News@Gettysburg

Experience Commencement Weekend 2013 through photos

Sun, 19 May 2013 05:33:49 EDT

Were you not able to make it to town for Gettysburg College’s 178th Commencement? Or were you here, and had such a great time that you want to relive the exciting events? Maybe you were so immersed in the pomp and tradition of the weekend that you didn’t have a chance to take too many photographs for yourself.

If you fit into any of these categories, we invite you to check out photos from the May 19 Commencement ceremony in the gallery below.

View Sunday's photos on Flickr

But, that’s not all! What would Commencement be with out the exciting events that lead up to the ceremony? Don’t forget to look at the photos from Saturday, May 18, which include Baccalaureate, the ROTC commissioning ceremony, and more.

View Saturday's photos on Flickr

Additional coverage of Commencement 2013; highlights of the ceremony.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition. Alumni include Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate, and other distinguished scholars. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Nikki Rhoads, senior assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803
Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521

David Gergen connects students’ passion for service to Gettysburg's history

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:08:01 EDT

David Gergen, political commentator and former presidential advisor, spoke to 639 graduates May 19 at Gettysburg College’s 178th Commencement Exercises, connecting students’ passion for service to the history of Gettysburg.

“The spirit of Gettysburg College [is] a spirit in which all of you take justifiable pride,” Gergen said. “It has often struck me that this devotion to service and leadership, so carefully cultivated on this campus, is deeply rooted in the soil of the battlefields nearby. It calls to you these days just as the bugles called men and women to service in the war to save the Union.”

He provided examples of great service from the past – both in Gettysburg and beyond – and noted that many young men and women who have made a difference have served out of duty and honor. Gergen borrowed from the American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., saying that their “hearts were touched with fire.”

“What I see here and on other campuses across the country – and what distinguishes your generation – is a revival of the spirit that we have often seen when times are tough – from the Revolution of 1776 to the Civil War to the Great Depression and World War II. I see an America where Millennials are lining up, eager to serve,” he continued. “You, too, will have your ‘hearts touched with fire’ if you leave here to enlist in causes greater than yourself, if you sign up out of honor and duty, and if you come to work and love those at your side.”

President Janet Morgan Riggs, a 1977 graduate of the College, echoed Gergen’s message in her charge and parting words to the Class of 2013.

“My charge to you is simple. Use what you’ve learned here. Wherever you are, whatever you do, you can make a difference. You can offer solutions to problems, you can treat colleagues with compassion, you can find a better way of getting a task done, you can offer a helping hand, you can start a business, you can serve as a role model, you can write or perform music, you can counsel and support the mentally ill, you can represent someone in court, you can work towards a cure for disease, you can run for public office, you can manufacture or sell a product that will make someone’s life easier or happier. Whatever you do, wherever you live, you can infuse into your work and your community high aspirations, good will, compassion and respect for others, and integrity. Class of 2013, we are all counting on you to make a difference – and you will,” Riggs said.

Student speaker Anthony Palmer, a member of the Class of 2013, reflected on something else that makes Gettysburg College a great community – the personal, human experience.

“Gettysburg is about the human experience. About passion, people, and treating your work like art,” Palmer said. “In a question and answer session on Twitter, someone asked President Riggs, ‘What makes Gettysburg special?’ ‘That’s easy,’ she answered. ‘It’s the people.’ It is the people. If there’s one thing we’ve learned here, it’s that people matter.”

In addition to Gergen receiving a Doctor of Public Service, honorary Doctor of Science in International Relations was presented to Julia Chang Bloch, the first Asian American in United States history to hold the rank of ambassador, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters was presented to Jennifer Bryant ’82, a writer of biographies, novels and poems.

John Commito, professor of Environmental Studies, received the Gettysburg College Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Tom '60 and Joan Wachob '60 Norris received the Lavern H. Brenneman Award for exemplary service to Gettysburg College.

Additional coverage of Commencement 2013, including photos and videos.

