LVC to recognize alumnus attorney during homecoming weekend

This homecoming weekend, Lebanon Valley College will recognize Bernerd “Bernie” A. Buzgon with the Betty C. Hungerford ’54, H’09 Award for Distinguished Service to Lebanon Valley College.

Buzgon earned a bachelor of science in business and economics from LVC in 1959 and a bachelor of laws from Dickinson School of Law in 1962. He was admitted into the Pennsylvania Bar Association soon after.

The now 87-year-old attorney described himself as “a day student” during his time at LVC, with his limited time not devoted to studying for classes or working to pay for tuition spent as a player on the college’s men’s basketball team.

“As far as the academics and the liberal arts education that I received, I don’t know that I could have done any better anywhere [else],” he said. “I was treated very well. I think I did fairly well, grade-wise. And to this day, I still feel a great affinity for Lebanon Valley College because of what it’s done for me and the people I’ve gotten to know through my association.”

The Lebanon County native is associated with the Lebanon County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, U.S. District Court for the Middle and Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Tax Court, and U.S. Supreme Court.

Named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for almost a decade, Buzgon continues to practice in the areas of personal injury, estate planning, insurance defense, and business law through Buzgon Davis Law Offices, a full-service law firm based in Lebanon County.

Tom Hanrahan and Jen Liedtka spoke with LebTown about the process behind Buzgon’s selection as an award recipient as well as their personal experience working with him in various capacities for the college over the decades.

Hanrahan said the LVC Alumni Awards Committee accepts nominations and then reviews them a couple times each year.

According to LVC’s website, the distinguished service award “is named in honor of one of Lebanon Valley College’s greatest ambassadors and most passionate and committed volunteers, Betty Hungerford. Recipients have served the college as a volunteer for 10 or more years consecutively, demonstrate a great passion for the college and its constituents, regularly attend LVC events and activities, and represent LVC positively beyond the LVC community.”

For Buzgon, the award is personal. He said it “is named after Betty Hungerford, who has been a longtime friend of mine and who is the epitome of what a volunteer should be. So, I congratulate the Valley on naming the award, which is a volunteer award, after Betty.”

The committee also considers nominations for the Distinguished Alumnus Award, June Herr Outstanding Educator of the Year Award, D. Clark Carmean Award in Admission, Creative Achievement Award, Alumni Citation, and Young Alumni Award.

“Not all the awards are given out every year. I know I’ve seen as low as four or five,” Hanrahan said. “This is a rare year. I think every award’s being given out.”

According to Hanrahan, LVC will recognize Buzgon with the award during a luncheon on Friday, Oct. 11, the first day of homecoming weekend. The alumnus attorney will also give remarks at the function.

“I don’t know whether [Hungerford]’ll be in attendance at the function on Friday, but [she’s] a wonderful lady. And I think it’s a wonderful award,” Buzgon said. “I believe it’s only the second year that it’s been awarded. So, I feel very good about being a recipient.”

LVC will recognize the other six alumni — Bishop Peggy Olver Johnson, Patricia “Patti” J. Shatto-Young, Danielle “Dani” Vernet Eisner, Ryan Collins, Dr. Malik Momin, and Dr. Andres Vazquez-Lopez — during a separate ceremony Friday night, Hanrahan said.

Buzgon was selected as an award recipient for his continued involvement with LVC. In addition to serving as a mentor, he has hosted Lebanon countians and LVC alumni over the winter in Florida.

“For the past 15 years maybe, in Sarasota, I have what I call a ‘Lebanon Night,'” he said. “And I may have 125 emails of people who are from the Lebanon area, Lebanon County basically, who are in Sarasota on a Saturday night in the middle of March.”

Although the number of Lebanon Night attendees varies from year to year, Buzgon said he has had as many as 75 attendees. The gathering almost always includes an LVC representative, who comes bearing college paraphernalia.

“A couple of years ago, the [college’s] president and his wife attended, and I was very pleased about that,” he said.

Buzgon has also attended several alumni gatherings, including one in Naples and another in Sarasota, which he helped plan in the early stages.

In the same vein, Buzgon previously served as a member of a college Alumni Council. He mentioned his involvement with the Alumni Council’s entertainment subcommittee, which was responsible for planning gatherings, “events for the Valley, and even trips to different places, bus trips, things like that.

Buzgon has also served as a member of the college’s Awards Committee and Athletic Hall of Fame Committee. “Networking with people up there has been great; people I never would have known otherwise and have made lifelong friends,” he said.

In addition, Buzgon has served as a member of the Lebanon Valley Educational Partnership Committee since around its formation 35 years ago.

Liedtka said the LVEP is “a partnership between the Lebanon School District and Lebanon Valley College.”

She has held a variety of positions since the start of her career at LVC, with her current one being director of advancement research and relationship manager. She also serves as the coordinator and LVC’s point of contact for the LVEP.

Her husband, Karl Liedtka, serves as the coordinator of counseling programs at the Lebanon School District and the Lebanon School District’s point of contact for the LVEP. He also happens to be an LVC alumnus.

Through the partnership, she said, “students are designated as, now, rising freshmen in high school, who have had great academic success but for socioeconomic reasons might be challenged to finish high school, [to] have access to post-secondary opportunities.”

Designated students who stay within the mentorship program, in which LVC students serve as mentors for the soon-to-be LVC students, and then apply to LVC and get accepted into the college “have the opportunity to come there virtually tuition-free,” Liedtka said.

“I don’t like to say tuition-free because, depending on their financial aid application, there might be a little bit of a payment by the family. So, virtually tuition-free is the way to say that.”

The LVEP committee is charged with raising money for the scholarships awarded to designated students through the program, which it mainly accomplishes through its annual golf tournament.

“Our golf tournament now happens at the end of June every year,” Liedtka said. “This past year, we netted … close to $40,000, which is pretty remarkable for a golf tournament.”

Liedtka, who has been involved with the LVEP committee since 2017, noted that Buzgon attends every committee meeting, which have been held via Zoom since the COVID-19 pandemic, and participates in every LVEP golf tournament.

“He just genuinely cares about this endeavor and has been willing to invest his time and his energy over so many years … to just really see students succeed,” she said.

“I’m a community-minded person. I think people who have lived here, been successful here, owe it to the community to give back,” Buzgon reflected. “And aside from other organizations I’ve been involved with, Lebanon Valley has been one of those that has permitted me to do community service in effect. And I’m very pleased about that.”

Hanrahan started his career at LVC in 1997 as the director of sports information, a position now known as the director of athletic communications. He currently serves as director of communications.

As for his personal experience, Hanrahan, who recently celebrated his 27-year anniversary with LVC, said that he met Buzgon in his first month on the job as he was involved in the LVEP tournament through his role with the college athletics program.

Hanrahan said that he grew to know Buzgon “really well” by going on roadtrips with him and other LVC alumni as well as by seeing him at LVC athletic events. Buzgon participated in LVC’s male alumni basketball game until he turned 81, with what he called “cameo appearances” in those last few years.

“Basketball was a highlight,” Buzgon said. “And the wonderful teams that they had over the years, they invigorated me. And I was local, so I was able to attend. And it’s just been, when you talk about life’s experiences, the Valley, again, has been an integral part of that in my life and still is.”

Occasionally, Hanrahan reaches out to Buzgon for a student considering an internship at a law firm or law school. “He would always talk to them and see if they would be a fit or if he could help them,” he said.

Hanrahan described Buzgon as “a loyal alum, very loyal, and always willing to help people, a very good man,” which Liedtka echoed by calling him a “faithful volunteer.”