Some university administrators are hoping Stephen Colbert will foot the bill for the new science wing in Ritenour Building, as his name leads the list of potential titles.
The Eberly College of Science's naming contest ends today, and S.COLBERT (Science Center Of Learning: Bringing Educational Resources Together) seems to be the sure winner, leading with 85 percent of the votes as of 8 a.m. Sunday. Four other names split the remaining 15 percent almost evenly.
Pending administration approval, the winning name will grace the undergraduate science wing until a donor comes through with renovation funds.
Naming the science wing after Stephen Colbert gained support from almost 1,600 members of a Facebook group, "Rename The Science Wing After Stephen Colbert!" even though the creator only shared this idea with his friends at first.
That creator would be Colbert fan Ian Weissman, who came up with the name after seeing a banner advertising the contest in Thomas Building. As he wrote in the group's description, "There is no greater American than Stephen Colbert."
"I'm a big fan of the show, and there's a running joke on it that he gets things named after him, so I thought it would be funny," Weissman (sophomore-history) said. "After five days, the group had over 1,000 members -- crazy."
The group began by urging members to submit creative Stephen Colbert entries during a two-week period in January.
About 450 entries were submitted in the contest, and between 150 and 200 of them were connected to Stephen Colbert, said Mary Beth Williams, acting associate dean of Eberly College of Science. Faculty and staff of the college selected the top five names.
"We wanted students' input on the name because they will be the ones utilizing it," Williams said. "But we would never have guessed that Colbert's name would make it into the top five."
The undergraduate science wing in Ritenour will not be ready until at least spring 2011. University officials are still seeking a patron to help renovate the building.
"If Stephen Colbert wants to donate the money, that'd be great," Williams said.
Now, the members have been encouraging each other to continue voting for S.COLBERT and spreading the word about the contest.
Siri Maley (freshman-mechanical engineering), who submitted the name S.COLBERT, was unavailable for comment as of press time Sunday.
The creator of the winning name will win an iPod touch and a $250 gift card for the Penn State Bookstore. The four runners-up will each receive a $50 gift card for the store.
