Liberal Arts introduces Paterno Fellows program

University Park, Pa. -- The College of the Liberal Arts, in partnership with the Schreyer Honors College, announces the launch of the Paterno Liberal Arts Undergraduate Fellows Program. This landmark partnership will invigorate undergraduate education in Liberal Arts for hundreds of students and offer significant benefits to Schreyer students with Liberal Arts majors. This unique arrangement will extend the benefits of the Schreyer experience to many more students and will challenge students to the kind of high achievement, values, and integrity associated with the Paterno family name and the Schreyer Honors College.

The College has named this program after Head Football Coach Joe Paterno (a liberal arts graduate of Brown University) and his wife Sue Paterno, a 1962 Penn State graduate with a degree in English. The two embody academic ambition and excellence in the liberal arts tradition that is a hallmark of the Fellows program – as well as its commitment to ethics, leadership and service. They serve as ideal examples to the students enrolled in the program bearing their name.

"It is an honor for Sue and me to be associated with the students in the program," Paterno said. "Their work ethic and commitment to excellence, combined with the liberal arts curriculum, will create future generations of Penn Staters known for the contributions they make to the world in which they live."

In their many years at Penn State, the Paternos have consistently advocated that excellence is not something reserved for a few elite, but a trait that should be pursued vigorously by all. This belief matches well with the structure of the Paterno Fellows Program in that students can select themselves into it simply by meeting the standards outlined in its curriculum.

Beginning with the freshman class of 2008 students will be invited to meet a series of performance benchmarks. Those who meet those marks will be acknowledged as Fellows and concurrently be admitted into the Schreyer Honors College. They will also gain opportunities to network with alumni, and receive $1,500 to $2,500 in financial support to pursue a study abroad or internship opportunity. Yet, as Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, noted, the participants’ greatest reward will be less tangible.

“These students will be choosing to undertake a challenge to engage in an ambitious course of study leading to sustained and significant learning,” Welch said. “The benefit of facing and accomplishing such a task will provide students with the confidence, and knowledge, to tackle whatever challenges they may face once they leave Penn State.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our students and believe that this will improve the academic environment in the college for all students, not just Paterno Fellows, as we renew our commitment to excellence in education.”

For Paterno Fellows, that commitment will include completing a specified number of honors or honors-equivalent courses, maintaining a high grade average, and completing a research-based or creative capstone project. These requirements are all in keeping with the expectations placed on Schreyer Honors College students. Additionally Paterno Fellows will be expected to complete a second major or 24-credit minor, to take an ethics course, to undertake a leadership or service commitment, and to demonstrate excellence in communication.

To help manage these requirements and tailor them to students’ interests and strengths, academic advisors and faculty members will work closely with Paterno Fellows. 

Not only is the Paterno Fellows program expected to be a boon to the participants and to the College of the Liberal Arts, but it also provides a way for the Schreyer Honors College to extend its mission to include additional students.

“It has long been a goal of the Schreyer Honors College to increase student access to the many benefits of honors education. This partnership with Liberal Arts provides an ideal opportunity to do just that. I am looking forward to this exciting collaboration that will be of great benefit to the entire Penn State community,” said Christian Brady, dean of the Schreyer Honors College.

Additional details on the particulars of the Paterno Fellows Program are available at http://www.la.psu.edu/CLA-LAUS/Paterno_Fellows_Program.shtml.