Faces of Pittsburgh

The Search for Equality

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Photo taken by Elizabeth Benigni
By ELIZABETH BENIGNI 

“I want to change someone’s life.” 

Chauncey T. Alexander’s words form a stream of confidence as he speaks. His brown eyes look around the room,

as if to see someone listening. Chauncey, a freshman communications major at Robert Morris University (RMU),

sees college as an opportunity to sharpen his leadership skills. 


The ‘Trini’ Lifestyle

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Photo taken by Aimee Morgan
By AIMEE MORGAN 

He has no shirt and no shoes. He begins to strum his guitar and sits down in front of the Bob Marley

poster that covers his entire dining room wall. With a beaming smile and charming island accent, 

anyone feels warmly welcome in his presence, something that likely landed him his job at the Crowne 

Plaza in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. 

25-year-old Jesse Boocock, a manager at the Crowne Plaza, will soon be leaving in one month to go

back to his home of Maraval, Trinidad, just outside of Trinidad’s capital, Port of Spain. 


Home Operated Business Hopes for Change

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Photo taken by Jeremy Harris
By JEREMY HARRIS

A health supplement is being sold from a local neighborhood family.  Kathy Bost is running a home-based

business that provides omega-3 fish oil for her customers. She is making this product available by literally

running a sales business out of her own house.    



Changing the World One Couch at aTime

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Photo takan by Julie Gabriel
By JULIE GABRIEL

Good news for travel lovers looking for a cheap way to stay in cities, meet new people and have a great 

time for less money, couch surfing is all rage. Couch surfing, a relatively new concept in America gives 

travelers the opportunity to sensitively reduce their costs. 

Originally from France, Sophia Bourgade, and Alexandre Bouvier, are experts at finding at the best deals 

in town and are frequent couch surfers. Mathieu Lakhani, and Marc Coudray, two Robert Morris

University college students are not new to the topic of couch surfing either. 


Struggle and Disappointment Pave Performer’s Path to Success 

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Photo taken by Andrea Zanaglio

By ANDREA ZANAGLIO


A salty, tangy familiar scent fills the air of the Byham Theater’s lobby in between rehearsal scenes of the 

Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s latest production of “Seussical the Musical.” Definitely that of Italian dressing, 

which possibly served as the final touch to an Italian hoagie grabbed on-the-go because time is money in

this business, the aroma secretes from the perspiring pores of an overly jubilant, 29-year-old ready to sprint

back on stage at a moment's notice. 



Angel in Disguise

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Photo taken by Michelle Wolniak
By MICHELLE WOLNIAK          

It’s a quiet morning at the small massage clinic in Cranberry Township. The hustle and bustle of the hourly

flip at Massage Envy has died down. Elizabeth Munson Erbrecht, pregnant for a little over 35 weeks, looks

comfortable in her new maternity shirt and is ready to welcome her first child into the world. She sips tea

from her purple coffee mug as she begins to explain how she became interested in an occupation most have

never heard of: hospice massage therapy.  



Rags to Riches: A Coming to America Story

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Photo taken by Brittany Fortuna
By BRITTANY FORTUNA

Moving from the groovy ‘70s and into the punk rock, valley girl ‘80s, 1979 gave great promise to the 

nation. The first Sony Walkman was introduced, Rocky was only up to the second filming, and Jimmy 

Carter was the reigning President. 

But for one man in particular, 1979 brought a vast change to his life, a change he thought he would

never forget.


Life after Football 

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Photo taken by Matt Revtai
By MATT REVTAI

Josh Miller didn’t take the normal route of most retired athletes, who are usually happy to get away from the daily

grind of the media.  Instead Josh, who was a punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers the majority of his career in the

National Football League, decided to work in the media post-retirement. 



One Woman’s Struggle to Make a Difference

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Photo takan by Heather Lowery
By HEATHER LOWERY

It’s 11 a.m. A prisoner in her own home, she takes another swig of the vodka she keeps by her bedside,

the same drink that has kept her there for so many days. After a few hours, she wakes up, gets dressed

and makes her way to a meeting, an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting.  She had no idea that the

mid-morning shot of vodka would be her last. She decided that same day that her life was not going to

be all about her.



Local Kid Makes It Big

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Photo taken by Alissa Dorman
By ALYSSA BENSON  

It is every athlete’s dream to play a Division I sport and make it to the professional level, all while making the 

big bucks for doing what they love. This common dream rarely comes to fruition, but when it does, it’s special.

For Pittsburgh-born and raised hockey player, Denny Urban, that rarity just became reality. 


A New Perspective

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Photo taken by Natalie DeBarto
By NATALIE LOUISE DEBARTO  

The pale office sits in a little “cubby hole” of what is the largest building on Robert Morris University’s campus.

Past the mail boxes, down the steps, and inside the Center for Student Success is the office of Randon

Willard, the crisis counselor at RMU.

Though it was a long journey to this office, once there, Randon found his place in the world.