Penn State Commonwealth Campuses Closing

Any time I write about Penn State I feel a need to explain my connection to the University.  So here goes:

I have two degrees from Penn State.  I am a life member of the Alumni Association.  I served on the Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society board.  I helped fund a Penn State scholarship.  Penn State will be a beneficiary of my estate.  In fact, I've contributed more to Penn State over the years than I have any other organization.  

The above out of the way, Penn State is making news these days regarding decisions that will be made soon about closing some of the Commonwealth Campuses.  For the uninitiated, "Commonwealth Campuses" is the Penn State euphemism for anything outside of State College, PA. Here's the official press release from the University's President:

https://www.psu.edu/news/administration/story/message-president-bendapudi-commonwealth-campuses

Personally important to me in the announcement is the following:

"To provide clarity, I want to affirm that our seven largest Commonwealth Campuses – Abington, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg, and Lehigh Valley – along with our graduate education-focused campus at Great Valley, will remain open and we will continue to invest in them." 

All of this is tied, however, to a larger question about the very role of the Commonwealth Campuses.  To understand this, you need to first realize something about Penn State's unwritten culture, namely that the Commonwealth Campuses have, throughout their existence, been viewed as a kind of second-class citizenry within the larger world of the university.  In fact, for many inside of the State College world, their existence is barely acknowledged.  On more than one occasion, I've mentioned to someone that my bachelor's degree is from Penn State Harrisburg, which inevitably elicited the following response:  "Oh, is that one of the satellite campuses?  Where is that?  I didn't know you could get a bachelor's degree there.".  Note the "Where is that?" comment, as apparently Pennsylvania Geography isn't a popular course in State College.  

How can I say the above?  What gives me the right?

See my disclaimer, above.  I've also had this discussion with Penn State staff many times over the years.  I've shared my opinion with university leaders at every opportunity.  What I'm noting is less of an opinion and more of a fact, all be it one that some in State College (and those who "just" attended State College) would just as soon not share in public.  The Commonwealth Campuses have existed basically just as a way to funnel those not as well-heeled students to State College at the start of their junior year (a.k.a., those who were unable to gain entrance to State College for their freshman year).  At best, many simply view them as this...

...meaning that they have no identity other than being a step stool.  A kind of Penn State version of baseball’s minor leagues*, without the colorful mascots and team logos.  That's been a conscious choice on the part of Penn State leadership for decades, both at the campuses themselves as well as in State College.  Penn State Harrisburg is (apparently) surviving in part because of its separate identity outside of the State College bubble, and its reputation in South Central Pennsylvania.  That same notion of having a separate identity also applies to the Law School, Medical School and Penn College of Technology.  

I will note that the university has invested in the physical locations of many Commonwealth Campuses.  But the physical plant does nothing to change the culture of an institution, and in the world of Penn State, that culture is squarely State College-centric.  With an ever-increasing use of virtual university options, including Penn State World Campus, it's pretty clear that buildings alone are less important to the university's story.

So, is the present state, with pending closures, inevitable?

I think the answer to the above question is a solid yes and no.  

Yes, in the sense that the university may have over-extended the Commonwealth Campus system.  Some of the campuses are just too close to each other, and as noted above, the Penn State World Campus clearly now takes students out of the traditional Penn State hierarchy.  40+ years ago I don't think anyone could have seen how higher education has changed in the Unites States as a whole.

No, in the sense that the university has never really made the Commonwealth Campuses an important part of the Penn State identity, let alone part of the university experience (in essence, what it means to be a Penn Stater).  See the stepstool graphic.  And again, this has been a conscious choice.  For much of the State College leadership, everything outside of Happy Valley is a footnote of sorts to the Penn State story.  When the only important things happening are in State College, then it's not shocking that some other campuses may just fade away.

In the end, crocodile tears will be shed by those physically (and for many alumni mentally) in State College, but then they will likely cheer for the additional resources available to, in their eyes, "the real" Penn State.  For the rest of us invested in Penn State outside of the State College bubble, this will be a sad time, reinforcing a status we've all known has existed for a very long time.

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(*) I would be willing to bet my last dime that there are some Penn State graduates that have heard this news and reacted with a solid expression of "So what?".  That, more so than anything I've written in this posting, proves my point about Penn State’s unwritten culture and the Commonwealth Campuses’ place in the university’s hierarchy.