiences, the project would reinforce the university’s Irish Catholic heritage by locating a branch in the country where its founders, the Sisters of Mercy, originated.
II Learning Diferences Program, while more than 330 have received testing accommodations and other Level I services. These students have earned baccalaureate degrees from every major on campus and have distinguished themselves as student ambassadors, student government ofcers, academic and athletic All- Americans, Dean’s List honorees and more. Many have gone on to complete master’s and doctoral programs. AIM (the Autism Initiative at Mercyhurst) grew out of the Learning Diferences Program and is now a separate entity. The program has earned frequent national recognition, too, including a No. 9 ranking on a recent list of “20 incredible small colleges for special needs students.”
Three former directors of Mercyhurst’s Learning Diferences Program were honored during Homecoming 2016, as the pioneering program celebrated its 30 th anniversary. About 100 people, including 50 current and former students, attended the reception. The event also honored the late Sister Maura Smith, RSM, who frst encouraged Mercyhurst to develop a program for students with learning disabilities in 1986, and the late Dr. Barbara Weigert, the education professor who served as its frst director. The new Sister Maura Smith Scholarship will be awarded to an academically qualifed and fnancially deserving student in the Learning Diferences Program; the frst donation to the scholarship fund was made in memory of Dr. Weigert. More than 750 students have been part of the Level
Pictured at the celebration are Elaine Ruggiero, current director of the Learning Diferences Program; Dianne Rogers, who led the program from 1998 until her retirement in 2014; and Tina King, who was responsible for day-to-day operation of the program in its early years.
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