2
A Message From President Rounds
Williamson’s Mission Is Constantly Moving Forward!
Greetings from Williamson!
2016 is off to a great start as we move
forward with several new initiatives and
maintain our long-held traditions. We
are well into developing our next strategic plan for Williamson and appreciate
the assistance of many alumni and students who have volunteered to be part
of this important process. We expect to
have a new strategic plan approved by
the Board of Trustees by the end of the
academic year that will guide us as we
move Williamson forward in the next
five to seven years.
An exciting new development that
is part of the new strategic plan is the
building of the first new dorm on campus since 1912. The construction project is possible because of a very generous gift of a long-time friend of the
college. I wish I could thank him publicly, but he wishes to remain anonymous. At the donor’s direction, the
dorm will be known as Watson dorm in
honor of Wayne Watson 4W8, who has
been our board chairman since 1971.
When completed, it will be difficult if
not impossible to tell it apart from the
older dorms because it is being built
in the same style as the Frank Furness
dorms designed in the late 1800s. The
architectural plans were designed by
Kevin Blackney 7W6, a founding partner of Blackney Hayes Architects and a
dedicated Williamson graduate.
WB Homes in North Wales, the company owned by our board vice chairman Bill Bonenberger 7W9, will manage the project with his employee Steve
Cava 9W5 serving as project supervisor.
Bill would like to make this a Williamson project from start to finish and is
encouraging Williamson alumni to submit bids to participate.
We are all very excited about the
groundbreaking this spring as the new
dorm will enhance campus infrastructure as well as provide the additional
student living space needed to refurbish
existing dorms currently in need of renovation while still maintaining our current enrollment numbers and including
our students in the future renovation
projects.
Academically, new articulation agreements now allow Williamson credits to
be accepted at more colleges and universities than ever before. An increasing number of alumni in pursuit of
higher degrees will now achieve them
more quickly at Pennsylvania College
of Technology and Temple UniversityAmbler Campus, along with Neumann
University and several other schools.
We are at the start of this process with
Rosemont College and expect to continue increasing the number of articulation agreements to meet the educational demands of our graduates.
The trade skills of top Williamson
students were exhibited when Williamson recently hosted local masonry and
carpentry SkillsUSA competitions. The
winners in these contests will soon be
representing Williamson at competitions at the district, state, and national
levels. These competitions are an excellent way of highlighting the skills of our
students across the state and country.
November’s Career Fair generated
significant attention as 113 companies
spent the day actively recruiting 76
seniors for full-time positions and engaging underclassmen for co-ops and
summer internships. The general consensus of those in attendance is that
Williamson students stand out among
typical recruits because of their trade
skills and knowledge, combined with
the Williamson values they bring to
the workplace. This is a true testament
to our efforts of working to perpetuate
Williamson’s 127-year-old mission of
preparing deserving young men to be
useful and respected members of society. We expect a similar outcome for
our career fair to be held February 10th.
The horticulture seniors have been
hard at work on their exhibit for the
upcoming Philadelphia International
Flower Show in March. The exhibit will
feature a scene from the Appalachian
Trail and will fit in well with the show’s
theme, “Explore America, Celebrating
100 Years of the National Park Service.”
The show will be held March 5-13. I
hope many of you can stop by to see the
wonderful display our students create
and talk with them at the exhibit.
With each issue of this publication, we
are getting closer to realizing the longheld dream of an Energy Island on Williamson’s campus. Within the next few
weeks, the Standby Emergency Generator will be commissioned by PECO
technicians and ready for use. We are
thankful for the efforts of trustee Richard Storm 6W2 for his commitment to
the Energy Island in so many ways. To
show our gratitude, in November Williamson recognized him as a Distinguished Honoree at the Association of
Fundraising Professionals-Greater Philadelphia Chapter’s annual National Philanthropy Day Awards Gala Luncheon.
Dan Hiltebeitel announced that he
will be stepping down as the director of
construction technology-masonry after
18 years of training some of the best
masons in the country. While we are
all sad to see Dan leave, we wish him
well in the next chapter of his life. We
have formed a committee to tackle the
daunting task of finding a worthy replacement.
This fall, we welcomed aboard Arlene
Snyder, CFRE, immediate past president of the Sibley Memorial Hospital
Foundation in Washington, D.C. Arlene will lead Williamson’s fund-raising
efforts as vice president for institutional
advancement. We are excited to have
someone of her experience and expertise on the team!
Homecoming was bigger and better than ever. Highlights included the
dedication of the newly built Student
Lounge in the lower level of the Main
Building and the new athletic field
scoreboard. The lounge was provided
by the Classes of 1W5 and 1W6, Mr.
and Mrs. Richard G. Clemens, and The
25th Century Foundation along with
support from many alumni. It has seen
much use as a place for students to have
fun and bond. The scoreboard was a gift
of the Alumni Association.
Williamson is mentioned in a recently
published book about Ted Meredith, a
1911 graduate who in the 1912 summer
Olympics won two gold medals and set
two world records, establishing himself as a legend in the