LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. — The news of Penn State’s decision to close the Eberly Campus in Fayette County has been tough for many in the community.
“When Penn State announced that they were going to be closing the campus, it really, it was just kind of a gut kick to the local community,” said State Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa, a Republican from Smithfield.
She wants to do something to try to replace it.
“Unless we are aggressively, aggressively investing in those ideas, then they’re never going to come to fruition,” she told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.
She sent a memo to her fellow lawmakers in Harrisburg Thursday afternoon notifying them of her intent to order a study of the feasibility of turning Penn State’s Eberly Campus into a senior military college. It’s an idea, she said, came from the Fayette County Controller.
The study would look at whether or not the campus is suitable for a senior military college model, potential partnerships with the state National Guard, U.S. Department of Defense and other institutions for higher learning, potential enrollment and demand, funding options, economic impacts in Fayette County and the Commonwealth, and any legal, accreditation and regulatory requirements.
Grimm Krupa said students could pursue degrees in high demand fields such as nursing, mechanical and civil engineering, business, accounting, political science, and cybersecurity.
“If this is something that the data is showing that could be successful, then I think we owe it to our community and our commonwealth to invest in it,” she said.
Channel 11 previously reported Fayette County Commissioners formed a transitional committee to look at what they could do to keep this as an educational facility.
“We’re determined to turn this into a positive thing for the county’s future,” Commissioner Vincent Vicites said.
Grimm Krupa said she’s working to rally support of her proposal, and plans to file the resolution ordering the feasibility study in the next few weeks.
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