EIGHTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, PA — On March 28, Representative Rob Bresnahan, Jr. (PA-08) sent a letter to Pennsylvania State University (PSU) President Neeli Bendapudi, following the February 25 memoranda by PSU to reevaluate campus locations across the Commonwealth. Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District is home to a campus in Scranton, and two additional campuses, Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre, sit just outside the district and serve a sizable number of Rep. Bresnahan’s constituents.

“I want to make clear the deep concern and growing anxiety I have heard from my constituents that rely on these campuses for both education and employment, and highlight the detrimental impacts the closure of any of these campuses will have on higher education access and economic growth in our NEPA,” wrote Rep. Bresnahan. “I am most concerned about how closures could impact the quality and scope of PSU programs available to our local students and the potential job losses among local PSU faculty and staff.”

The February 25 memoranda stated that PSU’s leadership will be evaluating which of its campuses will close in the next several years. The Scranton, Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre campuses are among those being reviewed for potential closure or consolidation.

“Attempts at decreasing access to the services that are provided at our local PSU campuses only threaten to hinder our economic revitalization,” continued Rep. Bresnahan. “Therefore, I am calling on you…to keep these regional campuses fully open, preserving full access to the PSU student experience for our local students. This decade is NEPA’s opportunity to put itself back on the map as an economic and knowledge leader for our Commonwealth and our country. I hope PSU’s NEPA campuses will be a part of that story.”

You can read the full letter here.