A photo of Hoosier the Bison taken in October of 1966. (Courtesy of Indiana University archives.)
After being gone for over 50 years, Hoosier the Bison is returning as the mascot for IU athletics.
On Tuesday the Indiana Hoosiers social media account shared a video announcing the return of the mascot.
IU’s Senior Associate Athletic Director Jeremy Gray saID fans will continue to get brief glimpses of the new mascot in the coming months before the full reveal this fall.
“We are going to have artwork like logos that get represented on things that's going to be coming out over the course of the summer, we'll have some retail available," he said. "We know that this is going to be a hit with kids, but, you know, we kept the secret this long, we'll see if we can keep it little bit longer.”
In mid-December of last year, IU Student Government introduced the Bring Back the Bison Act of 2024 with the hopes of enhancing the school’s identity in the wake of the most successful football season in years.
It seems their efforts have paid off; the video ends saying Hoosier the Bison will return in the fall of 2025.
The Bison first made an appearance in 1965, with the IU student senate inspired by the bison on the Indiana state seal. It was discontinued in 1969, though Nick’s English Hut would continue to use a bison in its logo to this day.
According to an article from The Herald-Times, students who wore the bison suit said it was too hot and difficult to see out of. Others found the mascot “terrifying.”
Gray is confident that this time the mascot is here to stay thanks to a strong football season last year and a new head basketball coach.
“I think there's optimism around our programs," he said. "A lot of times, people don't like things if it's associated with losing. So introducing a mascot in a three and nine football year feels like a bad idea. So I think we've got some wind at our back this way.”
Gray also teased that the updated mascot would have “friendly eyes” and be “built like a Marvel superhero.”
Hoosier was followed up in 1979 by ”Mr. Hoosier Pride,” a cowboy that wore a candy-cane jacket. In an IDS column in 1980, undergrad Ben Blair wrote “Mr. Hoosier Pride is the most asinine and ridiculous-looking character anyone could have dreamed up to be IU’s mascot.”
He was retired after one season. After a failed contest in 1980 to select a new mascot, the school went without a mascot for the next 45 years.
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This story will be updated.
