MTSU has had a number of mascots over its 100-year history of educating students, before ultimately settling on its current mascot, Lightning.
The college adopted the nickname “Blue Raiders” in the early 1930s after The Daily News Journal held a competition for choosing the best name. The school went nearly 20 years without a mascot for the football team. This changed in the 1950s when the University adopted the image of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest to represent MTSU.
The University plastered Forrest all over campus; on decals, decorations and bookstore supplies. Even the ROTC building was named after him. During football games, students could be seen wearing Forrest’s uniform and riding on horseback around the football field.
It was common to see students flying Confederate flags at football games while the band played “Dixie,” a Confederate war song.
Even after classrooms and sports became integrated for Black American students, the University only furthered its ties to the Confederate general. MTSU built a new student center in 1967 with a large seal that displayed Forrest on horseback. Many students spoke out against the displays, saying that the mascot was offensive and oppressive to MTSU’s Black American students.
Forrest was replaced by a more cartoonish uniformed soldier, renamed as the Raider. This mascot was eventually phased out in favor of a less controversial one. A committee voted to make a live St. Bernard named Beauregard the new mascot for the university.
This new mascot may have served as a compromise, as his name was likely in reference to P.G.T. Beauregard, another Confederate general. The University changed Beaurgard’s name to Lord Byron, after the British romantic poet, following the burning of crosses on campus and his failure to hype up sports fans.
Lord Byron’s name was then changed to Old Blue, but it was short-lived, as a new mascot, Wink’s Choice, made its way in. The University introduced Wink’s Choice in the mid-70s and was basically the same horseback general from before, except this time the main focus was the horse. Fans still contested the legacy of racism that the mascot held, and issues arose of fitting the horse in the gym. Wink’s Choice soon retired.
But Old Blue hadn’t completely left fans’ minds and was brought back to serve as the mascot again. Old Blue lost some of his infantry attire from his previous iterations and just became a big, blue dog. Old Blue kept the fans content, but couldn’t bring the energy that sports wanted. They wanted something new for the university.
In 1998, a brand new mascot would be unveiled at a men’s basketball game. After years of planning and teasing of a campus rebrand in ads and on billboards that read “Lightning Strikes.” That basketball game was the first time that fans had laid eyes on Lightning. This new mascot was a blue pegasus without any ties to the Confederacy.
It’s rumored that Lightning is a reference to MTSU’s aerospace and horse science programs, but he is definitely tied to Greek mythology. Pegasi were said to be winged horses that carried lightning bolts to Zeus, and the name Pegasus is also associated with lightning. Making Lightning the least controversial, most beloved mascot the university has ever had.
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