Name-a-Day Calendar, June 21: Pitt Panthers

Page 227 of 365

Chosen in: 1909

Chosen by: English professor George M. P. Baird

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Pittsburgh Academy was established all the way back in 1787, becoming the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1819 and the modern University of Pittsburgh in 1908.

A couple decades before the second name change, in 1890, the school began playing football with no official nickname. This continued even after the men’s basketball team began play in 1905.

In fall 1909, the university finally decided they needed a mascot, so some students, alumni, and faculty met to come up with a suitable representation. George M. P. Baird, an English professor who joined the faculty in 1908 and would serve until 1961, suggested the panther.

According to the university, the community rallied around this suggestion because the panther was a noble animal that once roamed western Pennsylvania, and its fur was a similar color to the “old gold” in the school’s color scheme. That it was also alliterative with “Pitt” was a nice coincidence.

Pitt’s mascot is a costumed panther named ROC, named for football legend Steve “The Rock” Petro.

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