The first week of school after winter break usually consists of realizing that you wrote down the wrong date on your notes. As you cross out 2016 and replace it with the new year, you can only anticipate what 2017 has in store.
As soon as the ball dropped in Times Square, social media was flooded with the annual “New Year, New Me” posts. While individual attitudes towards this mantra may vary, one thing is for sure: 2017 will be a year of change.
2016 was a year all Susquehanna students want to leave in the past. The end of the fall semester was plagued by campus-wide tension caused by the presidential election; these tensions led to open discussions that caused raised awareness to various issues at Susquehanna University. We can only hope that these issues will be fixed along with the changes in university administration.
As both the nation and SU say goodbye to beloved leaders, many have mixed emotions. Last year our esteemed President Jay Lemons announced his decision to leave Susquehanna University in June. It will be a bittersweet moment as we say good-bye to Prez Lems and welcome his predecessor, President-Elect Dr. Jonathon Green with open arms. Not only will we have a new president, but the Dean of the Sigmund-Weis School of Business, Marsha Kelliher, will also be leaving the school, opening the search for her successor.
Not all of the changes on campus are pertaining to loss. There are also a lot of positive changes to look forward to as well. Susquehanna has announced various new majors and minors including Africana Studies and Biomedical Sciences. These fields of study were highly requested by SU students and these additions reflects how our voices are being heard within the campus community.
At SU there are somethings that will always stay the same. There will always be traditions such as the Thanksgiving dinner and the Candlelight Service. It is also guaranteed that we will have an abundant squirrel population as well as stinky gingko droppings. While we hold on to the things that will always be there, we must also be open to change. In the words of Socrates, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on the fighting the old, but on building the new.”