A Note from the Editor: On the Meaning of Gettysburg
George Malian (Photo provided)
Like many members of the class of 2023, I have spent the last two months reflecting on my time at Gettysburg College.
When I arrived as a freshman in August of 2019, I did not expect my first full year on campus to come in my last year as a college student. After dealing with a pandemic that disrupted nearly every expectation of how I would spend my time here, I have thought a lot about what Gettysburg College means to me.
For each of us, that answer is different. Whether you’re a first-year or a senior, every one of us has had a unique experience.
We are a campus of students from different cultures, classes, and countries who have come to this small town in Pennsylvania to share some of the most salient years of our lives. When we think about our time at Gettysburg College it is easy to see how the people and values of this institution have shaped us. What is harder to see, on the other hand, is how we have impacted this campus.
I have learned in my three years at the College that its purpose is to redefine the ground it sits on. While it has a constant presence in the atmosphere of this community, Gettysburg’s bloodstained history serves a challenge for each of us to confront. When our campus’s manicured lawns and crisp white buildings start to feel like home, it is easy to forget that time is the only thing that separates us from the struggle that unfolded here.
By choosing to be a part of this community, we have inherited a responsibility to reinvent what it means to be a Gettysburgian. That duty does not require us to forget about this town’s past but rather how we’ll add to it. Gettysburg’s legacy is long and complex and in it stands a place for all of us to make a mark on the ideas that we think matter.
For me, The Gettysburgian has been an opportunity to face that task. Working alongside a team of writers and editors that personify devotion is something that I will always remain grateful for. While our work is often difficult and overlooked, stewarding a 125 year old institution is how we have chosen to contribute to our college’s legacy.
In this magazine, we take a look at how members of the campus community both perceive and value Gettysburg College. Follow us as we evaluate the College’s campus climate study, changes to the music education major, track sports victories throughout the past ten years, and grapple with our campus’s racial structure and connection to the town itself.
As you read, please reflect on what Gettysburg College means to you and how you may be able to make an impact on it.
Thank you for joining us as we strive to document tomorrow’s history today.
George Malian ’23
Magazine Editor, The Gettysburgian
This article originally appeared on page 2 of the October 2022 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
