Penn State officials are responding to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer which allegedly “leaked” the list of Commonwealth campuses that the University is reportedly planning to close.
Earlier this year, the university announced that 12 of its satellite campuses, including the DuBois campus, were under review for potential closure.
The university further noted that any proposed closures would not take effect until after the 2026-27 academic year.
It was originally believed that Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi would be solely responsible for deciding which campuses would close.
However, during a recent court hearing, on a separate matter, trustee Barry Fenchak claimed that the university board would be making the final vote on the potential closures.
Then, over the weekend, the university issued a notice on its upcoming meeting, scheduled for Thursday, May 15th, which stated that the trustees would reportedly be discussing the closure recommendation.
On Monday, the Inquirer reported that the university is allegedly planning to approve the closure of seven satellite campuses, including Dubois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre, and York.
In response to the report, university officials issued a statement confirming that the Board of Trustees will be voting on the matter, but did not specify when that will be.
“It’s disheartening to learn that information in advance of a board vote has been reported. Given the complexity of this decision, trustees will be taking additional time to review the President’s recommendation and the supporting materials. There is significant information in the full recommendation which will be shared following a board vote. I find it deeply frustrating that someone with early access to this recommendation decided to share it with the media with absolutely no regard for how this information would impact members of our campus communities. Our students, faculty and staff deserve better.”
Penn State further noted that until that vote is held, “no decision on any campus is final.”