Every year, approximately 40 percent of incoming first-year students at Elizabethtown College are the first in their families to attend college. First-generation students are considered those whose parents or guardians did not complete a bachelor’s degree. Sophomore communications major Jaime Ramos represented this student population at the College’s $50 million “BE Inspired.” campaign kick-off. The event took place Wednesday, March 16. In addition to a live event in the College’s KAV, the campaign opening was viewed across the world as an online cyber-launch.
The $50 million goal is earmarked for campus improvements and modifications that ‘fulfill dreams, build community and transform lives’—a sports and wellness center, an expansion of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies and residential updates, to name a few. To this point, the College has reported raising $29 million toward those goals.
The larger campaign includes expansion of the Momentum program, part of the ‘fulfilling dreams’ pillar of the campaign. Momentum scholar Ramos and his family sat in the first row of tables at the live event and watched the video in which he addressed what Momentum meant for him and other first-generation students.
…I feel that this campaign gives students like me a chance they never had before.”
“I know a lot of students from my home in Reading (Pennsylvania), who don’t have opportunities for education,” Ramos said in an interview at the kick-off. “So I feel that this campaign gives students like me a chance they never had before.
“The Momentum program gives us hope.”
In addition to Ramos’ story, presenters from various departments and offices on campus spoke about their experiences and the importance of the campaign. Joelle Ford, a senior elementary education major, thanked the organization that made it possible for her to attend E-town, and sophomore math education major Angela Wesneski recounted the process of writing an award-winning research paper.
“I think it is really important to show that a freshman can be successful in a research project and that all research isn’t just in the hard sciences; it’s in the humanities, and it can be interdisciplinary,” Wesneski said.
In addition to supporting Momentum, the donations are planned for dozens of uses, including increased funding for student-faculty research, supporting a sustainable campus, making more scholarships available and building the wellness center.
Amanda Cheetham, assistant director of health promotion, and Chris Morgan, athletic director, addressed the need for an integrated wellness center that would be accessible to all students. In her presentation, Cheetham reported that 62 percent of E-town students rated their stress as more than average or tremendous in the last 12 months. With this in mind, she said, the center would create a space for students to tackle these concerns.
As part of ‘building community,’ the College’s Young Center expansion means adding classrooms, office space and an exhibit that will introduce students to the Anabaptist and Pietist heritage of the College and attract visitors from the campus community.
“It is not just an investment in bricks and mortar here. It is an investment into the lives of these young people who will be contributing lives of service for many years,” Dr. Donald Kraybill, Distinguished College Professor, shared via video broadcast.
Employing a cyber-launch as part of a capital campaign was the first of its kind in higher education, according to the capital campaign committee. Members of the committee saw the event as an opportunity and a blank slate. The online presence is an attempt to be forward-thinking and innovative. The 250 people in attendance on campus Wednesday evening were joined by thousands of individuals who tuned into the livestream or communicated through social channels. Using the hashtag #EtownInspired, the administration invited alumni and friends of the College to interact via social media and email.
Throughout the night, educators and students encouraged the digital and physical audiences to be engaged, be global and to be authentic. College President Carl Strikwerda closed the event by formally announcing the campaign and urging audience members and online viewers to donate. He reminded them of the effect their donations will have to the wellbeing and education of future generations of students.
“Be the future,” Strikwerda said. “Be Inspired.”