Twilight Walk welcomes Class of 2019 along with winter storm
First year students serenade President Riggs on the steps of Penn Hall. Photo credit Mary Beth Bielicki, gettysburg.edu
By Julia Sippel, Staff Writer
Despite incoming winter storm Jonas, first year students crowded in the Ballroom Friday evening to celebrate the annual First Year Walk. As in previous years, blustery flakes added a certain festivity to the event’s already joyful atmosphere.
Erica Boucher put it perfectly: “The campus is already beautiful, but seeing it at twilight as the snow was falling was absolutely amazing. It is definitely an event I will not forget.”
As they sang the Alma Mater, these newest Gettysburgians echoed their own actions: “We come, a band of good fellows, to sing in the twilight hours….” Greeted by fellow students, faculty and alumni who braved the storm, the first years trekked from the College Union Building to Pennsylvania Hall, where they met President Janet Morgan Riggs.
Forming a group in front of the revered figure, Class of 2019 officers presented President Riggs with a scrapbook commemorating their class so far. Finally, the crowd celebrated their entrance into official alumni status with a performance of the Alma Mater dedicated, of course, to President Riggs.
The class was able to warm up after all of this outdoor excitement with refreshments and free t-shirts in Glatfelter.
Perhaps most importantly, this event allowed the class to reunite after winter break and return to bonds that have been forming since Orientation, if not even earlier. As Sam Engel explained, “The Twilight walk was a great experience for the freshmen class to reconnect together as a large group. It helped to remind us that we are a part of a close knit community here at Gettysburg College.”
