Calling the Alumni Association’s Philadelphia Chapter “a young chapter” sounds illogical, considering the group celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. But former president Tyler Doppelheuer ’12 Agr isn’t kidding when he describes how the urban setting, regular volunteer opportunities, and impressive game watch parties make for an active chapter in which almost every member of the leadership team graduated in the last 10 years.
“It overwhelmingly skews young,” says Doppelheuer, president from 2016 to 2019. Thanks to more than 18,000 alumni within Philadelphia ZIP codes, the chapter’s dues-paying members number in the thousands, and hundreds show up to its annual Liberty Ball THON fundraiser and to game watch parties—including a yearly block party, usually for the Ohio State game, that draws up to 700 alumni and friends.
“Everyone has a deep passion, appreciation, and love for the university and the community that we have here in Philly,” says chapter president Shane White ’18 Abgt.
The chapter is adept at collaboration, hosting a quarterly Greater Philadelphia Roundtable to share resources and ideas with alumni chapters from neighboring counties, local alumni interest groups, and alumni societies from Penn State Brandywine and Penn State Abington. “It’s really about communication and helping one another,” White says. The chapter also co-hosts professional networking events with Alumni Career Services, inviting those same groups to meet and mingle. “This really drives home the university and the Alumni Association’s mission of ‘We are one,’” he says.
The chapter’s Liberty Ball has raised over $500,000 for Four Diamonds over the years, and it will celebrate its 20th anniversary in February 2025. It’s what first drew Becky Thomas DiMattesa ’03 Eng and her husband, Brian ’02 Bus, to the chapter in 2010. “We thought, if we wanna get involved, this is the way to do it,” says Becky, who met Brian at Penn State.
Active in leadership roles since 2011, the DiMattesas are considered chapter elders, lovingly called “Mom” and “Dad” by chapter members. They have been a stabilizing force for a board of mostly young professionals trying to juggle volunteer responsibilities with the demands of early careers and fledgling families.
“[This is] the family that we’ve created for ourselves, our love of Penn State and what it stands for,” Becky says.
