Large campus-wide events such as Commencement and Convocation would not be possible without Institutional Advancement staff member Caroline Lalvani. For the past several years, Lalvani has been the director of Elizabethtown community affairs and college special events. “There is an ebb and flow to the job between my community relations and event planning roles. For the most part, the event planning takes up the majority of my time, but there have been years when the community relations responsibilities became more prominent,” Lalvani said.
Lalvani’s job is to oversee large institutional events. Out of all the events that she plans, her personal favorite is Commencement. “There is such a wonderful energy on the campus when the time comes for our seniors to graduate,” Lalvani said. “Hosting the families and friends of our students on such a momentous day is wonderful.” An event like Commencement takes months of planning and preparation. For the Commencement ceremony, there are approximately 3,000 to 4,000 people in attendance. “There is a lot of pride and joy surrounding the events that we host. It’s infectious,” Lalvani said.
Lalvani is also in charge of organizing guest speakers’ visits to campus each year. “Our endowed lecture series brings more than 9,500 people to campus events each year,” Lalvani said. Later this spring, Nobel Laureate Tawakkol Karman will speak at the College’s Ware Lecture on April 10.
The second part of Lalvani’s job requires her to act as a liaison between the College and the greater Elizabethtown area community. She spends much of her time representing the College to local government entities and actively works with the Elizabethtown Chamber of Commerce. Lalvani serves on many boards in the community, including the Elizabethtown Area School Board, the Elizabethtown Area Chamber of Commerce Board and on various committees within each of these boards. She is also involved with the Communities That Care organization. “Because I interact with many people on campus and within the local community, my days are always varied and interesting. I love that part of my job. I like change and challenges,” Lalvani said.
Lalvani also serves as the advisor for the on-campus musical group Phalanx. She has watched this a capella group grow and come together over the years. “I was one of the early supporters of Phalanx, way back when they were first forming,” Lalvani said, “My department paid them to perform at a few events and gave seed money to one of their first CDs. I’ve always been a fan. They are an amazing group of talented men — I’m a little biased. We have wonderful a cappella talent on this campus with Phalanx, Melica and Vocalign. It’s a privilege to work with all of them.”
Lalvani started working at the College 20 years ago. “I applied for the director of summer conferences position as my first position with the College. I was tired of the extremely long hours working in hotel sales, so I decided to apply for the position,” Lalvani said. Prior to her employment at the College, Lalvani worked in the hospitality industry. She worked as the director of sales for various hotels including the Hotel Hershey. Lalvani received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus.
Lalvani enjoys the many components of her job. “I am fortunate to work with a wide variety of people, from students, to faculty, staff and community members. Every day is different and comes with unique challenges and opportunities,” Lalvani said.
