A Penn State Board of Trustees subcommittee decided the fate of 22 alumni candidacies for trustee positions on Wednesday. The board’s nominating subcommittee approved 18 of the 22 original candidates, who were whittled down to 19 during executive session, most notably excluding trustee Barry Fenchak from the 2025 ballot.

During its private executive decision, the board excluded two alumni candidates based on qualifications that would have typically excluded those candidates in the past: one was an active employee and the other had reached a 12-year term limit. Another candidate dropped out of the race before Wednesday’s meetings.

Under Board of Trustee bylaws established in July 2024, the process for getting onto the board as an alumni trustee changed from past years. Instead of needing 250 signatures to get a nominee onto a ballot, candidates now need 50 signatures and to pass a screening by the nominating subcommittee.

Nineteen candidates were left up to the nominating committee to screen, and those dissenting with a candidate needed a two-thirds majority to take a candidate off a ballot. Candidates were put through a screening matrix to determine their capability.

The motion to dismiss Fenchak passed overwhelmingly, with Jay Paterno standing as the lone “no” vote in an 8-1 decision. Paterno argued that the subcommittee shouldn’t be able to weigh Fenchak’s past issues with the board when determining his candidacy.

“Once again, Penn State’s tired playbook of secrecy and obfuscation,” Fenchak told Onward State in a statement. “I will be speaking with my attorneys about the next step, but once again Penn State’s behavior is out of bounds.”

Trustees shared concerns with Fenchak’s conduct on the board, including one incident in which Fenchak made a remark to a female university employee about looking like a penis while wearing a baseball cap. That comment nearly led to Fenchak’s expulsion from the board, though Fenchak was granted an injunction after suing to stop the vote that would’ve kicked him off.

Fenchak is involved in a second lawsuit against the university, requesting access to documents relating to Penn State’s financial situation. According to the lawsuit, when Fenchak requested the documents from the board and the university, he was told those documents weren’t important to his duties as a trustee.

Members of the nominating committee raised concerns about three candidates: Fenchak, Robert Boucher, and Jolie Elder. The latter two candidates, trustees worried they didn’t have relevant experience, though both were approved.

In all, the subcommittee approved the candidacies of Jeffrey Ballou, Boucher, Elder, Kevin Carey, Joseph DeRenzo, Trevor Hale, Karen Keller, Kelly Lynch, David Morgan, Uma Moriarty, Jordan Mott, J. Greg Pilewicz, Dale Fredmore, Pat Romano, Laurie A. Stanell, Steve Wagman, Katherine Whittle, and Daniel Zahn.

The 2025 alumni trustee ballot will have significantly more candidates than usual — the 2022 ballot had eight candidates, the 2023 ballot had nine candidates, and the 2024 ballot had five candidates.

Voting for alumni trustees runs from Monday, April 21, to Thursday, May 8. Folks can vote via email or at PennStateVotes.com.