Spotlight: State College Alumni

State College is home to a remarkably accomplished group of former student stand-outs. The Mortar Board Alumni Group of State College counts among its members forty alumni from fifteen colleges and universities in addition to the nearest campus, The Pennsylvania State University.

Mortar Board members know that the Society was founded in 1918 as the first national honor society for college senior women, initiating members at the end of their junior year in recognition of accomplishments in the areas of scholarship, leadership and service. On November 23, 1935, Mortar Board was chartered at Penn State, making 2010 the chapter's 75th anniversary. That very year, the La Vie yearbook stated "Mortar Board is the most select group at Penn State."

The State College Alumni Group was organized in the late 1960s by Phoebe Link. While living in Lansing, Mich., Phoebe was a member of that area’s Mortar Board Alumnae Group. When she returned to State College and was unable to find a similar group, Phoebe organized our chapter which has met regularly for more than 50 years.

What exactly does this group do? Maybe a better question is what don't they do. They assist the collegiate chapter with initiation, award scholarships to PSU students for graduate study, and reviews national Mortar Board fellowship applications for postgraduate education. Most of all, this intergenerational group enjoys getting to know each other and networking. It appears to be more than coincidental that members continue to be "names in the news" and the "movers-and-shakers" that still make things happen in the community.

Chapter members have even received national recognition from Mortar Board. Two members have received the Distinguished Lifetime Membership Award (Mimi Coppersmith, pictured in the center, and Dr. Helen Wise, pictured at right), and Dr. Martha Starling (left) has received the Alumni Achievement Award.

Many members have taken the promise to accept the Mortar Board oath "to give in leadership and service the best that is within you" very seriously by serving as:

• Emeritus members of the Penn State board of trustees: Dr. Helen Wise was the first woman ever elected as a trustee. Helen served for 21 years. She also served as President of the National Education Association; Mimi Barash Coppersmith served for 21 years and was the first woman elected president of the board.
• Interim State College Mayor Felicia Lewis
• Chairman of Discovery Space-Children’s Museum and Vice-Chair of the Mortar Board National Foundation Marty Starling
• Former directors of the Central PA Festival of the Arts: Lurene Frantz & Pat Farrell
• Past presidents of the Mount Nittany Conservancy Mimi Coppersmith, Pat Farrell and current president Vince Verbeke.
• Recipients of the Penn State Renaissance Woman of the year: 1990 Mimi Coppersmith; 1998 Pat Farrell; 2001 Marty Starling
• Recipient of the Excellence in Education Award: Phoebe Link
• Members of the Patton Township Open Space Task force who helped preserve the 465 acre Haugh Tract Marilyn Keat and Brenda Walsh
• Vice president of the national Mortar Board Council (and former PSU advisor and section coordinator) Dr. Abigail Diehl

- Brenda F. Walsh, president of the Mortar Board Alumni Group of State College, Pa. Brenda was initiated at Bowling Green State University.

Mortar Board is hosting an alumni reception in St. Petersburg, Florida, on January 20 from 5-7 p.m. Bring your spouse or a friend and catch up with Mortar Boards living or vacationing in Southwest Florida. Location is the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater, 12600 Roosevelt Road, St. Pete. Call the Mortar Board National Office for more information or go to www.mortarboard.org/RSVP. Cost is $20.

Honor an outstanding member with a national award

Mortar Board’s extraordinary alumnae and alumni are at the heart of the organization as it continues to grow year after year. To show appreciation for these devoted leaders, Mortar Board annually honors outstanding members. If you know a qualified member or think you deserve an award, submit a nomination on or before Saturday, January 15, 2011. The award categories follow:

Alumni Achievement Award
Alumni who have been out of school for a minimum of five years and are not currently in a national leadership position or an advisor to a collegiate chapter are eligible for this award. Individuals, collegiate chapters, alumni chapters or national leadership members may nominate potential recipients. Nominees should:

• have demonstrated outstanding achievement in their profession or their career or be noted for outstanding community service;
• have shown a continuing commitment to the Mortar Board ideals of scholarship, leadership and service;
• be outstanding role models for collegiate members; and
• be between five and 40 years from their undergraduate degree.

Distinguished Lifetime Membership Award
Alumni who have devoted themselves to Mortar Board throughout their lives and are not currently in a national leadership position or an advisor to a collegiate chapter are eligible to receive this award. Additionally, these candidates should:

• have retained connections or contacts with Mortar Board in either collegiate or alumni areas;
• have demonstrated outstanding community or campus service on a national or international level;
• epitomize the true meaning of "lifetime of service;" and
• be significantly past the receipt of the undergraduate degree.

Nominate now.

Mortar Board offers an all-in one leadership, professional development, advising enhancement and certification program

At LEAD: Leadership Excellence and Advisor Development, a faculty of experienced professionals who have served as advisors to many student organizations will share their quantifiable expertise during this daylong interactive workshop on Thursday, January 20, 2011.

Interested in attending? You will gain professional development that is transferable to other spheres of work. LEAD will provide you with new credentials for your professional life, not to mention new information to enhance your student organization advisement.

As a participant, you will learn how to:

• effectively advise your student organization's leadership team;
• cultivate relationships among a diverse group of students;
• enhance students' co-curricular education through many opportunities for teaching and interacting outside of the classroom;
• help chapter leaders apply their existing skills to the one-of-a-kind leadership situations that they face;
• enhance your own interpersonal assets to work best with millennial students;
• create and maintain a strong advisor team to help your chapter and balance your workload; and
• apply best practices in student organization advisement like fundraising, member motivation, conflict resolution, and risk management.

The details
LEAD will be held Thursday, January 20 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater.

Early registration is just $225 if received on or before Monday, December 20. Details and a registration form are available at www.mortarboard.org/LEAD.

Our magazine is available now

The Mortar Board Forum magazine is available now! Be sure to browse through the magazine to see what chapters are doing throughout the country, learn about Mortar Board's rich history, see Mortar Board families and more. You can read online in two easy ways:

As a printer-friendly PDF

Interactively online


Inside, you'll find these features and more:

• Mortar Board awards $39,500 in fellowships (p. 5)
• Six exceptional members receive Mortar Board alumni awards (p. 6)
• Our history: Mortar Board's forward-thinking fifties (p. 10)
• Member bookshelf: recently released books by Mark Kratina, Kathleen Reardon and Condoleezza Rice (p. 11)
• New leaders bring life to Mortar Board at the University of Colorado (p. 12)

Job opportunity in the National Office: communications manager

Mortar Board is currently seeking a well-qualified professional to fill the position of Communications Manager. To view the full position description, please visit www.mortarboard.org/employment. To apply, please visit www.jobsatosu.com and search by requisition number 354539. The deadline to apply is Sunday, December 19.

Prepping for a major test? Don't forget about your Kaplan test preparation discount

Many Mortar Board members choose to further their education with a postgraduate degree. In preparation for those studies, some students turn to Kaplan's various test preparation courses.

As a Mortar Board member, you are eligible to receive 15 percent off all GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, PSAT classroom and online courses for members.

To receive your discount, simply visit the Kaplan Web site at http://www.kaptest.com/mortarboard and enter the code MORTAR during the checkout process. To work properly, the code must be entered in all caps and without any spaces before or after the code. Please note this offer may only be redeemed online and eligibility is restricted to Mortar Board members, their spouses and children.