Great Falls College has whittled a list of 590 submissions for its mascot down to a Top 10.
River Otters, Electric Elk, Mountain Goats, Wolverines, Bighorn Sheep, Osprey, Moose, Pronghorn, Fighting Squirrels and Gophers all remain in contention to lead the college into the future.
“We are really excited about the amount of engagement throughout this process,” said Dr. Stephanie Erdmann, CEO and dean of Great Falls College. “On top of that, it’s been a fun way to connect with the campus community. Some alumni, retired faculty members and members of the general public have called in with suggestions or to lobby for their favorites. Staff members and students also weighed in on their choices.”
What started as 590 submissions from students, alumni, faculty, staff and the community were narrowed to 135 choices after redundant and inappropriate suggestions were eliminated.
Those 135 were winnowed to 15 choices after the college’s mascot task force, which is comprised of about 20 students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members, held four votes last week.
The college’s executive council then dropped a few names after vetting them more thoroughly.
The Top 10 now face a campus-wide vote at College Council on Nov. 4 to get down to three finalists.
The college’s design team will then develop mockups for the Top Three that will then be voted on by the general public.
The final results will be announced in mid-January.
The college’s mascot search was made possible after Great Falls College beat out hundreds of colleges and earned $100,000 to be used for marketing and branding when it was named a finalist in the Lumina Foundation’s Million Dollar Community College Challenge.
As part of the challenge, Great Falls College had to answer a series of questions about why it needed the money and how it would use the money.
“We felt Great Falls College needed stronger brand identity to differentiate it from others,” said Scott, Thompson, executive director of community relations and a member of the mascot task force. “We proposed developing a mascot, and the Lumina Foundation and its consultants really embraced this as a way to build community support and engagement in a fun, positive way.”
Stay tuned to vote on your favorite from the top three in early December.
“The entire community is encouraged to vote for the top three,” Erdmann said. “We are after all a community college that represents the region.”
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