Thank you for the adventure of a lifetime

by | May 2, 2022 | Uncategorized | 8 comments

Eight years ago, Molly and I left the Sunshine State to return to Happy Valley, which was the place where I had lived for the longest stretch in my entire life. In State College we flourished in every sense of the word: We raised two children, found community, and I spent 20 years growing from an associate professor to the dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. We reluctantly left the area in 2006 to pursue opportunities elsewhere, and although it was a great privilege to be the president of my alma mater, Florida State, it felt even better to come home.

In 2014, I was drawn back to this University because of the culture of  Penn State — our mission in service to society and an attitude of always wanting to do more and do better. It’s no secret that I came to Penn State in a time of turmoil, and I was greatly honored to be entrusted with the task of steadying the ship and guiding Penn State forward. I hope that you will agree that Penn State is in a very solid place as I prepare to turn over the reins to President-elect Neeli Bendapudi, who I’m confident will lead Penn State with integrity and intelligence.

My retirement this May is bittersweet. While I look forward to spending more time with my family and pursuing my hobbies (painting, hiking, rock finding, and walking my son’s two dogs), I will greatly miss the wonderful community, beautiful surroundings and many opportunities found at our University.

During my time at Penn State, I have met incredible individuals — from ambitious students; to exceptional, hardworking faculty and staff; to enthusiastic, generous alumni and friends; to the community members who collaborate and support Penn State in so many ways. In particular, I was humbled by how the entire University community stepped up to continue serving others during a global pandemic. The people I have met have made serving as president a privilege and pleasure.

I’m extraordinarily proud of all that we have achieved together: a top 1% world ranking; a comprehensive approach to access and affordability; 18 research fields in the top 10; record research expenditures that topped $1 billion; a decade of ranking in the top five for corporate recruiting; an enviable bond rating; an all-time record for philanthropy; a truly remarkable success in entrepreneurship and innovation; and so much more.

Molly and I are grateful for the support and spirit that we have experienced at University Park and on Penn State campuses across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Thank you to all of you — the Penn State family — who have all been part of my family’s journey. We are better for knowing you and lucky to have been part of a place that makes saying goodbye so very hard.

Penn State and State College have been a part of my life for nearly three decades and will remain in my heart forever.

Molly and I look forward to visiting in the future, and we can’t wait to watch Penn State continue to thrive in the years to come.

 

The importance of informed, respectful discourse

by | Apr 26, 2022 | Uncategorized | 2 comments

Last summer, the contentious national debate over COVID-19 vaccine mandates came to University Park when a group of vaccine mandate supporters gathered outside of Old Main along with a handful of counter-protestors. Sadly, the demonstration became physical, with an altercation involving members of our community. Some faculty and students have expressed strong opposition to the University invoking the AC70 tenure revocation process. This included demonstrations and an online petition that was circulated.

I want to be clear that the University has no concern with anyone expressing their support or criticism of any issue. All voices are important to hear.

I realize it can be frustrating when we are unable to share details associated with the implementation of our processes and handling of such matters. However, it is important that our community understands the University’s investigatory and disciplinary proceedings are confidential, to protect due process and provide for other legal protections that are in place to safeguard the interests of the accused, the accuser(s) and others who may be part of the process and making determinations. The University’s responsibility to maintain personnel matters as confidential is derived from the basic tenets of ethical standards.

It also is important to note that the University’s processes include checks and balances. AC70 was created in partnership with faculty and, by policy, the Standing Joint Committee on Tenure consists of two members selected by the administration and three tenured faculty members selected by the elected faculty members of the University Faculty Senate.

I wish to express a concern: Some of the heated rhetoric appearing online and on placards and anonymously distributed flyers is reckless and not reflective of Penn State’s values of respect and responsibility, which call for members of the University community to act responsibly, respect and honor the dignity of each person, and embrace informed discourse.

A recent petition stated that, if the University “does not honor our demand” to expel a student from Penn State, then “it’s up to the students and people of Penn State to take matters into our own hands.” This language is threatening and borders on vigilantism. It has been accompanied by harassing behavior targeting individuals and overt interference with classroom instruction and other educational functions. These malicious and misleading attacks have been deeply troubling at best.

