The Collegian and Collegian AIG contingents march together behind their banners in the Homecoming parade
Seventeen Collegian Alums and Collegian students handed out hundreds of Collegian 135th anniversary commemorative editions and 1,000 pens stamped with the Collegian 135th anniversary logo as they marched in the 2022 PSU Homecoming parade behind Collegian and Collegian AIG banners.
Collegian AIG board member Kevin Naff, right, and his husband Brian Buebel carry the Collegian AIG banner during the Homecoming parade.
Jordan Hyman, immediate past president of The Collegian AIG, (right) hands out 135th anniversary commemorative editions of The Collegian during the Homecoming parade with his son Jackson Hyman.
Collegian alum and AIG Board secretary Barbara White Stack hands out pens with Collegian 135th anniversary logo to spectators during the Homecoming parade.
Two days later, 39 students and Collegian alums attended a Collegian AIG-sponsored panel discussion titled “Stories from the Penn State Football Beat.”
The discussion took place in the new Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications building, and the college promoted the event and provided the venue and breakfast. Alums also received guided tours of the building, including the new Collegian offices, after the discussion.
Collegian football writer Seth Engel, (far left) who moderated the panel discussion, listens as panelist John Black, retired editor of Penn State’s The Football Letter and two-time Collegian editor, answers a question.
Over the past six decades, the media landscape, along with the Penn State football program, have evolved to the point that both might be almost unrecognizable to a Penn State student from the 1950s. John Black may not have believed what they’d become, if he hadn’t lived it.
“Today, football, and sports in general, have become a major business,” said Black (Class of 1962), a former editor of the Collegian who for 46 years penned “The Football Letter.” Black covered the Nittany Lions gridiron program beginning in the late 1950s and retired from his Football Letter duties last year.
Collegian football writer Seth Engel, who moderated the panel discussion, asks a question.
“The only tools we had in my day were a pencil and a notepad,” he said.
Black joined three other Collegian football writers, past and present, on Oct. 23 at the new home of the Collegian, the Bellisario College of Communications building, as part of the celebration of the newspaper’s 135th anniversary.
The discussion, “Stories from the Penn State Football Beat,” also included panelists Mark Wogenrich (Class of 1990) and current Collegian sports staffers Max Ralph and moderator Seth Engle.
Sports Illustrated writer and Collegian alum Mark Wogenrich answers a question during the panel discussion in the Bellisario.
Wogenrich said he began covering the program for the Collegian in the late 1980s, an era he termed “a transition period” between Penn State’s years as a dominant independent program and its entry into the Big Ten in the 1990s.
Collegian Sports Editor Max Ralph answers a question during the panel discussion as John Black, recently retired editor of Penn State’s The Football Letter, listens.
Those years also saw the beginning of a transition for print media outlets, from a time when ink and paper were their only format to the present day, when the Collegian offers content in print, online and through numerous social media channels.
Ralph said the expansion of media platforms and the massive revenue college sports generate bring more attention to the players and pressure for reporters associated with the football team, on game days and beyond.
“There’s so much more that goes on, outside of Saturdays,” Ralph said. “The kinds of things you didn’t really think about 20 years ago.”
Click here to watch the full hourlong panel discussion.
The AIG launched a fundraiser for The Collegian last spring in honor of the paper’s 135th anniversary. Here is a list of the donors.
The Collegian AIG Homecoming parade contingent poses with the Nittany Lion.
Collegian alum Nancy Kennedy, right, and her husband, John Kennedy, with the Collegian AIG banner in the Homecoming parade.
Collegian alum Carol Zepp and her husband Angelos Dovletoglov march in the Homecoming parade with 135th anniversary commemorative copies of The Collegian.
Collegian alum Barbara White Stack, who serves on the Collegian AIG board, and her husband James Stack with 135th anniversary commemorative editions of The Collegian during the Homecoming Parade
Collegian alum and AIG Treasurer Megan Hennigan brought the AIG banner to the parade and is seen here securing the AIG’s spot in the Homecoming parade line up.
Collegian alumni, from left, Rebecca Peeling and Nancy Kennedy, and Rebecca’s husband, Tom Peeling, carry the Collegian AIG banner during the Homecoming parade.
Collegian alum and AIG board member Kevin Naff chats with (from left) John Kennedy, and his wife, Collegian alum Nancy Kennedy, and Collegian alum and AIG treasurer Megan Hennigan before the Homecoming parade.
Jordan Hyman, immediate past president of The Collegian AIG, (right) hands out 135th anniversary commemorative editions of The Collegian during the Homecoming parade with his son Jackson Hyman.
Collegian alum and AIG board secretary Barbara White Stack (left), her husband James Stack, and Collegian alum and AIG board treasurer Megan Hennigan line up for the Homecoming parade.
Collegian alum Liz Kahn, a newspaper journalist for 25 years and now a vice president in marketing and communications at a non-profit in Buffalo, asks a question during the panel discussion.
Collegian alum Shannon Simcox asks a question during the panel discussion in the Bellisario.
Collegian alumni from left Lindsay Jordan, R.J. Hufnagel and Barbara White Stack talk about the work of the Collegian AIG before the panel discussion in the Bellisario.
Alum David Beagin, left, speaks with Collegian sports writer Seth Engel and Collegian Sports Editor Max Ralph after they served on the panel in the Bellisario.
Collegian alum Carol Zepp (left) and her husband Angelos Dovletoglov chat with Collegian News Editor Sarah Pellis after the panel discussion in the Bellisario.
Collegian alum Shannon Simcox talks to students after the panel discussion in the Bellisario.
Chatting after the panel discussion are, from left, Mike Poorman, director of alumni relations for the Bellisario College of Communications; Megan Swift, editor-in-chief of the Collegian; Jordan Hyman, immediate past president of the Collegian AIG, and Max Ralph, Collegian football editor.
Collegian alum Glenda Gephart Phoenix (left) tours the Bellisario with Collegian staffer Niceiry Marizan (middle) and another alum after the panel discussion.
Sports Illustrated writer and Collegian alum Mark Wogenrich talks with, to his left, Collegian alum Carol Zepp; her husband, Angelos Dovletoglov; Collegian sports writer Seth Engel, and Collegian Sports Editor Max Ralph.
Collegian football reporter Seth Engle, who moderated the panel discussion, talks with John Black, two-time Collegian editor, recently retired editor of Penn State’s The Football Letter, and a walk-on PSU football player.
Photos by Collegian photographer Jackson Ranger
