Keith ’73 and Susan Hall Establish Tenacity Grant to Champion Lock Haven Students Who Refuse to Give Up

Some students arrive on campus carrying more than just backpacks and textbooks.

They carry long work shifts, family responsibilities, financial uncertainty, but also the determination to keep moving forward despite every obstacle in their path.

That is exactly the kind of student Robert “Keith” Hall ’73 and his wife, Susan, aim to support after establishing the Tenacity Grant for Emerging Scholars through the Lock Haven University Foundation (LHUF), a five-year scholarship commitment that will provide $5,000 annually to Commonwealth University-Lock Haven students whose determination, resilience, and work ethic demonstrate their potential for future success.

“Through their incredible support, Keith and Susan are not only helping remove financial barriers—they’re sending a powerful message that perseverance matters, hard work is recognized, and potential deserves to be nurtured,” said Erik Evans ’88, vice president for university advancement. “The Tenacity Grant is extra special because it recognizes students whose work ethic often tells a much richer story than their grades alone. We are grateful for Keith and Susan’s thoughtful partnership, and how it reflects everything we hope philanthropy can accomplish at The Haven.”

For Keith and Susan, the scholarship represents far more than financial assistance. It is an investment in the Lock Haven students whose journeys look remarkably similar to the one Keith experienced more than five decades ago.

After graduating from high school in western Pennsylvania in 1969, going to college was anything but a certainty. His father spent 45 years working in Pittsburgh steel mills and could not afford to send both Keith and his sister—who was already enrolled at IUP—to college. With limited resources, Keith was working at his uncle’s gas station until his sister stepped in, completed his college application, and convinced him to attend what was then Lock Haven State College.

“Lock Haven gave me a great education. My professors cared. 
They took me under their wings, and that really meant a lot to me.”

Keith arrived on campus that fall and quickly found a sense of belonging in Smith Hall before discovering what would become one of the most influential parts of his college experience—the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) fraternity. Upon pledging, he found lifelong friendships with brothers who shared many of the same backgrounds, values, and ambitions. 

Their TKE brotherhood extended far beyond social gatherings. They celebrated personal milestones together, supported one another through life’s challenges, and formed bonds that have endured for more than 50 years.

Equally influential were the faculty members who invested in Keith academically.

“Lock Haven gave me a great education,” he said. “My professors cared. They took me under their wings, and that really meant a lot to me.”

To help pay his way through school, Keith routinely worked 40 hours each week while managing a full academic schedule. He held jobs at a local automotive store and clothing retailer, worked through the devastating 1972 flood in downtown Lock Haven, and even earned room and board by helping around the TKE house, from working in the kitchen to cleaning the building’s coal furnace.

It wasn’t always easy, but looking back, Keith credits those years with shaping the work ethic that became the foundation of his professional success.

After earning his degree in health and physical education in 1973, Keith began teaching special education in Chicago but eventually transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry to better support his family.

Over the next several decades, he steadily climbed the corporate ladder, advancing from sales into executive leadership before retiring at age 49. He then launched Leadership Advantage LLC, a management and leadership consulting firm that has spent more than two decades helping organizations throughout the United States and around the world develop stronger leaders.
While his career evolved in unexpected directions, Keith never stopped relying on the lessons he learned at Lock Haven.

“Lock Haven molded me into a man who was able to be successful in life,” he said. “The school gave me all the tools, skills, and knowledge I needed. It was simply up to me to do something with them.”

As Keith’s consulting career slowed in recent years, longtime fraternity brothers Frank Condino ’72 and Wayne Hoffman ’74 encouraged him to reconnect with his alma mater.

He began attending annual TKE golf outings and alumni reunions, reuniting with brothers he hadn't seen in decades while reinforcing his affinity for the university that helped launch his career.

Those visits solidified for Keith just how much Lock Haven meant to him and sparked both his and Susan’s vision for the impact their philanthropy could have on current Bald Eagles—not necessarily students with perfect transcripts or the highest GPAs, but those who, like Keith, are determined to overcome every obstacle that gets in their way.

“Sometimes we put too much emphasis on people who are academically elite,” Keith said. “But there are plenty of students at Lock Haven doing their best and working their tails off. They might be C students now, but in my experience, those are the people who go far in life because they work hard and push to get better every day.”

“In life, you’re always going to have speed bumps,” he added. “But if Susan and I can reduce some of those speed bumps for aspiring students, we’re happy to do so.”

The Halls’ desire to give is firmly rooted in gratitude—for the Lock Haven education Keith received, the lifelong friendships made that continue to this day, and the opportunity to help others build brighter futures through their generosity.

For recipients of the Tenacity Grant, that encouragement comes with something more meaningful than financial support alone: the confidence that someone believes in their potential—not simply because of grades on a transcript, but because of the perseverance they’ve embodied each day along the way.

“Susan and I don’t want students to give up,” Keith said. “We want them to accept challenges, keep moving forward, push through barriers, and break down walls that try to hold them back.”

“Success is within you,” he added. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you there’s something that you can’t do.”