FEATURE
Being an FAU student means being an “Owl,” but it wasn’t always that way. We could’ve been the Kids, the Monkeys or the Sundancers. At one point, Student Government randomly decided we were going to be the Seahawks — until the student body protested.
FAU opened in 1964 but didn’t have a mascot for the first six years, according to archives of The Atlantic Sun, which was the original name of FAU’s student newspaper. We didn’t have a football team either, and the students didn’t originally want one. (What FAU did have from nearly the start was a softball team, which was called “The Blue Wave.”)
Instead, FAU adopted the Miami Dolphins as its official team when the Dolphins got their start in May of 1966. Students got discounted seats — only $1 per ticket — and the first Dolphins cheerleaders were FAU students. In fact, FAU didn’t get their own football team until 2001, almost 40 years later. But back in 1967, when FAU first began to dream of an intercollegiate sports program, The Atlantic Sun conducted an informal poll asking students what names might work for a mascot. Some of the answers they got were: Mustang, porpoise, tiger, “holy mackerel,” monkey and elephant.
Students first voted on a mascot in the fall of 1970. “Burrowing Owls,” which had always been visible and popular around the Boca campus, was the winning name. According to The Sun, the second-most popular choice was “Kid,” after a stray dog known to wander around the campus.
On April 23, 1971, FAU became an official sanctuary for the burrowing owls. At the time, there were 100 on campus. Now there are fewer than 30. According to Annabelle McKie, who researched the decline of the owl population in 2003, the decrease in owls is partially due to FAU’s habit of relocating its beloved mascot for construction projects. Most recently and ironically, the new stadium project represented a threat to the owls, according to the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition.
Although the burrowing owl was officially incorporated into Student Government’s bylaws as the FAU mascot, they somehow lost track of that fact by 1983. According to The Sun, SG became confused about the official status of the mascot. One student leader named Chris Carson took it upon himself to settle the matter, and submitted legislation to change the mascot name to “The Seahawks.” SG voted in favor.
His motivations are vague, but the archives do indicate that the name suggestion came from then-athletic director Jack Mehl, who is quoted as saying to SG, “There’s no need to canvas the student body. You’re their representatives. It’s the senate’s decision. There’s no need for a referendum.”
The students begged to differ. After the vote — which came only one day after The Sun published an announcement that SG was soliciting ideas for a new name — many complained, and SG took a step back to hear out more student opinions. Multiple editorials were submitted to The Sun defending the Owl, and SG took a poll of students in the Breezeway. The Owl won and has stuck. Carson learned his lesson: He later ran for student body president and heavily featured the burrowing owl in his campaign materials. But nobody had forgotten he was the one who tried to change the mascot in the first place — least of all The Sun, which published an editorial mocking him for it. He lost the election.
Issues of The Atlantic Sun were generously shared by the University Archives, Special Collections, FAU Libraries. Check out more at http://sunarchives.wordpress.
