Each year on Veterans Day I like to reflect on and honor those who have so bravely served our country. It is a rare privilege to live in a nation that has never had enemy troops march through our cities, and we have largely been shielded from the physical toll of war — thanks to the dedication of those willing to serve our country.

Penn State has adopted the tradition of honoring veterans and service members with our annual Military Appreciation Week. This is the eighth year of festivities, and it will focus on America’s Greatest Generation, those who grew up during the Great Depression and fought and served in World War II.

Many of us have personal connections to this generation. I had four uncles who served in World War II and my father was a paratrooper in the Pacific theater. The experience was profound, and it was followed by the opportunity to gain a college education on the GI Bill. Thousands of Penn Staters were among the 16 million Americans who served during WWII. Among the Penn Staters who fought in the war were future University presidents Milton S. Eisenhower and John Oswald, along with a number of students, including William Garfield Thomas, a sailor and the first Penn Stater to lose his life in the conflict, and IFC president Eddie Wagner, after whom the current ROTC building at University Park is named. Of this distinguished group, it is estimated that less than 5%, or roughly 400,000 veterans, are still with us today — most 90 years old or older.

Penn State and other universities contributed to the war effort in many ways. I believe, witnessing the impact on my father, that educating service members when the troops returned from war changed the whole trajectory of the United States. Notably, 2019 is the 75-year anniversary of the GI Bill.

One exciting new effort is the opening this week of a new Student Veteran Center in Ritenour Building at University Park. This center will serve as a central hub of services for more than 400 student veterans at University Park and more than 5,000 student veterans at Penn State Commonwealth Campuses across the state, including World Campus.

The Student Veteran Center will be the hub of activity for student veterans, a place of community, and a place where they can take part in peer-to-peer mentoring. In addition to providing a dedicated space for student veterans, the new center will house key services they will require. It’s purposefully located in the core of campus, so it can be an integral part of the fabric of our community.

What’s more, the Student Veteran Center is not only for University Park student veterans — it will serve student veterans studying at other campuses, using livestream video to present workshops on timely topics. Creating a successful environment for veterans is a priority for every Penn State campus.

Opening the Student Veteran Center has long been a goal at Penn State, and donors, friends and institutional support has made it possible. I’m thrilled that we will have the ribbon cutting during Military Appreciation Week.

I hope to see you at some of the other events this week, especially the Military Appreciation Tailgate and Football Game, where I’ll have the chance to personally thank the many veterans and service members who will be in attendance. The all-volunteer tailgate is a tremendous effort, welcoming up to 8,000 active-duty service members, veterans and their families before the game. Thanks to Penn State supporters — who funded over 7,000 tickets through the Seats for Servicemembers program — service members, veterans and military families received free tickets to the game.

This will be a wonderful week of reflection, gratitude and community. I hope you’ll join me in honoring and publicly commending those who have bravely served our country. And I hope you’ll also take a few minutes to see some of the physical reminders of Penn State’s history and commitment to the military on campus, including the bell of the battleship USS Pennsylvania, which was present during the attack on Pearl Harbor; Penn State’s Veteran’s Plaza, a gift from the class of 2011; and even Beaver Stadium, which is named after James A. Beaver, a former Pennsylvania governor and colonel in the Civil War.

Happy Veterans Day!

This week, President Barron invited Lawrence Lokman, vice president for Strategic Communications, to share his thoughts on the value of researcher-writer collaboration in helping to turn research findings into actionable information for communities.

Today, more than 500 of the nation’s leading science writers, reporters, and editors are joining outstanding Penn State researchers for ScienceWriters 2019, co-organized by the National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

There has never been a more exciting time to be a science communicator. The digital sphere has provided tools and channels to reach and engage people everywhere, in an instant. On the content side, they can now employ the written word, photography, video, sound, graphics and animation. And with the click of a button, the information they create and package can span communities, societies and cultures like never before. This is a thrilling challenge, and opportunity that our science writers must approach with a child’s sense of wonder and curiosity.

