Thank you, parents, for supporting Penn State students!
What will your Penn State story be?
Your students joined the Penn State family the moment they stepped on campus, and so did you. We hope you will share your Nittany Lion’s Penn State journey from move-in through graduation. Along the way, really get to know our University yourself. Attend Parents & Families Weekend, stroll through our lush Arboretum, enjoy a Berkey Creamery ice cream cone, meet your student’s dean, cheer on Nittany Lion athletes. Find out why your student loves Penn State—we think you’ll find yourself loving it, too!
Our Parent Philanthropy team will help you explore opportunities to enhance the Penn State student experience for your student and all those who will follow. From gifts to their academic colleges, to support for their favorite co-curricular activities, your options are as vast as those offered to your student here at Penn State. Through A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence, parents can partner with Penn State to create even more transformative experiences; to extend our students’ impact on the world; and to ensure that Penn State’s
opportunities remain available to individuals from every economic background.
What Can We Do for You?
Parent Philanthropy’s mission is to introduce parents to our University and help you to find ways for your giving to make an impact.
Connect: Your son or daughter walked through your door and onto a campus full of opportunity. Over the next four years, they will discover their true selves and form lifelong relationships. Penn State will have been at the heart of that transformation. This incredible experience will be theirs, but we would like you to connect with our University, too, by learning more about this institution your student loves, and about opportunities for support.
Inspire: The staff in the Office of Parent Philanthropy will introduce you to the individual programs, departments, and people that have shaped your student’s time at Penn State and continue to advance their dreams. We will show you the depth and breadth of the Penn State experience by helping you to learn about the world-class academics that are inspiring your student, the almost limitless co-curricular offerings that keep students fully engaged outside the classroom, and the significant support services that provide one of the most comprehensive and secure student collegiate experiences in our country.
Partner: Much of what makes Penn State a great university is owed to the generosity of parents, alumni, and friends of the University. From funding scholar- ships for international study to creating discretionary funds for department heads to revitalizing outdated laboratory equipment, parents have been integral partners in making Penn State the great institution we are. You can partner with us by making a gift, helping us to ensure excellence for generations to come.
Make a Gift. Make a Difference.
Many families have worked with the Office of Parent Philanthropy to shape their giving and make a differ- ence for their Penn Staters and the other students who are part of their community. Their interests are varied, but they have all created their own Penn State story, defined by the impact they have made on the University and students like their own.
The Routh Family: Students studying abroad in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications will benefit from the endowed scholarship Alan and Rung Routh created to honor their daughter, Alexandra, whose major is in the College. The family wants other students to benefit from living abroad as their children benefited from their time living in Indonesia, Thailand, and Norway. At the same time, the Rouths were im- pressed by the career development options offered to students through Penn State Career Services. We connected the Rouths with Career Services, where they purchased interview equipment to enhance students’ career preparation.
The Briley Family: Through their son Chris’ involve- ment with the student organization Engineers for a
Sustainable World, Darryl and Nancy Briley discovered that student organizations in the College of Engineering spent more time fundraising for their projects than completing them. Inspired by Chris’ work, the Briley family created a competitive endowment to support student organizations by providing funding for project materials as well as conference and competitive showcase travel.
The McHugh Family: Julie and Mike McHugh, with their daughter Emily, were inspired by President Eric Barron’s plea to help students who are close to graduation, yet cannot finish their degrees due to lack of financial support—what he deemed “higher education’s biggest failure.” The McHugh family has since made a gift to fund two scholarships—one in Smeal College of Business and one University-wide—that support up to ten financially stressed students per year to complete their Penn State degree and cross the stage on time and on track to success.
