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Ralphie: ESPN Top 20 Mascot
The University of Colorado has one of the more unique mascots in all of intercollegiate athletics, a real buffalo
named Ralphie. CU has two live buffalo mascots, Ralphie IV and Ralphie V. Ralphie leads the football team out on the field both at the
start of the game and second half. It is truly one of the special sights that exist anywhere in college or professional sports, especially
for opposing teams, who often stop in their tracks watching the massive buffalo round the end zone and head directly at their sideline.
The buffalo first appeared in 1934, three weeks after a contest to select an official school nickname by the Silver & Gold newspaper
had come to an end and “Buffaloes” was the winning entry. For the final game of the ‘34 season, a group of students paid $25 to rent a
buffalo calf along with a real cowboy as his keeper. The calf was the son of Killer, a famed bison at Trails End Ranch in Fort Collins.
It took the cowboy and four students to keep the calf under control on the sidelines, a 7-0 win at the University of Denver on Thanksgiving
Day.
The norlin Charge and Colors:
Each CU commencement ceremony is concluded with
inspiring words that characterize the Norlin Charge. This speech, which was originally written
by CU President George Norlin, was first addressed to graduates on June 9, 1935. This speech
reminds graduating students that they will forever be “promoters” of the University's spirit.
Though students have proudly paraded the official school colors of silver and gold since 1988,
black was recently added to contrast the gold. The original colors of silver and gold are
representative of the rich minerals that Colorado holds.
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