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NEWS
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
MU President “Getz” Inaugurated Inside the Inauguration with Mercyhurst Student Government By Joey Franz
Contributing writer
History has been made! Well, Mercyhurst history. This past weekend, Kathleen A. Getz, Ph. D. was inaugurated as the 13th President of Mercyhurst University. After a long presidential search in the spring of last year we have officially welcomed her into our Mercyhurst community. As a member of the Mercyhurst Student Government Executive Board, I was given the opportunity to attend all of the inauguration festivities. To kick off the weekend on Thursday, there was a movie night in the Preforming Arts Center showing the 1996 film “That Thing You Do!” starring Tom Hanks. The reason the film was shown is because part of the film was set in 1960s-Mercyhurst College and the surrounding Erie area. Attendees were given cowbells to ring whenever Mercyhurst was mentioned. On Friday, there was an Inaugural Mass for all to enjoy. The Mass was beautiful with song, dance and even a surprise performance from President Getz
herself. Saturday was the big day. The day began with the Inauguration Ceremony in the Performing Arts Center. To start the ceremony, all of the professors and dignitaries of the university processed in. The ceremony then continued with speeches from university officials and President Getz’s friends and family. Later that night was Campus Celebration Experience. The event began with the Emerging Artist Showcase with features from the dance, music and theater departments. “It was a fun time and I was really grateful they included all of the arts departments. It was also special to play for the new President and I’m glad we can share our love of the arts with her,” said senior Music Therapy major, Mikayla Tupek. The evening continued with a historic Mercyhurst museum in the Mercy Heritage Room. This space featured memorabilia from the archives of all things Mercyhurst, from our founding in 1926 all the way up to today in 2021. Afterwards was the Piano and Jazz Experience in the Walk-
er Recital Hall. This space was transformed into a jazz club. In the center of the stage was a piano and everyone was gathered around. While we mingled, we were also able to celebrate with one another. The last stop of the night was the Grand Dessert and Champaign Reception. This was held in the Weber Hall Great Room. The space was magnificent; it looked like a wedding reception. There was food, drink, a small band and people dancing. During this I got the chance to speak with President Getz. When I asked her how she felt now that she is officially president, she smiled, laughed and said she is just so happy and so excited to Contributed photo be here and for what is to come MSG Executive Board poses with the new president. From left to it the future. right: Joey Franz, Kailey Pisani, Doug Wilsch, Carissa Budday, PresiAn inauguration is a new start dent Getz, Janiece Withers, Nick Brodfuehrer, and Megan Krull. for everyone. President Getz’s theme for her presidency is a quote from Catharine McAuley’ pledging to be “good today, but better tomorrow.” Now that we all as students, staff and faculty have finally accepted her into our Mercyhurst community, we can all be Good Today and Better Tomorrow.
Contributed photo
Contributed photo
The inauguration ceremony ran smoothly and Mercyhurst officially has a new president!
President Getz prepares for her Inauguration Ceremony in the PAC.
Eight ROTC Cadets receive scholarships By Mackenzie Zent
Staff writer
On Aug. 28, the Pride of Pennsylvania Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) accepted eight new cadets from Mercyhurst University into the program. This exciting accomplishment means that these cadets are now fully contracted into the program and will begin earning commissions for the United States Army. Along with this, the students also received two-year national scholarships for school through the ROTC Board. Mercyhurst University joined the “Pride of Pennsylvania” Battalion during the 1990s in order to offer support for students
who are interested in a military career. The mission of the ROTC program is “to recruit, retain, develop and commission the future officer leadership of the United States Army and motivate young people to be better citizens through support of local JROTC programs.” The ROTC program at Mercyhurst is very demanding and time consuming, yet very rewarding. Not all students who participate in the program are required to serve in the army, but those who decide to contract plan on furthering their military careers after graduation. The number of students contracted into the army is now 38 at Mercyhurst, which does include the addition of the eight new ca-
dets. “I am very excited for the opportunity to serve my country and represent those who have served- past and present,” said Lilly English, one of the eight cadets that recently contracted. English is a sophomore criminal justice major here at Mercyhurst and has been involved in the ROTC program since the beginning of her freshman year. She knew she wanted to be in the ROTC program when she was in high school, so finally contracting was an important moment for her. With ROTC comes a large amount of responsibility and a lot of hard work. The program is physically demanding and pushes students to be their very best.
Cadets are required to attend physical training in the morning three times a week and take part in physical fitness labs. All of this training is to help them pass their physical fitness test to be allowed to contract. Not only is being physically fit important, being academically fit for the program is a requirement as well. This means that keeping up a GPA of 2.5 or higher is extremely important. After commissioning, the cadets will be going straight into the army as leaders, so this is an important aspect of the program. They will go on to become officers in the US army, commissioning initially as second lieutenants. Along with leadership, military skills are also built as well as ca-
reer preparation. This is useful for their time in the army and continuing their careers in the degree they graduated with after they retire from the military. “I am learning a lot about becoming a better leader and overall a better person, and I hope this will continue throughout my ROTC career,” said English. Contracting into the army is a huge milestone in the military careers of these eight students, and a big accomplishment. The eight newest contracted cadets should be very proud of themselves. If you are interested in joining the ROTC program at Mercyhurst or have any questions, reach out to Captain Sergio Franco at sfranco@mercyhurst.edu.
