News Center

Cheryl Hatch, visiting assistant professor of English and Communication Arts, answers five questions for us. Professor Hatch is a longtime photojournalist who, among her accomplishments, spent time embedded with United States troops in Afghanistan. She also spent time in Somalia and has worked at daily newspapers in Florida and Oregon. She was a Snedden Endowed Chair in journalism at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. At Allegheny, besides teaching journalism courses, she serves as the advisor to The Campus newspaper and has hosted several Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists at the College.

1.      What is your favorite spot on campus?

It’s got to be the Allegheny College Bookstore. The staff — Shirley, Pete, Kim, Denise — have been kind and helpful since my first day on campus. I pass through the Campus Center often and I usually drift into the bookstore. They play good music and I like browsing for books. I have great conversations with Pete, and he will often recommend a book I haven’t read.

2.      What in your opinion makes Allegheny a unique place?

Definitely, the students.  They are the reason I came to Allegheny.

3.      What is the coolest thing that Allegheny has made possible for you?

I am discovering a new culture and language.  I share a classroom, a newsroom and a campus with the young people who will shape our world, and I get to share with them the wisdom, experience and lessons I learned in my life and my journalism career.  I have daily opportunities to raise awareness about the value and importance of journalism — in our world and in a liberal arts education.

4.      What goal(s) have you set for the next three years?

I will return to Kuwait (where she recovered from a life-threatening illness last spring) to celebrate with friends. I will join friends in the Save the Bay Swim for Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, get my private pilot’s license, scuba dive in new waters (South Africa, Indonesia), and trek on new paths. I will write … people have always asked if I’ve written a book … it’s time to get to it.

5.      You are seated next to President Mullen at dinner. What do you strike up a conversation about?

Childhood dreams. I’d ask him if there was any one thing he’d wanted to do as a boy that he hasn’t pursued yet.