—STEEL CANYON, August 23, 2005

“The new Paragon City University is now taking applications,” says Dante Freeman, Interim President of Paragon City University. Degrees offered at the new PCU campus include most liberal arts and science undergraduate degrees as well as many advanced degrees.

Interim President Dante Freeman welcomes students to the Steel Canyon campus

“The support has just been overwhelming,” says Freeman. “Since the Rikti Invasion that destroyed the old PCU campus in Founders’ Falls, Paragon City just hasn’t had the educational resources that it once did. Now, citizens can get an education that is as good as or better than any other university in the country can provide.”

When asked about how Paragon City’s heroic population and activities may affect a student’s knowledge and experience, Freeman quickly pointed out that there are many advanatages to learning in a city with so many heroes, but that the city’s other opportunities have been more valuable to building an academic presence in Paragon City. “We’re very proud of the connections we enjoy within the community. Many private and corporate sponsors and organizations have really stepped up to help us out.”

Many private and corporate sponsors and organizations have indeed donated money and resources to the new university system. When asked about his company’s involvement in the new PCU, Tony Kord, owner and CEO of Kord Technologies, said, “It only makes sense. Kord Technologies is a part of the Paragon City community, and it’s our way of giving something back to that community. It also helps our company, because better education is the cornerstone of the innovative thinking that our company thrives on.”

Countess Crey of Crey Biotech echoed a similar thought. “I like to think of our donation to the university as an investment. There are many ways in which we can use bright students. We provide a building and some scholarships, and in return, we get a chance to [work with] some of the brightest minds in Paragon City.”

It seems that companies are not the only outside entities involved in education at Paragon City University. The board of educators has also been in frequent contact with the Freedom Corps. Although the details of any arrangements between PCU and the Freedom Corps have been strictly kept secret, a high-ranking source inside the Freedom Corps orgainzation said, “There are definitely plans. Miss Liberty is finding that she simply has way too much to do and not enough time to do it all. She runs the Freedom Corps, she personally talks to countless heroes each day, she trains heroes to obtain higher security level clearances; she never even has time to fight crime any more. And with the new Longbow project coming up, she simply has to offload some of her training duties to the new university.”

In a copy of the staff directory that was leaked to the Paragon City Free Press, six known heroes are listed, but no courses have been officially assigned to them. If some heroes are using secret identities, that number may be considerably larger. A check with city hall showed that the six known heroes listed have extensive training backgrounds in fields such as chemistry, languages, medicine, espionage, engineering, security, and forensics. Exactly what involvement the new university will have with the Freedom Corps or the heroes at large of Paragon City remains to be seen, but it seems certain that there will be more than conventional classes taught.