University officials gathered with alumni, students, and friends on Thursday, July 8, to open a yearlong celebration marking Penn State’s 150th anniversary. Ceremonies included an official kickoff event at Schwab Auditorium, the introduction of a new Creamery ice cream flavor, and the unveiling of a new historical marker at Centre Furnace Mansion. The Penn State Alumni Association and the Office of University Relations launched the historical marker program in 1989 and the Centre Furnace marker is the 69th in the series. For more information about the historical marker program, please visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/markers.html.

Marianne E. Alexander ’62, president of the Penn State Alumni Association, was one of five featured speakers at the official kickoff event. In addition to President Graham Spanier, who served as emcee, Board of Trustees chair Cynthia Baldwin ’66, ’74g, and head football coach Joe Paterno gave remarks. Governor Edward Rendell was unable to attend, but sent videotaped remarks that were played at the event.

More information about the yearlong sesquicentennial celebration, including a calendar of events, can be found on the Web at http://sesquicentennial.psu.edu/.

Following is an excerpt from Marianne Alexander’s sesquicentennial remarks:

Good afternoon. It is truly an honor to be with you today representing the hundreds of thousands of proud members of the Penn State family. On behalf of all of those alumni, I offer my deepest congratulations to our alma mater on the celebration of 150 years of distinction.

Our Alumni Association, much like our alma mater, has grown from humble beginnings to national prestige—from a small gathering of alumni in 1870, to become the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world.

Not only are we the biggest alumni association, but we are also the best and most ambitious—which is a fitting tribute to the world’s best alma mater. Just this month, the Alumni Association pushed its total membership past the 150,000 mark—an appropriate celebration of the University’s 150th anniversary.

No matter where you go in the world, you’ll find a Penn Stater. Today, more than 445,000 Penn State alumni live in every state and more than eighty countries. One out of every 127 college graduates in America is a Penn Stater. In Pennsylvania, it’s one in every ten.

As alumni, we are a large and powerful network. But more than that, we are a family—a close-knit family—with an enduring pride in Penn State and a deep affection for fellow Penn Staters. Our University has helped instill in its graduates a sense of responsibility and commitment to their communities and I’m constantly amazed at the willingness of our alumni to open their hearts and homes to fellow alumni, students, friends, and strangers.

There’s Udo Kohlmoregan, a native of Germany who attended Penn State for two semesters as an exchange student. Despite being here only a short time, Udo is passionate about Penn State. He has greeted members of our alumni travel program on their trips to Germany with a large welcome banner. Imagine floating down the romantic Rhine, only to see a “Welcome to Germany P.S.U.” sign hanging along the banks of the river. Udo travels hours just to provide that friendly welcome. That is what it means to be part of the Penn State family.

This year, two of our students got an early glimpse at just what it means to be part of this extended family. Rochelle Smith and Molly Vogt-Welch, two musical theatre students traveling to Boston for an audition, were in need of housing while in the city. We put out a call to Boston-area alumni and they opened their homes. But that’s not all. Some of those alums thought that it might be beneficial for the students to have access to their wardrobe and make-up. Or that between auditions the students might enjoy the opportunity to lie down for a few moments in quiet. So those alums reserved and paid for a hotel room at the audition site in downtown Boston.

To many these might seem like odd offerings to strangers. But to Penn Staters, it’s simply a friendly gesture to a fellow member of the Penn State family. Situations like these have repeated themselves thousands of times over, in every corner of the world, and they have been an integral and honorable part of the 150-year history that has defined us. These are stories about Penn State. And at Penn State, ours is a story of family.

As former University President Eric Walker said to the graduating class of 1958, “Wherever you go, Penn State will go with you. You are now a part of her. Her image will be cast in your image. Your reputation will become her reputation.”

Today, nearly 150 years after the original charter was signed, Dr. Walker’s words ring truer than ever. Penn State’s image of greatness, and its reputation for compassion, are undividedly linked to the achievements and to the character of its proud alumni.

And so, as president of the Penn State Alumni Association, I close with this wish for our beloved alma mater: Dear Old State, on your 150th birthday, may the lives of all your loyal sons and daughters forever continue to swell thy fame.