Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008 - (Page 7)

ON CAMPUS political science FACES OF THE FALLEN PHOTO BY DOUGLAS BENEDICT As you turn down the hallway on the second ﬂoor of Maginnes Hall, the corridor walls quickly capture your attention. From ﬂoor to ceiling, secured behind Plexiglas, are photos of the now more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. Some fresh-faced men and women are beaming with huge smiles. Others, with a more serious pose, brandish their weapons. Each photo is accompanied by the age, unit, and hometown of the fallen soldier as well as the details surrounding his or her death. Many of the soldiers—a 20-year-old from Hamilton, N.J.; a 19-year-old from Andover, N.H.; or a 21-year-old from Levittown, Pa.—are of college age and could just as easily have been attending Lehigh rather than conducting combat operations or working security duty. The wall is a personal project for Lehigh political science professor Ted Morgan, who ﬁrst discovered the pictorial tally on CNN.com. Morgan spent many evenings and Sundays printing and carefully securing Ted Morgan wants Lehigh students to be aware of the human cost of the Iraqi war. hundreds of pages to the corridor walls in sequential order. Today, that you should think about it, be aware of it,” much of the wall space in two Maginnes corrihe says. “Whether people agree or disagree, not thinking about the war’s human costs allows dors is covered with the faces. the government a lot more leeway and keeps “4,000 is just a number, but these are all the the war out of public discussion.” faces,” says Morgan. “This is a war and these are As a college freshman during the Vietnam some of the human beings who’ve died in it.” era, Morgan not only noticed the earliest onDespite any personal sentiments, Morgan campus war protests, he initially ridiculed says his intention for the project is not anti-war. “I am clearly against the war. But my aim them. But those protests quickly brought a wasn’t that you should be against the war, but growing awareness of what the Vietnam War was like. “This started an educational process for me that led me to a very different opinion LEHIGH RANKS AMONG NATION’S BEST about the war. This awareness is a critical part of a student’s political education,” he says, U.S. News & World Report has once again recognized Lehigh as one noting that the classroom can easily become of the nation’s outstanding research universities. Lehigh was ranked detached from war. 35th in the magazine’s 2009 “Guide to America’s Best Colleges.” Today, Morgan’s research focuses on poLehigh achieved distinction in several key categories, including litical sociology, democratic theory, and alumni giving (18th), student selectivity (25th), and graduation and propaganda and mass communications. His retention rate (32nd). In addition, Lehigh was ranked 27th in the naundergraduate class “Movements and Legacies tion for “best value.” of the 1960s” provides Lehigh students with Among the best undergraduate engineering programs whose the opportunity to draw coming-of-age comhighest degree is a Ph.D., Lehigh’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering parisons between their generation and that of and Applied Science ranked 38th in the country. their parents. “Lehigh University has tremendous momentum, built upon outstanding faculty and researchers As Morgan noted while constructing the who engage students both inside and outside the classroom,” says Lehigh President Alice P. Gast. wall, faces or hometowns often jump out to vis“We understand these rankings can offer a starting point for students as they consider various colitors to the Maginnes corridors. Occasionally, leges and universities, but we certainly encourage them to visit our campus and learn more about us students will ﬁnd a name or face from their own so they can discover what makes Lehigh such a compelling and exciting place to learn and grow.” hometown. “They’re all little connections,” Upon graduation, Lehigh students excel. In 2007, within six months of graduation, 99 percent Morgan says of these individuals. “This is a way of Lehigh students were employed; enrolled in graduate school; pursuing military careers; travto connect with the war. If you don’t see the eling; or pursuing other career-related opportunities. human cost of the war in both Iraq and our “We offer a rich learning environment that inspires our students,” says Carl O. Moses, deputy own country, to say nothing of the economic provost for academic affairs. “Students use technology in the classroom, gain hands-on expericost, it’s much easier to be pulled into political ence in state-of-the-art teaching and laboratory spaces, and explore the world through unique rhetoric that says we’re there and we need to see study abroad and travel experiences.”—Tricia Long this through.”—Tricia Long fall 2008 7 http://www.CNN.com

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Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Cover Story: The Dalai Lama at Lehigh Heart of a Champion Around the World in 80 Years Fighting for Children wth Autism Keepers of the Flame From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News The Last Word

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008

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