Blue Band receives financial boost for band member support funds

Richard Mahany ('68 B.S. Business) and his wife Pamela ('68 B.A. Anthropology) have made a significant financial contribution to the Penn State Blue Band to provide support for band members. The Richard and Pamela Mahany Blue Band Support Fund will make available funds for band members to more easily absorb the costs associated with performing in the Blue Band. While pursuing undergraduate degrees in the mid-1960s, the Mahanys met shortly after joining the first-ever Penn State ice skating team. The Penn State love story blossomed and the couple raised a family in Titusville until they relocated to Georgetown, South Carolina, after Richard retired in 1996 from the banking industry. When considering how to become more philanthropically engaged with the University, the Mahanys reflected on their time at Penn State as undergraduates as well as being football season ticket holders for nearly four decades. "There were times when we would go to the football games and be upset with the result, but we were never upset with the Blue Band," Richard Mahany said. "For us, when we heard the Blue Band it always gave us that kind of swelling in your chest and it just gave us that pure feeling about Penn State." After working with the College of Arts and Architecture development staff, the Manahys learned about the fees paid by Blue Band members for uniforms, music and instrument usage. Funding is made available for band members through generous funds established by numerous donors, but because the pool doesn't cover all of the band member's needs, the Mahanys wanted to help fill the gap. "It's a lot harder for them to get help than it is an athlete, and this identifies more with our experience at the University," Mahany said. "We hope that funds from this donation can help somebody that needs an instrument upgrade or somebody that's trying to make ends meet while in the band and we felt this was a great way to address those needs." This gift will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State's position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, "A Greater Penn State" seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.