Geibel, Miller honored as distinguished alumni at BC3’s Oak Hills Celebration Saturday
On Saturday, Oct. 5, Butler County Community College honored two of its distinguished alumni, along with their 2024-25 scholarship recipients at its annual Oak Hills Celebration.
Held at the Founders Hall on the BC3 campus, the celebration featured distinguished alumni William Miller and Jeffrey Geibel. Honorees are chosen after being nominated and chosen by the Alumni Council.
Miller, who earned his associate degree at BC3, came back to the school after earning his bachelor’s from LaRoche University and has spent 37 years at the school in various roles from Director of Admissions to Dean of Humanities.
Miller said BC3 is the “place for me.”
“I graduated from high school and came here for two years as a student. After earning my bachelor’s, I came here for a one-year position. I was going to be here for one year, and it became 37,” said Miller. Miller obtained his master’s degree from Slippery Rock University while working at BC3.
Miller retired in 2017, but is still the coach of the golf team, so his time spent at the school is now 44 years.
“It’s been a dream for me,” said Miller.
Miller described himself as very honored to be chosen as a distinguished alumnus.
“It wasn’t something that I expected. I’ve seen (some of the previous year’s alumni) come through as an employee. A number of them are very good friends,” said Miller.
“It’s a fraternity that I am very proud to be in, that’s for sure,” said Miller.
The second distinguished alumnus honored at the luncheon was Geibel, who graduated from BC3 in 2004. Geibel spent two years at the school before going on to obtain his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Slippery Rock University.
After graduating from Slippery Rock, Geibel began working for Edward Jones in 2018 and has opened an office on Main Street in Butler.
Geibel described himself as “surprised” when he found out about being chosen as a distinguished alumnus.
“When you look at some of the folks that have won this award over the years, they’ve done so much and been so accomplished. It’s hard picturing yourself in that light,” said Geibel.
Geibel didn’t realize the value of BC3 until he started attending the school.
“It was local. It was low-cost. That’s why I came here, but I didn’t realize how good a school it really is until I attended,” said Geibel.
BC3 has been recognized 10 years in a row as the No. 1 community college in Pennsylvania, beating out larger schools in both Allegheny County and Philadelphia, according to the school.
Geibel said his ongoing experiences with BC3 employees have also proven the value of the school.
“I’m taken aback at how often I run into BC3 employees off campus doing good work in this community. Just all the time,” said Geibel.
Scholarship recipients and the sponsors who provided funds were also celebrated at the event. This year, 157 students have received scholarships in the amount of $235,000.
“We’re really just so thankful to our community and what they do for our students to be able to have this kind of education they receive here,” said Faith Bajema, Event Support Assistant at BC3.
“Our scholarships are privately funded by individual donors,” said Bobbi Jo Cornetti, development coordinator at the BC3 Education Foundation.
“A lot of members throughout the community, a lot of alumni — they oftentime create a scholarship that might be honoring what they studied, or a family member studied,” added Megan Coval, the interim president of BC3.
Second-year student Molly Milich also spoke at the event.
Milich, 20, of West Sunbury, is the BC3 President’s Scholar, and is majoring in both history and English. The scholarship, she said, made the choice of BC3 a no-brainer.
“I was able to get the President’s Scholarship by graduating the top 10 percent of my class,” said Milich, who attended Moniteau High School. “It covers the tuition of the students, so I decided that was a really good idea.”
More information on BC3 can be found at www.bc3.edu.
