Penn State better take a deep breath before it tries to blow out its candles.
Today, the university turns 150 years old and plans to celebrate in a most traditional way -- with cakes, a gift and a "Happy Birthday" serenade.
"It's important to celebrate a milestone like this because, well, it's quite a milestone," Penn State spokeswoman Laura Stocker said. "It's important to look back at where we came from to see how we got where we are."
Students who wish to join in the birthday festivities can go to the ground floor of the HUB-Robeson Center at noon, where five sheet cakes saying "Happy 150th Birthday Penn State" will be
delivered from Giant Food Stores and offered to anyone who wants to grab a piece.
"It's first come, first serve," said Jim Scaltz, HUB operations manager. "The next contest will be to see how fast the cakes will go."
Michael Bezilla, a sesquicentennial committee member, said the library and other academic and administrative units will also have cakes to celebrate Penn State's birthday.
"This gives the entire community an opportunity to demonstrate the kind of impact Penn State has had on them in their own way," he said.
No birthday cake would be complete, though, without a "Happy Birthday" chorus. Throughout the day, the chimes in Old Main will be ringing to the tune of "Happy Birthday."
Like every traditional birthday, the university will receive a gift from the class of 2003 at 2 p.m. in the HUB first floor lounge. The gift is an oil and acrylic paint mural that depicts the past 50 years of the university's history.
"The mural depicts buildings on Penn State campuses, important people, events and other innovations made in the last 50 years of Penn State history," said Lauren Steinberg, Office of Annual Giving assistant director. "It looks at everything -- sports, technology, the arts; it covers as much as it possibly can."
To end the birthday celebration, Lion Ambassadors and the Penn State Alumni Association will host a free Founders Day Event featuring horse-drawn carriage rides at the Hintz Family Alumni Center from 7 to 10 p.m.
The carriage rides will travel through portions of Penn State that have deep historical value, Lion Ambassador Andy Enders said. Each carriage will also have a tour guide to explain the history of the sites passed. "Instead of giving dry facts, we will be giving stories related to each of the places," Enders said, adding the carriages will be riding past Old Main, Schwab Auditorium and Carnegie Building. "[These buildings] have a lot of history and a lot of good stories," he said.
