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Inside the Magic of Servo's Themed Dinners
The Dining Center shares how it feeds and entertains 2,000 students
A Note From the Editor: Reflections on Opportunity and Experience
By Zach Brooks, Magazine Editor
In the recent piece “Opinion: Stop the Chalk Talk,” I concluded that the opportunity to write for The Gettysburgian is part of our tuition dollars. The College funds our ability to produce and distribute this magazine for the Gettysburg community, so you have a stake in that effort too. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity and — if you will — allow my reflection on writing for The Gettysburgian to convince you.
Some of my fondest college experiences are writing for The Gettyburgian, exposing me to sides of campus I would not have otherwise seen. These include learning more about the cheer program in writing “Cheers to Cheerleading: A Conversation with the Captains,” getting to interview ‘resident cool teacher’ in “Faculty Spotlight: Professor Steven Gimbel,” and writing my very first article on a campus icon in “Get to Know Regina!”
I graduate at the end of this semester. I am forever grateful to The Gettysburgian for allowing me to write an article in all six sections (I’m bad at picking favorites), serve as Social Media Manager, and edit this magazine. I would be remiss not to thank the hard work of the editorial board. Collaborating with everyone has been a privilege to aid the distribution of their top-tier journalism.
I want to end with a fitting quote from my interview with Gimbel that applies to all of us. I had asked him about the viral video from 2010, “Gettysburg Students Respond to The Daily Show,” his involvement, and if Gettysburg College was a "shithole." Gimbel reflected on the student writer/director, Sebastian DiNatali '10, and how it led to DiNatali writing for Daily Show. “He did not seek the opportunity, but created it. THAT is what Gettysburg College does at its best and that certainly does NOT seem like the description of a shithole,” Gimbel said.
As part of the College, creating opportunity is what The Gettysburgian does best; it has been a consequential experience in my time here.
With gratitude,
Zach Brooks '24
Magazine Editor, The Gettysburgian
Servo Theme Nights
By Ella Prieto, Managing Editor
Table of Contents
By Vincent DiFonzo, Editor-in-Chief
Professor Sushmita Sircar
By Ella Prieto, Managing Editor
Evan Hilborn, Recital
By Zach Brooks, Magazine Editor
By Terra Hobler, Opinions Editor
By Ainsley Green, Staff Writer,
and Katie Lauriello, Lead Copyeditor
By Owen Kutlu, Sports Editor
Inside the Magic of Servo’s Themed Dinners
By Ella Prieto, Managing Editor
Every few months, Gettysburg College’s Servo dining center replaces the mundaneness of everyday dinners by transforming the space and hosting special themed dinners. These past years have spanned the Wizarding World, Red Carpet Music Awards, Mardi Gras, BooFest, Servo Thanksgiving and more. What students may not realize, however, is that themed dinners have a rich and long history at the College.
“I’ve been here 36 years, and I always remember us doing theme dinners,” explained Director of Dining Services Deb Hydock. “And they were done even before that.”
These dinners have of course changed as years pass, most notably with the incorporation of social media. Now, the themes are often chosen through Instagram polls open to the entire campus community, with Servo staff then voting on the final choice.
Sous-chef Anna Fetter elaborated on how the dinners have evolved with social media, saying “[Social media] makes it easier. It’s fun to be creative and lean into the theme when you’re promoting it.”
Student dining coordinator
Sladana Zigic also mentioned how Servo enjoys including students who come dressed up for the theme, highlighting that on social media as well. Still, much of the work for these dinners has stayed the same, such as the staff’s work in creating decorations.
Planning begins several months before the dinner, with Fetter, Zigic and administrative assistant Lindsay Stevens setting the groundwork before going to Hydock and other managers with their ideas.
“We take inspiration from Pinterest, Google searches and try to use as much stuff in-house as possible,” began Fetter. “And then people donate things.”
Such donations include the CDs and albums used for last year’s Red Carpet Music Awards given and the sticks to make the brooms for this year’s Wizarding World dinner by Dining Services support staff.
After obtaining all the needed materials, Fetter stated that they “just craft all summer long.”
Setting up a station in the back of Servo that is not used during the summer, the staff paint, glue and more. This semester, however, they also reached out to the Innovation and Creativity Lab for the Wizarding World dinner,
Servo's Boofest 2024
(Photos Grace Jurchak & William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Servo Thanksgiving 2024
which provided 3D printing for the three-headed dog and the Basilisk head.
Past partnerships have included local businesses, such as Battlefield Harley-Davidson, which loaned motorcycles to Servo for a Bike Night theme dinner. Additionally, the campus daycare has provided coloring pages for events such as the Night of Enchantment, pictured below.
The Office of Student Activities and Greek Life, the Majestic Theater and the College’s theater arts department have donated props to borrow as well.
Certain events, such as the French Dinner, are made possible through collaboration with other College departments.
Servo staff are immensely proud of their work for the theme dinners.
Fetter commented, “We’re all so proud of what we accomplished that night, so everyone tries to bring their families in to see what the building transforms into.”
This work is even more impressive considering the team typically has only two hours to finish theme dinner setups due to time constraints related to serving and cleaning up lunch, which ends at 1:30 p.m.
However, the staff say that the planning and setup of the theme dinners serves as an enjoyable team-building experience.
Commenting on why Servo does theme dinners, Hydock
said “From my perspective, we’ve always looked at them as monotony breakers, and it’s something different from regular dining. And I’ve said for years, we do them as much for ourselves as we do for our students because we have a lot of fun.”
The work is also recognized by the National Association of College and University Food Services. Colleges and universities across the country compete based on four criteria: menu selection, marketing, merchandising and presentation and overall impression. Most recently, Servo won silver for its work on the Red Carpet Music Awards dinner.
More valuable than awards, dining staff say, is positive student feedback. ∎
Blast from the Past: Poster for "Into the Jungle" a Spring 2006 Servo theme dinner.
Coloring pages by the campus daycare for Servo's "Night of Enchantment" theme dinner in 2018.
A student balances plates during Servo's 2013 Carnival Theme Dinner.
Air Conditioning for West Quad and a Transformed Ballroom: An Overview of Upgrades Coming to Gettysburg College
By Vincent DiFonzo, Editor-in-Chief
Over winter break, Gettysburg College will begin a multimillion dollar renovation of multiple campus buildings and outdoor spaces. The facility upgrades were first announced by the College on Oct. 23. Renovations will target the West Quad first-year residence halls, the College Union Building Ballroom and Plank Gym’s lower level. The renovations are estimated to cost approximately $30 million.
“Whether it’s hanging out with friends in a fresh new lounge in West Quad, attending a performance or panel discussion in the modernized Ballroom, or meeting new people when they stop to grab a snack and drink in Plank — all of these spaces are designed to help students make the personal, social, and academic connections that will help them thrive,” said Vice President for College Life Anne Ehrlich.
