During Orientation, the Gettysburg College community gathered to celebrate the Class of 2028, who joined a dynamic network of Gettysburgians, each of whom have created their own story at Gettysburg.
The Class of 2028 marks a pivotal step in a strategic institutional decision to elevate academic excellence and selectivity by intentionally welcoming a historically smaller class than previous years. This year, the College welcomes 510 members of the Class of 2028 and 12 transfer students, selected from a record pool of more than 8,300 applicants. Students come from 30 states, the District of Columbia, and 31 countries.
As students discovered throughout first-year Orientation, Gettysburg’s faculty, staff, and students are eager to learn their names and support them as they explore their passions and cultivate their talents.
Read more highlights from Move-In, Opening Convocation, and the First-Year Walk.
Move-In Day and Opening Convocation
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, more than 150 volunteers from our community helped students move into their residence halls and get acquainted with their Gettysburg home. Sights and sounds of the orange and blue were on full display throughout campus. Ceremonial banners waved from the Beachem Portico of Pennsylvania Hall in the cool summer breeze. Parents and student volunteers wearing welcome team T-shirts greeted first-year students and their parents during the morning’s Move-In.
Later that day, during Gettysburg’s 193rd Opening Convocation, the Class of 2028 heard from Student Senate President Michael Woods ’25, German Studies Chair and Jewish Studies Prof. Kerry Wallach, and Gettysburg College President Bob Iuliano about the power of embracing possibilities.
Woods summarized the Gettysburg College experience in one word: opportunity. He urged the incoming class to take advantage of opportunities and pursue them with courage.
“Your very presence here today proves that each of you possesses imperative skill in finding and obtaining opportunities,” Woods said. “You each recognized the avenues for growth and success that stem from the Gettysburg Approach and took the initiative to join our community. The next four years will go by fast, so make sure to use the skills you have and those you will gain to seize each opportunity.”
Wallach, the faculty speaker, highlighted the importance of learning about and identifying one another by name. She described how she delved into the story of Jewish artist Rahel Szalit during research for her recently published book detailing the artist’s life and work. By exploring Szalit’s story and ensuring her legacy was not forgotten, Wallach witnessed the significance of identifying a person by name.
“You play a key role in shaping your identity and your future. How will you make a name for yourself over the next four years? What will you contribute to this campus that will distinguish you from others in a positive way? What stories will your peers tell about you at your 10th or 25th reunions?” she asked, encouraging the incoming class to discover the people of Gettysburg’s community. “We are here for you. We want to support you. We are excited to learn your names.”
In another example illustrating the power of names, Gettysburg College President Bob Iuliano began his remarks by sharing how a young Cassius Clay channeled the frustration over his stolen red Schwinn bicycle into boxing lessons. Those boxing lessons nurtured Clay’s development, as he grew to be known as heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali. Iuliano invited members of the class to apply the lessons from Ali’s story to their personal stories as they begin their Gettysburg education.
“In joining this community, we are asking you to do something that is both exhilarating and difficult, and that’s to open your minds to new ways of thinking, being, and doing,” he said. He pointed to a red Schwinn Ranger mountain bicycle parked at the top of the stairs of Pennsylvania Hall’s Beachem Portico. The bicycle, he explained, symbolizes Gettysburg’s aspirations for the Class of 2028 starting its Gettysburg journey.
Iuliano then announced that a member of the Class of 2028 would receive the bike, a gift from the College, and asked students to look under their seats for a photo of the bike. Murtaza Ayoub ’28, an international student from Pakistan, rose from his chair with the photo in his hand amid cheers and applause from his classmates.
“[It’s] our hope that you will seek mentorship and support, that you will be open to the unexpected, and that you will take lessons as much and perhaps more from the hard days than the easy ones,” Iuliano said, concluding his remarks. “Welcome, Class of 2028. I cannot wait to see all you’ll do here.”
At the conclusion of Convocation, the Class of 2028 matriculated into Gettysburg College, processing through the open doors of Pennsylvania Hall. This College tradition symbolizes the beginning of the consequential education these students are embarking upon at Gettysburg.
First-Year Walk
The First-Year Walk, a cherished Gettysburg College tradition during Orientation, connects students with Gettysburg’s history and heritage. It invites them to explore the place that has inspired generations of Gettysburgians to respond to President Abraham Lincoln’s challenge in his Gettysburg Address to “be dedicated here to the unfinished work for which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
The First-Year Walk commemorates the journey students and faculty of the College took on Nov. 19, 1863. On that day, College faculty and students joined members of the Gettysburg community as they accompanied President Abraham Lincoln through the town to the dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery. During this dedication, Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address.
Lincoln’s words from his address resounded once more on Thursday, Aug. 22, as members of the Class of 2028 followed in the footsteps of Gettysburg alumni before them. They walked from Gettysburg College’s Christ Chapel into Lincoln Square in downtown Gettysburg as parents, friends, and members of the Gettysburg community cheered them on during their walk down Baltimore Street.
The First-Year Walk took them through Gettysburg National Cemetery, past the final resting place for thousands of soldiers from the Civil War and other conflicts in American history. The class then gathered at Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg National Military Park, next to the headquarters used by Union Gen. George Meade during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Gettysburg’s mayor, the Hon. Rita C. Frealing, extended her welcome from the Borough of Gettysburg and presented a key to the city to Fernando Levy ’28 of Managua, Nicaragua, on behalf of the Class of 2028. Following this presentation, President Iuliano introduced Sunderman Conservatory of Music Prof. César Leal, director of orchestral activities and coordinator of musicology, who delivered the keynote speech and recited the enduring words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
Leal began his remarks by reflecting on his 23-year journey to citizenship. A native of Colombia, South America, Leal became a U.S. citizen on June 6, 2024, at Eisenhower National Historic Site during the 80th anniversary commemoration of D-Day. He told the class his dream of pursuing an opportunity to “live a more authentic life” here in our nation.
Today, he said, “what once was an unreachable world now feels extremely accessible and within reach.” He described the significance of historia, a Spanish word that translates to both history and story. Historia, he explained, “suggests the deep connection between your individual path and the very fabric that collectively builds what we call history.”
Leal observed how Gettysburg’s history connects with stories of sacrifice, unity, and resilience. “This is a place of memory, where the stories of those who fought and died are interwoven with the ongoing stories of those who continue to struggle for equality and justice,” he said. “These stories are not relics of the past; they are living, breathing parts of our collective identity.”
As the late August sun sank below the horizon, illuminating the ridgetops, monuments, and memorials dotting the battlefield beyond, Leal recited Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Each word of the Gettysburg Address punctuated the still evening air like the notes from an orchestral piece performed by a Conservatory ensemble.
Concluding his remarks, Leal reminded the class that they are called to embrace the experiences, perspectives, and possibilities that will shape their historias at this moment, in this place.
“It’s about making your historias, like the education you will receive here, consequential,” he said. “Welcome to Gettysburg College, where you will find a home, a family, and a place where you truly belong.”
View more photos from Move-In, Opening Convocation, and the First-Year Walk.
Learn more about the traditions that connect us as a College community.
By Michael Vyskocil
Video by Abbey Frisco
Photos by Shannon Palmer and Luke Waldner
Posted: 08/28/24