Brown and White Vol. 127 no. 6

              The Brown and White
Vol. 127 No. 6
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
‘All the Lehigh News First’
The construction and renovation of historic Williams Hall into a glob­al hub for students and faculty is now in full swing.
Williams Hall “will be trans­formed into a dynamic center for the study of globalization,” according to the building’s website. Several departments, including Modern Languages and Literature, Religion Studies, Sociology and Anthropology and the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Student Affairs will soon call Williams Hall home. The main floor will be named the Global Hub in with the hopes of giving students an opportunity to view the world from different perspectives, the website says.
Williams Hall, which is located at the heart of Lehigh’s campus, was formerly the home of the biology and geology departments, said Jennifer Nelson, ‘90, ‘92G, and regional direc­tor in the Office of Advancement. However, since the opening of the STEPS facility in 2011, Williams Hall has not seen much activity. Plans for the future use of Williams Hall started developing early last year, and necessary internal renova­tions began last December.
Nelson is one of several faculty members who will be affected by this move. She said she is excited, to say the least, to watch the plans unfold.
“Relocating Student Affairs to Williams Hall...will drive every stu­dent through the building at some point,” Nelson said. “This will allow for the Global Hub to get maximum exposure as students pass through. This move will also open up rooms at the UC for clubs and other pro­grams since Williams Hall has so much space.”
The Global Hub, which will host
Alyssa Taylor, ’16/B&W Staff
Construction staff works on the exterior of Williams Hall on Sept. 16. The building, which is going to be home to administrative offices and a global center, is set to open in mid-2015.
By SCOTT PAPAPIETRO
B&W Staff
Williams Hall to become global hub
The Office of Student Leadership Development’s annual Great Pocono Escape weekend, hosted at Camp Canadensis in the Pocono Mountains, was canceled due to threat of a sus­pected armed killer in the area.
The suspect, 31-year-old Eric Matthew Frein, who is on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for the murder of a Pennsylvania state trooper, remains unapprehended.
Students were notified Friday morning of the retreat’s cancellation via email.
Eleven organizations were set to participate this year, with 160 stu­dents and faculty expected to attend. The OSLD had organized the logis­tics and curriculum of the weekend, and individual organizations planned to use the time both to set goals as a group and to collaborate with the other groups present.
Christine Gravelle, the assistant dean and director of leadership devel­opment and civic engagement, was in charge of the event. She said the overarching theme of the trip was collaborative connections, which is one of the five foundations of the bLUeprint, an overarching guide to help students determine what their experience at Lehigh will be like.
Gravelle said the purpose behind the theme of collaborative connec­tions is for students and groups to build interpersonal relationships with their peers and staff.
The groups that would have attended include the Association of Student Alumni, three athletics lead­ership organizations, Camp Hawk counselors, class officers, Orientation Coordinators and members of the Student Senate, among others.
The OSLD works with a committee to choose the event’s participating groups. Gravelle said they reach out to different departments to see which organizations they want to send. She said the OSLD would welcome more organizations to attend in the future.
Gravelle said last year was the first year that numerous organizations were invited, with the mission of col­laboration among them.
“It’s one of my favorite events of the year,” she said. “It’s not often that we have the opportunity to get 160 student leaders together to talk about issues at Lehigh, to come up with an action plan and ways to effect change. It’s pretty incredible to see that many students who are passionate about Lehigh.”
Though the retreat’s cancellation may not have afforded students the opportunity to leave campus, many organizations have chosen to hold “mini-retreats” to accomplish the goals they had set for the weekend.
“I think each group individually and on their own made the best of the sit­uation,” said Class of 2015 President John Schultz, who was part of the “mini-retreat” that brought together the class officers, the Association of Student Alumni executive board and the Lehigh Liners.
Schultz recognized the hard work that goes into planning the program and said the Camp Hawk leaders had been training for a year for this weekend.
Students seemed to find that host­ing the event in a different environ­ment allows typical barriers to break down and for unlikely students and groups to meet and collaborate. But, according to Schultz, the students have managed to adapt.
“The student leaders are very flex­ible,” he said. “And when this stuff happens, it’s very unfortunate.”
Before the retreat’s cancellation, Madeleine Smith, ‘15, spoke about the importance of putting together
The search for a man who allegedly shot and killed a Pennsylvania state trooper near Camp Canadensis last week caused the Office of Student Leadership Development to cancel its annual Great Pocono Escape, which was scheduled to occur at the camp last weekend.
Eric Matthew Frein, 31, of Canadensis, Pennsylvania, is still the only suspect in the Sept. 12 fatal shooting of Cpl. Bryon Dickson, 38, and the injury of Trooper Alex Douglass, 31, in Pike County, according to The Morning Call.
Police are still searching for Frein, but have focused the search area to a few mile radius around his home in Monroe County, which is only about 15 minutes from Camp Canadensis.
Frein is believed to be hiding in the woods surrounding that area, according to ABC 7 News.
He is a “self-styled survivalist,” police say, and is considered armed and very dangerous, The Morning Call reported.
Over 160 students and faculty within 11 campus organizations planned to attend the retreat, with the purpose of building relation­ships and setting goals for the aca­demic year. Students were notified Friday morning when the Office of Student Leadership Development decided to officially cancel the event.
“I wanted to let you know that we have canceled the Great Pocono Escape for this weekend,” said Christine Gravelle, assistant dean and director of leadership develop­ment and civic engagement, in an email. “As you may be aware, the suspect was not apprehended, and there was a potential sighting in Monroe County.
“As mentioned previously, safe­ty is our first priority, so we feel that canceling is the clear decision,” Gravelle wrote.
Samantha Tomaszewski, ’17/B&W Staff
Camp Canadensis (pictured) was to be the location for the Great Pocono Escape.
By KATIE ZABRONSKY
B&W Staff
Pocono retreat canceled, students adapt
See POCONO Page 4
Alleged shooter remains elusive in Pocono area
By DANIELLE DiSTEFANO
News Editor
See WILLIAMS Page 2
News brief