We are incredibly excited to share that Owen Haddad will be the first annual recipient of the Jason and Julia Borrelli UPUA Leadership Scholarship. Owen served as the Chair of Academic Affairs and College of Communications Representative this year in UPUA. He is only a sophomore, but yet he spearheaded one of the largest UPUA projects in history this year: the finalization of a policy that sets an expectation on course instructors to deliver solely remote asynchronous instruction on November election days.

This project has been in motion in UPUA for about a decade, and Owen dedicated significant time to relationship building with administrators, receiving feedback from Faculty Senate leadership, investing in the success of his fellow student senators, and benchmarking other Universities to finally complete the project. 

This project was important because a civically engaged community aligns with Penn State’s values of integrity, respect, responsibility, discovery, excellence, and community. College is a great time to begin civic engagement because it is a period of significant personal growth and development. As students transition from their teenage years into adulthood, they begin to form their own opinions and beliefs about the world around them. By voting, students overcome their insecurities about political engagement, develop a political identity, and reduce the psychological distance between their everyday routines and political issues. By starting to vote in college, students are more likely to establish lifelong voting habits. Owen’s legislation allows Penn State to build capacity for institutionalizing forms of engaged learning.

The Election Day policy is just one of Owen’s incredible accomplishments this year in UPUA. He consistently led with an open mind and a focus on making himself accessible to representatives. His dedication to his peers will positively affect future years of the organization because of their strengthened confidence and knowledge of the University. We are very excited to see Owen’s leadership continue into the 18th Assembly of the UPUA, as he has recently been re-elected as an At-Large Representative.

Exploring Public Relations in a Lens of Corporate Responsibility

Owen is a Public Relations major with a minor in Digital Media Trends and Analytics. He has been outstanding in the Bellisario College of Communications, and has been on the Dean’s List all of the semesters he has been at Penn State. He believes strongly that being involved with organizations like UPUA have surrounded him with motivated students and challenged him to be the best version of himself possible.

As a Public Relations student, Owen has focused his degree through the 21st century lens of social responsibility. He was inspired by the work he was a part of through the UPUA and wanted to find a way to merge that with his degree to continue to make a change in his community throughout his professional career. His dream is to take on a role in a Public Relations firm that aids corporations in finding philanthropic opportunities that are authentic and personal to their brand story.

Jason and Julia Borrelli

Jason Borrelli is a senior principal at EQT Exeter in Philadelphia, and he is a Penn State Aerospace Engineering and Penn State Greater Valley MBA alumnus. Julia Borrelli completed a degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management also at Penn State. The two have been incredible Penn State philanthropists and involved alumni, specifically within the Smeal College of Business. In addition to their gifts to Smeal’s real estate program, the couple also endowed the Jason and Julia Borrelli Trustee Scholarship, the Borrelli Family Open Doors Scholarship in the Smeal College of Business, the Jason and Julia Borrelli Open Doors Scholarship in the College of Engineering, and the Borrelli Educational Equity Scholarship.

The family endowed the “Jason and Julia Borrelli UPUA Leadership Scholarship” to support the students who give so much back to the University voluntarily, often preventing them from getting a part-time job. The scholarship is designed to go towards a member of the UPUA who has a demonstrated financial need for funds to meet their necessary college expenses, has achieved superior academic records, and manifests promise of outstanding academic success. Owen is an out-of-state student, and this scholarship will directly support his ability to continue in UPUA leadership roles.

Ways to Give

If you felt inspired by Owen’s work or the generosity of Jason and Julia Borrelli, we highly encourage you to check out our donation page which outlines multiple ways to give. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out to president@upua.org.