Gettysburg College will welcome the class of 2030 into the greater Gettysburg community during its annual First-Year Walk on Thursday, Aug. 20. The tradition offers new first-year students an opportunity to connect with the history, people and places that surround the College as they begin their Gettysburg experience.
After hearing opening remarks from College President Bob Iuliano at Christ Chapel, the procession of students from the campus to Cemetery Hill will begin at approximately 6:15 p.m. and proceed east on Stevens Street to Carlisle Street before continuing through Lincoln Square. Students will then travel south on Baltimore Street to the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, walk through the cemetery to Taneytown Road and gather in the grassy field adjacent to the Leister Farmhouse at Gettysburg National Military Park.
At the conclusion of a brief program at the site, Interdisciplinary Studies Chair Vernon Cisney will deliver a keynote address before reading the Gettysburg Address. Gettysburg Mayor and Public Policy Prof. Alison Lintal will be on hand to welcome the new students to the community. Alessandro Araujo ’30, a student from Elmsford, Westchester County, New York, will be given the key to the borough as a representative of the first-year class.
Established in 2003, the First-Year Walk has become a signature Gettysburg College tradition and a meaningful introduction to the larger Gettysburg community beyond campus. It pays tribute to President Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Gettysburg on Nov. 19, 1863, which included a similar procession to the cemetery before his delivery of the Gettysburg Address.
While the formal program at Gettysburg National Military Park is reserved for Gettysburg College students, faculty, and staff, community members are encouraged to greet and welcome students as the procession travels through town. The event is part of the College’s Orientation for new students, which begins Wednesday, Aug. 19, and concludes Sunday, Aug. 23.
Learn more about Gettysburg College’s history and traditions.