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Origin of the Penn State "Nittany Lion"
Michigan
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in Sports Talk
Some fun trivia for those interested in such things:
The Nittany Lion is the mascot of the Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania and its athletic teams. It refers to the 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."
Origin
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.[1] 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. The origin of the name "Mount Nittany" is obscure, the most commonly accepted explanation being that it is derived of Native American words (loosely pronounced as "neet-a-nee") meaning either "single mountain" or a protective barrier against the elements.
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 African 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 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 football games.
The Nittany Lion is the mascot of the Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania and its athletic teams. It refers to the 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."
Origin
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.[1] 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. The origin of the name "Mount Nittany" is obscure, the most commonly accepted explanation being that it is derived of Native American words (loosely pronounced as "neet-a-nee") meaning either "single mountain" or a protective barrier against the elements.
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 African 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 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 football games.
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Comments
Thanks for the educational lesson. I love stuff like that.
I used to wonder why the Montreal Canadiens were called the Habs or where the A's got their logo/mascot of the Elephant.
/s/ JackWESQ