BRENDAN J. SULLIVAN BRENDAN J. SULLIVAN/ BELLARMINE UNIVERSITY
A school mascot is the ultimate cheerleader. Seen at sporting events and campus gatherings, these cartoonish characters rev up the crowd. They can resemble an animal or a caricature of a person or … nothing in particular. In some instances, the mascot becomes synonymous with the school itself, but in others, they are not as well known. Following is a glimpse of some of the fun-loving mascots of Kentucky’s colleges and universities.
Symbol of Freedom
In 1917, Alice Geddes Lloyd traveled to Pippa Passes in eastern Kentucky from Boston, Massachusetts, to restore her health. While there, she unexpectedly found her life’s purpose—to educate the people of Appalachia and establish Alice Lloyd College. She is said to have told area residents that she was from “the cradle of liberty.” Although the college does not have a record of exactly how it came to be, its mascot, the Eagle, honors the institution’s patriotic founder. In 2012, the student body voted to officially name the eagle Talon.
Gallant Man of Arms
Bellarmine University’s founding president, Msgr. Alfred F. Horrigan, was enchanted by the Arthurian legend and the quest for the Holy Grail and thus chose the Knight as Bellarmine’s mascot in the 1950s around the time the Louisville school was established. In 2020, Bellarmine Athletics and Student Activities sponsored a contest to name the Knight. After 70 years with no name, he is now known as Valor.
Wilderness Champion
A bear named Blue made his debut representing Berea College in November 2021. When not cheering on the Mountaineers, Blue, according to college officials, resides in the 9,000 acres of adjacent forest surrounding campus.
Name Change
Brescia University was founded in 1925 as Mount Saint Joseph Junior College for Women. It had no teams and, thus, no mascot. Upon changing its name to Brescia and moving to its current location in Owensboro in 1950, the institution formed intercollegiate teams and called them the Brescia Rebels after Rebel Yell Whiskey. In 1968, Brescia felt that name did not represent the values of the school, so the mascot was changed to the Bearcat. In 1987, the Brescia Bearcat officially was named Barney.
Fierce Feline
A big smiling striped cat represents the Campbellsville University Tigers. The school mascot originally was a panther but was changed to a tiger in the early 1930s. Clawz, as he is affectionately known, has carried on the school spirit for almost 90 years.
Striped and Scrappy
Georgetown College was chartered in 1829 on land donated by Elijah Craig, the Baptist preacher who is credited with inventing bourbon. The institution’s sports nickname is the Tigers, and mascot Eli is named in honor of the school’s famous benefactor.
Student Guide
Pathfinder, the fox mascot of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, cheers on the students, not a specific team. Pathfinder is credited with helping students navigate their way to degrees or credentials and helping them to achieve confidence, endurance and the strength needed to complete their journey.
Award-Winning Equine
Murray State University is the home of the Racers, named as a nod to Thoroughbred racing, for which Kentucky is famous. In the 1970s, Dunker, a horse that runs on two legs instead of four, made his debut. Always ready to cheer for the Racers, Dunker won the Ohio Valley Conference Mascot Challenge four times in five years, from 2013-2017.
Not a Friendly Face
In 2005, Northern Kentucky University adopted Victor E. Viking as its Norse mascot to reflect the warrior image. Victor regularly dons the traditional two-horned Norse helmet while sporting a black cape as the Norse go into battle on the court or on the field. Victor was named Atlantic Sun Conference Mascot of the Year in 2012, and ESPN named him in the Top 10 of Scariest Mascots in all of college sports in 2015. In the 2017 NCAA Tournament, he was ranked the best mascot of the tournament by USA Today.
Heavyweight Bird
Spalding University introduced the Golden Eagles mascot in 2018. His name, Ollie, was the winner of a campus vote and pays homage to Ali, as in Muhammad Ali (not Ollie’s Trolley, the nearby fast-food restaurant). The late heavyweight champion had a special connection to Spalding, as he first learned to box as a teenager in the building that is now the university’s Columbia Gym.
Fighting Saint
The Saints of Thomas More University are represented by Tommy Mo, named for the school’s patron saint, Sir Thomas More, who was executed in 16th century England during King Henry VIII’s reign and canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935. Although Tommy Mo commonly wears a traditional tunic similar to one from historical depictions of More, he sometimes adds his blue Thomas More Saints jersey, adorning the number 21 in honor of the university’s founding year, 1921, as Villa Madonna College in Covington.
Pioneering Bat
Transylvania’s mascot is a Rafinesque’s big-eared bat, known as Raf. The Pioneers’ athletic mascot pays homage to the university’s legendary professor, Samuel Constantine Rafinesque, a charismatic naturalist whose tomb is on the first floor of Transylvania’s main administrative building, Old Morrison. Legend has it that the professor was fascinated by zoology, botany, and the bat with giant ears, which was given his name.
Wild Warriors
In 1909, the University of Kentucky football team won a tough game, and Commandant Philip W. Carbusier, head of the military department of what was then known as State University, told students that the team “fought like Wildcats.” The name stuck. The fur-clad mascot officially was adopted by the school in 1976.
Mack Tough
The first reference to Union College’s mascot, the bulldog, appeared in the Barbourville school’s 1926 yearbook. In the 1960s, students held a fundraiser by selling pins with Mack trucks on them. The fundraiser raised enough money to purchase a real bulldog, who was named Mack. Mack, and future Macks, traveled with teams throughout the years, but there has not been a live canine mascot since 2012. Today, there is a Mack statue, and football players rub his head for luck before taking the field at home games. And the student section of the stands is known as the Dog Pound.
U.S. Tribute
Pete the Patriot is the mascot for the University of the Cumberlands teams, The Patriots. Both the college’s name and the mascot have changed since their beginnings in 1888. When the Williamsburg school became a university in 2005, The Patriot was chosen as mascot. It is a reflection of our country’s colonial history and the enhancement of campus academic buildings that replicate the architecture of Independence Hall and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
Large and in Charge
Big Red, the mascot of Western Kentucky University, is lovingly referred to as a big blob. He is made of foam, fake fur, plastic tubing, and aluminum framing and boasts a fun, playful personality. Created from a sketch by Ralph Carey, class of 1980, Big Red made his debut at a Hilltopper basketball game on Dec. 1, 1979. Since then, he has been inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame and has reached the Final Four of ESPN SportZone’s Battle of the Mascots.
Public Universities
Eastern Kentucky University, Colonels
Kentucky State University, Thorobreds
Morehead State University, Eagles
Murray State University, Horses, Racer and Dunker
Northern Kentucky University, Norseman, Victor E. Viking
University of Kentucky, Wildcat
University of Louisville, Cardinal Bird
Western Kentucky University, Big Red
Private Colleges
Alice Lloyd College. Eagle, Talon
Asbury University, Eagle
Bellarmine University, Valor the Knight
Berea College, Mountaineer, Blue the bear
Brescia University, Bearcat, Barney
Campbellsville University, Tiger, Clawz
Centre College, Colonels
Georgetown College, Tiger, Eli
Kentucky Christian University, Knights and Lady Knights
Simmons College of Kentucky, Falcons
Kentucky Wesleyan College, Panthers
Lindsey Wilson College, Blue Raider Bob
Midway University, Eagles
Spalding University, Ollie the Eagle
Thomas More University, Saint, Tommy Mo
Transylvania University, Pioneers; Raf, Rafinesque's big-eared bat
Union College, Bulldog, Mack
University of the Cumberlands, Pete the Patriot
University of Pikeville, Pikey the Bear