The Elizabethtown College orientation program received a major renovation for its 2018 summer orientation under Director of Student Transitions Programs and Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships Jean-Paul Benowitz.

One of the new elements to orientation introduced over this past summer was the Anatomy of a Blue Jay contest. First-year Madeline Mace, a resident of Myer Residence Hall, is the first winner of the contest.

As part of the contest, each member of the class of 2022 received a poster to take home with them following summer orientation.

To become eligible for the contest, students had to bring the poster back to campus when they moved into their residence halls in August.

Students who hung up their poster in their dorm rooms were nominated for the prize.

The grand prize Mace received for winning was an assortment of Etown-related gifts to which the Student Senate, Alunmi Association and Orientation Programs all contributed.

The posters that were sent home with the incoming first-year class after orientation portrayed the meaning of being a part of Etown.

Alumni Association President Ryan Unger ’01 and junior Student Senate President Holly Francescone both signed the posters to symbolize a joint welcome to the new class of Blue Jays between the senate and the Alumni Association.

Executive Director of College Engagement Opportunities Mark Clapper ’96 spoke about the significance of the Alumni Association’s collaboration with the new class in the contest.

“Because alumni are proud of the College and our connections with each other, it was a no-brainer for the Elizabethtown College Alumni Association to help lift up the winner of a contest in which E-town pride and class unity were the focus,” Clapper said. “It was fun being involved, but it also really tied in nicely with the Alumni Association’s slogan, ‘Blue Jays. Always.’”

Clapper also said how the alumni who continue to be engaged members of the College community are happy to see the incoming classes.

“It’s always exciting for graduates to see ‘New Jays’ arrive and add their own unique characteristics to the campus community,” he said.

Under the new orientation program, the Blue Jay identity is stressed to incoming first-years to give them a sense of belonging.

Summer orientation and fall orientation are named “Blue Jays Beginnings” and “Blue Jay Always: Opening Days” to promote this identity.

“This party of Blue Jays is your family,” the poster reads under the section for the heart of a Blue Jay.