Nittany Lion

Nittany Lion
Nittany Lion
	The Nittany Lion mascot at the ; 2007 season opener
University	Pennsylvania State University
Conference	Big Ten
Description	Nittany Lion
Origin of name	Mount Nittany in Pennsylvania
First seen	1904;120 years ago
Website	gopsusports.com/nittany-lion

Last updated November 29, 2024

The Nittany Lion is the eastern mountain lion mascot of the athletic teams of the Pennsylvania State University, known as the Penn State Nittany Lions. Created in 1907, the "Nittany" forename refers to the local Mount Nittany, which overlooks the university.

History

The mascot was the creation of Penn State senior H. D. "Joe" Mason in 1904. While on a 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.^[1]

The Lion's primary means of attack against the Tiger would be its strong right arm, capable of slaying any foes, which is now traditionally exemplified through cumulative one-armed push-ups after the team scores a touchdown. Upon returning to campus, 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?^[2]

Historicity

Eastern mountain lions had roamed on nearby Mount Nittany until the 1880s.^[2] The name "Mount Nittany" derives from the Algonquian word meaning "single mountain."^[3] The "original" Nittany Lion can be seen in the Penn State All-Sports Museum. It was killed in Susquehanna County by Samuel Brush in 1856.^[4] According to a July 1992 article in National Geographic by Maurice Hornocker titled "Learning to Live with Mountain Lions", "Courthouse records from Centre County, Pennsylvania, show that one local hunter killed 64 lions between 1820 and 1845. During those 25 years an estimated 600 cats were killed in that county alone."

Theme song

In the early 1920s, a song was created to honor the mascot. Entitled "The Nittany Lion", it is played during sporting events on campus.

Related Research Articles

Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County comprises the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is part of the Central Pennsylvania region of the state.

State College is a borough and home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally, and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of The Pennsylvania State University.

Beaver Stadium is a college football stadium on the campus of Pennsylvania State University in Penn State University Park. It has been home to the Penn State Nittany Lions football of the Big Ten Conference since 1960, though some parts of the stadium date back to 1909. It was also the site of university commencements until 1984. The stadium, as well as its predecessors, is named after James A. Beaver (1837–1914), a governor of Pennsylvania (1887–91), president of the university's board of trustees, and native of nearby Millerstown. Officially, the stadium is part of the municipality known as College Township, Pennsylvania, although it has a University Park address.

The Pennsylvania State University is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855 as Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State was named the state's first land-grant university eight years later, in 1863. Its primary campus, known as Penn State University Park, is located in State College and College Township.

Penn State University Park, also referred to as University Park, is the main campus of Pennsylvania State University, located in both State College and College Township, both in Centre County, Pennsylvania. The campus post office was designated "University Park, Pennsylvania" in 1953 by Penn State president Milton Eisenhower, after what was then Pennsylvania State College was upgraded to university status.

Nittany may refer to:

Mount Nittany is the common name for Nittany Mountain, a prominent geographic feature in Centre County, Pennsylvania. The mount is not a mountain but is part of a ridge that separates Nittany Valley from Penns Valley, with the enclosed Sugar Valley between them. On USGS topographic maps, Nittany Mount is generally too small to be considered a mountain and is shown as the lower ridge line that runs below Big Mountain on the west and Big Kettle Mountain on the east side, coming together to form a single ridge line at the southern terminus. This nomenclature is not always consistently applied to the same geologic formation, and there is a shorter Nittany Mountain ridge shown above the Sugar Valley as well.

Penn State Schuylkill is a Commonwealth Campus of the Pennsylvania State University in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania.

The Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) is a college athletic conference whose member schools compete in men's volleyball. Its member institutions are located in the Northeast United States.

The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 after playing as an Independent from 1892 to 1992.

Nittany Valley is an eroded anticlinal valley located in Centre County, Pennsylvania. It is separated from the Bald Eagle Valley by Bald Eagle Mountain and from Penns Valley by Mount Nittany. The valley is closed to the north by a high plateau that joins these two mountain ridges, but is open to the south at the southern terminus of Mount Nittany. The valley drains to Bald Eagle Creek through water gaps in Bald Eagle Mountain formed by Spring Creek and Fishing Creek, along with smaller streams running through Curtain Gap and Howard Gap. The northwest side of the valley between the Bald Eagle Mountain ridge and the lower Sand Ridge is also known as the Little Nittany Valley.

