- Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript support is required to use the media player.
College of William and Mary President Taylor Reveley e-mailed students recently inviting us to join in the search for a school mascot. While I appreciate that this process is democratic and open, I don’t see the need for such a search. A mascot already resides in the heart of our campus, and it has been around for hundreds of years.
The phoenix is at the heart of the College — where Old Campus meets New Campus. This is very appropriate for a college where the old is juxtaposed with the new, where students can watch YouTube wirelessly from any room of the oldest actively used academic building in America. But the phoenix symbolizes more than just the place where new and old meet — it embodies both.
The phoenix has been with the College since its earliest days; when the Wren Building burned down in 1705, James Blair promised that the College would rise like a phoenix from the charred shell of the old Wren Building. His portrait is displayed on the first floor of James Blair Hall with a phoenix rising from the base of Wren in the background. Three centuries have passed since Blair made the bold claim, and we have proven him right. The College rose like a phoenix to be more than it ever was. It is now one of the top universities in America, and its size has increased over 1,000 percent since Blair founded the College.
When the College was founded, it received a coat of arms from the College in Arms in England — the College prides itself on being the only university in America to have been granted a coat of arms. However, from 1783 to 1929 — nearly half the College’s existence — the seal preferred by the College was one designed by George Wythe, which bore a phoenix. This seal represented a break from England and a commitment to freedom and the liberal ideals that this country was founded upon.
Now, as the College faces new and persisting challenges — a shrinking budget from the state government, a difficult economy, a new president and, yes, the lack of a mascot — what better model is there for us to follow than that of the phoenix?
Some students are still bitter about the loss of the feathers from the school logo. While this is understandable, the feathers do not characterize the College in the same manner that the phoenix does. The College may have begun with the intent to educate the American Indians around it, but that has not been the College’s legacy. Clinging to the feathers and tribe moniker seems out of character for a school that otherwise plays down its previous interaction with American Indians. The phoenix captures the timelessness of this institution and its character, which has kept the College thriving for centuries.
Bertel King is a freshman at the College
RSS Feeds
15 Comments
Sounds like someone (with
Sounds like someone (with Phoenix mascot) we do play….and recently…and close.
09/20/08 11:45PM
Elon, N.C. – Thanks to a pair of goals in the opening 20 minutes of the contest, the William and Mary men’s soccer team is off to its best start since 1994 following a 2-1 road victory at Elon on Saturday night… The Tribe extended its season-opening unbeaten streak to five at 3-0-2, while the Phoenix fell to 2-4-1 on the campaign.
Also the phoenix is mythical…W&M is not. It is a solitary entity….versus “tribe”. It does have feathers, but its colors are wrong. It is out of Egyptian or Indian mythology, while the College’s origin is decidedly western Europe.
the phoenix should not be
the phoenix should not be our mascot. it has nothing to do with “tribe”, and is just another nerdy thing that will re-inforce the stereotypes held about william and mary.
The University of Phoenix
The University of Phoenix uses the Phoenix already. I think they’ve got dibs.
After their “I’m a Phoenix” ad campaign, I’m sure W&M wants to be seen on the same plane.
I like the idea of a surly,
I like the idea of a surly, drunken blacksmith. He can shoe horses at the games while screaming out-of-fashion obscenities (Aye! You foppish jacktar!) at the opposition.
Phoenix Mascot = University
Phoenix Mascot = University of Phoenix
Nuf said
While the phoenix certainly
While the phoenix certainly fits W&M’s history thematically. The bird is already the mascot of Elon University, the Olin College of Engineering, Swarthmore College, and the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. What’s more, our phoenix on campus looks strikingly similar to the one featured predominantly on the University of Chicago seal (if we were to reinterpret the bird already pictured on campus). In addition to making widely used symbol distinctive, we’d have to adapt it to tribe and find more fitting school colors – except gold, perhaps. (For the visual mess of a green phoenix see the UW Green Bay mascot.)
I think the problems inherent to the phoenix idea also plague most other mascot options: we’ll be turning down some great concepts simply because they can’t be painted green and gold, can’t be related to “tribe,” or can’t be integrated into our hideous new logo.
