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Family Day honored the Dellasega family as the 2018 Pitt State Honorary Family.
The family participated in various events during Family Day, ending with a celebratory presentation at the night’s football game during halftime.
Anthony Dellasega, senior in accounting, nominated his family in honor of his maternal grandfather, who served as PSU athletic director and is celebrating his 20th year of retirement. The family, Pittsburg natives, has PSU ties through multiple generations, still alive today and exemplified through this award.
“It’s really special for my family because we are so attached to PSU and all the traditions that it has, it’s kind of like a family tradition,” Anthony said. “So, it’s just kind of nice to be honored with this award because it’s something that’s just well-deserved for my grandfather and all that he’s accomplished, it’s really nice.”
The Dellasega family has four Pitt State graduates and two currently aspiring. In addition, both Dellasega parents work for PSU.
“Well, to me personally, I’ve been working at Pitt State for—I’m in my thirteenth year—and I hold two degrees from Pitt State, both of my parents have two degrees from Pitt State, and I’ve been a part of Pitt State since I can remember from being a toddler,” Susan Dellasega, mother, said. “So, to have our family come together for this event tonight, and hopefully in years ahead, we’ll all be able to get back together and celebrate tonight.”
Susan is the senior instructional designer in the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology while her husband is a 15-year adjunct for the College of Business. Anthony chose to nominate is family for this honor in order to recognize his family’s ties to the university.
“I just saw that it was the time of year for nominations, I just kind of thought that since it was my grandfather’s 20th year of retirement, that it’d be nice to be that family that goes on the football field at halftime and that he could come with me and show that as kind of something like a gift to him,” Anthony said. “So that’s just kind of a big reason why I ended up nominating for our family.”
As Pittsburg natives, Pitt State influenced Anthony from a young age, from attending PSU events to visiting his parents at work.
“I’ve been going to Pitt State events since I was little and my mom … and my dad have worked here for a while, so I’ve been attached to Pitt State at an early age and I knew I wanted to be a Gorilla at an early age, so that’s really affected just where I’ve wanted to go and how I’ve enjoyed Pitt State as a student so far,” Anthony said. “… It means a lot to me because I love Pitt State and I really enjoy attending Pitt State as a student, so it’s really nice to end my senior year getting honored as the Family of the Year. And then I feel like as a family we’re all just really excited to be here and have this chance to be together.”
This honor was special for not only the family overall, but especially Anthony’s grandfather, Susan’s father. Susan described his involvement at PSU as going “from teacher, to coach, to athletic director and we’re really proud of him.”
“I always like to brag about my dad, but not only was he the athletic director and he taught in the HHPR department for years but he was also the quarterback on the 1957 national football championship team.”
After receiving the Pitt State Honorary Family award, the Dellasega family sees this as an opportunity for family bonding, both present and future.
“Well, we’re just really proud of our son AJ that’s graduating here in December and for him to think of us as a family and for him to think of his grandparents, it’s just been a great experience for us to be together and share this night,” Susan said. “… Going forward I think this will always be a time of year—especially as our kids grow up and move away—maybe it can be a time where we can all get together and celebrate Pitt State and celebrate family. So I think it may be a yearly tradition that will start after tonight.”
Jacob Dellasega also attends PSU as a freshman in math, with a 20-year-old sister at the University of Kansas and a 15-year-old brother, as Susan said they might have another future Gorilla.
“I know that I’ll look at this moment as a really cherished moment as a family and I feel like this is something we will really look back on and really enjoy,” Anthony said.
