{"id":4586,"date":"2016-03-18T12:08:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T16:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/news\/?p=4586"},"modified":"2016-03-18T12:31:24","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T16:31:24","slug":"be-inspired-cyber-launch-sets-precedent-for-college-campaigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/2016\/03\/18\/be-inspired-cyber-launch-sets-precedent-for-college-campaigns\/","title":{"rendered":"‘BE Inspired.’ cyber launch sets precedent for college campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1\"<\/a>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\u2019s degree. Sophomore communications major Jaime Ramos represented this student population at the College\u2019s $50 million \u201cBE Inspired.\u201d<\/a> campaign kick-off. The event took place Wednesday, March 16. In addition to a live event in the College\u2019s KAV<\/a>, the campaign opening was viewed across the world as an online cyber-launch.<\/p>\n

The $50 million goal is earmarked for campus improvements and modifications that \u2018fulfill dreams, build community and transform lives\u2019\u2014a sports and wellness center, an expansion of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies<\/a> and residential updates, to name a few. To this point, the College has reported raising $29 million toward those goals.<\/p>\n

The larger campaign includes expansion of the Momentum program,<\/a> part of the \u2018fulfilling dreams\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\n

…I feel that this campaign gives students like me a chance they never had before.”<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"2\"<\/a>\u201cI know a lot of students from my home in Reading (Pennsylvania), who don\u2019t have opportunities for education,\u201d Ramos said in an interview at the kick-off. \u201cSo I feel that this campaign gives students like me a chance they never had before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Momentum program gives us hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Ramos\u2019 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<\/a> major, thanked the organization that made it possible for her to attend E-town, and sophomore math education<\/a> major Angela Wesneski recounted the process of writing an award-winning research paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is really important to show that a freshman can be successful in a research project and that all research isn\u2019t just in the hard sciences; it\u2019s in the humanities, and it can be interdisciplinary,\u201d Wesneski said.<\/p>\n

\"3\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

As part of \u2018building community,\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d Dr. Donald Kraybill, Distinguished College Professor, shared via video broadcast.<\/p>\n

\"4\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe the future,\u201d Strikwerda said. \u201cBe Inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s degree. Sophomore communications major Jaime Ramos represented this student population at the College\u2019s $50 million \u201cBE Inspired.\u201d campaign kick-off. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":4646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[775,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","category-campus-community","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4586"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4652,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586\/revisions\/4652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}