INDIANA, Pa. – Indiana University of Pennsylvania held commencement ceremonies on Dec. 10 for 551 graduates and feature a local woman as the speaker for the graduate ceremony.

The graduate student speaker was Nicol Epple of Altoona, who received a Ph.D. in graduate studies in literature and criticism.

Her dissertation, “Transforming Trauma To Transcendence: Sex-trafficked Activist Memoir as Freedom Narratives,” introduces holistic embodied-experience transformation theory and emphasizes the potential of story to evoke empathy which enacts personal and social change.

Epple has presented nationally and internationally, and in 2015, she co-edited Sexuality, Oppression & Human Rights, and in 2021, her chapter, “Experiencing yada: Holistic Encounters of Spiritual Bliss,” was published in the co-edited volume and Exploring Sexuality and Spirituality.

During the years of doctoral work, Epple was the founder and director of The LOV (“love”) Foundation, an NGO empowering woman overcoming sexual trauma. Along with being an academic, she is also a Doctor of Naturopathy and a holistic counselor and coach.

She has a private practice in Hollidaysburg and is a teaching professor at Penn State University.

As a student at IUP, she did volunteer work in curriculum development with IUP’s Women’s and Gender Studies program.

Daughter of Barbara and Michael Hatch of Altoona, she earned her bachelor’s degree in English, History and Women’s Studies at Penn State Altoona and is a graduate of Altoona Area High School, where she was an exchange student to Venezuela sponsored by The Altoona Rotary Club.

The ceremonies were broadcast live on the university’s YouTube channel; links to the broadcasts are available on the IUP Commencement website (www.iup.edu/commencement).