State College, PA – Safeguard Old State, a student-alumni advocacy group at Penn State, is excited to announce the third annual “State Patty’s Day” to be held on Saturday, February 28 in State College.

State Patty’s Day was originally started in 2007 to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day due to the scheduling of Penn State’s Spring Break over that holiday. In 2008, the student-led holiday returned as an attempt to provide a means for students, alumni and townspeople to celebrate a new, uniquely “Penn State” holiday tradition.

State Patty’s Day, in the words of its founder Joe Veltre (Class of 2009), was borne out of a desire by students to “prove that despite a reputation for excess, we might just be able to teach ourselves moderation if given the chance.”

Safeguard Old State founder Thomas A. Shakely elaborated on the idea behind State Patty’s Day: “The holiday offers the opportunity for students to come together outside of the normal, artificially-programmed settings of initiatives like ‘Late Night Penn State’ and academic roundtables and see if they can learn how to celebrate and drink responsibility in the real world.”

Shakely, elaborating, said: “Look, administrators have been pouring millions into anti-drinking programs for decades that simply haven’t worked. Undercover programs, education initiatives, source investigation projects – they all fail, because they miss the point that you can’t teach responsible drinking without, first, letting the drinking actually occur and, second, letting folks drink in an environment where other students, their peers, can keep them safe.”

“We’re working to partner with local bars, bands and music venues to provide events that don’t necessarily involve alcohol,” said Joe Veltre. “We’re having State Patty’s Day on a Saturday so Penn Staters can avoid missing classes by celebrating on the actual ‘St. Patrick’s Day’ in March.

State Patty’s Day 2008 resulted in a slight increase in police calls – 121 – over the average 80 calls to police on a typical weekend at Penn State. Blue-White 2008 weekend, by comparison, resulted in 327 calls to the police.

“State Patty’s Day, when you look at the numbers, is a much safer weekend than Blue-White weekend, when calls to police are nearly triple what they were on State Patty’s Day,” said Veltre in defending State Patty’s Day at beginning to be effective at proving students can engage in both celebration and drinking without a negative impact, as with the riots in late 2008.

A number of local bars have already signed on to host State Patty’s celebrations. Additionally, Got Used Bookstore on College Avenue has partnered with Veltre as the exclusive merchandiser for State Patty’s Day 2009 merchandise, including the official State Patty’s t-shirt.

State Patty’s Day’s official website is www.statepatty.com, which includes merchandize for sale, a history of the holiday, and resources for healthy consumption and information on Saint Patrick’s Day.

It might sound odd. After all, what is a real university if not Penn State? (In fact, we explored that question last semester here at Safeguard Old State.) What we mean is actually pretty simple, though.

We believe it’s time that our administrators and planners begin focusing on education — not research or outreach — as the most important of our school’s three-fold mission as a land-grant university.

Since Dr. Spanier arrived in 1995, we went from being the Keystone state’s most reasonably priced public educational institution to being, as of this year, a “private school with a public mission” focusing primarily not on education but on “research,” according to Dr. Spanier in recent remarks.

A startling turn-around in ten years … from public to “private” university, from reasonably priced to financial monster, from focusing mainly on classroom education to research programs. And what have been the consequences?

Penn State is the educational leviathan of Pennsylvania. Despite Dr. Spanier’s assurances that our university is being “conservatively managed” by his administration, we’re confident from a broad analysis of the numbers that spending at Penn State is about as out of control as can be.

For instance, do you remember this insightful letter to the editor that appeared one year ago in the Centre Daily Times where Jude Spak, a resident of Patton Township, points out that highlights the fact that Penn State’s budget has exploded from $2.4 billion in 2002 to $3.4 billion in 2007.

This at a time when enrollment increased by only 3.1 percent. This meant a tuition increase from $8,008 in 2002 to $12,284 just five years later. It’s tough to imagine that even the accountants at Enron would have been able to pass off a 5-year, billion dollar spending increase as “conservative” fiscal management.

If there’s one resolution we hope that those who make the long-range decisions at our university take for 2009, it’s to return to the primarily mission of Penn State as education, and eschew needless spending for research and outreach so long as student tuition and state taxpayer appropriations are expected to cover the cost.

Our campus is beautiful, but so too is a real education that doesn’t break the bank.

SOS will be welcoming three speakers to campus over the next two weeks from national non-profits focused on higher education.

