Our people, our history

It was a privilege earlier this fall to stand in the shadow of the fountain outside Kilcawley Center and present small tokens of appreciation to a big group of YSU employees marking significant years of service to the university, including five with 30 years.

It got me to thinking about two things we talk a lot about on campus: our history and our people.

Over the course of 111 years, from our founding at the YMCA in downtown Youngstown through the establishment of Youngstown State University in the late 1960s, we have been defined by our people – trustees leading us through thick and thin, faculty guiding our pursuit of academic excellence, staff dedicating themselves to the success of our students, students and alumni representing our region throughout the world, and supporters whose commitment of time and treasure has allowed us to thrive for more than a century.

In this issue of Y Magazine, we highlight two stories with a particular focus on the university’s history and people – the 50th anniversary of the founding of WYSU, and YSU’s first endowed visiting faculty position whose beginnings trace back to World War II Italy.

There’s no question that WYSU’s half-century of success in an increasingly-demanding radio industry is a direct result of its people – the trusted on-air voices, the determined leadership, the faithful staff, the devoted volunteers and the enthusiastic listeners and donors. Congratulations to all for bringing us relevant news programming and enlightening classical music for five decades.

And then there’s the story of the people behind YSU’s new Ives Visiting Scholar. It’s the story of a World War II Italian romance that finds its way to Youngstown and YSU, now resulting in the appointment of a new visiting professor, Alyssa Falcone, whose own family tree also leads back to Italy. It’s a story of war, love, persistence. It’s also a story about our continued commitment here at YSU to bring top-notch scholars to campus to better our students and our community.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Y Magazine and the stories of our history and our people. We are grateful, proud and honored that you are part of that story as well.

Go Penguins,

James P. Tressel, President