Development and Alumni Relations

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — This year’s University Renaissance Fund gala will honor the collective impact of 50 years of philanthropic support for high-achieving students with financial need. The event, scheduled for Nov. 4, will commemorate the founders who launched the Renaissance Fund, spotlight stories from among the thousands of students who have been awarded scholarships and build momentum for generating future growth for the fund. This anniversary celebration will provide a look back on the decades of generosity and thousands of lives positively changed by the Renaissance Fund.

“The Renaissance Fund holds a storied place in Penn State’s history,” said President Neeli Bendapudi. “At a time when tuition rates were rising nationwide, Centre County community leaders mobilized a broad coalition of supporters committed to assisting academically talented students who would otherwise have been unable to financially receive a Penn State education. I look forward to welcoming back many of our previous honorees to celebrate their collective impact on the Renaissance Fund, which centers on what matters most: our ongoing efforts to nurture the success of Penn State students.”

Gina Ikenberry, chair of the Renaissance Fund committee, said the event would be a moment to express gratitude and renewed commitment.

“The generosity that has powered the Renaissance Fund over the decades is an inspiration. Each year for the last 50 years, we’ve selected an iconic leader in the region who has helped us to galvanize greater support from the community, and the result has been an extraordinary outpouring of resources that has gone directly to making the Penn State experience affordable for more Penn State families,” said Ikenberry. “Now, this 50th anniversary celebration will be an exciting opportunity to step back and marvel at the full scope of what our community has accomplished — and reset our ambitions for what more we can accomplish in the years to come.”

The Renaissance Fund was established in 1969 by five members of the Penn State Board of Trustees — H. Jesse Arnelle, Michael Baker Jr., Frederick M. Close II, Ralph Dorn Hetzel and Helen Dickerson Wise — with the aim of mitigating economic obstacles to enrollment and democratizing access to the University’s opportunities. The fund predates major federal aid programs for low-income students and today works in concert with Pell Grants to ease the burden on students with financial need.

In 1977, the University began the tradition of convening an annual banquet to honor a civic-oriented community leader who would mobilize support for creating a named Renaissance Fund endowment. The proposal for a recurring banquet was championed by the late Mimi Barash Coppersmith, then a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees, who drew the idea from her experience as a member of the Jewish Federation. Since implementing her idea in 1977, the Renaissance Fund has honored 68 Penn Staters who have made a significant impact on their communities and have Renaissance Scholarship funds named in their honor.

In the 58 years of its existence, the Renaissance Fund has grown in both dollar value and total number of students it benefits. In the first year of its existence, $24,550 was awarded. In the 2024-25 academic year, $1.7 million was awarded to 891 students from an endowment of more than $26.2 million. Each recipient was awarded a disbursement of $2,000, offsetting the cost of tuition by an average of nearly 10 percent.

At this year’s gala, past recipients will appear as both live speakers and through multimedia storytelling.

“This landmark anniversary of the Renaissance Fund celebration will be a welcome opportunity to go behind the numbers and put our graduates front and center as they share how their lives were transformed by the generosity of our incredible community of supporters,” said Jay E. Davenport, vice president for development and alumni relations. “My hope is that reflecting on the truly impressive legacy our honorees and volunteers have left behind can be a springboard to generating even greater growth and lifting the financial burden from even more students.”

Renaissance Fund scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of exemplary academic achievement and across all Penn State colleges and campuses, with eligibility parameters that include both undergraduate and graduate students and learners of all ages.

To learn more about making a gift in honor of the 50th anniversary of Renaissance Fund annual galas, visit raise.psu.edu/renaissance for a comprehensive list of endowments, or contact Kathy Kurtz, associate director of annual giving, at klk13@psu.edu or 814-863-2052.

Gifts to Renaissance Fund Scholarships 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.