New Penn State statue up on campus

Penn State’s 2013 class gift was installed Tuesday morning and by the looks of it the 12 foot, mirror polished We Are... statue will be a hit. 

WE ARE sign currently being installed! Can see it now- All Penn Staters are going to want a pic standing here! WeARE pic.twitter.com/txZN1NiucV

— Nittany Lion Club (@NittanyLionClub) June 30, 2015

Located on the east side of Penn State’s Intramural Building, close enough to Beaver Stadium, the Bryce Jordan Center and Pegula Ice Arena, the statue is also supposed to have the words to the alma mater in the original handwriting of the creator, Fred Lewis Pattee. Seeing fans and students flock to the statue will likely be the new norm on football Saturdays as onlookers check it out between tailgates. 

Happening now: the @penn_state 2013 @PSUClassGift #WeAre sculpture is installed on the corner of Curtin & University pic.twitter.com/0C2NNpn2xX

— Penn State Forever (@PennStForever) June 30, 2015

It’s been nearly three years since the bronze Joe Paterno statue, which was the only statue in that area near the stadium, was removed in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal. A new statue, featuring Paterno sitting on a bench reading a book, is slated to be located downtown in front of The Tavern restaurant, which is off of Penn State property. The initial completion date for the project was November 2015. 

Other notable Penn State class gifts include the Nittany Lion Shrine (1940), Beaver Field electric scoreboard and timer (1926), Beaver Stadium entrance gate (1960), sundial on Old Main lawn (1966), Beaver Stadium victory bell (1978) and plenty more that can be found here. 

Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter: @audsnyder4