Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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phasing out Bobby Bearcat through the ages After 91 years, the University had phased out the cartoon logo of the school ' s symbol, the Bearcat. Focusing marketing efforts towards the bearcat paw displaying an N in the center, officials in the University ' s ath- letic department did away with the logo of Bobby Bearcat wearing a sweatshirt. Since everyone who are fans or alumni and people who know North- west, the one thing that they think of is the paw, even though Bobby is an athletic symbol as well, Morris White, athletic marketing, promotions and licensing said. The paw is the most recognizable thing when you talk about athletics or not. The University trademarked both the Bobby Bearcat logo and the paw logo to avoid infringement. Phasing out the Bearcat logo gradu- ally began in 2006. White said phasing out the Bobby Bearcat logo eliminated confusion over the primary logo for Northwest athletics. When news broke to eliminate the logo. University students and members of the Maryville community, were not happy to see it go. That ' s not even cool, Mason Becker said. Bobby Bearcat ' s our mas- cot, they can ' t just take away the symbol of him. Word spread fast prompting two groups on facebook.com and a Web site, savebobby.com. The Facebook group Bobby Stays or We Go saw over 1,000 members in 24 hours and over 2,100 members total. The mass attention over the situa- tion sparked a visit by White and athlet- ics director Bob Boerigter at a University student senate meeting. Boerigter began the presentation by acknowledging the positive and nega- tive feedback he had received about the controversial decision. It doesn ' t make a difference if the issues are large or small; people care, Boerigter said. KQ2, a St. Joseph TV news station and a handful of students attended the meeting. Nic Brent, questioned the athletic department ' s judgment on the decision. I just feel like [the Bobby logo] has been such a big part of our tradition, and 1 don ' t understand why suddenly there ' s such a need to get rid of it, Brent said. Given the events surrounding the phasing out of the cartoon Bobby Bearcat logo. University President Dean Hubbard said he supported Boerigter and the department ' s decision to move forward. Anytime you deal with symbols, then the very first reaction to a symbol or a change in a symbol, is an emotional one, Hubbard said. Hubbard said this is a non-issue since cartoon Bobby Bearcat was not be- ing eliminated completely. Bobby Bearcat will still be around and presumably over time, the costume will change, and people will draw, dif- ferent artists will draw different render- ings of what a bearcat would look like, Hubbard said. w • Evan Young and Dominic Genetti d ■ Erik Schrader 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 028 ■ student life

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Hand Off Joel Osborn gives the ball to Xavier Omen during the game against Washburn. Omen finished the game with 143 rushing yards on 32 carries. Photo by Chris Lee Winners End Phi Mu Alpha and Sigma Alpha Iota finish their homecoming skit. Thev won highly competitive skit during the 2007 Homecoming activities. Photo by Jessica Nelson homecoming 270 DD

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1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 bobby -290 DD L