page 2 - The Behrend College Beacon - A tiguNt 20 .1998
13 EII 1
Committee begins planning fiftieth
anniversary celebration
by Andrea Zaffino
photo editor
The 1998-99 academic school year
is an especially notable one by Penn
State-Behrend. It will mark Penn
State-Behrend's 50th anniversary as
a Penn State campus and its 25th an
niversary as an official college that
offers four year degrees.
Anne-Marie Welsh, the director of
public relations for the campus, told
of plans to commemorate this bench
mark: "It will probably he celebrated
with a series of events that will take
place all throughout next year."
John Lilley, Penn State Behrend's
provost and dean, is convening an
anniversary committee to plan with
si b fy.
•C,'
The Reed Commons after the recent renovations
Reed
close
by Anne Rajotte
editor in rho(
Students returning to Behrend next
year will be greeted with a newly
renovated Reed Commons. The work
will begin in March and the Commons
will be closed from April I to the end
of the semester.
Penn State's Board of Trustees will
be meeting at Behrend in June. Ac
cording to Chris Reber, Dean of Stu
dent Affairs, this meeting provided the
opportunity to make changes have
been needed for some time. The reno
vated Commons will have a new
sound system specifically designed
END'S
this vear-long celebration. The com
mittee will he meeting periodically
throughout the remainder of the fall
'97 and spring '9B semesters.
Thomas B. Hagen, a former student
at Behrend, has accepted the respon
sibility as the committee's chair.
Hagen attended Penn State Behrend
from 1953-55. Because Behrend was
not yet able to confer four-year de
grees at that time, he went to Ohio
State University to obtain his degree
as a bachelor of science in commerce.
Hagen is currently the chairman of the
Custom Engineering Company, lo
cated in Erie, which specializes in
metal fabrications and consulting.
In 1988, the Behrend college hon-
commons to
in April
for the acoustics of that room, new
lighting and a catering area. The Com
mons will also he improve aestheti
cally by a new floor and repainting.
The lighting will he improved hav
ing lighting zones and more capabili
ties, such as the ability to accommo
date equipment for a band.
Chris Rizzo, Director of Student
Activities, said the feel of the room,
"will he much more warm and invit
ing." He went on to say, "I hope the
students will use the space even
more." It is also hoped that the stu
dents will use it more for informal
activities, such as studying.
The downside of the renovation is
FillE
ored Hagen as an Alumni Fellow.
Along with being the anniversary
committee chair, Hagen also has a
seat on the Penn State-Behrend coun
cil of fellows and served from 1995-
97 as the secretary of community and
economic development for the com
monwealth of Pennsylvania on Gov
ernor Torn Ridge's cabinet.
As of yet, the planning committee
has not gotten together to formulate
any ideas, however planning is not
limited to this group. Welsh said, "If
any students feel inspired with any
ideas for the celebration, they can feel
free to email me at
axw6@email.psu.edu."
‘Mk
photo by Andrea Zaf fino
the fact that the Commons will be
closed from April until the comple
tion date which is June 27, in time for
the Board of Trustees meeting. There
are regular activities held in the Com
mons, such as the Catholic Mass on
Sunday night. Rizzo has attempted to
let people know about the closing so
event can be scheduled around it. So
far, there have been no complaints and
no rescheduling problems.
Reber commented that the minor
disruption this year will be made up
for by benefits of the renovation in
the long run. Rizzo stated that when
completed, the Commons will be "a
top notch programming area."
Fl -
Portraits of the Behrend family line the walls of the library gallery
Library gallery presents Behrend history
by Andrea Zaffino
photo editor
With the fiftieth anniversary of the
Behrend College coming up in what
is now just a few months, it is appar
ent that many of the students and even
some faculty and staff know little
about the history of this campus and
tha family that founded it. Another
thing of which people are unaware of
on this campus is that obtaining in
formation about the campus history
is readily available to them.
Anyone who has ever
walked into the Behrend liberary has
noticed the small gallery to the right
of the enterence doors. It displays
various artifacts from the Behrend
family's history, there is a bust of
Moritz Behrend, a painting of Ernst
Behrend, and a painting of Norman
H. Wilson who was Hammermill Pa
per Company's second President and
an honorary Chairman of the Board,
Creamery to
of Behrend's fiftieth
by Ik Chan Kang
new editor
Penn State's Creamery is
renaming one of their ice cream fla
vors in honor of Behrend's fiftieth an
niversary. The new name will be de
cided by a contest open to the Behrend
community.
There are eight flavors that
entrants can select in renaming the ice
cream flavor. The flavors are: vanilla,
chocolate, strawberry, peach, butter
pecan, bittersweet mint, peanut but-
Professor Emeritus remembers
45 years at Behrend
by Andrea Zaffino
editor in chief
As Penn State Behrend's 50th Anni
versary approaches, the faculty and
staff of the college prepare for what
will be a year long celebration, to take
place throughout the Fall '9B and
spring '99 semesters.
