Penn State Traditions 101: According to the Penn State University Archives, the Penn State Alma Mater made its debut at the June 1901 alumni dinner during Commencement Week. After it was sung, Gov. James Beaver, president of the Board of Trustees, stood and proclaimed it “the official song of Penn State.” That year, Fred Lewis Pattee, then a professor at the college, had recognized the institution’s lack of a “distinctly State College song,” stating, “Without a college song there can be no real nucleus for sentiment, there can be no natural outlet for refined feeling, for loyalty, for enthusiasm, for devotion to alma mater,” in the April 1901 issue of Free Lance, a precursor of the Daily Collegian. In that same issue he suggested the words that would later become the Penn State alma mater, though he encouraged other readers to submit their own ideas. The current alma mater is nearly identical to Pattee’s original version; the last two verses have been omitted, and over time several wo...