Penn State Mont Alto

MONT ALTO, Pa. -- Penn State Mont Alto will open a new academic year on Monday with a record incoming class of 574 new students. That represents a 12 percent increase over fall 2008. The previous high was in fall 2006 with 516 new students. The new students come from local communities and 19 states and territories, and many of them have housing needs.  The campus' three residence halls can house 438 students. They filled to capacity during the summer months though the university did not have to turn students away in part to the availability of new off-campus housing.

bonnieb@herald-mail.com MONT ALTO, Pa. - Members of the second-largest graduating class in the 100-year history of Penn State Mont Alto received their degrees Saturday morning. Both bachelor's and associate's degrees were awarded to 143 students. In 2004, Penn State Mont Alto graduated 150 students. David Gnage, campus executive officer, congratulated the class on being part of the sesquicentennial graduating class of Pennsylvania State University. Established 150 years ago, Penn State is a worldwide source of scientific discovery and has educated hundreds of thousands of people, he said.

Penn State Mont Alto honors veterans with a memorial Penn State Mont Alto and its student Veterans Club joined forces to install a memorial on campus to recognize U.S. military veterans. Brian Hall was one of the students who initiated the development of a permanent site to honor and remember members of the armed forces. “It was important for us to recognize and honor the support of all the veterans that served and attended Penn State Mont Alto since ... World War II,” said Hall, who is a veteran and president of the campus student Veterans Club.

MONT ALTO, Pa. -- Penn State Mont Alto joined the public phase of Penn State University's latest fundraising effort, announcing Saturday a $5 million goal for the satellite campus. Donors across the university system have contributed more than $1 billion toward the "For the Future" campaign to date, $2,068,000 of which came through Mont Alto, university President Graham B. Spanier said. The campaign aims to raise money to ensure student opportunity, enhance honors education, enrich student experience, build faculty strength and sustain a tradition of quality, Spanier said.

Few, if any, of the Penn State Mont Alto students gathered for a candlelight vigil Sunday night had met Joe Paterno. Gusts of winter wind threatened to extinguish their flames as they shared thoughts regarding a man they called an icon, a father figure and a legend. Paterno, the college's head football coach from 1966 to 2011, died Sunday at age 85 from lung cancer. “Our university is changed because of him, and I'm proud to go to Penn State,” said Chelsea Pittman, a sophomore from Chambersburg, Pa. Pittman, a human development and family studies major, was one of the students who pulled together the memorial in about 10 hours.

Thousands of family members and friends packed the bleachers and sat in chairs on the gymnasium floor hoping to spot their favorite graduate as Saturday's spring commencement got under way at Penn State Mont Alto. As the 143 soon-to-be graduates walked into the college's Multipurpose Activities Center, the crowd erupted in squeals of joy, whistles and applause. Commencement speaker Shaun B. Keister, associate vice president for development for Penn State and a Mont Alto alum, gave the graduates some words of inspiration.