Geoff Vargo ’73 visited more than his fond memories during reunion weekend at University of Dayton – he visited a radio legacy that he and his friends left behind.

Vargo said enrolled at UD in 1969, prompted by the fact that the University owned a 50,000-watt commercial radio station.

The space that is occupied by Flyer Television is what used to be Flyer Radio – specifically WVUD, better known as “The Radio Station” or  “VUD” to former Flyers.

“My sophomore year Chris Cage, WVUD’s program director, hired me as a part time weekend announcer,” he says. It was the start of a long career in radio spanning 43 years to the present.

After Vargo graduated, he said the station’s general manager hired him as a salesperson, as well as a Speech instructor in the Communication Arts Department.

“A few years of sales led to being offered the program director’s position,” he said.

As one of the music directors of  “The Voice of the University of Dayton,” arguably the most listened to radio station in the region in the mid-70s, Vargo had his hands full with breaking new rock songs as an alternative to Top 40.

“I met many people who shared my passion over those years,” he said. “Many who are still associated with the radio and music industry.”

Vargo is not the only WVUD alumni to accomplish professional radio careers. Others include his UD roommate Steve Wendell ’73 and Dan Covey ’77, as well as famous radio personality Dan Patrick Pugh ‘79.

Vargo said  he was not simply involved with WVUD – it was his passion.

“Geoff was a major reason for my decision to come to UD,” Covey said. “He was one of my first mentors. A real inspiration.”

“The experiences I had at the University were invaluable,” he said. “My love for the radio business grew exponentially with each opportunity afforded me.”

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University of Dayton men’s basketball redshirt sophomore Matt Derenbecker will transfer, according to a press releasefrom the university on Monday, June 10.

“I respect Matt’s decision, and wish him the best of luck in the future,” Dayton head coach Archie Miller said in the release.  “We will continue to support Matt and help him with his transfer.”

Derenbecker, 22, transferred to UD on Aug. 13, 2011, from Louisiana State University. After sitting out a season, per NCAA transfer rules, he played in 30 of 31 games for UD in 2012-13.

The 6-foot, 7-inch player averaging 4.5 points per game and 13.6 minutes last season. Derenbecker also shot 42.5 percent in his 3-point attempts, the second highest percentage on the team.

“I greatly appreciated my time in Dayton with coach Miller and the basketball staff,” Derenbecker said in the release.  “They are genuinely interested in what is best for each player in their program.”

According to the release, Derenbecker will enroll at a school closer to home. He is a native of Metairie, La., located just outside of New Orleans.

During his only season at LSU, Derenbecker averaged 6.5 points and started 15 games as a freshman. He was a two-time Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year in high school.

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Xavier University’s athletic department released its non-conference portion of its men’s basketball schedule on Tuesday, June 4, confirming the team will not play the University of Dayton next season.

This will be the first time in 68 years that Dayton and Xavier are not scheduled to face one  another. They have clashed 140 times, meeting every year since 1945-1946. The teams have played each other 160 times overall, the most for either school against an opponent.

Xavier and Dayton joined the Atlantic 10 Conference together in 1995. On March 20, Xavier  announced its intentions to leave after 18 seasons and join the newly formed Big East Conference, which contains members that broke off from the now-named American Athletic Conference.

UD leads the all-time series 85-75, and won the most recent game 70-59 on Feb. 16, at UD Arena.

In an email to Flyer News, Director of Media Relations Doug Hauschild said UD is hoping to release its non-conference schedule before July 1.

Miami University, who UD has played at least once every season since 1935-1936, is also  likely to be off of next season’s schedule, according to a May 13 report from Doug Harris of the Dayton Daily News.

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The University of Dayton has purchased three condominiums located in Irving Commons in order to expand housing for UD students. The three apartments, units 56, 58 and 59, contain a total of 10 beds and will be used for upperclassmen housing.

“Whenever a condo owner wants to sell at the right price, we are always willing to buy,” said Beth Keyes, Vice President for Facilities Management.

UD looks at the units before purchase in order to determine how much work, if any, will need to be completed in order to make the housing option acceptable under UD housing standards, Keyes said.

Some units located in Irving Commons are leased to UD, who then leases the condominiums to students, she said. Keyes said the newly acquired condominiums have been purchased and are owned by UD.

