The University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball team is striving to embody the grit and hard work associated with blue-collar workers through the symbolism of their lunch pails, writes Theodoros Papazekos for The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The idea of using a lunch pail with the Penn logo on the front was thought of by director of men’s basketball operations Brad Fadem and coach Steve Donahue.

The lunch pail is awarded to the hardest working and grittiest player at the end of each day’s practice. The lunch pail contains an empty container of Quaker-brand grits to drive the point home.

Donahue’s main goal was to instill a culture of pride, grit, hard work, and fun in his new team.

“We talked about what we want our identity to be: ‘Go to Work,’” said Donahue. “I thought the lunch pail was a great symbol of that. And the guys really bought into it.”

The practice has become even more popular since players started posting their images with the lunch pail on Twitter, boosting the initiative’s visibility in the process.

“We got feedback after that first week, and people we’re like, ‘That’s so cool! We can’t wait to see who’s going to win it!’” said Fadem.

Read more about the Penn men’s basketball team in The Daily Pennsylvanian by clicking here.