Nittany Lion

This article is about the mascot. For the fight song, see The Nittany Lion (song).

Nittany Lion
The Nittany Lion mascot at the 2007 season opener
University	Pennsylvania State University
Conference	Big Ten
Description	Nittany Lion
First seen	1904

The Nittany Lion is the mascot of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, USA and its athletic teams. It refers to the mountain lions that are thought to have once roamed Mount Nittany,^[1] a local landmark. There is a song played during sporting events on campus entitled "The Nittany Lion." Fans know this song as Hail to the Lion, even though that is not technically the name of the song.

The Nittany Lion mascot pumps up the crowd at the 2005 football game versus Cincinnati at Beaver Stadium.

The mascot was the creation of Penn State senior H. D. "Joe" Mason in 1907 since the Nittany Lion is not a real animal. 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.^[2] The Lion's primary means of attack against the Tiger would be its strong right arm, capable of slaying any foes (this is now traditionally exemplified through 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?

”

^[3]

Mountain lions had roamed on nearby Mount Nittany until the 1880s.^[3] 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") named after the cougars that roamed the mountain or "single mountain" - a protective barrier against the elements.. The "original" nittany lion can be seen in the Penn State All-Sports Museum as the only known mounted eastern mountain lion. 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."

References

↑ "Pennsylvania State University - Nittany Mountain". Psu.edu. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
↑ "Penn State: What is a Nittany Lion?". Retrieved 27 March 2008.
1 2 Cronin, Brian (May 20, 2012). "The story of the Penn State Nittany Lion". Los Angeles Times.
↑ This Is Penn State, An Insider's Guide to the University Park Campus, pg. 74

External links

Nittany Lion Mascots
Esposito, Jackie R. and Steven L. Herb. The Nittany Lion, Penn State Press, 2001 ISBN 0-271-02115-2

The Pennsylvania State University

Academics

College of Agricultural Sciences
College of Arts and Architecture
Smeal College of Business
College of Communications
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
College of Education
College of Engineering
College of Health and Human Development
College of Information Sciences and Technology
College of the Liberal Arts
Eberly College of Science
Graduate School
Schreyer Honors College
School of Nursing
School of International Affairs
Dickinson Law
Penn State Law
Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies
College of Medicine
Pennsylvania College of Technology
School of Hospitality Management

Athletics

Sports	Penn State Nittany Lions Men's Basketball Women's Basketball Field Hockey Football Men's Ice Hockey Women's Ice Hockey Men's Lacrosse Men's Soccer Women's Soccer Men's Volleyball Women's Volleyball Wrestling

Facilities	Beaver Stadium Bryce Jordan Center Golf Courses Pegula Ice Arena Penn State Ice Pavilion Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Rec Hall

Rivalries	Alabama Maryland Michigan State Minnesota Ohio State Pittsburgh Syracuse West Virginia

Spirit	Legion Of Blue Alma Mater Blue Band Fight On, State Nittany Lion (mascot) The Nittany Lion

Buildings

Campuses:
Commonwealth

Campuses:
Special Mission

Departments

Research

Media

People

Alumni
Athletic directors
Coaches
Faculty
Olympians
Presidents
George W. Atherton
Eric J. Barron (current president)
Joe Paterno
Jerry Sandusky
Fred Lewis Pattee

Student life

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 State Minnesota Ohio State 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

People	Head coaches All-Americans Statistical leaders NFL draftees

Seasons	1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 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

National championship seasons in bold

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

Seasons	1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 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 1999–00 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

NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Mascots of the Big Ten Conference

East Division	No mascot (Indiana) Sparty (Michigan State) Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State) Testudo (Maryland) No mascot (Michigan) Nittany Lion (Penn State) Scarlet Knight (Rutgers)

West Division	No mascot (Illinois) Herky the Hawk (Iowa) Goldy Gopher (Minnesota) Herbie Husker / Lil' Red (Nebraska) Willie the Wildcat (Northwestern) Boilermaker Special / Purdue Pete (Purdue) Bucky Badger (Wisconsin)

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Nittany Lion

See also

References

External links