Penn State

How many of us found something we loved as a young child that we still thoroughly enjoy as an adult? Members of the Penn State Model Railroad Club have. “I was just 2 years old,” says club President Adam Navarra. “My grandfather sat me down in front of a loop of track in his living…

Long before he was widely known as “Mike the Mailman,” Mike Herr was a young postal worker sorting mail in a back room in the downtown State College post office. Although it was a dirty job that did not require customer interaction, the jeans and t-shirts he and his co-worker wore to work were deemed…

If you tailgated at Penn State football games in the ’80s — those golden home games that led to not just one but two national championships, in 1982 and 1986 — you remember the whirlwind energy of the hours before game time, filled with chanting, cheers, and songs. One group in particular made that scene…

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book is celebrating its 25th anniversary at Penn State, and the 22nd anniversary of a special booklist — the Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen Best Books for Family Literacy. The Baker’s Dozen booklist was created in 2003 by the center’s first Penn State director, Steven Herb, education librarian emeritus, and his wife,…

By Ronald A. Smith Penn State played its first intercollegiate football game in 1881, not in 1887. The story of the first game in 1887 has been repeated consistently by the Penn State Athletic Department. It is even recited by the Centre County Historical Society’s Encyclopedia of History and Culture. “Penn State played its first…

By Penn State News When it opened earlier this year, Penn State’s Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building came with all the ultra-modern, environmentally friendly amenities one would expect from the College of the Liberal Arts’ first new facility in more than a half-century. But the building itself wasn’t the only thing that took careful thought and planning…

By Elton Hayes When Eric Handley and his wife, Meg, arrived in Centre County in 2005, the Asheville, North Carolina, natives assumed their time as residents wouldn’t span more than five years. Now, two decades later, State College has become their home. Eric Handley serves as director of Penn State’s Suzy and Jim Broadhurst Golf…

The Eberly College of Science’s Buckhout Greenhouse, one of Penn State’s best-kept secrets, offers a unique experience for students, faculty, and visitors alike. Nestled in the heart of campus, just off the Buckhout Laboratory, the greenhouse has been a sanctuary for plant life for over a century. Sophie Marsh, a December 2024 Penn State graduate,…

This January, a brand-new semester is starting at Penn State, bringing with it a new set of opportunities, along with new challenges and deadlines. As projects and papers begin to pile up, students can gain resiliency and focus on well-being through relaxation rooms found in the Intramural Building and the HUB-Robeson Center. “The rooms are…

Nate Setar and his roommates needed the right furniture for their Penn State student apartment. But they were on college student budgets. Enter Lion Surplus. “Discovering low-cost furniture made our limited space more accommodating and comfortable for friends and family,” Setar says. “These extra pieces of furniture turned our little apartment into a welcoming gathering…