UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It’s been a few decades, but Karen Perillo Hockstein remembers the off-to-college event conducted by Penn State alumni for incoming students near her hometown in New Jersey before she arrived at the University.
“It was exciting, and there are all the unknowns — you have no idea what’s in store for you as a Penn State student,” she said.
These days she’s one of the dozens of alumni in the Northern New Jersey Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association who supported soon-to-be students at a similar event in late July and who engage in other fundraising and volunteer experiences. And the feelings remain.
Hockstein, who earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1984, and her husband, Steve, who graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology, are now excited about what they can do to support Penn State students for years to come.
They recently committed to an estate gift creating both the Karen and Steven Hockstein Transformative Experiences Fund and the Karen and Steven Hockstein Dean's Discretionary Fund in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
“It’s been in the works for a number of years. It’s just not something you really consider at first,” said Karen, who retired in 2021. “But when you think about how you can make a difference — and, these days, the kind of unique experiences and support for students that a gift can create — it becomes really exciting.”
It's exciting for recipients of the support as well.
“This act of generosity will provide valuable flexibility to meet students’ needs, and for us to be nimble in an ever-changing communications world,” said Bellisario College Dean Marie Hardin. “Sometimes the most important opportunities for students result from unplanned or unexpected moments. Open-ended support like this allows us to make the most of those opportunities when they arise."
Karen, who served as a resident assistant in Pennypacker Hall as an undergraduate student, remembers driving onto campus with her father for the first time.
“My dad was a physical education director. I thought he was going to drive off the road when he saw Beaver Stadium,” she said.
Her many friendships and memories — from painting dorm floor walls pink and attending football games to volunteering at high school fairs and recognizing fellow Penn Staters across town or across the country simply because they were wearing a piece of Penn State clothing — have shaped her life, as have similar experiences for many alumni.
It all started when Karen was a student, and that’s what the Hocksteins hope can happen as the result of the Karen and Steven Hockstein Transformative Experiences Fund. Potential uses include research expenses, travel costs, materials and supplies, technology, study abroad experiences, internships and undergraduate support. Those wide-ranging parameters, along with the portion of the gift designated as a discretionary fund, open the door wide for impactful and timely uses — allowing administrators and faculty to be creative and nimble while supporting students for years to come.
“Honestly, whether you’re a student or an alumna, or someone considering being a student, you have no idea what might happen at Penn State,” Karen said. “We hope our gift, in some small way, can help make the best things possible happen.”
Donors like Karen and Steven Hockstein advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.