Blue White Illustrated

FOOTBALL Penn State receives $1 million donation Penn State alumnus and longtime donor Michael J. Farrell announced that The Farrell Family Charitable Founda- tion that he established has committed to give Penn State $1 million to support the Football Excellence Fund in Intercol- legiate Athletics. The team auditorium in the Lasch Football Building will be named in honor of the 2012 Penn State football team, of which Farrell's son Mike was a member. "We are so appreciative of the com- mitment that The Farrell Family Chari- table Foundation has made to Penn State football," athletics director Sandy Bar- bour said. "We value the longstanding relationship with Michael Farrell, and this gift assists us in providing world- class conditions for success for our stu- dent-athletes on the field, in the class- room and in life." The Football Excellence Fund provides discretionary funding to support costs, such as facilities improvements, equip- ment purchases, travel and other needs that arise throughout the season. "We are very grateful to The Farrell Family Charitable Foundation for this generous gift to our football program and very appreciative of the efforts by Mike on and off the field during his time as a Penn State football student-athlete," coach James Franklin said. "The 2012 team was a special, resilient group who will always be remembered for the com- mitment they made to Penn State and the football program. The support from this gift will provide us with the resources to give our football student-athletes an un- rivaled Penn State experience." Michael J. Farrell, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh-based firm Farrell & Co., graduated from Penn State in 1971 from the Smeal College of Business. Mike Farrell was a 2012 honorable- mention All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media after helping the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record. An of- fensive tackle, he was the 2012 co-recip- ient of the team's Richard Maginnis Award, presented to its top senior offen- sive lineman. FOOTBALL Graduation rate ranks among nation's best The Penn State football team's NCAA Graduation Success Rate again is among the top 15 of the nation's Football Bowl Subdivision institutions and is tied for fifth nationally among public FBS schools. Penn State football players who en- rolled in the university from 2004-07 earned a GSR of 87 percent, second- highest in the Big Ten and tied with Middle Tennessee State for No. 13 overall among the nation's 128 FBS schools. The 87 percent figure was up two points from the 2013 NCAA report and tied for the football program's second-highest graduation rate (with 2011). The Nittany Lions' football graduation rate was tied for No. 5 among all public FBS institutions, trailing only Texas-San Antonio, Northern Illinois, UCF and UCLA. Penn State's graduation figure was 16 points higher than the 71 percent FBS average and was second to North- western among Big Ten schools. Penn State football players who en- rolled in the university from 2004-07 earned a four-year federal graduation rate of 75 percent, an improvement of three points from 2013 and also No. 2 to North- western among Big Ten teams. Penn State's graduation figure was 16 points above the 59 percent FBS average. EXIT MUSIC After leading the Blue Band for nearly two decades, O. Richard Bundy directed his last performance at Beaver Stadium when the Nittany Li- ons faced Michigan State in their regular-season finale. Bundy, who played trombone in the band as an undergraduate in the 1960s and who has directed it since 1996, announced in August that the 2014 sea- son would be his last. He will officially step down in the spring. Al- though the band has been in existence for 115 years, Bundy is only its fifth director. The search for his successor is under way. Photo by Patrick Mansell

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