The Origins of "WE ARE PENN STATE"

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bot1tle:
The Origins of "We Are Penn State"
 
WE ARE! PENN STATE!

That chant and slogan resonates through Happy Valley year round. But where did it come from? Thanks to Lauren Boyer at the Centre Daily Times we now know. And you may be pleasantly surprised.

The year is 1947. Racism and segregation continue to run rampant throughout the country. And yet this was the time when Penn State's most iconic battle cry was born. The 1947 Nittany Lion football team - coached by Bob Higgins and not one Joe Paterno - was undefeated and headed to the Cotton Bowl to take on Southern Methodist. Despite the feeling towards African-Americans around the states, the 9-0 Penn State teams was united. This 1947 squad contained two African-American players, Wally Triplett, who was the first African-American to be drafted and play in the NFL and Dennie Hoggard. And they were part of the team, in every sense of the word. Prior to the Cotton Bowl (played on New Year's Day, 1948) rumors swirled that SMU wanted to meet with Penn State in regards to their black players playing in the game. The University and football team wanted no part in this meeting. It was at this time that Triplett says "We are Penn State" came to be.

“We are Penn State,” Triplett recalled Suhey saying. “There will be no meetings.”
Suhey is offensive guard and team captain Steve Suhey. Penn State's unwillingness to leave their black players at home is admirable. And what was their reward for standing up for what they believe in? The Dallas hotels around the Cotton Bowl would not admit them due to the presence of Triplett and Hoggard. Did the Nittany Lions ship them off by themselves? No. The team drove 14 miles outside of the city and bunked at the Naval Air Station.

The game was played as scheduled, with no more problems revolving around race. Though SMU may disagree. Triplett scored the decisive tying touchdown and the game ended in a tie, 13-13.

Triplett is ever grateful for Penn State and his former teammates.

Most of [his] success Triplett attributes to “that team” from Penn State — a school that he says doesn’t get the credit it deserves for advancing civil rights.
"That team" that stood up for him and did the right thing. "That team" spawned - in all its glory - the everlasting phrase: WE ARE PENN STATE.

Cash:
Penn State sports have also adapted to be inclusive with women's rights before others. This is from the Penn State web page about thier alma mater...

The Alma Mater
Penn State's Alma Mater was written by Fred Lewis Pattee, longtime Professor of American Literature at the institution. Pattee bemoaned the fact that Penn State had no college song which would nourish college spirit and loyalty as other schools had.

He composed lyrics (see below) and published them in April 1901 Free Lance as a suggestion, inviting others to submit their own ideas. His words would be sung to the hymn "Lead Me On," (page 316 of the College Hymnal) by Cauviere, which was sung by graduating classes at Commencement. He felt it was particularly appropriate as both a school favorite and a spirited song, well suited for male voices.

The song was first sung at the Alumni Dinner in June 1901 during Commencement Week. Governor Beaver, President of the Board of Trustees, arose immediately and proclaimed it "the official song of Penn State". With President Atherton's agreement, it became so. Pattee's original version had six verses but later two were omitted and the four-verse version is accepted as the Alma Mater.

The issue of standing "at Boyhood's Gate" waiting to be "molded into men" bothered Pattee from the first. Penn State had been coed for thirty years when the song was written but Pattee felt the ethos of the school was so male oriented that the song was appropriate as written. He later had second thoughts.In his posthumously-published autobiography, he realized that the words bothered many and suggested possibly changing "boyhood" to "childhood" and "mold...into men" to a repeat of "Dear old State." In 1975, with Professor Patricia Farrell acting as a spokesperson for many who felt a change long-overdue, the Board of Trustees accepted Pattee's original suggestion in honor of International Women's Year.
 

bot1tle:
 I  hate Penn State and everything about the school as much as the next Rutgers sports fan. If you know any history about Rutgers sports, especially football and basketball, you would know that Penn State was the evil empire to all Scarlet Knight fans during the ’80s and ’90s. But one thing I envy about those Nittany Lion students is their school spirit, dedication and love for the blue and white — something most Rutgers students hardly possess with their passion for bleeding scarlet.