Penns Valley is an eroded anticlinal valley of the Pennsylvania ridge and valley geologic region of the Appalachian Mountain range. The valley is located in southern Centre County, Pennsylvania. Along with the Nittany Valley to the north and east, it is part of the larger Nittany Anticlinorium. It is bordered by Mount Nittany to the north, the Seven Mountains range to the south, and connects to the larger Nittany Valley to the west. There are two smaller subordinate valleys typically associated with the greater valley: Georges Valley in the south, separated by Egg Hill, and Brush Valley in the north, separated by Brush Mountain.

The 1907 Penn State Nittany Lions football team was an American football team that represented Pennsylvania State College—now known as Pennsylvania State University–as an independent during the 1907 college football season. The team was coached by Tom Fennell and played its home games on Beaver Field in State College, Pennsylvania. This was the first year that Penn State had adopted the Nittany Lion as its official mascot.

The 1923 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1923, was an American Football bowl game. It was the 9th Rose Bowl Game. The USC Trojans defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 14–3. Leo Calland, a USC guard, was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game when the award was created in 1953 and selections were made retroactively. It was the first bowl game appearance for both the University of Southern California and Pennsylvania State University football teams. It was also the first Tournament of Roses football game held in the newly constructed Rose Bowl Stadium, although other games had been played in it prior to this one.

The Nittany Lion Shrine is a large mountain lion sculpture carved by Heinz Warneke located at the University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University.

The Penn State Ice Pavilion was a 1,350-seat ice arena on the campus of The Pennsylvania State University located in University Park, Pennsylvania. The ice arena included an NHL regulation sized 200' x 85' ice sheet as well as a 45' x 55' studio ice sheet.

The Penn State Nittany Lions men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Pennsylvania State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The Penn State Nittany Lions women's lacrosse team is an NCAA Division I college lacrosse team representing Pennsylvania State University as part of the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Panzer Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

The 2022 Penn State Nittany Lions men's volleyball team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2022 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The Nittany Lions, led by 28th year head coach Mark Pavlik, played their home games at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions were members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association and were picked to win the EIVA in the preseason poll.

The 2023 Penn State Nittany Lions men's volleyball team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2023 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The Nittany Lions, led by 29th year head coach Mark Pavlik, played their home games at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions were members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association and were picked to win the EIVA in the preseason poll.

References

↑ "Penn State: What is a Nittany Lion?". Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
1 2 Cronin, Brian (May 20, 2012). "The story of the Penn State Nittany Lion". Los Angeles Times.
↑ https://www.psucollegian.com/news/borough/creating-penn-state-memories-the-history-impact-of-mount-nittany/article_128e9686-a884-11eb-9d42-97b2dfce47a0.html
↑ This Is Penn State, An Insider's Guide to the University Park Campus, pg. 74

External links

Official website
Nittany Lion Mascots Archived 2018-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
Esposito, Jackie R. and Steven L. Herb. The Nittany Lion , Penn State Press, 2001 ISBN 0-271-02115-2

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[history2-1] "Penn State: What is a Nittany Lion?". Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2008.

[LATimes2-2] 1 2 Cronin, Brian (May 20, 2012). "The story of the Penn State Nittany Lion". Los Angeles Times.

[3] ttps://www.psucollegian.com/news/borough/creating-penn-state-memories-the-history-impact-of-mount-nittany/article_128e9686-a884-11eb-9d42-97b2dfce47a0.html

[4] This Is Penn State, An Insider's Guide to the University Park Campus, pg. 74

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v t e Penn State Nittany Lions football
Venues	Old Main lawn (until 1891) Beaver Field (1892–1908) New Beaver Field (1909–1959) Beaver Stadium (1960–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota: Governor's Victory Bell Ohio State Old Ironsides Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia
Culture & lore	Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band Uplifting Athletes Joe Paterno statue Something for Joey 1982 Nebraska game Child sex abuse scandal 2016 Ohio State game Paterno White Out 2021 Illinois game
People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882–1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Penn State Nittany Lions basketball
Venues	Armory (1896–1929) Rec Hall (1929–1996) Bryce Jordan Center (1996–present)
Culture & lore	Legion of Blue Nittany Lion "Fight On, State" Penn State Blue Band
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics