Elizabethtown College held Convocation on Tuesday, Aug. 24 to officially kick off the start of the 2021-22 academic year. Members of the College leadership including President Cecilia M. McCormick, J.D., and Vice President for Enrollment Management John F. Champoli, addressed the Class of 2025, Etown’s largest class in the past five years. President McCormick offered advice and focused on new beginnings.

“When I look at you all sitting out in the crowd, beginning your academic journey—there is so much ahead of you to tackle—new goals and new challenges,” President McCormick said. “Pace yourself, not all at once – take a planful approach.”

During the ceremony, the Class of 2025 was celebrated and recognized as a group. Some highlights of the Class include:

  • 486 new students  representing 14 states and five countries
  • Approximately 16 legacy students carrying on a family tradition of following their parents or grandparents
  • Twenty-eight percent of the class are first-generation students
  • Five students are Stamps Scholars
  • Nearly 60 percent of students are active in service to others

Also recognized at Convocation were faculty members who have been promoted effective in the 2021-22 academic year, faculty appointed to endowed professorships, faculty merit award recipients, as well as faculty award winners of the Kreider Prize for Teaching Excellence, the Ranck Prize for Research Excellence and the Polanowski Prize for Advising and Mentorship.

Faculty Appointed to Endowed Professorships: 

  • Jeffery D. Long – Carl W. Ziegler Professor of Religious Studies
  • James A. MacKay – A.C. Baugher Professor of Chemistry
  • Matthew G. Skillen – Ralph W. Schlosser Professor of English

Faculty Promotions: 

  • Matthew P. Fritz — promoted to Professor of Music
  • Peter Licona — promoted to Associate Professor of PK-12 STEM Education
  • Jeffrey A. Rood — promoted to Professor of Chemistry

Faculty Merit Award Recipients

Scholarship and Professional Activity

  • David R. Bowne, Associate Professor of Biology
  • David S. Brown, Raffensperger Professor of History
  • James A. MacKay, A.C. Baugher Professor of Chemistry
  • E. Fletcher McClellan, Professor of Political Science
  • Oya Ozkanca, Professor of Political Science and International Studies

Service

  • Bryan Greenberg, Associate Professor of Marketing
  • Jeffrey A. Rood, Professor of Chemistry
  • T. Evan Smith, Associate Professor of Psychology
  • Matthew W. Telleen, Associate Professor of Communications
  • Debra L. Wohl, Professor of Biology

Teaching and Advising

  • Jean C. Batista Abreu, Assistant Professor of Engineering
  • Erica M. Dolson, Lecturer in English
  • Peilong Li, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
  • Elizabeth A. Newell, Associate Professor of Biological Anthropology
  • Robert J. Wickham, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Faculty Prize Winners

  • Ranck Prize for Research Excellence – professor Douglas Bomberger
  • Kreider Prize for Teaching Excellence – professor Michele Kozimor
  • Polanowski Prize for Advising and Mentorship – professor Anya Goldina

Following the ceremony, students signed the College’s “Pledge of Integrity” and celebrated the beginning of the year with an all-campus picnic.