Daily Deac

It’s almost Thanksgiving, so I am catching you up on the last bits of news before I depart on PTO tomorrow. University offices will be closed Thursday and Friday (Nov. 24-25) for the Thanksgiving holiday. If your Deac is staying on campus, here are a few key things of which to be aware: The Hours […]

A new week means a new Meet A Deac. Today I am pleased to introduce you to one of my colleagues in the Dean of Students office, Jim Settle. Jim, thanks for agreeing to be our Meet A Deac this week. Can you start by telling me your job title and how long you’ve worked […]

For the second day in a row, we woke up to frost on the ground and very chilly temperatures (it was 30 degrees at 7:30 am when I left the house). I have several news items for y’all today: Yesterday afternoon, President Wente gave her annual Presidential Address. You can watch her speech or read […]

HAPPY PITSGIVING! Today I am indebted to my friends at Harvest Table (aka the folks who run The Pit) for giving me a little inside baseball look at the lead up to the start of Pitsgiving, which opened at 11 am today for lunch. Here’s the Five Senses of the Start of Pitsgiving! I see… […]

I am out of the office today, so this is a pre-post. We had some phenomenal news over the weekend, and that is that we have a new Rhodes Scholar: “Philosophy major and refugee advocate Alice Hauser has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at England’s Oxford University beginning in the fall of 2023.  She was […]

Today we have two important safety topics to cover: a campus safety update, and Senior Fifth. Last night, a Campus Safety Update was shared with students, faculty, and staff to alert the community of additional information about an ongoing issue and provide safety reminders. You can read the full message here, but here is your […]

It’s Monday – which means it’s time for another Meet A Deac! Today it’s my pleasure to introduce you to a colleague from the Office of Academic Advising, Sarah Hefner. Sarah, thanks for agreeing to do a Meet A Deac with me. To get us started, please give me your title and how long you’ve […]

I’m on PTO for most of today, so this is a pre-post. For our students who are looking to get into the holiday spirit a little early, there will be a special Secrest holiday concert featuring The Nutcracker, Nov. 15. Proclaimed “one of the best pianists of his generation” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Canadian pianist […]

Before we get to the meat of today’s blog, I want to note that there continues to be a high incidence of upper respiratory illnesses (non-COVID), both on our campus and in the local community. As students circulate on campus and in town, they can be exposed to these illnesses. We had previously shared the […]

Learning to set boundaries is an important developmental milestone for college students. Saying “no” or declining to participate in something might be the right thing for a student to do – but it can also be a really hard thing to do. (I’m 52, and it has taken me a long time to get there […]