Ranking among the top 25 U.S. research universities, Penn State is making a positive impact in Pennsylvania, the nation and the world. Every day, science communicators help turn our research findings into actionable information for communities. Media coverage exposes new discoveries, explains complex topics and facilitates productive dialogue around important issues.

My team is lucky to dedicate time to learning about exciting research across the University to bring attention to critical work. We are eager for Penn State experts to showcase their labs and share their thinking with the communicators here on campus for ScienceWriters 2019. Together, we’ll talk about topics ranging from coral systems to food security to alien life. We know that improving lives through research depends on our collaborative pursuits.

Translating Interdisciplinary Research

Penn State’s scientific community draws upon a diverse set of perspectives from many disciplines. The intricacies of cross-field work can be particularly challenging to distill into meaningful insights. For example, consider our research into mosquitoes that subject more than half the world’s population to the threat of dengue virus. To address virus transmission, our team has combined expertise from biology, entomology, infectious disease, genetics and bioinformatics.

We appreciate science communicators for digging into complicated subjects and making results accessible to the public. They are at the forefront of discussing and debating data and findings that affect so many. Through close collaboration, we can convey the full impact of these interdisciplinary efforts, strengthen partnerships and ultimately guide policy decisions and changes for the greater good.

Communicating Progress

Penn State tackles evolving global issues that require sustained commitment over time. Long-term research can be difficult at times to translate into messages of hope, meaning or outcomes. For example, consider our research into climate solutions that will keep our researchers, and many more, focused for years to come. To facilitate solutions, our scientific community recently brought experts together for the first international discussion on Project Drawdown’s proposed ideas.

We thank science communicators. They raise our expectations and open our eyes to critical research happening at every stage. Through sustained collaboration, we can provide context for progress, encourage further investment and foster international discourse.

A Nobel Laureate in chemistry once explained to me his moment of insight. I asked him what that felt like. He answered it was as if he had reached the top of a peak, only to discover, at that moment of accomplishment, the unexpected sight of an undiscovered and unexplored valley ahead of him. His eyes closed, and I could see he was imagining the valley ahead, and I realized, at that moment, that as communicators, we are fortunate to be able to help others understand how science advances the public good, and encourages the exploration of new frontiers. What a wonderful gift we have been given. We must use it well.

At the heart of great science storytelling are strong translational connections between researchers and writers, and writers and the public. In bringing science into people’s lives and generating engagement around cutting-edge research, we will continue to work together to mobilize the public, donors and policymakers toward more research and improved solutions, all with an eye toward creating a better world.

My unit, Strategic Communications here at Penn State, is so pleased to be bringing ScienceWriters 2019 to life on campus. To learn more about the conference: www.sciencewriters2019.org.

This week, President Barron invited Damon Sims, vice president for Student Affairs, to share his thoughts on the progress the University has made to refocus Greek-letter organizations on safety at Penn State and across the nation.

Much has happened in the months since Tim Piazza’s tragic death after a night of drinking and hazing activities in the Beta Theta Pi house. The national spotlight on fraternity and sorority issues across the country has revealed the scope of the problems within many of these organizations everywhere and the profound consequences that too often result. Penn State’s own declaration that “enough is enough” has become a national cry, as colleges and universities of all shapes and sizes wrestle with finding the right balance and direction in their relationship with Greek-letter organizations.

Despite the deeply ingrained nature of the challenges of risky drinking, hazing and sexual misconduct, meaningful progress has been made. At Penn State, which quickly became a national leader on this front, we have successfully launched key initiatives aimed at re-focusing our Greek community on safety. The choice to lead the change requires new institutional responsibilities and challenges, but it is clearly the right choice.

Focus on safety

Nothing is more important to Penn State than the success and well-being of our students. Most of our students are young adults, enjoying newfound freedom and accepting commensurate responsibility for the first time. Much of what they learn is discovered outside the classroom — by making their own decisions, creating their own communities and leading their own activities and interactions. They require the necessary latitude in these matters if they are to become independent and responsible citizens in the world beyond Penn State.

