A Note from the OFYEGreetings from Lehigh!In this Update:

• Meet the Staff • Camp Hawk • The O-Team • Summer Reading • Orientation 2013 Highlights • Training Themes through the Years • Prelusion • OL Alumni Phone-A-Thon • More Information

Orientation Leader Alumni Newletter Fall 2013

We hope that this newsletter finds you all doing well, finding happiness and success wherever life has led you since your Lehigh days. In this first edition of the Brown Polo Update, we will be updating you on the many changes within the Office of the First-Year Experience over the years. From an ever changing Orientation program and staff, to the Summer Reading program and Prelusion, in addition to the relatively new Camp Hawk, there are plenty of updates for you. As with each year, we have made many steps forward (with only a few steps back), to providing transformative programming to our first-year students. We have altered how we transition our new students and their families, by improving our communication and creating more impactful programs. As you read this newsletter and reflect on your own experience at Lehigh and as an Orientation Leader, we hope that you recall some of your most exciting and memorable times. Expect to hear from us again in the spring, with updates on our new staff!

Lehigh STRONG!Allison Ragon & Steve Dutton

BROWN POLO UPDATEL E H I G H U N I V E R S I T Y

BROWN POLO UPDATE

STEVE DUTTON – Assistant Director for Orientation and Student Engagement – sld211@lehigh.eduSteve has been at Lehigh since August 2011. His very first Lehigh Orientation experience was cut short due to Hurricane Irene, but has since hit the ground running, overseeing the direction of Ori-entation and the Orientation Leaders. Steve is originally from Orrville, OH (home of Smucker’s - GO JELLY!). He received his BS in Human Development and Family Studies from Bowling Green State University and his MEd in College Student Affairs Administration from The University of Georgia. Before Lehigh, Steve spent two years as the Assistant Director for Leadership Programs at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. He currently lives in Allentown, PA with his wife, Samantha, and dog, Winnie.

CAMP HAWKCamp Hawk is the OFYE’s newest addition to its list of programs. It seeks to continue allowing first-year students an opportunity to connect with each other in a positive, fun environment. The weekend is filled with team-building

exercises, camp-like activities, and plenty of time for silli-ness. Started in 2011 as an independent retreat for first-year students, Camp Hawk is now a part of a larger retreat experience for students at Lehigh. Members of many

leadership organizations such as ASA, Class Officers, IFC, PanHel, and more attend the Great Pocono Escape retreat, so Camp Hawkers can be ex-posed to many of the opportu-nities Lehigh has to offer. The OFYE selects and trains Camp

Hawk Counselors to help lead, organize, and execute Camp Hawk.

MEET THE OFYE STAFF:ALLISON RAGON – Assistant Dean of Students & Director of the Office of the First-Year ExperienceAllison came to Lehigh in 2004 with the inception of the OFYE. The OFYE made some big changes in 2011 when Lori McClaind moved over to academic support and Allison became the Assistant Dean and Director of the office. Steve was hired to run orientation, the office hired a new admin-istrative coordinator, Jill Forrest, and we finally got a full time Graduate Assistant Position! Allison went to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington for college and completed her graduate degree from Indiana University-Bloomington in 2002. Before working at Lehigh, Allison worked at Elon University for two years. Allison got married this summer to Tim Wilkinson, the Senior Assistant Dean and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. Allison, Tim and Bailey, Al’s dog, live in Allentown.

MIKE FOUCHET – Graduate Assistant - mif313@lehigh.eduMike has been a part of the OFYE since his first-year at Lehigh in 2009. Since then, he has been an OL twice, part of the OC7, and now has the privilege of staying on as the GA for his 5th year. Graduating with a BA in Mathematics in May 2013, Mike is now working towards his M.Ed in Sec-ondary Mathematics Education and will be student teaching during the spring semester. Originally from Southold, NY, Mike hopes to move somewhere where it doesn’t snow and pursue a career in education technology.

JILL FORREST – CoordinatorJill started at Lehigh in March of 2012. After taking 8 years off (this was not a vacation) to stay at home with her two boys, Aidan and Lucas, Jill returned to work in higher education. Jill has a Bachelor of Science in Media Communications and Technology from East Strudsburg University. After a stint in NYC doing design work, Jill came back to PA where she was the Graphics Center Supervisor at ESU. There she did all of the design work for Student Activities including, posters, brochures, t-shirts, programs etc. Jill was raised in Bensalem where Ben Franklin discovered electricty. She has 2 parakeets named Skeet and Skittle and 2 cats named Peanut and Tiger.

