June 1, 2020

Dear Campus Community,

We are writing to you today because we feel strongly the need to reach out together to our community and to express in this letter what we would be expressing in person if the College were in session.

Across the United States, we are witnessing anguish, sorrow, and frustration over the issues of injustice and racism, of wrongful actions by those entrusted with serving and protecting, and of excessive violence against members of the Black community. Sadly, George Floyd is only the most recent victim of too many lives lost.  

None of us condones violence as a solution to injustice. But all of us can, and should, feel outrage when we see a man dying needlessly in front of our eyes. For the Black community especially—but for all of us— this scene is brutally, painfully familiar.

These events and these issues go to the core of the LVC community because they stand in opposition to everything we are working toward. Our learning community is built on inclusion and fairness, on the assurance that every person will be treated with dignity, recognized for their abilities, supported in their efforts, and acknowledged for their accomplishments. As a community, we must continue to find ways to advance this core value.

If we were together, we would want to hear your voices now. Our hope is that you will not be silent in your own community nor in the LVC community. We can and should affirm these values that make us strong. The hard truth is that we need to do more to strengthen tolerance and understanding, to speak out against the pernicious nature of systemic racism, to effect reform in our region, to create broader solutions in our state, and to produce an authentically inclusive learning community. This is not work that will be completed quickly but it is work that must continue until we have truly made a difference.

We encourage you to take action to bring about change. Identify well-established organizations to which you can contribute your time or resources. Work for change through the political system by researching candidates to identify those whose values best align with yours, and then vote. Educate yourself as much as possible on these issues using reliable sources.

We are committed to continuing the conversation at LVC. You are welcome to respond to this email with your questions and recommendations for ways in which LVC can contribute to regional and national solutions and become stronger in our own efforts to be inclusive.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lewis E. Thayne, president and Dr. James M. MacLaren, president-elect

May 2019

Dear Friends,

It has been an honor for me to lead this remarkable college at a transformative period in our history and at such a challenging and consequential time for American higher education. My wife, Dorry, and I came to LVC in 2012 because we were so impressed by the thoughtful and talented students served by this institution. Our admiration for them has grown in the time we’ve been here.

The accomplishments of the past seven years were only possible because of a shared dedication to the students of the College by a committed faculty and staff working together with the full support of the board of trustees and our alumni. In those seven years, we can point to extraordinary success:

• Construction of the Jeanne and Edward H. Arnold Health Professions Pavilion, the premier facility for education in the health professions that ensures Lebanon Valley College’s leadership position in Central Pennsylvania;
• Establishment of the Edward and Lynn Breen Center for Graduate Success, whose vision is to become the finest, most innovative career readiness resource on any college campus anywhere;
• Adoption of Constellation LVC as the new and innovative general education curriculum and of Inclusive Excellence as the aspiration and guiding ethos of the College;
• Renovation of the Vernon and Doris Bishop Library into a state-of-the-art research and learning resource center;
• Publication of Envision 2020 and One Campus, a highly collaborative strategic plan and a campus master planning map, superb guides for a community vision that charts the future of LVC;
• Implementation of the Strategic Enrollment Management Plan resulting in the recruitment of three successive years of record-breaking classes;
• The naming of 10 students as Fulbright Finalists in the last four years; and
• Creation of LVC Homecoming bringing together College alumni and families in a fall campus celebration of multigenerational alumni and community dedication, generosity, and camaraderie.

There are many other areas of the College I could point to as part of this transformation, and they touch on every constituency, all parts of the College, and include every department on campus. In the past three years, in particular, we have focused on affordability for our students, investments in faculty and new academic programs, and the larger, institutional purpose of the College. I am very grateful to the faculty and staff who have pulled together when the institution and our students needed it most and to the donors who supported our vision.

Dorry and I look forward to working with many across the campus community as we advance the College even further in the year ahead.  

Warmly,

President Thayne