Tara Simpson will start as LVAIC's Operations Manager in September 2026. In this role, she supports data analysis and reporting, contract coordination and development, operational improvements, and internal and external communications. Through this work, she helps strengthen efficient, data-informed operations, effective collaboration, and high-quality services that support LVAIC’s member institutions and the consortium community as a whole.

Tara brings to LVAIC 11 years of experience in higher education. As a key member of Muhlenberg College’s Advancement team, Tara drove alumni engagement through innovative volunteer, social, and lifelong learning programs, while prioritizing communication and data analysis and building relationships with the college’s alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Her style is ever-influenced by her longtime work in the vibrant and fast-paced world of book retail, where she developed her interests in employee training and visual presentation.

BETHLEHEM, PA — September 2, 2026: Today, Moravian University announced that world-renowned British pianist Simon Mulligan has joined the Music Department as Artist-in-Residence for the fall 2026 semester. In his role, Mulligan will collaborate with faculty and mentor music students.

Described by The Times of London as "the most abundantly gifted of pianists" and hailed as "phenomenal" by jazz legend Herbie Hancock, Mulligan is widely regarded as one of the world's most versatile keyboard artists. His career spans classical, jazz, and contemporary repertoire, having performed with leading orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Warsaw Sinfonia.

Cedar Crest College is achieving historic enrollment growth, welcoming the largest fall entering cohort in the College's 159-year history. Overall enrollment is up over 7% in just one year and nearly 20% since 2023, when Cedar Crest launched its strategic growth plan. The College is also welcoming its largest first-year undergraduate class in 20 years. Together, these results mark a powerful period of growth for Cedar Crest and demonstrate the accelerating momentum of the College's strategy.

This year's newest Falcons come from far and wide, representing 17 states-including California, Minnesota, and Texas-and 10 countries around the world. The class also represents a range of academic interests, with Nursing, Forensic Science, Psychology, and Biology among the most popular majors.

BETHLEHEM, PA — August 31, 2026: Today, Moravian University announced the official launch of its AI Innovation Lab, a hands-on physical and collaborative space where students from any academic discipline can test ideas, learn emerging technologies, and build practical AI tools to address real-world challenges.

Led by Dr. Jenifer Norton, the new lab empowers students from any major to build practical AI tools for real problems with local business and nonprofit partners.

The launch fulfills a central recommendation of the Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, whose four-phase roadmap to establish Moravian as a national model for ethical AI integration was approved by the Board of Trustees in April 2026.

Moravian University announced it will officially welcome the largest incoming class in its 284-year history on Friday, August 28, 2026. As colleges and universities across the nation struggle to meet enrollment goals and maintain financial stability, Moravian continues an upward trajectory that has been building over the last decade, including being recognized as the fastest-growing university in the region since 2014.

As of August 25, 556 first-year students have enrolled at Moravian, surpassing the previous record of 525 first-year students set in the fall of 2024. Moravian will also welcome more than 80 transfer students this fall.

On Wednesday, Sept. 2, the Joni Berner, Esq. '75 Expert Witness Training Center at Cedar Crest College will host 9/11 The Forensic Response: A Commemorative Symposium, featuring members of the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner who will share firsthand accounts of the unprecedented forensic response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The program will explore the scientific, logistical, and human challenges of the response at the World Trade Center-from the initial deployment and recovery of victims to the complex death investigation that followed.

The LVAIC Dance Consortium is a community of practice designed to support and cultivate dance across the Lehigh Valley. Through collaboration, the LVAIC Dance Consortium leverages its collective resources to promote scholarship, accessibility, community engagement, advocacy, and creative exploration in the field of dance across the 6 LVAIC campuses.

Be sure to check out the 2026-27 LVAIC Dance Calendar.

LVAIC is proud to announce its latest professional development program, the 2026-2027 LVAIC Community & Belonging Certificate Series‒ Valley Voices: Higher Education and Community Dialogue.

Valley Voices: Higher Education and Community Dialogue is a six-part learning series designed to bring together faculty and staff from across member institutions to explore practical strategies for advancing belonging, inclusion, and free expression in higher education.

The newly established Institute for Moravian History and World Heritage will host its inaugural conference (Nov. 12-14, 2026) on the preservation, interpretation, and global significance of Moravian cultural heritage. The conference will emphasize innovative digital humanities approaches that enhance efforts to document and share the history and impact of the Moravians.

Cedar Crest College is pleased to announce the election of President Elizabeth Meade as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP), the statewide organization that advocates for affordable, accessible, and independent nonprofit higher education. President Meade and eight other higher education leaders began their new terms on July 1.