Within modern marketing of both sports and products, we have seen a rise in mascots. Just with the given word mascot several come to mind. Perhaps it is Mr. Peanut for Planters Peanuts, or Crunch for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Whatever it is, there is an instant recognition that comes with mascots. So, what happened to Northwestern’s?
By name, NW goes by the Red Raiders. However, there is no physical mascot that can be found for this. NW branding and athletics uses a logo with a cross or a cross in a flag to create a signature look. Tracking the history of NW, this was not always the case. From the years 1931-1959, NW was both a classical academy and a junior college. The academy was known as the Hawks. However, NWJC as it was known did not have a mascot to go with it.
In 1945, after the war was over and life was starting to receive some normalcy, both the academy and NWJC had basketball teams. During this season, Ray Van Pelt coached both teams. Even though NWJC played larger four-year schools, they fought hard. The biggest struggle with the team was the lack of identity that they had. The team was fresh and unestablished and they needed something to tie them together. This is when the Red Raider name arrived. Van Pelt had recalled an army friend and the love the man had for Colgate University’s Red Raiders. Knowing that the name was seldom used, and that NWJC’s colors were already red, Van Pelt gave them the title.
As new sports teams were added, the name stuck. Now, as a unified college, we can see that the Red Raiders beat out the Hawks to take place as our mascot. For a time, NW had a symbolic mascot and a physical one. The symbol was of a knight riding a horse holding a lance. The physical mascot only lasted a few years and was portrayed by Richard Welscott. Welscott wore a red jumpsuit and a revolutionary war style hat with a pheasant feather in it. As NW’s football team would score a touchdown, Welscott would ride a horse, provided by a local farmer, across the track. This mascot was short-lived and ended in 1965.
Perhaps in the future there will be a resurgence of the Red Raider mascot, but for now all Raiders can do is don their finest NW apparel to support their teams.