West Quad Residence Halls
The West Quad residence halls, which include Paul, Stine and Rice Halls, will undergo renovations that are planned to be completed before the spring 2027 semester. The upgrades stem from a joint effort from Facilities, Residential Education and Campus Safety. The upgrades will begin at the end of this academic year, with work on Stine planned
to begin this May. Following Stine, which is scheduled to be complete in December, Paul will be renovated beginning in January 2026. Work on Rice will begin in May 2026.
During the academic year, only one residence hall is scheduled to be closed at a time, and first-years will be accommodated in other traditional residence halls.
Among the upgrades is a new HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system. Students in West Quad residence halls currently have no air conditioning, with the exception of window units, which require a doctor’s note for students to request.
The halls will also each receive a kitchen.
Associate Vice President of Facilities Planning and Management Jim Biesecker called the new kitchens “an amenity that's needed more and more because of accommodations needed for students to be able to make their meals.”
West Quad residences will also receive new openconcept lobbies, improved lighting, new flooring and accessible entrances. Student rooms and common spaces will receive entirely new furniture.
The bathrooms will also be fully renovated for the first time since the late 1990s.
Finally, the outdoor space between Stine, Paul and Rice will receive new pathways connecting the quad, and new landscaping, including more greenery.
(Visualizations courtesy of Gettysburg College)
College Union Building
Ballroom
The CUB Ballroom, which frequently hosts large campus events, lectures and performances, will be redesigned as a “multipurpose venue.” Construction will start immediately following Commencement. The ballroom is planned to close from May until January 2026.
Ballroom renovations are a joint effort by many departments across campus, including Campus Safety, the Office of Student Activities and Greek Life, Admissions, College Advancement, Facilities and Dining Services.
The Ballroom’s orientation will be flipped, with a new entryway planned for Lincoln Avenue. This entryway will also act as a “prefunction space to support event registrations, receptions, and small gatherings.”
The new Ballroom stage will be portable, allowing for flexibility depending on the type of event being hosted. Additionally, the Ballroom will receive upgraded technologies.
“The work in the Ballroom is really systems — so new ceiling, lighting, mechanical systems,” said Biesecker. He also noted that Facilities will work closely with the IT department on implementing new technology, such as new “dynamic lighting, amplified sound quality, and a video wall.”
After the renovations, the
Ballroom will still be able to seat about 900 people. While the Ballroom is closed, the College Major Events Committee will “review all venue requests for impacted events and will find alternative spaces to fit the College’s needs,” according to the College’s website.
Plank Gym
Changes planned for the lowerlevel of Plank Gym include a new campus bar, an outdoor beer garden and a new student media center. These changes come after the implementation of the Plank arcade, movie theater, art studio and creativity lounge last year.
The campus bar will allow students to grab late-night snacks and drinks beginning next semester. The space will be open to students of any age, but only students 21+ will be able to purchase alcoholic beverages.
Drinks served will include beer, canned seltzers and sodas, while snacks served will include soft pretzels, nachos and other prepackaged snacks. Drinks and snacks will be available by card payment. As of now, dining dollars will not be accepted.
The bar will be open on Friday and Saturday evenings, possibly as late as 1:30 a.m. depending on staffing abilities. The bar will be staffed by student workers. Applications for these positions will open on Handshake soon.
“The goal is: late night food, reasonable price, convenient,” noted Director of Student
Activities and Greek Life Jon Allen.
Depending on weather, an outdoor beer garden is planned to open after spring break. The garden will be located on the side of Plank and will include fire pits and seating. Students will be permitted to bring drinks and snacks purchased in the indoor bar to the beer garden year-round.
The beer garden will also be available to reserve for daytime events, such as “receptions and student organization gatherings,” according to the College website. It will be available for evening events Sunday through Thursday, and will be open to all students on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The College noted that the campus bar and beer garden are “open to all Gettysburgians,” not just students who are of legal drinking age.
“My hope for this space is that alcohol is there for people who want it, but it's not necessarily the primary focus,” said Allen. ∎
Postcard from Abroad: Checking the European Reality
By Dominic DiLuzio, Staff Writer
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE —
One of my biggest flaws is anxiety about new experiences: I need to know everything about a new place, down to the layout of the room and the arrangement of the seats. While preparing to leave for France in August, I had none of this. So, instead of fooling you with unrealistic pictures of chateaus and wine and fresh-baked bread, I’m here to offer you a realistic glimpse at my time so far to prepare you for your own travels. I hope I’m not too cynical.
Language Shock
Upon my arrival at Charles de Gaulle, I watched an airport employee speak English to another person. I approached him and, when I asked in English where the train station was, I was hollered at for not being able to speak French. While this may just be a manifestation of the French stereotype, it’s not unique to France. If you don’t speak the language of your host country, be prepared for quite a difficult first week. Jet lag combined with an inability to communicate with the people around you is a disastrous combination. You’ll learn, though.
Daily Dehydration
Water is a commodity in much of Europe. Not only is it not automatically served at restaurants, but when you do ask for it, you get a teeny, puny little glass. I am still working on figuring out how people here are not constantly shriveled up like a dry sponge. Ice seems to be a foreign concept, and to drink tap water is to have descended to sub-humanity. You will be walking pretty much everywhere — have a water bottle, and never show up to a restaurant thirsty. Be prepared to shell out upwards of 5 bucks for a bottle, and don’t get me started on the showers here.
The European Diet Americans tend to think that Europeans are thin and healthy because their food isn't full of chemicals and microplastics. While, yes, this is true, this isn't the reason Europeans are thin. It is because they barely eat anything whatsoever. Portion sizes here are essentially appetizers, and you will be in an almost constant state of hunger. Be okay with being hungry. But, the food (when you actually get it) meets and exceeds my expectations. In fact, my Servo-induced acid reflux has been absent for months now, and, although hungry, I am very happy!
Travel
Travel. You can get a plane ticket to Italy for 40 bucks, roundtrip. Anyone who calls a city unsafe is probably ill-informed, and anyone who warns of “aggressive pickpockets” probably watched a TikTok of a not-so-smart person who carried their phone in their back pocket (don’t do this). Have street smarts and enjoy the flaws in the plans. However, do not go clubbing in Barcelona — you still have your dignity.
You Fly, Time Flies
In addition to the motorbikes, electric bikes, electric scooters, mopeds and minuscule “cars”, time here has no conception of a speed limit. At no other
point in your life will you be able to jet off to Bulgaria for a weekend and to Mallorca the next (international relations majors, relax. Even the diplomatic corps has responsibilities). Enjoy it. Book the trip, drink the wine, go to the ‘weird’ country. Hate to say it, but school is secondary — if Gettysburg really cares about being a “global citizen,” they’ll understand. Leave the anxious and worrywart you stateside and enjoy life over here. Don’t forget to enjoy your host city though; travel every weekend, but spend time during the week laughing at tourists, because hell, you're a local now.
I hope that this is of some help to you. As long as you show up on this continent with a large water bottle, Google Translate, a suppressed appetite and a free spirit, you’ll be fine.
