Did Penn State put the ‘cart before the horse’? Trustees debate campus closures
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State trustees voted 25-8 to close seven commonwealth campuses by 2027.
- Trustees opposing closures cited rushed process and lack of community input.
- University pledged to collaborate on future uses for closed campus properties.
For nearly two hours Thursday night, Penn State’s trustees debated the closure of seven commonwealth campuses — with some falling on the side of this all moving too quickly while others expressed the utmost confidence in the university administration.
On at least one occasion, a trustee appeared to express both thoughts simultaneously.
“I want to commend our leadership team for confronting this difficult situation,” trustee Donald Cairns, the owner/operator of a family farm, said before the vote. “We definitely need some major changes; I’m not disagreeing with that. However, I’m not on board with the plan that’s presented. ... There’s too many questions and not enough answers yet, before we make these final closure decisions.”
Ultimately, more trustees shared their trust in President Neeli Bendapudi’s administration with a 25-8 vote in favor of closing the seven campuses of DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York. But a consistent criticism of those who voted against the closures — such as Cairns — was that the entire process needed to be more deliberate and move less quickly.
The board formally asked Bendapudi’s administration two years ago to conduct a deep analysis on the commonwealth campuses. But the closure plan was proposed only three months ago, with the impacted campuses identified earlier this month — when they were leaked to a media outlet.
Trustees held two private executive meetings, lasting about four total hours, on the proposal before Thursday’s vote. And plans have not yet been formulated on what will happen to the impacted campuses when they’re forced to close at the end of the spring 2027 semester. Could some be replaced by vocational training centers? Become business incubators? Be sold to private entities?
“I think it’s the cart before the horse for us to decide that we’re going to close them and then have the administration come back to us and tell us what they intend to do,” said alumni-elected trustee Anthony Lubrano, who voted no on the closures.
Few trustees pushed back on the notion this was all happening too quickly. Some, like Mary Lee Schneider, said the conversation was long overdue, adding the board didn’t have the “stomach” to address the issue in past years. But no one specifically lauded the timeline for this decision.
Trustee Ted Brown, who opposed the proposal, asked others to give him a month to see what he could do because he wasn’t satisfied with the binary option of closing all seven campuses, or closing none. Brown posited that maybe AI could help boost enrollment. Said fellow trustee Carl Nassib, who supported the closures: “Ted, I’m very impressed with your passion. I’m not super impressed with your solutions.”
In a Zoom press conference after the vote, comprised of trustees and others who opposed the closures, trustee Jay Paterno expressed frustration over the fact that Phase 3 of the proposal — which he said was about innovation and gathering new ideas — was never truly implemented. He said the initial goal was to engage communities and faculty members at commonwealth campuses, but that never happened in reality.
“In that period, stakeholders were asked, ‘Oh, if you want to give us input, there’s an email address where you can email us stuff,’” Paterno said. “There was no in-person meeting, there was no in-person presentation, there was no video. It was just, ‘You could send us an email,’ and that’s all we really got.”
A majority of trustees on Thursday night felt differently. They acknowledged this wasn’t an easy decision, praised Bendapudi for tackling the challenge and explained their reasons for supporting the closures — declining enrollment, financial difficulties, demographic problems (e.g. declining college-aged population), etc.
But some also acknowledged all that and still voted against the closures. Trustee Chris Hoffman believed some consolidation needed to be done, but he also agreed with Paterno. He voted no on the closures.
“I just think that this process, as much as I appreciate it, and as much as I appreciate all my colleagues on this board, we really have have moved very, very quickly,” Hoffman said during the trustees meeting. “... I have a real struggle to be able to vote for this today, because I believe that we need more conversation.”
Lubrano expressed an early interest to table — or postpone — the vote until July but, after listening to his colleagues, he declined to put forth a motion. He knew it was futile.
Among those who voted no on the closures Thursday night included Brown, Cairns, Lynn Dietrich, Barry Fenchak, Hoffman, Lubrano, Paterno and Nicholas Rowland. Penn State has said it will partner with local, state and federal officials — in addition to local and regional business leaders and community members — to “reimagine” what comes next at the campuses slated for closure. But nothing has yet been decided.
The next in-person board of trustees meetings will take place from July 17-18 at Penn State Abington, a large commonwealth campus that was never under threat of being closed.
