Fandom of the Week: Penn State Nittany Lions. 111,000 People in White. Two Words That Mean Everything.
You’re on vacation at Disney World. You see a Penn State hat. You throw a “We Are” out there. There is an instant “Penn State.” It doesn’t matter where you are. It doesn’t matter that you have never met. The chant is the handshake. The handshake is the community. The community is everything.
Beaver Stadium holds 106,572 people and has sold out every home game since 1962. On White Out nights, when the capacity swells past 111,000 and every person in the building is wearing white, the aerial photographs look like something that was staged for a movie. It was not staged. It started because a student section decided to wear white for a game against Purdue in 2004 and it grew because it worked and now it is the most recognizable fan tradition in college football. James Franklin, Penn State’s head coach, has said: “The only thing I like more than Christmas is a White Out football game.” He is not exaggerating.
This is the third article in the Fandom of the Week series. Every week during the college football season, Sideline covers one fan community: who they are, what they do on Saturdays, and what their team means to the place it comes from. This week: Penn State.
——— THE COMMUNITY ———
Penn State Nittany Lions Fans: Who They Are and Why Happy Valley Is Everywhere
The Penn State Nittany Lions fan base is one of the most geographically distributed in college football. Unlike Ohio State, whose fan identity is rooted in a single state with no competing professional sports franchise, Penn State fans come from everywhere. The university has one of the largest alumni networks in the United States, with graduates concentrated heavily in Philadelphia, New York City, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. In those cities, Penn State alumni chapters organize watch parties, tailgates, and game-day gatherings that replicate Happy Valley in hotel bars and sports bars and rented venues from September to January every year.
State College, Pennsylvania — the home of Penn State’s University Park campus and universally called Happy Valley by fans — is a college town in the most complete sense of the phrase. The city of roughly 40,000 people swells dramatically on football Saturdays as fans from across Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic descend on campus. The drive from Philadelphia is four hours. The drive from New York is five. Neither distance has ever stopped anyone. The sold-out streak at Beaver Stadium began in 1962 and has continued through coaching transitions, NCAA investigations, down seasons, and a global pandemic. The fans do not require a reason to show up. Showing up is the reason.
What unites Penn State fans across geography is the “We Are” chant — the two words that function as both greeting and declaration. Former longtime equipment manager Brad “Spider” Caldwell described it precisely: “You’re on vacation, I’m at Disney World, you see a Penn State hat, you’ll throw a ‘We Are’ out there and there is an instant ‘Penn State!’” It is an instant connection with alumni anywhere in the world. You do not need to know who is wearing the hat. You already know everything that matters.
——— THE RITUAL ———
Penn State Game Day: Zombie Nation, the Blue Band, and What Happens Before Kickoff
The Penn State game day experience begins before the gates open. The Blue Band — founded in 1899 and with over 320 active student members, the largest recognized student organization on campus — marches onto the field approximately 15 minutes before kickoff for the pregame show. The pregame show ends with the Nittany Lion mascot prompting each section of Beaver Stadium to cheer as loud as possible, working around the stadium until the whole building is making noise simultaneously.
Then the mic man takes the microphone and asks: “Are you ready for Penn State football?” The Blue Band launches into The Hey Song. The team emerges from the tunnel directly beneath the student section. Zombie Nation — Kernkraft 400 by the German electronic duo — begins blasting from the PA system. Fans chant “We Are Penn State” in rhythm with the beat. The tunnel entrance is directly beneath the student section, which means the players run through a corridor of the loudest people in the building at the exact moment the building is at its loudest. First-time visitors describe the moment as physically overwhelming.
During games, the Blue Band performs Fight On, State and The Nittany Lion as fight songs. Students in the student section link arms and sway while singing the alma mater, For The Glory. At the conclusion of every Penn State victory at Beaver Stadium, fans sing the chorus of Sweet Caroline — an adoption from Boston Red Sox fandom that arrived via younger alumni and has since become a permanent fixture of the postgame experience.
“The only thing I like more than Christmas is a White Out football game.”
——— THE IDENTITY ———
Penn State Fan Identity: Where “We Are” Comes From and Why the White Out Is More Than a Color
Most Penn State fans know that the “We Are” chant began on September 11, 1976, when the university’s cheerleaders introduced it in Beaver Stadium to fire up the crowd. What fewer fans know is the story that the chant carries without announcing it: in 1946, Penn State’s football team was scheduled to play a segregated opponent that refused to compete against Black players. Penn State’s players voted unanimously to cancel the game rather than leave their Black teammates at home. Before Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball, Penn State integrated its roster and refused to back down when an opponent demanded otherwise.
