On May 18, Penn State held the second mini-event in its series — Class of 2024: A Virtual “Welcome to the Penn State Community” — consisting of four live-streamed Q&A sessions with students, alumni, faculty and members of Penn State’s leadership team. Penn State President Barron recently invited the newest cohort of accepted students to watch the series and learn more about Penn State’s commitment to their success.

Damon Sims, vice president for Student Affairs, hosted this event, discussing how the Penn State student experience will remain strong no matter what. “One thing we can count on is that the strength of that experience, the connectedness that students feel here, and the commitment of the University to the student experience will forever be strong. And it is going to be as strong in the coming year as it ever has been in the past. I’m very excited to welcome all of these students into the Penn State community.”

Penn Staters came together during the event to answer submitted questions and help welcome students and their families to the community. In keeping with the theme, The Penn State Student Experience, participants focused on the college experience, transitioning to college, and safety. The archived live event, along with the first session, Flexibility to Meet Individual Needs, which covered topics such as the return to campus, questions on deferrals, financial resources, international students and Flex Start can be viewed at Classof2024.psu.edu.

Sims was joined by Tracy Langkilde, professor and head of the biology department; Michael Zeman, director of the Student Engagement Network; Katie Solomon, 2021 executive director of THON; and Austin Oliver, Class of 2022 Penn State Behrend student and Lion Scout.

Sims emphasized what sets the student experience at Penn State apart. “No university creates a stronger sense of community and connectedness for its students than this one does. We have a long history of that. It explains in part why we have the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world. Because students love their experience at Penn State in every respect and they sustain that connectedness to the University for years, decades in fact, after their experience as students here.”

Sims encouraged accepted students to get involved in all that Penn State has to offer, echoing the advice shared by the other participants. “Dive in, take advantage of what is here. The breadth, depth and richness of support here and opportunity is just unmatched.”

Please join us at Classof2024.psu.edu at 3:30 p.m. EDT for the remaining two Q&A sessions:

• May 20: Strength of the Penn State Community, hosted by Marie Hardin, dean of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
• May 27: Value of a Penn State Education, hosted by Eric J. Barron, Penn State president.

Students and their families can submit questions in advance using an anonymous form at Classof2024.psu.edu, so the themes and topics can be addressed during live sessions. We have received so many questions that we won’t be able to get to all of them during the live sessions. However, we will be following up after the series of events with answers to some of the questions that time doesn’t allow for.