Teresa Villa Cook graduated from Penn State in 1974, working at The Collegian for most of her time at the university. Her work as a reporter and copy editor at the student newspaper gave her the experience she needed to step right into a decades-long career in daily journalism.
Now, the Hershey, Pa., native and Baltimore resident is retired, but she’s determined to make sure that others have the same opportunity she had to gain the experience, friendship and passion for journalism that she found at The Collegian. She recently pledged a series of donations totaling $25,000 to an endowment established The Daily Collegian Alumni Interest Group to benefit Collegian students.
AIG: What do you do now, and what jobs have you done in the past?
Teresa Villa Cook: I am retired now. In 1974 I started out as a reporter/photographer for the Maryland section of the Hanover Evening Sun, then moved into copy editing at The Roanoke Times, The Baltimore Sun and The York (Pa.) Daily Record. When my job in York was eliminated, I did some freelancing, then retired during the pandemic.
AIG: You recently pledged a series of gifts totaling $25,000 to an endowment established The Daily Collegian Alumni Interest Group to benefit Collegian students. What led you to decide to make this kind of donation?
Teresa: My parents had encouraged my interest in journalism and were proud of my accomplishments, so when I received an inheritance from their estate recently, I decided to make a donation to support Collegian students. My parents had always been proud of my work on the paper, reading all my articles and saving them. I was surprised to get paid a small “salary” while I worked on The Collegian, and my mother remembered that years later and bragged about it to friends. I appreciated that little salary, partly for the money, but also because it showed that my work was valued. I want to support The Collegian AIG endowment fund to help students who need the financial support and also to show them that their work is important.
AIG: What would you tell other alumni about why it’s important to support The Collegian, whether it’s mentoring a student or giving a gift to the endowment, throughout a person’s career?
Teresa Villa Cook holds her Penn State Pioneer award, which is a PSU honor for alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago whose lifelong impact on their profession, their community, and the people in their lives have brought glory and swelled the fame of Dear Old State.
Teresa: I think most Collegian alumni would say that they loved their time on The Collegian staff and learned a lot while making wonderful friends. We can keep that going for students today and in the future by supporting the endowment. I think we show how much we value the experience we had and the importance of student journalism by supporting it with our donations. And mentoring students can help them find their way in the journalism field.
AIG: What makes The Collegian such an important part of the Penn State community?
Teresa: It’s important because students produce it, because it provides reliable information on issues that matter to students, and because, even with so much media competition, it helps to build a sense of community on campus.
AIG: What made you decide to go to work at The Collegian as a student?
Teresa: I was fascinated with newspapers and wanted to work on the student paper when I went to college. And when I realized that The Collegian came out every day, I was so impressed, thinking, “I want to work there!”
AIG: What was your most memorable assignment while you were at The Collegian?
Teresa: My first large assignment was covering student government and the election of the new USG (Undergraduate Student Government) president in spring 1971. I had to report on it almost every day, which was a big responsibility. I loved it. I also did a feature on each of the colleges of the university. I think there were 10 at the time. I interviewed the dean of each college.
AIG: What was your favorite part of working at The Collegian?
Teresa: The camaraderie of the newsroom was unlike anything I had experienced and it’s what I most enjoyed about all newsrooms in my career. The other students were knowledgeable about the news and serious about the work, but so creative and fun to be with. I also liked the mental challenge of learning AP Style and how to write accurate headlines that fit the space – all on deadline.
AIG: How did your experience at The Collegian help you in your career?
Teresa: Collegian experience gave me the skills I needed for my jobs – I did not major in journalism – and I was able to step into a professional newsroom and do the work. But just as important, the friends and contacts I had from The Collegian led directly to my first two newspaper jobs, and later to The Baltimore Sun. Every paper I worked for had other Collegian grads. I think The York Daily Record had at least a dozen at one time.
AIG: What advice would you give to current Collegian students who want to pursue a career in your field?
Teresa: Use your Collegian connections, with friends who are graduating, recent alumni or mentors, to find out about jobs in the field and help you with questions you might have. That’s what helped me the most in my career.
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To make a pledge or get more information, please email [email protected].
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