Panthers of Pittsburgh - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A panther is the animal that serves as the official mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

of the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

and used as a nickname for both athletic teams as well as other organizations and affiliates of the university. The mascot is generally referred to as the Pittsburgh Panther or Pitt Panther, while the costumed panther mascot is also named "Roc". Up to 20 physical representations of panthers can be found in and around the university's campus and athletic facilities.

History

The University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

adopted the Panther as its official animal and mascot on November 16, 1909 at a meeting of students and alumni. This adoption occurred shortly after the university, previously known as the Western University of Pennsylvania, obtained an alteration to its charter in the summer of 1908 in order to change its name to the University of Pittsburgh. When named the Western University of Pennsylvania, the university had been referred to by the nickname of "Wup" and athletic teams referred to as the "Wups", a play on the school's abbreviation W.U.P. At this time, the university also began the process of moving from what is now Pittsburgh's North Side

Perry North (Pittsburgh)

Perry North is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA's north city area. It lies within zip codes 15212 and 15214, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1...

to its current location in the Oakland

Oakland (Pittsburgh)

Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...

section of Pittsburgh. According to George M. P. Baird (class of 1909), who made the suggestion for the Panther as the university's mascot, the reasons it was chosen were:

1. The Panther was the most formidable creature once indigenous to the Pittsburgh region.

2. It had ancient, heraldic standing as a noble animal.

3. The happy accident of alliteration
Alliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...

.

4. The close approximation of its hue to the old gold
Old Gold
Old gold is a dark yellow, which varies from light olive or olive brown to deep or strong yellow. The widely-accepted color "Old gold" is on the darker rather than the lighter side of this range....

of the University's colors (old gold and blue), hence its easy adaptability in decoration.

A costumed Panther character has made appearances at University of Pittsburgh athletic events for decades. Although the Panther costume has changed over time, the mascot was nicknamed "Roc" in 1990s to honor former football

Pittsburgh Panthers football

Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...

player, assistant coach, athletic department assistant, and long-time fan, Steve Petro, whose nickname from his playing days under Jock Sutherland

Jock Sutherland

Dr. John Bain "Jock" Sutherland, D.D.S., was an American football coach. He coached college football at Lafayette College and the University of Pittsburgh and professional football for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Steelers...

was "the Rock". The Panther mascot appears at various university events, both athletic and other.

Statues and other representations

There are 20 representations of Panthers in and about Pitt's campus, including ten painted fiberglass

Fiberglass

Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...

panthers decorated by various student groups that are placed around the campus by the Pitt Student Government. The oldest representations of panthers are four Panther statues that guard each corner of the Panther Hollow Bridge

Panther Hollow Bridge

Panther Hollow Bridge carries Wilmot Road over Panther Hollow in Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.This bridge in the city's Oakland district has a main span of , total length , and arches above the hollow...

. Other Oakland

Oakland (Pittsburgh)

locations include both inside and in front of the William Pitt Union

William Pitt Union

The William Pitt Union is the student union building of the University of Pittsburgh main campus and is a Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark...

, outside the Petersen Events Center

Petersen Events Center

Not to be confused with Petersen Sports Complex.The John M. and Gertrude E. Petersen Events Center is a 12,508-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It hosts the men's and women's Pitt Panthers basketball teams...

, "Pitt the Panther" on the carousel

Carousel

A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...

in Schenley Plaza

Schenley Plaza

Schenley Plaza is a public park serving as the grand entrance into Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.The plaza, located on Forbes Avenue and Schenley Drive in the city's Oakland district, includes multiple gardens, food kiosks, public meeting spaces, a carousel, and a prominent "Emerald...

, the Panther head fountain on the front of the Cathedral of Learning

Cathedral of Learning

The Cathedral of Learning, a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...

, and the Pitt Panther statue outside Heinz Field

Heinz Field

Heinz Field is a stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers American football teams, members of the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association respectively...

on Pittsburgh's North Shore

North Shore (Pittsburgh)

The North Shore is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side. It has a zip code of 15212, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 1 and 6...

