Yep, We Are Penn State at my house,too. Thanks for posting, Bee! Wish I had thought of it.

Cyn, M.Ed 1990

My kid was there last night too. For those who don't know, this money is largely raised by "canning." If you don't know what that is, picture thousands and thousands of Penn State kids fanning out across the state, staying in each others' parents family rooms and basement floors, and spending the weekends standing on street corners and curbs, holding out larger than normal coffee cans (the kind coffee used to come in, before Keurig and the like) and collecting donations from drivers' and passers by. They do it in the freezing cold, they do it in the rain. Each 'squad' of canners is matched with families that they form relationhips with, that they stay in touch with, and they know the kids they're collecting money for. This is how that huge amount of money gets raised. Not via fancy dinners or rich patrons but by kids standing on street corners in all weather all over PA. The force of these kids' shared commitment to this charity makes life better for many. What happened with Sandusky and the like sickens and disgusts me but there are good kids there who did not riot and were caught in this as bystanders and there's much much more to Penn State than the scandals.

Strange that we never see PSU kids raising money for Thon around here. I never even heard of it until a few years ago. We were interviewing a PSU grad for a job and she kept talking about Thon. After she left we all wondered why she was talking about her underwear. She did get the job, though!

Sounds like an amazing event and the largest student run philanthropic event in the country.

Temple Owl here but I still believe in Penn State. Thank you. You're welcome.

For me, whenever these scandels arise, I never think less of the institution because of the poor judgement of a few.
PSU is a great school and always will be. I am a New Yorker but I have a recent University of Pittsburgh grad. Pennsylvania is a great state.

A Pitt grad here - congrats to the students of Penn State. That is a lot of money for a good cause.

I live in a prime Penn State sending area and I've never seen them here either.

This year the canning rules were changed. I'm not sure how or why. Nothing to do with the scandal I think.

My oldest used to can in NYC.

It would be nice to see some national coverage of this. Too bad that the media is quick to help tear something down but they are not there to show the good in this community.

And yes, it IS the largest student run philanthropy in the country. One would think it would get some sort of attention.

Bee

Actually I've seen and read more about Thon this year than ever before. It was on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer and also covered extensively by the news stations.

My nieces both canned, and they would travel quite a distance to do so. One of them was involved organizationally and the other was a dancer's gopher/cheerleader (I can't remember the name).

This was the first year I remember a Philadelphia news station having a correspondent on-site all weekend. It really is a good thing, and I think they may have beaten the record *because of support because of everything that happened within the past year. I am glad it got attention.

But, this forum is probably a microcosm of society at large and has 9 posts in a bit over 24 hours while the scandal thread ended up topping 150 and going into a second thread. I don't know that the positive action of hundreds or thousands of students will overshadow the badness of one individual and the actions of a handful of others.

Pal, you are so right. People seem to be more interested in scandel that worth while projects.
I don't think that the majority think any less of Penn because of a few individuals that did not do the right thing. Unfortunately Bee, this will not be the last college scandel, but it just hurts more when it is "your" college.