Before 1933 Youngstown State University was referred to as the Y College and in other cases as the “Locals” at all sports events. There are two theories on how our school mascot became known as the penguin. Our nickname Penguins was introduced on January 30, 1933, at a men’s basketball game. The team was playing West Liberty State in West Virginia on a cold, winter night. It is said that during the game, our men swung their arms and stomped their feet on the floor which gave the appearance of a Penguin. Knowing we did not have a nickname, our fans took a liking to the name from that day on.

Another theory is that our men’s team from 1932-1933 spent countless time that year discussing new names for our school sports. The men tried everything: they tried animals, birds and anything associated with steel city, but they could not come up with something that stuck. The name came up on the way to West State College for a game in late January 1933. On the way to the game, the weather became miserable and they were hit with about two feet of snow. On the ride, it is said that the team had to get out of their car on several occasions and push the vehicle out of the snow. During this trip through the blizzard, the team recalls discussing the nickname and throwing out the idea of the Penguins. By the time the team arrived to the gym, they decided that the Penguins was perfect.

The name was introduced at the end of 1933 when our men played Slippery Rock in the 1933-1934 season. To this day we are the only Division I University in the country with Penguins as our mascot and nickname for their athletic team. Either way, it is interesting that our students came up with the name. I don’t know how everyone else feels, but I could not imagine myself as anything but a Penguin.