Name-a-Day Calendar, August 8: Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Page 275 of 365
Chosen in: 1961
Chosen by: Unclear, but we do know why
In the late 1890s, the University of Utah sought to establish a branch campus for the purpose of teacher education. They awarded the campus to Cedar City in 1897 and the Branch Normal School was born.
The Agricultural College of Utah (which is now Utah State University) took control of the campus in 1913 and changed the name to Branch Agricultural College. Branch’s first football team debuted in 1946, and the school adopted the bronco as its mascot the same year.
The school later split from the Agricultural College of Utah and, in 1951, became the College of Southern Utah.1 As an independent college, Southern Utah gradually moved toward a more general curriculum. Eventually, to help shed their agricultural identity, they figured a branding update was in order.
In 1961, the school changed their athletics nickname to the Thunderbirds. From the sources I can flag down, it’s not clear who exactly made this decision, but the university insists the intent was to distance themselves from other ag schools that had a bronco mascot. Southern Utah is the only institution in any division of the NCAA that claims the “Thunderbirds” nickname.2
Southern Utah’s mascot is a costumed thunderbird named Thor.
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Became Southern Utah State College in 1969 and Southern Utah University in 1990
A few junior colleges also use it.
This page should have come before Southern Illinois but I screwed up the initial sort, and by the time I caught it, it was too late.
"From the sources I can flag down, it’s not clear who exactly made this decision"
Well it's clear whoever made the decision was AWESOME because that name is AMAZING