Anne Neal, president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), Adam Kissel, executive staff member of the Foundation for Individual Rights In Education (FIRE) and Ben Novak, former Penn State Trustee and president of the Mount Nittany Conservancy and Lions Paw Alumni.

The speakers will focus on the relation of trustees and alumni to the university, the relation of students to their university, and the relation of faculty members to the university, respectively.

As a part of the mission of Safeguard Old State, we strive to provide education for our community on all fronts from individual rights to tuition and traditions. Anne Neal will speak tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 5pm and Dr. Adam Kissel will speak Thursday, Dec. 11, at 7:30pm in 101 Thomas.

Anne D. Neal
Anne D. Neal “is the President of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and manager of the Fund for Academic Renewal. She is a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College with an A.B. in American History and Literature. She received her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School where she served as the first woman editor of the Harvard Journal on Legislation.

From 1980 to 1982, Ms. Neal specialized in the First Amendment at the New York City law firm of Rogers & Wells. Subsequently, she has served as General Counsel of the Office of Administration, Executive Office of the President; associate at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Wiley & Rein; Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of the Recording Industry Association of America; and General Counsel and Congressional Liaison of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

She sits on the boards of All Hallows Guild, Washington National Cathedral, Friends of the U.S. National Arboretum, Paine Art Center and Arboretum, and the Sabre Foundation. She is also a member of the Washington Founders Committee for Historic Mount Vernon. She is a founding member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the US House of Representatives Child Care Center.

Adam Kissel
Adam Kissel graduated from Harvard University and from the University of Chicago, where he served as Student Liaison to the Board of Trustees and earned an A.M. from the Committee on Social Thought. His academic interests include the history and theory of liberal education, the history and theory of rhetoric, and rhetoric’s relationship with philosophy.

He also has served as a professional editor for Nobel laureate James Heckman and for faculty in a variety of disciplines. Before joining FIRE, Adam was a director of the Lehrman American Studies Center and the Jack Miller Center for the Teaching of America’s Founding Principles. With Sharon Browne he wrote a Faculty Rights Handbook in 2007.

Ben Novak
Ben Novak was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on February 15, 1943. He graduated from Penn State University in 1965, having served as president of the Undergraduate Student Government in his senior year. He graduated from Georgetown University Law School in 1968.

He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, Infantry, from 1968 to 1970, including a year in Vietnam where he won the Bronze Star. Mr. Novak was admitted to the Bar of Pennsylvania in 1968. He is also admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court, the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the United States Third Circuit, and the U.S. Military Court of Appeals.

He has served on the Penn State Board of Trustees from 1988-2000, is a member of Lion’s Paw Alumni Association, former president of the Mount Nittany Conservancy, and a distinguished alumnus.

SOS Executive Director Chris Morell first discussed this idea publicly last month, and we have since put together a straightforward, one page proposal for the purpose and scope of such a student relations committee, meant to be chartered as an advisory subcommittee of the borough council.

• Click here to view the SOS Proposal for a Student Relations Committee

We firmly believe that such a committee, while certainly not the ultimate desired means or end to fostering a healthier dialog in the borough, is a legitimate and modest first step in renewing lines of communication which have become frayed and fractured over the course of the past few decades.

In terms of student behavior downtown, it’s become clear to the majority of student leadership at Penn State that we have failed as students to inculcate the idea of a Penn Stater as a respectable and respectful member of the wider community.

On the other hand, recent comments by State College Councilwoman Theresa Lafer to the effect that, “I have neighbors who are thinking of using violence against students [in response to the recent downtown incident],” are both chilling and as discouraging to an open dialog as the actions of student malcontents.

Such a student relations committee would be well positioned, by its proposed membership, to tackle fundamental questions about the nature of the town-gown relationship, perhaps even diving into questions that examine the root causes of events and manners.

So, it is our small hope that Penn State Student Body President Gavin Keirans can work with State College Mayor Bill Welch and Borough Council President Liz Goreham to work toward a more healthy and fruitful dialog through our community’s first student relations commiteee.

Yet, for all the hyperbole and indignation from student government leaders about the failure of university administrations to “consult” the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) prior to the destruction of our historic benches, endowed by the Senior Gift of the Class of 1900, almost no thought was given to how the wrongs of the administration could be set right.

Safeguard Old State now calls for the student leadership at Penn State, along with our administrators, to truly honor the spirit of the gift of the Class of 1900.