Contact: Nikki Rhoads, senior assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803

Doing great work: Meet this year's graduates

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:16:21 EDT

Gettysburg College students truly do great work! Discover how six members of the Class of 2013 are using their Gettysburg education to impact campus and their communities.

Hilary Landfried '13 has conducted research in Switzerland, studied abroad in Germany, Nepal, and Bhutan, and traveled to Uganda for a Heston Summer Experience.

Watch video

Joe Miller '13 has participated in a variety of activities, including serving as a Center for Public Service project coordinator and a Mellon Summer Scholar.

Erin Richards '13 showcased how Gettysburg College women contributed to the home front effort during World War II through the United Service Organization.

Allan Kawala '13 has served as an agent of peace on campus since first learning about the College through the United States Achievers Program while living in Malawi, Africa.

Cam Nguyen '13 has a desire to combine her passions for health and justice to reduce health disparities in underserved communities around the world.

Watch video

Anthony Palmer '13, a first generation college student, has learned from leaders in political science, including Prof. Shirley Anne Warshaw and Susan Eisenhower.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521
Nikki Rhoads, senior assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803

Jenn Springer Patterson ’03 is exercise rider of Derby champ

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:39:32 EDT

“Do great work.” One has to wonder if Jenn Springer Patterson ’03 has been whispering this Gettysburg College motto into the ear of Orb, the horse that captured the national spotlight and hearts of sports fans everywhere by winning the 2013 Kentucky Derby.

Patterson serves as the exercise rider of Orb, a role where she logs hundreds of hours aboard the champion carrying out conditioning plans. Her efforts, essential to Orb’s success, helped propel the horse to a 2 minute 2.89 second race time and the ceremonial garland of roses at Churchill Downs.

“While I was in College, I thought I would have been doing something else,” said Patterson, who graduated from Gettysburg with a degree in management, but never strayed far from the stables.

While pursuing her undergrad, she worked alongside trainer Ricky Hendricks during summer breaks and rode flat races on the jumps circuit—satisfying a passion she’s had for riding since receiving her first pony at the age of 3.

“I love waking up in the morning and coming to a job like this, working with these kind of horses, and the good people I get to work with.”

One special person to Patterson is renowned trainer Shug McGaugery. As McGaugery’s assistant, she not only gets to regularly workout Orb, but also many other of the sport’s elite equine athletes, including multiple Grade I winner Point of Entry and Virginia Derby titleholder Air Support.

“It is a lot of fun. I have learned a lot from Shug,” Patterson said. “He is a very good guy who takes very good care of his help. He is very easy to work for and to work with. I do not feel like I work for him as much as I feel like I work with him, which is really nice.”

Article derived from the New York Post, ESPN, and DelawarePark.com. Photos from Newsday, ESPN, and Yahoo News.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521.

Guelzo releases new book on Battle of Gettysburg in advance of 150th anniversary

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:05:04 EDT

A Gettysburg College professor released a new book on the Battle of Gettysburg less than two months ahead of the 150th anniversary of the Battle.

Allen Guelzo, Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and director of Civil War Era Studies, released Gettysburg: The Last Invasion (available from Knopf) on May 14.

To kick off the release, Guelzo conducted a book signing on May 14 in the main lobby of the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. Books are available for purchase online and in the Gettysburg College Bookstore.

Gettysburg: The Last Invasion is an intimate and richly readable account of the battle, drawing the reader into the muck and grime of Gettysburg alongside the ordinary soldier. Guelzo illustrates the face, sights, and sounds of combat: the stone walls and gunpowder clouds of Pickett’s Charge; the reason that the Army of Northern Virginia could be smelled before it could be seen; and the march of thousands of men from the banks of the Rappahannock in Virginia to the Pennsylvania hills.

What emerges is a previously untold story, from the personal politics roiling the Union and Confederate officer ranks, to the peculiar character of artillery units. Through such scrutiny the cornerstone battle of the Civil War is given extraordinarily vivid new life.

