Olivia Langtiw, a senior music business major, has spent three years on campus and couldn’t recall what the school mascot is.
“When I picture it, nothing comes to mind,” Langtiw said.
According to the Student Organization Council, many students feel the same way about the current mascot, the Renegades, an identity that’s been used for over a decade, but never quite took hold. Now, the council is inviting students to help reimagine a mascot that better captures Columbia’s student voices and community.
“There is a possibility to stay Renegades, but the purpose in this stage is to hear the student voice and what people want and what they’re looking for in a mascot and what will bring them pride,” said Paige Johnson, a senior creative writing major and SOC president.
The Renegades, depicted by a phoenix, is the mascot for Columbia’s intramural and intercollegiate sports teams and fitness groups. Columbia does not have a formal athletic program like DePaul University or Roosevelt University, which compete in the NCAA.
Columbia’s sports teams practice at East-West University’s gym facilities, where they have been practicing for over 10 years, as the Chronicle previously reported.
SOC received just over 50 submissions from the open call that ended earlier this month. Brady Charles, vice president of SOC, said the next stage is hiring a committee to narrow down the submissions to around five options. Once the committee finalizes the options, SOC will hold a public vote for students to choose a new mascot name that will be announced by the end of the spring semester. If a new name is chosen, SOC will also open up submissions for a new logo by the fall semester, said Charles, a sophomore marketing major.
Students on the athletic teams and clubs are split over having a new mascot.
Abigahil Loredo, a senior film and television major and the PR manager of the Renegades soccer team, said that she takes pride in the Renegades’ name, although she said that sports at Columbia are having a hard time attracting new leaders.
“A lot of people aren’t stepping up to be leaders, so they’re kind of dying, which is sad, but these sports and these clubs have been able to take the name of Renegades,” Loredo said. “I just think it would be an inconvenience if we were to change it.”
Loredo said that Renegades fits the uniqueness and creativity of Columbia’s student body and that it would be especially inconvenient for the soccer team, who already have uniforms with the Renegades name and logo.
But Jerry Ruiz, a senior photography major and the vice president of the soccer team, said that having a more distinctive name may help them become a competitive team. He said many people don’t know about the sports on campus that are slowly dissolving, and a new mascot might help inspire people to join.
“I know that this year and last year we were unable to have a competitive team,” Ruiz said. “I think having a definitive mascot or a thing to represent would be easier to have a team and make it a competitive club again.”
Members of the competitive volleyball team also said that having a more recognizable mascot would benefit Columbia.
Danika Fitzgerald, a first-year film and television major, is on the competitive volleyball team but did not know what the mascot was. She said that for her, Renegades doesn’t fit the school or Columbia’s community. She said that if there were a new mascot, it should be something that reflects the “creative and colorful and diverse” school spirit at Columbia.
“I just hope it’s not something really general, like the lions,” Fitzgerald said. “As long as there’s meaning behind it that fits the school.”
Charles said that a new mascot will hopefully make students feel more connected. Within the many layers of the changes coming to Columbia, Charles said that the new mascot would give power to the students’ voice. He said it would be a physical thing that would represent Columbia student pride.
“A cohesive identity that can build school spirit from new students coming in to alums that leave,” Charles said. “We want that traditional school spirit.”
Copy edited by Patience Hurston
