Page 6 - Penn State Altoona 2020-2021 Student Planner

YOUR UNIVERSITY In 1855, the Pennsylvania legislature chartered a new institution in the Commonwealth known as Farmers' High School, incorporated as an agricultural college with the power to grant baccalaureate degrees. During more than a century of evolution, Farmers' High School became the Agriculture College of Pennsylvania, then the Pennsylvania State College, and finally in 1953, The Pennsylvania State University. The University today is the twelfth largest in the United States with a University Park campus enrollment of more than 40,000 and another 34,000 at 12 Commonwealth Campuses and stand-alone colleges: Penn State Abington; Penn State Altoona; Penn State Behrend; Penn State Lehigh Valley; Penn State Berks; and Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State Schuylkill, both of which are locations of the Capital College. Graduate centers are located at University Park, Penn State Great Valley, and Penn State Harrisburg, which also offer upper-level undergraduate study. The University's College of Medicine is located in Hershey, and The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University is located in Carlisle. A COMMUNITY'S VISION In the spring of 1939, a citizen’s committee led by Altoona Chamber of Commerce Chairman J.E. (Ted) Holtzinger convinced Ralph D. Hetzel, president of the Pennsylvania State College, to support an undergraduate center in Altoona. In July, the citizen’s committee launched a campaign to raise money for renovation of an abandoned grade school building to house the new center. On September 13, 1939, the Altoona Undergraduate Center opened in the Webster Grade School Building in downtown Altoona. The freshman class of 119 commuter students was taught by nine faculty members. In 1940, the citizen’s committee was reorganized into an Advisory Board for the Center. A second downtown building, Madison, was then purchased to make room for sophomore science courses. Returning World War II veterans overfilled the Webster and Madison buildings in 1946 and the Center desperately needed more space. The Advisory Board purchased Ivyside Park in 1947, an abandoned 38-acre amusement park on the outskirts of the city, for a new campus. Existing park buildings, such as the bathhouse, a huge two-block-long dressing room, were renovated for the Center’s use, resulting in the Center’s affectionate nickname, “Bathhouse U.” The Ivyside Park campus opened in 1948 with approximately 600 students and 30 faculty members. During the 1950s, associate degree programs were added and brought many out-of-town students to Altoona. As enrollment increased, so did funds from the community. Money was pledged to build the E. Raymond Smith Building, a classroom and administration building that replaced the Bathhouse. In 1958 with the opening of the Smith Building, the AUC’s name was changed to the Altoona Campus of The Pennsylvania State University. On July 1, 1997, the Penn State Altoona Campus became Penn State Altoona, a four-year baccalaureate degree-granting College of the University. The first residence hall (Oak) and the Harry E. Slep Student Center opened in 1964. Six more buildings opened in 1970: a second residence hall (Maple), a dining hall, the library, the science and engineering buildings, and the chapel, which was built entirely with privately subscribed funds. The Steven A. Adler Athletic Complex was built in two stages in 1972 and 1977. Five more new buildings were built during the 1980s, which essentially completed the Altoona College’s physical plant. The bookstore was completed in 1985, a third residence hall (Spruce) in 1987, the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, and the Learning Resources Center opened in 1989. Construction for Cedar residence hall and the Ralph and Helen Force Advanced Technology Center began in the spring of 1996 and were completed in the fall of 1997. The Slep Student Center 4