My recommendations for travel around Europe: avoid Lisbon, visit Switzerland, always watch your pockets and don’t hesitate to take advantage of universal healthcare on an especially sickening Sunday morning. ∎
(Photos courtesy of Dominic DiLuzio)
Faculty Spotlight: Professor Sushmita Sircar
By Ella Prieto, Managing Editor
Assistant Professor of English Sushmita Sircar decided her future lay in the subject when she took a Shakespeare class spring semester of her first year at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Originally planning to major in Economics, that class changed her mind for good.
“By the time I wrote my first paper,” Sircar recalled, “it was like, yeah, I’m going to be an English major.”
Growing up in New Delhi, India, Sircar traveled to the United States to pursue her college education because she liked the idea of choosing what to study, including learning across subjects. This led to her undergraduate degree being in both English and French, allowing her to study abroad in France and even teach English in Taiwan to middle school students. The latter inspired her to teach as a profession.
However, she decided on being a professor rather than a middle or high school teacher because of her love of research, explaining “I liked the idea that someone would pay me to just read books for a while.”
After graduating from SUNY Buffalo, Sircar received her Ph.D in English from New York University before beginning her teaching career at Gettysburg College, where she has been for the last four years. Sircar commented how she has enjoyed her time at the College, especially because she can build her own classes.
“I feel like that’s maybe unusual about liberal arts colleges, that they give you a lot of freedom in choosing
what to teach,” Sircar elaborated. “So being able to do that has been rewarding. It’s really exciting when you teach something you really like for the first time, and students like it too.”
Her favorite class to teach thus far is ENG 255, “Coming of Age: The Global Bildungsroman,” which
considers how the bildungsroman, a genre that focuses on a character’s development from youth to maturity, is adapted across a range of settings.
“I’ve always been lucky with the students who have taken it… [and] I think there’s something about the young protagonists of the novels that really speaks to them, which makes the class enjoyable,” said Sircar.
For all of her classes, she brings her expertise in post-colonial works, which enables texts from around the world to be brought into conversation. Sircar described how her introduction to post-colonial writers prompted her to teach them, commenting, “When I first read some of the anti-colonial writers that I teach, like Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon, I was like, oh, I totally understand what they’re saying. I can feel the rage that they’re feeling, even though they’re writing against the French in the 1960s so it’s a very different context. But it really resonated with me, and totally changed my understanding of the world in terms of histories and how the world is set up today.”
With that background in mind, works from the Caribbean, Zimbabwe, India and more share a genre that can be compared through close reading, and Sircar hopes students learn how they come together through her classes. Additionally, though, she wants students to enjoy reading.
“I always hope that they find a text or an author that they really love,” expressed Sircar. “There’s something about just falling in love with a novel that opens up how you see the world. I feel like I’ve forgotten many of the classes I took in college, but I remember so vividly reading, like, Edith Wharton for the first time. I hope the students feel similarly about something in my classes.” ∎
Gettysburg Commemorates Dedication Day in Show of Patriotic Unity
By Brandon Fey, News Editor
Few symbols of Gettysburg are as iconic as that of President Lincoln delivering his famous Gettysburg Address in which he described the United States as a nation “conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” The Gettysburg community honors this legacy each year by celebrating Remembrance Day, with events and traditions leading up to the anniversary of Lincoln’s famous speech on Nov. 19, celebrated as Dedication Day.
This year’s celebration began with the 68th Annual Remembrance Day Parade on Saturday, Nov. 16. This event is organized by the Sons of Veterans Reserve (the military department of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War) to commemorate the soldiers who fought at the Battle of Gettysburg with a procession of Civil War reenactors. The parade began on Middle Street around 1 p.m. and marched through the town along Baltimore Street to Steinwehr Avenue.
Gettysburg College’s student reenacting club, the 26th Pennsylvania College Guard (PCG), participated in the parade, marching alongside Annabel’s Battery.
Anaya Koirala ’28 was among the students who participated. “I really enjoyed the community around it [the parade]” he commented. “The entire thing of Civil War reenacting is very new to me because I’m an international student. It feels very surreal.”
That evening, the PCG hosted its Remembrance Day Ball in the CUB Ballroom on campus. The event was open to all and attracted several members of the community who participated in nineteenth-century dances while sporting Civil War-era gowns and uniforms.
On Saturday night, the Gettysburg Foundation held the 22nd Annual Remembrance Day Illumination in
Gettysburg National Cemetery. This solemn event commemorates Lincoln’s dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery (the original section of the Gettysburg National Cemetery), honoring the 3,512 Union soldiers interred there. Each grave was lit with a luminary candle as the name of each Union soldier killed at Gettysburg was read aloud throughout the night.
Dedication Day fell on the following Tuesday and began with the Lincoln Fellowship of PA’s annual Dedication Day Ceremony at the Gettysburg National Cemetery at 10:30 a.m. The event began with a reading of the Gettysburg Address and included a ceremonial wreathlaying, as well as the accompanying U.S. Naturalization and Citizenship ceremony. Among the program speakers were acclaimed historians Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds, who also hosted a conversation at the post-ceremony luncheon at the Adams County Historical Society. Part of the luncheon also served as the annual meeting for the Fellowship.
These events culminated in the 62nd annual Fortenbaugh Lecture hosted by the history department and Civil War Institute of Gettysburg College along with the Robert Fortenbaugh family in whose memory the lecture is given. This event was held at the Majestic Theater at 7 p.m., with free admission for all who attended.
History department chair Dina Lowy delivered welcoming remarks at the lecture, during which she explained that the intention of this year’s lecture was to both “honor the memory and spirit of Lincoln's visit to Gettysburg” as well as to honor the memory and spirit of the recently-deceased history professor and Civil War Institute Director Peter Carmichael.
History professor Jim Downs then introduced keynote speaker, Carolyn A. Janney, highlighting the profound impact of her publications on Civil War Scholarship as well as her position directing the University of Virginia’s Center for Civil War History. He described Dr. Janney as having been “a force of light and brilliance within the field” and the conscious applicability of her work to current issues and developments.
Janney’s lecture, titled, “John S. Mosby: A Confederate Partisan at War,” described the exceptional history of the eponymous Colonel John Mosby, as he went from a lawyer to a Confederate soldier and eventually an outspoken critic of the Southern Lost Cause narrative. Before she began her talk, she commented on her personal and professional relationship with the late Peter Carmichael.
“I am both incredibly honored to give this lecture that he [Carmichael] invited me to do back in the spring, and it is incredibly difficult to do today,” she said.
Janney’s lecture began with some observations she had made about Mosby’s diminishing legacy in Virginia, as he
(Photos courtesy of 26th Pennsylvania Color Guard)
has been recently removed from the names of highways and heritage sites. She explained the irony of this trend, in that his likeness had been used to promote the Lost Cause narrative which he detested.
“John Mosby proved an anomaly among white Southerners, as a Confederate who rejected the Lost Cause and struck out on his own path to national healing,” she stated.
She then detailed Moseby’s path to soldiering, having grown up among the slave-holding gentry outside of Charlottesville, and studying law while incarcerated after having shot a classmate at the University of Virginia. He married Pauline Clark in December 1856 and practiced law near the border of Tennessee.
