We Are Pride

The We Are sculpture was gifted to the University by the Class of 2013 to memorialize the unity implied by the opening two words in the well-known cheer “We Are, Penn State.”

A recently story had the cheer based on a response made by the captain of the 1947 football team when the team was asked to not bring black players to a game in the South. “We play all or none” was the response and the game was canceled. While that action was admirable and unprecedented for the time, the cheer was created 30 years later by Penn State Cheer Leaders without reference to that 1947 decision.

Since the late 1970s, “We Are, Penn State” has developed into the identifying Penn State cheer, though other colleges and universities have adapted it. The cheer is Penn State's and the unanimity denoted in the first two words is now celebrated in four tons of polished stainless steel. The sculpture was installed in June of 2015 on the east corner outside the Intramural Building, facing Beaver Stadium and the Bryce Jordan Center. The 12 foot high sculpture was designed by artist Jonathan Cramer, a Penn State alum and current resident of Brooklyn, NY.