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Volume CXX, No. 1
Blasts from the past
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Thursday, August 24, 2017
Thursday, August 24, 2017
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Welcome, Gettysburg Class of 2021!
This week in 1946, Gettysburg College announced that its enrollment had reached a record high of 1000 students including a freshman class of 300 students. Of those 300 students, 75% were military veterans, while the remaining 25% came directly from high school, a new ratio to ensure that some students would be admitted from high school. Many students were also resuming their studies after military service in World War II; in fact, the class size of 1000 students was more than double the enrollment of the previous fall. The Gettysburgian also noted, “... twelve girls will be in the freshman class next fall and these coeds will commute daily from their homes.”
This week in 1992, the newly-established Center for Public Service introduced the first annual Gettysburg Is Volunteering -- more commonly known as GIV -- day as an effort to connect students to ongoing opportunities for community service. Activities included recording English language tapes to be used to teach migrant workers, participating in a square dance with nursing home residents, and creating a skit for school children on avoiding sexual overtures. The tradition continues to this day. This week in 2007, the opening issue of The Gettysburgian published a special feature on “Eating Out in Gettysburg” that identified The Pub & Restaurant as the best restaurant when parents are paying (followed by the Dobbin House, a close second) and Ernie’s Texas Lunch as the overall best choice for college students. The feature also rated the best Mediterranean, Mexican, pizza, and diner named after the 16th President of the United States. It’s no surprise which establishment won the last one … These archived “blasts from the past” were compiled by managing news editor Benjamin Pontz thanks to Special Collections in Musselman Library.
Clockwise from top left, incoming first-years and contributing writers to The Gettysburgian Marisa Balanda, Peter Zhang, Stephanie Osman, Maddie Neiman, Gauri Mangala, and Jennifer Clogg share their experiences as part of our new “Dodging the Bullet” series, which appears on pages one, three, and four.
First-years encouraged to First-year reflects on ask “why” at Convocation move-in experience
B y B enjamin P ontz M anaging N ews E ditor Under clear skies and amid less heat than earlier in the week, the 728 students who comprise the Class of 2021 along with 10 transfer students gathered before Beachem Portico to officially matriculate as Gettysburg College students in the 186th Opening Convocation ceremony. After the faculty processional, Dr. Kristin Largen, Associate Dean of Religious & Spiritual Life and College Chaplain, offered an invocation, Dr. Christopher Zappe, Provost, delivered opening remarks, and Gail Sweezey, Director of Admissions, officially presented the incoming class to the faculty. Dr. McKinley Melton, Assistant Professor of English, took the podium as the keynote speaker. He discussed the importance of asking “why,” juxtaposing the boundless curiosity of toddlers with the lack of “coolness” in exposing the vulnerability of not knowing. He urged the incoming class to be just as intellectually curious as they once were by committing to “rediscover the power and potential of the word ‘why.’” On the heels of a violent protest by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which one person was killed after a man drove his car through a crowded street, Melton said that the incident reminds us that “college campuses
Inside This Issue
During the first week of classes in 1985, The Gettysburgian reported that the freshman class size of 575 students created problems for the college that required the addition of four additional course sections. A greater issue, however, was housing: the college ultimately built eight-student suites in the basements of three freshman residence halls, placed students in the freshman hall study rooms, the Health Center, and Plank House, which formerly housed the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.
Tour of the new Bullet Hole, pg. 2
are often more ideological battleground than idyllic bubble.” “The images that came to us from Charlottesville in particular evidence the necessity of why and the need to critically interrogate the motivations for such acts of domestic terrorism, to question the narratives that emerge in response, to ask ourselves why we collectively continue to embrace such simplified stories of heroes, victims and villains, to ask why we become so comfortable with how consistently we cast the roles.” he said. “Why do we cling so stubbornly to a past that has never proven true? Why do we commit monuments and memorials to the myths of who we were, refuse the reality of who we are, and bind ourselves from becoming what we have the potential to be?” Melton charged the Class of 2021 to become uncomfortable by engaging in debate that is “equal parts respectful and fearless” and not to
be afraid of changing an ideological position if confronted with evidence or logic to the contrary. “In a world like this,” he said, “intellectual dexterity is greatly to be praised.” Orientation coordinator Jessica Hubert then shared reflections from her time at Gettysburg and urged students to help push the college’s quest towards equality and justice forward. After President Janet Morgan Riggs encouraged students to be mindful of their surroundings and intentional in their interactions -- framing her remarks around a quote from David Foster Wallace about fish in water, senior Rick Hale led the Class of 2021 in singing the Alma Mater, his soaring vibrato enveloping the surrounding area. With that, the incoming first-year students processed through Penn Hall, symbolically becoming members of the campus community, and headed on to begin the rest of their Orientation experience.
A view of the crowd that attended the 186th Opening Convocation on Wednesday; Photo Jamie Welch / The Gettysburgian
“Dodging the Bullet: The First Year Journal”, pg. 3
Summer research spotlights, pg. 5
B y M addie N eiman C ontributing W riter A certain anxiety and excitement surrounded the moment that I opened the door to the room in which I will spend my first year of college. After all, I knew that the space between these four, cream-colored walls would have the potential to become a second home to me. With my hands full of extra-large shopping bags and my parents and grandparents following behind me (hands equally occupied with Tupperware and cardboard containers), I unlocked the door to my Hanson Hall room with a heavy dose of apprehension. Although bare and a tad warm, the room quickly eased my concerns with its open space, standard but practical furniture, and overall potential for coziness. Some of the extra amenities (especially the built-in air conditioner that I much appreciated and immediately utilized) made the room even more appealing, and I could feel myself warming to the area – even as the AC cooled it. Relief, however, turned into chaos within a few minutes. While a team of five people meant that we could accomplish more in those precious move-in hours, a college dorm room should not have five people simultaneously scrambling through half-emptied bags to find sheets and bed risers and the undeniably valuable Command strips and hooks. Questions, advice and warnings assailed me as my attention diverted from hanging a mirror to storing my sweaters to “where are the outlets?”
The art we forget about, pg. 6
Move-in ended at noon, and, with an hour to spare, all of us – except for my grandfather, who wisely elected to wander the campus instead – piled into my mom’s Subaru for a last-minute trip to Walmart. “We’re out of here in twenty minutes,” I commanded as we pulled into the parking lot. Once inside the store, we delegated responsibilities and split up. At around 11:20, we regrouped near the cash registers with a carpet, curtains, an extra power strip, milk (to accompany my grandmother’s homemade cookies), Hershey chocolate, a mini light, and a decorative globe. (Not all of these items were on the original list.) After barely avoiding a fender-bender skidding out of the parking space, we made it back to campus in less than ten minutes. The addition of the carpet and curtains added an immediate classiness to the room, but the rest of the purchases ended up with a pile of decorations and miscellaneous items that I would later tackle for two hours after a trip for fresh peach ice cream from Mr. G’s. By midnight of my move-in day, I had conquered all of my renovations and amassed a small list of “Things I Forgot to Pack.” The space felt more comfortable, and although it was still missing half of its personality with my roommate moving in a few days later, I could foresee glimmers of studying at my desk (decorated with half of Staples) and pinning photos to my bulletin board of me with new friends and new adventures at Gettysburg.
Recording our opposition, pg. 7
Bullets football preview, pg. 8