At the outbreak of secession in early 1861, Moseby enlisted on the side of the South, eventually joining J.E.B. Stuart’s First Virginia Cavalry. Having formerly been a staunch unionist, he was inspired to fight after reading Lincoln’s first inaugural address, with which he disagreed.
Mosby quickly proved his skill as a scout, earning the trust of his superiors, and eventually gaining promotions and his own commands. By 1863, he had risen to the rank of major, commanding
what would become the 43rd battalion of the Virginia Cavalry.
Janney explained that during this time, Mosby gained great admiration throughout the South for the effectiveness of his unconventional raiding tactics, and had likewise garnered considerable notoriety in the North. He was the subject of many newspaper articles, and would later inspire books, poems, and paintings from around the world.
When General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederacy in April 1965, Mosby disbanded his men and attained parole after taking an oath of amnesty. While he remained a hero in the South, he was still despised among the Union commanders who now occupied the former Confederacy. Despite his parole, he was arrested multiple times by federal soldiers while attempting to practice law once again in Virginia.
Mosby would publicly support Grant in the 1872 presidential election in his desire to reconcile the North and South, despite warnings that doing so would harm his reputation. By 1876, Mosby endorsed Rutherford B. Hayes and began to support racial equality.
Mosby’s political choices led to significant personal and professional losses. He was ostracized in his home state of Virginia, which led him to move to Washington
D.C. after the death of his wife in 1876. Despite these challenges, his support for the Republican Party eventually earned him an appointment to a consul position in Hong Kong in 1878 and later a job with the Southern Pacific Railroad in San Francisco.
Mosby’s memoir, unfinished at the time of his death in 1916, was published posthumously by his brother-in-law, Charles Wells Russell, who inaccurately portrayed him as a hero of the Lost Cause. Mosby’s post-war life illustrates that the Lost Cause was a deliberate choice by former Confederates, deeply intertwined with partisan politics and efforts to reshape the narrative of slavery and the Civil War.
Dr. Janney’s lecture spoke to the role of historical remembrance in the current day.
“Mosby's story is a reminder that we can choose to acknowledge and learn from history, even its unsavory aspects, rather than revise, forget, or refute it,” Janney concluded. “Equally as important, it is a cautionary tale of how the stories we tell about our past have been and continue to be leveraged for political and cultural power.” ∎
Growing a Twelve Year Tradition of French Cinema
By William Oehler, Director of Photography
French professor Florence Jurney sits in front of her computer, scrolling through countless trailers of the newest French movies, already planning the French Film Festival for next year. Her passion project grew the minute she stepped onto Gettysburg’s campus decades ago, and since then she has spent each day working with countless Campus partners to bring more community events to campus, the greater Gettysburg community and beyond.
Twenty years ago, the French Film Festival had not been thought up by Jurney, but she saw an absence of French culture on campus. So she set about creating a series of events that could connect both the campus and the greater Gettysburg community. She began partnering and programming for National French Week.
This year, in its twelfth year, the French Film Festival invited audiences every Sunday in October to the Majestic Theater.
“I want to make sure there is a link
between the college and the community. In the past people came as far as Frederick for certain movies.”
Tickets have been covered by the many collaborators ever since its beginning, allowing more people to watch French cinema that would otherwise be difficult to access. “The goal isn’t to show artsy movies, they are not accessible, I want the movies to be accessible for everyone.”
Jurney works with a large group of contributors to pay for movie rights, tickets and venues; planning the Festival takes collaboration from the French, Africana studies, cinema & media studies, political science, theater arts, women, gender & sexuality studies and history departments, with special input from the Sunderman Conservatory, Musselman Library, and the Majestic Theater. Jurney works with Kevin Aughinbaugh at the library to source movies that may not be within the College’s resources, and many departments contribute their time and money to help make sure the Festival performs as best it can for everyone. But the Festival wasn’t always a staple of the Gettysburg community.
“Early on we did initiatives, we had a French singer come and sing, a person who came to read Moliere extracts, and we had folks perform traditional African music,” explained Jurney. “I thought ‘we need to have something that is more impactful to all students on campus.’”
To begin creating a larger presence on campus, Jurney began a now 20-year-long relationship with Dining Services. “They’ve been absolutely wonderful… and we got together to have a dinner that is all French in the dining hall. This is
French Night. I wanted to make sure this was a big community event where not just people who spoke French got involved.”
With her inception of French Night, Jurney began creating events that catered to the whole campus community in hopes of getting everyone involved.
The build-up to what is now a 12year running tradition sought to build capacity and interest in French culture.
In 2008, a year after Jurney began her idea of a festival, she began to see the impact.
“You need big budgets to bring performers, and we don’t necessarily have those budgets, so I thought ‘what about trying movies?’” recalled Jurney. By 2013, “we started having a regular movie festival.”
Every fall since 2007 there has been a full list of between four and eight movies, all chosen by the French department's Jurney, Caroline FerrarisBesso and Jack Murphy. Jurney begins the process early every year; watching trailers as they come out looking for mysteries, comedies, Africana films and kid-friendly offerings. Jurney wants to develop a list that can draw in audiences from farther away than just Gettysburg, and as the President of the Alliance Francaise in Frederick, Maryland, she makes sure there is something for everyone. ∎
(Photos William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Senior Spotlight: Evan Hilborn, Tenor
By Leah Nath, Staff Writer
Evan Hilborn ’25 performed their senior voice recital on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Paul Recital Hall. A music education major and peace & justice studies minor, this recital was the culmination of Hilborn’s education on his primary instrument: voice. Surrounded by their family and friends as they displayed all they have learned and worked for, Hilborn beamed on stage. The eight songs composing his recital became a one-person show as Hilborn turned the show into his personal spotlight.
Covering four different languages and a wide range of emotion, Hilborn navigated the musicality and subtext of each song like he had written them himself; the expressions on their face, gestures of their hands and movements around the stage brought the audience on a journey through time and what it means to be human. The program notes elaborate on the title of the recital, “The Human Condition:” stating, “this recital seeks to explore and express the individual aspects of life, highlighting the vast range of emotions and experiences that music can convey, uniting the audience through its shared resonance.”
Hilborn had excitedly proclaimed in the days leading up to their recital that it would be “full of surprises.”
These surprises included bringing a friend on stage unnoted by the program, changing clothes midrecital and offering a reception after the event. Hilborn ensured that this recital would be a memorable and meaningful one for them with three of their friends performing on stage with them. Brant Miller ’27
accompanied Hilborn on cello with Scott Crowne of the Sunderman Conservatory on harpsichord for “Pietà Signore,” the three vastly different instruments blending into
After the recital, Miller said of Hilborn, “he’s worked really hard for this. He has produced a really memorable performance and I’m proud of him.”
Two songs later, Hilborn brought Ratul Pradhan ’25 on stage with a baby blue electric guitar for a musical theater-turned-pop rock rendition of “One Song Glory” from the musical “RENT.”
Pradhan explained the delight of being asked to perform with his friend, saying “this was my first formal performance. It was very sweet of Evan to ask me — I have always wanted to [perform formally] but never had before.”