The 1976 chant did not reference 1946. But the identity that Penn State football had built over the preceding three decades — as a program that stood for its players before it stood for its wins — was what gave the chant its weight. “We Are Penn State” is a declaration of community first. The football is the occasion. The community is the point. That is why it travels to Disney World and why strangers respond to it as if they know each other. They do know each other. They share something that has nothing to do with the scoreboard.
The White Out began more modestly. In 2002, before a highly anticipated home game against Nebraska, Penn State fans feared that a sea of red Cornhusker supporters would overwhelm the stands in Beaver Stadium. An email campaign called Operation Visine circulated among Penn State fans asking them to wear blue and not sell their tickets to Nebraska supporters — the goal was to “get the red out.” The idea worked: the stands were overwhelmingly Penn State blue, the crowd was record-setting, and the Nittany Lions upset ⌇7 Nebraska 40-7. Two years later, the first official White Out was held for a game against Purdue. By 2007, the full stadium was participating. Penn State is 13-8 in official White Out games and has won six consecutive since 2019. The 2025 White Out against Oregon drew 111,015 fans — the second-largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history. Five of Beaver Stadium’s ten largest crowds in history have been White Out games.
“We Are. Penn State. It’s a chant as iconic as any in sports. You’re on vacation, I’m at Disney World, you see a Penn State hat, you’ll throw a ‘We Are’ out there and there is an instant ‘Penn State!’ It’s just that instant connection with alumni.”
Brad ‘Spider’ Caldwell · Former Penn State Equipment Manager · WTAJ ·
——— THE GLOSSARY ———
Penn State Nittany Lions Fan Glossary: Eight Terms Every New Fan Needs to Know
Every Penn State fan knows these. Every new fan needs to.
We Are / Penn State
The call-and-response chant that defines Penn State fandom. One side of the stadium or one person calls “We Are” and everyone responds “Penn State.” Done three times in a row, followed by “thank you” / “you’re welcome.” Works in Beaver Stadium, Disney World, airport terminals, and anywhere two Penn Staters encounter each other.
Happy Valley
The nickname for State College, Pennsylvania, home of Penn State’s University Park campus. Named for the idyllic valley in which it sits. Used interchangeably with State College among fans. Also used to refer to the entire Penn State football experience and community, not just the physical location.
Beaver Stadium
Penn State’s football stadium, capacity 106,572, with a sold-out streak dating to 1962. Named for James Beaver, a former Pennsylvania governor and Penn State trustee. The upper decks and horseshoe configuration focus crowd noise downward onto the field. On White Out nights, the standing-room attendance has exceeded 111,000.
The White Out
The coordinated fan tradition where every person in Beaver Stadium wears white for one designated home game per season. Started with a student section experiment against Purdue in 2004. Now officially described as the best atmosphere in college football. Penn State is 13-8 in official White Out games and 6-0 since 2019.
The Blue Band
The Penn State Marching Blue Band, founded in 1899, with over 320 active student members. The largest recognized student organization on the University Park campus. Performs the pregame show at every home football game. Open to all Penn State students by competitive audition; returnees must re-audition annually.
Zombie Nation
Kernkraft 400 by the German electronic duo Zombie Nation, the song that plays when the Penn State team runs out of the tunnel before games. Fans chant “We Are Penn State” over the beat. More accurately a specific moment than a song — the instant when the crowd noise, the music, and the team’s entrance converge.
Operation Visine
The 2002 fan campaign that preceded the White Out. Before a home game against ⌇7 Nebraska, Penn State fans feared that Cornhusker red would overtake Beaver Stadium. An email campaign circulated asking fans to wear blue and not sell tickets to Nebraska supporters. Penn State won 40-7. The coordinated crowd concept stuck and eventually became the White Out.
For The Glory
Penn State’s alma mater, sung by students in the student section during games. Students link arms and sway while singing. One of the few college football traditions in which 100,000 people stop watching the game to participate in a collective act of singing. Visitors describe it as unexpectedly moving.
111,000 people in white. A sold-out streak since 1962. The chant that works at Disney World. The pregame show that 300 students rehearse every week. The vote in 1946 to cancel a game rather than discriminate. The email in 2002 to “get the red out.” The first White Out in 2004. The six consecutive White Out wins. The two words that are a handshake and a community and a declaration all at once.
We Are Penn State. That’s not a chant. It’s an answer to a question nobody asked.
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