The clear-cut difference between the two schools is how each ranks sports within the institutions. Football is king out in Happy Valley and now a blooming basketball program has even made winter somewhat enjoyable in the desolate Pennsylvania area.
On Tuesday night, Penn State played in the final four of the National Invitational Tournament at Madison Square Garden. No, not the NCAA Tournament, we’re talking about the NIT. And yes, back in 2004 the Rutgers men’s squad made a similar run to the finals, where a few thousand students showed up to support their team.
The difference is that Penn State brought 16 busloads of students to the world’s most famous arena — from five hours away! All Rutgers students had to do was take a 40-minute train ride. Penn State sold over 1,200 student tickets in a span of a few days for the game against Notre Dame. How many other schools would be able to travel like Penn State did? Expect a similar showing tonight when they take on Baylor in the finals.
Rarely do you ever see any Rutgers students care as much about sports or school spirit like they do in Happy Valley. Students today do not even know what it was like nine years ago when Greg Schiano took over as head football coach. The program was a joke and no one came to games.
Now the stadium is being expanded to 54,000 seats and there is actually something to be proud of with Rutgers football. But don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll see the usual drunk students come to games late as always and walk out at halftime like they do for every game. It is truly a disgrace to the state.
How about the lack of support for the women’s basketball team? Most people acknowledge that women’s basketball is not as popular as men’s basketball, but we’re talking about a women’s team that has been to the postseason 20 times and has made five straight Sweet 16 appearances. Yet no one cares about them. Students couldn’t even show up in numbers for games against Tennessee, UConn or the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament this year, which were hosted at the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Livingston campus!
Try asking a random student at Rutgers to sing the Alma Mater. Maybe they could remember the main line, “On the Banks of the Old Raritan,” and sure, they could sing a part of the fight song and throw in the little “woohs” that make it cute to some, and they could probably yell the first down cheer, but that’s it.
Go to a football game at Penn State. The complexity of cheers alone would make a Rutgers student’s head spin. Anytime you watch a Penn State game you see how much they love their school and how proud they are to go there.
The argument for most would be to say sports are not as important as academics, and I agree — to a certain point. I, like everyone else at this school, am a student first. But part of me wanting to go to a big time school was the lure of having big sports programs. I do my work just like any other student but I also want to be proud of Rutgers sports, too.
Why can it work at a place like Penn State but not Rutgers? It is scary to see how closely related the two institutions are with regard to academic prestige and number of students. But how come they can fill up a student section for football and basketball and have students be loud, have fun and stay the whole game?
Here at Rutgers it’s all about the cool tailgates with football. All the time I hear “I want to go to that fraternity’s tailgate because they are having the most people” or “it’s a bit cloudy, I won’t go to the game today.” Pre- and post-game tailgates are great, but could students please show up on time to a game and pretend they care about their school? How many times can I be thrown up on by an irresponsible drunk student?
I, like many, have friends who go to Penn State. Of course they drink and tailgate hard there. Usually though, unlike Rutgers, almost 22,000 students make it for the start of the game.
The excuse that sports aren’t good here doesn’t exist anymore. Football has gone to four straight bowl games and women’s basketball is in the NCAA tournament every year. For all the bad reputations Jersey gets across the nation, you would think this would be an opportunity for students to show people there is something good in this state.
For now, I wonder if anything will ever change. If Rutgers football ever goes to a Bowl Championship Series game or if the women win a national championship, will students be genuinely excited and proud or just happy to have another excuse to party and drink?
 
Adam Helfgott is a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore majoring in journalism and media studies. His column, “The Scarlet Pulse,” runs on alternate Thursdays. He also has a radio show on WRSU of the same name.

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