Their duo turned into a trio as alum Gabe Sanderson ran onstage midsong to join the two on piano. The
glances shared between the three as Hilborn sang of seizing the moment in life was palpable, bringing audience members to tears.
Sanderson wrote Hilborn’s closing piece, “Lullaby for a Bad Day,” which they sang together as they sat on the edge of the stage. For Sanderson, this moment was personally important as it was the first time he had sung on stage in two years and the first time he had performed at all in a year and a half.
Sanderson explained, “I’ve spent that time shifting my understanding of what it means to perform, but I have a lot of performance anxiety now. So being able to do this with Evan was a really big deal for me.”
Similarly, the song was vastly important for Hilborn, who noted that this was his favorite song in the recital: “it was written by my friend Gabe who I always wanted to be in my recital since first year. Having that now just feels so fulfilling, and I’m so proud to be featuring something by him and having him with me on stage.”
As a member of the Sunderman Conservatory for the past four years, Hilborn advises underclassmen musicians to “do everything you can. This is your time to explore and try new things so don’t be afraid to just experiment.”
Hilborn will be student teaching next semester, embarking to impact children with music the same way he found his life’s passion. ∎
End-of-Semester Reflections:
Compiled by Terra Hobler, Opinions Editor
By Ethan Osias, Guest Columnist
During my time at Gettysburg I feel I have not only learned tons of new information in and outside the classroom, I have also learned how to be more confident with who I am and what I believe in. This is thanks to my professors for challenging me to go above and exceed my expectations I set for myself. This is also thanks to my fellow students that I engage with on a daily basis whether it is through my classes, clubs or my fraternal brotherhood. Gettysburg has given me so much more than I could ever imagine from getting a college experience that will most certainly help me with my
By Leah Nath, Staff Writer
Beginning college always comes with a slew of expectations, and starting college usually has at least a couple disappointments about those expectations. In my third year of schooling here, I felt like a cliché, spoiled student in love with all of the commencement speeches on opportunity. One of Gettysburg College’s biggest pulls for my undergraduate decision was its emphasis on opportunity, specifically access to internships, research, and study abroad for me, which has been a dream. The environmental studies department has built a masterful community system; the connections professors are dedicated to building offered me life-changing fieldwork, growth-inspiring discussions, my first publications, and incredible mentorship. I thought I had a very different, very assured career goal when I first began college than I do today, but I am very grateful to be where I have landed just to have been lucky enough to be surrounded by wonderful people. ∎
By Kailey Costa, Guest Columnist
Goodbyes are bittersweet, and as I prepare to leave Gettysburg College, I reflect on the profound impact this place has had on me. My journey here has been transformative – academically, personally, and professionally. As an international affairs and public policy double major, I have developed intellectually through rigorous coursework, whitepapers, and reading legal documents, but it’s been my hands-on experiences that have truly defined my growth.
Working three campus jobs, I connected with students across three class years as an RA and RC, building community in residence halls, which also taught me resilience and empathy. My role in the athletic training office revealed the dedication it takes to support student-athletes, and being a TIPS Supervisor for OSAGL allowed me to engage deeply with campus activities, supporting peers as they hosted events in our Gettysburg “bubble.”
Without the help of the Center for Career Engagement, I would not have been able to live independently and work for the Food Bank for New York City for two consecutive summers. With these experiences, I became a Fielding Fellow, contributing to the U.S. State Department Diplomacy Lab — a rare opportunity to collaborate on global policy issues. To the professors, peers, mentors and day-to-day staff members whom I interact with, who saw my potential, this is my heartfelt thank you. Gettysburg will forever be a part of me.
Some of the most-loved places on campus are the buildings, whether for classes or memories with friends.
(Photos William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Student Perspectives
By Zach Brooks, Magazine Editor and Social Media Manager
I’ve had the pleasure of calling myself an English major at Gettysburg College since declaring my sophomore year. One of my favorite memories from that day was getting my “signing bonus;” a red travel mug with the outline of Breidenbaugh Hall on it.
Reflecting on my experiences, I get to say I had fun in most all my English classes, particularly the three Shakespeare courses I’ve taken with Prof. D’Addario.
Other highlights include writing a feature length screenplay in Prof. Rhett’s Screenwriting class and studying some of my favorite works by the Brontes like Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Shirley with Prof. Corbes-Selbin. We often say in the English Department that the English major is one of the most versatile degrees preparing you for careers in anything from archives, marketing, teaching and more. I encourage anyone unsure of their futures to explore the English major. ∎
By Evan Hillborn, Guest Columnist
Looking back on my time at Gettysburg it's hard to narrow down my experience to key events. I recently had my senior recital, which to me will forever be the pinnacle of my work here. However, I think the most important change in my experience was me finally deciding where I want to go with my life.
Over the summer before my senior year, I studied abroad in Bath, England with the Advanced Studies in England program. In the theater program, I worked with people who challenged me and created scenarios that were uncomfortable, but not in a way that was harmful. Instead, it made me think, adapt, and redirect my own expectations. By doing so it put me in a state of disequilibrium which drew me to want to learn more.
One of the most important moments that I was drawn to was a performance of Guys and Dolls the musical off the west end. Guys and Dolls already holds a special place in my heart as the first musical l performed. I still remember getting so emotional during the show stopping tune, "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat."
After the first two encores I didn't think I could get anymore wrapped into it, but sure enough as the third encore came, I began bawling out of pure unadulterated joy. I just knew, this is what I want to do.
Now, as I'm nearing the end of my education at Gettysburg and looking into what I want afterwards, I'm more driven than ever to make that a reality. I'm going to be taking a gap year after this to develop my own skills and focus time into what I need to achieve my goals. Working with my voice teacher and hopefully looking to perform with a professional theater. Then potentially either preparing auditions for graduate school or continuing on with professional theater.
I'm sad to leave Gettysburg, but I've never felt more ready to go on my own and take everything I learned. ∎
(Photos William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Political Endorsements: Are Celebrities Making a Difference?
By Kenzie Smith, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Politics have been at the front-andcenter of mainstream media and societal attention this year due to the divisive and heated presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and these political tensions have not been absent in the sphere of Hollywood. There have been a number of celebrities that have come forward to endorse one candidate or another, or to even speak about why they chose to not endorse either.
Rising pop star Chappell Roan faced criticism when she abstained from endorsing a presidential candidate and stated in an interview with The Guardian, “There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides.”
After receiving a large amount of criticism, Roan went to TikTok to defend her view, stating, “Endorsing and voting are completely different” and “[t]here’s no way I can stand behind some of the left’s completely transphobic and completely genocidal views.” Roan went on to say that although she was voting for Harris, she was “not settling for what has been offered.”
While Roan refused to endorse a candidate and instead encouraged voters to use their own critical thinking skills, some other celebrities have been putting much more effort into making an endorsement, such as Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day,
who on the day before the election encouraged all voters, even those in California, to “get out and vote for blue just because we need numbers.”