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Orientation Coordinators have existed for as long as the OFYE has been around. Although the number has fluctuated over the years from 4 OCs at one time all the way to 7 OCs in 2013. After Orientation 2013, the

Orientation Staff expanded and now includes an Orientation Assistant (OA). Combined with 6 Orientation Coordinators, the OCs and OA, will make up the O-Team! This position, in addition to the responsibilities of

an OC during the academic year, will work alongside the Assistant Director to handle logistical details of Orienta-tion and find themselves managing behind the scenes during August training and Orientation.

THE O-TEAM

MARISSA ROSENZWEIG – OCJr., Supply Chain Management • Tenaly, NJ

JOHN SCHULTZ – OCJr., Chemical Engineering • Orangeville, PA

REBECCA YOUSSEF – OCJr., Marketing • Nutley, NJ

The Summer Reading Program is designed to engage the Lehigh community in discussions around relevant themes in the book. Students will discuss the book with their Orientation group and a faculty or staff member during Orientation. This past year’s Summer Reading book was The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse. Previous selections of the Summer Reading Book are listed to the right.

SUMMER READING

KYLE LUM – OCJr., IBE and Mechanical Engineering • Hopedale, MA

MATT NADLER – OCJr., Chemical Engineering • Marlboro, NJ

CATHERINE O’GRADY – OCJr., Computer Science and Business •Tuckahoe, NY

HANNAH RETTOUN – OASr., Journalism • Callicoon, NY

(2012) The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid(2011) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot(2010) Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson(2008, 2009) Blink by Malcolm Gladwell(2007) Freedom in Exile by The Dalai Lama(2006) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro(2005) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini(2004) Copenhagen by Michael Frayn(2003) Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

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Pre-orientation programs have been part of the Lehigh first-year experience for a number of years, with Volunteer Experience (VE) and Outdoor Adventure Program (OAP) being the longest running. When the OFYE was created in 2004, we began to organize and stream-line these programs. Over the years, we have added more and more opportunities for new stu-dents to jump start their Lehigh experience. Fast forward to 2013 where we now oversee 10 Prelusion programs that draw about 20% of the entering first-year class.

This August, over 200 first-year students took part in one of the following:

♦ alLUsions: Literary Lehigh ♦ ArtsAlive ♦ Discover Lehigh ♦ Excel@Lehigh ♦ GlobaLehigh ♦ Outdoor Adventure Program ♦ SustainabLEHIGH ♦ Urban Ops ♦ Volunteer Experience ♦ Quest

ORIENTATION 2013HIGHLIGHTS:

♦ 83 Orientation Leaders and Coordinators

♦ 1205 First-Year Students

♦ Smart Phone App Involvio was used to supplement the printed Orientation schedule

♦ Lehigh Faux Friday was introduced and 750 new students were able to eat at 1 of 13 res-taurants in South Bethlehem on Friday night.

♦ 2nd annual Lehigh After Dark Kick-Off took place at ArtsQuest and Steel Stacks and over 1,000 new and upper class students were in attendance for mentalist Craig Karges, ThinkFast Trivia, a viewing of Iron Man 3, the midnight breakfast, and live music! Visit www.artsquest.org

♦ Lehigh Life was performed for the second year in a row by the Orientation Coordinators to highlight the ups and downs on college campuses across the country and begins the conversation of students’ impact on their new community. See it on YouTube from the first group of OCs to perform it at: youtube.com/watch?v=0TZbQyFTyNM

TRAINING THEMES through the YEARS:

In addition to the many highlights during Orientation 2013, the training theme has been a mainstay in the OFYE each and every year. This past year’s training theme was The Hunger Games. Here’s a list of the OL training themes over the years: 2005: LUau – Hawaiian

2006: First-Year Round Up – Western

2007: Hollywood

2008: Army: Boot Camp

2009: Survivor

2010: Clue

2011: Harry Potter

2012: The Lion King

PRELUSION

Discover Lehigh students participated in a scavenger hunt to familiarize themselves with South Side Bethlehem.

BROWN POLO UPDATE

A piece of feedback the OFYE receives every year from Orientation Leaders, is the desire to build community and connections with one another during Spring training, by having an overnight retreat! The OFYE needs your help to make this happen! 2014 Returning Orientation Leaders and the O-Team will be contacting Orientation Leader Alumni to help support this effort! Remember, every time you give back to your alma mater, you can designate where it goes to! Designate it Orientation and help Lehigh beat Lafayette during the LLchallenge.com By giving just a little, your contribution can go a long way for this year’s Orientation Leader staff. You can sponsor one OL’s meals, their transportation, their overnight stay, or their entire retreat experience! Here’s how: • $15 – Meals • $20 – Transportation • $25 – Lodging • $60 – Entire Retreat Experience! • $61+ – Endless Possibilities

OL Alumni Phone-A-ThonWednesday, November 20, 2013

6:00pm – 7:30pm

More Information visit our website: studentaffairs.lehigh.edu/ofye

Follow us on Twitter: @LUOrientationLike us on Facebook: Office of the First Year Experience