Of what sets Gettysburg: The Last Invasion apart from other books about the Battle of Gettysburg, Guelzo said, “Politics. The American Civil War was, at bottom, a political war, so we shouldn’t be surprised, then, to find that politics slopped-over into military decision-making at Gettysburg.”

“Despite all that has been written about the battle of Gettysburg, Allen Guelzo provides new information and insights in this stirring account. Readers will find much to think about in this book,” said James McPherson, historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Guelzo is the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College. He is also the author of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America and Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President, both winners of the Lincoln Prize. Guelzo’s essays, reviews and articles have appeared in publications ranging from The American Historical Review and The Wilson Quarterly to newspapers such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Wall Street Journal.

Bullets cruise past Rowan 17-5, advance in NCAA tournament

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:47:42 EDT

Not even a near-two hour weather delay could stop the Gettysburg College women's lacrosse team in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament as the fifth-ranked Bullets stormed past Rowan University 17-5 on Wednesday at Clark Field.

Gettysburg (19-1) and Rowan (11-6) suffered through a long delay following halftime as thunderstorms swept through the area east of town. The outcome was already heavily in favor of the hosts with a 14-0 lead and the margin never dipped below 11 after play resumed.

Junior Kelsey Markiewicz (Taconic, Conn./Berkshire School (Mass.)) led the attack with four goals and one assist, while freshman Maggie Connolly (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) added two goals and two assists. Senior Lindsay Menton (Ellicott City, Md./Glenelg Country Day School) led the defense with three caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Gettysburg wasted little time getting into the scoring column as sophomore Mandy Buell (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) scored 26 seconds into the game. Buell's second goal of the half was followed up just nine seconds later by junior Loren Pruitt (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) to spot the hosts an 8-0 lead at 21:09.

After the long delay, most of Gettysburg's starting lineup sat out the final period or played limited roles. Rowan tallied four of the first five goals of the second half, including three goals by sophomore Becca Wood, to pull to 15-4. Freshman Abby Baigelman (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck) and sophomore Liz Cocchiola (Lebanon, N.J./North Hunterdon) scored Gettysburg's final two goals to close out the victory.

The Bullets advance to the next round where they will face Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which defeated St. John Fisher College 13-8. The game will take place on Saturday, May 11, at 2:30 p.m. on the campus of Middlebury College.

Read more about the victory and Gettysburg College women's lacrosse.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521.

Women's lacrosse claims Centennial Conference crown

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:58:23 EDT

In a match-up of two of the best women's lacrosse teams in NCAA Division III, it was the Gettysburg College first-year students who stole the show in leading the fifth-ranked Bullets past sixth-ranked Franklin & Marshall College 14-11 to claim the Centennial Conference title Sunday afternoon at Clark Field.

Gettysburg (18-1) claimed its league-record eighth title and heads to the national playoffs for the 12th consecutive season. The Bullets also won the conference title for the second consecutive season.

Watch video

“It's such a great feeling,” Head Coach Carol Cantele '83 said. “It's so great to see the joy and excitement after a hard-fought victory. I thought the team played well and together and also executed in critical moments. It feels awesome.”

Gettysburg, which had lost its last five meetings with Franklin & Marshall (14-4) in the conference championship game, received a tremendous boost from its first-years. Amanda Borucki '16 and Maggie Connolly '16 each tallied three goals and one assist with the latter adding a career-high eight draw controls. Goalie Lindsay Clinton '16 also turned in a strong day in cage with nine saves.

“When you play as often as we do and you get into the championships,” Cantele said, “you know teams are going to put their best defenders on your veteran players. That's when you hope the underclassmen show up and they showed up big today.”

Gettysburg repeats as conference champ for the first time since winning five titles from 2002-2006. The Bullets finished with a 16-11 advantage on the draw and a 29-20 lead in shots.

“It's absolutely amazing,” said senior Alex Casey, who finished with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. “Every day we come out here giving 100 percent and everyone works so hard for the common goal of winning the championship.”

