Banana Slugs, Billikins, Gorloks, and Javelinas
Some Unusual College and University Nicknames
Dec 2, 2008
More than a few universities and colleges have shied away from using common nicknames and/or mascots such as Tigers, Wildcats, or Warriors. Instead, they have chosen names that are distinctive. The majority of these names are unique but clearly identifiable: Nebraska Cornhuskers, California - Irvine Anteaters, and, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, to name a few.
However, more than a few are harder to figure out. Here are some that fit into that category.
University of California - Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
So is this college’s nickname and mascot based on a slimy little creature that infests and perhaps devours bananas? The answer is “yes and no.” The banana slug, a nine inch mollusk often found among the redwood trees near the campus, is slimy and little, but it does not eat bananas. It just looks like one.
In a 1986 school-wide referendum, UCSC students voted by a 15-1 margin over the administration-backed Sea Lions to have Banana Slugs as the university’s nickname. Since then, the name has been selected by Reader’s Digest (May 2004) as the best college mascot. The little critter was also the inspiration for a children’s book, Sally Slug (2002) written by UCSC Foundation trustee Anne Neufeld Levin.
St. Louis University Billikins
In the early 1900s, a Kansas City artist, Florence Pretz, created her version of an ancient Asian figure that was a chubby character with pixie ears, fat cheeks and a big grin. The Billiken Company of Chicago adopted the likeness, giving it its eventual name. Manufactured as a “piggy bank” and statuette, the Billiken for a few years in the early 1900s became a universal symbol of good fortune.
According to the university’s website, two St. Louis sportswriters decided that the SLU football coach, John Bender, looked just like the impish creature. One of them, Charles McNamara drew a cartoon of Bender as a Billiken and named the football team Bender’s Billikens. The public enthusiastically took up the name and it soon became the official nickname of all SLU teams.
Webster (Missouri) University Gorloks
A few miles from SLU is Webster University, home of the Morlocks. No, wait! Those were subterranean creatures in H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine. WU is the home of the Gorlok, an imaginary creature that vaguely resembles the Tasmanian Devil that was Bugs Bunny’s nemesis in several Warner Brothers cartoons.
In 1984, a campus committee considered many nominations for a nickname before settling on Gorlok, the word coming from the combination of two nearby street names --Gore and Lockwood. Once the name was chosen, a contest was held to determine what the mascot would look like. The winner was a creature that, according to the Webster website, “has the paws of a speeding cheetah, the horns of a fierce buffalo and the face of a dependable Saint Bernard.”
Texas A&M - Kingsville Javelinas
A Javelina (pronounced hah-vow-lee-nah) is an actual animal and not a type of javelin. It is a peccary, a pig-like animal that originated in South America, but has since migrated into the American Southwest. Sometimes called a “musk hog” because of its strong odor, the creature is about 36 inches in length and 20 inches high. It has a pair of short, razor-sharp tusks that are used for both defense and for rooting out food.
According to their website, A&M-Kingsville has used this nickname since the school’s opening in 1925 and a caged Javelina has appeared at all home athletic events since 1969. At one time, the mascots were allowed to run loose on campus. This practice was discontinued in 1929 when the university president was bitten by one that proved to be rabid.
For a related article, see: Dirtbags, Geoducks, Hokies, Hoyas, and Wahoos
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