And so it is with fraternities and sororities, where relationship building and autonomy have long been central themes. These organizations form lasting bonds among their members, creating opportunities for personal growth and providing support that adds value to the student experience. But with their secrecy, autonomy and internal loyalties may come risky activities that substantially jeopardize the safety and security of members and non-members alike. Foremost among these risks are those associated with the misuse of alcohol. Combine that misuse with hazing, and the results, as we know too well, can be deadly.

Leading change

When the behavior and culture within Greek-letter organizations not only threaten lives, but lead to a student’s death, and nothing the organizations have done over a period of years has meaningfully reduced the risks involved, the University faces two choices.

Either we can turn away from our association with these private groups because their behavior violates core University values, or we can demand the changes necessary to put these groups and their members on a safer and more sustainable path. Penn State’s senior leaders chose the latter — and better — possibility, and I am grateful we did.

As we begin a new school year, important changes in our relationship with our fraternities and sororities should be noted.

Most significant among them is that the University’s own staff now monitor the social activities in fraternity houses and manage the organizational misconduct process when apparent violations are found. In the past, the natural autonomy assumed by these private organizations, located, as many of them are, on private property beyond the University’s reach, led the governing councils to monitor and discipline their member organizations.

In exchange for the University’s continued recognition of these groups, which brings with it substantial benefits, we have set an expectation that our own newly established Office of Fraternity and Sorority Compliance staff will monitor these organizations and report to the University’s Office of Student Conduct any apparent violations they find.

This effort alone represents a sea change.

We now have inserted ourselves into the lives of these students in ways never done at Penn State, and rarely, if ever, done in any large public university. Penn State’s continued responsibility for managing individual student misconduct, coupled with its new responsibility for physically monitoring and then managing organizational misconduct within these groups, has led to the discovery of various violations, which has resulted in the revocation or suspension of multiple Greek-letter organizations in the past year alone.

Meaningful progress

Our students know the University is serious about addressing issues of excessive and underage drinking, hazing, sexual misconduct and overly large disruptive gatherings. We will continue to do what we reasonably can to bring those behaviors to an end and allow the good that results from Greek membership to flourish.

• We are arming prospective fraternity and sorority members and their parents with information that allows them to make informed choices about Greek membership. Our new publicly available Greek Chapter Scorecard provides key information about the strengths and weaknesses of individual chapters, encouraging those considering the benefits of membership to make their decision with greater awareness.
• Our newly expanded and mandatory educational initiatives, built around themes related to alcohol, hazing and sexual misconduct, continue, as do our restrictions on the number and nature of social events sponsored by Greek-letter organizations.
• We have sustained our requirement that recruitment of new fraternity and sorority members be delayed until the spring semester, so that incoming students have the chance to gain a solid footing academically and personally before immersing themselves in Greek membership.
• And our determination to provide robust resources to our Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, so that our constructive partnership with Greek student leaders will be enhanced, is fully in place.

Collective action; The Piazzas speaking on campus 

In response to questions about whether these efforts are likely to succeed, I have consistently said that I am hopeful. Hope and optimism, admittedly, are not the same. But as we begin a new year, my hope is increasingly edging toward optimism. Not least among the reasons for this change is the growing support we are receiving from students, alumni and others.

Of note among our partners in this effort are the parents of Tim Piazza themselves, who have bravely and vigorously advocated for meaningful change in the wake of their son’s senseless death. The Piazzas have brought together parents of other victims of fraternity misconduct, similar to how the University has brought together schools across the nation, in Chicago last spring, and in Washington DC recently, to talk about these issues and push for the change required.

The Piazzas will be on the University Park campus this week speaking to fraternity and sorority leaders, who will be convened by our Fraternity and Sorority Life staff. We are joined with the Piazzas in a deeply sincere quest for progress and change that avoids further pain for other families. I believe our student leaders are sincerely committed to the necessary changes, too.

It is a meaningful and challenging pursuit, and we remain at its beginning. But our hope can become optimism, and our optimism can become reality, if we stay the course, and I promise that we shall.