Students walk past trees lining the Pattee Mall at Penn State’s University Park campus. (Photo: Group 3)
By Anna Pitingolo, Jeff Tinkoff, Azure Chesney, Min Shin and Marisol Pacaja
Penn State has been the home of hundreds of thousands of students over the years. Bringing in new students every year, these same students are eager to learn about the school they will call home in the next four years.
Against the backdrop of Mount Nittany, Penn State has been the center of Centre County and the state since 1855. Located in State College, the area is also known as “Happy Valley,” a nickname it earned during the Great Depression when the town was not hit as hard by the bad economy because of Penn State’s influence.
Old Main, first known as the college building, was the entire university for the first few years. The massive, five-story and five-bay structure was constructed of limestone quarried on campus. Eight pillars rise majestically in the front of the building and create a foundation to support one of Penn State’s greatest icons, the bell tower.
Students can hear the bell chime every 15 minutes, and on weekends are treated to the school’s fight song every hour.
The Pattee Mall serves as a connection between outside the Penn State gates on College and Allen Streets and Pattee Library. Dozens of elm trees line the mall, some of which have been standing for more than 100 years. They create a canopy in the summer and a web of branches in the winter that seems to protect students on their way to class.
Those same elm trees are dying from disease and are being replaced by new London plane saplings. There is hope that the new trees will continue a tradition of lining the mall and keeping campus beautiful.
“I love walking around campus,” said student Zach Connor. “To see the difference in trees throughout all the seasons, I really get a feel of the rotation of the year, just all the colors in every single season. I love it. It really brings life to the campus.”
The university’s most famous icon is the Nittany Lion Shrine, which stands ready to pounce on each visitor who takes a picture at any time of the year. Between the shrine and the trees, prospective students will be able to see the rich tradition that Penn State holds.