Simply replacing the benches, as has been done, is not an acceptable resolution to the destruction of these benches, which were arguably a sacred part of our beautiful campus, as much as the graceful elms — now threatened — whose shadows fall on our mall.

The Safeguard Old State Proposal
Safeguard Old State proposes that a small plaque be placed on each of the new, black, iron benches with the simple words “Gift of the Class of 1900.”

This simple gesture of recognition for the enduring role of our senior class gifts would be a humble and fitting signal from the powers that be at Penn State that we have not lost a respect or appreciation for those things which many alumni of Penn State still hold dear.

Today, 108 years after the placement of the benches on the mall, we only remember who placed those benches because each was engraved simply with “Class of 1900″ on their sides. The new iron benches, though, bear no such information, and one wonders whether, in another 100 years when our university enters its fourth century and new benches will again be needed…

…will anyone then remember the Class of 1900?

Mr. Novak is a longtime resident of Centre County, former student body president (1964-’65), member of Lion’s Paw, a retired attorney and a leading advocate for the preservation of Mount Nittany through the Mount Nittany Conservancy.

The video of his remarks is now being made available at Safeguard Old State thanks to George Chriss and the University Park Undergraduate Association.

SOS “For The Glory … Know The Words” Homepage – Visit the Campaign Home

Official Press Release – Oct. 14 – SOS Announces Penn State School Spirit Campaign
Official Spirit Campaign Video – Oct. 14 – SOS Debuts Penn State Fight Song Sing-Along
Press Conference – Oct. 14 – Text of Beaver Stadium Press Conference Remarks
Centre Daily Times – Oct. 14 – Student Group Wants Fans To Learn Words Of PSU Songs (PDF)
The LION 90.7fm (WKPS) – Oct. 14 – SOS Announces Campaign on Radio Free Penn State (MP3)
The Daily Collegian – Oct. 15 – Group Attempts To Teach Traditional Songs
The Daily Collegian – Oct. 17 – Players Pump Up Fans
The Daily Collegian – Oct. 17 – Students: Learn Words To PSU Songs (Official Editorial Endorsement)

On the evening of Saturday, September 27, over 100,000 white‐clad Penn State football fans, packing the “White House” for a convincing win over the Illinois Fighting Illini, filled the misty night air with strains of Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”

At a press conference today (Tuesday, October 14) immediately following Coach Paterno’s press
conference (approx. 1:15pm) Safeguard Old State will announce a campaign to recapture the electricity of those moments while reclaiming one of Happy Valley’s time‐honored traditions.

With its weeklong “For the Glory … Know the Words” initiative, Safeguard Old State and interested student advocates will engage in an advocacy and education blitz across the campus and community to help all Penn Staters learn or relearn the words to Old State’s two most popular fight songs, “The Nittany Lion” and “Fight On, State.”

We can build the energy and excitement that will have the entire student section – dubbed the best in the land by multiple sources – belting them out during Penn State’s next home game, a Homecoming clash with the Michigan Wolverines.

“We’ve got the best student fans in America,” said Safeguard Old State Executive Director Chris Morell, “but to stay on top, we’ve got to keep elevating our game. If Michigan’s student section can do
this, I know we can do it better.”

Joining Safeguard Old State in brining the PSU fights songs to Beaver Stadium is The LION 90.7fm, the campus radio station as well as others on campus, including Joe Veltre, the founder of the annual State Patty’s Day student celebration.

“This effort is certainly in keeping with Safeguard Old State’s core mission of preserving and
rediscovering the traditions of Penn State University,” said Thomas A. Shakely, Safeguard Old State
Chairman and founder.

Based in State College, Safeguard Old State is a coalition of Penn Staters who share a desire to rekindle the spirit of the classical university as a home to provocative discourse and personal growth and who believe that Penn State is uniquely suited as a place to begin this journey.

From exposing the shortcomings of the modern “big box” approach to college education to rediscovering the long‐lost legends of the Nittany Valley, Safeguard Old State aims to bring about a
renaissance in Penn State life, fueled by Penn Staters, from the ground level up.

It’s time to rethink the drinking age. After decades of discussion and legitimate concern over the drinking culture at our University, the time has come for our community to engage in a frank, open and honest discussion over how best to foster a healthier drinking climate at Penn State.

