Ralph Ford, Chancellor of Penn State Behrend
In December 1948, the president of the newly formed student council of the Behrend Center, as our college was first known, laid a wreath at the Behrend family’s chapel in Erie’s Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery.
He was fulfilling a promise to Mary Behrend, who was no longer living in Erie, to memorialize her departed family members at the holidays. Through the years, Penn State Behrend has kept that promise with the “Hanging of the Greens,” our college’s oldest tradition.
Both the time of year and the candle-lit chapel setting lend to reflection on the past. But “Hanging of the Greens” is also about honoring the vision of Mary Behrend—the notions she had of a higher purpose for her beloved Glenhill Farm.
If Mary were here today she would hardly recognize her country property—more than 50 academic and administrative buildings, residence halls, dining facilities, athletic fields, and an innovation park, all of which create a home for more than 4,000 students.
We’d like to think she would be moved by the beautiful Smith Chapel and Carillon. Delighted to see the old farmhouse on Station Road as the newly restored Federal House. Amazed at the new Erie Hall fitness and recreation facility situated along her former driveway.
For all the ways Penn State Behrend has grown, though, and all the ways we’ve changed, we have stayed close to our roots, to values forged by our founding: ingenuity, perseverance, and unity of purpose. Through the years, we’ve never lost sight of why we’re here—to create knowledge and understanding, to foster creativity and innovation, and to do these things with integrity in our actions, respect for one another, and a commitment always to excellence.
June 2023 will mark the beginning of our 75th year, and a planning committee is hard at work on ways to commemorate the milestone. We’ll do so with a dual theme of “Celebrating the Past, Shaping the Future.” That’s in keeping with Mary Behrend’s vision in gifting her Glenhill Farm to Penn State—at the time one of the largest gifts ever made to the University.
As Mary said in her remarks at the Behrend Center dedication on October 30, 1948, “It is pleasant to feel that over the years to come, many young men and women will go forth from this lovely spot well equipped with the education they have received.”
And so, as we enter our 75th year, our work—framed by both a strong sense of our history and a keen focus on our future—continues.
Chancellor Ralph Ford
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