From football to theater to finance, Lehigh enjoys Rivalry 150 Weekend

If New Yorkers hadn’t known about the Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry being in town before today, they certainly do now.

Longtime rivals Lehigh and Lafayette have converged on the Big Apple in preparation for the 150th rendition of the game known simply as “The Rivalry”—the single, most frequently played contest between two teams in all of college football.

From the moment the sun rose on Friday morning, Lehigh supporters made their presence known, with appearances on national morning TV shows, impromptu Marching 97 performances around the city, a star-studded panel discussion about Wall Street, tours of top New York attractions and more.

Their efforts made it plain that Rivalry 150 weekend is about much more than just football.

Among the highlights Friday was a panel discussion, “Creating Investor Value,” hosted by Stephanie Ruhle ’97, managing editor and news anchor for Bloomberg Television.

The highly anticipated event featured expert opinion from a distinguished panel including Joe Perella ’64, co-founder and partner of Perella Weinberg Partners; Barry Rosenstein ’81, founder and managing partner of JANA Partners, LLC; and Mark Neporent ’79, chief operating officer at Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.

Hosted by the Lehigh Alumni Wall Street Council, the event drew a crowd of nearly 200 to hear the expert panelists share their insight and expertise about all things Wall Street.

Other events today included four leadership dialogues hosted by Lehigh faculty and administrators. The first, held at the United Nations Plaza, focused on Lehigh’s status as one of just six universities in the world to gain accreditation as a non-governmental organization at the UN. The second, hosted by the College of Education, focused on critical challenges facing our schools.

The third dialogue, held at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum and led by Joachim Grenestedt and Terry Hart ’68, professors of mechanical engineering and mechanics, focused on the idea of “speed” in engineering. The fourth, hosted by Alan Snyder, vice president and associate provost for research, covered innovation and health.

Elsewhere, Anthony Viscardi, professor of art, architecture and design, led a tour through the groundbreaking New York High Line Park. Roger Simon, professor of history, guided visitors through Greenwich Village, while Eric Perlmutter ’92 and Lehigh’s Department of Theatre hosted a “page to the stage” workshop.

The day’s formal festivities were set to culminate with an evening concert at Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium by Lehigh Choral Arts, under the direction of composer-conductor Steven P. Sametz, the Ronald J. Ulrich Professor of Music.

In addition to the formal events, Lehigh students—who are gearing up to cheer on the Mountain Hawks to victory on Saturday—hit the streets at the break of dawn to help build excitement around a game that will be played in front of a sell-out crowd of nearly 50,000 at Yankee Stadium.

Lehigh students cheered at the sets of both NBC’s Today show and ABC’s Good Morning America. The Marching 97, Lehigh’s legendary band, entertained passersby with performances around the city, playing at Washington Square, on Wall Street, in Central Park and at other locations.

The celebrations will continue on Saturday, when the game day—the 150th meeting of Lehigh and Lafayette—will finally arrive. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.