Springfield, Ohio - For the past four years, Wittenberg University has highlighted student success through a special Celebration of Lifelong Learning event designed to showcase academic and co-curricular activities from every department.
As part of this year's Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 7-9, Wittenberg will take the popular spring event and host it this fall so as feature alumni success, as well. Wittenberg alumni from across the United States have been invited to offer advice and knowledge to current student at the celebratory event.
Associate Professor of Business and Department Chair Wendy Gradwohl, along with Wendy Smiseck, director of Career Services; Meredith Level, coordinator for engaged learning for the Department of Business; Linda Beals, director of alumni relations; and Kenzie Kush '17, have organized the event.
"We thought it would be beneficial to have a collaborative event where alumni from all disciplines shared their stories," Gradwohl explained. "We tend to stick to our department and program silos for events like Homecoming, such as alumni career panels geared toward our own majors. But many of our alumni are working in fields that didn't intuitively align with their major. We wanted to show current students the wide array of vocational choices that are available to them."
Celebration of Lifelong Learning will bring together alumni from 14 different disciplines and majors and is co-sponsored by 16 different academic departments, the Calling Plan Partnership Project Mini-Grant, the Office of Advancement, and Career Services.
The day begins with a lunch for the alumni participants, followed by three panels where alumni will discuss why a Wittenberg education is important, what they learned pursing a career, and how they applied their Wittenberg education in a unique way. The event closes with a networking event, "Mingling & Mocktails."
"We hope current students walk away feeling confident that they, too, will have light to pass on to others, that they will be able to use their education to benefit organizations specifically and society in general," Gradwohl said. "The Witt Network is real and tangible. This event is an opportunity for alumni to share their experiences and have an impact on current students' futures."
The schedule for Celebration of Lifelong Learning is as follows:
11:45 a.m.-12:50 p.m.: Lunch for alumni participants
1-2 p.m.: Panel 1 - "How I Gained the Most From My Wittenberg Education." Learn from alumni who have been out of college anywhere from one-to-five years. They will share with current students on what they should be doing now to take advantage of their Wittenberg education.
2:15-3:15 p.m.: Panel 2 - "What I Learned Along My Career Path." Listen to alumni speak about how they have successfully navigated their careers.
3:30-4:30 p.m.: Panel 3 - "What I Did With My Wittenberg Education." Be inspired by alumni who are pursuing unique or innovative avenues with their Wittenberg education.
4:30-6 p.m.: Mingling & Mocktails networking event.
-Camila Quinones '17, Office of University Communications
About Wittenberg
A nationally ranked university for the liberal arts and sciences affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Wittenberg University has repeatedly been ranked throughout the years by the Princeton Review for the quality of its teaching and faculty, including 11th in the nation for "Best Classroom Experience" and 15th in the category "Professors Get High Marks" in the 2011 edition of Princeton's annual Best Colleges guide. Most recently, Wittenberg earned the No. 4 spot in the category of "Most Accessible Professors," and the university earned a spot on the "Best Buy" list in the 2017 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Wittenberg appeared in the Princeton Review's Guide to Green Colleges in 2013 and again in 2015. Additionally, Wittenberg currently has more Ohio Professors of the Year than any other four-year institution in the state, and has been recognized nationally for excellence in service and athletics.
