Julie Ankrum, IUP President Michael Driscoll; Bill and Judy Scheeren, Lara Luetkehans, dean of the College of Education and Communications, Sara Coleman, Jessica Mulvihill

From left, Julie Ankrum, director of the Scheeren Literacy Center; IUP President Michael Driscoll; Bill and Judy Scheeren, in front cutting the ribbon; in center at podium is Lara Luetkehans, dean of the College of Education and Communications; master's degree in literacy graduate Sara Coleman; Jessica Mulvihill, IUP Office of International Education

Indiana University of Pennsylvania celebrated the Bill and Judy Scheeren Literacy Center with a ribbon cutting ceremony on March 22.

It was announced in March 2018 that the Scheerens, of Greensburg, committed $1.4 million in support of initiatives in the College of Education and Communications at IUP, which is home for the IUP Literacy Center.

IUP's Literacy Center provides assessment and instruction for children and adolescents who need assistance with reading and writing. Graduate students pursuing reading specialist certification provide instruction to community children under the direction of faculty members.

Bill Scheeren, who graduated from IUP in 1968, is known by thousands of students and teachers in Westmoreland County as the retired chairman of the Hempfield Area School District's library department. Judy Scheeren is a long-time technology professor at Westmoreland County Community College. Both serve on IUP's College of Education and Communications Advancement Council.