August marks the unveiling of an updated Nicholls mascot, but the story behind Colonel Tillou goes back 61 years. Nicholls was established in1948 as the Francis T. Nicholls Junior College of Louisiana State University. Two years later, the school introduced a football team, the Buccaneers.

The team only lasted one season, and in 1956, the school became the Francis T. Nicholls State College. That same year, the Colonel was introduced as the mascot.

Mrs. Muriel Rogan helped create “Colonel Nick,” a cartoon character of a boy colonel. She then went on to create a decal featuring the colonel wearing a red and gray uniform with a sash at his waist. The SGA then appointed a young boy to wear a uniform, designed by Rogan, at Nicholls basketball games for good luck.

The boy colonel quickly became an important part of the school. He served as the starter for the pirogue races, marched in parades and greet both the home and visiting teams during basketball games.

In 1962, Jim Leonard, drew a colonel that supposed to be “comical yet dignified.” This drawing soon became the official symbol of Nicholls spirit.

A year later, the Picayune published a feature story on the boy Colonel criticizing him for the first time. This marked the end of his time because he was, for the first time ever, criticized. By 1970 the boy Colonel disappeared from Nicholls State College events.

With Colonel Nick no longer as the costumed image of Nicholls, a student began wearing the Colonel Tillou costume at athletic events and pep rallies in the 1980’s. Years passed with few controversies surrounding the Tillou mascot.

In 2004, President Stephen T. Hulbert retired the Colonel caricature costume. Five years passed before Nicholls could welcome an updated Colonel Tillou. He will be unveiled on August 27 at 11:45 a.m. in the Quadrangle.