Schreyer Honors College and Penn State left an indelible mark on the lives of Tyler and Shannon Mincemoyer. As Scholars, the couple began dating, made friendships that are still going strong today and took on academic journeys that set them up for career success. A little more than 10 years post-graduation, the Mincemoyers are staying connected to Schreyer, and helping improve access to the College, through philanthropy.
The Mincemoyers have endowed two scholarships in the Honors College; the Tyler and Shannon Mincemoyer Scholarship in the Schreyer Honors College and the Tyler and Shannon Mincemoyer Educational Equity Honors Scholarship.
“It fills me with pride and gratitude that Tyler and Shannon Mincemoyer, at relatively early stages of their careers, are so committed to giving back to the Honors College,” said Patrick Mather, dean of Schreyer Honors College. “I hope their philanthropy will serve as an inspiration to other young Scholar alumni.”
“It fills me with pride and gratitude that Tyler and Shannon Mincemoyer, at relatively early stages of their careers, are so committed to giving back to the Honors College. I hope their philanthropy will serve as an inspiration to other young Scholar alumni.”
Patrick Mather, dean of Schreyer Honors College.
Shannon Mincemoyer grew up near Pittsburgh as the youngest of three siblings and was inspired, in part, to attend Penn State by her older brother’s and sister’s experiences as students. She also said that she was drawn to the University’s vast offerings for involvement, opportunities to connect with alumni in her fields of interest and the close-knit, community feel of the Honors College.
Tyler Mincemoyer, meanwhile, is a third-generation Penn Stater who grew up in State College. His grandfather and mother were faculty members at the University while his father spent time on Penn State’s and the State College Area School District’s staff.
“I had a great experience at Penn State and really loved Schreyer,” said Shannon. “Tyler and I met there, and we met a lot of our best friends there. We’ve kept in touch with them, and they’re still some of our best friends today. So, I think [our time at Schreyer] really formed a lot of our adulthood.”
“I think, like Shannon mentioned, the connections we created and the way that Schreyer launched both of our careers, along with the impact on our personal lives, has been something we hold in really high regard as we’ve moved forward in our lives,” added Tyler. “It’s a pretty special place to us.”
Since finishing his bachelor of science degree in information science and technology in 2011, Tyler has gone on to work as a manager for Deloitte, a director of product management for UPMC and now as a key account executive for Google. He says that his experience at Penn State was instrumental in preparing him to take on high-level positions with large companies at the start of his career.
“I think the educational philosophy of the Honors College – and Penn State – put me in a really practical position to succeed post-graduation,” Tyler noted. “Overall, Penn State did an incredible job of providing me with a practical education that aligned with the career path I wanted to pursue. And then Schreyer’s career development team opened important doors within the world of recruiting.”
Shannon’s experience was similar thanks to an important professional connection she made as a Scholar.
“Bob Edwards was an executive in treasury management at PNC in Pittsburgh. He’s retired now, but at the time he was passionate about hiring interns from the Honors College,” she said. “After interviewing with him and getting the internship, he took me under his wing, and he helped to launch my PNC career. From there I made connections with other Penn Staters and mentors who helped to redirect my career, a bit, to where I am now.”
Like her husband, Shannon graduated in 2011 and earned her bachelor of science degree in finance. After two years with PNC, she enrolled in law school at Northwestern and upon graduation joined Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh where she now works as a senior associate focused on employee benefits and executive compensation.
With careers established in fields that they enjoy, Tyler and Shannon reflected on what got them to that point and how they could help provide similar opportunities to others. Ultimately, their shared value of education, deep appreciation for Schreyer and Penn State and a family tradition of giving back helped them formulate a plan. The Mincemoyer Family Trustee Scholarship in the Schreyer Honors College was established by Betty Mincemoyer, Tyler’s grandmother, and Beth Egan, Tyler’s aunt.
“Tyler’s grandmother has been really generous and philanthropic with Penn State,” said Shannon. “I think that influences Tyler a lot and inspires me, as well, to pay it forward. She will never ask for anything for herself, she’s the type of person to reuse whatever she can and then turns around and gives her money away to charity. We’ve seen the benefits of that and have tried to follow in her footsteps a bit.”
“There’s a lot of love for everything that Penn State has done for our family,” added Tyler. “[Shannon and I] were both incredibly fortunate to not face some of the financial burdens that others do to attend college. Paying that forward for others to put their career on the same trajectory as ours is something we strongly believe in.
“And when you know you’re able to give money, you think about the places you believe in. Schreyer was right up there at the top for us,” Tyler continued.
The Tyler and Shannon Mincemoyer Scholarship in the Schreyer Honors College is available to current Scholars at any Penn State campus who have a demonstrated financial need for the funds to help them meet necessary college expenses. The Tyler and Shannon Mincemoyer Educational Equity Honors Scholarship, meanwhile, offers funding to Scholars in need whose “gender, ethnic, cultural, and/or national background contribute to the diversity of the student body.”
The educational equity scholarship was a result of the Mincemoyers’ most recent gift that was influenced by many of the current sociopolitical elements at play.
“I don’t remember the exact timing of it, but as we’ve watched all of these situations and issues in our society that revolve around racial inequality, Tyler and I looked at what we could do as individuals to help make a positive change,” said Shannon.
“Education is the thing that both of us can get behind to the point where that is the fundamental building block of our philanthropy because of its power to affect change,” continued Tyler. “Penn State and Schreyer will be stronger with a more diverse student body, and we believe the best way we can support that effort is by helping fund the education of others.”
The Mincemoyers’ commitments have totaled $250,000, which include corporate matches from Deloitte and Google, as well as the Penn State matching program that was available at the time of the scholarships’ creation.
They were also guided through the process by Sean Miller, Schreyer’s senior director of development and alumni relations. They are hopeful that other Scholar alumni, who are in a position to do so, will take advantage of that type of support as well.
“I would say don’t let the process of gift giving get in the way of starting down the path,” said Tyler. “[For alumni] it’s never too early to start thinking about giving and there are a lot of different mechanisms to make your dollar go further at Penn State. You shouldn’t let the process or the fear of the dollar amount prevent you from having a conversation about how you could help students.”
