Pat Kenney
Campus News Editor
Twenty-five years ago Ronald Reagan was President, Fox Broadcasting made its prime-time TV debut, the world’s population reached five billion, Zac Efron was born and Springfield College graduated its first class of Physical Therapy majors.
To celebrate 25 years of PT graduates, the Springfield College Physical Therapy department will be hosting their own “Alumni Weekend” starting on Friday, Nov. 8.
“It’s a big celebration,” said Julia Chevan, the chair of the PT department at SC. “It’s a weekend for the PT program with lots of our alumni coming back to visit our campus and see what is new, and reconnect with old friends and classmates.”
Springfield College’s Physical Therapy program enables students to earn a Bachelor’s degree and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in only six years. With between 30 and 40 students per cohort, each Physical Therapy major will experience at least 1,000 hours of clinical education.
Almost all of the PT graduates have gone on to find jobs within their field, with some springboarding off into the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals, spreading Springfield pride everywhere.
“We are hoping to have about 100 alumni come back,” stated Chevan. “We are going to be showing some of the updates to the campus and the curriculum.”
A lot has changed since the first graduating class was on campus; therefore, the purpose of this weekend is to give the alumni tours of the facilities and show them what current PT students are doing and how they are learning.
Throughout the weekend Physical Therapy alums will be able to connect and share their memories of SC and careers through their specific fields. However, it is not just Springfield grads who will be sharing their stories.
Dr. Gretchen Berland will be showing her documentary titled, Rolling, Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1:15 p.m. while sharing her story about her time as a filmmaker and a physician.
Named the best documentary at the Independent Film conference, Rolling circles around three wheelchair-bound people who are living their everyday lives. The film captures what it is like to be handicapped and how it plays a huge role in our places in society.
“We show this movie to all of our students early on in their training process,” said Chevan. “This screening gives our students the chance to interact with [Berland] and ask her questions about Rolling.”
This weekend provides current and past Physical Therapy students from Springfield College the opportunity to connect and share stories, but most importantly to rekindle their love for their major/field of study.
Pat Kenney can be reached at pkenney@springfieldcollege.edu