Campus Tours: Not Just for Incoming Students
May 6, 2009 at 7:31 pm Lori Shontz 4 comments
Has anyone ever seen a Lion Ambassador walk forward?
We had the coolest staff meeting ever today. No sitting in a conference room for us, the employees of the Penn State Alumni Association. Instead, we divided into four groups for campus tours, led by the Lion Ambassadors. (Yes, they walked backward the entire time.)
I spent four years on campus as a student, and later I covered the university and its sports teams for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. So while I’m always up for a walk around campus (especially in the spring, when it’s green and gorgeous), I wasn’t expecting to learn a ton.
Turns out that wasn’t the case. I heard some nuggets I’d forgotten, such as how the ghost of Frances Atherton lurks in the upstairs window of Old Botany, the oldest academic building on campus, which overlooks the tomb of her husband George, Penn State’s president from 1882-1906. Other stories were brand new to me:
We wandered through the HUB, which prompted a question about student clubs.
—Chambers Building, home to the College of Education, was built to resemble a 1970s-style high school. That’s so the student teachers would get used to their future environment.
—There are some 700 student clubs at Penn State, including one for people named Bob.
—Milton Eisenhower, Penn State’s president in the 1950s, loved his mother’s cookies and eagerly looked forward to care packages. So he talked with his brother Dwight—who, as president of the entire United States, had a little pull—and asked if Penn State could have its own zip code. Dwight obliged, and that’s why University Park’s zip code is 16802 and there’s a post office in McAllister Building.
Fact or fiction? A little of both? I have no idea. But I do know that such stories are part of what makes Penn State’s main campus such a special place.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Entry filed under: Alumni Association, Penn State traditions, University Park campus. Tags: Chambers Building, Dwight Eisenhower, Frances Atherton, George Atherton, Lion Ambassadors, McAllister Building, Milton Eisenhower, Old Botany.
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1. Marianne Lorensen | May 8, 2009 at 9:30 am
I knew the story about the origin of the UP zip code– but the cookie part is new to me. I had always been of the understanding it had more to do with the fact that Milton Eisenhower had unsuccessfully tried to change the name of State College to University Park. Unable to accomplish that, he instead got a zip code for the campus so that he could use that name. Who knows, though? Maybe it really was about the cookies. :)
2. Scott Robertson | May 9, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I’ve often heard this story of Penn State being granted its own zip code by President Dwight Eisenhower.It seems like a very interesting tale, but it appears to be contradicted by the events of history. The modern ZIP code system wasn’t devised by the U.S. Postal Service until the early 1960s–well after Milton Eisenhower served as President of Penn State and Dwight Eisenhower served as President of the U.S. in the 1950s.
The ZIP code system was the direct result of recommendations by an advisory board appointed by President Kennedy to study mechanization problems with the postal system. The advisory board recommended that the postal service develop a coding system for all mail.The ZIP code system went into effect on July 1, 1963, although it was optional at first. It was not until 1967 that ZIP codes became mandatory for some mail (second and third class bulk mail) and then eventually all mail.
It is true, however, that Milton Eisenhower did make an unsuccessful attempt at trying to encourage State College to change its name after Penn State became a university. The local referendum failed to produce a majority of votes for any new name, so the borough decided to remain State College, PA.
Thereafter, the university campus land became known as University Park, PA. However, University Park was not assigned ZIP code 16802 until the 1960s after 16801 had been assigned to the borough of State College. The zip codes 16803, 16804, and 16805 were assigned to some other parts of State College. (The zip code 16800 is not assigned to anything, though. I’m not quite sure why.) The zip codes of 16806 through 16819 are unassigned. (The closest zip code to State College is that of Aaronsburg, PA at 16820.)
-Scott
3. Strolling Campus with the Lion Ambassadors—At Night « The Penn Stater | October 10, 2009 at 3:45 pm
[...] to go with a story about how Penn State got its own post office. You can read more about that story here and decide for yourself if it’s truth or [...]
4. Jon Florio | July 27, 2011 at 12:11 am
I loved this entry! Just wanted to let you know I posted a link about it on my blog (jflopsu.tumblr.com). I planning on reading more often! Happy blogging!