Brown and White Vol. 129 no. 10

              The Brown and White Vol. 129 No. 10
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
Lehigh’s annual Founder’s Day
celebration marked an important
milestone in the school’s ongoing
sesquicentennial year with the
installation of the university’s 14th
president, John Simon.
Faculty, staff, students and
alumni watched the ceremony in
both Packer Memorial Church and
through a simulcast viewing party
in Grace Hall for those who could
not acquire tickets for the sold-out
chapel venue.
After being installed as president,
President Simon delivered his inau-gural
address, speaking about the
founding vision of Asa Packer and
By LAURYN RAGONE
Assistant News Editor
FOUNDER’S DAY
Lehigh installs John Simon as 14th president
Lehigh’s pursuit of excellence.
“We must commit to excellence
and situate Lehigh to excel as a
research university that prepares
students for the challenges and
opportunities of the 21st century,”
Simon said.
Following along this mission,
Simon announced that the board of
trustees has committed $250 mil-lion
dollars of institutional resourc-es
in the areas of teaching, learning,
research and student life. Simon
outlined goals in four main areas
of financial aid, university infra-structure,
innovative education and
globalization.
Janet Norwood, the senior direc-tor
of advancement communica-tions,
said this Founder’s Day was
special due to the additional sesqui-centennial
programming, including
the installation. The university has
been planning the events for the
past year and special events were
added to the program to expand the
celebration.
Individuals in Grace Hall pre-sented
Simon with symbolic gifts,
and this presentation was shown on
a screen at the church.
Lori McClaind, the assistant dean
of academic transitions, led the pre-sentation
of gifts from Grace Hall.
The presenters were Thomas Healy
Jr., ’85, Mary Jo McNulty, Professor
Scott Gordon and Michael Garzillo,
’16.
Chris Barry/B&W Staff
President John Simon is presented with the university mace by University Chaplain Rev. Lloyd Steffen,
right, during the installation of the president by Chair of the board of trustees Brad Eric Scheler during
the Founder’s Day ceremonies in Packer Memorial Church on Friday. The university mace, a symbol of
university officials, was first given as a gift from the centennial class of 1966.
Farrington Square officially dedicated
See FOUNDER’S Page 2
Citations
by the
thousand
By REBECCA WILKIN
Assistant News Editor
By ALYSSA TAYLOR
B&W Staff
In the 2015 spring semester,
Lehigh Transportation and Parking
Services issued 4,011 parking cita-tions.
Although 755 appeals were
filed last semester, only about 40 to
60 percent of them were granted.
“We listen carefully to appeals and
aim to fix parking lot ambiguity so
that the same violations don’t keep
occurring,” wrote Brett Johnson,
assistant manager of Lehigh’s
Parking Services, in an email. “Our
goal is to make parking at Lehigh
easier. If you think a sign or park-ing
area is confusing or ambiguous,
please let us know and we’ll work to
correct it.”
Anna Simoneau/B&W Staff
Greg Farrington, accompanied
by his wife Jean, speaks at the
Farrington Square dedication
on Thursday. He was Lehigh’s
president from 1998-2006. See PARKING Page 3
The former Campus Square was
officially renamed Farrington Square
on Thursday as a tribute to Lehigh’s
12th president, Greg Farrington, and
his wife, Jean Farrington.
In his introduction, Brad Eric
Scheler, chairman of the board of
trustees, looked back on “the great-ness
that was Greg’s.”
“The spirit they brought and
instilled in all of us, you see it every
day when you sit in Linderman, when
you reflect on some of the remark-able
academics that instill greatness
in our students,” Scheler said. “But
most of all, when you reflect on the
fact that the barrier that once was
the divide of Packer Avenue between
Lehigh and the greater Bethlehem
community was eliminated by Greg.”
When Greg and Jean Farrington
first visited Lehigh’s campus 16
years ago they immediately came
upon the square.
At the time there were two park-ing
lots, a payphone and a bulletin
board, “with all the latest news from
last year,” Greg Farrington said.
A disconnect existed between the
campus and the local community
that the Farrington’s decided to
Parking services addresses
high volume of
violations, ticket prices
and appeals process
See FARRINGTON Page 2
Last spring, the Parking Appeals
Committee consisted of six under-graduate
students, one graduate stu-dent,
one faculty member and two
staff members. Parking Services
staff are not on the committee. The
committee meets weekly to review
appeals, and tickets can only be
appealed within a week of the issue
date.
Depending on the penalty, fines
range from $25 to $150. In order
to determine the prices of tickets
and parking passes, Parking Services
looks at a variety of research and
data, including parking permit rev-enues
and costs from previous years,
what schools in areas similar to
Lehigh are charging, and supply and
demand on campus. Many schools
in the area charge similar rates. A
general parking violation ticket at
Lafayette College is $20, as opposed
to Lehigh’s typical $25 fine.
“The revenue generated from per-mit
sales and parking fines goes
directly to fund parking lot and garage
maintenance, and the enhancement
of parking services for the campus
and community,” Johnson wrote.
“The safety of our students and the
Lehigh community is our No. 1 con-cern,
and proper maintenance is cru-cial
to achieving safe and suitable
parking options.”
According to Parking Services, its
parking fees discourage violations,
Samantha Tomaszewski/Made with Canva