Have you ever wondered about the popular slogan on those neon t-shirts that say “Hello Brandywine?” Have you no­ticed the new additions around the campus — the building ren­ovations and new labs? New academic and athletic programs? New bookstore?

A vast majority of students have taken a liking to the free multi-colored shirts circulating around campus, but most are unaware of the meaning behind the phrase. “Hello Brandywine” is a new campaign that was launched to highlight and to bring awareness to the new additions to the campus made in the span of approxi­mately a year.

Risa Page, assistant director of marketing and communications in Brandywine’s University Relations Office, helped launch the campaign and shared some insight and thought behind the proj­ect.

“Say Hello to what’s new at Brandywine,” Page said of the idea of the slogan.

The campaign was first introduced through an ice cream social for the students, followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony in the new Main Building student lounge. Hundreds came out for free Berkey Creamery ice cream and there were more than 70 stu­dents, faculty members, alumni and community members that gathered for the ribbon cutting.

“It was an extremely successful event,” Page said of the turnout. “We want people to rediscover Brandywine and what the campus has to offer. We have three new academic programs – engineer­ing, psychology and biology. We kick off women’s softball in the spring and have built new, state-of-the-art science labs, class­rooms and office spaces, as well as a new bookstore. Our students now have access to a number of new facilities and resources to help them succeed as undergraduates.”

A graduate out of the University of Delaware, Page has been impressed with the positive feedback from students, alumni and even strangers on the street.

“Some of our students wear the t-shirts on the street and strangers yell ‘Hello Brandywine!’ to them,” Page said.

Page expressed Brandywine’s mission to expand academic offer­ings through new degree programs and providing spaces where students can learn and stay on top of the technology that is out there. She is optimistic the campus is on its way to building a pro­gram that has a lot of potential to continue to prosper through the campaign, and insists that this is only the beginning of something special at Penn State Brandywine.

Page suggests it is too early to tell whether the campaign has met expectations, but it seems the new era is off to a good start.

Amanda Congialdi

Lion’s Eye Writer, amc6079@psu.edu