Women's lacrosse team will host Rowan University in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Wednesday, May 8, at 3 p.m.

Read more about the victory and Gettysburg College women's lacrosse.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521.

Endowed professorship honors Gettysburg College philosophy faculty

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:37:31 EDT

A $1.5 million estate gift will endow the Frederick ’52 and Martha Mahan Professor in Christian Studies. The generous gift from Fred and Martha Mahan honors the mentoring and teaching of two Gettysburg College professors, Norman Richardson and Kerry Walters. The Mahans want to be sure that such mentoring and spirit of inquiry will be in place for future generations of Gettysburg College students, and they want to foster dialogue between faith traditions and secular cultures.

In 2010 the couple established the Frederick Mahan Great Questions Fund to provide opportunities for students and faculty to explore the perennial great questions of faith, reason, values, truth, and purpose. The annual Mahan Lecture brings speakers to campus to explore the relationship of those questions to the purpose and meaning of life. President Janet Morgan Riggs ’77 announced the professorship and thanked the pair at the 2013 lecture on campus.

“Fred and Martha’s gift is a powerful indication of their ongoing support for our philosophy and religious studies departments,” Riggs said. “These funds [Great Questions and the professorship] will continue to encourage our students’ and faculty’s exploration of these great questions, while honoring professors Richardson and Walters.”

The Mahan Professor in Christian Studies may come from any discipline and may be housed in any academic department. The professor will teach courses that offer perspectives in history, theology, philosophy, sociology, aesthetics, politics, evolutionary and environmental science, literature, or fine arts as they relate to Christianity.

This is the second commitment to an endowed faculty position as part of Gettysburg Great, The Campaign for Our College. The campaign is a comprehensive effort to increase support for student scholarships, active learning opportunities like research and internships, faculty and teaching, a renovation of Plank Gymnasium, and the Gettysburg Fund.

A thinker, a seeker

Composer Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations has mystified generations of musicologists over a possible underlying theme—a theme not played but a counterpoint, a principal part that never appears. Elgar took the answer to his grave. The piece is a favorite of Fred Mahan, who is at ease with the unknowable and understands his life in terms of providence.

“I am uncompromising in the faith,” Mahan said. “God met me in many, many places in my life.” As a boy in Charleston, West Virginia, Mahan spotted a uniformed military school cadet walking past his father’s grocery store and declared to his mother that he wanted to go to an academy. “Well, why don’t you?” was all his mother had to say and at his own initiative he enrolled in a military prep school in Staunton, Virginia. There, his Spanish teacher, J. Frank Toms ’46, suggested he come to Gettysburg College. Mahan found that experience to be a turning point.

“I was always philosophically and religiously inclined, but I became a philosophy major because of a very gifted chairman of the department, Norman Richardson. He became a friend of the family through the years; we exchanged books and letters.” Richardson, who retired in 1979 after 34 years of teaching, died in 1990.

“My guess is that Norm found in Fred a heart and mind already yearning for wisdom,” said Prof. Kerry Walters, who came to know the Mahans since he joined the philosophy department in 1985. “He’s told me many times that his hunger for truth was awakened during his student days by Norm Richardson.”

After graduation and service in the Air Force, Mahan worked his way through the University of Michigan School of Law. With no offers from leading law firms, he made a short list of five cities he would want to live in and chose San Francisco as the place to launch his career as a trial lawyer. Fred says hard work and providence were at hand in his success. “If my career were handed to me on a silver platter by a big law firm, I wouldn’t be the guy I am today,” he said.

Gratitude and the desire to make a difference

Mahan makes it a point to write to those who have made a difference in his life. Back in California, he keeps a scrapbook of letters from those who have written back. One of those letters is from Henry W. A. Hanson, president of Gettysburg College when Mahan was a student.

“Henry W. A. Hanson did not know me from a bale of hay,” Mahan admits. “I needed $400 for my senior year and I didn’t know where it was going to come from. I went into his office, told him my story, and he reached into his desk and wrote me a check.”

