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Cornell Traditions:
The Cornell Mascot:
Cornell has never had an official mascot, but early in the school's athletic history a bear took over as its
most recognizable symbol. The first live Cornell bear mascot appeared in 1915 during Cornell's undefeated and national championship
football season. Since that time, there were three others. The last edition - Touchdown IV - was never allowed on Schoellkopf Field
despite strong publicity campaigns by the Cornell Daily Sun and undergraduate groups. The bear was invited to Cleveland by the Cornell
alumni in the city, and was then shipped in a dog cage, to Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio State-Cornell game. At this point, the Animal
Protective League stepped in and decreed that the bear was to be let loose in the wilds of Western Pennsylvania. The current mascot
is a Cornell undergraduate who performs at various varsity athletic events, including at all football and men's ice hockey
games.
The Cornell Nickname:
The nickname "Big Red" for Cornell teams originated in 1905. The late Romeyn Berry '04, then a recent Cornell
graduate, was writing the lyrics for a new football song. Since Cornell had no nickname at the time, Berry simply referred to Cornell
as the "big red team" and it caught on. Berry was graduate manager of athletics from 1919 through 1935 and was recognized as an
outstanding authority on Cornell, its traditions and personalities. He was a distinguished writer and newspaper columnist locally.
For his musical composition Berry won $25. The song earned a spot in the Cornell Verses, joining rowing songs and other lyrics
descriptive of Cornell life.
Dragon Day
Every year, the architecture students make a huge dragon to
parade around campus in and then they burn it. Some years, the engineers also make a large Phoenix,
and the event becomes a contest. It begins when the architecture students sell Dragon Day T-shirts.
The night before, the architecture students beautifully toilet paper the arts quad. The next day,
the parade of the dragon begins.
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