Intrigued by the drawings and ham radio call signs found etched on walls in the Clayton University Center at Packer Hall, we put out a call to alumni on Instagram and on the pages of the spring issue of the magazine: Could anyone shed a light? Who might have spent time in those fifth-floor dorm rooms that had been sealed up for decades?
“I try to imagine the students who may have slept there,” said Lois Black, director of Special Collections. She had been fascinated by the opportunity to make a connection to the university’s early history. Opening the rooms during renovations was like opening a time capsule, Special Collections Librarian Ilhan Citak said.
Imagine our delight, then, when we learned from a reader about a way to put a name to those ham radio call signs. Writer Christina Tatu was able to track down two of the alums. Read her story to see where the journey has taken us.
I was thinking a lot about what Black and Citak had to say as we put the final touches on this issue. In many ways, your alumni magazine is a time capsule too—of moments in Lehigh’s storied history; of physical changes to campus; of students, faculty and alumni striving to make a difference. It is, in part, why Special Collections has digitized more than 100 years’ worth of the magazine.
This issue captures the launch of Lehigh’s first University Research Center—The Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience—and so much more. Writer Stephen Gross catches up with Matt Salvaterra ’03, who made headlines playing football at Lehigh. Now, inspired by an 1800s Parisian style of gardening, Salvaterra tackles organic farming.
As I write this letter, I am feeling especially nostalgic, which is why I bring up the richness of this magazine. This issue marks my last as editor, a position I have held for the last three years, though I have been involved with the magazine for a decade. I am retiring.
It has been a privilege to bring you these stories, which have been so varied—a profile on “Super Producer” Ricky Kirshner ’82; an oral history of “When Lehigh Beat Duke”; an in-depth look at Lehigh’s partnership with community leaders for “Sunrise on the South Side.”
Thank you for reading.
Mary Ellen Alu
Editor
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