President Fiorentino Welcomes the Community to WCU’s 150th Year
West Chester University President Chris Fiorentino formally kicked off the University’s
150th Anniversary Year in his annual “Welcome Back” address to students, faculty,
staff, and members of the Chester County community on September 17, noting, “This
sesquicentennial moment is a time for us to appreciate our University’s past 150 years
and consider its next 150 years.”
Using the historic moment, President Fiorentino celebrated the University’s numerous successes, among them, facing and overcoming challenges -- the Covid pandemic and the pandemics of the 19th and 20th centuries that included Spanish flu; the Great Depression; two world wars; and even the challenges associated with growth from a state teachers college into a comprehensive university. “Our University found a way through these challenges and continued to move forward,” he said.
Moving forward means supporting student success, he emphasized, and two initiatives have just been announced this week that will advance the University into the next 150 years. Watch President Fiorentino’s welcome address to learn more about the ways West Chester is preparing to meet these two challenges:
- Ensuring college affordability with today’s official launch of 150Forward, a $65 million comprehensive campaign, the largest campaign of its kind in the University’s history; and
- closing the achievement gaps through our participation in the national Moonshot for Equity