Brown and White Vol. 121 no. 10

              Vol. 121 No. 10
Friday, October 14, 2011
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
Football team to fight Fordham
Page 12
ONLINE
Follow us on Twitter
twitter.com/lubrownwhite
The catwalk
comes to Lehigh
Page 5
LIFESTYLE
By CAROLINE COUZENS
John Gardner, educator and “father of the first-year experience,” visited Lehigh from Oct. 4 to 6.
Gardner, who currently serves as a Senior Fel­low of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and as president of the Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Educa­tion in South Carolina, was invited to meet with faculty and staff to discuss a proposed first-year experience course.
The first year of college is when students are faced with many changes, such as deciding on a major, making friends, developing attitudes toward faculty and creating time management habits.
“The first year is the foundation of everything else you’re going to do with students,” said Gard­ner during a three-hour symposium in Lamber­ton Hall that drew nearly 130 faculty and staff members.
Gardner presented data that found that stu­dents who take specific first-year experience courses stay at a university longer, have higher levels of satisfaction, are more likely to interact with faculty outside the classroom and are more inclined to access student support services.
The visit was prompted by the university’s First-Year Experience Front Runner Group led by MJ Bishop, associate professor of education and human services, and Allison Gulati, associate dean and director of strategic initiatives in the Office of the Dean of Students.
A major part of this new first-year experience
B&W photo by BRIAN LAFOND
Educational researcher John Gardner speaks at a symposium focused on integrating a first-year experience course into the Lehigh curriculum on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Educator proposes new first-year programs
By MARA KIEVIT
Lehigh’s Panhellenic Council adviser Veronica Hunter recently received the National Panhellenic Conference’s Outstanding Adviser Award.
The conference is one of the nation’s largest organizations for women, serving as the govern­ing body for 26 sororities. One Panhellenic ad­viser in the United States is given this honorary award every two years. There were 138 submis­sions for the Outstanding Panhellenic Adviser award from 48 colleges across the country.
Hunter will be attending a banquet in Austin, Texas, tomorrow where she will be presented with the award. Hunter is receiving the award for her contributions to the Panhellenic Council and for the time and effort she has put in to shaping the lives of sorority members on Lehigh’s campus.
Hunter said she was surprised when she re­ceived a phone call in July informing her that she had won the award. She said she was nominated for the national award by the 2010-2011 Panhel­lenic executive board under the president, Lauren Koenig.
Hunter said she did not know last year’s execu­tive board had nominated her.
“It was shocking and very humbling,” she said.
Hunter said she knows a few other advisers who have won the biennial award in the past, and she thinks of it as a great honor.
Koenig said she received several emails last year reminding the executive board to submit a nomination for the Outstanding Adviser Award if the members believed the Lehigh Panhellenic Adviser was eligible. She said they believed Hunter was qualified for the award for a number of reasons.
“Veronica is well-respected on Lehigh’s cam pus, and people are free to go to her if they have a
See ADVISER Page 2
Panhel council adviser wins national award
Students serve D.C. on trip over Pacing Break
By ERIN COOK
Six Lehigh students had the unique opportunity to volunteer their time in Washington D.C. for the 2011 pacing­breakSERVE trip from Oct. 8 to 11.
The pacingbreakSERVE trip is just one of the many great programs that the Community Service Office has created, enabling willing students to dedicate their academic breaks to help those in need all over the country.
This year Sam Hodges, ’13, had the honor of being the student coordi­nator for the SERVE trip to Washing­ton D.C. after having attended three trips in the past.
“I think everyone realized that I would be a good fit for the program due to my eye for details and a love for the program and its purpose,” Hodges said. “I believe in its ability to allow students to learn more about a social issue in a comprehensive and fun way, while helping a community in need.”
The SERVE trips, which are orga­nized by students like Hodges, pro­vide opportunities for volunteers to assist community agencies beyond the Lehigh Valley while also forming rela­tionships with other Lehigh students. Over pacing break this year, Hodges allotted six students to travel to D.C. and provided services to three differ­ent organizations in the area.
Volunteers visited the Capital Area Food Bank, where they helped sort donations the company had received from generous citizens. Students also delivered food to HIV/AIDS victims through the organization Food & Friends, whose mission is to deliver meals and groceries along with nutri­tion counseling to those carrying the disease in the community. Finally, SERVE participants provided sup­port to the poor and homeless with So Others Might Eat, a group dedicated
See SERVE Page 4
Photo courtesy of the Community Service Office
Xinyue Geng, ’14; Matt Ennis, ’12; Molly Nemerever, ’15; Rob Tenreiro, ’11; and Alissa Sperling, ’12, pose in front the White House in Washington D.C. They visited the capitol to take part in pacingbreakSERVE from Oct. 8 to 11.
See FIRST-YEAR Page 2