Last Monday, Penn State Live reported that Jerry and Lotty Polis of Polis Enterprises donated $1 million to the Schreyer Honors College. That’s almost 200,000 footlongs at Subway! Although Jerry Polis graduated from Penn State in 1954, well before the Honors College was established, he sees great potential in Schreyer scholars, hence the generous gift.

“I believe the honors college has the opportunity to rank with the Ivy League schools and the top schools in the country,” Polis said. “I think it makes people look at Penn State differently, and it raises Penn State’s profile overall.”

On a return visit to campus not long ago, he attended a dinner at which several Schreyer Scholars spoke.

“I was incredibly impressed with the quality of the students and what they were doing,” he recalled, “They are really motivated. At that point, I felt this was something I would want to support.”

What will be done with this newfound money? Will Simmons and Atherton Halls get paper towels in the bathrooms and two-ply toilet paper in the stalls? Or will the money be invested in the Stock Market while it’s low, eventually dwarfing William Schreyer’s measly donation and renaming the college the “Polis Honors College”? Only time will tell…