King’s College’s Shoval Center Celebrates 20 Years of Community Service with Dedication of New Location on N. Franklin St.

The Shoval Center for Community Engagement and Learning—which for 20 years has served as the heart of the College’s extensive volunteer and community service operations—today celebrated its new home on 181 N. Franklin Street with a blessing and ribbon cutting ceremony.

Special guests included Y. Judd and Susan W. Shoval, co-founders of Shoval Enterprises, whose generosity to the College and support for community service are honored in the name of the center’s new building.

“When Father Lackenmier approached us so many years ago with the idea of a new center that would focus on the King's social mission, we were really intrigued,” said Susan W. Shoval at today’s event. “He said that it would raise in students the awareness of the importance of giving back to the community while simultaneously giving them the opportunities to do so. It was enough to convince us that we really wanted to be part of it.”

“So I'm speaking for both of us when I say that we have never been prouder about any not-for-profit institution in which we have been involved,” she added.

“King’s College is thrilled to honor Y. Judd and Susan W. Shoval by naming the new Shoval Center in their honor,” said Bill Bolan, Ph.D., director of Shoval Center. “This tribute is especially fitting as we celebrate the Center’s 20 years of serving the community, and over one million hours of volunteering.”

The Shoval Center integrates hands-on community service across more than 50 academic programs that include service learning as part of their curriculum. It also offers various volunteer opportunities across the Wyoming Valley, community-based work study, and on-campus community kitchen and clothes closets.

“In so many ways, Susan and Judd, your home is here on our campus,” said Rev. Thomas P. Looney, C.S.C, Ph.D., president of the College. “Because here our students come together, they learn from each other, they share meals together. They think about a trip they're about to engage in and how they want to come close to people in poverty—not above them, but beside them—to learn from them, and to know what it means to live with righteousness and justice.”

In addition, the center runs Students Engaged in Reflective Volunteer Experiences (SERVE), the College’s popular alternative-break program that offers a variety of community service trips across the world.

“I’ve had the privilege to travel on SERVE trips to Kentucky, Boston, San Antonio, and even India,” said Matt Prudente, ’25, Shoval Center SERVE coordinator. “Those experiences shaped me in ways I never expected. I learned that service is not only about rebuilding homes, delivering food, or working in neighborhoods. Some of the most life-changing moments came simply from sitting down and having a conversation. Listening to someone’s story, sharing a meal, or realizing how much you can learn from another person’s perspective. Those were the times that stayed with me the most.”

The Shoval Center also runs CitySERVE, a major component of Fall Welcome for incoming first-year students that features a full day of volunteer work across the Wilkes-Barre area. The office also created the About-Face Campaign to help reduce the stigma surrounding substance use disorder, as well as the King’s Food Dignity and Hunger for Justice programs that provide education and aid to address local food insecurity.

Susan and Judd Shoval are accomplished business leaders and philanthropists with deep ties to both the corporate and nonprofit worlds. After forming their own commercial insurance agency, they later created Guard Insurance Group, a major provider of Workers’ Compensation coverage, which was sold to Berkshire Hathaway in 2007.

Their philanthropic focus has been on economic development and expanding opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds. Judd has served on the boards of several private companies and non-profits, including King’s College. Susan has worked with United Way, Wyoming Seminary, the Earth Conservancy, and Volunteers in Medicine.