Spanier: Penn State Sees Strong Support Base in New York

NEW YORK — Penn State has received an estimated $440 million in gifts and gift commitments from New York City-area donors since the mid-1990s, university President Graham Spanier said Friday morning.

That philanthropic base is one reason why the Penn State trustees board is meeting in the city this week, he said.

New York is ‘a successful focus of development activities,’ Spanier said in opening remarks before the board. He said a Penn State-hosted event in the city on Thursday was attended by significant donors, some of whom are talking with the university about potential future gifts.

The university board meets six times a year. Four of those gatherings are held at the Nittany Lion Inn at University Park, and two are held at other locations — often at Penn State Commonwealth Campuses.

Occasionally, though, the volunteer board goes farther afield — to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York and Washington, D.C. — for its meetings. For the New York meeting, members have gathered at the New York Helmsley, an upscale hotel in Manhattan.

Gov. Tom Corbett recently said meeting in New York is too expensive during tough budget times, according to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review report. Earlier this month, the governor proposed a 52 percent cut in state funding for Penn State as Pennsylvania faces a $4 billion budget deficit.

Exact costs for the New York trustees meeting were not immediately available from the university, though Penn State representatives have said the expense is roughly in line with costs for a board meeting at University Park.

Spanier said additional reasons for locating the board event in New York include the concentration of Penn State alumni in the area. The city also is home to many employers that support university-affiliated internship programs, making it an important connection point for Penn Staters, he said.

In addition, the university counts a variety of business-education, performing-arts and fine-arts initiatives with strong New York City ties, Spanier said.

StateCollege.com and OnwardState.com will post additional coverage from the board meeting later Friday.

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