Chartered in 1855 as an agricultural college, Penn State was designated Pennsylvania's land-grant school soon after the passage of the Morrill Act in 1862. Through this federal legislation, the institution assumed a legal obligation to offer studies not only in agriculture but also in engineering and other utilitarian fields as well as liberal arts. By giving it land-grant status, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania made the privately chartered Penn State a public instrumentality and assumed a responsibility to assist it in carrying out its work. However, the notion that higher education should have practical value was a novel one in the mid-nineteenth century, and Penn State experienced several decades of drift and uncertainty before winning the confidence of Pennsylvania's citizens and their political leaders. The story of Penn State in the twentieth century is one of continuous expansion in its three-fold mission: instruction, research, and extension. Engineering, agriculture, mineral industries, and science were early strengths; during the Great Depression, liberal arts matured. Further curricular diversification occurred after the Second World War, and a medical school and teaching hospital were added in the 1960s. Penn State was among the earliest land-grant schools to inaugurate extension programs in agriculture, engineering, and home economics. Indeed, the success of extension education indirectly led to the founding of the first branch campuses in the 1930s, from which evolved the extensive Commonwealth Campus system. The history of Penn State encompasses more than academics. It is the personal story of such able leaders as presidents Evan Pugh, George Atherton, and Milton Eisenhower, who saw not the institution that was but the one that could be. It is the story of the confusing and often frustrating relationship between the University and the state government. As much as anything else, it is the story of students, with ample attention given to the social as well as scholastic side of student life. All of this is placed in the context of the history of land-grant education and Pennsylvania's overall educational development. This is an objective, analytical, and at times critical account of Penn State from the earliest days to the 1980s. With hundreds of illustrations and interesting vignettes, this book is a visually exciting and human-oriented history of a major state university.

No history of Penn State is complete without the stories of its many achieving women. From Rebecca Ewing, the first female graduate, to early pioneering faculty members like Harriet McElwain and Lucretia Van Tuyl Simmons, to latter-day standouts Pat Farrell, Nina Federoff, Cynthia Baldwin, and Connie Moore, women have been an integral part of Penn State's tradition of excellence. In We Are a Strong, Articulate Voice, Carol Sonenklar traces the collective path of female students, staff, and faculty at the University. Women have overcome many obstacles in their march toward equal representation and professional recognition at Penn State. We Are a Strong, Articulate Voice provides a unique look at their struggle, revealing moments that have shaped the history and identity of the University. The clash between female undergrads and the housemothers charged with keeping them out of trouble, the rise of sororities, the invaluable contribution of the Curtiss-Wright Cadets during World War II, firsthand accounts of the infamous 1950s panty raids, the effect of Title IX on women's athletic programs--events big and small, solemn and silly, are all recorded here. Sonenklar also examines recent milestones in women's progress at Penn State, including one of the most important events of the last twenty-five years: the formation in the 1980s of the Strategic Study Group on the Status of Women. She considers the gains made by women faculty, staff, and students in the years since, while looking ahead to the opportunities and challenges of the future. Based on personal interviews and extensive research in the University Archives, We Are a Strong, Articulate Voice combines a lively narrative with dozens of striking photographs, making this book a fitting tribute to women's progress at Penn State.

From their beginnings, campuses emerged as hotbeds of traditions and folklore. American college students inhabit a culture with its own slang, stories, humor, beliefs, rituals, and pranks. Simon J. Bronner takes a long, engaging look at American campus life and how it is shaped by students and at the same time shapes the values of all who pass through it. The archetypes of absent-minded profs, fumbling jocks, and curve-setting dweebs are the stuff of legend and humor, along with the all-nighters, tailgating parties, and initiations that mark campus tradition—and student identities. Undergraduates in their hallowed halls embrace distinctive traditions because the experience of higher education precariously spans childhood and adulthood, parental and societal authority, home and corporation, play and work. Bronner traces historical changes in these traditions. The predominant context has shifted from what he calls the “old-time college,” small in size and strong in its sense of community, to mass society’s “mega-university,” a behemoth that extends beyond any campus to multiple branches and offshoots throughout a state, region, and sometimes the globe. One might assume that the mega-university has dissolved collegiate traditions and displaced the old-time college, but Bronner finds the opposite. Student needs for social belonging in large universities and a fear of losing personal control have given rise to distinctive forms of lore and a striving for retaining the pastoral “campus feel” of the old-time college. The folkloric material students spout, and sprout, in response to these needs is varied but it is tied together by its invocation of tradition and social purpose. Beneath the veil of play, students work through tough issues of their age and environment. They use their lore to suggest ramifications, if not resolution, of these issues for themselves and for their institutions. In the process, campus traditions are keys to the development of American culture.

Penn State fans will finally get the chance to walk onto the field with their favorite Nittany Lions in Game of My Life Penn State Nittany Lions. In this newly updated edition, Penn State alum Jordan Hyman asks over twenty of the school’s greatest football legends to share their favorite memories and most poignant moments while wearing the white and blue. A must-read for any Nittany Lions fan.

List of members in each report.