Local news from StateCollege.com and Centre County Partners. Read about Time Changed for Penn State College of the Liberal Arts Commencement on Sunday and more from the State College, PA region
Ceremony will begin at noon on Sunday, May 9; gates open at 11 a.m. at Beaver Stadium
College of the Liberal Arts May 9 commencement moved to noon due to weather
May 08, 2021
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Due to forecasted persistent rain the afternoon of Sunday, May 9, the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts commencement ceremony at Beaver Stadium on Sunday, May 9 will be shifted to begin at noon. Gates will open at 11 a.m.; graduates and guests may begin arriving at 11 a.m. The Liberal Arts ceremony’s originally planned speakers and program will remain as scheduled.
As previously shared, guests are encouraged to dress accordingly for the weather. Please note that umbrellas are not allowed in the stadium, but guests may bring ponchos or blankets.
Penn State s Board of Trustees elected or appointed six incumbent trustees and five new members during its meeting Friday.
Alvin de Levie and Steven Wagman were elected by university alumni as alumni trustees, and incumbent Brandon Short was reelected.
In the alumni election, the distribution of votes per candidate was as follows:
Steven B. Wagman â 9,730
Alvin F. de Levie â 9,688
Bridget M. Lasda â 8,171
Jim Bognet â 7,016
Laurie A. Stanell â 9,634
Brandon Short â 14,299
Additionally, Donald Cairns was elected and incumbent Chris Hoffman was reelected by the delegates of agricultural societies, Robert Fenza and Mary Lee Schneider were reelected as trustees representing business and industry, Julie Anna Potts was reelected as an at-large trustee and Nicholas Rowland was elected as the boardâs academic trustee.
Gopal Balachandran, an assistant professor of clinical law and former public defender
Richard Biever, the owner and director of FUSE Productions and Singing Onstage
Catherine Dauler, a former borough councilwoman who served four terms and teacher
Ronald Filippelli, the current State College Mayor, former councilman and professor emeritus and dean emeritus at Penn State
B. Divine Lipscomb, a Penn State adult student and restorative justice advocate
Katherine Yeaple, a current borough councilwoman, nurse and former transportation planner.
Balachandran, Biever and Lipscomb are running as the Central PA United progressive slate. Dauler and Filippelli are running a joint campaign.
Here’s a look at how each responded to questions posed by League moderator Jennifer Nicholas, as well as their closing statements.
IMAGE: Courtesy of Shara McCallum
An annual faculty honor established in 2008, the Penn State Laureate is a full-time faculty member in the arts or humanities who is assigned half time for one academic year to bring greater visibility to the arts, humanities and the University, as well as to their own work. In this role, the laureate is a highly visible representative of the University, appearing at events and speaking engagements throughout the commonwealth.
McCallum succeeds 2020-21 Penn State Laureate David Witwer, professor of American studies in Penn State Harrisburg’s School of Humanities.
McCallum is a poet who has authored six books and has had poems and essays published in journals, anthologies and textbooks throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Israel. Her latest poetry collection, “No Ruined Stone” (slated for release this summer), is a verse sequence based on an alternate account of history and Scottish poet Robert Burns’ near-m