Name-a-Day Calendar, December 19: Central Connecticut Blue Devils
Page 43 of 365
Chosen in: 1946
Chosen by: Student body vote, submitter unknown
Central Connecticut State University isn’t the first school you think of when you hear the name “Blue Devils” but it’s their name just as much as it is Duke’s. According to the late George Muirhead, a longtime university historian, the school became the Blue Devils in a somewhat piecemeal fashion.
First came the Blue. The State of Connecticut doesn’t have any official colors — most states don’t — but they unofficially favor royal blue and white, so the school (then known as the State Normal School) used those colors for its uniforms when it started playing intercollegiate sports in the 1930. The teams were often called the “Blue and White” for lack of a better name and this phrase was included in a fight song written for the school in 1942.
Then came the Devils. After World War II, students at what had since been renamed the Teachers College of Connecticut moved quickly to select a true nickname for their sports teams. They held a vote early in the 1946-47 school year and “Blue Devils” won.
I couldn’t confirm who suggested the nickname or why, but I can at least speculate on the latter. In addition to “Blue and White”, school sources referred to the sports teams as the “Bombers” on a few occasions throughout 1946. During the war, the U.S. Army’s 88th Infantry Division was known as the Fighting Blue Devils. It’s possible the students wanted a nickname that paid homage to World War II veterans and eventually went with “Blue Devils” because it fit their established color scheme. But again, just speculation.
In any case, “Blue Devils” became official sometime in late October 1946. Central Connecticut would introduce a blue devil mascot, Kizer, in 2011. It looks just like the logo.
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Special thanks to Central Connecticut State University librarians Susan Slaga-Metivier, Renata Vickrey, and Gretchen Gallagher for helping me dig up key info for this page.