Characteristically humble about the difference he has made for his alma mater, Fred graciously received the thanks of faculty, staff, and students and responded:

“I want to thank Gettysburg College and its President for answering my question: ‘How can I make a difference?’”

To make a difference at Gettysburg College or to discuss the campaign, contact the Office of Development, Alumni and Parent Relations online or at 717.337.6543.

Contact: Sue Baldwin-Way, editor of Gettysburg magazine and director of development communications, 717.337.6832

Baseball team captures 29th victory, school record for single-season wins

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:33:50 EDT

The Gettysburg College baseball team captured their 29th victory of the year Wednesday afternoon at Kirchhoff Field, breaking the school record for single-season wins. The Bullets' 12-4 victory over Messiah College was their 14th win in their last 15 games. The 1988 team, which finished 28-10 and played in the NCAA Division III Tournament, held the previous school record.

Gettysburg will host its first-ever home conference playoff game on Friday, when the second-seeded Bullets take on third-seeded Haverford College at 3 p.m. in the first round of the Centennial Conference Tournament.

The double-elimination tournament will continue on Saturday and Sunday at Johns Hopkins. The tournament winner receives an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

"We start from day one with the goal of winning a conference championship,” said Gettysburg Head Coach John Campo. “The first step is you need to make the conference playoffs. And obviously the higher your seed the better your opportunity, especially if you are hosting the tournament or hosting a first-round game.”

Only once in program history is Gettysburg known to have played on its home grass in the postseason – when the 2001 squad hosted the ECAC Southern Region Tournament. That year, the Bullets defeated Frostburg State University 6-2 before falling to Alvernia University 7-6 in the championship game.

Gettysburg is making its first postseason appearance since 2007, when it finished 1-2 in the Centennial Conference Tournament.

Read more about Gettysburg College baseball.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521.

Women's golf wins third consecutive Centennial Conference title

Thu, 02 May 2013 11:17:15 EDT

The Gettysburg College women's golf team won its third consecutive Centennial Conference title on Sunday, becoming the first school to win three-straight titles since McDaniel won five in a row from 2002 to 2006. The team received the conference's automatic qualifier to the national tournament and will compete at the NCAA Division III Championships on May 14-17 at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Fla.

Conditions were not nearly as good as the opening day with the golfers contending with wind, rain, and cooler temperatures throughout the round, but that didn't prevent Gettysburg from cruising to its fourth title in the last six seasons.

After posting a tournament record 331 on Saturday, the Bullets turned in a team score of 346 in the final round to finish with a championship record 677. The mark was 14 strokes better than the team's score from 2012 and it beat runner-up McDaniel College by 24 strokes.

Susquehanna University (728), Dickinson College (758), and Franklin & Marshall College (799) rounded out the top five in the team standings.

Individually, Kara McNulty ’14 provided some late drama by winning a playoff on the 18th hole to claim her second-straight individual title at the Hanover Country Club.

McNulty became the first repeat champion since McDaniel's Kelly Cramp won four titles from 2002 to 2005. The win was also her ninth individual victory as a Bullet, tying Merrill Fortier '08 for the program's career record.

Read more about the Bullets’ title and McNulty’s performance. Follow Gettysburg College athletics on social media. Watch video.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521.

New course integrates social media into classroom learning

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 01:12:49 EDT

In “Power, Politics & New Media” (SOC 237), a new sociology course, Prof. Cassie Hays never tells her Gettysburg College students to get off of Twitter or put the iPads down. In fact, students are not only encouraged, but expected to use new media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and iPad apps regularly in their coursework. All class readings are on iPads, provided for students to use throughout the semester by a Mellon Foundation grant, and group essay assignments are collected virtually on a class Wiki page.

“I’ve never taught anything like this before—it was a pilot class both for me and for the College,” Hays said (pictured above, left). “The administration wanted to integrate iPads into the classroom as way of using new technology and this class fit the bill since the content is all about new media.”

