McKendree University’s athletic teams, the McKendree Bearcats, compete in NCAA Division II as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The university’s official athletics colors are purple (Pantone 2617c, HEX #532c7f), gold (Pantone 457c, HEX #c2a204), and white, as listed on the athletics department’s sports information page.[1]
Design and History
The Bearcat nickname emerged in the early 1910s and 1920s, a period when the Stutz Bearcat automobile was a popular status symbol. Students combined the era’s common expressions “It’s a bear” and “It’s a cat” to form a new mascot indicating superior quality. Consulting Webster’s dictionary, they found a bearcat described as a cat-like creature with a small bear-like body, “gleaming eyes and snarling countenance.”[2]
Before the Bearcat identity, McKendree’s athletic teams had a live bear cub mascot named Susie, kept in a cage near Pearsons Hall. A student was annually voted as the honorary “Keeper of the Bear.”[2]
The costumed mascot Bogey first appeared in the 1960s as a simple bear mask worn with a McKendree M Club sweater. In the early 1980s, a full-bodied brown suit with green eyes emerged with “BOGIE” stitched across its middle. Later in the 1990s, the mascot took on the purple hue still used today. A mid-2000s iteration featured golden eyes and a streamlined, fiercer appearance. The latest Bogey debuted in 2021 with large eyes, golden ears, and a joyful smile.[2]
In 2014, a bronze Bearcat statue was installed at the center of the campus quad. Sculpted by artist Brian Hanlon of Hanlon Sculpture Studio in Toms River, New Jersey, the 2,500-pound statue was described by the university as more closely resembling the athletic program’s symbol than the cheerful purple mascot Bogey.[3]
McKendree College changed its name to McKendree University on July 1, 2007. Along with the name change, a new university logo was unveiled on June 26, 2007. The university’s communications and marketing director stated the logo was developed with Arthur Agency in Carbondale, Illinois, to create “a new symbol for McKendree University, an identity with broad appeal.” The logo frames “M-c-K” in a cornerstone shape, which was described as representing McKendree’s contribution as a building block of the community, with a radiating line symbolizing the university’s continuing efforts to expand education opportunities.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The university’s official colors are purple and gold, with white also listed among the athletics colors.[1] The alma mater references honoring “Purple and the White.”[5]
The university’s 2007 logo design was explicitly described by its marketing director: the cornerstone shape represents McKendree’s role as a building block of the community, and the radiating line symbolizes the institution’s continuing efforts to expand education opportunities.[4]
Typography and Design
Regarding the 2007 university logo, the director of communications and marketing stated that “the classic font reflects McKendree’s rich tradition of providing a liberal arts education.” The design was intended to be “simple and clean, so that it is easily remembered and recognized by the public.”[4]
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