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A Hazardous Materials team comprised of Montgomery and Greene County firefighters engaged in a simulated training exercise involving a chemical spill on the University of Dayton campus May 22. According to Denny Bristow, the Dayton Regional HAZMAT Team Coordinator, the annual exercise is part of a requirement mandated by the State Emergency Response Commission. Bristow said the HAZMAT team also worked with 40 volunteers from the Montgomery County Health Department who acted as citizens either displaced or injured by the simulated incident. Bristow said that he was not aware of any UD students partaking in the exercise. The first priority in the simulation was for the HAZMAT team to identify the severity of the chemical substance before starting to protect people by creating a “hot zone” and denying entry to the contaminated area, Bristow said. Bristow also said the team worked to shelter victims and properly evacuate buildings. “The last time we conducted an exercise like this on campus was August 2001, a month before 9/ 11,” Bristow said. Bristow added that preparation for this year’s exercise began in October 2012 when the HAZMAT team contacted UD. Randy Groesbeck, UD Public Safety director of security and administration, said preparation involved a fair amount of work to ensure that the university had appropriate facilities to support the exercise, a significant amount of open space and the logistic support required for an effective simulation. Groesbeck added UD is prepared to handle chemical spill situations should they occur. “This exercise gives us an opportunity to work with area providers to practice the skills we all learn in our training and coordinate together in a professional fashion,” Groesbeck said. “It gives us an ability to exercise our emergency plan and get our people involved in the actual conduct of this drill. The more you practice the better to get at handling these types of situations.” According to Groesbeck, in a hazardous situation, an individual should contact Public Safety at 937-229-2121 first.

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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – Daytona Beach police are investigating an isolated shooting outside the Dayton to Daytona “First Hotel.” Daytona Beach police told Flyer News that the incident early Saturday, May 11, poses no immediate danger to University of Dayton students.

The incident took place outside the Plaza Ocean Club Hotel on the 600 block of North Atlantic Ave. Daytona Beach police Captain James Newcomb said there were unknown shots fired and no suspects have been apprehended. The captain said no UD students were involved in the incident. Newcomb characterized it as a “freak event.”

May graduate Megan O’Mera, Dayton 2 Daytona executive director, said D2D’s main concern was to reassure the safety of students attending the trip.

“I understand that it is scary to hear that; to be on your balcony and hear something scary like that. Our number one priority is to make sure we can take care of those fears and address them as quickly as possible and do whatever we can,” she said.

Breakaway Tours, the company that operates the annual trip with sponsorship from UD, was advising people to stay off of their balconies as a precautionary measure, according to O’Mera. O’Mera was a Flyer News staff writer.

Students first reported the incident on Twitter at 2:04 a.m. Michael Joseph, also a May graduate, tweeted, “Gunshots outside the hotel…” Senior Justin Corvino noted he saw the gunfire. “Just witnessed a shooting outside of our hotel. Other people heard it, I saw the actual shots,” he tweeted.

About a half hour after the first tweets about hearing gunshots were posted, Dayton 2 Daytona’s official Twitter account tweeted, “For those who heard suspicious noises from 1st hotel: sources report they were unrelated to D2D, police are on scene, and no one was hurt.”

O’Mera reiterated that, as far as she knew, the incident was unrelated to the D2D trip. She summed up the incident as a case of “wrong place at the wrong time.”

Flyer News will continue to follow this story if any additional information becomes available.
For a rundown of tweets about the incident via Storify, click here.

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In an email from the University of Dayton, Matt Kavanaugh has been reinstated to the university and will participate with the men’s basketball team in the 2013-2014 season.

Kavanaugh was suspended from the school for a violation of its Standards of Behavior and Code of Conduct on Oct. 24, 2012.

In the email, UD associate vice president for university communications Teri Rizvi said, “We took this issue seriously, and we reviewed it thoroughly, as we would for any student. Matt has met his obligations to the University during this interim period and, as a result, he will be readmitted as a student and as a member of the basketball team.”

Flyer News previously reported on Oct. 25 that Kavanaugh, a Centerville, Ohio native, would be allowed to re-enroll into the university following the conclusion of his suspension, according to Rizvi.

“Matt has fulfilled the obligations required of him to return to the University as a full-time student, including participation as a member of the basketball program,” UD athletic director Tim Wabler said in a statement. ”We are pleased for Matt and his family that he will complete his senior season and graduate from the University of Dayton.”

Stay with Flyer News for further updates on this story.