One of the pivotal members in
charge of planning for the occasion is
Associate Professor Emeritus of En
glish, Ben Lane. Lane is currently
working on a publication which fo
cuses on Behrend's history as a col
lege. This is a topic he knows quite a
lot about because he has worked at
the Behrend campus since 1953, just
five years after it was established.
When Lane first arrived he and his
wife, Carolynn lived on campus in a
small house adjacent to Jordan road.
At the college's very start, all faculty
lived on campus. Lane himself be
gan as the Dean of Students as well
as teaching four classes. "Everybody
did everything." Lane said.
ANNIN
among other people important to
Behrend's and Hammermill's past.
There are drawings and blueprint
sketchesof the paper company's de
sign.
The Army/Navy "E" flag
was awarded to Hammermill by the
United States Department of War. It
was an award given to those produc
tion plants that attained an excellent
level in manufacturing and distribut
ing war-related goods during the sec
ond world war. It was very prestigous
and given out on a rather irregular
basis. Hammermill contributed to the
war effort by supplying paper which
the Army and Navy used for forms,
orders, maps, and blueprints.
One of the professors who
spearheaded the work done on this
gallery was Dr. John Rossi, Assistant
Professor of History. He was asked
to research the historical backgrounds
and descriptions of the portraits and
name ice cream in honor
ter swirl, and coconut chip. It is open
to anyone who is considered part of
the Behrend community. Using the
theme for our anniversary year, "Penn
State-Behrend at 50: A Golden Op
portunity", there would be endless
numbers of names that an entrant
could come up with. Entries will be
accepted by e-mail, mail, or fax. The
addresses are: email: axw6@psu.edu,
fax:(814)898-7116, and mailing ad
dress: Ice Cream Contest, Office of
Development and University Rela
tions, Penn State-Behrend, Station
In the beginning, the campus ex
isted of little more than the Glennhill
Farm House, Turnbull Barn, the Car
riage House and the Theater across
from Turnbull. Glennhill Farm House
was used as a residence hall for the
women students as well as a cafete
ria with a dining room and a kitchen.
The downstairs of Turnbull was for
classes while the upstairs remained a
barn, and even before the property
was made into a college, the Carriage
House was the Behrend's garage, and
home to their chauffer.
The working title of Lane's tran
script is "Behrend Remebered."
Which is due out sometime in the next
year. He is unsure at this point
whether it will be published under the
same title. Not only will the subject
of the Behrend college itself be a topic
in Lane's written work, but also the
events leading up to Mary Behrend's
donation of the Glennhill Farm to
Penn State University.
Beginning in the 1860's in Ger
many the Behrend family owned a
papermill by the name of
E IR.S A IRN
the artifacts within the gallery , due
to his being a twentieth century his
torian. Dr. Sharon DAle, Associate
Professor of Art History, was in
charge of the layout of the room. Dr
Rossi, Lynne Weber from Develop
ment and University Relations and
student Chris Duine were assigned
to work on it.
In the basement of the Otto
Behrend Science building many of
these artifacts and paintings were be
ing stored in cardboard boxes and
being leaked on. Rossi said, "Chris
Duine, Lynne Weber, and myself
made arrangements to move the
records and portraits to a safer drier
location.
When the liberary opened in
1993, the room where the artifacts and
portraits are now was constructed es
pecially for that reason. It is actually
called the "Gallery Room."
Road, Erie, PA 16563
There are rewards for the
winners who's ideas get selected. The
winner will receive free cones of the
winning flavor for 10 friends. The
final decision will he made by the
members of the Anniversary Commit
tee, who will serve as judges for the
contest. As Anne Marie Welsh (Di
rector of Public Relations) states, "We
love to see as many participants as
possible. Why don't all of you enter
into the contest to kick off the anni
versary in a good fashion?"
Varzinerpapierfabrik,
Hammurmiihlle. Along with another
mill the Behrend's ran under Count
Otto Von Bismark, Fuchsmilhlle,
Hammiihlle. "Which became one of
the most premier papermills in Eu
rope." Lane said.
The head of the family at this time
was a man named, Moritz Behrend.
He had three sons, Ernst, Otto, and
Bernard Behrend, whom Moritz
wanted all to move to the United
States. Lane said this was because,
"The Behrend's were a Jewish fam
ily and even though they had con
verted to Lutheran there was a lot of
anti-semitism building in Germany
even then."
The transcript will go into great
depth with topics such as these, and
many other things that have shaped
Baehrend into the institution it has
become at present. If Ben Lane's
progress continues on schedule, his
work will be a notable inclusion to
next year's commemoration.
Photo by Jason Blake