Football

Penn State Football Uplifting Athletes will hold another rare disease awareness event this summer with its 11th annual “Lift for Life”.

On July 12, during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, the football team will take over the Penn State Lacrosse Field near the Bryce Jordan Center. The fundraiser will begin at 5 p.m. and is open to the public with a small donation encouraged to benefit the Kidney Cancer Associaition. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and get autographs from current and former Penn State football players.

President of Penn State’s Uplifting Athletes chapter, senior guard Eric Shrive, has an impressive goal to top the previous year’s total of $110,000. He has challenged the members of the football team to raise $300,000. Earlier this month, Shrive was given the 2013 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award. The annual honor is presented to a leader in the college football community who has made a positive impact on the rare disease community.

Since being founded in 2003, the Penn State Chapter of Uplifting Athletes has raised more than $700,000. If Shrive’s goal of $300,000 is achieved, it would push the Nittany Lions’ 11-year fundraising total beyond $1 million for kidney cancer awareness and assistance.

Football

The significance of Penn State’s meeting on Wednesday night against Michigan extends beyond another conference game as Rare Disease Day will be acknowledged.

The day will be celebrated prior to the tip, as Penn State’s Uplifting Athletes will host a push-up challenge. Penn State’s chapter will attempt to reach 7,000 push-ups in honor of the day. The event is open not only the Penn State football team, but to all Penn State fans and students as the group tries to match the nearly 7,000 rare diseases through push-ups.

Uplifting Athletes is a nonprofit organization that associates with football programs at 14 different universities. Every campus’ goal is to raise awareness for the rare disease that each is assigned.

The challenge will begin one hour prior to gametime at 5:30 p.m. in Portal 31 of the Bryce Jordan Center. Attendees will also have the opportunity to buy the “Iron Lion” t-shirts, as well. Proceeds of the shirt sales will go directly to the Kidney Cancer Association, the disease sponsored by Penn State's chapter of Uplifting Athletes.

For fans and students who are unable to make the push-up challenge, they can participate in the cause virtually by using “#BTNLiveBig @UpliftingAth”. Uplifting Athletes will count push-ups through photos and videos fans tweet in order to achieve their goal.

During the 10 years of the chapter’s existence, it has raised over $700,000 with an excess of $110,000 coming just last year.

Football

Penn State Athletic Director David Joyner joined Dave Revsine on the Big Ten Network to talk about Maryland's move to the Big Ten on Monday. Here's what he had to say.

On what the move means for Penn State

"It means the reinstitution of a great series and rivalry in many sports," Joyner said. "I played against Maryland when I played here and it was a terrific situation and I think it brings somebody right to our back door that extends the footprint of the Big Ten, but yet brings back many traditional, great memories for people in Pennsylvania as well as in Maryland so we're very excited about it."

On fitting better geographically with Big Ten schools

"I'm not sure that we never felt we fit. In geography, you've got Ohio State very close, reasonably close, to us and now you've got Maryland half that distance and I think that it's just a natural extension geographically and I think it brings home the Big Ten into the Eastern corridor, so I think it's very positive."

On the impact on Penn State's recruiting

"Well, personally, I think it helps. I've read some things where some folks said, 'Well, maybe it's going to be tougher now for us back here,' and you never know until time plays out. But we still recruit against Maryland. We recruited against them years ago before we were in the Big Ten and other schools in this Eastern-Atlantic corridor and I don't think, particularly, it's going to change that, other then perhaps enhance it and make it more positive because you have a Big Ten opponent from State College about three hours away. So I think it makes it very attractive."

On why the move is a good fit for Maryland

"Well, I think Maryland fits very well within the Big Ten parameters. They're an outstanding academic university. They are the 19th rated public university in the country, very excellent academics, top 58 overall and they're a member of the [Association of American Universities]. So I think that they're a natural fit. Their size is consistent and their big-time athletics as well as big-time academics is very consistent with the mission of the Big Ten."

On direction of conference realignment and meaning of Maryland move

"I think that you're seeing an expansion and growth of the five major conferences. I think it's not a reaction to it, it's just a natural process that I think is occurring and it makes a lot of sense, particularly for the Big Ten with the Eastern markets and as I said the natural geography which really then makes Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland and then out westward and so I think that it's just an expression of the times what's going on."