Under the baobab: Penn State students welcomed back as summer events wind down

“…Youth is full of pleasance, Age is full of care; Youth like summer morn, Age like winter weather; Youth like summer brave, Age like winter bare: Youth is full of sports, Age’s breath is short, Youth is nimble, Age is lame: Youth is hot and bold, Age is weak and cold, Youth is wild, and age is tame….” Shakespeare

Prof. Jonathan Jansen, former head of the University of the Free State in South Africa, was once asked what is required to be a great teacher. He responded, “first you must love the students. You must treasure them.” This is move-in week for nearly 50,000 Penn State students. We celebrate their return.

Over a quarter of them will be new to our community. Some will be new to our country. They bring with them the crispness of the waning summer morn. They are the future, tomorrow’s citizens. What world have we prepared for them?

Around town

The Grange Fair will be closing down this weekend with Saturday’s Food Bank Day initiated by draft horse youth events and the final night of the Atlantic Pro Pull League. Central PA’s own Chris Woodward and Shindiggin will close out the performances at the grandstand with a country music hoedown.

Congratulations are due to the young 4-H future farmers who presented their livestock, rabbits, goats, sheep, swine and to those who baked, canned and prepared their homemade jams and jellies, homemade quilts and artifacts which a colleague said “were worthy of being on display in the best national museums.”

We treasure these young people, our young people.

Congratulations to Centre County Grange Fair Committee President Barry Yarnell, VPs Ralph Homan and Lisa Butler, secretary Tawna Smith, treasurer Lois Chambers, and all the officers, members and hundreds of volunteers who made this 151st Grange Fair a big success.

The Constitution Day Committee, WPSU, Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, Centre County commissioners and the Centre Foundation have organized a roundtable, “Making Our Voices Heard,” for Saturday, Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Delta High School in State College. This 250th anniversary of the founding of America the discussion will focus on adapting the Bill of Rights today.

The local R&B group Urban Fusion will play at the Live at 5 series in MLK Plaza 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday. And the Palmer Museum closed out its eight themed educational series with a drop-in tour, focused on The Power of Light. We hope they will revisit the idea during the school year.

Neighbors under attack

The resistance continues. Our neighbors are under attack. On Tuesday, Aug. 19, unidentified ICE agents accosted two groups of workers, one on Interstate 99 in Bellefonte. The other was pulled over on on Eagle Valley Road near Interstate 80. Both groups were on their way to a construction job at the Mount Nittany Hospital construction site. At least 25 of them were “disappeared.” Some were reported to have been incarcerated at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, right next door to State College. A uniformed Pennsylvania State Trooper was on the scene. What part he played in the arrest is unclear.

Observers reported that ICE had been surveilling the Mount Nittany hospital site and following workers after their shift. Volunteers from the Centre County Rapid Response Network including a lawyer, attempted to peacefully and legally intervene. They were denied access. CCRRN, People’s Defense Front, Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry, Asian Americans United, and the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition held a virtual press conference about the incident. Nearly 40 people attended. On Tuesday, CCRRN held a training session for volunteers who might want to assist our neighbors under assault.

Sisters and brothers, when our community and neighbors are under attack, we should not be weak and cold. It is no time to be timid but bold. Ubuntu!

Charles Dumas is a lifelong political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Congress in 2012. He is a Lions Paw honoree. He lives in State College with his wife and partner of over 50 years.