Pete's Pride hits another milestone: 4,000 volunteer hours

Pete’s Pride, a program aimed at getting alumni, parents, faculty, staff, Penguin fans, community members and others more involved at Youngstown State University, has reached another milestone.

The program’s participants have now contributed 4,000 volunteer hours.

The mark was reached when two members of Pete’s Pride, YSU alums Peyman Givi and Robert Zahner, talked with guidance counselors at the Western Pennsylvania Counselor Program about how their YSU education led them to successful careers.

Pete’s Pride was started a year ago by YSU President Jim Tressel. There are now nearly 1,300 volunteers.

Participants take part in a variety of tasks and activities aimed at recruiting new students, mentoring current students and engaging recent graduates. Pete’s Pride volunteers assist with enrollment, career development and outreach efforts at YSU. Activities include participation in Crash Day and Experience Y Day visit programs, representing YSU at community events and participating in community service projects. Volunteers also help YSU students with career development through a mock interview program called “Backpacks to Briefcases”, the Career Exploration Series, Career Fairs and Majors Fairs.

Givi is the Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering James T. MacLeod Professor in Swanson School of Engineering and professor of Petroleum Engineering Co-Director: PhD Program in Computational Modeling and Simulation at University of Pittsburgh. Zahner is valuation manager at HBK Valuation Group.