Jay Paterno, a former Penn State assistant coach and son of late Nittany Lion head football coach Joe Paterno, has been elected by alumni to the university’s board of trustees.
Paterno, a 1991 liberal arts graduate, was one of three elected by alumni this year. He received the top number of votes with 16,322. Alice Pope and Robert Jubelirer were re-elected. Challenger Robert Bowsher, a San Diego accountant and writer and 1986 graduate, came in fourth.
‘Being elected to Penn State’s Board of Trustees is and should always be a call to service, to represent first and foremost the interests of Penn State and its diverse coalition of constituents — the students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of this great University,’ Paterno said in a statement, which can be read in full below.
(Editor’s note: Jay Paterno is a contributing columnist for StateCollege.com)
Pope, a St.John’s University clinical psychology from Brooklyn, N.Y.,was re-elected for a second term on the board. She received 14,744 votes. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State in 1979, a master’s in 1983 and a doctorate in 1986.
Jubelirer, of Boalsburg, also was elected for a second time, receiving 13,173 votes. A Pennsylvania state senator from 1975 to 2006, he is now a partner in the law firm Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell & Hippel. Jubelirer earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Penn State in 1959 and a law degree from Dickinson School of Law in 1962.
Incumbent Al Lord also was initially on the ballot, but withdrew from consideration in April after controversial remarks in which he said he was ‘running out of sympathy’ for ‘so-called victims’ of Jerry Sandusky.
Penn State has nine trustees elected by alumni.
Other trustee elections also were announced.
Delegates of agricultural societies re-elected Keith Masser, who has been on the board since 2008 and previously served as chair, and elected Lynn Dietrich of Chambersburg. Dietrich succeeds Betsy Huber, who chose not to seek another term.
Mark Dambly and Walter Rakowich were approved as business and industry trustees after recommendation by a selection committee. This will be Rakowich’s second term as a business and industry trustee. Dambly, meanwhile, has been a governor-appointed trustee since 2010 His term in that role was set to expire this year
Jay Paterno statement on election to the Penn State Board of Trustees:
First, special thanks to all the people who voted and participated in this Trustee Election. It is a statement of your love for this University. We will always strive to carry your voices with us as we chart the future course for Penn State.
Being elected to Penn State’s Board of Trustees is and should always be a call to service, to represent first and foremost the interests of Penn State and its diverse coalition of constituents –the students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of this great University.
As Pennsylvania’s Flagship University we’re still rooted in the Morrill Act enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. For over a century and a half that call to service has crossed generations. From the Delaware River to Lake Erie and from the Alleghenies to the Poconos together we can create and inspire excellence for Penn State and the Commonwealth.
While some have tried to affix other motives to this candidacy, be assured I will join this Board in July with an extended hand. Together we can build on the enduring pride and values that have never wavered and have always been the foundations of our Alma Mater.
To quote Lincoln’s Second Inauguration “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.”
Today and every day forward let us always strive to see the right, and more importantly to work towards each new dawn for Penn State on the horizon together.
