Culture Change with the Path to Prominence

Packard Lab
Where Southside Commons is going to be built
3rd and New St, currently under construction
Chandler- Ullmann
Fairchild- Martindale Library
Rauch Business School

 

The pictures I took are buildings and areas currently on campus or near campus that are going to be affected by Lehigh’s Path to Prominence initiative.  Rauch Business School, Fairchild- Martindale Library, Chandler- Ullmann, Packard Lab, Mountaintop Building B, and the University Center will all be renovated/expanded/changed.  A new administrative facility on 3rd and New Street, Southside Commons, and Mountain Top Building C are going to be built on land/area that I also took pictures of.  The changes and renovations are extensive, and is going to change the way campus looks and feels.  The expansion aims to “provide the campus community with new venues for research, discovery and student life, as well as creative spaces that will spark innovation and bring faculty, students, staff and the community closer together.” (Path to Prominence).  I can attest to the administrations thoughts about the lack of diversity on campus, and the limited relations with the South Bethlehem Community.  I spend almost all of my time in academic buildings near the UC, FML, and my sorority house, and FML itself.  I notice the void in my Lehigh experience in regard to interacting with the community surrounding Lehigh. I think the Path to Prominence is much needed, and will allow Lehigh to become a more impactful and innovative university, especially with the addition of the College of Health.  Lehigh’s website details the Path to Prominence are very helpful in understanding and imagining the proposed changes to campus.  There are many visuals and maps of new buildings and changes to existing ones.  It helped me to understand just how large this initiative is, and I quickly began to understand that changes are going to take place not only on campus but also off campus.  Two articles I read were published this year in The Morning Call, and were also very informative.  They describe the technical aspects of the expansion as well as the educational and cultural impact of it on the University.  Lehigh University to add up to 1,800 more students discusses the specifics of adding students, faculty, and new buildings. (Palochko, 2016).  Lehigh University: Developing global citizens who can tackle complex problems talks about what makes Lehigh unique, new programs and offerings being added to campus, internship and career training opportunities, financial aid and other exciting things students are participating in such as in the Mountaintop Experience. (Call, The Morning, 2017).

While these articles highlight the positives of expansion, after watching Urban Renewal in the South Side: The Packer Avenue Project I am aware of the impact that expansion can have on the surrounding community and its citizens.  In the documentary, it was evident that community members affected by the last expansion were pretty much forced to be relocated, and were not treated with the respect they deserved.  This is important to recognize, in order to not repeat the same mistake with The Path to Prominence.  Lehigh needs to ensure that the expansion into South Bethlehem actually brings the community and University closer, not the opposite.  Lehigh aims to integrate further into the community, however it needs to do so in a way that accepts responsivity for the potentially negative consequences of expansion and its current resident’s feelings. (Reeling, 2008). While I recognize the potential negatives impact if the university does not learn from its past mistakes, scholarly articles such as Teaching Global Public Health in the Undergraduate Liberal Arts: A Survey of 50 Colleges highlight the value that a school of Health can add.  The article discusses how global and public health is about social responsibility, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and a knowledge of the wider world, which further the values of a liberal arts education. (Hill, 2012). I wish that I could currently take classes in the School of Health since I am very interested in nutrition. I think that its addition will not only enrich students learning, but also help to breach the gap between Lehigh and the South Bethlehem community.  Before thinking about how the expansion is going to affect Lehigh, I did not realize that my current college experience is missing a piece. Upon reflection, I now realize that I am contained on campus physically, and that a majority of my social and academic interactions are with a small subset of students.   I think it will be really interesting to see how The Path to Prominence as a whole changes future students’ experiences.  Hopefully the traditions I currently enjoy such as Greek life and a strong sense of Lehigh pride, will seamlessly mesh with the new objectives to increase research and discovery, add cultural diversity and to integrate further into the community.

Metadata template
Field
Title Culture Change with the Path to Prominence
Author Anna Caraviello
Date 12/13/2017
Description These are pictures of all the buildings and areas currently on campus or near campus that are going to be affected by Lehigh’s Path to Prominence initiative.
Format Pictures
Subject Culture, Path to Prominence, Diversity, Community.
Rights Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Source Pictures taken by me

Works Cited

Call, The Morning. “Lehigh University: Developing Global Citizens Who Can Tackle Complex Problems.” Themorningcall.com, 24 July 2017, www.mcall.com/news/education/mc-college-tab-2017-lehigh-20170722-story.html.

Hill, David R., et al. “Teaching Global Public Health in the Undergraduate Liberal Arts: A Survey of 50 Colleges.” The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2 July 2012, www.ajtmh.org/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0571#cited.

Palochko, Jacqueline, and Nicole Radzievich. “Lehigh University to Add up to 1,800 More Students.” Themorningcall.com, 26 Oct. 2016, www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-web-lehigh-university-expansion-plans-20161025-story.html.

“Path to Prominence.” Search the Lehigh Website, 19 Sept. 2017, www1.lehigh.edu/path-prominence.

Reeling, Jeff, director. Urban Renewal on the South Side: The Packer Avenue Project. Bethlehem, Pa: Lehigh University, 2008.