UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The 27th annual Penn State IT United Way Golf Tournament, held Sept. 15 at the Penn State Golf Courses, set a new record by raising more than $123,000 for the Centre County United Way (CCUW). The figure exceeded the 2024 tournament total by more than $20,000, with all proceeds going to United Way's investment in programs and initiatives focused on education, health and financial stability.
"At Penn State, making an impact is part of our DNA," said David Horton, Penn State's vice president for information technology and chief information officer. "We love this event where our Penn State IT team and our vendor partners come together to amplify the efforts and impact of the Centre County United Way."
Before the 215 golfers took to the links at the Penn State Golf Courses, the planning committee spent 10 months planning every detail. Led by chairs Laura Davis, Susan Taylor and Dana Williams, the planning committee included Penn State IT staff members Megan Anderson, Patrick Besong, Yu Tai Chung, Danelle Del Corso, Rich Cropp, David Gindhart, Matt Harter, Vicki Hoffman, John Ilie, Lynn Koehler, Thomas Lutz, Krystal McMillen, Jeff Minelli, Bradley Seyler, Jim Strickland and Heather White. Another 40 volunteers assisted on the day of the tournament.
Several University Park students documented the day's events, including a Bellisario College Student Media team who produced this video for Centre County Report.
"We are so grateful for Penn State IT," said Megan Evans, CCUW executive director. "Although we don’t have totals for every year of the tournament, this very successful event has raised $689,762 for the United Way since 2011. This helps to enable the outreach and work of our 22 partner agencies that provide programming and support throughout our community."
Contributing to the record-breaking total were vendors who sponsored the event at different tier levels. This year's platinum sponsors were Ahead/Dell, Instructure and Juniper Networks. All top-tier sponsors were invited to a breakfast the morning after the tournament to network with Horton and members of his senior leadership team.
Next year's tournament will be held on Sept. 21, 2026. Early bird sponsor information is available now. Staff who would like to be part of the planning committee may email PSIT-CCUWGolfOuting@psu.edu.