Class of 2024 Participates in Long-Awaited First-Year Walk
Sophomore students participating in the walk (Photo Salmin Mwinjuma /The Gettysburgian)
By Laken Franchetti, Contributing Writer
On Thursday, Sept. 23, the Class of 2024 participated in their First-Year Walk to the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The tradition, unique to Gettysburg College, began 17 years ago to honor the 1863 trek made by students, faculty, and community members to where President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
President Bob Iuliano and Vice President of College Life and Dean of Students Anne Ehrlich began the ceremony speaking in Christ Chapel. Ehrlich spoke about recognizing the opportunities the First-Year Walk presents to students.
“It’s an opportunity as you begin your second year of college to reflect on yourself and who you want to be and what you want to accomplish,” Ehrlich said, “so relish in what you are about to experience together.”
Nosimat Salami ’24 recognized this reflective opportunity and said, “We all have our own choice, after all, to be our own person we wish to be…and it’s a journey.”
Iuliano continued with this reflective tone and spoke to the importance of this tradition as a form of remembrance.
“I want to ensure that as you take this walk, amid all of the festivities, be mindful that you may notice Confederate flags or other symbols of this nation’s past. These symbols are painful reminders of the unfinished work left to us,” Iuliano said. “Take this opportunity to determine how you will answer Lincoln’s noble call.”
The students then left Christ Chapel and began their walk through town to reach the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Students and community members could be seen throughout the town, cheering and encouraging the Class of 2024. Per the Cemetery and National Park guidelines, the group wore masks and entered the cemetery quietly.
Adela Holahan ’24 sang the national anthem, and Class President Jack Comegno ’24 shared opening remarks. He said, “Remember the words of President Lincoln’s inspiring address spoken here tonight, and always seek to embody his charge for us Gettysburgians.”
Comegno introduced Mayor of Gettysburg Ted Streeter, who urged students to step off campus and explore the area in their time remaining at Gettysburg. Streeter annually presents the key to the city to a student within the class, yet he revealed that the keys for the Class of 2024 and the Class of 2025 were not yet completed. Fadekemi Agboola, the student selected to receive the key for the Class of 2024, shared her thoughts about participating in the walk following the COVID-19 delay.
“We started off [last] year feeling a little bit disconnected, but I am so glad that we are able to have the walk this year,” said Agboola. “It will be filling up the gap and giving us the opportunity to make real connections.”
President Iuliano spoke once more to the class of 2024, recalling the cemetery’s dedication nearly 158 years ago: “In this sacred place, per the invitation of our own graduate, President Lincoln delivered his immortal address. Two minutes in length, timeless in its message.”
Iuliano then introduced the First-Year Walk Speaker, Economics Professor Rimvydas Baltaduonis, who read the Gettysburg Address and reflected upon it with the class.
“I was looking forward to meeting the new class… unfortunately, the pandemic forced us into a different start. In fact, it launched us into an entirely different first-year college experience than what we are used to here at Gettysburg College. Your class was experiencing the new history being written,” said Baltaduonis.
Baltaduonis illustrated how students should dedicate themselves to the unfinished work remaining. “We have much to learn, to analyze, to create, to question, to communicate, to listen. We need to embrace our differences,” he said.
The ceremony closed with military bugler Jari Villanueva playing Taps before students embarked on the return walk to campus.
Students listening to speeches at the Gettysburg National Cemetary (Photo Salmin Mwinjuma /The Gettysburgian)
