By Ella Prieto, Managing Editor
On Thursday, Gettysburg College President Bob Iuliano sent a campus-wide email alerting individuals of new initiatives for the 2024-2025 academic year. He began by listing accomplishments from the past academic year, such as the creation of the Donna Jean Brogan Center for Quantitative Learning and the $2.4 million Wi-Fi upgrade.
“With the increasingly competitive higher education landscape, this work matters as much as it ever has, and the response from higher education leaders and more has been incredibly supportive,” wrote Iuliano.
New initiatives included renovations and expansions of programs. Iuliano began with announcing a renovation to Paul Recital Hall, which will be done thanks to a $3 million gift to establish The Ehrhart Family Scholarship, which will support renovations to the Hall, from Sidney Ehrhart ’50. Ehrhart’s brother Richard ’46 performed as a member of the Gettysburg College Choir, and that experience along with the “brothers’ deep relationship with their alma mater” inspired Erhart to donate.
The renovations will include a large convex reflector positioned over the stage, diffusion panels, projective reflectors at the stage side wall opposite the windows, back-leaning, angled reflectors and a mix of diffusion and felt on the wall opposite the windows. All of these aspects will improve the sound in the Hall.
Iuliano then touched on the expanded teacher certification program, as Gettysburg will now offer teacher certification programs for Music Education (preK-12), Biology (7-12 secondary), English (7-12 secondary), Mathematics (7-12 secondary) and Social Studies (7-12 secondary). He thanked Expanded Teacher Certification Program Director of Educational Studies and Director of Community Based Divonna Stebick, Director of Bands for the Sunderman Conservatory of Music Russell McCutcheon and Provost Jamila Bookwala for their help in this expansion.
Next, Iuliano announced that new game lights will be constructed at Musselman Stadium over the summer. The project is fully funded “through the generous support of Gettysburg alumni, parents, and friends” and will be completed in August. The lights will enhance the experience of football, field hockey, men’s lacrosse and women’s and men’s track and field as they will all use them in competitions and practices. The lights will also provide increased flexibility for game and practice scheduling and will reduce safety concerns during daylight saving time.
Additionally, the lights will grant the first-ever night football game at Gettysburg College taking place on Oct. 4 against McDaniel College. This will encapsulate a College-wide celebration with a campus tailgate, a Bullets Marching Band halftime show and a donor recognition ceremony.
Meal plans are also being enhanced, as Dining Services announced six meal plans for the 2024-25 academic year. This includes the preservation of a meal exchange option at the Bullet Hole. Furthermore, congestion in Servo is working to be improved upon, with large outside groups being relocated to the Atrium when possible. A new app will also be launched to allow students to build their meals from the daily menu of nutritional analysis and easily identify and avoid menu items containing allergens.
Iuliano ended the email by thanking everyone who made these changes possible, writing, “I am inspired by the promise that these initiatives bring to our College community. Each step we take in enhancing our facilities, expanding our programs and offerings, and enriching our campus life is a step toward realizing the ambitions of our new Strategic Direction. Thank you, once again, for your support and partnership in this important work.”