We simply must agree that even if a member of our community chooses to advance their own perspective about an issue in a provocative and offensive way, there can be no place in response for threats to their safety. It is my wish that all members of our community exercise their expressive rights thoughtfully and in an informed manner. But even when the intent is to offend, there is no room for rhetoric and tactics in response that intentionally threaten the welfare of any member of our community. We can all better ourselves and our University by rejecting intimidation and incivility, and instead doing all we can to cultivate a community of respect.

Collaboration, cooperation form the means to manage COVID

by | Apr 20, 2022 | Uncategorized | 3 comments

It has been two long and challenging years under the cloud of a global pandemic. Given the new variants and uncertainty that still remains among medical experts, we can expect to be managing COVID-19 well into the future. However, it appears that we have turned a significant corner. The vaccines are widely available and have had their intended effect: Hospitalizations are down, masks are largely optional and physical distancing is no longer a part of our social gatherings.

I realize that at this time in the semester, everyone is going at 100 miles per hour. But I want to take a moment to pause and thank you for helping us to adjust and adapt to COVID-19. Moving Penn State’s vast, complex organization to primarily remote operations was an enormous undertaking with no precedent or pre-existing plan to follow. The fact that we were largely successful is a credit to the entire Penn State community and our many partners throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was inspiring and deeply gratifying to see how everyone came together to adapt and adjust to new technology, new procedures for health and safety, economic hardships resulting from the pandemic, mental and physical health issues related to COVID-19, and countless other changes to our personal and work lives. ‘Incredible’ doesn’t begin to describe the effort that spanned our teaching, research and service operations.

To give you an idea of the scope, consider a few key statistics:

  • 176,398 tests administered at the White Building at University Park campus
  • 645,267 Vault Health PCR tests distributed across all Penn State locations
  • 2,780,000 procedural masks purchased
  • 12,902 clear masks purchased
  • 23,000 face shields purchased
  • 350,000 Penn State-branded cloth masks purchased
  • 10,680 gallons of hand sanitizer purchased
  • 523 FAQs published on Virus Info
  • 227 enhanced cleaning events by OPP’s specially trained team
  • 4.1 million pageviews on Virus Info
  • $131.2 million in federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds disbursed directly to students

There are too many individuals to name when it comes to offering our gratitude. But I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize a few of the people who led the overall effort.

I’ll begin with Provost and Executive Vice President Nick Jones, who played — and continues to play — a crucial role in navigating our University forward. From the earliest stages of the pandemic, Nick formed the COVID-19 Management Team (CMT), which includes the chair of the University Faculty Senate and key University leaders. He was on the front lines, dealing with our community’s uncertainty, fear and frustration. I’m very grateful for his leadership.

I also need to recognize Kelly Wolgast, who put aside her day job as a professor and administrator in Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing to lend her expertise to the University’s efforts. She led the COVID-19 Operations Control Center by bringing together all the right people with the right expertise from across the University. Her counsel and expertise were indispensable every step of the way.

Our gratitude and admiration go to everyone who enabled the shift to remote teaching and learning — including our faculty who quickly pivoted their classes to remote — while much of the University was on spring break. The rapid response by our faculty and staff enabled 63,000 students to log online by 10 a.m. on the first day of remote classes. Over the following two years, they worked across the University to improve the experience and offer support to students and faculty.

Our researchers pivoted to provide support in every possible way, including our epidemiologists, who provided invaluable expertise. The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences provided $2.25 million to 47 teams of researchers from three campuses, 10 colleges and 25-plus departments to conduct COVID-19 research. They donated personal protective equipment, monitored wastewater, provided medical expertise, created educational videos and much, much more.

Meanwhile, Strategic Communications kept everyone informed. Beginning in February 2020, they worked tirelessly to communicate to all of the campuses across the commonwealth through messaging, the Virus Info website, and town halls. Often, the news wasn’t what people wanted to hear, but in the face of great uncertainty, they provided clear, concise messaging to our community.

The staff in Student Affairs also worked around the clock. In addition to their regular jobs, they took on and led successful contact tracing, quarantine and isolation, student care and advocacy, CAPS, University Health Services and student conduct, while helping to support students who are directly suffering from the medical and financial effects of the pandemic. There were many long days and longer nights. They gave their all to this University.

