Campus Life: November / December 2025

SIGNING DAY: The Nittany Lion participated in the “topping out” ceremony at Penn State Harrisburg in August to celebrate a milestone in the construction of the new Academic Learning Center, a 47,000-square-foot classroom facility set to open in fall 2026.

EVERYDAY PEOPLE

A 100-year-old theory in wind energy went unchallenged until grad student Divya Tyagi reimagined it. Read the full profile by Amy Strauss Downey '04 Lib.

photo of Tyagi seated in front of a chalkboard by Cardoni — *Photo by Cardoni.*

CLUB HOPPING

Men's Club Water Polo

illustration of men playing water polo by Joel Kimmel — *Illustration by Joel Kimmel.*

Founded: 1980
Current membership: 30
Mission: To find a balance between competition and social involvement.

The men’s club water polo team has been competitive on the national stage, winning 12 Mid-Atlantic Division regional championships since 1998 and finishing in the top 10 in eight of the last nine national championships. The club does not make any cuts but has an A team and a B team, says president Danny Crump: “We get all variations of playing ability and swimming ability. And we kind of go from there.” The team practices three days a week at McCoy Natatorium and has casual “Polo Thursdays” when members get together socially, often with members of the women’s club polo team. The fall season includes eight regular season matchups, then regionals and national championships, and the club competes against both collegiate and masters teams during invitational tournaments in the spring. “We’re open to all members of all skill levels, always looking to grow the sport,” Crump says. “We have something for everyone.”

WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

Q: Who takes care of the HUB aquariums?

photo of HUB aquarium by Nick Sloff '92 A&A — *Photo by Nick Sloff '92 A&A.*

A: Sanjay Joshi, a mechanical engineering and industrial and manufacturing engineering professor, already had a 180-gallon fish tank in his basement at home as a hobby when Josh Nagel ’97 Sci approached him back in the early 1990s about adding an aquarium to the HUB as part of a class project. Joshi gave him some advice, then connected through Nagel with chemistry professor Robert Minard, who was interested in using the aquarium for educating students on the chemical manipulations of the water. They met with some other department heads and eventually decided to make two tanks—a 500-gallon saltwater and a 150-gallon freshwater—the gift from the Class of 1999, for which Nagel wrote the proposal. Today, Joshi monitors the tanks via a computer system that alerts him if the saline levels are off, and a rotating group of student volunteers—initially from the Marine Science Society—clean the aquariums and keep the fish fed. Joshi and consultant William Straka, a research engineer in the Applied Research Laboratory, decide which type of fish—as many as three dozen species—to keep in the two tanks, which have taken on iconic status at University Park. “Over the years, it’s become a meeting point,” Joshi says. “You tell anybody, ‘Meet me at the HUB aquarium,’ and they know where you mean.”

Got a campus mystery you want solved? Email us at heypennstater@psu.edu.

REMINISCING

What was your favorite campus concert?

“The Movin’ On festival on the HUB lawn my freshman year. It had rained in the morning, and by the time the headliner, Helmet, took the stage, the crowd had turned the lawn into a giant, muddy mosh pit!”

J.P. Masly ’98 Sci Hon

illustration of surfboards in the sand before ocean by Joel Kimmel “In 1972, I saw the Beach Boys in Rec Hall. Besides the fact that they put on a terrific show, I remember their keyboard player—Daryl Dragon. A few years later he teamed up with Toni Tennille. They became famous as Captain & Tennille.”

Tom Witt ’73 Com

“At a free Yung Gravy concert at the HUB in 2021, someone on his crew told him to do the ‘We Are’ chant with the crowd. Yung Gravy was super impressed with our enthusiasm and coordination and told us that the chant was ‘wholesome as s---!’”

Delaney Greczyn ’22 Lib

illustration of Phil Collins by Joel Kimmel

“In the early ’80s, Penn State only allowed concerts on the weekends, which did not present many opportunities for big-name bands to come. So we were so excited when Phil Collins was coming to Rec Hall! The concert was awesome and the energy amazing!”

Mary Ann Rapp Bunn ’84 Eng

“Seeing Reel Big Fish at the Crowbar during spring semester senior year in 2004. I still have the paper ticket stub as a memento from that show.”

Philip Grand ’04 H&HD

Illustrations by Joel Kimmel.

THEN & NOW

Oswald Tower

Oswald Tower, named for former university president John W. Oswald, was constructed in 1973 and demolished last summer. The area was converted into green space. The sociology and criminology department, the Criminal Justice Research Center, and the Population Research Institute, which had all been housed in Oswald, are now in the new Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building near the intersection of Park Avenue and Allen Road at University Park.

green space where Oswald Tower used to be, photo by Nick Sloff '92 A&A — *Photo by Nick Sloff '92 A&A.*

COMMON WEALTH

Highlights from four Commonwealth campuses.

photo of Michael Balmforth by Penn State Altoona — *Photo by Penn State Altoona.*

ALTOONA
A dedicated lounge for student veterans opened this fall in the Smith Building, including a gathering room, two offices for student use, and a kitchen. The former Academic Affairs office will serve as a hub for veteran-focused programming and was the vision of human development and family studies major Michael Balmforth, who is acting as student veteran liaison in the office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

BERKS
The campus’s continuing education division now offers preparation courses for two industry certifications: the SHRM Certified Professional/SHRM Senior Certified Professional and the Certified Professional in Supply Management. The SHRM certification prep course utilizes the official SHRM Learning System, covering the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge. The program is designed to help HR professionals seeking to deepen their human resource knowledge, increase their earning potential and professional standing, and prepare for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP certification exams. The CPSM prep course prepares professionals for all three exam modules of the Certified Professional in Supply Management certification.

YORK
Matt Miller ’98, ’03 MEd Edu, an elementary school principal in the Central York School District, was named Pennsylvania’s National Distinguished Principal for 2025 by the Pennsylvania Principals Association. Miller has worked in education for 27 years, initially as a second grade teacher before spending the past 20 years in administration. He became principal of Roundtown Elementary School in August 2009. He earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Penn State York before obtaining his principal certification from Penn State Harrisburg.

GREAT VALLEY
The recently established Jeffrey P. Lipson Master of Science Scholarship in Information Science offers graduate students in the master’s program $2,500 each year, with a preference for active military service members and veterans. Lipson ’97 MS Sci, a retired colonel with the U.S. Marines who went on to found the cybersecurity firm Layer 8 Security, previously established a scholarship for information science students and said he hopes the new scholarship empowers future technologists in the community and inspires them to give back to Penn State one day.