Former Penn State Beaver faculty member to speak at commencement Dec. 18

MONACA, Pa. — The fall 2015 commencement ceremony will mark a milestone for Penn State Beaver.It has now been 50 years since the campus first opened its doors to 97 students and conducted its classes in a former tuberculosis sanatorium.In order to celebrate how far the campus has come, a member of the inaugural faculty has been chosen to speak at the ceremony.Betty Sue Schaughency, best known for the 48 years she spent as a teacher, counselor and superintendent in the Beaver Area School District, taught inorganic chemistry at 4 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in 1965.  At the time, the administration building — that former sanatorium — was the only one on campus and students were required to transfer to University Park to finish their degrees.Today, Penn State Beaver sits on 105 acres, boasts nearly a dozen living/learning buildings, and offers five baccalaureate degrees.At 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 18, in the Student Union Building auditorium, eligible students will receive one of those degrees.Schaughency earned her own baccalaureate degree from Geneva College in Beaver Falls and her master’s and doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh and has dedicated her career to education as a teacher, counselor, administrator and consultant.“I never had a job I didn’t like,” she said.But teaching, that was her calling. If you know her family, it’s no surprise. Her mother first commanded a classroom at 17, her father was a high school principal who moonlighted as the district’s janitor, and her four siblings are all educators.“It’s in my genes,” Schaughency said.Though Schaughency only taught one year at Penn State Beaver, she continued her relationship with the campus, serving on the Advisory Board for 17 years.She plans to address the class of 2015 about the importance of character, self-worth and freedom.