Penn State’s many community partners also stepped up to help, and their support was essential. Notably, Mount Nittany Health, Centre Volunteers In Medicine, State College Area School District, Walmart, CVS, Weis Foods, and many others were instrumental in the vaccine effort. We also appreciate that the governing bodies in our local communities worked in concert with Penn State to provide consistent guidelines for masking, physical distancing, and other safety measures.

Testing was key to getting students, faculty and staff back on our campuses. Many of our Commonwealth Campuses faced special challenges related to the caseloads in their communities and limited options for testing. The Vault mail-in tests helped alleviate some of this stress. On the University Park campus, the Test and Surveillance Center (TASC) made a tremendous difference. Their shift to aid in testing and its rapid federal certification helped people confidently return to campus, and to monitor the spread of COVID in the community.

None of our efforts would have been successful without the cooperation of the student body. Our student leaders showed remarkable maturity in the face of so many disappointments. They became ambassadors, modeling the actions needed to mitigate spread to allow learning to continue in person to the extent possible.

There are hundreds more who deserve our thanks — from Penn State Health, Office of the Physical Plant, Global Programs, Emergency Management, Information Technology, Procurement, OPAIR, Housing and Food Services, Fleet Operations, Intercollegiate Athletics, Government and Community Relations, along with all of our incredible students, faculty and staff members who carried on under once-in-a-century circumstances.

Thank you one and all. This is not the last challenge that Penn State will face, but it’s clear that this community is well prepared to handle whatever comes this way. Well done all!

An Occasion for Reflection

by | Jan 16, 2022 | Uncategorized

Each year, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, I honor his legacy by reflecting on our progress in becoming more diverse, equitable and inclusive.

Many Penn Staters have personal memories of Dr. King. Some may have attended his speech in Rec Hall in 1965. Some of our students attended a school named in his honor, or were inspired by Dr. King to participate in an annual day of service. My own relationship with Dr. King’s teachings was formed growing up in the segregated South. I saw firsthand the inequities that spanned water fountains, restaurants, hotels, restrooms, voting, housing and schools. The isolation and abuse that a lone Black student felt in my large high school are powerful memories that I will never forget. There was also hope. As an Atlanta high school student walking in Dr. King’s funeral procession, I saw tens of thousands of people send the message that King’s voice was not going to be silenced by an assassin’s bullet. I watched as the highest court of the land consistently struck down segregation.

In this context, we have come a long way as a nation. Gone are the ignorant “whites only” signs and most Jim Crow laws. I can also mark the progress at Penn State, but I can do so only if it is followed by an honest accounting of the level of disenfranchisement that continues today. A wise Penn State Forum on Black Affairs (FOBA) leader once told me that if we spend our time taking pride in what we have done, we will lose sight of how far we must go.

So, first a few examples of progress.

When Dr. King visited Penn State in 1965, of the 21,000 students attending Penn State, only about 300 were African American. The years since then have seen slow but significant change. Penn State is now more diverse, with 21% of our students identifying as part of underrepresented groups; and women comprising nearly half of the undergraduate population. This academic year, we welcomed one of the largest underrepresented groups in University history.

Over the last two years, thousands of Penn Staters have participated in discussions on racial justice, and many in our community have responded by contributing to the work needed to make real and lasting change, including 6,000 employees and students who participated in panels focused on diversity, equity and inclusion at an enterprise scale. In particular, our students have worked to send a public message of inclusivity.

Importantly, Penn State has launched a national search to hire a director to establish the new Center for Racial Justice. Housed within the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), it will advance the recommendations of the Select Penn State Presidential Commission on Racism, Bias, and Community Safety. Most importantly, the Center will bring the power of our scholarship to address critical human and social problems centered on race.

But now, more than 50 years later, we must still take perspective from Dr. King himself, who said in his Rec Hall speech, “We have come a long, long way in the struggle for racial justice, but we have a long, long way to go before the problem is solved.”

Whereas, we can point to a community of students that is more diverse, we cannot point to the diversity of our faculty. And, welcoming our most diverse class of students is not the same as retaining and graduating them at the same rate.

We can point to our employees and students who participate in events that celebrate diversity and who are actively working to promote inclusivity, but our community also faces more overt expressions of racism today than it did a decade ago. We cannot avoid the fact that mothers of Black sons have a deep worry about their safety even when exercising simple tasks like going to a store.

We can point to the power of our scholarship if we use our resources to develop a nationally recognized Center for Racial Justice, but the growing pressure to limit what we study and what we teach is profoundly disturbing.

