President Video Message: Fall 2025 Campus Update

In his message marking the start of the semester, President Helble celebrates the positive energy and momentum of the Lehigh community and the contributions of students from across the globe. He reflects on national challenges in higher education while underscoring the university’s commitment to innovation, belonging and purpose through the Lehigh Strategy. The message points to recent advancements, from the launch of Making the Future, Lehigh’s long-term campus plan, to new graduate programs, research centers and other milestones. As the year begins, President Helble emphasizes our collective vision for shaping Lehigh’s future.

Watch the video message.

Transcript:

Welcome everyone to the start of a new academic year, and a special welcome to our new students. From move-in to convocation and the rally, to the start of the fall semester, undergraduates and graduate students alike, domestic and international students alike, the energy you bring and the perspectives you share set the tone for the year ahead, and it has been a wonderful start.

We begin this year amidst the national conversation regarding the challenges facing higher education. Federal support for research, questions about outcomes and concerns about whether universities are providing a supportive environment for all students are just some of the important issues being discussed. At Lehigh, we will not simply respond to these challenges. Rather, we will remain committed to building, innovating, and leading with a clear sense of purpose, guided by our Future Makers strategy now in its third year, and we remain committed to being a campus that ensures every student feels a true sense of belonging, that every student knows that they are accepted for who they are.

It's been a busy summer for Lehigh. In early August, we unveiled Making the Future, a long-term campus plan that provides a framework for shaping the spaces that support our students, faculty and staff developed with engagement from more than 1,400 members of our community. The plan builds on Lehigh's distinctive assets while imagining a more connected campus from Asa Packard to Mountaintop, to The Forest to Goodman, and a more collaborative future.

We've expanded our graduate student population and introduced new master's programs, creating more pathways for students to pursue advanced learning. The creation of the Office of Educational Innovation and the development of initiatives such as the First Year Rossin Experience exemplify our commitment to fostering innovative student-centered learning on the institutional and research front. Lehigh's R1 designation and the launch of three new university research centers highlights our direction and momentum. We've also reached $1 billion in our current fundraising campaign and completed a community and economic impact report that highlights the influence of Lehigh in the region and beyond.

The value of a Lehigh education continues to be recognized nationally this fall. LinkedIn ranked Lehigh number 17 among US colleges for long-term career success, reinforcing what we know to be true: a Lehigh education is an investment that delivers lifelong benefit. Thanks to our position of relative financial strength, we enter fiscal year 2026 with measured confidence, prioritizing investments that advance our mission and position us for long-term growth. Even as we make careful choices, our focus remains clear: the people across our community that make Lehigh strong. As this new year unfolds, I'm inspired by the commitment of our community. Together we are shaping Lehigh's future and I look forward to all that we'll accomplish together in the year ahead.