Stay Golden

Once a Golden Ram, always a Golden Ram. How one alumnus has reconnected with the place it all began.

Today, you’ll find Anthony “Tony” Fragale ’77 in Richmond, Virginia, more than 200 miles from his alma mater. But, despite distance and time — more than 45 years since graduation — he feels as connected as ever.

Tony is currently in his fifth year on West Chester University’s Alumni Association Board of Directors, a role he found in retirement as a way to reconnect with the University that jump started a long, rewarding career in recreation. A former student-athlete who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education, Tony began his 40-year career with the YMCA in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, less than an hour from West Chester’s campus.

“With everything the University embarks on, it succeeds,” he shares proudly. “Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

As an undergraduate, Tony was a member of the men’s soccer team from 1973-1975, joining the marching band in his senior year as part of the drumline. Looking back, Tony recognizes that these communities provided him with a group of ready-made peers and helped create lasting memories he cherishes to this day.

Now, Tony is paying that experience forward through his philanthropy in the hopes of strengthening and preserving the experiences that were so formative in his four years at West Chester.

“I feel like I signed onto a winner when I became a student at West Chester. Over the last four decades, the University’s impact has only grown because they keep students at the center of every decision they make,” he says, praising the wealth of opportunities and fields of study that didn’t exist in his undergraduate years.

“I challenge anyone to think back to the experience they had and the benefits they received because of their education,” Tony says.

“That should be all it takes for someone to decide, ‘I’d like to help some other kids do well, just like I did.’”

Tony Fragale '77

West Chester University Alumni Association (WCUAA) Board of Directors

“I challenge anyone to think back to the experience they had and the benefits they received because of their education."

Reconnect with your alma mater

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