Although students get to use new media platforms in class, the course has a considerable learning objective—to discover the crucial role new media plays in shaping national identities, global assemblages, international information flows, legal structures, and socio-political change. Each week, the class examines a different topic, from “hacktivism” and “cyberwarfare” to Iran’s Green Revolution and the global Occupy movement.

“Though I had heard of the so-called 'Twitter Revolution,' I had never really understood how much of a role social media could have in politics or how seriously governments had to take the new forms of communication,” said Annie Skrabak ’15, a sociology and French double major.

Skrabak’s favorite aspect of SOC 237 has been using new media to communicate with students on coursework outside of the classroom. Students regularly use Twitter while reading for class, making it faster and easier for them to share connections they make with current events. They are also encouraged to communicate with each other over Twitter while viewing documentaries in class. This allows students to gain a deeper understanding of the material by asking and answering each others’ questions and linking to relevant links and commentary.

“Students are already using new media in their personal lives,” Hays said. “Now they’re using it to follow news and do research. The idea is to take something that is already a part of their lives and get students to think about it in new ways and make connections with their academic work."

The level of engagement from class members over the course of the semester has been very positive. Students are expected to tweet several times a week and are graded on the content of their tweets. Posts must not only contain original text, but also utilize multiple media platforms by linking to relevant articles and retweeting posts from credible sources. Students are also assigned to live-tweet class sessions on a rotating basis, using the hashtag #SOC237 for outside followers. For their final papers, students have been researching how current political events are covered on Twitter by creating ethnographies of specific hashtags and digging into Twitter analytics available on the Web.

“This class has had a great impact on the ways I think about and utilize new media,” said Sam Daniel ’13, a sociology major. “Prior to the course, I had a Facebook page and a Twitter account, but used them almost unconsciously, as part of routine. I was previously unable to grasp the power of new media in mobilizing, connecting, and even liberating groups of people.”

On April 18, the class used new media to organize and cover a flash mob on campus—an impromptu performance of a choreographed dance in the middle of Musselman Library. Class members tracked the responses from viewers—both in person and online—and uploaded a video of the event on YouTube. The flash mob project gave students a hands-on way to approach two main learning goals of the course—to explore how people use social media to cover current events and to look at how new media platforms are used to promote social movements and facilitate political change.

Watch video of the flash mob.

Article by: Liz Williams ’13, communications & marketing intern
Photos by: Nate Atwater ’14
Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521

Got the Dot? View the video and photos of Get Acquainted Day

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:36:27 EDT

On April 20, Gettysburg College welcomed accepted and enrolled students from around the country for Get Acquainted Day.

The annual celebration, which featured campus tours, academic presentations, and an introduction to student clubs and organizations, included many students wearing the traditional orange dots – symbolizing they have selected Gettysburg above all other colleges and universities.

Get Acquainted Day by the numbers:

1500+ total attendees

Watch the video on YouTube.

556 student attendees

500+ student volunteers

Nearly 100 clubs and organizations

View more photos of Get Acquainted Day.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521.

Steps to Networking Success (and finding a job or internship)

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:59:39 EDT

You are looking for your first job or internship and the competition is stiff. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of applicants applying for only a few positions. You don't know anyone who works in the industry you want to work in, and everyone else seems to have a connection. But, remember this: as a Gettysburg College student, you have those connections too. They are just waiting to be discovered and utilized through active networking with college alumni, parents, friends, and others.

Networking is a priceless skill in today's tough economy that could be the key to landing a dream job. “One piece of advice is to talk as often as possible about your plans to as many people as you can,” said Katy Mattson, associate director of career planning in the Center for Career Development. “You never know who might know someone who could be helpful in your search.”