Panther Hollow Bridge Panthers

Giuseppe Moretti's

Giuseppe Moretti

Giuseppe Moretti was an Italian émigré sculptor who became known in America for his public monuments in bronze and marble. Most notable among his works is Vulcan in Birmingham, Alabama, which is the largest cast iron statue in the world...

(1859–1935) four cast

Casting

In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...

bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

Panther statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

s created in 1897 guard each corner of Panther Hollow Bridge

Panther Hollow Bridge

in Schenley Park

Schenley Park

Schenley Park is a large municipal park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the neighborhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district...

adjacent to the Pitt campus. Panthers were once found abundantly throughout the region and became to symbolize it. These statues, and Panther Hollow

Panther Hollow

Panther Hollow is a small, somewhat isolated neighborhood at the bottom of Joncaire Street in Junction Hollow that runs along Boundary Street and is located in the Central Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The neighborhood was settled in late 19th century mostly by Italian immigrants...

, existed prior to the university's move by 1909 to Oakland which includes the neighborhood of Panther Hollow adjacent to the school's campus. Moretti's Panther statues soon became adopted representations of the university and of the Pittsburgh Panthers and became a popular photographic site for visitors and students of the university and were widely used in university and student publications. Representations of Moretti statues were also used in university logos. At one time, painting or defacing the Moretti sculptures was a popular form of vandalism committed by the fans of rival universities prior to the schools' football games.

William Pitt Union Moretti Panther

An 1897 panther sculpture by Giuseppe Moretti

Giuseppe Moretti

, the same artist who sculpted the Panther Hollow Panthers, sits inside a paneled wood case in the Tansky Family Lounge on the first floor of the William Pitt Union

William Pitt Union

The William Pitt Union is the student union building of the University of Pittsburgh main campus and is a Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark...

Panther Fountain

A panther head spews water in this fountain

Fountain

A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....

located at the base of the Cathedral of Learning

Cathedral of Learning

, which was constructed from 1926-1937. Joseph Gattoni did the Cathedral's stone work, although no information is available on whether he specifically worked on the fountain.

Millennium Panther

This Panther outside the William Pitt Union

William Pitt Union

The William Pitt Union is the student union building of the University of Pittsburgh main campus and is a Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark...

is ten-and-a-half-feet long and was cast with a sleek and muscular tone in pure bronze by sculptor Miriani Guido in Parma

Parma

Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. With one paw poised in the air, the panther is designed to appear ready to pounce on an unsuspecting enemy. The statue arrived on campus in May 2001 and was stored over the summer in a University warehouse until placed outside the William Pitt Union

William Pitt Union

The William Pitt Union is the student union building of the University of Pittsburgh main campus and is a Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark...

at the end of August 2001. A time capsule

Time capsule

A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...

to be opened in the year 2051 was buried beneath the statue. The project, a gift to the university from the Student Government Board to commemorate the beginning of the 3rd millennium

3rd millennium

In contemporary history, the third millennium is a period of time that commenced on January 1, 2001, and will end on December 31, 3000, of the Gregorian calendar. This is the third period of one thousand years in the Anno Domini...

, began with deliberations in April 1999, cost $72,000 ($62,000 plus a $10,000 base), the most student government has ever spent on one project up until that time.

The plaque on the statue reads

The Pitt Panther

Dedicated August 31, 2001 with the belief that scholarship,
integrity and the unyielding spirit of our past will carry us
into the new millennium and beyond.

A gift from the 1999 Student Body

George J. Mongell
President, Student Government

Mark A. Nordenberg
Mark Nordenberg
Mark A. Nordenberg , also known as "Nordy" to many students, is a lawyer and the seventeenth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh.In 1977, he joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law...

