MCKEESPORT, Pa. — On Aug. 20, 2024, Penn State Greater Allegheny hosted its annual All Campus Day, a professional development conference for faculty and staff to reconnect, celebrate each other’s accomplishments, and discuss common intellectual experiences (CIEs). CIEs focus on universal challenges — such as mental health and social inequities — that people are likely to have encountered or will probably encounter at some point in life.
Representatives of the Allegheny Area Agency on Aging (AAA) helped with last year’s conference to introduce “Growing Older,” a new CIE that challenges the campus community to think about the complexities of aging and its impact on Allegheny County, where approximately 27% of residents are over the age of 60, according to the AAA's Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2022-23.
After the conference, the Greater Allegheny campus began to incorporate aging-related topics into several of its academic disciplines. Biobehavioral health students will examine cognitive changes, family dynamics and caregiving, with service-learning at senior centers; social work and psychology courses address mental health challenges in older adults, the impact of aging on reentry from incarceration, and the role of ageism in health disparities; and business students will study marketing, entrepreneurship, and workforce trends related to an aging population.
Shannah Gilliam, director of the AAA, said higher education should build empathy. She sees the CIE initiative as a way to challenge biases through shared learning. She hopes students will become more patient and respectful toward older adults, recognizing their contributions to society.
“Partnering [with students in their late teens or early twenties on an experience to] get them thinking about the fact that we are all growing older is a novel approach,” Gilliam said. “It’s exciting because I think the earlier that ... we start to have these conversations, the [sooner people see] that aging is actually golden. It’s an amazing experience. The ride of a life is the ride of your life and I’ve been really excited to be on this path with you all.”
The initiative extends beyond the classroom with campus-wide events, student organizations, workshops and interactive opportunities focused on aging and its societal impact. Perhaps the most anticipated event is the unveiling of a downtown McKeesport mural by Penn State alumna and celebrated muralist Janel Young.
Young visited the Greater Allegheny campus to speak with students about the mural at their spring semester kick-off. Using a survey, she hopes to gather student input on the mural’s design, capturing personal stories, emotions, and perspectives on aging and the McKeesport community. These insights will provide the foundations for a collaborative painting experience in early April, where Penn State Greater Allegheny will invite students, faculty, and community members to take part in bringing the mural to life.
More details on the mural will be announced at the Greater Allegheny campus on April 9, where Young will host an "Artist Talk" session to share insights on the design process.