In a few years, the Nittany Lion will be gone from the Penn State Fayette Eberly Campus. 

But even with the lion gone, state and local leaders want to see this campus come roaring back in the form of a senior military college.

There are only six senior military colleges in the United States: The Citadel, Norwich University, Texas A&M University, Virginia Military Institute, University of North Georgia and Virginia Tech. 

But now, local and state lawmakers are hoping to make the soon-to-be vacated Penn State campus near Uniontown the seventh.

A senior military college is not a service academy like Annapolis or West Point. But it is a state or locally run college, like Penn State Fayette, with a military overlay, where students can get both a military and civilian education.

Fayette County Controller Robb Rhodes, who wrote the initial proposal for this new school, says that a feasibility study is being prepared to see if the campus and area would be a good fit for the school. But he says state senators and representatives are already getting behind the idea.

"It's a lovely campus," Rhodes said. "I would hate to see it go to the wayside. And I really tried to work hard to try and salvage Penn State and have Penn State stay here, and it just didn't work out in the end. So, you have to think outside of the box and come up with some other ideas."

Penn State is looking to close the Fayette campus at the end of the 2026-27 school year.

Rhodes says that despite having to build dormitories and a dining facility, the campus is in good shape for a changeover. And he says that the new facility could be named after U.S. General George C. Marshall, who was from Uniontown and attended Virginia Military Institute.

"The ripple effect economically that it could provide for Fayette County, not only as far as academics but as far as jobs go," Rhodes said. "I foresee them having to build new hotels, restaurants and stores in the immediate vicinity as a result of a senior military college coming in here."

Now, the feasibility study has not been executed on as of yet, and there is still a lot of work to be done. But officials here want everyone to know that they are on the offensive to bring something lasting here to this Fayette campus once Penn State is gone.