Guion Bluford

Penn State’s first black female student Mildred Bunton ’32, Space Shuttle astronaut Guion Bluford ’64, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris ’72 are just three of the 54 black alumni who have received Penn State’s top awards. A new exhibit, “Penn State’s Award-Winning Black Alumni” is one of a number of ways Penn State is marking Black History Month.

The exhibit commemorating Penn State’s award-winning black alumni—those who’ve been recognized with the Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award, Alumni Fellow Award, or Alumni Achievement Award—is on display in Pattee Library through March 12. The first black alumnus to be recognized by Penn State was Benson Dutton ’33, an engineer who received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1971. Since then, 53 other black alumni have received major awards,

Carla Hargrove

from Howard University College of Medicine Dean Joseph Johnson ’18 to Broadway actress Carla Hargrove ’97g. The exhibit includes photographs, press releases, and books from the Penn State University Archives and University Libraries collections.

Though Dutton was the first black alumnus to be recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award, he graduated 34 years after Penn State’s first African American student, Calvin Walker, enrolled in 1899. Another early student, Cumberland Posey, became Penn State’s first African American athlete when he played on the varsity basketball team in 1910. Other African Americans would follow Posey in making their athletic mark on campus and across the country. Diana Kenepp ’63, ’77g, a former director of Penn State’s Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes, will discuss these and other milestones at noon, Friday, Feb. 6, at the Penn State All-Sports Museum in a talk entitled “First Steps Forward: Early African American Athletes at Penn State.”

Franco Harris

Kenepp’s talk is the first in a series of lectures at the All-Sports Museum as part of the series “Breaking Barriers: The Story and Legacy of African American Athletes at Penn State.”

Wally Triplett ’49 will share experiences of his groundbreaking role as one of Penn State’s first African American varsity football players in the 1940s. Among other things, Triplett witnessed Penn State canceling a game at Miami in 1946 rather than leaving its two black Nittany Lions at home as Miami officials suggested. His talk, “A Football First: Wally Triplett and His Experiences at Penn State,” is at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 12, and again at 12:10 p.m., Friday, Feb. 13.

The final presentation in the All-Sports Museum series, “After Civil Rights: A Panel Discussion with Former African American Athletes and Coaches,” will feature Warren Coleman ’74 (track), Don Ferrell ’76 (basketball, bowling, and football), and Bob White ’86 (football). Their discussion will be at noon, Friday, Feb. 20.

All presentations will be held in the All-Sports Museum’s Clemens Family Theatre. More information on the museum is at http://gopsusports.cstv.com/hallfame/psu-hallfame.html.

These events are just a couple of the events planned for Black History Month. For other Black History Month events at University Park and other Penn State campuses, visit Penn State Live during February.