I left Philadelphia this morning and got into State College, here for a scholarship fundraiser downtown at The Atherton Hotel.

A number of friends are working on a multiyear fundraising campaign to endow a scholarship that would benefit Penn State student leaders. I was happy to support Gavin Keirans and the others leading the charge on that. It’s the first alumni-driven student leadership scholarship of its type, and I hope it starts a cascade of further recent-graduate support for similar initiatives.

The Atherton Hotel is a special venue that I think retains some of the old time character of downtown State College, from a time when the downtown was characterized more by little homes and businesses than the sort of towers that are going up now.