The Penn State Lionettes are a pillar in the Penn State community. They participate in football games, basketball games, student events, the THON 5K, and the 100 Days ‘Till THON celebration; they are always there.

The Lionettes have their own competition to work towards each year on top of everything. They compete in the Universal Dance Association National Championships (UDA Nationals), the premier competition for top dance teams, each January in Orlando, Florida.

In the past, Penn State has provided the team with funding for nationals, including travel and lodging. Now, with Penn State’s university-wide budget cuts, the Lionettes lost all of their funding.

Captain Nikki Romano is advocating for her team to raise the money needed, sharing that being a Lionette means carrying on the legacy.

“I always say the Lionettes is representing something bigger than you. You’re representing the legacy of the Lionettes and what we’ve built because nothing was ever handed to us. We’ve worked generations to make it what it is today… We work tirelessly to represent the university,” Romano said.

The Lionettes are at every university event they’re requested for, bringing their spirit, while also practicing for their nationals all year long, competing in pom and jazz. In 2024, the program made history, medaling in third place, and placed in the top 10 for both routines last year. Their last jazz routine was all over TikTok, going viral in the dance world.

In early September, they found out they were no longer receiving their usual funding from Penn State, with all 25 members now needing to raise a total of $70,000 for their expenses. Romano went public with the requests for help on her Instagram, receiving a pouring of support from the Penn State community.

“Ever since I posted, we have gotten crazy amounts of support that I’ve never seen before. I have alumni calling me and alumni networks calling me. We have so much support from other dance teams that we compete against, and so the sport has been great.

“We’ve seen insane progress, and there’s a lot of people fighting for us right now, which is a huge thing too, just knowing that there’s people out there that are fighting for us to be treated better, to be seen like athletes, that’s a huge thing,” the captain said.

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Under the NCAA, dance isn’t considered a sport, meaning the Lionettes have never received the support from athletics like varsity teams, even before the budget cuts. They don’t have access to the Greenberg facility and aren’t featured on anything from Penn State Athletics. The team is part of the multitude of people in the Penn State community reeling from the impacts.

The student dancers train all through the week, getting most of their recognition in the football season for their famous kicks. The Lionettes train Monday through Thursday for three hours a night, performing at football games on Saturday, and then practicing for nationals all day Sunday. And if there’s no game on Saturday, then their whole weekend is blocked out for nationals training.

Despite the team commitments, the girls are committed to being as involved in every aspect of Penn State, being heavily involved in THON on personal levels while still rushing to the stage for their performances and choreographing many of the Pep Rally routines.

They give up their breaks for the team, just like all other student-athletes. Last year, Romano had two days off for Thanksgiving and five for winter break, but she said it’s a gift.

“We’ve never cared about the medal, about the first place,” Romano said. “That’s not what comes first. What comes first is making ourselves proud and our school proud. That’s always what it’s been about. We just want to keep doing that, and that’s why it’s so important that we’re trying to fundraise and take all the right steps to get our story out there.”

At the end of the day, the team does so much for the Penn State community without much appreciation. They don’t ask for much, just to be able to represent Penn State through not only those events, but on the competition stage as well.

“This is our one competition a year,” Romano said. “This is the one thing, it’s the only thing we’ve asked for. We don’t ask for much at all, and this is just the one thing that we love so, so deeply, and it’s just crazy, it’s crazy.”

The Lionettes are hoping to raise the $70,000 by early December with enough time to plan for the UDA Nationals from January 16-18. Folks who want to help by donating can do so here.