Weekly Wrap: Strategic plan forums; Mini-THONs; $7M crop grant

      A look back at the top stories for the week of Jan. 15

      Casey Lehecka, a senior at Penn State majoring in meteorology, posed for a photo with Punxsutawney Phil during the famous groundhog's visit to Penn State's Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science on Jan. 17. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

      This week's top stories from across Penn State:

      STRATEGIC PLAN FORUMS: The first in a series of public forums focused on the University's long-range strategic plan will take place on Jan. 23 with faculty, staff and students from across the University invited to participate either in person or via livestream.

      MINI-THONS: Mini-THONs, modeled after the Penn State Panhellenic/IFC Dance Marathon, raise awareness and funds for Four Diamonds, which aims to conquer childhood cancer. The money raised by mini-THONs helps families afford the care and treatment their children need while also funding critical, innovative research for a cure. Last year, the collective effort of mini-THON schools helped to raise $5.5 million for Four Diamonds.

      $7M CROP GRANT: Researchers in the College of Agricultural Sciences received a $7 million grant to design a low-cost, integrated system that can identify and screen for high-yielding, deeper-rooted crops.

      SMOKE-FREE TASK FORCE: Making Penn State a smoke-free/tobacco-free university has been discussed with increasing frequency over the years, and President Eric Barron has appointed a 17-member task force to examine the issue in detail and make recommendations.

      HOCKEY VALLEY: The Penn State men's ice hockey team earned the program's first-ever No. 1 ranking this week after receiving a program-high 30 first-place votes in the latest uscho.com poll.

      ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIPS: The Penn State Alumni Association has pledged a gift of $1.5 million to support student scholarships across Penn State over the next five years. This pledge supports Penn State’s upcoming fundraising initiative, "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," which includes as one of its core priorities a commitment to broad scholarship support.

      $3M RELIGION GRANT: A Penn State-led research team was recently awarded two grants totaling more than $3 million to fund updates to the Association of Religion Data Archives.

      2017 HOMECOMING, MILITARY APPRECIATION: This year's Homecoming and Military Appreciation weeks will both be held from Nov. 5 to 12, with the Homecoming and Military Appreciation Game set for Veterans Day, Nov. 11, against Rutgers University.

      Last Updated January 19, 2017