And you most assuredly don’t want to miss these on William & Mary’s YouTube channel:

• “Get me the Griffin“
• “Introducing the Griffin, the Tribe’s new mascot“

For me, I love the Griffin, and I’m happy we have a mascot (to be frank, any mascot).

But, right now, what I really feel is grateful. Because of the mascot search, I had my first opportunity to work with W&M’s Athletic Director, Terry Driscoll. Terry did a super job spearheading our effort and it was an immense pleasure to work with him. Many, many people worked behind the scenes on the W&M Mascot Search. They deserve our thanks for a fun, inclusive, and carefully-planned process.

• Mascot Search Committee
• W&M Athletics
• Creative Services
• University Relations
• Alumni Association
• College Communications Council
• Tribal Fever
• Brian Whitson, University Relations
• Joel Pattison, Creative Services
• Pete Clawson, W&M Athletics
• Eric Pesola, Alumni Association
• Amy Schindler, Swem Library
• Spencer Milne, W&M Athletics
• Pete Kalison ’57

In  my humble opinion, The Flat Hat said it best:

Now it’s up to the campus community to accept the Griffin, and we think it should. We’re willing to admit it is difficult to accept something that was, in a way, arbitrarily imposed, and acknowledge that some may not even try. But, as new classes of students enter the College to see the Griffin excitedly exhort the Tribe — a nickname we are happy to see the College retain — we believe the Griffin will soon become a welcome and reputable symbol. Although it took a while to get here, we’re on Team Griffin.

Go Tribe! Shout out to the Griffin!

Adios,
- Susan T. Evans, Director of Creative Services, The College of William & Mary

Watch President Reveley’s announcement on YouTube at http://www.wm.edu/mascot

Go Tribe,
- Susan T. Evans

Please join us for the big announcement on Tuesday, April 6 at 5:30PM in William & Mary Hall’s Kaplan Arena. The event will include one very special guest and some possible entertainment.

RSVP on Facebook!

Can’t make it? Watch the mascot search website or follow the live Twitter from the campus event.

Go Tribe!

- Susan T. Evans

But when? Soon.

Soon = this week.

Later,
Susan T. Evans

So when will the new mascot be announced? The mascot committee’s work continues and we believe we’ll be able to announce something this spring. In the meantime, we’re  dealing with some of the other moving parts that need to be in place. One of these moving parts is the selection of the student or students who will help bring the concept to life and really energize Tribe faithful.

Find out more about the Tribe mascot auditions.

- Susan T. Evans

• 31.0% were current students
• 49.7% were alumni
• 3.8% were parents
• 1.1% were faculty
• 1.6% were staff or administrators
• 12.8% were friends of the Tribe (i.e., not one of the above categories)

- Susan T. Evans

We appreciate your support and look forward to reading through ALL of your comments and impressions about the Griffin, the King and Queen, the Phoenix, the Pug and the Wren.

Go Tribe!

- Susan T. Evans

In a move that parallels the W&M Mascot search, the Wesley Foundation’s mascot search is underway and they recently unveiled their own “final five.”

1. the United Methodist cross and flame with REAL FIRE
2. a dragon
3. a Wesley Foundation couch
4. John Wesley (bobble head, of course)
5. Mr. Lemonade

Students, alumni, faculty and staff in the Wesley Foundation community can find more info about the Wesley Mascot Search on their website.

- Susan T. Evans

I’ve been carefully reading all of the comments, ideas and suggestions popping up on our blog and Facebook pages. We want to know what you think about the ideas; but feedback about whether or not you like the sketches is not as useful to the committee. We hope you’ll keep in mind that:

• we want your impressions about the concept that each sketch offers
• the final mascot will evolve from the initial sketch you are seeing now

Here are three drawings that show the typical evolution of a mascot from an initial sketch to a final costume.

Thousands of you are showing your Tribe pride by completing our survey and posting comments in online communities. Thanks, we appreciate your feedback.

- Susan T. Evans

. . . Griffins, did you know its bald eagle head hearkens back to W&M as Alma Mater of a Nation?

. . . Kings and Queens, did you know W&M has a royal charter?

. . . the Phoenix, did you know this mythical bird was on the seal George Wythe designed for the College?

. . . Pugs, did you know Swem has the 2nd largest rare dog book collection (11,000 volumes dating back to 1500) in the U.S.?

. . . the Wren, did you know this is the oldest academic building in the United States?

Just sayin,
- Susan T. Evans