Alumni Stories

By Dana Larkin Sauers '74, P'99, P'03, P'03, P'09

When Matt Cleveland '88 reminisces about his Delone Catholic days, memories light upon “the dances I attended, sharing new music with my friends, and learning about the music that they liked.” The friends from then, with whom he still keeps contact, Steve Cox, Mike Shellito, Pat Long, and Jennifer (Hahn) Long, would probably tell you things haven’t changed too much. 

By profession, Matt is a mobile disc jockey (DJ). His business, OCCASIONS Disc Jockeys, has been awarded The Knot Best of Weddings and the WeddingWire Couples' Choice awards for twelve consecutive years, based upon couples' reviews.

His service to the community isn’t far from his profession: “We go to St. Peter Church in Elizabethtown, and I've been trying to get them to host game nights, which I volunteered to host. I regularly DJ for events they host. I have volunteered DJ services for many organizations that are supporting fundraisers, from Bark for Life to a local high school’s Model UN Club." 

Having graduated with a political science degree from Millersville University, "I developed a version of bingo that teaches constitutional principles. This fall, we played it as a fundraiser for the high school Model UN Club locally, and I am making it available for anyone to use at no charge.” Matt also volunteers at Millersville University's radio station, WIXQ. He is helping to support the next generation of disc jockeys. 

At the end of this semester, Matt used his finely honed communication skills to help the student DJs at his son's college, Mount St. Mary’s University. “I assisted in convincing the university to reverse its decision to shut down the radio station, WMTB.” Many parents, faculty, students, and alumni are gratified by the decision of The Mount’s administration to rethink its closure and reconsider all of the skills, confidence, and communication that are the fruits of the college radio station.

Matt’s wife, Lisa (Brilhart) Cleveland '89, and he share two children: son Travis, a junior at Mount St. Mary's University, and daughter Sarah, a sophomore at Lancaster Catholic High School. The couple celebrated their 25th anniversary this summer by going to Mexico with their kids, “staying in the same area we went for our honeymoon, and seeing some of the same sites.”

In his spare time, Matt enjoys making websites, biking, and designing board games.