Davis

To paraphrase Mark Twain: The reports of higher education's death have been an exaggeration. American universities produce more research and relevant knowledge for the world at large than any other institutions I know of. Tuition may be too damn high, but over the long-run, undergraduate degrees are definitely worth the cost. But Penn State could be so much more. It used to be, I think.

It would have been too easy to acknowledge the events of this year with a brief sentence buried in an an otherwise self-indulgent senior column.

News of the child sexual abuse scandal broke with more force in State College than anywhere else in the country. There were certain obvious ways in which this happened. The aftershocks from this fall continue to reverberate around Happy Valley, however, and the worst may be yet to come.

Here’s what I think we need to remember now more than ever.

As a college student, one of the questions I've gotten used to is, "What's your major?" For me, this has always been a conversation-starter.

Dear Chairwoman Peetz,

It was with sadness that I read yet another story by Sara Ganim today. Each update from the Patriot News has added yet another disheartening dimension to this profound tragedy. And today, Chairwoman, the story was about you.

Last night was one of the worst moments of my entire life. But before I can explain what happened, you need to know a bit about Onward State.

This afternoon, the Washington Post will publish a story that many of us have been waiting months to read. Joe Paterno has been virtually silent since his firing this fall. What the interview covers remains to be seen, but the questions that should be asked are numerous. Read more after the jump.

A project that first got underway nearly two years ago reached its greatest milestone to date this week when the full Knowledge Commons was opened for general student usage.

Patriots offensive coach Bill O'Brien arrived at the Penn State University Park airport's general aviation facility around 7:00 p.m. on Thursday evening in a night-time entrance that came just hours after interim head coach Tom Bradley had been relieved of his head coach duties by the university and Jay Paterno left the Lasch Building in tears. Read more after the jump.

Penn State no longer helps control the use of Joe Paterno's name, likeness, and image, according to Assistant Director of Public Information Annemarie Mountz.

Former UPUA Academic Affair Chairman Sam Loewner, who graduated from Penn State in 2010, announced via email and social media release this afternoon that he is seeking a position on the Penn State Board of Trustees.

Update 12/5: Predictably, President Khoury ended up not facing a motion to impeach when CCSG reconvened Saturday night; however, a new executive governance policy did emerge that addressed the concerns of transparency and communication that some members of the Council had regarding Central staff, and made official President Khoury's current manner of communicating the Board of Trustees issues he is allowed to discuss with other members of CCSG.

Tonight President Erickson and seven other of Penn State's highest ranking administrators will appear in front of an entirely student audience to answer questions in a conversation moderated by rockstar professors Sam Richards and Laurie Mulvey. Tickets for the event are free and the conversation has no pre-set boundaries, no questions from journalists. This is a night for students and administrators to talk about what happened and how Penn State moves forward from here. This is a night for us to discuss the future that we wait.

For the last time: It's President Erickson.

Onward State published its first post three years ago today. Few things have instilled more pride in me than watching the organization's growth since then.

Following yesterday's appointment of Provost Pangborn, senior academic administrators reached out to Penn State students via email. Read the full email after the jump.

Acting Director of Athletics Mark Sherburne emailed members of the Nittany Lion Club, the University's official booster organization, this morning about last week's tragic revelations. Check out the full-text after the jump.

In the wake of this week's tragic events, a number of Penn State administrators took to email in order to share their thoughts with the community. We have collected as many as possible and put them into the same post. Check it out after the jump.

Interim President Rodney Erickson has released a short, 30-second video in which he introduces himself to the Penn State community and speaks about what we will need to move forward from here.

The Penn State Board of Trustees will meet this morning in the ballroom at the Nittany Lion Inn, a space four times bigger than what is normally used. Penn State University Relations staff is guarding the door, limiting the number of journalists and cameras allowed into what will surely be the most anticipated Board of Trustees meeting in many, many years.

University Park Undergraduate Association President TJ Bard (@TJBard) will speak from the steps of Old Main at 12:30 p.m. about the recent unprecedented and historic events that have happened over the past week.

The Penn State Alumni Association has released a statement on the allegations. Check it out after the jump.

The press conference should begin at 1:00 pm. Click through to watch the video live.

That higher education is in trouble should surprise no readers of this website. Find out what Microsoft Education's CTO thinks should be done after the jump.

After months of planning, Marya, David, and Jack Schoenholtz are ready for their newest downtown restaurant to be up and running.

It's a big day here at Onward State HQ. Not only do we need to help Evan come to terms with his newfound celebrity, but we also have a cool new feature to introduce!

Early this past summer, we reported that a Pennsylvania House resolution had been introduced by Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre & Mifflin) to denote September 3, 2011 as “Coach Paterno Day.” At the time, Benninghoff said that he had been hoping for months to find a time for Paterno to visit the state legislature and be honored in person. Apparently, Coach Paterno's schedule just never lined up with that of our local politicians.

If you see newly-sashed student leaders walking around campus today, worry not -- you'll be looking at potential campus royalty. The Penn State Homecoming Student and University Courts will be announced late today after all ten student members for the Student Court and the eight faculty and staff on the University Court are informed surprised somewhere on campus.

Penn State's legendary Coach Joe Paterno, who needs no introduction on these pages, was nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the second time in as many years by a bipartisan collection of legislators, including Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA5), and more than a dozen others. Check out the details after the jump.

This past weekend on the lawn of the Business Building, the first-ever Kick Off the Fall Tailgate was held to introduce freshmen students to a number of student organizations, and their unifying value: sportsmanship. According to the event organizers, the tailgate was just the first in a year of event programming and other initiatives based around that same theme.

An event to get freshmen ready for the big games Saturday night will include free food, entertainment and prizes. The tailgate will kick off (see what I did there) at 4:30 pm on Saturday on the Business Building lawn. Not a freshman? No worries... throw on a lanyard and no one will know the difference.