Larry King was live via satellite yesterday at Penn State's University Park campus for a special interview of Joe and Sue Paterno that kicked off a long weekend of events related to Penn State's new private giving campaign. Both the interviewer and the interviewees drew laughs and applause from the crowd as King, in his trademark style and wearing Penn State-themed suspenders, engaged the Paternos on topics ranging from how they first met when Joe was an assistant coach to how they want be remembered in the future. King at one point asked the head coach, whom he first met while working in Miami before his Larry King Live days.
Higher education has a greater responsibility now than ever.
King mentioned that he hopes to visit University Park in June with a stepson, Danny Southwick, whose dream is to play for Penn State. The appointment will be a homecoming for Porter, a western Pennsylvania native who completed his first two years of college at the McKeesport campus. He also directed the reorganization of campus administrative structures and helped the campus introduce a new business and information technology curriculum. Under his leadership, the Stamford campus has experienced a 41 percent increase in freshman admissions. Porter has held academic positions at California State University at Long Beach and the University of Pittsburgh.