Courtesy SUNY Empire State
After almost 50 years, SUNY Empire State College has an official mascot.
After a month-long, online campaign that resulted in a total of 9,922 votes cast, Blue, the Bluebird, beat out its competition and will represent the SUNY Empire community.
Officials said faculty, staff, students, and alumni submitted more than 180 mascot concepts for consideration this past fall. The submissions were evaluated by a committee representing a cross-section of the college community, and three were selected as finalists: Blue the Bluebird, Cam the Chameleon, and Van the Vanguard.
The bluebird, in particular, symbolizes intelligence, curiosity, and rebirth, as well as optimism, officials said. Its position as New York state’s official bird is fitting, as SUNY Empire is the only SUNY institution with a statewide footprint, offering the system’s most online programs as well as more than 30 campuses and learning hubs in every region of the state.
“I’d like to thank everyone who submitted their thoughtful ideas for the first-ever representative of SUNY Empire State College,” said SUNY Empire President Jim Malatras. “And congratulations to each of our finalists—Andrew Conroy, Jacqueline Eckelmann, and Charissa Naul—for making it into the final round.
“This was an important exercise for the SUNY Empire family to think about and explore our mission to educational opportunity for all. And it shows you can even have a little fun when doing it … Our new mascot, Blue, will help unite and represent a diverse community that spans every region of New York, every state in the country, and our alums in 96 countries around the world. Now let’s make Blue this year’s Mascot Madness winner.”
Blue was submitted by Naul, an assessment specialist based in SUNY Empire’s Selden location, who was recently featured on The Today Show with her family. In her submission essay, Naul wrote, “As SUNY’s online college, our students can live and work anywhere—across the state and around the world. You might say we give them wings to fly. Blue symbolizes intelligence, curiosity, and rebirth—traits and meanings a lot of SUNY Empire students can relate to.”
Naul received the top prize of $500, while second and third place were awarded $300 and $200, respectively. A special recognition will be held for the finalists and winner in March.