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There is good news, said Mary Fuchs, mother of University of Dayton freshman Michael Fuchs who fell from a Marycrest Complex window last Saturday.

Fuchs’ mother explained that although her son does have serious injuries, he is on the long road to recovery.

Michael Fuchs has a fractured left leg and vertebrae in his neck, which have been stabilized through surgery, Mary Fuchs said. Michael Fuchs also has several other small fractures throughout his body that will likely heal on their own, his mother said.

Mary Fuchs said she made the 10-hour drive from Edison, N.J., after getting a call from UD Public Safety Saturday afternoon while she was out running errands with her daughter.

Although they could not provide details, Mary Fuchs said she tried to remain calm when she was informed of her son’s apparent fall.

She added that family members will be taking turns visiting Michael Fuchs, and friends are welcome as well.

Academically, Mary Fuchs said she was not sure what the family will do about their son’s finals, but would likely be working with the university to figure something out down the road.

“He is getting a little bit better every day and we are extraordinarily lucky to be able to say that,” Mary Fuchs said. “One of the physical therapy nurses joked with him that his professors were coming to the hospital to give him oral exams instead. That definitely gave him a jolt!”

Although he was sedated for most of the week, Mary Fuchs said her son’s breathing tube was removed April 26 and he can now speak a little bit, but mostly communicates in whispers or hand gestures.

Michael Fuchs was also able to sit up April 25 and give his parents a hug, Mary Fuchs added.

As far as Mary Fuchs can tell, her son does not remember the incident but is aware that he is in the hospital receiving treatment for injuries, she said. The family will discuss his fall when he has further recovered, she said.

“He did not have spinal cord damage and we don’t think he has a head injury,” she said. “He needs to spend more time in the hospital and will then be moved to impatient treatment for rehab. It will be quite a few months of therapy.”

Mary Fuchs explained that she was not sure if her son had any substance in his system prior to the incident, and said they would not know for a while.

Mary Fuchs tearfully expressed her utmost gratitude to all those who have been supportive throughout her son’s time at UD and during his current struggle.

“We are so grateful,” Mary Fuchs said. “We thank God every minute he has gotten as far as he has. We are thankful for all the prayers from UD and the kindness from Miami Valley Hospital.”

In the wake of UD freshman Larry Cook’s death, Mary Fuchs said she understands why students might draw parallels to her son’s incident.

“I think there are some frightening similarities,” Fuchs said. “It’s heartbreaking for everybody and most of all Larry’s family. Since I’ve heard about his death, I’ve been praying for him and his mom. When I had heard Michael had been hurt in a similar way, all I could think was ‘Oh my god. Not again.’”

Mary Fuchs said she prays every day for Cook’s family and cannot fathom not having a second chance with her child.

“I couldn’t tell what happened to Larry, but the thing that is very hardest for me and makes me the saddest is that we are blessed with a second chance with Michael,” Fuchs said. “I wish his mom could have the same.”

Mary Fuchs said there was no indication of attempted suicide by either the police, dorm residents or his close friends.

Mary Fuchs said she hopes for the future safety of all on campus.

“We’re lucky to be able to say there is good news,” Mary Fuchs said. “We are so blessed. We are grateful to UD. As a mom, I just encourage students to be really careful and take care of themselves. I would love everyone to take care of themselves.”

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University of Dayton Greek Life will extend its on-campus sororities from six to seven in August 2013 by welcoming Kappa Delta.

Jimmy McLeod, the assistant director of Greek Life and Leadership Programs, said the possibility for sorority extension came to the office last year after the department recognized that there was increasingly high popularity in on-campus sororities.

McLeod said each UD sorority contains roughly 155 students.

“Because interest in sororities on campus was getting so large, we found it necessary to extend on campus,” McLeod said.

Last summer, McLeod said he, along with some of his colleagues, began to compile statistics explaining why there was a need for an additional sorority to present to the Panhellenic Council, a committee of individuals representing the six UD sororities.

To bring the sorority to campus, McLeod said the council, which represents Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Phi Sigma Rho, Pi Beta Phi, Theta Phi Alpha and Zeta Tau Alpha, needed to approve the proposal by two-thirds vote.

Last semester, the council voted “yes” to include a seventh chapter, he said.

Once approved, McLeod said he complied a bulletin to send to the National Panhellenic Council, including 26 sororities, stating that UD will be accepting new sororities for campus extension.

