The 2010s were another decade of physical and academic growth at Elizabethtown College. During the decade, the College launched its Be Inspired giving campaign in 2015, surpassing a $60 million goal in 2019. Students continued to participate in service opportunities each year, as the annual Into the Streets event saw a continuously growing number of student volunteers.

The decade also saw numerous campus improvements, starting the decade with the completion of a new academic quad and ending with the dedication of the sprawling Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness & Well-Being.

A Look Through the Decade

  • 2010 – A new academic quad is completed in May after a more than $330,0000 donation from Frank Masters Jr. H’06. The new quad tied together several academic buildings and created a central hub for faculty and students
  • 2010 – The Bowers Writers House is dedicated in October, named after Kenneth L. ’59 H’99 and Rosalie E. ’58 Bowers
  • 2011 – Yvonne “Yonnie” Kauffman retires, coaching her last Blue Jay Women’s Basketball game on Feb. 22 after 42 seasons at Etown. She finished her remarkable career with 689 victories and two NCAA Division III National Championships.
  • 2014 – The Blue Jay Men’s Soccer Team becomes just the third men’s soccer program in NCAA history to win 800 games.
  • 2014 – Etown’s varsity athletics programs join the Landmark Conference in the fall after formerly competing in the Middle Atlantic Conference.
  • 2015 – The Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections in the High Library is dedicated on Nov. 3.
  • 2015 – The Elizabethtown College Women’s Basketball Team becomes the first NCAA Division III program, and the third in the NCAA, to reach 1,000 wins.
  • 2015 – The first students in the Momentum and Stamps Leadership Scholars programs earn their degree at May Commencement.
  • 2015 – Etown hosts the Division III Wrestling National Championship.
  • 2016 – A 10-acre solar array is dedicated, the largest on any college or university campus in Pennsylvania, on Earth Day, April 22. The array was established with help from a $500,000 state grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority.
  • 2018 – The Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies holds a ribbon cutting after an expansion that includes new offices, larger meeting spaces, desk areas for visiting scholars, and a renovated interpretive gallery.
  • 2018 – The Blue Bean begins serving Starbucks Coffee on campus.
  • 2019 – The Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness & Well-Being opens on Aug. 22, named after Kenneth L. ’59 H’99 and Rosalie E. ’58 Bowers.

Snapshots of the Decade

 

Throughout Elizabethtown College’s 125th anniversary year, follow along as we share 125 compelling stories about the College’s defining moments, alumni stories, and fun facts since our founding in 1899 at etown.edu.