Chancellor

Panther outside Heinz Field

This Panther sits outside Gate A of Heinz Field

Heinz Field

across the Monongahela River

Monongahela River

The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...

from downtown Pittsburgh. It is based on the design by Thomas N. Mitrakos for the award for the Pitt Varsity Letter Club Awardees of Distinction.http://www.umc.pitt.edu/media/pcc051017/VLChonorees_2005OCT17.html Dedicated on September 6, 2002. The statue, 12 feet (3.7 m) long is set on a granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

base. Paved in the stone around the base is an image of the Cathedral of Learning

Cathedral of Learning

. The statue was made possible by a donation from Charles “Corky” (ENGR ’58) and Frances M. (CAS ‘58) Cost.

Panther outside the Pete

This Panther sits at the main entrance of the Petersen Events Center

Petersen Events Center

. Similar to the Panther outside Heinz Field

Heinz Field

, it is based on the design by Thomas N. Mitrakos for the award for the Pitt Varsity Letter Club Awardees of Distinction. Paving stones

Paver (flooring)

An interlocking concrete paver is a pre-cast piece of concrete or brick commonly used in exterior hardscaping applications. Pavers were developed in Europe and introduced into the United States in the early 1970s....

surrounding the nine-foot-long panther are etched with images of the former Pitt Stadium

Pitt Stadium

Pitt Stadium was a stadium located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1925 to 1999. It served primarily as the home of the University of Pittsburgh's football team, the Pittsburgh Panthers...

. The retired jerseys of Panther football greats, including Mike Ditka

Mike Ditka

Michael Keller Ditka, Jr. is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and a head...

, Tony Dorsett

Tony Dorsett

Anthony "Tony" Drew Dorsett is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos.-Early years:...

, Dan Marino

Dan Marino

Daniel Constantine "Dan" Marino, Jr. is a retired American football quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League...

, Hugh Green, and Bill Fralic

Bill Fralic

William P. Fralic, Jr. is a former professional American football offensive guard in the NFL.-Early years:...

, are carved into the panther's base. The statue was made possible by a donation from Charles “Corky” (ENGR ’58) and Frances M. (CAS ‘58) Cost, who also donated the panther statue at Heinz Field.

Pitt the Panther

“Pitt the Panther”, adopted by Henry and Linda Haller, is one of the animals on a Victorian-style

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

carousel

Carousel

A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...

, opened in 2006 and built by Chance Rides Manufacturing of Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

, and funded by the PNC Financial Services Group

PNC Financial Services

PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based financial services corporation, with assets of approximately $264.3 billion...

. It holds 20 people, on 15 1950s-style animals or in a handicapped-accessible

Accessibility

Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity...

chariot and a spinning tub suitable for small children and their parents. The carousel is Schenley Plaza

Schenley Plaza

’s feature family attraction and the menagerie

Menagerie

A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...

of animals, including "Pitt the Panther", symbolizes the fellowship and diversity of Pittsburgh. However, it is not the first carousel in Schenley Park

Schenley Park

. In 1913 the original Schenley Park Carousel was opened to the public at the corner of Panther Hollow and Greenfield roads. The original carousel also had a menagerie of animals. The PNC Carousel in Schenley Plaza operates April through October and is open seven days a week.

Homecoming Panthers

In order to create a new homecoming

Homecoming

Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...

tradition, the Pitt Student Government board purchased ten fiberglass

Fiberglass

panther statues in 2007 for $60,000 from Heavy Industries of Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Proposed to be an annual homecoming event, the approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) tall by 6 feet (1.8 m) wide panthers are to repainted and redecorated by student organizations that will be selected from applications on an annual basis. Originally planned for a 2007 homecoming introduction, manufacturing delays prevented initial decoration and first unveiling until a ceremony on January 10, 2008. Following the ceremony, the panthers were placed in and around Pitt's campus. In a Fall 2008 article of The Pitt News
The Pitt News
The Pitt News is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland which has been active in some form since 1910. It is published Monday through Friday during the regular school year and Wednesdays during the summer...

, it was announced that the statues decorated by the Black Action Society, The Pitt News, the Pitt Pathfinders, and the Pitt Band would be spared another year due to their designs. Both The Pitt News and the Pitt Pathfinders have paid to have their panther statues kept permanently in their respective locations, while the Pitt Band is attempting to raise money to purchase its panther in time for its centennial in 2011.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.