The Amethyst Initiative offers the path by which to begin reconciliation and heal our community. The Amethyst Initiative was begun this past summer at a summit of colleges from across America and already has more than 100 signatories. Among the signers are some of the presidents of the most distinguished universities in our country.

The heads of Dartmouth, the University of Maryland, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Syracuse University, Occidental College and Johns Hopkins University have all signed onto The Amethyst Initiative, to name just a few. Even President E. Gordon Gee of Ohio State University — our closest Big Ten peer — has recognized the need for fundamental state and national policy reform in order to more properly educate our youth in responsible adult consumption.

The Amethyst Initiative sprung out of the widely respected non-profit Choose Responsibly and The Robertson Foundation. In its own words, The Amethyst Initiative proposes:

Twenty-One Is Not Working
- A culture of dangerous, clandestine “binge-drinking” — often conducted off-campus — has developed.
- Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students.
- Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.
- By choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law.

We Call Upon Our Elected Officials:
- To support an informed and dispassionate public debate over the effects of the 21 year-old drinking age.
- To consider whether the 10 percent highway fund “incentive” encourages or inhibits that debate.
- To invite new ideas about the best ways to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol.
- We pledge ourselves and our institutions to playing a vigorous, constructive role as these critical discussions unfold.

While The Amethyst Initiative admits the reality that the current state mandated drinking age is not working — and, in fact, that it is detrimental to a culture of genuine education and responsibility — the initiative does not call upon its signatories to specific legislative action.

In other words, by signing onto The Amethyst Initiative, Penn State University would be showing its commitment to a renewed dialog on responsibility and adult formation. The initiative does not have all the answers, rather, it’s meant to unite those interested in finding the answers.

At Penn State, despite the well intentioned efforts of a broad coalition, including taxpayer funded programs like Late Night Penn State and the Partnership run by Vice President Bill Mahon, the reality is that the drinking culture has only grown worse as students feel more and more pressure to completely abstain from what is a socially accepted adult activity.

In our original alma mater we asked for our university to “mold us, Dear Old State, into men.” Yet, we cannot hope to mold ourselves or for our professors and community to mold us into responsible young adults through an abstinence only approach to alcohol.

The facts, though, speak louder than any words we could offer in support of The Amethyst Initiative. The fact is, unfortunately, that since President Spanier arrived in 1995, alcohol sales have not decreased. Not only have they not gone down, but in fact they have increased substantially.

According to statistics obtained from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), liquor sales alone have more than tripled in number in Centre County just since 1995. Centre County was selling $7.1 million only in liquor at the time of Mr. Spanier’s arrival, and despite the investment of millions of dollars of student and taxpayer funds used to fight the drinking problem through programs, liquor sales totaled more than $21.1 million last year.

Clearly, the conventional approach to fighting dangerous drinking is simply not working. If we are to reawaken the spirit of the student body and help imbue in our incoming freshman the ideals of responsibility, moderation and adult manners, we must plot a new course in how we perceive responsible consumption.

Let us be clear: there is much room for reasonable disagreement on how to go about solving the problem of dangerous drinking, as this recent article demonstrates, yet we cannot hope for better results by continuing to rely on the failed status quo policies that have so far only increased dangerous consumption in Centre County.

Together, we can put our university back on course to a brighter future, and it is with hope that we humbly submit that we, the Pennsylvania State University, should commit ourselves to a more robust dialog and pledge ourselves to The Amethyst Initiative.

Respectfully,
The Safeguard Old State Executive Staff

Mr. Kissel’s talk centered around the idea that student governments, as the most public voices representing the student body, should incorporate as a core part of their mission the protecting of students’ individual rights on campus.

Adam Kissel, Director of FIRE’s Individual Rights Defense Program, recently attended the Association of Big Ten Students Summer Conference, where he spoke to representatives from student governments about what they can do to protect and promote rights to freedom of speech, freedom of association, and due process.

Listen to part one of Adam’s presentation in today’s episode of our podcast series, FIREside Chats, and tune in next week for our Back to School special, when we will be covering ways for students to fight abuses of power on campuses across the country.

Click here to access part one and part two of Adam Kissel’s talk at Penn State.

Mr. Novak spoke on a wide range of issues, centered around the theme of rediscovering the spirit of the real university as first articulated by John Henry Cardinal Newman in his seminal work, The Idea of a University.

Mr. Novak’s address was covered by The Daily Collegian at Penn State, and the full video of his speech is now being made available here at Safeguard Old State.