Thursday, Aug. 28, 2029 marked the first weekly session of the Franklin & Marshall’s 19th Diplomatic Congress.
The meeting started with the confirmation of a new Senior Class President, Kylie Henigan, in which she recited the pledge to the Franklin & Marshall community, officially being inducted into the Diplomatic Congress.
The meeting continued with a public comment delivered by the President of the Congress, Ibrahim Bin Amjad, welcoming the new class of F&M students. He went on to remark about the work the Congress had done over the course of the summer, afterwards, committing himself and the collective Assembly to being “more responsive” to the wider student body, and promising “change.” He then concluded his comments with an introduction of Franklin & Marshall College’s President, Andrew Rich, as part of the “Scheduled Guests” portion of the meeting.
In his address to the Diplomatic Congress, Rich spoke about the happenings that are to take place at the college. He gave a timeline for the progress of the Mehlman Center for Strength, Conditioning, Wellness and Performance, a 20,500-foot addition to the Alumni Sports and Fitness Center, which he says will break ground in February or March of 2027 and will open its doors to the student body within two academic years.
He then introduced the new Mehlman Leadership and Performance Institute at Franklin & Marshall College, an additional $3.2 million donation from Ken Mehlman ‘88, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees. The inaugural class of this institute has four cohorts, or 64 “leadership fellows,” with its programming aimed at developing their leadership and “growth mindset” through a series of experiential learning that extends into Lancaster City.
In his final remarks to the Congress for the night, Rich addressed the “missteps” of F&M dining within the first week of classes, echoing the frustration of the student body. Recalling his phone conversation with the COO of Sodexo, Rich “demanded fixes” to the dining experience, including a total restoration of every student’s meal plan effective August 31st, an increase of value for meal swipes from $6 to $9.5 dollars and a returning of “Dip Deals,” which Rich made clear, in response to a question, will not be applicable to sushi. He ended his address with a promise to “keep listening” to the F&M student population.
Sally Badoud, the newly instated Vice President for Communications and Marketing, was then invited to speak on the development of the college’s new mascot. She first acknowledged the usage of artificial intelligence in creating the sample rendering of the proposed mascots that was, earlier this week, distributed to the entire student body, staff, alumni and trustees. She claimed to have created the mock ups herself, but had not had “the time or resources” to go through the process of having them professionally designed.
The options for a future college mascot include a lightning bolt, a “friendly monster” and a dog, all of which were part of the 200 submissions that, Badoud recalled from last spring, were chosen by a voting process that she described as “200-10-3.” She then explained the selection process, which would include a week-long voting period and an announcement of the subsequent winner, followed by the development of the mascot’s identity in consultation with the student body. She imagines a November-December announcement and a Spring rollout. At which point, she promises to go through a legitimate creative process, with a professional artist, for the official mascot.
Badoud did, however, clarify the college will once again bring back “Ben and John,” who for the better part of the 2010s served as the school’s “mascots.” The decision was made, according to Badoud, in part because “our alumni had strong feelings.” In the college’s recollection, Ben and John had become defunct because of the history tied to the figures, but Badoud addressed concerns expressed by members of the Congress by saying they will be “reimagined,” and will only be part of the college’s historic celebrations.
The meeting concluded with members of the Executive Board, along with Chairs, and Representatives from campus Agencies giving their reports and announcements. Followed by a final address by the President of the Diplomatic Congress urging members present at the meeting to show up to the Welcome Party which would be hosted the following day. He briefly talked about his desire to feature events students actually want and how there will be fewer checks on them, nodding to the fact that there wouldn’t be checks happening at the Welcome Party, except for crosschecks for alcohol distribution from the college’s database, going further to express his want for the continuation of this trend, urging the campus to “use good judgement.”
Sophomore Andy Ha is a Staff Writer. Their email is aha@fandm.edu.