Ramblings Alumni Spotlight

Tony Fragale '77

Today, you’ll find Tony Fragale ’77 in Richmond, Virginia, more than 250 miles from his alma mater. But, despite distance and time – more than 45 years since graduation – he feels as connected as ever. The catalyst? A perfectly timed phone call from a member of West Chester University’s very own RamBand.

“After years of being out of touch with my alma mater, in 2015, I received a phone call from a member of the marching band telling me how excited he was to be going to New York City for the Macy’s Parade,” Tony recalls. “A personal call from a young musician filled with enthusiasm will always get my attention. What struck me most was that he knew I was a marching band alum” he adds. “Giving is personal, and it doesn’t get any more personal than that.”

After 40 years, Tony’s bond with WCU is as strong as ever. In fact, 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 had a profound impact on the trajectory of his life.

A former student-athlete who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education, Tony began his 41-year career with the YMCA in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, less than an hour from West Chester’s campus. His career later took him to executive positions in Connecticut, Michigan, and Chicago.

“Studying health and physical education at the University got me my first part time job at the Phoenixville YMCA in 1975.  I was able to apply myself and all I was learning in college,” he says. “Knowing of my education and experience, my supervisors encouraged me to pursue a career with the YMCA. Early on in my career, I worked in sports, fitness, and aquatics, which were essential to advancing to positions of great impact and responsibility, and WCU gave me that foundation.”

Tony was a member of the men’s soccer team from 1973-1975.  His senior year he joined the marching band’s drumline as a snare drummer Looking back, Tony recognizes how these communities provided him a group of ready-made peers and helped create lasting memories he cherishes to this day.  “The older you get, the more you appreciate those who helped shape you—parents, mentors, and friends of course, but it was West Chester University that set me on a good path,” Tony recalls fondly.

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 WCU.  “It became time to get involved, show thanks, and engage other alumni in contributing to the future of the University. That’s why I support marching band and athletics, although supporting any program of the university is worthwhile and rewarding,” he says.

Looking back, Tony never imagined that picking up the phone that day over a decade ago would help him find his way back to West Chester University, but now, he counts himself as lucky to have started a new chapter at a place that means so much to him. “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 our university alum 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 them to want to help today’s students do well at WCU.”