Great Valley golf outing raised nearly $30,000 for scholarships

MALVERN, Pa. — Penn State Great Valley hosted its 14th annual golf outing on May 19 to support student scholarships at the Applecross Country Club in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Guests enjoyed a day of golfing, bidding on silent auction items and dining together, raising nearly $30,000 for scholarships.

“We are so grateful to our sponsors, golfers, dinner guests, staff, volunteers and committee members for making the event a success,” said Kathryn DiPuppo Tucker, director of Penn State Great Valley’s campus development.

View photos from the 2026 golf outing.

Lydell Sargeant, former Nittany Lions and Buffalo Bills football player and now senior director of development for Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts, served as the keynote speaker for the event and spoke about how his athletic and academic experiences at Penn State shaped his character and leadership skills.

“Penn State truly is a hub of leaders,” he said. “And that is why education, to me, is the answer for a lot of the societal problems we have.”

He commended guests for their support for education and quoted Nelson Mandela, who said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Financial support can make a great difference to graduate students, many of whom are carrying debt from their undergraduate education or have families depending upon them. Scholarship recipients typically write letters to thank donors for the way their gifts changed students’ lives, and past expressions of gratitude include:

• “Thanks to you, I am one step closer to my dream. You have lightened my financial burden, which allows me to focus on learning.”
• “This scholarship comes at a time of increased financial stress. I am very thankful to have one less thing to worry about.”
• “Thank you for investing in students like me. Your support changes lives in ways you may not always see — but the impact is profound.”

Gifts to Penn State Great Valley advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.