He said 11 national sororities applied for extension on UD’s campus, between early January to mid-February. Phi Mu, Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Delta were selected for further consideration by Greek Life.

“We looked at the efforts that each group offered and the values of each sorority that most closely aligned with our student body here when trying to decide on the final three sororities,” McLeod said. “We also took into consideration the local alumnae presence of each sorority.”

McLeod added that local Kappa Delta chapters include those at The Ohio State University, Bowling Green University, Wittenberg College and Wright State University.

McLeod said he, along with the Panhellenic Council, met on March 14 to present the option of having Kappa Delta extend on UD’s campus. The six sororities were given two weeks to decide yes or no and on April 4 the Panhellenic Council approved the request, officially deciding that Kappa Delta would become part of the UD community in Aug. 2013.

Mallory Martindale, a junior communication major and the Panhellenic Council president, said the council wanted a new sorority that is involved, provides leadership and represents the Panhellenic Council well.

Martindale said Kappa Delta does just that.

“Kappa Delta is an organization about leadership and service by providing confidence in women,” Martindale said. “I can see them doing well and having good numbers of membership in the future.”

McLeod said he spoke with Kappa Delta Extension Manager Kirstin Barry on April 5 offering them a formal invitation to extend on the university’s campus. Barry accepted and the plan to integrate a Kappa Delta chapter on campus was official.

“UD has an incredible sense of community and that attracted KD as a whole,” said Erin McDonough, the leadership development consultant for Kappa Delta. “Students are individually driven so it’s a school we want to be associated with.”

The primary goal of Kappa Delta is to inspire women to greatness by inspiring confidence in women and children nationwide, McDonough said.

The national sorority currently contains 230,000 members and is looking at various recruitment strategies to expand on that number in the fall, according to McDonough.

McDonough said two Kappa Delta consultants will arrive on campus in August to promote and recruit for potential members.

Recruitment week will be in September and representatives will speak at other UD organizations, such as sorority chapter meetings, have a presence at “Up the Orgs” and issue information about the sorority during table hours, McDonough said.

“It sounds like there has been a lot of interest in Kappa Delta at UD and we’re not even on campus yet,” McDonough said. “We wouldn’t have come if we didn’t think we’d be a success.”

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University of Dayton’s efforts to address the global poverty and hunger recently gained the attention of the national Global Poverty Project.

UD is one of the 100 stops the Global Poverty Project will make as they travel across the nation to raise awareness about poverty, said Brian Skura, a junior medicinal pharmaceutical chemistry major.

“It’s an international issue, but a national cause,” Skura said.

The Global Poverty Project hopes to increase awareness and effectiveness of those taking action toward extreme poverty in efforts to end it within the generation, according to their website.

According to the national project, there are 1.4 billion reasons why people should be aware of poverty and be committed to the issue.

“1.4 billion is the number of people in the world living on the equivalent of less than $ 1.25 U.S. dollars a day,” Skura said.

Casey Walk, a junior premedicine and psychology major, explained how the Global Poverty Project chose UD as one of their stops.

Walk said UD got involved in a national program called Global Brigades, which is the largest student-led global health organization. According to their website, the club seeks to empower communities in developing countries to improve their quality of life through programs developed by UD students.

Walk said the group sends students to impoverished countries with little to no healthcare where they set up a center for three days that allows people to come free of charge to see doctors, receive prescription medications, and learn basic medical practices.

UD’s first Global Brigades trip was last year in Honduras with 25 students, Walk said.

“The trip went really well,” Walk said. “As we advertised from there and got the word out, interest really increased.”

This year, 75 students applied for the trip so the group was divided into two separate trips, Skura said.

One group will travel to Panama while the other will travel to Honduras in May, Skura said.

Students will be able to apply for future Global Brigade trips at the beginning of next semester, Walk said.

Skura added that through programs like Global Brigades and other Campus Ministry programs, UD has proven that global poverty is an issue that this campus takes seriously and wants to address.

“The Global Poverty Project is really trying to target our generation,” Skura said. “In 30 years, we have decreased global extreme poverty levels from 50 percent to 25 percent.”

“Dayton is looking for something good to do,” Walk said. “Poverty is not something hard to fix if you try. It’s basically just awareness. If enough people know about it, then the answer is coming.”

The Global Poverty Project will present to UD at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 23 in Sears Recital Hall.

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