This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PS Berks chapter.
Think you know all about the Nittany Lion!? Think again! How many of us can actually say we know why and how our mascot became the Nittany Lion? It emerged in the early 1900s, and ever since then has been one of the most used terms at PSU! A nittany lion was actually a thing once before! Similar to a puma, cougar and panther, the nittany lion was seen in PA until the late 1800s near Penn Valley and Nittany Valley. Our highly valued mascot actually got its name from a PSU baseball player back in the day! Although here at Berks we never know who it is hiding under that mascot suit, we always smile when we see our dear old Nittany Lion roaming around! Check out this snapshot of him last spotted on “Liontine’s Day!”