Penn State board names 3 newest alumni-elected trustees. Here’s who they are
After tallying the results of the board of trustees election, Penn State alumni are set to see two familiar faces and a new one advocating for the university.
Former All-American linebacker Brandon Short was reelected with the most votes (14,299), while former alumni association president Steven B. Wagman — who currently serves on the board as an appointed representative — boasted the second-most votes (9,730). Newcomer Alvin F. de Levie, a personal injury attorney in State College, rounded out the list with 9,688 votes.
In a phone conversation with the CDT, de Levie thanked voters and said he hoped to see the continued involvement of alumni year-round.
“I promise to remain engaged and involved,” he said. “I don’t want to just be ‘here today and gone tomorrow.’ So if that’s a message I can get to the alumni trustees; that is a message I want to get out.”
De Levie narrowly defeated incumbent Laurie Stanell, who boasted 34 fewer votes (9,634). The other candidates, Bridget Lasda (8,171) and Jim Bognet (7,016), trailed behind as a total of 22,297 ballots were cast for the three-year terms that start July 1.
De Levie ran on a four-point platform, including keeping Penn State affordable; promoting diversity, equity and inclusion; working with the town — and restoring the bronze Joe Paterno statue, which was removed outside Beaver Stadium in 2012 in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child-sex abuse scandal.
“When I say restore the legacy, it’s not just football. It really isn’t,” de Levie added. “It’s the library, the classics department; it’s the Lion’s Pantry. So, yeah, football was great and played a role in growing the university. But the roles (Joe and Sue Paterno) played did not take place only in the confines of Beaver Stadium.”
Short, a retired NFL veteran, had nearly two-thirds of voting alumni pick him. The incumbent is already the chairman of the Board Oversight Task Force on Racism, Bias and Community Safety. Wagman currently serves on the board as the immediate past president of the alumni association; his term ends June 30, and July 1 will be his first as an alumni-elected representative.
Voting for the trustees remained open from April 10 through Thursday — though not without hiccups.
During a three-hour period when voting opened, a technical issue would not allow individuals to vote by checking the box next to candidates’ names. (However, it did allow voters to write in names.) Impacted voters were contacted multiple times, including both those who voted via write-in and those who opened the ballot but did not vote.
“This technical issue, although quickly discovered and rectified, was unfortunate and the board office will be working closely with our vendor and potentially other vendors to ensure that something like this does not recur,” trustee Bill Oldsey said during Friday’s public trustees meeting. “Most importantly, after our careful verification and review, we are confident that the issue did not affect the validity or fairness of this year’s election at all.”
Elected alumni comprise nine seats on the 38-member governing body for the university. Other trustees who were awarded seats Friday, either through appointment or non-alumni election, included Donald Cairns and Chris Hoffman (agricultural societies), Robert Fenza and Mary Lee Schneider (business and industry), Julie Anna Potts (at-large), Nicholas Rowland (academic), Janiyah Davis (student) and Randolph Houston (immediate past president of alumni association).
This story was originally published May 7, 2021 at 5:13 PM.
