GREENVILLE, PA—On August 28, Thiel College will kick off its new Community Building Initiative with a Community Building Commitment Day. The 2008-09 Community Building Initiative theme, which will change each year, is Tradition & Transformations.

Commitment Day is the first event in the year-long series of events that make up the CBI program, a new initiative that aims to foster a renewed sense of community both within the college and Greenville at large. During Commitment Day on August 28, members of the Thiel community can learn more about and pledge to support and attend various parts of the CBI. At 7 p.m. that evening, a celebration—complete with cakes made and shared by members of the Thiel community—will occur in the Lutheran Heritage Room of the Howard Miller Student Center.

“We have always prided ourselves on the family atmosphere at Thiel and this wonderful program will offer all members of our Thiel family the chance to get together frequently during the school year for a purpose other than a meeting,” said Dr. Robert Olson ’60, president of Thiel College. “I know that the sense of community here will only be strengthened the more we can be together to learn, worship, explore and green our environment.”

The Community Building Initiative takes a five-tiered approach to community building—

• Community Traditions: Established events, such as Honors Convocation and Commencement, that remind the college community of customs that have bonded it throughout generations.
• Community Experiences: Six major events that take place on Monday nights and feature nationally prominent guests and groups.
• Community Gatherings: 14 events that take place on the first and third Thursday of each month that feature national and regional guests who will speak, perform or entertain with a goal of enhancing Thiel’s social and academic culture.
• Community Worship: Spiritual gatherings that take place on the second and fourth Thursday of each month; worship services will feature a variety of formats, aimed at securing broad participation from the community, that will celebrate Thiel’s religious heritage.
• Community Greening: An ongoing series of initiatives and events, such as a recycling program, aimed at developing an environmentally sensitive community.

The public is invited to participate in any and all events that are part of the Community Building Initiative. There is no admission fee to any CBI event.

The individual events for each of the CBI tiers will be announced as they are finalized. For more information and a complete schedule as it becomes available, visit www.thiel.edu/cbi/index.htm.

 Thiel College, located in Greenville, Pa., is a liberal arts, sciences and professional studies college, with enrollment of 1,200, related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

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