There are 24 campuses in the Penn State system. The one that gets the most attention is University Park, but what about the other 23? That’s where we come in with our newest 23 part series, Better Know a Branch Campus, inspired by Stephen Colbert’s Better Know a District. Next up: Penn State New Kensington. 

Name: Penn State New Kensington, The Fightin’ Kens! Which sounds like a terrifying army of guys named Ken. Can you imagine 10,000 Ken Jennings soldiers coming at you? Horrifying.

Chancellor: Dr. Kevin Snider

Enrollment: 801 students, which makes it the fifth smallest branch campus in the Penn State system.

Location: Penn State New Kensington is located in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. The campus is located approximately 25 miles from Pittsburgh, 123 miles from State College, and 301 miles from Philadelphia. In fact, the campus is much closer to Columbus, Ohio (214 miles) than it is Philadelphia, which would be unfortunate if Penn State didn’t own that place.

Sports: New Kensington isn’t exactly University Park when it comes to athletics. The campus has three men’s sports — basketball, soccer, and wrestling — along with women’s softball and volleyball, and co-ed cheerleading and golf. Like many other campuses, New Kensington competes in the Penn State University Athletic Conference.

Fun Fact: The town of New Kensington was featured in the music video for “Youth of the Nation” by P.O.D., which I thought was an awesome song when I was like 11. Also, the film Dogma was shot in New Kensington, among other places.

History: New Kensington is one of the younger branch campuses in the Penn State system, having been opened in 1958. The first class graduated in 1960 and opened its current campus on 35 acres of land in 1966. There’s not much going on here, I suppose. Here’s a video of a corgi going down a slide to make up for that.

Right Now: There are 43 full-time professors at New Kensington, and the campus offers eight associate degrees, seven bachelor’s degrees, and one master’s degree. Also, there is no on-campus living, but rather there are off-campus apartments and one university-owned housing complex right across the street from campus.

Mail Time: After last week’s strong showing from Mont Alto, I got nothin’. I’m disheartened by this, New Kensington. I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL. Oh well, onward.

Next Time: Penn State Schuylkill! Again, I don’t know anything about this campus, so if you went there, please educate me.

Previous Better Know a Branch Campus features: Abington, Altoona, Beaver, Berks, Brandywine, DuBois, Erie, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Mont Alto.