Meet Our Staff

David Thomas headshot

David J. Thomas, Ph.D. 

Dr. David J. Thomas has been at West Chester University since the beginning of 2020 and has been in the field of disability advocacy and support for more than a decade. Before coming to West Chester and alongside his disability work, he was a member of the English faculties at Temple University, University of the Arts, Virginia Wesleyan University, Old Dominion University and City University of Seattle.

He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education, an M.A. in Applied Linguistics, and a B.A. in Dramaturgy from Old Dominion University in his hometown of Norfolk, VA. He completed additional graduate work at the Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute at Stanford University and the Institute on Disability at Temple University. 

Dr. Thomas is the Vice President of Delta Alpha Pi International Honor Society, which recognizes high achieving college and university students with disabilities. He also serves the wider disability community as the Treasurer for the Board of Directors of Disability Rights Pennsylvania, where he also chairs the Mental Health Advisory Council.

He lives in Delaware County with his family and enjoys spending his time going to concerts, gardening, doing needlecrafts (especially Blackwork) and exploring neighboring towns and villages.



Gabriellia Hartz

Gabriellia Hartz

Hi, Y'all! My name is Gabriellia Hartz. I go by Gabbi for short. I am a two time alumna of West Chester University (MS 2022 - Higher Education Student Affairs and Policy program (HEPSA) and BS 2020, where my focus was on education). I have a kitten name Meave, love taking care of plants, and my favorite color is purple!



Susan Durkovic Headshot

Susan Durkovic, RPR, CRC

I joined WCU in 2000 as a CART Captioner. CART stands for Communication Access Realtime Translation, which is a speech-to-text interpreting service for anyone who needs communication access. As an advocate for those who are d/Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, I am passionate about making the spoken word accessible through providing and advocating for accurate, quality captions to those who rely on it.

When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my family, being outdoors, especially, at the beach, and playing ice hockey.



Linda Laskaris

Linda Laskaris

I joined WCU and have worked in the OEA since 2012 and enjoy connecting with students.  I am married and have three children.  I enjoy spending time with family (especially my grandson), baking, scrapbooking, Broadway shows and TRAVEL!  I’ve been to 35 states (including Hawaii several times), several Caribbean islands, a few destinations in Canada and Mexico, Switzerland and Hong Kong.  I have no pets (but I do claim a "granddog" named Sabrina) and I have managed to accumulate over 325,000 miles on my 2004 Chevy Suburban, which was recently retired (lucky)!



Bryan Jones & Dante

Bryan Jones

Bio coming soon!



Proctoring Center Staff

Graduate Assistant Office