The Penn State Nittany Lion's Van Gogh Phase

The Nittany Lion Shrine is one of the most frequently photographed sites on campus. On a graduation weekend, you can stand in line for quite a while to get your turn to pose with the lion, which is Penn State's school mascot.

This past weekend, the lion statue lost its ear. Campus police reportedly "took the ear into custody."  This is not the first time the right ear has broken off. It happened in 1978, 1994, and 2003. This time, it is believed that the cause was accidental, rather than vandalism.

I have posted photos of the lion with its ear intact three times on these pages: The Tears of the Lion (Nov. 2013), A Postcard from Penn State (Feb. 2015), and Blipfoto Forever (March 2015).

It does indeed seem very strange to see the lion with its ear missing. I believe this is the first time I've witnessed it this way myself, during my entire time with Penn State (which is considerable). Let's hope the ear can be repaired and the lion is made whole again soon!

The soundtrack has to be a Van Gogh type of story. (For the record, though, it was Van Gogh's LEFT ear that he cut off, not the right.) So here is Don McLean, with Vincent (Starry Starry Night). You can find many good covers of this lovely song online; I'm including one I especially enjoyed, by Julio Iglesias.

Update: Penn State's Office of Physical Plant reattached the lion's ear by mid-day on February 28. Wow, that was quick. Hooray, the lion is whole again!