Rooted in Mansfield: A legacy of purpose, connection, and impact

MANSFIELD — Reflections on resilience, tributes to mentors, and stories of service that stretch from small-town Pennsylvania to global communities in crisis provided the theme to this year’s Society of Honors ceremony that highlighted Alumni Weekend at Commonwealth University-Mansfield.

Whether responding to trauma, transforming education, or advocating for justice, this class of honorees embodies a shared truth that Mansfield’s influence doesn’t end at graduation. It deepens over time.

“While we may leave campus, Mansfield never truly leaves us,” said Bridget Irwin ’07, summing up the sentiment that would echo throughout the afternoon.

A Foundation for Meaningful Work

The ceremony opened with the presentation of the Alumni Citation Award, one of Mansfield’s highest honors, given to Irwin — whose career sits at the intersection of criminal justice and behavioral health. Her work has placed her alongside families navigating unimaginable loss, from hospital waiting rooms to homicide scenes.

“Mansfield played a significant role in shaping not only my career but my perspectives on service, leadership, and the responsibility we have to our communities,” Irwin said. “It provided a foundation built on perseverance, critical thinking, resilience, and the belief that meaningful work can create meaningful change.”

That foundation, she said, has supported a career defined by purpose. Irwin spoke openly about the dual lens she developed through her studies. One grounded in investigation, the other in compassion.

“Criminal justice taught me how to investigate what happened,” Irwin said. “Mental health taught me how to help people survive what happened next.”

Irwin also shared a moment of vulnerability, reflecting on a recent professional setback when changes in credentialing requirements led to the loss of a role she valued deeply. Yet even in that moment, she credited Mansfield with shaping her response.

“Mansfield taught me how to pivot, how to adapt, and how to move forward with purpose, rather than standing still in disappointment,” Irwin said. “Success is not measured solely by titles or achievements. It’s measured by impact, integrity, resilience, and the difference you make in the lives of others.”

Service as a Lifelong Mission

As Irwin’s story illustrats service through profession, Rocco Zegalia’s reflects service through sustained engagement. The 1994 graduate received the Elsie Berg Service Award, recognizing alumni whose long-term dedication strengthens the university and its community.

For Zegalia ’94, that commitment is deeply personal. His ties to Mansfield began long before he enrolled, when his parents worked on campus and he grew up in the town itself.

“To say my ties and my roots to Mansfield run very deeply is an understatement,” said Zegalia, who after serving in the military faced a pivotal decision about his future. Choosing Mansfield, he said, was transformative. “It was the best decision, hands down, I ever made in my life.”

In the years that followed, he sought to recreate the sense of purpose he had known in the military. What he described as the clarity of mission.

“When I got out of the military, that mission was missing,” Zegalia said. “So, I feel like I’ve pretty much spent my adult life striving for missions and seeing them come to fruition.”

One of those missions became the Steve Zegalia Memorial Golf Outing, established in honor of his father. What began modestly has grown into a hallmark alumni event, supporting scholarships and celebrating Mansfield traditions.

“It’s become such a great thing for people to come back to,” Zegalia said.

Through it all, his motivation remains rooted in connection to family, to alumni, and to the institution that shaped him. Reflecting on the honor, he compared it to other recognitions he’s received, ultimately placing Mansfield’s above all.

“This honor,” Zegalia said. “… tops that by a million miles.”

Teaching as a Lifelong Pursuit

For Mark Serva ’87, the Distinguished Educator Award carries a special resonance.

“To be named Mansfield’s Distinguished Educator at the very institution I became an educator in the first place is an honor I’m not sure I have words for,” Serva said.

Yet his journey was far from predetermined. Serva transferred to Mansfield unsure of his path after struggling elsewhere. What he found was a community that saw potential before he did.

“What I didn’t understand when I arrived was this place would see more in me than I could see in myself,” said Serva, crediting mentors who challenged him intellectually and held him to high standards. “When somebody refuses to expect less of you, what they’re really telling you is that they believe you’re capable of doing more.”

