The University's familiar mascot has appeared on campus in a new and ingenious form — two giant tiger "Chia pets" now guard the entrance to Princeton University Stadium.
Just as a new Chia pet comes out of the box bald but eventually sprouts stems around its midsection, these new tigers do not yet host the ivy that will grow from their torsos. That ivy will be planted when spring's warm weather arrives.
Made of 7,000 pounds of stainless steel, the new tigers are a gift of investment banker William Weaver '34, who also donated the money to build the new track and field complex that sits between the stadium and Jadwin Gymnasium.
The nine-foot tall, 16-foot long tigers arrived Nov. 16 from North Carolina accompanied by their creator, artist Ruffin Hobbs. They were dedicated in a ceremony Nov. 18 before the Princeton-Dartmouth football game.
The idea for the unique tigers first arose when Hobbs met Weaver earlier this year on a ferry to Nantucket.
"I was just in the right place at the right time," Hobbs said.
Weaver told Hobbs about his original plan for two topiary tigers, sculpted out of hedges, to grace the stadium entrance. But eventually, Weaver commissioned Hobbs to fashion two steel striped cats that would hold ivy — combining Weaver's original plans for tiger hedges with Hobbs' expertise in metal work.
The tigers are a part of the Weaver plaza and walk, which will be completed next fall. Vice President for Development Van Zandt Williams '65 explained that the plaza and walk will not only house the tigers, but will include granite planters, a space to sit, seasonal flowers, new trees and new paving and curbing.
Williams also noted that the tigers will not be year-round fixtures at the stadium entrance. Rather, the imposing structures will spend the winter and summer seasons in a green house on the other side of Lake Carnegie to prevent the ivy from dying during the extreme cold and hot weather of those seasons.
"They are designed to be removed," he said. "We have a special truck to move them and the tigers were designed with special hooks so they could be easily picked up."
But the tigers' apparent mobility may not be entirely a good thing. Williams joked that ambitious pranksters might attempt a heist of the big steel cats.
"Don't tell Rutgers about this," he chuckled.
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