Paternoville sprouted up just after midnight Tuesday, two days earlier than normally allowed, but the Paternoville Coordination Committee (PCC) withheld its opening from students.
The organization wanted to protect the future of the Penn State tradition, PCC representatives said yesterday.
Last May, the PCC and the university agreed to extend the length of Paternoville on a trial basis for one week this season, PCC vice president Chris Grassi said. The rules are the same: no alcohol, open flames or obstructing traffic. If there are no criminal incidents, such as the reported graffiti vandalism that happened last year during the Michigan week, he said, the university may consider extending the length of future campouts.
The ultimate goal is to have the camp fill slowly by Friday, decreasing the risk of injury associated with jockeying for a spot, said PCC president Tom Boroch (sophomore-meteorology).
"Based on our judgment at the time and information we had, we felt that by mass publicizing this, it would totally defeat the purpose of having a calm Paternoville," said Grassi (junior-supply chain and information systems). "The decision to not publicize it was not made out of malice. ... I have two more years left; I don't want this to die."
University spokesman Geoff Rushton said opening Paternoville early was planned specifically prior to the Saturday Notre Dame game but said nothing about the possibility of extending future campouts.
Paternoville, the tent city that clusters around Gate A at Beaver Stadium before home football games, gained popularity before the Ohio State game in 2005. Students started camping out the Sunday before kickoff, gaining national notoriety and creating the campground's namesake, Paternoville.
In 2006, the university curbed Paternoville, only allowing students to start camping at midnight on Thursday.
By 5 p.m. yesterday, 30 tents, nine air mattresses, one game of Scrabble and a 1,000-piece puzzle of Big Ben were already at Gate A. Some campers at the site only heard about or saw Paternoville by chance.
"My personal opinion is that if you ask anyone who has the front row, they'll say my friend or I'm on the Paternoville committee," said Dan Clark, 20, of State College. Clark is no longer a Penn State student, but he was camping out and said he planned to attend the game.
"Yeah, they worked with the university to keep this going, but it's an unfair advantage," Clark said. "My problem is that it wasn't publicized anywhere. If they have this, why not publicize it? ... It's a big clique."
Phil DeCastro (junior-meteorology) showed up yesterday because he was at a State College Spikes game Monday and saw Boroch standing near the stadium with a tent at about 10 p.m.
Sarah Cohen (junior-psychology and communications, arts and sciences) said a friend called to tell her about Paternoville at midnight Tuesday.
Some PCC members at Paternoville yesterday argued that the club Web site had been updated on Sept. 2, alerting students of the change. Other PCC members simply said students should've patrolled the stadium to see if Paternoville would start up.
Grassi, who has camped out for every home game since Central Michigan in 2005, said there are two Paternovilles.
One Paternoville, he said, happens before non-conference opponents or weak Big Ten teams. Usually, this version of the city is more subdued with about 10 tents.
The other Paternoville, he said, happens before games like Notre Dame. At the latter Paternoville, students flock for a spot and more than 100 tents could take root, he said.
Boroch called it a "lose-lose situation."
"The way we did it, it might not be the best way for the overall university," he said. "But it was the best solution because we'll have the Michigan situation again."