Green Day, as a whole, changed the lyrics of their 2004 hit “American Idiot” from “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda” in January of this year, showing their opposition to Trump. The band also made history during their “Saviors Tour,” which registered over 7,900 new voters and engaged over 61,000, breaking a HeadCount record for most voters engaged for a single tour. HeadCount is a nonpartisan organization that works to register young voters by meeting them “where they already are,” such as at festivals, concerts and community events.
Executive director of HeadCount Lucille Wenegieme spoke on why HeadCount can achieve such numbers: “Our model works because musicians and celebrities have a cultural cache and an intimate connection with their fans, especially among young people, whose identity as a fan of a particular artist can be even stronger than other aspects of their identity, including affiliation with a political party or candidate.” Celebrities also show their endorsement of a candidate outside of partnerships, such as through interviews, social media, and other platforms. This year, Sexyy Red shifted her support from Trump to Harris, making a post on X
on Nov. 1, stating, “I just voted!!! Don’t tell us what to do with our c****ies!! #Kamala4President.”
Trump still had multiple celebrities weigh their support his way, such as Elon Musk, who Trump plans to appoint as lead of his new “Department of Government Efficiency.” Kid Rock and Azealia Banks also endorsed Trump.
When speaking on her endorsement of Trump in an interview with the Evening Standard, Banks stated, “He’s just f***ing funny. He’s been through how many bankruptcies? How many wives? How many television shows? Seriously, nothing can take him down.”
Despite celebrities’ impact on voter registration, Hamline University political science professor David Schultz said in a CBS news article that overwhelmingly, celebrity endorsements do not make much of an impact in election results. There can be exceptions to this rule, though, such as Oprah Winfrey most likely helping Barack Obama win the 2008 Democratic primary over Hillary Clinton or in very close elections celebrities, such as Taylor Swift, convincing a more indifferent populus to cast a vote.
Overall, celebrity endorsements are unlikely to influence or change election results, so perhaps there was some merit when Chappell Roan encouraged voters to use their own critical thinking skills when looking at political candidates instead of pressuring celebrities to make an endorsement. ∎
Opinion: The Fate of Political Theory at Gettysburg College
By Terra Hobler, Opinions Editor
Political science is currently the largest major by student participation on campus. The size of their department allows it to specialize into four different tracks: American government, international relations, comparative government and political theory. Each student majoring in political science is required to take three intro courses of different tracks and then continue to take upper level classes in two.
The existence of political theory, as a standalone track that students can take many classes of varying levels, is part of what makes the Gettysburg political science department so noteworthy and is at least partially responsible for my decision to attend the school to begin with.
My favorite class that I took my first semester here at Gettysburg was professor Kevin Pham’s intro to political theory class, which exposed me to a wide array of different ideas of how society and government could be organized, and different rationalizations for each of them. I had never been humbled so quickly at the abysmal lack of knowledge I had on the topic considering I had known I wanted to major in political science for several years prior.
That is what college is about; being thrust into environments where you need to confront your own ignorance and then having the opportunity to fill the cracks in your understanding of the world. Before I got to take my second political theory course, however,
Pham left to transfer to a different university. This left the political theory track without its sole professor, and professor Chungjae Lee was hired to take up the mantle Pham had left behind with little notice or time to plan before the fall 2023 semester started. Of course, the disruption caused by Pham’s departure stood as a testament to the fragility of political theory at Gettysburg College, as any subject with a single professor is likely to be.
Gettysburg College was on full display last fall, yet it seems that the circumstances of such rapid change have been left untouched. Without providing a tenure track position for professors of political theory we can have no expectation that they will stick around to continue teaching here, and we should not be surprised if the situation that unfolded over the summer of 2023 were to happen again.
To compound on the issue of having one professor teaching political theory, there is also the matter of tenure; of which there is none. Forcing a single professor to bear the burden of an entire quarter of the largest department on campus all the while not providing any promise of future employment is not a winning strategy for keeping faculty content at the College.
The fragility of political theory at
This is not just a matter of faculty satisfaction. The absence of a stable professorial staff capable of teaching political theory leaves all students interested in studying the subject vulnerable to having their passion swept out from under their feet. There is already no capstone available for the political theory track, forcing all students who have committed one of their two tracks to theory to take their capstone in their second track; a track they might be less passionate about.
The student experience has always been at the forefront of decisionmaking for the College, yet the calculations of how to spend finite funds often seem contradictory to this goal.
If you were to ask me if I would rather have political theory as a part of the political science major, or a new "beer garden," I would choose the former every time. ∎
Inside Art House: A Creative and Close-Knit Residential Community at Gettysburg College
By Ainsley Green, Staff Writer, and Katie Lauriello, Lead Copyeditor
Gettysburg College is home to 18 unique housing options that focus on fostering connections between students with a variety of interests, from the arts to STEM. A relatively new addition to the themed houses on campus is Art House, which is home to ten students this year. This is the second year students have lived in Art House, and interest and participation in their community continues to rise. As the name suggests, Art House builds a community of art appreciators and creators alike, no matter what academic major the residents are, and aims to bring art into the lives of the residents and to the campus in a unique way.
The mission of Art House in the College House Directory echoes that message. According to their statement, the house is “a haven for art enthusiasts and creative souls alike,” where they believe in celebrating the “beauty, expression, and diversity of artistic endeavors.”
“Whether you are an avid art collector, a budding artist seeking inspiration or simply someone who appreciates the beauty of creative expression, Art House welcomes you to experience a world where art transcends boundaries and enriches lives,” the statement reads.
Art House is not only a residential community but also an outlet for creative-minded students to collaborate with other campus groups. House leader Maddy Swicord ’26 joined Art House as soon as she heard about it. Although she has created art her whole life, she had little desire to pursue the subject academically and struggled to find ways to express her passion with other people outside of that area.
Swicord took the position of house leader because of the opportunity to grow her leadership skills and have a greater impact on the art community at the College.
“I have loved living in Art House and I knew I would before I even moved in.”
- Xander Romendio ’27
“[Art House] allowed me to stay in the art world without having to commit to it on a schedule, and it was more substantial than just being in an art club because I was living in a place dedicated to art,” said Swicord.
“I love Art House, and I feel nothing but lucky to be the house leader of Art House for a second year. Being a house leader is an incredible opportunity to shape a vibrant, inclusive community where artists on campus feel welcomed and valued. This is because the social culture that Art House creates is one of inclusivity, positivity and creativity,” said Swicord.
Xander Romendio ’27, a member of Listeners & Performers, spent a lot of time in Art House, finding his way to the space through friends as a first-year. Now, he is a member of the residential community and continues to make memories with his housemates.
“The events we host are also always super enjoyable and I can’t wait to see what they attract for next year!” said Romendio, reflecting on how events hosted by Art House are grabbing people’s attention around campus.
