Fellow Nittany Lion alumni, my name is Jeff Ballou ’90. We love to be in “all-in” for the Penn State family. We love it when we win. But what happens when our winnings aren’t spread evenly across the whole pride of lions?
The headlines about our winning ways are now becoming overshadowed by the prospect of several Commonwealth Campuses potentially closing thanks to a $140 million dollar deficit that the current president inherited. This means no longer serving communities with a land-grant chartered, first-class education, nor ensuring a lifeline to local economies, a space wherein Penn State has excelled for over a century.
I should know. My late mother, Geneva Ballou, like cousins (and lettermen), Irvin “Chappie” Hill ’56, and David Hill ’82 before me, bet the house on our family’s future. She borrowed heavily and sent me off from our Pittsburgh home to Penn State’s McKeesport campus (later Greater Allegheny) with a set of strong values and prayers for success.
Thanks to home training and a Penn State degree, I have forever friends, fraternity brothers and am blessed with a great career. I’m humbled to have served as president of the National Press Club, where I put thoughtful, solution-oriented questions to global leaders in a constructive manner. I’m also a lifelong community and Penn State servant — especially when it comes to the Commonwealth Campuses. I have served on Greater Allegheny’s alumni advisory board and have spoken at the campus’ commencement. I’ve also served on our global alumni council, Metro Washington Chapter and Bellisario College alumni boards.
Imagine that not being an option for mine and so many other families.
This service and lifeline to educate the daughters and sons of the commonwealth represent the soul of Penn State which no one seems to be fighting for. Penn State’s financial and enrollment crisis was overlooked for decades, crying out for a course correction by generations of state legislators, university presidents and their bosses, the trustees.
It’s clear that as these hard decisions are anguished over, the voice of campuses, not currently at the trustee table, must change now so we can come up with solutions such as telling the fantastic stories that exist throughout the system to try to boost enrollment.
To ensure having our whole family at the table, please check your email, including spam, sent from “The Pennsylvania State University Nominations Admin, help@yeselections.com”
Then please place my name, Jeffrey P Ballou, class of 1990 in nomination. We need 50 nominations by 5 p.m. ET on Feb. 4 to make the ballot. If you don’t see the email, please click on PennStateVotes.com or contact the Yes Elections 24/7 Help Desk by emailing PennStateVotes@yeselections.com or call the help desk at (855) 820-7021.
Thank you.
For the glory,
Jeff Ballou ‘90
Jeff Ballou, Penn State class of 1990 and ABC News producer, has served on the boards of Penn State’s Metro Washington Alumni Association Chapter, Greater Allegheny Alumni Advisory Board, Bellisario College Alumni Board and Alumni Council. The views expressed are solely his and not those of his employer.
‘Casino Chaos’
The future casino chaos our community has opposed since 2021 will be fully realized precisely two years from now in early 2027. Hey, we tried to warn you!
To College Township leadership: Do you consider two or three serious casino-related crimes per year to be an acceptable level of risk? How about alcohol-related fatalities involving casino patrons on their way home from a night of gambling? How about the kinds of businesses that will inevitably surround the casino in the sadly deteriorating mall? Maybe we need a few more tattoo parlors, beer stores and vape shops. Always room in College Township for some payday loan stores and a pawn shop or two!
Do we really need 750 slot machines within five minutes of the Penn State campus? Maybe you haven’t heard, but online gambling is a thing – available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And you can do that in the comfort of your office cubicle (or classroom) without driving out Route 26 to get your fix.
The ultra-rich never tire of amassing more and more wealth. We’ve seen that in stark relief this week in Washington. Greed, pure greed. Thanks, Ira Lubert, for your contribution to Penn State and Centre County. Casino chaos in Happy Valley will now be the visible part of your Penn State legacy.
Gina Leone,
State College
Vote to Retain Pa. Judges in November
Roy Cohn, the mafia lawyer who nurtured Donald Trump’s contempt for the rule of law, once infamously stated, “Don’t tell me the law, tell me who the judge is.” This corrupt perspective served Trump well as he successfully kept himself out of jail by stacking the courts with unethical and partisan judges.
On Nov. 4, Pennsylvania voters will have the opportunity to vote YES or NO on the retention of three Supreme Court justices, one Superior Court justice and one Commonwealth Court justice. These justices have served Pennsylvania admirably for the last decade. As another justice recently said, “They have restored competence, honor and ethics to our courts.”
Sadly, MAGA Republicans in Pennsylvania are currently plotting to deny the retention of these justices in order to run extreme MAGA candidates for those seats in 2026.
A Bucks County billionaire is already spending a small fortune priming voters to vote NO on retention. Elon Musk has also contributed $1 million to take out judges up for retention even hiring a full-time MAGA operative for this purpose. Undoubtedly, we will see a barrage of TV ads later this year in a MAGA smear campaign.
Sitting justices are considered non-partisan and will not have a party designation after their name on November’s ballot even though they were elected as Democrats.
It’s never too soon to inform voters of MAGA’s anti-democratic efforts to stack our courts. This fall, vote YES to retain Justices David Wecht, Kevin Dougherty, Christine Donahue, Alice Beck Dubow and Michael Wojcik!
George Polycranos,
Port Matilda
