Covid-19 update: “It’s been a crazy year” Looking to Fall Semester for return to "normal" The clouds are clearing; the sun peaking over the horizon. The promised better times – a return to “normal” – seems to be closer than ever. More than a year after that fateful Spring Break week, when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, halting all on-campus classes and transforming the lives of students, faculty and everyone else, YSU is emerging with plans to a return to a regular Fall Semester starting in August. “We have made great progress as a state and a nation, and as a university, in battling

Post-Pandemic Era "By all accounts, we are in good hands" Take it from an old football coach who has been through a fair share of last-second nail-biters, the certainty of victory comes only when the clock ticks no more. That’s why, even-though it appears we may have beaten back this incessant threat of COVID-19, it’s best that we remain vigilant and cautious. That’s exactly what we’ve done and will continue to do here at YSU as we look forward to fully reopening the campus for the start of the Fall Semester in August. By then, it will have been nearly 18 months since we curtailed most on

1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s ’50S Earl Peter Taflan, Business Administration, 1950, turns 100 on Nov. 24 this year. A lifelong resident of Canton, Ohio, Taflan served in the Army and then attended Youngstown College on the GI Bill. He remembers taking an Economics class taught by Howard Jones, the iconic first president of YSU. Jones, he said, “was a very good teacher.” Taflan retired in 1982 as vice president of Dyneer Corp. He’s been playing Bridge since his Army days. For the past 35 years, Taflan and the same group of guys get together every week to play. Top ’60S Ellene

Class Notes - Extras Covering the big stories From Ted Cruz, Tiger Woods and Britney Spears, to the Capitol Hill insurrection, mass shootings and COVID-19, Justin Carissimo has had a very busy six months. Carissimo, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 2013 and is a former staffer of The Jambar student newspaper, is an assistant managing editor at CBS News in New York, where he assigns, edits and reports national news stories. At CBS, he mostly works on the website and liaise with the CBS Evening News and the streaming channel, CBSN. He has led coverage on several major events like the

Hult Prize, known as the Nobel Peace Prize for college students; Samantha Sloan, winner of the International Gilman Scholarship to study in Finland; and Emily Henline, selected to receive the prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study in South Korea.  " alt="Student Success" height="534" width="900"> YSU Student Success "Nothing short of remarkable" In the media, it’s known as a slow news week – a stretch of days where there’s not much going on and you have to go out and scratch up a story. When it comes to student success here at YSU, a slow news week is…nonexistent. Take, for instance, this

"A symbol of hope and the future"  " alt="car donation" height="662" width="998"> arts festival moves downtown The YSU Summer Festival of the Arts is moving a few blocks south from the YSU campus to the new Wean Foundation Park in downtown Youngstown. The free festival, started in 1999, annually attracts more than 80 artists and 15,000 visitors. This year’s event is July 17 and 18. “We hope this move will help further grow the festival and will also help further introduce the community to this beautiful new downtown recreational area,” YSU President Jim Tressel said at a news conference

"From the locker room to board room" Tressel's leadership legacy YSU Trustees Michael Peterson, Joe Kerola, Eric Spiegel, Chuck George and John Jakubek present a check to President Jim Tressel for the new Tressel Leadership Fellowship" alt="Tressel leadership" height="574" width="900"> The governing boards for both YSU and the YSU Foundation pulled out their wallets earlier this year to support the legacy of President Jim Tressel. In January, 10 trustees of the YSU Foundation, the university’s fund-raising arm, donated $1.6 million to establish the President James P. Tressel Endowed Chair in

Alumni Events Upcoming... Catch up with fellow Penguins this summer through in-person and virtual alumni events! Visit the Alumni Engagement Facebook page for more information or email habelgin@ysu.edu. Tuesday, June 29, 7p.m. – YSU Alumni and Friends Virtual Book Club discusses The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. Tuesday, July 20, 3 to 8 p.m. - Akron/Canton Alumni Chapter Open House at Leo's Italian Social, 2251 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Stop by to say hello to fellow alumni, grab a bite to eat or just donate canned goods and new socks for the chapter's service project for the Canton