Devon Richio ’16, a captain in the Philadelphia Fire Department, is a graduate of the Public Safety Administration degree program. He is also a member of the Flyers Warriors ice hockey team, where his teammates are all veterans with some form of emotional or physical disability.

Thanks to a Neumann-Warriors partnership initiated by Richio, his teammates can now follow in his footsteps and earn an undergraduate or graduate degree.

The Flyers Warriors team is one of 37 military ice hockey teams in the country. Men and women train and compete on the ice in three different tiers: Advanced, Intermediate, and Learning to Play. The Warriors players are coached by Flyers alums Brad Marsh, Bob Kelly, and Rob Baer.

“Our role is to help facilitate the education piece of the incredible holistic program that has been built for their players,” explained Jil Donnelly, executive director of adult and continuing education. “They are an extraordinary group of people. I was honored to be in the same room with all of them. This program fulfills a part of our mission. It’s totally a Franciscan outreach.

”William Duffy, president of the Warriors and the team’s goalie, is thrilled to partner with Neumann.

“This is a great opportunity and a unique one at that. It’s something that hasn’t been offered to a Warriors program. We are the envy of the Warriors program in the U.S. with Neumann University coming on board and the support we get from the Flyers,” said Duffy.