<p>I think the fact that Beloit's unofficial mascot is the turtle played a part in my daughter's decision to attend. But she was a bit disappointed at giving up the chance to be a Goucher Gopher. :)</p>
<p>"For mascots, the worst well known one is, I believe, Stanford's Cardinal. This is not, of course, the bird. It's the tree! What I find most unbelievable, though, is the fact that they are not the Cardnals but the Cardinal--singular. "</p>
<p>Having no offical mascot, the athletic teams at Stanford University are referred to as Stanford Cardinal.</p>
<p>Following an 1891 Big Game win over Cal, the cardinal color was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams. In 1930, the athletic department adopted the mascot "Indians." The Indian symbol and name were later dropped, in 1972, to a request of Native American students.</p>
<p>During the 1970s, a number of alternatives were suggested for a school mascot but none caught on. In 1981, school President Donald Kennedy decided to accept Stanford Cardinal as the offical (and exclusive) symbol for Stanford's athletic teams.</p>
<p>The Tree is commonly mistaken for the official mascot, but it is, in fact, a member of the Stanford Marching Band.</p>
<p>How about Amherst's Lord Jeffs?????</p>
<p>Texas high schools seem to have a lot of weird mascots...like the Hutto Hippos and the Calhoun Fighting Sandcrabs</p>
<p>My kids went to a school in IL that was renamed after Martin Luther King Jr and they wanted a mascot to honor him. Unfortunately they chose "Peacemakers" which is also a gun reference. :(</p>
<p>OK, OK. I admit it: I got my Stanford information during a football pep rally for the opposing team, so it's really not surprising that my information is incorrect!</p>
<p>I had completely forgotten the RISD one; that is definitely one of the best.</p>
<p>How long has RISD used that one? It was a popular name for intramurals teams when I was going to school, along with such other gems as the Fine Upstanding College Kids whose cheer was their acronym.</p>
<p>The Haverford Black Squirrels.</p>
<p>And you know, when we visited, we SAW a black squirrel, so it makes sense in a kinda sorta way</p>