A Question for PSU Alumni Here:

[artsandletters]

And also a change of pace.

Two days ago I met a sweet woman (Patricia) who is a PSU grad, class of 1953. We were talking about Penn State and she posed a thought that many of you likely have considered.

Patricia said she was enrolled when PS transitioned from college status to university status. That’s what prompted her reflection.

She said “I wonder what Penn State would be like today if Joe Paterno hadn’t ever set foot on campus.”

Any responses?

 

[PeetzPoolBoy]

And also a change of pace.

Two days ago I met a sweet woman (Patricia) who is a PSU grad, class of 1953. We were talking about Penn State and she posed a thought that many of you likely have considered.

Patricia said she was enrolled when PS transitioned from college status to university status. That’s what prompted her reflection.

She said “I wonder what Penn State would be like today if Joe Paterno hadn’t ever set foot on campus.”

Let me guess....Patricia is also an “Elitist Mainliner”

 

[Tweedbear]

I was also there for the transition My faculty advisor was on the long range planning committee. We talked about the Plan.
Trust me Joe made us a little different but we would still be a great university.

 

[Nashville Lion]

In my opinion, we would not be half of what we are today without Joe. He made our university great...not just football....but academics and all other sports. He raised the bar.

 

[Nitt1300]

In my opinion, we would not be half of what we are today without Joe. He made our university great...not just football....but academics and all other sports. He raised the bar.

Exactly- Penn State was a big university when Joe got there, but academics weren't all that. Joe saw the need to push for excellence, and he did- making more than one enemy on the way. Show me another big football school where the coach's name is on the library and the stadium is named after a Governor.

I doubt that Schreyers would exist had Joe never stepped foot on campus.

 

[NittPicker]

Joe was certainly a big influence but also consider Penn State became part of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education sometime in the 1970s. This gave the university more freedom in fundraising which certainly helped raise the profile.

As an aside, I still don't get why Pitt, Temple and Lincoln were all rolled into the CSHE. They were private universities at the time. Maybe they all were going bankrupt and begged the state for a bailout.

 

[ForesterGump]

Seems we named a library after Joe. I realize that had to do with a major contribution by the Paternos, but we haven't named any sports building after him for his success on the field. Academics were important to the Paternos.

Meanwhile, we named an Ag building after a former president that had far less impact on academics, but a devastating impact on the university's reputation.

 

[hereforthebeer]

Football's revenue changes everything. Football affects a lot. This is insulting and difficult for the academic research dweebs (and I married one...) to accept, but football has a greater influence on Penn State than anything else and has for a long time.

 

[Nitwit]

A lot about improving academics at a university is having enough money to go after the best professors, by endowing chairs and the like. Professors who bring in research grants or who publish a lot and bring in other great professors who want to join their departments are like free agents in professional athletics. Joe was a terrific fund raiser because he was popular and knew how to close a deal with big donors. That, in part, played a role in him helping to upgrade the academic standing of Penn State.

 

[nits74]

And also a change of pace.

Two days ago I met a sweet woman (Patricia) who is a PSU grad, class of 1953. We were talking about Penn State and she posed a thought that many of you likely have considered.

Patricia said she was enrolled when PS transitioned from college status to university status. That’s what prompted her reflection.

She said “I wonder what Penn State would be like today if Joe Paterno hadn’t ever set foot on campus.”

Any responses?

I think given where Penn State's main campus is located may have been an early detriment to its academic profile. Then along comes Joe and the unprecedented national success of the football program. He was a different sort of guy with a personality not normally associated with your quintessential coach. This raises the University's profile and he uses this to urge it to pursue greater things, particularly in academics. He and Tarman were masters at leveraging all of this with talk of the Grand Experiment, etc. Not that Penn State was nothing but a "cow college" prior to his tenure (as some like to say), but yes, he certainly had much to do with Penn State's ascent. Sadly, I see that starting to reverse itself given the decline in ratings and competitive admission standards. Hopefully that will change soon, assuming we get better leadership.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Football's revenue changes everything. Football affects a lot. This is insulting and difficult for the academic research dweebs (and I married one...) to accept, but football has a greater influence on Penn State than anything else and has for a long time.