This advice is something I can personally attest to. By mentioning to a friend that I was interested in public relations, she connected me with her cousin who worked at a top public relations firm in New York City. This was the connection that got me an internship working for Converse's public relations department the summer before my junior year. That same summer, I continued to expand my network by doing an externship with alum David Zapata '94, the President and Founder of Zapwater Communications, Inc., a premier boutique public relations firm in Chicago. This experience, set up by the Center for Career Development, allowed me to build a solid relationship with the company. I was hired as their full-time intern next summer.

Mattson also suggests finding someone who can help coach you through the networking process. “I can tell you through my tenure here that I've worked with many students who don't think they know of anyone who can be helpful, but by brainstorming with someone, they were able to identify key people in their search. In addition, the coach can help students fill in the gaps with their connections and access networking databases.”

These are just a few possible ways to build your network. Read below to learn more about student's successful networking experiences and their top networking tips.

Bruce Simpson '14

OMS major/business minor

Hometown: New York, NY

Career goals: Starting two companies – a music production company with potential to turn into a record label and a music management firm/music publishing company.

Internships: Downtown Music (upcoming interviews with Sony Music and Spotify)

Networking Successes/Strategies: Simpson's friend's father knew the founder of Downtown Music and through that connection and the help of a Gettysburg alum, he was able to set up meetings and interviews with Downtown Music's top executives that eventually led his internship. He is now using these connections, in addition to help from other Gettysburg alumni to get interviews with Sony Music and Spotify for potential internships.

Top 3 Networking Tips:

1. Connect, connect, connect: When you meet someone, make sure you get a business card or contact information, no matter who they are. Then establish contact, preferably through email.

2. Keep in contact: Maintain consistent but not overbearing contact with the person you've connected with.

3. Keep it casual, but professional: Try to maintain a great relationship, but make sure to keep it professional when necessary and casual when appropriate.

Kara Meringolo '13

Political science/international affairs double major/business minor

Hometown: North Kingstown, RI

Career goals: Finance/internal business/banking/strategy consulting

Internships: Citizens Bank Trademark Law, Citizens Bank General Counsel's Office, Capital Markets at Royal Bank of Scotland

Post-graduation plans: Deloitte

Networking Successes/Strategies: Meringolo has already secured a position at Deliotte in New York, NY upon graduation. She met with the career center to get alumni contacts in industries of interest and requested informational interviews, then followed up with thank you emails and handwritten notes. Gettysburg alumni forwarded her resume to their connections at Deloitte, who forwarded it to their connections in human resources, which led to her eventual hire.

Top 3 Networking Tips:

1. Informational interviews: Do as many as possible. It is good to hear a multitude of different perspectives regarding the industry you're interested in and it's great to receive feedback on your resume. Always close the conversation asking if there are others they could connect you with.

2. Be enthusiastic: It is very important to be enthusiastic and engaged in the conversation, whether on the phone or in person. Eye contact is especially important in person. Smiling is also important, even for phone interviews because you will naturally sound more pleasant if you are smiling while you talk.

3. Follow up immediately: Whether you're establishing contact after being introduced to someone or thanking someone after an interview, make sure to follow up immediately.

Article by: Emily Kleinburd '13, communications and marketing intern
Contact: Nikki Rhoads, senior assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803

Worldwide researchers

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:21:14 EDT

At Gettysburg College, the drive for knowledge is not limited to the classroom. Andrew Monthey ’14 and Sarah Tuttle ’13 travelled across the globe to learn more about their scholarly interests – once in a lifetime opportunities made possible through Mellon Summer Research Grants.

Andrew Monthey ’14
Jezreel Valley, Israel
“The metrology of an Early Bronze Age settlement in the Jezreel Valley”

It was a class in the fall of 2011 with classics Prof. Jonathan David – who also happened to be an assistant director of an archaeological project in northern Israel – that inspired Andrew Monthey ’14 to travel to Israel to conduct field research in the late spring and summer of 2012.

