On March 23, the Penn State Schuylkill Alumni Society paid tribute to two years of Alumni Award winners with our first in-person ceremony since 2019. The award ceremony took place in the Morgan Auditorium, following a reception in the Student Community Center.

On hand were Outstanding Alumni honorees from 2020 and 2021, Shawn T. Fitzpatrick, Jeanine Williamson-Gleba, Michael G. Messina, and Scott C. Price. 2021 Outstanding Young Alumnus, Abigayle G. Kaiser received her award while the 2020 honoree Ralph "RJ" Wawrzyniakowski accepted his award via a prerecorded message. Karen Kenderdine received the 2020 Pride & Spirit Award, and Jeffrey J. Vrabel earned special recognition for his 20 years of service to the Alumni Society.

Congratulations to all the awardees for their many accomplishments, commitment to service, and dedication to the Schuylkill campus. #WeAre Penn State Schuylkill proud!

Penn State Schuylkill 2020 graduate, Abigayle Kaiser, will assume the role of alumni relations and stewardship officer as of Monday, April 11.

Since the spring of 2020, Kaiser has served as director of admissions and marketing at Luther Ridge at Seiders Hill, a senior living facility, jumping into the role during the height of the global pandemic. Her co-workers and supervisors alike remark on her willingness to go beyond the job requirements and note that she truly made a difference in the lives of the clients she served.

While a student at Penn State Schuylkill, Kaiser emerged as a standout leader. She was a Lion Ambassador and peer tutor as well as chair of the campus THON chapter and president of the Blue & White Society. Kaiser was also a member of the Penn State Schuylkill Honors Program, the Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society, the 2018-19 recipient of the Outstanding Service and Leadership Award sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs, and the John and Veda Black Award—a Penn State University student leadership and service award that recognizes an outstanding campus leader with a 3.25 or higher GPA.

Kaiser has been an alumni society board member since graduating and was named an Outstanding Young Alumnus for 2021.

Kaiser is a Penn Stater through and through. Please join us in welcoming Abbie back to campus!

Penn State President-elect Neeli Bendapudi visited Penn State Schuylkill last week as part of her listening and learning tour to meet with students, faculty, staff, and community members at each Penn State campus. During her visit, President-elect Bendapudi enjoyed a jubilant welcome from Penn State Schuylkill students, took a campus tour that included our new nursing suite and STEM labs, hosted a town hall for faculty and staff, and met with students and Schuylkill County community members.

Throughout the visit, President-elect Bendapudi made clear her belief in Penn State’s land-grant mission of providing a high-quality education, conducting impactful research, and engaging in our communities in order to make them better places to live. Bendapudi said that her focus will be on the University’s students: “For me, it comes down to students,” she said. “They are our No. 1 priority. We need to prepare them for success not just in the classroom, but for what comes next.”

The Paterno Family Beaver Stadium Run for Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA), will take place at University Park during Blue-White Weekend, where more than 3,500 runners and walkers of all ages and abilities participate in a 5K run or 2-mile family fun walk.

The run begins in the vicinity of the Bryce Jordan Center on Curtin Road, moves through Penn State’s scenic campus, and concludes with runners racing through the Beaver Stadium Tunnel and onto the Nittany Lions’ home turf to “finish at the fifty!”

Runners who can't be there in person may also participate virtually.

All proceeds will benefit the Special Olympics Pennsylvania and the 16,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

The Alumni Association is committed to keeping all Penn Staters connected to one another and to the University. Check out the variety of programming, including career-focused workshops, coffee hour-style chats with our CEO Paul Clifford, and conversations with Penn State experts.

Upcoming April programming includes:

Did you know that gin and quinine (tonic) were originally consumed as a cure for malaria—an early disease of global proportions? Join members of the Arts and Architecture Alumni Society for “spirited” conversation, cocktail-making demonstrations, a bit of history, and even some art history, at our Drinks by Design event.

Five presenters will participate, each making both a cocktail and a mocktail. Registrants will receive the recipe booklet that was created for this program, originally presented as part of We Are Weekend in 2021. The five demos included in this session will feature Aperitifs, Vodka, Prosecco, Bourbon, and Gin.