Penn State University
Penn State, founded in 1855
as an agricultural college, admitted its first class in 1859. The Pennsylvania legislature
designated Penn State as the Commonwealth’s sole land-grant institution in 1863, which
eventually broadened the University’s mission to include teaching, research, and public
service in many academic disciplines. Penn State has awarded more than a half-million
degrees, and has been Pennsylvania’s largest source of baccalaureate degrees at least
since the 1930s. Although the University is privately chartered by the Commonwealth, it
was from the outset considered an “instrumentality of the state,” that is, it carries out
many of the functions of a public institution and promotes the general welfare of the
citizenry. The Governor and other representatives of the Commonwealth have held seats on
Penn State’s Board of Trustees since the University’s founding, and the legislature has
made regular appropriations in support of the University’s mission since 1887. Today
Penn State is one of four “state-related” universities (along with the University of
Pittsburgh, Temple University, and Lincoln University), institutions that are not
state-owned and -operated but that have the character of public universities and receive
substantial state appropriations. With its administrative and research hub at the
University Park campus, Penn State has 23 additional locations across Pennsylvania.
While some of the these locations, such as the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical
Center, have specialized academic roles, they all adhere to a common overall mission and
set of core values and strategic goals.
Penn State University Links
Nittany Lion Shrine History
The athletic symbol of the Pennsylvania State University is the North American felis concolor, variously known as
the mountain lion, cougar, puma, or panther. The large tawny-colored "cat" became extinct
in this region a quarter of a century after the University was founded in 1855.
Penn State is located in the broad Nittany Valley near Mount Nittany, terminal point of a
range also called Nittany--a name said to be derived from Indian words meaning a protective
barrier against the elements. While the name itself can be seen on W. Scull's map of
Pennsylvania, dated 1770, in approximately the correct place, regional folklore connects the
name Nittany or Nita-Nee with two Indian maidens. The mythological Nita-Nee was a princess
whose people reveres her for leading them into the fertile central Pennsylvania valley, safe
from enemy tribes. When she died, the mountain miraculously arose overnight at the burial
site, and the name thus was given to the geographical landmarks.
Nita-Nee became a favored name for Indian girls, one of whom figures in another popular
legend. She fell in love with a white trader who was forced to flee by her seven brothers.
They drove him into a nearby cavern (Penn's Cave), where he died, crying out for his lost
Nita-Nee. We now recognize that the legends of the Indian maidens were the invention of
author and publisher Henry W. Shoemaker, the story of Nita-Nee and her lover Malachi Boyer,
first appeared in print in 1903. Shoemaker then attributed the tale to "an aged Seneca
Indian named Isaac Steele." He later admitted the various Indian names were "purely
fictitious."
Adoption of the Nittany Lion as Penn State's athletic symbol was an idea of Harrison D.
"Joe" Mason '07. At Princeton in 1904, he and other members of Penn State's varsity baseball
team were shown two Bengal tigers as an indication of the merciless treatment they would
encounter in the game. Mason replied with an instant fabrication of the Penn State Nittany
Mountain Lion - king of the beasts - who would overcome even the Tiger. The team defeated
Princeton and Mason persevered with his idea.
Confusion with the African Lion is was common until the symbol was officially adopted when
the class of 1940 presented its gift of a sculptured Nittany mountain lion in 1942. The
work of noted sculptor Heinz Warneke, the crouching powerful figure is now the popular
Nittany Lion Shrine, located at Penn State's University Park campus on a grassy mound amid
tall trees near Recreation Building.
Taken from HappyValleyOnline.com
Miscellaneaous Links