Together with the director of the project, David and Monthey, a classical studies major with a minor in philosophy, proposed a research design that was both novel and groundbreaking in the Jezreel Valley. They studied how Early Bronze Age I inhabitants of Tel Megiddo East designed their structures with standardization, using a standard unit measurement, the cubit. Their end goal was to determine the social role and status of this small settlement in relation to the nearby larger, fortified Megiddo, which featured a temple from the same time period that was designed using the cubit.

Monthey stayed with the research team at a kibbutz (a collective community in Israel), and worked closely with scholars, students, and volunteers from all over the world. They worked 6 days a week, in temperatures reaching up to 105 degrees, digging, measuring walls, and cataloging pottery, animal bones, and other artifacts.

“Travelling for field research is the best way to truly experience first-hand what you are researching. I was able to pursue my passion abroad and was actively involved in novel research. It is quite the experience to be the first one to uncover things that haven’t been seen for 5,500 years,” Monthey said.

He continued, “I think that this sort of project – which was made possible by a Mellon Summer Grant, is valuable to anyone who has a passion and wishes to pursue it, anywhere throughout the entire world…literally."

Sarah Tuttle ’13
Vienna, Austria
“The influence of Buddhism on the late work of Gustav Mahler”

Sarah Tuttle ’13 fell in love with Vienna, Austria, in the fall of 2011 after exploring the music and influential artists of the region, most notably Gustav Mahler.

“Mahler sought to incorporate life's struggle into his symphonies,” she said. “There was one particular summer that marked a huge change for Mahler—he lost one of his two young daughters to sickness and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. There’s a distinct change in the mood of his music after that point. It’s more subdued, more resigned.”

Upon her return to Gettysburg, Tuttle’s experience abroad inspired her to not only earn a Sunderman Conservatory Concerto Competition victory, but also further study the late works of Mahler—made possible through a Mellon Research Grant.

In her research, Tuttle examined the relationship between text and music in Mahler’s song cycle “Das Lied von der Erde.” She interpreted that Mahler utilizes compositional devices, such as scale and instrumentation, to interrupt the Western familiarity of his music with Eastern elements, spurring a sense of estrangement within his European audiences.

“When the music sounds more ‘Eastern,’ Mahler is expressing an idea more closely affiliated with Eastern philosophy, and when the music becomes romantic and ‘Western,’ it is illustrating an idea with which Western society may be more familiar,” said Tuttle, who will be presenting her findings at Celebration ’13. “It is my opinion that Mahler is coming to terms with his mortality, and may be urging Western society to consider and appreciate the brevity of life.”

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521.
Nikki Rhoads, senior assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803.

Earth Day spotlight: Mike Altman ’12 combines comedy and clean water

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:13:31 EDT

For Mike Altman ’12, it all started with a Heston Summer Experience to Uganda in 2011. During his time abroad, he discovered a passion for the environment and helping others in need while partnering with The Foundation for Sustainable Development and The AIDS Support Organization on rainwater catchment systems. Today, he continues in this tradition, working for the Growth Team at charity: water.

charity: water, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing clean and safe drinking water for people in developing nations, takes 100 percent of its donations and directs them back into the field to fund water projects -- a mission that attracted Altman to the organization and inspired him to take it a step farther.

“They say laughter is worth a 1,000 words, but I say laughter is worth $1,000,” said Altman, who recently developed an independent campaign, Pay It Funny, that will raise $1,000 in additional funds for clean water in a unique and comedic way.

Altman is encouraging donors to showcase their sense of humor by creating a six second video on the social media platform Vine with the hashtags #PayItFunny and #charitywater. Once created, the video will be posted if a donation is made for the water projects. It is Altman’s hope that the videos will spur engagement among participants and motivate others to give as well.

When the campaign is wrapped up in June, donors will receive photos and the GPS coordinates of the locations where their proceeds have aided specific charity: water projects and changed lives.

Learn more about Altman’s clean water efforts.

This article is adapted from a Surge post, a student blog at Gettysburg College highlighting issues of justice.

Video submitted by Surge

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Mike Baker, assistant director of communications, 717.337.6521.