Tradition

Pink and Black
Penn State University is immediately identified when the blue and white colors of an athletic uniform appear on TV or when the blue and white colors are displayed on shirts or other merchandise but the school colors were not always the notable colors they are today.

In October of 1887, a three person student run committee was formed, representing the sophomore, junior and senior classes. Their goal was to develop color combination options that the student body would vote on. Whichever colors won the vote would become the schools official colors. One of the choices presented by the committee was dark pink and black. These colors unanimously won the vote and were deemed the official colors of Penn State.

Blue and White
Athletic teams and students immediately started sporting pink and black gear and clothes. This is where the colors began to change into the blue and white we all know and love today. After weeks of extended exposure to the sun, the pink started to fade to white. The students went to the drawing board again. This time the opted for blue instead of black, and kept the white color that was born from pink. The official announcement of the color option choice was made on March 18, 1890.

The Mascot
The Nittany Lion symbol is unmistakably a Penn State identifier. When people see the Lion they automatically think Penn State. The Lion attends all athletic functions and most school driven functions and the Lion is also a part of everyday college life for a student at any Penn State campus. But where and how did the Nittany Lion come to be the mascot for the University? The answer lies in one man named H. D. “Joe” Mason, a member of the class of 1907.

While at a baseball game against Princeton at their New Jersey campus, Joe witnessed the Princeton Tiger. He was inspired by the mascot and began a one-man campaign, sponsored by a student publication, to choose a mascot for his school.

Joe did not stray too far from the tiger he had witnessed from Princeton when choosing his mascot, he chose the lion. The animal that once roamed central Pennsylvania was his top candidate for Penn State mascot. Not only did this lion represent things like ferocity and strength, his campus was also nestled in Nittany Valley at the foot of Mount Nittany. It did not take long for Joe to coin the lion he had chosen as the Nittany Lion.

The Shrine
October 24, 1942; Homecoming Weekend for Penn State.

The shrine was a gift from the Class of 1940 and was designed by animal sculpture Heinz Warneke and stonecutter Joseph Garatti. The two molded a 13 ton block of Indian limestone into the shrine that now rests in the company of many trees near the Recreation Building at main campus. The shrine was one of six options submitted by Warneke. The placement of the shrine was chosen because it is easily accessible, the trees provide a nice setting for such an important traditional relic and at its location it is not dwarfed by any nearby buildings.