One of the first things Heather Maggi ’13 Com did when she moved to Los Angeles was get involved with the Alumni Association’s Los Angeles Chapter. “It took me three years to make friends who weren’t Penn State alums,” says Maggi, a television editor who scored her first job thanks to a fellow alum.

Now the chapter president, Maggi welcomed thousands of Nittany Lion fans to Southern California for the Rose Bowl over New Year’s weekend. L.A. Chapter members hosted a CFB Playoff party at Lawless Brewing Co. in North Hollywood, run by owners Whitney and Ben Wallace ’04 Com and head brewer Josh McCombs ’01 Sci; a Penn State section at the Flyers-Kings hockey game; and a welcome party on Jan. 1. “It was such a fun weekend,” she says.

With 1,200 people on the L.A. Chapter’s Listserv, Maggi communicates with a ton of alums. Before becoming president in 2021, she hosted one of four area football watch parties around the city.