Their Success Is Our Success

Momentum can be a powerful thing. It can change institutions. It can change lives. And yes, it can change the world.

Here at Lehigh, I am proud to say, momentum is building.

A little more than a year has passed since we announced the “Path to Prominence”—our plan to take Lehigh to greater heights than ever before—and over the past several months we have made a number of strategic investments and institutional commitments that will help make that plan a reality. We are moving forward on building projects and infrastructure improvements, working to recruit elite new faculty, exploring the creation of groundbreaking new programs and institutes, and striving to create an academic culture that supports creativity, collaboration and discovery.

But as exciting as I find all of those important and crucial facets of the Path to Prominence, no element of our vision for the future gets to the heart of what we do here at Lehigh quite like our stated intention of substantially growing and diversifying our undergraduate student population.

It is perhaps the most ambitious aspect of our plan, and the most challenging as well. And so I think it’s important to note that our goal here is not growth simply for the sake of growth. Rather, our aim is to leverage perhaps our greatest strengths—our powerful and life-changing undergraduate experience—and provide that experience to more students, from more backgrounds, than ever before.

I find this to be a noble and worthy goal.

What we do here at Lehigh is special. For more than 150 years, we have welcomed to Lehigh ambitious, bright young people of great talent and even greater potential. And then, over the course of their four years on South Mountain, we have succeeded in amplifying their ambitions, challenging their intellects and growing their skillsets, all with the aim of helping them achieve their full potential—or, in some cases, surpassing it.

I firmly believe this is an area in which Lehigh excels.

I also firmly believe that, because of this longstanding success, we must push forward and do what we can to ensure that any young person with the talent and drive to succeed here at Lehigh has the opportunity to do so, regardless of their financial background, family situation or socio-economic standing.

As an institution of higher learning, our obligation is to work to change the world; here at Lehigh, we do that by changing lives.

In this issue of the Bulletin, you will have the opportunity to read the stories of four young people whose lives have been fundamentally changed because of our ongoing efforts to increase access to a Lehigh education. Their stories are inspirational, emotional and heartfelt. They are also illustrative of the truly powerful impact that our great university can and does have on the students that we serve.

I hope that you enjoy reading their stories, and hope as well that you will continue to engage with and support your alma mater as we look to build on the momentum that is not only already creating the Lehigh of the future, but molding the Lehigh leaders of the future as well.

Sincerely,
John D. Simon, President