Name-a-Day Calendar, January 5: Creighton Bluejays
Page 60 of 365
Chosen in: 1924
Chosen by: Nickname contest in The Omaha Bee, submitter unknown
What is now Creighton University is located atop a hill near downtown Omaha, so their first sports teams were unofficially known as the Hilltoppers. Eventually, several other schools nationwide called their teams the Hilltoppers for essentially the same reason, so Creighton decided they wanted something more unique.
On behalf of the Creighton Athletic Board, local newspaper The Omaha Bee ran a contest in December 1923 to select a new nickname. The contest received over 200 entries, including Counts, Golden Rods, Wynners, Blues, Shamrocks, Tigers, and Bears. But it was “Bluejays” that the Athletic Board selected as the winner, as announced in the Bee on January 14, 1924. The paper didn’t say who submitted the winning nickname, but it does say why “Bluejays” won: it most clearly matched the blue/white color scheme the school was already using.
The Creighton Bluejay has evolved several times in the near century since its introduction.
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