A couple dozen Penn State students want to start a new tradition — a campout for the Blue-White game. But the idea hasn’t exactly been well-received by Nittanyville or the athletic department.

It all started five weeks ago when Ricky Thurman, a name that doesn’t come up in the Penn State directory, created a Facebook event titled “Nittanyville Blue/White 2013 Campout.”

Thurman provided a message about the event:

Let’s show the nation and Coach O’Brien just how strong our fan base is. The team showed up for us last season, now it’s our turn to show up for them. This would be an unprecedented event. Never has there been a camp out for a Blue/White game. Let’s get this to be the biggest Nittanyville yet!

Over the next month, more and more people would say they plan on attending the campout which is scheduled to begin tomorrow night. As of Wednesday morning, about 30 people are listed as “going,” a paltry number compared to the hundreds that camp outside of Beaver Stadium during the fall.

But wait! There’s a problem. As it turns out, the idea was never approved by anyone with Nittanyville, Penn State’s official club for football-related campouts that works with the athletic department and student affairs to make sure students are safe. The Nittanyville Coordination Committee caught wind of the Facebook event on Monday afternoon, and its president Allen Sheffield posted the following message within the group:

Hello All —

We appreciate your interest and dedication but there will not be a Nittanyville campout for the Blue and White Game. There is protocol that has to be followed for us to be allowed to camp out at Gate A. This campout was not approved by the Nittanyville Coordination Committee or Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. You can hang out there during the day but tents will not be allowed to be pitched and students will not be permitted to sleep over prior to the Blue/White game. University officials will make you leave if you do go through with this. If you could take down this event page we would greatly appreciate it. Plans are already being made to make this upcoming season a great one at Gate A. We hope to see you all in the fall.

~Thanks in advance
The Nittanyville Coordination Committee

Thurman, not thrilled by Sheffield’s message and determined to host the campout this weekend, posted an update on the event page about three hours later.

So it seems there is a minor hiccup with our plan for camping out Thursday… No big deal. I’ve been in some sticky situations before and I’ve always found a way out. So I am officially moving location of the camp out to Gate B.

GATE B everyone. GATE B. Get excited!

The chess match didn’t end there. In response to Thurman’s defiance, Nittanyville published a pair of tweets yesterday urging campers not participate in the proposed campout.

There’s a FB event for a Blue/White Game camp out – we are asking campers to not attend. This camp out was not approved by PSU or the NCC.

— Nittanyville (@NittanyvillePSU) April 16, 2013

Plans are already being made to make this upcoming season a great one. Enjoy the game on Saturday. We will see you back at Gate A this fall!

— Nittanyville (@NittanyvillePSU) April 16, 2013

Thurman, still resistant to Nittanyville’s messages, changed the event title to “RENEGADEVILLE BLUE/WHITE 2013 CAMPOUT” an hour after those tweets went out.

Thurman wasn’t able to be reached for comment last night, but it looks as if he and few others are committed to the cause and are fully set on camping out tomorrow night outside of Gate B.

What do you think? Should students hold their own campout against Nittanyville’s will? Tell us in the comments.