A tradition of leadership: Blue Band president takes path to public service

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As president of the Blue Band, Penn State student Cara Arnoldi isn’t just upholding a family tradition — she’s shaping her future through leadership, research and hands-on experience.

As a fourth-year student from Chalfont, Pennsylvania, Arnoldi is double majoring in political science and communication arts and sciences while pursuing a master of public policy degree through the integrated undergraduate-graduate (IUG) degree program. She is also a Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar.

For Arnoldi, she said, Penn State was more than just a college choice — it was a legacy. Her parents met as Penn State students in the Blue Band, making it no surprise that she now leads the organization as president during its milestone 125th anniversary.

In addition to her parents, Arnoldi’s older sister marched in the Blue Band, and her younger sister is a current member.

“Being part of this organization, from even a non-leadership standpoint, was a dream come true because now there’s more that connects my family together than blood,” Arnoldi said. “We have all this shared, common experience that has really influenced the trajectory of our college careers.”

From the moment Arnoldi joined the Blue Band her first year, she knew that she wanted to take an active role in the organization by joining the executive board. Over the course of her first three years in the organization, she held the titles of squad leader, librarian and vice president. Arnoldi danced in Penn State THON representing the Blue Band her second year.

Now as president, Arnoldi acts as the main connection between the Blue Band and other University organizations through the Student Leadership Roundtable, Performing Arts Council and Student-Athlete Advisory Board. She works to enhance her members’ experience by helping cut band camp parking costs in half last year and fostering a strong sense of community.

“It was just such a special year to be the president, too. There were so many stories this year coming out with the 125th anniversary,” Arnoldi said. “Being a legacy and being the president at the same time, it was the perfect year for me to really hold this position.”

In addition to her involvement in the Blue Band, Arnoldi is a member of Mortar Board and Lambda Pi Eta and was previously on the Student Advisory Board of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy in the College of the Liberal Arts.

Through the McCourtney Institute, Arnoldi completed an eight-week Nevins Fellowship at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress in Washington, D.C. During the fellowship, Arnoldi worked on a variety of projects related to political reform and bipartisanship.

“It was a huge networking opportunity and a research opportunity; I feel like if you're in politics, you should spend at least a little time in D.C.,” Arnoldi said.

Research has played a pivotal role throughout Arnoldi’s college experience. On campus, she was a research assistant for Cyanne E. Loyle, Political Science Board of Visitors Early Career Professor of Political Science, working on a project about the judicial court systems organized by rebel groups during civil wars.

Last summer, Arnoldi took her research efforts abroad during WMNST 399: The Quest for Reproductive Justice in South Africa, a faculty-led education abroad program through the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in the College of the Liberal Arts. The group worked on several research projects, and Arnoldi focused her research on the inadequacy of adoption services in South Africa, contrasting it with the United States’ emphasis on improving foster and adoption services.

As a student in the Paterno Fellows Program and Schreyer Honors College, Arnoldi was required to complete an honors thesis — “A Woman’s Glory: The Past, Present and Future of Feminist Rhetoric” — which was inspired by her studies and research in feminist rhetoric and the suffragist era, she said. Lisa Flores, Josephine Berry Weiss Chair of the Humanities and professor of communication arts and sciences and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, aided Arnoldi through the process.

“I wanted to study how suffragists contributed to the academic field of feminist rhetoric, what strategies they borrowed from masculine rhetoric and how they transformed it into something women can use, and then what strategies they came up with on their own,” Arnoldi said.

In March, Arnoldi will present her thesis to communication professionals and students at the Eastern Communication Association convention.

Arnoldi’s experiences at Penn State have shaped her career aspirations, but none more than her IUG degree program in public policy and communication arts and sciences. After learning about the program from Kirt Wilson, department head of communication arts and sciences, she shifted her focus from law to government and political consulting. Drawn to research, writing and deliberative communication, she sees government consulting as the ideal path to inspire civic engagement and foster collaboration in the political sphere.