From the beginning, the events at Art House have captured the attention of the campus community. As one of the newer houses, Swicord had little expectations that people would attend their first event of the semester. She planned an event to make tote bags with first years on Aug. 22, one of several events hosted by the college houses to introduce incoming students to the housing program. She bought a few bags, certainly not enough for the 40 students who showed up that night. The tote bag decoration event set the tone for the rest of the semester. Swicord saw this in a recent event, recalling, “My favorite house event was the Halloween party we had in collaboration with Farm House and Education House. Listeners & Performers performed, with three different bands playing a mix of covers and original music.”
“I love Art House, and I feel nothing but lucky to be the house leader of Art House for a second year. Being a house leader is an incredible opportunity to shape a vibrant, inclusive community where artists on campus feel welcomed and valued. This is because the social culture that Art House creates is one of inclusivity, positivity and creativity.”
- Maddy Swicord
’26
The passions of Listeners & Performers, a group of musicians performing gigs around Gettysburg, and Farm House, another residential community promoting sustainability, meshed with those of the residents of Art House, culminating in an event to remember.
“Our own residents were a huge part of the live music performance, and everyone else came in costumes that really showed their creative artistic abilities,” said Swicord. “When someone lives in Art House, they are welcomed into an artistic support system.”
Another example of a popular collaboration event is Emo Nite, which also took place in October in the Attic. Listeners & Performers bands No Lamps and Midnight Crisis took the stage to provide live music for the event, and it was planned by many of the themed houses on campus, including Art House, Blue Note Jazz House and Harmony House. Each house’s community focus came to life in planning the event, creating an atmosphere that was welcoming to many students on campus.
“Having Art House on campus
adds a lot to the art community because it allows for people to live in housing that will give them social opportunities. It allows them to take that interest into their social life. It’s more than their academic life,” said Swicord.
Swicord plans to keep up the momentum in their events for the rest of the semester. In December, Art House plans to host a Christmas card photo shoot, where students can take pictures of themselves or their friends to send to others for Christmas. In the spring, she has even more events in the works. As the Art Genre Head of the Mercury, Swicord is also thinking of hosting an art submission event in the spring.
“I have loved living in Art House and I knew I would before I even moved in,” said Romendio. “Maddy Swicord, the house leader, does such a good job making the building feel inviting,” attributing a part of the success of the house to being based on student leadership.
Emily Kreider ’24 is another resident of the house this semester, who joined the group after getting a positive recommendation from her friends.
Beyond the events hosted by the house itself, Kreider brings her passion for supporting her housemates to their own events, like the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Listeners & Performers.
“Art House supports every kind of artist-- it's a community where we not only create art but also form connections with each other and each other's passions,” said Kreider. ∎
Inside the house, the residents decorate with hand-drawn artworks.
Located in Constitution Apartments, members of Art House share a common area and kitchen.
Maddy Swicord ’26 is the house leader of Art House.
Colorful posters on lit bulletin boards.
What Does the Future Hold for Gettysburg Football?
By Owen Kutlu, Sports Editor
When it comes to college sports, football tends to garner the most support and following. A good football program can define an entire school and their athletics as a whole. However, this is not the case with Gettysburg College. In recent years, Gettysburg’s football program has taken a back seat to a majority of other sports due to the consistent lack of winning seasons.
While there is still some talk about the team and they hold relevant status on campus, a large portion of students don’t seem to care too much about what happens in Musselman Stadium on Saturdays in the fall. After all, why should they? The program has not put up more than three wins in a season since 2015. Losses have become expected and nothing has changed.
To give Gettysburg the benefit of the doubt, they play in what could be argued as one of the best conferences in Division III football. Containing yearly powerhouses such as Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Ursinus, and now adding Carnegie Mellon to the conference, the schedule is tough no matter the strength of the team.
Despite the Bullets underwhelming record this year, there have been marginal improvements seen from the past few years. Games that were once blowouts have now become closer losses. It is still not where the team would like to be, but things have been progressing in a positive direction.
So, how can Gettysburg continue to turn things around and get back to competing with the best? To start, the most important aspect that can be looked at is coaching.
Everything stems from the coaching staff: player development, gameday decisions and recruiting. The current Gettysburg football head coach is Maurice “Moe” Banks, who is coaching his fifth season with the team. Banks boasts an impressive resume, previously coaching at both Georgetown University (his alma mater) and the University of Pennsylvania.
Banks took over the team in 2020 after a 1-9 campaign in 2019 led to the Bullets parting ways with former head coach Kevin Burke. In his introductory press conference, Banks declared that Gettysburg was “going to win some football games” and “pushing to win the Centennial Conference Championship.” It is safe to say that in his tenure those statements have come up short. Banks displays a serious, hardheaded coaching style, not showing much emotion on the sideline and demanding a high standard of effort from his players. Every morning in season, the Bullets wake up at the crack of dawn to take the field for practice. While it seems like a solid tactic to teach discipline, there may be a chance it is stretching the players thin. Being a student-athlete is not easy while in season, and this early morning wake up strategy could be catching up to the players on gameday, giving their bodies and minds limited time to rest and
recover throughout the week. Player development is another concerning topic. The depth of the Gettysburg roster is limited, as the team performs significantly worse when they are down starters due to injury. While the talent and skill gap may be different between the first-team and the rest of the squad, the team sometimes seems unprepared to battle with the adversity of injuries. It is on the coaches to have every player ready for game action no matter their role on the team.
The in-game decisions by Banks also leave some room to be desired. Earlier in the season against Montclair State, Banks sent out the field goal unit on a short fourth down deep in Red Hawk territory at the end of the third quarter with Gettysburg up by a score. Gettysburg had kicking problems all season leading up that moment. That field goal ended up being blocked and returned for a touchdown to give Montclair State life and bring them back into the game. The Bullets would go on to lose the game by a single point. You can’t help but think that if the decision was made to keep the offense on the field while they were moving the ball well and go for it on fourth down, the outcome of the game would have been different. While all the blame cannot be directed at a single person, if a team is failing, the head coach is usually the first person to get the finger pointed at them. With Banks’ contract running out after
the season, it is unclear what plans Executive Director of Athletics Mike Mattia has in store. If he believes in what Banks has done so far, there is a chance that he could renew his deal. On the other hand, he could see the minimal improvement through Banks’ tenure and move in a different direction by cleaning house and hiring new staff. The latter seems more likely at this moment in time.
No matter who the next head coach of the football program is, the future of the team lies within the players. The recruiting has seemed to pick up in the past couple of years, with each class providing some key contributors. While there are some notable names graduating after this season, the core of the team is relatively young.
Quarterback Rocco Abdinoor ’26 will have one more year at the helm to build upon what was his best season thus far. Abdinoor is a freak athlete who’s best trait is his ability to extend plays with his legs and make something out of nothing. In the backfield, Michael Zrelak ’26
also leads the Bullets offense, arguably being the best back in the entire conference. The offensive line has a wealth of young talent including Will Abney ’27 and Casey Cavanaugh ’27, who were thrust into starting roles this year and have done a nice job. The position group with the most potential for the future might just be the receiving corps. Walle Harwigsson Lundblad ’26 leads the way as the top receiver, but the group has already seen production from the freshman class. Nick Wonsala ’28, Edison Case ’28, and Danny Bonato ’28 headline the impressive youngsters that have seen the field this year. With help from Luke Denison ’26 and Josh Burke ’26, there is a boatload of depth to surround Abdinoor with weapons next year.
