Final Project

 

As the school prepares to embark on a campaign to expand the university, I think it’s important to know that the Path to Prominence is going to affect the South Bethlehem community and the undergraduate population. I don’t think that the overall affects of the expansion will be negative, but it’s still important to archive the University, as it looks currently, and it’s standing with South Bethlehem.

One of the things that Lehigh is known for is its campus. It’s also a popular talking point among new and prospective students. I don’t think there’s a concern about attracting enough students to fulfill the 1,000-undergraduate growth that the school wants. In fact, the construction of the new residential buildings will probably attract even more applicants than normally. The new residential buildings will include amenities that appeal more to prospective students. In his article, Students in my Backyard, Mark Allen notes that modern residential buildings are made to attract and encourage socializing. With the new batches of students, a new batch of diversity and minds will come to Lehigh and enrich the school’s academic and social atmosphere. Lehigh’s campus and undergraduates will benefit the most from the Path to Prominence.

It’s no secret that Lehigh is a party school. Everyone knows that East Fifth, Montclair, Carleton. The growth in students will affect the school’s role within South Bethlehem as more students begin to pour off campus. Our impact on the community we live in will have larger impacts than it does currently. As students carry the party culture off-campus, it may concern home owners and businesses that will have to deal with more inebriated students.  It would be interesting to see if the growth in students will add on more to the list of party streets in South Bethlehem.

The images I included in this time capsule are important because they’re a snapshot of the school as it is currently. With the changes that the school is trying to push, my class will be the class to see the Progress to Prominence begin. However, not all of us will be able to see the Path to Prominence at it’s completion. When some of us visit the campus in the future, students will be studying in the new college, the University center will have a make-over, LUPD will be patrolling new streets (or entirely different ones), and the faces we see walking around campus will be different from the ones we see. Looking back on these images will be one of the most nostalgic moments once we’ve all moved on past Lehigh. Change is one inevitable and the Path of Prominence will be one of the many changes that Lehigh has and will experience.

 

Citation:

 

Boston.com, The Boston Globe, 10 Dec. 2006, archive.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/12/10/a_building_boom_on_campus/.
Allen, Mark. “Students in My Backyard.” ProQuest, Mar. 2009, search.proquest.com/docview/212626336?pq-origsite=gscholar.
“For Lehigh, a ‘Path to Prominence’.” Search the Lehigh website, 3 Aug. 2017, www1.lehigh.edu/news/for-lehigh-a-path-to-prominence.
“Visit Info.” Visit Info | Admissions Visitor Center Kiosk | Lehigh University, www.lehigh.edu/~inis/admissions/kiosk/visit.html.