As far as designing a logo
As far as designing a logo that works with our thematic colors — leave that to professionals (and while they hammed up the job the last time, I suspect that was their back-up plan option, and the committee successfully picked the logo that was the most soul-less of the bunch).
Who cares if other schools have the Phoenix as their mascot? Do we ever play any of them on a regular basis? For comparison, look at how many teams have mascots in common — it happens all the time. Two good examples pop up within just the SEC. Georgia and Mississippi State both have the Bulldogs as their mascot, and they are in the same conference. LSU and Auburn both have the tigers, and their in the same division! Fresno State and Louisiana Tech share Bulldogs in the WAC, Utah State and New Mexico State share Aggies in the WAC, and I can’t even count how many across the NCAA re-use huskies, tigers, and cardinals.
Their is no reason the Phoenix can’t represent the Tribe. A phoenix is a symbol of hope — the very thing that communities need in difficult times. The phoenix that will (hopefully) one day be the official mascot of the College will be the literal embodiment of our hope for the future.
Dr. E. G. Swem created the idea of “Hark Upon the Gale” as a play for the College in Virginia’s 350th Festival Year (this is coming from the alumni website). This the last two paragraphs of that article. I think it quite nicely sums up the argument for the phoenix as our mascot, other colleges’ choice of mascot be damned.
//The finest dramatic scenes of the play occur in the second act. The college burns -the science laboratories and a large part of the //library is destroyed-but President Ewell looks to the future. “The walls are still standing-and we will build anew on the old //foundations.” With the Civil War, the College closes, and the students and faculty march off to war. This scene-with a Confederate //band playing “Dixie,” tearful goodbyes, and a stirring speech by Colonel Ewell, the President of the College-is the most effective //and spectacular in the play. After the Civil War, the war-impoverished state of Virginia cannot afford to support the college, and so //it is closed for seven years. But the spirit of the school does not die, for President Ewell returns every year to ring the college bell. //The final speech is made by Dr. Lyon Tyler who succeeded Ewell as president of the College of William and Mary, and is expressive //of the spirit which pervades the entire play:
//
//So let our college stand forever as a lasting symbol of patriotic service, of unshaken faith, of magnilicent history which binds the //glories of the past with the hopes of the future … Hark upon the gale of history, my friends and listen to its call!
(I believe the starred word should be “magnificent”, but I can’t really be sure.)
How does a Phoenix relate
How does a Phoenix relate to “Tribe”
The administration has said we are keeping “Tribe”
We desperately need a new new logo… I saw some people wearing it a couple weeks ago and it is just terrible.
I’m sorry, but a Phoenix
I’m sorry, but a Phoenix is a stupid idea for a Mascot.
This is why we don’t win things…
There should be some
There should be some logical connection between 1) The Mascot; 2) Team Name; 3) Logo,and possibly even 4) School Colors
Since the College has decided to roll over to politcal correctness you may as well start from the beginning with three or four of the elements
Phoenix is not a bad idea for a Mascot but it does not relate to “Tribe”
The Phoenix was a Fire Bird so becoming the “W&M Fire Birds” or “W&M Fighting Fire Birds” with Phoenix as a Mascot might work
The present “Logo” is crummy – a graphically designed Phoenix incorporating the letters W&M could work as a replacement – anything would be better than the presen logo
I don’t remember anyone
I don’t remember anyone paying attention to athletics at William and Mary. I do remember people drinking and tailgating before football games. I propose that we become the William and Bloody Marys, and all of our sports teams will wear hats that look like celery stalks.
The idea I submitted to the
The idea I submitted to the student search was the phoenix also. Definitely something appropriate for the college and I really hope the administration nitwits get something right this time.
Bring back Ebirt, keep the
Bring back Ebirt, keep the Tribe.
That is all.
I very much agree with the
I very much agree with the sentiments expressed here. The Phoenix is a great mascot, one that students would be ready to rally behind. Many of the submissions for the new college logo last year featured the Phoenix, and it is a damn shame we ended up with a less professional logo that Waste Management.
Terrible. Just bad.
Terrible. Just bad.
You receive no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.