As I always say to those dweebs... what do you think The Ivy League means?

Ldn

 

[Carl Spackler]

Football is the most recognizable aspect of many universities.
Joe challenged the board to upgrade the university, they took the challenge.

No library at Ahia State will ever be named after a football coach, mainly because no football coach will ever part with their cash to donate major money to a library., nor will most coaches/schools.

PSU became a university and was advancing, Joe had a big impact on the future of our school no doubt but it would have, at a slower pace, still advanced.

Joe provided all of us a lot of enjoyment for many years.

 

[step.eng69]

As I always say to those dweebs... what do you think The Ivy League means?

Ldn

Thanks, never thought of the institutions blanked by a football league

 

[LionDeNittany]

Thanks, never thought of the institutions blanked by a football league

The Ivy League has done a good job of re branding

However it was built on athletics.

LdN

 

[Mack_Daddy]

And also a change of pace.

Two days ago I met a sweet woman (Patricia) who is a PSU grad, class of 1953. We were talking about Penn State and she posed a thought that many of you likely have considered.

Patricia said she was enrolled when PS transitioned from college status to university status. That’s what prompted her reflection.

She said “I wonder what Penn State would be like today if Joe Paterno hadn’t ever set foot on campus.”

Any responses?

I guess the answer lies in donors.

Would individual donors have given the money that they did if Penn State was like Maryland in football?

I don't know how much money came through the window from 1965-2011. I think if you compare that, say, to Maryland, you'd have your answer. At least something quantifiable.

 

[fairgambit]

And also a change of pace.

Two days ago I met a sweet woman (Patricia) who is a PSU grad, class of 1953. We were talking about Penn State and she posed a thought that many of you likely have considered.

Patricia said she was enrolled when PS transitioned from college status to university status. That’s what prompted her reflection.

She said “I wonder what Penn State would be like today if Joe Paterno hadn’t ever set foot on campus.”

Any responses?

I do not have the time to go into a detailed reasoning, but I have considered this question many times before and talked it over with others who have done the same. The consensus is that Penn State would be the equivalent of North Carolina State......a nice, regional university with a limited national footprint. Now, I am off to church and then to the Pittsburgh Symphony (Honeck conducts Mozart & Schubert) for an afternoon concert.

 

[Nitwit]

He’s still contributing through his legacy.

The Paterno Fellows Program

A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?

 

[Art]

The Ivy League has done a good job of re branding

However it was built on athletics.

LdN

Interesting. They've done a great job since 1956.

 

[phillybillyreprise]

And also a change of pace.

Two days ago I met a sweet woman (Patricia) who is a PSU grad, class of 1953. We were talking about Penn State and she posed a thought that many of you likely have considered.

Patricia said she was enrolled when PS transitioned from college status to university status. That’s what prompted her reflection.

She said “I wonder what Penn State would be like today if Joe Paterno hadn’t ever set foot on campus.”

Any responses?

http://onwardstate.com/2014/01/22/remembering-joe-paternos-1983-board-of-trustees-speech/I

 

[olelion]

You cannot discuss the growth of the University without mentioning Governor Raymond P Shaffer. No matter your political persuasion, give him credit for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. It was in great part due to scholarships and loans available from this program that enrollment and growth exploded for the boomers.

 

[LafayetteBear]

I am a Cal alum and post regularly on the Cal board. (Not as much as I do here but nevertheless regularly.) I can tell you that Penn State is well regarded by Cal alums, both in terms of sports and academics. There are the occasional trolls who come out with Sandusky stuff, but most posts I read there are complimentary. There is a thread there right now concerning a PSU basketball commit (Tolu Jacobs) who Cal and Nevada were also pursuing. Here's one sample comment I thought was entertaining:

"Let's see -

Education yes Penn State - no Nevada,
Campus yes Penn State - no Nevada,
Fall Color yes State College - no Reno,
Athletic Conference yes Big Ten - no Mountain West,
Legalized Prostitution yes Nevada - no Pennsylvania."