Visiting State College this weekend for planning and development for the Michael D. Walsh Student Broadcasters Trustee Scholarship.

When I got into town I headed to the Penn Stater, then to Legends pub. Chris Buchignani, Kevin Horne, and I caught up over lagers before heading to Bellefonte’s Union Cemetery to visit Evan Pugh’s grave. Afterwards we visited Good Intent Cider. I snapped this photo of Kevin Horne catching up on Twitter there as we were leaving; he had just gotten out of the Penn State Board of Trustees meeting, which he serves on as president of the graduate students.

This weekend is essentially a series of work sessions. First, for five years now a small group of us have been meeting as friends and working to build “cultural conservation” as a principle that enlivens and animates Penn State and the nearby towns. We’ll continue those conversations and see what comes next. And in parallel, we’re starting to fundraise for a new scholarship that benefits students at the campus radio station.

I really believe in the opportunity for cultural conservation to inform how we think about the places we live—as a means for history to come alive and enliven a community’s sense of itself across time. I believe less in the value of scholarships, and this will probably be the first and last I create for Penn State.