The parking lot outside Stewart Hall was a real “who’s who” of Shippensburg University Friday afternoon.
Shippensburg University President Charles Patterson and former presidents Jody Harpster and Tony Ceddia posed for photos. Chief of Staff Drew Alosi mingled with outgoing student trustee Rangeline DeJesus. Director of Communications Megan Silverstrim orchestrated photos, and Harpster even hopped behind the camera.
SU Foundation CEO Leslie Clinton, First Lady Colleen Patterson and Council of Trustees Chairman Doug Harbach mingled among the crowd of nearly 100 attendees.
Moments like this for the SU community are rare. Friday, it gathered to celebrate the dedication of the new Shippensburg University archway, which honors longtime Council of Trustees member, former Pennsylvania state representative and distinguished alumnus Jeffrey W. Coy.
Coy “will be remembered as someone who was instrumental in the development of his beloved alma mater,” a program for the dedication said.
Patterson opened the ceremony by noting that he “was not fortunate enough to meet” Coy but has seen his legacy in the dozens of individuals who were directly and indirectly influenced by him.
“Jeff Coy’s influence in our community and at the university is visible everywhere we look,” Patterson said.
Jo Anne Coy, Jeff’s wife, shared a touching memory of the two meeting in concert choir in Memorial Auditorium — the building one faces as one walks through the archway. Jo Anne spoke on Jeff’s decades of passion toward Shippensburg University and higher education.
“Jeff was born and raised in Shippensburg, his entire education was in Shippensburg, he never left Shippensburg,” Jo Anne said. “His primary interest, his primary focus was education.”
Douglas Harbach, chair of the SU Council of Trustees, described Coy as an often unseen force behind many core elements of the SU campus.
“Some things visible, some things invisible — Jeff Coy had his hand in them,” Harbach said. “He bled red and blue.”
SU President Emeritus Anthony Ceddia praised Coy’s “unwavering personal commitment to what this institution means to all of us and to students yet to come.”
“He never, ever lost sight of those who would be coming down the road,” Ceddia said.
Moving forward, incoming SU students will walk through the archway to mark the “transformative journey that lies ahead,” and they will return to celebrate their achievements come graduation, per the event’s program.
“So many people who didn’t know Jeff Coy will walk through this, they’ll read the little plaque, and now they’ll know that he was here and he made a difference in the history of this school,” Harbach said.
At the end of the ceremony, Jo Anne led a ribbon-cutting ceremony. She, along with Patterson, Harpster, Ceddia and Harbach became the first to walk through the now-dedicated Shippensburg University Archway.
Thousands more will follow in their footsteps.
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