We have many challenges to overcome before we can achieve racial justice in society and within higher education. I try to remain hopeful, and I know we must remain focused. I hope we can take note of what we have accomplished together but know that we must continue with passion and purpose.

On Dr. King’s birthday, I urge you to take a few moments to reflect on your role in creating a just community and world. Use your talents wisely and raise your voice for those who go unheard.

Thank you for being part of Penn State, and thank you for helping to make our community a more welcoming and inclusive place for everyone.

Note: In the video below, Forum on Black Affairs President André Culbreath is joined by President Barron, FOBA Past President Leslie Laing, and State College and Centre Region NAACP President Lorraine Jones to celebrate and reflect on the legacy and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The message marks FOBA’s 47th annual commemoration of Dr. King’s life, shared virtually this year in light of the pandemic. The participants also celebrate the legacy and many contributions of FOBA Past President Alan T. Payne, and announce the recipients of the 2022 Fannie Lou Hamer and W.E.B. DuBois Service Scholarship award. 

Thank you for your service 

by | Nov 10, 2021 | Uncategorized

Happy Veterans Day, Penn State! This is an important day for our country and a wonderful time to reflect on the service of our loved ones and the impact of their sacrifice.

Today, I am remembering my father and uncles who fought during World War II in the Pacific Theater and in France; my father-in-law who was served in the Philippines under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur; along with the many Penn Staters who have answered the call to fight in each U.S. military conflict since our founding. I’m proud that Penn State has continued our strong connections to military training and support, and that we continue to have the opportunity to learn and work alongside veterans every day across our campuses.

To honor our veterans, Penn State is kicking off its tenth annual Military Appreciation Week today. This proud tradition is volunteer-led and open to all.

This series of events begins this morning at 11:11 a.m. with a Veterans Day Ceremony on Old Main lawn — I invite you to attend in person or view the ceremony online. Individuals across the campuses are welcome to join us virtually, and many Penn State campuses are hosting in-person ceremonies, as well.

I encourage you to check out the full schedule of activities planned through Nov. 20, including virtual and in-person mindful resilience yoga classes for all levels, a Veterans Resource Fair in downtown State College, and more.

This season we are paying special tribute to the Pennsylvania National Guard. These individuals — many of whom are Penn State students, faculty, staff and alumni — have assisted food banks, responded to natural disasters, delivered meals, and supported COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites across the state. They have fulfilled their mission and played a critical role in serving citizens of the commonwealth and the United States throughout the pandemic and beyond.

I am proud that as a University community we continue to honor the sacrifice and service of military members, veterans and their families through a wide range of initiatives and services, including the following:

Above all, I am moved by how our community has come together to help Penn State’s military appreciation efforts grow over the past 10 years. This week marks a milestone that wouldn’t be possible without the commitment of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and local community members.

It’s through your generosity and hard work that Penn State’s military appreciation celebrations have consistently been among the largest in the Big Ten. We’ve grown from donating 100 football tickets to veterans and service members in 2012 to donating more than 7,000 tickets in 2019 through the Seats for Servicemembers program.

Each year when I attend the military appreciation tailgate, I’m touched by the many service members and military families who express their thanks for our hospitality. I want to extend my gratitude to the countless individuals who have given their time to this University-wide effort over the years. Thank you to our:

  • Students and ROTC cadets — many of whom are now serving themselves — and members of the Student Veteran Organization for planning annual events like the POW/MIA Vigil and Veterans Day Ceremony. Also, each year, students place more than 2,977 flags on Old Main lawn every Sept. 11 — one for every victim of the 9/11 attacks.
  • Employees across our campuses who volunteer their time and expertise to serve on the Military Appreciation Committee and organize events and programming for local service members.
  • Local community members, partners, and businesses in our campus communities, who have volunteered time and resources to support these efforts. For example, in 2019, more than 500 volunteers helped make the pre-game military appreciation tailgate at the Penn State-Indiana football game possible.
  • Donors who contribute to scholarships funds to support student veterans and military-connected students, as well as fans and alumni who make it possible to offer complimentary football tickets to veterans, military members and their families through Seats for Servicemembers.

I hope to see many of you, including veterans and service members, during Military Appreciation Week. On this Veterans Day — and every day — we thank you for your service.

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