Elizabethtown College officially kicked off the beginning of the 2022-23 academic year by holding Convocation on Tuesday, Aug. 23 in the Dell. The event served as a welcome to first-year students and celebrated faculty, student, and staff achievements.

View photos from the ceremony.

Members of the College leadership, including President Betty Rider, addressed the Class of 2026, Etown’s largest since 2015.

“College is a time in your life when you are able to discover new things about yourself, learn new things about others, and create new experiences,” President Rider said during her Convocation Address. You may make mistakes along the way. That’s OK–we all do. If you stumble, we’ll help you get back up and on track. It is often in our response to a challenge that we grow stronger and more connected to ourselves and one another. It is just another way you will gain a sense of belonging at Etown.”

During the ceremony, Etown’s talented Class of 2026 was recognized and celebrated as a group. Some highlights of the class include:

– An average GPA of 3.74 for the class.
– 476 new students representing 14 states and six countries, which include Brazil, Japan, Mali, and China.
– A total of 80 underrepresented students – a 15 percent increase from the previous class
– Eight incoming Stamps Scholars (The Stamps Scholarship Program recognizes and rewards exceptional students who exemplify leadership, perseverance, scholarship, service, overcoming obstacles, and innovation.)

Also recognized at Convocation were newly tenured and promoted faculty effective in the 2022-23 academic year, along with faculty merit award recipients, as well as winners of the Kreider Prize for Teaching Excellence, the Ranck Prize for Research Excellence and the Polanowski Prize for Advising and Mentorship.

Newly Tenured and Promoted Faculty

  • Justin A. Badgerow, D.M.A., Promoted to Professor of Music
  • Leyla Batakci, Ph.D., Promoted to Professor of Math
  • Najiba Benabess, Ph.D., Tenured as Associate Professor of Economics
  • Diane M. Bridge, Ph.D., Promoted to Professor of Biology
  • Peter R. Licona, Ph.D., Tenured as Associate Professor of PK-12 STEM Education
  • Deborah Waltermire-Burton, Ph.D., OTR/L, Tenured and Promoted to Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy

Faculty Merit Award Recipients

Senior Merit

  • E. Fletcher McClellan, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science
  • Michael D. Silberstein, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy

 

Scholarship and Professional Activity

  • Justin A. Badgerow, D.M.A., Professor of Music
  • David S. Brown, Ph.D., Raffensperger Professor of History
  • Michele L. Kozimor, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology
  • Michael D. Silberstein, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy
  • W. Mark Stuckey, Ph.D., Professor of Physics

 

Service

  • David R. Bowne, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology
  • Elizabeth D. Dalton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology
  • Tara L. Moore, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of English
  • Oya Dursun-Özkanca, Ph.D., Professor of International Studies and Political Science
  • Deborah Waltermire-Burton, Ph.D., OTR/L, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy

 

Teaching and Advising

  • Natasha Clarke, DPT, Lecturer in Anatomy and Physiology
  • Kurt M. DeGoede, Ph.D., Professor of Engineering and Physics
  • Michele L. Kozimor, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology
  • James A. MacKay, Ph.D., A. C. Baugher Professor of Chemistry
  • Jeffrey A. Rood, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry

Faculty Prize Winners

2021-2022 Kreider Prize for Teaching Excellence Recipient

  • Michael D. Roy, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology

 

2021-2022 Polanowski Prize for Excellence in Faculty-Student Advising and Mentorship Recipient

  • Jeffrey A. Rood, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry

 

2021-2022 Ranck Prize for Research Excellence Recipient

  • Oya Dursun-Özkanca, Ph.D., Professor of International Studies and Political Science

 

The winners of several staff awards were celebrated, while exemplary students were recognized for various prestigious scholarship honors and distinguished accolades. Full list of staff and student awards.