By Vanessa Selle
Delta College is looking for a revamped mascot!
The traditional “Peppie the Pioneer” Delta mascot is going into retirement, and the college is looking to hire something new. Delta accepted students’ suggestions until last Friday to create a mascot that will increase student spirit and foster community in the college.
College personnel and students will be able to vote on the final three options for the mascot at the beginning of next semester, says Leanne Govitz, who is Delta’s Director of Marketing and Public Information.
“A good mascot should unite everyone under one name, make everyone feel included, and connect students to each other and to the school,” said Govitz.
Peppie the Pioneer has been Delta’s mascot since the school first opened in 1961. Although the pioneer insignia was widely used on sweatshirts, T-shirts, and notebooks, it was so long ago that not many people could even remember seeing it.
In the January 28, 1982 issue of the Delta Collegiate, coupons offered 10% off any item if any Delta apparel was purchased or if you were wearing Delta apparel at the time of the purchase.
In the same issue, an introductory sale featured 20% off all pioneer apparel. Both of these coupons were a limited-time offer, the sale only lasting from January 28 to February 3.
In Collegiate articles from 1982, many faculty members, some of whom had worked at the college since the beginning, reported not being able to remember a big mascot presence. They remembered seeing the pioneer on college merchandise, but not much beyond that.
However, when the mascot was lost for a short time after the 2007 gym renovation, there seemed to be a great upset about it. The Athletic Recruiter at the time, Chuck Lord, said that he was devastated when the mascot went missing. A basketball team member Ryan Praski said that the absence of the mascot affected school spirit at sports events and that getting the mascot back would probably help with fan turnout and enthusiasm. Sports fan Kyle Krause said that a mascot was a “great idea” and would help to “pump up the crowd.”
Even in 2007, Collegiate articles show that the idea of recreating the mascot was floating around. The Office of Student Engagement even tried to put together a contest to see what students could come up with but were blocked at the time due to the redesign of the Delta logo.
“Throughout the years, student-athletes and other groups have wanted to create a mascot. One that isn’t tied to local colonization or lumbering nor gender specific,” says Govitz.
