By Taylor Donaldson
Contributing Writer
I’ve heard more opinions about Southeastern’s new mascot than I have about Miley Cyrus’ ability to twerk.
We all have our opinions about Southeastern’s new mascot, even though most of the 300 at the mascot reveal ceremony seemed pretty excited.
If you’ve been living under a rock, you may not know that Southeastern has chosen a bison to represent our school as our new mascot. The bison was released at a ceremony held in the Student Union and we met Bolt at the homecoming bonfire.
Last year, when I hear about the idea of a new mascot I immediately had questions. How soon will this decision be made? Is this just going to be used to market our athletics? Will this unite Southeastern Oklahoma State University as a campus and with former students?
I’ve heard students ask if we are the Southeastern Bisons. I’ve seen a few hashtags on Instagram and Twitter that say Southeastern Bisons.
Sorry, we are not the Southeastern Bisons. We are Southeastern Savage Storm. That will not change and was not up for discussion when the question was raised as to whether or not we needed a mascot.
Our nickname is the Savage Storm. Our mascot is the bison named Bolt.
Confused? It’s OK; a lot of people are.
Mascots are often confused with team nicknames. They are not always the same but can be interchangeable. For example, the Oklahoma City professional NBA team is known as the OKC Thunder. They also have a bison as their mascot whose name is Rumble.
The University of Oklahoma are the Sooners and their mascots are two horses named Boomer and Sooner. The athletic teams of the University of Alabama are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, while their mascot is an elephant named Big Al.
Make sense? Don’t worry; it took me some time to research that one.
I’ve heard some pretty creative ideas like, Thor (the god of thunder) or a stallion. The choice to have the bison as our mascot was something that was planned out and voted on by a variety of students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni and community representatives.
Based on our school and Oklahoma’s history, a bison makes sense. I stand by the school’s decision to have Bolt as our mascot. I don’t think it was the most creative, but I still stand by the decision.
I’ve heard people ask how intimidating is a bison? Bisons can grow up to 6.5 feet tall, and can weigh over a ton. Although they are massive in size, bisons are quick on their feet and can run at speeds up to 40 miles an hour.
They have curved, sharp horns that can grow to be two feet long. I think that is pretty intimidating. The bison personifies Southeastern Savage Storm’s nickname with “Pride, Resilience and Strength.” This is something that applies to Southeastern as a whole and not just athletics.
One of my biggest concerns was that this was just another way for athletics to get more money. Don’t get me wrong; I have some great school spirit. I love going to volleyball games, and I love watching the Sparks Dance Team at the football games.
OK, so maybe I could have a little more school spirit. But, that’s what I hope Bolt is for.
Bolt represents Southeastern, not just the athletic department and student-athletes. He is used as a marketing tool to raise school spirit and unite former and current students.
So far, I think everything is working out. I personally spoke to Mrs. Joan Minks (President Minks’ wife) after the mascot was revealed, and we talked about how the committee looked hard to find something that embodied the entire campus.
Southeastern is more than just athletics. There are more than 4,000 students who attend Southeastern. Some, if not many, may not like or find a connection with Bolt. However, it seems like Bolt is here to stay.