PrincetonUniversity
 

About the Princeton tiger

* The tiger emerged as a symbol of Princeton, ironically, not long after Woodrow Wilson's class, at its graduation in 1879, gave the University a pair of lions to guard the main entrance to Nassau Hall.

* The growing use of the tiger -- rather than the lion -- as Princeton's totem has been ascribed by Princetonians of that period to two things: the college cheer, which contained a "tiger" as a rallying word; and the growing use of orange and black as the college colors.

* In 1893, a three-year-old eating club called The Inn changed its name to Tiger Inn.

* In 1911, with the tiger firmly established as the Princeton symbol, the class of 1879 substituted A.P. Proctor's bronze tigers for the lions that had flanked the front steps of Nassau Hall.

* There are many tigers to be found in the architecture around campus, all of them presumably male. In 1969, the year coeducation was introduced, Bruce Moore's bronze tigers for the Adams Mall between Whig and Clio were created male and female.

From: "A Princeton Companion."

Several tigers can be found lounging in the sunshine around campus, including this one by A.P. Proctor in front of Nassau Hall.

photo: Evelyn Tu