Nittany Lion
473266
225408886
2008-07-13T15:04:44Z
138.88.94.109
{{Unreferenced|date=January 2007}}
[[Image:Penn State Nittany Lion.jpg|thumb|250px|The Nittany Lion mascot at the [[2007 Penn State Nittany Lions football team|2007 season]] opener]]
''This article is about the Penn State mascot. For the Penn State fight song see "[[The Nittany Lion]]".''
The '''Nittany Lion''' is the [[mascot]] of the [[Pennsylvania State University]] in [[State College, Pennsylvania]] and its [[Pennsylvania State University Athletics|athletic teams]]. It refers to the [[cougar|mountain lions]] that once roamed nearby the school, and to [[Mount Nittany]], a local landmark. There is also a [[fight song]] played during sporting events on campus entitled "[[The Nittany Lion (song)|The Nittany Lion]]".
==Origin==
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:PennState-logo.png|thumb|100px||left|The Nittany Lion logo.]] -->[[Image:PSU Lion 2005 Cincy.JPG|thumb|250px|The Nittany Lion mascot pumps up the crowd at the 2005 football game versus [[University of Cincinnati|Cincinnati]] at [[Beaver Stadium]].]]
The mascot was the creation of Penn State senior H. D. "Joe" Mason in 1907. While on a 1904 trip to [[Princeton University]], Mason had been embarrassed that Penn State did not have a mascot. Mason did not let that deter him: he fabricated the Nittany Lion on the spot and proclaimed that it would easily defeat the Princeton Bengal tiger.<ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.psu.edu/dept/ur/about/images/nittany.html|title=Penn State: What is a Nittany Lion?|accessdaymonth=[[27 March]]|accessyear=2008}}</ref> Upon returning to campus, though, he set about making his invention a reality. In 1907, he wrote in the student publication ''The Lemon'':
"Every college the world over of any consequence has a college emblem of some kind—all but The Pennsylvania State College . . .. Why not select for ours the king of beasts—the Lion!! Dignified, courageous, magnificent, the Lion allegorically represents all that our College Spirit should be, so why not 'the Nittany Mountain Lion'? Why cannot State have a kingly, all-conquering Lion as the eternal sentinel?"
(These words later inspired the fight song known as "The Nittany Lion", which begins "Every college has a legend...".)
Mountain lions had roamed on nearby Mount Nittany until the 1880s, when it is believed they were eliminated by fraternity initation practices in the late 1800s. Students wore the pelts of the captured beasts and some are still in use in private pledging rites by some of the older Penn State Amicae societies. Though anecdotal sightings persist, it is believed that these are pledges bound in the rotting pelts of the last of the wild lions. The origin of the name "Mount Nittany" is obscure, the most commonly accepted explanation being that it is derived of [[Native Americans of the United States|Native American]] words (loosely pronounced as "neet-a-nee") meaning either "single mountain" or a protective barrier against the elements. Local school legend recalls that Jason Nittany, an early player on the Penn State teams of the 1890s, was infamous for his consumption of alcohol before a game and his aggressive roar when attacking the opponents, particularly when he headed the now banned "flying delta" formation popular in the early game.
The name was readily accepted without a vote of the student body. In 1907, the first tangible lion symbols appeared with the placing of two alabaster [[Africa]]n [[lion]] statues, left over from the Pennsylvania exhibit at the 1904 [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition]], atop the columns at the main campus entrance on College and Allen streets. They were affectionately dubbed by the student body as "Pa" and "Ma." In the 1920s, a pair of stuffed mountain lions was placed in the [[Rec Hall|Recreation Building]] to watch over athletic events. One of these original lions is now located in [[Pattee Library]] on the Penn State campus. About that same time, the tradition was established of having a student dressed in furry-lion outfits appear at [[American football|football]] games.
==The Lion Shrine==
[[Image:Lion Shrine PSU.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Lion Shrine]]
During the 1930s, seeking a place to hold pep rallies and victory celebrations, students launched a campaign for a lion shrine. As its gift to the university, the Class of 1940 voted to give the sum of $5,430 to pay for the construction of such a shrine, which was to be constructed between the Recreation Building and [[Beaver Field]], with the lion framed against a natural setting of trees, grass, and shrubs. The sculptor [[Heinz Warnecke]] was retained to carve the lion at the site from a thirteen-ton block of [[limestone]]. The sculpture was formally unveiled on [[October 24]], [[1942]]. The shrine has come to be one of the most visited and photographed sites, not just on campus, but also in the entire Commonwealth of [[Pennsylvania]].
===Guarding the Shrine===
This is a Homecoming weekend tradition at Penn State, started in 1966 when Sue Paterno (wife of football coach [[Joe Paterno]]) and a friend covered the lion in orange latex-based paint as a way of stoking interest in that year's game against PSU rival [[Syracuse University|Syracuse]]. While that paint washed off easily, a later dousing by actual Syracuse fans with oil-based paint proved much harder to remove, requiring sand blasting. The shrine is guarded for the duration of [[Homecoming]] weekend by Penn State's [[ROTC]] detachment, Blue Band, alumni, current students, faculty, and by the [[Lion Ambassadors]]. The latter group brings food, music, games, and (starting in 2004) an event called "Last Guard Standing", attracting students from all over campus. Originally, the guard was manned by freshmen. Alumni now pay vast sums to stand as Jason Nittany before the lion on these vigils, supported through the night by twin kegs of local Pennsylvania beers (also a prize promotional payment for local breweries). The highest bidding alumnus gets to stand, with the twinned kegs, before the team's entrance to the stadium on game days and "Roar On" the football teams as they emerge for home contests.
==See also==
*[[The Nittany Lion (song)]]
*[[Mountain lion]]
==Citations==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.libraries.psu.edu/speccolls/psua/psgeneralhistory/bezillapshistory/083sv028..htm The Pennsylvania State University site] on the lion shrine
*[http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/nittanymascot.html Nittany Lion Mascots]
*[http://www.gopsusports.com/Traditions/lionsong.cfm Lyrics for the song "Nittany Lion"]
*[http://www.blueband.psu.edu/media/ Download Penn State Blue Band songs here, including "The Nittany Lion"]
*Esposito, Jackie R. and Steven L. Herb. ''[http://www.psupress.psu.edu/books/titles/0-271-01588-8.html The Nittany Lion]'', Penn State Press, 2001 ISBN 0-271-02115-2
{{The Pennsylvania State University}}
[[Category:College mascots]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania State University]]
[[Category:Fictional mountain lions]]