Photograph courtesy of Andy Semmel

My Story
An alum reflects


My Life at Moravian

By Andrew K. Semmel ’64

At the urging of friends and family, I have begun to write my memoir. In so doing, I’ve discovered that many of my friendships, memories, and memorabilia readily track back to my undergraduate years at Moravian. Over those formative years, I lived at four different addresses. In my junior year, I had a room to myself for the first time in my life.

After graduation, I went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees, met new friends and colleagues, and enjoyed a wide range of experiences, but none have endured or have been so meaningful as those I experienced at Moravian College in the early 1960s. No one was aware at the time, or few since, that I was effectively homeless almost from the start of my freshman year. Because
 of this, I remained on or near campus during school breaks and holidays and between semesters. I did odd jobs to make some income, and I cooked my own meals. I got to know the maintenance and custodial staff, who were from diverse backgrounds, each ready to recite stories and lessons learned from their hardships and their successes in overcoming them. I received no college credits for those conversations and campus jobs, but they enriched my time, helped pay my bills, and unquestionably broadened my education.

Were it not for Rocco Calvo, head football coach at the time, who granted me a tuition-free scholarship, I would not have been able to begin and remain at Moravian. Rocco was a football All-American at Cornell University. As a quarterback at Moravian, I was his star student, having been chosen as the most valuable player (MVP) in our division of the Middle Atlantic Conference my senior year. I learned so much from Rocco’s energy, enthusiasm, and athleticism. He also helped find me a job and a place to live at a summer camp in northeast Pennsylvania.

Fellow classmate Ed Wolfsohn helped me land summer jobs as a busboy and waiter in the Catskill Mountains resorts. There I spent three full summers with a place to live, learn, enjoy Jewish culinary traditions, and earn enough money to come back to Moravian. The work routine was grueling: three meals a day, seven days a week, and no time off, but the camaraderie that developed and lessons learned about persistence compensated almost entirely for the long hours and low wages.

Above: Left: Andy Semmel receives the Comenius Award for outstanding achievement in his career. Center: In his senior year, Semmel was president of United Student Government. Right: Moravian President Raymond S. Haupert congratulates Semmel at commencement. Below: Left: A standout quarterback for the Greyhounds, Semmel would be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Right: Semmel was a member of the Triangle Honor Society, which recognizes students for academic achievement, social service, and athletic contributions.

Without the support of Ron dePaolo ’64—fellow student, dorm proctor my freshman year, and off-campus roommate my senior year—I might have succumbed to the stubborn financial, logistical, and other obstacles confronting me and dropped out of school. Ron lauded my academic attributes and urged me to participate in campus activities outside of football, including student government. His encouragement and positive example helped immeasurably to boost my self-confidence and shore up my willingness to stay the course. To this day, we remain the best of friends, and I am deeply indebted to him for his advice and guidance in those early years and since.

Following graduation, I remained tethered to Moravian through select faculty members, fellow students, changing administrations, and special events. I invited political science professor Hwa Jol Jung to lecture at my graduate school. I served on some alumni special task forces at Moravian and later returned to campus on two separate occasions to teach senior-level courses on international relations and foreign policy. One course required that I commute once a week from Washington, DC, where I worked in the United States Senate, to teach a three-hour session. In 1996, I was honored to be granted Moravian College’s Comenius Award [given in recognition of outstanding achievement or service in an alumna’s or alumnus’s field of work], and now I am proud to fund a scholarship in my name.

I occasionally reflect upon those four years, particularly my senior year, when I played two intercollegiate sports—football and baseball—lived off-campus, held three part-time jobs, and bought my first (used) car. It was then that I overcame my shyness and began dating. I also served as president of the student government and stayed on the dean’s list.

None of this was planned, of course. It just happened, and I am the better person for it all.