DANBURY, Conn. - The inaugural WestConn Athletics Speaker Series, sponsored by the WestConn Athletics Legacy Fund, was a tremendous success as seven former student-athletes returned to campus for an informative question and answer session at the school's Westside Campus Ballroom on Monday, May 1.

Welcomed back were Kate Neugold (Field Hockey '10) an entrepreneur and owner of Foundry Kitchen & Tavern, Marygold's on Main and Good Old Days Pizzaria, Melissa Teel (Basketball '11) and English Teacher at Danbury High School, Celia Devoe (Soccer '17) an Audit Senior at Ernst & Young, Ashlie Morris-Avery (Softball '13) Pediatric Nurse at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and WestConn Assistant Softball Coach, Nicholas Falstoe (Soccer '22) Connecticut State Trooper, Madison Lacey (Swimming and Diving '22) Clinical Assistant at Planned Parenthood, and Jeff John (Baseball '12) Key Account Leader, Corrections (West) at Axon Enterprise.  Unable to attend due to illness was Karissa Smith (Volleyball '16) Associate Director of Admission Operations and Communication at Northwestern Connecticut Community College.

Monday's event was organized by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and its advisors Dani McDonnell (Head Field Hockey Coach) and Meghan Els (Head Women's Lacrosse Coach).

The seven-team panel opened the event with life experiences then fielded several questions from the near-capacity room of current WestConn student-athletes, administrators and Interim President Dr. Paul Beran.

Alumni Executive Director Tom Crucitti and Alumni Association President Ray Lubus made special presentations to each of the speakers.

Plans for future Speaker Series guests are currently in the works and will be posted on the WestConn Athletics website and on numerous social media outlets.