A yearbook is a treasured keepsake that documents students' academic accomplishments, their life on campus and special activities. So how does a yearbook get completed during a pandemic, when all classes are virtual and many programs have been postponed or canceled?

"It really was a terrific feat to get that yearbook out last year," stated Lionel McCulloch of Morgantown, a sophomore at West Chester University (WCU), who recently was honored during a virtual ceremony with the Madeleine Wing Adler Emerging Leader Award. "I knew nobody would blame me if I just quit, but I also knew that I could do it if I just kept working on it."

The award, named after a former WCU president, is given to a first- or second-year student, who has fewer than 60 credits and who takes part in a leadership role or is an active participant in student organizations, academics or service.

When WCU closed to in-person learning in March 2020, McCulloch was a freshman who was working on the sports section of The Serpentine Yearbook. Due to WCU's switch to remote learning, most of the staff of the 2020 yearbook was unable to continue working on the publication. McCulloch stepped up and offered to finish the book and was named editor-in-chief. He was named yearbook editor again for the 2020-21 school year.

"I called on everyone I knew to help me with things," he said, explaining how the book came together. "I asked the public relations and athletics offices for photos. I individually emailed all of the graduating seniors. I went to the graduating class Facebook pages and watched for photos and asked people to submit them."

For this year's publication, titled "West Chester University Serpentine - Beyond the Walls," McCulloch was able to assemble a small staff to work on the book. "This year I had a team of really enthusiastic students who are also all working from home," he noted. "One of them, my friend Rachel Wilkin, took a lot of pictures on campus because WCU did have a lot of students who were on campus to do hybrid work."

"Sports were not canceled until March (2020), so we had a lot of athletics in the (2020) book," he continued. "This year ... we had so many arts activities on campus. The theater department worked to put out digital content, and artists did displays in the art rooms. I think one of the most interesting things that was done (in 2021) was a drive-in opera."

McCulloch has a double major in theater and media and culture and is minoring in computer science. In addition working to on the yearbook, he was the lead editor of the school's first remote theater production, "Unmute Yourself," which was broadcast via Zoom.

"I have so many majors/minors because I want to do everything after college," he added. "I've always loved to do film, stage, writing, reporting, putting together yearbooks, and now my day job is doing computer installation and repair for a small business. I have no idea what I want to do with my life; there are so many things that I enjoy. Right now I'm just doing whatever needs to be done."