Former Penn State Alumni Association president to run for open seat as alumni-elected trustee
A seventh candidate has now announced his intent to run for one of the three open alumni-elected seats on the Penn State board of trustees.
Randy Houston, former president of the alumni association, shared on Friday afternoon that he hopes to continue his work as a trustee. He is currently serving on the 38-member governing board in a non-alumni-elected trustee capacity, as the board reserves a spot for the immediate past president of the association.
Houston guided the alumni association through the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2019 to 2021, and assumed a spot on the board of trustees on July 1, 2021. His term ends June 30, 2023, and those elected to the three open alumni seats will start their three-year terms on July 1, 2023.
“My focus as trustee has been and will continue to be ensuring that Penn State continues to deliver a world class education, address affordability and access for all students, and provide for a safe and inclusive environment, all while embracing our shared history, honoring and enhancing the traditions that make us all Nittany Lions,” Houston, a New York-based trademark and entertainment attorney, said in a written statement.
“I ask that my fellow Penn State alumni nominate and ultimately elect me so that I can keep delivering on a better Penn State for all Penn Staters.”
As a current trustee, he is a member of several committees. Houston serves as chair of the board’s legal and compliance committee and on the board’s executive committee. He was also on the presidential recruitment and search committee that chose university president Neeli Bendapudi, and he was elected to serve as director of the Corporation for Penn State.
The 1991 Penn State grad touts a history of leadership, which can be traced back to his time as a student. In 1989, he co-founded the university’s Student Minority Advisory and Recruitment Team (SMART) to increase recruitment and retention of minority students. He later became president of the College of Liberal Arts Alumni Society board, then vice president of the alumni association before ultimately assuming the duties of president.
He earned a bachelor’s in pre-law and a law degree from North Carolina.
Houston is the seventh candidate since Monday to announce his intention to run, joining all three incumbents and the three candidates put forth by the coalition Penn State Forward. Last year, eight candidates ran for three open seats — there are nine total alumni-elected trustees — and the formal nomination process will remain open this year until 5 p.m. Feb. 25.
The online vote for the alumni trustees will be held between April 10 and 9 a.m. May 4.
