Spring is right around the corner

If Punxsutawney Phil is on the mark this year, we only have three more weeks of winter to negotiate through before the start of spring.
And as you know, spring is chock-full of excitement here at Lehigh. Next month begins with the annual scholarship dinner on March 3, which attracts alumni and friends from across the country and gives our students the opportunity to share their hopes and goals with their scholarship donors, over dinner in Grace Hall. It’s truly a great night because our alumni, who understand how a Lehigh degree has changed their life, give the gift of a Lehigh education to today’s students and future generations after them by endowing scholarships.
And I’m here to tell you that the value of that piece of paper that you proudly have hanging on your wall—your Lehigh degree—increases every day because of the groundbreaking research and the rigor of interdisciplinary academic studies being done on campus, the level of speakers who visit our campus, and events like the opening of the STEPS Building, a truly remarkable building that will greatly enhance Lehigh’s already strong focus on undergraduate education and increase our formidable research capabilities.
This spring alone, the impressive roster of speakers on campus include two MacArthur fellows and two members of the National Academies who will speak at the March 29 academic symposium; three Lehigh alums who have gone on to become a NASA astronaut (Terry Hart ’68, who will speak to our students on April 12), a Fox News correspondent (Andrea Tantaros ’01, who will speak on April 14) and one of the co-founders of Urban Outfitters (Scott Belair ’69, who will speak here on April 21); and one of the most powerful women in the U.S. according to Forbes and Fortune magazines (our just-announced commencement speaker Ellen Kullman, the Chair and CEO of DuPont, who will speak here on May 23).
So please make reservations now for Reunion Weekend. For a fifth straight year, we're combining Reunion and Commencement into a single weekend-long event. The event will allow you to welcome a new Lehigh class to the alumni fold, hear the inspiring words of Kullman, and let the newest members of the Lehigh alumni family see first-hand the power of a Lehigh education and the life-long connection that alumni develop with this special place.
Robert W. Wolfenden
Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations
February 2011