The future of the offense looks to be in very good hands and the defense is not far behind. Linebacker Nate DeLorenzo ’26 has been the name to watch this year, putting up numbers worthy of consideration for defensive player of the year in the conference. Stonehill College transfer Zach Chostaka ’27 has been a massive
addition to the unit, always seeming to be around the football. Along with that, Anad Charles ’27 and Ryan Weems ’27 have proven to be solid defensive backs to hold down the secondary.
The defensive side of the ball has been haunted by injuries throughout the season, leaving them searching for answers week in and week out. If Gettysburg can keep players on the field moving forward, there is an extremely high ceiling for what the team is capable of.
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered when it comes to the future of Gettysburg football, however, the pieces are there for them to turn their struggles around. With a new recruiting class incoming and current players getting another year of development and experience under their belts, things seem to be trending in the right direction for the Bullets. Now, they just have to put everything together. ∎
View from the stands at the 2024 Alumni Weekend football game against Christopher Newport University.
Opinion: Every Nice Tree is Twenty Years Old
By Logan Troy, Guest Columnist
The U.S. Northeast has been engulfed in drought for nearly all of autumn. Wildfires have ravaged large swaths of land across the Atlantic seaboard, just as the World Meteorological Organization has announced that 2024 is the warmest year on record. 2024 specifically gets to boast the hottest summer ever recorded worldwide. The truth stares us in the face. “Climate Havens” like the hills of North Carolina and the mild Northeast have now come to see the effects of a warming world paired with anti-green infrastructure. A single tree can cool the air around it by an average of ten degrees. For shaded surfaces, it is an average of 20 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Tree canopies absorb and diffuse the sun’s radiation. Further, unlike manmade infrastructure like rooftops, cars and parking lots, trees do not retain heat for long periods and diffuse heat islands rather than create them. When looking at the collapse of regular weather events in an ever-warming climate, the future may seem daunting. However, by planting a single tree you can reduce air temperature through shade, help preserve fresh water, sequester carbon and add a touch of life to your property.
Planting trees will not offset the whole of global warming. That is a project governments and corporations motivated by people must address and solve. Planting a tree is a way to offset the extreme effects of weather over your life and neighborhood. Choosing what trees to plant is an important task. Your hardiness zone is calculated based on the average cold temperatures of your area. Every plant is assigned their proper
hardiness zone of the temperature range they can handle. Every nice tree you see was planted twenty years ago. When choosing your tree, you need to consider the trends of the future. A warmer, drier and potentially more polluted air supply is what vast regions of the world face. Gettysburg is hardiness zone 7a, meaning when choosing a tree, it must be hardy to zone 7a. Ideally, you choose plants that have some wiggle room in case of a severe weather event. To make it easy, I have selected some top trees for your big lawn, or your small patch of grass, that can greatly improve the quality of your Gettysburg neighborhood.
Small Trees:
Japanese Maple
A small deciduous tree. The Japanese Maple is not native but is not considered invasive. It is one of the most abundant ornamental trees. Simple, small and pretty, it is perfect for any small patch of grass or dirt needing a tree.
Eastern Redbud
Eastern Redbud is a native, small to medium deciduous tree. This drought resistant tree gives off displays of purple flowers in spring and provides adequate shade in summer.
Fig Tree
Figs are not native but are not considered invasive. At lower elevations they make excellent fruit trees, provide ample shade and tolerate droughts after their first season in the ground. Due to warming temperatures, Figs are doing increasingly well in the Northeast.
Large Trees:
Eastern White Pine
A native evergreen tree, generally reaching 200 years old with a 150foot height and 40-inch diameter. Fast growing and does excellent as a standalone tree. Very adaptable. Perfect for a large lawn or backyard.
Willow Oak
A native deciduous tree, with the potential to reach 100 feet. One of the most drought tolerant Oaks. Puts on a brilliant display of orange in autumn. Great shade tree. Valuable for local wildlife.
Eastern Red Cedar
A native evergreen tree, reaching 50 feet. This tree is adapted for direct sunlight, giving it a long growing season, exceptional drought and high heat tolerance. Does well in poor soils and can grow virtually anywhere planted. Berries are very valuable for wildlife.
No matter what you are looking for or how much space you have, if you have the means to plant, always do. The impact of a single tree, bush or flower is monumental for local environments. Better your local community and add some shade to your property. ∎
(Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
The Crossword
By Cassidy Haines,
Assistant Magazine
Editor
Across
1. Shaking my head (abbr.)
3. Not under, but __
7. The part of your eye that has color
8. A bird known for its hoot and association with Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom
10. Academic Free License (abbr.)
11. Someone you’d work together with; NOT 16 Down
12. A shorter way of saying modification
13. A __ day is a great way to have a selfcare day!
15. Known for social and philanthropic efforts, this is a way to get involved on campus; part of the clue for 3 Down
18. It is important to __ before you speak
20. At college, learning to do your __ while sharing a kitchen is very necessary!
23. “Bang,” “crash” and “__” are examples of onomatopoeias, or sound words
24. __ Science is a minor offered at Gettysburg College, perfect for numberminded people
25. __ ‘n’ roll music emerged in the United States in the 1950s
26. Short word for anger, rage or fury
27. Root Cause Analysis (abbr.)
29. A sport with nets; Gettysburg has a men’s and women’s team in the Centennial Conference
30. Road traffic accident (abbr.)
34. Lair or cave
35. Professors Benjamin Luley and Kirby Farah share a specialty in __; this program has a dig site in front of Pennsylvania Hall
38. This STEM department is where Professors Amy Dailey, Josef Brandauer and Megan Benka-Coker teach
Down
1. Lingo, street talk, colloquialisms
2. According to their blurb on the College House Directory, __ House is “intended to be a home-awayfrom-home for Jewish students” at Gettysburg
3. Office of Student Activities and Greek Life (abbr.)
4. Some poems __, but not all
5. Snoopy’s best friend in the Peanuts universe
6. A form of instrumental music and a period of ancient Greek art
9. November’s main holiday; a great time to see family and feast on fall foods
14. A “dad joke” can also be a __
16. An enemy; NOT 11 Across
17. The central star of our solar system; we call it the __
19. The __ of the Chemistry Department is Professor Donald Jameson
20. Deoxyribonucleic acid (abbr.) –yours is unique to you!
21. Hammerhead, tiger and nurse are examples of this animal
22. Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (abbr.)
24. Fiasco, catastrophe, mess
25. Clatters or clanks; disturbs or shakes
28. A large fish in the mackerel family which sounds like the Spanish word for zero
30. Small Business Administration (abbr.)
31. A steamed bun with various fillings inside
32. Before falling asleep, you must __ down
34. “CD” stands for Compact ___
36. Servo, Bullet Hole and Gettysburg Smoothie Co. are where you can __ on campus
Kenzie
Sophie
Owen
Sarah
Katie