To revamp the image of the Colonel mascot, the Student Government Association is leading the initiative with a contest that will be officially unveiled at a press conference on Monday at 11:30 a.m. in the snack bar area of the student union.The SGA is sponsoring a contest to find the face of the next Nicholls Colonel mascot. Plans are currently underway to have a contest winner by Oct. 14 so that the new image can be sent off for promotional printing to premiere on Senior Day at the Colonel football game against McNesse State University.
According to the SGA, University President Stephen Hulbert and other administrators, along with student leaders on campus will make the final decision following a vote by students online.
“Dr. Hulbert and the administration charged the SGA with the process to figure out the new mascot,” Damian Breaux, SGA president, said. “We are still going to be the Colonels but have an image change, a makeover.”
Breaux said that after Hulbert called for the SGA to settle the mascot controversy, he began to do some research on the best way to go about the mascot change. Most of Breaux’s research came from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Ca., which held a contest in the spring. After receiving Hulbert’s approval, Breaux met with the SGA executive board so that they could help him out.
In a press release, the SGA said that the new mascot image will be used alongside the recent image and the changes as part of athletics, publications, merchandise and other items that circulate around campus and the surrounding community. The SGA wants the mascot to remain relevant to the cultural history of the area, while also better representing the continuously-diversifying student population at Nicholls.
SGA is working with different departments on campus to offer a prize package to the person whose image is chosen. Breaux said that he is working with the University administration to offer a tuition waiver or a scholarship for one semester. He is also working with athletics to offer the winner season tickets for a year, a $100 gift card from the University bookstore and a $300 gift card from the alumni association and the Nicholls Foundation.
“The biggest prize is that your image is going to be a part of Nicholls in the future,” Breaux said. “But, just in case that doesn’t tickle anyone’s fancy, we added a few more prizes.”
The contest does not have the approval of the Student Senate at this time, but Breaux plans to bring it forth in the coming weeks at an SGA meeting.
Breaux said that the Web site will serve as information headquarters for the contest. To access the contest site, one can log on to www.nicholls.edu/mascot.
According to Breaux, some people thought that the marketing and branding initiative committee was also charged with updating the mascot, but that was not the case.
Breaux said that the press conference is the official beginning of the contest that they have been planning since Aug. 3. It should not last longer than a half-hour.
