The Penn State Board of Trustees spent more time discussing university business in its public meetings in 2025 than in any of the five previous years.
However, the increase in discussions was not universal. Data analyzed by Spotlight PA show the board’s public conversations this year were almost entirely focused on three topics: naming the football field, removing a sitting trustee, and closing seven campuses across the state in 2027.
Spotlight PA reviewed only full board meetings to provide comparable data to its previous analysis and because the board’s bylaws only mandate trustee attendance for a certain percentage of full board meetings. (Under the bylaws, trustees are expected to “diligently participate in any Committees to which they are assigned.”)
Shannon Harvey, secretary for the board, disputed Spotlight PA’s methods of analysis in an email. “Committee meetings provide time for discussion, information sharing, and deliberation on matters including matters that ultimately come before the full Board for consideration,” Harvey wrote. “Any assessment of Board engagement should take into account the committee structure and the significant amount of work that occurs in those committee meetings.”
Last year, the newsroom tracked and analyzed trustee discussions and votes between 2019 and 2024. The data showed the 36-member board rarely discussed issues before voting, unless they were about athletics or internal board operations, and that the board approved 85% of proposals it considered without a single dissenting vote. At the time, the university did not respond to a request for comment about the findings.
The board’s voting pattern remained consistent in 2025. Each of the nearly 50 votable items trustees considered was passed, and all but nine of them were unanimous. The corporate naming rights to the football field, in March, and the campus closure plan, in May, faced the most opposition, with eight trustees voting against each of those proposals.
The full board met nine times in 2025, for a total of nearly 10.5 hours — 22% (or two hours and 20 minutes) of which was spent discussing items that later received votes, according to Spotlight PA’s analysis. The percentage was a recent high for the governing body. In 2024, the figure was 17.5%. The other preceding years, going back to 2019, were all single-digit percentages.
Ross Mugler, interim president and CEO of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, said in a statement to Spotlight PA that a board’s public discussion can improve trust and help leaders make better decisions.
“When board members spend meaningful time in discussion, institutions benefit from the candid dialogue and healthy skepticism that occurs before final decisions are made,” Mugler said. “Quick approvals without inquiry fall short of fiduciary duty. Leaders must encourage questions, test assumptions, and explore alternatives before decision-making.”
Penn State’s board spent all but five minutes of its 2025 discussions on the football field naming, the campus closure plan, and the removal of alumni-elected trustee Barry Fenchak from the board in June. Other topics, such as Penn State’s strategic plan, the university’s operating budget, and President Neeli Bendapudi’s compensation package, received in total approximately 30 seconds of public discussion during full board meetings.
In November, the board updated its bylaws to require that trustees follow board or communications staff guidance on whether they can speak with members of the press, among other revisions. Tabitha Oman, the university’s general counsel, said in a committee meeting that the changes were to clarify that “board meetings are the time for robust and vigorous debate of trustee views.” Only one trustee, alumni-elected member Anthony Lubrano, voted against the changes.
First Amendment experts told the Centre Daily Times that the changes raise free speech concerns and could have a chilling effect.