Those lessons now define his own teaching philosophy. As a University of Delaware professor, he strives not just to convey information, but to cultivate thinking — a commitment echoed in remarks from his wife, Lorraine.

“He’s never been interested in just delivering information,” she said. “He’s always wanted people to truly understand the material.”

Serva also addressed challenges facing modern education, including the rise of artificial intelligence and shifting student engagement.

“Our biggest problem is the growing sense that our students lack a desire to learn,” Serva said. “Do you know what motivates students to learn? Teachers. Good teachers.”

Serva said this award is not a culmination but a continuation.

“The only way I can repay this institution,” Serva said. “… is to go looking for that same potential in the next generation.”

Global Impact, Local Roots

While some honorees’ work spans classrooms and communities, Ginny Richards, ’75, has taken Mansfield’s impact across continents. Recipient of the Innovation and Inclusion Award, she’s spent more than a decade volunteering with Days for Girls, a nonprofit addressing “period poverty” around the world.

“These kits provide the freedom and dignity to live each day as students, workers, parents, caretakers,” Richards said. “When properly cared for, this kit lasts for five years, giving girls 1,400 school hours they would otherwise miss.”

Through education and hands-on work, Richards has helped produce and distribute sustainable menstrual hygiene kits — items that can dramatically alter the trajectory of a girl’s education and independence. Her work has taken her to places like Kibera, a large informal settlement in Nairobi, where the absence of such resources creates profound barriers.

Richards credits Mansfield with equipping her not only with technical skills, but with the adaptability to seize opportunities. Even unexpected ones. She famously switched her major to home economics during freshman orientation, a decision that would shape her life’s work.

“More than 50 years later, I’m still sitting at the same sewing machine, watching the needle and thread work miracles for women halfway across the world,” Richards said.

Leadership on a Global Stage

Few careers reflect Mansfield’s reach more dramatically than that of Ali Soufan, ’94, recipient of the Health and Safety and Wellness Award.

An internationally recognized counterterrorism expert, Soufan has advised governments, testified before Congress, appeared in many documentary films for HBO, Hulu, and Netflix, and played a key role in major global investigations. Yet in his remarks, he focused not on his achievements, but on his beginnings.

“For me, it affected me way more than just a university,” Soufan said. “It affected me as a person, my views of the world.”

Like others, he emphasized Mansfield’s role in shaping perspective and purpose — foundations that have guided his work on the global stage.

The Next Generation

The ceremony also looked forward, honoring Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipient Owen Newkam-Ulrich ’21. Early in his career, Newkam-Ulrich has already demonstrated leadership in marketing and community engagement, attributes he credits directly to his Mansfield experience.

“This place has built me,” said Newkam-Ulrich, who further reflected on entering college without strong academic confidence, only to discover opportunity and growth through involvement and mentorship. “Mansfield didn’t just prepare me for a career. It changed the way I thought about my future.”

Like so many Mansfield alumni, he spoke of the unique connections forged on campus.

“It’s a bond that follows you long after graduation,” Newkam-Ulrich said. “Places like Mansfield matter. They create opportunity, build community, and give people the confidence to pursue things they never imagined possible.”

He added, “Whenever someone asks me the life that I'm living, the skills that I learned, I always say, from Mansfield. I'm proud to tell them that I studied in this little town of just two square miles, a place that exceeded every expectation I had and changed in my life in ways I never could have imagined.”

A Lasting Legacy

From Irwin’s quiet work with trauma survivors to Zegalia’s steadfast alumni leadership, from Serva’s dedication to teaching to Richards’ global humanitarian efforts, from Soufan’s international influence to Ulrich’s emerging promise, each story reflects the same core truth.

They share more than notable accomplishments and professional success, but a collective narrative about the enduring impact of a Mansfield education. It was Irwin’s reflection — rooted in memory, family, and place — that captured the spirit of the afternoon. Recalling a tree she dedicated on campus in honor of her grandmother, Irwin described returning years later while standing in the same spot after a lifetime of experiences.

“The moment reminded me that while time moves forward,” Irwin said. “Some roots remain exactly where they were planted."

Society of Honors '26