I attended this year’s UPUA Encampment representing the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Student Council. While I appreciate the Collegian’s concern in the amount spent on the event — $7,000 certainly isn’t something to whiff at — I do not agree with your Jan. 31 editorial’s assessment that the event did not or will not foster change for the greater student body.
The primary focus of Encampment may be networking with other student and Penn State leaders at large, but it is very much active networking. From the Encampment sessions, I took away a statement of honor presented in Dean Christian Brady’s presentation: “Penn Staters are people of honor and integrity.”
I will be incorporating this excellent declaration into my presentation slides for our college’s prospective student open house next month. It was a great forum to communicate about this.
I also participated in an excellent session about how we can combat disruptive behavior in the borough on State Patty’s Day and plan to share this information with my Council.
Lastly, I connected with a student leading Capitol Day, where the hope is to make a difference for all Penn Staters when it comes to state funding. I will be heavily promoting this event in my council to try and make a tangible difference.
Encampment does make a difference to the greater university. The changes just might not be immediately visible.
Devin Boyer
junior-meteorology
