The Story
The Newest Member of the William and Mary Tribe: the Griffin
For years after the loss of its former American Indian mascot, the College has been without a symbol and its sidelines have been empty of a costumed individual exciting the crowd. Finally, on April 6, the identity crisis for the College came to an end. The search for a new mascot was over and the Griffin made his grand entrance into the Kaplan Arena, as well as into William and Mary’s community and history.
Although some thought that President Taylor Reveley would personally choose a mascot when he took office, he instead followed advice given to him on the subject.
“Whatever else you do, don’t try to pick a mascot,” said President Reveley, quoting this advice.
President Reveley was so cautious about choosing a mascot that he didn’t seriously address the issue until a year after he became the new president. Then in February of 2009, a committee consisting of seventeen members, both students and faculty, was created to find William and Mary a new mascot. Terry Driscoll, the Director of Athletics, was appointed this committee’s chair.
The first action of the committee was to get submissions from the students. Over 800 people submitted suggestions for the new mascot, with approximately 300 “unique” submissions. From those 300 suggestions, the committee selected five to submit to the students for feedback in an online survey.
“Then came the difficult part,” said Driscoll when explaining the process at the mascot ceremony, “We put the survey out on the internet. Eleven thousand people responded…and 22,000 people commented.”
The committee wanted to take students’ opinions into consideration, so they began to look for patterns in the comments made.
“[They] liked the mythological aspect,” said Driscoll, “[They also] emphasized more strength and intelligence. [So] we tried to evaluate each concept based on those comments. It came down to which one of these mascots could build on these concepts.”
The other four finalists for the mascot were the Phoenix, the Wren, the King and Queen, and the Pug. While there seemed to be some dissension on which of these mascots was the best, there was little doubt on the public opinion of the worst. Former SA President Sarah Rojas (’10), who emceed the mascot ceremony with Chase Hathaway (’10), even made a joke about it during the ceremony.
“I’m excited to tell you your new mascot is the Pug,” said Rojas. A torn mix of cheers and boos from the crowd followed, before it became clear that she was kidding.
Hathaway, the founder of Tribal Fever, then took the microphone.
“Just because we have a cute mascot… we will still be the Tribe,” said Hathaway, assuring everyone that the nickname would continue to be used.
Driscoll then took hold of the ceremony, explaining the process of choosing a mascot. He also explained that the Vice President of Student Affairs, Ginger Ambler, would be stepping in for President Reveley, as he was rushing back from Washington, D.C. at the time.
“The 24th president of William and Mary…was being sworn into an important federal job in D.C.,” said President Reveley later at the press conference, “and he asked me to be there and to bring him John Marshall’s family bible [to use for the swearing in]. Between a lengthy swearing in and traffic, I just couldn’t get back in time.”
So it fell on Ambler to introduce the video created to announce the new mascot. In the video, President Reveley dramatized the thought process behind choosing the mascot, complete with cartoon thought bubbles.
“We need a mascot that is as unique as the College of William and Mary,” said President Reveley in the video. “We are a public ivy and count both Thomas Jefferson and Jon Stewart among our alumni. There must be something.”
And that something was the Griffin, who with some encouragement, entered into the Kaplan Arena, filled with approximately 500 people. In his green and gold costume, designed by Torch Creators in Texas, the Griffin made his way to the stage, high-fiving audience members as he went. Once onstage, Hathaway asked our new mascot a few questions, including what exactly is a griffin.
“[He’s] one-third eagle,” said Hathaway, relaying the Griffin’s response, “one-third lion, and one-third amazing.”
After “firing up” the crowd and showing off his dancing skills, Driscoll announced it was time for the Griffin to leave.
“The mascot has to leave,” said Driscoll, “He has a class at mascot school.”
Everyone in attendance received a special button with the Griffin on it. When asked who was in the Griffin, the committee wasn’t willing to say.
“That will come out in time,” said Driscoll. “It is a William and Mary undergraduate student.”
As far as a name for the new mascot? President Reveley decisively gave that answer in the press conference.
“For the moment, the matter of the mascot has ended,” said President Reveley. “If and when the beast gets a name, we’ll leave to a later date.”