Feb 29, 2024 By Mark Hofmann 4 min read

With proposed budget cuts threatening Penn State campuses across the state, those at the Fayette branch came together Wednesday to voice their support for the local campus.

“We are here to celebrate what this campus has done and will continue to do,” said Dr. Jo Jankoski, associate professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State Fayette. “We are Penn State, but more importantly, we are Fayette.”

The rally was the result of Penn State’s proposed cuts to its regional campuses starting in 2026.

An open letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro from those who support the small regional campuses said the cuts are part of the university’s new budget model to distribute the state’s $242 million general support allocation to incentivize enrollment at more expensive locations. According to the letter, that would penalize campuses like Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, which have lower tuition and higher rates of in-state students.

To prevent that from happening, regional campuses across the state are urging alumni and supporters to intervene before the university’s board of trustees approves the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget in July.

Jankoski said the impact of the Fayette campus to the region includes $28 million contributed annually to the state economy, $1.5 million in total scholarships awarded annually and free STEM camps to youth over the summer.

“We are more than just this building,” Jankoski said. “We are a campus who’s making a difference in our community every day.”

Jankoski also dismissed a rumor making the rounds on social media that the campus was closing.

During the rally, organizers read statements from Penn State Fayette alumni who wrote about how the campus helped them shape their future.

Gib Prettyman, associate professor of English at Penn State Fayette, said he’s been at the campus for 28 years and was thrilled to see how many people the campus has touched and what they’re now doing.

Dr. Douglas L. Rutledge, assistant teaching professor in physics at Penn State Fayette, said he earned his doctorate at Penn State’s main campus, where lecture halls were packed with up to 1,000 students per class.

“Down here, we have class sizes of up to 30,” Rutledge said, adding that allows better contact with the students.”Somebody said they didn’t feel like a statistic here. That’s why. Because we actually get to know our students.”

As a county commissioner, Dave Lohr, an alumnus of Penn State Fayette, said he wound up working with his former professor in the late 1970s, Terry McMillen Sr., an engineer.

“It’s important to keep the campus alive and moving forward because you never know what the future holds,” Lohr said. “Yes, we need this campus, and I will do everything I can to make sure that continues on because this campus is vital to a lot of people.”

Another alumna, state Rep. Charity Grimm-Krupa, said she took advantage of the opportunity to get college credits at the Fayette campus while she was attending Albert Gallatin Area High School. Krupa said her daughter is in her second year at the branch campus.

“As a mom, it’s such a wonderful thing to know that I’m not sending my vulnerable teenage child out where I don’t know who she’s with and who’s being her role model,” Krupa said.

Krupa said a large sum of taxpayer money goes to Penn State and there’s no transparency in how that money is spent.

“I would much rather see a transparent conversation about where legitimate budget cuts or budget issues could be made, than to risk jeopardizing our branch campuses,” Krupa said.

Current student Seth Stewart said he’s a two-year student and will be out before the proposed budget cuts take place in 2026. Still, he drove 35 minutes from his home in Westmoreland County to attend Wednesday’s rally.

“Because this campus means that much to me,” he said.

An open letter to Gov. Josh Shapiro, available at https://openletterpa.info/, asks the governor to intervene before the board of trustees votes on the budget. Organizers at the rally have invited anyone who wishes to express their support to sign it.