Penn State Lion Ambassadors know that a commitment to the University is life long. Through the connections they make with prospective and current students, alumni and friends, they foster a University rich with tradition and full of pride. 

"Okay, so if I'm about to hit anything behind me, please yell," Penn State Lion Ambassador Darina Nuri called out as she begins to walk backwards, leading a tour group of prospective students and their families past Penn State's Intramural Building. 

Fellow ambassador Brandon Johnson added, "Yeah, last week I ran into a pole!"

Nuri and Johnson are two out of more than a hundred Lion Ambassadors, a group of students tasked with communicating Penn State's history, upholding its traditions and instilling its pride in current and future students, alumni and friends. 

The Penn State Lion Ambassadors, a student group of the Penn State Alumni Association, are well known for the tours they lead for the Office of Admissions -- in particular, their ability to walk backwards across campus while relaying a wealth of information and a number of little-known facts about the University. 

Typically, a pair of Lion Ambassadors will lead about three to five tours each month. That means a lot of Penn State students received their first glimpse of life at the University through the eyes of a Lion Ambassador. 

And you don't have to look far to find evidence of the ambassadors' impact. At the end of a recent tour, as Nuri ate lunch in East Halls, a current student approached her.

"He said, 'I don't know if you remember me, but you actually gave me my tour last year, and you convinced me to come here. I just wanted to say thank you,'" she recalls. "Hearing stories like that is awesome, and it makes touring so worth it." 

Not just tour guides

You might think that learning all there is to know about Penn State and sharing that information with prospective students, families, alumni, corporate representatives and visitors to campus would be more than enough to keep the Lion Ambassadors busy. In reality, though, it's still just a piece of what the Lion Ambassadors do as an organization, said Casey Lindlaw, a senior risk management major who serves as president of the group's executive board. 

"We do so much more than just give tours," explained Lindlaw. "We have six committees within the organization, and each committee puts on a different special project each semester." 

These projects include the University-wide Senior Sendoff event held for graduating seniors in the spring; Guard the Lion Shrine, which takes place at the Nittany Lion Shrine each year the night before the Homecoming game; and the Campus Showcase, which provides Penn Staters and the community an opportunity each year to learn more about a different area of campus. Lion Ambassadors also are responsible for the S-Zone at home football games; they pass out the T-shirts to attendees in the student section and ensure the 'S' looks perfect.

"Our main purpose is to instill that a connection with Penn State is a lifelong commitment," Lindlaw said. "It's at the heart of everything we do as Lion Ambassadors." 

All of the Lion Ambassadors' special events aim to bring members of the University and the surrounding community together to share their pride in Penn State.

"The organization trusts us to carry on these traditions, and we pride ourselves on being the representatives of these traditions," said Lindlaw. "We enjoy spreading the traditions and history of the school. Lion Ambassadors radiate Penn State pride in their everyday lives and love everything Penn State has to offer." 

About the Lion Ambassadors

The Penn State Lion Ambassadors have served the University community for more than 30 years. In 1981, the University saw a need for a student alumni corps who could provide service to the University and help strengthen ties between students and alumni. The first 50 Lion Ambassadors took up the charge in the spring of 1982. 

Since then, the ambassadors -- described as "ordinary students with extraordinary pride" -- have been dedicated to communicating the University's history, strengthening the institution's traditions and instilling Penn State pride in current and future students, alumni and friends. 

The organization is currently recruiting its next class of ambassadors. Any student of sophomore or junior standing interested in becoming a Lion Ambassador, should attend an upcoming recruitment event and/or submit an application by Friday, Dec. 5.