University Park, Pa. — Jim and Mary Ellen Marpe, parents of Samantha Marpe, a 2006 graduate of the College of Communications, have donated $100,000 to Penn State's Division of Student Affairs. Their gift will support the Roundtable Project, an initiative to bring together student leaders from across the University and encourage their engagement with each other, the surrounding community and the world.
The Westport, Conn., couple said they were impressed with the opportunities the University offered their daughter inside and outside of the classroom.
“In addition to providing the highest quality academic environment, Penn State offers students an enormous variety of extracurricular opportunities to assume leadership roles," said Jim Marpe. "That leadership experience of organizing, motivating and directing others is valuable preparation for whatever opportunities may present themselves in the future."
The Roundtable was launched in 2009 and is already uniting student leaders from more than 35 University organizations, including the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments, the Graduate Student Association, THON, and the University Park Undergraduate Association.
Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims oversees the Roundtable Project. “The Marpes’ gift unites our student leaders with a common cause and gives them the chance to work together to actively engage their community through a project of their own choosing," he said. "Parent giving like this helps Penn State push the boundaries of what we can offer our students. We’re grateful for this gift and excited about the possibilities it enables."
Rodney Hughes, graduate student in the College of Education and member of the Penn State Board of Trustees, is one of the student leaders participating in the Roundtable Project this year. "The Roundtable discussions help students learn what is going on around campus and give us the chance to identify opportunities to collaborate and achieve collective goals," Hughes said.
Another participant in the Roundtable Project is Christian Ragland, 2010 president of the University Park Undergraduate Association. “Being involved with other student leaders has allowed me to gain effective communication and networking skills that I have used to build a foundation for my future leadership," Ragland noted.
“As non-alumni parents," said Mary Ellen Marpe, "we are grateful for the opportunities that Penn State afforded our daughter in the classroom and beyond. We see our sponsorship of the Roundtable Project as an extra ‘thank you’ to the University for those opportunities, and we hope this will inspire other parents to look for similar ways to show their appreciation for the positive impact that Penn State has had on their children’s lives and their futures.”
The Marpes’ gift will contribute to the University’s For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, a fundraising initiative directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America. Through this campaign, the University is engaging Penn State alumni, parents, and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University’s tradition of quality. The campaign’s top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State’s history, with the goal of securing $2 billion in private support by 2014.