The new academic year officially began on Aug. 17 at Penn State Lehigh Valley’s fall convocation ceremony.
More than 350 incoming first-year students and new transfer students were in attendance, along with faculty and staff of the Lehigh Valley campus. This marks the largest group of incoming students in five years.
Convocation opened with the procession of campus faculty and staff. Senior faculty member Barbara Cantalupo, professor of English, led the procession.
Convocation speakers included Tina Q. Richardson, chancellor of Penn State Lehigh Valley; Kenneth Thigpen, director of academic affairs; Roger Egolf, associate professor of chemistry and chair of the Penn State Lehigh Valley Faculty Senate; Criss Braynen, president of the student government association; and Denise Ogden, professor of marketing and winner of the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching.
When Braynen spoke, she advised students to get involved.
“I can tell you that the best decision I’ve ever made was getting involved… whether this is your first year here or you’re transferring here from another school, or even if you are coming back to school after however many years of being out, this is a new chapter of your life and you have the power to make the most out of it.”