​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​System Success summer stories

This summer, our universities continued to shine, while our students continued their learning through a variety of real-world opportunities.


Success Highlights​​​​

Cheyney University announced the successful completion of its first Sports Analytics Training Camp for students, in partnership with The Philadelphia 76ers, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Mosaic Development Partners. 

Four East Stroudsburg University students spent the summer in Washington, D.C. interning with organizations, agencies, and legislators. They served as interns through the Washington Center, a nonprofit organization that provides internships and seminars to college students interested in learning more about government, politics, and how public policy is shaped.

IUP’s Undergraduate Summer Opportunity for Applying Research (U-SOAR) program offers undergraduates an opportunity to do research in a field of their choice with a faculty mentor. This summer, Isabelle Clayton, a senior nutrition and Spanish major and aspiring food scientist, worked with chemistry professor Nate McElroy and local coffee roaster Commonplace Coffee to study how roasting coffee changes its caffeine level.

Millersville University students in the coral reef ecology class had the trip of a lifetime this summer when they spent 10 days in Honduras as part of a PASSHE consortium that offers summer field courses to college students. The entire class was three weeks long.

Kutztown University and the Kutztown Community Partnership were awarded the Townie Award for Organizational Excellence and Community Partnership by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center for their work toward the Keith Haring Fitness Court at the annual statewide gala June 26 in Scranton, Pa.

As a high school student, Karl Kestner nurtured his interest in designing and building through classes such as robotics, computer-aided drafting, and manufacturing, and he participated in two robotics competitions. Those experiences, coupled with the fact that engineering was in his blood, affirmed that engineering was the right path for him. He expects to graduate from PennWest California in spring 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in mechatronics engineering. Kestner has interned the past two summers with Franklin Bronze Precision Components in his hometown of Franklin to give his classroom work practical application.

PennWest Clarion senior digital media major Hailey Fry has always been passionate about creating. What she creates doesn’t much matter. The past two summers she completed internships with PXD Studio (2023) and Public Knowledge (2022), two widely different industries in which she spread her creative wings, bolstered classroom knowledge with hands-on experience, and helped both employers serve their missions.

Sarah Keating, who was born in China and raised in Erie, Pa., graduated from high school in 2020 amid the economic fallout caused by COVID-19. She passed the time watching YouTube videos on investment management and financial independence. Recognizing that a lack of financial literacy puts many people – particularly minority groups – at a disadvantage, Keating elected to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on personal financial planning at the PennWest Edinboro campus. In September 2022, Keating spent six months as an apprentice at Rebich Investments, and this summer she was awarded a College to Corporate Advice internship with Vanguard.

In 2009, Shippensburg University's Wood Honors College Director Dr. Kim Klein wanted to implement an experiential and progressive learning project to achieve real objectives and help her students gain a deeper understanding of community around the globe. Klein and her students formed a partnership with a school that serves very low-income children in the Dominican Republic, and they’ve been working with local teachers to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at the school ever since.

Forty-six members of Slippery Rock University’s Jazz Ensemble and Chamber Singers toured Europe this summer. Over the course of two weeks in July, they performed at various venues in Italy and France. The Jazz Ensemble performed at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy. Then they were joined by the Chamber Singers for a performance hosted by the U.S. Consulate at the Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini in Genoa, Italy. The Jazz Ensemble also performed at the Music Kiosque at Place National Square in Nice, France. The Chamber Singers performed during Masses at the Sant'Andrea della Valle Church in Rome, Italy and the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Italy, as well as a concert at the Eglise Jean-Baptiste Le Voeu in Nice.

West Chester University​ Junior Art + Design student Noah Burns is the designer of new exterior banners that beautify Main Hall, home to many of the departments in the College of Arts and Humanities (CAH). With Assistant Professor of Art Scotty Reifsnyder as art director, Burns adapted his sketches of “captured moments” depicting WCU students to represent as many CAH majors, races, cultures, and genders as possible. Last year, Burns created and painted a mural for one of West Chester borough’s historical buildings.